New Beer Weekend #273

Founders the headless gourdsman barrel aged ale with maple syrup and spices.
....dark murky brown with a bit of a ruby addition
...close to medium carbonation with an above average body. Has a slight thick heavy feel about it
...aroma is bourbon but not overpowering,boozy, maple, spice with malt and what seems to be a bit of coffee in the background
...taste has some sweetness which seems to come from the maple. Mild bourbon and wood with maple and spices.
...overall its a bit boozy but definitely delivers on flavor. Makes for a good late night dessert beer

 

Holy Mountain - Fresh Hop Tangier

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. They usually don't date their cans, and this appears to be no exception.

Clear light yellow with a small, moderately coarse head. Medium carbonation. Smell is lagery, fruity, somewhere in the realm of unripe tangerines. Citrus rind, a hint of lemon zest.

Taste is lager yeast funk, grain, something wet-wood-like, noticeable but not dominant fresh hop bite. Bitterness is powerful, maybe a bit toward the medicinal and vegetable.

Mouthfeel is very light and quite prickly. Overall...it's good.

 

This beer struck me as the kind of thing @jonphisher would really enjoy.

Turns out he provided the most recent review of this beer, almost exactly one year ago. And yes, he gave it a good review.



Machine House Fresh Hop Simcoe Bitter

Look:
The body is an attractive deep orange-amber color, and as cloudy as your average hefeweizen. Up top is a fluffy head of cream-colored foam that slowly ebbs to a sudsy, uneven collar and leaves ample lacing.

Smell:
The nose is lightly toasted malt (quite dry), a drop of caramel, and a delicate but persistent orange peel character with floral and grassy undertones. There's also a mild whiff of sulfur that is rather pleasant in context.

Taste:
Flavor starts with toasty, biscuity malt that is just a bit sweeter than the malt component in the nose. The malt is quickly overtaken by exquisite fresh Simcoe flavor, bright and citrusy. It gives way to a more earthy bitterness in the middle, with a spicy note of pine and flowers lingering on the breath. Flavors of toasty malt and bitter orange marmalade harmonize with a light grassy character in the long, drying finish.

Feel:
The body is light and fluffy, and the carbonation has a good bite to it. Mild hop burn. A gentle astringency dries the mouth out and leaves me craving the next sip.

Overall:
This is an excellent best bitter, augmented with a heavy-handed application of fresh Simcoe hops. Not much to look at, but a pleasure to drink.

 

Good evening all!
I actually had two new to me beers today, both at Bell’s while hanging out with @Blogjackets
A fresh hopped NEIPA? I’ll give it a try.

Started off great-
The pour is pretty much the best part of this one, completely opaque honey orange with a near white head that left copious amounts of lacing.
The taste is curiously devoid of strong anything. There is some slight grapefruit rind flavor going on but that is about it. Finishes dry. I’m speculating that the lack of rain this year really didn’t do any favors for the hops.
The feel matches the look; it’s almost juicy in texture.
OA, hopefully this year is an anomaly and next year’s batch will be amazing.

The second one is not in the database and I’m not sure how to put it there as the name is “Bell’s Beer” it just seems wrong!
But it tasted so right.
It was billed as the first beer Larry brewed for selling, not sure how they define that specific incident (As a home brewer trying to make some extra money, after he opened the first brewery? Something else?)
In any case, the recipe is apparently 40 years old and produced a very nice, malty pale ale.

Crystal clear, ivory white head and lacing and almost enough malts to make it imperial. And it really works well.
The feel is almost crushable, I think I had a couple gulps before I thought to take a picture.
It was fun just hanging out with Dave and Guy, drinking beer and telling stories.
Cheers!

 

Victory pretzel bier
...a really dark amber appearance with a very thin but lasting head
...medium carbonation with about a medium body
...aroma is weak but theres pretzel bread, malty bread and dark bread toast.
...taste is mildly bitter and earthy, pretzel and dark bread.
...overall its a bit of a disappointment but as it gets warmer it improves

 

That’s to perfect @vurt thanks for thinking of me I had my second to last of Tonewood fresh hop English beer last night, those styles (English) seem to lend a surprisingly very nice hand fresh hop beers.

More evidence of @snaotheus beer saintdom…

 

I was up with you for the same reason haha, oldest and I departed for PA today at 6:40 AM. Sitting watching warm ups while I catch up on last nights beers.

 

Canadian Thanksgiving weekend here. Started last night with broken dishwasher to get us ready for a medium sized gathering with much food to be eaten…. Oh well, at least I brought a good selection of new beers to my MILs place for the festivities!

Last night I enjoyed this one, Bellwoods first ever Marzen, brewed in collaboration with Outer Range.

This is G’Suffa.



Pours a nice amber with a significant head that sticks around a while.

Aromas of toffee, brown bread and herbs.

Taste follows closely with the addition of some surprising cocao notes.

Medium bodied and went well with a homemade pizza (red pepper, Genoa salami, spinach, mozzarella and goat cheese!)

I think Bellwoods’ lagers are under appreciated. They are generally good to excellent and this one falls somewhere in between those to two designations.

Back to the dishes from last night… But, see you later with another one.

Cheers!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

Nonbe Oktoberfest Bier from Godspeed Brewery

From a 355ml can packaged on Sept 02, 2025, poured into a pint glass. A two finger fine off white head on a dark copper. Good head retention and lots of fine lacing.

Mild caramel malts in the nose. Bread and taste. The taste follows the nose. Spicy hop noted up front followed by tasty malts. A dry, spicy mildly bitter finish.

Moderate body and carbonation. Overall a fine Marzen. Eminently drinkable and well worth a try.

4.13/5 rDev +6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

 

Is is possible that a beer loses it's smokiness with time before opening? I have noticed that some smoked beers seem to start smoky with the first sip but become less so towards the end of the glass.

 

New to me and its first written review is this fine example of a New England IPA named Star Hazing by Lops Brewing of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Cheers and Go Patriots!



3.86/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

An easy pour released a fat finger of off-white lasting soapy foam with rings of lacing. Cloudy, semi-opaque yellow-orange-straw color.

Bold smell of citrus up front with herbal, floral and a hint of grassy hops. Toasted bread and dough is faint, it smells generally juicy.

Semi-sweet at first with average bitterness and bold hop flavor. Citrus (orange, grapefruit and faint lemon) leads with some pineapple and the Galaxy driven hop tastes noticed in the smell supporting. Pale malt taste has added toasted wheat, fairly balanced by juice. The slow finish reveals some spicy bitterness as the juice taste wanes, ending semi-dry.
Spice and many hop flavors and some juice linger on.

Medium-light bodied and well carbonated, balanced and smooth. Alcohol is well hidden and this matches style guidelines, it's a juicy hop bomb.

Brewers Notes; "New England IPA generously dry hopped with Citra and Galaxy hops".

 

Tough call, I would not have placed it under Euro Dark on the grounds that German hops and malt are used. I see it as a toss-up between Dunkle and Vienne although I would need to try this one myself to make a fair guess. Cheers.

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #1077! Returning with one more Dovetail after the event yesterday, this one of four I poured yesterday. Didn't particularly like the limited version of the draft version that I did not have a chance to rate. I'm hoping the can, a fresher palate and full pour improves the experience today. I submiited an ABV change as this is now 1% lower than the original 6.6% version.

Dovetail Festweizen

3.83/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75



10/12/25 (Home) (Chicago, Illinois) - Can Notes: 16 oz canned 9/3/25 purchased 9/12/25 at store temperature for $3.98 including tax. 5.6% ABV Festweizen: Caramel-banana, bruleed, gemutlich. Brewed and canned by Dovetail Brewery, 1800 W. Belle Plaine, Chicago, Illinois.

Appearance: Full pour into a half liter Dovetail Willi Beecher glass yields a bronze unfiltered base, steady mild plus sustained carbonation and an egg white head that leaves minimal lumpy lacing after a generous pour formation, but a thin cover over the base with a nice creamy ring around the rim. 3.75

Aroma: Banana, clove, caramel. Medium to full in strength, near the same in enjoyment. 3.75

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, though less intense full. Caramel clove banana, toffee and bread pudding. Sweeter than anticipated or experienced with a draft sample yesterday. Nice additional flavors beyond a traditional hefeweizen offering. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Light and easy, around the 5.6% ABV. Carbonation not felt, sweetness is felt and is the primary takeaway between the caramel, bread pudding. Banana clove the lead and finish. lightly dry, 3.5

Overall: Nice blend of a typical fest beer with a traditional hefe-weizen. Enjoyed the can version more than the draft, seemed more focused and the flavors popped much better today. Would buy occasionally in the future to celebrate the season, but too sweet for my preferences for multiple four packs in the future. Would stick with cans based on my experience this weekend. 3.75

Definitely one and done today after the festival plus celebrating the Milwaukee win last night. Look forward to reading the rest of your weekend entries.

Prost!

 

It is time for a beer that I have been excited for, and waiting for, all weekend.

For Fresh Sake - Pantown Brewing - St. Cloud, MN- American IPA

Wow! The hop flavor is just downright amazing in this beer. So fresh and tasty.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/54849/765236/
4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
On tap at the brewery.

Fairly clear looking golden color. There's a bit of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. There's a creamy looking white head that has great lacing on the glass.
The aroma is dominated by the fresh hops. It has a slight tropical and pine character with a nice earthy green scent.
Well, the flavor is just amazing to me. The hops have a strong resin pine flavor. There's tropical notes in the beer. It has such a delicious earthy, grassy, green flavor. There's a slight bitterness in the flavor.
The body has a bit of a resin/sticky feeling to it. The beer has a full feeling. Clingy.
Wow, this is so damn impressive. This is downright amazing.

I may be done for the weekend with new beers. There's a few more new ones to me, but all IPAs, and they can't compete with this one. Cheers all.

 

Maybe? I always thought that was due to my palate getting acclimated to the smoke.

With the Wayfinder Beer I was able to pull out a little more smoke as the beer warmed. But not much. Definitely not enough.

(That said, I understand that those of us who enjoy rauchbiers are a pretty small minority of the greater beer drinking population. Which makes me grateful for the breweries who even attempt to brew them.)

 

This is good information...

 

Yea, after drinking it, my toss up turned into "well, its european ingredients and its dark so...." Maybe dunkel because that is where Modelo Negra is, "the mexcian dark lager" I guess I see not justification in updating for the mods if I put one in so I guess it may just stay what it is.