New Beer Weekend #274

A Pacific Northwest beer but brewed on the East Coast

Today’s new beer is a relatively new brand (brewed first in 2024) from Sly Fox: Coastal Quest IPA. They are branding this beer as a West Coast IPA with an interesting story:

“Coastal Quest

West Coast-style IPA

The search for your perfect IPA has come full circle. This treasure trove of flavor is teeming with the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest. Unlock the pungent, hoppy notes of expressive pine and zesty citrus. A worthy reward, whatever your quest.

STYLE: West Coast-style IPA

ABV: 6.8%

HOPS: Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Idaho 7 & Mosaic

MALT: Two-Row Barley, Wheat, Vienna, Dextrin”

Let’s see what going on a quest tastes like.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

Pours golden colored and a white head.

Aroma:

A combination of citrus and pine with a hint of biscuit malt in the background.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a combination citrus/pine hop flavors and just a tiny bit of biscuit malt flavor. There is a medium bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied, soft-ish mouthfeel and a dry finish.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer, I think it is very good.

The flavor profile is consistent with an American/West Coast-style IPA but given the medium bitterness and soft-ish mouthfeel it approaches the characteristics of a NEIPA. Maybe this is a ‘split the baby’ sort of hybrid?

@RobH @rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

Thanks to @GreenBayBA for kicking NBW off! Way to go Micah!

Kirkland (Deschutes) 2025 Vintage Ale BBA Imperial Stout, 12% ABV. Pours thick and black with a one-finger light-brown head that left a ring of foam. Aroma is roast malt and bourbon. Taste is roasty, bourbon, light chocolate, coffee, slightly sweet, moderately bitter. Thick mouthfeel, overall excellent. This is a cheap 'every-day' non-add-junk BBA Stout.

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

Think of it as discount Abyss.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I think I'm just going to get right to it after thanking @GreenBayBA for starting us off.

Vintage Ale - Kirkland/Costco (Deschutes Brewing makes it) - RIS - 12%

I wasn't expecting a whole lot considering the price - $7.99 a bottle. I would say that I got a beer that was worth the price tag. They had more there when I bought my bottle last Sunday. I may go there to buy another, but who knows. It's not a bad beer, but nothing special.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21516/715943/
3.68/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
2025 version. Bottled Summer of 2025. Lot B

There was a nice hiss and a bit of smoke upon opening the bottle. This beer does pour pitch black into my glass. There's no light that shines through the beer. There's a nice looking 1 finger tan head to this beer. The head has pretty damn good retention for such a strong beer. There's minimal lacing on the glass.
The big surprise whit the aroma is how lacking it is. There's almost nothing there. There's just a very faint malt hit on my nose and a touch of licorice. Quite underwhelming.
The flavor is more than the nose let on. I got a hit of vanilla right off the bat. I am also getting a nice hit of dark fruit - mostly plum - that hits early on. Some chocolate caramel and toffee notes also hit my taste buds. I am also getting a somewhat strange cola flavor. This is somewhat confusing to me, since that's a flavor I don't think of when this style comes to mind.
The body has a fizzy, bubbly feeling to it. The body may be a touch light. There's a bit of a burn from the alcohol.
For what this is, it isn't bad at all, and very well worth the $7.99 price tag. If you're expecting BCBS, you'll be disappointed.

One and done tonight. See you all tomorrow. Cheers!

 

Whoa!

Back to back posts of the same Kirkland beer!!

Isn't that crazy!?!

 

3.74/5 rDev 0%

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 16 ounce undated can into a tulip glass at 53 degrees.

Look- Pale gold, very mildly hazy, frothy white head, average head retention, slight below average lacing.

Smell- Pine resin, grapefruit, passionfruit, between weak and medium strength of scent.

Taste- Grapefruit heavy, pith, pine, pineapple, slight passionfruit, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, highly bitter, low prickliness, moderately creamy, moderately dry finish, mildly mouth warming.

Overall- The appearance characteristics were nice for this beer. The nose was an underpowered mix of pine and grapefruit with some notes of passionfruit. The flavor was dominated by grapefruit and pith with some pine, pineapple and passionfruit lurking in the shadows. With more balance this would have been a great flavor profile. The feel had very little fresh hop character and the finish was too dry. Overall the beer needed a higher intensity bouquet and a more balanced flavor profile to improve the drinking experience.

 

I love it! I do wonder where letting the world know we're (Deschutes in this case) producing a discount beer and how its "discountedness" might play into any perception. Also, would a brewery put its best foot forward for a... let's call it a... contract brewed beer? Does that also play into the knowledgeable beer reviewer's consciousness?

As a slight aside, I know I could often tell based on packaging what large corp produced my grocery store's private label, but I don't think it was as obvious as both posters noted here.

 

Well done! Thanks for getting us stared!

 

And now we bring you...A Pacific Northwest beer but drank on the East Coast..

A good week for us all here, just one of those tiring but good feel weeks...this beer from @snaotheus just hit the spot perfectly tonight, one of those right beers for the right time.

Every year since I met Mr Snaotheus out in Seattle during fresh hop season he has sent me a trip every year via a box of fresh hop beers, 'm so grateful for this gift of his each year.

Tonight I even busted out an old glass that our friend @BBThunderbolt sent me years back, what better time to pour into this glass...

Bizarre Brewing - Tago Mago (FH Light Lager 3.8%)



Pours a cloudy pale leaning straw, white head; sticky and clumpy islands, good cling.

Zippy nose; pops with all sort of bright grassy character, green stem character; lemon rind, and straw.

Taste is full of that same green stem, rind, a unique acidic lean hint of citrus, saison-y, but not...very unique and different; adds to its refreshing nature...

Light, prickly and very bright mouth on this beer; it gives that desire to say "aahhhh" after each sip; theres some bitterness and distinct sticky character.

Ryan, this is a really cool beer for me personally; thank you for sending; it was right up my alley.

--------------------

Have a lovely evening every one, hope to be back tomorrow evening with another beer brought to you by @snaotheus

 

For the conspiracy theorists, we live in adjacent states!

 

And we joined BA 5 days apart.

 

And I was in his state just a couple of miles from where he lives almost 2 weeks ago.

I will be on the road, in southern Minnesota tomorrow, but toward south central instead of south west.

 

We snuck away for a four day visit to Maine. We are up on Liberty, but we did get off the highway for lunch in Wells which included a stop at Tullys and what the heck it was 3 pm and Barreled Souls was open...plus I had an order to pick up.

We have never been in this cabin in the Fall. It was quiet during the summer, but I can't describe how quiet it is now. There is nobody around. Barred Owls were hollering earlier - at least three of them. We looked for the aurora but it would still be very faint here.

Tonight we tried 8 new beers. We went to Sidereal Farm Brewery/Maillard Kitchen. It was stupid good - food and beer and people. One picture per post so I'll do two...



From left to right.

Sugar Plum Fairy - sour ale aged in a single puncheon with 200 pounds of Petite French Sugar Plums. Tart, refreshing, sweetness from the plums and just enough plum flavor to round out the flavor.

Amor Fati - mixed fermentation sour aged on whole cluster zinfandel grapes. Smooth, slightly tart, vinous, oaky finish. I used the word "juicy" when we talked it over.

Evil Drip - a saison with buckwheat honey and added darl malt. It's an odd duck - I liked it and it is sort of sauson-like with a bit of tartness and the strong flavor of buckwheat honey.

Dark Mild - exactly what it says it is and its awesome. Simple - chocolate, caramel, and slightly nutty kinda like a Twik bar. Super easy drinking at 3.5%. Perfect beer to just sit and drink when all ya want is a beer.

Stay tuned for Episode 2...

 

Indeed Double Tidalwave IPA

Appearance: Hazy yellow, big head.

Smell: Mild tropical fruit smell, melon, light sweetness.

Taste: Mild sweetness, then the tropical fruits follow, melon, light mango. Has some of the mealy/umami body/feel/taste I don't like in hazies, but on the mild side. Mild bitterness, finishes with light fruit and sweetness.

Overall: A little surprised to see this one, Indeed doesn't usually go the hazy route. It's fine, not one of my preferred styles, but it does stay away from hop burn and mostly stays away from the mealy mouthfeel I don't like in hazies. Worth a try.

 

The quiet that cannot be described is the quiet that is best, sounds like another perk of your recent retirement, go to the cabin whenever one wants to

Looking forward to episode two…

 

Episode 2 - the photo kinda hides the beer but I wanted to catch the fantastic food:



On the left is smoked veal with beer braised cabbage, mushrooms, charred brussel sprouts and some kind of sauce that I assume was veal demiglace. On the right is a smoked butternut squash with maple sauted carrots, roatlsted red peppers and gochujang sauce. All live fire cooking and all locally sourced. How you smoke veal and have it butter tender is beyond me. This food was outstanding and we spent $40 on two meals - ridiculously good and we thought it was a bargain. The beers:

Star Crossed - their Belgian pale ale aged in gin barrels with raspberries. Very light, mild raspberry, slight tartness, Belgian yeastiness. Good gin kick at the finish.

Patchwork - peaches grown at the farm with some anonymous red fruits tossed in. Nice peach profile - fresh and not overwhelming. Red fruit - yeah just a kiss and very vague... Smooth and silky mouthfeel.

Norma's Pie - gin barrel aged sour with cherry and huckleberry from Mt. St. Helen's ( we didn't ask why - gotta be a story). Sweet cherryand tart huckleberry. Nose smelled a little cough syrupy but that was not reflected in the taste. Smooth and well-integrated flavors. Gin in the middle with fruit bookends.

Ordinary Bitter - their take on an English pub ale. Light, biscuity, caramel with just enough of a bitter finish. Four followed me home...

This place has it going on - not sure why it wasn't jammed full. Good beer, fantastic food, good value, great folks. If you are in the Augusta, ME area, absolutely give them a shake.

The beer menu changes tomorrow...their version of harvest fest...oh no......don't make us go back!

 

Fat orange cat cautionary tail pumpkin ale
....iced tea appearance with a very thin but lasting head
..medium carbonation with about a medium body
..aroma is brown sugar/malt,spice unsweetened pumpkin with the vanilla coming off perfume like
..taste has some sweetness with the spice,vanilla and pumpkin all showing up.
..overall its well done but almost borderlines a pumpkin soda if that makes any sense

 

Aliens