New Beer Weekend #295

Nice start Tim! I have been avoiding Bottle Logic. This write up makes me wanna at least find a bottle of Amplification Zone.

 

Wow, Saturday night and 5 pages in. Y'all are killing it this weekend. Here is my contribution (after a decent Purdue win) for tonight. I likes this a bit better than @russpowell did but that's how it goes sometimes.

Breakfast At Midnight
Pours a deep obsidian hue with.a khaki colored head that looks pretty solid but quickly disappears. A timid attempt at a ring holds on. Almost zero lacing.
Nose is what she advertises. A wash of vanilla, maple, and mild cinnamon chime in first. Hints of a slight cocoa sweetness also adds a layer.
Flavor is smoothly vanilla and maple forward. But hints of caramel, cocoa, and yes, cinnamon contribute. Tasty.
Mouthfeel is thick enough for style yet still seems like the body is missing some aspect of "presence" that I can quite nail down. Otherwise it hits the style marks. Finishes a tad syrupy. But it is a "breakfast" Imperial Stout.
3.94/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4

 

Sorry. Your Illini have had a few funky losses (and they are strong) just like my Boilermakers. Please just cheer for them over dreaded Michigan .

 

Sometimes people get cinnamon right, one extra bit & I'm out...

 

OMG. Thanks for linking the NBW #18. That goes way back. COVID drinking. A rare NBW post from @scream was there too. Miss him.

 

Thanks for clarifying. The early Summer start and later sundown gives me a better shot at participating on Fridays.

This is still a Top Five beer for me, love every chance to enjoy. Great you were able to revisit after all these years!

Could be a good idea for some to volunteer by Sunday evening for the following week. Just need to make sure the volunteer follows through the following Friday.

I don’t open or order a beer until I start my post, and type and review live, so it’s usually a half hour or so before I can click post reply. Think we’ve had good openings and enjoy @Beersnake ’s thoughtful questions and others able to get a thoughtful open while the opportunity exists.

Caught up with Saturday, so time to get ready for my New Beer Sunday selection.

 

Welcome everyone to New Beer Sunday #1099! Back as promised with my second Bourbon County Brand Stout from last season. This comes through as advertised, with the praline and identified nuts coming through wonderfully, and the bourbon complementing well. Typically don’t enjoy very sweet beers, but this one works for me. Full review linked below.

Goose Island Beer Company Bourbon County Brand Chocolate Praline Stout (Bottled August 14, 2025 @ 8:00 AM)

 

Not new, mind you, but it was about damn time that I revisited it.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Well, late to the party on this fizzled out snow apocalypse event. Thank goodness we didn't get anywhere close to the 18 inches predicted.
Time for beer.

Bragging Rights - Talking Waters Brewing- Montevideo, MN - Braggot - 7.0%

Tasty beer overall. The aroma is the only let down.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45816/792502/
3.81/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75
From a 16oz can, no date on the can.

Beautiful clear amber looking beer in the glass. There's a nice stream of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. The head is 1 1/2 finger in size and off white colored. There's a good deal of lacing on the glass.
The nose is just super faint. All I get is a faint honey aroma to this beer.
The flavor has a nice grain malt flavor up front. This grain flavor then goes toward honey in the middle. The beer finishes up with a nice light bitterness.
The body has a nice thickness to the beer. There's a bubbly feeling to this beer.
The aroma is lacking, but the rest of the elements are strong. Quite tasty.

I may be back for one more today. Cheers.

 

Calypso, an American IPA from Perth Brewery

From a 473ml can packaged on 28/07/25. Poured into a pint glass. A big two finger fluffy white head on a foggy amber. Good head retention. A solid layer sticks around. Sheets of foamy lacing.

Pine and citrus in the nose. A pretty well melded soft hop flavour. A moderately bitter hop finish.

A medium/light body with good carbonation. Overall a serviceable but unremarkable American IPA.

3.58/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

 

Wow. That was a trip down memory lane. Thanks for sharing that link!
Oh, and all youse guys (that’s how it is spelled, right?) should ignore the “likes” from 2020 showing up in your inbox. Unless you want to go down memory lane too.
Back later with a classic that is new to me.

 

Top of the morning lads
..sober carpenter irish red
...a sort of mohagany, maple clear appearance with a thin but lasting head
...medium carbonation with a below average body but overall it added up to a nice feel
...aroma is has some of that mildly unpleasant vegetation smell but theres also malt, caramel, toast
..taste is where it shows up as earthy hops balanced by some malt, caramel
...overall a medium experience but still enjoyable

 

Cheers, NBW! My first go with this one. I've skipped over it many times and decided to right this wrong. This was a good decision!



North Sky

English Stout | 7.5% ABV
Allagash Brewing Company in Portland, Maine

Reviewed by beerdedking from Pennsylvania

4.29/5 rDev +8.1% | Average: 3.97
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
A Belgian stout? English? I don't know, but my inclination is there is at least a Belgian influence in yeast character given Allagash's history. Not as dark as the usual stout, it presents more the color of molasses with nice initial foam that dissipates leaving little behind as it goes down the glass. Scents are roasted malt with hints of sweetness. Drinking this is fun. Early flavor is sweet smooth molasses turning toward complex notes of coffee, milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, and yeasty fruitiness. Midway there is noticeable carbonation that really delivers these flavors well. This beer is fairly viscous and definitely silky smooth as advertised. Overall North Sky is a nice alternative to the usual stout.

 

Back from vacation to a blizzard, at least there are hoppy beers here!

Fiddlehead Imperial IPA


Appearance: Cloudy orange, huge head with lots of staying power.

Smell: Danky, stinky socks. Eventually some citrus comes through.

Taste: Enters mildly sweet, then goes to mealy feeling citrus. Hazy jail. Finishes with oranges, mild bitterness.

Overall: This is about 3 months old. It’s fine, but hits the marks of hazy IPAs that I don’t prefer—mealy feel and vague citrus flavor. At least it’s not hop burn. Not bad but not to my preferences for the style.

 

This LA beer is not bad. I wonder what process they use? Most LA beers are terrible.

 

Oops. Sorry about that. Beer was as good as I remembered it being. Classic hay and lactic acid in the nose. Effervescent mouthfeel. Quite straightforward while being also complex on the palate with the hay and barnyard followed up by non-bracing acidity. Just a fantastic beer.

 

Oh of course, I have always liked Matt Painter. I was at Southern Illinois University when Weber and then Painter were coaches there, then went back home to U of I (started a Master there, but never finished, got a job in Houston instead, that is how I ended up here ha). So, I'm a huge Painter fan, when they are not playing Illinois of course .

 

How would we all feel about a 3 - (insert #)... person rotation; just to give it an attempt and see if it is a worth change to adapt? If we stick with the Friday opening I do think it kind of leans those who tend to open new ones Friday, I'm like Jay below and prefer, almost exclusively to do in real time. That doesn't mean I couldn't do a Friday, they're just always hard and a little busy for me to settle in proper by "game time" if you will.

If someone takes this Friday I wouldn't mind breaking my own rules and taking an upcoming Friday a few weeks from now. I have off Good Friday so I'll be in spring break mode by then

I was trying to do my best @ChicagoJ on that one throwing it way back to the early days of NBW and of my early reviews; I always feel weird reading my old words. I feel like I've gotten a little more concise and accurate over the past few years, mainly thanks to you all putting up with my posts