New Beer Weekend #305

Well my "new" beer yesterday was a bust, turns out I rated it 6-yrs ago (it was good though and I posted on WBADN).
Not the same story today. I have Lemony from Tree House, it is a 7.8% NEIPA with Citra, Lemon drop and Amarillo hops, It also comes in one of the planest cans in the TH repretoir.

Purchased cold at the Deerfield brewery 2-days ago and kept cold until served. Poured from a 16oz can stamped “LIVE WELL 05.12.26” to a nonic.
The body is opaque and light yellow, SRM 2. It looks like a combination of lemonade, orange juice and a dash of milk. The 3/8in/10mm head is white does not last 3-minutes. Lacing is almost nothing, with just a few small webs that fade fast.
The aroma is not as lemony as “advertised”. There is definitely some lemon, but orange and melon sneak in. Not super aromatic.
The taste is similar. Lemon, lime, orange, melon but also some black pepper spice.
The mouthfeel is medium thick, for a hazy, carbonation is appropriate.
Overall, a good beer, but not a lemon bomb.

 

Happy NBW Sunday edition! Started off my new brews today with this sweeter tasting Bruery barleywine:

Sap Cap | The Bruery | BeerAdvocate





Can't say I've ever tried any Candy Cap mushrooms so not sure how they really affected the flavor/aroma of this. But it is a good beer! I plan on having at least one more new one today, cheers!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. And thank you, @Beersnake for hosting this week. Your question is very appropriate to me this weekend since we are visiting our son and daughter-in-law this weekend. I am fortunate that both of our children - and their spouses - are beer nerds like me and I enjoy sharing beers with all four of them. I just returned to the hotel from Eno River Brewing Co., where my son and I had a couple of beers together. I cherish these times!

My "official" NBS review is DDH Ghost in the Machine from Parish Brewing Co. in Louisiana. I've had the original several times but Parish does not distribute to New Jersey and I bought a pack of the DDH version here in Chapel Hill. It is very good but I don't think it surpasses the original version.

Canned on 4/23/2026 so one month old. It pours a murky, pastel tangerine color with a thin, milk-white head and lacing. A nice, fruity nose featuring lemon, lime, onion, peach, a whiff of melon, and floral hops. Its taste opens with tart, biting lemon peel and grapefruit rind followed by softer notes of sweet fruits, including peach and melon. There is also a strong dose of resin and pine sap. The bitterness is mild and clean. This ale has a thick, creamy mouth feel with pleasant carbonation and it doesn't drink like 8.5% ABV.

4.34/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

There is nothing disappointing about this beer and I'm glad I bought a pack. I just don't buy into an average rating of 4.59. Cheers and hope to see you all tomorrow!

 

Omnipollo BA Original Maple Truffle Ice Cream Waffle Imperial Pastry Stout, 15% ABV. Pours black and moderately thick with a ring of dark-brown bubbles that left no lacing. Aroma is bourbon, maple syrup, and chocolate. Taste is chocolate and bourbon stealing the show, with vanilla and maple syrup in their shadows, quite sweet, though not cloying, slight bitterness, and light bourbon burn. Decent mouthfeel, thick and smooth, light carbonation, leaves sticky lips. Overall outstanding.

4.41/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Glad to see Ian @superspak has broken out of the hospital, and seeking cat-comfort.

 

Not technically this weekend, but I have been on vacation for the past week, part of which was spent in Vermont, so of course I visited The Alchemist.

In addition to the many cans of Heady I had outside of the brewery, of course I had it on draft there. All in all, I had the following at the brewery and purchased cans to go for those that were available:

Heady Topper
Focal Banger
Crusher
Lushious
Beelzebub
Squidgy Black
Just Say Gay

Those first five are their most popular according the BA ratings, and I can't say I can think of another brewery I've many beers from where the 5 most popular beers were collectively as good as those.

Some other great beers I had while in Vermont:

Fiddlehead IPA
Fiddlehead Second Fiddle
Hill Farmstead Edward
Hill Farmstead Abner
BBA Peche Mortel (not a VT beer but something I would never see in NC, and holy Moses was it amazing).

I had very high expectations of Vermont beer and they were exceeded. I am enjoying some that I brought home as type this.

Cheers!

 

IMO, you should write reviews of beers that fall short in some way. 100%, absolutely, no question. Otherwise every beer on this site will have a score between 4.5 and 5, and what's the point of that?

 

Stopped by Lawson’s for lunch today and they had Hopzilla on tap and in cans.\
Great beer! Nice hop bitterness. Smell of pine. offset with malt backbone to provide some sweetness.

 

Another barleywine for me today, this one from Dark Horse:

War of Britton | Dark Horse Brewing Company | BeerAdvocate



Another good one, but it's more for people who like fruitier tasting barleywines. Thought it was a solid 4 across the board. Debating on whether or not to have one more new beer, we'll see. Cheers again!

 

Oh completely agree...I was just wondering if I wanted to put the time and effort into reviewing at all ha.

 

sounds like a great trip, Beelzebub is my favorite alchemist beer, you’re lucky it was there for you. Hope you enjoyed it!

A beer that came my way courtesy of @vurt which I loved.

 

What an awesome invitation to NBW, well done @Beersnake!
Q1) I also love to share beer/ breweries with my daughter who is a brilliant musician , excellent humor, a leader in school, she’s got it together. We share so much in common that I consider her a great friend and fellow sojourner in beer adventure. Sorry wife, stick to the TH cocktails.
Q2) The best experiences I have had are with other BA, specifically @woodchipper , my beer educator and sponsor , and @tolar111 who is a beer connoisseur and politically connected to NYS politics: you know what they said, be good to the right people on your way up, you will surely see them on your way down. My answer would be many people, my good friends I’ve made on Beer Advocate who are awesome, funny, and very cool. You know who you are! Seriously, if you know me , I would love to share beers with you!
NBW:
Tree House Crumble

Reviewed by TCgenny from New York

4.3/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Canned 3 weeks ago pours solidly Burnt orange color with a 3 finger head that is not going anywhere soon. Aroma is peach cobbler, peach pie with vanilla ice cream, very appealing, recognizable, and tantalizing. Really peachy, slight sweetness, there is a cinnamon bun ending in the taste that is mild and marrys the peach and vanilla nicely. This is Haze conditioned with cinnamon sticks and peach puree. I tend to be a purist about my fruit, ie I want brilliant hop mathematics with hops, no purée cheat codes, in spite of my ipa rules of conduct, as a one off this is delightful

 

To answer your question @Beersnake That Wife and occasionally share beers on trips like this weekend. For the most part I am flying solo

 

I'm glad you did. I like hoppy beers with a big piny character, so when you said "Pine Sol," I thought "Still might be worth a try..."

 

Glad to see you're at home, in good spirits, and your feline care team is on the job.