New Beer Weekend #2

Hello New Beer Weekend (on Sunday).
Well I have been busier than a hand sanitizer in a Kindergarten classroom.
But there is beer here. YAY.
Entered this one into the data base:
Checkerboard Hero by Mason Ale Works, San Diego County.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44218/499440/

16 oz can, no canning date evident. "Double dry hopped hazy IPA with Mosaid (sic?) and Citra.
Pours a muted yellow to burnished gold. White fluffy head abounds, then recedes to a pretty solid skinny finger in height. Really good retention. Some scattered lacing. Definitely hazy.
Smell is a wash of citrus notes, some bitter piney notes peek in, followed by a mild herbal spice. A gentle malt undercurrent is noted as well.
Flavor pushes forward with orange, tangerine, grapefruit, grass, and a warming herbal/onion note that barely lets piney resin make its appearance.
Feel is appropriate for style, active carbonation.
Overall, a pretty good hazy. I'd just like the flavors to work a little more cohesively.

3.58/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

 

I see what you did there....



















NBS BIF is coming soon...

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Swiggers and commentators. After some early morning showers it's turned hot and humid in North Jersey with a nice breeze. We'll be getting much-needed rain from the tropical storm but it's lovely now.

For my first new beer today I'm joining @Act25 in reviewing Carton's Battle of Monmouth. First, let me say that for me one of the attributes that makes Carton so special is its nods to local history. @JackHorzempa earlier posted @augiecarton's video for this Keller Lager. I enjoy these videos and try to learn from them. This beer is intended to emulate a Pilsener that could have been brewed in "central" Jersey in the eighteenth century using locally sourced grist and hops then available. The result is stunning. This beer is so complex and flavorful but an easy drinker at 5.9% ABV. I don't generally drink this style but it's lovingly made and just a pleasure to drink. Hopefully, there will still be bottles available on my next stop at Carton. Here's my full review:

4.39/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Poured from 25 oz. bottle into a seidel glass. It pours a slightly cloudy, bright golden straw color with lots of effervescent bubbles and a creamy, milk-white cap and lacing. Its nose is quite fragrant with spicy hop notes accompanying the grain and malt. It's highly flavorful with dry barley, bready malt, sweet corn, white wine, yeasty, floral, earthy, grassy, herbal, and strong spice notes, and a moderate hoppy bitterness. I'm not very familiar with Hallertauer hops but they add a very appealing spiciness. It has a slightly Belgian farmhouse character. There is nothing bland about the taste - the flavors truly compliment each other. It has a bit of everything in the flavor. The mouth feel is crisp and lite with lively carbonation, and it's an easy drinker at 5.9% ABV. Overall, this is a classic Carton project: using ingredients available in New Jersey in the eighteenth century to produce a delicious Pilsener. I appreciate the nod to history. What a fun beer to drink on a hot summer's day!

I'll be back shortly with a local DIPA. Cheers, NBW!

 

One would think that is something one does once, learns ones lesson, and never does it again.

In my case I have done it quite a number of times, and I admit that once or twice I enjoyed the experience.

 

I need an IPA BREAK!!!! holy cow...

And this is just what the doctor ordered

Esperante Mexican Lager - Aslin Beer Co.



Poured from the can into a Libbey style pilsner glass.

Bright and gleaming, real nice brass lemon yellow with a real polished shine to the body. Faint hints of linear whispy carbonation in places as well. Head creation is classic soapy white, minimal retention at a thin three fingers with a fairly bubbled collar.

The nose is good mix of traditional lager and adjuct character. Slightly bready nose, but with touches of light herb and some adjunct light sweetness. Clean smelling. Airy if I could use the word, with a light sense of body coming. Solid, a better than average Mexican lager so far.

The palate doesn’t make any surprises, but nails this nicely. Slight corn pop flavor with touches of real nice chewy pils malt. Barely squeaking out herbal hop accent, with touches of light grain almost dry powdered flour. Medium bodied, and not a wet mess either.

I supposed I could have asked for more herbality, or bread character, but it's obvious that's not really to style here. However, they have done better than the average Mexican adjunct for sure here. Good pounder lager for a hot day. Delicious and simple and sometimes that's all you need.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | 4.02/5

Cheers!

 

Surly - Furious IPA



Please pardon the vomit inducing color scheme here.

So I've heard tons about Surly over the years, but living in New Hampshire I never had a chance to try any of their beers. People say their beer "isn't the same" because of course they do. But it's new to me so I don't have a reference point.

Can is about 2 weeks old.

Pours a hazy copperish amber color with a pretty decent sized khaki head. Leaves some gross "lovestains" around the glass as it settles into a ring.

The aroma is surprisingly malt-forward; like caramel bread. Does that exist? It does now. There's some faint grapefruit and orange but the caramel notes dominate. I wish caramel would dominate me. Anyway.

The citrus notes come out of the closet in the flavor: Grapefruit and fresh tangerines with a hint of orange zest. The caramel is very much present and adds a solidly sweet note between the citrusy beginning and earthy, dank, piney finish.

Feel is medium in body with crisp carbonation. Lingering bitterness, like an old war veteran. Nicely crushable.

Overall, I like it. It's a well made West Coast (or Midwest) style IPA. A 4-pack was $12.75 so yeah I'd buy this again.

 

Bitburger/Sierra Nevada Triple Hop'd Lager IPL, 5.8% ABV, 3.98 overall

Pours an effervescent & chill-hazed honey color with3 fingers of billowing ivory colored head

S: Grassy, some what bready

T: Soapy, some lemons, leafy hops & dryness up front, plus grassyness. Bready sweetness as this warms, more grassyness & dryness, plus herbal bittering hops. Finishes a little dry with woody & grassy notes

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, good balance

A nice take on the style, but doesn't seem much different than oldschool Bitburger to me

 

Well, if my 2015/2016 Bigfoot side-by-side yesterday didn't leave me horizontal like @VABA predicted, perhaps today's will. Instead of a year-over-year comparison, this is a variant-vs-base comparison.

The beers are both from Aslin, and the base beer is Mind the Hop, a beer I originally gave a very solid rating to in 2016. I've had it since, and find it to generally be one of Aslin's better brews even though it shows some of the 9.4% ABV it contains.

The new beer is Mind the Hop aged on Spanish Cedar. I took care to pour these into different glasses for identification purposes, though this was found to be unnecessary. The sunshine yellow with a dash of bronze color of the base beer turns towards bruised banana flesh, with the end product more like a lemonade-heavy Arnold Palmer. Head production might be a tad more foamy in the base, but all in all they are quite similar.



Mind the Hop (plain) has a juicy and herbal on the nose, this batch seeming a bit more pungent than fruity when compared to my original review. These notes are buried under a wooden aroma in the Spanish Cedar version. The wood notes turn the other scents towards a more floral impression than the somewhat distinct juice/herb notes of the base. Different... mildly intriguing... but not an improvement in my mind.

The taste of the Spanish Cedar isn't as juicy, either - but there are still some fruit notes. It seems to me the pineapple, mango, and light fresh peach notes of the base have turned more to the stone fruit with a little tropical sweetness, all of which is diminished by the wood aging. There's a lightly fruited tea with an earthy woodiness that comes out up front. It's enticing in its own right. The base's more obvious alcohol seems muted by all this, and perhaps makes its way through the wood notes to give an impression that a brief stint in a spirit barrel (rye, perhaps) may have been involved.

As such, the feel is better on the Spanish Cedar, especially with a woody dryness replacing a slightly sweeter ending from the base beer. Having these side-by-side, I can see a small thread that runs through both in the taste - one that is prominent in the base beer and more subtle in the wood-aged version. If I had them separately (especially blind), I'm not sure I'd notice it and probably wouldn't think the beers were related.

In the end, I think I like the Spanish Cedar a little better - it's a little less bold with a little more nuance. However, if I were looking for a juicy NE IPA, I'd revert back to the base beer. Edit: the GF said she liked the cedar-aged one by a little bit as well, which surprised her.

 

NBS #2. Twin Elephant Brewing's Slow Flows Remarkable, an 8.4% DIPA hopped with Strata and Ekuanot Cryo. I miss stopping at Twin Elephant on a Friday afternoon for a few sociable pours. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to open their outdoor space yet, which isn't surprising given its physical limitations and the municipal requirements. However, one benefit of the changed circumstances has been the brewery's increased canning.

This DIPA is tart and citrusy with notes of rye, wheat, oats, and cannabis. There is some astringency at the finish which I think will mellow (it was only canned 3 days ago). Twin Elephant is a high quality brewer and this ale is excellent. Here's my full BA review:

4.3/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Canned on 7/30/2020. Poured into a Twin Elephant pint glass. It pours an opaque, pastel brownish-lemon color with a half finger of creamy, bright white head and sudsy lacing. Its nose is bold and fruity with lemon, lime, grapefruit, pineapple, berry, and creamy oats. The taste opens with lots of tart lemon and grapefruit and a hint of onion, followed by some balancing oaty sweetness and dry barley and wheat. It's dank with prevailing notes of cannabis and sage. Only as the glass warms a bit does the pineapple pop. The flavors are nicely balanced. The use of English Ale Yeast is inspired as it gives the ale a clean taste without much sweetness. The can is fresh and it finishes with a touch of peppery astringency (which may dissipate over time). Twin Elephant describes it as "chuggable" despite its 8.4% ABV and I agree that it's remarkably easy to drink given that alcohol level. Overall, this is one of those beers where the the whole exceeds the sum of its parts. A lot of well-known craft brewers are distributing DIPAs to New Jersey that aren't as good as Slow Flows Remarkable.

 

Greetings all,
Another 90 degree+ day that grinds you down and makes everything thirsty. I've been constantly watering vegetables and ornamentals, but staying ahead of old Sol. Hurricane remnants show up some time tomorrow and should bring some good rain, some good meteorological trouble.
Today's beer is Fonta Flora Saloop, Weighing in at 8%alc/vol this brew is a double dry hopped double IPA aged on local Sassafras leaves and sporting Azacca, Enigma, and Idaho 7 hops.
Saloop throws a big rocky head that settles back into a permanent white cap, leaving gorgeous lacing at each sip. The beer is bright lemony yellow with an active bead feeding that white cap. A lovely looking beer. There is a fine malt nose laced with the lemon and lime zest. I find the sassafras more elusive. It is fresh smelling and inviting. The taste follows the nose with the sassafras now detectable, especially as the Imperial pint warms a touch.This is a very hoppy ale that does remain balanced and not simply hoppy angular as I feared.The hops interplay nicely with the citric additions. Very tasty indeed! Saloop is nimble on its little beer feet. It drinks lightly for an 8% brew, is bright and tingly, keeping your attention The mix of hops works and keeps things jumping. It is a mid weight and easy drinking big beer. I would definitely buy this rascal again. I love the overt hoppiness, the general clarity, and how the hops, lemon/lime zest and sassafras all work in unison. Very fine beer.
At The Atlanta Pop Festival in 1970 The Bob Seger System wowed everyone. I've loved all of Bob Seger's incarnations. That little book in the photo, Pedro Paramo by Juan Ruffo, published in 1955 is magical realism, and is likely the most perfect book I've ever read. Highly recommended, if you can find it. Cheers.....

 

Added this to my list of "wants" immediately after reading your review. One of the many amazing things about NBS / NBW is that almost every week I add one or more beers to my wants list based on the reviews you all post.

 

A Hefeweizen I am really enjoying.
Weiss from Gneiss Brewing Company of scenic Limerick Maine. Nice.



4.02/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

An easy pour yielded a finger of egg-shell white, rich soapy foam with long retention and small spots of lace. Very hazy (I can see my fingers but can't read through it) yellow straw color, yellow gold in bright light.

Mild smell of clove and banana greets the nose as expected. Shredded wheat with some toasted character in the background, faint lemony citrus and herbal hops join in.

Neutral on sweetness with low bitterness, yeasty bread and bubble gum appear during the taste. Items from the smell get their turn, however rich grainy malt is king. A slight tang is noticed as hop bitterness builds a little.
The finish clean, smooth and refreshing. The aftertaste lingers as wheaty malt and spicy hops slowly fade.

Medium-light bodied with lasting and plentiful carbonation. Smooth and session-able easy drinker, true to style and just plain enjoyable. I'm glad to see the BA score as 85, I don't see this as a 3.87 avg. Hefe. I'm going high on this one.

 

I try to make myself feel better by saying that I'm not laughing at me, I'm laughing with me

 

There once was a beer from Gneiss
Which the brewer simply named Weiss
On this Sunday new
You tried the brew
And found that it was quite nice

(note to self: no more side-by-siding 9+% beers)

 

Beer sounds great, and that's a great song. Bob Seger is one of those underrated artists that has almost faded into the background over the years. He finally allowed his music to be streamed a couple years ago, which hopefully will expose the next generation to his music.

 

He always has the money shots

 

I’ve already got a box I can send. IJS.

 

Beer twins for the minute, Cheers brother!


Trying this new Trillium & Vitamin Sea collab DIPA, Channel Charge, brewed with Citra and Rakau hops. I've had many, many Trillium beers, but none from Vitamin Sea. They are less than 2 years old, still new but making headlines with a lot of local talk and hype. Let me see how this beer is.

Brewery notes:

Released this past week, can dated 07/27/20


Pours a completely opaque turbid cloudy milky haze with a quickly dissipating head. Aromas conjure up some classic Trillium juicebombs from the old days, huge sweet tropical fruit, scallions as mentioned by @TheIPAHunter, some orange citrus zest, mango, pineapple, peach, apricot, grapefruit, melon, hint of caramelized malt, and dank earthy herbal resinous floral grassy pine. Taste is pungent, dank, tropical, citrusy stone fruits, a tiny bit of welcomed sweetness that is needed to balance the hops, a bit aggressive on the palate right now being less than a week old and a touch green I think, almost spicy, garlicy at times, some scallions, lightly bitter, dank resinous pine, alongside waves of huge juicy tropical citrusy stone fruits like peach, apricot, orange sorbet, candied melon, grapefruit, sweet pineapple, mango, a small hint of caramelized bready malts, and lingering earthy herbal floral grassy hop notes. Feels soft and smooth, gliding along, medium plus bodied, creamy with moderate low carbonation. Overall this is a real nice DIPA collab from Trillium & Vitamin Sea. The hop combo and malt bill are well done, this is extremely juicy and fruity but also pretty bitter, resinous and dank, with an actual good tasting malt bill imo that you don't always see in NEIPAs. The flaked oats and malted oats are a good addition I think with the barley, white wheat and C-15 crystal malt. I'm glad I have some more of these, as @TheIPAHunter said, this is probably the single best Trillium beer I've had in a minute. I didn't get the Really Big Bird or other DIPA releases as I've been staying home mostly and not venturing into the city. Glad I was able to get this along with some other good beers from them through their Trillivery delivery service. Can this always be a thing? Cheers!

On a side note, got a can of chickpeas, bout to make some homemade hummus for the first time. Have a bunch of seasonings and spices, don't have tahini though but I do have sesame seeds so I might try to crush some up and work my magic and come up with something tasty.