New Beer Weekend #2

For tonight’s NBW offering, I have a couple of Mexican-style beers from a Michigan brewery. What a great beer nerd world we live in.



NOTE: I added this beer as an American Lager. Given the number of “craft” Mexican lagers popping up (and stories about that style as a specific subcategory of lager), it may make sense to add that nomenclature as a beer style.

4.1/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

An aggressive pour reveals a very slightly hazy maize-colored beer with a sudsy white head. There are bready malt notes accompanied by grassy hop aromas and a distinct (to my nose) sweet corn aroma.

The sweet corn is especially prominent on the taste, but there are plenty of bready malt flavors for balance. The mouthfeel is crisp, lending to the crushable quotient for this fantastic lawnmower beer.

 

Good afternoon, all, and Cheers to New Beer Weekend! My new beer is one I've been hunting for a while. I wanted to try a glitter beer, but most of the ones I'd heard about were available only on tap and not anywhere close to here. Then DuClaw, in collaboration with Diablo Doughnuts, came out with Sour Me - Unicorn Farts, brewed with fruity cereal and edible glitter - and in cans. I was never able to find it on my trips back to Ohio, but @PA-Michigander was kind enough to hook me up with some just recently. Let's get to it.

Poured from a 16-ounce can into a stemmed tulip glass. Cloudy orange in appearance, with swirling clouds of glitter. A finger or so of white head quickly dissipated without leaving a trace. The fruity character begins to come through more as the beer warms from fridge temperature. Hints of bubblegum give way to flavors of Fruity Pebbles cereal, which complement the sour character of the beer quite nicely. The light biscuity malt backbone is solid but not overpowering, giving a nice balance to the beer. The finish is crisp, with a little lingering fruity tartness on the palate and the lips. Overall, this is a pretty good beer. Be sure to agitate it gently before pouring to get the glitter back into suspension - if you like that sort of thing, that is.



3.88/5 (rDev -2.3%)
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

 

I am all about beers that look like melted orange sherbet.

 

It looks like orange sherbet but it's a lot more bitter.

 

Happy New New England DIPA Sunday!

Pretty nice fuckn' hot day on the Western Slope, sunny, around 93 at the trailhead. Big fire in the Bookcliffs, lot's of smoke. Having a pretty tasty brew, surprised me. Might be back with another new beer.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18006/420306/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

One of the top American Rock singers/songwriters IMHO. Night moves with its backing band, among others just rocks.

 

One more for me this weekend, although this one is not local.



Funky Buddha's Saint Toddy.

Pours a murky dark burnt-orange with hues of brown. Head is a finger and a half off just-off-white foam that retains well. Aroma is loaded, hitting with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean, orange peel, apple brandy, char, raisins and toasty, caramely, bready malts. It firms lands on the 'sweet' side of the scale between sugary and bitter. Flavor profile is very similar, offering up a laundry list of notes with an extra sprinkle of sugar on top. Cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean, raisins, toffee, molasses, plum, char, apple brandy and toasty, nutty, caramely and bready malts forming the base. That base is a little weak for the layers of flavor on top, leaning the structure into 'firmly sweet' with not enough to bring within equilibrium. Mouth feel is medium in thickness with a crushed velvet effervescence at the back of the throat that elevates this a notch or two past slick and smooth. Overall, a sugary soup in each and every sip. It's not to say it's bad, but it firmly leans towards being served as a dessert beer or something to be shared with others in smaller doses.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 4.06 | rDev: -3.8%

 

#2, with the Mexican Cake discussion earlier in the thread, this beer fits. In case you haven’t noticed, I am the president of the Transient fan club. They rock, IMHO.





4.59/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours black with mahogany on the edges and a dark tan that sizzles out of the bottle and as it rapidly dissipates. The barrel is with this massive stout on the nose, with tequila and bourbon notes present to accompany the cacao nibs and especially the cinnamon, which is most prominent. The chiles are acting shy on the nose - you know they’re present, but it’s difficult to spot them.

It is not difficult to identify them on the taste, though - they are at the tail end of every pull you make as a not-so-subtle heat at the very back of the palate, and are an exquisite finish to a flavor profile that leads with cinnamon, then works its way through the barrels and the cacao.

The mouthfeel is full and creamy, a trait I’ve found with all of Transient’s imperial stouts. This is a crusher in that spiced hot chocolate category where beers like Xocoveza and Mexican Cake reside. Welcome to the party!

 

Hell ya, love that can, but seriously that green label bottle with the red dot is iconic.

 

Hello NBW.
Probably wont get into Saturdays for quite awhile, of ever with restaurant cooking. Anyhow I like Sundays amd Ive been absent quite alot lately do to working in Maine 5 days a week. Yesterday was 13 hours in a 100+ degree kitchen nonstop, no breaks. Never left the building from 930am until 11pm. Anyhow Im home now and have some time. I am fairly close, a little farther north, to the Boothbay region. I picked this up canned 7/22.
Lets see waht we have with
Boothbay Craft Brewery
Thirsty Botanist IPA
Pours a golden orange, not thick but hazy, with a two finger head of sea foam that dies rather quickly leaving scant traces of lacing.
Aroma is big citrus- tangerine predominately with hints of red grapefruit, lemon, garlic, beach rose and pine and maybe a scant touch of green banana as well.
Nice fruity aroma.
Taste follows with lots of the citrus and pine, some grassiness and not very much in the malt dept. I was expecting more heft or body in the flavor here. Its good just the aroma had me anticipating more depth.
Feel is medium. Its drinks more like a summer NEIPA which is not bad. It starts out with just a little fruit with a drying pleasantly bitter aftertaste.
Its a clean tasting well brewed beer that gets you very excited with its aroma and finished quite nicely, I just feel theres something missing in the middle.
Good beer. Could be a lighter bodied juicy beer for summer consumption. Not weak in the ABV at 7% but lighter than many. Worth a try if you can get your hands on some.
4 weeks left and hopefully I will be back again on a more consistent basis.
Enjoyed all your reviews Ive read so far and will finish reading tonight. Enjoy your evening and week.

 

New for me on Fri, posting it today after a weekend of baseball games. And it’s hot.

From Wilmington Brewing it’s Palm Tree Island PA, 5% abc. Nicely clear, great head , carbonation in right on. Super fruity but I can’t pick out a specific fruit, nicely bitter, really perfect balance. And the more I drink of these the more I like and respect the balance. It might sound simple but the brewer here used restraint, and a ton of flavor out of 5 % abv. Case worthy and you can drink many if these, the brewer hit a hr here.

 

I had both of these recently for the first time, enjoying the cedar one considerably more so.

However, cedar and IPAs seem to push the right buttons for me, as I also really dig the Cigar City versions of Jai Lai on Cedar tremendously.

 

Yes, I was actually surprised how well the cedar addition worked, pleasantly so.

 

Early morning bike ride, stopped by the beach for the sunrise, storm far offshore was providing a little chop.

I agree with the texturing. Looks almost like leather. I am limited to local pictures. Pandemic cancelled two trips to Utah for me this year. Here’s a favorite from a page Arizona slot canyon from 2 years ago. See the grinch face? More textures in images...

 

That one is even good heated up in a mug. Cheers!

 

While making dinner I tried Flying Dog Tropical Truth, which is a new take on their The Truth DIPA. I enjoy The Truth and I am a fan of fruited IPAs so I figured that I would enjoy this and I did. It's made with passion fruit and Mango puree and both are definitely present, heavy on the nose and there on the taste. The hops now play a secondary note which for me is great but for others that may be a negative; but there is a moderate bitterness to round it out. Enjoyable beer and was nice on this hot day.

After dinner was Devil's Backbone Munchan on Hops Bavarian IPA. This is a hoppy, bready and fruity notes beer collaboration with Spaten. I went in not expecting too much but it's pretty good! All of the mentioned notes are there and it's a pretty complex beer and there is a lot going on here; the 6.7% is well hidden. I am liking this more than I thought that I would and I would drink again. @JackHorzempa

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 7/21/20. Pours a hazy yellow orange with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves big thick streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Smell is pineapple, tangerine, passionfruit, cantaloupe, and apricot. 4.5

Taste follows cantaloupe, pineapple, tangerine, passionfruit, and apricot really balanced and tasty. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a little above medium, soft gentle carbonation, not dry or sticky, and at 8% really easy drinking and thirst quenching. 4.5

Overall this is a top tier shelf beer from Hoof Hearted Brewing. Highly recommend this one. 4.5