New Beer Weekend #4

Really liked that beer!

 

Damn, I leave for a month and you guys change the rules on me. My palate is a little out of practice, but I got a good bit of new ones still in the fridge. Being as it will be Sunday tomorrow and I slept all day until 6PM, then I will just do a morning review tomorrow. Cheers

 

Next up is something completely different-

Hermit Thrush Po Tweet

They're calling this a kettle sour, but it's so much more complex than any other kettle sour I've had; something nicely wild is afoot as well. There's a definite floral barnyard-funk quality in the nose and palate, as well as a woody note on the finish. God bless them if they inoculated with a blend of strains, because it really shows here. To say I'm pleasantly surprised would even be an understatement.

The basic thrust here is floral and fruity- meyer lemon and kumquat dominate, although apricot, star fruit and melon show themselves as well. There's an uncompromising slap of tartness, although it never gets harsh or unpleasant. The feel is velvety smooth and surprisingly full for a lower gravity sour; and there's enough of a citrus pith bitterness to keep everything else honest and tie it all together. Very impressive, and done right! Solid A (4.5), and I will definitely be going back for more.

 

p’Friem is possibly the best pils I’ve had and my son agrees with that assessment. I’m gonna start bugging our bottle shop to get more. Calling Mr. Faucher....

 

Holy shit, this Bayley Hazen blue cheese goes so well with this beer it's not funny. Perfect harmony, each bringing out the best in the other.

 

This one is a single hop (citra) IPA from a new, small town brewery in Miramichi, New Brunswick. Classic citra hop aroma, but a quickly receding head and minimal carbonation. Flavor is initially fine, but the beer suffers from notable astringency. Not a drain pour, but this is a one-and-done for me.

 

Final pour for today, this one by way of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Founders Marvelroast



I believe this previously was limited to the taproom and or Michigan. Founders opened up distribution this year, at least as far as Illinois. I try to get any new Founders or Bell's offering, since they brew great beers across many styles. Let's dive in.

Tale of the Tape: 12 oz, bottled June 21, 2020, refrigerated since being rescued from room temperature storage at Binny's. 8% ABV, 20 IBU.

Appearance: Clear golden pour, substantial carbonation sustained throughout. Nice creamy white head lingers for a few minutes before giving way to live nominal lacing but a solid ring around the snifter glass rim. For some reason I forgot this was a blonde ale and not a stout, but caught this too late while pouring into a snifter vs. a proper pint glass. Very nice looking beer regardless. 4.50

Aroma: Very sweet aroma, roast coffee leads, sweet vanilla and roast chocolate follows. Lactose also noted. Nine out of ten dentists would caution proceeding with tasting by aroma alone. No hops or malt noted, all adjunct flavor. 3.75

Taste: Taste follows aroma, very sweet concoction. Milk chocolate takes the lead, rich. Vanilla and lactose follows. Coffee covered up by the preceding ingredients, as well as any semblance of hops or malt. No beer tastes however, adjuncts are fine but they should compliment, not dominate.While there was truth in advertising the sweet ingredients, I had hope to have coffee lead and more of a beer taste. This is just like a frosty chocolate malt cup on a warm summer day. Great desert, though not beer. The sweet taste, however, is pleasant. Very hard to come up with a score consistent with rating for style with this pour Rated below average because this has no semblance of a golden ale. Perhaps subliminally I picked the right glassware after all. 2.5

Mouthfeel: Fizzy carbonation persists, creamy medium rich body, your infant or child will love this pour, the chocolate malt sundae can replace any desert offering, and the abv is well hidden, though further experiments are required to determine whether providing this to children under 12 will hinder brain development. Sweet chocolate malt aftertaste. If Willy Wonka were to make a beer, this is it. 3.75

Overall: This offering is a great desert offering, though the adjuncts overwhelm any semblance of beer. Would I drink this in lieu of desert? Sure. Would I call this a beer or rather adjuncts run wild? The latter. Would I buy this in the future? Doubtful. Good tasting offering but overkill on the adjuncts. Scored below average strictly based on deviation from golden ale. 2.75

Would like opinions as to how others treat beers that taste good, but deviate greatly from what a typical beer of the style tastes like. The more I delve into beer, and I'm close to 2,000 different offerings at this point, the more I like well executed basic beers vs. beer masked by tons of adjuncts. Will be taking a lengthy walk after the Vegas vs. Hawks game to burn off the calories and likely sugar buzz I anticipate lingering for the next few hours.

 

Made even better after they put it into 6ers of 12oz cans. Such a treat...will defintely get my fill in a couple weeks during my annual Bend climbing trip.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

My weekend has finally begun, and I'm going to enjoy it in style. Tomorrow I'm headed off to South Dakota with a good friend, and we're going to enjoy a small bit of the beer scene there. There will be 2 brewery stops - 1 in Brookings, and the other in Sioux Falls. I know I need it, and so does he.

Since I'm doing the South Dakota thing tomorrow, I'd better do a South Dakota beer tonight.


Pechenom from Eponymous Brewing in Brookings, South Dakota. It clocks in at 8.2% ABV.

First off, I don't know why Imgur put the picture sideways.

Second off: I really like this beer. The peach has a nice tart, and sour flavor, but it also has a faint hint of the sweetness from the peach. The carbonation is good. The body is good.
Just an all around good beer, and I might just get another bottle of it there tomorrow.

Review:

4.24/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottled on 2-3-2019
Bottle #236 of 300

Pours a hazy, murky peach color. 2 finger white, and fluffy head. The head retention is decent, and it dissipates to a ring around the edge of the glass.
The nose is a sour peach aroma. Really no other way to put it. It is barrel aged, and I do think the barrels add just a hint of aroma to this beer.
Taste - This is a tart peach flavor. The tart, and slightly sour flavor lingers. Mixed into that is just the faintest hint of the sweetness from the peaches.
The feeling is quite dry. The tartness lingers. The carbonation tickles my throat. The body is full.
Solid barrel aged saison with peaches.


I think I'll be sipping on this for the rest of the night. See you all later, maybe even on the road tomorrow.

 

New Christian Moerlein beer #2
Here's the brewer's notes

Here's the pour

The review:
12oz can stamped CMB8 0195 (July 13, 2020?) poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 4.8% ABV 18 IBU. The beer pours bright light golden amber in color with off white head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and nothing else. The aroma is savory with a bit of smoke, salt & pepper. The taste is fairly nuetral grain with a hint of smoke, salinity & black pepper. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium to thin bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, ok. Interesting concept to mimic a breakfast sausage, but really restrained in the execution.

We are headed to West Lafayette tomorrow with our son who is moving into his dorm Monday. Hoping to pick up a few beers there but not sure if there will be an opportunity to share. Cheers all and enjoy your new beer this weekend!

 

Dorm? Damn. Positive thoughts going out your way. My younger son is just starting too, but it'll be all remote classes this semester.

My older one is at UCONN, and from what he said they are quarantining the underclassmen to keep things under control.

It's a difficult situation no matter what policy is in place. Here's hoping it all works out well.

 

Well, going to have a late night sip of a beer I mentioned to @BrewsOverHoes a month ago when I saw his New Realm beer. This is a barrel-aged beer from them, the first of any non-pale beer I've had from the brewery.

Slightly sadly, after I poured Wooded Reserve Doomsday Hound, I hit the edge of the glass with the bottle, and it chipped the beer. Luckily, no beer was really lost, save for a little after I transferred to an uncracked glass. Found the little shard of glass still in the old glass, so I'm good to go...

The head built up fairly well, and while it didn't fizzle away, it wasn't really hiding its discomfort sitting atop the abyss of the body. Nose is more interesting. First little whiff I get generic brownie notes. Then I inhale a little deeper, and I get a plum and raisin note, which I am hoping is not an indication of a little infection. Lastly, a long sniff gives me brownie, dark brown sugar, coconut, and a little of that plum/prune note. The barrel adds a little accent as well.

First sip is thin and not very carbonated. I am actually someone who doesn't mind a light stout, but the lack of carbonation helps give a watery impression. I don't think doing a double pour would be enough to flatten the beer this much. A second sip and I do get the carbonation I can see in a ring around the beer up front, but it dissipates quickly as the beer works towards my esophagus.

Weak coffee and cola, followed quickly by a hint of prune start the flavor profile for me. More cola and chocolate licorice (not black) form the middle taste as the plum sorta turns into a moderately priced whiskey soaked currant. The back I get a little of the chocolate, which grows as it warms (thankfully), but the whiskey-soaked tangy fruit note continues to loiter after giving up the wheel.

It doesn't really taste infected, at least not horribly so. I can get a little tang from barrels at times, but this seems between these two sensations. In the end, I'm fairly disappointed. In reading the two other reviews, I'm definitely getting a little different experience, but not outrageously different - and I am definitely not enjoying it as much as the others.

 

My first stout in eons given its summer, from our last BIF. @FBarber

Half Acre Double Benthic BBA with toasted coconut done with whole bean coffee, 14% Abv.

Thick and viscous, tons of chocolate. Completely blacked out, little head. Super boozy lots of bourbon, they didn’t leave that out, a bit sticky. I let it sit too long the coconut has faded, but stouts for me are usually seasonal, so I’m out of season. The coffee is still there, that didn’t fade so much, but I’ve had fresh coconut stouts and couldn’t find the coconut. My palate is always a bit off. This would be a great winter sipper reading a nice book, a bit of bourbon on the side, just relax and enjoy the night. Overall exactly what you’d expect from a big stout, super long finish as well, warming, just a ton of chocolate for me, sweet, but not overly so. This screams for a Russels 12 yr old single barrel chasing the beer. Great beer enjoying a sipper instead of slamming a Pils in this heat. Appreciate the beer, love HA beers.

 

Bentonville Brewing's Salted Cherry Gose, 4.1% ABV, 3.51 overall

Pours an effervescent pinky orange with rapidly falling beige head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Cherries, tart lemon

T: Follows the nose, along with salt & dryness up front. Lime salt, salt & tartness as this warms, some sour cherry notes as well. Finishes dry, salty & tart with lime & just a little cherry

MF: Medium body with slight carbonation

Respectable take on the style, but certainly not one I would buy again

 

A dark fruit or plum/prune/raisin flavor isn't reminiscent of infection, it is a typical flavor from dark caramel malts like C-90 or C-120 and other darker malts. Infection usually gives off a sour flavor.

 

The Pub my wife used work in, The Deddington Arms used to keep a nice pint of that