New Beer Weekend #5

Went to the Mütter Museum in Philly today and stopped by Crime & Punishment on the way home. Now technically I had tried Space Race once before, but it was a small pour with @CanConPhilly and @JamFuel so I was not able to review it. Now that I have time to actually review I figured I was post it here!
4.46/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

32 oz crowler poured into a tulip

A- A hazy golden straw with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, pineapple, mango, some melons, piney, somewhat dank.

T- Citrus, melons, some tropical fruits, piney, slightly dank, hints of mango and pineapple.

M- Smooth, creamy, medium body.

O- A tasty NEIPA, nice balance between juicy and bitter, easy to drink.

Cheers!

 

As I celebrate Bayern Munich's Champions League win today, I figured a German style beer would be appropriate, and this may be the only one I have on hand that is new to me. That said, it's not like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one.....Marie, from Hill Farmstead


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

Canned 8/4/20. Pours a clear, light straw color appropriate for the style with an inch of frothy head that lasted maybe a minute before fading away. Aroma is grass, grain & bread. Taste is fresh bread, grain & maybe a little biscuit. Finished crisp and clean with some nice, light hops. While lagers almost never seem to pull huge ratings on BA, this is an absolutely fantastic Helles Lager. Super clean, and the kind of beer you could throw down several of without blinking an eye.

 

Hey a shitty old ass beer to an insane ticker is my reason for living. Everywhere I go I’m looking for you. Next up the Nashville Beer, they looked nasty as well and they're bottles not cans. So stale cardboard and maybe BO comes to mind. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, but I wouldn’t touch the stuff.

 

Hawk Moth's Somewhere in Between Bie're de Garde, 6,2% ABV; 3.78 overall

.5 mL Bottle pours a very effervescent & slightly hazed copper/orange with a thumb of rocky tan head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: Grassyness & phenols

T: Toastyness, faint juicy-fruit flavor, a little dryness, plus pear & a little brown sugar up front. Leafy & a little bit of woody hops mix with pear and phenols as this warms, along with toasty dryness, plus green apple skin. Finishes toasty & dry with grassyness & phenols

MF Medium body & restrained carbonation

Solid take on the style, drinks easy enough

 

Had a pretty decent day so far... went to a local brewery and had their APA and Rye IPA with a burger from the food truck that was parked there, then went and picked up a four pack and stopped by my parents' place for a bit to hang out. Now back home and ready to crack open some new beers. I'm off for the next few days because I'm in COVID Suspicion-Induced Time Out. Aww shucks. Highly doubt I have it but guess I'll take the days off while I am having them handed to me.



Oxbow's Northern Lager is a "classic lager" brewed with 100% malted barley and select Maine-grown hops. It clocks in at a light and sessionable 4% ABV. These guys have been doing some really good less-expensive offerings lately, so I'm hoping this stacks up.

The pour is a little kellerbier-like with a slight haze. Golden-orange body with some goldenrod highlights if held up to light. Stable head of eggshell-white foam measuring about a half-finger. No lace, but solid legs and good surface coverage. Decent pour for sure.

The nose is slightly sulfury and herbal with some grassiness and soft spice. Smells like US Tettnanger maybe? A touch of bready and doughy maltiness, wheat-like crackery grain with a soft approach to it. Maybe a bit of mineral presence. Smells mostly unassuming.

On the tongue, Northern Lager is a drinkable and approachable European style lager that shies away from typical German or Czech pilsner stylings. Not as much spicy or bright, floral hop notes, instead opting for a more malty design that still stays quenching and drinkable at its low ABV. I get a bit of sourdough and light lemon-y stylings here if I dwell on it, but this really is not a beer to be dwelt upon or thought of too much. It's very normal and uninteresting for the most part, but that also means it's pretty well-made. Oxbow has been doing some good stuff in this realm recently, though this is definitely their most "plain" beer yet, at least of the ones I've had. I would gladly recommend this to macro drinkers looking to expand into the local-ish craft realm, as there's very little about it that's challenging or difficult. Feels a bit stronger than its ABV lets on, but the flavor profile is smooth and appreciable for what it is. Can't see anything wrong with it, really. Not exciting as a "New Beer" for today, but I have a few more up my sleeve, considering my time-out



Definitely one of the most exciting and kinetic death metal albums I've heard in 2020 thus far. SO much going on, but it feels so tight and enjoyable, too.

 

A truly new beer most have not had yet, (including I would guess the BA who added it to the database)...Cycle Brewing’s “Cuvee - Just Coconut” a blend of stouts aged between 18-20 months in Heaven Hills bourbon barrels, then aged with a variety of raw and toasted coconut. Released last week as one of several 7th Anniversary Cuvée single adjunct BBA Imperial Stouts...



At 53 degrees poured jet black, the slightest rim of ruby, with a super fast fizzy reddish tan head that completely disappeared in two seconds and left behind an incomplete ring, a small oil slick of cap, no lace and a Ton of coconut flakes/flecks floaties; thin legs. Coconut, bourbon, toasted marshmallow, chocolate, bourbon retro nasal - exhilarating! Taste is coconut, bourbon, chocolate, toffee; tastes like a coconut macaroon dipped in bourbon; dark fruit - cherries, plums; as liquid warms, hints of fennel and star anise; dark chocolate, bourbon, coconut finish. Full body without being adjuncty; smooth silky slick feel; mouth warmth from 11%. Overall, I’m drinking a luxurious dessert beer, without the sweetness or the syrupy feel. Just bourbon, coconut and chocolate.
4.0 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.75 | 4.75
Score: 4.75 rDev 0%

 

Tucher Helles Hefe Weizen

I first noticed this a few weeks ago, and it appears to be in all the bottle shops and places like WalMart.

No intelligible date code on the cans, but no sign of deterioration from aging, either.
Pouring it into a Weiss glass, there is a healthy head, and golden haze.
There is a strong coriander aroma, and a variety of flavors, clove, pear, Apple pie, creamsicle, light banana.
Plenty of carbonation and a coating mouthfeel and aftertaste.
If future cans live up to my first impression, I will be buying this as often as Paulaner and Weihenstephaner.
The German website, tucher.de, is interesting.

 

If this was a just world, my target in NBW BIF #12 would receive this beer, but too much runway between the canning date and when we can ship.

All the cool kids in Northern Indiana and Michigan are chasing this, and for good reason - it is FIRE, as the kids like to say today.





4.5/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This looks just like the base beer, which in my recollection looks like a glass of the greatest orange juice you’ve ever had. The nose is full of ripe orange aromas, pineapple, grapefruit - and, in the background, strawberries. Drool.

The taste has a significant amount of dank from the citrus flavors, but the superstar of this show is the strawberry, which manages to complement the citrus flavors, something that concerned me when I picked this up.

The mouthfeel is full bodied and on the dry side, which fits my preference. What a pleasure it is to drink this beer.

 

I was thinking of draining the Nashville Beer today, but, another time for that one.

 

Can’t be a tick without drinking it.

 

The Boss Tweed is the Boss.

 

Oh, I'll drink it. Just not today. I haven't eaten yet....

 

Lol, wonder how old that one is.

 

Research shows it's circa the early 80's as well.

 

Memory, both a blessing and a curse No problem!

 

This is one of those beers that I don't think I've had before, but it's definitely possible I did, but I also don't remember having it whatsoever, so... I probably didn't. Everyone's got some beers like that, right?

This is Honest Weight Brewing's Gate 37, a grisette with buckwheat clocking in at an appreciable 4.8% ABV. It pours a mostly-clear bright yellow color with a generous dollop of foam topping it off. Though the foam dissipates pretty quickly to settle down at around a half-finger, it does leave behind excellent legs and lacing in a tiered fashion, with a nicely covered surface to boot.

The nose is bright lemon rind and appreciable phenolic notes from the Belgian yeast combined with a touch of spice and funky florals. Dusty yeast notes and some soft wheat-like complexity come out as it warms, and the clove really becomes a bit more prominent as that temperature acclimation happens as well. I will say that this is a little more intense in the nose than I expected. Kinds crackery and grassy too... alright, I'm roped in.

Flavor profile is soft, damp wheat and nutty from the buckwheat addition with a helping of grassy hops in the mid-palate. The finish is spicy and clove-forward with some bright lemon balancing things out. Thirst-quenching and palatable like most grisettes tend to be. This is kinda more in the Belgian pale ale vein than some more saison-like grisettes I've had, though. Sure, there's some phenols and spice, but it's actually pretty clean, and the buckwheat/wheat gives it a maltier and more balanced note than some drier light saisons I've had.

 

Gotta be a 70s edition of something out there somewhere. An old stale Iron City from 1977 would be sweet, or Reading, or Gibbons or Red White and Blue or Valley Forge. I’m stuck at 6 month old beers as an outlier. Nice to be a good sport.

 

Hofbräuhaus Traunstein Josef Sailer KG, Maximilian sei stark (Maximilian Dopple Bock)
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2876/444820/
https://www.hb-ts.de/bier/maximilian-sei-stark/#start

look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Tested from a glass crowler pulled from a tap at a bar.
Body is brown, but it's reddish brown when held up to a light. not much head..ok it went kinda flat over night.
Smell is Plum, raisin, bread.
Taste: Plum, raisin, bread, caramel and maybe a hint of anise. Smooth and sweet. But not too sweet. You can taste the alcohol but it seems to fit in. Almost could give this a 4.25 for taste.
Mouth feel is just ok.
A Solid Dopplebock, Is just below the best from Germany.

On a side note I also tried :
Fürsten Trunk festbier on tap at a semi secret bar/tap room in Saint Paul, MN. It was very good, Impressive. But It tasted more like a Dortmunder or a hoppy Helles more than a festbier.
https://www.hb-ts.de/bier/fuerstentrunk/#start
ttps://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2876/6787/