New Beer Weekend #11

Afternoon, new beer weekenders! Stunning weather today. Played 9 holes this morning, took my girl to her soccer game, then took both kids on a quick brewery run to pick up an online order.

Now contemplating this Foederbier from Tonewood. Here is my impression:





Look: Pours translucent and cloudy. Straw color. A gorgeous, bone white, fluffy head with great retention. Some visible carbonation. Lacing and suds as I drink.

Smell: It smells crisp from the grassy hop notes. A little biscuity sweetness. It’s not bursting out of the glass, but it smells very nice.

Taste: It has an approachable level of grassy and bitter hoppiness that puts me in Germany. Finishes clean and bready. If I was drinking this beer blind I would not say it’s oak aged. The can says notes of oak and soft vanilla. I can see it, but not obvious. Delicate. It would be great to try this against the base beer not aged in oak.

Feel: Light bodied, medium plus level of carbonation which works great. Semi-dry.

Overall: Really nice beer. I love seeing unique local beers like this. More wood-aged lagers I say.

Two great beer slogans:



Not a cloud...well...one cloud, in the sky. Like I said. Stunning.



Angus agrees.

 

Oh wow, thank you for the flashback...I think Great Divide's fresh hop was my first fresh hop as well, and I remember being blown away (link to review, updated several times in subseqent years). It was well before I learned about the impact of freshness on IPAs. I do remember seeing it with old dates on it, and I haven't tried it in years. I would love to try it again relative to my much greater understanding of fresh hops now.

 

Jam packed!!!!

Like a tart blackberry jam . The red fruit ones are equally good .

 

Wow! Thanks for sharing your reviews I loved reading them especially how each year changed a bit. Reading your initial review was like reading my memory of that beer. It’s funny you put amazing lacing too, I think it’s so weird how much I remember that beer (or experience maybe). I’m gonna try and find it again this year, Im assuming they still make it. Enjoy the rest of fresh hop season out there for all us not in the PNW!

 

Lol, yep that was a terrific beer, I enjoyed every drop.

 

Many thanks for getting us started @superspak! I don't envy moving, probably the thing I hate worst in life.

Left the comfy confines of the house this week, and endured the smoke to grab and deliver this to my buddy's cabin.



Even before my addition to his cabin digs, he had a bunch of OH brews for me. So here's the first from that Midwest haul, Hoppin' Frog's Florida Turbo Shandy, 7.0%.

Illegibly dated can into a goblet glass.

L: Slightly hazy orange bronze with 1 finger of medium-density white heat with good retention and left minimal spotted lacing.

S: Lots of citrus, noticeably at a distance immediately after pouring. Bright orange citrus persists.

T: Not as potent as the nose, and there's just a slight bit of artificial/synthetic aspects coming through. Finishes with limited bitterness, moderate astringency, and plenty of acidity, astringency lingers a bit drying the palate.

F: Low-medium bodied with higher carbonation, lively on the tongue, slick on the swallow.

O: Another good shandy from Hoppin Frog. That said, of all the ones I've tried from them, this one does have some undesirable synthetic taste aspects. Nevertheless I enjoyed this beer which is scary easy drinking for the ABV and great in warm weather. Wouldn't make a good lake/river beer for me personally, too crushable for the ABV. Really somewhat surprised that this style hasn't caught on more, given how much the juicy IPA has become a thing.



BA score = 3.97, rDev = +15.4%

(of note there's a single 1.34 rating that's driving the statistical spread, sad as the 3 reviews are all equal or above mine)

Likely back with either the CA (grape) or OH (cherry) variant yet this weekend.

 

Pours a very nice clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, anise and vanilla hints
The taste follows the nose with a well balanced ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, anise and vanilla flavor
A medium bodied very well carbonated beer
A great cream ale

 

I've had a backlog of IPAs and some of them are starting to get dated...need to start working through some of the older ones before they fall off completely.

Murko Polo from Austin Brothers in Alpena, Michigan. 16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated 08/03/2020.

Pours a hazy amber-yellow with a really big head and medium carbonation. Smell is primarily cut grass, maybe some lemongrass as well.

Taste is more evened out and pleasant -- some lemon, some grass, some juiciness. Some pith.

Mouthfeel is medium to thick. Overall, not bad, not great.

 

Pours a very nice clear golden color with a nice head and lacing
Aroma has citrus and floral hints
The taste follows the nose with a well balanced citrus and floral flavor
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good IPA

 

Hey what's going on! Oh SNAP! I am missing out on Orval day!

Hooray weekend. Man what a gorgeous day today. Spent the last hour planting outside and I am aching. Ground is hard! Lots of digging..

All that made me thirsty too, on a very sunny day.

What's new for our hero this weekend!! So new I had to add the brewery to the BA database to even ADD the beer before I could review it!

CRAZY!!

Zhigulevskoe Pivo (Жигулевское пиво) from the brewery of the same name!



Poured from the bottle into a pokal glass.

Bright deep brass yellow color, with crystal clear clarity. Bright white classic lager like head, about two fingers, and settles a good pencil thick collar. Some nice reams of fine carbonation round it out.

Simple nose. Aroma hits of light grain, touches a little bit of possible corn sweetness, but also a little bit of burnt grain just by a hair. Fairly clean, straight forward and a bit macro like but nothing terribly off putting or exciting either.

Odd palate. Mid palate seems to be your standard mass lager fare. Slight corny sweetness of malt, a bit of crispness in feel, quite a solid lager mouthfeel actually. Finish though has a very strange aftertaste. There is a touch of herbal hop slightly, but also a sense of blackened earthy quality. Later sips seem to let this slide, as the beer continues to some basic mass lager flavors of light corn and minimal malt flavor.

Pretty solid basic lager, but has a weird finish that is hard to put into words.

look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5 | 3.58/5

здоровье !!!

Cheers!

 

Distant Messenger, Pineapple Golden Stout, 13.4 abv
Bought this a couple of months ago and decided to see what the fuss is about. Opened it and was met with a rich aroma with a lot of stuff going on so I was subsequently thrown off when I poured it in the glass and it was a translucent dark gold, wow. Anyhoo, I took a sip and found this is indeed the cat’s meow, daddy-o, and Morris never had it so damn good! I would buy 5 of these if they were 10-12 apiece but of course they are not. It’s expensive but also otherworldly and I will hopefully track another down soon, cheers! Have a great weekend and let’s drink to everybody’s health!


4.61/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

My first Bottle Logic beer, cost me 26 so eager to see if it lives to the hype, here go: Dark golden color, a decent amount of head in a fairly hard pour into my snifter. The aroma is glorious; pineapple, vanilla, some coffee and malt. The taste is stupendous, pineapple, coffee, vanilla, coconut with a nice malt backbone from the golden ale. A little boozy with barrel notes, bourbon, but it’s delicately and perfectly balanced, what a treat! It packs a wallop at 13.4 but drinks smoothly and goes down a little faster than I would prefer but omg is this terrific. Final analysis is that while the price tag is high for 16.9 oz this is a special concoction that was expertly crafted and I look forward to a repurchase of this beer as well as trying others from this brewer. Almost perfect.

 

Trying to get through the mountain of beers that the fabulous @FBarber sent me as part of the NBS BIF #12. Starting with the ipas first:



Toppling Goliath - Dolphin Sparkles - ipa - 7.3% abv - canned 8/6/20

L - golden with a slight haze, one finger head dissipates and leaves some spotty lacing
S - sweet citrus
T - burst of orange, tangerine, and grapefruit, followed by grapefruit rind for a hit of bitter, tapering off into a lingering sweetness
F - medium carb and very sticky
O - Hopped with Nelson and Citra, but I'm not getting any typical Nelson flavors. Could be due to the canning date being nearly 2 months ago, but overall still a tasty beer.



Hop Butcher For The World - Unwind Your Mind - ipa - 7.5% abv - canned 9/19/20

L - opaque straw, plenty of white fluffy head leaving rings of lacing as it slooowly dissipates
S - sweet citrus, dank, grassy
T - intense tropical fruit, sweet but not cloying, tangy mango, pineapple, grapefruit, very mild piney bitterness to finish
F - creamy, full mouthfeel with a bit of dryness
O - All the Hop Butcher beers that Frank sent have been excellent, and this one is no exception.

 

Here we have Citra Fresh Hop IPA from Seapine Brewing here in Seattle. I am definitely making the most of fresh hop season this year, and this one is quite good. Cheers!

4.03/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

16oz can ("20268" on bottom of can, if that means anything) into a tulip. Pours a clear pale straw color with a nice sudsy white head, patchy lace. Looks inviting.

Aroma is big juicy citrus on the mandarin/tangerine end of the spectrum, some vague tropical/floral notes.

Taste follows nose. Clean neutral pale malt provides a blank canvas on which the juicy Citra hops really shine. A balanced blend of orange and grapefruit mostly, with a clean, gently acidic finish. Maybe a hint of lemon zest. I've had some fresh hop beers that just scour the palate clean with acidity, but this one is a bit more nuanced. Minimal bitterness.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium. Not watery, but you can taste/feel the water if that makes sense, and this beer is just that much more refreshing because of it.

Overall a delicious, understated fresh hop IPA. If it didn't say "IPA" on the can I'd think this might be better classified as an APA, as the bitterness is pretty low. Have to wonder what the IBUs are on this one.

 

Good afternoon NBW
I literally had to hold back a happy dance when this beer hit town Thursday

Fatheads Hop Stalker
12oz CANNED 09/21/20 (2 weeks ago) poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass at fridge temp 7% ABV 77 IBU. The beer pours mostly bright light honey amber in color with very light khaki head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring pine, resin & dank earthy notes. The taste is pungent dank bitterness laid over a backbone of barely sweet pale malt that finishes with pine, over ripe tropical fruit and earth. Moderately high bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, excellent. I had high expectations and I was not disappointed. Very pungent wet hop presence with an emphasis on earthy & dank flavor.

I had to squeeze this review in to judge whether to run back and grab additional $14/4 packs before it's gone. Headed back to the store on the way to a 6pm city JV girls soccer championship. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

I really liked that one. Cheers!

 

Free Them All from Mirage. This is maybe my fourth beer from them, and I just learned they're local -- the can says they're in Seattle. But, their website is completely useless, and Google Maps doesn't know where they are. I can tell you their fresh hop was in my top 5 of the year, and this beer is pretty solid...

16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated 09/10/20.

Pours pale yellow, very hazy, small head. Smell is mild, mostly lemon.

Taste is not quite mild, but headed in that direction. I get a little grain, a little lemon, something sweet and creamy. Medium bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is light and dry. Overall, it's a pretty good beer.