New Beer Weekend #12

Starting things off (beerwise) out on the patio on this beautiful fall Saturday afternoon here in the anarchist jurisdiction of Seattle with wetwired, a fresh hop collaboration from Cloudburst and Holy Mountain, also in Seattle. One of the better beers I've had from fresh hop season 2020. Preliminary review below. Cheers!

4.21/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

16oz (canned yesterday) into a tulip. Pours a hazy lemon yellow, looks just like so many other hazy fresh hop beers I've enjoyed over the last few weeks.

Aroma is punchy citrus and tropical fruit, juicy. Enticing.

Taste follows nose. Grapefruit, orange, peach, mango, pineapple ... it's all here. Nice bright acidity washes across the palate on the finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, balanced, crisp and refreshing.

Overall another outstanding NW fresh hop beer. And another one I might classify as a New England IPA rather than American IPA based on lower bitterness, hazy appearance, etc. But then I was never really a fan of creating a new style for this version of IPA anyway.

 

New Saturday beer #2

Clown Shoes A Fistful of Unidragon

16oz can stamped 10/23/19 (about a year old) poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 12.5% ABV. The beer pours impenetrable black with dense medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a cap and leaves a complete web of lacing. The aroma is mild with bittersweet chocolate. The taste is more bittersweet chocolate, charred roasted malt, faint oak and a hint of bourbon. Medium bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, very good, but disappointing at it's price point.

This is a good RIS, but I don't understand sending year old cans into a state when you are relaunching distribution, let alone at $10/16 can. I bought it and I'll enjoy it, but probably not a lot of new Clown Shoes beers on the horizon for me. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass tonight!

 

Fresh Wave from Structures, a moderately local brewery that, IMHO, should be extremely well known.

16oz can served in a big snifter. No date that I see. Bought it at Bottleworks yesterday.

Pours a hazy yellow color with a pretty respectable head that fades to a ring with a few islands and not much in the way of lacing. Smell is hops and more hops. Green and resinous.

Taste is tropical but dry, mango and a little pineapple but again not much sweetness. I get a strong bitterness, might characterize it as fruit skin primarily.

Mouthfeel is light and dry, though a little still. Overall, pretty good. I haven't met a Structures beer I didn't like, but this isn't my favorite from them.

 

Dovetail Brewery, Altbier
3.92/5 rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

drank from a 16oz can. Can states 4.2% ABV
Look: odd colored body. a murky/cloudy/hazy brown body. but under light it's more of a dark amber color. I take it this beer is unfiltered. A nice head that's tall fine and leaves some lacing.
Smell: mostly bread
Taste: bread, hop spice. The hop spice is rather complex, mostly herbal, plus floral and citrus. Fruit too. has sweet notes but is slightly bitter overall.

Odd beer worth trying out. 3.91/5
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45802/379194/

 

Skookum, another local brewery you've probably never heard of and that's your loss, made a fresh hop IPA named Wetside Connection.

16oz can served in a big snifter. Canned on 10/06/20.

Pours a hazy light yellow with a biggish head and plenty of fine carbonation. Head collapses and seems to be leaving some thick and even lacing. Smell is fresh hop resin.

Taste is ripe tropical flavors and a some resinous fruit skin bitterness. Mango, pineapple, lemon zest.

Mouthfeel is medium and dry. Overall, very nice.

 

Nice post! That dryness is what I love about that beer. It's really surprising, almost, considering how hugely malty it begins too.

 

Good eve-ning BA’s, as Alfred Hitchcock used to say, and it is my distinct pleasure to be here with all of you and have another new beer to share. Thank u Mr. Sawdog for ringing the bell early ( or late) and getting us off to a rousing start.
I’m trying my first fresh hop beer of the season, Logistics Fresh Hop Simcoe from Pueblo Vida Brewing in Tucson, AZ. They also have a mosaic after having Citra and Mosaic. This is fruity, but a little restrained from the earthiness but I like it as it’s an easy drinker. I’ll drink some of both before I get my hands on the Born Yesterday but I purchased a lot of good beer in the big city today, love this time of year!


4.21/5 rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

2020 Simcoe 100% Fresh Hops, and there’s also a mosaic version that I’ve yet to drink. Pours light gold, hazy, with a thin finger of head. Fresh herbal aroma with a panoply of fruit. Tastes light and refreshing like last years versions that I had on tap. Lot of tropical fruit, pineapple with some other flavors that aren’t readily identifiable. Herbal with a decent hop bite, a tad earthy also as
per their description. I love this brewery, the peeps including the nice young lady that made a furtive handoff in the alley after I ordered online, and look forward to when I can go
to the taproom again, cheers

 

Thanks! And I agree well said. A very enjoyable beer for sure.

 

Glad you enjoyed it for what it is!

 

Underverse Pumpkin Imperial Stout



4.29/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pint canned on 9/17/20 and poured into a DFH tulip. Nice tan head over a dark brown body. Smell is very malty with pumpkin cinnamon hints. Taste was very complex by pumpkin standards with lots of interactions going on between the spices. Mouthfeel was nicely creamy.

Masthead did very well here. I'm used to pumpkin stouts being one dimensional and boring. This is not. I gotta get some more.

 

Happy Birthday ! Cheers !

 

Thanks to everyone! The big day is tomorrow. The whole family is headed to Hot Springs for two hours of pickleball. Should be fun.

 

Pipeworks Oktoberfest
3.93/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

drank from a 16oz can
Look: semi transparent amber body. Nice tall fine head that lasts a long time leaving plenty of lacing.
Smell: bread
taste: bread, micro hint of caramel, a little dark fruit, maybe apple too. Plus some floral hops. Smooth and not very sweet. 4.1/5 for flavor.

easy drinking, I like it 3.98/5 overall
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28178/365833/

 

This is another good American Oktoberfest that is toasty yet refreshing; while it is not at the top of my list of favorites of the style, it is worth seeking out for its freshness and excellent malt profile. The can has some very nice artwork as well.

 

Ozark Hula Haze IPA. 6.2% ABV, with Wai-iti hops, working for me 4.13 overall

Pours a hazed gold/honey with a thumb+ of eggshell colored head. Stays hazy, great lacing & above average head retention

S: A little coconut & pineapple

T: Follows the nose, but stronger, dryness & a little lime up front. Lime, coconut, dried pineapple & guava as this warms. Finishes a little grassy with lime & coconut

MF: Medium body, creamy, great balance

Wanted more nose, drinks too easy

 

pFriem's Jammy Pale, drank a little later than I really should have...

500ml bottle served in a big snifter. Dated 07/09/20. No recollection of where I got it.

Pours clear golden with a small head. Smell is fruity with a little old hay. Not going to knock the old hay much because I should have drank this about six weeks ago.

Taste is fruity and bitter. I get some of the old hay, but again, I blame myself for leaving it in my fridge way too long.

Mouthfeel is light, dry, and really effervescent. Overall, pretty good -- and probably would be pretty darn good if it was fresher. And I appreciate the fact that they put the bottled on date on here.

 

Prestonrose Farm And Brewing ( Paris, Arkansas ) Hawk & Horse English Porter ( Fermented with FSSC Coffee ) 5.6% ABV, 3.56 Overall

Pours a crimson hued hazel with with a sliver of tan head. Near zero head retention & less lacing

S: Roasty coffee not much else

T: Follows the nose, some vanilla, dryness & a kiss of caramel up front. More roasty coffee with some burnt coffee as well once warm, a little hazelnut as well. Finishes roasty, a little dry with coffee grounds & just a little vanilla

MF: Light/medium body, slight carbonation

Drinks alright, but the body, meh. These guys are pricey, so I will need to see a better result next time or will just consider this Local hype which the Natural State seems to specialize in

 

Happy Birthday man!

 

Heading over from the NBS BIF with some fruity beer from @FBarber. I thought I'd start with the quartet of New Glarus sour beers he sent, as they are all brand new to me. Here's the first two:



New Glarus - Nectar Ale - fruited lambic style ale

L - golden with a small amount of soapy head, lingering around the edges leaving spotty lacing
S - musty barnyard funk, apple juice, peaches
T - apples, white grape juice, honey sweetness
F - prickly medium carbornation, hint of dryness on the finish
O - Taste was unexpected - much sweeter and heavier on the grape juice than expected. Any funkiness detected on the nose is hidden under the fruit. It's lacking in complexity, but still enjoyable for what it is.



New Glarus - Strawberry Rhubarb - fruited sour - 4% abv

L - ruby red with quickly dissipating pink soapy head
S - bursting with strawberry candy, smuckers strawberry jam, so much strawberry
T - not nearly as sweet as the nose led me to believe, strawberry rhubarb pie, lingering tartness on the finish. It's the full strawberry experience, seeds and all. The rhubarb tartness cuts what would be an overwhelmingly sweet beer.
F - effervescent initially, but feels syrupy on the finish
O - So much fruit. Well executed, but a bit cloying after drinking 8 ounces. Excellent fruit forward beer, but again lacking complexity.

This is my first experience with New Glarus sours, and I can see why they'd be appealing. They do an amazing job of just cramming these beers with fruit flavor that doesn't come off as artificial or overly tart and acidic. But for me, it's fruit juice masquerading as beer. I think either would be a great introduction to sours for folks who might be leery of trying the style.