New Beer Weekend #14

Ology's DDH Sensory Overload (Michigan Chinook).

16oz can served in a big snifter. No date that I can see. Pretty sure I got it on Tavour.

Pours a hazy light amber or dark yellow, medium sized head that fades fairly fast to a layer a couple millimeters thick and a sheet of lacing about one millimeter thick. Smell is lemon and overripe fruit.

Taste is lemon and lemon zest bitterness, moderate tropical juiciness.

Mouthfeel is medium, a little sticky, moderate effervescence. Overall, pretty good beer.

 

Probably my last new beer for the weekend, SARA Rusty Trucks, thanks @Dimidiata!
4.46/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Review is based on West Coast DIPA as a style not NEIPA since the look and nose scream classic West Coast DIPA

Thank you Dimidiata
16 oz can, dated 9/17/20, poured into a teku

A- A fairly clear golden copper with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, pineapple, tropical fruits, piney, herbal tea, some caramel malts.

T- Citrus, piney, caramel malts, tropical fruits, some pineapple, herbal tea, a little floral, nice balanced.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A great and easy drinking IPA. If I reviewed this is a NEIPA I definitely would be knocking my number down but this is a fairly clear IPA that just checks all the boxes for a West Coast DIPA.

Cheers NBW, stay safe everyone!

 

#2, also from Hi-Wire. Apparently I forgot how to pour between beers #1 and #2.





4.31/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a dark cola color with a substantial tan head that provides nice lacing. Really nice looking beer, if maybe not quite the gravitas of an imperial stout.

The nose is all chocolate - there’s milk chocolate, cocoa, and some dark chocolate notes as well, and a smidge of char.

The taste mirrors the nose - this is a chocolate bomb. If you don’t like chocolate, avoid this beer at all costs. If you like chocolate (and I absolutely LOVE chocolate), consider taking a second - or third - mortgage interest your house to ensure you can acquire all you need of this beer. The whole range of chocolate is represented here, and there’s a bit of char as well.

The mouthfeel is creamy, but again doesn’t quite have the “umph” associated with an imperial stout. But the chocolate - oh, that magnificent chocolate.

 

Reached for another one from @FBarber , this time Urban Chestnut Zwickel Lager. A classic tasting brew, easy to drink, you could knock back several easily.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24764/70188/

 

Here's a new-to-me and a new-to-BA.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47536/514918/




16 oz. can.
No canning date, but our store rec'd it 2 days ago.
Moderate pour yields a one inch slightly off white head over a hazy, light golden body with nice lacing. Nose of sweet citrus (orange, tangerine) and tropical fruit (mango.) Taste mirrors nose with a bit of a pastry type flavor due to the addition of a little lactose. Very smooth and finishing with orange zest/peel. Nice feel and overall, I'm enjoying this offering from Orange County, NY.
Cheers!

 

4.5/5 rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle received from @Roguer as LIF associated with BIF#12, thanks !



The haze is already apparent in the brown bottle before I pour it into my IPA glass. Turbid orange glass, looks like orange juice. One finger creamy white foam cap settles to a ring with islands and lacings.

Aroma is orange juice, citrus

Taste is grapefruit, citrus, orange

Medium sudsing , gentle hop bite nicely lingers

Good beer

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned 9/29/2020. Pours a very attractive hazy dark yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves plenty of sticky patches of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Smell is peach, ripe melon, guava, pineapple, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows cantaloupe, guava, peach, pineapple, apricot, and a little grapefruit fairly low on bitterness, but huge flavor and balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, soft gentle carbonation, sticky not dry, and at 10% ABV pretty darn drinkable. 4.5

Overall another excellent beer from Foam Brewers. Well done. 4.25

 

Yup, you guessed it, another from @FBarber 's ninja box, this time Seipps Extra Pale Pre-Prohibition Pilsner. A pretty nice brew; easy drinking and enjoyable.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59474/494301/

 

Vintages count as new right? Oh well gonna say yes...



This is a very pretty beer pours a ruby amber color (picture doesn’t do it justice) with some awesome head retention. Super smooth and creamy head remains and continues to lace beautifully as it goes down.

The aroma is prominently rose and pine, a glorious combination. Taste is grapefruit and pine with a nice malt backbone to give just tad of sweetness.

Mouthfeel is very clean and crisp bitter dry finish.

Overall an amazing beer as always. It’s hard to complain about anything with this one for me. About all I want in an ipa couldn’t ask for more.

 

NBW#2
Zero Gravity 40 Thieves IPA
Pours a burnished hazy gold with a off white 2 finger head which recedes quickly. Lots of sticky lacing.
Aroma is melon, mango, tangerine and some white grape.
Taste follows melon and crisp white grape, acidic gooseberry that is rounded by a juicy citrus. The malt is slightly shaded giving this a deeper quality rather than just juice.
Feel is dry, pleasantly piney bitter, no alcohol, tiny nice carb throughout, medium body. Easy drinker.
Another winner. Fiddlehead and something juicy had a baby. Haha.

 

An important thing for people to remember is the style is added and can be changed by any user on here, so it may not necessarily even be correct. Just like with the American IPA and NE IPA style lines. People shouldn't take the style listed on here too seriously in their review I don't think at least without checking what the brewery says about the beer, which also isn't always listed on here in the description notes. There's been numerous times I've had to change what a beer's style was listed as, and times when a beer could be considered more than one style, like a brett pale ale listed as an American Pale Ale could probably also be a Brett Beer, and other beers can cross style lines. How much haze or bitterness determines if an IPA is a New England IPA? When I review a beer I just review it as a beer or for what it is, and if I don't know what it is just for it's drinkability and how much I enjoy it as a beverage. I try not to think too much about styles and all that bias that can come into account and just judge it as a beer and how much I like the way it looks, smells, tastes, feels, and is overall.

I respect the beer style traditions and all of the differentiation, but if an American brewer makes a fruited "Berliner Weisse" because it is a low abv sour wheat ale, I'm not going to rate it low because traditionally that style wasn't served with real fruit in the beer, or if I see a lager or a "West Coast IPA" that is a little hazy I'm not going to rate it lower overall unless I didn't like it as much as the less hazy beers, and so on. I usually just look at what the beer looks like in a glass, and if I think it looks pretty it's higher, and if it doesn't look so nice for the style I'll probably rate it lower unless it has a nice foam head that sticks around throughout the drink. At the end of the day I try not to worry about it so much because everyone has their opinion and everyone likes different things and examines and judges things differently, and tastes different things, so I respect other people's ratings for their own, and all of our ratings together create the avg score for the beer which can be an important thing to consider at least after so many ratings imo, though I still hardly consider that since at this point I usually know what I like and who will make it well, and if I'm not sure that's what the reviews are up there to look at for. Cheers to all the beer reviews!

 

Another new-to-me and new-to-BA offering.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46275/514928/



16 oz. can.

Moderate pour yields a one inch off white head over a hazy golden body with some lacing. Nose of citrus and and the slightest pine. Taste mirrors nose pretty closely with a citrus pith bitterness on the finish. Fairly smooth with a nice mouthfeel. Overall, a real nice stab at an ADIPA from the guys down in Tunbridge, VT.
Cheers!!!

 

I was going to mention moderator approval, but sometimes like in that Barleywine's case, the style can be blurred, and with a difference in a style like an English vs American version, that can alter a person's perception of how the beer is overall. A lot of IPAs are now called "Hazy IPA" and could be placed on here as NE IPA cuz, well, it's hazy, and then people knock it for not being hazy enough, or not tasting like a NE IPA. These things happen with ratings though when lines are blurred and styles are made unconventionally. All good, the world isn't perfect.

 

In a predictable move, I reached for another from @FBarber , this time New Glarus Enigma. As is typical for NG, it's a damn nice brew.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/590/23459/

 

Deschute's gueuze-inspired ale, The Ages.

500ml capped/waxed bottle served in a pair of SIP Fest 2020 snulips. Dated 3/23/18. No longer remember where I acquired this.

Until the sediment came out, it was a pretty golden color, nice and clear, with a medium to small head that has surprisingly strong retention. Light carbonation. Smell is tart, lemon and oak, very nice.

Taste is similar -- tart lemon, oak, woody tannins, medium bitterness, something really appealing about this.

Mouthfeel is medium, almost fluffy, approximates the mouthfeel I associate with Cantillon. Overall, this is really good.

 

Likely my last NBS entry for today (that 4am alarm is gonna suck), is, obviously, from @FBarber , and is the Helles Lager from Dovetail.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45802/232375/?ba=beertunes#review

 

Thanks @basaywhat for this Hop Butcher of the World Glphx IPA. 6.75 % ABV; 4.02 overall


Pours a very effervescent & slightly hazed honey color with a thumb+ of tight cream colored head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Oranges & strawberry

T: Oranges, strawberries, limes & green melon, some pineapple as well up front. Plenty of green melon as this warms & pineapple as this warms along with breadyness. Finishes with Kiwi Fruit, dryness & green melon

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, good balance

Solid offering, pretty drinkable, just didn't pull together for greatness

 

Treehouse Pride & Purpose APA, courtesy of @WunderLlama
The aroma was mild but wonderful, the head short but lasted longer than the beer and the taste was very good indeed. I’ve not had too many Treehouse beers but the ones I have tasted justified their reputation. Thanks so much for sending this my way!

 

When I wrote my first review of the week for Ozark Beer Co's Cream Stout, I knew that at some point later in the day I would also be drinking this beer. It's tasting especially good while celebrating the Steelers moving to 6-0. My second and final review for the weekend goes to Ozark's BDCS 2020 that came courtesy of @jvgoor3786 yet again. I'm a big fan of tasting the evolution or amping up of a beer. Whether it's taking an IPA and making a triple version or scaling up a stout, I really enjoy tasting both versions to compare and contrast them. BDCS is the big brother of the Cream Stout I drank earlier. Not only is it dialed up into an imperial stout, but it's also given a bourbon barrel treatment.

BDCS poured the same jet black color as the Cream Stout, but with a bit more visible thickness. The head was a bit less pronounced, but it was the same beautiful color. The aroma coming from the snifter was a balanced blend of chocolatey roasted malt, bourbon, and a slight char. The taste followed the nose with all of those same notes present. In addition to them, I noticed some raisin and prune notes along with brown sugar. The chocolate was that of bitter dark baker's chocolate. The bourbon came on the finish, yet BDCS didn't linger for very long. The only fault I could find was in the feel which was surprisingly thin. Everything about BDCS up until this point seemed to indicate a thick and full body, but it wasn't the case. Overall, great barrel aged stout. I really enjoyed the Cream Stout this afternoon, and this amplified my enjoyment of that beer exponentially. Thanks for this, Jason, it was a pleasure to drink.

4.44/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5