New Beer Weekend #17

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 11/10/2020. Pours a hazy yellow orange with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves a ton of lace as it slowly settles into a thin layer of white bubbles. 5

Smell papaya, pineapple, tangerine, boysenberry, passionfruit, and apricot.
4.75

Taste follows papaya, passionfruit, pineapple, tangerine, boysenberry, and apricot. Really balanced and incredibly good. 4.75

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, soft and almost creamy, maybe a tad sticky but not dry, and at 8% insanely drinkable. 4.75

Overall this one lives up to its reputation. Truly a masterpiece, from one of the best in the business. 4.75

 

Eagles are going to lose to the powerhouse New York Giants. As one of my friends pointed out, it's really hard to win with an average QB and a below average coach.

Anyhow, onto Sunday beer #3. This one is Dwell from Fox Farm. I may need to stop reviewing beers this weekend, as I've been under rDev on all of them. If there is to be a beer #4, may need to switch over to a preferred style.


3.84/5 rDev -7.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Canned 10/14/20 and poured into a tulip.

This pours a light semi-translucent yellow with a really nice two fingers of head. Decent head retention and outstanding lacing. Aroma is tropical fruit with some faint herbal and fresh cut wet grass notes.

Taste has a little bit of grapefruit / assorted citrus. Moderately dank, and medium bitterness. Taste overall is good, but not great. Feel is just a tiny hair on the thin side.

 

The Garden Brewery Pale Ale


Pours a huge, spongy head atop the pale orange colored liquid.


Smells of lime zest, lighter caramel and ripe oranges among cactus juice and fresh cooked oats.


Has a light and refreshing mouthfeel with a well nuanced, balanced effervescence.


Tastes of crackers, bready caramel and bitter, dry lemons and leaves. Turns s little sweeter then, due to orange peel and unripe papaya among a slightly stony mouthfeel. Finishes a little oily, bitter with a noteable, fitting sweetness from the malts, toned down effectivly by bread crust and dried flowers.


Very well made, powerful, yet elegant Pale Ale, which unfolds a very satisfying intensity on the tongue.

 

Nothing like a Sunday afternoon Zoiglbier! I have to admit, I’m a little confused as to what a Zoiglbier is. I didn’t think it was a style so much as a tradition. Perhaps someone knows better.

This one is Matron Handsome. Matron is one of several new-ish breweries that have popped up in Ontario’s Prince Edward County in the past couple years. Long known as one of the two good wine making regions in the Province, the whole area has turned into a magnet for hipsters and ‘artisanal’ craftsmen and women looking to move out of the city. It has in some ways ruined a really nice part of the Province, but much of the new merchants sell some really good products.

I received this can in a trade with a local. It turns out there is a beer trader living less than an 6 minute walk from me. I’m calling this my carbon neutral trade partner! I’m hoping we can get acquainted when the world gets back to some sense of normal.



Pours a medium straw gold with plenty of effervescence. Large head that diminished fairly quickly. Lovely lacing as imbibed.

Malt asserts itself in the nose. Reminiscent of a German Pilsner in aroma, but perhaps stronger.

The malty character is stronger than the floral hops which are present. Slight lemon zest notes in the background. Not spicy as suggested by the brewer’s description, at least not to my tongue.

Bright and bubbly. Light body.

A nice local lager. I guess I like Zoiglbier!!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. It feels like November today as it's gray, cold and blustery - entirely unpleasant for outdoor imbibing. My first review today is Murphy's Law, a New England IPA from Untied Brewing in New Providence, New Jersey. Named for our governor, I'm not sure whether it's reverential or a dig. Let's just say that I hold Untied Brewing in higher regard than our state's chief executive. This ale is dry hopped with Citra, Galaxy, Enigma, and Nelson. It's a pretty pour with a large, fluffy, milk-white head and copious lacing. The aroma is fruity and floral and the taste includes lemon, lime, tangerine, raspberry, red currant, and pinot gris. The Nelson hops provide a good balance to the fruity sweetness. It has a terrific mouthfeel: creamy, full-bodied with pleasant carbonation, and at 6.8% ABV it's highly drinkable. Overall, Murphy's Law is really fine. Untied's been brewing excellent New England IPAs and I'm a big fan of this brewery.

4.33/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I have a stout warming up (literally) in the bullpen (figuratively). I hope everyone's having a great weekend. Cheers, NBW!

 

Happy Sunday everyone!

Getting ready to watch the Bengals lose as usual, but here's my new brew for the day. A friend of mine went to Iowa on a camping trip about a month ago and was nice enough to pick me up some brews, this one is Confluence Brewing's Special Saison 3, which is a dark saison ale: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30230/292594/?ba=bluejacket74#review





It's been a while since I've had a dark saison, and this one was cola/herbal like to me. A good unique brew, wish I would have been able to try it fresher. Guess for whatever reason it didn't sell well there so there are some bottles still available. Worked out for me!

Cheers!

 

Greetings, fellow NBWers,

Partly sunny and mid-40s in the wilds of the eastern Washington city whose health dept. head was just fired for pretty much no good reason whatsoever.

About to start watching the Seahawks vs the Rams, in their bid to bounce back from being soundly beaten by the Bills. Their D is both decimated by injuries and poorly coached, and Russel Wilson will be taking snaps from a center that's never been in an NFL game before, but I'm always excited to watch Cooper Kupp, who was amazing in college when he played for my alma mater.

Today I'm hitting a beast of a BBA Imperial Stout from the PNW state I was born in:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16077/262511/?ba=woemad#review
Luscious and rich, but perhaps a poor choice at noon when I need to do some chores around the residencia. At nearly 13%, this can make one sluggish!

 

Hey all what's going on?!

With all that being said, i am just getting right into it cause I really need a beer.

Great start after a hard working day out in the garden.



Poured from the bottle into a teku glass.

Real unique looking stout. Very creamy and rich filling head, three fingers with a unique tan and yellow like color that is quite distinct. Very fine bubbles and stays for a good time. The body color seems light out of the bottle but fills with a real dark reddish mahogany in bigger light, and then looks like dark walnut at a distance.

Great smelling aroma. Excellent take on barrel aging, with light oak, a real round rich sense of light whiskey and caramel. Faint touches of dark chocolate and an exceptional creamy note of vanilla that is just excellent. Fantastic nose.

Palate is real interesting. This is quite light bodied, but I think that's what they were going for. The body lacks much of the round oak aging character, but much of the flavor still comes through. Light touches of char and roast, and even good hinting whiskey notes of caramel and soft heat. There's a real controlled heat on this, which is impressive at it's high abv rating. The warmth brings out some red fruit flavor, almost raspberry like in a way too.

This is real unique take on a classic. It's not I think a greatly aged Imperial stout, but it is it's own unique thing. They should be proud of this one.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25 | 4.3/5

Cheers!

 

About a week and a half ago I wrote a review for a beer called Blackberry Crumble brewed by Mast Landing in collaboration with Barreled Souls. I was recommended this beer by a co-worker and beer friend of mine who tends to love fruited sours, so I took his claim that said beer was great to heart and bought a single can. I think he liked it more than I did, though, and that was that. Fast-forward to yesterday when I was at the same store in Nashua, NH that I mentioned in my previous post in this thread... there I found the Barreled Souls "side" of the collaboration, which I noticed is called Blackberry Double Crumble. I honestly didn't even look at the ABV, though I did see that it was denoted as imperial and, well...



I JUST NOW noticed it's a hair over 10. Fucking. Percent. Jeeeeez, guys. One of those rare occasions that a "double" version of something is actually close to being twice as strong as its companion recipe (lookin' at you, Double Two-Hearted ). Anyway, I think I'm in for a doozy here. Let's break this one down together. Then I might collapse from diabetes, in combination with the foregone conclusion of a drunken stupor.

This pours a nearly-opaque dark-red/beet juice color with a bright, vivacious head of pink-hued foam that lingers for a surprisingly lengthy amount of time, leaving behind some spotty lace as it does so. Good legs here, actually, too. Sometimes these types of beers can surprise me a bit with good head formation/retention even in spite of the fact that the souring process tends to destroy any semblance of those aspects, typically.

The nose is absolutely saturated with huge blackberry, black currant, and blueberry scents. A bit grassy and stemmy with only a very small whiff of the intense ABV. I definitely pick up some more intense maltiness when compared to the ML version of this one (which, by the way, was only 6% ABV), and the blackberry seems even more prominent. Of course, the vanilla is also pretty intense here, and its dessert-like overtones make themselves known here as this one comes a bit closer to room temperature. There's a hint of medicinal cherry in here, too, but I mean... NyQuil is 10% alcohol, too, ain't it?

This is quite a nice sipper, actually, and I'm impressed by how drinkable it is right off the bat. I took a rather big sip at first, expecting to be disappointed or turned-off, but it ended up just making me want to take it slower to enjoy the cool things happening here. Strong jammy blueberry and blackberry with some light tartness that feels balanced and complete. Compared to the ML one, this definitely tastes more like an actual dessert, and I appreciate that. The flavors are surprisingly bright and vibrant despite the strength, but the vanilla gives it a distinct rounded element toward the finish, and the lack of "lemony" yogurt-like tartness further cements this as more "dessert-like" than its little brother, which felt like a "dessert-inspired sour beer," as I wrote in my above-linked review. Wow, I do actually enjoy this one a lot. I have to say that I expected to find this to be a big, messy nightmare of a beer, but... hey, it's good. I'd have it again if it was offered to me, but I probably wouldn't buy another can of it because I pretty much got everything that it was offering in this one serving.

 

I don't think I have ever seen their cans locally, and you get them in Jacksonville? So confused.

 

Very odd! Glad I didn't save my brew until next weekend.

 

NBW #2. MILF (Mother's Imperial Liquid Fantasy) from Mother's Brewing Company in Springfield, MO, courtesy of @jdell15's BIF Box. 2016 release. This is quite a Stout! It has so many flavors it's hard to describe but it's very fine. Here's my full review:

4.34/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

2016 release. I received a bottle from @jdell15 in a BIF Poured into a tulip glass also provided by @jdell15. It pours a deep, dark walnut color - almost black, with a thin, medium-mocha colored head that dissipated rapidly leaving minimal lacing. The nose is really fragrant: chocolate, coffee, molasses, leather, tobacco smoke, earthy char, and a strong dose of rye whiskey. It reminds me of an old barn (in a really good way!). This is nice! The bourbon, rye, and molasses are up front, along with raisins, anise, and sherry; they're unmistakable but mellow. There is a strong taste of coffee with a high level of acidity. I suspect the chocolate was stronger when first bottled. There's a smoky, woody quality to the flavor. The mouth feel is moderately thick with a low level of carbonation, and I can feel the warming effect of the 11% ABV. Overall, MILF is a wonderful barrel-aged Imperial Stout with tremendous flavor. I'm grateful to have had the chance to try it.

Thank you, Jacob, for this really fine Stout!

 

Trying my first beer from Edmund’s Oast Brewing Company thank to @Dragginballs76. This is an apple sour and I’m really impressed with how the apples come across!

4.2/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Dragginballs76 for this
16 oz can poured into a teku

A- A slightly hazy golden copper with a small white head.

S- Sour, lemons, Granny Smith apples, slightly earthy.

T- Tart, apple both sweet and tart, lemons, touch of apple peels, mildly earthy.

M- Smooth, crisp, light body.

O- It always seems that apple beers are more hit and miss for me since it this either a cider or has minimal apple flavor, it this one actually tastes like apples.

Cheers!

 

Well the Gmen finally beat the birds...
Other Half made it to these parts.
City That Never Sleeps DDH
Imperial India Pale Ale
Pours a very hazy orange with a 1/2" head that calms to a thin ring with nice world map lacing.
Aroma is big citrus: tangerine, orange, grapefruit, lemon/lime along with peach, and grace notes of tropical fruits and dark berries.
Taste follows with citrus fruits along with more tropical flavors, peach and pine. The malt base is darker and more aggressive than many NEIPAs. Creating a nicely bitter but fruity and soft feel.
Medium body with a tight but present carbonation finishing sticky on the lips but dry. No hint of 8.5 %.
An extremely easy to drink and full flavored, well balanced NE style IPA.
From what Ive had so far Other Half is nailing this. Very good beer and one I would seek out along with Cheddar and Small Nelson...so far.
This one goes out to Dad.
Cheers.

 

Crane Brewing's Apple Spice Gose, 4.5% ABV. Just got better as it warmed, 4.11 overall

Pours a bright effervescent gold with rapidly falling beige head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: Tart apples, woody hops, some hay & barnyard once it warms

T: Follows the nose, a little golden delicious apple, brown sugar, & dryness up front. Tart Golden Delicious apples, lime, dryness and a touch of salt as this warms. Finishes a little dry, tart , with Golden Delicious Apple & a little lime & salt

MF: Light/medium body & crisp carbonation

Drinks really easy, refreshing even on a fall day, spices fade quick, but the base beer is nice