New Beer Weekend #18

Today I have High House, an 8.5% NEIPA collaboration between High Nine Brewing and Little House Brewing. This is the first collaboration between these two which are both within 1/2-mile of my house. It's nice to see the neighbors getting along!
The can art shows a dream rising from 2 artsy renditions of their respective buildings. The dog is one of the owner's and is usually at their brewery. They even made a goofy promo video together for the beer.

Poured from a 16oz can stamped "11/17/2020, LOVE CHILD #1" to a Nonic glass at fridge temp.
Body is translucent orange, not hazy, but not see-through. Fairly large off-white head, but if fades rather quickly to top lacing, but not full glass lacing for some reason.
Musty, dank, compost, alcohol meet the nose.
Dankest beer in memory. A brief sweetness in the middle and the finish makes the alcohol known.
Medium carbonation, smooth feel with a slightly oily feel.
Based on their promo video I think the aced what they were after so they get good marks for that. However, its a little too dank, too alcohol to say its great for me. Good for me, but not great.

 

Up next before I head out for the day, comes this Chameleon murkbomb by Grist House, courtesy @adrock314 . Nice enough, fairly average for the style: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34785/326596/

 

Good Saturday afternoon, New Beer Weekenders. It's a mild November Saturday so I thought I'd try my last new Märzen of the season. This one's from Jersey Girl Brewing in Hackettstown, New Jersey. I haven't been a fan of this brewery. I prefer Czig Meister and Man Skirt, which are also located in Hackettstown. But I was pleasantly surprised by this. First, the appearance is lovely: a pretty honey-amber color with long lasting head and lacing. The smell is spot on for the style with brown bread, caramel, and a dose of spice. The taste opens with lots of caramel sweetness and brown bread but quickly segues to burnt nuts, spice, and considerable bitterness at the finish. This year's batch was released in August which may account for some of the bitterness. The carbonation is lively and the 5.9% ABV seems just right. Overall, I enjoyed it despite its surprising bitterness. Maybe that's because I find many Märzens to bee overly sweet. I'll have to consider visiting Jersey Girl (I hate the name) again. One of my best (non-BA) beer buddies swears by the brewery. Looking forward to Sunday afternoon and a couple more new beer reviews. Cheers, NBW!

 

One positive of this pandemic had been more beer being distributed and canned. This is one of those beers: Kane Hollow Sea, Czech dark lager...



Dark brown big bubble carbonation head quick to dissipate with no lacing or retention.

Mostly roasty aromas, also smells of dark soda, coke or root beer maybe, and burnt wheat bread.

Taste is chocolatey, light but burnt coffee and molasses or licorice. It also has a decent amount of sweetness.

Medium body and this one leaves a lingering sweet sensation long after the sip is gone. The carb is a little biting, otherwise a smooth drinker.

Pretty neat to see a mostly IPA and stout brewery brew a beer like this. My favorite local brewery brews a schwarzbier and I’m looking forward to doing a blind side by side with this one, soon hopefully.

 

This beer came with 5 years of age on it from the generous @2beerdogs, Bottle Logic Darkstar November 2015 release. I can say it held up well, pitch black with nearly zero head but the high ABV rather than age may be the factor I guess, aromas of smoke, char, malts, taste follows with chocolate, vanilla, molasses very well brewed and to be honest I prefer a RIS without the adjuncts and this one is killer. Thanks Derek
Imgur sucks or I’m challenged so no pic for now

 

That "Jersey Girl" moniker rings very nostalgic for me. All through the 60s Western Electric transferred many engineers here to work on the Nike missile system, mostly from New Jersey. All those new girls went to my schools and it was eye-opening. They are all North Carolinians now.

 

Ayinger Bavarian pils
...clear gold
...about a medium body with just above average carbonation
... aroma is earthy grassy hops, malt, cracker.
.taste is definitely earthy grassy hops up-front, cracker, malt, very mild sweetness.
..really nice, crisp,clean, refreshing

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Today I had my first shift at my new job. I'm not going to lie - I'm exhausted. This is all so new to me. I went from being the best, to knowing NOTHING. It's a very strange feeling for me. I'm sure I'll get better, it will just take time.

Now, on to the new beer.
This beer was kindly sent to me by @Snrubnivek

Sound Parade from Fieldwork Brewing - 7% ABV.

This is a good beer to wind down with after work. Creamy, soft, and quite tasty hops in here.

review:
4.22/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours a creamy, hazy looking orange color. 2 finger very fluffy white head. Head retention is good. Some lacing on the glass.
The nose has a decent amount of hops in it. There's a tropical citrus aroma. Some pineapple, mango, and grapefruit is what my nose smells.
Taste - It's a lot of grapefruit, and that's up front. It's rounded out by the pineapple and mango.
Very creamy, and soft feeling. The body is thick.
A solid IPA.


I'm sure I'll have at least one more new one this weekend. See you all later.

 

I will celebrate another NBW with a beer from @Roy_Hobbs and NBW BIF #12. He sent me three of the “family member” saisons (Anna, Arthur, and Florence), and the first two were world-class. I have no doubt the third will be in that league as well.







4.6/5 rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a crystal clear straw color with a sudsy white head, with the body adding a slightly hazy hue as you continue to pour from the 750ML bottle. Gorgeous beer.

The nose has “that funk” that is joined by some citrus aromas (lemon and tangerine) and tart apples. The tart apple taste, like a Granny Smith apple, is forward on the taste, and the lemon flavor follows, and there’s a subtle wheat flavor as well. Simply delicious.

The mouthfeel is bright and effervescent, mimicking Anna and Arthur with their champagne-like quality. What a wonderful beer this is from a world-class brewery.

 

Hmmm... you beer does look clearer and more toward golden than mine did earlier today. Interesting.

 

@cjgiant does seem to be a bit different, could be the lighting.

 

Awesome old school RIS!!

 

Quantum Wobble from Resident Culture. A Berlinerweisse with guava, mango, and blood orange.

16oz can split between a pair of tulips. Dated 2020-09-11. If I remember correctly, I got it on Tavour.

Pours hazy, light amber, small head, not much carbonation. Smell is...well, my reaction was "Gahhhhh, this is kettle sour." Trying to ignore the stomach acid aroma, I definitely get some tropical fruit, I could believe mango. I struggle with this, because I know some of it is to style, but when it's this pronounced, it's just not my jam.

Taste hides it better, though it's clearly there. I get more of the fruit juices, kind of a dry tropical juice.

Mouthfeel is very dry and light, could be a little more carbonated. Overall...well, it's not bad if you're OK with the kettle sour flavor, but if you're not okay with it, I'd steer clear of this.

 

I had this one several years ago, and have no excuses for waiting this long to try it again. Very nice toasty and roasted flavors yet never cloying. Hints of molasses round-out this fine brown ale. The hops certainly keep the profile refreshing. I am fortunate that I can still obtain this one in the Florida panhandle.

 

#2, at the other end of the beer scale, let’s dance with Prairie.





4.42/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours “black hole” black, swallowing all light that comes near it, with a dense, dark tan head. The cinnamon is dominant on the nose, grudgingly giving way a bit for the cacao nibs.

The cinnamon is similarly dominant on the taste, but there’s also a significant cacao flavor, and a bit of marshmallow and coconut as well, and significant warming from the barrel at the very back of the palate.

The mouthfeel is substantial, which is expected with a 14.2% ABV beer. Prairie excels at this style (huge, high ABV flavorful stouts), and this beer is no exception.

 

He who walks among Monsters by Timber Ales

4.53/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Recommended by the guy at Fort Point Market in Boston

Canned 9.16, opened 11.20, poured into a tulip



Pours a muddy motor oil, like its been driven too long. Thick and viscous. Dark thin creamy brown layer immediately evaporates to a ring.Good lacings

Aroma is maple, coffee, peppery spice, cinnamon ( cassia bark)

Taste is cinnamon ( cassia bark) without the burn. Coffee, roast malts, maple. Reminds me of a Viennese coffee with cinnamon. Sweet

Thick, syrupy mouthfeel, low sudsing

Good beer

 

For another NBW strike today, I decided to go with a beer out of Charlottesville from Three Notch'd. They're one of the few breweries around I know making brown ales, and I loved their No Veto English brown ale years ago. Yes, this is yet another case of a beer drinker claiming the beer has changed without any evidence, but that beer is a case where my belief is stronger than it usually is. It's not bad now, it was just better before.

So, mainly because I haven't had a brown ale in a while, I decided to give their latest special release a try. Called Tommie's Beer in honor of a passed pooch, some portion of the proceeds apparently go to local veterinarian efforts. It is also a hazelnut brown ale - though I don't have the similar Rogue beer to compare.



My official review is in at just under a 3.75. It's quite a nice looking beer from the neck up. It's a pretty dark brown color, though the clarity seems fine on closer inspection. This is a beer that comes a bit into its own with warmth - being a bit more dark toast to almost roast initially.

By mid-glass, the hazelnut has blossomed, and there's a bit more of the sweeter aspects of the malt balancing the moderate bitterness. The carbonation is a bit strong and annoys me for about the same half glass - making me wonder if it was the culprit as much as temperature. In the end, (from memory) I like the "changed" No Veto discussed above more.


I need to get to the store tomorrow and get a beer I've had before to compare with a new beer tomorrow.. Funny thing, I knew I wanted to purposefully do this comparison before this thread got into the little side-by-side side track.

Truthfully, the Ayinger - von Trapp comparison was purely by accident that I happened to recall that the last Ayinger I had in the fridge was of the same style as the new-to-me von Trapp. Until tomorrow, folks...