New Beer Weekend #18

#2 is an amped up version of the original. My two local beer stores sold out in minutes when this released a few weeks ago and I was told I had no recourse - it was gone.

So when I saw this yesterday in the grocery store (!!!!!), I yelped out loud. They had four 4-packs, and I briefly considered buying 2 or 3, but Beer Karma is real for me, so I stopped at one. It’s amazeballs, IMHO.





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

This beer pours jet black, with zero leakage anywhere, and a dense dark tan head. The nose is crammed with dark chocolate, roasty char, and stone fruit aromas, and their is a distinctive hop aroma as well.

The taste has every bit of the dark chocolate, roasty char, and stone fruit, and there is definitely a fruity hop flavor that isn’t as present in the base beer.

The mouthfeel is thick and chewy, as expected. I’m glad I have a 4-pack of this because I have 3 bottles to age. World-class, IMHO.

 

Lactose would add sweetness.

 

The owner/brewer has a deeply impressive batch of face hair. I suspect someone used that term towards him at some point, so he tucked it away for future use.

 

One more new beer, Barn Town Pivot!, thanks @Orca_Whale! No issues with this one, I’m really digging it.
4.18/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Orca_Whale for this
16 oz can poured into teku

A- A hazy golden straw with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, some melons, earthy, slightly piney, hints of pale malts.

T- Citrus, some tropical fruits and melons, earthy, a little piney.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A tasty NEIPA and easy to drink. Idaho 7 can be hit or miss for me and I like how works in this beer.

Probably my last new beer of the weekend. Next week I am still teaching in my school, kind of scared about it but I’m doing what I can to stay safe. Please everyone, stay safe, wear a mask and lets get through this safely, cheers!

 

First in a new series from the boys just up the road in Hyde Park, VT!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46703/519656/



16 oz. can.
Canned 11/11/20.
Moderate to vigorous pour yields a one inch plus head over a hazy, golden, straw colored body with some sticky lacing. At first there is a huge nose of oranges, oranges, oranges! After a bit there are floral notes and tropical fruit. Taste has flavors of sweet citrus, tropical fruit, and a bit of berry and pine. Wow! Very complex in a good way. Nice feel and overall, I can't wait for the next in this new series of the same grain bill at 8.7% abv with a rotating cast of hops!
PP#1 is fun!!
Cheers!!!

 

Hale's Ales Red Menace Amber Ale. My friend left it on my doorstep last night before Zoom drinking with me. Technically, it's not a new beer to me -- I had this before I joined BA, and I had one last night, but I may not remember it very clearly.

12oz can served in a tulip. No date on the can.

Pours a dark amber with a smallish head and not much carbonation. Smell is light toffee, toasted bread, tea and grain.

Taste is a little toffee and toasted bread, a lot of tea and grain, and metal. This metal flavor, hopefully not in my imagination, is why I stopped paying any attention to Hale's like ten years ago. I'm sad it's still there, but it makes the beer unpleasant to me. Also some dirty dishwater flavor.

Mouthfeel is medium, more carbonation than it looks. Overall, I don't want to drink it. It's not terrible, but it's not good.

 

I thought I'd follow up the Arctic Ale with the cinnamon orange variant canned 12/10/19. It looks the same, but the aroma is very inviting.

Warm cinnamon breakfast pastry forward deliciousness with a bourbon cream glaze. As it comes to temperature the orange peel notes join in.
Mid palate the toffee, butterscotch, vanilla notes appear, but fade away to nothing as the orange flavor never really makes itself known, leaving a cinnamon aftertaste.

Not as velvety as the base barleywine as the cinnamon implies a powdery sense, but still a very pleasant experience evolution in this elixir. No booze warmth, no cinnamon heat, both good qualities as far as I am concerned.

Overall a good aroma addition to the base, and the cinnamon flavor is not too much. I prefer the base, though.

 

Lack of a Seahawk game allowed for a walk up the hill to Huckleberry's for a few more possible candidates for shipping to my BIF target, along with a few groceries.
When I got home I treated myself to a new collaboration hazy brewed by Whistle Punk and For The Love Of God called Punk Love, described as a "Collaboration Imperial IPA brewed with our friends at For The Love Of God Brewing. This beer is hopped heavily with Citra Incognito, el Dorado, and Sabro. Tropical, with notes of stone fruit, coconut and pineapple."

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44280/519668/?ba=woemad#review
With a slight, subtle, vanilla-like sweetness, it kinda reminded me of an orange creamsicle. Not something I'd want to session but delicious.

 

Minkey Doodle this evening which I got as part of a generous trade with @micada All the beers I got were new to me so I got some reviewing to do!

Appearance: A cloudy bright pinkish red color. The beer has a small light violet head quickly faded to a ring. The color strikes me as reminiscent of some strawberry lemonades I've had. Nice looking wild ale.

Smell: Mild fruit notes, and mild grassy/hay notes. The nose comes off a bit subdued.

Taste: I pick up prominent raspberry notes, tart citrus, and mild citrus notes. I also get some mild hay like notes. The fruit is definitely noticeable but does not bring any sweetness with it like many wild ales that have fruit added to it. The beer has a fairly dry finish.

Mouth-feel: Fairly light-bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. The mouthfeel is nice for a wild ale.

Overall: A nicely done wild ale. The beer leans more towards the tart side than sour but as the beer is fairly dry that works well.

 

Boulevard FFF Deep Flux Whiskey/Madeira Barrel aged Barleywine, 14.2% ABV; 4.34 overall

Pours a ruddy and effervescent amber/orange with a rather thin & fat falling tan head. Better than average head retention and lacing

S: Dark fruit & breadyness

T: Follows the nose, sweet orange notes, cakeyness & dryness with just a little booze warmth. Boozey banana bread and brown sugar notes are apparent as this warms, candied cherry and orange notes, this beer would pair well with a classic Christmas Fruitcake or Pudding. Finishes a little dry with some booze bite, sweet oranges plus cakeyness

MF: Medium/heavy body, slight carbonation. Carbonation sharpens a bit as this warms

This is a true Winter/Holiday treat; rich & full of flavor. ABV is felt and tasted, but in harmony with what the style and intent is

 

Well I am glad you like it. I was trying to hit you with an early version of one of their most respected beers. That was the last one in my cellar, I had popped one about 4 months prior and it was solid. Share the fun, I say.

 

I bumped my Mouthfeel & overall score a bit 4.42

 

Well Hello Late Night NBW
I keep thinking things will slow down, and I can dedicate more time for beer reviewing and general fermented shenanigans via out NBS BIF's. But holy shizzle, life is busy. And with the current COVID situation exploding (again), my work has not gotten easier. Also, knowing more people affected is a weight.
But thanks to @Roy_Hobbs I got to try another Hill Farmstead gem.

Three Magic Letters IPA
Turbid gold, fluffy head. Pretty solid retention with scattered lacing.
Aromas of grapefruit, orange zest, pine, and a subtle pissy Nelson note (often a turnoff for me, but subtle here), herbal pepper, and a dash of dank.
Flavor definitely starts assertively with a one, two punch of Citrus and Nelson. Then a dank resiny note chimes in followed by a mix of pepper, mango, wet grass, and some indistinct earthy tropical notes. There's also a very pleasing grain note that hints at oats in both flavor and feel.
Mouthfeel is lovely. Somewhat soft and fluffy yet not light. Carbonation is spot on. A drying bitterness brings it home.
4.01/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

I tend to be resistant to Nelson hops, but this was so well done. Nelson fans can still love this, but it is rather genteel here.

 

North Coast Stellar IPA

3.78/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A decent enough brew but nothing special. I think that their other offerings give more people more of what they would want. I certainly would not turn one down but neither would I seek it out

 

It pains me to see them call a bourbon barrel, cinnamon and orange beer “Arctic Ale.” That name deserves more respect than that.

 

Can't agree enough. Old Raspy is an absolute classic. It predates the days of sweet dominated Imperial stouts, and definitely predates the adjunct-laden age we now live in (all of which I love, but still...), and it is rich, earthy, peaty, roasty and complex. A true gem.

 

What a stunning pic.