New Beer Weekend #22

Great kickoff @JamFuel
Hello NBS.
Wishing you all a safe and beer blessed weekend.
I want to start off by saying I ALWAYS appreciate a beer sent to me by a fellow BA. I absolutely love trying new beers, particularly from other parts. Now having said that...I reallyy appreciate our very own @TongoRad who gifted me a fine smattering of East coast offerings. So, once again, I DO appreciate the opportunity to try new beers, especially in styles that I don't frequent. Now having said that, although I DO appreciate this, I did have one that did not quite tickle my fancy. Much respect to TongoRad...but this one was a tad strange.

K THX by Industrial Arts Brewing in Garnerville, NY
A wheat ale brewed with sweet potatoes and cranberry puree.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42049/516963/

I don't know how to critique this one.
Can stamped 11/02/20
A wheat ale brewed with sweet potatoes and cranberry puree. Hmm, this is unique.
Bronze to copper in hue. White head rises 2 fingers high and slowly recedes, leaving a scattered cap with a fairly consistent ring. Slightly opaque. Light lacing, moderate retention.
Aroma is, well. Um. Hmmm, let me think. There is a mild smashed pumpkin meets distant sweet potato smell. A very mild tart note peeks in but remains shy. A mild creamy sweetness also pokes its head in and then is gone.
Taste is more perplexing. It's kind of flat, but sweet, but goes earthy in a generic way. I just can't see where this is trying to come together and deliver anything coherent.
Mouthfeel is smooth, mildly carbonated, and finishes a tad dry.
Overall, maybe I am missing something here. I respect these folks for trying something new, but I don't get this one.

2.98/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75

But I still appreciate the chance to try it.

 

I remember a time when securing Darkness (regular) was a challenge - and I lived in Minnesota and had multiple sources. Now variants are in cans and are seemingly readily available.

What a grand beer nerd world we live in.

 

Cross post from the Online Tasting: "Holiday Beers" (December 18th - 20th) thread.

Three Floyds Alpha Klaus Christmas Porter
ABV: 6.0%
IBU: 38



Aroma brings roasted malts and coffee, brightened by citrus and pine. This mix is really nice. Roasted and bright.

Impenetrable black topped by a tall head, a bit darker than tan, thick and creamy. Excellent retention. Gobs and rings of thick lacing as it recedes. The top of the head remains thick and mounded.

The taste is as expected from the aroma. Roasty, malty, coffee backed by the citrus and pine from the hops. A little bittering throughout to remind you who brewed this beer, not overly bitter. In other words, the bittering acts to balance things, not dominate things. Some roasted chocolate and a bitter-sweetness as from molasses. The finish is mildly bitter with the bright citrus and pine lingering, and dry enough to invite another drink.

The body is moderate for the style, with some nice carbonation contributing as well.

Not your typical porter, but what do you expect? It's 3 Floyds, after all. A very tasty and enjoyable Christmas porter.

L: 4.25 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.25 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.2

 

I know this is going to be a VERY different holiday with family visits being done over Zoom, outdoors, etc... But if everybody would make this small sacrifice we would all benefit. I'm in the same boat as you. My dad lives close-4 miles away, we usually spend Christmas afternoon and evening with them. This year a short visit outdoors will have to do. And on my wife's side of the family, no tamale making in the traditional sense (all of the sisters, my mother-in-law, and sometimes even my daughters) with the grand assembly line. But hey, we've already lost a few to this damn COVID, and we'd prefer to avoid anymore.
Blessings to you and yours.

 

In all honesty thanks for giving it a genuine try.

It's a unique one, to be sure. But for me I was surprised at how much I connected with it, considering how much I probably would dislike it on paper.

I think the difference may be that I got more hops driving it than you did; combine that aspect with the tart cranberries, and to me I related to it as an interesting hoppy sour. The earthy sweet potatoes just played a secondary role then.

But in the end it's still a curiosity of a beer. It was included on a whim, and all I wanted was an honest appraisal from someone else. So in all sincerity I do appreciate your review here tonight. Thanks for reporting back!

 

A Winter Warmer named Arctic by 67 Degrees Brewing of scenic Franklin Massachusetts. A bit strong on the peppermint, tastes like it was "Randalled" through a box of breath mints. Cheers.



3.34/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

An average pour produced a finger of beige soapy foam with short retention, a ring persists with no lasting lacing. Cloudy (I can see my fingers) copper-tea color with brownish-orange highlights.

Peppermint greets the nose with bready malt and faint citrus hops.

Cool peppermint dominates the taste, semi-dry with mild bitterness. Sweet malt is balanced by toasted pale malt. Hop flavor is hidden behind the peppermint. Candy taste is prevented from being sweet by the peppermint, reminds me of breath mints. The finish is long with bitterness rising to average, peppermint lingers on.

Medium body with reserved carbonation, alcohol is well hidden and warming. The peppermint is too forward to be balanced, it hides the malt and hops. The good news is it hides the alcohol as well.

 

Easily the best beer I tried in Germany

 

Forgot I had this, cheers!

 

Stone Soaring Dragon Imperial IPA, 8.0% ABV; 3.79 overall

Pours a slightly hazed gold with a pinky of cream colored head. Above average head retention & lacing

S: Mango & leafy hops, grapefruit late

T: Mango, pine, grapefruit, dryness & leafy hops up front. More mango as this warms, cakeyness, leafy hops & a little white pepper as this warms. Finishes dry, with grapefruit, a & little spicy pepper

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, nice balance

An okay DIPA from a brewery that seems making just okay beers these days. I would happily drink this, but wouldn't seek it out

 

Well, Industrial Arts hit a homer with the next offering. Thanks again to @TongoRad
State of the Art: Naked Kellerpils
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42049/517001/

A beautiful lite golden elixir, slightly cloudy, with a billowy fluff that asserts itself nearly 3 fingers in height.
Nose is grassy, peppery, with a melange of wonderful grain notes that are crackery and dry. The yeast adds a bit of zip.
The taste is herbal and grassy with slightly floral lemony notes. The grain notes hint at sourdough. Very tasty.
Lively carbonation. Almost fluffy in the mouth. Crisp and drying in the finish.
Overall, a very pleasant drink.
3.99/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Yup. With you 100%

 

New Belgium - Oscar Aged in Blackberry Whiskey Barrels

375ml corked/caged bottle served in a pair of tulips. Barrel Source: Leopold brothers. Foeder 9. Aged 14 months. Can't understand the code, but it's 454614:28 180418K11T.

Pours dark with a small head, kind of a reddish purple brown tint. Smell...I get something that makes me think of blackberries, something slightly roasty, oak.

Taste is tart and blackberry, very dry, some oak.

Mouthfeel is dry, medium bodied, slightly filmy. Overall, pretty good.

 

Second new beer this weekend (cross post from the holiday beer thread).

Schell's Snowstorm Oat Stout (2020/2021)
ABV: 6.3%
IBU: NA



Fresh citrus aroma, some indistinct roasted malt.

Very dark, nearly black, from the front. Clear dark ruby with vigorous carbonation with a back light. Khaki head, thick and creamy, with moderate retention. The lacing forms as sheets as you tip the glass.

Flavor is roast malts, some citrus and bittering from the hops. Moderately sweet, licorice. Some earthiness. Slight chocolate, very slight coffee. The finish is somewhat bitter, but not dry (not sweet, either, though). Flavors become more intense as it warms. More roasted, more chocolate, more bitter.

The feel is smooth and medium-thin.

Overall, nice flavor, weak aroma, and a good, but not great, stout.

L: 4.0 | S: 3.5 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.68

 

I suppose one benefit of New Beer Weekend is that I can get a jump on beers I would typically reserve for "New Beer Sunday" (the way I still typically practice this weekly ritual ) if I happen to stay up late enough... here's one, and I'll have three more some time during "tomorrow proper."



Superman Punch is a "fruit punch gose" by Barreled Souls Brewing Co. out of Saco, Maine. I think this is fresh because it just showed up in local stores recently, and a lot of Untappd reviews/ratings are within the last 10-15 days... oh, and the label itself (opposite of the picture shown right here) has a holiday-type wreath on it, so... yeah, probably fresh. I mean, I'd like to definitively know that, but I guess this is alright.

The pour here is a hazy and comically-pink/orange liquid with a surprisingly nice head of light-pink foam that builds up to several fingers, retaining pretty decently for a kettle soured beer (which I assume this is?). Lacing is even somewhat nice, so I don't really have complaints about this one with regards to the way it shows up in my glass.

The description I've read for this says it was made with "tropical punch Kool-Aid" which is stupid as hell, but seems to be being passed off, in earnest, as a legitimate mode of making beer. I mean... uh... *takes deep breath and sighs in an exaggerated manner* ... whatever. Do whatever you want, I guess. *shrugs defeatedly* The nose is, well, exactly that. I pick up a lot of cherry, papaya, artificial-seeming orange/tangerine, and a hint of pineapple/passion fruit as well. I have to say, this does smell good. Like it's going to definitely quench my thirst. I'm intrigued, and maybe a little disturbed by the idea that this is probably going to be great and well-made. *shakes fist curmudgeonly*

Jesus, this is good. It's endearing and really fun, which almost paradoxically makes me hate it. Nah, just kidding, this is cool shit. It's slightly-wheaty and mineral-y somehow, with a good flavor profile that combines flavors of tropical fruit, bright and tangy citrus (grapefruit and orange), cherry, strawberry, and nectarine in a really cool and effective way that somehow still remains "beer-like" while being lively and spritzy in a "wine-cooler-like" way simultaneously. Feel is heavy for a 4.9% beer, which is yet another element that I enjoy... it does have some "crispness" to it, but it still remains a beer and not a goofy seltzer or anything. I begrudgingly enjoy this and would certainly drink more of it, though December in New England doesn't feel like quite the right time of year to be knocking 'em back, now does it?

Cheers NBW folks... time to get some sleep soon and come back with a vengeance once well-rested!!