New Beer Weekend #23

Starting BIG, my friend.

 

Well, I am very happy to hear that you liked it. One of my absolute faves. I think I am down to 2 bottles, and then low and behold my sister-in-law dropped by with a Christmas growler for me...Yep Paisley Cave Complex. I am a very lucky man.

 

Ive been saving this one from the awesome @woemad box ( I have 2 left after this) for today. Perry Street IPA.
The creamy snow white head settles to a thin cap over a clear amber/gold body. That thin foam has excellent retention with really nice lacing.
Smells of dark berries, fresh orange, grapefruit, pine, grass, floral and nice aromatics of grain/bread. Mmm.
Taste follows with all that and maybe a touch of pineapple-tropical. A little dank but then drying WC bitterness from pine and grapefruit finishes this crisp, clean classic WC IPA off. No ABV listed but Im guessing this is a 6.5-7%. Just a great IPA. Honestly I cant stop drinking this. 32oz will be gone in no time. My favorite of the box so far. Thank you!
Cross posting with tbe BIF 12.5 thread.

 

A little more Fox Farm is almost always a good idea.

4.17/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 16oz can dated 11/28/20 to a Pils glass at fridge temp.
Beautiful puffy white head too bad it quickly recedes. Orange body, starts clear but then its not quite crystal clear with a slight chill haze.
Aroma is sweet cut grass, dry hay, hint of alcohol.
Taste is clean dry start, slightly sweet finish. The opposite of all the NEIPAs I've been drinking lately.
Carbonation is prefect and there is a slight oiliness to the mouth coating.
A great Kolsch. Hope they offer it in the summer.

 

Lord a'mighty, if this isn't exactly what I was hoping for...

...an old-school punch in the mouth

Tom's River Brewing High Cross Red Rye IPA

It's not really billed as a holiday beer, but boy does it bring the season. Imagine drinking a Christmas Tree decorated with spice cookies and you'd be pretty close to the experience. Undertones of candied orange peel and dried currants keep things interesting, although I'm also imagining them as part of the cookies anyway .

The beauty here, and what makes this whole potent concoction work is a big enough of a slap of bitterness, and the lack of any potential syrupy quality; in fact, although it is initially fairly hefty on the palate, the finish is surprisingly clean and snappy. And what it lacks in subtlety it more than makes up for in "not fucking around". Great job, Tom's River, and I'll be coming 'round for more! A- (4.3).

 

Saranac winter warmer
..clear dark ruby red
...medium light carbonation with about a medium body
...aroma is mostly malt with a background of hard to define spices
.. taste is malt but far from overly sweet with a bit of a hop bite that increases and leaves a bitter aftertaste. Some spice, bread, brown sugar
..overall its ok, would be ok to give non craft people but its a bit week

 

Goose Island's Bourbon County Caramella

500ml bottle served in a Redhook sample glass.

Pours a clear golden amber color with no head and no carbonation. Smell is barleywine (dates, figs, oak, booze, raisins...), cinnamon that I might not notice or recognize if it wasn't listed.

Taste is cinnamon, apple pie, caramel, very sweet, somewhat boozy. Maybe getting a little bourbon. It's making me want Maker's Mark.

Mouthfeel is thick, rich, satisfying. Overall, it's good, but a bit gimmicky.

 

I have a couple of beers left from the world-class box @tasterschoice62 sent me for NBW BIF 12.5 that I will review tomorrow. Tonight is dedicated to a Quadruple IPA from a relatively local brewery (Wax Wings Brewing Co out of Kalamazoo MI) that is the newest favorite of all the cool kids.

What, everyone isn’t drinking a quadruple IPA tonight?





4.35/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a murky pineapple color with a bone white head that glues itself to the glass. The nose is dank citrus and a substantial malt note, which I’d expect from a Quadruple IPA.

The dank citrus is forward on the taste, with pineapple and tangerine most prominent, and that substantial malt component is also present as a balancing sweetness at the back of the palate. I thought this would be boozy, but it is most definitely not.

The mouthfeel is on the softer side, which isn’t surprising given the haze factor. This beer is a really fun ride.

 

I’m gonna miss the Christmas Tree background on your shots soon @snaotheus so nice looking.

 

Yeah, thanks! I've been really pleased with how the tree looks back there, I'll miss that when the tree is gone!

 

I will now seek out this beer. Sounds delightful.

I do have a question. Went back to see what beers I’ve had from Toms River Brewing and they all came back as beers from Rinn Duin. Is Rinn Duin now Toms River? I recall the former shutting down (well pre pandemic) and then reopening at some point?

 

Poured into a 16 oz Kettlehead Brewing Snulip glass canned on 12/21/2020. Pours a nice chestnut brown with a half finger light khaki head that leaves a few streaks of lace, ok retention. 3.75

Aroma maple, pecan, vanilla, brown sugar, and toffee. 4

Taste maple, pecan, brown sugar, toffee, and vanilla. 4

Mouthfeel is medium, not dry, low carbonation, and at 6.5% ABV it drinks easy enough. 3.75

Overall this is good, wanted more body and carbonation, but the flavors are really nice and won’t have any trouble drinking the four pack. 3.75

 

Good question, but I have no idea. This is the first I've seen or heard from them when several of their beers showed up at my local Gary's.

It does seem like there's a Celtic theme going on, so there might be a connection there.

 

I'm very excited to make it to the NBS Mini Christmas BIF with most of my beers from @Dimidiata still intact, including two mystery beers. I love mystery beers, and I'm really bad at them. Let's see what this holds. It's labeled 5% and she told me I didn't need to drink it right away, meaning it's not an IPA. I used a flash to better capture the color.



This beer pours a deep amber with a slight reddish hue. There's a quick, tan head that leaves minimal lacing.

The first smell is all malt and screams Octoberfest or marzen. I'm not an expert on distinguishing these styles by color, so I won't guess. I'm getting banana bread, cloves, various unnamed spices underneath.

The taste confirms much of the nose but there's something unique on the finish I'm going to need to think about for a minute - maybe something nutty. (This is normally where my wife is very helpful. She picks out flavors I miss. I poured her a small bit. She called it a "watery hefeweizen," but in her defense, she has COVID, so she's probably less helpful than normal. Unless she's right, - then I'll be embarrassed.)

The mouthfeel has a medium body with medium/high carbonation, a slightly dry finish that lingers.

Overall this is very enjoyable, light, easy to drink, but full of flavor particularly on the finish.

Time for the reveal! We were both wrong...



This is an Oat Dunkel collaboration between Modern Times and Enegren. I'm guessing that nuttiness I was getting on the end was the oats. I confess to very little familiarity with the style making this a great mystery beer, Christine! Now my wife and I are both excited for next one. We'll be back in a few hours.

 

New beer for Saturday, another Chicago beer with can art that appears to be designed by my nieces when they were 4 or 5 years old.

Pipeworks Mini Unicorn IPA



Beer Notes: This is a new Pipeworks release from the Summer of 2020. Not sure if this is a permanent addition to Pipework's brew schedule, but this is at minimum their second batch, canned 11/11/20. 5% ABV, it's an IPA brewed with Citra, Simcoe, Mosiac and Amarillo, the last hop and love for Ninja vs. Unicorn are the primary reasons I picked up this single can from Beer on the Wall.

Appearance: Light crystal clear golden pour, creamy white head lingers for a few minutes before leaving generous fine bubble lacing. Light carbonation. 4.25

Aroma: Nice dank hoppy aroma, lemon, grapefruit, citrus, pine, pineapple, tangerine. Caramel and bread from the malt takes a back seat. Bold, covers a lot of ground and very pleasant. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, a tropical fruit explosion, pine, grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine, citrus, lemon. Don't get anything from the malt back. Light and easy, a solid lower ABV IPA with great strong flavor. Closer to the WCIPA style than Ninja vs. Unicorn 4.5

Mouthfeel: Thin to medium body with creaminess. Dry and lightly bitter though overall balanced. Easy light drinking, dry aftertaste. Well done. 4.25

Overall: Pipeworks hits the spot with this style, and would grab this one over their flagship Ninja vs. Unicorn, based on the great flavors and taste under a lower ABV / calorie basis, and closer to the WCIPA style that I prefer over MWIPA/NEIPA. Perhaps they can consider the can art for future releases. 4.5

It's one and done today, but will be back on New Beer Sunday #826 for at least one more.

Cheers!

 

Happy Holidays! For your viewing pleasure here is a NEIPA from 67 Brewing of scenic Franklin Massachusetts. Skol.


4.04/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

An average pour with a little kick at the end produced a finger of white creamy foam with above average retention and thin rings of lacing. Orange-straw color, opaque with orange highlights.

Juicy hops greet the nose featuring pineapple and grapefruit, crackery malt blended with toasted malt in support.

Juicy semi-sweet taste, mild bitterness (at 1st) and oh so fruity...but not too fruity. Hop flavor has taken on some spice and peppery bitterness, the malt taste matches the smell and is challenged by the fruit tastes. The finish dries to semi-dry quickly as sweet tastes drop off first, a hint of sweetness and creeping bitter spicy hops linger on a long while.

Medium-light body with average carbonation, big balanced flavors and well hidden alcohol. Matches style guidelines. Canned on 12/08/20.

 

After some quick research it seems Rinn Duin is now Toms River:

https://tomsriverbrewing.com/trb-about-us/

I’ve had a red ale, stout and Scottish ale from the predecessor and all were great. I’ve seen Toms River cans around but I’ll pay more attention now knowing who they are, especially if it’s the same brewer.

 

Prairie Bourbon Barrel Aged Weekend



This is the first barrel aged Prairie I've had while being a big fan of their base stouts including Weekend. One of the things I've admired about the base stouts is how balanced they are and this is no exception; the barrel aging makes a change but not an overwhelming one. Rather it serves to enhance the regular Weekend characteristics while adding an X factor that doesn't skew things instead of just making them better. Yes there's a bourbon element in the smell and taste but nothing that takes your breath away. Rather the coconut, vanilla, chocolate and brown sugar smells and tastes are all still there, just competing and interacting with something else.

I've never felt that aging would improve Prairie's stouts and this is no exception.

 

Nice!
It's good to see something different on the shelves these days. Any one of those styles could have been my first attempt, but these rye IPA cans seemed fresh enough to help with my decision.

 

Damn, Goot; you've made me feel good for missing this on Black Friday. Like a belated Christmas present! Sláinte!