New Beer Weekend #24

Garage - One Eye On Chomsky

New England/West Coast IPA from Spain (6.5%).



Pours a hazy, dark orange coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of biscuity malt and citrus/tropical hops, with distinct grapefruit, lime peel and much lighter passion fruit and pine accents.

Taste is an excellent balance of biscuity malt and fruity, dank, resinous, bitter hops, with strong citrus and lighter tropical notes of grapefruit, lime peel, passion fruit, pineapple and just a hint of pine. Finishes with a medium bitterness and some grapefruit, lime peel and pine lingering in the aftertaste. Soft mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This makes for a very nice cross between a New England and West Coast IPA with its juicy, quite zesty citrus and lighter tropical notes, soft mouthfeel and bitter and slightly dank and resinous finish, with the zestiness and bitterness going together quite well here. While it could still be a bit more bitter and resinous for my personal taste, there's still a great overall balance to this, which makes for a rather interesting drinking experience.

Great example of the NE/WC crossover IPA that is becoming quite popular in Europe. I also love the name here, I can always appreciate a bit of a political reference and if everyone paid a little more attention to Noam Chomsky's writings, we'd probably all be a lot better off.

 

Braumanufaktur Hertl / Blech.Brut - Dunkle Zeiten

Imperial Black New England IPA with Sabro, Amarillo and HBC 472 hops, from Germany (7.1%).



Pours a deep, dark brown coloration with a medium, creamy head. Smells of lightly roasted, biscuity malt, some chocolate and distinct earthy, woody aromas, as well as just a hint of coconut and citrus.

Taste is an excellent balance of lightly roasted, biscuity malt and earthy, woody, slightly fruity hops, with citrus and tropical notes of tangerine and coconut, as well as some chocolate and oak. Finishes with a light/medium bitterness and some coconut, chocolate and oak lingering in the aftertaste. Soft mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

The brewer desribes this as a "New England Black IPA" and while that may sound gimmicky and this isn't nearly as roasted, bitter and resinous as I like my Black IPAs, it really does make for an intriguing brew, mainly due to the use of Sabro and HBC 472 hops, which really impart some interesting, quite earthy and woody coconut and oak notes here that go very well with the light roasted malt and chocolate accents, while the fruity citrus notes add a little zest, but stay mostly in the background.

I usually don't even like Sabro hops, but they really work here, especially in combination with the HBC 472 hops. Certainly an unusual, but rather fascinating brew that's quirky yet well-balanced, making for a rather different but quite enjoyable drinking experience.

 

Upland Brewing Co. -- Bad Elmer (American porter)



3.96/5 rDev +10.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Deep, dark brown color, clear as much as can be gleaned; thick and frothy light khaki head; sticky rings and fingers of lacing cling to the glass. Robust roasted grain note on the nose; cocoa. Rich flavors of cocoa and grain char; coffee-like; moderate grain sweetness offset with a bracing bitterness. Heavy body; silky and rich on the palate; big residual sugar body tempered with a mild bit of dryness.

It's been at least 12 years since I last tried this beer on tap at the brewer. I can't say I remember the tasting experience from that far back, but this can experience is pretty tasty and enjoyable. It is straight-forward, no nonsense -- a real pleasure to drink.
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Technically, not a new beer for me, but I wasn't a BA member until just over ten years ago, and like I mentioned in my review, it has been at least 12 years since I last had this beer at the brewery. I even have an Upland Bad Elmer bicycling jersey?

It is great to be able to go back and find a beer from long ago still available and still tasting great. It makes this particular winter traveling day an enjoyable one in the comfort of my Terre Haute motel room...

 

Next up: a coffee porter courtesy of @2beerdogs .


Smog City Coffee Porter

Dear jeebus, this thing is nothing but coffee! From the nose to the finish. I'm surprised I'm not spitting up grounds.

Whether or not that's to your liking probably depends. Do you like coffee? And I don't just mean coffee in beer; do you like coffee? If not, this is a hard pass. I love coffee, and even for me it's almost too much - almost.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27922/510035/?ba=Roguer#review
4.18 / +1.5%

Cheers!

 

I'd love to have a beer, but I'll be on the road early in the AM for Michigan and then back down to OH. Perhaps on my way back to Colorado? What part of IN are you in?

 

Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse -- 10° (Czech style lager)



4.11/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pale gold body; fair carbonation; thin yet lasting white head. Clean, biscuit-like grain aroma; toasty. Clean, cracker malt base infused with a fairly dominant hop bitterness; nice mineral-like quality to the overall flavor. Medium-light body; crisp.

This is a fine tasting, low-ABV pilsner. The taste is phenomenal.
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I hope I have one more of these back in Colorado, as I want to sanity-check my impression of the beer's look.

Other than that, my third and final beer of the day, and most likely my final ball game on TV. Got to do a bit of reading and then rest up for my journey up to Michigan tomorrow...