New Beer Weekend #24

Ozark Beer Co.'s Merry & Brite Hazy IPA dry hopped with Cyro-Simcoe, 6.5% ABV; 4.07 overall

Pours a very hazed gold with 2+ fingers off eggshell colored head. Sheets of lacing & good head retention

S: Citrus, peach & mango, fades a touch once warm

T: Green melon, kiwi fruit, tangerine & dryness up front. Lime, dryness & green melon as this warms along with pomelo. Finishes dry with lime and pomelo& a little kiwi fruit

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, good balance

Easy drinker & a decent take on the style

 

Another new lager -- this one's a dark lager from Georgetown named Basket Case.

64oz growler served in a big snifter. Bought the growler at the brewery a few days ago.

Pours very dark, somewhat translucent, smallish head. Smell is very roasty and rich, a little nutty, maybe almost-burnt toast.

Taste is the same, mostly -- sweeter the aroma suggests, more anise than the aroma suggests.

Mouthfeel is light and dry. Overall, very nice, tasty beer.

 

Happy New Year, all!

Breweries are all but shut down for any in-house trade (again), so as before, I'm contributing my small part to support the locals. You've all, no doubt, seen @Todd's post suggesting we all do our best to support our local breweries. I support that, of course.

So, I paid a visit to Lakeville Brewing this afternoon and picked up a few crowlers. I've reviewed some of their beers before in NBS/W. They are a non-distributing brewery/restaurant.

Tonight, I'm having

Lakeville Brewing Shiftwork
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 30

The brewer subtitles this "a coffee Amber Lager."



Reddish amber color, carbonation bubbles are small, but plentiful. The head is 1 inch or so from a relatively vigorous pour, off-white, but it is short-lived. No lacing.

Nose is a bit musty, earthy. Dark coffee aroma.

Taste is also earthy. Roasted dark coffee flavors are obvious, but not overbearing. A moderate bitterness carries from the middle into the finish, and very mildly, into the aftertaste. The bitterness seems more like from coffee than from hops. Good malt base, nice earthy flavor, and the coffee adds to an interesting overall beer. The finish is dry. Nicely done.

The beer has a rather thin body, but that is expected for the style.

Overall, as with many of Lakeville Brewing's beers, well-brewed, no faults, and made for drinking at the pub with friends. I bought two, and I'm glad I did.

L: 3.5 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.71

 

But did you like it?

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Time for the new year, and a new beer:

Gueuze Girardin 1882 - 5% ABV - a Lambic Gueuze style.

I really got to stop buying beer every shift I work. Well ,maybe not. I don't have much experience with this style, but I'm digging this sipper. Damn good.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2541/6317/#navigation

4.32/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

When I popped the cork, there was a nice bit of smoke clinging around the neck of the bottle. It pours a nice apple color. Somewhat clear. 1 1/2 finger slightly off white head. The head retention is poor. The head dissipates to a nice ring around the edge of the glass, that rides up a bit on the edge. No lacing otherwise. There's some carbonation rising in the glass as I watch it.
The nose is a really wild, and complex funky aroma. There's a bit of apple here, more of an apple cider aroma. There's a farm aroma here - no not cow pies - like a straw/hay aroma. Some floral aromas here as well.
Taste - Very wild. Up front it seems more into the funky floral that I was getting on the nose. I also get some lemon flavor up front. The apple cider seems to be a back flavor that lingers.
The body reminds me of champagne - really bubbly, and crisp. Somewhat "dry". Crisp feeling.
I do not have much experience with this style, but I think this is a good representation for this style.


I think there will be another tonight. See you all then.

 

Bike Rack Brewing's Dark Lager, 5.2% ABV; 3.84 overall

Pours an effervescent hazel with 3 fingers of tan head. Alright head retention & lacing

S: Brown bread, toastyness and dark fruit

T: Toastyness, a little dryness, some woody hops, maybe just a little roastyness as well & some fig notes. Dryness dominates as it warms along with woody hops, plus brown bread and a little figgyness. Finishes dry with leafy hops and brown bread & roastyness

MF: Firm carbonation and medium body

I'll be honest, I considered making this a Schwartzbier entry, but the nose swayed me the other way, nice beer for this time of year

 

All new root and branch are amazing!

 

Opened another Afterthought Brewing saison that I received from NBS BIF #12 from @FBarber .



Afterthought Amer: Riwaka - hoppy saison - 5% abv

A - pale golden with a slight haze. One finger of creamy white head that dissipates to a thin layer quickly.

S - lemon, peach, herbal funk, peppery spice

T - bright tangy lemon, white grapes, apricot, white grapefruit, oak, finishes with just a touch of hoppy bitterness

M - light body with nice tingly carb.

O - This is a fantastic saison. I've been so impressed with what I've had from Afterthought Brewing. I love that they package these in 12oz bottles as well. Fruity and easy drinking, it was the perfect before dinner treat. Thanks again, Frank!

 

Starzen Lager from Starry Eyed Brewing - Oktoberfest/Marzen - 5.3% ABV.

I know it's past the season, but I had to try this, and it's good for the style. Easy drinking, and decent flavor.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49542/527367/

3.72/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a redish color. Less than a 1 fonger off white head. The head retention is very poor. No lacing on the glass.
The aroma is fairly weak. There's a bit of malt here, but not much else.
There's a lot more flavor than the nose let on. There's a nice deep rich malt here. There's a hint of smoke going on, which seems to hit more on the back.
Crisp feel. Decent body.
This is a decent Oktoberfest. Good, and tasty.


That is all for today, see you tomorrow.

 

Cheers!

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we are unseasonably warm after a snowy week. Rain this evening with temps in the low 40s, on top of the snow fall. It's a bit sloppy.

So here is Murphy's Irish Stout. A nice mild stout, low AVB from a nitro can. Very creamy and very drinkable.

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

Starting the evening with another can from Pinthouse, Nomura Imperial Jellyfish, while spinning Sacramentum's "Far Away from the Sun." I've always heralded Dawn's "Slaughtersun" as the pinnacle of melodic black metal, but if there's one album that can even sniff that peak, it's "FAftS."

The beer pours a hazy, slightly dirty orange - somewhere between squash and bronze - with a touch of white head that lasts a few brief moments before entirely disappearing, leaving a scant bit of lacing in its wake.

On first whiff, a blend of bright tangerine juice, mango, dried papaya, and grapefruit zest are joined by a light malty sweetness - unsurprising for a 9.5% ABV hazy DIPA. As it warms in the glass, a rather assertive ester profile develops with overripe nectarines and melons, along with further sweetness that throws the balance of the aroma in the wrong direction. The esters don't go into the full-blown rotting fruit salad that some breweries have dealt with, but it overshadows the hops rather quickly.

The first sip is quite pleasant, as hop-derived flavors take center stage upfront, featuring orange flesh, lemon zest, lychee, and touches of dankness. As it hits the mid-palate, a wave of caramelish, malt-derived sweetness takes over along with nectarine and honeydew melon. The finish features a surprising amount of hop burn for a beer that was packaged over three weeks ago.

Even for a 9.5% ABV hazy DIPA, it's rather heavy on the palate, feeling flabby and overly dense without any interesting flavors to justify its heft.

I know some people love thick, ester-driven hazy (D)IPAs, but this isn't what I want out of the style. When your yeast profile is overwhelming the hops and there's noticeable sweetness, you've lost me.

2.75/5

 

To Whom It May Concern, an IPA from Cloudburst.

16oz can served in a can-shaped Flatstick Pub pint glass. Dated 2020-12-23. Bought it from Full Throttle Bottles a couple days ago.

Pours a hazy light yellow-amber with a tremendous head and medium to high carbonation. Smell is pith primarily, a little pineapple and a little mango.

Taste is lots of tropical juice and lots of citrus pith bitterness.

Mouthfeel is very dry, fairly light. Overall, pretty good.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

Next up is a Modern Times collaboration with Burial, Forgotten Landscapes Aged in Madeira Barrels w/ Black Splendor Plums. Not too many beers aged in Madeira barrels floating around and, being a fan of the style of wine, it's always a pleasure to try these. Along with the stylistic shift in beer, I moved on to Symphony X's "V: The New Mythology Suite." Regardless of what the beer has in store for me, listening to Sir Russell Allen sing is sure to make for an enjoyable hour.

Pours a brilliant magenta with minimal head formation, but what does develop - a ring of loosely-organized bubbles around the edges - is rather tenacious.

The nose is surprisingly mild aside from an obvious note of lactic acidity. With sufficient swirling, I can tease out plums, figs, dates, lightly salted caramel, vanilla, oak, horse blanket, and earthy funk, but it's all very elusive. After letting the glass sit for a moment, even warm, it returns to a very linear mix of plums and lactic acidity. Odd.

On the palate, things get more interesting - bright, ripe plums feature on the attack, giving way to barrel notes on the mid-palate. Light figs, faint toffee, oak, and vanilla mingle with barnyard funk, all elevated by a moderate but restrained level of lactic acidity. Plums circle back in on the finish, bringing a vibrant fleshy flavor but obscuring much of the barrel-derived complexity.

Just a hair above light-bodied and moderately carbonated, it has just enough heft to feel balanced and properly constructed.

On one hand, this is enjoyable enough, but I can't help but feel it would've been better without the fruit. The barrel character is interesting when it's permitted to show itself, but the plums mostly obscure it. There's no shortage of fruit-forward American-made sours, but this is certainly a missed opportunity to better showcase a nuanced and underrepresented barrel type.

3.9/5

 

Really liked the joint CBS/Mackinaw Fudge side by side review and discussion. I rate both about the same, usually sensitive to sweetness, but found the fudge well incorporated into the stout, and also loved the incredible rich and creamy mouthfeel. Also appreciated @FBarber 's review of two beers from the new Orkenoy brewery, which I never heard of until putting together the Visiting Chicago Breweries post. Hope I can hit all in 2021.

@Victory_Sabre1973 's Gueuze Girardin 1882 is my favorite beer in this thread I've had before, @MacMalt 's WCIPA Forging Ahead by Highrail Brewing is the one so far I haven't had but would like to try the most, really love the hops combination and the beer looked great.

This is likely my last new beer for New Beer Weekend #24, and a one and done for New Beer Sunday #827. This beer is a collaboration with Run the Jewels, so it's likely a one time release for Pipeworks. However, this duo has/will collaborate with 12 different brewers for 12 different No Save Point releases, so you may have this available near you later this year. This beer was also reviewed by @FBarber last week.

Pipeworks / Run The Jewels Collaboration - No Save Point



Can Notes: 16 ounces canned 11/18/20, 6.5% ABV. Hazy India Pale Ale with Galaxy and Sabro hops. Purchased as a single can at Beer on the Wall.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a 16 oz shaker pint glass. Hazy yellow / orange colour, egg white puffy head lingers for a few minutes before leaving clumpy lacing and a coat over the top similar to the light snow dusting happening here this morning. 3.75

Aroma: Sweet and tropical, pineapple leads, grapefruit backs. Smell a little vanilla after a few more attempts. Inviting. 4.0

Taste: Consistent with the aroma and this style. Sweet tropical fruit is the calling card here, grapefruit leads, pineapple and mango follows. Picking up light coconut absent in the aroma, also lemon grass. Leans sweet, but the hops provides a nice bitter offset to the wonderful sweet fruit. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Medium body, creamy. Faint carbonation lingers, lightly dry, nicely balanced between sweet and slightly bitter sips. Very easy drinking, clean finish. 4.25

Overall: This is a really good NEIPA, like the balance and bold tropical fruit flavors. Definately worth grabbing one or four. 4.0

Looking forward to the rest of the reviews this weekend. Cheers!

 

Ironic choice for a name to call a German lager “ dreadnought”

you would think an English esb would be a better choice