New Beer Weekend #40

Last one, courtesy of @Victory_Sabre1973. Mango heaven!!!



4.25/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Hazy mango color with a white head that laces pretty nicely, there’s a heaping helping of mango aromas on the nose, along with some juicy pineapple and sweetness from the lactose. I’m intrigued.

The mango is really forward on the taste, and in a good way, because it’s delicious. The pineapple is also present, and I get the sweetness from the lactose and what tastes to me like a bit of coconut.

The mouthfeel is medium, and a bit softer per the style. I approach milkshake IPA’s with some trepidation because they usually seem a bit muddled to me, but this one really works.

 

Ran to the store for sammich makings, and grabbed a couple ticking beers as well. Up next is Urban Family Guava Dawn, a sour with pink guava. It's OK.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28192/302042/

 

A new one from Mount Holly (VT) Beer Co.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60182/546233/



16 oz. can.
Canned 04/22/21.
Three days old!

Moderate pour yields a one inch white head over a hazy golden body with sticky lacing. Nose of citrus (orange, tangerine), tropical fruit (papaya, pineapple), and a bit of pine resin. Taste mirrors nose with a citrus pith bitterness from middle to end and finishing fairly dry with pine resin. Nice feel and overall, for the first one in this JAAKKO series, what a nice job from Mount Holly and would recommend highly.
Cheers!

 

Last new beer for the weekend

Taxman hosts an event on the weekend after April 15th each year called Death and Taxs. That used to be the name of this beer, but I believe a real life C&D ruined the fun. Each year they produce this bourbon barrel aged stout (now known as Evasion) along with a couple variants. I've never been able to attend, so when I spotted two packs in Bloomington last week I picked one up.


The review:
12oz canned 4/09/2020 (just over a year ago) poured into a tulip glass at just above fridge temp 14% ABV per label. The beer pours dark brown with rusty, light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of tiny bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring bourbon barrel, caramel and vanilla. The taste is semisweet caramel, vanilla, oak barrel, bourbon with dark roasted malt adding mild ash and dark chocolate. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, excellent.

That's it for me this week. Cheers all!

 

And, now for #3 for today, ending with a traditional bock.

Those of you who participate / read NBW know that I like this brewery a lot, and not just for their beers (although that is a big part), but also for their whole historical preservation ethic.

Waldmann Bock
Bock - Traditional
ABV: 5.3%
IBU: NA



Very tall and very fizzy off-white-to-tan head that noisily recedes to a thick bubbly, airy cap with short lacing in a couple of minutes, and then a few minutes later a center island of bubbles and an airy bubbly ring with no lacing. The beer itself is ruby-brown, clear, with an abundance of tiny bubbles. Nice looking bock; the only downgrade is the quickly receding fizzy head.

The aroma is bread, toast, dried sweet figs, slight spice.

The initial sip tastes of figs and raisins, toast and dark bread. Shortly after, there is a drying feel that is not bitter or tart, but in that direction, as perhaps a very mild astringency - I hesitate to use that word since it can convey something I don't intend. Perhaps just mildly drying is better. All the while retaining its inherent sweetish, toasty malty underpinnings. The flavor has a lot going on. The light spiciness mentioned in the aroma; a sweet caramel or sweet figs. Toast. Dark (German) bread. This is a very tasty traditional bock. The finish is somewhat sweet, as is the aftertaste, with the previously mentioned flavors remaining.

The mouth feel has a substantial body.

Overall, tasty and well-brewed. Brewed to the German style without the need to Americanize it. That's one of the things I like about Waldmann's beers - authenticity.

L: 3.75 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.25 | F: 4.0 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 4.03

 

Happy nbs. Haven't been here in a few months. My gf of almost 7 months moved in and turned in her apt keys 2 Fridays ago. The relationship is amazing. I stopped being so anal and serious about reviewing. I smoke everyday and my depression and anxiety is all but gone. I've decided my shitty job doesn't matter as much when the rest of my life is amazing. Doing third shift overtime this weekend. Applied for 5 engineering jobs yesterday. Will update my beer reviews to untappd checks soon. I've had quite a few new ones, but I only drink when I go out now or to breweries

Also adopted stegosaurus this evening. Got taken in the shelter on the 7th. Treated for tapeworms. Needs a few more lbs.


Having a pineapple mucky duck dipa. Very good dipa. Big pineapple juice and citrus/pine hops. Some tropical. Might be Simcoe and Columbus. Moderate bitterness with lingering resins. Minimal astringency with slight tartness. Good sized biscuit malt backbone with min residual sweetness. Mild warmth of 8% 3.85


Cheers

 

Unfortunately I am out of new bocks to try to close out this wonderful bock filled weekend but I did get some DDH Mylar Bags to review.
4.5/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

16 oz can, dated 4/14/21, poured into a teku

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

S- Dank, lime zest, citrus, some pineapple, tropical fruits, melons, touch of peaches.

T- Citrus, dank, some lime zest, melons, some tropical fruits, touch of pineapple.

M- Smooth, a little creamy, medium body.

O- A well brewed and easy to drink NEIPA. 8.5% is well hidden and doesn’t make this sweet.

Cheers NBW!

 

Probably my last new brew for this NBS, Can it! from Skookum Brewery. Another beer that makes me think we need a NEPA style category. We shouldn't be comparing murky Pales to clear ones any more than we should murky IPAs to clear ones.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/15824/303579/

 

Poured into a 16 oz tulip glass vintage 2021 and 13.8% ABV this batch. Pours midnight black, with a finger brown head that settles fairly quickly leaving a few thin wisps of lace. 4.25

Aroma deep dark chocolate, char, back strap molasses, vanilla, tobacco, and oaked bourbon. 4.5

Taste follows dark chocolate, molasses, vanilla, char, tobacco, and a healthy dose of woody bourbon. 4.5

Mouthfeel is pretty big, soft gentle carbonation, a tad dry, and at 13.8% it is a sipper, but very complex and makes you want to sip it faster than you should. 4.5

Overall this one is very impressive. Reminds me a lot of BCBS but possibly even better. Thanks @jzeilinger for this amazing bottle. 4.5 Sleep well all.

 

Here’s a different one...

Fonta Flora Chicken Bridge, a 2.8% Mixed-Culture Kvass



A: Nearly clear bright yellow gold, with a quickly receding white head
A: Rye bread, lemon, herbs, grass
T: Rye bread, earth, tangy lemon citrus, peppery herbs, light sour acidity, drying funky citrus finish
M: Low but crisp carb, light body.
O: Lots of bread and lemon character in a low ABV package with just a hint of sour. Don’t see this style very often (at least I don’t) - interesting and refreshing

 

Well Hello (I finally got here) Late Night NBW.
In the spirit of celebrating Bocks, I popped this most delectable example from @strohme2 .

Old Delta Bock by Upper Hand

Gorgeous, crystal clear amber hue that sends a sandy head roughly 2 fingers in height. A slow retreat leaves a smattering of delicate layered lacing.
The nose abounds with rich malt, toffee, brown bread, a mild fruit note, and a hint of toasted nuts.
Flavor follows the nose well. A firm malt backbone, gently tamed by the hops. rich brown bread, toffee, toasty caramel, a very smooth orange marmalade hint also comes through. Hops bring an ever so light herbal kiss and kind of dry out the back end.
Mouthfeel is medium, smooth, and lightly carbonated.
Overall, a crushable delight.
4.09/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

 

One more for Bock weekend (and x-posted), luckily had one around since I totally missed the announcement. This is Edmund’s Oast Wolves at the Door, a 7.5% Doppelbock.



A: Pours deep mahogany with clear edges and a lasting, creamy tan head.
A: Sweet malt, dark bread, raisins and cocoa.
T: Flavors follow aroma with raisins becoming more prominent, plus caramel, cocoa and a lingering sweet malty finish.
M: Medium fine carb, medium body and a soft texture.
O: Lots of dark malty flavors running through this- tasty if a little on the sweet side.

 

Ahh... that happened to me a little while back. I'd never worked a job with benefits before (retirement, vacation, etc), and one of my work buddies (who used to also work at Cloudburst Brewing here in town, as a fun side note) asked me one day how quickly we accrue PTO. I told him I didn't know, so he suggested I look at my last two paystubs, and see the difference in PTO built up to see how quickly we accrue.
So I looked.
"They're the same."
"Look back further"
So I did. Still the same. I had to dig back months. Turns out I'd hit our maximum accrual and hadn't been accruing any additional time off for several months. Needless to say I took as much time off as I could that autumn!
Anyway, glad you're enjoying your April time off.


As far as NBW, I was going to join in the bock tasting as my NBW beer, but the only bock I have is Cold Dark Night, from Haymarket thanks to @FBarber during this latest iteration of the BIF. Seeing the experience @ChicagoJ had, I figure I've got plenty of other cans in the fridge, and I can afford to miss a style tasting to let it sit and get to a point where it'll be more 'ready' instead of forcing it just for the style. #longwinded.


So instead of a bock, I decided to reach for an IPA. The ladyfriend and I have a routine, because we are both TERRIBLE at making decisions, whereby we offer the choices available, but present them from a different context. For example, instead of listing the three or four beers I was choosing between, I might list three or four colours, or loose concepts, or types of animals, or whathaveyou, each one secretly corresponding to one of the beers, but she doesn't know what the correspondences are. So I gave her some options. The one she went for happened to be the only one not from the BIF box. Ha. c'est la vie.



Single Eyepa (Citra) from Wander, up in Terry's neck of the woods (in fact it's so his neck of the woods, it's his favourite brewery!) is a... you guessed it: single IPA using citra. It does a decent job of presenting the hop as it is, and ultimately is a pleasantly enjoyable if unspectacular beverage.

Pour's a completely cloudy pale orange, slightly less saturated than an orange creamcicle bar. Capped with a good two fingers of eggwhite sticky foam that lingers and laces wonderfully.

Nose is muted citrus and floral aspects, with a clean underpinning. Pleasantly soft, and nothing is particularly pronounced, it's just... kind of a cozy little cabin as opposed to more pronounced architecture.

Flavour is in the same boat: dull soft citrus, with a slightly floral bent, with some clean grains just underneath, supporting without really putting themselves out there. Finish has a moderate to mild earthy/citrusy hop bitterness.

Body is incredibly soft, though it does have some bite to the carbonation and a little bit of hop burn as well, though, again, not overwhelmingly so.

Ultimately I found it to be pleasant, but it didn't really stand out. The Ms. enjoys it a fair amount, which works well because I picked it up with her in mind (she loves raccoons... finds them cute. I find them vicious mischievous little fucks that will break into any chicken/duck pen and murder the inhabitants. The difference between pictures/cartoons exposure to an animal and living in the woods with them, I guess!)!

Cheers!

 

@FBarber is a master of trickery. It is known. His first two mysteries for me were real doozys... one was a shenanigan (can of juice that I accidentally revealed before opening so I caught his deception), and the other was a brown rye kolsch (right??!?). This can has no revealing info except for seven ominous letters: High ABV.

Well, shit, I'm off for the next couple of days, and this last stretch at work definitely warrants something with some bang to it!



4.25Pour is a beautiful crisp amber. Little swell of sappy off-white head that settles down to a cozy little cap... honestly it reminds me of old school PNW IPAs (maybe a little dark/amber for that, but in that vein), and it makes me real nostalgic.

4Nose is sweet, but not in like a juicy NEIPA sweetness, more in like a barleywine/ryewine/wheatwine kind of way. Like caramel/boozy raisins/etc. Yum.

4.25Flavour carries a lot of the same. Boozy raisins and very sweet caramel and a bit of depth with some leather and a little spicy tobacco. Above it all is still that candy sweet, like the sweetness of dulce de leche, but not quite as... bold/rich/thickness of that. Finishes with that tobacco spicy character which is nice. I would guess some sort of barrelling, but could easily be persuaded against as well.

3.75Much thinner than the flavours listed above would suggest. Not quite watery, but certainly thin. Small blanketing pricks of carbonation help give it some body. I don't know what the ABV is, but I would not guess this is is something that warrants a 'high abv' label, just based on tasting it. I'm not saying it tastes sessionable or anything, but it doesn't carry it's octane on its sleeve, as it were, to mix some metaphors.

The reveal...



Wooow... Nice one, Frank! Wizard Burial Ground is a BBA Quad that I've had one my radar for some time out of Vivant (Side note: I think it was @FlintB who sent me the Brewery Vivant tshirt!), even putting it on my wish list. Now that I see what I've got going on, some of the characteristics make more contextual sense, and that.

Apologies, I got distracted by some things and kind of lost the thread of what I was saying.
Overall I'm glad to have finally gotten to try this one. Thanks Frank!