New Beer Weekend #45

Stoked!
Thanx Roguer and happy Memorial Day Weekend Advocates!!
My humble offering to this thread is and was a gift: Lift Bridge 12pk mixr.
I've had their Farm Girl Saison but not other other 3 here. Perfect for this weekend thread!
First: Hop Dish IPA
L: Pale gold straw. Thin white head w/some lacing.
S: Light grass, bread, soft esters.
T: Fig, apricot, dry mango, peach, black tea, light malt/bread crust. Medium long hop finish.
F: Simultaneously fruity and hop forward, medium bodied. Rather soft and excellent carbonation throughout. It does have a softer mouth feel though it's hops are politely assertive. Very juicy for a standard IPA. It's a winner.
Winner winner chicken dinner Cheers Advocates! Glad to be here!

 

Hidden away in a corner of the cooler was Zwickel, part of the Jack's Abby Keller Series.
The can and website simply describe this as a “country style lager”.
Unpasteurized and unfiltered, OG 13 Plato, IBU 30, 5.1% ABV

Their description fits. Zwickel looks, tastes, and feels like something brewed at a German farmhouse.
A murky amber/wheat/honey, rich and thick with lots of sweet malts and a hint of lemon & hops at the backend. It reminds me of fresh biscuits with a touch of honey. This beer is for a leisurely drink with wurts & scnitzel, refreshing but not for slamming.
4.1/5 rDev +15.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Cheers all! I didn’t even realize this one was a new-to-me beer until I checked the profile. I guess Peche ‘n Brett Reserve is a variation on regular Peche ‘n Brett. In any case, it qualifies for New Beer Weekend so here you go:

4.39/5 rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

750mL (batch 2020, bottled 9/22/2020) into a tulip. Pours a slightly hazy golden straw w/ a 1-finger white head.

Aroma is the expected tart funk with an edge of fruity sweetness. Grassy, dry, enticing.

Taste is likewise bright, tart and grassy; biscuity malt with an underlying sweetness from the peaches and a touch of mineral. Clean dry oak shines through.

Mouthfeel is crisp and refreshing, super drinkable.

Overall a wonderful saison/American wild.

 

I'm not used to it being stout weather in late May, but it's definitely stout weather! First up is this bottle of Imperial Stout by Back East Brewing Co. They are one of, if not the closest local brewery to me, yet I rarely drink their beer. Nothing against them, I just find myself more likely to make the trip to Fox Farm (hour away) or Suarez (two hours away) than to hit them up (20 minutes away).

For those who don't want to read the full review below, I'll give you the Cliff's Notes...It's not very good.



3.39/5 rDev -15.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Looks like I'm the first person to review this beer in almost five years, and either our tastes have collectively changed, or this beer isn't as good as it used to be. Appearance was about as average as you can get. Very dark, with a thin mocha colored head, but nothing of any note visually. Aroma was the highlight. Rich, sweet and inviting, albeit not overly complex.

Taste is where this starts to lose it a bit, which is kind of an important thing for a beer. Overall, it's just unrefined and lacking depth. Boozy with some roast, but it lacks any refinement. It's like what an experimental beer would taste like that you would learn from for next time. No real depth. At first, it was pretty good, but over time, I enjoyed it less and less. Don't get me wrong, it's not a train wreck, but relative to what else is out there, this is a miss.

 

The next new one is from local favorite Wander, This Must Be The Place. It's an Imperial Murkbomb (seriously, can we add ImpNEIPA as a style?), that's fairly typical for the style: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34416/551664/

 

Beer #2 is El Jefe, from Madhouse Brewing Company. I received this from a coworker in 2017 when I was in the nascent stages of becoming a full blown beer geek (I've been an overall geek far longer than that). Late may weather in the 40's was a great occasion to crack open another stout.

3.95/5 rDev -7.9% | Average: 4.29
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

2017 - jet black with half an inch of coffee ice cream colored head. Given the age of this beer and the ABV, I'm pleasantly surprised that there is any head. It's still a very attractive beer.

Aroma has strong notes of vanilla and vanilla. It's not in you face, but more nuanced. Subtle, but it works. It's like walking down the street and passing by a store with a little bit of a quirky store front where you don't really know what exactly they sell, but you're drawn to it anyway. It's not screaming "look at me", it's whispering in your ear "give me a try".

Taste is really interesting. I give it major credit for being unique. I can't remember another beer like it. I don't have a very refined palate, but I can absolutely taste the individual ingredients (chili peppers, cacao nibs, vanilla, cinnamon). While I can't say the end product is my favorite stout, that's not a knock. It's good, and while not my exact thing, it's interesting enough that I will have no problem solo'ing this bottle. I love brewers who take risks and can pull it off. Wish I had opened this earlier today when I was hanging with a couple friends, as I would love to get their take.

 

That appears to be one very interested Tortie. Cool-looking cat!

I'm on my lunch break, when I drink only on the rarest of occasions ... this one features a crowler of a true session brew whose carbonation expiration is rapidly approacing, so behold a New Beer Weekend Dark Mild:


Acopon Brewing Co.'s Homunculus • English dark mild • 3.5% ABV • 21 IBUs

I visited the brewery for the first time Wednesday specifically to drink a pint of Gas Pipes, their bitter on cask. It's better than this dark mild, though both of the beers have an interesting quality that serves as their highlight. They both are more earthy than sweet but are drawing just enough from the barley malt to keep that earthy flavor from growing or turning medicinal, making them very easy to drink.

This Homunculus is obviously much more toasted in flavor, toasted wood, toasted grain ... at times it even grows into a charred oak flavor. If it had a little more malt sweetness to it, it'd be amazing ... as is, it's decent. I'd drink it again, especially considering it's in my favorite ABV range for brews.

The official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/51901/340673/?ba=Premo88#review
3.77 (-7.1% rDev)

Cheers!

 

My original plan was to join my beer nerd BFF @Roguer in reviewing this beer, then going on to Founders Nemesis for #2.

But I like this beer too much, so having a pair of this WCDIPA today and saving Nemesis for another day (I’m thinking tomorrow or Monday).

As all the cool kids like to say today, I am pivoting. At my age, that can be an adventure. Let’s GO!!!





4.42/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a gorgeous crystal clear golden color with a head the color of pearls that provides some lacing. I could stare at a full glass of this with the cap on for days. The nose is bitter resiny pine and citrus notes, especially tangerine and some grapefruit.

The pine is indeed forward and bitingly bitter on the taste, but it’s balanced by a traveshamockery delicious tangerine flavor and a subtle caramalt note as well.

The mouthfeel is dry, but there’s an almost oily feel to this as well that I’m crediting to the “C-hop” lineup. This is a beautiful representation of what Stone does so well - the absolutely uncompromising, crushingly bitter WCDIPA. I could drink this for days.

 

Last new one for the day, a murkster from Old Schoolhouse, Iron Outlaw. It is certainly beer.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1395/551697/

 

Technically I had one of these last weekend when I visited my brother while he stayed in Vancouver, but I preferred to pay attention to my family rather than writing a review. So I'll do it this weekend. Please indulge me.

19.2oz can served in a nonic imperial pint. Dated 2021-04-23. Gift from my brother.

Pours a slightly hazy, light yellow, with a big, persistent, rocky head and medium to high carbonation. Smell is herbal, almost minty, cut grass, lemons.

Taste is similar -- lemon, herbal, cut grass, maybe some hay and a bit of grain husk.

Mouthfeel is light, dry, slightly resinous. Overall, it's not bad. Somehow, more enjoyable as a sideline while I spent quality time with family I see rarely, versus being the focus of my attention.

 

Maybe I’m the only one but I’m enjoying this cold Memorial Day weekend. Go playoff hockey on and I’m enjoying a stout, watched Canadian fans sing the National anthem for the first time in a year, what a site. But go leafs go, sorry Habs. Anyway onto the beer. I went out special for this cause I wanted a dark beer on a cold dreary day. Bells - Kalamazoo Stout



A very nice looking beer pours pitch black, and dense. I did not expect the slowly rising head you get on bigger stouts one a 6 % one but that’s exactly what happened. A slow to rise creamy mocha tan looking head. Then it settles into rocky terrain creamy froth. As I stated a very nice looking beer.

The aroma to me is big in burnt and roasty. The things that come to mind for me are dark chocolate and dark roast black coffee. Also get a touch of something licorice like.

Tastes is nice burnt dark roast coffee. It also reminds me of those dark chocolates that are high up in the cocoa %. I’d even say there is almost like a burnt tobacco thing going on.

Medium bodied but super smooth. It’s almost creamy because of the carbonation. Very nice big bitter lingering finish. I swear it’s almost like smoking a cigarette with coffee aftertaste. I haven’t had a cigarette in ages but you know you can never get that taste to leave. That’s what this beer does but in a good way.

I’m really happy I’m drinking this it’s so burnt and roasty but so smooth and so full of flavor.

 

LIC Beer Project provides this new beer.
Project Haze - Citra is a DIPA that pours a hazy yellow from the can with a 1 cm cap of fine white foam and an aroma of of orange blossoms.
The flavor is sweet citrus up front. Melon and berry aspects follow. The hop bitterness is low.
The mouthfeel is quite smooth and soft for the style.
This brew is fully flavored and the low hop bitterness makes it feel a bit rich too.

 

@Roguer and @ovaltine have paired to make me interested in purchasing a specific beer for the first time in a while. A little happiness that the thread still has the ability to do this. I have at least one beer set up for tomorrow, assuming the world doesn't throw a curve ball at me I can't handle.

 

Things changed. On a quick stroll down to grab some fridge beers, a $1.99, 24oz can of Earthquake High Gravity Lager called me out. It asked me if I was a ticker. Why, yes, yes I am.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/782/191310/

 

I believe I'm going to be traveling more for work, so I'm going to try to take a more "macro" approach to this thread and share beers that touch more of the participants in this thread. I really meant to get to Nemesis tonight because Founders has such a wide reach, but the Liquid Poem hooked me pretty hard. Tomorrow for the Nemesis, maybe along with another beer from a Michigan brewery that has a wide reach.

 

Around here it's really easy to take Great Lakes for granted on what they do well and bitch about what they fall short on (like stouts or anything barrel aged they bottle).

Sorry to not participate here tonight but the 2017 DFH Oak Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout I planned on cross posting with the Cellared forum was one I'd already tried. Carry on in my absence.

 

Ah, Lift Bridge is an underrated brewer in general in my book. Hop Dish is tasty. If you like darker fare, the Warden and Fireside Flannel are both good brews, too. That's a nice variety pack, really, because those are my four favorites from LB.

 

Picked up a themed "mixed four pack" earlier today from an underrated brewery I have consistently touted for the past few years. This is called Four Scoops - Peanut Butter Swirl by Rockingham Brewing, and it is, as the name would suggest, one of four variations on a base stout (with the underlying concept being ice cream, in case you couldn't figure that out). The other three in the pack are Vanilla, Mocha Chip, and Pistachio. Sick idea.



FS - PBS pours an inky black beer in my snulip glass. It builds up a couple fingers of deep brown foam as a nice collar, which recedes over the course of the next five or so minutes, leaving behind a thin but fairly-retentive ring. Spotty lace without much in the way of legs... not really the most amazing looking stout I've ever seen, but peanut butter can definitely have an effect on the appearance of some beers it's used in, so we'll let it slide. Hope the rest of the pack looks a bit better, but this is really gonna be more about how they nail the scent/flavor combo, ain't it?

Nose is, well, nice and decadent. Notes of waffle cone, peanut butter, dusty cocoa, and creamy vanilla immediately greet my senses as I take my first big sniff. A little bit of deep espresso coming out as it warms up a bit, but the peanut element is pretty prominent, in a very positive way. It actually does smell quite a bit like a good PB ice cream (I should know, I have some Ben & Jerry's peanut butter cup ice cream in the freezer right now ), just with more chocolate involved.

Honestly, the whole thing feels a little thin, with some moderate flavors of dry dark chocolate and roasted peanuts mixed with a hint of vanilla, roasted graininess, and coffee. It's also very dry in the finish and almost has a soda-like complexion to it if I'm being honest. I definitely want this to be a little sweeter. more robust, and more intense. The flavors aren't bad at all, and everything feels well-balanced for the most part, but the way it hits my palate is a little weak and brings the experience down. Hope the other three are better, but I also think I had the highest (or most obvious/apparent) expectations for the peanut butter one, so I'm not sure if going for it first was the best plan of action. Don't think I'll be able to review all four for NBW, but I do love the concept of a mixed four pack of similar base beers with different adjuncts, done thematically like this. Even if all four of them are only "good," it'll still be a win for me because of that alone!