New Beer Weekend #48

Give me that Pils and cheese plate all day every day

 

Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier to start today, loving it almost as much as their Hefeweizen.
4.46/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle poured into a weizen glass

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

S- Bananas, cloves, wheat, some citrus, touch of bubblegum, some earthy spice.

T- Wheat, cloves, bananas, citrus, hints of bubblegum, slightly earthy.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A very well done and balanced Kristallweizen, this isn’t much different than their Hefeweizen.

Cheers!

 

I can’t verbally (or textually?) say why, but a brewery that stays away from a style, even though it may be the hottest thing since sliced bread, because they are not “fans” really impresses the hell out of me. Good on them for sticking with what brought them to the business.

Back in a few with a review. Just had to chime in on this.

 

My wife runs a farmers market in Chester on Sunday mornings. She has Mystic Cheese a vendor and they just told her today that the Groton Beer'd reopened for customers. We love that brewery and are happy to see your charcuterie plate. Cheers! Going soon.

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A bright, sunny, and warm (the natives are complaining that 80 is too hot, but I'm loving it!) day here in the Fourth Corner. Pretty chill week for this week, nothing notable going on. First brew of this NBS comes to us from the Netherlands, via Petaluma and Seattle Lagunitas Shilshole Bay IPA. This is the first canned product I've seen from Heineken's Ballard satellite. It's a very whelming, typical Lagunitiken brew:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/434781/

 

Next up, more True Anomaly. They keep cranking them out. This was actually made back in December, so over six month old at this point. It a big Bourbon barrel aged Quad, so no worries about freshness at all for me.

Heat Shields Are For Sisses, Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Quad. 12.5% ABV



Pours dark and muddy reddish brown color. A one finger beige head forms, and quickly recedes to a ring. Not much lace is left behind.
Aroma is peppery, spicy phenols up front, mixed with a big oak and vanilla character. Dark bread and dark fruit. Plums, raisins, cherries specifically. With vanilla and molasses.
Taste wise you have to let this warm up to get the full expression. That phenolic and peppery spice up front from the Belgian yeast is enjoyable, and lets me know there is a solid base underneath. Then the barrels come into play. Oak, vanilla, molasses. Dark bread and fruits again. Chocolate covered cherries and plums. A touch of warming alcohol. Kind of like a boozy fig newton after a while, if there is such a thing.
A medium to full body, Moderate carbonation. Maybe a bit lighter than I was expecting, but that is far from a bad thing, as I'm not a fan of that complete full on thick syrupy feel. The alcohol builds as this warms, and it is certainly a sipper, but an enjoyable one.

Man, I'm just loving everything I come across from True Anomaly. This is no different. They are killing it and this is well done.

Overall score is 4.13, yep you guest it another A-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55586/521345/?ba=champ103#review

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Normally, I keep the music commentary to the other thread, but wanted to add some here for a bit of an off topic tangent. Spinning a fairly unique Ornette Coleman album. The Great London Concert. This was recorded in 1965, and wasn't released in the US till 1975. The only other issues of this in Europe was a slightly abridged version, and because of licensing and distribution disputes it was shelved for a decade. Its really unique, for one cause I think its the first time Coleman debuted a classical orchestrated piece live. The rest of the 2LP live show is his trio with David Izenson and Charles Moffett, as they played these incredible angular and avant gard songs. Which was really only captured in his other two European live shows in the mid 60's, At the Golden Circle. Anyway, rambling too much, its a good odd ball album to spin with this complex beer.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. And happy Father's Day to all BA dads and dads of BAs! I had great calls with both son and daughter today and we're looking forward to visiting them in North Carolina next month!

One the Saturday of every Father's Day weekend Mrs. Mac and I do brewery trip; she drives and I drink. Yesterday, we hit some favorite breweries in Orange County, NY, just across the state line. Our first stop was The Drowned Lands where, among other things, I bought cans of the newly-released Summer Terra, a DIPA hopped with Mosaic, Nelson, and Wakatu. This is a great ale characterized by contrasting flavors: sweet, slightly sour, ripe fruit, and dry grist. Really well conceived and crafted. And it's a pretty a pour as you'll encounter.

First review. Freshly canned. Poured into a Willi Becher pint glass. It pours a dense, turbid, muddy pastel orange with a large, creamy, bright white cap and thick, clinging lacing. The smell offers tart lemon, lime, grapefruit, white wine grape, ripe cantaloupe, and strong yeast esters. The taste is a study in contrasts: it opens with hints of both earthy sweetness and sourness which play off each other. There is a base of dry pilsner malt and malted white wheat, while the use of oats contributes to the sweetness and gives it a soft, pillowy feel. The blend of Mosaic, Nelson and Wakatu hops is inspired as they provide notes of both overripe melon, orange juice, and dry white wine - again providing a contrast. The mouth feel is fabulous - thick and chewy with moderate carbonation, and 8.2% ABV gives it lots of substance. Overall, Summer Terra is big and tasty, and thoroughly enjoyable on a hot early summer day. It's complex but not gimmicky at all. Fabulous drinking!

4.34/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Good Monster from Collective Arts.
Can was dated 3/1/21 but I took a shot anyway and glad I did.
This is a fine version of the style. Dangerously drinkable for the 8% and glad I am not driving anytime soon as I almost slammed this. (Maybe not drink a DIPA when I’m really thirsty?). Anyway…
Poured (the photo lies) looking a lot like pineapple juice and smelling of mangoes and grapefruit. In a good way.
The taste was really good, so smooth and flavorful, mouth filling as they say, that I couldn’t stop drinking long enough to post this.
Any ways, if you get the chance and like the style, give this a shot. Quite good.
Thanks @Roy_Hobbs for kicking us off yesterday!

 

I bought this on impulse. Ordinarily the description of a coconut hefeweizen would be more than enough for me to pass it by.

Maybe it was because I've never had a J. Wakefield beer before. Maybe it was that it is ranked as the #39 hefeweizen on this site (as an aside, what does it say about us collectively when a flavored hefe is ranked in the top 50? And, if I examined the rest of the top 50, I'd probably find more. Nevermind,. Just musing...).

Whatever, here it is.

J. Wakefield El Jefe Hefeweizen
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 13



The brewer says:
EL JEFE
A traditional German Hefeweizen in its core, but with the addition of fresh coconut flakes for a taste of South Florida and its beautiful surrounding beaches.

The aroma brings the banana, along with bubblegum, and, surprisingly, just hints of the coconut. Subtle touch. Nice. As the head fades, the coconut does become stronger, but never over the top.

The body is amber-yellow, a bit hazy, heavily carbonated, topped with a billowing white head with only moderate retention (down to a 1/4 inch in a few minutes, in fact) leaving spotting lacing down the glass.

All of what was in the aroma is in the taste, of course, but the balance tilts toward the coconut. The base hefeweizen yeast flavors are still there, but are subordinate to the coconut. The overall balance is a tropical character to the hefe, just as promised by the brewer. No bitterness at all. The finish and aftertaste are sweet, with the coconut lingering. Dumping the final dregs from the can (yeast) into the beer changes the look, as you'd expect, but it has not much of an effect on the flavor.

The body tends to the thin side of moderate, and the mouth feel is smooth.

Overall, an interesting tropical hefeweizen. I am enjoying it, but it is just a bit too sweet for me. The grapefruit flavored hefe I had yesterday worked better in a hefe than does the coconut. For me, anyway. Too sweet.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.0 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.80

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned pretty sure this week. Pours a hazy yellow with a half finger white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with nice retention. 4.75

Aroma tangerine, pineapple, ripe melon, blueberry, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 4.75

Taste follows tangerine, pineapple, cantaloupe, blueberry, apricot, and white grapefruit. 4.75

Mouthfeel is big, soft gentle almost creamy carbonation, not dry or sticky, and at 8.1% ABV really easy going down. 5

Overall I am pretty blown away by this one. Another gem from Deciduous Brewing Company. Cheers all. 4.75

 

G'day BA! A cooler day here in Casper after a multitude of +90° temperatures with a couple passing 100°.

I saw this at one of the stores in town that I hadn't visited for a while. My bad. Still, only 3 months from the canning date.





Back to back cans. It is THAT good!!

Picked up at 2nd Street Liquor in Casper. ~$8 for the 4pack of 16 ounce cans. Canned March 18th; I hadn't visited the store for at least a month. My bad because Liquor Shed does not carry it.

It pours a mostly clear gold with a good head of foam that does shrink quickly.

I get noble hops and bready malt in the smell. Grassy and also fruity.

Lovely bready malt in the taste, kinda spicy fruity hops that are very noble like, also an overall earthy character. This is a real joy to sip on.

Near perfect mouthfeel for me.

Overall...a splendid Dortmunder style Lager that I reckon would compete with the best of them brewed in Germany.

Prost!

 

Some breweries are true small businesses which take some time to hone their craft. Others are well-capitalized and seem to explode out of the gate. Tin Barn Brewing Co., in Sugar Loaf, NY (between Warwick and Chester) is among the latter. This place opened one year ago this month. The space is large and very impressive and they immediately starting releasing excellent beers - primarily New England IPAs. They've done very fine collaborations with D96 and others. Money seems not to be an issue for this brewery. And If I want fruit juice, then Tin Barn is a place I'll look.

Juice Cannon is not new but they released a batch yesterday and it sold out in hours. It's not the best NEIPA they brew but it's very good.

Reviewed 2 days after canning. Poured into a Tin Barn snulip glass. It pours an opaque, bright orange with a half finger of foamy, milk white head and thick, creamy lacing. On the nose there is orange/tangerine, melon, peach, and soft floral hops. The flavor is bold and fruity. I immediately taste peach but it's slightly tart - not overripe. There is also a strong presence of orangeade. It's sweet but not overly so. The Citra hops really shine and provide a smooth bitterness. The Amarillo accentuates the tropical citrus but adds some spicy notes to give it extra character. This ale has a robust mouth feel with fairly lively carbonation, and the 8.2% ABV is deceptive. This ale is easy to drink quickly but it's substantial. Overall, Juice
Cannon is an appropriate name for this DIPA - it provides big, satisfying citrus and stone fruit flavor. It's simple but very effective and enjoyable.

4.24/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I hope everyone is enjoying several new beers this weekend. I always enjoy reading the reviews. Cheers, NBW!

 

Next up a collab from a couple breweries out in the county, Fringe and Atwood, Different Strings, a Peach and Rosemary Saison. Peach isn't my favorite fruit, but they keep it restrained here, and the rosemary is very subtle as well: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55706/555253/

 

What a wild game last night! Has been my favorite series to watch so far. Isles - Habs final is my hope![/QUOTE]

Lightning fan here, but I'm with you on the Habs!

 

Greetings, fellow NBWers, and Happy Father's Day to all who qualify.

Yesterday I journeyed to Spokane Valley and environs north of there to drink at Precious Things Fermentation Project.

As I was in the valley earlier than I planned and PT wasn't open yet, I decided to stop at Caruso's on Argonne to grab a sandwich and a beer. Said sandwich was epic. I ordered what was in effect a loaded French Dip. Because I figured it would be advantageous to have a big meal in my gut to soak up beer, I opted for a whole sandwich rather than a half. This turned out to be a mistake, albeit a tasty one, as a whole sandwich at Caruso's is basically an entire baguette in size.

Unfortunately, Caruso's beer needs seem to be met entirely by the local AB-Inbev distributorship, so I had to make due with an Elysian Contact Haze that is best described as blandly juicy. Meh.

Once I got to PT, I had their Precious Wether, a Berlinerweisse brewed in collaboration with Bellwether Brewing, and it was just what the doctor ordered on a warm Saturday afternoon in June. Light, thirst quenching, and at 3.6% abv, something one could literally session all day.


Not what I was going to do, however. It'd been a number of weeks since I'd been out there, so I had several different beers to try. Next up was their Viking Ale, describwd as “A traditional, unfiltered ale made with rye malt, wood-smoked malt, juniper berries and a blend of Kveik yeast strains from Norway”. Kveik yeast continues to astound me.

This was one of those beers that gets more complex as it warms up. The smokiness was barely perceptible at first, but eventually reminded me of that of a nice rauchbier from Bamberg.

I also had a pour of Among Friends, a hazy DIPA brewed in collaboration with Hello Brewing, a local nanobrewery that is, sadly, closing soon, as the owner is moving to Colorado.

Really approachable, creamy take on the style, and hides it's 8.1% abv well.

Also had a short pour of their hazy Sunny Disposition, which was a little lighter and more juicy beer than the previous, and was also delicious.


Finished up with a bottle I brought from home that was courtesy of @JayORear : a fruited sour, brewed with pomegranates, from Free Will Brewing.

A delicious sour that was enjoyed by all who tried it. Thanks, Jay!

Not sure if I'll hit anything new today or not. If I don't, y'all have a great week.

 

Phantasm series spread out over 37 years. They were planning on a 6th installment but when Angus passed away, they shelved that idea and rightfully so.