New Beer Weekend #49

I can only Imagine how good that Dovetail beer is. Thanks @FBarber I've got to try a few of their as good as Germany (was stationed there for 3 years, don't fight me ) beers. I will have new beers later if time allows. Vacation starts now, even though we don't fly until tomorrow!

 

Thanks for the startup ChicagoJ! Looks like we might get some rain here in Minnesota today, it's needed.

This morning's new beer celebrates Hammerheart, which is closing its taproom this weekend, but is remaining in business in packaged beer. I've spent many, many hours drinking great beer and listening to metal there since 2013. In a time where seemingly every brewery chases the hazy IPAs, Hammerheart does its own thing, making mostly smoked beers and barrel aging.

On to the beer:
Hammerheart Barrel-Aged Imperial Skoll Och Hati

Sorry about the terrible photo!

Appearance: Black, thick as motor oil, brown head.

Smell: Slightly sweetened dark chocolate, wood, dark cherries.

Taste: Big dark chocolate flavor backed by wood and vanilla undertones. Very well integrated, barrel highlights the beer instead of taking over.

Overall: Another winner from Hammerheart, the barrel works so well with the beer instead of just being bourbon mixed with a stout. Lots of dark chocolate flavor, dry, rich, tasty.

 

Hello everyone, Advocates!
After a heavy workout in the pine forest and a light lunch it's pub time!
Waiting for tonight's match of our "****onale" at Euro 2020, we are quenching our thirst with a beautiful:

Birra del Carrobiolo (Monza, ITA) - CARRO KELLER - Keller (4,5%)

The nose is typical of the style (grainy and light herbaceous notes).
Abundant, soft foam that persists to cap the beer practically until the end.
Extremely drinkable body in the mouth, aided by a lively, but not excessive, carbonation.
In great shape, the hints of malt bring to mind the bread crust, a slight hint of honey, a herbaceous tip, before a rather dry finish, but absolutely "softer" than that of a Pils.
Not even the slightest metallic scent.
Fresh and pleasant, quite faithful to the Franconian style that inspired the recipe of this craft brewery located in the north of Italy.





Sláinte !
Cheers !
...and FORZA AZZURRI !

 

My wife and I are visiting family in Maine. Quite a difference in temperature for us. After lunch yesterday my sister took me to a beer store and I was surprised and amazed that this little mom and pop store had a bunch of Bourbon County varieties. First up is the wheatwine.
The beer pours an orange/brown color with no head.
Aroma of bourbon, caramel, and fruit.
Taste follows the nose. Caramel, bourbon, apple.
Very sweet, which felt OK to me.

 

Is that Cashmere?

Do you remember that line from a Seinfeld episode?

I will not be discussing a sweater but instead a beer that features the Cashmere hop: Lawson’s Super Session #5 Cashmere IPA.

Below is how this beer is discussed on the Lawson’s website:

“Super Session #5

IPA: 4.8% ABV

Super Session #5 is designed to be a light and refreshing beer with low alcohol, yet the full hop character of a Session IPA. Each beer in our Super Session series is brewed with with the same malt base and specialty malts but features a different single-hop variety. Super Session #5 is brewed with copious amounts of Cashmere hops.”

Cashmere hops are new to me so I did a bit of web searching to learn:

“Cashmere is one of the newest publicly available hop varieties. It was released in 2013, along with the varieties, Triple Pearl, Tahoma, and Yakima Gold. All but Triple Pearl were developed at Washington State University’s public hop breeding program. This is exciting stuff, not only for the brewer, but especially for those that grow their own hops to brew with.”

And:

“Aroma & Sensory Description:

Cashmere is described as having delicate yet strong aromas of melon, coconut, citrus notes, such as sweet lemon, lime, lemon peel, or an edge of grapefruit. You may even notice some tropical whispers of pineapple. It may contain woody, spicy notes akin to coriander, especially when boiled.

Bitterness will remain smooth and clean.”

The flavor profile discussed about is quite interesting. I can’t wait to taste this beer and find out for myself.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

Golden yellow with a big fluffy white head.

Aroma:

Lots going on here! I am picking up herbal, some cedar, a bit of citrus and even a hint of tropical fruit.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose a pleasing combination of herbal, cedar, citrus and tropical fruit. There is a medium bitterness to this beer.

Mouthfeel:

This beer has a light - medium body with a dry finish.

Overall:

I think this beer is very good!

I enjoyed the flavor profile of the hop and a ‘highlight’ for me is that this beer is not watery for my personal palate. All too often beers that are labeled using the word “session” are too watery but Lawson’s did a good job here creating a lower ABV beer (e.g., less than 5% ABV) which has a non-watery body.

Cheers to Lawson’s!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH @DEdesings57

 

I agree it's a might fine beer for what it is. Speaking of Seinfeld, you should check out Curb Your Enthusiasm!

 

Westbrook Mexican Cake.



L: Pitch black with a 1.5" tan head, which lasts. Heavy lacing to the end. 4.5

S: Cocoa & vanilla hits you right off. Also, caramel, cinnamon, roast malt. 4.5

T: Cocoa, vanilla, hot pepper, cinnamon, caramel, roast malt. 5

F: Full body, light carbonation. Thick, oily finish with lingering habanero burn. 4.5

OA: This is one hot, tasty stout. Outstanding! 4.5

4.7 rDev +6.3% Finally managed to check another one off my must try list.

 

Drekker Brewing Never Have I Ever NEIIPA. Hazy orange-yellow appearance, with a bright white foam. The smell is strong pineapple, which transitions to peach as you breath it in deeply. The flavor is tropical, with coconut, orange, and lime emerging victorious, though the presence of other citrus fruits make their presence known. The mouthfeel is soft, pillowy, with carbonation at the appropriate level for this tropical journey. Overall, this is a good beer, but the combination of mosaic, simcoe, and azacca hops can only do so much for me.

 

Good afternoon NBW
I found something interesting at the store this morning. Schneider Weisse Tap 5

The review:
500mL bottle stamped 21.109 poured into a wheat beer glass at fridge temp 8.2% ABV. The beer pours hazy peach colored amber with eggshell colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap. The aroma is cloves first with floral and fruity notes. The taste is semisweet wheat malt with persistant floral hop flavor in addition to the subtle clove, banana and black pepper. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is silky, medium bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, very good weizen bock.

Watching the Euros and drinking beer. Great afternoon! Cheers all!

 

Next up is the cherry version. It was very good.
Black color, no head.
Nice aroma. Chocolate, cherry, bourbon, some vanilla.
Taste of chocolate-covered cherries and bourbon. Hint of vanilla.
Sweet, but not too sweet. It went well with my chocolate cake.

 

At the recently fully reopened Twin Elephant Brewing drinking Hungus the Pils a Pilsner. The brewers here like to innovate but this time they left well enough alone and just used malts, Nobel hops water and lager yeast. This is a crisp refreshing enjoyable brew well done.

 

3 4+ NE IPAs New first week summer 2021
Becky Likes The Smell | Bay State | 10% | Ma.
4.2
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
16th review my first from brewer.
a) Great head over clearer golden body. lasts and laces.
s) Brian likes the smell.
t) Pear is featured along with a solid malt core and a big hop arc and finale of pine and pepper.
f) creamy dreamy astringent.
o) I like this kind of see-saw beer less tropical and citrus, more pear and orchard, big peppery bitterness.

Sinshine | Bay State | IPA | 6.9% | Ma.
4.05/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
5th Review. Love this brewer. Tips into 4+ for me.
a) Pours a murky hazed deep gold body, that sprouts energetic, rocky head that laces a bit.
s) Gorgeious mixed citrus orchard blossoms and all, some peach.
t) Adds melon to the citrus, lemonade, some bread and malt.
f) Creamy, tickle, well done. manages not to become oj.
o) Very fresh and juicy, creamsicle as promised.

Curtain Up | Gun Hill Brewing | 6.5% | Nyc
4.04/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
2nd review and 2nd from brewer. Perfect cause beer. Enjoying at Players Club NYC.
a) hazed yellow body, slim head, lace.
s) more melon and pine, and citrus all around. mid road, but ample.
t) Agree taste gets more complex with more tar and tobacco notes, very pine forest and wood shop.
f) semi dry, crisp and tart.
o) Profits go to theaters. Bravo for a higher overall score.

 

Greetings fellow beer geeks, and thanks to @ChicagoJ for kicking us off this weekend. Up first for me is a can of Framinghammer, a Baltic Porter from Jack's Abby. I received this from @WunderLlama a couple months ago as part of some NBS BIF shenanigans. I'm already looking forward to the next Beer it Forward, which will be here before we know it.

Anyway, onto the beer. I think every region has breweries that fly under the radar a bit for reasons unknown. In New England, Jack's Abby is one of those. I'm normally a saison guy in the summer, but it's just cool and cloudy enough here today to put me in the mood for a darker beer.


4.06/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Color has tinges of red as it pours before settling into a much darker brown / black once in the glass. Surprising amount of medium density, mocha colored head. Overall, it's attractive without being a head turner. Aroma is rich, chocolatey and rich (yes, I said rich twice). I can't pick up any alcohol on the nose, and while it's not the most complex aroma, it still smells great.

Taste largely follows the nose. It's sweet, but not cloyingly so. There's just enough bitterness to balance it out. The can doesn't lie about the silky mouth feel. This is a very enjoyable beer, even on a summer day.

 

FERNSON Shy Giant IPA 7%ABV
L 3.75// S 3.75// T 4.25// F 4.25// O 4.0
12oz can into a tall beer flute. Can drink by date Aug 8, 2021.
L: Pours a grayish sunny golden orange with a slightly creamy 2" head. Decent retention, good drink rings in skeletal lacing.
S: Citrus, mainly orange, tangerine.
T: Sweet orange, tangerine, grapefruit, light pine, light tartness. Apricot at end. a rather fruity IPA.
F: Medium bodied mouthfeel that is kind of big and lush and calm. Mildly sharp then soft. It has a medium length finish with some bitterness.
O: Not a complex IPA at all. Just really good beer. Fruity, not too juicy, not too dry. Smack dab in the center of where a hazy IPA should be. A fine no frills IPA that has great taste and feel.

 

We visited Brewery Legitimus last weekend. I believe I had, for me, the best beer of the year so far there. It was a NEIPA, Ode To Mom. Ironic, because it was fathers day weekend and the Ode To Dad was a lager. They had it backwards for my family anyways. But boy that Ode To Mom, I wish I had purchased a Crowler.
My wife bought a couple of canned packs to go. One is this 5.1 ABV Kolsch. Not sure what the name means. Is it "pool" as in "betting" or "pool" as in "swimming"? Is it "church" as in conventional religion or referring to a cult?
The beer is okay, but the beers I had on tap there were amazing. Unfortunately, no review from me on those because I was busy socializing.

3.62/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Poured from an undated 12oz can picked up at the brewery last weekend to a Nonic at fridge temp. However, given the weather today the chill on this beer did not last long.
A medium clear gold body sits below a small head that fades to zero fairly quickly. Not a typical Kolsch head.
The aroma is more to style, spicy and malty with sweet notes.
The front of the taste is similar to the aroma, but the hops come in subtly on the finish.
Mouthfeel is light with an ever so slight oiliness.
The can says "Crisp, Clean and Uncomplicated". I will give them the 2nd two, but this is not a "crisp" Kolsch.

 

Next up is Neon Black from Mikkeller in San Diego. I've been pretty consistently underwhelmed by Mikkeller beers. This is the first time I've ever tried a "black-gose style ale" (is that even a thing?) Hopefully it's better than most of the beers I've had from this brewery.


The verdict? Another mediocre MIkkeller beer. It's not like it's undrinkable, but it's definitely not something I'd seek out again.

3.39/5 rDev -12.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Dark, dark brown pour with a finger and a half of mostly fizzy tan colored head. Aroma has chocolate notes, and is otherwise hard to pinpoint. Taste is....different, but not in a great way. I don't dislike it necessarily, but I can't quite make out what it's trying to be. I pick up a little bit of the sea salt, and can definitely get the cacao, but there's nothing here that makes me think of a gose. Very thin feel and somewhat under-carbonated. Overall, very "meh".

 

New to me and...yes! No foofidge! It's fantastic! Founders keeps amazing me!
FOUNDERS UNRAVELED IPA
L 4.0// S 3.75// T 4.25// F 4.0// O 4.0
12oz can into a tall beer flute.
L: Pours a fairly clear chill hazed pale gold straw color. Medium carbonation. Thin soapy white head with fair edge retention.
S: Honey, wild flowers, lightly caramelized malts.
T: Medium sweet apricots, tangerine, orange, grapefruit. Well hopped and there is light resin/bitterness in the medium finish.
F: Juicy, hop forward and fortified but the hops aren't too aggressive and brisk with a medium bodied mouthfeel. It is lightly soft towards the end.
O: A very easy drinking hoppy IPA for it's 6.6%ABV and simply an excellent example of a contemporary American IPA.