New Beer Weekend #49

It's rainy here today, so stuck inside. Time for a beer.

IDK how many of you heard about the union organizing kerfuffle last fall involving Surly Brewing. Several facts have been combined by Torches and Pitchforks Nation (Minnesota Branch) into an account that has a number of BAs essentially boycotting Surly. Accusations of poor treatment of employees prior to the union drive and several union busting and vote suppression tactics by the company may or may not be unfairly synthesized into an anti-Surly narrative, but (as they say) the optics were not good. The union lost by one vote. Kind of makes Surly's self-adopted motto "Don't be a dick" ring a little hollow.

At about the same time, Fair State Brewing Cooperative reached a amicable agreement with the employees trying to organize into a union, and the brewery employees are now part of a bargaining unit. No vote was ever taken.

Of course, August Schell has been a union shop for nearly a century.

So, naturally, Schells and Fair State collaborated on a beer celebrating their brotherhood. Today, I am having the Schell's version.

Schell's Union Lager
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 19



Sweet, bready smell. Spicy.

Golden-yellow body, initially with a chill haze, but clears up after a few minutes. Nicely carbonated. 3/4 inch white head from a fairly gentle pour. Within a few minutes, the head recedes to a thick cap. Attractive lacing as you take a drink.

The taste is slightly sweet, bready malts, grassy, a nicely bitter middle and finish. The hops are more assertive in the taste than was evident in the aroma. Grassy and moderately bitter. There is an underpinning of honey and bread. The finish is clean, with the hops bitterness lingering into the aftertaste providing a crisp finish.

The mouth feel is smooth with moderate to thin body.

Overall, a nicely done, easy drinking, and enjoyable lager.

Union made, of course.

L: 3.75 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.0 | F: 3.75 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.91

 

I picked up a couple (three) Hammerheart beers that I'll be getting to in the coming weeks:

• Stjørdal Smoked Farmhouse Ale
• Hokan's Brown Ale
• Vårtid Pilsner

Also, if I am reading between the lines of their announcement correctly, they are ceasing production at their facility in Lino Lakes. They are looking for a contract brewer. And, they are looking for a small town in the hinterlands to start up a small brewpub.

IDK how successful a contract brewer will be in maintaining their balance of smoked (some quite subtly) beers and the balance you mention in their BA beers. Can you even contract-brew BA beers?

I hate to sound pessimistic... but I am.

 

As much as I love Tree House, I find some of their naming conventions, especially re: the Julius family of beers, to be a little silly. I honestly can't keep track of the multifarious variants of Julius, to which they add Js and Ss and varying punctuation marks and all manner of adjectives, etc. Tonight I'm trying Jjjuliusss (sigh), which I'm expecting to be world-class, sent to me by the mighty @tasterschoice62 as part of a killer porch bomb I'm still recovering from. It's apparently a rebrew of a third-anniversary variant of Julius, whose name in years past has included an exclamation point at the end (again, sigh), but this year is exclamation point-less. So, here goes . . .

Pour is, well, perfection. Every time I pour a Tree House beer, I'm reminded of how almost every beer from them is a sort of Platonic ideal, from the opaque but not turbid orange to the ridiculously perfectly constructed head, which slowly fades, leaving intricate lacing behind. Seriously, you could just look at this beer all day and be pretty damn happy. Aroma is, I kid you not, exactly like the Orange Juliuses we used to get at the mall growing up: pure orange juice, but also that milky, vanilla whip that coated the tongue and made you wish you'd bought the largest size possible. Taste is crazy complex, especially as it warms, like the most adult version of an Orange Julius you could think of, with an incredibly artful, even seamless, layering of bright citrus, herbal dankness, and quickly disappearing bitterness that makes you (me, at least) think, oh shit, this is what every other NEIPA wants to be. Mouthfeel is unbelievably lush and creamy, but also shot through with enough sizzling effervescence to make it really hard to keep from gulping. What's crazy--and I always think this about TH IPAs--is this is a goddamn single IPA. In literally every respect it matches and beats nearly every DIPA I can think of. In the reviews of some iterations of this beer, there are a number of perfect 5s, which I'm not sure I could bring myself to give, on principle alone, but I've got to say, I'm having a really hard time finding a flaw with this beer. Larry, I can't thank you enough for this aaamazinggg beer. Cheers, everyone!

 

Starting to feel like a bit of a degenerate, but that's not going to stop me. After a very mediocre last beer, I figured I'd turn to a Suarez beer, as they pretty much never let me down. This is Postscript, a "Spelt Country Beer" (country beer being what most other breweries call "Farmhouse").

This didn't disappoint. If I had nothing but Suarez beers for the rest of my life, I'd still be luckier than most.

4.09/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Light, bright yellow with a healthy amount of fizzy, short-lived white head that leaves behind a thin ring. Aroma is funk, lemon, earthy, grassy and overall, wonderfully complex. It's almost like every whiff is a little different. Taste is similar to the nose, with an almost wine like quality to it. There are different floral and herbal notes, but I lack the sophistication to single them out...all I know is that they seem to work well together. This is lively and well carbonated, and overall very enjoyable to drink. Almost put it at 4.25 on the taste and overall, but perhaps I've just become so accustomed to how good all Suarez beers are that I am subconsciously becoming a tougher rater of them.

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On an unrelated note, @JayORear I'm with you on the Tree House naming conventions. It's too cute by half by my reckoning. That said, anything in the Julius family tends to be great. I'm not a big Tree House fanboy, and don't go often at all considering I'm only an hour away and sometimes find myself driving very near by for other reasons, but Julius and its brethren are great beers.

 

Thanks for the great opening, @ChicagoJ. The two highest rated beers I’ve had in 2021 are Coolship Red from Allagash and courtesy of my beer nerd friend @Roy_Hobbs, and DDH PtE, courtesy of my beer nerd friend @JayORear.

My beer nerd friends are pretty special.

Speaking of special, both beers and the glassware are from another beer nerd friend, @WunderLlama in NBW BIF #13, aka the BIF that keeps going and going and going.





4.35/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Nice hazy golden color with a creamy white head and some beautiful lacing, this beer beer features tangerine, some grapefruit, a bit of pine, and a sweet malt note on the nose. Really nice.

The tangerine really opens up on the taste, especially as the beer warms, but there’s still some grapefruit rind and pine for bitterness, with a subtle sweetness from the malt. Absolutely perfectly balanced and crushable. Delicious stuff on my palate.

The mouthfeel is medium and a bit softer, straddling that “hazy/non-hazy” line. This is a really juicy, flavorful beer that I’d love to have more of.

 

One of my favorite styles, especially at this time of year in Florida. This Helles is a more pronounced hop bitterness that simply adds to the refreshing and quaffable qualities. I'll need to purchase this brewery's "Original" Helles to determine the differences. This new one does seem more refreshing and flavorful, but I will enjoy doing the research to determine this.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Time to get into a nice long break. A few tasty beers and I am set to go! Always keep being surprised about just the plethora of new beers that are a stones throw away, and in my reach.

I keep thinking this will normalize, but nope, there's just so much new stuff out there.

So here's a new one as well for me.



Poured from the can into a tulip glass.

Dark brass gold color, fairly clear with a real nice middle column of carbonation rising through the center. Slightly fluffy and very bright white head on creation. Settles to a good thick collar with a nice milky way center on top. Very nice looking saison.

Aroma is a mix on a good hop profile and some classic character. Sticky and pasty smelling yeast a bit, hints a little gluey like in malt as well. Aroma manages a faint tinge of citrus and light bodied earthy tones also.

Palate comes off mostly as reasonable. A fairly hop juiced like flavor on the palate, mixing in with some sweet candied sugar and some light malt tones. Mild sensing dry yeast with not much unique character but allows for a nice light and fruity subtle hop profile to come through.

Fairly good saison, with some nice better than average characteristics, but doesn't quite get a great traditional flavor out for the base style.

look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | Total: 3.96/5

Cheers!

 

#2, this is traveshamockery good.





4.6/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This big milk stout pours black with some leakage to mahogany brown on the edges and a substantial, creamy tan head. Absolutely gorgeous beer.

The label lists approximately 397 different ingredients used in the brewing of this beer, but what sticks out to me on the nose is milk chocolate, rich cocoa, vanilla, and marshmallow. Salivation protocol initiated.

The tasted has the milk chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and marshmallow, and adds in the graham cracker and a smidge of the coconut. Truly decadent and delicious.

The mouthfeel is creamy and reflects the aforementioned decadence. This is world class, IMHO.

 

Every summer now for quite a few years we visit some very special friends we made in Vermont, we call each other our adopted family. I haven’t posted much lately cause I usually put my phone down while we’re up here. I’ll make an exception for NBW posting. I grabbed quite a few singles of new beers that I’m excited to try. They should take care of me for a few weekends to come.

Today is a beer I was eager to try when I saw it… Lawson’s - Stony Hill
*a 5.5% Porter canned 4/15/21



Pours very nice, fluffy dense initial light brown head on a very dark brown cheer. Decent lacing and nice thin layer of head that remains almost there whole time I drank down.

The aroma is mostly burnt chocolate, I say burnt in this case because it’s roasty to an extra degree. There is also a subtle dark fruit which to me is coming off as a raspberry/blackberry way. This may sound weird but it also has a chalkiness to it too, if dry has a smell that’s what I’ll call it.

The taste is very close to the aroma. Though it is chocolate most notably first, then comes the sweet dark fruit and at the end you get a nice burnt note.

The mouthfeel is great as well, I’m not sure I’d call it light. It’s drinks more close to medium body which is surprising given the abv. It has a dry finish and a medium bitterness with a long lingering roast/burnt aftertaste.

Overall this is a very pleasant drinking Porter. I love that it is only 5.5% cause I can probably have another beer tonight. I will try and fit one in tomorrow but we’ll see. I’ll try and check in as much as possible but may try and continue to keep the technology away for our last two days with our friends.

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are just plain HOT. I have 101 degrees on the "back acre" and 97 on the front porch. Just plain HOT and forecast to get hotter. We lived in Las Vegas during my Air Force career and I like me some hot weather. But I was younger back then.

I had a new beer picked out for today to celebrate the summer solstice, but it turns out not to be new. I had it back in 2007. Completely slipped my mind after 14 years.

So I went to the bench and we have Alphadelic IPA from Hop Valley Brewing in Oregon.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19378/49914/

A much better choice for a hot day anyway. A wet brew with a sweet balanced flavor and a clean finish.

Until next time,

 

Good evening NBW, got surprised with a lot of new beers over the last 24 hours so I guess it’s time to open one or two. Starting with some Tree House Juice Machine from @Nichols33, thanks!
4.51/5 rDev -4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

16 oz can, dated 4/30/21, poured into a teku

A- A hazy good orange with a three finger white head

S- Oranges, mango, lime, some sweet malts, papaya, some melons, hints of pineapple, piney, slightly floral.

T- Earthy, piney, mango, some melons, oranges touch of lime, some sweet malts, hints of pineapple.

M- Smooth, creamy, medium to full body.

O- This is a well done NEIPA, but not living up to the hype for me. Maybe being almost 2 months old is a little too old for this beer, maybe this batch just wasn’t as good, but this is not standing out as much as other Tree House beers.

Cheers!

 

Seven by Treehouse

Their 7th anniversary brew



4.52/5 rDev +3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

16 oz can poured into an ipa glass

Three finger fluffy off white foam cap , good retention, settles to a domed island over a hazy orange liquid

Aroma is tropical fruits , orange

Taste is tropical fruits , orange

Smooth lush velvety

Good beer

 

Lost Forty Lil Wheezy IPA, 4.0%. 4.04 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 2 fingers of rocky ivory colored head. Good lacing & average head retention

S: Tropical fruits, green melons

T; Green melons, oranges, dryness & pine up front. Green melon, lime & pine as this warms along with dryness once warm. Finishes dry, grassy, piney with a little pomelo

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, good balance

Easy drinking with lots of flavor

 

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Irrefutable Logic Gone Bananas collab by Ology Brewing and Quick N Save.

The aroma has nice chocolate cinnamon to it. On the first sip when it was cold the cinnamon was overpowering. As it warms up the banana and marshmallow really start to shine. 4/5.