New Beer Weekend #49

First that is to me, is an incredibly accurate review of that beer. Also I am in total agreement with the SIPA vs DIPA assessment. TH obviously has some fantastic DIPAs but their ability to craft a single and pack so much flavor and finesse into those is amazing. I would include, among a few others (alter ego comes to mind) Julius in that category. Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers!

 

Bentonville Brewing Norse Wrecker IPA. 6.3% ABV, 70 IBUs; 3.68 overall

Pours a hazed amber with 3 fingers of fluffy cream colored head. Very good lacing & good head retention

S: Bready, perfumy/floral hops, a little yeasty grain

T: Cakey with a little orange rind, grassyness plus dryness up front. Woody notes, a little caramel, pears & cakeyness as this warms along with dryness. Finishes dry, cakey & fruity with little spicy grain ( rye )

MF: Medium body, soft carbonation, alright balance

Drinks alright, not a fanboy of the Kviek yeast used in this, but it doesn't step all over it like other beers with this yeast I've had. Still won't be a repeat buy

 

Drank this hours ago and couldn’t post, but now I can give my formal review. Poured into a 13 oz Nordic pint glass not sure when it was canned. Pours a hazy yellow with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma peach, mango, passionfruit, clove, and apricot. 3.75

Taste follows mango, peach, passionfruit, clove, and apricot all mingling and creating a balanced yet unusual NEDIPA. 3.75

Mouthfeel is pretty big, soft gentle carbonation, a tad sticky but not dry, and at 9% really big on flavor, but you might get a little alcohol in the finish. 4.25

Overall I like something that stands out as different and this one has that going. Not sure why I am getting a little Belgian yeast thing, but I would still say give it a try. Thanks @jzeilinger for this can. 3.75

 

Platform Beer Co.'s Timbersome Liquid BA Imperial Stout, 12.0% ABV; 3.86 Overall

Pours an effervescent chestnut hued mahogany with a finger of fast-falling mocha colored head. No head retention or lacing

S: Dark fruit, a little Bourbon. plus vanilla

T: Follows the nose, a little chocolate, dryness, candied cherries, plenty of barrel warmth up front. Woody hops mix with molasses & dryness as this warms, plus some boozey warmth & figs. Finishes dry with woody hops, some Bourbon bite, figs, & dark cherry

MF: Medium bodied/sticky, moderate carbonation, warming

Solid take on the style, just didn't really grab me. This is style with many superstars, this is more workaday

 

Blue Comet from Widomaker canned 6/9/21. Pours a hazy yellow with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with nice retention. 4.25

Aroma is passionfruit, cantaloupe, mandarin, mango, and apricot very pleasant. 4.25

Taste follows passionfruit, cantaloupe, mandarin, mango, and apricot really balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is average, soft gentle carbonation, maybe a tad sticky but not dry, and 7.1% ABV really easy going down. 4.25

Overall I would definitely recommend giving this one a shot. Excellent example of my favorite style. 4.25

 

Poured into a 13 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 5/13/21. Pours a very attractive dark pink, with a thin head that has ok retention leaving very little lace, if any. 4

Aroma prickly pear, some must, guava, champagne, and raspberry. 3.5

Taste follows prickly pear, must, champagne, rasberry, and guava sorry not loving it, but sours are still not something I always love and this is still just not my jam. 3.5

Mouthfeel is about medium, plenty of prickly life, a tad dry, and at 4.5% it goes down rather easy. 3.75

Overall this has too much musty and champagne in it for me to love, but still happy I gave it a go. 3.75

 

Poured into a 13 oz Nordic pint glass, hard to read when it was canned but thinking 2 or 3 weeks max. Pours a very hazy yellow with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma is tangerine, pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe, and apricot really nice. 4.25

Taste follows tangerine, pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe, and apricot really balanced and juicy. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 6.5% it drinks a little closer to 7%, but goes down really easy. 4.5

Overall Sloop never let’s me down, but normally is barely over a 4. This one I would grab a 4 pack without hesitation. Nice big flavor and really well made. 4.25

 

Good morning BAs. Today’s new beer is just that, new. DSSOLVR, Asheville NC in collaboration with Living Waters Brewing - “Caressed By Memories Coffee Coconut” an Imperial Baltic Porter with coffee from Cooperative Coffee Roasters, and Coconut:



Bottled 6/18/21. Purchased at the brewery 6/25/21. Poured at 58°. Fast fizzy reddish brown head vanished immediately leaving no cap, ring nor lace; tons of coconut floaties including a few chunks; dark brown with ruby highlights; medium legs sheet the glass; lots of white specks/coconut. Coconut; roast coffee as beer warms. Coconut; bitter roast coffee; dark chocolate with a touch of toasted brown bread; espresso in the finish. Slick mouthfeel; medium body; a little warmth from 10% abv; light carbonation. Overall a dangerously easy drinking beer; not as roasty nor as bitter as the base Caressed By Memories; the coconut is front and center and lends a sweetness to the whole; if you like coconut (I do!), this beer delivers.

4.25 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.25
Score: 4.35 rDev 0. I added beer to database.

Cheers y’all and have a great day!

 

Good day BAs and welcome to the NBS portion of NBW! Thanks @SawDog505 for starting this section. A quiet weekend thus far - Friday the range was closed to prepare for Saturday and Saturday the Game Commission was teaching classes in weapon safety to kids so my son and I couldn't use the facilities. And today is an open house/membership drive so no FMJs going downrange. Today's New Breakfast Beer is another from @Rub_This_BBQ from NBS BIF #13 - thanks Bill!




The Archer from de Garde Brewing. Received on 9/4/21 from @Rub_This_BBQ in NBS BIF #13. 25.4 oz corked and capped brown bottle stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 27/6/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Label stamped “BOTTLED 9/20”. Served at 44.0 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 53.2 degrees.
Appearance – 4.5.
First pour – Tea rose, clear
Body – Imperial red, opaque. When rear-lite, brilliant imperial red and clear, with lots of carbonation.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.3 cm, aggressive center pour), pink, medium to low density initially but quickly disappearing, average retention, diminishing to leave a one mm crown fed by effervescence and no cap. Subsequent pours produce a dense but fizzy and transitory 1.2 cm head.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Some grape must and general funk. No malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins bitter from the oak barrel tannic acid with an over-riding grape flavor and some lactic acid. Minimal funk. No malt, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (8 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. Mild gastric warming does occur. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Ends dry with excessive tannic acid.
Palate – 4 – Thin, watery, lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Very good wild ale which could use a bit less tannic acid. The colorations of the head and body are outstanding and best appreciated under bright light.

Rating 4.28, rDev -2.9%

 

Spending the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law, and found a wonderful beer store. I bought a bunch of beer, and will start today off with an Allagash beer. Ghoulschip is their take on a pumpkin beer, and it is very enjoyable. My beer was bottled Sept 2, 2020 and is 8.2% ABV.
The beer is a hazy dark orange color with a large, long-lasting white head. There is a bit of lace.
Nice aroma. Fruit, spice, vanilla.
Taste of apple, apricot, pumpkin spice, vanilla. Tart.
Crisp, dry finish.
Very nice.

 

Good morning NBW
I'm cheating a touch here as I drank one of these from the bottle, late last night, after a bourbon tasting and two Sazeracs. Suffice it to say, I'm evaluating this for the first time...

Moody Tongue Toasted Rice Lager
12oz undated bottle stamped DMU poured into a pilsner glass at fridge temp 5.5% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright, very pale amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is faint, but clean with a hint of malt and a unique toasted note that I am assuming comes from the rice. The taste is very nuetral at first with gentle bitterness and more of the toasted rice flavor coming out in the finish. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with above average carbonation and a very dry finish. Overall, very good and quite refreshing. Absolutely clean lagering with no blemishes.

I've really switched up my reviewing this year. I'm buying less singles and logging about half the reviews of previous years. I'm really focusing on styles that are hard to find or out of my normal pattern. I was really excited to find a weizen bock and rice lager yesterday. In my most recent 50 reviews I counted 33 different styles which is fun and keeps me out of the IPA / Stout rut that I was in for so long.

Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

Happy Sunday, NBW! I am coming to you currently from the house, but we have plans to hit a new-to-us brewery this afternoon, so I may report back from there later.

I wanted to chime in on the first half of 2021, as I did some very quick research to find my highest ranked beers of 2021, and I had to go down a couple pages to find it. It was this year's Firestone Walker anniversary ale. And just below it was, to me, a gem of a barrel aged beer that tasted almost like a hybrid, Ocelot's Gravity Always Wins - Red Wine Barrel Aged. To round out a top three was Other Half's DDH All Citra Everything.

Of those, however, the one that stuck out the most to me was the Ocelot beer. As for brewers, there is one new to me (and I think new to this part of VA) that has stuck out, and it has ties back to the beer that stuck out. I have featured a beer or two by Front Royal Brewing Company in this thread, and they are starting to challenge Ocelot as my favorite VA brewery. As I understand, the FRBC brewer came from Ocelot, so this isn't too big of a surprise.

Anyhow, today's beer is from FRBC, called Eddy Hopping, and it is proclaiming to be a west coast IPA. FRBC has claimed this before with other beers to mixed success. Almost all their IPAs are enjoyable, and the proclaimed WC IPAs are not the softer, lower bitterness beers many are making, but they don't all fit my expectations for a WC IPA. Let's see if Eddy can change this.

As I popped the can, I did get a whisper of citrus and weed as it wafted by, but it didn't last long. The pour produced enough of a fluffy head, I had enough left in the 16oz can to give the GF a few ounces while she gets ready.


To the nose... Umm... oh! Yep!!
This definitely has some west coast vibes. There is a mix of weed and a little cattiness. There is also an overlay of grapefruit and tangerine. I got the latter a bit more in my first sniff, and now it's more weed, wet grass, maybe a little lemon and some cattiness.

First sip, and this is actually kind of soft - it is light, but has nice, rounded edges that let the beer flow freely over my palate. Carbonation is moderate, and seems to act as the carrier of bitterness. After a few sips, the beer still has a near full yellow-white sheen with a large white coastline bumping into modest white cliffs reaching up the glass walls.

So there is a little citrus honey sweetness up front, but there are grapefruit rind and dank notes poking holes in it. The aromas in each glass tip provide a flanking maneuver to aid the hops jousting at the front of my tongue.

A mix of more orange and grapefruit citrus notes come out in the middle as the dank becomes grass at the bottom of a pine tree. Something of a little tang sneaks from a hole in the ground near the back - it's sort of like a weakened tart citrus juice - so maybe a little weak lime/lemonade. It doesn't ever make it to the forefront, which is still pine and grass, but it is a little distraction from those notes.

Linger is light in its bitterness until I take a normal swallow of the results of my watering mouth, which livens the last of the pine resin holding onto my taste buds.

It's not like Citra is a new hop, but it has always been one of my favorites, and it does get a good bit of the spotlight in this beer.

 

Happy Sunday guys!
Here for now it is hard to get out because of the heat.
Waiting to go out to drink out, I opened this "pastry sour" (the third of the series that I taste):

Funky Fluid (POL) - GELATO PEACH & RASPBERRY - Sweet / Sour beer (5,4%)

As soon as the can (bought yesterday in a local pub) was opened, it burst with the scent of raspberry (almost like a fruit juice).
When poured, the well-known sweets of "peachy adjunct" (almost topping for ice cream) also emerge.
Soft and abundant, creamy foam.
Slightly darker orange color (a nuanced and opaque red very close to orange).
Completely opaque, Hazy.
In the mouth, despite being "ideally" fascinated by the contrast that this game of fruits could generate, I was well aware of what I would have encountered.
As stated on the label, it is a liquid, dense dessert that is more "built" than brewed.
Extreme sweetness, sour note perhaps just before the end of the drink, but a sweet, almost sticky taste remains in the mouth (as if you had "drunk" an ice-cream popsicle).
Too many artificial scents ...
More "drying" and sweet than thirst-quenching ...
Nothing to do... after three attempts of beers in this series I can say that just this type of new generation creations have no positive effects on me.
In any case, Sunday is still long and yesterday our "****onale" (re)entered among the best eight in Europe!
One more reason to go to a counter soon!







Sláinte !
Cheers !

 

Great start! And thanks for the heads up on the Silver Stamp and Atomic Liquors/Lounge. I'm not really a Vegas guy, but I have family there and I'm happy to have some beer locations on my radar.

 

I have a couple of their pearls that I always keep in my home cellar for special occasions.
Also this version I was lucky enough to taste it ... together with the "Aphrodite ... something"
These, for example, are beers of which it is nice to appreciate the school ... because these really are a flagship
Masterpieces

 

Interesting opening question, @ChicagoJ.

I haven't decided whether I will have another new beer today or not. So, like ChicagoJ, I'll just list my highest-rated NBW beers for the first quarter.

Highest-rated NBW Beers in 2021:
January 2021 - J.W. Lees (Manchester, England) Harvest Ale (Calvados Cask) 2013, Barleywine - English Rating: 4.41
February 2021 - Goose Island (Chicago, ILL) Bourbon County Kentucky Fog , 2020,
Stout - American Imperial, Rating: 4.40
March 2021 - Collective Arts Brewing (Ontario, Canada) Barrel Aged Imperial Porter, Rating 4.40

I'll post the second quarter results later today/tonight.