New Beer Weekend #52

If anybody is curious about that beer name and can art:

A Karakasa Obake is one name for a yōkai or Japanese spirit that looks like an old paper umbrella with a leg, eye, and tongue (or similar variations). The brewers were clearly mimicking Japanese beer with this "extra dry rice lager" (but then added Chinese tea to it for whatever reason ).

 

Hope it goes well.

I think I need to adjust my glasses.

 

Today I have a 5.2% Pale Ale brewed by High Nine in Deep River Connecticut. Warning..I'm going to ramble about the name of this beer Muster Up.
For 149 years Deep River CT has hosted the largest Ancient Fife and Drum Muster parade and tattoo (Google that spelling) every 3rd Saturday in July (except last year). I grew up in Deep River and in the early 60's my father was the lead organizer for 2 or 3 years. The event draws fife and drum corp from as far away as Europe. Its not uncommon to have 50+ F+D corps.
High Nine Brewing is the first brewery in the town and in a nod to their community they produced this beer. They make some excellent beers, but lately I have been commenting to the wife that they never have anything new. Well this week, two new beers. I'll review the other later.

Poured at fridge temp from a 16oz can picked up at the brewery Thursday to a Nonic.
Almost clear light gold body (hard to tell with the humidity here, heat index is 99). I see tiny bubbles rising though the entire session, but not as prolific as a good Pils. There was a really nice frothy head on this, but I don't think it can stand up to this heat out here.
The beer has a clean grassy aroma.
This is an excellent Pale Ale. A little on the hoppy side, but that's fine by me.

I have some classic SNPA in the fridge. Tomorrow I will do a side by side.
Probably the lamest music video to be posted here, but I grew up around this and it means a lot to me.

 

Right, been staring at me for years now and I finally succumbed to drinking one.

Now I like a good NEIPA and many people think this is one. And I don’t disagree completely, but nor do I agree completely.
The tropical flavors would have been better, IMO, without the bitterness cutting off the sweet.
But being what it is really works for the brewery so who am I to judge? I’ll just stick with my stouts and porters.
Cheers all! Happy Weekend!

 

As well it should!
Just gotta say that the guy dragging the cooler at the back rocks. Keep them hydrated! (Assuming, of course, there is water in the cooler)
Cheers!

 

Bunnies by the bunch! Sadly my dogs make absolutely certain no such cuteness appears in my yard.

 

Thanks @jkblr For opening the tap on this forum this weekend. It’s been quite an interesting week for me in regards to beer and discussions with Brewer’s.

Start it off the week with a chipped temporary crown which required an emergency visit to my dentist. Back in the old days, I hated going to the dentist. Now I look forward to these events and my sessions in the dentist chair usually run 1/2 hour than they normally would . My dentist , dr brendan Prindiville, Was the assistant brewmaster a treehouse. My medical visits to him usually include trading of beers, Talks about styles, Brewers, beer travels and other related topics. Without a doubt, I have the coolest dentist in the world.

Dr. Prindiville has introduced me to Paul Vaughn at Bearded Iris. As I have family in the Nashville area, when I’m in town I usually make a scheduled stop in to see Bearded Iris.Mrs. Wonder Llama and I arrived in town Thursday and I was given the greenlight to go to see bearded iris.On this time, I was able to sit and enjoy a great discussion with Paul over one of his brewed beers. We talked about beer travels, styles we like, his new locale in Nashville And Brewers we appreciate.He turned me onto such Brewers as threes brewing, He likes the variety of beers that I bring him and reciprocates with some of his Freshies.

Unknown to Most,his specialty is Saisons Which Dr. Prindiville gives him very high kudos for his palate. When I asked why he doesn’t brew This style, he commented He brews to what the public likes: India pale ale‘s, double Ipa, Pilsener, stouts, etc


Pharmacy Pils by Bearded Iris




4.17/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

On tap at Bearded Iris, tap poured by brewer Paul Vaughn Into a tasting glass.

Two finger frothy white foam cap over a golden crystal clear liquid with a few streams of micro carbonation , sticky lacings, settles to some islands

Aroma is grassy, malts, hint of peppery spice

Taste is grassy, malts , herbal/floral ,hint of earthiness, hint of lemon pepper on the finish

Sudsy mouthfeel , quaffable , clean, crisp
, gentle hop finish

great beer for a hot summer day, prosit!!

 

Back with another new one from High Nine Brewing. This is a double NEIPA featuring Nelson.

Poured from a 16oz can stamped "Canned On 7/12/21" to a Nonic at fridge temp.
A hazy apricot body sits below a large-bubbled medium head that fades in super warm temperature I am sitting in.
Nose is a little dank, but some sweetness pokes through.
Taste dynamically changes- mild hop hit up front, sweet fruit in the middle... grapes, mango, nectarine.... after the swallow there is a dry nicely bitter finish and a mild alcohol hit.
The mouth feel on this one is pretty creamy and coating.
Pretty good NEIPA. I'd say 4.4.

 

Thanks for kicking this off, @jkblr. I do get to the southeast occasionally, but I've never tried a beer from Westbrook. I'll try to remedy that the next time I'm in the area.

Now, for my new beer this week, another local Minnesota beer.

A few weeks ago, Schell's started distribution of a strawberry-flavored hefeweizen. On the much over-populated Midwest forum, this was met with a bit of derision by the Minnesota BAs (apparently without actually trying it).

So, since Schell's

1. Knows their way around German-style beers, and
2. Was distributing this is a mix-six pack of 3 regular hefes and 3 of this strawberry version,

I decided to give it a try.

Schell's Strawberry Hefeweizen
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: 14



The aroma presents a mixture of hefe banana and strawberry with some clove. The strawberry is not too strong, but the combination with the traditional hefe flavors seems a bit off.

Pale golden yellow, hazy, amply carbonated, topped by a tall while head with decent retention and some lacing.

The flavor continues the aroma with mixture of banana, strawberry, and clove. The artificialness of the strawberry, though, hits pretty strongly in the flavor, as does the somewhat off combination of strawberry and banana. Rather than complementing each other, the banana and strawberry clash in a not very likeable way. The combination is harsh, rather than refreshing, with a kind of harsh bitterness (not from hops, but from the flavors clashing I think) in the finish. The flavor likeability does not improve as the beer warms. The opposite, in fact.

The body is moderate with good carbonation.

Overall, this was not a successful attempt by Schell's in my opinion.

For flavored hefeweizens that I tried this year, J. Wakefield's El Jefe (coconut) Hefeweizen and especially Potosi's Rosa Stiefel Grapefruit Hefeweizen were more successful.

L: 4.0 | S: 3.25 | T: 2.25 | F: 3.75 | O: 2.5 | Rating: 2.8

When I bought the mix-six pack, I thought I'd do a side-by-side of this beer and Schell's regular hefeweizen. Nothing to be gained with that other than possibly spoiling the enjoyment of their regular hefeweizen.

This is the first real clunker I've had from Schell's in a long long time.

 

I have an odd habit of being hesitant to drink special (to me) beers that people have sent me. There's something about knowing that it may be the only time that I get to try it that makes me wait for the right moment to crack it open. Well, that day has finally come for this bottle of Foudre #2 from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales. I received this last ~fall from @Dimidiata who has been kind enough to share several SARA beers with me. I LOVE saisons, and while I'm lucky enough to have several breweries who do a very good job with the style in my general region (Hill Farmstead, Suarez, Fox Farm etc.), every time I have a SARA beer I wish I also had routine access to them. As such, I greatly anticipated this one. Let's see how it turned out.


4.44/5 rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Moderately aggressive pour into a Teku resulted in a finger+ of fizzy white had that quickly dissipated to leave behind a thin outer ring. The shade of yellow that this pours is bright and vibrant in a way that's hard to describe, but it definitely pops. Clear enough to let plenty of light through, but not to see through. Attractive beer.

Aroma has some barnyard funk to it and implies plenty of tartness. Little bits of musty lemon lurk beneath.

Taste is brilliant. There's some tartness and some funk, but neither is out of balance. Subtle citrus notes add just enough of a refreshing zing to bring this beer to life. Lively but not overly so. Incredibly easy to drink and refreshing. Almost certainly some style bias here for me, but this is fantastic. Almost pushing 4.75 territory for me on the taste.

This did not disappoint. Great beer. Thank you, Christine!!!!!

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I missed the fun here last weekend, but I was at a going away party for my friends in St Paul, who are moving to Montana. Their house in St. Paul just sold today, and they bought the house in Montana a couple weeks back. I'm so happy for them, but I'll miss visiting them on a semi regular basis.

At the party they actually gave me a crawler from their local about 2 miles away, and here it is.

Space Pirate - Saint Paul Brewing - IPA - 5.5% ABV.

Saint Paul Brewing bills this as a juicy IPA.

Well, I'm not going to lie, I had problems with the review of this beer. I actually really liked it - a lot. That being said - there's NOTHING juicy about it. It's a very old school, pine forward IPA. No juicy, soft mouthfeel at all. No murky citrus juice look to it.

I was torn how to rate it. As a standard IPA, I would have rated it much higher, but it's not supposed to be a standard IPA. Hopefully my rating, and review is good enough.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/15642/418784/

3.86/5 rDev -4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Filled 7-10-2021 - Consumed 7-17-2021

This beer is a fairly clear amber colored pour. The head when poured from the crawler looks very fluffy, and slightly off white - a tinge of yellow to it. It is 2 finger, and long lasting, there's also some decent lacing.
The nose has a decent amount of tropical aromas, like mango, and pineapple. I do get a tropical vibe here with the nose. There's also a hint of a more old school pine aroma.
Now the taste is quite opposite of the nose, which surprised me. This is a very old school pine hop flavored beer. This surprised me, because, based on the nose, I would have had a good amount of tropical flavors. I do get them, but they are VERY back sided.
The body is somewhat sticky feeling. It does cling and linger in my throat, which is pleasing. However, that being said, it really isn't juicy at all.
It's billed as a "juicy" IPA, but it's really not. I'm having a hard time with rating this one. Do I rate it on how close to "style" it is, or how it tastes? I like it a lot, but it's not a "juicy" IPA at all. Hopefully my rating is a good compromise.

 

We found a young dove that had fallen from its nest on Friday. It couldn't fly well, but hung around in our back yard fueled by plentiful birdseed. We named the cute rascal Bertie and doted on her/him like proud parents. Today we luckily saw Bertie fly the coop, which thrilled us. I hope he gives us a fly by one of these days.

 

Howdy NBWs
I have a new to me beer courtesy of @Blogjackets
War Canary from Noble Beast Brewing hailing from Cleveland, Ohio
Wheat Beer - Witbier. 5.2 abv





Poured from a can dated 6/7/21
Hazy yellow appearance with a 1 inch soapy head, slight lacing and thin veil
Aroma of yeasty banana bread, coriander and some citrus
Taste is bready, with layers of oat, banana, coriander and citrus
Mouthfeel is Pilsner like, light, refreshing, decent carbonation
Overall it hits all the notes of what you would expect of a Witbier
Look 4. Smell 4. Taste 3.75. Feel 4. Overall 4
3.9 rDev -0.08%

 

Hello to all my NBW friends. I made a trip to Transient today because I haven’t been in a while, my beer stash was low on hops, and Transient has been on a hop roll lately, with 4 new IPA’s released in the last 3 weeks. I love when I have a beer problem and an easy solution!

This one is a variant on one of their most notorious (and delicious, IMHO) beers, The Juice Is Loose. I’m pretty pumped to try this one, so let’s get it ON!





4.34/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

An aggressive pour reveals a beer that looks EXACTLY like orange juice in the glass (if orange had a thick, slightly creamy off white head). Very nice.

The nose is all tangerine and ripe mandarin orange. There is nothing subtle going on here - just a juggernaut of orange-based aromas on the nose. I love orange juice, so sign me up.

The taste is really heavy on the tangerine side, which is great, and the mandarin orange flavor is well represented, and there’s a bit of sweetness that works well, but this needs more balance - the base beer has Simcoe hops while this one does not, and that bit of dank earthy flavor would have helped balance this very good beer and give it depth, because it’s more than a bit “one note.”

The mouthfeel is on point, very full and a bit creamy, which works well in the overall experience with this beer. I just wish there was some other flavor profile to balance the orangeness of this very flavorful DIPA.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 6/02/21. Pours a hazy yellow with a half finger white head that leaves some thin streaks of lace with solid retention. 4

Aroma is peach, mango, papaya, tangerine, and apricot. 4

Taste follows peach, mango, papaya, tangerine, and apricot really well balanced with very low bitterness. 4

Mouthfeel is above average, maybe a little sticky but not dry, fairly soft carbonation, and at 7.3% very easy drinking. 4

Overall this is good, I would definitely say it is worth a shot. Cheers all. 4