New Beer Weekend #56

Thank you for kicking things off this weekend @Victory_Sabre1973 ! My sleep is thrown of as well, so here I am.

I have a discussion point I'll post after my review. First beer this weekend,

Illustrated Brew Works Beer Here Now



Can Notes: Canned 7/14/21, 16 oz, 7.5% ABV. Double Dry Hopped Double IPA made with Citra and Idaho 7 Hops.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a shaker pint glass. Murky brown tan, creamy white head, lingers for a few minutes before receding. Can't see the carbonation scene here. 2.5

Aroma: Sweet fruit flavors, consistent with the hop profile. Tangerine, pineapple and citrus, bold in strength, enjoying the aroma. 3.75

Taste: Neutral taste flavor, the mild citrus sweetness gleaned muted by a dull tasteless bitter offset. No malt, more dry/bitter sensation than any taste profile from the hops and malt. 2.25

Mouthfeel: Somewhat dry, more dull than bitter, chalky, with momentary bursts of slight sweetness ever few sips. Light to medium, slightly creamy body, persistent fizzy carbonation, slight dry aftertaste, drinks at to below the listed ABV. 2.5

Overall: Below average offering, dull bitterness overwhelmed any hop or malt flavor. If it tasted like the aroma, it would have been a good beer. Finished the pour, but glad I only bought a single. 2.25

NBW/NBS Discussion point:

I had this thought before opening the can, based on the first beer I ordered from this brewery's taproom yesterday. They have been brewing for six years per their website but just opened a taproom for the first time right near my house. I stopped drinking it after a couple ounces, one of the few times ever I had a "drain pour" in all my years of drinking. They didn't charge me for it, so I appreciated the customer service and they were friendly. Most of their other styles I don't drink (kettle sours, slushies, pastry stouts, NEIPAs), but I plan on trying them perhaps in several months to see if I find any beers I can enjoy.

I like to give breweries a chance, and newer breweries need to brew a bit before being able to hone in a recipe. I hate to be critical, but at the same time when I am writing a beer review, I am honest and try to be as fair and balanced as possible and for anyone who reads it, and for my notes so I keep future purchases to solid beers. I really want this brewery (and all breweries who can brew and are decent human beings) to do well.

My question for the board is do you find yourself self-censoring your reviews in this thread or in the beer rating section, by either giving a lot of lee-way or not posting a review you initially planned to avoid offending the brewery? This could also include sugar coating a review, pointing out only positive aspects and avoiding any negative aspects. Could see a natural tendency also to possibly rate an expensive, hard to get, or a gifted beer (shared/BIF), the latter to also not offend the person who shared or gifted the beer. Just want to see how people who are comfortable sharing how they communicate a below average beer to the NBW/NBS audience, and also publicly on BA and other beer rating sites in formal beer reviews.

Cheers and I wish you good beers throughout the weekend. I will return tomorrow with a collaboration beer I am looking forward to.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on . Pours a cloudy orange with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma peach, ripe melon, mandarin, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows peach, honeydew, mandarin, apricot, and a little bitter grapefruit to round it out, well balanced. 4

Mouthfeel is above average, maybe a tad dry, plenty of carbonation, and at 7.7% it goes down plenty easy. 4

Overall I remember getting Singlecut in trades 4-5 years ago and being more dazzled, it might be all the great options around now, but this is just good for me.4 Cheers all and thanks for getting us going early @Victory_Sabre1973 . Hope you nap at some point brother.

 

Thanks to Victory_Sabre for the start, another sleepless guy here as the neighbor decided to party it up til 3am last night.

Clutch Brewing Hypnotoad


Appearance: Hazy yellow-gold, big head.

Smell: Fruity, danky.

Taste: Very fruity, citrus, pineapple, low bitterness.

Overall: Clutch is located in the Keg & Case complex in St. Paul, I've visited a couple times and thought the beer was decent. Decided to pick up a 4 pack of their hazy IPA, was pleasantly surprised. Nice fruitiness and sweetness, no hop burn. Definitely worth a try.

 

I call it as I see it. I do reviews mainly for my own future reference and secondarily to help others make intelligent buying decisions. However, sometimes in retrospect I think perhaps at the time that I was drinking the beer I was liking it more than I normally would, either because of the atmosphere at the location or because of some personal interaction with the brewer at that time. Despite that, I review 'em to reflect the way I feel at the time I have the beer. Speaking of which, I plan to do a new one later today (it is not even 7 am yet here)....stay tuned. Cheers

 

Awesome start!

 

i do this for me mostly. If anyone gets anything out of my mad ramblings it is a bonus. I do try to save my locals for this forum. But if it sucks, it sucks not going to sugarcoat it

 

Mosaic - a surface decoration made by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material to form pictures or patterns

As a homebrewer I always found it intriguing that it was decided to name a hop variety as “Mosaic”. When I started homebrewing with Mosaic about 7-8 years ago I found the flavor qualities of this hop to be quite variable. Sometimes as part of the flavor profile there was some blueberry (which I really liked) and sometimes mostly tropical fruit (which I really liked) and in some commercially brewed beers which featured Mosaic hops there was significant dank (i.e., marijuana-like which I did not like). I always wondered if this variable flavor profile was the motivation for selecting the name Mosaic.

Below is how Mosaic hops are described on the YCH website:

“Mosaic Hops - Add Berry Flavor to Your Beer

Mosaic® Hop Pellet Profile

Mosaic® is an aroma hop brand developed by Hop Breeding Company LLC (John I. Haas, Inc. and Select Botanicals Group) and released in 2012. Mosaic® offers a unique and complex blend of floral, tropical, fruity, and earthy characteristics that translate very favorably into several styles of beer. Mosaic® is the daughter of YCR 14 Simcoe® and a Nugget derived male.”

https://yakimavalleyhops.com/products/mosaic-hop-pellets

Which brings us to today’s beer: Lawson’s Super Session #8 Mosaic IPA.

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

“Super Session #8 – Mosaic Ale:

4.8% ABV

Super Session #8 is designed to be a light and refreshing beer with low alcohol and the full hop character of a Session IPA. Each beer in our Super Session series is brewed with the same malt base and specialty malts but features a different single-hop variety. Super Session #8 is brewed with copious amounts of Mosaic hops.”

I wonder which flavor(s) will be presented in this beer. Based upon past homebrewing experience I am anticipating an interesting mix of flavors.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

Golden yellow with a big fluffy white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is dominated by dank (more so diesel-like) but there is also some citrus and some tropical fruit there.

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with dank (diesel-like) but it is not as dominating as on the nose. There are the aspects of citrus and tropical fruit but in addition there is also a hint of woody there as well. Quite a complex flavor profile overall. 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 pretty good. I am personally not a fan of the dank aspect but there is a more to this beer beyond the dank such that the overall drinking experience is improved for my palate.

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

I try to call them as I see them . These are my tasting notes and I don't want to revisit a lousy beer. I also admire and respect the hard work and dedication that it takes for a home brewer to become a commercial brewer. Kudos to them all. But, sometimes, the East Swigglepish prickly pear smoked sour tipa saison just doesn't cut it in my book. I look to this forum for honest, individual reviews so i can seek out new and different beers that i want to try. Be polite but be honest.

 

@ChicagoJ, I do not 'sugar coat' my descriptions in the beers I discuss in New Beer Weekend. I tell it like it is.

The one aspect that could be considered "self-censoring" is that I am quite particular about the beers I purchase. Through BA and other resources I typically have a good idea of the breweries I am purchasing beer from and more often than not because of this effort the beers I drink are not 'duds'.

Cheers!

P.S. Six years is more than enough time for a commercial brewery to learn how to produce quality beer. I am not sure whats up with Illuminated Brew Works.

 

Haven’t really posted on this thread much, but this beer deserves it. When you encounter a beer that is damn near perfect, you know it.

To me, the best thing is that the cinnamon spice presence on the nose and taste makes it unique compared to any other stouts. The smell makes me think “oh shit, this will kick my ass”, but then I drink it and the spice blends so well with the big roasted dark malt flavors and the boozy bourbon barrels and I think “my god, I now understand why this is the number 2 oatmeal stout behind FBS.”

A goddamn amazing beer, glad I got a second, and if I see it on Tavour, I’m buying more.

Fives across the board.

 

My after midnight new beer was Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest - canned on 07/07/21. Poured a dark amber color, very fluffy head. Smell is interesting and kind of like a typical Amber Marzen but then again not, maybe some rye in there. Taste was a little Ale-like and softer with not much crispness but yet the flavors were still kind of Marzen-like. Enjoyable enough but this single will suffice and not an $11.49/six pack purchase for me and I would rather have many others. Prost!

 

Thumbs down to insomnia, a situation with which I am unfortunately all to familiar (this past week cripplingly so). But, thumbs up to beer!!

Generally I do try to rate objectively. I know I'm not always very good at it... I tend to over-empathize, even with inanimate objects, ha (but for real...). But I do try to record things as I feel I experienced them. As others have mentioned for themselves, my reviews, etc here are primarily for my own self reference and learning, and tangentially if it can help someone else in a decision, then great! I probably try to word things... gently, but I'm not going to say I like it if it's not good. Where I run into more trouble with that is when reviewing a beer I received from someone else (and I've had this discussion on this very forum in the past), where it feels almost somehow ungrateful to be critical of a gift, though I know that's not necessary. I have, on occasion, revisited a review that in retrospect I felt I was too bullish on, but I try not to do that for obvious reasons, and when I do I mainly just adjust ratings, not the review itself (again for obvious reasons), and even then only small adjustments.
It's definitely something that has crossed my mind, because we know that many brewers are present or at least pay attention to the website and that always creates an interesting dynamic.
It does also help that by and large I mostly buy stuff I'm pretty sure I'm going to at least decently enjoy.

 

Well I won't be adding as many beers as normal, three nights of Phish on the beach will prevent me from posting too much but I will add this one and catch up during the day today and tomorrow. I know I've had this beer but I'm talking at least 10 years ago, so to me this is a new beer at this point. I do not remember anything about it...

Boddington's Pub Ale



Beautiful crystal clear honey colored beer, an amazing nitro creamy off white head. This has better retention than other nitro beers and better lacing. The head is just sticking to the whole glass as I drink it down.

The aroma is fresh baked bread, I also want to say it reminds me of unsweetened tea along with some fruity aromas.

Taste much follows the nose, bread, tea but with a little bit more sweetness than I expect based on the nose. That sweetness is very honey like to me but it still has the same fruity notes from the aroma as well.

The mouthfeel is light but full and creamy. This beer goes down very smooth and drinks very nicely. I could easily drink two of these in one sitting. There is a low bitterness but I have to seek it out to find it.

I really enjoyed this beer, it is a beautiful looking beer, it tastes great, and it drinks so smooth and easy. Another beer that will find it’s way back in my fridge again soon thanks to NBW.

A local place also regularly cans their bitter and just did so again. I've never had it so I plan to buy some this week for next NBW as a comparison between the two.

 

Nice kick-off, @Victory_Sabre1973. Looks like you're going all in on Wyoming beers these days!

 

Pretty much my sentiment as well.

 

Morning, all,

After a half a week house & pet sitting for some friends whose animals LOVE to wake up and expect their breakfasts bright and fucking early, I'm luxuriating in the knowledge that I have no deadlines today and am still sipping my coffee.

It's already 81° outside, and predicted to reach 100°. Air quality index is up to 175, meaning it's officially "Unhealthy" outside, and is only going to get worse. The parental units were going to drive up to Spokane tomorrow and we were going to explore NE Washington's less travelled highways (they're in their near-mid 70s and its the only part of the state they've never been to; I think they want to see the area while they're both in good health and mobile) and possibly check out Gardner Cave in Crawford State Park, but the heat and smokiness has cancelled those plans.

No beer yet today for me, new or otherwise, but I'm going to Iron Goat's 9th Anniversary party (their anniversary was actually in April, but that was a less salutary time for a big event, Covid-wise), and there may be something new there that they'll be tapping. History suggests that, if so, it will be a gin barrel-aged version of one of their IPAs, which are always delicious. I'm probably heading over in an hour or so, and am hopefully able to snag an indoor table for my troubles, as it'll suck to try to drink a beer on the patio while wearing an N95 due to the goddam wildfire smoke.

If no new beer emerges at the Goat, I've got a couple local cans in the fridge ready to go, including one from Hello Brewing that is, sadly, posthumous.

 

I seem to come across a new beer from True Anomaly every week now. Which is a good thing for me. They do lots of different styles, and they hit most of them pretty well. Specially when they do their Mixed Culture, Foeder Aged Saisons. One of my favorite breweries in Houston.

This is the latest one that I have found at my local store. Wheels Stop, 6.6% ABV, Mixed Culture, Foeder Aged Saison. With Noble, Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops.

A note, all the owners used to work at NASA in Houston, and usually have names and a little history to reflect that for their beers...Wheels Stop refers to the official ending of a shuttle mission, and also commemorates the 10th anniversary of when the Space Shuttle Program ended.

I added this to the BA database, but also couldn't find it on Untappd either (not that I care about that site, just interesting that it hasn't been checked in there yet).



Pours with some haze, a golden/yellow color. A dense white head forms, and rises to about two fingers. Good retention and spotty lace left behind.
The nose is wonderful. A mix of floral, citrus, grassy hops. That mixes with a fresh cut hey, this is like walking out in a field.. Just a touch of vanilla, oak, and basement musk.
Taste is pretty much everything in the nose as well. That floral, citrus, grassy hoppy character. Some modern hop flavors show up as this warms, with kind of a juicy peach. Barnyard hay, with a light "funk" and just a touch of oaky flavors. Even a bit of phenolic peppery spice, and a light touch of bitterness lingering as well. This is so well balanced and enjoyable.
A medium body with delicate but effervescent carbonation. This smooths out as it breaths. Which makes it that much moreish to drink, and at 6.6% not in that "Imperial Saison" range, more classic drinking here that I love.

Another excellent Foeder Aged Saison by True Anomaly. Really impressed with this. The balance and nuance is incredible without being over the top in any one thing. Which I'm all the more impressed with than anything. Its complex and delicate at the same time, and pretty much spot on for what I like in a Saison.

Overall Score is 4.45, which is a rare A+ for me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55586/563555/?ba=champ103#review

Going to enjoy this, this afternoon and continue on with Denis Johnson's A Tree Of Smoke. Intriguing literary CIA/spy/Vietnam fiction, and probably spin some Miles today.

It will go perfect with some Sketches of Spain

 

Good day to all. I decided to crack open one from a brewery from which I have truly enjoyed some IPAs from their Head Full of Dynomite series (one of which I described last week on this page). This one is different; a pale ale called "Summer". I bought a single can off a room temp shelf about a week ago and chilled it until now. Can dated 6/09/21. Website says this is 5.2% ABV, 51 IBU, with Amarillo and Citra hops.It claims "fresh range" is 90 days from packaging, so I am well within that window.
Poured into the glass pictured above. It has an etched grid pattern on the bottom so the evolution of carbonation off the bottom is somewhat vigorous and very long lasting. Nice white head roughly a finger high, receding to a thin film that continues to cover the surface over a few minutes. No haze; very clear. A lot of lacing (see picture) but not very sticky and it seems to disappear over several minutes.
Not much smell...at all, although my nose is not one of my better senses.
Nice flavor that is fully supported by the name "Summer". I'm picking up hints of lemon, lemongrass, and a bit of tangerine. A little bitterness. Clean finish.
Fairly light body and highly drinkable, especially in hot weather. Once again, this is a perfectly named beer.
Benchmarked against a pale ale that most are familiar with, I find this a tad lighter and tad more fruity than SNPA. A bit more yellow/ light gold in color than SNPA and a nice alternative to SNPA for someone looking for a change of pace while sticking to a pale ale.
Do I prefer it to the Fremont HFoD IPA series? No, but it was worth trying as a trial of pale ale instead of my usual IPAs.