New Beer Weekend #56

Up next, another from Twin sisters, Chap ESB. A nice, but mildly sweet, take on the style.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/52775/563761/

 

NBS #2. Carton Brewing has produced a series of 7% "NJ IPAs," all named after Springsteen lyrics. These IPAs are intended to be "brash" variations on plush, soft, fruity New England IPAs, conveying a Jersey attitude. The latest is Dethrone the Dictaphone, hopped with Hallertau Blanc, Motueka, and Vic Secret. The Hallertau dominates initially while the southern hemisphere hops open up with fruitiness as the ale warms in the glass. There is a strong presence of resinous pine and it's quite bitter at the end. This ale is best understood in its context and it helps to have had prior releases in the series. I look forward to them. Here's my full review:

Canned on 7/28/2021. Poured into a Carton IPA glass. It pours a dense, turbid, muddy tangerine color with more than a finger of fluffy, egg white colored had and thick, clinging lacing. Great appearance! The nose is rather mild and floral. Carton's Kolsch yeast has a unique aroma and the Hallertau Blanc hops add a distinct smell of lemongrass and white wine. There is also some lite pine notes. The flavor is on the dry side with hints of Sauvignon Blanc, lemon peel, grapefruit, and pineapple. There is also a strong resinous pine presence and it finishes with a dry, clean bitterness. The mouth feel is thick and plush with pleasant carbonation, and it has great substance for 7% ABV. Overall, Dethrone is another welcome addition to Carton's series of "NJ IPAs." It's not a subtle NEIPA but packs a lot of flavor. Most enjoyable!

4.09/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Have a great week, everyone!

 

It's the first time I have seen Fort George in California. Hoping to see more.



(lazy, so I snagged the photo from the interweb)

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are still warm, near the century mark, but air quality has improved slightly

Today we have a lively little IPA literally and figuratively. Lively IPA from Cascade Lakes Brewing. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1043/521990/

Light clean and fruity.

Until next time

 

Ah! Sunday evening. Is there a more sublime time of the week? Time for New Beer Sunday.

Belgian Moon Mango Wheat

Poured fridge cold into a large goblet glass. Hazy peach coloured beer with a blast of fruit punch notes coming at you as you pour the beer. Mild carbonation with some snap crackle pop to the ears. Aroma is packed with mango, some citrus hops and coriander.
With blazing heat conditions outside thank goodness this little puppy only clocks it at 5.4%

The taste of this 'beer' is so juicy its almost hard to tell its a beer. Bit of malt, some acidity but other than that its mango fruit juice with a quick mouthfeel.

End result - one just cries for another.

3.5 our 5 for a specialty beer coming from this happy camper

Happy New Beer Sunday all!

 

Another local brew, this time from the border town of Blaine WA, last stop before Canadia. Atwood Ales Natural Jogger. A Blonde ale with some Belgian aspects, and wild Blaine yeast:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45649/563797/

 

Pint can. Freshest by 09/11/21. Pours a cloudy pale yellow with a frothy white head that lingers for a while.

Nose includes hop notes of pine and citrus. Lemon, grapefruit and orange peel stand out.

Flavors match the aroma note for note. Mouthfeel is a little heavier than anticipated up front, but the flavors are all pronounced and clean.

Crisp finish. Slightly bitter aftertaste.

Overall, very nice beer. Worth a try for fans of the style.

 

Okay, today’s beer and it’s a one and done because it’s good enough for multiples on a gorgeous evening in Northern Indiana.





4.37/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a nicely hazy pineapple color with a creamy white head that is positively clingy. The nose has some dank citrus, primarily tangerine, and there’s some berry notes, but it’s white wine aroma from the Hallertau Blanc hops that intrigues me.

The tangerine and berry are forward on the taste, but the white wine flavor is resplendent on the drying finish, something not always seen with the hazies.

This is scary poundable at 7.5% ABV. Very well done by Transient.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 7/20/21. Pours a hazy yellow orange with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is papaya, pineapple, tangerine, cantaloupe, and apricot. 4.5

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

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.1% ABV really easy going down. 4.5

Overall this is another nice version in this series. I highly recommend this one. 4.5

 

New Holland Dragon's Milk Imperial Stout 2021 Reserve 2 (Double Barrel and Double Vanilla), 12.3% ABV. Pours black with a two-finger light-brown head that left great lacing. Nose is bourbon, oak, and strong vanilla. Taste follows, roasty, oaky, vanilla, bourbon, chocolate, slightly sweet, slightly bitter. Excellent dry mouthfeel. Overall world-class, and the best Dragon's Milk variant I've had, though no match for fresh BCBS Vanilla.

4.42/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

Thank You! Been a good one, and also very odd stuff as well. Just got home from playing a solo gig outside at a music fest. Was a perfect day. Cheers.

 

Last new beer for the weekend. My 90th Oktoberfest review here on BA. Hoping to hit 100 this year.


Half Acre Lager Town

16oz can stamped 07/19/21 (less than a month old) poured into a dimpled mug at 60° Fahrenheit 5.8% ABV. The beer pours bright copper amber in color with light khaki head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is mild with malty and earthy notes. The taste is semisweet toasted malt with with minimal caramel and notes of black tea, earthy hops and moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good Oktoberfest. It's a touch bitter and hoppy for the style, but at least it's not sticky sweet with caramel.

Cheers all!

 

After taking some time to reflect on @ChicagoJ question I will answer it before my last review. I will say I feel I tend to be a generous review, but do like to post what I’m feeling about a beer. There are bad beers that I have criticized and there are some bad beers that I didn’t post reviews too. I will speak to those that I did not post reviews, for what I feel are valid reasons. The reasons I won’t post reviews are beers that are past their prime because I didn’t drink them quick enough (usually IPAs older than 3 months old that don’t seem fresh), infected/flawed beers that the brewery has said that it is off (if the brewery has not owned the mistake I will still post it), and beers I can’t get my head around (mainly some of these fruited “sours” that are beyond sweet and not even tart). If a brewery brews a bad beer and doesn’t seem to care, I don’t care how they feel about a bad review; honestly that’s one of the reasons I stopped seeking out Burley Oak, they brewed a session IPA that clearly had issues (tasted like cooked veggies and wet grass along with being yeasty) and still sold 4-packs at $20.

Anyways on to my last review of the week 3 Sheep’s Moon Struck.
4.3/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

22 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head.

S- Chocolate, bourbon, oak, maple, some coconut, touch of roasted malts.

T- Maple, chocolate, coconut, bourbon, oak, hints of roasted malts.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- Alcohol is well hidden and it is really tasty, but a touch too sweet. Feel like if they put coffee into to this it would hit a really nice balance.

Cheers, stay safe everyone!

 

I feel like an "underrater" here, not as much in this thread as in my scores in the review section (I have over 1,400 I hope to get in cutting and pasting sometime after baseball season). My average BA score is 3.69, but my scores are typically red / under the average. I enter the same review and score equivalents in Rate Beer (Rate Beer stats for same beers entered here: Avg Score Given 3.68 / Avg Beer Rated 3.51), and I'm a consistent overrater there, with a 0.46 score average difference between the average Beer Advocate score (3.98) and Rate Beer score (3.51) for the beers I have in my data base at this point. Will be interesting if that average holds or comes closer. With over 600 beers entered to date, I don't expect the averages to change much.

I am not sure what a "toasted" means. I do not use untappd, because like most here I appreciate the actual write up and details of a review, versus five scores and possibly a few words or phrases. Untappd has a much wider usage base, and is a much better reflection of the general public's perception of a beer.

I do agree the numbers are subjective, but it does help me (and hopefully others) get at least a ballpark of what to expect. There are a few times I've read verbiage where there is a disconnect with the score (typically the score is bumped up - "This does not taste very good" or "This looks awful", score 4.0-4.25. There are times I laughed out loud when coming across this in NBW/NBS.

I have done this a couple times, and aborted saving or typing it up here. I believe Jai Alai is the only rating I rescinded and reissued formally on the board, after my first within code beer tasted like a Lipton Brisk Tea, the second one from a different batch was actually like beer (not a great beer, but a decent beer). I will be pulling a few from the cellar soon (for styles appropriate to cellar, but will limit NBW/NBS posts to beers still brewed / available.

This has been the most candid post in terms of disclosing a "fudge factor". Would you say this is typically on the side of the brewer, tempering criticism of flaws or dislikes?

I believe we all have inherent biases, likes and dislikes, it's to the extent we acknowledge and or adjust/not adjust to try to assess as neutral as possible (if that is an objective one seeks). Many use the reviews as a personal guidepost or reference for future purchases and not necessarily an attempt to judge against style or for the consumption of others.

The setting/occasion also plays a big part. Can imagine a higher than perhaps normal score if one finally made their trek to say Cantillon or another bucket list brewery ("This beer is amazing 4.75"), vs. rating a beer exact in everyway, but at some local joint after you just broke up with a girlfriend or had a bad day at work ("Ah, this is a pretty good beer, helps salvage the day 4.0"). Rating a beer blind / side by side is the best way to compare beers, vs. checking ratings from two totally different circumstances, yet it's not practical when considering dozens/hundreds/thousands of beers over time. Perhaps in heaven.

 

Kim's Sure, Why Not from Stemma. A lavender-strawberry-blueberry brew. Lavender dominant: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/56112/563822/?ba=BBThunderbolt#review

 

Tonight's beer is one that followed us home...pesky beer, sneaking into the coolers of unsuspecting travellers...



Foundation Brewing Bocce Pils. This is an Italian style pilsner. By what I have learned, this is more less like the Kolsch situation. Every beer claiming to be in this style owes its origins to Birrifico Italiano’s Tipopils. Brewed in Limido Comasco, a small Italian town southwest of Lake Como. Basically a dry hopped German pilsner. To be in the style, the hops are key. Either old world hops or equivalent is my understanding.

The brewery says...

This Italian-style Pilsner is delicately dry hopped, refreshingly light, and incredibly crispy. This 4.5% crusher pairs well with sunshine, day drinking, and, of course, yard games!

Grains
2-Row, Maine-grown Pale Malt

Hops
Crystal, Loral

Yeast
House Lager
ABV
4.5%

Ok...so here we go. Looks like a beautiful pour to me. Clear, light honey color and a vigorous white head that last decently, falls to a ring and clingy residue on the glass.

The smell is very slightly sweet malt - vaguely reminding me of Portuguese sweet bread I grew up eating, but not nearly that strong. Just a whiff. The hops shine here, as I take it they should. Slightly floral/herbal, definitely lemony, faint spicy peppery notes. A vague sense of minerals. It isn't a strong aroma. The hops are prevalent yet seem kind of ethereal and floating.

The taste is just plain smooth. All of those subtle aromas show up in one superbly blended and satisfying taste. Slightly sweet malts with hops flying high. Not doubt there is very clean, fresh lemon, plus the herbal/floral/grassy tastes and spicy/peppery one would expect from Noble hops (that came nowhere near this beer). Good skill here picking the right new world hop variants to mimic the effect the "style" calls for. There is a bit of a mineral tang. The hops are building in intensity as I get further into the pint, yet the malt never fades entirely. And I am running out of descriptors here and maybe I am thinking too much...its all there where it is supposed to be. I like this beer quite a bit.

The feel is light. Pleasant lemon zing on the end of the taste. Slightly dry, clean, crisp, refreshing, moderately carved.

OK... @JackHorzempa or @zid can correct me on the finer points of the style, but I really dig this beer. It is balanced, clean, seems to more than adequately hit the style points, and delivers to the brewers intent in spades. I could drink this one with alarming frequency! I will land over 4 when I write this up.

As to the question, I am in the call 'em like I see 'em crowd. I try to not intentionally inflate of deflate any football's..errr...I mean beer scores. I write my reviews based on my first reaction post here for the NBW beers. I may tweak a bit after a few bourse, but pretty much what I write here is my review.

 

You'd be crazy to pick us two knuckleheads. I don't want to mischaracterize @JackHorzempa 's POV, but I think we both have the opinion that the concept is an unfortunate idea for a style. You're better off not going to us.

 

Used to drink those regularly. Probably been close to 20yrs since I've had one.

 

Happy Birthday!