New Beer Weekend #59

I checked out a new beer bar that opened in my neighborhood. Called Big Owl Craft Brew House. They are also going to be, for now, the sole tap room for a new brewery Turkey Forrest (think thats the name of the owners pets). Though they had nothing on tap from the brewery at the moment, guess they are still waiting on permit approvals.

Anyway, was able to have a few other new to me beers...

Firs up is from a Houston brewery, New Magnolia Dry Hopped Kolsch-Mosaic. 4% ABV. Interested to see how this goes, as I have noticed plenty of off flavors with New Magnolia lighter beers, specifically DMS. Wondering how that plays out with Mosaic...



Pours a hazy yellow color. A small white head forms, which was filled to the top, light lace is left behind.
The nose is all fruity hops and nothing else. A berry medley with a bit of mango. This is an IPA.
Taste wise, a simple fruity berry and mango flavor. It becomes sticky sweet with a soapy flavor. Light bitterness lingering.
A light to medium body. With moderate carbonation. A thick, slick and oily feel going on, which is about the opposite of what I want for the style. Let alone for just a low ABV beer. Not a Kolsch at all, basically a session IPA. Which I guess isn't bad in its own.

Well, I normally get cooked corn, veggies and DMS from New Magnolia's lighter offerings. So I guess just adding a ton of Mosaic might have covered that up. If just thinking of this as a light Mosaic IPA its barely average, but not a Kolsch in any way shape or form.

Overall score 3.08, which I guess is a C+ or B-, not that I care about the letter grade at this point, but there you go...
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58057/508939/?ba=champ103#review

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Next is Jester King's Rare Coral, a Saison re fermented w/ canteloupe, guava, banana, strawberry, toasted coconut, & chamomile. 5.3% ABV



Pours slightly hazy. A yellow color, with a small white head that forms. That fizzles out to nothing quickly, and just spotty lace left behind.
An acidic fruit aroma up front. Not much else. The fruit is all muddled, I guess banana and melon...sure I'll go with that.
Taste wise, all the fruit is just muddled. I can't pick anything out, I guess a mix of canteloupe, guava, banana, strawberry if thats what they say. Though it becomes very sticky and sweet. A hard candy like sweetness takes over which makes this cloying.
A medium body and moderate carbonation. A sticky, resin, sugary candy coating covers the tongue. OK to drink, in that generic store bought fruit juice kind of way. Though not at all what I'm looking for in the style.

The delicate balance that I love for the style is nowhere to be seen here. Its just a muddled fruity sickly sweet mess. Which I can't really pick out any of the individual fruit additives, but thats got to be what I'm tasting right? Jester King is very hit and miss with me, and this is a definite miss.

Overall score is 2.89, again I don't really care to give grade scores for something this low, lets just call it a C-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24018/274555/?ba=champ103#review

A few notes on the new beer bar Big Owl Craft Brew House:
A decent sized bar, with plenty of tables and counter space spread out as well. Though its all concrete, and just really generic. I got there early when they opened to check it out, and even before there were a lot of people it was way to loud. Then they turned the music UP when more people started to arrive and, I didn't really want to stay. A nice mix of 24 or so taps that are from all around the Houston area, and eventually will have the Turkey Forrest beers on when the permit stuff is straightened out, so I'll probably give them at least one more try when that is available. Though not going to be among my regular stops.

So, I don't want to say this was a disappointing visit for new beers and a new bar, as I'm always up to trying something. It just didn't all work out in my favorite this afternoon, now I got to go find a greasy burger

 

Prairie Artisan Sundae Service BA Imperial Stout, 14.9% ABV. Pours black with a typical Prairie ring-of-bubbles, even with an aggressive pour. Nose is fudge, nuts, bourbon, cherry, and vanilla. Taste follows with strong fudge/chocolate up front, bourbon, vanilla, and nuts throughout, and cherry on the close. Decent mouthfeel, though scant carbonation. Overall world-class.

4.57/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75

I hadn't heard about this one until spotting it on the shelves. I'm inclined to get more.

 

Howdy all. I hope y'all are signing up for the NBS BIF, this is #14. My new brew for today is from local brewery Stemma, Jason's Wait, What? Hazy IPA (yes, that's the actual name). It's fine, a typical murkster.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/56112/566803/

 

Afternoon Breeze a Hoppy Lager from Untied Brewing a local brewery. Last Sunday I wrote about another beer with the same from the brewery. (see NBW #58 post 86). Both beers share the same grain bill and 2 hops Callista and Cashmere. The difference is the 3rd hop. Last weeks was Mandarna Bavaria, this weeks is Motueka. The 2 beers look the same but that is about it. This beer has a very fruity aroma but mild aroma. The taste is fruity with some malt. It lacks the hints of bitterness of last weeks brew. The mouthfeel is full the finish is off dry. Overall a nice beer but not as good as the one from last week.

 

Up at the lake in NH for the first time in ~6 weeks, and it's been about that long since I've been able to participate in NBW. It's a beautiful day here, our first nice holiday weekend day of the year (Memorial Day weekend and 4th of July weekend were both absolutely terrible). As such, today calls for a special beer.

@FBarber has sent me several Keeping Together beers and they have all been excellent. Saisons / Farmhouse beers are my favorite style, and Keeping Together does them as well as anybody I've run across. This one is Everything Glistened and Sparkled, which is described by the uber talented brewer Averie Swanson thusly:

Everything Glistened and Sparkled is a 6.0% ABV mixed culture saison made with angelica root, roasted rhubarb, and wildflower honey. This saison has prominent aromas of blood orange, cranberry, and green strawberry intermingled with notes of vanilla marshmallow, rose hips, pink peppercorn, and a whisper of tarragon. On the palate, the rhubarb comes through with flavors reminiscent of plum skin, watermelon rind, and tangerine pith over a backbone of sweet toasted brioche and hay.

I'm sure my review will not capture even a third of that, but let's give it a go.

4.48/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a very attractive burnt orange with loads of dense, slightly off-white colored head with excellent retention. Semi-translucent and bright. Aroma is floral with some light citrus notes and a hint of marshmallow. There's more there, as I find the aroma quite complex, but as always, I lack the sophistication to pick up the exact notes this beer is throwing at me.

On the tongue, the first words that spring to mind are "light and refreshing", but that's a superficial way to describe the beer overall. As I find with most well made beers of this style, the taste is very nuanced. It's not hitting me in the face with tartness, but it's there. It's not shoving different fruits & roots down my throat, but they're present as well. I can definitely pick up the rhubarb and some honey notes, along with others that I'm not quite sure what they are, but don't care, because whatever they are, they work really well together. There's a really nice balance of tart and sweet, with just the right amount of acidity. Dry, with a medium body. Overall, an excellent beer.

Frank, can't thank you enough for sharing these beers with me. Another home run.

 

Prairie Artisan Ales
Pumpkin Kerfuffle - Imperial Sour Beer w/pumpkin pie spice blend and toasted marshmallow flavor. 8.2% abv

Poured a dirty orange/brown, hazy with a moderate dense head that recedes slowly to a thin cap, leaving moderate lacing.

On the nose the pumpkin spice jumped out with allspice and nutmeg with vanilla falling in.

Tartness up front, with the acidity bringing some lemon citrus. The toasted marshmallow is there followed by the spice blend. As I drink more, there is a biting bitterness at back edges of my tongue that does nothing to cleanse the spices and sweetness off the back of my tongue. Lingering aftertaste that does not invite another sip.

Overall, this is a beer that I will try again, but only because I bought two cans.

Cheers Y'all
Hook'em Horns

 

My after midnight beer was Flying Dog Kulture King Imperial Hazy IPA - this puppy is a whopping 10% and was getting close to its best buy date but I went for it anyway. I enjoy hazies but Imperials are typically a little too much with this style and this one was no exception for me unfortunately. Poured a dark hazy orange with a generous head. Smell was the usual but also a really odd spice thing going on too (made me think of NB Voodoo Ranger, where if you look closely on the package it says IPA brewed with spice...I have yet to look into what exactly that spice is). Taste was okay but that odd spice thing took over. The alcohol was hidden for the most part but as it warmed it showed itself. I could not finish this beer and I dumped about 1/4 of it. Not to say that it's a bad beer but my palate had enough by that point.

https://www.flyingdog.com/beers/kulture-king/

 

Ugh, man the typos. Sometimes I type to fast

Anyway, @ChicagoJ had mentioned, a week or two ago about maybe a bias to rate things more favorably here, well I think I was fairly critical at least this time

 

Level's Fresh Hop Oktoberfest. Happy weekend, NBW!

16oz can dated 08/30/21. Bought it at Pint Defiance yesterday.

Pours a clear light amber color with a couple fingers of head that dissipates into a fairly uniform curtain with ragged edges and thin skin with a couple mountains. Smell is a little grain and a little grass (fairly muted overall). There might be a hint of honey and flowers.

Taste is much more interesting. Grain comes across very clearly, grain tea and grain husk both, a grassy bitterness, and more than a hint of honey and hop resin (but not enough to overpower).

Mouthfeel is medium, smooth, clean. Overall, this seems like an interesting choice, using fresh hops in a beer style not "hop forward." I think it's successful in a sense -- it tastes like an oktoberfest with a bit of fresh hop notes in the background and it's very tasty -- but not the knockout punch of hop flavor and aroma that I'm looking for in beers that say "fresh hop" on the label.

As I keep drinking it, I get a bit more hops out of it. Almost a hop candy character right now, with the grain sweetness and the hoppy finish.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Home from work, and ready to enjoy my day off tomorrow.

Not much to say, so I'll just dig into my first review, and it was at my new local, a couple blocks from where I live.


Pickin' Daisies - Back Shed Brewing - Waite Park, MN - IPA - 6.4% ABV

This beer is a younger sister of their Stompin' Daisies IPA, which is 7.6% ABV. I should do with that beer over here what I did with this one here - copy over my UT review of it, with a bit of touching up.

The beer was good. Nice all around, with a good bitterness on the finish that made it complete.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61553/565915/

3.77/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Copied from my untapped, with a bit of touching up.
Murky hazy golden pour with a white head.
Mango, pineapple, and guava on the nose.
Taste - Up front I get mango, and lots of it, with some guava. The pineapple comes in on the backside.
There's a slight bitterness that hits on the backside that lingers. This is from the hops. The body is decent for an IPA of this ABV.
Overall this is a good IPA, and it's a good younger sister of their Stompin' Daisies. I gave it 3.75 on UT.


I'll be back in just a bit with another beer, now I'm home.

 

This is a very quaffable and refreshing interpretation of a Vienna lager from Idyll Hounds Brewery in Florida. After a beautiful copper pour and a sustained and foamy white head, the aroma was spicy with hints of biscuit and dough. The flavor profile has hints of caramel, dark bread, and a slightly herbal impression on the palate. This is not a style I see often so I was pleasantly surprised to find this one. It rivals most of the imports I have tried. The zesty carbonation and hop profile keep this one refreshing throughout.

 

Oddside 11th anniversary stout. 17.76 percent alcohol. By far the highest octane beer I’ve ever had. Pours a thick, oily, black with a half inch of dark brown head; reducing in moments to nothing. Coconut shavings float on the surface. Smell is coffee, dark chocolate, oak, and alcohol. Coconut becomes slightly apparent in the taste but not as much as you would hope when you can physically see it in your glass. Some bitter coffee ground flavor, melds with chocolate but it is all overwhelmed with alcohol. There’s too much here for me to finish it, I’ll save the rest for tomorrow and will drink it only because we’re looking at a 7$ can here, boys. Cheers.

 

Last week I visited a brewery in Philadelphia known for their lagers, Human Robot. I’m always skeptical of places that get hype, especially lager ones. I’ll admit going in I probably will say I was a little more critical. With that being said, the beer I had there was flawless and this canned offering I took to go, also very very good. I was very impressed by them and I’ll go back if I get the chance.

Human Robot - Oktoberfest



I’ve never had this crystal clear of a beer from a small brewery, ever, it is a thing of beauty. The color lies somewhere on the lighter side of amber, almost a pale/golden copper. A nice layer of creamy froth persists and their some random spotty lacing.

Aroma is toasted bread crust and toasted grains. The grain smell sort of reminds me of the smell of corn kernels that don’t pop at the bottom of a popcorn bag.

The taste is mostly crusty bread and toasted grain as well.

Medium body with a full rich mouthfeel to it. Drinks nice and easy and finishes smooth and clean with a low but noticeable bitterness.

I really like this beer, a really fine American marzen. Full and complex mouthfeel that goes down clean and fast without even a hint of sweet. Two beers from this brewery and both have been very impressive.

 

A new Marzen called Oktoberfest by Timberyard Brewing Co of scenic East Brookfield Massachusetts. I could have gone higher on this one if only it had a bigger flavor/smell. A non carameled version. Cheers.

3.79/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

An easy pour released a finger sized soapy tan head with short retention, a thin cap remains with no lacing. Clear new penny copper color with amber highlights.

Mild smell of bready malt (Fresh baked, toast and faint yeasty dough) with very faint hops.

Semi-sweet taste with low bitterness, well balanced. Mild bready (see above) malt taste with a hint of apple, mild herbal hops. Flavor drops off right as dryness starts to build, it almost makes it to semi-dry. The finish is fast and clean, mild malt flavor lingers on as hop bitterness (now average) lingers on while.

Medium light body with below average carbonation, still has some left at the end. Warms well with hidden alcohol, I have to say again well balanced. I do not taste caramel. Session-able, smooth and soft overall.

 

All right, time for my next new beer, now I'm home.

This is one I picked up when I was in Wisconsin a few weeks back with @Alefflicted


Lady Red - Red Ale - Ombibulous Brewing Altoona, Wisconsin - 6.2% ABV.

The smoke was a very pleasing surprise to this beer. I'm a big fan of smoked beers, and this really makes me happy.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57050/503019/

4.06/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

This beer pours a dark red color. The beer produces a 1 finger, off white (red) head. This head isn't too long lasting, and there's no lacing on the glass.
The nose is a nice malt/bread/biscuit aroma, which is pleasing, though not too strong.
Taste - Well, as expected, there's a nice malty, bread, biscuit flavor going on here from the malts. What wasn't expected was a nice smoke flavor to the beer from the malts that must have been smoked a bit.
The body is a good for the style.
This is not bad at all. A pleasure to try.


I'd better stop here, so I'm not a hung over mess on my day off tomorrow. See you tomorrow, I'm sure.