New Beer Weekend #59

Good morning BAs. Can't cook without a beer, now can you? I'm working on some babybacks and grilled veggies to take on a short RV trip out to our local state park later this afternoon.

T-Hawk IPA from wild Acre Brewing in Fort Worth.
Canned on 7-7-21
6.5% abv and 75 IBU

Poured a dark copper penny with a full off-white head that lingers. Settled into a creamy cap that leaves nice lacing.

An aroma of pine, resin, orange peel, citrus and my neighbors fresh cut hayfield.

There is a nice bitterness in the taste, with pine, more orange citrus on top of some malty
fresh dark bread. It finishes clean. Low medium carbonation with a full creamy mouth.

A very enjoyable IPA that I will explore further. Balanced but doesn't quite zip all the way up.

Cheers Y'all

 

Well now I gotta get me one. Haven't pulled the trigger on a Parabola in a few years. But with some Rye in it. Mmmmmm

 

Thanks to @colby600 I have this . . .

Refluent American Pale Ale from Fox Farm Brewery

Hazy golden color with white cap and lacing.

Aroma of earthy, herbal hops with a touch of malt sweetness.

Taste is hop forward but not overly so, citrus plays a strong supporting role and malt has just enough presence to balance things out. Finish is crisp and clean, aftertaste is quick and dry. Very refreshing.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

Fairly simple flavors with good balance. My overall impression is one of respect for the skilled brewers at Fox Farm for crafting a first rate daily drinker.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the book. Just ordered it.

 

We’re still without cell service at the campground, so I have to seize opportunities when we go into town to do things like check email - and look up this magnificent thread! I had these two excellent (IMHO) beers yesterday evening.





4.35/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a nicely hazy golden color with an off white head that is fairly dense and creamy and provides ample lacing. A really nice looking hazy, IMHO. The nose is heavy on the citrus, with juicy tangerine notes most prominent, and there’s a significant apricot aroma as well.

The apricot is very forward on the taste, with the tangerine in the background for balance. That usually doesn’t happen (with the citrus in the background to the stone fruit) in my experience, but Stone did it exceptionally well with this hop bill.

The mouthfeel is substantial and in line with hazy expectations. I think they did a fabulous job with this beer.





4.42/5 rDev +11.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a gorgeous mahogany brown color that is nearly translucent with the most gorgeous frothy, creamy, light tan head you’ve ever seen.

The nose is outstanding, IMHO, with grassy noble hop aromas combining with a beefy caramel and toffee malt backbone to create an enticing sensory experience that carries through directly to the taste, with a perfect balance between hops and malt.

The mouthfeel is crisp and keeps drawing you back for another sip. What a magnificent beer this is. World class stuff, IMHO.

 

Yes, yes, yes! You just broke this news to me. I hadn't looked in on if they had made an agreement yet for a while. That and we're only about a month away from the season starting!

 

Good afternoon NBS/NBW and thanks @SawDog505 for hosting this week. This morning we had a long video visit with the first grandchild, Shes a cutie and I found out that I'm an a-gong or grand father in native Taiwanese, so a Pepere and an A-gong, Has a nice ring to it either way.

Todays offering is from our very good friends at Cambridge Brewing Company, Will and Phil along with thier team have bottled up a beautiful (in all catagories) golden ale in Jack Straw.
The palate impact is a delight, but for me the Brett application is so deft, and gives the offering a few white wine characterstics, all in the best ways, while keeping this a true beer.
Its a gem.
Enjoy your weekend all.

Jack Straw

Wild Ale | 4.5% ABV

Cambridge Brewing Company
Cambridge, Massachusetts

4.13/5 rDev +3.5% | Average: 3.99
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 ml cage and cork bottle, Date is "Bottled on 7 June 2021.
A - Lovely goldenrod color, vibrant carbonation feeds a constant pearl white meringue cap. Lacing is a leson in cloud study.
S - Poured cold the nose starts with a bit of ash, lemon rime, spcy grain, pumice, lots of mineral in the aromatics. Almost akin to Sancerre white from France.
T - Citrus forward, with that minerality lead by chalk, lemongrass, some beautiful wheat, and rye interplay. Brett touch and soft oak as well
M - Spritzy start, excellent acidity, just tart enough to keep that palate dancing, That mineralty acts as the drying agent , finish is semi tart and delightfully dry.
O - A very good golden ale of mixed grains, deftly balanced. Clearly the Brett is in the mix but about perfect in its impact.
Tha carbonation level is a delight to watch and on the palate. My only regret is in purchasing only one bottle.
Worth seeking out

 

Northward, ho! Out of the Philly area and on to Middletown, NY. Drizzly, cloudy, but not quite foggy drive avoiding 95. Decided to stop by a spot for the GF, and yep, Equilibrium has a ton of NE IPAs for her. I decided to start with their Möbius Porter.


We get Equilibrium in the DC area, and I’ve had a few of their IPAs, but this is the first of a non-staple style from them. Their menu described it with the terns “chocolate, toffee, coffee, roasted.”

Well, the beer is looking pretty good, and it’s not just be you my reflection in the black body. The creamy tan/brown head atop of it goes a ways here. The feel of this beer meets what the BAdb notes say: smooth and creamy. It’s a little heavy for a porter, in my thoughts, even at 7%. It’s also a little sweet, but not as much as I figured it might be.

Nose is slightly boozy toffee, coffee, and brings a dark rum soaked tiramisu impression to me. Roasted malts with turbinado sugar sweetness open the taste. A little bit of licorice hits behind that - almost a combination of black and chocolate Twizzlers. Little booze/licorice tingle joins the roasted malts that come back briefly in the end.

So, this isn’t a dessert/flavored porter, but it’s not a classic one either. For my preferences, it’s just ok.

FWIW- the GF easily picked Wavelength from her first mini-flight of IPAs.

 

Good morning, NBW! Here we go with beer #1 of this nice Sunday morning, while my wife takes the kids out for haircuts.

Block 15's Bloktoberfest Marzen Lager.

16oz can dated 08/17/21. Bought it two days ago at Pint Defiance.

Pours a clear amber with a pretty big head that dissipates into wispy, stiff coral reefs along the side, a thick clumpy ring, and a dusting across the surface. A little bit of active carbonation. Smell is rich, grainy, bready.

Taste is moderate grainy sweetness, maybe slightly bready, maybe a slight nutty characteristic, and a bit of a grassy almost lemony hop characteristic that shows up late.

Mouthfeel is light and smooth but just the slightest bit filmy. Overall, it's a very nice beer, and I'm enjoying it.

I'm curious about that "filmy" characteristic -- I get it from time to time with various beers, but I haven't noticed a pattern so I have no idea what the explanation is.

 

My selection for Sunday comes courtesy of @Victory_Sabre1973 in NBS BIF #13. James sent me a load of great beers that I still haven't fully polished off. I've been eying this bottle of Indiglow, from Eponymous Brewing Co in Brookings, SD for several months now. This was bottled on 9/7/20 and is bottle # 129 of 500. It is described on the bottle as a "Barrel Aged Sour Ale with South Dakota Blueberries".

4.02/5 rDev 0% (first review)
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a bright, cranberry color with an inch of very fizzy, very short-lived white head. Aroma is a pleasant combo of blueberries and funk. While I'm not sure if any was used in the beer, I also get a small amount of vanilla. Taste is largely consistent with the nose. Blueberries up front, followed by medium acidity, with a slightly odd back-end that I can't fully place. Medium bodied with an appropriate amount of carbonation. Good beer.

Thanks, James. This one was as good as I was hoping it would be!

 

I'm going to pace myself over a series of weeks to get through those BA stouts, likely 2 a week.

@FBarber & @JayORear , Your comments have inspired me to find the 2021 Parabola ASAP. Really like Rye, typically beers with rye featured are easy on the rye. Sad the Old Rasputin BA Rye didn't make it this far, hope Parabola 2021 makes up for not landing this one.

Also, welcome @not2quick to NBW, great review and beer selection. Hope to see you back here in the future!

Happy New Beer Sunday #863!!!

Purchased this single stovepipe can, after an inspiring tweet, detailing Revolution's invitation (required in Sweden) to sell Hazy-Hero in their state owned and operated Systembolaget stores. Very interesting learning about alcohol sales in Sweden, and grateful we don't have to jump through these hoops here. I've tried nearly 100 Revolution beers, but when I checked to see if I rated this one, I have not, not even a short 5 oz draft at the brewery, yet BA's like @JamFuel thousands of miles away have enjoyed this offering. My turn.

Revolution Hazy-Hero




Can Notes: 19.2 oz, canned 7/23/21 @12:13:08, Hazy India Pale Ale, 7.3% ABV. Juicy surge of tropical hops. Purchased for $2.99 + $0.38 tax refrigerated at the local grocery store.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a large nonic glass. Bright hazy orange tan pour, creamy white puffy head last for a few minutes before leaving a cream fine layer over the base and around the glass. and fine lacing throughout the pour. 4.25

Aroma: Nice and bold tropical fruit leads, dank bitterness follows. Pineapple, tangerine, citrus and pine. Like this. 4.0

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, a balance mix of tangerine and pineapple leads, pine lemongrass and citrus back, dankness and flowers. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Balance to leans sweet, medium to full creamy body, fizzy carbonation persistent. Heavier ABV goes down nice and easy, clean finish. 4.0

Overall: This is a solid NEIPA, typical to Revolution's standard profile for this style. Tropical fruit pleasant, taste nice and balance, dank and earthy adds nuance. Not an everyday beer for me based on style, but will also like grabbing one every once in awhile. 4.0

Time for lunch that's warming in the oven, and catching up on the reviews today.

Cheers!

 

Happy Sunday/Labor Day/NBW.
Got some pork butts on the smoker for tomorrows party. Should be cool. Going to be playing an acoustic set as well.
Todays new beer comes courtesy of the awesome BA @JayORear - one Ive always wanted to try.
Tired Hands Brewing Alien Church
Pours a cloudy amber with a huge frothy white head that has excellent retention and leaves loads of sticky lacing. After settling there remains a froth island on top.
Upon opening the can a get a nice whiff of sweet citrus- tangerine, dank marijuana quality and a ripe melon - almost watermelon, peach/apricot, candied mango, pine.
The taste is tropical fruity, melon, stonefruits, citrus and a drying pine resin and grapefruit pith finish. This beer is incredibly well balanced and so easy to drink. The slight sweetness is rounded out by the drying, perfectly bitter finish. There is a very slight slickness at mid palate that is washed away by a nice tiny but fairly aggressive carbonation.
Wow. This beer is everything I expected and more. This would be in my fridge regularly if available.
Fantastic brew. Thank you Jay!
Cheers.
Heard this tune by the Subdudes today. Incredible slide playing.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1LEL...SQL5-B6V4hNg&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1

 

Cheers y'all.
Seeing @snaotheus posting about the beginnings of fresh hop season (the best time of year) has me jonesing, but it is early yet and options are still fairly limited, so I'm going to work on clearing out some of the backlog in the fridge today instead. Hopefully pick up some of those fresh hops sometime this week!

Minaret Maibock is from Mammoth Brewing, and I picked this one up at the Tuolumne Meadows General Store while we were backpacking through Yosemite earlier this summer.



The pour is lovely. Clear amber body with active carbonation that yields a multi-finger flan coloured head that slowly melts leaving initial lacing.

Nose as I pour is pronounced caramel malts and grassy hops and is lovely. Sticking my nose in the glass yields a surprising (to me) transformation into heavy strawberry jam. Like it smells so much like good homemade strawberry jam that it's kind of tripping me out. A bit of grassiness and straw remain, but it's the strawberry jam show. Dark Helmet would hate it.

Flavour does not follow the same route. Instead of heavy strawberry jam, there's a hint of berry at the back corner that may well not exist if I weren't so heavily influenced by the aroma. Still quite hop forward, it is instead driven by a profile that I often associate with NZ-hops, though that could easily be erroneous on my part. Heavy white wine vibes, with bits of kiwi and pear, but mostly spicy dry white wine grapes. This tends to play up the alcohol to my palate as well, and the malts, which expected to be much more prominent, are rendered largely ineffectual with some balancing caramel/honey and light roast being pretty much it.

That particular hop profile gets cloying and overwhelming pretty quickly for me, and that happens here. It's an enjoyable sip overall, but I find myself slowing down pretty immediately, and I think, given my druthers, that 22oz is a bit much. This sounds harsh, but I am ultimately enjoying my glass, and am glad to have snagged it, I've just got to slow down, and I'm not sure it would be a repeat for me, even if it were my area.

Cheers and stay safe y'all!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. We just returned from a week at the South Jersey shore. I've reviewed numerous new beers this weekend but have saved my "official" NBS review for my first Märzen of the season, Bull n Bear Brewery's Von Albrecht. I'm a big fan of Bull n Bear's euro-style beers but I was a bit skeptical about this one. I was given the chance to sample it from the tank two weeks ago and was concerned it would be too sweet for my liking. I should never have doubted Will, Mike, and the team! This Märzenbier provides a great balance of caramel sweetness and spicy, herbal bitterness. For me, Ramstein's Oktoberfest is the local gold standard but Von Albrecht will give it a run for its money. I'll do a side-by-side during the next few weeks.

Reviewed 6 days after canning. Poured into a Seidel mug. It pours a translucent, dark amber color with almost a finger of creamy ecru-colored head and thick lacing. The appearance is spot-on. On the nose there is caramel, barley, and nutty, earthy malts. The taste opens with a good deal of initial caramel sweetness but it's quickly matched by the bitterness of the Tettnanger hops. and the spicy, herbal notes of the Hallertau. It's a very well-balanced Märzen and has the depth of flavor typical of Bull n Bear's European styles. The mouth feel is appropriately creamy and the 6% ABV is just right. Overall, Von Albrecht is a fine Märzen - just what I would expect from Bull n Bear. This is right up there with Ramstein as a premier New Jersey-brewed example of the style.

4.11/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

I hope everyone enjoys the Labor Day holiday. For me, it means the beginning of the mad dash to the end of the year at work, the intensity of which is mitigated by a lot of fun, autumnal beer drinking. Cheers, NBS!

 

Wise, thoughtful leadership. Thanks and have a great weekend!

 

I’d be interested to read your side by side thoughts at @MacMalt. I know I’m in the minority but I do not like Ramsteins, it almost had a cloying (or syrupy) like sweetness to it.

I wonder if side by side with bull and bear you may notice aspects of Ramstein that would otherwise be hidden. Keep us posted.

PS you’ve really made me want to visit bull and bear someday if the chance arises.

 

For NBS I once again pull out a beer sent to me by @WunderLlama in an LIF associated with BIF 13.
Thirsty Botanist, a NEIPA from Boothbay Brewing Co.

poured a light orange with an off white head
That dissipated quickly but left fine lacing.
The aroma was very nice with citrus and pit fruit and maybe grass. Smelled very nice.
The taste matches the aroma until the hops kicked in which brought the bitterness and dryness, which rather cut the good stuff off rather abruptly. So the initial part of the swallow was delicious and the second part rather dry. Odd.
The feel was excellent, no pulp and not overly carbonated.
OA it’s good, but no Heady Topper. Still very enjoyable, especially if you really like that dry finish.

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest and happy Labor Day. I retired earlier this year, but picked up a part-time journalism gig last month, so I guess I can still celebrate.

Today we have IPA 97. Named for the highway to Bend Oregon.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10271/169019/
A well balanced and mildly bitter IPA.

I guess this unofficially end the summer. Probably start looking for Oktoberfests next week.

Until next time