New Beer Weekend #61

Not trying to nitpick, but maybe this should be in the BIF thread?

 

I wanted to put it in the NBW thread, since that's where i won the one from @Rub_This_BBQ. Spread the love in the originating thread was my thought. I did one in the BIF, too.

 

All right, back at it, after having to help out a friend. He's retired, and loves to fish. He did have a problem, having too much fish, or more than he could eat fresh - he doesn't freeze fish, and doesn't like frozen fish, so me to the rescue.

After cleaning about 6 Northern Pike (they were filleted, but the rib bones were still in), and cutting them up to freeze (and eat a couple for lunch today) I'm back for another new beer.


Barbarian Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout - Warrior Brewing - Duluth, MN - 12% ABV.

I was planning on drinking this yesterday, but I just wasn't in the mood for a BA stout after work yesterday.

So how is it?

Damn good. Lots of flavors, and aromas that are right on and pleasing. The only knock is this beer is a bit thin for the style and ABV, but not by much. They're a fairly new brewery - and new to the area. I can't wait to see what they do in the future.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60972/562487/

4.38/5 rDev 0%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

This beer pours a beautiful pitch black. It produces a beautiful tan head. What surprised me is how damn long lasting it is - it shouldn't last this long with a 12% ABV beer. The head also produces a beautiful lacing on the glass.
The nose is a nice combination of caramel, toffee, dark chocolate, licorice, and coffee - even though it's not the coffee variety.
Taste - up front I get licorice. This licorice mellows and changes, on the back, to caramel, toffee, dark chocolate, and a faint hint of coffee.
The body is a bit thin for the style and ABV, but not too far off.
Delicious, damn delicious. They're fairly new, so I can't wait to see how this beer improves in the future.


I may have another new beer today. I'll see how this one goes down.

 

Tranche, a 6% ABV 30 IBU Saison from the Bull n Bear Brewery in Summit NJ. Whenever I see a beer called a Saison I don’t know what to expect. Breweries seem to be using it as a catch all for a beer that can’t be called an IPA. Anyway Trance is a terrific brew. It pours a cloudy gold with a thick white head. The aroma is somehow powerful but soft of malts and hops. Except for saying it’s delicious and complex it’s hard to describe the taste. The mouthfeel is full but soft. There is a lasting off dry finish. Overall an enjoyable and refreshing beer. Well done

 

Deschutes BBA Black Butte XXXIII Imperial Porter, 12% ABV. Pours black with a one-finger light-brown head that left light lacing. Nose is faint maple, chocolate, and vanilla. Taste is quite bitter throughout, mild sweetness, and the bitterness smothers the maple and chocolate, though bourbon is there. Very good mouthfeel, a bit dry. Overall very good. Could have been a contender if it weren't for the strong bitterness.

3.83/5 rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Bentonville Brewing's Hop Wrecker IPA, 6.3% ABV; 3.91 overall

Pours an effervescent honey color with 3 fingers of billowy beige head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Piney, woody
T: Bready, dry with grapefruit, pine & woodyness up front. Slight sulphur taste mixes with pomello & dryness as this warms, along with leafy hops & a little breadyness. Finishes dry with leafy hops

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, good balance

Solid old school IPA that is easy to drink

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are cooler with temps in the lower 60s and a quarter of an inch of rain yesterday. Much needed rain indeed.

Today we have Holy Water Citra IPA from Sumerian Brewing.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40250/258965/

It seems like evey time I run into citra hops they seem to go overboard on them. But this beer is very well balanced.

Until next time,

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. What a beautiful afternoon! Perfect weather for the last official weekend of summer. It's a great opportunity to open one of my last remaining bottles from @Roguer's very generous NBS BIF #13 boxes: Sarah Lovely, a foerder aged dark sour ale with raspberries from Aardwolf Brewing Company in Jacksonville, Florida. While I don't drink Wild Ales regularly, I do enjoy them. And to me this one's fairly unique.

It pours a pretty mahogany color with a thick, creamy, medium-mocha head and generous lacing. It's quite dark for a Wild Ale. The intriguing nose includes raspberry and oaky-tobacco notes, as well as the distinct smell of Brettanomyces. The taste opens with a burst of tart raspberry but there are also rich notes of bakers chocolate and burnt coffee that add both depth and surprising roasty bitterness. As expected it's sour but not overwhelmingly so. I'm impressed by the mouth feel; it's quite thick and creamy for the style. The carbonation is moderate and the 6.6% ABV gives it good substance but doesn't distract. Overall, this is not a typical Wild Ale. The malty, roasty aspect adds a very nice dimension. I really enjoyed it.

4.42/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Thank you, Andrew, for a delightful beer - and for the glass!

 

HOMES Brewery; Coolship Framboise. This is my first beer of this variety so I will try to be objective when describing it.
Pours an absolutely beautiful, cloudy ruby/raspberry juice pink. You would think a beer of this color would produce a pinkish head but it fizzled up a bleach white head that bubbled away in seconds. Carbonation is strong. A nice white ring is here for the stay. Plenty of residual, soapy lacing.
Aroma is sour base, raspberry preserves, honey, toasted malt, and burnt oak.
Taste follows suit. Very tart, sour base beer up front. Followed closely by a seedy raspberry tone. Finishes very dry with notes of honey and barrel.
Feel is very crisp, bubbly and refreshing. Very much champagne like. The body is full, though. There is plenty of fruit in this beer to give it some good weight on the palate.
Overall, the beer was good. At 30$ a bottle, I feel I overpaid for what amounted to two pours just under a pint each. Not bad but not perfect. 3.75/5

 

One more more new beer for the week Nechaminy Creek Punkless Dunkel!
4.34/5 rDev +7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

16 oz can poured into a pint glass

A- A murky dark brown with a small off white head.

S- Pumpkin/pumpkin spice, brown sugar, some wheat, cloves, some cinnamon, touch of banana.

T- Pumpkin, cinnamon, brown sugar, all spice, touch of wheat, bananas, cloves, hints of bubblegum.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- A great pumpkin beer, the weizen yeast works very well with pumpkin spices. Honestly the yeast is what makes this stand out in the best way possible.

Stay everyone, wear a mask and get the shot if you haven’t already, cheers!

 

Icarus Brewing, in Lakewood, New Jersey, brews a series of Imperial Pilsners, "Pound of Feathers," each hopped differently. I'm skeptical about the very nature of an "Imperial Pilsner" but a friend gave me a can of Pound of Wakatu Feathers. While I understand that this series has loyal fans, I'm not among them. This is too sweet for the ABV. I just didn't enjoy it.

It pours a slightly hazy, bright, grassy golden color with a thick, bright white cap and soapy lacing. It's highly effervescent. The nose offers sweet German malt, along with sweet, floral, tropical fruit notes. This is a very sweet pilsner. It opens with the German malt, augmented by honeydew melon, stone fruit, and red berry from the Callista and Huell Melon hops, and a hint of dry, white wine from the Wakatu. The mouth feel features lively carbonation and the 7.1% ABV seems to be accentuated by the sweetness.

3.67/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

I really enjoy some of Icarus's big stouts but some of the IPAs and other beers, such as this one, are head scratchers.

Have a great week, everyone!

 

Surly Oktoberfest
3.84/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Picked this up at woodmans in Kenosha, Wisconsin this week



A 12 oz can poured into ein Stifel

Three finger solid rocky big bubbled foam cap crowning a clear golden liquid with lazy streams of carbonation, good retention. Best feature is the appearance. Massive head of foam , spotty lacings as i drain the boot

Aroma is bready, malty, grassy

Taste is bready, slight sweet, slight nutty finish

Low sudsing, clean, crisp, ever so gentle hop nibble dries the tongue

Good beer

 

Bells Rind Over Matter, wheat ale with lemon and orange zest, sightly hazy pour with head that recedes quickly, very light carbonation which leaves you with a not impressive appearance, aroma is faint, lemon is the star of the show, with the orange absent. Light and crisp, could be a refreshing beach beer. I had high hopes for this one as I’m a huge Bells fan but his one is too Shandy like for beer lovers. Doubt I’ll revisit this one. Hope you are enjoying your beer!

 

I have been wandering about this one. I imagined it might be a lot like 312, which I have always liked, but not everyone has. (Some also have but says it became different after the AB buyout.) I always enjoyed it with a little lemon wedge much like an orange wedge with blue moon. For awhile, summer beers for my wife and I included 312, blue moon and Subset Wheat from Leinenkugle (which was unfortunately discontinued). Curious about this one, but now have more of an expectation of what I am getting myself into.

thanks.

 

I found a new Oktoberfest at the store this afternoon and had to try it out

Chilly Water Oktoberfest

16oz undated can poured into a dimpled mug at just above fridge temp 5.8% ABV per label. The beer pours bright light copper in color with light khaki head. The head builds quickly and settles to a big cap. The aroma is mild with sweet caramel malt dominating. The taste is semisweet caramel with a nutty & earthy undertone. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, ok. Too much caramel malt for me to score it higher. Decent for the Americanized subset of Oktoberfest beers.

Cheers all!

 

NBW brew after pool closure. What a beautiful day here today.
This one comes from the generous porch bomb sent by the awesome @Nugganooch havent had I beer I didnt like from Pizza Port.
Travel Perks IPA
Pouring a clear sunshine golden yellow with a voluminous foamy white head lingering with lots of stringy lacing. Beautiful beer.
Mango, tangerine, cannabis and pine with an earthy/floral note.
Taste is orange/tangerine, some tropical notes, hardly sweet, dry and bitter piney/grapefruit finish. Crisp, very clean and well balanced. Extremely easy drinking 7.2%.
Wonderful beer. I cant get enough Pizza Port and southern Cali style IPAs.
Loved it. Thanks Dane!
I noticed as I was closing my pool today that my beer tree has been transitioning to the autumn season.
Even have a Marzen ready to pick...
Cheers!

 

Whenever I see that beer I keep thinking it’s brewed with watermelon.

 

For Day #2, I am beer nerd multitasking - working in a new beer AND an Oktoberfest.

I I love having too many birds in my bush!!!





3.99/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Please note: I’m rating this to style as a Red/Amber Ale, because that’s how it was entered here, and because the notes state this beer uses Ale yeast.

Pours a gorgeous golden amber color with a creamy light tan head and minimal lacing. The nose has subtle grassy notes and more than a little bread and caramalt.

The taste is led by the bread and caramalt flavors, and there is a decidedly fruity flavor at the back of the palate, drawing from the esters of the ale yeast, so definitely not a Marzen, but sorta straddling the Marzen/Red Ale line.

The mouthfeel continues that straddling, with a notable “spritziness” (I made that word up myself!) not normally found in an Oktoberfest, but a creaminess associated with the Marzen style.

This is by no means a traditional Oktoberfest beer, but it’s in the ballpark and more than worthy of a try, especially on a chilly fall evening.

 

My weekend just began at 6PM when I locked the door at the store.
Now home for this 1st Anny beer from Springfield, VT!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60010/568967/#navigation



16 ounce, canned 09/14/21.
5 days old.

Moderate pour yields a one inch white head over a murky golden body with some lacing.

Nose of tropical fruit and citrus with slight aromas of dry white grape and earthiness.

Taste of all the aforementioned fruit (mango, papaya, grapefruit, orange) with the Nelson Sauvin's dry white grape flavor (sauvignon blanc) especially present just before a slightly bitter, citrus pith finish.

More than decent feel in this smooth offering from VT Beer Makers and would recommend it to anyone.

Cheers!!