New Beer Weekend #64

That sounds questionable. I can check it when I get back to the hotel room.

 

Yards Level Up Tropical IPA - Yards must be on an old school kick lately, as they released this and a Black IPA for Halloween that I am looking forward to trying. I thought that this may be another hazy but nope, poured pretty clearly with only a slight haze. Smell is very OS tropical fruits. Taste is quite good and the 6.5% is well hidden and it reminds me of something like a Lil Sumpin Sumpin or their Pale Ale amped up, which is a good thing to me; I would drink this again. Prost!

Bottled on 09/13/21. The label art is cool and has a Donkey Kong theme and if you're interested you can play a game on their site:

https://yards.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Level_Up_Game_v1.0.2/index.html

 

This pic is of the 2nd can opened as I was quite thirsty after one of the busiest weekends ever in our little town of Stowe. Foliage colors were the best in recent memory and the car traffic, the foot traffic, (and even the drone traffic) was off the Richter!

Foam Brewers Odd Pets 092021A Nano IPA

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45496/571948/



16 ounce can.
Canned 09/30/21.

Moderate to vigorous pour yields a one inch white head over a very hazy, light straw-golden body with lacing. Nose of slight tropical fruit, slight pine, and slight citrus. Taste follows nose closely with subdued flavors of all the aforementioned aromas. Good feel while being ridiculously easy to drink. Overall, I could drink the whole 4-pack right now and would recommend to all.
Cheers to my weekend that started at 6:01 this evening!

 

Making this my one and only beer of the night.

San Juan Island Brewing - Festbier



Pours a slightly cloudy dark straw color. No retention or lacing on this one, head was quick to come and go.

This beer has is very bready, honey, floral, and slight grain husk flavors as well. It’s at first very pleasantly full on the bread it’s followed by the honey and the floral comes out in the aftertaste. The grain to me shows in the finish on the mouthfeel it the form a really minor bitter note.

It drinks very nice, medium body but very easy drinking. Very full malt feel that quickly disappears after the sip.

Really enjoyed this beer, the appearance didn’t have me that excited but as I drank it down I liked it more and more.

It would be awesome to visit this brewery one day!

 

This one sounds great. I was hoping to open a barrel aged beer tonight but with no help from my better half I couldn’t bring myself to. Your review and the double barrel parabola one just did the trick for me

 

Me , also!

Thanks for that. I've eyeballed it, but had my doubts. I lovvvvvvvve the blonde, and have wondered how the cherry version could be other than a disappointment. Note to self : get a single, not a 4pk.

3 for NBW, it's a Prison City weekend, as a large drop hit Sam The Beer Man yesterday. For the 2nd time in 3 days (notice the numerals , instead of spelling it out? ) doing reviews has been rather glitchy. Took me ~40 minutes to do a 5 minute review, so no patience for detail right now. [This seems to be just fine] Just going to give you the big picture, & take out my frustrations on the remainder of my growler of Mass Riot.
The star of the weekend has been Pumpkin Escobar* , a porter with pumpkin and Columbian coffee. Wow! Good porter as the base beer, plus fresh-smelling/tasting coffee. The pumpkin & spices seem more a suggestion, rather than an overwhelming presence. I love that. "PUT_THAT_SPICE_CABINET.......DOWN!!! "



4.55/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38140/571776/
* Wish they had named it Pumpko Escobar , or Pumplo Escobar .

Oktoberfest is pretty good, though not quite on par with my favorite German ones.
Would have liked to include it in the BA O-fest tasting, but it just showed up yesterday. *shrug*

4.12/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38140/571775/?ba=mikeinportc#review

Mass Riot ? I think I may have had it a few years ago, but don't specifically remember it, so will include it here. While it has a lot of company now, and doesn't stand out above the crowd as much as it once did, it's still a very good beer.

4.46/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38140/238158/

 

Hey, kids. Not the loveliest weekend here in SE Mass, but it didn't rain. Picked about 30 more ghost peppers, so I must have over a hundred now that I need to figure out what to do with... The only device in my yard that runs and cuts grass is my Stihl brush cutter...it was fun for a while... Did some grilled swordfish again, and if it was always available this fresh and tasty it would be awesome...on sale was pretty helpful along with an extra discount from Whole Foods Amazon...

In the glass tonight is another from Proclamation. The can says it was "created and brewed by the badass women at Proclamation, Grey Sail, and Crooked Current":



This is Brewin' In The Boys Room canned on Sept 1, and it is a California Common because they can't call it a steam beer. Ok...I fell for the homage thing again whether Brownsville Station, Motley Crue, or LeAnn Rimes...I was not disappointed with the Bob Seger kolsch, so let us see what shakes with this one.

Pours a fairly hazy amber color with a light tan colored head that falls to an even layer of bubbles that cling tenaciously to the glass. I think it looks like it should, but was expecting more clarity.

Smell of sweet, clean malt, slightly fruity, some herbal earthiness. The fruit seems citrus, very light lemon that is definitely there but hard to pin down.

This beer tastes great. Straightforward malt, slightly sweet, the herbaceous earthiness in the smell is nicely reinforced in the taste and the lemon emerges significantly on the aftertaste. A very pleasing bitterness on the finish counterpoints everything else. Nothing fancy, but damn it tastes good!

Feel is medium body with just enough liveliness from the carbonation. Carbonation is lively but not annoying. It is smooth, slightly creamy, with a building citrusy and slightly resinous hop kick. It makes me think of the hoppy lager category, but more on the malty side.

I know I have had the OG of the style, but probably before I started keeping notes or reviews so how this stacks up I can't say for sure. I can say on its own it is a very tasty, thoroughly enjoyable, straightforward beer. I'll take a look at the style guide and some other reviews of the style as I guess I should factor out my gut reaction that's telling me I how much I dig this beer (I will try to do that and likely fail). It seems old school to me...no frills or complications, just a good, solid, tasty beer to drink. I think I should pay more attention to Proclamation, too. Without overthinking it, this has to be around a 4.0 assuming it ticks a few of the style guidelines.

 

Last one, also from @BBThunderbolt, I could get used to multiple fresh hop beers every night.





4.1/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a nearly clear straw color with a substantial white head that laces the glass beautifully. There’s grass and a bit of bread on the nose, but it’s the lime aroma that intrigues me most.

The lime flavor really works well with the grassy flavor and the bit of bread. The mouthfeel is very crisp, brining you back for another sip before you’ve swallowed the previous one. A really good, flavorful, crushable pilsner.

 

Harpoon Dunkin Midnight - pours from a can a nice dark color with a creamy head. Smell is interesting, reminds me of some Porters I have had and slightly roasty, a bit of chocolate. Taste is much better than I expected, particularly in comparison to the smell which is good but a little light. Some chocolate/dark chocolate, coffee, toffee...not too sweet and ends on a really nice note. This is quite enjoyable and I would gladly drink this again. Prost!

 

That is one "mic drop" write up right right there...I can virtually taste the beer. I need a trip to our Wisconsin facilities with some "down time" built in, methinks...

 

Based on data from 22 September and prior, your overall average reviews/day is 1.083, though over the last 10 reviews it's been 2.5 reviews/day.

If we go with the big number...you apparently have 3398 reviews right now, so 602 to get to 4,000. At 2.5 reviews / day, that's 240.8 days, which would take you out to June 7th, 2022. Again, assuming you kept the same pace you've established with your last ten reviews.

You, sir, are wildly overestimating your rate of reviewing beers.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Sorry, I'm a bit late to the party, so I'm going to cut to the chase.


Valkyrie Pumpkin - Warrior Brewing - Duluth, MN - 5.5% ABV.

A lot of pumpkin beers are way off balance with the spices - this one isn't. Maybe I'm rating it a bit low, but it's very well made.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60972/571990/


3.56/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

This beer pours an amber color. Not too clear. The head is slightly off white. It is 2 finger when poured from the can. The head looks a bit fluffy, and pillow like. The head retention is decent, but there's very minimal lacing on the glass as the head dissipates.
The nose is pretty full of nutmeg, with a hint of cinnamon mixed in. Not too strong.
The taste is like the nose. The nutmeg hits up front, but isn't too strong. This is backed up by a faint hint of cinnamon. There's also a hint of honey mixed in.
The body is right for the abv. I get a bubbly feeling from the carbonation.
Not bad at all.


That's all for tonight. Hopefully I can catch up on this thread. Cheers all!