New Beer Weekend #66

When were you in Osan? I was there from Nov 01 - Oct 02...nice place, great people, stuck in a job I had no background in...it was the best of times and the worst of times...beer-wise, I don't recall any specific beers or beer experiences...

 

Good evening everyone! It was a dark and stormy night just about describes the weather here this evening - 50 degrees, bad thunderstorms, heavy rain ... just all around nasty. Perfect evening to hunker down and review some beers, so thats what I am doing. This next one is Monkish Armored Dilla brewed in collaboration with de Garde. I believe this is a wet hop IPA - or at least partially wet hop as the Amarillo hops are wet hops.



Pours a completely opaque, sludgy, matte orange color. Thick, active off-white head builds on the beer and then steadily dissipates, ultimately leaving no residual head. Aroma has notes of pineapple, citrus, pine, pine needles, grass and a touch of woody, herbal notes.

Taste follows the nose with notes of pineapple, pine, pine needles, sap, citrus, mango. Its an interesting IPA because its clearly a NE style IPA, but its not fruit forward at all - instead the pine drives this one giving it more of a throwback flavor profile. There is some sweetness, but its very mild and gets balanced out with the bitterness. The finish has a decent amount of hop bitterness coming through and lingering into the finish. Feel is medium to fuller bodied. Smooth, moderate carbonation.

Overall this is a really nice IPA - very enjoyable.

 

Taking a break and jumping back to the Malt Liquor/Euro Strong lager tasting as I have 2 Euro strong lagers to get to. First up is Warka Premium (Strong). Polish beers are pretty easy to come by here in Chicago - especially near where I live - but they are not ones I usually pick up, so the tasting was a great excuse to try this one.



Pours a dark orange tinged brown color. Clear, moderately effervescent. Thin sudsy head appears but almost immediately dissipates. Essentially no retention. Aroma has notes of sweet bread, raisins, warm toffee and with some mild earthy hops on the back end. The nose, while sweet, actually is pretty nice.

The taste follows the nose with sweet bready malts dominating the profile along with notes of toffee, raisins, honey, and dark bread. It is sweet, but just barely avoids being cloying. Earthy, slightly spicy hop notes come through on the back end and linger somewhat into the finish. Feel is fuller bodied - about what you'd expect from a beer like this. But its still drinkable - its just a heftier drinkable. Medium carbonation. Semi-dry finish.

Solid beer, but honestly, not sure its something I would seek out.

 

Glad you enjoyed this one!

 

The second Euro Strong lager is Baltika #9 Extra (strong). This is another one of those breweries that I have seen on shelves around Chicago, but never had a reason to buy their beer, so again, the tasting gave me the impetus to finally try something new. Alos apparently I have never reviewed a Russian beer so new beer, new brewery and new country!



Pours a brilliant golden color. Clear, with a handful of large bubbles coursing upwards. Three finger white head forms on the beer before dissipating.However tons of lacing coats the glass as the head recedes and the beer is consumed. Also a thin residual layer of foam sticks around on the top of the beer. Aroma has notes of sweet malts, sweet bread - it kind of reads on the nose like an under attenuated beer. Very one note as well.

Taste has notes of sweet white bread, overly sweet malts and a strong and unmistakable banana ... I'm getting it so strongly in this its almost like Wells banana bread (just kidding, but not really). Its boozy and has a clear alcohol flavor to it. A light bitterness comes through on the back end, but its subtle and very much a secondary note. Feel is fuller bodied, syrupy, sticky, and heavy. Medium carbonation.

Once I figured out that the weird flavor I was getting was banana it really threw this on off for me. I finished it, but it was a chore getting through that last third. Drink it cold, drink it fast, or better yet, drink something else.

 

Ok, I am not going to end my night on that Baltika 9 ... I need something to redirect the palate, so I am grabbed Lagunitas - Contents Under Fresher. Its one of the few wet hopped beers I saw around here in Chicago this year. Born Yesterday has been a perennial favorite, so with this one replacing it in the Lagunitas lineup, I had to give it a try. This was bottled October 4, 2021, so its already 20 days old (18 when I picked it up).



Pours a clear, albeit somewhat hazy brilliant orange color. Two to three finger white head forms on the beer, lingers for a moment, and then dissipates. A thin layer of sudsy foam remains on the beer along with layers of lacing on the glass. Aroma has notes of orange, tangerine, mango and coconut. Honestly the hops smell good, but it lacks that brightness or pungency that you get when the fresh hops are, ya know, fresh. I am not a fresh freak when it comes to IPA, but with fresh hop IPAs, it does matter. So in that context, this is disappointing.

The taste follows the nose with a moderate malt backbone on which the hops dominate. Notes of orange, tangerine, coconut, and mango. The hops lack that bright green flavor and rather have this woody, harsh bitterness. There is a bit of alcohol harshness to it as well. Again, its just kind of disappointing. Feel is light, crisp, and a bit slick. Bright carbonation.

Overall this is a fine IPA in a vacuum - I might even say its a very good IPA. But given that its a fresh/wet hop IPA and supposed to be something special, it just falls well short of that and far short of what Born Yesterday was.

4.25 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 4.25 | 3 = 3.68 (-7.5% rDev)