New Beer Weekend #69

This is a trending beer for a reason! The aroma alone is worth the price of admission.

4.41/5 rDev +7.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Poured from an 12oz brown bottle with an illegible date code to a Nonic at fridge temp.
Impressive white head sits below a light-gold body with nice nucleation (almost Pilsener-like).
The aroma is AMAZING. Its like a feedbag of fresh hops.
Taste a nice west-coast IPA with a hop bang in the front and finish with a hint of the malt.
Mouth feel is slightly oily with medium carbonation.
A good beer worth the hype.

 

Frank, I screwed up that post. I thought it was

Thank you, Andrew, for an excellent review. Like you, I'm a huge fan of FIS; it was one of my introductions to the style, which is my overall favorite. I'm hoping to see it again this January. And I'm also hoping to see bottles of the BA version eventually.

 

Glad you liked it, Ryan. It's not for the faint of heart (or liver). I drank an entire bottle at home on its release day (after a full day of beer and with my wife away). I'm still surprised I awoke the next morning!

 

Psychedelic Slug. I think that was the name of a band in the early 70's.

 

My 2nd entry on this extremely moist 4th Corner day comes again from @Ozzylizard and NBS BIF #14. Yet another Wallenpaupack brew (this is something I love about the BIFs, you often get the chance to try several beers from a brewery, and get an idea of how they do overall, Not just the 'special' brews.) Hawleywood WCIPA. it came across more as an old-school ECIPA to me;m plenty of solid malt base topped with bright citrus and pine hops:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50495/577227/

I've thoroughly enjoyed going through these Wallenpaupack beers, and have been consistently impressed.

 

My second new Half Acre beer of the day. Half Acre Alive In It’s Jaws DIPA (Citra, Nelson, Galaxy).

Pours a fully hazy golden orange color with a finger of off white head that sticks around for a bit. 4.25

Aroma consists of white grape, underripe pineapple, lemon zest, passionfruit, sweet pine, and yellow grapefruit. Doesn’t pop out of the glass as you’d expect a Half Acre beer to do. 4.0

Taste is Orange Julius, ripe white grape, yellow grapefruit, passionfruit, underripe pineapple, dried mango, lemon curd, earthy pine resin. 4.5

High medium to low full body. Soft, pillowy, oily, slightly chalky, slightly sticky. 4.5

This is an unabashedly hoppy beer for the hop lovers. I’m certainly one of them. Half Acre delivers again. 4.5
Overall: 4.32

 

Afternoon NBS.
Going with a mystery beer courtesy of @2beerdogs.
Doing this currently so lets see how this goes.
13%ish
Pours a cloudy light brown almost like apple cider. Head rises and then settles rather quickly and dissappears leaving no lacing.
The smell after popping is wine like, green apples and some booze- almost bourbon? oak and a caramel sweet like a candy apple. Interesting. Right away Im thinking some sort of wine barrel aged sour. But that woody bourbon....?
Well Im definitely feeling that booze, and theres an underlying fruitiness like rhubarb or sour berry, lemon. That bourbon quality in there with a slight burn going down. Its not super sour though quite tangy with a drying wood like quality. The body is medium/light with a mild carbonation. Ok Im stumped lets see what this is.
Wow.
Well I had the wine barrel aged part right but had no idea this would be a Gose. Its certainly a winey sipper. Wine barrel aged beers happen to be one of my favorite styles and this is no exception. Really leans to the wine side which evidently is expected considering its aged with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.
Great surprise and Im digging it.
Thanks Derek!

 

NBS #2: I'm joining @brewskis in drinking Tend, a "Winter India Pale Ale" from Half Acre Beer Co., and another gift from @FBarber. When I poured and smelled this ale I assumed it would be what I call a "southeastern" IPA, i.e., malty and bitter but without a lot of fruit. Well, I was wrong about that. It's both more fruity and less bitter than anticipated. A term Frank and I use in our professional lives is appropriate: sui generis (i.e., unique). And very nice! While we get some Half Acre distro here in New Jersey, I suspect we won't see Tend, which is a shame because I could drink a lot of this!

Poured into a pint glass. It pours a hazy, copper-orange color with more than a finger of foamy, ecru-colored head and thick, soapy lacing. The smell offers a lot of sweet caramel malt and brown bread with soft lemon and grapefruit and just a whiff of pine needles. Its taste opens with the bready, caramel malt sweetness I smelled but with a balancing dose of lemon and grapefruit. The Mosaic and Simcoe hops contribute earthy, herbal notes of pine. As it warms a bit I'm also tasting some red berry. The bitterness is modest and clean. This ale is medium-bodied with appropriate carbonation and it drinks easily at 6.8% ABV. Overall, it's a tasty beer that I really enjoyed.

4.23/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Good afternoon NBW
I am currently finishing a Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan purchased to post in the Brown Ale tasting thread. Imgur is not cooperating, so all you get is a review:

12oz undated can poured into perfect pint glass at 44° F 4.5% ABV 20 IBU per label. The beer pours bright light brown with mahogany highlights and khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and partial layer of tiny bubbles. No lacing. The aroma is mild with semisweet malt & pecan. The taste is more of the same with sweet malt and more pecan. There's an almost wort like character that's barely offset by the meager 4.5% ABV. Negligible bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, good, if somewhat one dimensional.

Cheers all!

 

What a head! It looks like gelato.

 

Pulled in for one of Revolution’s FOBAB offerings.

Revolution Where Eagles Rare



Brewery Notes: $5.53 w tax, 5 oz draft, 3.8% ABV. Fermented in a pair of spent Eagle Rare barrels stuffed with Forêt de Tronçais French oak before resting in kegs filled with the same, this very fancy rendition of our beloved Working Man Mild boasts an old-world oak profile hitherto available only from the most prized French wines. Oak smoke, earth, and spicy vanilla serenade the nose before each tannin-punctuated sip.

Appearance: Dark brown clear base, bright white ring above, no carbonation or lacing. 3.75.

Aroma: Light aroma, roast malt and cherry. 3.5

Taste: A muted version of the Working Man base, the caramel and sticky toffee blends ok with a nice Cherry Oak backing. Working through it, the sweetness emerges as this warms. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Feels creamier than the standalone base, no carb, more balanced, Oak adding to the experience. Easy drinking, sweet tingly caramel aftertaste. 4.0

Overall: The barrel changing things, mellowed the sweetness on the base with added complexity. Glad I tried this likely one off for FOBAB, though they typically bring back well received offerings so hope they got a good response. It’s hard to find a low ABV barrel aged offering, glad they took a chance with this one. 4.0

Any others here won’t be new, but planning on at least one more stop.

 

I feel this is one of the most underrated Oktoberfestbier. To me it taste very similar to the rothaus marzen but for a six pack of rothaus you can get a 12 pack of warsteiner

 

Hey, I have a Strata IPA of my own in my glass... and it's a new one, to boot! Cheers to that.



Widowmaker just put out this IPA a couple days ago, and it was bestowed to me by my good buddy who is an employee of theirs. AIEI pours an opaque yellowish-golden with a thin ring that leaves behind spotty lace as it sinks to a quarter-finger. Not much in the way of legs here but I'm overall happy with the pour regardless. It's got some nice hazy appeal to it, and at the end of the day, that's what this style is really about.

The nose is strong papaya and apricot with detailed notes of grassy dankness, orange, and passion fruit. It has a slight hint of coconut in there too, which is unusual for this hop but which I do sometimes pick up in slant-related modern varietals such as Sabro or Cashmere. Some herbal elements and more stone fruit mingle with subtle tropical fruit as it warms a bit. Intrigued by this but so far not totally sold on it. Hopefully it makes a solid case on the palate.

First few sips are melon and orange forward with some vanilla cream/coconut oddities that I mentioned picking up in the nose. Semi-firm bitterness works well in the transition from midpalate to finish, kind of nullifying the perceived sweetness. I'm getting some fun estery qualities that range from a more full-fledged rendering of the papaya in the nose to a strong and intense "pineapple bubble gum" element that comes across playful and endearing. Feel is almost DIPA-like despite the sub-7% ABV, and there's a coating slickness on the tongue despite the dry-leaning finish. Dusty, aspirin-like chalkiness from the yeast + hops does distract a little when I get over halfway into the can, but overall this is a pretty enjoyable offering from Widowmaker.

 

Another Minnesota-brewed brown ale:

Dual Citizen Caress Me Brown
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: NA



The aroma is weak. Too weak to even describe well. Perhaps hints of caramel.

Color is brown from the front, golden brown with a back-light. Short tan head with OK retention. Strings of lacing if I tip the glass. Decent carbonation.

Flavor is good, despite the weak aroma … roasted malts, toffee, sweet molasses, with a mild bittering beginning in the middle and intensifying into the finish and aftertaste. The roasted bitterness lingers quite awhile.

The mouth feel is moderate-to-thin with good carbonation.

Overall, a pleasant-drinking brown ale. There is enough going on to keep in interesting and the dry finish begs for another swig. Too bad the absent aroma depreciates the overall rating.

L: 3.75 | S: 2.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.75 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.51

 

I did not realize how much I needed a beer today until I got half way through the first one. Wasn’t going to use this thread as a sounding board, but this beer changed my mind.

Last night my grandma passed away at the age of 88. She was always an awesome and amazing woman, unfortunately she had a stroke and fall over a month ago and has been fighting hard since then but it was her time. She did teach me how to make a great red sauce!

Anyways, thanks for listening, time for the beer. Moving on to the rum barrel aged version of the previous beer I had.
4.37/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head.

S- Rum, oak, roasted coffee, caramel, hints of dark fruits, touch of vanilla.

T- Roasted coffee, milk chocolate, some dark fruits, rum, oak, touch of vanilla.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- Rum barrel works great with this. Barrel smells a little strong but the taste is well balanced.

Cheers!

 

Sorry to hear that @larryi86 it sounds like you may need to make some red sauce this week

 

I have an ….. eclectic mix of beers tonight from @BBThunderbolt (and probably my most used beer glass). First up, though, is a good ol’ traditional WCIPA.







4.35/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a gorgeous golden color with the slightest bit of haze and a white head that laces the glass beautifully. Nose has that bright, juicy tangerine note I associate with the best Citra-hopped IPA’s, so I’m practically bouncing with excitement to taste this.

Not disappointed at all - the juicy tangerine translates perfectly to the taste, and there’s a bit of melon as well and a subtle sweet malt note. This is delicious.

The mouthfeel is very dry, drawing you back to the glass for another drink before you’ve finished the one you’re enjoying. A phenomenal WCIPA, IMHO.