New Beer Weekend #70

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47543/492319/?ba=BBThunderbolt#review


Another Thank You to @Ozzylizard for this tick; El Gran Pepinillo from HopFusion. It's a Mexican lager with pickles and peppers. I've now completed 2/3 of the pickle brews he's sent me, and tomorrow will see #3.

 

They disappeared quick!! That was my personal one, and I had sorta forgot that I even had it. Stumbled across it while looking for a different glass. Word is, all the breweries/bars are ordering more of this years glass.

 

I will treat it well and take care of it, it’s in good hands The artwork on it is so perfect.

 

American Solera Bub Nelson Dry Hopped Lager, 5.0% ABV; 4.24 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 2 fingers of ivory colored head. Great lacing & above average head retention

S: Floral, citrus, tropical fruit notes

T: Green melon, bready dryness, lemons, some traces of dry oak up front. Lime, Green melon & dryness as this warms. along with some popsicle stick notes. Finishes with lime, green melons & oaky dryness

MF: Medium body, delicate carbonation, nice balance

Nice drinkability, with some nice flavors

 

One more hotel beer poured into a plastic cup. I just started rereading The Wheel of Time. I read the first eight books in college but got tired of waiting for the author to write more. (Then he died.) Plus, they were getting a bit slow and I wasn't sure the series would ever end. Figured I'd try them again before I watch the series.

Ghost River Brewing
Ghost River Gold
Golden Ale 6%



Pours a golden amber color with a thin head and modest lacing in the plastic hotel cup.

The smell is apple juice and straw.

The taste is apples, wheat bread, and honey on the finish.

The mouthfeel is thin/medium bodied with medium carbonation and a slight bitter, lingering finish.

Overall, this has depth and is enjoyable.

 

Yes, I drank one bottle from my recent six-pack purchase and I very much enjoyed it.

My plan is in the next couple/few weeks to conduct a side-by-side taste test of Brooklyn Winter IPA with Sierra Nevada Celebration. I really should await this event before commenting but FWIW I am inclined to think that I will prefer Brooklyn Winter IPA but we shall see what we shall see.

Cheers!

 

Roughtail Migrating Coconuts Imperial Importer, 3,84 overall

Pours a very effervescent & somewhat murky hazel /cola color with one finger of mocha colored head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Toasty coconuts, a little roastyness & vanilla once warm

T: Nice toasty & sweet coconut with vanilla, roastyness & dryness up front, plus a trace of chicory. Roasty dryness, toasty coconuts & faint vanilla once warm. Finishes dry, toasty, with toasted coconut

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, body thins a little as this warms

This is 8.5% ABV & I feel that a little towards the last of the can, decent, but had higher hopes

 

Lagunitas Contents Under Fresher Fresh Hop IPA with Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe & Sabro, 7.7% ABV; 4.5 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with a pinky of pearl colored head. Above average head retention & better lacing

S: Peaches, strawberries, mango, nose fades a smidge down the stretch, but still great

T: Oranges, lemon, pineapple and strawberry, with just little floral & grassy hop up front. Pineapple, dryness
& grassy notes as this warms, just a touch of pine, a little dryness & cattyness too. Finishes piney with oranges, strawberry & a little grapefruit

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, nice balance

Probably one of the best fresh hop beers I've had in a while, super drinkability despite the heft

 

It has been a busy day, finally back at the house, and I get to try a new IPA from Georgetown: Warchild.

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 11/11/21. Bought it at the brewery yesterday.

Pours a mostly clear brassy color with a fairly large moderate density head. Plenty of carbonation. Smell is powerful and very nice. Tropical juice, citrus juice, citrus pith, grapefruit zest, pine resin.

Taste is more citrus juicy than tropical, but I might get a little bit of pineapple or mango. I definitely get citrus rind bitterness and a little resin.

Mouthfeel is medium, clean, pleasant. Overall, very nice beer.

 

Finback IPA, the last of the beers I shipped home to myself from NYC.

16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated 09/02/21.

Pours moderately hazy, pale yellow-amber with a smallish head. Smell is citrus pith, lemon zest.

Taste is similar -- citrus pith and lemon zest, fairly mild, slight wateriness.

Mouthfeel is light, dry. Overall, it's good, though not terribly exciting.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned Tuesday. Pours a hazy orange yellow with a finger plus sticky white head, that leaves thin streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma melon, passionfruit, hint of blueberry, tangerine, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows honeydew, passionfruit, tangerine, a little hit of blueberry, and apricot really well balanced. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a little above average, soft gentle carbonation, not dry or sticky, and at 5.6% it drinks more like 7%, but is crazy drinkable. 4.5

Overall this is an amazing NEAPA that has a bunch of flavor, but still goes down incredibly easy. Yes another triumph from this 4 year old brewery who is running on all cylinders. Enjoy your Sunday. 4.5

 

Good day BAs! I'm back for round #2 of NBS/NBW! While I don't usually post on both Saturday and Sunday in the NBW/NBS thread, this is a unique weekend involving a new RIS both days.
Yesterday's post you can look up - today's is a cross-post with WBAYDN #3319 (I think).

For my New Breakfast Beer today, I've finally tracked down:



Darkness BBA 2021 from Surly. 750 mL (25.4 oz) bottle purchased from Shangy’s, Emmaus, PA. $21.76 (including tax) ($0.855/oz). Stored at room temperature in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 21/11/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Etched on shoulder “BOTTLED 15:14 01/28/21 F5005B” and “2021” on rear edge of label. Served at 54.5 degrees in a hand washed and dried glass coffee cup. Final temperature 58.8 degrees.
Appearance – 4.5
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Brown (SRM 30), opaque. When rear-lite, reddish around the edges but otherwise opaque.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.7 cm, aggressive center pour), wheat, average retention, diminishing to a seven to ten mm irregular crown and complete cap fed by moderate carbonation. Second pour produces a tight 1.3 cm head.
Lacing – Excellent! Forms a complete sheet of extremely tiny bubbles with a few tiny, lonely islands.
Aroma – 3.75 – Weak malted milk/chocolate and weak roasted malt. A bit of cooked veggies – odd but not disgusting. No hops, no yeast, no bourbon. The vegetal aroma vanishes as the brew warms.
Flavor – 4.5 – Taste follows the nose but slightly sweet with no vegetal overtones, no hops, no yeast. Sweetness builds in the aftertaste. No ethanol (12 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. Moderate warming throughout the upper GI. Allowing it to warm in my mouth brings out the bourbon, a bit harsh. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4.5 – Full, creamy, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.5 Very good BBA RIS – the sweetness balanced by the harshness of the bourbon. Odor is a bit weak, but what there is, is not unpleasing. Palate is quite good, with the soft but lively carbonation complimenting the flavors. The price may seem a bit high but it’s certainly less than a drive to MN and back, with an overnight stay and freezing in a stationary line. Without Shangy’s, the odds are I’d never tried any of the iterations of Darkness! Thanks Shangy! (Assuming you're an actual person and nor a corporate symbol).

(And, just for your consideration, the link I "forgot" to provide for yesterday's WBAYDN 3318 entry:

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #874!

Today is part 2 of my St. Bernardus adventure, this one is nearing a decade in existence, but is not commonly available, at least here in the States.

St. Bernardus Tokyo



Can Notes: Purchased 11/7/21 @ Beer on the Wall ($3.25), 11.2 oz can, marked L1138 12:44, BCBACOAT. I take the code to mean canned on 5/18/21 (138th day of 2021). 6.0% ABV, Belgium Wit Ale. Serve at 36 F to 42 F. Brewed and canned by Brewery St. Bernard NV, Trappistenweg Watou Belgium. Imported by D & V International, Inc. Juniper Florida.

Appearance: Single aggressive pour into a large tulip. Golden orange cloudy base, creamy white head lingers a bit before leaving a light creamy cover across the center and ring around the glass, and light spotty lacing throughout 4.0

Aroma: The banana clove sweetness strongly leads, light wheat and pepper complementing and a citrus back. Medium in strength. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, banana pepper and clove dominates throughout, a sweet citrus and tangerine follows, wheat taste negligible behind all of the sweetness. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Light body, medium carbonation, sweet throughout, with a lack of hops bitterness noted. Lightly dry, ABV felt, drinks at or slightly above. Somewhat sticky sweet aftertaste. 4.0

Overall: This is a solid offering, sweet bold sticky fruit flavors, not as complex or balanced as their standard Wit offering. Solid offering, glad I came across this release. 4.0

Not positive about my Julian dating guesses, but wonder if the two months difference between the two resulted in a stronger and more complex flavor profile, though I did expect more sweetness with this one due to the higher ABV. It's a solid beer, but the OG Wit works for me, YMMV.

May come back with a second, otherwise perhaps the powers that be are considering a three day NBW next week with the upcoming holiday and I'll see you next Friday. Looking forward to what everyone pulls out today.

Cues Deep Purple - Perhaps the loudest concert I've attended (worked it in the late 1980s).

Cheers!

 

Good morning, NBW! It's not unusual, but it's also not that common for me to have a breakfast beer. I've been enjoying the silence of my sleeping household, I finished my first cup of coffee, and decided to make my second more adventurous. @MacMalt supplied this beverage for me in a destructive porchbuster as part of NBS BIF #14: Glasstown's You're Coconuts coffee and coconut porter.

16oz can reviewed in a little goblet taster. I'll drink the rest in my trusty Zwanze Day coffee mug. No date that I see.

Pours black or very dark brown with a medium sized head that quickly dissipates into a tidy ring. Smell is clearly coffee with a pleasing level of coconut that is definitely not just in the background but (according to *my* nose at least) not exactly the center of attention. Something about it makes me think I get chocolate, but that might just be the roastiness combining with coconut.

Taste leans a bit more toward porter roastiness with coffee front and center, and maybe the coconut as ambient lighting. It's everywhere, but it's not what your attention is being drawn to. Not a lot of sweetness, goes more the bitter / roasty route.

Mouthfeel is dry, surprisingly light. Not thick. Very nice coffee porter with coconut.

Thanks, Rob!

 

Good morning NBS/nbw and thanks @cjgiant for hosting his week.
A lovely day here in WMass , some early cemetery work is complete, and now for a break.
Todays offering is from Hitachino Nest, a really ncely executed "Salty Sour ale brewed with Plums"
The descriptor certainly is attained by the brewers, but I would suggest its a lot deeper in character. A really nice morning treat.
Cheers all

Hitachino Nest Anbai Ale

Sour - Gose | 7% ABV

Kiuchi Brewery
Ibaraki-ken Naka-gun, Japan

4.1/5 rDev +4.9% | Average: 3.91
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from the 11.2 oz bottle into the test glass. No visible date code to be had.
A - Apricot colored backdrop, vibrant carbonation. A lasting cap of white, tightknit froth lasts the entire experience.
S - Subtle plum thread, a lovely mineral element mathches well. A very floral aspect is the main actor and quite a nice treat.
T - Plum skin and chalky minerals, lovely base of light grain all work so very well
M - Medium in body with a spritzy carbonation keeps things moving along. Walks the tightrope between sweet and sour with near perfect balance. Palate response is quick , the finish is just as quick. with a lovely fruity linger.
O - A nice treat here, the tension between the sweet/tart is a delight, The body and carbonation are just right. What a lovely offering

 

Been a while since I last posted on new beer weekend. Coming in with Imperial Snowball Cupcake Stout from Angry Chair. The aroma of chocolate, vanilla, and toasted marshmallows. Taste is of dark chocolate, vanilla, loads of marshmallows, and a touch of coconut that blends perfectly with the roasted malt. A bit of bitterness at the end to balance out the sweetness overload from the marshmallows. I'm a sweet stout fanatic with a terrible sweet tooth. This one is right up my alley. One of the better stouts I have had in a while! 4.75/5

 

Tim, looks like you got a little bit of snow. It's sunny and 60 here.

 

Looking forward to a fairly lazy Sunday afternoon highlighted by my older daughter returning from college for Thanksgiving break. My plan is to watch a lot of football (having already watched a lot of soccer) and hopefully review several new beers.

First up for today is another beer courtesy of @foundersasap. This one is Deleterious Vanilla from Odd Side. I tend to like vanilla, so I'm optimistic about this one. I'm also eyeing up the 14.6% and realizing I better take my time with this one.

4.15/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Canned 1/12/21. Poured into a tulip at 50 degrees. Appearance is deep, deep brown, borderline black. Half an inch of medium density mocha colored head that receded relatively quickly to a thin ring. Aroma is rich and decadent. Vanilla is clearly present, with chocolate and prune notes underneath. Not getting much in the way of barrel on the nose.

Taste has many of the same notes as the nose, but not in the same order. Here the vanilla takes more of a back seat. The barrel is more forward here, with oak notes and some alcohol warming that might be from the bourbon, but it's more oak than bourbon. Nice roast flavors form the base, with the chocolate and vanilla combining well. Not at all sweet. Feel is thick and chewy. Overall, I'm enjoying this quite a bit.