New Beer Weekend #70

Just back from a walk with the dogs. Now it's time for beer and football.
Today's new beer is Ruminator, a doppelbock from Ex Novo Brewing, with an ABV of 8.0%. I'm finding that I like this brewery; they're brewing some good stuff.
A pretty beer. Clear cherry amber color, small tan head.
Sweet malt aroma, grassy hops.
Taste of toasted bread, a little toffee. Late hops.
Medium bodied, very drinkable.

 

I posted the below in the English Ale Appreciation thread but since all three beers are new beers (to me) I figured a cross-post is in order:

My wife and I visited the new Forest & Main taproom (Pub) location last evening. The bartender informed me that this new location is only a week+ old (opened Tuesday Nov. 9th). He also informed me that they will soon be opening a new brewery location on Main Street with expanded production capacity. You can read more here (an old May article):

https://www.bizjournals.com/philade...-craft-brewery-forest-and-main-to-expand.html

I did have a conversation with the bartender whether the beers served via hand-pump are indeed cask conditioned (i.e., secondary fermentation within the serving keg) and he informed me that those beers are indeed cask conditioned.

Firstly, a short report about this new location. It is a pretty cool space and it does indeed provide a pub-like feel. Below is a photo of the bar:



Last evening they had three English style ales served via cask (hand-pump delivery): Bitter, Dark Mild, and Oatmeal Stout.

They also have three Lukr side-pull taps serving two lagers (Pilsners) and a Saison.

In addition, there were seven beers served via ‘regular’ draft.

There is also beer refrigerators where a number of brands are available in the four-pack/16 ounce format (about a dozen brands) and a number of brands in large bottles.

A quite impressive diversity of brands IMO.

My first beer was a pint of the Bitter Ale:



Here is how Forest & Main discusses this beer:

“Earthen Timescales - 4.14% Bitter Brewed with Maris Otter and crystal malt, hopped with Perle and Grungeist, and fermented with our favourite old British ale yeast. It’s got notes of cherry jam on wheat toast, citrus and chicory salad, delicate caramel whispers, and a cold slice of thick apple pie.”

I enjoyed drinking this beer but for my palate this beer would be improved with some more hop flavor/aroma to provide a more balanced product.

The second beer for me was a Dimpled Mug of the Dark Mild:



“Sonic Silence - 4% Dark Mild Brewed this one with Maris Otter and a fun assortment of dark and roasted malts and hopped it with a bit of Fuggles and Polaris. It has notes of pumpernickel, dried fig, old library books, black currant jam, coffee over ice, and some homemade biscuits.”

I really enjoyed the aroma and flavor of this beer but the mouthfeel was quite thin and lacking. Overall a good – very good beer.

My primary motivation for going to Forest & Main was to drink the English Ales on cask but while there I figured I would try one of their lagers (the first time I had a Forest & Main lager I believe) so I ordered the House Lager served via the Lukr side-pull tap:



“House Lager - 4.8% Lager Brewed with German barley, hopped it with Saaz, Grungeist, and Hallertau Blanc, and fermented it slow and cold. It has notes of crispy apple strudel, dry sparkling pear cider, hale bales at the farm-chic store, nettle tisane, and a parched herb garden.”

Now, this beer was a ‘winner’ for me (my personal palate). It was quite tasty and very nicely balanced between the bready malt aroma/flavor and the hop aroma/flavors. I will most definitely revisit this beer in a subsequent visit.

My wife ordered glasses of two IPA brands and I took some sips of her beers. I thought these IPAs were very good!

Cheers to the new Forest & Main taproom/pub!!

 

Beer courtesy of the one and only @snaotheus. This has been staring at me since he sent it and I’m making first chili of the season so it’s a good match. This batch will have venison in it courtesy of a friend, hunted locally, and beef born and raised a couple miles away. Will sip the slowly through the rest of today.

Great Notion - Double stack



Pours thick and slow black with hints of dark brown on edge of glass. Head exists in the form of a nice ring of light brown around the glass.

Aroma is diner coffee and maple syrup with slight hints of alcohol.

Taste much like the nose but true coffee is very rich and tasty. It lingers on the palate for quite sometime and the maple comes out on the finish and mouthfeel. The tastes almost had like a maple donut dipped in coffee vibe it is very dessert like.

Big body beer with low creamy carbonation. Slight bitterness from the coffee? And just the slightest hint of booze on the finish. It’s a pleasant warming feeling.

This is an enjoyable slow sipping beer perfect for a cool day of chili simmering. Thanks for sharing Ryan!

 

I just found out recently that there's a barrel aged version of that beer, and I got two bottles of it Friday. I'll share one with family on Thanksgiving.

Glad you liked it!

 

Not yet Doc, but it is coming.

 

Transient ‘20 Neckbeard Life - Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout blended with Chestnut Barrel Aged Barleywine, Blis Barrel Aged Maple Syrup, and Hazelnuts.

Pours pitch black with a finger of a dark tan head that goes away quickly. 4.0

Aroma brings roast, char, oak tannin, raisin, plum, hazelnut, dark chocolate, caramel, burnt sugar, what I’m assuming is a bit of chestnut from the barleywine, some maple. Getting both the stout and barleywine characteristics and they’re fairly cohesive. As it warms, the barleywine really shows itself. 4.25

Taste follows the nose well. Dark chocolate, char, roasted malt, loads of dark fruit (raisin, plum, fig), caramel, brown sugar, tobacco, some hazelnut, oak and chestnut tannin, maple, vanilla. Pretty balanced between the two beers, but just like the aroma, the barleywine comes through a lot more as it warms. 4.25

Medium body. Airy carbonation, slightly soft, sticky, oily, slightly chalky. Dry finish. 4.0

A pretty decent blend. The hazelnut and maple don’t overpower the beer and allow the base ba beers to shine. 4.25
Overall: 4.21

 

For my next beer I'm going to drop down from a 14.6% stout to an 11% one. If I can stay awake after two big beers, I'll be proud of myself.

This one is The Chocolate Monocle with Almonds, courtesy of @Coronaeus. He sent me a TON of beer for no other reason than he's a freaking Canadian rock star. I enjoyed the regular Chocolate Monocle a few weeks ago, and am curious to see how this variant stacks up.

3.72/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours an extremely dark brown with an inch of beige colored head that quickly recedes leaving behind some evidence, but not in the form of actual lacing. Aroma is remarkably restrained. It's very hard to pick up specific notes. There's a faint sweetness, mild booze, and faint chocolate.

On the tongue, the almonds clearly emerge. They don't necessarily dominate, but they are clearly there. Overall this isn't sweet like an Almond Joy, but rather a nice blend of roast, chocolate and almonds that make for a nice flavor profile. There's a nice boozy warmth to this beer that lends itself well to sipping slowly over time. Medium to full body that goes down smoothly.

Overall, nice beer. I think I prefer the regular version slightly better, but both have been quite enjoyable.

 

Continually Double dry hopped Tru-Action. - a coolabaoration beer between Trillium and Dogfishhead

4.03/5 rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4



Canned 10.21, opened 11.21 poured into a handbell ipa glass

Brewers Notes: Continuously Double Dry Hopped IPA - 6.5% abv** The level of hop saturation is immediately apparent, as notes of citrus gummies, orange creamsicle, and ripe pineapple jump from the glass. DDH Tru-Action is medium-bodied, finishing dry with a refreshingly mild piney bitterness.

A thin white pencil thick layer recedes to a thin layer over a hazy pale orange liquid with some carbonation bubbles , some lacings

Aroma is pine, faint citrus orange

taste is pine, faint citrus pith

Medium sudsing, hop bite on the finish , bitterness lingers , semi dry finish

Good beer

 

My first NBW contribution in a while comes to me from @jpatag66 - Huge thanks for this one!

Situational Gravity from Pure Project

4.45/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Forced pour that eventually yielded a decent bronze head, otherwise it's a light absorbing black. Nose is a little deceivingly boring offering only big chocolate and sassafras. Taste is where the magic happens, as I was knocked back by all the flavors at once. I mean bam! with chocolate, coffee, fig, marshmallow and an earthy hop. Mouthfeel really goes hand in hand with the taste, as they work together to really overwhelm you with an experience

 

My son brought home this crowler of black IPA from one of our locals, Little House Brewing.
The sloppy writing is supposed to read "Perfectly Splendid".

As you can see- Poured from a 32oz crowler sealed yesterday to a Nonic. What you can't see is that this went from fridge to glass.
I am a sucker for a big puffy dark beer head an this has got it. That head clings to the glass all the way to the end too. Even held up to a light the body is opaque black.
Aroma is mild and malty.
Tast is strong malty. There is maybe a hint of hops in the finish, but I would swear I'm drinking a porter, and a pretty good one. Chocolate notes, bitter and dry as fire ash. The more I sip the more I feal the hops. This beer is like a combo of my two current favs, Porters and IPAs. If I wasn't rating to style I would give this a 4.75.
Mouthfeel is light for a porter and rather creamy for an IPA (non NEIPA). Carbonation is on the high side.
I really like this beer. This brewery is know for continually rotating everything, I gotta find time to get down there before this kicks. I woud rate this a 4.25 to style.

 

Just ok, the company is great.

 

Hi NBW'ers. Figured I'd try something light, easing into the evening. There's a cool burger and beer joint in New Haven I used to go to all the time with the wife. They always carried a big selection of lagers, most notable for me was Sixpoint's The Crip and Alpenflo. Those are some lovely beers. I saw this on closeout. Not sure why but "summer ale" or "summer wheat" and the like always kinda leaves me unsure... I'm glad to went ahead and tried this. I actually went back to the packie to grab a couple more 6ers after enjoying this beer so much.



I like that it's a Kristal Weiss rather than a hefe or something unfiltered. That's a matter of taste I'm sure. Might go nicely with a nip so I'll explore that route. Great beer and in my mind deserves its #3 rating for the style.

Have a great Sunday!

 

Let's talk about dessert beers.
Namely Stoneyard's Ultimate Chocolate Cake Stout

If you're looking for a dessert beer that actually tastes like a dessert then this is one to try.

It pours a deep, deep, almost black, solid brown with a short lived mocha head that completely disappears and no carbonation.

The smell is surprising in that the aroma is that of a dark chocolate frosting from a quality bakery.

The taste matches the name. You have the chocolate bread of the cake on top of a bittersweet dark chocolate frosting with a dash of vanilla and a bit of coffee. As the beer warms the barest hint of coconut appears.

Flat with a rich smooth swallow and a pleasant chocolate bitter aftertaste.

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake name perfectly describes this stout. It truly does taste like a bakery chocolate cake.

4.42/5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. It's already becoming festive here as our son just arrived from North Carolina to spend the week. This will probably be the last Thanksgiving he'll do this as he and his fiancee bought a house last year and their wedding (postponed due to Covid) is next October so we may be heading down there next year.

@2beerdogs and I agreed to a simple trade during the BIF. I sent him some New Jersey Märzens and he sent me some wonderful beer from Bottle Logic (along with way too many extras). I think I got the better of the exchange. Since it's Thanksgiving week, the first bottle I popped is Picture If You Will, a barrel-aged Pumpkin Ale. Being a Twilight Zone fan I love the name. And being a fan of "real" Pumpkin Ales (i.e., brewed with real pumpkin), I love this ale.

Poured from 500 ML bottle into a tulip glass. It pours a murky, opaque, dark cola color with a thin, light khaki head and lacing. It has a very aromatic nose with all the expected spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger, and perhaps a whiff of allspice. I also smell vanilla, graham cracker, and raisin. The taste largely follows the nose; it does a great job of simulating pumpkin pie. The bourbon is noticeable but soft and warming. There is also a significant bitterness that I attribute to the generous amount of pumpkin meat used in the boil. The taste is big and bold. It boasts an excellent mouth feel: rich, viscous, and creamy with a higher level of carbonation than I anticipated. The ABV on the bottle is 12.88% which is higher than in the BA description. I suspect it varies from year to year. Overall, anyone who enjoys a Pumpkin Ale brewed with real pumpkin, as opposed to a simple spiced ale, should really enjoy Picture If You Will. This is my first offering from Bottle Logic and it's memorable.

4.36/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Derek, thanks a million! I'm told that next year Bull N Bear Brewery will can a BA version of its excellent Pumpkin Ale, Gourd N. Gecko. If that happens (and I sure hope it will), then some will be headed your way. Cheers, NBW!

 

Arcadia Brewing, Lagerhosen IPL, fantastic head retention, nice sweet citrus aroma, crisp balance of grapefruit, tangerine with bready malts backing up this primary hop profile, medium body a bit dry, this is a great beer, picked up a single but prob back for a sixer. Cheers

 

Great side-by-side. Schlafly Pumpkin Ale is still a favorite of mine.