New Beer Weekend #71

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we have a cloudy but mild 57 degree late November day. No Seahawks this afternoon so the weather suggests firing up the brew kettle on the back porch.

Today we have Royal Fresh Imperial IPA.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/509403/

A fruity and drinkable brew.

Until next time

 

I'm trying this Brooklyn Black Ops aged in Four Roses barrels for the first time.

Has a Belgian feel to it with the Champagne yeast. I'm not getting much barrel on this, though. Still enjoyable.

 

Bentonville Brewing's Roundabout Chocolate Milk Stout, 6.3% ABV; 3.92 overall

Pours an effervescent cola/hazel when held to the light, with 1 thumb of tan head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Cocoa and a little vanilla

T: Cocoa, slightly charred grain, vanilla & dryness up front. Getting a little lactose flavor, some vanilla, cocoa & dryness as this warms, just a touch of iron as well. Finishes dry with a little cocoa, and a touch of vanilla & roastyness

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation

Solid for the style, pretty drinkable, these rarely miss on the style

 

A gift from my nephew who lives near the brewery and has supplied me with numerous Kane offerings in the past. Here's one from their side project, Field & Oak, which is next door to Kane Brewing Co.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60876/564481/



500 ml. bottle.
Bottled October 2019 and recently deemed worthy for release.

Moderate pour yields a nearly one inch white head that disappears in seconds. Body is golden with a very slight haze and non-stop bubbles coming up around the glass.

Nose is funk and oak foremost, with a bit of fruity and floral elderflower aromas trying to peek through.

Taste is fruity, citrusy, slightly tart, slightly oaky, and quite delicious!

Mouthfeel is superb and rather surprising after watching the head recede so quickly.

Overall, a fine stab at spontaneous fermentation from Kane's side project.

Cheers to my nephew, Alex, for the hookup!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Swiggers and commentators. Like most of you, I've had a very busy, long holiday weekend. Our son paid us a visit from North Carolina, which we appreciate since he and his fiancee own their own home now and will be married soon. My sister and niece visited from Maryland, and I managed to crack at least one rib. We also visited several local breweries. Now starts my annual December work marathon. I'm now counting the Decembers until I can "take this job and shove it."

@FBarber has now been living "rent free" inside my liver for over a month courtesy of the NBS BIF (only kidding, Frank, I love the beer I received from you). I was excited to try Satan's Smile, a Red IPA from Hop Butcher. This is one of my favorite styles. And it didn't disappoint! Very well-balanced and enjoyable.

4.05/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

It pours an orange-brown color akin to iced tea with a small, creamy, khaki-colored cap and thin film of lacing. Lots of caramel/toffee on the nose along with lemon, grapefruit, and lite pine needles. The taste opens with more soft caramel sweetness than, for example, Celebration but the initial sweetness is well-balanced by the earthy, herbal, bitter bite of the Amarillo and Chinook hops. The Chinook also provides a good dose of resinous pine. As it warms a bit I'm tasting a hint of red berry which I assume comes from the Mosaic hops. The flavor palate is fairly complex. I like that the hop bitterness doesn't overwhelm the caramel malt and fruit. This ale has a good, creamy mouth feel with a good level of carbonation and the 8% ABV gives it good substance without overpowering.

This is great. Again, many thanks, Frank!

 

Next up is a New England IPA from Kansas City - the 4th Anniversary version of Counterculture brewed by BKS Artisan Ales. This one came to me from @Harrison8 although I understand that it's a "contract hit" by @snaotheus. This is a very nice New England IPA with added New Zealand hops. It has similar characteristics to an IPA brewed by Equilibrium, which is intended as a compliment.

4.24/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

It pours an opaque, bright dirty-yellow with a half finger of foamy, bright white head and thick coating of lacing. A nice, fruity aroma of lemon, tangerine, pineapple, and ripe melon. Its taste just pops with tart citrus. There is lemon and grapefruit with understated sweeter notes of melon. It appears the brewery added New Zealand Riwaka hops to the base hop bill of Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe. It has that hard-to-describe, fresh tropical taste in addition to the citrus and hop bitterness. The mouth feel is crisp and clean with fairly lively carbonation, and it drinks easily at 7% ABV. Overall, this ale is a good "heartland" example of a New England-style IPA that is fruity and very enjoyable.

I will thank both of my compadres for this fine IPA. Cheers, NBW!

 

Up next over here on the Wet Side (unlike @RJLarse , it's still dumping rain, although we do have similar temps) is another from @Ozzylizard . Martin House Pretzel Stout with Peanut Butter. Lots of PB, a bit of chocolate (side note, there's a German dude named Ralf who makes great pretzels right across the street from work. I go to farmers market every Saturday and all I get are a Nutella stick Ppretzel, and a Salami stick. Both are awesome!), but no damn pretzel! I wuz robbed. nicely enjoyable beer though: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31272/378221/

 

NOLA Hopitoulas IPA, 6.0% ABV, 3.92 overall

Pours a bright, effervescent gold with 2+ fingers of pearl colored head. Nice head rerention & lacing
S: Rich breadyness, lemons, nose fades as this warms

T: Follows the nose, skewing towards cakeyness, grassyness & dryness up front. Pineyness surfaces as this warms, some bready sweetness, lemons & dryness as well. Finishes piney with some bready & grapefruit notes

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, good balance

Old school IPA that is well balanced and very drinkable

 

Here's the latest (2nd) in the "Cat" series from Switchback Brewing Co.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5691/579166/



16 ounce can.
Packaged on 11/10/21.

Moderate to vigorous pour yields a one inch plus white head over a semi-bright golden body with a bit of sheeting lacing.

Nose of citrus mostly, with some passion fruit aromas in there as well.

Taste mirrors nose somewhat with the citrus backing off to let the passion fruit flavors come forward. Quite tasty now that I've had a few sips. Finish is slightly bitter.

Nice mouthfeel and fairly easy drinking for a 9.1%er.

Overall, everyone should seek this out and enjoy!
Cheers!!

 

Ok, I have a somewhat old new beer this week - in the sense that I bought it three months ago. I am comparing it to a beer I also bought three months ago. The new-to-me beer should hold up with some aging, while its comparison beer might not as much. The not new-to-me beer is the base beer for the new beer.

Here are my thoughts on Lost Nation's The Wind Bretta, compared to its base beer - Lost Nation's Gose. The Wind is Gose "dry hopped with Citra and grapefruit. Bottle conditioned with Brettanomyces."

First off, controlling the head on the pour of the Brett beer was a bit of a challenge in the glasses I used that eschewed the recommendation. The white soapy-turning cotton candy light topping dropped in time, but didn't disappear, leaving a loose array of medium sized bubbles covering the surface. Comparatively, the Gose lost its head fairly quick. It was a darker yellow gold versus the white ale to witbier whiter look of The Wind's body.

I got a little bit of tangy fruit with a wisp of funk as I opened The Wind. The Gose has a very lightly acidic citrus fruit aroma with some stale bread notes. The Wind Bretta is much brighter, with grapefruit and Brett jumping from the surface of the beer. The scents are clean - and I mean they actually have a non-astringent cleanser aspect to them - almost like the aroma you get going into the indoor pool at your gym.

Ok, I've got to say, one might think you wouldn't want to drink such a thing. But while that's the impression I get, it is not off-putting, and actually enticing. I'm not sure I can explain why, but it is. I'm thinking it's some mix of the hops mixing with the salt and Brett.

That note doesn't entirely sit in gaseous form, but it doesn't hit my tongue as strongly as it did my nose. However, it is somewhat less desired by my palate.

The flavors that are more expected include a light grain opening flavor that is scrubbed away quickly by moderately aggressive carbonation. Grapefruit rind joins some dusty attic notes flavors before the acidity starts its crescendo. Carbonation continues to needle my as this fades slowly, reverting back to grapefruit pith and some light grains.

The regular gose is more straightforward with the grain, more generic citrus tartness and some earthy spice. The salt is a little more prominent and straightforward. This can (again, at three months) isn't flat, but the carbonation level is quite low. It's still an enjoyable, straightforward regular gose.

So The Wind seems to bring to the table what the bottle says - grapefruit (especially noted on a light burp, excuse me ), some hop bitterness, and definitely the Brett. The salinity seems to get spread a little thin, and the coriander seems outshone or even replaced. That said, The Wind is a more interesting and a bit more enjoyable beer, despite the oddities mentioned. The GF liked the bottled beer better, as well.

 

I visited a new brewery that has been open about a month now. Elder Son Brewing. They had a couple of simple traditional styles that I wanted to try, and if those hit my fancy I would have stayed longer...anyway, reviews below...

First up is Darcy English Dark Mild. 3.9% ABV.


Pours a muddled brown color. No head and no lace forms. This looks flat to me.
Aroma is burnt toast aroma, toasted malts. Solvent like alcohol, like paint thinner?? Something seems off here, maybe its me, but his is not appealing.
Taste wise a smoky, burnt toast character again. Toasted malts and cereal grains. Nothing else.
A light body is understating this. Almost no carbonation, watery and thin. Not something I'm looking to come back to.

I have almost the opposite experience of the other reviewer. I'm not discounting that at all, but I don't see a lot redeemable for me here. I don't know if I'm getting an alcoholic solvency character in the nose, as its such a low abv offering that would surprise me, but it is not right for me. One of my favorite styles, that nobody ever makes (except Holler, and I find their example superlative), but unfortunately I'm not a fan of this one.

Overall score is 2.87, I really don't care for letter grades this low, lets say C- Being generous there.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61896/579081/?ba=champ103#review


Next is Grizzly Bolt Brown Ale. 5.1% ABV


Pours a dark brown color. No head forms, and no lace left either.
Aroma is toasted malts, cereal grains. Light chocolate and dark fruits. Which become cherry like, almost in an oxidized way (but seeing how new this brewery is I can't see that being the case).
Taste wise, again, toasted malts and cereal grains. Light chocolate and sweetness, this continues to build throughout. The sweetness becomes cloying, then a sour cherry flavor lingers on and on.
A light body, very low carbonation. Not completely flat, but its close for me. Which then becomes kind of syrupy. This is chore to drink.

I'm not having the same experience as some of the others that have tried their beers. For whatever reason. Sickly sweet, sour cherries, and low carbonation aren't working for me.

Overall score is 2.95, again don't care to give a letter grade to that. If I have to, again a generous C-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61896/573987/?ba=champ103#review


If anyone is interested my Places review...
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61896/?view=ratings&ba=champ103#review

 

Look for the one from BFM as it is better, IMO.
Cheers!

 

Day 2 (and Day 5 of the BCBS tasting thread - more on that in a bit), I’ll lead off with a beer from my friend @BBThunderbolt and NBW BIF #14. I don’t see many Schwarzbiers, and I really like Wander Brewing, so I’m super pumped to try this.





4.1/5 rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark mahogany brown with a cream light tan head that provides some lacing. It LOOKS like a winter beer, and it smells like a winter beer, with a smoky, roasty char aroma that IS this beer. There’s also the slightest hint of grass.

The roasty char flavor is the dominant flavor, and it definitely has a smoky quality, but I also get a bit of grass mixed in that works really well, and probably helps with the crisp mouthfeel, because if the mouthfeel wasn’t as crisp as it is and went toward the creamy side, I’d say this is more porter than Schwarzbier.

This is a really nice, lighter dark beer that is perfect for the winter months, IMHO.

 

Anchor Special Ale 2021. <> A very tasty and lovely brew. A gift from my lovely wife! <> Cheers Advocates!
4.04/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12 oz bottle pkg date 9/10/21 into a dimple mug.
L: Pours black with a tall 2.5 finger creamy khaki head that recedes to a 1 finger soapy edged head with a creamy center then down to scattered foam 1/2way thru the glass. Some lacing and no visible carbonation.
S: Scent of dark rum, fruit cake, dark sweet bread, allspice, ginger cookie and very light cocoa.
T: Semi-sweet caramel, rather light booze, pale malts, light sourness, raisins, subtle coffee char, grapefruit zest, light vanilla, nutmeg, allspice and very lightly bitter baking cocoa powder.
F: A wet med-bodied gently tawny mouthfeel with a semi-dry long finish. It feels wooden and lightly aged.
O: A well crafted earthy tasting well balanced Christmas Ale that is straightforward. Nothing is over the top or out of place flavor and feel-wise. It is excellent in it's style.

 

#2, I am really enjoying the BCBS tasting event, but a 5 day event pounding big boy beers is taxing this old beer nerd.





4.42/5 rDev +3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a beautiful copper color, nearly clear, with a couple of fingers of light tan head that dissipates in seconds. The nose has tart apple, cinnamon, and caramel as advertised on the bottle, and more than a little booze, as expected.

The tart apple is forward, with the cinnamon and caramel following, and the booze at the very back of the palate as a (substantial) warming note. This is truly delicious, but I’ve seen this described as a boozy caramel apple, and I respectfully disagree - on my palate, this is Grandma’s apple crisp, and as I said, it’s truly delicious, IMHO.

The mouthfeel is substantial, almost syrupy. What a flavorful, delightful beer this is. I’d love to sit on a bottle for a couple more years and see how it evolves.

 

Well I have no new beers in the fridge for tonight unfortunately, I thought I did. I will enjoy what you all are drinking. Have a good week everyone, until next weekend. My goal for the week, to find a single of st bernardus Christmas.

@cjgiant

 

Good evening NBW
I'll rarely pass on an English style tick. These bottles have Shelton Bros. labels and taste oxidized, so maybe I should have passed even though they just hit town.
Ridgeway Seriously Bad Elf


500mL bottle stamped L21 254 poured into a snifter at 51° Fahrenheit 9% ABV. The beer pours opaque honey amber in color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and and peninsula. No lacing. The aroma is mild with wheat & barley malt plus a hint of orchard fruit. The taste is semisweet caramel and light fruitiness with notes of oxidation. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Minimal alcohol presence. Overall, ok.

I enjoyed my bottle of Criminally Bad Elf much more. Both were oxidized, but the barleywine had some depth of flavor. This bottle is not too special. That's all for me this weekend. Cheers all!

 

Hello NBWers! Wait, is that a term?
Hi all, sorry for the beer with the twist off lid, but I was curious and it isn’t something I have been able to try yet.
Poured a lovely near black with a rather weak tan head.
The aroma was malty and coffee, likely chocolate but I didn’t smell it.
The taste followed the aroma. I don’t know why on earth I saw the name and thought it would be a beer as smooth as Hershey’s chocolate but I did. Which set this up for a let-down. Which it was.
The feel was okay, it’s a porter, not a stout, so wasn’t expecting much there.
OA, glad I got to try this, bummed I had to get a six pack to do so. Oh well, friends local to me will be glad to try it as well, out of curiosity.
Cheers all!