New Beer Weekend #73

A series of Pilsners

Tired Hands has made a series of Pilsners under the umbrella name of Austere Modular. Interestingly they do not denote the differences on the can label; as a consumer you just need to keep up.

In a past NBW I discussed what I think was the fifth version of this series:

“I do know what was used to brew this beer since I discussed it with the Tired Hands head brewer (Colin McFadden). Colin told me they used Weyermann Pilsner Malt to brew this version and you can read more details below (from the Tired Hands website):

"Pilsner refined by experimentation. Hopped w. Perle, Mittelfrüh, & Spalter Select from our annual trip to Germany. 4.6% abv.

Today’s version of Austere Modular is iteration number 10 and from the Untappd website:

“Austere Modular Ten

Tired Hands Brewing Company

Pilsner - Other

This Pilsner is brewed from a continued desire to explore and refine our lager brewing process. Part French Pils, part Franconian Kellerbier. Your favorite brewers’ preferred shift beer, straight from the Fermenter. Brewed with Pilsner, Munich and Vienna malts, and hopped with Perle and Strisselspalt in the kettle. Given a short conditioning cycle, and racked bright and fresh.

Notes of biscuit, black pepper, a bit o’ grape, and beer flavored beer 5.0% ABV”

https://untappd.com/b/tired-hands-brewing-company-austere-modular-ten/4519472

I am really looking forward to what a “part French Pils and part Franconian Kellerbier tastes like!

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

A pale straw color with a BIG rocky white head.

Aroma:

A vibrant combination of bready, almost cracker-like malt and hop aromas of herbal/spicy.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with the combination of prominent bready/crackery malt and notable herbal/spicy hop flavors. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is excellent! I really enjoyed the bready/crackey malt flavors but it was pleasantly accompanied by the herbal/spicy hop flavors. Overall nicely balanced here.

In my past post for version number 5 I stated: “I strongly suspect that Tired Hands will ‘re-imagine’ this recipe for their next iteration of Austere Modular. If they gave me a vote here I would vote “No” to this and just keep this beer as is. Sometimes a recipe just comes together perfectly.” Well, it turns out that I enjoyed this latest iteration just as much so….

Tired Hands is doing a wonderful job with their series of Austere Modular Pilsners.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH

 

Good day BAs! Welcome to NBW, the woke version of NBS. Thanks, @jkblr , for starting off this weekend and to @Roguer for the hot-on-the-heels follow-up post. I avoided the entanglement by not knowing what the number of the post would be and thus deftly avoiding starting the thread.

Anyway, after today's balmy 45 degree trip to the morning paper box, today's New Breakfast Beer is:



Big Bad Baptist in the Rye from Epic Brewing. 22 oz bottle purchased from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. $16 (including tax) ($0.727/oz). Stored at room temperature in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 11/12/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on the end of the label “DEN7916 12.4% ALC/VOL 2021 R?L #1". Served at 55 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 58.8 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), nearly opaque.
Body – Brown (SRM 20), opaque. When rear-lite, some light penetration at the edges, reddish.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.2 cm, aggressive center pour), brown sugar, average retention, diminishing to a three to five mm crown and partial cap fed by moderate carbonation. Second pour produces a 1.7 cm head.
Lacing – Fair but odd. Hollow mountainous band of tiny bubbles connected to the receding crown by columns, both narrow and wide.
Aroma – 3 – Weak cocoa, weak roasted malt. No hops, no yeast, no coffee, no rye, no barrels.
Flavor – 3.5 – Taste follows the nose, starting slightly sweet but ending slightly bitter. Some of the nose cocoa is present but none of the label coffee. Any trace of rye or barrels is evident only on the exhale. No ethanol (12.4% ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. A mild gastric warming occurs and builds to an annoying burn before subsiding. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 Any time the palate is the high point of the beer, it’s disappointing. Just another cocoa-stout with some buzzwords on the label. Drinkable, sure. Worth searching for at this price point, nope.
Rating 3.43, rDev -14.9%

Well shit! Once again my post has disappeared, locking me out before I could "Post Reply"! Dunno what's going on but I suspect it's less-than-nimble fingers hitting the wrong key! Had more I wanted to say an hour ago when I got locked out but can't remember it now.

 

Good morning, this week has been too long so I’m enjoying morning brew. Enjoying some Barreled Souls Better Than Most, barrel aged stout with coffee, marshmallow fluff and cacao nibs.

4.52/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a two finger mocha head.

S- Coffee, bourbon, chocolate, some marshmallow, charred oak, roasted malts.

T- Chocolate, coffee, some marshmallow, oak, bourbon.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A very enjoyable barrel aged stout, adjuncts are nicely done. Over all the taste leans towards the sweeter side where the nose is really well balanced.

Cheers!

 

Congratulations!

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned 11/17/21. Pours a very attractive hazy orange with a finger sticky white head that leaves some thin streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma mango, peach, tangerine, pineapple, coconut, and apricot really bold. 4.25

Taste follows mango, peach, tangerine, pineapple, coconut, and apricot big, bold, and balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is big, soft gentle carbonation, maybe a little sticky but not dry, and at 10% big bold flavor, but easy sipping. 4.5

Overall this is an excellent NETIPA, little sweet but really well balanced, maybe a little alcohol detected. 4.25 Thanks @jkblr for getting us started. Cheers all.

 

Excellent start. Congrats on (temporarily haha) finishing all the styles, @jkblr !

Even though it's only been two weeks since my last beer I am going to join today for sure. How could I not have a beer in hand when NYCFC finally plays in the championship game? I mean, NE sets a record for wins and points, and we beat them handily on their pitch, and then we beat Phila. without both our top scorer, and a key playmaker to get here. I have just the beer in the cellar for this. See y'all then!

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 11/24/21. Pours a hazy yellow with a with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves a thin wall of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is passionfruit, papaya, cantaloupe, pineapple, and apricot really pleasant. 4.5

Taste follows passionfruit, papaya, pineapple, cantaloupe, and apricot really balanced and excellent. 4.5

Mouthfeel is rather large, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 10% ABV it drinks extremely easy. 4.5

Overall another top notch beer from this brewery. Thanks @jzeilinger for this can. Highly recommend. 4.5

 

Mrs O and I are on vacation for the next week, and with a stopover in DFW on our way to Palm Springs, it’s time for that first vacation beer, which is always a favorite for me. This is Juice Pack , a hazy APA from Tupps Brewery in McKinney TX, a former local for me.



3.98/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Enjoyed on draft, the beer is a very hazy golden color with a white head that laces the glass nicely. The nose is pure juice, with mango and pineapple most prominent, and a bit of tangerine.

The mango and pineapple are forward on the taste, as expected, and there’s also some tangerine notes, which work well with the mango and pineapple.

This is a very nice, approachable hazy that is on the more sessionable side. Nice stuff from a former local for me.

 

Hey what's going on.

Busy weekend, just getting a drink in.

Let's see what's new for our hero.



Poured from the bottle into a teku glass. Vintage 2021.

Deep copper rusted red, with a nearly ruby looking body color that's fairly clear to see through. Head creation is about one finger, but with airy consistency, lending to dissolve and with a bit of soapy look to it. Settle to a fairly big bubbled thin collar and soapy ring as well.

The aroma certainly gives to a cocktail angle. Straight up Rose's lime cordial smelling, faint a nice touches of marmalade like fruit and sticky caramel flavors. Hints just a little boozy, like fruited vodka, but nothing fussel or burning. Not much hinting barrel character going on here through all of these other cocktail inspired aromas. Surprisingly not getting ginger off the nose.

Quite in interesting palate. Very light bodied and wet with a mid palate that hits with lime like flavors on first sip. Lots of spicy ginger notes and lime, more like a dark and stormy cocktail flavor. The mouthfeel for even blended barrels is quite wet, but that give it a more cocktail like mixed drink feel. Aftertaste is even a little soda bubbly in feel, and to some degree even gaseous.

It's an angle that delivers, and it has without cocktail quality, however just as a beer in general and particularly one from Firestone with their excellent barrel program, I don't think this really works or makes for a great drinking experience.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | Final Score: 3.65

Cheers!

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

First off I'll congratulate @jkblr for drinking all 114 beer styles here at BA. That's not always easy to do, but is a big accomplishment.

I'm going to be headed to Lake of the Woods in a few hours for some ice fishing, and I'm totally excited for it. It should be a blast, as always.

Now on to my new beer, and it's also a new brewery that we just stocked for the first time this week at the liquor store.


Husky Hustle - American Imperial Stout - Young Blood Beer Co. - Madison, WI - 8.5% ABV

When we ordered from Mega Beer last week, we saw this from Young Blood. We've seen their stuff in our order form, but had passed in the past, because we just didn't think their stuff would sell, because it was new to the area. This time we decided to take a chance, and see what they've got to offer.

I'm impressed with this beer. It's a good pastry stout. The only knock is that it was a gusher from the can. Don't know if it was re fermenting, or it was over carbed, but the flavor is quite good.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59602/580915/

3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

When opening the can, the beer gushed out of it. I was able to catch most of it, so there was little loss.

The beer pours pitch black. Lots of carbonation in the beer forms a 3 finger brown head. The head looked a bit like the head on a root beer float. The retention is good, and there's some lacing on the glass.
The nose isn't too strong, but I do get hints of vanilla, chocolate and lactose.
Taste - There's marshmallow in this beer and it hits strong up front, as well as the vanilla. This switches over to chocolate and hot cocoa powder with lactose on the back. Yeah, 2 distinct chocolate flavors here.
The body is pretty good and the lactose lingers in my throat.
First beer from this brewery, and it's good.


I'll try to sneak in another sometime this weekend. Cheers all.

 

You did miss one HUGE thing. Union were w/o many starters including goalie Blake and NYFC just squeezed out a win. Sorry to say I’m rooting the other way today.

Enjoy

 

True. OTOH we had to get past NE just to get a shot at Phila, and league's top scorer and a top playmaker were missing on our side of the ball

Hopefully the officiating won't be a factor today, and we get a solid and exciting game. The calls and non calls at some games have been... concerning. Time to let my beer breathe a bit and take some pics. As they say in Sumo, Hakkeyoi!

 

Poured into a 13 oz snulip glass canned on 12/7/21. Pours a very hazy orange
Poured into a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 12/7/21. Pours a very hazy orange with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves thin webs of lace with nice retention. 4.25

Aroma is mainly about the guava, with mandarin, pomegranate, and apricot in small supporting roles. 4.5

Taste follows guava in leading role, pomegranate, mandarin, and apricot really kind of one dimensional but excellent just the same. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.4% it goes down plenty easy. 4.5

Overall this is unique and really good. Not blown away but would recommend for sure. I Sorbet King. 4.5
with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves thin webs of lace with nice retention. 4.25

Aroma is mainly about the guava, with mandarin, pomegranate, and apricot in small supporting roles. 4.5

Taste follows guava in leading role, pomegranate, mandarin, and apricot really kind of one dimensional but excellent just the same. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.4% it goes down plenty easy. 4.5

Overall this is unique and really good. Not blown away but would recommend for sure. I Sorbet King. 4.5

 

Today I have a coffee porter from Beer'd. This was entered in the BA database in January of 2013. I am really surprised I have not come across this before. I love Beer'd and I love coffee beers.
But things got weird on the BA database. It offered me to "Edit My Reveiw" but there were only 4 reviews visible and none were mine. I did a full review today, entered it and it showed up as entered Jan 27 2013. I guess maybe I had it back then, but don't remember. And what's goin on with the BA DB?

3.66/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 16oz can dated 11/24/21 to a diagonallly cut tumbler at approx 45F.
The pour produces a tremendous tan head that actually prevents a full pour for quite some time. Eventually it fades to a single layer but laces rather thickly as you swirl.
The aroma is of medium-roast coffee with a hint of sweetness. There is a slight sense of mustiness.
Taste is similar to iced coffee with no cream and just a hint of sugar. The mouthfeel seems to imitate an iced coffee also.
This beer is not bad, but I prefer a more bitter coffee and a creamier mouthfeel.

 

Thank you for kicking things off today @jkblr , and congratulations for completing your tastings across all styles. Looking forward to getting the rest of my reviews in, hopefully this Winter, to see where things stand for me.

Two cellar beers selected for this weekend, both 2020 Drago variants. Sadly their 2021 release was postponed due to an equipment failure (they are converting theses batch to make Drago Whiskey), but gladly I will still have three more remaining after this weekend. Capones and a few other places may still have these 2020 variants, the brewery still has the 2018 variants in their cellar available for purchase (I'll get to my remaining 2018 selection likely early next year).

Weekend Selections - 2020 Wild Onion Drago Hazelnut vs. 2020 Wild Onion Almond Boy



Selection for today: 2020 Wild Onion Drago Hazelnut



Can Notes: 12 oz 11% ABV 2020 Drago Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout. Canned 3/17/20, purchased at on store shelves a few months later, cellared until 9/3/21, refrigerated since until opening today.

Appearance: 12 oz can poured into short rim snifter, near pitch black with bright tan carbonation visible during my single pour into the snifter. Creamy tan head lingers for a minute before leaving a creamy whit tan ring above the lacing. 4.25

Aroma: Strong vanilla and hazelnut dominates all else, both after opening and 20 minutes in. Base and barrel overwhelmed. 3.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, though hazelnut leads and is strong and pleasant, the vanilla heavy, a bit too heavy. Both dominate the base. The barrel begins to emerge close to a half hour in, somewhat sweeter bourbon, the heat arrives, pleasant, non arresting. Bakers chocolate and nice oak emerges as well once the proper temperature is reached. Let this sit until near room temperature for a more robust treatment. That said, the adjuncts held on well and deliver as advertised, no fading. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Near full body, creamy. Sweet overall, but the bourbon helps contain any excess. Starts out light, but early in the ABV gives you a solid left jab. This beer strong like bull. Carbonation fizzy and consistent throughout, held up well over the aging. Light hazelnut aftertaste, pleasant. 4.5

Overall: Another outstanding Drago variant. Held up well over the 20 months, flavors as expected, barrel and base well incorporated. Would have liked a little more of the base to come through. This beer feels much stronger than the listed 11%, must be on your A Game when you enter the ring with Drago and his compatriots. Very enjoyable, glad I popped this open today. 4.25

Coming in, I like the flavor profile of tomorrow's selection more before tasting, hoping to have a similar or perhaps even better experience on Sunday (I always save my more highly anticipated selection(s) for New Beer Sunday).

Time to catch up on this and other thread, BA very active since Friday.

Cheers!

 

Poured into a 16 Nordic pint glass canned on 11/18/21. Pours a hazy yellow with a half finger sticky white head that leaves a ton of lace with solid retention. 4.5

Aroma is mango, tangerine, papaya, honeydew, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 4.25

Taste follows mango, tangerine, papaya, honeydew, apricot, and a little grapefruit in the finish, really well balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, maybe a little sticky but not dry, soft gentle carbonation almost creamy carbonation, and at 8.5% really goes down easy. 4.5

Overall I am a fan of this brewery, rarely blows you away, but always above a 4 and a well crafted brew. 4.25 Double Something Citra by Finback.