New Beer Weekend #75

Merry Christmas Day. Having built and played with toys all morning I thought it was time for a nice easy drinker.

East Rock Pilsner (BB date 2/16/22, not sure what shelf life they go by…)



Pours a very light pale color, slight haze to it. Vigorous pour leaves a nice head the leaves decent lacing as it settles. Head remains as a thin layer of white that continues with minor lacing.

First thing that hits my nose is a noticeable tangy sweetness, like honey mixed with citrus. As it warms I notice a grassy herbal ness as well.

Taste is similar and to me with the sweetness and citrus hitting first followed by a grassy note. It has a very nice soft malt taste to it as well.

Mouthfeel is light, just a touch sweet, dry finish, the bitterness just hits the moderate zone for me.

enjoying this beer but my only down tick is that it is just a touch sweet for my taste preference. Keep the Christmas Day beers come, be back later today.

 

Merry Christmas, NBW! I hope everyone has something to be happy about today. I sure do.

For one thing, this very nice beer that @Beersnake1 sent me: 2021 Fundamental Observation Imperial Vanilla Stout from Bottle Logic.

500ml bottle split between a pair of tulips. 2021 bottle, batch 007. Mine is labeled "Imperial Vanilla Stout" and the label lists it as 14.0% abv.

Pours black, very thick, no head, no visible carbonation. Smell is sweet milk chocolate, alcohol, roasty/burnt bitterness.

Taste is sweet chocolatey, lots of booze, vanilla, oak. Strong roast bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is thick, chewy, with a small amount of grittiness. Overall, very nice beer!

 

Good afternoon NBW
I took a risk on a six pack since it was Sierra Nevada and just over three weeks old.

Powder Day IPA
12oz can PKGD 120221 M 18:07 poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 7.7% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright light honey amber in color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Web like lacing covers the glass as the head retreats. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring tropical and citrus notes. The taste is semisweet tropical fruit salad with a hint of pale malt. Moderate bitterness with a watery finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, ok. Sierra Nevada does their best work with C hops and caramel malt and this is not it.

There are two other ratings beside my review and both of those individuals scored this one higher, so maybe ignore what I say.

Cheers all!

 

Merry Christmas BA's!
Two Brothers Bare Tree
The Blend, barrel aged and non barrel aged Barleywine style Weiss beer.
3.99/5 rDev -1.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a pale, cloudy orange, small off white head that fades to a small ring, no lacing. Nose gets some stone fruit. Tasteis also stone fruit, grain , some toffee, a hint of alcohol. Thin for the style, but pretty tasty, drinks easily. Nice beer.

 

My first new beer of the weekend was Westmalle Trappist Triple, which I somehow managed to post in the wrong thread. https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/posts/7419365/
I'll give it another go, this time with Westmalle Trappist Dubbel.

Is it served in a moose glass? Yes it is. Has anybody else every had this beer in a moose glass? Who knows?

3.71/5 rDev -11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Cola colored pour with a medium amount of coffee ice cream colored head. Medium retention and good lacing. Aroma is somewhat muted, with sweet fruity esters present, along with faint caramel. Taste is pleasant, yet somehow unremarkable. It goes down very easily, and it's tasty, but it lacks much in the way of complexity. There's more caramel on the tongue than the nose, and overall it's relatively sweet. This is a good example of a beer that doesn't wow me, but it's still very nice to drink and I'd be happy to have multiple of this while hanging out at a bar with friends. In some respects, maybe that's what beer is supposed to be.

 

Happy Holidays!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/180/2347/

Full disclosure:
I rated this beer in July of 2014 at a Belgian bottle share.
There were 7 or 8 of us according to a friend I just reached out to.
Also, he said most of our pours (including this one) were very small.

Here now is a proper review.



750 ml. bottle.
Bottled 174th day of 2021.

Gentle to moderate pour yields a one inch plus off white head over a dark copper body with a bit of lacing. There are very impressive tiny bubbles feeding the head nonstop.

Nose exhibits funk, herbs, malt and spice. Pretty nice!

Taste mirrors nose somewhat with the malt coming forward; some dark fruit and figs as well.
This beer is getting better and better with each sip and/or I'm starting to feel the 10% abv!
After 30 minutes, the finish has toffee and caramel.

Mouthfeel is very good, filling your mouth every time.

Overall, quite enjoyable on Christmas Day and will have again next year.
Cheers!

 

From the Founders Advent Calendar 2021. One of only a handful of beers that are not readily available on the shelves of most Michigan beer stores, so I was excited to try it as a taproom only release.

my reviewours dark amber with a finger of mocha foam reducing to a nice cap and thick sheets of lacing. Aroma is bitter coffee, milk chocolate, and maple syrup along with sweet sugared pie crust. Taste follows suit with a nice bitter coffee overtone and maple syrup accents with a sweet chocolate sauce finish. Feel is silky smooth and thick as all get out. Mouth coating and oily in the best of way. May be my best beer this year.

Cheers fellas and Merry Christmas

 

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that does that.

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A new Christmas beer for me.

Gouden Carolus Christmas
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: NA

Cloudy-clear dark red through the backlight, with ample visible carbonation. Short tan head fading within a few minutes to a splotchy cap.

Aroma has elements of dark fruits and sweet mint candy.

Taste repeats the aroma: mint candy, figs, and raisins. Licorice, bready fruitcake. Very much a Christmas drink. Enjoyable, but seems to lack a certain gravitas. No obvious alcohol present in the flavor. Very slight warming in the lingering aftertaste.

The body is on the thin side of medium. Feel is smooth and creamy.

Overall, a good Christmas ale. Good holiday fruitcake and spices flavors.

L: 3.75 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.73

 

Day #2, Merry Christmas, BA’s. A couple more beers that are courtesy of our friend @snaotheus and NBW BIF #14.

These BIF’s are the gift that literally keeps on giving.





4.33/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a very hazy orange color with a fluffy white head and beautiful, substantial lacing. The nose is citrus tilted to the exotic side of the spectrum, with papaya, mango, and passion fruit complementing grapefruit and pineapple notes. I am intrigued.

The taste edges toward the exotic side with the papaya, mango, and passion fruit more prominent than the grapefruit and pineapple, and a nice sweet oat flavor at the back of the palate. Delicious stuff, IMHO.

Medium mouthfeel maybe a bit on the watery side, this is still a deliciously juicy NEIPA that I’d keep in my beer fridge.

 

Good evening NBW
Only my second Berliner Weisse and my first ever New Glarus tick compliments of @BigIronH

Thumbprint Pear 21
12oz bottle coded A012 1258 poured into a perfect pint glass at 48° Fahrenheit, no ABV listed on label. The beer pours hefe-hazy in a peach colored amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and partial layer of tiny bubbles. The aroma is mild with sweet and tart notes of pear. The taste is semisweet pear juice with just a hint of salinity plus pale & wheat malt. Mildly tart and negligible bitterness. The mouthfeel is slick, yet thinner bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, very well crafted Berliner Weisse.

Thanks Harley! I was a little nervous as I'm not normally a sour guy, but this is really well done and enjoyable IMO.

Cheers all!

 

Hey what's going on?!?

A big Holiday weekend huh for NBW! Pretty hard core!

I got lots of new goodies having traveled through New England a bit. Keeping contact to a minimum too.

Had a chance to try Mott The Lesser at Tributary but we had to keep moving so I passed.. sad face.

But I have had plenty of tasty new beer including a few surprises.

Whats new for our hero today???

Bissell Brothers - Reciprocal



Poured from the can into a elongated tulip glass. Canned Nov 23rd 2021.

Milky and slightly turbid juiced lemon custard yellow. Dollop creamed white head, rich at three fingers you could lather with a spoon. Sheet laced and island puck retention, very good looking Ne character not a sludge fest either.

Aroma is a delicious hop bonanza. Soft herbs and dank aromatic sweetness on the nose at first. There's a sweet cream like note bordering on vanilla also it seems. Touches just a hint of pithy grapefruit citrus also. Very pleasant and surprising. Fl

Palate is like lemon heat. Sharp hop bitterness totally unexpected in a creamed body. Hits with lime and earth and an excellent happy mid palate of spice. Aftertaste brings a pine earth like note that fills nicely. Lemon and pine bitterness like a tropical pine cone.

Really like this aggressive bitterness in this package which is a nice change from the sugar tropical neipa messes out there.

Look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 | Final score 4.46

Cheers!

 

R. Shea Brewing Christmas Ale


A pint can of a winter warmer weighing in at 6.5% ABV. An interesting take on the style that is very popular in these parts.

Pours an amber body with a small amount of head that manages to hand in there for the entire tasting without leaving much lacing.

Nose is a nice but small waft of malt and apple. Body reveals more flavor. Lingering upon swallows one finds ginger and cherry smoke from the malts to go along with apple. A slight sweetness at the backend making for a novel profile. Mouthfeel is on the light side for the style but the carbonation is nice.

I’ll try this one again next year.

 

#2, also courtesy of @snaotheus, this is a magnificent BA barleywine.





4.49/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a dark mahogany brown color that definitely approaches Murkyville and sports a creamy, substantial tan head. The nose is a little booze from the barrel as well as some oak, and toffee and cocoa notes as well. I am literally salivating like a dog sniffing a ribeye steak.

The booze is present on the taste, but lurks in the background while the toffee, vanilla, subtle cocoa and an unexpected stone fruit note lead the flavor parade this beer offers.

The mouthfeel is substantial and on the creamy side, perfect for the style. I could drink this for days on end around a campfire on a cold Northern Indiana evening. World class stuff, IMHO.

 

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Canned 11/18/21. Day one of a "12 days of Christmas" box my kids gave me.

Pours clear dark yellow with a HUGE head and medium carbonation. Smell is grass, straw, light breadiness.

Taste is surprisingly flavorful. Tons of grassy / spicy / earthy bitterness. Moderate to high graininess. Light honeysuckle sweetness.

Mouthfeel is light, dry, very effervescent. Overall, nice beer.

 

That is so much darker than I remember! But, apparently my memory is flawed, because it looks pretty similar to the previous year.

 

I wish I had bought myself at least one of those. I love that beer.

 

Synthwave by Hop Butcher for the world

4.02/5 rDev +2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4



Can received in a ninja strike associated with Bif 14 from @FBarber

Brewers Notes: NZ Cascade and Riwaka hopped + phantasm American Pale Ale

If the idea of high-flavor, low-ABV, all-New Zealand, all-the-time hop juice gets your blood pumping like it does ours, you're in for a treat next week. Synthwave and it's hop bill BRINGS it..and with phantasm added in for good New Zealandy measure.

Pale hazy lemony straw colored liquid capped by a four finger off white fluffy foam cap , good retention , spotty lacings , settles to a frothy layer

Aroma is floral

Taste is citrus lemon, grapefruit , floral

Sudsy mouthfeel , no bite

Good beer Gritty

 

Decided to open a gift I received today, a new to me brewery and beer from Hammonton, NJ

Vinyl Brewing - Disconnected (6% maple coffee stout)


Beautiful pouring beer pours black with a thick slow forming light brown head. Settled to much of nothing but boy was it a beauty while it slowly formed and then settled.

The aroma is all, literally all coffee. Like diner coffee but strong, once upon a time I used to enjoy the “donut shop” k cups and that is what this smells like; donut shop coffee. Unfortunately any other aroma is masked by the potent coffee.

The taste is same, very coffee forward but with a nice rich roast to it. It almost tastes like flavored coffee, possibly hazelnut. It doesn’t say they used hazelnut so I don’t think it is but that is how it is coming off. If this was warm it would be a cup of coffee.

Medium body; pleasantly smooth soft carbonation, slight sweetness (only evidence of maple), dark roast coffee bitterness.

Overall it’s a good beer all be it very one note, tone down the coffee and I think this would be a better beer. First beer from this brewery, it’s well made enough for me to gladly try more of theirs if I come across them.