New Beer Weekend #76

Boulevard BA Imperial Stout & Barleywine Ale, 14.2% ABV. Pours black with a ring of brown bubbles that left no lacing. Nose is bourbon and vague sweetness. Taste is cherry, dark fruit, brown sugar, and chocolate, moderately sweet, slightly bitter. Excellent mouthfeel, leaving sticky lips, overall excellent.

4.18/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Getting ready for the Packers game, never know how it'll go with the Vikings.

 

Jester King Figlet Saison with smoked figs, 6.2% ABV; 3.81 overall

Pours an effervescent orange/honey with one finger of beige colored head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: White grapes, figs, jammyness

T: Follows the nose, some smokey notes, green apple skins & a touch of peppery yeast bite up frpnt. Some dryness & a little smokeyness as this warms, mostly figs and a little green apple. Finishes sweet, a little jammy with a little leafy hops

MF: Light body, lively carbonation

A different slant on style, didn't really impress me

 

Mission - Dark Seas, a Russian Imperial Stout that @Beersnake1 sent me, and for which I am thankful.

12oz bottle served in a footed pilsner glass. If there is a date on it, I don't see it.

Pours black with a general, dark tan head, medium carbonation. Nice looking beer. Smell is super roasty, lots of anise and coffee aroma.

Taste is very bitter, more burnt grains than roasted grains, still strong anise character. If I try, I can turn spin some of the flavor toward very dark chocolate or cacao nibs.

Mouthfeel is medium, maybe leaning toward heavy, but surprisingly seems to be somewhat effervescent. Overall, this is a really solid RIS.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. I've been taking it easy, beer-wise, for the past few days, including staying remarkably under control on NYE. December was extremely stressful at work and I'm still wiped out. So I'm starting out easily today with a 3% Table Saison I received from @FBarber in the recent BIF: The Art of Holding Space from Keeping Together Brewing in Chicago.

Poured into a tulip glass. It pours a pale, cloudy, golden-straw color with a thin, ecru-colored head that fizzled away quickly. It's highly effervescent. The nose is fragrant and classic funky farmhouse with notes of lemon, berry, coriander, and earthy tobacco. It's far more try and grassy than the smell indicates The prevailing taste is tart - almost bitter - lemon peel along with the Belgian spicing and pepper. It's also strongly earthy. The mouth feel is extremely crisp and lite with lively carbonation, and the 3% ABV is barely noticeable. Overall, The Art of Holding Space serves its purpose well: as a table Saison it would pair well with almost any cuisine. I enjoyed it with sharp cheese and rye crackers.

4.22/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you, Frank! This really hit the spot this afternoon and will allow me to review a second new beer. Cheers!

 

Another can from @MNAle, this time a smoked helles. It poured cloudier than I was expecting, and came across almost more like a hefe than helles (less cereal/bread, more fruity esters)..but man, it's basically a liquid campfire and I have absolutely no problem with that.

This intro to Hammerheart has been a blast so far and I've got 2 styles left to try...

 

Happy Sunday!!! Been very hectic here at the phisher house; took down the tree and indoor decorations, potting training our youngest while also containing our dog because we rolled up all the rugs, she is still recovering from ACL surgery, but alas beer will save the day.

Courtesy of @BBThunderbolt another beautiful can and beer from Kulshan

Kulshan - Red Cap (a 4.8% irish red ale)



Pours a beautiful crystal clear brown at first glance, hold this up to light and it is a crystal clear red, gorgeous color. The photo is not that indicative of the color at all, but it was the best I could do at the moment. I noticed the same cohesive cap of head on this beer that I noticed on the other Kulshan beer I had, this one has a slight brown tint to it but its mostly white.

Aroma is mostly that of mildly toasted, just verging on burnt, rustic like bread. Some sweet toffee/caramel notes as it warms up, some earthy hops as well.

Taste is the same burnt like bread, followed by some burnt sugar/toffee like flavors, also get some grain from it as well. There is also a moderate and noticeable general hoppiness to this beer, like the aroma little earthy.

Light to medium body, very creamy and soft carbonation, leaves a nice feeling on the palette and finishes with a nice moderate bitterness. Very easy drinking full flavor enjoyable beer. I started eating dinner about halfway through it pairs wonderfully with our soup that I made for dinner.

Second beer from this brewery, another winner, thanks for sharing Terry.

 

Jack, it was an odd one time thing and I really don’t remember well enough.

 

Angry Chair Space Grass IPA

G'afternoon NBS/NBW-ers!

Picked up a can as part of a mix-a-six at my usual ABC Fine Wine & Spirits on NYE.

Poured from a 16 oz. can into a Belgian snifter.
Beautiful cloudy pale golden body with a thick off white head. Tiny bands of lacing left inside the glass.
Definite hop presence on the nose, orange, grapefruit and citrus from the Azacca, that noticeable pungent catpiss and dankness from Simcoe.
Taste is subtle, surprisingly, but has plenty of grapefruit tang and a bitter bite on the end. Finishes clean with little pine on the palate.
Overall, enjoyable and crushable at 6.7% abv. Not a mind blowing IPA, but really well done.

Cheers!

 

Reflecting on 2021 I definitely had a lot of great beers with 255 reviews written this year, from custom barrel aged beers to enjoying more and more lagers it has been a good year of beer. My first review of 2021 was Firestone 24 and in a new tradition for me I’m starting with Firestone 25!

4.52/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

12 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Dark brown, almost black, with a two finger tan head.

S- Chocolate, figs, dark fruits, hints of coconut, barrels are interesting in this, bourbon is this most present but the brandy and tequila bring some great notes, oak, slightly earthy, some roasted malts, hints of leather.

T- Chocolate, leather, figs, oak, barrels again are interesting with bourbon being the heaviest but brandy and tequila are slightly noticeable, some caramel, slightly earthy.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- One of the more interesting barrel profiles from these anniversary blends. Great balance and easy to drink.

Happy new year, wearing mask, get vaccinated and stay safe everyone, cheers!!

 

Well one last new beer for the weekend.. maybe?

Bombtrack Double IPA - Austin Street Brewing, ME



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

A bit muddy looking orange, with hints of faint brown through a very opaque and nearly turbid looking body. Creamy bright white topped forming head, Making an easy three fingers, possibly four in height. Real rich lathery looking top, whipped like shaving cream and dolloped. Big retention and staying power and barely even budging. Nice aggressive IPA, wish that body color was a bit nicer looking.

An absolutely ripping aroma. Huge hop flavors of tropical fruit bursting off the nose. Mango, to sticky over ripe lemon, and even an almost banana like mush and peaches somehow. Thick sensations of dank steaming earth, with musty and sweet soil notes also. This is just a head rush that is just exceptional. Malt and yeast and body notes stay out of the way for this hop nose crush. Unique and super impressive.

Palate comes a bit unexpected. Lighter but solid backbone with flirting touches of wet fruit. There's a real unique sour orange bitterness and flavor in the mid palate particularly. Flirts with juiced qualities, but it's lighter mouthfeel doesn't quite get the beer into juicy territory of NEIPA grandness. Peach fruit and light touches of mild bitterness somewhere between herbal and pine round out nicely.

You would think with that exceptional nose we would be heading for greatness, but in the end the palate still makes a tasty front.

look: 3.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | Final score: 4.17/5

Cheers

 

@swanfungus, it's nice to have someone else posting Hammerheart beers in the NBW thread! I'm happy you are enjoying them. Today, I'm catching up with your previous post in WBAYDN last week.

Hammerheart Surtr's Flame Smoked IPA
ABV: 8.8%
IBU: NA

At 8.8% ABV, this is a potent IPA. No claim of it being a double or triple or imperial; so, just a 8.8% ABV IPA.

Moderately strong aroma of citrus. Faint smoke.

Hazy-clear dark amber body, ample carbonation, and a 1/2 inch thick slightly off-white head with excellent retention, leaving thick rings of lacing.

The taste is old-school WCIPA. Strongly bitter with citrus and a bit of pine, a bit sweet. In the middle comes the light touch of smoke. The campfire smoke is done with a deft touch that complements rather than dominates the classic AIPA flavors. The finish is bitter and dry (the sweetness having disappeared), leading to lingering bitter citrus and smoke remaining in the aftertaste.

The body is moderate (for and IPA) with the expected dry bittering.

Overall, this is an old-school IPA, citrus and bitter, and it demonstrates the skill and confidence in the brewer's handling of the smoked malts to not allow them to overwhelm the IPA itself. Very well done.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.25 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.13

PS: @swanfungus, @UrbanCaveman, to answer the question posed in the WBAYDN thread (which I didn't see until the thread had closed), despite their somewhat confusing announcement, Hammerheart is still brewing small batches in their Lino Lakes brewery, canning, and distributing in the Twin Cities area. Their tap room is closed. IDK whether they are still distributing kegs or how broadly they are distributing. I just know that some stores in the Twin Cities still get new product from time to time.

 

Good evening and best wishes to all in the comng year.
Up early today and off hiking around MT Tom range. Great time with friends.
Home now enjoying some Engineers Reserve.
I really like the malt exploration, i would suggest this is less stout as catagorized, and more dark Scottish ale. All good as far as I'm concerned.
Cheers all

Old Engine Oil Engineer's Reserve Blackest Ale

Stout - Sweet / Milk | 9% ABV

Harviestoun Brewery Ltd.
Alva, Scotland

4/5 rDev -5.2% | Average: 4.22
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 11.2oz bottle (undated) into the test glass
A - Dark indeed, Chalkboard black, gently carbonated. A thin offwhite cap quickly exits.
S - Roast malt on the darker end, a bit of char, dark chocolate. There is some dark fruit, fig as well.
T - A narrow band of Dark malts, a bit of bakers chocolate, and again the slightest hint of burnt sugar, char.
M - medium in texture, a bit slick, carbonation is not up to the challenge of cleaning up. The start is semi sweet with a really delightful dry finish
O - A good stout, sweet yes, maybe a stout masked as a Scottish ale more the way I see it, The malt attributes are outstanding. An offering worth the effort to find and enjoy

 

It is rather late to have an Oktoberfest, and this one is no longer at its freshest. I am only to blame as I got caught up in trying other beers and forgot about it. It seems to have held up well given its refreshing quality, though there is a very faint taste of cardboard. Despite this, there is a nice complement of caramel along with some sharp hops for the style. I seem to remember drinking this Oktoberfest from Upland Brewing Company more than a decade ago, and recall it being 6.8 % ABV and much darker and fuller - this one is lighter and only 6.1 % ABV. Of the two, this lighter version is better In my opinion.

 

I think I'll be joining you in, "Gee, I should have drank this Oktoberfest a while ago..." in a little while.

 

¡Ahuevo!


A stout from Madtree that reminds me of a lesser version of Stone Xocovesa. The same elements are there: dark body, creamy mouthfeel, cacao, vanilla, lactose and hot pepper. Hopped with chinook and it plays well with the myriad malts used.

This beer says it’s using cayenne, but I got no strong pepper flavor. Like it’s Stone counterpart, the beer gets the cacao flavor right. I hate one can reviews and would love to try it on tap, hoping the flavors would pop. Worth a shot as perhaps your taste buds are better suited.

 

Day #3!!! I made a trip to Transient (my favorite brewery) for the first time in almost two months after I learned they had an amped up version of The Juice Is Loose, which is the first beer I tried from them 4 years ago (whilst we were living in Texas).

I loved Juice, a very appropriately named named NEIPA featuring Citra and Simcoe hops, so to say I’m pumped up to try this “double” version of Juice would be an understatement of mythical proportions.

Let’s see how the double does!





4.46/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours an almost murky apricot color with an egg white head that laces the glass like Velcro. The nose is dank citrus, primarily ripe oranges, grapefruit, and an herbal earthy note that is mouthwatering, IMHO.

The taste leads with that ripe orange flavor, with a bit of grapefruit, and that earthy herbal flavor that provides some balance, and there’s a whole lot of balance provided by sweetness from creamy oats. Delicious.

The mouthfeel is substantial, if a bit watery. Still, this is a worthy addition to the Juice family, though I prefer the original a bit to this “double” version.

 

As I mentioned, @jkrich, this Oktoberfest has been chilling a bit too long, and you have inspired me to end its life.

Bayern's Oktoberfest.

12oz bottle served in a stemless wineglass. Not totally sure, but it looks like it may have been marked as "best before November 2021" -- the tick mark next to 21 is clear, but there is not a clear tick mark next to a month.

Pours very dark, clear, small head that is very dense and is mostly a ring around the glass, though there's a fairly generous dusting through the center of the surface. Smell is fairly muted, burnt toffee, maybe some nuts, roasted grains, a hint of anise.

Taste is strong on dark roasty flavors, and light on most else. Nuts, toffee, and anise make their appearance. Kind of makes me think of overdone toast.

Mouthfeel is light, dry. Overall, it's not exciting, but pretty good.

 

Big Snail


Yet another wonderful barrel aged stout from the masters at Jackie O’s coming in at 13.2% ABV.

A dark black pour with insubstantial head throughout it pours like motor oil. Nose and taste are dominated by the bourbon barrel, honey, toffee, chocolate and vanilla.

Really nice and not too sweet which was surprising based on the flavor notes. Very pleasant mouthfeel as well. Highly recommended.

 

Howdy NBW
It’s been a few since I posted here

Industry Versus Inferiority from Bissell Brothers
6.2 abv IPA style
Idaho 7 Amarillo Mosaic hops. Golden Promise, 2 row and flaked barley. Caraston, C-80 OG: 1.062

Poured from a can dated 11/23/21
Thick apricot color with an inch high creamy head, soapy lacing, thin cap

Aroma of tropical fruits, melon, lemon, mint, malt and some pine. Kind of a overripe fruit note.

Taste is fruity as in guava, pineapple, grapefruit, mint and melon. Kind of resinous but some sweetness to balance out the wet old grass taste.

Big mouthfeel with a whole bunch of layers, tropical fruit, bitter citrus rind, malt, mint and melon. Fairly smooth With medium carbonation and finishes slightly sour dry with a hint of a spearmint note.

Overall it’s a well balanced well layered beer. A lot of fruits and a surprisingly nice mint like finish. Easy drinking just enough sweetness to take the edge off the bitterness
4.5/ 4.25/ 4/ 4.25/ 4.25/. 4.17. rDev 4.17 - 1.2%