New Beer Weekend #77

Good Morning and welcome to New Beer Sunday 881. Today is a rare, at least for me, crack at the haze. Never heard of BlackStack (Saint Paul, Minnesota) until coming across this collaboration with suburban brewer Phase Three, so took the plunge for a single can of this Double / Imperial IPA.

Phase Three / BlackStack Collaboration Black Bouquet



Can Notes: Brewed and canned at Phase Three brewing on 12/30/21 @ 13:25:02. Black Hole Sun can note. 8% ABV, dairy free. Double dry-hopped double india pale ale. Mosaic, Talus, Idaho 7 & Strata.

Appearance: Fresh squeezed OJ base, very generous creamy bubbly rich head leaves generous lacing throughout the pour and a nice cover over the base. 4.75

Aroma: Strong tropical fruity flavor, pineapple, citrus, tangerine, lime. 4.25

Taste: Bitter hops take hold here, tropical sweetness tugs hard to assert it's authority. More of a tug-of-war than a melding or balancing at first, after which it seems to all come together well. Pine resin and pine cones, pineapple and tangerine, a little weed. Enjoying this morning, a nice OJ substitute. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Medium creamy body, nice melding of the sweet tastes and hop bitterness, drinks below the 8% ABV, clean finish. 4.25

Overall: This is a solid balanced hazy double IPA. Love the balance, bursting with flavor, bitterness asserts itself aggressively at first and then melds well and bring this home to a happy place. Would purchase more hazy offerings if they were brewed like this. BlackStack doesn't distribute here, though would like to visit next time I'm up that way. 4.25

Glad I stopped for some NA beers yesterday, salvaged my New Beer Weekend. Wishing you an equally enjoyable beer day today!

Enjoyed this Sunday appropriate tune while reviewing.

 

Good morning NBS/nbw and thanks @SawDog505 for hosting this week.
Todays offering is from BLDG8 a very good dark lager from this brewery which is expanding its types of offerings. The body, and clean lager fermentaion profile make this quite a delight to drink. I would advocate for canning dates, but I'm sure they hear enough of that.
Its icing rain here in the Pioneer Valley so today will be a day to make some green pea soup.
Do good
Be well


Schwarzbier

Lager - Schwarzbier | 5.1% ABV

Building 8 Brewing (BLDG8)
Northampton, Massachusetts

4.09/5 rDev 0% | Average: 4.09
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from an undated, recently purchased 16 oz can.
A - Dark cocoa color, some light makes it through, showing no haze, a beautiful beer in that sense. Solid pour yields a frothy off white cap. Lacing is ring by ring, showing off fine retention.
S - Some light roast coffee, milk chocoale, earthy noble grassy hop thread.
T - A bit of cola along with the aromatics tranferred to the palate.
M - A delight, medium body, dances across the palate, barely touching down. Crisp, wonderful swing toward bitterness and dry quick exit.
O - A very nice addition to this breweries repetoire, Dark Lager in every respect. Just enough bitterness, full of flavor, quite lovely on the palate. Nice job BLDG 8

 

G'morning NBS/NBW-ers!

Hidden Springs Aleworks is always pushing the envelope with their sour ales. This one is no exception.

Hidden Springs Apple Of My Eye
Apple pie inspired sour ale with lactose.

Poured from a 16 oz can into a Snörkel glass.

Appearance looks like unfiltered apple juice. Thin 1/2 finger of head that disappears, no lacing.

Aroma...amazing! Smells just like an apple pie! Tart apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla.

Taste follows suit with the aroma. Cinnamon, vanilla, baked crust, tart apple and a slight saltiness.

Mouthfeel is light, sweet up front, clean apple pie flavor in the middle, tartness at the end.

Overall, a sour ale that really lives up to it's design. Liquid apple pie!

Cheers!

 

FA Cup on one screen, work on the other, and a great beer in my glass. My Sunday is off to a good start.

My first beer for today is 25th Anniversary Big Yeti from Great Divide Brewing Co in Denver, CO. I received this courtesy of @adrock314 in 2021.

4.3/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Canned on June 25, 2019. Poured at 50 degrees into a tulip.

Very good looking beer. It's dark, dark brown / borderline black, but for me what makes it stand out is the gorgeous, dense, long lasting mocha colored head. It has a really nice coloration, and leaves behind very nice lacing. If I saw this beer from across the room, I'd surely ask it to dance.

Aroma is rich, with caramel and toffee leading the way, but not much in the way of roast.

Taste is the reverse of the aroma. Big, rich roasty malts dominate the palate, with a pleasant boozy warmth on the back end. The sweetness and bitterness are very well balanced. Very tasty beer.

Feel is smooth, thick and chewy and a real pleasure.

Overall, this is excellent.

 

Sending positive thoughts your way @FBarber I know the feeling. Unfortunately even the excitement of a new beer doesn’t do much when the dark clouds seem to be hovering.

I haven’t listened to string cheese incident in a while but this line always rings true…

“Rollercoaster's got to roll to the bottom
If you want to climb to the top again”

 

Sorry to hear about your bad week, but congratulations on your raffle win! Nice to see Doug’s continued success with these fundraisers. I participate via raffle (I have no instagram account to bid on the silent auctions).

Thanks for reviewing Beers for Lounging, want to hit the brewery to pick some up after this ice melts later this week. So glad they nailed it!

Have had the same hit or miss reaction overall with the Beer for series, the Kolsch the most disappointing because I hate to see a wasted Kolsch opportunity.

Hope you score a package you like with your draft win!

 

Howdy NBWs
I wish I could remember which BA gave me this beer. My memory sucks and I apologize, I should have labeled it.


Hopping Frog Sippin' Into Darkness Chocolate Imperial Stout V2
8.25 oz. can 12.6 avb
Poured from a can dated best by 2/25/24
Black like motor oil with a thick light brown creamy head. slight lacing no cap to speak of
Aroma of rich chocolate, caramel, vanilla, roasted malt, coffee and black licorice maybe nutmeg and anise.
Taste is rich dark chocolate with roasted coffee beans, caramel and anise. Some alcohol comes through
Mouthfeel is kind of sticky brown sugary sweet up front, fairly creamy and low carbonation and nicely layered. Finishes up a tick dry with an anise/black licorice taste and slight alcohol burn.
Overall it's a nice tasting imperial stout, very drinkable and the 12.6 abv is well hidden. Extremely well layered flavors all come through and an anise finish that is unusual but good.

4.50/ 4.25/ 4 / 4.25/ 4.25/ 4.17/ rDev+4%

 

Utopia’s Barrel-Aged World Wide Stout a 17.3% ABV booze bomb from Dogfish Head. I’m not a big fan of either World Wide Stout or the Utopias. WWS is to over the top for an Imperial Stout, almost like a Port Wine. Utopias just remind me of cheap whiskey. Still I decided to spend $10.00 on a 12OZ bottle of this. Poured into a stemless red wine glass this beer is black with a thick brown head that lasts about 10 seconds and vanishes . there is a powerful aroma of dried fruit, malt and alcohol. The taste is very complex chocolate, fruit, vanilla etc and a large alcohol bite. The mouthfeel is full but not thick. Overall not a very enjoyable beer for this BA.

 

Moonraker Original Oil sounds like a collaboration between JW Lee's and Haviestoun. It looks like Old Engine Oil Reserve.

 

Loved reading this. But felt bad that you went through that experience.

 

My son brought this beer in this afternoon. Never heard of this CT brewery, but it appears Thimble Island contract brews for them. Nice label and theme, unfortunately the beer does not hold up to the graphic standards. The can was undated, maybe this can is just very old.


3.05/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Poured from an undated 16oz can to a Nonic at fridge temp.
A 1/4" white head sits above a translucent body that glows with light from behind. Head fades quickly and lacing is not existent.
Aroma is rather medicinal, of over-ripe fruit and some turpentine-like volitals.
Taste has some background fruit but the overall flavor is diacetyl.
Body is thin as can be and despite bubbles clinging to glass the carbonation is poor.
Oh well. Didn't finish.