New Beer Weekend #82

After the last Illinoisian beer that I had, I craved redemption. And I knew it was within my grasp. Phase Three Brewing came to town for the first time this week! They are the 2nd best NEIPA brewer in the middle part of the USA, after Hop Butcher for the World! The is an el dorado single hop NEIIPA. The look is creamy straw yellow. The perfect color for the style. The smell is intense, powerful, pineapple and pear. Intoxicating. The taste is so beautiful! Creamy, delicious, fruit salad. Pineapple, pear, apple, banana... just perfect! The mouthfeel is smooth and creamy. Remarkable! Apple sauce mixed with an Orange Julius. Overall, this is the best beer I have ever experienced that involves the el dorado hop. It has such a unique creamy mouthfeel. I love this beer, and I love this brewery!

 

A fun filled morning so far…grabbed two giant hoagies (one smoked turkey and one Italian) and met my brother and his family at my moms. All the kids played, we caught up, got full bellies and now we’re home. Still insanely beautiful for February so this beer from @snaotheus paired nicely, a blueberry sour.

Urban Family - curse breaker



I was skeptical of the look of this beer but it was a pleasant surprise. Poured a deep red with hints of purple, soda like head quickly formed and just as quickly dissipated.

The look made me think this beer would be super sweet. But initial smell was lacto sour first and foremost; reminds me almost of an Arnold Palmer oddly enough, the berry comes off as cranberry.

A pleasant refreshing taste to it, very balanced. I get the same almost Arnold Palmer like vibe with a dash of berry as a sweetener to cut the sour.

Light to medium body, spritzy and lively carbonation adds to the refreshing feel of this beer; sour but not overly so and no bitterness.

For a style I never really visit this was an enjoyable experience. Especially on this oddly hot winter day. It’s balanced, refreshing and not overly sweet or overly tart. Thanks for sharing @snaotheus

 

We got 6, so I will BOLO for this one!

 

Thank you @Shanex for kicking things off today. Have two Chicago classic Imperial Stouts planned for the weekend. I had iterations of both over the years but never these two offerings. Keeping NBW/NBS for beers canned/bottled this decade, Cellaruary for the prior decade.

Half Acre 2020 Vanilla Bethnic



Can Notes: Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with Toasted Coconut & Madagascar Vanilla. 13.7% ABV, 16 oz canned 10/12/20 @ 15:52, can stamp ICE ICE BABY. Purchased refrigerated at the brewery in December 2020, refrigerated since until opening.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a small snifter glass. Near pitch black base, nice dark tan cream head lingers for a few minutes before leaving a cover over most of the base and a cream rich tan ring above the rim. 4.5

Aroma: Heavy chocolate fudge leads, vanilla following with a strong second placement, coconuts follows. No barrel noted, even after warming for 20 minutes. Smells very sweet. 4.0

Taste: Very sweet, chocolate fudge leads again followed this time by coconut and then vanilla. Bourbon emerges taste wise, silky smooth and well incorporated, balancing out the sweet adjuncts. Bourbon begins to pack some heat as I work through this, less than 1/3 of the way in at this juncture. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Leans sweet, bourbon attempts but fails to rain in. Thick creamy body, Drinks under the ABV at first, but as I near the halfway point, I really feel the impact of the strong bourbon presence. Slightly sweet aftertaste. 4.25

Overall: This is a solid BA Pastry stout. Perhaps a bit too sweet for my liking, but not penalizing this beer for it in the ratings. Strong, delicious chocolate fudge, coconut and vanilla, bourbon absent in the nose but packs a solid punch with the taste and alcohol impact. Glad I cracked this open today. 4.25

Word to your Mother.

 

Poured into a 20 oz Snulip glass not sure when it was canned. Pours candy apple red with a 2 finger white head that leaves a few streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.5

Aroma Raspberry, blueberry, vanilla, lemon, orange sherbet, and maybe some lime. 4.25

Taste follows raspberry, blueberry, vanilla, orange sherbet, and lemon lime, not crazy sour and well balanced. 4.25.

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, plenty of carbonation, maybe a tad dry, and at 6% it drinks bigger in flavor, but goes down easy enough. 4.25

Overall this series is always excellent not the best or the worst. Really didn’t get any jelly donut. 4.25

 

Both of those pictures are so damn appetizing...I'd be honest if I wasn't excited to see the @beergoot pour on the beers I sent you

What are the peppers bound for?

 

Surviving the DMV on a weekend deserves multiple beers. Really glad you liked it! I thoroughly enjoyed that beer. Cheers!

 

Stonecloud The Nightswimmer Stout courtesy of @Whyteboar.



Pours the deepest, darkest brown with a slight cappuccino head that dissipated fairly quickly.

Creamy coffee jumps out on the nose. Milk chocolate sits in the background. Gentle roasted grain rounds out the aroma.

Taste mirrors smell. Creamy, sweetened coffee and milk chocolate fill the mouth. A wisp of bitterness kicks in towards the end of the sip. The sweetness is mild and works well with the beer.

Moderate to lighter body.

This is a very solid stout. The brewer notes dark fruit flavours in their description which i don’t get at all, but that is just fine. Very enjoyable. Thanks Craig!

 

Got up hella early again today, repeat of last weekend when we did a sunrise hike. This time we went much easier, and went with probably the quintessential nearby-Seattle hike: Rattlesnake Ledge. Rattlesnake has some lovely views, but it's relatively brief trail, and close proximity to Seattle means that it's an incredibly popular one. We got to the trailhead, again by probably 0500 and were the second car to pull in, and while we were gathering our stuff and getting dressed, four other cars joined us. We got to the ledge with an hour to spare before dawn even began and were the fourth or fifth group up there. By the time we left at 0730 there were several dozen groups (and yes, we saw at least one 'tree pose' on the ledge with the sunrise in the background, filmed of course by an acquiescent instagram-husband.). The sunrise didn't have as much of a colour-splash as we'd hoped for, but it was still beautiful, and getting up early enough to see the lights flitered through the fog in the valley below was really cool.



We got home and watched some more olympics before the Ms. passed out and I decided to use her nap as an excuse to join this wonderful community along with a newly picked up bottle from Floodland. MMXX Windsongs is a saison (gee, who would have guessed...), this time in collaboration with a local winery and blended and refermented on riesling and sauvignon blanc grapes. I'm not usually overly big on white wine-beers (nor even the hops/yeasts that are often utilized to mimic some of those flavours [looking at you, nelson, et al...]). So how does this one strike me? Short answer: Very positively.



The pour yields a cloudy pale yellow liquid that is lemon juice-yellow when held up in the sunbeam that's piercing my living room, but sits a more burnished gold out of the direct light. Nice little head is never overwhelming, but decent before sitting back into the corners. Minimal lacing.

Nose is quite pronounced initially during the pour, and is prominently green fruits which I can't quite put my finger on. As the head recedes, so too do these fruity characteristics and it leans much harder into the saison/yeast character. I don't know that I've ever used the ever-controversial 'barnyard' descriptor before, but that's what comes to mind here.

The flavour is a rich interweaving of those greenish fruits I can't quite identify. I mean, I know it's ostensibly from the grapes, but it doesn't have a distinctly 'grape' or 'white wine' character in my mind... which really works for me. It's the green fruit realm of kiwi or star fruit or green apple or green strawberry... though it is none of those things. But whatever it is, it's somewhere in that realm. I'll give it lemon as an identifiable fruit component. But I can't quite round up the rest of it. This permeates the whole thing and is really vibrant and rich and enjoyable. There is a bit of funk and a good earthy spicy/lemon hopping to it as well, and it all just comes together wonderfully.

Finish has that lingering fruit character but is ultimately much dryer than I expected. There's a good yeast note and a nice spicy hop bitterness to it as well, but it doesn't overstay its welcome. It's just really, really well done. I'm a big fan. This latest allotment came with two of these and I am probably going to let the other one sit for a bit just in the name of science, but man let me tell you it won't be easy not to reach for it!!

Cheers y'all, hope you're having a good weekend and have something tasty to share in your glass!!

(well, I'm having a hard time getting any pictures to upload. I'll try again in a bit. Oh well.)

 

Poured into a 16 oz narrow pint glass not sure when it was canned. Pours an attractive dark brown with a 2 plus finger tan head that leaves a few streaks of lace, with pretty solid retention. 4

Aroma dark chocolate, vanilla, toffee, coffee, and biscuit. 3.75

Taste follows dark chocolate, vanilla, toffee, coffee, and biscuity grains. 3.75

Mouthfeel is a little above average, maybe a little dry, gentle carbonation, and at 5.9% it drinks a little bigger, but easy going down. 4

Overall this good, not something I would grab again. Will figure out a way to drink the 4 pack. One can might find its way into my St. Patrick’s Day boiled dinner. 3.75

 

Pours a hazy orange with a solid finger and a half sticky white head that leaves thick patches of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is tangerine, white grapes, passionfruit, mango, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows tangerine stands out most, passionfruit, mango, white grapes, and apricot. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, not sticky or dry, soft creamy carbonation, and at 6.8% it drinks bigger but easy going down. 4.75

Overall another excellent hoppy beer from these guys. 4.5

 

Periodically, I get beer from the friends of my wife who know I’m ‘into’ beer. It usually comes after I’ve let them borrow a car, fixed something for them, proofread an essay…. It is nice that she has such nice friends, and I always appreciate the gesture.

Sometimes the beer is pretty good too. Sometimes not so much. Often it is something I would never grab from the shelf myself.

So, this evening, keeping the latter thoughts in mind, I approach Imperial City’s Goodbye Gravity vanilla cream ale with a healthy degree of circumspection.



I would never buy this beer. The idea of a vanilla cream ale does nothing for me. Furthermore, it is brewed in tribute to Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, a native of ‘Imperial City’ (Sarnia, Ontario). Nothing against spacemen, but this guy has become ubiquitous on television and radio around here, talking about all manner of subjects in which he has no expertise. Plus the moustache. He annoys me.



Ok. On to the beer….

Pours a slightly hazy straw gold. With a substantial, lasting head. Dark particles are present that I assume are vanilla.

The nose is reminiscent of a traditional AAL. Corn, sweetness. There is a hint of vanilla in there too. Not very appealing.

Nondescript blonde beer on the tongue. A little light grain, a whiff of noble hops. The vanilla emerges late, and has a synthetic quality to it. Passable.

Slight creaminess in the body. Highly effervescent.

I’m thankful my wife’s friend gave this to me. As I said above, it is a nice gesture. But, I would never drink this twice, and would not recommend.