New Beer Weekend #85

This beer was recommended by the beer guy while we were in the store today. We were kinda standing by the sours...



Mortalis Hydra Melted Gelato. According to the FaceBook, this is a collaboration brewed with Tin Barn brewing. It is brewed with raspberry, blackberry, lactose free ice cream, and marshmallows. What am we, splitying with the missus, in for here???

Ok so WTF is this pour about? Super thin, no bubbles, then WHAM. Yeah...it's a freakin' blood red extra thick milkshake. I guess that is a head, but it looks more like what floats on a frappe. I don't know...I have to assume it is supposed look like that and I do like the color, so OK I can dig it.

The smell is amazing. It has everything it says it has fruit-wise in a pretty powerful, fresh fruit smelling package. Then there is a very clear hit of marshmallow sweetness and a bit of vanilla. I have no idea what the ice cream was, but with no extraneous smells I am guessing vanilla. Wait...what's this...I can actually smell a little malt that is weak, but a bit towards the bready side.

I didn't expect this...but I have to say the taste is incredible! It is truly milkeshake-like as most of the flavors of fruit and marshmallow flavor all hit like a sledgehammer, then marshmallow sweetness comes in to balance the mild sourness. Vanilla is just a trace here. Very fresh. Insanely fruity. And right after thinking it's over, there's the beer part again. Kind of reminding me of shortcake, but likely influenced by the whole fruit and marshmallow thing. Definitely a beer taste though. Sweet, not sickly sweet. Mildly sour and mostly detectable as being from the fruit. A tiny bit of bitterness like the berry seeds impart, enough of a malt taste to remind it is maybe beer.

The feel is weird...that foamy bit is very thick and creamy and a little hard to get through. Definitely in the incorrect glass here... the liquid itself is thick, pulpy. Super smooth, super thick, a bit rich. It lives up to the name, actually - liquid ice cream fruity smoothie marshmallow thing is more or less the feel and overall effect.

Ok...I have no idea what to do with this! It's awesome, I like it a lot which is a total shock to my beer sensibilities. It's not in the database. They at Mortalis call it a fruited sour, so I guess that is how to add it. I've never had anything remotely like this before, but I have to say, I'd drink another one in a heartbeat. Tastes fabulous, smells great, silky smooth, and it makes me happy. What more can one want from a 16 ounce can?

 

Victory Berry Monkey (Fruited Sour Triple with raspberries and other natural flavors) - Looks like Victory has yet another new year round Golden Monkey variant but this one confuses me a little, as Sour Monkey has been out for a bit and seems to do well, and well enough to now come in a 19.2 oz can. I'm not a big Belgian fan or of Golden Monkey but I do enjoy Sours and SM is a hit with me and I do like it more than the original.

Pours a straw yellow color, very carbonated, decent head. Smell is heavy on the sour and smells like grapes, a good thing for me; not much of the Belgian characteristics. Taste is nice, the raspberry and "other flavors" are not over done at all and while the Belgian characteristics are hiding underneath it all they are barely there, which for me is also a good thing. This is very nice and the 9.5% is well hidden.

I will definitely drink this again and may do a side by side with SM. I imagine if this does well SM may be removed from the lineup, as it would be odd to have two beers this similar. Budmo!

Berry Monkey
FRUITED SOUR TRIPEL
UNDENIABLY BERRY GOOD
abv: 9.5%
malt: Pilsner
hops: Tettnang
notes: Perfectly fruited Sour Tripel Ale loaded with raspberries and other natural flavors that add just the right balance of sweetness and tang with a smooth finish. It’s undeniably berry good.

https://victorybeer.com/beers/berry-monkey/

 

Barncat's Pulp Free DIPA, a lovely gift from @Coronaeus received as part of a LIF associated with NBS BIF #14.


16oz can served in a tulip. Canned 09 FEB 2022.

Pours completely murky with a small creamy head that seems pretty stable. Smell is tropical juice and citrus pith. Little bit of hop resin.

Taste is moderate tropical juice (maybe leaning toward unripe mango), still plenty of citrus pith, and the hop resin is way more prominent. The mango seems to ripen a bit as a sip and savor, and I might actually get a little bit of melon or bubblegum.

Mouthfeel is thick and rich. This is a really nice beer.

 

#2, another Michigan brewery, Bell’s is near and dear to my heart - the first IPA (Two Hearted) and first DIPA (Hopslam) I had on my beer nerd journey was courtesy of this world class brewery.

This is the 69th beer I’ve had from them, and it’s outstanding, IMHO. You will be missed, Larry.





4.35/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours black with mahogany on the edges and a creamy dark tan head that provides nice lacing. The nose is dark chocolate, molasses, and stone fruit. Good stuff.

The molasses is forward and delicious on the taste, but the dark chocolate provides a depth that is outstanding, and gives way to the stone fruit at the back of the palate, perfectly fitting the full, creamy mouthfeel.

If this is truly Larry’s Last, he crushed it, because I love Expedition, and I think this is better.

 

When I saw this picture I wanted to say "screw oysters on the half shell" those look really good.

Hopefully that first week back after vacation was at least a not too bad one.

 

This is an amazing place, we will be back to the beach again for sure to try the other breweries.


Raspberry berliner. Fantastic stuff. A bit muted but juicy nose of fruit and lacto. Taste of tart/sour raspberry, fruit skin/seed, lemon, lime, red grape/wine, wheat, bread, hay, grass, lacto funk. Moderate tart/sour/tangy finish. Medium high carb, light body. Balanced grainy malt and lactic acid. Crisp clean refreshing dry finish. No puckering. Refreshing and flavorful. Outstanding style example. 4.25


Cheers

 

Had a few of the beers from my office beer swap already, but this is the first one that is new-to-me! The others so far have been Cone Head (Zero Gravity Brewing), Windy Hill (Mikkeller), and Tannen Zäpfle (Rothaus). Not bad! Proud of my co-workers, honestly. My contribution was Bigfoot, by the way. And there are Equilibrium and Tree House beers in there, too, so I'm pretty down with the whole thing overall.

Let's see how this one is... enter Stone's Tres Leches Xocoveza. As someone who enjoys Xocoveza, but who does not really like tres leches cake... I imagine, I won't love this but may be able to enjoy it to some extent. This one was brought in by the first person I met while working at my new job. We bonded over video games and similar taste in music immediately, so he's a pretty cool dude in my view.



The pour on this one is definitely nice and decadent. I appreciate it for sure. Deep brown coloration with a nearly-black appearance once it's all in my glass. Rich, creamy head of khaki-colored foam that lingers for a long time, leaving behind some light lace and great legs as it fades slowly to a half-finger ring.

Full disclosure here: this was canned in October of 2021, so it's "old-ish" at this point. Stouts should typically age a bit better than many other styles, especially hop-focused ones, but this features a lot of adjunct ingredients that I can see having a potential of fading relatively quickly. Namely, this stout includes chocolate, coffee, pasilla peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I have found that some roasts of coffee can fade pretty much two months after packaging, and vanilla sometimes suffers the same fate in my prior experiences. The nose here has me concerned that this has suffered from time spent on the shelf, which is why I mention the possibility of ingredient deterioration. I can get a bit of the chili heat, and the cocoa feels present enough, but I can't pick up the subtle spices or the coffee at all here. I mean, a chocolate stout with some peppers in it isn't really a bad thing, though. Hoping to taste more of everything, for sure.

Hmm... okay. It feels lithe and a bit more "watery" than an 8.5% stout with all of these things in it should taste. As I mentioned above, I have always thought regular ol' Xocoveza was solid, but it's been years since I've had it, so maybe I don't remember it well. I get mostly chocolate and some of the light earthy spice with a very tame "heat" aspect in the aftertaste. The vanilla and coffee, once again, seem to be conspicuously absent. I suppose this is slightly sweeter than most other 8.5% stouts, but... dude, tres leches cake is insanely sweet, so this feels strangely "meh." Then again, if this actually did taste like that dessert, I would likely actively dislike it (something about the insane amount of milk used... bleh). Which does bring me to something else. They say nothing about lactose on the front of the can where they mention adjuncts, but then there's a bit next to the UPC that says "contains lactose." Ugh, I'm sick of this type of thing. From the other beer I posted about recently in an NBW thread that was literally a "milkshake IPA" with a can that said nothing about a lactose inclusion (despite their official site saying it does have lactose) to this, a beer with the Spanish word for "milk" in its damn name that lists a bunch of adjuncts on the front but weirdly does not include "lactose" in there and relegates it instead to the equivalent of an allergen warning... beer labeling is stupid as hell, I hate it, and this beer is alright but nothing too special. Maybe it was better fresher? What do others think?

Maybe a couple more tonight... depends if I'm in the mood!

 

Goose Island Neon Bear Hug - pours a clear straw yellow, decent head and carbonation. Smell is...ugh, there's Mosaic in here. Taste isn't too bad and tropical fruit with a touch of that Mosaic stuff I just don't care for (onion, garlic, BO). Just enough bitterness but not over the top like some IPAs can be so I do appreciate that aspect.

I guess I would drink it again if handed one but nothing I would seek out. Budmo!

 

The first day was a bit rough, but everyone survived.

The 32 bug bites I got on my feet (this is not an exaggeration, it is an inventory, 20 on the left foot and 12 on the right) are still itchin' something fierce. That's probably the most lasting drawback, so it can't be all bad, right?

 

A beer I got in a small trade recently from Oregon. I learned on our trip to Seattle in September that many of the older American craft styles are still brewed, and a a plenty out there; it seemed based on taprooms and labels in the stores. So this is one of the styles I asked for in the trade, went in blind know nothing of this brewery but I love the name of this beer and the label.

Bent Shovel Brewing - Leafwalker



Pours a nice almost clear dark brown, real nice red hue when held to light. Light brown head with very good retention, solid lacing too.

Initial aroma is floral, citrus rind, toasty and grainy; a touch of sweet.

Taste is very rind and sap forward, floral shows on the back end along with the toasted grain note; and pine, pine, pine.

Medium body; very dry resiny feel to it, awesome tongue tingling and lingering bitterness; gives this beer even more of a pine taste.

The smell on this beer was a little strange at first. It was all forgotten when I started drinking this beer: pine needle juice with a dash of orange peel. Very happy to have tried this beer.

 

Wrightsville Beach POG berliner. This was amazing. Aromas and flavors of big passion fruit, orange juice, guava, lemon, lime, green apple, wheat, bread, herbal, grass, light lacto funk. Light-med tart/tangy fruit on the finish. Light body, med high carb. Crisp clean refreshing finish. Super flavorful on juicy fruits. This was softer and not as lactic as the raspberry. One of the best berliner I've had. 4.37


Cheers

 

Damn what the heck kind of bug? From a hike in the forest or just sitting on the beach?

Speaking of hikes, hopefully your Mt Washington trip went well @SABERG if the weather allowed.

 

Hello Weekend Warriors.
While not popping a bock I did find this new one from a new local.
The More Things Change

"Canned Fresh The Week Of February 7, 2022."
Clean, golden, and topped with a fluffy white head. Good retention. Slight lacing.
Nose pops with orange zest, wet grass, and a mild pine and herbal hop notes.
Flavor follows the nose faithfully with a light touch.
Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium, decent carbonation, and the finish is slightly dry and slick.
Overall, a pretty good take on a IPA.
.65/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Thanks we changed plans and climbed Mount Moosilake instead
Great NH mountain 4802’ got to see Mt Washington from the summit
Not in this summit pic
Cheers

 

Glad your bloodbath turned into a nice drinking experience.

 

Don't even know. Didn't see one. Best guess is I took some sandflies back to the room with me and they went to town while I slept.