New Beer Weekend #87

A beer style you don’t see every day – Brown Porter

Today’s beer has a back story from several years ago, 2019 to be exact. I was attending a beer festival in my town in the fall of 2019 and I ran into one of the owners of Cape May Brewing: Bob Krill. I was acquainted with Bob because a couple of years previous my wife and I took a tour of the Cape May Brewery and he was the tour guide. During that tour my wife and Bob talked quite a bit since they both had pharmaceutical industry backgrounds and they had common acquittances (co-workers). It just so happened that I read that Cape May won a medal at the recent GABF (2019) – a bronze medal for their beer Honey Porter. I made mention to Bob that I never had this brand before and that I should try it.

Below is how Cape May details this beer on their website:

“Honey Porter

Brown Porter

ABV: 5.4%

IBU: 35

SRM: 25.5

With a sweet hint of honey, Honey Porter goes down smooth thanks to its balanced, robust, and light-bodied finish. This award-winning brown porter is brewed with Jersey Fresh certified honey and a firm malt presence, making it extremely approachable, no matter the season.”

https://www.capemaybrewery.com/beers/honey-porter/

Needless to say but I am ‘slow on the draw” to try this beer but better late than never.

Served in my Spiegelau Stout/Porter beer glass:

Appearance:

A very dark brown color with a khaki colored head.

Aroma:

The aroma is a combination of cocoa, toffee, some dark dried fruits,…

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a combination of cocoa, toffee, dark dried fruit plus there is a very slight hint of sweetness. A low/moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with an off-dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good!

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH @brianhink

P.S. On a somewhat related note a few days ago I purchased a six-pack of Cape May Coastal Evacuation DIPA; Cape May makes very good beer!

 

Thanks Roguer for the start this morning. It's cloudy here in MN, but should warm up into the 50's today. Tackling a local stout today.

Fulton Thunder God

Appearance: Black, huge brown head.

Smell: Dark chocolate, coffee note.

Taste: Chocolate, mocha-like sweet coffee, a little bit of the maple sweetness shows up in the background. Kind of an odd mix, doesn't seem to blend well together. Some chalkiness noted.

Overall: Wanted another dark beer at the store and noticed this new one from Fulton. Seems to be a pastry stout but on the lighter side. Unfortunately it doesn't quite hit the mark, the flavors seem a bit muddled and muted.

 

Good Morning! It is still a tad early here. Going to ride a bike and get some thing done around the house first before I start to consume beer. I have a sour from Everybody brewing I will try first. More later!

 

Thank @Roguer for the opening , raising a glass to your good health!

Landbier Rustic Lager by Schilling

4.25/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



Paid $14.29 for a 4 pack at Empire Liquors

Can poured into a Nordic pint glass

Ranked on beer Advocate as the #1 Lager-European Pale

Brewers Notes: Agrarian-style lager of Franconian origin brewed with spelt—and for the first time in North America, by Schilling’s brewers—with nearly extinct strain of lager yeast just revived from the cellars of Weihenstephan in Munich. Notes of strawberry, and hay abound with a hazelnut-like dry finish.

Translucent pale yellow topped by a dense creamy fluffy white foam cap , good retention, lacings mark after each sip

Aroma is grassy, malts

Taste is grassy. Malts, hint of lemon, hint of meaty & bread

Lighter mouthfeel , it is a clean , crisp , refreshing beer

Good beer, Schilling knows what they are doing. They always produce quality Euro style beers and this is no exception. A great little brewery to visit if you are in Northern New Hampshire. I recommend this brew if you like this style.

 

3 East Coast Sours new to me, new to you
Holy Icon | Hudson Valley | 8% | Beacon, NY
4.4/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours cascading hazed body with lace climbing up the glass and lasting. (Just as this one climbs in the ratings!)
Act 25’s 3d from Hudson Valley, where I used to live and cycle in Rhinebeck. Agreed it’s a great brunch beer, better than any Mimosa.
s) Sweetness and tartness battle. Bit of vanilla
t) Bursts of mango, tart fruit, floral, sour with ample balancing sweetness and bready grain.
f) Feels like mango/passionfruit puree in champagne.
o) The best I’ve had from Hudson Valley.

Good Old Neon | Hudson Valley | 6% | Beacon, NY
4.2/5 rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Sour Farmhouse IPAs. Has to do with hop strength for making it around the Horn.
a) Retention, haze, lace.
s) Acidic, funky, and tart. Fruit in direction of orchard, peaches, sour apple, granny smith, lemon, lime.
t) Follows aroma with greater orchard crisp tartness, granny smith at center, with floral hops in the background.
f) drinks tart and acidic. Dry, clean, astringent.
o) I think I’ll drink all the sour IPAs I can find.

Context 2 | Carton | 5.3% | Sour | Atlantic Highlands NJ
4.2/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Added by Act25 at the brewer in Atlantic Highlands.
OK, I’m a Carton fan boy,, but stretched on Context 1, back in fall 2019. Sold out! Now for Context 2.
a) Firm reddish amber body with skinny sour head that fades to a peach liquid. 4 for color.
s) Blueberries, berries, fall fruit, orchard perfumes all in bountiful presence with wild yeast.
t) Follow smell and added wine-and-cider-like fall notes.
f) tickle and tease as a great beer should be, kissy, and fervent, and wild.
o) The consummation of years of experimentation, bring this one in a cellarable format please.
I think this was formula:
GRIST:
Bohemian Pilsner, White Wheat, Acidulated
HOPS:
Super Galena
PRIMARY:
Lactobacilus buchneri in stainless with blueberry added pre-fermentation
SECONDARY:
Brettanomyces bruxellensis in oak foeder

 

I am a big fan of that beer as well and of Cape May Brewing, cheers to very good beer indeed.

I need to sneak out today for a few singles. I have zero new beers on hand. I have failed

 

Thanks, @Roguer for kicking us off.

Beer #1 for me today comes courtesy of @FBarber. This Cognac Blackberry Fox in the Snow from Off Color Brewing. The description on the bottle certainly had me looking forward to this one...."Cognac barrel aged foedre fermented wild ale refermented with blackberries. Fermented and aged in a Barolo wine foedre then further aged an additional 12 months in a VSOP cognac barrel"

4.24/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a translucent reddish brown with a thin, but long lived light tan colored head. A clear 1/8'' ring and thin cap are still very much present a good 10 minutes after the pour.

The aroma doesn't jump out of the glass, but when you get up close, it smacks you in the face with plenty of funk. Underneath that funk lurk barrel notes and a melange of other aromas that I can't isolate, but that work well together.

The taste is where things really get interesting. I'm greeted by an initial tartness that's funk enough to remind how what type of beer this is, but balanced enough to not drown out the rest of the flavors, and it's those other flavors that make this beer shine. The blackberries, wine barrels and cognac barrels combine really nicely with that funk to create an interesting, complex beer. Just extremely well balanced with the various flavors combining to create something unique. Very well done by the brewers. Feel is fairly light and lively.

Frank, this is fantastic. My favorite of the series. Thank you!

-------------------

Fellow BIF participants, we have identified a problem that needs to be addressed. @jonphisher you will learn to be careful with statements like this. Porches have been destroyed for less. You may wish to reinforce yours now.

 

Dogs have been walked, trip to recycling center done, groceries picked up.
Now it's time for one of my favorite activities: beer and basketball. Hoping the NMSU Aggies continue their winning ways.

Today's new beer is Voodoo Ranger Juice Force, a hazy imperial IPA.
The beer is a hazy orange color with a big white head and plenty of lace.
Aroma of oranges.
Strong orange taste, maybe some tangerine.
An unpleasant aftertaste.

 

I read it that way, too.

 

Surly Brewing 2022 Barrel-Aged Darkness. Minnesota BAs, it is less than two weeks until the beer share I am hosting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at 7pm on 4/1/22. I will start to message people directly, but if you are interested, please message me. The beer can states that this beer is rich, evil, and decadent. Just like me. It pours a two-finger football brown crown that quickly dissipates. The color is rich black, with a raisin-colored glow. The smell is raisins, fudge, brown sugar, cherries, bourbon, and molasses. The taste is a bit different than previous incarnations of this beer. The flavor has that perfect cherry/raisin unique emphasis that no other beer besides Darkness has, but it seems to have more of a fudge emphasis. The bourbon flavors are wonderful. The mouthfeel is indeed rich, evil, decadent, smooth, and captivating. 12% ABV, 16 ounces. That is my kind of BA stout math. Overall, my emotional attachment to this franchise is extensive. This beer meets all expectations.

 

I did some traveling this week, then had to catch up at work, so I came into the weekend pretty drained. What beer to drink? How about a 24° Plato strong ale?

Yes, lots of Caractère. The 12% ABV is relatively subtle. They call it a Belgian pale but it's quite dark amber. Beautiful white head.
Fruity and malty aromas. Taste is initially sweet fruit with some peppery hops sweeping in at the end. Caramel in the background. The 12 % will catch up with you if you gulp it.
Beautiful and restorative. I think it is underrated on BA.

 

In 2018 I was in Minneapolis for the Super Bowl, and my favorite memory of that weekend (aside from the game), was spending a Friday afternoon in their tap room with several life-long friends, playing asshole with cards we purchased in their gift shop, eating good food, and drinking all sorts of beer from their tap and / or cellar that they made available that weekend. Several bottles of Darkness / BA Darkness were consumed that day. Wallet was a little (ok, a lot) lighter when we left, but it was worth every penny.

 

That is awesome! Thank you for sharing! I was born within walking distance of US Bank Stadium, and I have countless memories/stories of the Twin Cities. The BA crew in that area rivals any metropolitan area in the world. I am so excited to go there in two weeks! Having said that, I thank Odin that my father accepted his first large congregation ELCA Lutheran minister calling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when I was a young child, so I could grow up a Green Bay Packers fan!

 

Howdy all! I took a Daycation to Mount Vernon yesterday and hit up 3 of their breweries (and, scored a couple pairs of my favorite Carhartt shorts that are now apparently discontinued. One waist size too big, but I own a belt. Plus, since they hadn't moved off his shelf, the owner of the store sold them to me for $25 each to get them gone. Score!). And, since Friday is Saturday in Kiribati, that counts as NBW. Right? I entered the reviews just now, and here's my 6 new MV beers:

At Temperate Habits: Lightly Buzzed, a honey-lavender Blonde Ale https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59931/595159/?ba=BBThunderbolt#lists and Empire Stout, an Imperial https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59931/595163/

At District: Hop Tub Time Macine (seems to me to a mix of the murky and traditional IPAs) https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57486/595168/?ba=BBThunderbolt#lists Flux Capacitor, a murkbomb https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57486/551201/?ba=BBThunderbolt#lists and Triple Deke, an ImpIPA https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57486/595175/?ba=BBThunderbolt#lists


And since Skagit River Brewing is right next to the bus station, and I had a few minutes, SRB Oak Aged Amber: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61619/595177/?ba=BBThunderbolt#lists

 

Beer # 2 comes courtesy of @BBThunderbolt, and represents the last of the beers he sent me last summer for reasons long forgotten.

3.77/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours an opaque dark cola brown with a finger or so of medium-tan colored head that was beautiful while it lasted. Plenty of roast on the nose, accompanied by chocolate and a hint of smoke. Plenty of roasted flavor with maybe a little more smoke than ideal of the style, but that's my gain, as I like burnt / smoke flavors quite a bit. Less sweet than I expected, likely due to the dominance of the roast. Feel is smooth and fairly full-bodied. Maybe a little imbalanced, but still a nice beer.

 

And, spoiler alert, that's a beer my target in the NBS BIF that's currently warming up in the bullpen can certainly expect to see. I might have sent it in every round. Or, it might have missed a couple rounds due to production scheduling reasons. @woemad , @kemoarps , and @snaotheus have also helped the Mutt travel.