New Beer Weekend #87

Good evening NBW, hope everyone is doing well. Finally getting to to sit down and review a beer this weekend so I’m making it count to Prairie Pirate Weekend.
4.41/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by larryi86 from Delaware

12 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- A black with a fast fading mocha head.

S- Rum, chocolate, roasted malts, coconut, oak. Honestly the nose is a little on the harsh side.

T- Chocolate, coconut, rum, oak, some marshmallow, touch of roasted malts.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- A tasty rum barrel aged stout, nice balance to the flavors. Might not be my favorite “Pirate” from Prairie but definitely worth trying.

Cheers!

 

Day #2, keep this series rolling, Lagunitas.



4.29/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
by ovaltine from Indiana

This pours the most crystal clear golden color you’ve ever seen with a fluffy white head that provides significant lacing. Absolutely gorgeous beer. The nose features candied orange, a bit of coconut (no surprises so far, given the hop varietals) - and some vanilla, which is surprising.

The candied orange is the first flavor you get after a good pull, but that vanilla and coconut aren’t far behind, providing some unique flavors you don’t typically see in old school WCIPA’s, but they work really well.

The mouthfeel is medium and drying, pulling you back for another sip before you’ve finished the last one. I hope Lagunitas continues this series, because I’ve enjoyed the first four iterations immensely.

 

There is a store I wanted to go to acquire some ammo for BIF. They usually have new and unique imports so I browsed and came across this new selection a honey beer from Poland, open fermented with “lower fermentation yeasts” as they call it on the bottle.

Staropolskie - Honey Beer



It pours very nicely, beautiful crystal clear gold, a perfectly white head that is very cohesive but settles to a think layer of creamy white with some minor lacing.

This thing smells like honey, flowers and maybe a little bit of biscuit. But man the honey, front and center it almost smells like tea, cause I always put honey it mine.

This is like drinking beer with honey mixed it, a grassy like herbalness is present as well.

Light body, nice soft and creamy carbonation makes this drink quite nicely. Minor bitterness on the back end with a lingering honey sweetness.

This was unexpected I didn’t expect the level of honey I got. It somehow manages to stay pretty damn drinkable even with all the honey. I can’t say I’d buy this beer again but it’s always neat to try something different like this.

Has anyone else had this beer?

I’ll be back later with another beer from across the pond or a local. Time will tell, see you again soon friends.

 

Bonus entry for this weekend cuz I love you guys a lot... also, I love new great beer, but... that's beside the point, right?



Future Life is a Czech pilsner from Wandering Soul. Matt has done some cool stuff before, and I guess this is a companion beer to Past Life, WS's Vienna lager.

Pours a beautifully-clear bronzed golden color with a generous dollop of foam on top. The lace is a single-tiered chunk that lingers for the entirety of my experience with the beer, and the legs are solid-enough.

Nose is floral and perfectly-crackery, bringing out some light herbal and grassy notes plus a hint of Czech Saaz-type spice. I do think this is a bit more perfume-y than some other modern Czech pils interpretations, but I'm not turned off by that perception whatsoever. White pepper mingling with light notes of fresh, clean barley malt... hard to beat that these days when it comes to a craft pilsner, wouldn't you agree?

Flavor is similarly nice. It has a good amount of chew for something so clean and beautiful, and the doughy mid-palate leads to a satisfying suggestion of florals in the middle of each sip. The finish is honeyed and spicy by turns, with a charming element that isn't perfectly dry and crisp, but which retains some character of maltiness and clean bittering hops. Worthy stuff, here. Thank you to Matt for being a stalwart adventurer of the modern beer world... turning out big DIPAs and clean, classic pilsners with aplomb. @mattstrat

 

Have a good NBS. Got about 12 hours of sleep and woke up at noon. Julia did her taxes and I need to do mine this week. Made a thin crust mega meat lovers from Aldi. We are definitely going to get thin crust from now on. Better macros for pizza. Been writing up more beer reviews today, a lot to catch up on from my backlog. We are watching a bunch of South Park now from season 3 and 4 lol. We are planning on hiking this week somewhere up near the lakes.


Oddside Ales We’re All In This (Can) Together. Been in the fridge for 2 years. Canned 5/14/2020. This was an awesome IPA. Great head retention and soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big red grapefruit, tangerine, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, blueberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, pepper, pine, cracker, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass. Moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/bready malts, sticky hops, and some resins/rinds in the mouthfeel. Moderate increasing resin dryness, with no astringency. Minimal warming 6.9%. Once again proving that keeping beer in the fridge extends the shelf life. Feels like Mosaic, Simcoe, and Citra hops. Very vibrant, dank, and fairly juicy hops; with a nice malt backbone and dry west coast style finish. Loved it. 4.13


Cheers

 

Wow! What an outstanding local brew this is. I thoroughly enjoyed the pints! Cheers!
Fair State Tmave Pivo Czech Dark Lager 4.4%ABV
4.29/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota
16oz taps into a pint glass at Grizzly's in Plymouth, MN.
L: Pours deep brown almost black with ruby edges w/a 3/4 khaki creamy head. Good retention to a thick skin & edge foam. No visible carbonation. Semi-thick even lacing, banding & sheeting.
S: Heavily roasted toasty caramelized malts, cocoa powder, a hint of root beer, a suggestion of vanilla & raisins.
T: Taste follows nose with dried dates, brown bread. Light bitter bakers chocolate lingers. Well balanced sweetness 40 & bitterness 60. Fairly clean tasting overall.
F: Surprisingly crisp then smooth & creamy. Slightly juicy. Medium light bodied mouth feel w/a gently drying semi-fast light finish.
O: A very fresh tasting easy drinking delicious creamy dark lager with light bitterness and toasty cocoa that is sure to satisfy. It is outstanding in it's style.

 

#2, riding the Transient train on the first “regular” oatmeal stout I’m aware of from them.





4.19/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours black with a bit of mahogany brown on the edges and sports a thick, creamy tan head. Definitely looks the part of an oatmeal stout. Nice char and milk chocolate notes on the nose - and is that rye I detect?

On the taste, yes, that is rye, adding a nice spicy flavor to the creamy milk chocolate and char flavors. This is delicious - and crammed full of flavor at 5% ABV.

Surprisingly full mouthfeel for a low ABV beer, I need more Broatmeal.

 

Well, got this via LIF from @JayORear who tells me it beat Pliney the Younger in head to head tasting. I'll leave that distinction for those who have tried Pliney the Younger, but it is a really tasty WC Triple IPA.
Poured orange amber color with a nearly white thin head.
While it's not as "piney" as I generally think WC IPAs it's not lacking flavor. The hops in this are more complex than Pliney the Elder (which is a standard of the WC IPA style) - almost gentle as it's certainly not bitter like some hoppy beers. Smooth and really flavorful - pine, fruits but not citrus - more melon like. I'm really finding it difficult to define.
The feel was excellent. Well matched to the style and the ABV.
OA, I've never tried Pliney the Younger so cannot compare but I did try Lawson's Triple Sunshine and that one is my bar for triple IPAs. This one is good, maybe even great, but it doesn't displace Lawson's Triple.
So if somebody wants to send me Pliney the Younger to actually do a side by side, I'll happily do that. But mox nix, this was amazing and I will now have to add this brewery and beer to my wants list. Thank you Jay!

 

No, but count me ISO. May have to swing by the local Europa Market and see what I can see!

 

It caught me so off guard, as it warmed that the honey sweetness came out even more. It’s definitely sweet.

There is a large polish population in part of Philadelphia, very close to this NJ store, so this place seems to get a lot of polish ones.

Not gonna lie the swing top bottle and label drew me in then when I read the back I was pretty intrigued.

Oh and if I don’t see you post it in here next weekend..,well maybe I’ll just buy an extra

 

Back again. Took a bit of a beer break there while watching the last bit of the NASCAR race (I've nothing against William Byron, seems to be a decent enough driver, but Fuck that "university" owned by that racist, misogynist, homophobic, white-supremacist, asshole Jerry Falwell. That car should get dumped into the wall every time it takes to the track.), and am back with another new brew, Curtain Closer from Monkless. A self-described "Quintuple ale" with cacao and raspberries, it seemed like it would be right in my wheelhouse. It was: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37871/472806/

 

That was great basketball. It is a pleasure to see such excellence. What is next?

 

Last single I bought while out today. I just finished off a four pack of Murphys that had been in my fridge recently. Saw this one and figured I’d give it a shot.

O’haras - Irish Stout (nitro)



The prettiest nitro beer I’ve ever poured, nitro cascade lasted forever, and the head was so thick, and still is halfway through now. Pitch Black with a beautiful thick dense nitro light brown head, lacing a plenty.

It lets on to be very roasty, with musty earthy hops.

Taste follows very closely; very noticeable earthy hops with a stronger coffee roastiness. As it warms there is even an almost smoky feel to it.

Smooth and creamy with a definite hop presence. Finishes with an almost tart like dryness, with a lingering hop and roast bitterness.

This is a very tasty beer, caught off guard again. I expected something closer to Murphys or guiness, but wow is this hoppy compared to them. Hoppy in an earthy forest sort of way. It’s really different and I really enjoy it. I will gladly buy this again, I highly recommend to anyone.

 

Going with another beer from the super-small tenant brewery Hive Beer. Drink a beer, save a bee...



This is Cherry Waves, a 9% Stout brewed with cacao, cherry, and ancho chili's.

Absolutely beautiful pour, nearly Vin Diesel pitch black. Fabulous - immense, rocky, brown head that lasts quite a while and now in half a glass sits as three big islands and a ring around the glass. A little sticky but not much.

The smell...well, definitely get the stout part with a tiny bit of coffee, roasted malty goodness, then bitter chocolate and a light non-medicinal cherry that reminds my of the cherry pipe tobacco my Dad used to smoke once in a while when I was a kid. A slight fruitiness that I think is the pepper. It's a little weird to me, so slight concerns going into the first sip.

Ha...no need for worries. Obviously a very good stout base here with dare I say deftly applied adjuncts? Why yes, yes I dare. Stout character comes through in the forefront. The coffee notes are stronger in the flavor, pushing up to but not exceeding the acrid flavor I don't enjoy. Then bitter chocolate with a touch of sweetness comes through and dark sweet cherry. Where's the pepper??? Initially maybe a bit of a green vegetal taste, then well after the swallow the pepper takes over the tongue. Decent bitterness, and aside from the pleasant peppery lingering tingle the taste is pretty clean.

The feel is on the lighter side, carbonation is pretty minimal.

Chalk another one up for the little guys. This stuff is well made. I think of greater importantance is that it is well thought out and carefully designed to deliver the added flavors sensibly. I have to give a bit of careful thought to how far over the 4.0 line this goes and take a look at my stout reviews - the enjoyment factor is high. My brain says it's not reasonably up there with something like KBS, but it could possibly run with some of the variants.

Good beer, second winner from Hive (Toka pilsner was very good) and worth checking out. However, if you don't like what to me is a pleasantly zippy pepper aftertaste, you won't like Cherry Waves.

 

Ya I had this one it's OK I think my bottle was not the freshest
Staropolskie Miodne
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5514/406826/

 

Fair warning, my posting in this thread next weekend will probably be low. A couple friends and I are going to Seattle to make a final pilgrimage to Hale's Ales, and visit a Harry Potter themed restaurant (Lis is a huge HP nerd. If she can't answer a HP question, nobody can), so I will likely be posting what stuff I had the night before each day. But, if you don't see me post it within two weeks, well, I am of Polish heritage, and we've traded before (without mentioning who might be whose target during the current BIF), and would be interested in the contents of the above mentioned store.