New Beer Weekend #89

I am in Minneapolis, MN. Last night I had a wonderful time visiting with @Chaz and @cheeseheadinMinneapolis. This beer is a gift from @cheeseheadinMinneapolis. Portage Brewing in Walker, MN, Deepest of Seas DDH NEIPA. Riwaka/Nelson/Amarillo Cryo hops. The color is hazy yellow with a peach tint. The smell is lemon, orange, Crest toothpaste, and white grapes. The taste is zesty and juicy, with lemon, mango, peach, and white wine flavors. The mouthfeel is like a highly-carbonated wine spritzer, yet juicy, full, and swampy. Overall, this is a very delicious NEIPA!

 

Buffalo cauliflower panini and the sausage pepper onion pizza. The pizza was insane Detroit Pan style. The crust was burned in a good way! DOPE AF




I got the blueberry Cheesecake sour. Very nice fruit sour. Aromas and flavors of big juicy blueberry, fruit skin, cream cheese, lemon, green apple, red grape/wine, hay, straw, grass, lacto funk, wheat, bread. Stronger cream cheese in Aromas. Moderate tart/sour and tangy cream cheese finish. Lt med body. Lactic acid and creamy/grainy wheat feel. Drying acid with no puckering. Fairly crisp/refreshing. Unique but well made. Nothing overwhelming. 3.9


Cheers

 

Another new one

Indiana City Red Collar
16oz undated can poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass 8.5% ABV. The beer pours somewhat bright in a copper color with light khaki head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island leaving a complete web of lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet caramel malt, pine and vague citrus. The taste is semisweet caramel with subdued notes of pine and citrus. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good. Maybe old, which is why I don't buy anything but singles from Indiana City.

Cheers all!

 

New Beer from Shiner. The second iteration of TEXHEX -"DESERT MIRAGE"
'A light-bending hazy IPA brewed with cactus water & featuring juicy, resinous Strata hops'
8% ABV/45 IBU Hazy, orange citrus with a hint of bitterness that's drinkable to me.

 

Harpoon watermelon world. Great witbier. Aromas and flavors of juicy watermelon, cucumber/seed, red apple, pear, peppercorn, wheat, cracker, herbal, grass, yeast earthiness. Fairly bitter/spicy finish. Crisp clean refreshing lt med body. Grainy and sticky hop feel. Slight fruit tang. Great authentic fruit flavor without being too vegetal. Great style stuff. 4


Cheers

 

Hello NBW friends. My beers tonight (and tomorrow night) are courtesy of @jonphisher, who sent me a liquid gross of fantastic beers, and some awesome swag for NBW BIF #15.

I am so excited to try tonight’s beers, I’m practically shaking - and I’ll review this live. Let’s GOOOOOO!!!!!





Crack the can open and a deluge of dank, exotic citrus aromas leap forward - loads of pineapple, mango, guava, passion fruit, and a nice berry note.

The pour is a very hazy pineapple color with a dense, creamy white head. Absolutely gorgeous beer. The nose from the glass matches the nose from the can, except it opens up even more. Glorious.

The taste is a direct cross from the nose, with pineapple, guava, and berry flavors most prominent - and is that a bit of resiny pine lurking at the back of the palate? I say yes, because there’s a bit of bitterness, which I really appreciate.

The mouthfeel is on the softer side and very full, fitting the beer/style. If I had regular access to this, it would assume Position A as my fridge IPA. I’m a sucker for Citra/Mosaic hopped beers, and this is an excellent example of that.

Rated 4.42

 

Not a style I have very often, this amped-up version is quite enjoyable with noticeable bitterness (for the style) roasted chewy malt, and hints of molasses and licorice. My first offering from the Hourglass Brewing company in Longwood, Florida. I'm not really sure about the "Irish Curse." When I looked it up on the internet, I read several disturbing interpretations. This ale is not a curse.

 

#2, also courtesy of @jonphisher, Kane going to a smaller bottle format for these big stouts is the greatest day in the history of my beer nerd life - working your way through a 750ML bottle by yourself was ….. a bit of a challenge.

Imma be bouncing off the walls after this coffee!!!





4.49/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours a very dark cola brown color from the bottle and settles as almost black in the glass with a substantial, creamy tan head. Lovely, but almost looks like an imperial porter (I’m parsing here). The nose is astounding, with rich cocoa notes forward and a nice vanilla and subtle coconut note following - and roasty coffee.

That roasty coffee is at the very back of the palate on the taste, allowing the cocoa and vanilla to shine before closing things and adding a lot of character to a rich, creamy imperial stout that is packed with flavor, yet maintains a balance that is to be admired.

World class stuff here, IMHO.

 

It's funny @ovaltine rift is one of the few hazy IPAs I really enjoy for the precise reasons you noted, great minds...

Glad you liked the Holy Nights, I held on to one bottle in hopes of sharing with someone, so I'm very glad you enjoyed it.

Cheers my friend.

 

I came across the live one first on YouTube and just decided to go with it.

 

When those Chinook hops snuck in that bit of resiny pine bitterness ….. stick a fork in me, I’m done. Traveshamockery good stuff.

Kane rules in those big beers, IMHO. Holy Nights is yet another example of their prowess.

Cheers backatcha, my friend - this was a fantastic beer night for this old beer nerd.

 

Last new beer for today

Dragon's Milk Reserve 2022 Q1

Described on the label as rye barrel aged stout with cinnamon, toasted chilies, and vanilla extract

12oz bottled 12/29/21 (3 months ago) poured into a New Holland tulip glass at fridge temp 11.8% ABV. The beer pours dense black with minimal light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring single layer of tiny bubbles. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring big cinnamon and vanilla. The taste is semisweet with more big cinnamon, lesser chile pepper heat, vanilla and just a hint of roasted malt. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less that medium carbonation and a dry finish. No trace of the ABV in the aroma or taste. Overall, nice beer, but nothing here says stout or rye barrel. More of a pepper beer than anything else, so grab it if you enjoy heat.

Cheers all!

 

Thank you @ChicagoJ for getting us kicked off this week! NBW BIF #15 is in full porch assault mode and I'm here to speak of one of those munitions.

@colts9016 sent me this can, dated 3/21/22, so it's fresher than almost anything I can buy prepackaged from either Founders or Bell's. Anyways, to the beer! (Sorry about the image, the lighting was pretty poor)
Poured golden amber, opaque and very "hazy" with a short but persistent nearly white head.
Aroma was clean and almost grassy, I think my nose is malfunctioning.
The taste, wow, this isn't your typical NEIPA. No real sweetness, more piney and melon and maybe some peach or apricot, but very faint. And yes, a touch of green grass like flavor in there. No sweet, not really savory, just complexity I wasn't expecting but really enjoyed.
The feel was very good, smooth and way too easy to drink.
OA, I know this is a one off, but it is really well done IMO. Thanks Jammin!

 

Hi, NBW! Today's first new beer is brought to me by @Coronaeus, who inexplicably decided to send beer to (I think) every single participant in NBS BIF #14, despite not actually being a participant in it.

Conjuration 11 from Third Moon. A pale ale with thiol-enhanced yeast. I don't know anything about thiols, so I Googled it, and the Wikipedia article didn't help me at all.


16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 02FEB2022.

Pours a hazy pale gold color with a generous head. Lots of active carbonation. Smell is interesting. Tropical fruit juice and something that initially comes across as kind of like a disinfectant.

Taste is primarily tropical juicy, a little bit of grain, maybe a hint of a barnyard funk, that disinfectant-y note seems to be absent in the flavor. I get more and more pith as I taste it more.

Mouthfeel is medium, dry. Overall, it's good and easy to drink. I like it.

 

Rouge River Holy Trinity hazy IPA.



I went shopping this week - several times - to pick up beer to send in the NBW BIF. I stopped in at an LCBO here for the first time in a long while. I buy 95% on my beer directly from the brewery. I was surprised to see a few things I had no idea where being distributed, some stuff from new breweries to me and some old favourites. So, I bought a few cans for myself as well as my target.

This one is from a brewery that is fully on board with the turbid IPA. In my experience they fall into the second tier of local hazy IPA makers. Very good, but not truly great. This one fits right into that preconception.

Pours a bright, opaque golden straw colour with impressive head that dissipates slowly, leaving lovely lacing behind.

Muted aromas, which is disappointing. Some citrus, primarily grapefruit. A little pine/spruce in the very distant background.

Lots of citrus fruit on the tongue. Some piney bitterness on the finish. It packs much more flavour than I was expecting given the muted aromas.

Creamy, full bodied beer. On point for style.

Another good Rouge River IPA. Cheers!

 

This was a weird iteration of the series. I bought it thinking it would be like past examples, but the yeast made for an odd beer. Generally, they are juicy, hazy IPAs.