New Beer Weekend #90

Thanks @ChicagoJ for getting us going. Today is my 12 year BA Birthday and I am using the glass I used all the time back then. 3067 beers later. I have a good amount of New Beers on hand.

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 3/24/22. Pours a very hazy dark yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves thin lines of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is peach, mango, earthy spicy rind, mandarin, apricot, and a little grapefruit. 4.25

Taste follows peach, mango, again a little peppery spice, mandarin, apricot, and grapefruit well balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, not sticky or dry, soft carbonation, and at 8.3% ABV big flavor but easy going down. 4.25

Overall another really nice DDH NEDIPA from these guys. Highly recommend. 4.25 Cheers all.

 

Thanks for the start, @ChicagoJ. I don’t post here a lot, but I had one this morning that really surprised me.

My brother in law told me about the Oznr app, and then my brother (who lives in Florida) told me Cigar City opened up Hunaphu day to everybody and they allowed proxies, so I had to enter their drawings on Oznr. I won both, so I ended up with 4 Hunas and 2 of this year’s variants. When my brother sent me them (as well as a bunch of vintage Hunas and variants I also bought), he threw in four pale ales I don’t have normal access to. This was one of them-Sweetwater Brewing H.A.Z.Y. 710.



I’ve had plenty of beers from this brewery, but somehow I have never reviewed or rated any. If I can describe what I’ve had from them in one word, it would be DANK. This one is no exception. There’s a very New England IPA quality to it. It’s not cloudy-it’s murky. The smell and taste are both juicy and citrusy, but the best thing is that they are subtle, not overpowering. The mouthfeel has a dry and crisp, almost ciderlike finish, and the low ABV helps make it a refreshing sippable beer. Like I said, I’ve had a number of their beers, and while I haven’t graded them, I can say they know what they’re doing. A very good beer, and I could see killing off two or three on a sunny day sitting on the deck.

 

I am playing catch up with some reviews. These are some new IPA's I have had at various breweries around Houston this week. From notes.

First up is from Great Heights, Milo, 7% ABV



Pours a clear golden/yellow color. A one finger white head forms with good retention. Plenty of lace is left behind.
Very pungent and aromatic. Citrus, pine, resin. Grapefruit and citrus pith.
Like the nose, all the citrus, pine, resin and grapefruit flavors you can handle. There is a bit of woody flavors here as well Which I tend to get from time to time with some IPA's. Lingering bitterness as well.
A medium to full body with moderate carbonation. Its very resin like, which makes it seem a tad thicker than I would like. No bother, its still a good one to drink and come back to when at the brewery.

Solid all around, which is pretty typical, in a good way, for Great Heights. Another good and straight forward old school IPA from this brewery.

Overall Score is 3.98, B+
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50326/597134/?ba=champ103#lists

Next up from Baileson is Better Late Than Never, 7% ABV

This is their new batch, I don't think I had their old batch from a year or so ago...



Pours with a slight haze, that clears up after a bit. A golden/yellow color. With a two finger white head that forms. Plenty of lace left behind.
Aroma: Oh, butter and resiny grapefruit. The dreaded diacetyl shows up here. Which is kind of all I can focus on.
Yep, definitely buttery diacetyl taste wise. With grapefruit and pine. Lingering bitterness, but again that dreaded D is all I can really focus on.
A medium body with good carbonation. Fairly smooth. Though I'm looking for something else pretty quickly.

I do like Bailseson, they can make some of the better IPA's around town. Though I have also noticed inconsistencies like diacety before. I don't know if they just need to to a quick rest before putting it on tap, or what? Cause it can be fairly random in which beers I perceive it. Though I am a bit hyper sensitive to that, and take that info for what you want.

Overall Score 3.14, C(ish)??
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50448/413011/?ba=champ103#lists


Last is from Elder Son Brewing.Shape Shifter Mosaic IPA, 5.1% ABV


Pours a hazy golden color. With a one finger white head that quickly recedes to nothing. With some lace left behind.
Aroma has some nondescript berries. Some odd kind of band aid like phenolic aroma, along with some solvent like ethanol heat. This is odd and not particularly enjoyable.
Taste wise, like the nose, that generic berry flavor. A plasticy, band aid, phenol character, or at least thats the best I can describe it. Some light bitterness.
A lighter body than I was expecting. Not completely flat, but still on lower carbonation end. Muddled and not clean. I didn't really want to finish this pint.

Well, at least the carbonation levels are a bit better than the last time I had their beers. Which were all completely flat. This is muddled, with an odd phenolic character, that I don't know if I'm describing accurately. Though, I found something off putting about it.

Overall Score is 2.77, not giving a letter score for that. Once something is below a 3 overall, I just don't care, and this is my second visit with having sub par beers from them, I wanted to give them another try. Probably my last visit.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61896/575089/?ba=champ103#lists

Well, thats my new IPA tour from this past week. One good, two blah. I'm at least finishing up my book, which is a great novel by Jhumpa Lahiri.

 

Today’s new beer is Tired Hands Trendler Rauchbier – Smoked Lager. It seems that on BA Smoked beers is a rather polarizing beer style with a sort of love it or hate it vibe. I am in the ‘middle’ as regards Smoked beers in that I enjoy drinking some brands while not being a fan of others. For example, when a Smoked beer has a real ‘meaty’ flavor profile I personally do not enjoy those beers.

How a Smoked beer will taste will be influenced by a number of factors:

· The type of smoked malt used; what type of wood was used to smoke the malts (e.g., beech, cherry, etc.)

· How much smoked malt is used (e.g., what percentage of the grain bill is smoked malt)

· What other malts are used to make the beer

· Etc.

I homebrew a beer that is essentially an English Brown Ale but I use some beechwood smoked malt (e.g., 30%) in the grain bill and that beer is quite tasty; I label that beer as Smoky Brown Ale.

Below is how Tired Hands details their Rauchbier on the website:

“Inspired by our favorite smoked lagers from Bamberg, this was a deep dive into a style we've been wanting to do for way too long! Brewed with a grist consisting of 40% beechwood smoked malt, pilsner, and various specialty malts for a fuller body and depth of malt flavor. The presence of smoke is balanced just right. Hopped ever so gently with our trusty Hallertau Mittelfruh. -Notes of honey dipped biscuits by the campfire.”

Well, the above sure does read tasty for my palate but let’s see how it truly tastes.

Served in my Yards Brewing Smoked Beer Festival can shaped beer glass:

Appearance:

Pours a golden yellow with a BIG white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is mostly campfire smoke but there is also a hint of breadiness in the background.

Taste:

The flavors follows the nose with mostly a campfire smokiness but there is also some bready flavor which is more noticeable in comparison to the aroma. There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied, moderate carbonation and a pleasant dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good! A pleasant combination of campfire smokiness and bready flavors from the Pilsner malt.

This beer has the quality that the Germans describe by the word süffig (drinkability).

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

Thanks to ChicagoJ for the start. Looks like you are getting the snow we had all week!

Two beers today, first is Surly Controlled Chaos:

Appearance: Mostly clear yellow, ok head.

Smell: Sweetened citrus, grapefruit.

Taste: Mildly sweet citrus, grapefruit, medium bitterness. Sweet and hoppy.

Overall: Picked up another Surly IPA, it's solid but doesn't really stand out. I like the sweetness to it, but there's enough hops to keep it honest.

Second is WarPigs Astral Queen:

Appearance: Clear amber, good head.

Smell: Grapefruit, resiny.

Taste: Grapefruit bitterness balanced with a big malt backbone. Some alcohol noticed, moderately bitter finish.

Overall: Double IPA from the WarPigs mix pack. Kind of an old school DIPA, nice mix of bitterness, malt body, and alcohol, and in a 12oz package. Worth a try.

 

Happyness by Superflux

4.25/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25


Can received from @Beersnake1 in Bif15

Brewers notes: a forward-looking take on the classic West Coast IPA. Bright and crisp this beauty is loaded with Mosaic hops. Colourful notes of tropical fruit, pine sap and a medium body of slightly sweet malt.

ABV: 7.0% / BITTERNESS: MEDIUM / CRUSHABILITY: MEDIUM

Poured into a Spiegelau ipa glass, slightly hazy but clear golden liquid, numerous active carbonation streams, crowned by a stiff three finger off white foam. The cap recedes to a tropical island with a volcano in the middle , sticky lacings, good retention

Aroma is bright, orange citrus, pine , grapefruit

Taste is citrus rind, orange, tropical fruit, hint of pine

Hop bite , clean, crisp, not too sharp, dry finish

Good beer, nice west coast ipa without a huge bite, recommended

 

Greetings all. getting a bit of an early start, cuz the Mariners are starting in about a half-hour. Been a long while since I've had a Rogue brew, and just grabbed this Newport Nights IPA a bit ago. Solid, Old-school ImpIPA: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/459826/?ba=BBThunderbolt#lists

 

Hey what's going on!?

Hope all is well, I had an insane week, and luckily getting a chance to enjoy the weekend. Hope you all are too, and one of those joys is trying new beers.

Been spending some time with Other Half these days lately. Let's see what they up to.

What's new for our hero today?

Barrel Aged Deep Orbit Vega - Other Half



Poured from the bottle into a teku glass.

Oily and sheened brown midnight in color coming out of the bottle, filling slightly sludge like in the glass. No head created with barely a hint of cocoa brown bubbles and a slightly edged bubbled collar. Leggy a bit also.

Aroma is almost exclusively boozed heat. Faint hints of dark chocolate, and the booze angle gets almost into cheap fruited brandy more than hinting stout or barrel aging which seems non existent.

Palate is passable, but doesn't offer much. Slick and syrupy runny body, with booze hints of chocolate. Faint touches of vanilla with mild sweetness and lots of alcohol fussel flavors. Not much sense of barrel roundness and character. Some of the heat gets into an almost cherry quality which at least adds some dimension to the beer.

Not much sense of the added ingredients or barrel quality, and a bit of over-heated booze doesn't get this into memorable territory.

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | Final: 3.44/5

Cheers!

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 3/01/22 DDH with Citra, Strata, Simcoe, Amarillo, and Cascade. Pours a hazy dark yellow with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with nice retention. 4.5

Aroma is mango, pineapple, tangerine, apricot, and some grapefruit rind. 4.25

Taste follows mango, tangerine, apricot, pineapple, and a solid hit of grapefruit in balanced finish. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, not sticky or dry, soft almost creamy mouthfeel, and at 8% it goes down very easy. 4.5

Overall this is another really nice NEDIPA from these guys. I see stuff fresh from them and I must try it. 4.25

 

Omni Brewing Freakin' Awesome Delicious NEIIPA. I purchased this beer last weekend in Minnesota. I was interested in purchasing local NEIPAs while in the Twin Cities area. BlackStack Brewing from St. Paul makes great NEIPAs, but they do not date their cans, and they charge the most of any NEIPA brewer in the area that I am aware of. This beer was on sale for HALF the price of BlackStack Brewing NEIPAs. The cans are dated and the beer is fresh. The look is bright murky orange, with a big foamy bright white hairdo. It looks like orange juice. The smell is almost exactly like freshly-squeezed orange juice. When I took this picture, the wind was blowing towards me, and the smell was intense. I really like that smell. The taste is very citrusy. It also does taste like freshly-squeezed orange juice. The can describes this beer as a big aromatic hoppy orange juice bomb. I agree. There is a slight bitterness, but the only taste I perceive is orange juice. The mouthfeel is juicy, thick, and smooth, with minimal carbonation. Overall, I really like this beer. BlackStack Brewing NEIPAs, or NEIPAS from any other Twin Cities NEIPA brewery, are not worth paying double the price of this beer!

 

I was curious to see if Tivoli brewed this beer like they do in Mexico using adjuncts (e.g., corn) and I performed a quick web-search to find:

“Tivoli Brewing Company Description

This dark Mexican Lager reflects a blend of Mexican and German brewing tradition. Obscura features a substantial amount of Vienna malt and flaked corn, and is lagered for over a month. Tivoli's love for lagers led us to this famous style, beloved for it's full body and crisp finish.

5.2% ABV

13 IBU”

Yup, just like in Mexico.

Cheers!

 

Always wish their were more Rauchbiers to try domestically in the U.S. Can't get enough of them, however many of the few ones I have had have a real hard time getting over the pinnacle and benchmarks of the traditional makers I would say.

We need a smoke beer trend in this country I say...

 

I have not tried that rauchbier @JackHorzempa but I did try human robot’s a few weeks ago and it was quite good.

Maybe the tired hands one will still be around next time I make the trip into Philly.