New Beer Weekend #90

Up next is Static Image, a West Coast IPA from Tired Hands.

3.5/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Canned March 21, 2022. Bright, translucent straw colored with just ok head production and retention. Aroma is mostly citrus and relatively simple. It's pleasant enough, but not noteworthy in any way.

Taste mostly follows the nose. Citrus up front, with a hoppy bite on the back-end that feels right for the style. Medium bodied with decent carbonation.

Overall, solid beer. Not my favorite style, but still generally enjoyable.

 

Zwickelbeer by Heater Allen

4.03/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4




New brewery for me, can received in an Lif associated with Bif14 and poured into a Seidel , both from @snaotheus

Two finger off white foam cap , excellent rentention , settles to a solid pencil thick layer after 5+ minutes over a hazy copper liquid

Aroma is malt, bready , sweet

Taste is sweet malt, bread

Sudsy , clean, gentle hop bitterness lingers

Good beer

 

I at first read your post too fast, so I initially thought it was called "Night Porter," and wondered if it was an homage to the crazy movie with Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling, and thought, re the brewers:

 

First beer of the day for me, received courtesy of a ninja strike from @Roy_Hobbs in the current BIF. I was excited to try this one when I saw it had juniper berries, if I had to pick a spirit it would be gin, my go to at a wedding if there is no good beer to choose from. The label paired well with probably my favorite glass, courtesy of the one and only @BBThunderbolt

Conshohocken - backpack beer (Belgian wheat)



Pour much darker than I would have expected, a cloudy slightly orange slightly brown color. Head quickly settles to see through white.

Aroma is a big hit of typical bubble gum, banana and spice that you would expect from a wit. In the background there is some extra sweetness hiding almost coming off in the form of sweet berries, is it the juniper combining with the lemon and orange??? Not sure but its quite pleasant.

The taste gives much of the same as the nose but the spice note shines much more than the nose would suggest. The bubble gum is still there to me along with that sweet berry like note, shows mostly in the aftertaste.

A pleasant creamy carbonation meets the tongue first, medium body, a tiny bit of residual sweetness and no bitterness to speak of.

This is a wit on the sweeter side, it also drinks as such. Its pretty enjoyable though. It would be even better if it wasn't so damn cold and windy today. Thanks for sharing!

 

And one more from Other Half.

Green City, labeled as Double Dry Hopped IP, 7% ABV


Pours milky, and opaque. A yellow/straw color. A dense white head forms that sticks around with plenty of lace left behind.
Aroma is muddled citrus/lemon juice. Maybe some pine, and I'm not getting much else. I'm not sure I'm even getting that, but seems the thing to say with these types of IPA's. Just kind of vaguely hoppy.
Taste wise, some lemon and orange pith. Kind of juicy up front, then generically sweet, with just a hint of bitterness. No finish to this though, it all fades pretty quickly.
A muddled, chalky body. Low carbonation, and I'm really wanting some kind of bite. Either from some carbonation or more bitterness which might help clean this up for me. Though that ain't happening. Another one that I'm looking to move on from quickly.

Well I tried. Every once in a while I will revisit this style and see if anything hits for me this time. I find very little difference between this and Forever Ever. This might have just a whisper more bitterness, that is only really perceptible if tried side by side. Don't hate

Overall score is 3.25, I guess a C+ ??
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/319254/?ba=champ103#lists

Man, I need a Lunch to get the very average IPA's that I have had this week out of my mind ha.

 

No apologies needed! It was still a pretty good brew. Tomorrow is the other crowler!

 

That is a cool glass. Hey, @BBThunderbolt, was that from the WA Brewers Guild?

 

Not to answer for him, but I am...

I think it was for WA pint day via washington beer blog. I saw pictures of it somewhere and tried to find one while we were in Seattle in September. No luck so I posted in the FT glassware section and he came through big time. Not only that I got the one from this year too

To be honest I love this glass so much I'm afraid of breaking, such beautiful art work.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. While I'm sitting out the current NBS BIF I'm still working my way through the seemingly bottomless boxes I received last Fall. Today, I'm starting with a Deschutes' The Dissident - Peach, a Flanders Oud Bruin I received from @snaotheus. The glass was gifted by @FBarber in the same BIF. This is the type of beer I wouldn't buy for myself but is fun to try.

Bottled on 5/20/2021. It pours a slightly hazy, burnt orange color with a thin, ecru head that fizzled away almost immediately. There's lots of peach on the nose along with berry, vinegar, and funky yeast. It's sour for sure but tempered by sweet, ripe peach and berry with an oaky, crackery malt base beneath. It finishes with a dose of spicy bitterness. As the ale breathes in the glass it settles and the fruit becomes even more pronounced.The peach and berry have a syrupy feel but its balanced by the lively carbonation and acidity. It doesn't feel like 10.4% ABV. Overall, while I don't drink this style often, The Dissident - Peach is highly flavorful and overs a pleasing balance of sweet and sour.

4.24/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you, Ryan!

 

Yeah, Washington Pint Day last December. I get confused if it was WA Beer Guild (the lobbying group) or WA Beer Commission (the marketing and promotional group), but one of those.

Edit: now that I see which glass, that's the 2000 glass. I asked and looked around for one, and no joy. Then, when I was looking for something else, I found one that I had stashed away for myself. And, since I had just taken 2 big boxes of glassware to the Habitat for Humanity store....

 

Oh @woemad he sent me his a believe, because well, he is just that type of a person. Incredibly generous and helpful, I cherish this glass every time i used it.

@BBThunderbolt

 

Neon Fortress, an Italian Pilsner from Fremont.

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 03/16/22. Bought it at the brewery last weekend.

Pours a clear dark brassy golden with a big head that settles into a stiff, clumpy collection of cobwebs. A little bit of active carbonation. Smell is bright, grassy/citrusy hops with a background of grain tea.

Taste is leaning toward lemon zest and lemon pith, light graininess, grassy flavor builds up. Bitterness takes on a resinous character as I sip it.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, crisp. Nice beer!

 

Poured into a 20 oz Snulip glass not sure when it was canned. Pours near pitch black with a half finger mocha head that leaves some thin lines of lace with nice retention. 4.5

Aroma is vanilla bean, cocoa nibs, toffee, caramel, and butterscotch. 4.25

Taste follows vanilla, cocoa, toffee, caramel, and a hint of butterscotch. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, not dry or sticky, soft carbonation, and at 8% it drinks bigger, but goes down easy. 4

Overall this is nice, not as good as when they do the 12% monsters, but still really solid. Cheers all. 4

 

Afternoon NBS.
Truth be told.my first new beer of the day I tried one from the 4 pk before today but its a new beer to me and an interesting and very good one.
Pours a crystal clear pale gold with a creamy snow white head that is quite large with ok retention falling to a thin ring with sparse spots of lacing.
Nose is fresh bread oh wow!, grassy and floral hops, lemon zest, grain.
Taste is wonderfully malty with a unique spicy character- white peppery, and fresh grated nutmeg? or allspice?
Really different and delicious. So clean, crisp, very well balanced. Sweet fades away into dryness and finishes with a nice bitter bite. Theres a unique character to this that sets it apart from what you expect from a Czech style lager...the spice- but yet an earthy funk - maybe from the open ferment.
Feel is on the light side, nice carbonation throughout. Dry finish.
Wow. I could drink the hell out of this one. Triple decocted - really makes a big difference here. Not sure if Ive even had a beer that was triple decocted.
They should put this on their trophy shelf directly in the middle.
Luscious and highly recommend for lager lovers. Be back in a bit getting some butts ready for smoking tomorrow.
Cheers!

 

Alright, this should be a good one. Orono and Mast Landing collaborated on a 9.8% imperial whoopie pie stout featuring actual whoopie pies, chocolate, vanilla, and lactose. This amuses me, sort of, because SoMe Brewing (also from Maine) makes a Whoopie Pie Stout and a double version that's... only 8%. Kind of a flex from these guys to go above and beyond and outdo another small brewer from their own state like that, but I doubt it was malicious whatsoever.

Pours quite solidly... a massive dark brown head tops off an inky black beer with thick, viscous bubbles and equally chunky lace forming as the foam stabilizes and sinks to a finger-high ring. Decent legs and nice surface coverage... impressive stuff!

Nose is very accurate to the dessert while not smelling cloying or over-the-top. Seems like this is off to a good start. Mast Landing has certainly had their collective hands on quite a few pretty damn good dessert stouts over the past year or two, but I'm not sure I've had any of this sorta thing from Orono, so the fact that they actually did the brewing here speaks to the strength of the collab for sure. I'm picking up big scents of nicely-refined Belgian chocolate, some hints of earthiness and roast, and a backing vanilla element that I'm thankful isn't super upfront. The strength of this beer is not super-evident by smell alone, so we'll see if it comes across on the tongue or if this is a subtly-strong brew.

First few sips are strong and rich with chocolate but also a hint of ethanol backed up by (or maybe brought along by?) the vanilla. Mid-palate has a good bit of heft that really gives this a satisfying feel; it almost tastes like a liquid whoopie pie without the insane sweetness those typically have. That isn't to say this isn't a sweet beer, as it definitely is a milk stout at the end of the day, but they could have made it quite a bit more "accurate" to the actual whoopie pie flavor, which as I mentioned above probably would have lost me a bit... I tend to dislike the dessert stouts that approach an "uncanny valley"-esque representation of whatever they are based on, as I'm left with this feeling of "is this even real...?" that I find tough to shake, even in situations where I am assured there is nothing artificial, etc. Ah, but I'm rambling on personal preference now... I'll close with this. If you enjoy chocolate-forward dessert stouts, this will be up your proverbial alley. It's quite good, and I have to say I'm impressed. I always go into this kind of thing with a teensy bit of trepidation for whatever reason, but I would grab this one again for sure.

 

Drinking one now, your take on this one reflects my experience.
Cheers

 

NBS #2. This one came from @FBarber (along with the glass). Revolution Brewing's Cuvée de Grâce, a blend of Straight Jacket, Deth's Tar, Ryeway to Heaven, Thundertaker, and Ryeway to Heaven/Straight Jacket. This has to be good!

Poured at 54°. Its color is a deep mahogany with a foamy, medium-mocha cap that dissipated quickly leaving minimal lacing. The fragrant smell includes rye, brown sugar, toffee, chocolate, fig, raisin, oaky, earthy malt, and just a whiff of bourbon. The taste is rich and complex with dark chocolate, burnt toffee, raisin and other dark fruit notes, sweet, earthy malt, and a much stronger bourbon presence than on the nose. It's quite boozy and sweet. As it settles the chocolate and dark fruit become more pronounced. There is almost no bitterness. It's mouth feel is full and creamy with low to moderate carbonation and there's no escaping the 15% ABV. You can really feel the alcohol heat. It should be sipped slowly and not on an empty stomach. Overall, Cuvée de Grâce is a big, adventuresome blend. You have to buy in to the sweetness and alcohol burn but if you do, then you'll like it a lot (I did!).

4.33/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Many, many thanks, Frank! Have a great week, everyone. Cheers, NBW!

 

I always forget about that channel at the top of the guide...

Was guessing A-6 ****[it, but betting not

 

Toppling Goliath Arcade Crusher Triple IPA, 10.0% ABV; 4.29 overall

Pours a very hazy & effervescent gold with 2+ fingers cream colored head. Floaties abound in the bottom of the can. Stellar lacing & above average head retenrion. No points deduction for the floaties as I was warned on the can

S: Passion fruit, green melon, oranges, some cattyness as this warms up

T: Grapefruit, passion fruit, guava & a little dryness up front, a touch of pine as well. Some leafy hops come through as this warms, along with pineapple, guava & passionfruit. Finishes with some cattyness, pine & plenty of tropical flavor, plus a little dryness

MF: Fairly thick with restrained carbonation, a little grittiness from the floaties; awesome balance on this. .5 deduction for the feel of the floaties

Almost 90 days old, but holds up nicely. This will be my place holder until I can score a fresher batch. You can feel the heft, but very easy to drink. If this beer is better fresh, I sure as Hell want some