New Beer Weekend #92

Scotty Karate

9.75% scotch ale from Dark Horse Brewing

I’ll admit up front that I’m a scotch ale fan. I’ve always enjoyed the up front malty style with dry finish. Scotty Karate is a good example of the style.

The body pours a fairly nondescript brown that creates a small head. Little to no lacing throughout.

The beer delivers the expected malty nose. Deliciously caramel and vaguely dark fruit like a sweet fig. Very nice.

Taste follows nose and the heavy malt is pleasing. Overtones of toffee add depth. Not much bitterness and surprisingly not very boozy. The high ABV is deftly masked by the malt bill. As the beer warmed, the taste flattened a bit. I think I’d drink this one colder than I usually drink scotch ales.

Mouthfeel is about average. Carbonation is appropriate to the style. The sweet malt thankfully does not approach cloying.

An easy drinking high ABV scotch ale is a fine addition to my winter mix. Hopefully this single will be available next fall. Not as good as old favorites like Backwoods Bastard, but more approachable for an afternoon option.

 

OK. Mystery Beer time.
This is from @Mbgreg

So it pours a muted gold to true peach color. White foam pops up for a split second then disappears. Absolutely no head thereafter. Upon closer examination, there is still a stream of bubbles rising, but it results in zero foam.
Initial pop of the can gave a very sulphury burst. After a minute or so, that is gone. Now I am getting some peach or apricot sour notes. Definitely sour.
Ok, now I am confused. The flavor starts off with some apricot but there's an interesting vanilla meets short bread kind of note. Or maybe a diluted lemon bar. And yet I am wondering if I am getting some mango nectar. Dang. Confused.
Mouthfeel is light to medium, light on the carbonation, and finishes mildly sour and barely acidic.
Gonna sip and think.

 

Ok, the reveal.
I did not hit on the whole apricot to peach thing. In fact, that initial suspicion took me down the wrong rabbit hole which even had me reaching for straws with mango nectar. . The hints of vanilla, short bread, and diluted lemon bar were a little closer to the mark...


The can actually lists an interesting ratio: 22 key lime pies for every 7 barrels of beer.
Well I feel like I missed more than I hit on this one. But very fun. Thanks, Mark.

 

Love they put this brew in Stovepipes and can usually find them a month from canning date and at $2.99 a pipe. Maximus is an OG of the WCDIPA to me.

 

Happy Sunday. I was up this morning at 4AM because of Boat waking me and someone snoring, so I read some more of Dragon Tears and did some random youtube surfing. Went back to sleep before 9 AM and woke around 6PM. We made the thin crust mega meat aldi pizza.


From @FBarber NBS BIF. Off Color Ten Crowns. Awesome Dark Lager. Lasting fluffy head retention and lacing. Great clarity. Aromas and flavors of big brown sugar, brown bread/crust, toast, biscuit, herbal, grass, pepper; light chocolate, cocoa, coffee, dark fruit, and yeast earthiness. A bit more fruitiness in the nose, but very clean and complex. Light-moderate herbal, grassy, peppery, roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp/clean finishing. Creamy/bready/grainy malts. Some sticky hops, chalky roast, and increasing dryness. Very clean lager flavors, with rich Munich malt complexity, and balancing noble hops. Very smooth and clean drinking. Outstanding for the style. 4.21


Cheers

 

How can you sleep with that carpet under you? Seems like it would hide the Sleep Demons well......

 

Incognito Mode
Anchorage Brewing Company

4.71/5 rDev +9%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Poured from a 16 ounce can into an IPA glass.

Look- Pale gold, frothy white head, hazy, no visible particulate, lively carbonation, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Nectarine, tangerine.

Taste- Nectarine, apricot, tangerine, delicate sweet finish.

Feel- Low bitterness, between medium and full body, soft, creamy, zero astringency, mildly mouth coating, surprisingly average carbonation.

Overall- Bouquet pleasant, but not very fragrant or complex. Otherwise this was a fantastic drinking experience. Flavors were delicious and perfectly balanced, feel was like my bed on a weekend morning, look was as good as Gisele Bündchen. I liken this beer to a walk-off grand slam , I just wish I had picked up more than one!

 

Best part is, someone, somewhere at the higher corporate level, approved that. How do I get a gig like that? Prolly need a degree in Customer Discomfort and Annoyance?

 

E9 - Puppies vs Kittens. For those of you not in the area, this is a reference to the University of Washington Huskies (purple) and the Washington State University Cougars (red).

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 02/11/2022. Bought it at Beer Junction yesterday.

Pours a clear light yellow with a huge fluffy head that collapses into a big clumpy mountain range. Smell is lemon, citrus pith, slight brett spiciness, oddly enough.

Taste is mostly back in standard American IPA range. Citrus, pine resin, lemon pith. But a little bit of that hint of brett hangs on.

Mouthfeel is very light and clean. Overall...it's interesting. It's good and I'm enjoying it, but with that head and that spicy brett characteristic, I give it a 90% chance I would have guessed it was a Belgian IPA if I tried it blind.

 

Go Cougs!!!

 

Here's a late nite/last minute entry: BlackStack Spaghetti Western WCIP with Italian Pilsner Malt. Wrap yer head around this one! It's very tasty with Pils & IPA attributes intermingling in a beautiful way. 7.1% ABV is not found. Citrus zest. bready malt, lightly sour and a full flavored pils that's kinda mixed up with a great balance and taste. It flags back & forth btwx pils /IPA. A beautiful and curious beast. Rating/review are near. Cheers!