New Beer Weekend #96

Well it really looked good when I poured it, sure smelled nice too.....but it was all downhill after that.....good thing my wife liked it....


3.57/5 rDev -17.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25
by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois

Nice black pour, not exactly "chewy", a small brown head that vanished, no lacing, none of that expected. It smells like a Lehmann Kringle, pecan, cinnamon, brown sugar, it even tastes like that, and that's where the problem lies, for me. 1st sips pretty good, each one gets sweeter. Nice thick opaque body. My wife doesn't like beer but thought this was "really tasty".
Please don't ad junk to beer!

 

Today was hot enough to feel like being near the Mexican border so let's hit the dark version of 50 Miles To Mexico from War Horse.

War Horse calls this a Dark Mexican Lager even though the “Mexico” they refer to is the 220 year old town of Mexico, NY.


Not much info on the can or the website, just that this 4.7% lager is a “medium bodied dark Mexican lager brewed with New York pilsner malt”

50 Miles Dark pours a double strength iced tea with a tan short lived head that dissolves into a thick film and a faint burnt make\malt aroma.

The taste is a pleasant toasted (almost burnt) malt with a background of almond, dark caramel, and apple seeds.

Thinner bodied then you would expect with minimal carbonation and a dry slightly bitter aftertaste, again reminiscent if biting into an apple seed

Overall this is a nice, refreshing beer. I wouldn't recommend it for a hot day, but it's works well on a warm evening and would go well with spicy tex-mex food

3.96/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Mother's Brewing ( Springfield, MO ) Super Solid Orange Pineapple IPA, 4.2% ABV; 3.84 overall

Pours a very effervescent & slightly opaque gold with one finger of cream colored head. Average head retention & a little better lacing

S: Slight breadyness & citrus, a little grassyness, all pretty muted

T: Orange, lime & a little pineapple up front, slight breadyness. Lime, oranges & pineapple, plus a little dryness & grassyness as this warms. Finishes dry with oranges & grassyness

MF: Light/medium body, fairly firm carbonation, nice balance

Great drinkability, delivers a lot flavor for a "light" IPA, a shame the nose didn't come along for the ride. Perfect float trip beer

 

I always ding beers for appearance.

 

Got the hockey game on, it’s nice to be able to watch a western conference game, usually I’m sound asleep when they start out here. I cannot wait to be able to watch the game tomorrow night @Beersnake1 starts at 8 for us another western one I’ll be able to watch.

Now to beer, another one from @ovaltine; sent in the same box as the Columbus I just finished.

Dovetail - Grodziskie



Pours a an almost dark lemonade (maybe brownish ) like color and appearance, very cloudy. Head dissipates very very quick, leaving a small white ring.

A unique smelling smoke to me, it was very heavy at first like band aid; as the nose adjusted it became more pleasant. There is an estery almost hefe like aroma hiding. I’ve noticed this in several dovetail beers which is interesting. It also has a crisp crackery smell to it.

The taste pretty much mirrors the nose, no surprises but it definitely again shows the Hefeweizen like notes.

Light body, with an extra snappy zing to it; finishes with an almost lemon like pop. Very refreshing.

I enjoyed this beer; the smoke was way too much at first but as the palette adjusted the other notes became noticeable. Thanks for sending Mike.

 

The nose of that slightly hazy, light brown beer is ….. startling at first.

 

Philipsburg American Hefeweizen Haybag

3.65/5 rDev -7.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75




Canned 4.5.22, opened 5.21.22

New brewery for me

Brewers Notes: Citrusy and dry, this wheat beer uses 40% malted white wheat from Washington to give a mouthful of cereal flavor, all while being incredibly drinkable and thirst-quenching. Cascade and Willamette hops provide grassy citrus flavors and aromas. The special yeast strain stays in suspension for that signature cloudiness. “Haybag” is a term of endearment used by some local men when referring to their wife or girlfriend, eg: “Look at all those haybags sitting at the bar.”

Poured into a cheap plastic hotel nonic style plastic cup

Frothy two finger off white foam cap , recedes to a solid layer , clinging lacings, over a translucent orange liquid

Aroma is grassy

Taste is slightly grassy, slight lemon citrus , no clove, no banana

Sudsy , smooth

Nice beer while discovering Yellowstone



saw this in Gardner , MT…thought it was appropriate.

 

Fat Head's Lime Feelin' Good Mexican-Style Lager - I am a big fan of Lagers and lime so I can't see how this could be a miss for me. Pours a clear yellow with a decent head that quickly disappears. Smell is about perfect for me and the lime is there but not overwhelming. Taste is excellent, nice and crisp and is perfect on a day like today where the heat index was 100F (in May!?). Sure, you could always buy a Macro and add your own lime (and some sea salt, which for me is a necessity) but since this has the perfect mix why bother? I would gladly drink this again and would take this over most IPAs tbh...yeah, I said it

Sidenote: the can has their usual "Handcrafted unfiltered pour slowly" on the side but it's a little odd on this one, as this was as clear as can be. Also, FH does Lagers very well and I hope that they do more.

 

hahaha...thanks, @jonphisher!

 

Good evening NBW
My boss just returned from a trip to South Dakota and brought back a few beers. This is a Maibock called Festbier from Spearfish Brewing Company.


32oz crowler purchased at the brewery 9 days ago poured into a pokal glass at fridge temp 7.1% ABV. The beer pours bright light amber with light khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is multilayered malt with a hint of floral hop. The taste is semisweet caramel and toasted malt with persistent moderate bitterness and some floral hop notes popping through on the finish. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, good maibock.

Well, 32 ounces of 7.1% is going to do it for me tonight. Cheers all!

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 5/05/22. Pours a very hazy and attractive yellow orange with a finger plus sticky white head, that leaves plenty of thin streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is peach, honeydew, mango, tangerine, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows honeydew, tangerine, peach, mango, and apricot. 4.5

Mouthfeel is big, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8% big on flavor, but easy sipping. 4.5

Overall this is pretty darn tasty, I highly recommend. 4.5

 

Deschutes Southern Sister Mixed Culture Sour Ale, 7.5% ABV; 4.21 overall

Pours a super effervescent treacle/honey color with rapidly disappearing beige head. A little head retention & lacing

S: Grassy, funky & a little barn yardy, some peach notes too

T: Grassyness, peaches, pears, much tartness, plus lemons. Super tart peach & lemon as this warms, acidity & leathery notes, plus a little grassyness, plus some white wine barrel. Finishes tart, super oaky dry with lemon, peach & grassyness
MF: Medium body, delicate carbonation, very sticky on the teeth

Nose could be better, but otherwise, a superb wild ale, takes a while to drink, nothing simple about this

 

Howdy all! I have a few to introduce this weekend... let's start with a doozy.

This is Burlington Beer Company's Geodesic Snow Globe, a 10.4% barleywine brewed with dark candy sugar and aged in Malbec barrels. Malbec is a dark purple grape, and it is one of the six varietals allowed in a Bordeaux wine blend. It's known for its strong tannins and plum-like, juicy, rich flavor. Sounds like this will be pretty interesting, if nothing else.

Pours a moderately-clear dark-brown color with a semi-stable head of khaki-colored foam that lingers for a few minutes. No lace here, and legs are nonexistent as well for the most part. This is decent-looking for a modern barleywine-style ale, and I won't disparage its lack of legs/lace due to the aging process from wine barrels... however, I would certainly not be averse to better or consistent appearance-bolstering qualities.

Nose is primarily toffee-driven, which means the English barleywine character is mostly intact. Some notes of dark fruit like plum and raisin are hinted at fairly strongly as it warms, and the Malbec barrel seems to come across fairly logically as well... dark fruits shown by the wine aged in the barrel are also echoed by the base recipe of the beer. Makes sense to me!

Flavor is pretty much consistent with what you'd expect... dark fruit with intense toffee/caramel bringing the majority of the mid-palate. Some dark wine-like flavors of red grape skin in the finish, but most sips are fairly similar in profile if this is allowed to reach room temperature (which I do recommend for most, if not all, barleywines). Hints of barrel-relayed tannins and just a slight hint of grape-driven acidity to balance the otherwise-overwhelming sweetness... this is certainly a well-rendered wine barrel barleywine. I had some reservations, to be honest, but I ended up impressed. More tomorrow!

 

Received from @beergoot as a gift last night and drank today.
Poured transparent light straw color, showing active carbonation and a massive nearly white dense head.
The aroma was mild but did have that biscuit and floral that I really enjoy in a Pils.
The taste, wow, this is one of the best of a specific genre that I remember drinking. The crackers or biscuits are primary but the yeast and hops squeeze in the say hello, so it’s not a one note beer.
Feel is excellent, the sole quibble was how long the head lasted as it slowed me down!
OA, really enjoyed this, thanks Dave!

 

Mirage - Matter and Superposition, an NEIPA.

16oz can served in a footed pilsner. Dated 05/13/22. Bought it at Full Throttle Bottles earlier today.

Pours very hazy pale yellow, darkening a little toward amber in the shadows, with a two finger, thick, creamy head that falls down to about a centimeter with thick, heavy lacing. Lots of active carbonation. Smell is awesome. Tons of citrus pith, some tropical juiciness, hop resin and flowers.

Taste is leaning toward overripe tropical fruit, still has a lot of citrus pith, slow fruit skin and citrus zest bitter finish, strong juicy vibe without being too sweet.

Mouthfeel is on the light side of thick, airy, satisfying. Overall, very good beer.

Couple interesting things about this beer:
(1) Apparently it's an 11th Anniversary beer for Special Brews -- a store I like a lot, since I finally discovered it last year. I think I've visited it like ten times now, but actually only had a beer there the last time. Nice place.
(2) From the label: "NE style IPA mash-hopped with saaz and whirlpooled with freestyle nelson, phantasm, and frozen gewurztraminer must from Brehm Vineyards, fermented with a thiol-unlocking yeast strain and double dry hopped with freestyle Nelson and Crosby Hops' nelson CGX cryo." Lots going on here.