New Beer Weekend #97

I asked Mr. Fonzerelli if I could borrow his motorcycle for this one.

Received from @FBarber as part of the NBW BIF 15 shenanigans. Hi-level shenanigans with this one!

Spanish Marie Ecto Cooler. Juice Box Sour Ale with tangerine, orange and lemonade. Also, the label promises “more slime.” We shall see!



Pours a putrid, thick and opaque, overcooked canned pea green. Minimal head that escapes from the glass in a wink. Escapes is perhaps the perfect descriptor.

The smell of this ‘beer’ is incredibly reminiscent of those old, tiny plastic orange juice cups I remember from childhood. Not too sweet, not too sour. Orange, Jaffa orange. There is a hint of the lemonade there as well.

Taste follows, but with a greater nod to citrus punch like Five Alive and equivalents. The tartness is muted. A fair amount of sweetness too.

Body is not as thick as expected. Reads and tastes like pulp free orange juice.

Well, this certainly is as advertised. Juicy, slightly sour. No slime per we, but I’ll forgive them this error.

Thanks Frank. This was fun!

 

Not too shabby for a EZ drinking summer beer. Lightly farmy and gentle berry notes do well here. Cheers!
Beaver Island Blueberry Ripple Kolsch Ale
3.93/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota
12oz can Bottoms Up By 8/1/22 into a Kolsch glass.
L: Pours cloudy apricot with a light purple hue. Soapy 2" off white head also has hue. Decent retention to edge foam. Med-light carbonation. Light random lacing.
S: Berries, caramelized malts, light mango, light soap, a hint of yeast.
T: Grains, yeast, tea, berries, bread, light peach, a touch of honey, wild flowers, long & wide bitter finish. Moderately fruity overall.
F: Fairly full flavored light bodied, semi-juicy, long lingering mouth feel w/a fast lightly drying finish.
O: A lovely summertime twist on standard Kolsch. Important to use proper glassware. In this case a Kolsch glass. This way the beer won't go flat too soon. Overall a light, bready & crisp beer w/a very good balance of blueberry. It has kind of a farm feel to it. Malts encapsulate the fruit, it is gently sweet and is excellent in it's style.

 

That was my first thought upon pouring. ‘What a great mystery beer!’

 

Another NBW day, another couple of beers, this time from my favorite brewery, Transient. This first one was reviewed earlier this week by my friend @jonphisher, and our reviews are very much in sync, especially regarding the mouthfeel of the beer.



3.94/5 rDev -3.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours a rustic golden color with a minimal sudsy white head that is in a hurry to leave, and in fact does so like it’s been TOLD to leave. The nose has lots of white wine aromas (like green grapes) and a nice bit of oak.

The taste is seductively smooth, with the white wine notes imparting a nice bit of funky tartness and working very well with the rustic oak flavor. If the mouthfeel had even a modicum of carbonation/effervescence, this would be scads better.

As it is, it is really easy to drink and quite enjoyable, but it could’ve been so much more with the proper mouthfeel, IMHO.

 

Another from @ovaltine 's weak attempt at "revenge", Transient Broatmeal Oatmeal Stout. a solid and enjoyable low-ABV brewski: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34258/595460/

 

Crush Cancer by Reuben's Brews in Seattle, Washington. Preliminary review below.

4.1/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by draheim from Washington

16oz can (canned 4/8/2022) into a tulip. Pours a hazy yellow the color of a lemon drop, nice billowy white head settles to a thin film, nice patchy lacing left behind.

Aroma is brightly citrusy and clean, grapefruit and orange dominating. Clean and sharp.

Taste is likewise citrus forward, pale grainy malt in the background. Lots of alpha acids dance on the palate, but residual bitterness is minimal.

Mouthfeel is balanced—medium body, drinkable. Goes down easy.

Overall a solid if unremarkable hazy IPA, certainly worth enjoying, especially if it also helps a worthwhile cause.

 

@ovaltine

 

First and only new beer for me today is Annata from Fox Farm. It's a farmhouse ale that also uses grapes from their family farm a little down the road from the brewery. I've mostly enjoyed this style of beer. Hoping that continues here.

3.94/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

2018 vintage. Pours a translucent, glowing reddish purple with an inch or so of fizzy white head. Aroma is rich with plenty of grape / wine notes and some underlying funk. Taste follows the nose, in a good way. Good balance of barnyard funk, the core beer, and the grape / wine notes to complement it all. I like how the funk is neither overwhelming, nor does it take a back seat. I don't feel like I'm drinking grape juice or wine, but there's enough grape to make itself known discreetly. Feel is a bit on the thin side, even for the style. Overall, quite good.

 

Great Raft Tropical In Nature New England IPA, 6.0% ABV; 4.34 overall

Pours a hazed gold with 2 fingers of pearl colored head. Nice lacing & head retention

S: Passion fruit, pineapple. If the rest of the beer was a good as its nose, this would be world class

T: Guava, passion fruit, lime, dryness up front. Pineapple, passionfruit & guava with some dryness as this warms. Finishes a little dry with much tropical fruitttyness

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, nice balance

Very drinkable, if you like your IPAs with a tropical fruit slant, you will enjoy this

 

Little Whaleboat

6.5% IPA from Maine Beer Company

Bottled on 17 May 2022.

Poured from a 16.9 ounce bottle familiar to fans of MBC, the body is a hazy gold-yellow with a fluffy head. Lacing throughout the tasting.

Carbonation is good and mouthfeel okay.

Nose is pleasantly tropical and floral, but not overpowering. Taste follows nose and adds a light bitterness mid-swallow. Clean dry finish.

A drinkable solid IPA from a brewery known for exceptional beers. At its high price point, I’ll be looking for other IPA options.

 

#2, let’s kick things up a notch.

Or six.





4.42/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours black, with a sizzling dark tan head that evaporates quickly. The nose is filled with rich milk chocolate aromas, and a big dose of the sherry barrel, which presents as stone fruit here.

Note: I absolutely LOVE stone fruit in a big stout.

I’m not disappointed on the taste, as ripe dark cherries come forward to accent the rich milk chocolate notes, and play well against the decadent, boozy finish. Just wow.

The mouthfeel is fairly rich and creamy, but is a bit watery. Overall, this is a more than worthy variant in the Neckbeard series, and one I’d buy again.

 

Holiday weekend in DE, so a new (for me) DIPA from First State and a bunch of Rehoboth Bay oysters. Drink and eat local!



(It's 24 oysters and one beer later, and I still have all my fingers!)

 

Thanks again, @ovaltine!

 

Hello New Beer weekend!!!

I'll start off by saying that the new beer I'm having now isn't my first new beer of the weekend, but I'm able to post now, so here it is.


Belgian Wit - Fergus Falls Brewing Co. - Fergus Falls, MN - 5.2% ABV.

I picked this up at the brewery today 2 hours from where I live. It was a good drive with friends, and the first time I've been to this brewery. With that, I've now been to all 3 breweries in Fergus Falls, a town of 14,119.

I had to add it to the BA database, and I'm going to admit that I'm quite pleased with it. The wheat flavors really pop, and the addition of orange peal and coriander really make it even better, along with the Belgian yeast used. This is quite good, and I'm glad I bought it at the brewery.

Review:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57802/606332/

4.01/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
by Victory_Sabre1973 from Minnesota

Poured from a 750ml crawler purchased at the brewery on 5-29-2022. Consumed on the same day at home.
Pours a very hazy and murky golden orange color. The head is 1 finger, and white, but the head dissipates very fast with no lacing on the glass.
The nose has a ton of banana and clove on it, but has a citrus hint from the orange peal added.
Taste - The orange seems to hit first and lingers. The banana and cloves then hit, and work well with the orange peal. There's a slight pepper finish from the coriander. There's also a slight funky flavor here, that is probably from the yeast used.
The body is quite good for a 5.2% ABV beer. No watery feeling at all here.
This is quite delicious, and I'm glad I bought it at the brewery.


I may have another beer, but it won't be a new one, so if I do it will be in WBAYDN. Cheers!!!