New Beer Weekend #102

Given that this is the 4th of July weekend I would think that a beer from Revolution would be a perfect beer to drink and write about.

Cheers!

 

Ethan, this sure sounds like a 'legit' Tmavý Ležák beer to me. Some flavors from the dark malts (dark base malts but a judicious amount of dark specialty malts) with the drinkability that a lager beer affords. I have had a couple of locally brewed versions which 'leaned' too much towards the qualities of a Stout/Porter (e.g., too high of a level of roast, a bit too 'thick' which distracts from the drinkability of the beer, etc.).

To quote Steve Irwin it sounds like you found a "beauty" here.

Na Zdravi

 

Good morning BAs! It has rained like holy heck all morning…drinking new to me and über local this morning - Hilo Brewing Company, Hilo, Hawai’i, HI, “Tsunami IPA”, DH with Amarillo and Centennial;



Purchased at the grocery store in Hilo, no canning date. Pours amber with excellent clarity; tight white one finger of off white head; ok cap retention; solid ring and some soapy lace. Earthy hop nose. Semi sweet malt base; very mild hop bitterness; lemon, grapefruit; dull malty finish. Medium light body, moderate carbonation; no warmth from 7.2%abv; no astringency. Overall, a very average tasting malt forward American IPA with very little hop bitterness or for that matter, flavor; it’s not the worst islands IPA by far that I’ve had so far…otherwise, meh.

4.25 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.75 | 3.5
Score: 3.65 rDev + 5.2%

Still raining…I may have to drink more beer for breakfast…Cheers from Hakalau (about 13 miles/35 minutes NW of Hilo) HI!

 

If for you rain = beer, I would strongly recommend that you buy more beer*!

“The wettest city in the U.S. is Hilo, Hawaii, where it rains 211 days a year. Interestingly, Hilo gets between 10 and 40 times as much rain as some other parts of the Big Island.”

Cheers to vacations and beer drinking!

* I wonder if Pabst sent one of their 1844 MEGA-packs to Hawaii?

 

Yep, I need more beer! We’ve been here a week and it has rained some every day. Cheers!

 

I worked 5 hours today, this one project is killing me, but on the bright side the AC in the building was a relief from some pretty oppressive humidity. Luckily I knew I would come home to fully stocked fridge.
Today- Parfait from Treehouse. Another in a seemingly endless output of hazy juicy beers from them. 8% ABV with Galaxy, Nectron(new to me) and Simcoe.


Poured from a 16oz can stamped DESSERT BEER 06/13522 to a Nonic glass at fridge temp.
There is a very opaque yellow body sitting below a ¾ inch white head. Lacing is pretty medium and works all the way to an empty glass.
The aroma is musty citrus.
The taste is similar- clementine or tangerine rind and flesh (pretty sweet mid-taste), but the finish is quite dry.
Medium mouth feel for Treehouse, thick for many other juice bombs.
Pretty good. I would not consider this a dessert beer. Drank on a muggy 88 degrees as my 1st beer of the day it seems just right.

L- 4 S-3.75, T-4.25, M-4.5, OA-4.25

 

Chocolate Hazelnut Imperial Stout

9.25% from R. Shea Brewing

An easy drinking, decadent stout that is appropriately named. Nose and taste are chocolate and hazelnut. Note: the beer is flavored with actual hazelnuts, so those with nut allergies beware. Sampled from pint can sealed and bought at the brewery.

In the nose, the chocolate flavor is upfront and hazelnut flavor is in the background. Delightful. Aroma held up even the next day.

Taste has much more pronounced hazelnut flavor. Not a bit of hazelnut, a lot of hazelnut, much to my delight. As the swallow finishes and hazelnut fades, there is a bit of bitterness which was welcome. Chocolate remains in background during drinking. No noticeable malty char as found in most stouts.

Mouthfeel is soft and carbonation was good. Fine initial lacing but only fair during the sampling.

I like hazelnuts, so this one is a winner for me. Not as high ABV as KBS Hazelnut, but still strong and with more hazelnut.

 

Switching gears to Deschutes Peanut Butter Obsidian Stout:

Appearance: Very dark brown, big head.

Smell: Boozy barrel, vanilla.

Taste: Moderate sweetness, lots of barrel-wood and vanilla. Some chocolate. A little nuttiness (not really peanut butter) in the finish.

Overall: The four pack was discounted so I figured to give it a try. The base beer doesn't really show up much, and not much peanut butter in the flavor. Lots of barrel but not overpoweringly boozy.

@MNAle -- I have heard of the Schell's version of Union Lager, but haven't seen it on shelves around the east side of the cities, maybe it's related to Schell's distribution issues being discussed in the Midwest forum?

 

One of my favorite summer beers used to be Lucy from Starr hill, a ginger lime wheat beer I think it also had coriander. It's rating was horrible on here but I loved it. I think the only way I will ever try that beer again is to homebrew again someday. @JackHorzempa if you brew up a batch I'll buy half

 

Hmm, a beer with the following additions: ginger, lime and coriander!?!

 

I warned in the post about its abysmal rating on here (65)...I'm not sure how I enjoyed that beer as much as I did when apparently no one else did, obviously I'm in the minority on this one.

 

Good day! A friend of mine gave me this: Dogfish Head/Trilium “Tru-Action IPA “.

Poured into a teku. Decent foamy head with a hazy orange color.

There’s an orange zest smell with some tropical fruit.

Taste definitely has the orange zest tart with a malty backbone. Also a slight piney hop bite.

Overall, a good, but not great IPA.

 

Back with another. Treehouse Surfcaster, a Belgian-style Wit, 5.1%. I am not a fan of Belgian yeast, but today I find this pretty refreshing.


Poured from a 16oz can stamped CAST OFF 05/20/22 to a Nonic glass at fridge temp.
There is an opaque bright yellow body sitting below a 1 inch white head that fades rather quickly. Lacing is almost nonexistent.
The aroma is of Belgian yeast, banana with a hint of cloves.
Taste is similar and sweet to the end with a sense of malt and orange on the finish.
Medium to light mouthfeel.
Pretty good for the style, quite refreshing.

L- 3.75 S-4.0, T-4.25, M-4.0, OA-4.0

 

Technically not a new beer, since I had a few of these during my family camping trip earlier this week, but reviewing a beer in a glass in a quiet room is very different than drinking from a can waist-deep in a lake while BSing with in-laws and policing careless children with floaties, so please don't kick me out...

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Can is dated 04/04/2022. Bought it at Chuck's Hop Shop Seward Park last weekend.

Pours a clear light yellow with about an inch of head that settles into a thick, clumping ring and a medium sized skin after a few minutes at rest. Lots of active carbonation. Smell is grassy with a little lemon zest, little bit of biscuit and a fair amount of yeast.

Taste is nice grassy / lemon zesty bitterness with a soft honeysuckle behind it, yeasty funk is there mostly in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth, crisp, dry. Overall, this is a very nice pilsner.

 

I'm enjoying a July 4th weekend staycation. Got up and did a spirited forty mile bike ride at 8 am, and went grocery and beer shopping. After I unloaded the car, I set off on a stroll around my neighborhood. I had a gyro at our Syrian restaurant, then stopped at the wine store.

Offshoot Brewing Escape on tap which was a surprise.
From The Bruery website:
Hops: Simcoe, Mosaic, Strata, and Amarillo
Malts: 2-Row, Wheat
Yeast: Cali
IBU: 50
Attractive fluffy white head and perfectly clear gold color. Strong piney dank aroma. Tasty citrus and pine flavors. Lasting carbonation.

4.23/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.2
That's a WCIPA.

 

Greetings beer nerd friends and happy 4th of July weekend, one of my favorite holidays. Other than the heat today couldn't have been better...we visited my brother in law and we got to spend some great time together. We exchanged mixed four packs and the beer below is one I gave him and I will review one he gave me later tonight or tomorrow.

Tonewood's most recent beers have been special and this is no exception, something seems very dialed in as they have settled into the new production place. The old location also has some neat stuff going on, can conditioned belgiany saison stuff, that one for later this weekend as well. Anyway a new Kölsch from them...I enjoy good label artwork and this one is just georgeous.

Tonewood - Nomad



One of my favorite things they started to do, all the info...oh and see that house @Shanex it reminds me of the architecture in that picture you shared.




Pours the color of a golden field of wheat, a white head that lasted surprisingly long; a nice thin white layer remains. This beer is almost, so so close, to crystal clear (condensation on glass in photo). By the time it warmed up at the end it was crystal crystal clear. A new feature of their clean, non dry hopped, beers since they opened up their new production facility.

The nose has a sweet almost grape skin like smell to it; laid over a nice wafer like quality.

Taste is grape skin, wafer, and it finishes with an evergreen like touch on the finish.

Light body, with a really nice vigorous yet soft on the tongue carbonation, noticeably dry finish with a little hop bite.

I really really enjoyed this beer…it retained the aspects of kölsch I like but it also has its own twist to it. Neither of those two qualities were in conflict with one another for me and it created an incredibly pleasant drinking experience, probably more so than had it been a perfectly to style Kölsch actually if I'm being honest. I wanted to drink another immediately upon finishing the can.

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Per our earlier convo about the Munich malt @JackHorzempa and @TongoRad I would have to assume it was used sparingly as this beer is quite light in color, lighter than it looks in the picture, and did not have any extra heft of malt.

 

Next up is L'Amour en Cage from New Belgium. The bottle describes it as a "Foeder-aged Golden Sour Ale Refermented on Golden Gooseberries".

Pours a rich, golden color with excellent clarity. Little to no head or lacing. Aroma is very sour forward, with some oak and berry notes hiding behind the sour notes. Taste largely follows the nose, with the sour definitely leading the way. Thankfully, the gooseberries add a really nice dimension to the beer, as do the wood flavors from the foaders. Light bodied with not much carbonation.

Overall, once the palate adjusts, this is a tasty beer. A hair too sour for my personal preferences, but tasty nonetheless.

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Separately, I had my third Fox Farm Avalonia Variant of the day earlier this afternoon, and it was the pick of the bunch. @ovaltine I can't remember if I've sent you any of these (hopefully). If not, I will at some point as you'll love the raspberry.

 

I am literally drooling.