New Beer Weekend #105

Patty melt and amazing fries.


Archetype cowboy poet. Very good light lager. Great head retention and spotty lacing. Weak aromas of fruit, grain, hops. Taste of cracker, toast, bread, wood, peppercorn, pine, herbal, floral, grass. Good sized pine/rind/grassy bitter finish. Medium carb, lt med body, fairly crisp finishing. Balanced bready/grainy malt, sticky/resinous hop mouthfeel. Long resinous drying finish, mild astringency. Clean lager flavors. Smooth drinking. No warmth of 4%. Tastes more like an ipl with noble hops, but its enjoyable. 3.73


Cheers

 

Pipeworks Double Vanilla Phantom Unicorn BA Imperial Stout, 12.8% ABV; 4.17 overall

Pours an effervescent ebony with one finger of rapidly disappearing mocha colored head, Viscous look to this, traces of head retention& lacing

S: Dark fruit, chocolate, vanilla & booze once warm. Tons of nose

T: follows the nose, some barrel rawness, dark cherry, figs, plus leafy & woody hops up front, plus a little vanilla. Vanilla comes on as this warms, along with chocolate covered cherry soaked in booze with a little barrel on the tip of the tongue. Finishes dry, oaky with leafy hops, dark chocolate, figs & vanilla

MF: Fairly chewy body, tamped down carbonation, warming as well. Carbonation picks up as this warms

Solid BA Imp Stout, but not one I'd buy again at this price point

 

Always love seeing the recaps and food @superspak those fries and fried pickles...

Every one of those revolution barrel aged beers I tried from @ovaltine were great. Is it safe to say they may make some of the best barrel aged beers in the country @FBarber? On top of that they seem to avoid the pastry trend and just keep it mostly about the barrel and blend.

 

You mean a cold IPA???

 

I have historically preferred cash, especially at a bar or brewery, but have had to adjust to "the times" the past few years. I understand for a smaller business, based on both costs and responsibilities of handling cash with limited staff.

However, for businesses like our local MLB teams with up to 40,000 fans a game as both teams here have done (and likely most across all sports), eliminating cash excludes a significant portion of the adult population (close to 1 in 3) not to mention kids who can't run up to concessions. They don't even sell tickets / accept cash at the box office any longer. Sad, and coupled with the elimination of over-the-air broadcasts a significant role of the annual decrease in interest in the sport.

Do you have access to Pipeworks in Arkansas, or were these part of a trade or a trip to Chicago? Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed. I need to get to the Dojo in September once my drink fresh stock runs low.

Long hikes in National/State Parks are what I've missed most the past two-ish years, hoping to rectify that sooner rather than later.

Really liked the beer as well, though it took me awhile to drink with the very hot temps (rarely drink BA Stouts in the Summer), and scored it similarly on Thursday. Coconut and Coffee are the two adjuncts I still seek in Imperial Stouts. This one is thick as a brick.

Will return later today with a collaboration IPA I've been looking forward to.

 

Pipeworks launched here about 7 months ago. They seem pretty committed to bringing new products in on regular basis. Wish some of their competitors would do the same. I am talking to you Bells, Dogfish Head and Stone

 

Happy Sunday, time for some more new beers. This time it's a couple from Belching Beaver.

Belching Beaver Ride the Pine

Appearance: Gold, lots of particles in suspension, good head.

Smell: Slight dankness to start, then mild grapefruit.

Taste: Pretty balanced, between sweetness and bitterness. Mostly grapefruit-forward. Mild to moderate bitterness, mostly dry finish.

Overall: Picked up a WCIPA sampler with this one included. It's pretty good, nothing mind blowing but a solid hoppy IPA. Worth a try.

Belching Beaver No Worries

Appearance: Clear yellow-good, good head.

Smell: Danky, then moderate citrus.

Taste: Moderate grapefruit bitterness up front, continuing through the middle along with some sweetness. Moderate bitterness in the finish. A little more coating and syrupy in the feel than I like in WCIPAs.

Overall: Another from the mixed 4 pack, it's a pretty decent IPA, old school in taste with the danky modern smell. The feel detracts a little but not bad.

Probably preferred the Ride the Pine over the No Worries, both were pretty decent but nothing too spectacular.

 

Before I got into craft Coors was my go to.

 

I won't speak for Frank, but I will say I think Rev's barrel program is ..... outlandishly stellar, and I think that because of the range and diversity in their barrel game. Very adventurous, yet as you say, they stay away from the pastries and utilize the barrels to build staggering flavor profiles.

 

I am (very sadly) not aware of what that is as it pertains to Revolution Brewing.

*sob*

 

We made it to the destination. This place was like driving up to a mansion. Solar panels and stuff Plenty of people but upstairs bar is empty.





Sierra Nevada distillers grain bill barleywine. Fantastic blonde barleywine. Aromas and flavors of big apricot, coconut, red apple, golden raisin, honey, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, spicy rye, corn, herbal, floral, grass, yeasty earthiness. Lt med herbal/grassy bitterness and rye/oak spiciness on the finish. Medium plus carbonation and body. Balanced bready/grainy malt, sticky hop, and oak tannin mouthfeel. Long bitter/tannic drying finish. No cloying/astringent. Light increasing warmth of 12.1%. Mild lingering booze after the finish. I knew I had to hit a barrel series once off, amazing integration of barrel and whiskey grains. Nice hop balance with fruity yeast. Amazing style example, I've not had many blonde barleywine, but this is certainly one of the most complex. The lingering barrel finish is wonderful. 4.3


Cheers

 

That is what strikes me as so neat, all those cans I tried to describe what I was tasting and it was just so much. Like you said all derived from barrels to build staggering profiles, it is so neat that that is all they used in the beers you sent, other than the maple jacket I think.

Willy Wonka's...god I want to get there someday, so beautiful.

 

Amazing Asiago fries and pretzel with hot spicy beer cheese.


Another barleywine badge.


Sierra Nevada juniper lemon saison. Awesome saison. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, juniper, coriander, peppercorn, clove, banana, bubblegum, pear, red apple, cracker, white bread, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Lt med herbal/grassy bitterness and yeast tang/spiciness on the finish. Medium high carb and light med body. Fairly crisp clean refreshing finish. Balanced bready/grainy malt and sticky spice body. Lingering dryness, no astringency. Mild warmth of 7%. It's a spot on saison as expected of the brewery. Very drinkable for the abv. 4.1


Cheers

 

Valhalla

12.4% bourbon barrel aged stout by 8one8 Brewing

Poured from a 2021 pint can.

The body pours an appealing dark mahogany. Negligible head and lacing.

The aroma is a sweet bourbony treat. Taste follows nose but the bourbon is amplified and pleasantly hot. The malt thickens the taste and meshes well with the booze. The beer never gets too hot and the balance makes for a very good experience.

Mouthfeel is heavy as expected. The bourbon gets close but never reaches cloying. Carbonation is minimal, but present.

Bourbon stout fans ought to belly up to this gem of a stout.

 

Philly passed a law that businesses must accept cash because of how not accepting it can inadvertently discriminate against certain demographics.

 

Warpigs, A light in the black, German style Pilsner
12oz can brewed by Summit in Saint Paul, canned 06/06/2022. 5.4% ABV, 42 IBU
Nice looking beer, Transparent straw light gold body. decent white head that leaves some lacing.
Smell is Bread, sweet malt a herbal/floral hop note.
Taste is sweet malt, bread, corn but that doesn't last long has the bitter hops take over quickly and get stronger towards the finish and into the after taste. Slightly dry on the finish. This has strong hops of floral/herbal and maybe a hint of earth. Some cracker pepper on the finish
Fells is good.
A solid beer, I will give it a 3.97+/5

https://untappd.com/b/warpigs-usa-brewing-a-light-in-the-black/4903546
I bought a 6 pack of this at South Lyndale Liquors in Minneapolis. This is not from a mixed 12pack.