New Beer Weekend #108

@FBarber here are my interesting Beer facts

 

And we’re back to a new weekend…a beautiful day in the northeast and a weird weekend for this homebody.

I left the phisher household to come up to Farmington, CT cause my whole moms side of the family is getting together and I haven’t seen them 3 years. It is so bizarre being without the fam; trafffic was brutal so while in stand still traffic I googled breweries nearby while in traffic. Turns out OEC was 15 minutes away, why not a pit stop…



OEC - Hidalgo (4.5% bitter)




Beautiful almost crystal clear color of copper with some orange hues to it, nice initial off white head with some decent lacing that keeps up the whole season. Nice carbonation bubbles shows every time I take a sip and put down the glass.

Nose is toffee like, biscuits, hints of tea, some subtle refreshing orange and some earthiness on the finish.

The taste leans into the toffee biscuit, some subtle orange honey and again earthy hops.

Mouthfeel is light soft, has an almost bottle conditioned like carb to it which comes off quite creamy; subtle twang to it on the finish with a low bitterness.

This beer is very good and drinkable, I may even buy a four pack of it and a few others beers while here.

This place is really neat, I’m glad I made the stop to get my mind off missing the fam. My hat goes off to anyone who has to travel for work.

I’ll try and be back tonight once I’m at my aunts place. Cheers everyone!

 

That tiny pour went down fast

 

Second beer is Maine Beer Co.'s No 33 - part of their Black Barn Program. @FBarber I had to add this to the database and didn't have a "Black Ale" option, so if I picked European Dark Lager. Closest I could find. Please fix if there's a better option.

Pours a very dark brown with a robust, 2-3 finger heard that receded to a persistent cap. Aroma is fairly generic with a bit of diacetyl. Not bad, not great, just kind of there. Taste has nice roasted malts with an interesting taste behind them that I can't quite place. Clean and crisp and easy going down. Solid beer, and nice overall, if somewhat unremarkable.

 

Apparently I should have gone kayaking in the rain. Back already with another stout.

Poured beautifully black into the snulip and was capped with a very short (and short lived) light brown head.
The aroma was dark fruit and coffee and bourbon. More than I normally detect.
The taste, in a word, good. In two words, really good. The taste followed the aroma and blossoms out with chocolate and vanilla in addition to the coffee, dark fruit and bourbon. A touch hot, but on this rainy day, I’ll take it.
The feel was excellent for the style, slightly viscous and smooth as silk.
Cheers all! Off to an evening of family friendly games.

 

Nollie, hazy IPA at Fremont.

 

Sierra Nevada Liquid Hoppiness Hazy IPA, 7.0% ABV; 3.87 overall

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

S: Plenty of citrus & some tropical notes, fades a bit once warm

T: A little dry up front, green melon, oranges & lime as well. Passion fruit mixes in as this warms, more dryness, green melon & a touch of grapefruit. Finishes dry with lime & tangerine, plus a little passion fruit

MF: Medium body, pretty restrained carbonation, good balance

Had higher hopes for this, pretty drinkable, but nothing special, flavors just blend that great

 

Fast Fashion Crushed Ice DDH IPA

 

Next up is Heathen Reign from TRVE Brewing Co. According to the bottle this is a "Mixed culture golden ale aged on colorado chokecherries".

Pours an orange / pink with as close to zero head as you can get. Decent clarity. Aroma is pleasantly tart, with faint cherries complementing some subtle funk. Taste mostly follows the nose. Light cherry & barnyard funk. Long, satisfying finish. Clean and easy going down. Good beer.

 

This will be kind of a last taste of vacation post. Made our way back to home base today...reluctantly but I guess we had to go home eventually.

Notable stop last Tuesday - the Definitive Brewing outpost at Sunday River. The view alone was worth the trip, and the photo doesn't do justice. Bar looks out on the ski slopes. Food by Phoenix Kitchen was outstanding and a couple new and a couple repeat beers. This place must be jammed during ski season - indoor and outdoor spaces, dance floor, game room, great beer and food.



We sort of did the scenic thing en route to the stronghold so we could stop at Side by Each Brewing again. We grabbed some poutine for supper, and an amazing croissant breakfast sandwich. We really dig what this place is doing - lots of community involvement, humanitarian efforts, kinda one stop shopping for carbs. Unfortunately ( or maybe luckily?) it is 3.5 hours from the home cave... we sampled 8 or 9 beers over the week and three visits, all at least good. I tried a session IPA today that was actually very nice, their red ale was very good. One coffee stout was excellent, one too bitter but OK, one on nitro wasn't our thing. Good fruited sour, very good California common. Ok...memory fail after that.



A growler of Androscoggin dopplebock from SBE, with Korean BBQ poutine with kimchi and spicy mayo dressing, fresh chopped ginger...awesome...Pinky D's rocks.

Oh...the beer...pours a mahogany color with a finger or so of tan foam that falls slowly and eventually vanishes. Very clear.

The aroma is sweet malty bread. A little fruitiness that is in the raisin/date family. A faint whiff of Noble hop character. No caramel or toffee notes - just Maillard goodness and melanoidins.

Straightforward taste. Slightly sweet, malty, toasty, vaguely fruity but not overly strong. Minor bitterness, minimally hopped. I can see the "liquid bread" thing with this one.

Feel is thick but not sticky or cloying. Carbonation is mild. A big of sweet bready carryover taste.

Overall, this is a straightforward beer that seems a good representation of the style. Earthshattering - nope. Tasty - yep. Let's put if this way, the taster got me to fork over a fiver for the growler... I'm thinking 3.8-ish.

 

Having some festbier's this weekend, Zero Gravity's was good as always, benediktiner not too shabby either. Here's Ayinger's which I've not had before.



Pours a burnt amber, with a fluffy head atop it. Nose is very Bavarian, perhaps a hint of estery notes going on (maybe this is old...) Taste definitely has some ester character. Though there's a robust malt base which leads into a very minimal amount of herbal spice, some ester and the finish is sweet and open, almost unfinished (in a good way).

Not sure that what I have is fresh but it was at a good price point and is a good beer in its own right. Every other sip here is very marzen-y and every preceding and proceeding that is a blend of hefe-something and festbier. I don't mind it, if it's fresh, I'm surprised by all the clout this one garners. Unless the collective palate has shifted further than I realized.

Quick note: This says L0111 which now I'm realizing is 111th day of 2020? Hahahaha! So it's mid april 2020. Then in that case, I won't review, helluva beer for holding up. I'll submit a proper score when I get this year's batch. Serves me right to trusting a time machine packing to have fresh stock.

Enjoy the weekend!

 

If too much rice is used, doesn't it now come a hoppashu? No idea if I spelled that right, but like more than a third? Splitting style hairs??? Not being argumentative, just curious why such an arbitrary difference may exist.

 

Good evening NBW

Kentucky Tangerine Cream Ale
12oz bottle poured into a shaker pint glass at fridge temp 5.5% ABV. 2-02 24 laser etched under the label, but that's not their normal date coding. The beer pours bright light amber with very light khaki head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and island. No lacing. The aroma is mild with Creamsicle and oak. It's actually pleasant. The taste is more Creamsicle with some oaky earthy notes on the back end and minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, good, but artificial to my taste and happily one and done.

Hoping to report in from Asheville, NC tomorrow. Staying the night before moving my daughter into her dorm Monday morning. Cheers all!

 

One and done for me this evening in Northern Indiana that looks more like fall than summer, this is courtesy of my friend @jonphisher in a ninja box he sent recently as part of NBW BIF #15. To say I enjoyed the contents of that box would be an understatement of mythical proportions.





4.35/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a dark cola color with a tight, slightly creamy tan head that provides ample lacing. Beautiful beer. The nose is led by a bit of smoke, cocoa notes, and a decided floral hop aroma. Wow.

The floral hops are forward and delicious on the taste, with the cocoa and subtle roasty/smoky flavor at the back of the palate.

A dry, crisp mouthfeel fits the style nicely and makes this subtly nuanced 5.5% ABV beer from this iconic brewery a true pleasure to drink.

 

2.76/5 rDev 0%

look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.5

Poured from a 16 ounce can dated 5/25/22 into a tulip glass.

Look- Pale gold, very hazy, no visible particulate, slightly off white frothy head, average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Guava, mango, clementine, coconut, pineapple.

Taste- Super astringent, weak flavors, slight coconut/clementine/pineapple.

Feel- Medium body, super astringent, mildly creamy, low bitterness, average carbonation, moderately dry finish.

Overall- Great look and a pleasant bouquet. This was one of the most astringent tasting beers I have ever had and that definitely adversely effected it’s enjoyability.

 

Founders Ultimate Oktoberfest BBA Marzen - I just learned about this beer today and had to try it, as it has everything I enjoy so I can't see how I wouldn't like it. Poured from a bottle (07/26/22), looks just like a regular Marzen and is a clear amber and very carbonated, fluffy head. Marzen Lager, Bourbon and barrel on the nose, smells good. Taste is fantastic and exactly as advertised and ends crisply and a touch sweet. The 10% is dangerously hidden and this beer feels pretty light for the ABV and I am having to make an effort to sip slowly, as it's actually fairly smooth and refreshing. This is not a flavor bomb but I didn't expect it to be and it's fantastic stuff and if you like the ingredients separately you will most certainly enjoy how well they play together here. Budmo!

 

Love these posts and admire the writing! Penmanship is a lost art and I could be the poster child. I've typed in one form or another since I worked on a weekly newspaper when I was sixteen - 48 years of typing hasn't helped. This is great to see.