New Beer Weekend #108

Good morning NBS/nbw and thanks @FBarber for hosting this weekend.
Well its back to normal here, the departure of team #1 wasnt without its travel headaches ,
and teary waves at the airport, They are home and have tested negative, so the in home self quarantine that Taiwan calls for ended yesterday.
A quiet, sunny 70 deg morning called for a reach into the basement for this beautiful Rye Baltic, barrel aged porter..
This is a gem.
Cheers all

Cellar Series: Sajand

Baltic Porter | 12.3% ABV
Põhjala Brewery in Tallinn, Estonia

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.21/5 rDev -5.6% | Average: 4.46
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured from the 11.2 oz bottle, with a BB Date of 02/24. Let it come up to 50 deg.
A - Inky black color, hides everything. a small ring of mocha colored spheres collect during the experience proving there is some carbonation.
S - Sweet, dark fruits, plum, black pepper, vanilla, apricot jam all up front. Cognac and Bourbon treatment add to the Tamari, dark chocolate, and candied plum.
T - As complex as the aromatics, there is a young tawny comparison in my mind. This is a buffet of flavors, from the dark fruits, to hints of soy, balsamic, Bakers chocolate, All this with an umbrella of rye spiciness.
M - Slick, complete coating of the palate, a bit of alcohol on the exhale, linger is forever and luxurious.
O - A sipping experience, masterfully crafted, a rich delight to be sought after.

 

A pint of Fuller's Chiswick will set you right.

 

Who ever was doing his personal security is looking for another line of work

 

Our daughter arrives home today, relieving us of kid-sitting responsibilities. Daughter #3 arrives later today with her one and three year olds, and will be spending the week. Should be fun, will be tiring.
My new beer for today is Dad Shoes, a hazy pale ale brewed with orange peel, coriander, and grains of paradise. The beer is brewed by 4 Noses Brewing Company in Broomfield, CO, and is 5% ABV.
A hazy orange color. Small white head with some delicate lace.
Underwhelming aroma. Fruit and spice.
Taste of orange and coriander.
Medium-bodied, drinks easily.

 

Happy Sunday, NBW. I happen to have seen a stat recently where English is the second language for about 4 times as many people than for whom it’s their native language. I’m thinking that’s kinda useful for us Americans that wish to communicate across borders, especially since we don’t generally seem to put too much effort into learning other languages.

Anyhow, I’m sure I’ve communicated in various threads here that I’m not a fan of July brewed Oktoberfest beers. I prefer them in the fall months more than in the dog days of summer, so I generally have fewer each year. So why am I going to feature a July-bottled “Oktoberfest” today?

Because I wouldn’t really consider Ultimate Oktoberfest by Founders to be a one. I’d start with the ABV and note the barrel aging in my argument. I see @ESHBG reviewed this earlier and found it lighter than expected. Let’s test this statement against my skepticism.


I took a quick sip and it reminded my of a Founders BA beer, with a hint of tang I got from Wulver in a recent side-by-side. I take a second to ponder if I should direct compare a Backwoods Bastard against this…

Not right now.

Head was decent fir a BA beer, and a modest ring kept things attractive enough. A damn clear medium dark copper body sits below it.

Brown sugar, bourbon accents, and a sourdough bread tang greet my nose. The sourdough has an edge of sulphur if I inhale more deeply and focus on it. I will say this off note evades my brain on a normal whiff, but shows up the more effort I put into getting deeper into the aromas.

So keeping myself in check, a sugary sweet aroma with a little spice and very light floral notes yields a similar taste profile. There’s a little bit of breakfast bread that the opening flavors evoke. A little tang tickles the outside of my tongue, but the evolves into a bourbon spice. There’s a bit of a birch beer impression by the end of each sip.

The beer isn’t too heavy, but it does have a bit of a sticky quality to it in the end. It comes to me more as a generic bourbon barrel ale than an Oktoberfest, with just a little too much sweetness for me. I think I could easily mistake it for one of those beers that attempts to simulate a whiskey cocktail.

 

Happy weekend! Here's a really tasty new one. Will get more as I've seen it around a few places. It's a smart tasting brew with very good character. Cheers!
Modist Wasteland ddh Rye IPA 7.5% ABV
4.23/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
16oz can into a pint glass.
L: Pours murky reddish brown w/a 3/4" light khaki head, decent retention eventually down to edge foam, small sediment chunks, fine carbo, some sticky webbed lacing & light banding.
S: Sweet caramelized malts, lightly floral, herbal & fruity.
T: Hop forward (Centennial), fruity, berries, gentle sweetness, lightly tart & sharp, a bready nuance, strong black tea, citrus zest & pine resin. Good malts under long lingering bitterness.
F: Bold, soft & gently creamy medium bodied mouthfeel w/a stately linger that is lengthy. It finishes fairly dry.
O: A slightly complex brew that is quite refreshing and fairly bitter. Fruity floral notes are full and strong against a malty med-body. Bitterness remains start to finish. It is excellent in it's Rye style.

 

Wow, what a gorgeous sunset!

 

Gotta be hard saying bye to family like that that live so far way. I’m sure it never gets easier.

———

All this rice lager talk I grabbed one in the mixed four pack I just made…we’ll see when I get to it.

@JackHorzempa @FBarber

Interestingly enough from the same brewery that made the Cremo dark ale I had.

 

Thanks, @zekeman17

 

Hey what's going on!?

Winding down this absolutely wonderful weekend here in the DC area. Normally August is such a brutal mix of humid and hot weather, but it has been just fantastic this weekend.

Spent much of it outdoors and other things, but I am relaxing today. Which is why it is good to have a beer on hand.

Always up for a new tripel, here's a few new one's for me.



Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

Brass and bronze color highlighted body, with a metallic shine. Not crystal clear, but fairly so with a classic middle stream of roaring carbonation going up right in the center. Rocky off white head, with big cling and lots of staying power, a giant cap that holds real nicely. Gorgeous and dark looking tripel.

Quite a nice aroma. Light sense of sucrose and hints a little caramel, but a fantastic profile that bursts with white wine grape, light estery banana, and a soft bread and almost cardamom like spice quality. Bold rich and a nose that just feels fantastic.

Taste follows much of the nose, but still continues a great ride. White wine grape flavor with a hint of caramel to even toffee sticky honey quality in the mid palate. Sits with light brandy and stone fruit but with limited sweetness and touches of almost boozy sourness. Lots of rich fuzzy peach skin flavor but with bigger bitterness and heat on the finish.

Runs a little hot, but that's somewhat expected. Still this tastes like a great solid classic Belgian tripel, real nice stuff.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25 | BA Score: 4.31



Poured from the can into a tulip glass.

Bold glowing with a deep orange color, with touches of lemon yellow as well. Nice little column of middle carbonation in the center, meeting to a nice off white and rocky thick bold head.

Whispy aromas of grain, and light caramel sweetness. Hits more in the sucrose flavor with hints of taffy and candy. A good spicy phenolic touch hits out a bit as well in places too.

Palate is a malt forward presence, with some additional character. Running a bit hot, but crispy toffee with sweet booze flavor in the mid palate. Finish comes out with a nice more graham cracker and light sucrose sweetness. Bit of a mix of alcohol and phenolic heat that does manage to burn just a little too much on the finish by a hair.

An ok decent tripel but just a bit harsh to be super enjoyable.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75 | BA Score: 3.87

Cheers!

 

According to some (see this thread), the APA is dead.

So, being the contrarian that I am, today I'm having a new-to-me APA!
(Yeah, the brewer calls it "English", but IDK what makes it so, besides the label. I detect no traditional English hops and the brewer does not state the hops used.)

This is a new-to-me Minnesota brewer as well. The brewer, Invictus Brewing Co., is located in Blaine, MN, on the north side of the Twin Cities metro.

Invictus 1.7 Million Megawatts
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: 20

Here is what the brewer says about this beer:

British Summer Ale
Hot off the presses. We are proud to collaborate with Connexus Energy, our electric Co-op, on this special beer promoting the benefits of solar energy and celebrating the installation of our very own rooftop solar array last fall.

OK, a collab with an electric utility. That's a first, AFAIK. So, how is the beer?



Unfiltered-like hazy orange-amber color, moderately carbonated. 1 inch slightly off-white head, thick and creamy, with only fair retention. A thick wall of lacing is deposited ½ inch up from the receded head, which ends in an uneven cap with thick islands. Moderately carbonated. As I consume the beer, a very attractive lacing decorated the glass all the way down on the opposite side.

Fruity aroma. Orange with a fainter, but sharper additional citrus, not quite grapefruit or lime but it is reminding me of both. Hints of sweetness.

Initially a bitterness hits, which fairly quickly mellows out through the middle and reappears in the finish and aftertaste. The flavor itself starts with the bready malts and honey, the sweetness nicely balanced with the citrus/orange, presumably from the hops and a pleasantly bitter finish and aftertaste. The finish is a balanced sweet-dry. Both the citrus and the bittering linger in my mouth. As I drink the beer, the bitterness come to more dominate the taste and aftertaste, but in a pleasant, enjoyable way.

The mouth feel has a moderate body with decent carbonation.

Overall, quite enjoyable. Nicely done.

…. Good beer!

L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.0 | F: 3.5 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 3.89

 

So it looks like you agree? To me it drank lighter than most 10% beers and especially DIPAs and what not and I was surprised by that, as I expected a bit of a heavier slow sipper.

 

You mentioned in your post: “a touch sweet.

Craig in his post stated: “just a little too much sweetness for me”.

I suppose it is safe to say that y’all have differing sweetness ‘scales’ here?

Cheers!

 

Thanks, @ChicagoJ, I'm glad you enjoyed my post. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Bud. It may become a summer regular in my refrigerator!

 

I'd say I agree in that it isn't heavy for a beer at 10% ABV. I'd also say that I'd probably prefer this as an after dinner drink than one to have during.

The beer was interesting in its sweetness quality. Sometimes it would jump out, and other times it would sneak through until the end. I'll say it is definitely in the too sweet range in regards to what I would want in an Oktoberfest, if I made the leap towards thinking of this as one.

 

Hey NBS.
Today I turn the page and turn 60 years young. Damn time flies and I certainly dont feel it.
In celebration(I guess) I have a few new beers.
First off is Grimm Scissor Door DIPA w/ Citra, Simcoe, El Dorado and Phantasm - my first beer with this ingredient I believe.
Pours a slightly hazy but not turbid golden yellow with a nice 3 finger bright white head that has good retention and then settles to a thin cap with nice lacing.
Tangerine, guava, lemon, grapefruit and white grape on the nose.
Taste follows with lots of fresh citrus, passionfruit, peach, white grape. Sweet up front but dries on the pithy, winey finish.
Soft and creamy in the mouth. Drinks incredibly easy. Tingling tiny carb throught.
My first adventure with Phantasm.
Pretty damn good.
The glass was a gift from my bro along with this sweet Giants plaque.
Cheers folks!

 

Central Waters Brewer's Reserve BBA Raspberry Kringle Stout, 12% ABV. Pours dark brown with a ring of bubbles. Nose is raspberry. Taste is raspberry, buttery pastry, and bourbon, slightly sweet, equally tart and bitter. Decent mouthfeel, if a bit over-carbonated. Overall excellent, though not nearly as good as the base Kringle beer.

4.15/5 rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Hey all! I have but one new brew to share today, and that is Weird Window Brewing's Honey I'm Good, a Kölsch style ale w/ honey clocking in at 6% ABV. This brewery is completely new to me, so let's see how they did with this refreshing style!



HIG pours a very effervescent, translucent gold color with an incredibly retentive head (measuring about a finger-and-a-half upon fully pouring into my glass), great legs, and surprisingly superb lacing. In other words, this is quite a good first impression!

The nose is a clear intermingling of light cereal-like graininess with honey. Hints of florals and grassiness with some herbal hops in the background. Subtle lemongrass and spice as well. Honestly, this smells nice. It's not really overtly aromatic or intense, but that fits the Kölsch profile to a tee.

First few sips are pretty refreshing and evenly-tempered. It has a hint of sweetness backing up the light doughiness, and there is a kiss of hops to keep things balanced in the finish. It does, however, become a bit sweeter as it opens up and is allowed to warm slightly, which may throw some people off. I still think it's decent in terms of being even-keeled and drinkable while having just the right amount of interest added to the style, but I can see this being a bit too sweet for some. I would give more beer by Weird Window a shot if I saw it around, but I've been purchasing less and less beer lately so it's not too likely that'll happen (this can was given to me by a good buddy). That said, definitely worth a shot! I'm pleasantly surprised.

Earlier today, I finished the last model of the Gundam Breaker Battlogue series released in 2021. Excuse the poor quality photo, but here they are all lined up on a new shelf I put up!



Cheers!

 

Nothing like a 3-4 week heat-wave to make you appreciate nice weather when it finally comes.

3.96/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 16oz can stamped KEEP COLD DRINK FRESH 07/01/22 to a Weizen glass at fridge temp.
A clear gold body sits below a 1-½” white head which fades in about 2-minutes but lacing occurs throughout the session with glass tilts. Tiny bubbles nucleate and rise up the body throughout the session.
The aroma is sweet, grassy and clean.
The taste is also clean, but the grass in the aroma is not there. Actually it seems pretty hoppy for a Kolsch. The finish is quite dry.
Mouthfeel is fairly light with a hint of hop oil.
Overall, a good beer.

 

Next up is a Brewery Ive only had the chance to once before - and it was very good.
Little Willow Summer Storm DIPA
Citra/ElDorado DDH.
Pours a hazy yellow with a large off white head that has great retention and plenty of sticky lacing.
Big aromas of Pineapple, Passionfruit, Peach and citrus.
Fruity tropical candy follows, pineapple, peach cobbler. Leans to sweet but a superb drinker.
Finishes with mild carbonation and bitterness. Lightly carbonated. No hint of 8.2%. Tasty juice for sure.
Apparently this was contract brewed in Oxford Ct. Whatever the case my second experience was like the first.
Good beer.
Cheers!