New Beer Weekend #108

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Swiggers and commentators. It's a beautiful, quiet Sunday afternoon in North Jersey. We're finally enjoying pleasant summer temps and low humidity. If only we'd get some rain! Yesterday, my wife and had dinner at Burger Loft in New City, NY, which shares space with District 96 Beer Factory - one of my favorite breweries. Burger Loft's mushroom burger is just sublime. I'd drive the 45 miles there anytime, regardless of the price of gas. They had fresh cans of Mother of All Photo Bombs, which is a mash-up of Mother of All Bombs and Photo Bomb. I've had both of those IPAs before and I was certain I'd had this one as well but I couldn't find any notes on it so it's NBS-worthy.

Reviewed 3 days after can release. It pours a turbid, muddy pastel orange with a half finger, creamy, egg-white cap and thin film of soapy lacing with retention through the pour. It has a big, fragrant nose featuring lemon, lime, grapefruit, pineapple, tangerine, ripe melon, peach, and soft floral hops. The taste is equally big and bold with a fabulous balance of tart citrus and sweet, ripe melon and mango. The sweetness balances - but never overcomes, the slightly bitter and acidic citrus and it's therefore quite refreshing. One thing I didn't notice until the end is D96's signature snake fruit. The Mosaic and Azzaca hops (and perhaps others) provide a clean bitterness throughout. The mouth feel is vintage D96: plush and creamy with a perfect level of carbonation, and the 8% ABV gives it substance without heaviness. Overall, M.O.A.P.B. is yet another exquisite New England IPA from District 96. They're dialed-in on the style.

4.34/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Maybe because I live in New Jersey, which has prehistoric laws governing breweries (no food and basically no fun of any kind), I'm still in awe of the business model of D96/Burger Loft. It's my favorite food and beer destination. Cheers, NBW!

 

Happy Birthday

 

Boulevard Blue Money IPA, 7.5% ABV; 3.6 overall

Pours an effervescent pinkish orange with a thumb of pink head. Some head retention & lacing

S: Berries

T: Blueberries with hints of vanilla & lime up front. Dryness, blueberry & lemon as this warms up. Finishes dry with some berry & dryness

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, good balance

Interesting flavors, but not really my thing, Pretty good drinkability

 

My experience with that brewery for the majority of the time, has been mediocre.

 

Happy Birthday!

 

I can report that Bernard beers are readily available in Prague (at least in 2019 when I was there for a two week beercation).

My wife and I enjoyed drinking a couple of glasses of Bernard 11° Pilsner on the back end of a boat:



And I enjoyed drinking a 0.5 liter glass of Bernard Tmavý Ležák (Dark Lager) at a Prague pub (The Beer Museum):



https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Czech_Beers

The person from the brewery mentioned: "Now we have another one in US." What is the name of their 'new' importer? Is it now possible to find fresh Bernard beers in the US?

Na Zdravi

 

I had posted in the "Breweries you once loved, but don't anymore" thread about Holler Brewing in Houston. They changed ownership back in February and I haven't been pleased with some of the changes. For both personnel, and beers. Basically nobody that was their prior to the change is there now. I was specifically lamenting that the standbys they always had were not what I remember, and that they haven't made any new beers since.

Well, I don't know if it was that thread and discussion, or what, but I decided to make another stop their this afternoon. The first time in a few months, and low and behold, they have a new Saison. Which also ties me back to having a string of not very good local Saisons lately...lets see how this goes.

Hell's Bells Saison, 7.3% ABV.


Pours a hazy golden/yellow color. A one finger white head forms with good retention and lace.
The nose is phenolic and peppery spice. Light fruity esters in aroma that are a bit generic. Kind of light clove, banana like overall. Finishing with a more aggressive citrus/grassy hop bite.
A bit more simplistic taste wise. The plastic phenolic character takes over too much. No more esters to be found. Again, the hops are aggressive. Mainly grassy, though the bitterness lingers on for a long time.
A medium body and crisp carbonation. After a while the aggressive bitterness makes this more of a one and done.

This is the first completely new beer Holler has released since the new ownership and brewer took over. I was just commenting on how they haven't had anything new in a long time. Its a decent example of the style, and better than some of the other local options I have had o late (sub True Anomaly). Though the plastic phenols and to much bitterness take away a bit for me. Not that I don't love me some hoppy Saisons, but the bitterness and phenols just took over to much for me IMO.

Overall score is 3.52, B territory.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45647/614834/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we have had our first preseason look at the 2022-23 Seattle Seahawks and it's not good. Fortunately they have the Falcons, Lions, Giants and Jets on the regular season schedule. But everything else looks like a lot of losses to me. Maybe they get the better of Russell Wilson in the opener? That would help.

Today we have Grower Direct IPA from Deschutes.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/587888/

Not very good in my opinion. Very piney with a dry chalky bitter finish.

Until next time

 

I don’t often get to participate in NBW, but the family is out of the house this afternoon and my weekly meal prep duties are complete. Time for a beer(s)!

This one was sent to me by @Electros as part of CanBIF 2022. Sorry that I’m just getting to it now. Lame excuse, but I found it at the back of the fridge today when looking for meal prep ingredients!

Mayiza “Premium Craft Lager” is a Cerveza style that pours with minimal head that disappears within 2 minutes. Aroma is lemon and crackers, a slight sweetness. Taste is less sweet than the aroma, drinks clean and refreshing. Very similar to a couple of blonde ale crushers brewed locally around my area. I would take a 12 pack in a heartbeat!

 

Well, at least it has a cool name!

Cheers!

 

I was thinking they should have used that for a Helles lager, but what do I know ha.

 

From the article I linked in my above reply to you:

"But I like to learn Czech beer words and you might too. Basically the Czechs describe their beers by color and strength. First, let’s learn our colors:

• Pale = Světlé
• Semi-dark (Amber) = Polotmavý
• Dark = Tmavý (or Tmavé)
• Black = Černý

When it comes to beer strength, what we would typically associate with alcohol (ABV) strength, the Czechs instead describe the original gravity of the wort used to brew the beer. They have words for this but more commonly I have seen numbers in degrees Plato to describe the beers strength. In order of lower to higher strength:

• 10° or Výčepní
• 12° or Ležák
• 14° or Speciál (or Speziál)

You may on occasion see some values other than those listed above (e.g., 11°, 13°, …) but you get the general idea."

So, yes the 12 on your bottle cap refers to 12° (or Ležák).

Na Zdravi

 

Maybe because their Helles doesn't have enough "bell"?

Cheers!

 

NBW #2: A Monument to Your Sins, a New England DIPA from Two Villains Brewing Co. in Nyack, New York. I first heard of Two Villains when I had a pour of one of its NE IPAs as a guest tap offering at Rushing Duck Brewing. I thought it was quite good and I wanted to visit ever since. Two Villains is a brewpub. Nyack is located along the Hudson River adjacent to the Tappen Zee Bridge, about a 45 minute ride from my home. So I visited yesterday and enjoyed an English Pale Mild Ale (my first outside England) and a Cream Ale. When we arrived, I noticed a sign apologizing for the fact that the kitchen was closed (surprising on a Saturday). Then I learned that the place faces closure next week - apparently due to squabbles among the owners, kitchen staff, and brewers. So I decided to purchase cans of this DIPA since it might be the last opportunity. It would be a real shame if Two Villains closes because this is the second DIPA I've had and I enjoyed both of them. I hope that if the brewpub closes, then the brewery operation will survive in some fashion.

This ale pours a murky, orange-brown color with a very large, fluffy, eggnog-colored head and thick, creamy, soapy lacing. The smell is highly-floral with notes of peach and ripe cantaloupe. This ale pops with lemon, lime, and ripe, sweet melon, peach, and tangerine. As it warms a bit I'm also tasting some red berry from the Mosaic hops. The hops are soft and not very bitter. In fact, this ale is quite refreshing. The mouth feel is viscous and creamy with moderate carbonation, and it doesn't feel like 8.5% ABV. This is a fine DIPA. I'd drink it any time.

4.19/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

If this is the end of Two Villains, and I hope it's not, then I'm glad to have reviewed one of their beers on NBW. I don't recall seeing any previous reviews. Not that it matters all that much but it makes me feel like I've done something nice. Cheers, everyone. Have a great week!

 

That brewery is about 25 minutes from my house. We've been there about 6 times. I found them kind of hit or miss. Some beers are great, others so so.

 

Pollyanna Personal Chain Letter with Vanilla beans is damn tasty even if they "added junk". Thick, chewy'n oily looking, nice coke looking head that collapsed quickly. Roasted malts, molasses, dark fruit all show up here. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat!