New Beer Weekend #111

Congrats , @kemoarps

Had that trouble with the squirrels & chipmunks. My beds looked like a core-aerator went through every day . Then the cats showed up last year. First a stray?/abandoned?/escaped? cat, then friends' [then] 19-yr-old[still agile]*, then the stray's kittens (still have one). They were/are hell-on-rodents, & decimated them. 13? dead squirrels , x# dead chipmunks ,mice,& voles later, I could stop re-burying the plants everyday, & stop patching holes in the house.

* Sold their house , to travel, as she (Mw.T.) is losing her eyesight. Now they're back, & I [hope] get to return the favor w/ a new kitten from same (sadly, late) stray , but that's a story for another time.
The 4mo-old pestering the 14mo-old Squirrel-Killer, just as he(S-K) pestered the old guy last year. ("Payback's a b*tch!", eh? )


Beer? Oh yeah....the beer :
Pontoon Juice, a 5.5% NEIPA from Other Half.
Was in the mood for some juice, & considering Pontoon Juice , among others, & then noticed that they had it on tap . Problem solved! Got a crowler of 2 different ones, for $1less, each, than what 1/2pk would =.
(Other one is 8+%, so doubt I'll do both tonight. )

Overall : Good "session" NEIPA . Hits above its weight , not lacking in substance or flavor. I can tell it's not an 8+%er, but doesn't seem watery, or one-dimensional either.


Look : Murky yellow, with moderate ivory head that leaves some streaky lacing. Looks like pineapple juice, with a head.

Smells of pineapple,kiwi, honeydew melon, and a bit of vague citrus. Slight crackery malt aroma as the head dies down.

Taste is mostly grapefruit and pineapple, with slight melon and lime zest. The lime taste lingers a bit after finish. Light bitterness. Less sweet than the aroma would indicate, which is a pleasant surprise.

Feel is light-medium, with moderate, fine carbonation. The front of the tongue is left feeling slightly coated.

4.09/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/502648/

 

Still recovering slowly from what should have been a relatively easy day (wheat beer, WCIPA and a short Coconut Deth pour) but that burger really got to me. Not sure how you do it Ian @superspak ! Also love your post and goat picks @kemoarps !

Fully hydrated on this cool day marking the end of Summer, and picked this appropriately named offering, my last new to me Keeping Together offering in my possession, though Half Acre still are pouring onsite bottles, so thinking I'm getting down there within the next few days.

Keeping Together The Illusion of Finality



Bottle Notes: 25.4 oz bottle, $20.02 purchased refrigerated 6/1/22, and refrigerated since until today. 8.4% ABV. Mixed-Culture Fermentation Beer. Brewed and Bottled by Keeping Together, Chicago, Illinois. Unfiltered, Unpasteurized, and Bottle-Conditioned. Release date 3/18/22.

Rye saison made with Michigan cherries, chamomile, black pepper and conditioned with honey.

Appearance: Dark ruby orange base, creamy eggy white foam recedes after a few minutes of glory into a bubbly cauldron above the base, with fine lacing with tiny and larger bubbles cling to the glass as if they know this is KT's final Chicago release. 4.5

Aroma: A strong tart and funky cherry lures you in, yeast doing its best to demand you take notice, black pepper and plum luring behind adding depth. 4.5

Taste: Dark cherries and strawberries with lighter tartness than the nose would indicate. Mild in strength, in the proper measure. The yeast is the next taste sensation, light funky brett consistent with the light touch the fruit flavors convey. Getting the rye which eluded the aroma. Everything in proper measure and balance, loving the gentle touch this beer (and most KT selections) has, versus being pounded into submission with an orchard of fruit. Getting a taste of honey as this warms up, and it adds to the enjoyment. A wonderful bouquet of flavors. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp easy drinking. About a third of the way in and this continues to drink well under the 8/4% listing, more like a session offering. Lightly tart and funky, carbonation is light, flavors well balanced, shine through at proper measure, clean finish. 4.5

Overall: Just a wonderful beer hits so many taste notes, all well incorporated, what a perfect way to end the Summer and KT's opening chapter in Chicago. Well done, will try to hunt down more of these bottles while waiting to book a trip to New Mexico after Avery reemerges with her new location. Cheers! 4.75

Going to catch up on the rest of the thread while listening to the White Sox and enjoying the rest of this bottle.

 

Depending on how you look at it, today was either half decent and half not, but we had a nice morning followed by steady, gentle rain for the afternoon - I'll go with all good. Just enough time to get some outside chores done, not enough to overdo things.

I'll give it away right up front - this is a beer worthy of closing out the summer. I won't even get near doing this justice:



Allagash Coolship Cerise Estate. It's brewed with Montmorency and North Star cherries grown at the brewery. As the name implies, this is one of the spontaneously fermented brews Allagash features.

It is a very pretty red-tinted coppery color, slightly cloudy, scant head that fizzles away quickly. It is quite lovely.

The smell is amazing with quite a bit going on. There's the obvious cherry that is not medicinal at all, not quite fresh cherry but not jammy either. A very slight wild funk weaves in and out - whatever local microbes got in that coolship did some work. Bretty but not overly so. Slightly tart smell, and a fairly strong oak smell. A touch of spice, a bit of lemony citrus, a little black pepper, a little sweet. It isn't as jumbled as I am describing. I'm jotting down things as they occur to me.

The taste is an explosion of flavor - very intense. Strong cherry, but offset and balanced by earthy funkiness. The cherry and the fermentation are perfectly married here. The oak adds a tannin quality to the cherry phenolic. It's only mildly acidic. Light lemon, a bit of black pepper on the finish. Maybe a hint of cinnamon? The cherry is very deep and natural here. It's almost got a smoky character. Smooth and harmonious as can be, nothing out of place, nothing competing.

The feel is heavier than other coolship beers I have had - actually feels luxuriant. Dry, but not quite crisp. Slick feel of phenols and tannins on the end. As that slick feeling washes away, there's a pleasant spicy kick of pepper and maybe a touch of cinnamon.

This is a fantastic beer. Enjoyable, seamlessly melded mad complexity. Yet it's easy to just sit here and sip once the analytical bit goes off. This one's easily in 4.5 - 4.75 range.

 

I just leaned that this will see distro today, I was shocked and couldn’t be happier. Now daily beer finder checks till it shows up. Cannot wait.

 

Deschutes Black Buttee XXXIV, 11.0% ABV; 4.2 overall

Pours an effervescent mahogany with a thumb+ of mocha colored head. Slightly below average head retention, a little better lacing

S: Cocoa, vanilla, faint roasty & coffee notes, caramel as well once warm

T: Follows the nose, a little stronger coffee presence & a kiss of barrel as well up front, along with dryness. Coffee asserts itself more as this warms, some vanilla, a kiss of barrel too. Finishes, roasty, sweet with a little barrel & even less coffee

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, warming

A solid offering, wish the barrel was more in your face, otherwise very well done

 

God I have missed reading you. Thanks for giving me a solid dose tonight. Take care.