New Beer Weekend #112

Hel yes!!

I am fortunate to be gifted today’s new beer: Root Down Hel Shade – Smoked Helles Lager.

That is an intriguing name for a beer, whazzup here?

From the Root Down website:

“Hel Shade

Smoked Helles Lager

ABV: 5.1%

DESCRIPTION

Our Smoked Helles Lager with a light and delicate smoke profile, entirely from Beechwood Smoked Malt. Lending a slight smokey campfire vibe that anchors down the spicy hop character of this lager. Named after Hel, the partially charred Norse Goddess and Shade, after the light cigar leaf that smokes with a mild character.

TASTING NOTES

Notes: Campfire, bacon, earthy spice, mint, low bitterness, semi-dry finish.”

Malt: German Pilsner, German Beechwood Smoked Malt, and German Melonoiden

Hops: Warrior, Saphir, Hersbrucker (all German varietals).”

https://rootdownbrewing.com/beer-helshade/

Well, I learned some new things today. I never heard of the Norse Goddess Hel before and now I know about cigar wrappers:

“Very simply, shade grown cigar wrapper refers to cigar wrapper leaf that has been grown under a sort of tent.”

I am excited to drink this beer since in the above description it lists “light and delicate smoky profile” and that tends to be my preference in smoked beers.

Served in my Spiegelau Lager glass:

Appearance:

Golden yellow with a white head.

Aroma:

A combination of bready Pilsner malt and light smokiness.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a pleasing combination of bready Pilsner malt and light smokiness. A low/moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light - Medium body with a dry-ish finish.

Overall:

I think this beer is very good; I very much enjoyed drinking it. For my palate this beer is the Goldilocks of smoked Helles beers.

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

Thanks for the kick-off @beergoot. I was equally surprised to see no thread had been started yet and was getting ready to do so myself! With that task no longer needed, I can stick to the beer.

The warm days may be numbered here in New England, so I'm going to take advantage of them while they're still here. I had a great 3 hour kayak this morning, then some additional time out on the water, and now a beer that a friend of mine was nice enough to pick up for me earlier this summer.

This is Noncomformist #4, a farmstead ale aged in oak barrels from Hill Farmstead.


4.02/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
My first reaction to this beer was to be startled, as the plastic cap HF uses with the bottle cap on some of their bottles creates an incredibly tight seal, leading to a very loud pop when set free. If "sound" were a rating category, I'd give it a 4.5.

Anyway, onto the actual categories. The beer pours a medium straw color that looked pretty clear on the pour itself, but is better described as translucent once in the glass. Short-lived fizzy head.

The aroma doesn't mess around. It bursts from the bottle and the glass with notes of lemon, grape, wine, grass, tea and a light funk. A unique, really nice combination that I really liked.

On the tongue, there's a really nice complexity to this beer. It's taken me a number of sips to figure out what's going on. I get lemongrass up front, followed by some general citrus, then some oak barrel, and a little bit of tea on the finish. Light bodied, crisp and clean.

Overall I'm really enjoying this. Definitely different, without being weird. In my opinion, some of what makes HF beers consistently excellent is that they have enough skill that even when they experiment, it tends to work out very well. Some of that may come down to willingness to dump batches that they don't like, or to the patience to let beers mature until they are ready, or maybe it's something else. Whatever it is, they make great beer.

 

4/5 rDev +10.2%

look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 ounce can dated 7/19/22 into a tulip glass.

Look- Deep amber, very hazy, visible particulate, frothy cream colored head, average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Pine resin, orange, biscuit.

Taste- Pine resin, sweet biscuit, orange.

Feel- Medium body, high bitterness, mildly prickly, average carbonation, moderately creamy/mouth coating finish.

Overall- Enjoyable West Coast IPA with more substantial body and haziness than typical for the style.

 

I have visited Fredricksburg several times and it is indeed a worthy town to visit.

Have you made it to the Aldstadt Brewery? The best I have done is driven by and it is certainly is a sight to see from the outside:



Prost!

 

That place looks awesome! @champ103 have you ever been?

 

On impulse, I broke down and bought this now ubiquitous beer.

3.44/5 rDev -9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Poured from a 12oz can stamped 07/20/22 to a Nonic at fridge temp.
This pours hazy light gold but not hazy enough to hide the many many rising bubbles near the glass wall. Despite an average pour I got a large pillowy white head. I had to be patient to get the full 12oz in a 16oz glass. The head lasts quite long, though not the entire session. Lacing is impressive.
The aroma is a little musty and fruity, but almost goes away completely after a few minutes. Sniff early with this one.
The taste is somewhat fruity, but not amazing. Alcohol makes itself known on the finish, this may be a reflection of the almost 2-month age of this can.
Mouthfeel is light for the style and carbonation is on the other end of the scale.
Not bad, but not impressive. Hopefully I will come back and edit this review if I catch a fresh can.

 

Good afternoon NBW

Samuel Smith Organic Pale Ale

12oz bottle coded SC01V1 (March 1, 2022) poured into a perfect pint glass at just above fridge temp 5% ABV. The beer pours bright medium amber with sticky khaki colored head. The head recedes to an uneven cap and leaves rings of lacing. The aroma is mild with pale malt and mineral. The taste is semisweet toasted, toffee English malt with tea-like hop flavor. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with just less that average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, delicious English ale. It's not complex, but the flavors that are there are sharp and perfectly complimentary.

I really enjoy Samuel Smith beers, but their crazy date code system annoys me. My local shop just got in mixed six packs that were only 6 months old, so I picked one up for the two beers I've never reviewed.

Cheers all!

 

Figured I'd have a few new brews for an all Ohio Stouturday and NBW!



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38054/587641/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60239/619653/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41563/620502/?ba=bluejacket74#lists

All 3 were good but my winner for the day was the Little Fish Pinche Guey. Cheers and have a great weekend everyone!

 

If it has been 15 years since your visit I think you will be quite surprised how that town has grown over that time period; the last 5 years especially. I have family visiting me right now (sister, niece) who live in New Braunfels. We actually discussed Fredricksburg last evening while drinking some homebrewed beers and how much that place has changed/grown over the past few years. In particular the number of wineries in that area has really grown.

Cheers!

 

Little Fish is a great micro brewery and a fun place to drink a beer…if in Athens to visit Jackie O’s, it’s worth the short side trip out to Little Fish. Excellent stouts and award winning sours -Cheers!

 

Thanks @beergoot for opening the taps

I can finally see the back of my beer fridge , thank gawd! Slogging thru all of my big cans has raised my body weight to that of a small hippopotamus ( ok, maybe a schmedium hippo). I have reduced by caloric consumption and I now look more like a svelte water buffalo. Thinning the heard and enjoying a beer from a fine Rhode Island brewer.



marshmallow small joys by long live


4.33/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Canned 6.13 , opened 9.10, poured into a Spiegelau snifter

Brewers Notes: Pastry stout brewed with chocolate, toasted almond, coconut, lactose and marshmallow.

Thick viscous 10w40 motor oil produces a dense creamy brown foam cap , good retention that settles to a pencil thick layer after five minutes, some spotty lacings

Aroma is chocolate , vanilla , coconut

Taste is sweet vanilla marshmallows, almond, coconut , chocolate

Mouthfeel is thick and syrupy , very sweet, I like sweet but this almost too sweet ..where can I get an insulin shot ?

Good beer , high abv and sweet makes this a sipper

 

This morning’s new to me BBA Stout - Smog City Brewing’s “Infinite Wishes - Mexican Hot Chocolate” (2022) out of Torrance, CA:



Poured black with ruby edges at 56°; tan fizzy head with some rocks; poor cap retention leaves a small island of micro dots and a solid ring; small spots of lace on agitation; thin legs at best. Weak cinnamon, even weaker bourbon nose. Spicy chilies, cocoa nibs, cinnamon and a wee touch of bourbon on the back end. Light body, medium minus carbonation; warmth in the mouth from combination of 13.7% abv and hot peppers. Overall, good balance between base, barrel and adjuncts; good spicy green chilies linger; however, all the flavors are mild and the body is almost watery; when did BBA impy stouts become poundable?

4.0 | 3.75 | 4.0 | 3.75 | 4.0
Score: 3.92 rDev -3.4%

A good tasting beer…I’d drink again, but would not seek out. Cheers y’all!

 

It was a little better fresh, but still not near as good as I hoped

 

Point Remove Brewing Co.'s Native Lager, 5,5% ABV; 3.76 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 3 fingers of fluffy pearl colored head. Okay head retention & lacing

S: Light breadyness, pears & grassyness once warm

T: The can says there is muscadine hints in this & I am getting it. Also, sweet breadyness, a little bit of floral hops & lemon & dryness up front. Sweetness creeps in as this warms, plus pears & grapes & lemon drops once this beer warms. Finishes dry with muscadine like sweetness & a little grassyness, plus a little pear fruittyness

MF: Medium body, crisp carbonation, decent balance

Easy to drink, pretty good flavor, by far the best of the 3 beers I've tried from these guys

 

Slow day at the office here. Let's get drinking fellow degenerates!

Two new beers to report on. One consumed out of the can and with no picture (it was handed to me as I floated in a tube...it's been a good day).

First up is Celestial City - Tangerine from Modern Times, received from the ever-generous @Dimidiata. I reviewed this under the general "Celestial City" beer in the BA database, which I'm pretty sure isn't right, but the "add a beer" guidelines say that you shouldn't add a beer that's retired, which I think the tangerine version might be.

4.08/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Enjoying courtesy of @Dimidiata. Mostly clear, light yellow with a small amount of fizzy short-lived head. Nose is tangerine and musty funk, which is right up my alley. Taste has plenty of tangerine and musty barnyard funk. Light bodied with a long finish that really evolves on the tongue. Really nice beer.

My other non-pictured new beer was Stoneface IPA.
3.61/5 rDev -15.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
consumed straight from the can, so can't give a real rating on appearance (but the can was lovely). Aroma and tongue had plenty of grapefruit and general citrus notes. Full bodied and creamy. Very easy drinking. Overall, a nice IPA.

Hope you all are having as good of a day as I am. It's been pretty close to a 10 out of 10 for me. It is not lost on me how fortunate I am.

 

Another beer that I was surprised I had never reviewed

Schneider Weisse Aventinus

500mL bottle stamped 22.018 131021 poured into a wheat beer glass at fridge temp 8.2% ABV. The beer pours opaque medium brown with light khaki head. The head recedes to a thin ring and partial layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild with clove, toffee and sweet wheat malt. The taste is semisweet, clovey, pear and apple laced dark wheat malt. Minimal bitterness. Slight alcohol presence on the tongue. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, very good weizenbock. Not my favoritist style, but I can appreciate this one.

Cheers all!

 

Prairie Pumpkin Pie Treat Kettle Sour, 5.5% ABV; 3.45 overall

Pours an effervescent & slightly hazed gold with 2+ fingers of eggshell colored head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Tons of Pumpkin Pie Spice, fades as it warms, a little marshmallow

T: Slight tartness & dryness up front, then vanilla & cinnamon up front. More of the same as this warms, cinnamon is the main flavor. Finishes dry with some tartness & cinnamon & a little marshmallow

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, some acidity once all warmed up

I'd take this over the average pumpkin beer on offer, but still not one I'd buy again, drinkable enough