New Beer Weekend #116

I enjoyed that beer, its a GOOD one

 

Beer travel...hmmm...I uses to travel a ton for work to exotic locations like central Wisconsin and Aberdeen, WA...but that doesn't mean you can't find good beers. New Glarus Scream was a great find that I could drink a lot more of that one along with Central Waters and Ale Asylum. Had the good fortune to find HoTD Doggie Claws when in Washington and some pFreim beers to enjoy. In general, it took a little work to find them, but I've certainly had some nice road beers.

Now travel is all personal, and we do a lot of trips to Maine and other New England locales.
Not to be a snob about it, but really...it's not hard to find a world class beer in New England these days. Plus there are plenty of hidden gems waiting to be discovered. We find breweries wherever we go and definitely enjoy our visits. Beer life is pretty fine.

Speaking of New England beers:



This is Lawsons Finest Liquids Session No. 3 Comet that has been apparently roaming freely around the fridge for months and was found lurking behind some now unrecognizable leftovers...hopefully the can provided sufficient biohazard protection.

Pours slightly hazy more or less golden color. The head is bubble bath foam the falls to islands, sticks pretty well.

Quite an interesting smell. It's pretty citrusy at first, more orange and tangerine than grapefruit. Then I get a whiff of some herbal and grassy notes that take me a little to wild ale...but it's a session IPA...and there's a tiny bit of a resin smell somewhere in there. Cool stuff. Slightly sweet breadlike malt.

The taste is light and bright containing everything I can find in the aroma. There's a little bit of peppery spice, even, which takes me in a different direction for a second. There is a good bitterness level.

Light, slightly drying, very lively beer.

Overall, the single hop treatment has certainly provided some interesting results here. It maybe be a bit high ABV for a true session beer, but it's certainly easy drinking. Refreshing, and the flavors are bright. The swerves I find in the flavors make it interesting. After looking up Comet hops, the flavors make sense. Very good beer, around a 3.8 - 4.0 or slightly above.

 

Fresh Wave Comet and Citra, a fresh hop from Structures. I've had Fresh Wave before, but I think the hop lineup has changed this season (hence the words Comet and Citra on the label). So, I'll count it for NBW. I've had other new beers this weekend, but not in situations where it made sense to post about it on here.

16oz can with no date (as far as I can tell, Structures doesn't date any of their cans -- boo, Structures!)

Pours a very hazy orange-yellow with a big, almost two finger head that slowly collapses into a fairly thick and clumpy stable layer. Smell is pithy, juicy fresh hops.

Taste is overripe tropical fruit with a ton of resin and pith. Bitterness is there, hiding in the background and sneaking up on you as it intensifies.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and slightly gritty. Overall, this is a quite nice beer.

 

Hey Maynard, I wish I bought more, I gave some away to my kids. Really easy drinking.

 

Drekker BRAAAAAAAAins Blackberry/Cherry/Plum Double Fruit Smoothie Sour, 6.6% ABV. Pours thick and opaque medium-red, with a slight pink head that left light puree residue. Nose is blackberry, cherry, plum, and vanilla. Taste follows, moderately sweet, faintly tart. Smooth and creamy mouthfeel, overall excellent. The plum takes the edge off the cherry tartness.

4.15/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Hi Mike, where’d you score that beer? I just had it in VT a few weeks ago

 

Thank you, Derek!

 

Single shot by Tree House

4.44/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5



Brewers notes: A beautifully balanced coffee stout made with a special blend of our favorite coffees! It pours super dark in the glass unleashing a fluffy, mocha-like head. We experience flavors and aromas of rich chocolate, cold brewed coffee, and coffee ice cream. Single Shot is exceptionally creamy on the palate while maintaining a lightness that leaves you wanting more!

Can poured into a tree House tulip glass , dark motor oil liquid crowned ny a frothy two finger foam cap, very good retention, settles to a pencil thick layer after five minutes

Aroma is fresh roast coffee

Taste is coffee, roast malts

Smooth, sweet, creamy , not coffee acridness, full flavor

Good beer

 

We went up to Smugglers Notch the last week of September tues.wed, thurs. I came back with about 2 cases of beer and 2 cases of Covid. We planned on going to Hill Farmstead and a few other places but we weren't feeling that great so we bailed. We both tested positive when we got home. It took about a week but we feel a lot better now.

 

Good health Mike!

Dr WunderLlama prescribes freshly malted brews

 

& Cheap Whiskey

 

Ozark beer Co. The DERAiLLUER Fresh Hop IPA, 6.0% ABV; 4.01 overall

Made with hops from the Kansas Hop Company FWIW

Pours an effervescent & hazed gold with 3 fingers of cream colored head. Slightly hazed, Great head retention & lacing

S: Sweet cakeyness, a little grassyness, some citrus notes once warm

T: Grassyness, pomelo, dryness, limes, & breadyness up front. Grapefruit, breadyness & lime, plus dryness as this warms, plus a little grassyness. Finishes dry, cakey with grapefruit & a little tangerine

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, good balance

Pretty drinkable, a rock solid old school IPA

 

White Bluffs - Fresh Hop Nectar of the Gods

16oz can served in a pint glass. Dated 09-27-22.

Pours a hazy amber color with a fairly large head that settles into a creamy layer interspersed with fairly large bubbles. Smell is pine and citrus zest.

Taste is a little bit of orange zest, a fair amount of grain sweetness, some pithy bitterness.

Mouthfeel is kind of thin. Overall, it's not bad.

 

All right, as promised, I am back today for another new beer.

Before I do I'll talk a bit about the topic @Beersnake1 brought up in his opening. I would have mentioned it in my previous post here, but was busy with friends.

I do travel for beer, and I won't lie about that. I went out to Montana back in late August to visit dear friends who moved there last year. Part of my journey was to bring out 10 cases of Grain Belt beer for them, well, him (6 Premium/ 4 Nordeast). While I was there I enjoyed many new beers. Pink slip from Uberbrew in Billings knocked my socks off because it was so good, and I brought a lot of it back home to share with friends (and a few for myself). I tried the iconic Renier beer for the first time, and for what it is, it's not bad at all. A road trip to Cody for a few beers and a trip to Red Lodge as well (to see how it is recovering from the floods, and beer as well). Beer was a good part of my trip, and I will be returning next year again - and going west bound and down with Grain Belt - and maybe Yuengling.

Now to my new beer tonight, and I had to add it to the database.


Oktoberfest - Warrior Brewing - Duluth, MN - 5.6% ABV

The name of the beer says it all. It's a fairly standard American Oktoberfest beer. Malty, caramel, biscuit. Nothing crazy outside of the box, but done well .

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60972/624413/


3.77/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
This beer pours a nice amber color. There's a lot of carbonation in this beer. Even with a non aggressive pour it's a 5 finger head, slightly off white, which I had to let dissipate before pouring the rest of the can into my "boot" glass. There's some beautiful carbonation rising in the glass.
Nose is caramel, malty, and slightly roasted.
There's malts in the flavor here, as expected. There's caramel, and a hint of toffee. There's a bit of bread/biscuit flavor. The back the hops kick in to provide a hint of bitterness. There's also a hint of earthiness that kicks in as well.
The body is about right for the style. not too thick, and not thin.
Delicious overall.


I may be done for this weekend with new beers. If so, see you all next weekend for New Beer Weekend!!!

 

Bellwoods A DIPA w/Freestyle Hops.



Pours a murky, turbid dishwater yellow with a slight head that fades to a light ring fairly quickly. Unattractive in the way you want your hazy IPAs.

The aromas are fruity. Tropical fruits dominate, but there is a subtle peach-orange quality there too.

Taste follows. Fruity, juicy even. Negligible bitterness. One note really, but a good single note.

Full bodied and quite drinkable.

This is a solid NEIPA from Bellwoods who generally don’t take their hazy IPAs this far into the so called ‘murk bomb’ world. I’d drink it again.

 

I for one could not think of any really good stories to say, other than I always try to get a haul of beer wherever I can. I was overweight at the Milwaukee airport & that was mostly beer. Had to buy a bag & put most of my clothes in the carry on

 

Ommegang All Hallows Treat Imp Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout, 7.6% ABV; 3.44 overall

Pours an effervescent chestnut with 2+ fingers of mocha colored head. No head retention or lacing

S: Peanut butter chocolate candy, some vanilla once warm

T: Follows the nose, pretty dry & roasty, a touch of vanilla & a little smokeyness up front. Pretty dry, nutty with some increasingly artificial tasting flavors as this warms. Fiinishes roasty, nutty & dry with marshmallow notes

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation

Starts out with promise, but just tastes faker & faker as it warms

 

And one more before bed.

Aslin C’est Bon. BBA Imperial Stout with cinnamon and vanilla. This is one of their barrel select beers.



Pours a thick jet black with no head at all. 3-4 tiny bubbles wiggle their way through the sludge to the top at the very end of the pour. I’m thinking this is going to be syrupy.

Aroma is sweet cinnamon candy up front. Vanilla sits in behind with little red liquorice.

The cinnamon is less candy-like on the tongue. The vanilla is subdued. There is a little coconut note in there as well. Ever so slightly boozy.

This is Uber-thick. Not as syrupy as I expected, but you’d never mistake this for an easy drinking beer.

I liked it. I have a feeling the add-junks have faded a little. This is usually fine by me. I have several more of these Barrel Select beers accumulated and if this is any indication of what lies in store, I’m aright with that.

 

Ferment - Fresh Hop Chinook Pale Ale

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Canned 09/13/22.

Pours slightly hazy. A bit more than a finger of head. Lots of carbonation. Smell is piney and herbal.

Taste is moderate grain, strong hoppy herbal notes, a little bit of resin.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, dry. Overall, nice beer.

 

A very tasty collab brew here: Fair State & August Schell Union Lager.

4.25/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
12oz can fill date Sept 01, 2022 into a 12oz Becher.
L: Pours clear rich gold caramel w a 1/2" creamy off-white head w very good retention, good carbo, some sticky lacing, banding & sheeting.
S: Toasted malts, toasted honey bun, caramel, grains, a suggestion of banana.
T: Taste pretty much follows smells with added tastes of firm caramelized malts & a hint of green grass. It has a velvety bitterness and an affable paleness. Fairly full-flavoured and slightly rich.
F: Crisp, well-balanced med-lite bodied w satisfying carbonation lasting throughout. It has a med-length finish w a slight linger.
O: A crispy golden American lager Germanic in style with excellent flavor and a great feel. Easy drinking, masterfully brewed and it is outstanding in its style.