New Beer Weekend #119

I came across this last year, maybe the year before? I load up on Christmas Ales, my favorite type of beer. Most American versions are a spiced, fruited take on Belgian Strong/Darks (my other favorite as Richard Christie would say).
Bell's offering is a different take on that, a Scotch Ale. Not completely unique, but a little out of the mainstream for an Xmas.
Not sure how they do it or what they did but after I had the first one I went out an bought another sixer. They also kept well, into the spring.
Glad you reminded me about this.
Have you tried it yet? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Brewing Projekt Jungo Joose Maui Wowie Fruited Sour, 6.9% ABV. Pours thick opaque emerald-green with no head. Nose is general fruitiness. Taste is pineapple, mandarin, and coconut, moderately sweet, equally tart. Nice thick and creamy mouthfeel. Overall excellent.

4.21/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pretty decent but nothing like the the Maui Waui I had in college...

 

Starting light tonight with Lime Lite from Night Shift.
Cheers!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28609/290469/



Canned 03/24/22.

Moderate pour yields a 1/2 inch white head over a fairly bright body with a touch just a touch of haze and a bit of lacing.

Nose of cracker, biscuit, and slight citrus.

Taste is lime forward in flavor but only slightly tart.

Fairly nice feel with medium carbonation.

Overall, one could crush a 4-pack of these with no problem.
Nice job from Night Shift!

Cheers!

 

A couple of beers tonight on an absolutely gorgeous fall evening in Northern Indiana. This first one is a new brewery and beer to me in a style I really appreciate.





4.26/5 rDev +7.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a slightly hazy golden straw color with a fluffy white head that sticks around as a modest cap on the beer and provides ample lacing. The nose is led by grassy noble hop aromas and a significant doughy bread note.

The taste is exquisite, with spicy noble hop flavors of straw and fresh cut grass commingling with that substantial doughy bread flavor. Surprisingly (to me) there’s very little sweetness, which I’ve come to expect in these pre-prohibition lager, and I think that decidedly works to this beer’s advantage, because I could crush this all day long.

The mouthfeel is very crisp, fitting the beer very well. This is truly a pleasure to drink, and a beer I’ll revisit.

 

Going with something a little out of the ordinary for my first new beer of the weekend. This is Teetee from Aslin Beer Co. The can describes it as "Sour ale brewed with tropical Skittles, banana, blackberry, kiwi, lime and pineapple." I received this courtesy of @Haze

Pours a vibrant dirty pink reminiscent of an Ocean Spray juice. Plenty of short-lived fizzy head. Aroma is plenty fruity with a little bit of tangy / tart vibe. Taste largely follows. It's fruity, and it does taste like candy to a degree, but it's not over the top sweet. Nice little zing to it. Lively and very light bodied. Goes down very easily.

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Now THAT was funny.
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Go Phils!

 

Experimental Jet Set by Foam

4.28/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



Canned 10.12.22, opened 10.29.22, poured into a Schilling stemmed glass

Found this at Empire liquors

Hazy pale orange liquid crowned by two fingers worth of white whipped cream, excellent retention , soapy lacings
Aroma is citrus, melon, lychee
Taste is melon, lemony citrus, orange rind tang
Mouthfeel is soft , light, velvety smooth , semi dry finish

Good beer

 

Here's a new fruited sour from Foam Brewers.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45496/626767/



Canned 10/19/22.

Vigorous pour yields a 1/2 inch light pink head over a dark pink body with a bit of lacing.

Nose of raspberry and slight sour cherry.

Taste mirrors nose closely with a sour cherry finish.

Feel is more than adequate for a fruited sour.

Overall, a real nice job at a very drinkable offering from the waterfront in Burlington, VT.

Cheers!!

 

#2, as soon as I saw this beer was being released, I was pumped, because I love French Toast. Let’s see if this beer lives up to my high expectations.





4.5/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
This beer pours a rich, dark brown color with a lovely compact tan head that provides some lacing, which surprised me given the ABV (11.1%). The nose is crammed with maple aromas up front, and bigly cinnamon and vanilla notes, and some barrel in the background.

The taste is led by the maple and cinnamon in tandem, and neither flavor is cloying on my palate, with the vanilla and oak from barrel to smooth things out even further. My only regret is that I didn’t purchase a truckload of this beer, because I absolutely LOVE French Toast, and this is French Toast in my glass, with some barrel for good measure. I adore Backwoods Bastard, and this is better, IMHO.

 

So while I was drinking that first beer I gave our boys a apple sauce squeeze pouch each and the youngest says "ew dad, this tastes like beer..." What three year old says that??? Oh he dips his finger in my foam from time to time Mrs. and I both tried it and it definitely tasted funky, fingers crossed our bodies take care of whatever the heck was wrong with it.

Now for a beer I really wanted to open from @Coronaeus, unfortunately the Leafs game is blacked out because its on NHL Network tonight. Instead I'm watching the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast and your Canadiens with my new glass.

Great Lakes Brewery - Pompous Ass (4.2% english ale)



Pours a deep dark brown with some ruby hues to it, really nice off white dense creamy head. Nice retention comes in thick cap, this beer has some very nice lacing.

The nose has a lot going on, earthy, nutty, grainy dark bread, black tea, and some moderate toastiness.

Flavor leans more into the toasty grainy bread, with moderate earthy hops also present, the toasty slightly burnt note really lingers pleasantly in the aftertaste.

Light body but not watery in the least, it has a carbonation that is almost reminiscent of cask, it is slightly lower and very creamy on the tongue. Low to medium burnt like bitterness on the finish.

This beer is very good, it is chock full of all sorts of flavor but also incredibly easy to drink. Said flavors are all in good balance with neither one stepping on the other. I'd gladly drink this beer again. Thanks for sharing yet another great Canadian beer with me Peter!

 

Yeah they are better with sausage than tasting that way. Aecht Schlenkerla lights the way with just right smokiness and beautiful beer combined. The lager is a true gem....The regular smoked beer is really delicious and rings my genetic core. Wood smoke before history carpets these beers.

 

Rough start for the Phillies. Hopefully we'll get a repeat of last night (although last night's game kept me up well after my bedtime!).

Next up is a BIG beer I received in our last NBS BIF from @Ozzylizard. This is Den Haag, an English-Style Imperial Old Ale From Hoppin' Frog. The brewery describes it as "This quintessential English-style Old Ale is a masterpiece, with each sip being a delicious new experience. Notes of figs, molasses and leather fill your senses, all mingling with wood, vanilla and dried fruit. We painstakingly researched, perfected, and brewed a special batch of Black Treacle just for this beer. Then we aged Den Haag in rare, sought-after Blanton's Bourbon barrels, all creating an extremely delicious and memorable character."


Can stamped best by 11/10/24. On the pour, there's a distinct reddish hue. Once in the glass, it's a still deep brown bordering black with no head, which given the huge 16.8% ABV is not a surprise. Aroma is very heavy on the alcohol, with plenty of bourbon barrel. Rich malts play a backup role, but it's the alcohol / barrel that dominates.

On the tongue, it's more of the same. Heavy, heavy barrel and alcohol. Faint hints of molasses & caramel, but, while I've never licked the inside of a bourbon barrel, in mind if I were to this is what it would taste like. Medium to full feel, with plenty of alcohol warmth.

Overall, this is definitely a sipper. A bit imbalanced for my tastes, but I'll be happy to enjoy this over the next couple hours.

 

Cloudburst - Happy Little Clouds, "bastardized German-style pilsner" -- but with a twist. The wet hop Centennial version of it. I ran out of fresh hops yesterday. But today my wife wanted to go out for beer and lunch, so I have a couple more, picked up at Chuck's Hop Shop Seward Park.

16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated 10/04/2022. Bought it a couple hours ago.

Pours clear light yellow with a big head that settles to a thin dusting. Smell is grainy, a little spicy, grassy.

Taste is light honeysuckle and strong grass with a medium amount of bitterness.

Mouthfeel is light, crisp, clean. Overall very nice.

 

Toppling Goliath Soul Hunter DIPA, 7.8% ABV; 4.02 overall

Pours a hazed gold with 2+ fingers of cream colored head. Some floaties. Alright head retention & lacing

S: Pine, citrus, peaches once warm

T: Pineapple, dryness, grapefruit, green melon & a little passion fruit up front. Dryness, grapefruit, blood orange & a touch of pine once this beer warms, plus a little green melon. Finishes with pineapple, blood orange, dryness & a little bit of mango

MF: Medium body, tamped carbonation, good balance

Fairly drinkable. About 50 days old, would like to try fresher, but this is my place holder review. Still brings the juice

 

Bizarre - Garlands, strata fresh hop pilsner. New-to-me brewery. I'll have to figure out where they're located.

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated "CROSBY, SPILLS, & MASH 10/7/22".

Pours a clear light honey color with a big, two-finger head. Head settles slowly into rocky lacing with a thick ring and a medium dusting across the surface.

Smell is fairly mild overall, mostly grain with a little bit of a spicy grassiness, some vague fruity/floral notes.

Taste is light grain sweetness, lots of cut grass. Deep bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, dry. Overall, solid pilsner.

 

And the Habs thank you for watching with seven goals. They’d appreciate if you watched next game as well!

I’m glad you liked this one. GLB is a first generation craft brewery here (1987). Their earliest beers were bottled in 1 litre plastic soda pop bottles if you can believe it!

 

Boulevard Brewer's Choice BA Creme Brulee' Barleywine, 13.3%; 4.19 overall

Pours an effervescent hazel with a thumb of tan head. Zero head retention & lacing, viscous

S: Caramelized sugar & vanilla, rich boozeyness once warm

T: Follows the nose, rich sweetness, some booze heat, some oakyness & barrel rawness as well up front. More of the same, a touch of booze soaked Marchino Cherry with plenty of dryness once warm. Finishes plenty sweet & dry with plenty of the featured flavor

MF: Fairly chewy, low carbonation, warming

This is a sipper between the intense sweetness & booze punch, would pair well with a decadent dessert