New Beer Weekend #120

Oh yea, I could see crushing 32 oz of that on a hot day. At least. Thanks again!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. The NBS BIF is in full swing and I'm enjoying a treat from @BigIronH's box: Double Dank Juice from Odd Side Ales in Michigan. On the BA page it's styled as a New England IPA but to me it's much more like a West Coast variant in terms of appearance and taste.

It pours a slightly hazy, bright golden-yellow with a very large, fluffy, bright white cap and thick, clinging lacing. The nose is big and floral with lemon, grapefruit, and some sweeter tropical notes. It opens with a strong dose of fairly sweet malt and candied fruit. The sweet fruit is hard to identify specifically but it's balanced by lemon and grapefruit rind. There is dry bitterness throughout. I checked the brewery's webside but the hop bill isn't shown. This ale is moderate in body with fairly lively carbonation, and it drinks big at 9.5% ABV. You can feel the alcohol. Overall, it's a very solid DIPA from an excellent brewery.

3.98/5 rDev -1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you, Harley! I enjoyed it a lot!

 

It is and it was excellent. Cheers.

 

Another early summer like day on the longest feeling day of the year, thanks daylight savings time Today we visited one of our favorite places, Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge. We go there all the time to check out the animals and hike the trails. Today was special though, they ran holiday photos there to support the nonprofit, so that is where our holiday photo will come from this year. Anyway it was cool cause we had an eastern screech owl chilling next to us the whole time, like 2 feet away, it was so wild. Some pine barrens love...trail to where the animals are at the refuge.



For my new beer today I drink the last of the non high abv beers from @Coronaeus box that he generously sent my way. This brewery's festbier was so so good and I'm really looking forward to drinking this one; so despite the hot summer like weather here we go.

Left Field Brewery - Schläger (5.8% märzen)
**still have yet to pair my glass with an action shot, don’t worry I’ll get one Peter



Pours a brilliantly crystal clear light copper color, slightly off white head with decent staying power. The color and clarity of this are very attractive.

The nose has a rich prominent bread crust note, hints of being slightly toasted; minor rye like spice hops, and a very pleasant earthy but almost floral fresh air sort of aroma.

The tastes is first and foremost slightly toasty bread crust; there is a nice hop presence as well; little bit earthy and a little bit rye like bite on the finish.

Medium body but oh so drinkable; this goes down like water. It has a very smooth and gentle carbonation that adds to its drinkability for me. Dry finish all around with a minor hop bitterness.

This is probably one of if not my favorite marzen I’ve had this year, their festbier same deal on that front. Thanks a million for the beers and glass Peter.

I think that’s it for new beer for me today; I’m eyeing my SN celebration stash for tonight. Have a great week everyone, be well; see you all next weekend for more beers and fun.

 

Pumpkin Pie Spice Yeti Imp Stout, 9.5 % ABV; 3.95 overall

Pours an effervescent ebony with 3+ fingers of mocha head. pretty good head retention & lacing

S: Mocha, some coffee & cinnamon

T: Follows the nose, some nutmeg & all spice as well, pretty roasty & dry up front. Roasty & dry with some spices present & just a little booze presence. Finishes dry, roasty with some woody bitter hops, a touch of chocolate, mint & pumpkin pie spices

MF: Fairly firm carbonation, fairly chewy body, carbonation could've been a little smoother

Nice as a change of pace, but I prefer the regular Yeti on a day to day basis. Drinkable enough

 

That looks like a beautiful spot.

I think I mentioned when you had the Festbier, Left Field is one of those breweries that seems to make beers that are good to really good. Rarely a dud to be found. I’m glad you liked it. Cheers and good luck agains the Whale!!!

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we have rolled back the clocks and are watching the Seahawks try to roll the Cardinals.

We have gone from summer-like weather to winter-like weather in the course of about 10 days. To recognize the change of seasons today we have Snake Eye Stout from Ten Pin Brewing.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34028/117554/

A drinkable somewhat sweet stout.

Until next time

 

Looking forward to catching up with the thread, but first going to celebrate my last crack for now (hope I can find this down the road) of my favorite FOBAB pour this weekend, which also won a Gold Medal in the category.

Happy New Beer Sunday #924!

DESTIHL Brewery St. Dekkera Reserve Sour: Ronciere






Brewer notes from the FOBAB Website: Wild Beer Mixed Culture (acidic) with Fruit. Blonde Ale base aged and soured in red and white wine French oak foudres, conditioned on blackberry and raspberry puree. ABV 5.33%.

Winner of the Gold Medal at the 2022 FOBAB awards in the Wild Beer with Fruit Mixed Culture (acidic) category.

Appearance: Approximately 16 oz poured from small growler into a large tulip glass. Deep and pleasant purple violet color base, forms bright white head when first poured, at this stage faint ring around the top of the base. 4.25

Aroma: Bursts with strong tart sweetness, blackberry leads with raspberry following. Nice blend of sweet and tartness, hits my sweet spot and draws me in. 4.5

Taste: Follows the nose, bursting with blackberry and raspberries, two berries I love. Sweetness held in check with the acidic tartness that balances the two worlds. Getting a nice oak backing a nice touch. Simple, excellent flavor, wonderful. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Tartness wins in a tight battle with sweetness. Drinks even easier than the light ABV. Light carbonation, medium body, easy clean finish. 4.5

Overall: Simple, excellent flavor, wonderful. So happy to have enjoyed this all weekend, and definitely want to head downstate and visit DESTIHL for the first time to hopefully catch this again and explore their beer further. Well deserved Gold Medal for this excellent offering. 4.75

They handed out extra bottles and cans to volunteers after the event cleanup, will feature the two I snagged in future New Beer Weekends. Hope your next beer is as awesome as this one. Cheers!

 

Day 2, another pair of beers courtesy of my friend @woemad and NBS BIF #16. The first one intrigues me because it could stray into an area that can be a bit “off” if you’re looking for a true OG iteration of the style. Let’s see where this beer journey takes this old beer nerd.





4.35/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This pours a nearly clear straw color with a foamy, voluminous white head that laces the glass and leaves a modest cap on the beer as you enjoy it. Beautiful pilsner. The nose has some pine, lemon zest, a bit of grass, and wheat bread aromas. Wow.

The lemon zest and pine vie for the forward position on the taste, with the lemon a bit more prominent and the pine following to lend some bitterness before settling into the sweet bread flavor at the back of the palate. Truly delicious stuff.

The mouthfeel is clean and crisp, on point for the style. When I read that this was fresh hopped (cool!) and utilized Centennial and Chinook hops (in a pilsner???), I was leery that this would stray into IPL territory, which isn’t a terrible thing, but I’d much prefer a true pilsner.

My concern was unwarranted, because this is in every sense a pilsner, and an exceptionally well executed one at that.

 

It is a bummer that they have stopped NJ home delivery, for now they say...It was perfect, and how I got several of their barrel beers out to some of you. I was going to do it again a week or so ago, but to my surprise, learned about how they aren't doing it anymore. Maybe it'll be back just in time for spring BIF...

 

I look forward to them shipping to PA again, I love their barrel program.

 

Next up-

Well the name makes me smile! But given the amount of money I spend on barleywine while under the influence of barleywine I know this isn't so.




I bought this kind of reluctantly, vanilla and cinnamon don't sound too promising in a barleywine. It's okay at least. The cinnamon does help cut the vanilla sweetness but they jibe together very well.

2022 was my year for the gameification of barleywine, try as many as I can no matter what. It's been a lot of fun and I've had some very pleasant surprises along the way, but dang it I could be enjoying a Bigfoot right now instead of this. I expect to be a bit more selective next year, avoiding E.T. pastrywine for instance.

 

#2, the other end of the beer nerd spectrum with this big imperial stout, also courtesy of @woemad. This is BA Always Finish What You Stout from Lumberbeard Brewing.





4.39/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Pours a deep, dark cola color and settles in the glass black with mahogany brown on the edges and a delectable creamy tan head that is a bit clingy and provides a nice cap on this imperial stout. Gorgeous beer in the glass.

The nose features rich cocoa, some char, oak from the barrel, and a bit of stone fruit. Very nice. The cocoa is forward on the taste, along with that roasty char note, but the oak and stone fruit flavors really elevate this beer, and flow through to a bit of booze at the very back of the palate and settles warm in your chest. Man, am I digging this.

The mouthfeel is just a smidge on the lighter side for a beer of this magnitude (13.8% ABV), but this is still a really well done BA imperial stout that I’d stand in line for.

 

Good evening again. Wow...some fantastic beers posted! Bunch of lackluster football today. A pretty weird season so far. I actually wish the Jets/Bills had been on here - the Pats game was a snoozer, channel surfing available games provided no relief...

Well, I can drink a good beer, right?



Tree House Brewing Behind the Times, the can says it's a dunkel rauchbier. The can also states it uses a tedious mashing procedure and mostly dark Munich and smoked malts, a sturdy addition if Tettnanger hops. Yay...

It pours cola colored with a huge rocky yet fluffy head that looks like old fashioned honeycomb candy to me, light tan color. It falls to a decent cap, fairly hefty residue on the glass.

It is smokey and roasty on the nose initially. Then other notes show in varying intensities. There's a bit of cocoa, toffee, herbal hoppiness, a caramelized brown sugar, kind of bready like a pumpernickel, tobacco.

The taste open as expected - it is certainly smokey and I can go with oak. There's a toasted bread taste and I can stay with pumpernickel. Some herbal hops over the top, with accents of tobacco, cocoa, toffee. I get a little pepper on the finish and I swear I get a light mint taste now and then, and a touch of licorice in the finish. There a weird mild bitter taste way, way in the aftertaste.

Medium body, moderately carbed, it hits and finishes fairly quick considering the smoke level, a little sticky, but mostly refreshing, well-attenuated.

Overall this is a tasty treat - the smoke is fairly intense, but it is more than balanced by the supporting cast. The weird bitter thing is, well, strange and sooooooo so far in the aftertaste that maybe it doesn't count. If you like the style, absolutely worth a go. Another in the 4.2 neighborhood.

 

Closing out the weekend with some dystopian sci-fi and this gem from @arizcards thanks!






I didn't know Sierra Nevada had a society, I'm jealous of it's members. The mouthfeel here is light and fluffy, very authentic. The phenols are prominent, again coming across as very authentic. It isn't very sweet overall, the gin barrels won't let that happen. They add and herbal quality and drying oak. This is quite lovely.

 

As promised earlier (really, last night) , a pea/jalapeno/green coffee cream ale .
I've passed on this before, as it just sounds weird. Like something from the far end of EFB. However..... having tried it, I wish I had gotten this before, any & all times it was available.
Really, it's just a very good cream ale.... with a little extra - some warmth at the back of the throat, & in the chest, after finish. An easy-drinking, "Just wanna beer"-type beer. Could drink this all day, any day .

Peas Porridge Hot ,
a 5.5% abv cream ale, brewed with peas, & aged on green coffee & jalapenos , from The Farmhouse.
(Growler is from my brother, when he lived in CT. My FH 64 oz growler broke, & the brewery was down to the last case of 64 oz , so figured leave them for others, who showed up without. )


L : Translucent pale gold, with one finger of quickly-dissipating white head.

S : Smell is slight dried peas, a vinous pepper aroma, akin to pickled peppers, minus the acetic aspect, and a vague light,bright green vegetal element , as from fresh peas. (Actually from the green coffee?) A light , lightly-sweet grain aroma floats above all that, becoming more apparent when swirled.

T : Taste is light bread crust, a brief, faint pea soup flavor, that becomes slightly more apparent near finish , light jalapeno jelly flavor, that like the pea flavor, pops up early, almost disappears, then flashes briefly again near finish. Lingering freshly-toasted, light , barely-sweet grain flavor lingers after finish. A la a toasted corn muffin, but much lighter, and less intense. Light bitterness and heat , that linger after finish. The heat is very definitely hot pepper, but at slightly less intensity than black pepper . The overall effect is that of just another hop.

F: Feel is light , barely-juicy, fairly smooth, with moderate, soft-ish, very,very fine carbonation tingle. Light hot pepper heat shows up near finish, and lingers at the back of the throat, creating a pleasant warmth in the palate and chest.

4.12/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35315/628034/?ba=mikeinportc#lists