New Beer Weekend #121

Overhead

8.2% IPA from Kane Brewing Company

Poured from a pint can, the beer is an attractive one with a hazy yellow-orange body, fluffy initial head and very good lacing.

Aroma is citrus, pine and lemon notes. Taste follows nose adding a more assertive citrus-grapefruit flavor along with a nice bitterness.

Mouthfeel is excellent with solid carbonation and a creamy feel. Finish dries things up nicely.

Really good IPA that would be in my rotation if available here. Thanks to @HoppingMadMonk for the beer.

 

Back with my Mystery Beer from @beergoot . Here's my review written before I removed the covering, without knowin waht beer, or even style, it was: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25191/624480/

 

How my Saturday beershare went, PT. I:

Yesterday afternoon I went over to my friend Mark's house with four beers that were sent to me by @Roguer. This was not a scenario that lended itself to careful, thoughtful reviewing, but they were all new beers to us, so here goes...

First, after each of us slammed cans of Hop Valley Cryo Stash (hey, we were thirsty and my cans and bottle needed a little time in the fridge after bouncing around in my backpack halfway across Spokane), we opened up Triple Your Fun, from Tree House, because there were three of us there and we were stupid enough to think kicking off trying four new beers with a Triple IPA was a good idea...

We were all fans of this, despite me being the only one that enjoys hazy IPAs.

At this point, we really kinda ran our taste buds into the ditch. You see, I had also brought one of the beers @Roguer had sent me as a mystery beer, and Mark thought we should try that next.

After explaining to my friends how @Roguer had drawn a label reminiscent of the cover to Porcupine Tree's Voyage 34, which then led to playing and listening to Voyage 34 -



- I poured out three measures from the mystery bottle. As soon as it was smelled it became apparent that it was definitely a bretty wild ale, a style which only one person (your noble narrator) was a fan of. Tommy was entirely nonplussed; I'm not sure he'd ever had one before or was even aware there was such a thing. Mark was not a fan of the nose but was more positive about the taste. I quite liked it.

The reveal:

Really dug this, myself. Kinda hoping the other mystery beer is something similar that I can properly review, as I realize I utterly failed to get a picture of the actual beer in a glass.
To be continued...

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. It's Christmas in November as I review @BigIronH's mystery beer. Harley has provided no clues except that it's "For the Big Buffalo." I also know from the cap that it's brewed by Founders. While we've received Founders distro here in New Jersey for many years we don't receive many of the special releases so I have no idea what this may be. I took it out of the fridge about 30 minutes ago and am using my all-purpose tulip glass.


It pours a hazy, dark ruby color with a big, creamy, light khaki head and lacing. It's a lovely pour (4.25).

The nose says it's barrel-aged with some type of whiskey. I'm also smelling caramel/vanilla, brown sugar, black cherry/dark fruit, lite nutty char, and a whiff of tobacco. It's really fragrant. (4.25).

Oh, this is delicious! I'm tasting bitter chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, burnt peat, leather, charred nuts, and whiskey. While the initial sip is sweet it becomes quite bitter. As it warms there is a hint of maple. It also tastes quite potent (don't know the ABV yet). It's really tasty (4.5).

It's not a stout or porter and I don't believe it's an American Barleywine. I think it's some type of ale.

The mouth feel is luxuriously creamy with low/moderate carbonation. (4.5).

What is it? I'm guessing it's the new variant of Backwoods Bastard. I've seen others drinking it on BA but we haven't seen it in New Jersey yet.

Drum roll . . . the reveal:



Bingo! What tipped me off is the developing taste of maple as it warms. I think I've seen Harley drinking this himself on WBAYDN. It's fantastic! I love the base beer. I remember when it was just released in November I'd buy at least a case worth and drink it through the year. Man, I'm hoping we see this in Jersey soon. Thank you, Harley! I'll be on to one of your IPAs shortly. Cheers!

 

Adventures in Saturday beer sharing, PT II:

At this point, Tommy went home, as it was approaching Weed:Thirty for him. So Mark and I cracked open Autumn, from Tree House:

Again, although Mark is famous among certain bartenders for swearing at the mention of hazy IPAs, he joined me in enjoying this beer. I think it's because he has a fondness for Galaxy hops and because the description made it sound like a single hop beer, which he's really into as a Homebrewer.

We finished off with what we probably should have started with, Fields of Gold, a hazyish pale ale, again from Tree House:

A nice, flavorful hazy pale, brewed with Nelson and Motueka hops. Weird how I kinda randomly selected multiple TH beers with southern hemisphere hops. We thoroughly enjoyed it.


Next time, I'm probably going to exclude a triple IPA from a bottle share on a day when I shoved off with a barrel aged Baltic porter (my backpack is still sitting at Mark's house, halfway across town), and perhaps leave a mystery beer at home, as it could well be something I alone will appreciate.

Thanks for the beers, Andrew!

 

It's weird to see NBS hitting it's stride when I'm doing my Monday morning routine

 

I saw it today @MacMalt it is out and about.

 

Thank you, Jon. I'll be on the lookout. If you like the OG Backwoods Bastard I'd give this one a try.

 

From @ovaltine 61 Frank Rodney Johson APA, ABV unknown; 3.86 overall

Pours a slightly hazed honey color with a thumb of eggshell colored head. Pretty good head retention & lacing

S: Bready, some grassy notes once warm

T: Grassy, piney, a little dry with a little biscuitty malt, some herbal & woody hop notes up front. More grassy & herbal notes as this beer warms, dryness as well, a touch of grainy bitterness. Finishes with a touch of lemon & grainy bitterness, plus some pine & grassyness

MF: Medium body, fairly subdued carbonation, pretty good balance

Old school APA, drinks easy, wish it was touch sweeter/maltier

 

It occurs to me that I have not shown most of my fellow NBWers the magnitude of the destruction @Roguer has rained down upon my porch this past week.

It started with three USPS flat rate boxes on Monday:








That was just Box #1

Moving on ...







At the time of unboxing, almost forgot to get a pic of this one:


Here's the first bit of swag, or at least non-beer content:


At some point, BA is going to stop allowing me to keep putting pics in a single post, so I'll be returning with Box #3.

 

Moving on to Box #3:

Okay, here's the bulk of the swag and food items:


But, wait, there's more beer:

As you can see, the two mystery beers have hand drawn labels evoking Porcupine Tree albums, a nod to my Steven Wilson avatar.

You'd think that was enough, right? At this point, @Roguer has already bombed my apartment building back into the stone age and has undoubtedly earned the ire of my mail carrier.
Well...

 

Great Heights in Houston had their 5th Anniversary this weekend. I pretty much hate crowded bars, especially when they are only serving plastic cups cause of how crowded it is. Though, there is this thing called Sunday afternoon drinking. Which I much prefer, after the big party and still have all the beers available.

Great Heights had all the staples, like Bourbon Barrel Aged Stouts, Hazy/NEIPA's etc. What I was excited about was their new Pilsner.

So, here is Lothar, German Pilsner. 4.9% ABV.



Pours a beautifully clear golden/yellow color. A two finger white head forms and sticks around for a minute. Light lace is left behind as that recedes.
Aroma is simple, and a very enjoyable balance of grains, bread, and crackers. Along with some hops that are grassy/lemony and with a peppery spice.
Taste wise, like the nose, baked bread, grains and cracker like malts. Balanced with grassy and peppery hops that leaves a nice lingering bitterness.
A light to medium body. Effervescent carbonation. This is super crisp, clean and wonderfully dry. I can drink this all day in big gulps.

Very much less is more here, and it is wonderful. Really balanced and simple, but everything just pops. A well done Pilsner that I hope they continue to make. Cause I'll always get this whenever I see it. Had several at the brewery, and got a 4 pack to go.

Overall score is 4.12 and easy A-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50326/628612/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Good evening NBS/nbw back with a sipper for the evening.
Beer Mike at Coopers Corner has begun the annual "sipper" stocking for us big beer customers
Barleywines, big stouts etc.
This is my first of this season
Cheers

Big Bad Baptist in the Rye

American Imperial Stout | 12.4% ABV
Epic Brewing Company in Salt Lake City, Utah

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.16/5 rDev -1.4% | Average: 4.22
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 22 oz bottle from 2021 R-2 into the test glass
A - Inky black, little carbonation, sticky rings cling to the glass
S - Char, vanilla, dark chocolate, cigar tobacco. There is a solid alcohol thread
T - Bakers chocoalte, vanilla, peppery rye, all blend into a real winner
M - Slick, heavy body, avoids being sweet, dry finish with a slightly boozy exhale.
O - A big beautiful stout, the rye barrel treatment is full bore and unabashised

 

NBS #2: Ghost Dagger from Arvon Brewing Co. I saw Harley drinking this yesterday and was anxious to try it. It's a super solid NE IPA. Arvon very effectively uses Bru-1 and Citra hops and the balance of tart citrus and sweet tropical fruit is excellent.

It pours a turbid, muddy orange with a big, creamy, bright white cap and thick lacing. The fruity nose offers, lemon, lime, grapefruit, pineapple, red berries, and a whiff of white wine grape. Wow, is this dank! Really good balance of tart citrus and tropical sweetness. There is a big pineapple presence from the Bru-1 hops while the Citra does its usual thing. The hopping and flavors are simple yet effective. The mouth feel is crisp with fairly lively carbonation. These days 7% ABV seems almost quaint in an IPA and this one is very easy to drink. Overall, Ghost Dagger is a tasty, easy drinking, and first rate New England IPA. No weaknesses.

4.25/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I rated it the same as Harley. It's rock solid. Have a great week, everyone!

 

As you can see, this box from @Roguer, which arrived on Thursday, can be observed by someone walking past my building. If outdoors, it could probably be seen from space by astronauts in the ISS.


My feet aren't huge, but they're big enough at 11 1/2 that they give an indication of how big this box was.
Here's the contents:












So, to recap:
Do not get involved in a BIF where @Roguer is your sender unless you have enough storage space for beer that you could tell someone it's actually a bottle shop and they'd believe it. Holy crap! I predict that I'll be sitting out the next BIF because I will still have too much beer left over from this one.
Thanks, Andrew! Your generosity is mind boggling!

 

Maybe the best think about receiving from @Roguer is his custom artwork on the mystery beers. I still have one of them taped to the wall above my "beer of fame" area.

 

3.95/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Packaged on 10/20/22 - consumed on 11/13/22 - poured from a 16oz can into my Moonlight shaped pint glass.

Thick peach-yellow/jasmine body with a half finger of thick papaya whip foam. Fine, sandy lacing; very good retention.

Juicy aromatics with distinctive Nelson notes (gooseberry, white grapes) and some tropical (passion-fruit/pineapple) elements. Hints of orange creamsicle.

Fruit-forward, mineral-laden, wine-like palate entry - hoppy yet smooth with low bitterness. Faintly soapy with rich creamy grain bill. Medium-dry finish with river stones and orange zest.

Full-bodied, rich, almost milky feel with decent carbonation. ABV well concealed.

Almost too much of a good thing - I prefer the drinkability of Free the Knowledge by comparison.

 

Hello everyone and welcome to New Beer Sunday #925!

Nice to see @snaotheus enjoying a fine blessed beer weekend in Tokyo. Really enjoyed your reports!

Was also very interesting reading your review of 3 Sheeps Pryor Engagement about 16 months after it was bottled @beergoot ! I really enjoyed that beer fresh. Really cool @Danmullens1 was able to save and give you a bottle. Usually a triple IPA is too sweet for my tastes, but fresh it is one of my favorite IPAs / beers I've ever tried, more to my tastes the PtY, Hopslam, or other high ABV IPAs. Really hope Nate brews another batch.

My review of the fresh version.

This is the third and final installment of my suburban brewery weekend spotlight. I've been to Penrose (and Art History) in Geneva, but still haven't made it down to Dovetail in Downers Grove. Hoping to rectify that next Spring or Summer. This Dunkel is released by Goldfinger each Fall.

I watched this video I really enjoyed to learn more about Double Decoction before diving in:



Goldfinger Dunkel



Can Notes: Single can purchased at Beer on the Wall at store temperature for $3.50 two weeks ago refrigerated until today. 16 oz canned 10/10/22, 5.0% ABV. Brewed and packaged by Goldfinger Brewing Company 513 Rogers Street, Downers Grove, Illinois.

Munich-Style Dunkel: Double Decoction, Bready, Toasty.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a tall slender pilsner glass. Clear bronze base, mild carbonation dissipates quickly, generous head while pouring lingers a bit longer to yield a creamy layer over the base and significant lacing throughout. 4.25

Aroma: Very malty, milk chocolate and pumpernickel the primary yield. Getting walnuts and caramel as this warms. Aroma is enticing and strong. 4.0

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, dark bread and chocolate the primary taste at first, with caramel darting in and out. Getting some honey as well and citrus emerges as this warms, perhaps the hops? Very nice. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Mild slightly prickly carbonation sustained throughout, lighter side of medium body. Hops keeps over sweetness in check, proper balance for this style. Drinks very light and easy even below the 5% ABV. Slightly dry, hops balances out any sweetness from the malt, easy clean finish. 4.25

Overall: This is a very nice dunkel. Works well for my palate, as I don't like overly sweet malty beers. Proper balance, bursts with flavor, simple, well brewed. Dobre! Na Zdrowie! 4.25

This is one of my higher rated Goldfinger, which usually hits the 3.75 to 4.00 B- B range. My overall bias in this score is based on my enjoyment of this malty beer for hitting within a range I like. Wondering what this beer would taste like if it wasn't double concocted. Glad it came out like it did.

Cheers!