New Beer Weekend #131

Going the route of Jack tonight, mostly because I don’t have any of what @Roguer is / was drinking when he kicked this thread off.

After reading the mixed reviews I figured I should see for myself.
I won’t go into the appearance as it’s been well covered already (and pictures!) and the aroma is best described by others as my sniffer seems defective at this time.
So, the taste- I will state that the WCIPA, in my opinion, is a much attempted and not always successful style. This one I think gets pretty darn close, albeit one noted. The piney resins are straight up the dominant part as well as the secondary part. I looked for the floral bits and couldn’t find them. Nor did I think it was an obvious high ABV beer, it was a piney beer though and through.
I’ve been working with soapstone for a good part of the day (countertop) so the ability of this beer to cut through the dust was impressive.
I could drink another without a problem but as I still have cabinetry to finish, probably won’t.
Cheers all!

 

That sounds like an awesome beer, alas, FW doesn’t distribute to Michigan. But we get Stone for whatever reason. Good luck with your quest, Ruination is tasty!

 

For me that beer was pine through and through to @Whyteboar to me there was a floral like aspect as it warmed but make no mistake that is piney resin in all it’s glory for my tastebuds and nose.

These posts are making it really hard to not open one of them instead of another new beer later…

 

Oops, I forgot to let it warm up a bit. It was really hitting the spot. May need to try another soon to properly judge it.

 

Getting Firestone here has not been a big issue. Getting it fresh was an issue back in the heyday of Double Jack (one of my first loves that I feel I'd love to add to the side-by-side thread with it vs Ruination). In today's environment, Union Jack has been available with decent freshness around here.

That said, and although I KNEW Wookey Jack was a new, limited relase, I still looked for dates on it (didn't see any with a quick glance).

 

that was my problem too the first one I couldn’t stop, dangerous beer for sure.

I love reading people’s reviews of this beer, makes me happy.

oh and if you want some wookey jack you know the drill, just say the word.

 

Unita Pro Line Series#5 Imperial Baba aged in Single Malt Whiskey Barrels, 10% ABV; 3.91 overall


Pours an effervescent chestnut color with 3 fingers of billowy tan head. Average-ish head retention & lacing

S: Some boozey notes, a little brown bread, nose mutes as this beer warmed up

T: Brown sugar, boozeyness, some cola/molasses flavors & barrel dryness up front. Some sweet molasses notes, a touch of Whiskey & dryness once this beer warms up, plus Brown Sugar & oaky notes. Finishes dry with some woody hops, cola notes, figs & a little more Brown Sugar

MF: Fairly chewy, modest carbonation, warming

This just got better as it warmed up, a sipper for sure

 

Good evening, everyone. Thanks to @Roguer for the kickoff and inspiration to go find a couple of the Framinghammer variants. I think an excursion to the brewery is in order soon. They've put out a bunch of stuff lately that isn't migrating 35 miles south... Plus the BA extreme stout box arrived two days early...I'm surrounded by temptation.

My son's 36th birthday today. We got takeout from a nearby Greek joint with some trepidation that was unwarranted. Outstanding food. Our first visit was years ago and it was not good at all. Tonight I had to park in an adjacent building's parking lot they were so jammed. Spanakopita was tremendous and I'm not a real spinach fan - fresh mint brightened it right up. I got a steak tip gyro with more beef in it than I have eaten in a month, tender as warm butter.

So not a Framinghammer here, but a weird one from Drekker, shared with the missus:



One in their Chonk series Birthday Cale Sundae Sour. The gimmicks are clearly labeled as strawberry, raspberry, cream of coconut, lactose, and confetti cake. Hoope with Magnum and Hallertau Blanc, using pale two row, wheat, carafoam in the grist. Lacto and house ale yeast. I wish all labels were so helpful!

Well, it's a tad bit ugly but not terrible. Kind of a rusty orange color with a sherbert colored half inch or so of foam that eventually develops a layer of pinkish pulp. Typical look for the genre.

It smells wonderful. Not kidding. I can clearly smell each gimmick, even a sweetness. The strawberry/raspberry combo is in the forefront and the two fruits are about equally present. Decently sweet smell that is probably the lactose and coconut. There is a nice amount of coconut which to me means not too much. And I'll be damned but there's cake batter. A little yeasty and a bit of lactose spur. What I dont smell clearly is the hops.

This is just fun in a glass on the taste. It tastes like a cake with fruit piled on it with a bit of coconut and lactose sweetness. There's a mild acidic bite, and the fruit sourness and lacto sourness are not battling for dominance. A bit of lactose funkiness comes through to remind me it's a beer. Hops...not so much. Maybe a vague earthy/herbal note but I'd suspect this is intentionally lightly hopped.

The feel is pretty light for this type of beer. It is nowhere near the thickness of a Mortalis smoothie brew. There's just enough carbonation to keep it interesting. The flavors are intense but short-lived and I dare say clean. A bit of lactose chalkiness on the finish.

Overall, this is just a fun thing to drink and does retain a bit of "beeriness" despite being heavily (and unabashedly) fortified with gimmicks. Hey, if you are going to make something like this, might as well really own it. Gonna go right around a 4, maybe 4.2 on this one.

I'll be back with something to prove I haven't sold my soul to the adjunct beer gods in a bit.

 

I went digging into a rarely opened small fridge and dug up this three year old, unintentionally aged milk stout from Tree House. Despite its age, I like it substantially better than the fresh IPA I opened not long ago.

3.8/5 rDev -15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Canned November, 2019. Pour is as dark as beer comes, with a small amount of short-lived head. Aroma is better than expected given the age. Plenty of cocoa and chocolate with some almost coffee like elements. Really nice smelling beer. Taste has also held up really well. Lots of smooth chocolate. Semi-sweet and well balanced with some nice roasted notes. Overall, pretty good beer. I'm impressed with how well this has held up.

 

Ok...back with a beer I have been waiting for since Allagash announced it. I stumbled on it at a brand new package store with a fairly pitiful craft beer collection despite the signs on the window proclaiming their craft offerings, but hey lucky me!



Allagash Hop Reach - by what I understand a year-round IPA offering from my binky up in the Portland industrial park. Canned on 12/28/22, so as fresh as I'm ever gonna see outside of the taproom.

Pours crystal clear golden color with a huge white soapy head that refuses to get off my glass. Great looking brew.

It's a hop assault on the nose. Citrus, pithy, pine-like resin, and just a bit of clean malt holding all that aroma aloft. Extremely bright smell.

The taste follows delivering big citrus flesh, pith, and rind coupled with a substsntial resinous taste. There is a bracing but quit hit of bitterness the resets the pallet mid- taste. This allows the underlying malts to emerge. There's even a very slight sweetness. After the swallow, there's a green herbaceous taste that is a nice aromatic complement. In general, there's a substantial hoppy aromatic carryover after the swallow - adds even more to the overall flavor perception.

The mouth feel is pushing medium, a little creamy. Appropriately carbonated. A bit of slickness on the tongue and a little citrusy tingle.

This seems about as straightforward a beer as you can get. It's an old school IPA all the way. There's no Allagash Belgian yeast complexity to unravel. The beer hits hard with flavors, but almost immediately mellows out, and sips went quickly to gulps. Refreshing and a beer I could easily drink more than one of while watching the smoker do its thing. Easy 4.2 here. Good beer...find it, try it. The naysayers when this beer was announced were incorrect.

 

Hello Advocates! This is a nice clean brew right here and its very lightly dank. Cheers!
Castle Danger Pale Ale 5.2% ABV
4.13/5 rDev +7.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz can from a variety 12pk Four From The Shore into a pint glass.
L: Pours 99% clear w fair carbo bubbles, a 1/2" soapy white head that recedes quickly to a thick skin & edge foam, very light lacing.
S: Dank citrus, caramelized malts, floral, a touch of cereal grains, clean & simple.
T: Slightly dank overripe orange, cereal grains, a light hop tingle, wild flowers, a touch of honey, gently resinous w light citrus zest & pine. Overall clean tasting w latent bitterness and a distant echo of breadiness in the finish. Malts arise with warming.
F: Lightly crisp med to med-light bodied w a wet and med-long finish. It is fairly drying.
O: A great tasting American Pale Ale that is lightly rich, EZ drinking and clean clean clean. Crushable, refreshing and has a lovely color. It is excellent in its style.

 

Wondering how that would taste after being cellared for a few years. The bourbon might fade a bit. Either way, sounds delicious!

 

This is fantastic paired with a fully loaded (onion, red pepper, crimini mushroom, extra garlic) scampi this evening!
Go G-Men!!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22511/555131/



750 ml. bottle.
2.0% abv.
That's two per cent!
Bottle conditioning since 20220331.

Moderate to vigorous pour yields a one inch white head over a slightly hazy straw colored body with a bit of sticky lacing.

Nose is citrus; mostly lemon with a bit of grassy hay and the slightest funk.

Taste follows nose closely with the lemon joined by a bit of orange and other citrus flavors.
Wow!

Great feel for such a low alcohol offering.

Overall; mind blown! Such a surprisingly flavorful beer.
Get your asses up to Greensboro Bend now!!

Cheers!!!

 

Despite being a bad eagles fan for a long time now I went out of the way to get some log in info so I could watch tonights game. How could I not? So I went with another beer that comes courtesy of @snaotheus, a Vienna lager, a quite tasty and well made one.

Fort George - Iredale (Vienna lager 4.7%)



Pours straw colored, mostly clear, with a slight hint of amber, white head, ok retention, a spot or two of lacing here and there for first half of glass.

This has a beautiful nose to it…it smells like a fresh loaf of lightly crusty bread, it’s incredibly aromatic, light floral/herbal hops in the foreground, along with some slight grain…I’m not sure what it is but the balance of these two aromas is lovely.

The taste also displays a perfect balance of toasty rich bread and herbal hops; the pleasant toastiness also remains, slight hop spiciness is also present.

Incredibly smooth clean beer to drink; light body but so far from watery, it is snappy on the finish with a tongue coating dryness, a moderate hop bitterness seals the deal on the finish.

This beer is really really good, it’s so bright, balanced and drinkable, the aroma is intoxicating as are the flavors. Very glad I am drinking this beer thank you to the beer whisperer @snaotheus, thanks Ryan, great great beer.

 

Happy Birthday to your son

 

@jonphisher - I really like Fort George, though most of what I've had is in the IPA realm, which I think is their core. We get at least one 4-pack every trip to Portland. Did @snaotheus send you any of their IPAs? Even though I don't take you for a huge IPA guy, you seem fairly open given you Ruination review

We hit Fort George on a Christmas trip down the Columbia River with the family right before COVID. A great time although we all joke about the joy and pseudo-regret of finding out about the "back bar" there, where we had a couple unnecessary beers, including a Scotch-aged beer (Wolf Spider) that I truly enjoyed but might only remember because I bought a Crowler to go.

 

Good evening NBW
Tonight's offering

Cerveza Athletica
12oz can packed on 11/07/2022 poured into a shaker pint glass at fridge temp >0.5% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright light amber with very light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. Plenty of lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet Vienna malt and lager yeast. The taste is semisweet, slightly metallic, toasted malt with earthy hop presence and medium bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with above average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good NA option in a style where NA options are quite limited.

Cheers all!