New Beer Weekend #133

Peter, you should've drank this before that ordeal

 

Reviewed by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois

4.16/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a thick, chewy, almost jet black, tan head and some nice lacing.
Aroma of roasted malts, coffee, licorice, toffee and some dark fruit.
Taste of coffee, roasted malts, toffee.
It's a big, thick, chewy beer.
Probably shoulda bought more.

 

Wayfinder + Chuckanut: Kristalwolf Kristallweizen

 

You are not the only one, every time we get "true" cold down here in NJ I cannot help but go out on night walks. There is something so peaceful and serene about the cold...sometimes I worry someone is gonna call the cops on the weirdo staring off into the woods at night listening to the trees talk as they freeze solid. The 10 day though has us right back in the warm winter we've had this far

And PS...here is the 90s



I listened to this CD a bazillion times back in 5th grade I still love it, the 90s had some great music. I just put on a random spotify 90s list last night actually haha

 

All the talk of revisiting the oldies got me thinking that I had never reviewed this classic.

Poured stout black with dark brown highlights when held to the light. Nice tan head that left copious lacing.
The taste is amazing for the ABV, dark fruit and coffee bitterness and cocoa all play nicely together in each sip.
The feel is thinner than most, but then this is a sessionable stout so not expecting much in the way of body.
Rather surprised I haven’t rated this yet, it’s a nice throwback for the stout world and one that I have to revisit every now and again.
Thanks to @jonphisher for getting me thinking!

 

Cheers! I’m glad it seems the thread is surviving it’s purpose and that makes me happy

 

Is that poobah Ryan in your avatar?

 

I like many genres but 80's music really hits me on a list of decades. I know New Wave is maligned a lot, but I have good memories of driving to and competing in off-road motorcycle races. Best time of my life (wife hates it when I say that). Cheers, drinking dry-hopped pils right now, but posted enough pics already today.

 

Beer’d - German Casual (märzen)



More inclined to wiesn but this is good. Pour bleeds clear, deep auburn color, slightly off white head. Body is full and robust and sharp upfront in the tongue but then smooth and clean.

Taste is sharp and robust but interestingly, lends itself more to wiesn qualities than a märzen. Hoppy and bitter, punchy herbal character and a nice bit of spice. Hops speak quite loudly here. Very nice pint and it is still complex and lively albeit not immediately fresh.
Cheers

 

Mrs O and I are celebrating our birthdays tonight with an excellent dinner at LaSalle Grill in South Bend and (in 90 minutes) a production of “Fiddler On The Roof.”

This is Hi-Wire Brewing’s Dunkel, a Munich dunkel. Giddy up!!!



4.17/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours a gorgeous amber color with a sudsy light tan. Beautiful beer. The nose is wheat bread, toffee, and a smidge of chocolate. Very nice.

The taste is a delicious balance of the bread, toffee, and light chocolate flavors, with no discernible hop presence, which actually works in this Munich dunker’s favor. It is exceptionally smooth and highly drinkable.

The mouthfeel is full and a bit creamy. This is a wonderful Munich dunkel, a style I need to try more often.

 

AI generated generic beer poobah

 

Happy birthday to both of you @ovaltine I hope you both had a wonderful day and have a wonderful night.

 

@AzfromOz. Last week, Henry James. Today/ tonite (nod to your TZ) Phillip K. Dick. BA is honored and humbled to have a talent like yours in the house.

 

I love a good Hefe myself and generally prefer the lower ABV beers too. A good weizen bock/doppelbock is a nice change of pace.

 

Our Arctic blast is winding down here. It was a good day to squirrel up in a blanket. Big winds last night and lots of loud noises out back, but no damage of note. Supposed to be pushing 50 degrees tomorrow, so a much better day to take stock. Below zero to t-shirt weather in 24 hrs...

The missus thought Indian food would be good, and ya know it hit the spot. It felt downright warm at 14 degrees when I went to fetch.

Dessert beer from the BA stout box:



Weathered Souls PB Fusion Technique - an 11-ish % Stout with peanut butter flavor, brownie fudge, coconut.

The pour was much messier than the picture shows. It's pretty darn black and oily looking. Dark brown head that falls to a cap and coats the glass heavily. Edges show some reddish tinting.

The initial smell is peanut butter - it says peanut butter "flavor" on the can, so if this is a flavor it's a damned good one judging by the pleasantly peanutty aroma. The stout base lives here too - roasty and malty and not overwhelmed somehow. Big chocolate comes in as it warms up, along with some vanilla, coffee, very faint maybe coconut, promises to be sweet with some molasses-like note or maybe toffee.

The taste surprises me. It's not as driven by the extras as the smell suggests. Fusion seems an apt word here. No doubt it's a stout first with the other flavors melded in nicely. The chocolate is definitely brownie-like, semi- sweet. The peanut butter flavor is about equal in intensity. I'm not getting identifiable coconut - it seems more like vanilla or possibly even lactose to me. The roasted malts and light coffee flavors keep the stout present and accounted for. Sweet but not too sweet for the big flavors this carries.

Feels is slick and creamy, nicely dry on the end. No trace of the ABV aside from a pleasant warmth in the belly. A little bitter bite on the finish that tames the sweetness.

This is a beer that showcases the adjuncts without losing sight of the base beer. Well crafted. All the components work together here without resorting to excess. Thinking around a 4.2 or a smidgen higher here.

 

Well @GreenBayBA since Michigan won your little battle I decided to open up this beer that @Whyteboar sent me from...Wolverine State Brewing. A New Zealand Pilsner...never have had a beer labeled as such but I'm guessing were talking a hoppy pils.

Wolverine State Brewing - NZ Pils (100% Nelson Sauvin Hops)



Pours a cloudy daker leaning pale color; white head, no retention worth mentioning but some minor splotchy lacing.

The nose is very straightforward to me and is pretty much a very deep earthiness, imagine green things earthiness...there is some floral like fruitiness as it warms.

The taste is very hop forward in the same way as the nose, again to me very earthy green flavors...there is some pale malt presence, a more pleasant aromatic floral earthy green flavor in the aftertaste.

Light in body but the heavy hops make it feel much heftier; in drinks very clean and finish with a parching dry feeling; grass bitterness on the finish.

As a very hoppy pils I enjoyed this beer, its earthy and grassiness is quite strong and these are flavors I enjoy. It was a pleasure to try this beer Craig, thank you for sharing.

 

My first beer of the day from a couple of hours ago. A new to me American Pale Ale. Just the thing after a few hours of moving and splitting firewood, a task actually made easier by the newly frozen ground.
The pleasant hoppy aroma, mostly citrus, opened up a bit more when I moved into the much warmer house where I picked up a mineral character and notes of pineapple. There is more flavor than I expected for the 4.5% ABV but it has a thin chalky feel. Overall a nice sharp and straight forward, non-hazy/juicy pale.