New Beer Weekend #133

Industrial Arts ~ Torque Wrench Hazy DIPA

*First go at this beer/brewery courtesy of the upstanding BA @tolar111

Tropical with a pronounced mango-orange whip likeness. Papaya spice and some fresh cut pineapple. Soft and creamy with low perceived bitterness. Goes down easy for a DIPA. Slightly one note to me BA but a very nice brew for your morning juice!

 

Good afternoon NBW
I picked up a single of this one partially because I haven't reviewed a DFH beer in forever and partially to remind myself I don't care for tart or sour beers.

Crimson Cru
12oz bottle coded APR 2023 D 283 2 2315 11 poured into a DFH signature teku glass at fridge temp 7.1% ABV. The beer pours opaque medium amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and tiny island. No lacing. The aroma is lightly tart with a hint of fruit, possibly cherry. The taste is sweet and tart malt with big brown sugar, lesser fruit juice and very tame tartness. Negligible bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, ok. Billed as a Flanders Red but less sour than any I've tried. Almost like a mash up of a red and a faro with the sweetness.

Cheers all!

 

At Bull & Bear in Summit NJ, drinking Three Black Crows a Schwarzbier. Schwarzbier is not a style I drink or even see much so I don’t know what I expect much. This beer is jet black with a thick brown head. Nice malty aroma with hints of coffee and chocolate. Three Black Crows taste great, it follows the aroma and has little bitterness from the Nobel. Hops used. The mouthfeel is medium and a bit bitter. Overall an excellent refreshing and enjoyable brew. Don’t know how to rate this to style but as a beer it is top shelf.

 

Well, today’s beer went a little sideways.
The people I generally share my bombers with have sworn off beer aged in wine barrels. So okay, I got this one in a massive BIF hit from @colts9016 and with the excellent advice from @Dimidiata and procuring a bottle stopper I thought today is the day.

Sadly, the stopper didn’t fit and my bottle capper wouldn’t. So today this will be my contribution as it weighs in at 18% ABV.
Poured lovely stout black with a reserved beige head.
My nose doesn’t work well right now, but I noticed a wine aspect as I brought the beer to my mouth for a sip. Hmmm.
The taste though, is all about the stout, imperial as it is (someday I would like to try the un-aged version of this, just for curiosity)
The dark fruit is really evident, likely due to the aging in red wine barrels, but the wine not only fails to mar this beer, except for that sense when bringing it to my mouth, I get no red wine at all. But the flavors are so deep and wonderful.
The feel is, well, viscous enough to make me sip, but not too much at all. Really good.
So I am destined to drink this beast myself in one day as I can’t save it for tomorrow and it’s way too tasty to not drink.
Thanks Jammin! This was far better than expected!

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #937. Made it to Vegas, first up is a gift collaboration beer from my brother.

Beachwood / Green Cheek Always in Style



Can Notes: 16 oz canned 12/14/22. 7.1% ABV, 70 IBUs. Malt: Propino, Rice. Hops: Strata, Mosaic, Talus. West Coast India Pale Ale.

Beachwood Brewing and Green Cheek Beer Co. agree: Like blue jeans and rock’n’roll, West Coast India Pale Ales are always in style.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a shaker pint glass. Clear yellow straw base, negligible carbonation, generous egg white bubbly head leaves clumpy lacing and a thin layer over the base. 3.75

Aroma: Light pine and stone fruit. Bitterness comes out. 3.5

Taste: Dank pine leads, citrus backs with light stone fruit. Mild in strength, bitter but sweetness comes out in between. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Medium bitter and dry, drinks easier than the ABV. Light to medium body, fizzy carbonation more felt than seen. Pine bitterness lingers on the finish. 4.0

Overall: This is a solid collaboration, classic WCIPA bitter pine and citrus with modern sweetness. Nice for an intro to this style. 4.0

May come back later depending on how the evening unfolds. Cheers!

 

Next up, Bellwoods A Stout With Coffee - Sam James Coffee Bar. This is in a series of stouts with coffee from various local coffee roasters. They tend to be good, if a little on the sweet side for me.



Pours a dark brown/black with light cappuccino head that dissipates fairly quickly.

The nose if very Coffee forward. Sweet milky coffee, toasted grains, a slight herbal quality.

Sweet creamy coffee up front, some roasted cereal, a touch of cocoa. A very mild bitter finish.

Medium body, pleasant.

This is much like the rest of the series. A nice coffee stout that tends towards the sweet milky coffee side of the spectrum. Good.

 

Good afternoon BAs! A new to me IPA - SN’s Cryo Fresh Torpedo Wet Hop, with Mosaic, Citra and Simcoe hops. Part of a variety 12/pack I bought last week:




Bottled 11/9/22. Poured deep gold with excellent clarity; creamy white foam; excellent cap retention; heavy ring; bands of heavy minus lacing; streaming carbonation. Dank weedy lemon nose; a little cat pissy as beer warmed. Earthy bitter hop taste; lemon grass and tropical fruit. Clean crisp feel; moderate minus body; moderate carbonation; no astringency. A tasty beer, no onion nose, no garlicky taste, just citrus and tropical fruit; in the right brewer’s hands the Mosaic plays nice with the other hops; even the Simcoe is subdued; glad to try, but would not seek out otherwise.

4.75 | 4.0 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.25

Cheers!

 

Social Project Brewing's Somewhere Only We Know Hazy IPA, 6.3% ABV; 3.9 overall

Pours a hazy gold with a pinky off eggshell colored head. Good head retention & lacing

S: Citrus, not much else

T: Grapefruit, lime & a little breadyness, plus passion fruit up front. Pomelo, a little dryness & grapefruit as this beer warms up. Finishes with grapefruit, dryness & a little pineapple

MF: Medium body, low carbonation, good balance

Solid IPA, but probably my least favorite of this style from these guys. Very drinkable

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. One of my favorite styles is Black IPA/Cascadian Ale. When done right, e.g., Carton's Epitome, it's for me an absolute joy to drink. My non-BA beer buddy just returned from a trip to Charleston and gave me a mixed 6-pack of some of his favorites from the trip. One is Bound by Darkness from Edmund's Oast Brewing Company. We get sporadic Edmund's Oast distro in North Jersey but this is the first EO beer I've reviewed. This ale was canned on 12/29/2022 and added to the BA database on 1/29/2023. Surprisingly, mine is the first review.

The first thing I noticed is the color. It looks more like a Red Ale; similar to Nugget Nectar. The nose is an interesting blend of grapefruit, pine needles, and tobacco smoke with just a whiff of sweeter malt as it warms. The taste is dry and quite bitter with hints of cigar ash and char, along with notes of resinous pine, grapefruit pith, and lemon peel. The hop bill isn't identified on the website; it says merely "citrusy, pine-driven hops." As it warms in the glass there is a touch of malty sweetness but it doesn't overcome the overall bitterness. This ale has a nice, creamy mouth feel with pleasant carbonation, and the 7.5% ABV gives it good substance. Overall, Bound by Darkness is quirky in a good way (particularly the color) and most enjoyable.

4.19/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Cheers, NBW!

 

Grilling an early dinner and decided to open this one form @Whyteboar. A Pilsner from transient, labeled as a midwest pils.

Transient Artisan Ales - Handmade (Midwest Pils 4.3%)



Pours a very cloudy mix of amber and pale; quick receding white head but some nice little islands of bubbles remain, some lacing present.

The best way I can describe the nose is a bready and slightly toasted herbal/floral dank; I use this term because it is very pungent in nature.

The taste is again bready but even more of a toasted aspect than the nose leads on; nice dose of spice aspect to the hops as well as grassy…the floral aspect shows in the aftertaste.

Verges on medium body; chewy in nature, hops…moderate dry finish with a nice hint of bitter.

This is pretty tasty beer, definitely leans hoppy but maintains a good balance and is quite drinkable. Thanks Craig!

Undecided on another new one today or not; either way I’ll be back with a drink or to lurk. Cheers everyone!

 

Electric Brewing ~ Firmament In The Midst

DDH Hazy DIPA with Strata - 8.5% ABV
Murrieta, CA - the Inland Empire reppin'

Haze for days, it is what these guys are known for. A filling sipper for sure but this is a great exploration of Strata. I am getting some very cosmic hop elements beyond my comprehension here. Like tropical fruits from an unknown planet. Perhaps @GreenBayBA can assist with the proper musical pairing to this outer world experience.

 

Im assuming it was pretty…pretty….pretty…pretty…good

 

I was also hoping for more Baltic Porter and less Almond Joy in that one. It's always interesting to see another take on a beer like that.

 

Well sure, had to be. It was Premium!

 

Dogfish Head #2
This never landed locally, but luckily Binny's had plenty. I honestly don't know how you Chicagoland BAs aren't perpetually broke from trips to those stores...

Wake Up World Wide Stout
12oz bottle coded D 255 2 0802 11 poured into a teku glass at fridge temp, no ABV listed on label. The beer pours very, very dark brown with minimal head or retention. The aroma is fairly strong roasted coffee beans, maple, cinnamon (in that order). The taste is sweet and roasty all the players contributing with cinnamon the most subtle. Fair bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. The high ABV and massive coffee balances the sweetness well. Overall, very good to excellent.

Cheers all!