New Beer Weekend #144

Good day BAs! Today's New Breakfast Beer is the first I've cracked from NBW BIF #17 and comes courtesy of @2beerdogs:



The Bruff from Revision Brewing, 16 fl oz can from @2beerdogs in NBW BIF 17. Reviewed 23/04/23 (Review 3080). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “VERY NICE 03/01/23”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 47.1 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 55.7 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.25.
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), cloudy.
Body – Straw (SRM 3), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear lite, translucent.
Head: Average (Maximum three cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density, short retention, leaving a 0.7 – 1.2 cm jagged crown and a thin complete layer.
Lacing – Excellent! Multiple bands of tiny to small bubbles, with jagged upper margins and dripping lower margins. This eventually evolves into torn curtain lacing. Some tiny islands and archipelagoes remain above the bulk of the lacing.
Aroma – 4.25 – Citrusy, mostly unidentifiable; no yeast, no malt. No ethanol (8 % ABV as marked on the label) aroma.
Flavor – 4.5 – Follows the nose. Begins and ends citrusy and full-bodied with a splash of mango. No malt, yeast, or ethanol. No gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Full; creamy; soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Good!
Rating 4.33, rDev +2.9%

 

Well, I woke up Sunday morning
With no way to hold my tongue that didn't hurt
The base beer I'll have for breakfast wasn't bad
But they barreled it in another for dessert

Then I fumbled through my cupboard for a vessel
And found my cleanest Dogfish glass
And I washed the rim and pour the beer
And stumbled down the stairs to start this post

I'd wracked my brain the night before
On a post I read and in my mind was stickin'
It spoke of his last in a once small thread
Pushin' for reviews of beers instead of ticking

When I crossed the void
And caught the Sunday thrill of category nit-pickin'
And found tasting notes were somethin'
That others somehow, somewhere cared what they had to say

On a Sunday morning thread read
Wishing, Lord, that I was wrong
'Cause there's something this Sunday
That leaves the past for which I long

There ain't nothin' short of dyin'
Half as lonesome as the sound
On the sleepin' city sidewalks
Sunday mornin' comin' down

--

First, I hope Dave doesn't mind that I used Kris' song in an attempt at a good-bye (or let's go with, "see you on the other side" of the forums). I hope even more Kris doesn't mind how I bastardized his first verse.

Lastly, I quoted the part of the post from @cavedave that I think epitomizes him the most, in this thread and outside it where I found he consistently defended reviewing over rating. (Oh, and I got it )

--

No shock I am running long, so let's get into the beer. So Dogfish Head utilized its "partnership" with Boston Beer Company to grab some Utopias barrels for their World Wide Stout, which I thought was a good thing to do. I actually enjoyed the beer, too. This year, as a follow up in the same vein, they decided to place their 120 Minute IPA in Utopias barrels. I'm not so sure this was a good idea. But I had to try.


There's a hint of rose in the mildly hazy amber body when backlit, even though I don't get it in more normal lighting. The head has an unbroken but thin ring after making a brief appearance on the pour.

There's a candied citrus aroma that has to be the base beer, but the nose also has a barrel presence. I want to say it's a bit of wood with flecks of date or fig, which fits in with the port-like nature of what I vaguely recall of the small Utopias pour I had years ago, so I may be projecting the specifics. The vapors also foretell a strong beer that is definitely not projected despite my experience and ability to read having alerted my brain of this fact.

First sip is... a bit strange. It does seem to match the nose pretty well, with a citrusy IPA being joined by some dark fruit notes from a barrel. There's brandied, candied apricot and orange up front which reminds me of the opening of some candi sugared Belgian strong ales.

The bitterness that I recognize from 120 Minute gets into a little skirmish with the barrel notes. It's like I'm going down a familiar road, and all of a sudden there's a bit of a traffic jam that is not typically there (and DC traffic is always jammed up). The bitterness weaves its way through the barrelage on the road, but comes out the other end with a couple scrapes and dings. It's not quite a fresh as it normally is, and it leads to a sweeter overall beer experience, in my opinion.

I have some regular 120 Minutes and Utopias WWS to maybe do some comparisons in the future. Though aging differences will obviously exist, I should learn a bit about whether my relative assessments hold up when I'm not relying on memory.

Cheers! And here's to all that keep this thread alive and a fun place to stop by every so often.

 

Lovely Sunday morning post @cjgiant

 

It seems like this may turn into a day dripping with nostalgia

 

Cheers to that! I’ll enjoy reading your stories and waiting with anticipation for any skeletons that might come dancing out of the beer cellars.

 

I saw that. I love ripe peaches, and I got a LOT of ripe peaches on the taste of that beer, especially as it warmed a bit. I had the taste originally at 4.25, but by the end of the glass, the peach was giving me the warm & fuzzies (pun intended), so I went with 4.50 for the taste.

There is a method to my overrating madness.

 

I would submit my application as the biggest Bomb! fanboy in the world. IIRC, that's the first beer I remember paying $10 for a 12 oz bottle - and it was worth EVERY SINGLE CENT.

When I poured that beer last night, I almost cried because I darn near poured it vertical and it had no head. Zilch. And all I smelled was booze. Then I turned back to the big ol' ribeye I was cooking in the cast iron skillet and worked that into the oven to finish.

When I returned to the beer, it had actually generated a small head (never seen THAT before), and the booze had receded and I picked up big cacao notes and the chiles. It ended up being great on my palate, as reflected in my review, never mind what it looked or smelled like on the initial pour, which is a lesson I still need to remind myself - let the beer warm, especially a big, BA stout. It'll almost always open up and reward your patience.

I may be venturing back to Wax Wings soon. We'll see on that "Want." IJS.

 

Starting light today, this is Space Debris from Epic, sent to me by @NorsemanOne in the continuing crazy of NBW BIF #17.
Poured an unfiltered translucent amber color with an aggressive beige head that slowly dissipates and leaves plenty of lacing.
The aroma is still lost on my nose. Sadness.
The taste- interesting! Started off sweet, like a pale ale with honey. I looked again at the can India Pale Ale. So where are the hops?
I pulled this out of the fridge, so I let it sit for a while to warm up a little.
Ah, there they are! Not in my face pine and such so common for WC, not citrus forward like the NE styles are known for, something different. Something just a little bitter, not harsh at all and it keeps the sweetness in play. Like a Centennial variety if those exist.
The feel is great, this is very crisp and refreshing. I was definitely disappointed that it ended so soon.
Thanks Jonathan!

 

(as of Friday morning my time, anyway)

 

I tend to rate things higher than ..... pretty much everyone. But I generally operate from a "glass is half full" perspective, especially when it comes to beer.

I agree about TH ratings, though. They have eight beers in the Top 50 and THIRTY in the Top 250 on BA. That's almost statistically impossible, given the number of breweries there are. By comparison, we lived in Minnesota for 18 years (1999 - 2017) and about halfway through that time, Surly BLEW UP as a brewery. I sent there beers ALL OVER the place from 2010 - 2017.

They have two beers in the Top 250.

 

So glad we started off with one you enjoyed!

 

Good Sunday Noon NBS/nbw and thanks @AzfromOz for the rich and delightful start this week, Also @cavedave, for all those years of great reviews, humor and genuineness, thank you.
Todays offering is from our dear friends in Greensboro Vt.
From the website

"
Pale Lager
Northeast Kingdom Pale Lager features organic barley grown by NEK Grains in Waterford, Vt., malted by Valley Malt, and hopped solely (and copiously) with our favorite Cascade—grown and processed just a few miles down the road by Karen and Kevin Broderick at Whitefield Hop Yard in East Hardwick. As with many of our other small-batch lager projects, this was lagered in wood (for nearly 2 months) and gently carbonated naturally via krausen. "


Northeast Kingdom Pale Lager

American Lager | 5% ABV
Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vermont

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.24/5 rDev -1.6% | Average: 4.31
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 2 day old, brewery filled 750ml growler.
A - A touch of haze, cant hide the lovely steady carbonation, Capped with a thick steady white cap, that lasts the entire experience. Ring after ring produced from each pull clings to the glass.
S - Grassy, lemon peel, hint of orange. Grainy biscuit, and a touch of chalk
T - All the aromatics, with a beautiful grainy, Batard crust, The cascade hops add that not full citrus, not full pine, and hints of verbana.
M - Delicate and concise, texture is soft, but there is just enough minerality to keep it from feeling fat. Excellent crisp finish
O - Well, this is a real treat, to have the raw ingredients be nearly 100% local and turn out a fantastic offering, is something brewers are certainly working towards. This offering is simply outstanding.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 4/21/23. Pours a very attractive milky yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves a ton of lace with excellent retention. 5

Aroma is tangerine, peach, blueberry, pineapple, and apricot. 4.75

Taste follows tangerine, peach, pineapple, blueberry, and apricot. 4.75

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle creamy carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.7% ABV big flavor but really easy going down. 5

Overall this one is really special. Absolutely amazed. Look and body perfect, Wow factor for me. 4.75