New Beer Weekend #144

I committed the faux pas of hitting my mystery beer from @russpowell pretty much as soon as I received his box. Probably should have saved it for this weekend, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead and got carried away.

 

I think I found my 2023 summer go to. Lawson's Finest Liquids has a new hazy 5.3% beer. And I see on the can that just like my "house" beer SOS, it is contract brewed and distributed by Two Roads here in CT, so I should be able to find it fresh all the time. When I went back to the store to pick up a second 4-pack, I saw that it is also available in 12-packs. Maybe it will lose its novelty with me overtime, but right now I'm loving it.

4.36/5 rDev +8.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 16oz can stamped PKG 11APR23 to a Nonic at fridge temp.
A light yellow medium-hazy body sets below a 1.5” white head that fades in 1-2 minutes to surface foam. Lacing is moderate throughout the session.
The aroma is bright with tangerine and similar tangy citrus.
The taste is also bright with tangerine, citrus rind, and strawberry. Sweet and bitter at the same time?? The finish is nice and dry with a hop presence. There is no hint of alcohol at all.
The mouthfeel is light for a hazy beer and carbonation is on the heavy side during the finish.
This is a very drinkable beer. I really enjoyed it.

 

Next up, another Tree House from @WunderLlama, thanks again!

Tree House - Bright



Canned 3.21.23 'the o.g. 4 the win!' printed on the bottom

Poured at fridge temp into a weizen glass

Pours a almost clear pale orange with an off white head. Dense lacing from where the head faded and a bit thinner as it follows down the glass. 4

Looking for mosaic notes I get some grapefruit sweet and tartness, but more just fresh and clean hoppiness perhaps a touch of oversweetness. 4.25

Hoppy, some tropicals and more hops, touch of alcohol burn. 4.25

Wicked crushable body for a DIPA, lighter side of carbo, and just a touch of lingering hop oils/aftertaste. 4.5

Overall just a clean and extremely well done double that showcases clean hops and drinkability. 4.5

 

On to the next new beer. I was attending a bike and beer festival yesterday, so I took upon me to get some wares....!



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Deep brown walnut body, with light reams of tan bubbles which seem to rise fast. Creamy fulfilling head, reaching an easy four fingers with control and formation. Rock hard retention and staying power, not a budging or movement in sight. Bold and aggressive with an excellent look and presence.

Nice aroma. Touches a light milky chocolate with faint hints of coffee. Creamy like sensing faint sweetness really accents the malt nicely. Still unfortunately there is minimal sense of a hop profile on the nose, but the beer smells very good.

Palate slightly misses the mark. The aroma does sort of hint at what is to be expected. Nice malt profile that is actually quite diverse, with a mid palate that is rich in soft milky chocolate and even coffee. Large bitterness that is indistinct though, which is nicely accenting a char-ing finish. Bit of a wet body with just a generic hop bitterness that doesn't have any distinct character. Flirts with smoke and char particularly, but just doesn't bring the hop character, but then a touch of citrus just peaks out mixing with a chocolate angle that saves it.

The mouthfeel on this is lacking, and the hop profile really needs some distinction, but everything else is just in the right ballpark. A great beer is lurking here with some tweaking I think.

look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | BA Generated Score: 3.61

Cheers!

 

Glad you liked it. I had one last night at the source.

I hadn't planned to stop by, but an afternoon of eating and drinking in Idaho had me in dire need of a restroom, and YaYa are very conveniently located near an exit ramp off I-90.

 

Mystery-beer-o'clock!

Thank you first to @Whyteboar, I'd had a whiff and taste and I love it so far.



Canned 3.17.23 'moon juice' on the bottom of the can

Poured at fridge temp into a nonic glass

Pours a dark and pale peachy reddish/yellow with a thin and loose white head. 4

I'm picking up some bright and tart, almost sour fruity (strawberry?) aromas perhaps accompanied by some lime. Smells like a beachy cocktail! 4.25

Taste takes a bit of a different direction, from what I can tell some heavy cookie and biscuit vanilla sweetness(adore this) and slight muted maltiness, with just a touch of those fruits mentioned above. 4.5

Gentle prickling carbo, very easy drinking and light. 4.25

Initially I thought fruited sour, but now I think this has to be a fruity cream ale?

I'll post the reveal shortly!

 

Well I was terribly off overall, and I'm a bit disappointed in myself, only because there are so many fruited wheat ales here in UT.

@Whyteboar what a fantastic mystery beer! I certainly have more to learn when trying styles blind.

BroadLeaf - Fruit Moon



Not sure how I was getting lime (need to work on my citrus I guess)

What I can say for sure is this obliterates my local blueberry Hefeweizen from Wasatch clean out of the water.

Looking back the vanilla + banana is a delightful mix, reminiscent of luxury Nilla Wafers.

Overall the vanilla is the clear winner of this ale, shining bright like the moon. 4.25

Thanks again Craig!

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we are feeling a little spring weather. Temps in the upper 50s.

This weekend we have Big Swell IPA from Maui Brewing. Brewed in Colorado however.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16057/40628/

A well balanced brew with very little bitterness.

Until next time

 

Afternoon NBS.
Got a little cooking project going - yup it includes mushrooms...
Thought I'd get started with a very interesting "beer" from Proclamation.
Picked this single up along with a few others.
Watermelon Symbiosis
Oak aged ale blended with Kombucha and watermelon juice. Yup.
Pours a cloudy yellow gold with a very effervescent white head that dissappears almost instantly.
Get that oak and a bit of funk on the nose, green grass, lemon and watermelon.
The tartness from the Kombucha hits first but it's not overwhelming. Drying tannins from oak then blend in with the watermelon and lemon. Again a bit of a acidic/ vinegar in there but it's surprisingly quite pleasant.
Absolutely bone dry with a tiny crisp carb throughout. Leaves a lasting flavor of lemon, tannins and watermelon after the sip. 4.5% abv.
Not sure how they came up with this but its pretty damn good. Maybe it's the surprise because I thought it would be a disaster. Clean and crisp thirst quenching drink. It was like $5 plus a can so not cheap. Def worth a try. Different

 

Dave, it makes me smile to read your review. So well written and so much fun. I fondly recall our impromptu meet-ups at Rushing Duck and Equilibrium. I'm not getting any younger either and your penultimate paragraph brings back some memories - especially of college in Central Penna. in the 70's. Part of my work (looking forward to retirement!) involves leaseing/financing of facilities for growing, producing, and dispensing. Back in college days the best stuff was grown in cow manure, LOL. I hope that your one-beer-per-month doesn't end with the depletion of your cellar. Please stay in touch here. Cheers, @cavedave!

 

Had a great weekend with the grand daughters, time for a beer! Probably had this beer years ago, but I don't have any tasting notes for it so I'm counting it as a new one.

La Choufee Belgian Strong Ale 8% ABV

Appearance is a semi translucent golden honey. Has a big 2 inch pillowy head that fads slowly and retains a nice lacing.
Beautiful aromas of bread dough,coriander,yeast and bananas.
Mouthfeel is a touch lighter than medium but still has some creaminess to it. Prickly carbonation with streams of effervescent bubbles thru-out my tasting.
Taste is excellent; coriander,bananas, Belgian yeast,spices,cloves and a nice backing of doughy malt.
Finish is also very nice with the coriander,bananas and spices carrying thru. Also get a hint of some dry bitterness. No alcohol present and extremely drinkable.
What a lovely beer!

 

@woemad graced me with a can of Fluffy Puffy Sunshine in the Spring 2020 BIF (I can't remember the #). I received his box during the early days of the covid lockdown and it was a godsend. I remember one day trying to work from home; it was a warm spring day and I drank this beer on my deck at lunchtime. It was one of those beer memories that won't fade. Fred was my sender twice and did a fabulous job! Enjoy everything you receive from Spokanistan!

 

It was a lot of fun messing with you in the hints, because you knew damn well you couldn't possibly have the same sender twice!

 

How convenient!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. Last week Carton released two TIPA collabs with Other Half. Last Sunday I reviewed All Orange Clouds. Today, it's All Orange Clouds in My Coffee. Carton loves brewing with coffee. And this one's really good although it may require another week or so in the can to mellow.

it pours a cloudy, dirty orange color with a half finger of frothy, milk-white head and lots of thick, creamy lacing. You can really smell the freshly-brewed coffee, along with orange/tangerine, lemon, and berry. As it warms I also notice an oaty, vanilla aroma. The Hayissa Olocho coffee is evident in the first sip. It's rich, earthy, bitter, and acidic. The tangerine, lemon, red berry, and grapefruit provide a refreshing, fruity balance especially as the ale warms a bit. But it's very much a coffee-forward IPA. It also shares the earthy, nutty flavor of the original version. It seems more bitter than 25 IBU and there's a touch of burnt coffee harshness at the finish. The mouthfeel is full and creamy with pleasant carbonation, and it doesn't drink like 10.5% ABV. My only issue is the lingering harshness which may mellow with another week in the can. I'll revisit.

4.09/5 rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

I'm one-and-done today after a fairly beer-filled weekend, including a 17.5% American Barleywine called Lethal Injection. Yikes! Have a great week, everyone!

 

It's like they had me in mind when they chose their location.

 

Makes my heart happy to see you on here posting a beer or two!

 

We look forward to it!

 

I'll admit you had me stumped!