New Beer Weekend #145

Rusty Rail - Strange Love, an "imperial key lime ale", from @Ozzylizard in NBS BIF #17

16oz can served in a big snifter. Can appears to be dated 041621.

Pours a clear amber with a moderately sized soapy looking head. Smell is very, very limey. Some sweetness, some tart, a lot of lime zest.

Taste is also very, very limey. Lime-ade. Moderate tartness, some sweetness. There's a earthy bitterness, too, which doesn't seem to belong.

Mouthfeel is light and clean. Overall, it's not bad. More a novelty than a beer to seek out. Still fun to try.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned this week, hard to read the bottom. Pours an attractive hazy yellow orange with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with nice retention. 4.25

Aroma is peach, mandarin, mango, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows peach, mandarin, mango, apricot, and pink grapefruit. 4

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, maybe a tad dry, and at 6.9% it drinks bigger in flavor, but easy going down. 4.25

Overall this is solid, but tastes like a 100 other beers they brew. Worth a try, but nothing new and exciting. 4

 

AEGIR IPA


Appearance: Clear gold, good head.

Smell: Butterscotch aroma.

Taste: Mild sweetness, oranges, some butterscotch noted, mild bitterness.

Overall: Some friends brought me back a crowler from this brewery located northwest of the Twin Cities. They said it was unusual. I agree, there is quite a bit of butterscotch flavor in this IPA. Looking at their website they mention caramel as a tasting note, but this seems excessive for the style, I don't think I've had an IPA quite like this before.

 

Very nice. I had the good fortune of my youngest brother sharing a 2019 Dark Lord bottle as my only shot at the beer. I've also had several pours of Chemtrail mix when I served it at FOBAB. Both were solid / excellent, rated Dark Lord slightly higher. Looking forward to what you and everyone else brings along as well.

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #949. As promised, round two with Three Floyd's, this one a barrel aged coconut imperial stout. Coconut and coffee are typically the two adjuncts I still seek and purchase. The label only mentions coconut, but both the BA Beer Notes and 3 Floyds website lists maple syrup. Glad I only bought a single.

Three Floyds Cocomungo



Bottle Notes: Purchased 4/15 at store temperature from Beer on the Wall for $8.00, refrigerated until today.. 12 oz, bottled in 2023 (no month or date on the bottle, 2/16 was their social media release post), 15.6% ABV, brewed and bottled by 3 Floyds in Munster, Indiana. Barrel aged coconut stout.

Behold the legend of Cocmungo, an imperial stout brewed with toasted coconut and aged for over a year in bourbon barrels.

Appearance: Primary followed later by top off pour into a 12 oz snifter. Black base, near black held to light, creamy bubbly dark brown tan head which lingered for a few minutes before forming a nice cream ring around the rim and a bubbly fizzy thin cover over most of the base. 4.25

Aroma: Nice shaved coconut leads, fudge chocolate aroma follows. Mild in strength, what I gather is making me want to dive in but want to let this warm a bit further now only ten minutes out of the refrigerator. Coconut more prevalent as this warms. 4.0

Taste: First taste after 15 minutes of warming up, this is very sweet, with maple syrup taking a heavy lead. Maple syrup is not noted on the bottle, but is noted on their website. This lack of disclosure on the label is disappointing. This is too sweet with the maple syrup the primary culprit. I do enjoy the coconut and fudge in the background. The barrel emerges 20 minutes in, with a harsh strong somewhat burning alcohol component. Now over to 30 minutes in, the bourbon is trying and partially succeeding balancing out the sweetness, and is smoother, but it's maple front and center into the second half. 3.25

Mouthfeel: Very creamy full body, enhanced by the maple syrup. Drinks on par with the high ABV, sweet dominates early, still leads substantially once this has warmed. Faint carbonation, syrup lingers in the aftertaste. Not well put together, tasting components more than a proper blend. 3.25

Overall: My primary takeaway is the maple syrup is too strong of a presence here, and I'm peeved there was no mention of this on the label. The bourbon was better after initial harshness, but nothing special. Overall a rare disappointment from 3 Floyds, even tabling the high expectations from their other stouts and overall program. 3.5

 

Good day fellow BIFfoons! Today's New Breakfast Beer is Mystery Beer # 1 from @2beerdogs:








Mystery Beer #1. 16 fl oz can from @2beerdogs in NBW BIF 17. Reviewed 30/04/23 (Review 3087). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Very nice label, with the apparent seal of the city of Anaheim, a warning in Spanish not to operate heavy equipment after drinking, a picture of a cow, and a lovely (Peruvian or Chilean) lady. Kudos for the label!
Undated can. Stored at 34 degrees at home. The deep brown body and the rufous, fizzy, quickly gone head make me think Impy stout/RIS; I’m going to allow this to warm up before I evaluate it. Served at 56.1 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 60.2 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 30), clear.
Body – Deep Brown (SRM 30), opaque. Under direct light, same with tons of very fine precipitate. When rear lite, opaque but allowing light transmission at the thinnest edges, with ruby brown at the bottom and goldenrod at the top.
Head: Small (Maximum 0.8 cm, aggressive center pour), rufous, high density and fizzy, no retention, rapidly disintegrating, leaving a broken ring of tiny transitory bubbles constantly being renewed by carbonation.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – When the tab is popped, an extremely short-lived sweetness, roasted malt, and I’ll swear, a ghostly presence of bourbon – gone within seconds, leaving no malt, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (? % ABV as marked on the label) aroma.
Flavor – 4 – Does NOT follow the genius loci – but it does follow the initial aroma. The flavor and subsequent belches tend to mild sweetness with a touch of bourbon (or at least whiskey as opposed to whisky). The ethanol/capsaicin burns the epithelial layer off my mouth and produces weak gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium; bordering on syrupy; lively but soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: I’d guess this is a BBA stout with chili peppers. Tastes pretty good.

 

Well, looks like I was half right - it's a stout with Anaheim and Ancho chilies, but totally missed the lactose and falsely accused it of having been BBA.



Bottle Logic's Leche Mole - Mexican Mole-insoired sweet stout with lactose, cacao nibs, and Anaheim & Ancho chilies. I'll update my review using my new-found knowledge and add it appropriately.

 

I was wondering how you would do with this one. I found the chile understated, nearly absent, in the nose and much more assertive in the taste. I think you nailed this one down quite well.

 

This is the tenth review for this beauty of an Irish Red, now it's official.
Ireland Forever Ale by Berkshire Brewing Company of scenic South Deerfield Massachusetts.




3.96/5 rDev +0.8% | Average: 3.93
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A normal pour released a finger of light beige foam with long retention and blotches of lacing. Clear reddish-brown color with ruby highlights.

A blend of toasted and caramel malt greets the nose with whole grain bread and mild herbal hops. The smell is low overall.

Semi-sweet with low bitterness at first, as in the smell, a balance of toasted bready malt and caramel sweetness is out front. A hint of apple and pear hide behind the rising yet still mild hops. The finish is quick and neutral, almost semi-dry. Bitterness rises to a bit above average and lingers a while.

Medium bodied with soft, lasting carbonation. Smooth and balanced feel, alcohol is very well hidden. True to style, Looks great in front of fire.

 

Good Morning, NBW!
And hello to mystery beers. Our beloved NBS BIF #17 abounds in new beers this weekend and the mystery beers are truly fun. @FBarber hit me with this one and I could not be more appreciative.

Lumberstruck

Blind review:
12 oz can with a gold top.
This one pours a deep brown with burgundy and garnet glimmers. Initially fluffy head tapers off to a khaki film. Pretty.
Nose is barleywine, glorious English barleywine. Toffee, dates, figs, smooth caramel notes. Wow.
Taste brings much of the same with some other fruity notes that are blended and deep. Prune, date, fig, with a mild hint of stewed apples.
It's fairly full in feel, a bit viscous as well.

Going to sip a bit, really soak this one in before committing 100% to barleywine.

So, I love this one. Heftier than most barleywines, but that just adds to the pleasure. As for the wine barrel, I'm guessing this imbued the fruit flavors that were hard to nail down. As it warmed, and I searched, I picked up a hint of what I thought was a hint of port wine, deep and dry. But again, this was after about 20 minutes and REALLY trying to figure out those fruity notes.
4.6/5 rDev +7.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Hilarious start BTW.

 

That's my hometown DIPA, Bob. I'm glad you liked it.

 

Love that beer!!
Cheers

 

So you're saying that 3 Legged Bunny lived up to the style guidelines: not too hoppy.

 

Good morning NBS #949/nbw thanks @ChicagoJ for keeping score and thanks @AzfromOz for the great read to start the weekend! Rainy and cool here, in line with traditional spring. Fields are bening tilled in, straw is down for strawberries and this week we saw the first local Aspargus of the season. The Pioneer valley has some of the best Asparags on the planet, I'll fight that fight!
Todays offering is from Hill Farmstead, over the last years they have dialed in the hyper local ingredient project, beyond the Farmstead ales, into the Lager catalog. This one uses grains from the NY and VT.
I'm glad to see more of this approach, we have a vibrant local beer ecosystem here in the 413, with lots of brewers using Valley Malt, Four Star Farm hops etc. I like this offering quite a lot, its got that HFB signature focus, succint, and with depth that challenges the senses.

Cheers

American Lager

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

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.03/5 rDev +1.3% | Average: 3.98
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Poured from a growler, filled at the brewery 48 hrs ago.
A - Lovely golden backdrop, with excellent clarity. The pour yields a beautiful white knit cap.
Carbonation is gentle and hypnotic to watch.
S - A bit of baguette, lite grainy cracker, a little grassy and herbal with a hint of cut mint
T - Very narrow lane, again with delicate grainy base, and hint of that herbal grassy thread.
M - Right off the bat, easy drinking beer, Soft water profile, with a hint of that fouder touch. dances across the palate, with a crisp finish. Not to dry but screams sushi!!
O - A very good lager, with excellent feel , flavor and again so very easy to want another pour.

A moment ago

 

I'm assuming I'll never find this in the states, but I added it to my WANTS just in case. Thanks for the review. Sounds intriguing.

 

I like the pun, and you are correct.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 4/11/23. Pours an attractive hazy orange yellow with a 2 plus finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 4.25

Aroma is cantaloupe, mandarin, passionfruit, apricot, and grapefruit. 4

Taste follows cantaloupe, mandarin, passionfruit, apricot, and grapefruit bitterness in the lingering finish. 4

Mouthfeel is above average, soft carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.5% it has huge flavor. 4.25

Overall this is a very solid brew, I was hoping for a little more. 4

 

Best one liner in awhile here at BA