New Beer Weekend #146

I’m at son’s flag football game @LeRose but if you are unaware I will do a full write up explaining “is this still lawnboy” music and all…if you know then let me know and I will not bore you all wish phish lore…

 

Hello friends.

I’m starting today with this tasty pastry stout from the very generous @Highbrow. This is Temescal Brewing Coconut Candy, A Pastry Stout inspired by Prubechu Ice Cream.



Pours a deep luscious very dark brown with light cappuccino head that dissipates to a fine film fairly rapidly. Thick appearance. Viscous.

Aroma is sweet vanilla, caramel, and candied coconut with a light roasty stout character sitting well behind.

Taste follows. Caramel, vanilla ice cream, coconut candy all play together nicely. The toasted grain and coffee notes from the malt are there too but sitting behind. Sweet, but not in an off-putting way.

The body is full, thick and the beer coats the dark recesses of one’s mouth.

This is a tasty pastry stout, from a new to me brewery that I’m very glad to have tried.
Thanks Titus!

 

Fine Balance - Coast, a New Zealand IPA

473ml can served in a big snifter. Got it in a misbegotten (for him) trade with @Coronaeus. There's a nice, visible spot on the label for a date, and there appears to be some residual ink in it, but no idea what the date may have been.

Pours a very hazy whitish yellow with a medium-sized head. Head is very fine and dense. Smell is lots of citrus pith, some hop resin, something else vaguely fruity.

Taste is kind of similar - citrus pith, hop resin, vaguely fruity, except the vague fruitiness resolves a bit more clearly into something citrusy between oranges and lemons. Resin builds up a bit to provide a bit more striking profile, and the citrus flavor turns into a creamy, bright background.

Mouthfeel is airy, soft, and dry. Overall, quite nice.

 

Cheers. It would have been end of March. I love that they have the spot on the label for the dates, but 75% of the time that have rubbed off in my experience.

 

Thanks to @sulldaddy for this Fox Farms Quiet Fire Czech-Style Amber Lager, 4.8% ABV, 4.12 overall

Pours an effervescent & chill hazed amber/hazel with one finger of sand colored head. Above average head retention & lacing

S: Very toasty, some grassy notes

T: Follows the nose, a little dryness, woody hops up front. Toasty, grassy, a little dry, hints of brown bread, even a little Rye, a touch of caramel & woody hops once this beer is warmed up. finishes toasty, dry & with woody/spicy hops

MF: Medium body, subtle carbonation

Nice flavor profile, pretty drinkable

 

Crystal Lakes Reel Hazy Pale Ale 5.7% canned 1/3/23, refrigerated since.

3.59/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a hazy yellow, frothy white head lingers and fades to an island, leaves a nicely laced glass. Tropical fruit for the nose and taste buds. I expected this to be sweeter, finishes a bit fruity as it warms. I liked it more than I thought I would.

 

As I continue to drink this...I think the resinousness has continued to build, a light vanilla note has shown up, and bitterness has become more dominant, I find myself enjoying it even more toward the end of the beer. Thanks again, @Coronaeus, this is a treat!

 

Prickly pear wheat ale by Grand Canyon brewing company

new brewery, new beer


3.98/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
On draft at the Grand Canyon brewery in page Arizona , poured into a pint glass. Expensive . Something around $10! For the pour , cans were $4 at the store

Clear copper liquid, pencil thin white foam cap that quickly fades, no lacings

Aroma is wheat, malts, grains, sweet prickly pear

Taste is sweet prickly pear , malt, wheat. I assume the seeethess is prickly pear as I don’t recall the last time I had prickly pear anything

Lie sudsing , soft hop kiss at the finish

Good beer

sunset last night

 

This brewery is a fairly new discovery for me. They are in Kingston, which is about half way between Toronto and Montréal. They offer free delivery to Toronto once a month which I plan to take advantage of again later in May.

The 5.5-6 hour drive used to be, by and large, a trip with nowhere to stop for good beer. I know where I’m stopping for my mid-journey pee next time…

 

Next up is BackCountry Off The Top Ropes DIPA. Backcountry is a brewery in Squamish BC that I think makes tremendous IPAs. This was part of a great box I received in the recent CANBIF Canadian beer-it-forward extravaganza. I’m not a wrestling fan, but the label and back blurb are fairly obvious homages to Hulk Hogan.





Pours an opaque light orange with ample pillowy head that dissipates over the course of several minutes.

The aroma is broadly citrus, with some distinct orange notes that suggest a sweetness to be experienced on the tongue.

That sweetness is not present, however. The citrus notes remain, but I’m the form of lemon, bitter orange and tangerine. There is a resinous quality as well.

The body is medium with a nice long finish.

Another solid IPA from Backcountry, probably my favourite IPA maker out west. Cheers!

 

A couple of NBS BIF beers this gorgeous evening in Northern Indiana, this first one is from @Roguer. I absolutely LOVE Citra hops and APA’s, so I yelped out loud when I saw this in the box he sent me last week.





4.35/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours an unfiltered golden color with a sudsy oatmeal colored head that grips the glass and keeps a modest cap on the beer as you drink it. Beautiful APA. Nice tropical citrus notes on the nose, with tangerine and some mango for good measure. There’s also a biscuity malt note.

The mango is more pronounced on the taste, with room for the tangerine and a delicious biscuity malt finish that is clean and drying, just incredibly drinkable.

The APA is a style that, IMHO has been run over by the proliferation of IPA’s/NEIPA’s, which is a shame, because a well-crafted APA is one of life’s guilty pleasures, again IMHO.

 

When I see images like this I am speechless...

 

Terrapin Timeosis struck me when I played at the old Cole Field House, but we won anyway. They had arachnophobia!

 

Lost Forty Work in Progress Moon Jelly IPA, 7.5% ABV; 3.86 overall

With Galaxy, Simcoe, Columbus & Citra Hops

Pours an effervescent & chill-hazed gold with one finger of eggshell colored head. Good head retention

S: Some citrus & breadyness, not a ton

T: Tangerine, green melon, & passion fruit up front, just a touch of woody hops as well. Sweet orange, a little grapefruit, dryness & a little bit of pine as the beer warms up, plus more green melon, Finishes with grapefruit, pine & green melon

MF: Medium body, pretty firm carbonation, nice balance

Easy to drink delivers nice flavor, but the nose is AWOL

 

A beer revived...sort of...and the weed theme continues from last week, canned 4/20…

Finally, spring returned, and in grand fashion here in NJ perfect cool morning, sunny day that hit 70 and 40s at night...we kept busy all day with sports for boys and now I finally had a minute to pour a beer while they at popsicles out front in their chairs...

Lucy from Starr Hill was a beer I loved, clearly in the minority based on rating...this beer has different adjunct but similar abv and it reminds me so much of it, the really really neat thing is that it does so without the ginger and lime that Lucy had, @cjgiant.

This is a beer brewed with local wheat from a NJ malthouse and PA grown lemongrass, I love that they call it a Begian-ish Wit...

Tonewood Brewing - Living Ribbons (Belgian-ish Wit with Lemongrass 4%)

I got artsy for this one…




Light watered down lemonade like appearance; opaque and cloudy but see through, fluffy and sudsy white head, actually leaves a nice thick cap that lingers, unexpected and nice surprise.

Incredibly fragrant nose, tons of fresh ginger on the nose, lemon zest, wit yeasty spice; coriander like.

The taste again presents the impression of ginger, the lemongrass is very obvious but also very well balanced and not overdone; I find it well balanced and very refreshing; it gives off iced ginger tea vibes with a dash of spice and refreshing zestiness; almost lemon lime like.

Incredibly light body; some may say watery, I’d somewhat agree but to me in doesn’t detract in this case, in fact, it makes it all the more refreshing and drinkable; it’s quite clean and has a hint of herbal and grass like bitterness and again a subtle ginger spice feel on the tongue

Trying to figure out the similarities to Lucy, something about the lemongrass must be coming out as ginger and…Motueka in this one, that zesty lemon lime has to be coming from them hops.

I could see this beer being polarizing, for good reason, but to me it is incredibly refreshing and well balanced. If you like ginger, which is odd cause it has none in it, I'd give this beer a try. I only bought a single since I was nervous the lemongrass may have been overdone, nope...a four pack will be purchased in short order.

Back later with Lawn Boy stories and hopefully a beer from @snaotheus, happy weekend everyone.

 

Why would you ever leave?

 

It closes at 11