New Beer Weekend #154

Jon, the new place is less than a mile from the original location. It's on the southbound side of Route 9 just north of Cape May Court House. The owners are Jason & Tadhg ("Tag"). They're good guys and love to talk beer.

 

Woot! So it’s official now?

 

After 6 years sitting on a shelf in my cellar, it's finally time to drink this bottle of Boulevard's Foeder Project #2.

3.11/5 rDev -27.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Bottled in 2017 with a best by March 8, 2019. Oops.

Pours a copper color with a small amount of off white head that quickly receded to a thin ring. Aroma is musty, with really not much else going on. Thought I'd pick up some oak, but even that seems to have faded.

Taste has much more going on than the nose. It's quite acidic with muddled fruit flavors, apricot among them. Still not getting any oak, but again given the age perhaps that's to be expected. Medium bodied with maybe slightly less carbonation than I expected.

Overall, it's not bad per se, but it may be a little hard to make it through the entire 750ml. Presumably this would have been a little better with less age on it.

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@jonphisher great story!

@Smakawhat if my experience riding in New England (at least riding in NH and Maine) is a guide, I'm guessing road conditions and drivers who make little effort to give you space were two of the not so good parts of riding in VT. Thankfully where I ride in CT neither of those are typically issues.

 

It's really an issue just about anywhere, if anything Vermont has little traffic and the roads are nicely all to myself! Yes sometimes the roads can be lousy too, but I've run into that just about everywhere.

 

Happy NBS all and sundry beer geeks who really appreciate beer.
Rather a rainy weekend so far, so I thought I’d drink a little sunshine. Not having the obvious choice from Lawson’s Fine Liquids I chose another that at least has a nice day activity.

A session IPA from Land Grant in Ohio, sent to me by a friend from Imgur.
Poured an unfiltered amber color and sported a bone white head which left reasonable lacing.
Aroma, almost but not quite. Any smell I could detect was almost certainly my imagination.
The taste is quite good, nothing fancy but solid hops bitterness with piney overtones and just enough malt to support all the flavor. Had to look at the can to make sure it really was a session beer.
The feel was light and smooth, the unfiltered appearance didn’t affect the mouthfeel at all, or maybe I just drank it too fast.
Good mid afternoon beer when you still have things that need to be done.
Cheers all! Back later, at least that’s the plan.

 

Off to another new brew!



Poured from the can into a nonic(k) pint glass. Noted as an English-style red ale.

Beaming rich lush forming head. Fills the glass nearly but with an eventuall controlled four finger top off white, and picked up off redish pink color. Chunky bubbly brew on top, with a thick cap, settling on a beautiful clear copper red body, with light and small rising carbonation.

The aroma is flat out decadent! Big hits of strawberry to raspeberry fruit character, mixing in with excellent caramel and some creamy vanilla. Comes off with a cake like malt character, giving to a fruity coffee cake with loaded preserved jam! This is an excellent nose and flat out just incredible.

Palate delivers the goods, with one minor caveat. A wonderful tasting mid palate, with creamy notes of raspberry, and other red strawberry like fruit flavors. Cream sensation sweetness, and a hint of herbal to pine like hop bitterness. Mouthfeel just lacks, even in the pale ale realm here, as it luckily doesn't get in wet quality but has a passable and decent malt depth. Finishes with excellent jammy berry and herbal green tea like flavors on the aftertaste.

This is a real winner here. I just wish there was more malt depth and a pushing body, it would just make this beer soar, but still this is a real pleasant drinking red ale, very impressive.

Look: 4.25 | Smell: 4.5 | Taste: 4.25 | Feel: 4 | Overall: 4.25 | BA Generated: 4.29

Cheers!

 

Petrology (Stone/Steinbier) from Central Waters

Tested from 16oz cans. Brewed in Milwaukee. Not sure if this is a ale or a lager, but it's smooth like a lager.
This is a non distro'd beer as far I know.

Look: nice looking. Transparent reddish amber body. Nice off white head, tall, persistent leaving plenty of lacing.
Smell: sweet malt, bread, berry
Taste: sweet malt, caramel, and a herbal, berry/fruit hop note. Smooth, malty and sweet. Hint of a roasted caramel from the hot stones maybe.
Feel: malty and rather thick for only 4.8%
A solid beer. No Stones exploded in the brewing process that I know of.
4.02/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
https://untappd.com/b/central-waters-brewing-company-petrology-steinbier/5399404
Pic taken from Central Waters facebook

 

4.15/5 rDev 0%

look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a tulip glass.

Look- Very deep gold, opaque, visible particulate at margins, medium yellow sudsy head, below average lacing and head retention, granular residue on glass wall.

Smell- Peach, passionfruit, dragon fruit, between medium and high strength of scent.

Taste- Passionfruit, dragon fruit, peach, highly sour, moderately sweet, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Between medium and full body, average carbonation, nectar like, highly sour, moderately sweet, mildly mouth watering finish upfront transitioning to dry.

Overall- Very deep gold and opaque that leaves granular residue on glass wall. Bouquet was peach, passionfruit and dragon fruit. Flavor was passionfruit, dragon fruit and to a less amount peach. Feel was nectar like with high sourness and moderate sweetness. Overall this was an enjoyable beer on a warm summer day. My only critique would be that the peach flavor was overpowered by the other two flavors.

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we have pleasant summer weather.

Today we are experimenting with Change of Heart Experimental IPA from Bell's Brewing. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/633584/

Floral and fruity with a little sour note.

Until next time

 

Day 2, another beer from the magnificent WCIPA box, which just so happens to be my favorite style. Let’s see where this offering from Midwestern brewery lands for me.





4.35/5 rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a beautiful unfiltered golden straw color with a sudsy white head that provides little to no lacing, which is a bit surprising. Very nice dank citrus notes (oranges and grapefruit) and a bit of pine as well.

The taste is led by a very juicy orange flavor, which is delightful, and there’s a nice grapefruit flavor as well, with some pine and some bitterness at the back of the palate, especially as the beer warms (which is key with this beer - allowing it to warm a bit).

There’s no discernible alcohol other than a slight warming at the back of the palate, which is pretty incredible given the 8% ABV. The mouthfeel is full and dry, commensurate with the style. Excellent stuff here by Hop Butcher, IMHO.

 

Skydance Fancy Dance New England Style IPA. 6.8% ABV; 4.09 overall

Citra, Mosaic & Bru-1 Hops

Pours a hazy gold with one finger of beige colored head. Grear head retention & lacing

S: Citrus, some papaya

T: Tangerine, nectarine, guava & some dryness up front, a little green melon as well. Passion fruit, nectarine & oranges as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry with sweet oranges, nectarines & a little green melon

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, nice balance

Super-solid take on the style, very crushable

 

Brought back memories of the Late, Great Beer Hunter!

 

#2, when we lived in Minnesota from 1999 - 2017, I was ALL OVER Surly. Drinking their beers, shipping them literally all over the country (especially Furious, Abrasive, and Darkness), I was a tippity top Surly fanboy.

We moved away six years ago, and I’ve not seen much of their stuff living in Indiana (other than one six months old Furious release that inexplicably showed up at my local three years ago), so imagine my surprise when I was in Omaha a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across this and 2020 BA Darkness at an awesome craft beer bar named The Casual Pint.

I bought those two packaged products and ran from the bar like I was stealing them. I have a feeling the BA Darkness will show up later this week, but let’s crank up this Maple Barrel Aged Impy Stout and see where we land.





4.23/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours black with a soapy dark tan head that lingers a bit. Very nice. The nose is all about the maple and vanilla aromas. There’s also a bit of milk chocolate and stone fruit, but no discernible barrel note.

No barrel on the taste, either, but there’s plenty of maple and vanilla, and a nice amount of milk chocolate and a little bit of dark cherries, which works well here.

The mouthfeel is a little thinner than expected, but if the barrel was cranked up a bit, I think this would approach world class, because everything else is present. Glad I had the opportunity to try this.

 

Sierra Nevada Crisp Little Thing - I'm a big Pilsner fan but not always a Mosaic fan so can't wait to see what I think of this. Pours from a can (05/01, 4.7%) a slightly hazy yellow, moderate carbonation, solid fluffy head. Smell is the usual Pilsner but there is a hint of fruit in there. Taste is good and light and crisp and a bit fruity and I'm not getting the usual onion/garlic that I can with IPAs that use Mosaic; a bit of the clean Lager yeast in there a well. This is enjoyable and if it became a year round Pilsner I wouldn't be mad at that. Budmo!

 

Missed yesterday...I had a plan and no back up. Opened up a bottle of Allagash Tiarna 2013 and it was not drinkable. That breaks a string of "aged" Allagash successes...oh well...words I've rarely if ever uttered - drain pour.

So tonight's volunteer:



Even with a good picture or in person, it's a dang near impossible read on the name. Sometimes clever runs amok. This is Oxbow Secret Essence - a blend of mixed fermentation stainless steel aged plus barrel aged wheat beer aged on apricots and Msine wild honey. Called a saison here.

It pours almost clear, pale yellow. Just a touch of turbidity. Almost no head and what foam there was didn't hang around. Pretty typical look for an Oxbow saison.

The smell is refreshing and inviting. Lemon and apricot open the show and a very nice level of funky earthiness complements. A bit of white grape must, grassy and herbal. A trace of floral sweetness, thank you honey... mild apple cider vinegar lends a bright tart note.

Bright, happy tasting beer here. Perfectly refreshing. It's got an herbal tea lemon flavor, jammy and tart apricot. Some floral sweetness, a quick and assertive hit of funk. Green grassy herbal taste I think is lemon verbena and maybe a touch of lavender, both of which we grow - honey contribution? The apricot lingers a bit and brings it back home. Mild bitterness mid-taste. Way, way late in the aftertaste after several swallow, there's a very mild peppery spice. Nice.

Light, moderately tart, well-carbed, dry and a little tingly. Refreshing, but with a bit of substance.

Right in Oxbow's wheelhouse, in my opinion. That bright, refreshing, semi-complicated brew that goes great with food (nothing fancy, grilled burgers tonight). I am presuming the honey adds the interesting floral and herbal bits. Smooth, the funk doesn't go overboard, flavorful, nicely integrated representation of the style. Feeling 4.2-ish.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Late to the party again, and this will also be a 1 and done for tonight.


Peanut Butter & Chocolate Decadence (2021) - Ology Brewing - Tallahassee, FL - American Imperial Stout - 12% ABV

This is a big beer, and, in my opinion, the perfect size for just me to drink.

Strong flavor of peanut butter, backed up by sweeter chocolate. Creamy and full feeling. This is a delicious beer, but I wouldn't want to drink more of it in one sitting.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/51226/551001/

4.23/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
From a can, 2021 version consumed on 7-2-2023

This beer pours pitch black, and nothing shines through when I hold it up to the light. I do see a lot of carbonation rising in the glass. The carbonation produces a 2 finger brown head. The head rapidly dissipates to produce a ring around the glass. There's no lacing on the glass.
The aroma is mostly peanut butter, with some chocolate notes in it. I also get a very faint boozy aroma, being 12%, I'm not surprised.
Peanut butter starts out this parade, and that flavor lingers throughout. I get some chocolate that comes in later on, and it mixes with the peanut butter to provide a delicious flavor combination. The chocolate for sure seems to be a sweeter chocolate. Not sure there's lactose in here, but I'm getting a creamy flavor in the mix.
This is a very thick beer, as should be expected. There's some burn that comes into the mix to make sure you know it's a stronger beer.
This is a good beer, and I'm glad I bought it. One other thing is that I really like the size of the can. 8 oz is perfect for a beer this size to drink by myself.


I'll try to get another in sometime in the next 2 days. Cheers all!

 

Well then I take back my "have a good week everyone" and replace it with a "have a nice night and Monday"...I'll see you all on Tuesday with more new beer

 

Transient brewing Kentuckley 2022 vintage


4.43/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Brewers Notes: Imperial stout with vanilla, Tugboat coffee and Michigan maple syrup, aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels for 12 months. Vintage 2022: WL Weller

Received in bif17 courtesy of @ovaltine

Chilled 16.9 ounce bottle , poured into a snifter , dark cola brown liquid , one finger brown foam finger , settles to a brown ring with no lacings

Aroma is bourbon, coffee, maple

Taste is sweet bourbon without the heat , roasted coffee but no bitterness, sweet maple notes Brown sugar

Smooth, 14.5% abv is well hidden

Sweet delicious BA stout, thanks for sharing this beauty @ovaltine

 

Troegs Summer's Here Lager - Sticking with the new to me Lager theme here's another. Pours from a can (FB 08/12, canned on 04/11, 4.2%) a slightly hazy light yellow, heavily carbonated with a strong fluffy head. Smell is Lager-y with some rice; the malts are Pilsner and Flaked Rice and I can smell and taste it, but in a good way. There's actually a bit of hops here too and it's not too sweet and nicely balanced and the Lager yeast is clean and detectable also. This is a very good craft macro-ish Lager and another one that if they made it year round I would grab it without hesitation and it would be a crowd pleaser. Budmo!