New Beer Weekend #154

Happy 4th of July, New Beer people, beer drinkers, hell raisers, and Americans of all stripes!

It's a quick, unscheduled New Beer this afternoon, while meeting some out-of-town friends at the Grains of Wrath Portland brewhouse one more time before it closes.



Skeletal Lightning is another excellent WCIPA from the talented Grains of Wrath team, light-bodied and full-flavored with excellent finishing bitterness. Loaded with bright citrus, some watermelon, and a blast of pine at the end.

Cheers!

(BTW: It's just this GoW location that's closing, and they're doing it to better consolidate the rest of their brewing operations. Still, I will miss these black walls and the metal/punk soundtrack.)

 

I always feel like holiday NBWs tend to be less busy. Maybe it’s just people out and about doing things.

I agree though we need a solid showing one of these weekends coming up. It’s been quite quiet the past few. Sadly I’ve been part of that with our traveling.

 

Happy 4th extended nbs. Had a stressful week but read more tom clancy books. Red storm rising 3.5/5 and clear and present danger 4.1/5. Have salems lot off hold for a nice new King book. Also did goblet of fire last week. One of the best books for sure.

First time having Mexican cake and pairing with Rocky road ice cream.

Amazing with dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nuts, habenero, cinnamon, vanilla, cream, toast, biscuit, dark bread/crust; light licorice, molasses, smoke, charcoal, dark fruit, herbal, wood, grass, yeast earth. Light hop/char bitterness and pepper/cinnamon spice on the finish. Medium carb and full body. Very creamy silky velvety mouthfeel. Lingering sticky spice and chalky char drying. No acrid astringency. Mild increasing pepper heat and warmth of 10.5%. Perfect balance and integration of all flavors. Will get again. 4.4


Tillamook



This is like the first one only with sea faring vehicles with the Starship Troopers like military forces. A new favorite series.


Cheers

 

@beergoot, I heard you blow the ram's horn. Calling us to action. New Glarus Brewing IPA. An American IPA. The look is golden sunflower clear yellow, with a slight white foamy top. It looks beautiful. The smell is primarily malty popcorn. Lemon, white toast, and grapefruit linger at the finish. The taste is grapefruit, brown bread, lemon, and a bit of cashew. The mouthfeel is light, crisp, clean, and smooth. This beer is not in the same ballpark as Scream. It has the feel of a lager. It is lighter than most IPAs. It is easy-drinking. Very nice for a summer session beer. I like it, but I don't really think it fits the category of American IPA. You could drink a lot of these very quickly.

 

Overstory 2022 by Single Hill

Appearance: Flat black. Sooty lingering head with tiny brown-grey bubbles. 4.25

Aroma: Browned butter, warmed brown sugar, tropical wood heating in the evening sun. 4.00

Taste: Balanced with nice malt willingly allowing some smoke through. Ashen barrels and a hint of iodine. Toasted wheat bread moving towards burnt with unsalted butter. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Tiny bubbles prickle the tongue. Creamy and smooth it goes down simply. Alcohol is there, but not honestly. 4.50

Overall: I am partial to smoke in beer and peated smoke is the highest form of that adoration. I want even more from this one, but it does a solid job. More can be achieved, but it is a sharp edge that can easily be taken over. I wish I had a nice toasted cigar to pair with it. 4.25

 

Eviltwin Christmas eve in a new york hotel
...motor oil black appearance with with a thin mocha lasting head.
...medium light carbonation with an above average body. Has a thick creamy oily feel which all adds up to a very nice feel.
....aroma is licorice, milk and dark chocolate, alcohol, boozy. Theres q little bit of wood,earthy, and coffee.
...taste is chocolate, coffee,boozy, sour,slightly sweet.
...overall its a very flavorful stout with an excellent body.

 

Busch Light Peach
4.1% Light Lager



Poured from a twelve ounce can, the body is Busch yellow and slightly hazy. Quick initial white head rapidly disappears and no lacing.

Nose is peach. Taste follow nose and is surprisingly not over the top. The base beer is noticeable, albeit a light presence, and the peach is a nice complement.

Mouthfeel is okay with solid carbonation.

Overall a good alternative for a summer light beer with a bit of fruit flavor.

 

Winding down, dreading going back to the salt mine tomorrow. We are understaffed and have a packed schedule, so it's gonna be all hands on the humid, sweaty decks tomorrow hand filling multiple variants of a new formula for testing.

Not a seasonally appropriate beer, but I'm trying it anyway...



Treehouse Tree of Tranquility, a barleywine aged in Madeira and sherry barrels, conditioned on pineapple and vanilla.

Pours a dirty cola brown color, very few bubbles, looks nearly still.

Initially there's not much on the nose. Eventually it blooms and my immediate impression is what is eventually the top of a pineapple upside down cake. Sweet and caramelized brown sugar, cooked pineapple, molasses. Definite smells of the sherry and Madeira, not much vanilla but a little. Lots of dark fruit intensity - figs, dates, dark cherries, even a bit of prune.

Ok..this is only working for me a little bit. Fortunately not as sweet as the smell.suggests, but the pineapple begins to stick out with kind of an odd green tangy note. The sherry and Madeira try to balance it off, but only partially succeed. Trace of vanilla. Brown sugar and molasses. There is a tingle of spice at the end.

Feel is full bodied bordering syrupy. It's sweet, yet drying. Lots of carryover pineapple and caramelized sugar.

Not sure what to do with this one. I think it is a good barleywine suffering from "if some is good more is better" syndrome...too much pineapple that just doesn't fit in. I'm not entirely sure the pineapple would ever fit in, though. So overall, I don't like it. Is it what they intended to make - yes - it seems to agree with their notes. I will drink it for the sake of science, but I have no idea yet how I will rate it.

 

My last contribution to this thread this weekend. Welltown Brewing Puff Daddy Batch#3 Imp Stout, 9.0% ABV; 3.2 overall

Pours a chestnut tinged mahogany with one finger of rapidly falling tan head. Minimal head retention & lacing , some floaties at the bottom of the bottle

S: Some peanut butter

T: Peanuts, cocoa, & dryness, plus some coffee up front. Powdery cocoa, peanuts & a little bit of watered down coffee as this beer warms up. Slight smokey notes, watered down coffee & cocoa, plus peanut shells in the finish

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, body is a bit thin as this warms

I took a chance on this. Peanut butter stouts are a hard sell for me, this is another disappointment. FWIW I would've never guessed the ABV being this high on this one

 

Good evening denizens of NBW, July the Fourth edition.
I wanted a big beer to end my 4 day weekend with and chose one sent to me by the one and only @sulldaddy

Big stout, big vanilla. The vanilla almost overwhelms the stout. To the point I was wondering what other beer in the cellar would mix well with the base stout and cut the sweetness down some.
I didn’t mix and it turned out pretty good. Still too much vanilla but I could taste the stout in there too.
Not sure if aging it would diminish the flavor somewhat but I may never know. Someone on the East coast give it a shot and report back in a year or so.

The fireworks are booming and my dog wants to sit on my head so I will wish you all a good night and tend to Tobbi.

 

All right, final round in this extended NBW. Time for a post work beer.

By Order - Fregus Brewing - Fergus Falls, MN - English Brown Ale - 5.2% ABV

This is a good overall beer. Well made and delicious.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57802/659935/

3.75/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From a can purchased at the brewery.

Dark brown pouring beer. The beer looks somewhat clear when I hold it up to the light, with amber hues shining through. I do also see some carbonation bubbles rising in the glass when I hold it to the light. The head that forms is 2 finger and tan in color. Decent retention, and some nice lacing on the glass.
The nose is fairly faint. I do get a hint of roasted malts coming through, but not much else.
The flavor starts out nutty, and slightly roasted. The flavor turns to a roasted grain flavor with a hint of dark chocolate that pokes it's head into the mix.
Body is decent. Not watery at all. Smooth feeling overall.
This is delicious, and I'm glad I bought it at the brewery.

See you all for the next NBW!

 

Leather And Mahogany, Scottish Ale from Bad Habit in St Joesph, MN
The can came from @Victory_Sabre1973
I like this beer, it would be a good mid fall beer.

My review:
Enjoyed from 16oz can dated May 2023.
Look: dark brown body that's reddish when held to the beer light. Some light goes thru and rather transparent. Nice tall head that persists leaving some lacing.
Smell: weak but toasted bread.
Tastes, a bunch of flavors. Caramel, toasted bread and micro hints of brown sugar, chocolate, leather, wood, earth, Roast and maybe peat. A malty beer. Elements of sweet and bitter, but rather neutral overall. Smooth.
Feel: malty ,slightly thick, soft and a hint of creamy.
I would put this beer in 3.9 to 4.02/5 range
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42984/465579/