New Beer Weekend #156

Good afternoon NBW
I bought a few new to me pilsners for this weekend. Up first is one from Indianapolis

Chilly Water Built to Last German Pilsner

16oz can stamped 691 05/21/23 poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 4.7% ABV per can label. The beer pours mostly bright, light golden yellow with off white head. The head recedes to a rocky cap and leaves spots of lacing behind. The aroma is mild with crisp pale malt and floral hops. The taste is bittersweet pale malt with slight minerality and firm finishing floral bitterness. Straight forward, yet crisp and tasty. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very, very good.

Cheers all!

 

At our brunch location they happened to be having a Trillium tap takeover, as they do from time to time (with various highly sought breweries from up the east coast). Running on the expensive end, of course, so we grabbed a couple sips of each to decide if one might be worth the cost to us.

Only one of the three options seemed better than a typical hazy IPA, so I grabbed the version of Fort Point they had on - the DDH Mosaic variant.


This beer isn’t as brilliant orange as the photo suggests; it is more of a ruddy matte orange-tan. There’s a wisp of a ring around the surface, so not an overly pretty beer, even for the style.

The mosaic hops are up front in both the nose and taste, with overripe nectarine and mango vibe. There’s a promise of fresh garden stem and fruit skin bitterness in the aroma - one for which the flavors follow through. There’s a slight “hop burn” in the middle of the taste, but it’s not too distracting.

The beer is a bit over medium in heft, and not as smooth, perhaps due to its moderate 6.6% “pale ale” ABV. There’s a little fizz to it, and while the finish isn’t long, a little burp that the carbonation might bring on revives the mosaic with a more bitter version of what headed the opposite direction.

FWIW, the sip of the Swishium collaboration with Bissell Brothers was decent, but had more bite than I cared for at 8.5%. I thought Hatch Shell might be interesting, but while the GF’s pour looks better than mine and did improve with warmth, it seemed a tad bland for the first half taste before the hops decided to play along.

Cheers to your new beers, NBWers!

 

The latest find in new beer for me: SACRED DATURA by Dark Sky Brewery, downtown Flagstaff. Troppy, interesting, thirst quenching, cold guzzles well to quench. Great with the mushroom pizza (from Pizzacletta) served within the brewery. I would submit a pic but I am having trouble doing so today. But here is URL: darkskybrewing.com

 

Meant to pick up a Timbo Pils to join the tasting this weekend, but decided to go ahead and open this Belgian-style Blonde from SARA to accompany the first sustained heat-wave here in the San Fernando valley:

4.11/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 750mL bottle into my Unibroue tulip.

Nearly clear aureolin body with a low ivory cap. Dense cakey lacing; good retention.

Balanced and inviting aromas of earth, spices, and honey with superb synergy between the hops, yeast, and malt.

Acidic, lemon-forward palate entry. Moderate earthy bitterness with hints of evergreen and loam. Complex lightly grainy malt profile with a hint of sourdough (the spelt comes through) leads into the long faintly funky finish. Finishes fairly dry and slightly tart with a returning bready sweetness with hints of aged white tea and winter fruit. Yeast character is low and slightly fruity.

Medium-bodied, faintly slick, with moderate carbonation (a little light compared to the better Belgian examples).

Not quite crisp, but balanced and refreshing with plenty of character.

 

Hey NBW!

Didn't think I'd make it again this weekend, since I had nothing 'new' but this Italian pils seemed to slip a rating from me in the DB, cross posted from Pilsner Tasting thread

Silver Reef - Spaghetti Western

 

Thanks for opening the taps @beergoot



jubilee by tree house


4.35/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Brewer Notes: Every once in a while, a hop comes along that speaks to us in a way that few others do. Peacharine, from New Zealand, is one of those hops.

Featuring incredible stone fruit notes layered throughout the experience, Jubilee is a showcase for this delightful novelty from the Land of the Long White Cloud. In addition to the beautiful peach character, we experience exotic notes of earthy citrus, white wine, tropical fruit, and star fruit.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do, and if so, we may have found ourselves a true rarity in the Tree House line-up: a new core beer. Enjoy!

Canned 6.27, opened 7.13

“Life is one long jubilee”

Can poured into a pretentious beer glass produces a dark orange hazy liquid capped by a two finger frothy fluffy off-white foam cap. Scant lacings

ARoma is tropical fruits, malts

Taste is peach, stone fruits , tropical fruits , white wine

Smooth mouthfeel , big sudsing , hop nibble, semi dry finish

Good beer

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CswRWCBvBHx/?img_index=3

 

Up next is Avalonia Ruby from Fox Farm. It's an ale aged in oak barrels with red currants, raspberries and cherries.

Review below, but the lede is that this is one of the best beers I've had in a long time.

4.58/5 rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Batch 1, bottled October, 2021.

Beautiful color to this beer. There's a burnt sienna thing going on, but it's how bright and vibrant it is that stands out to me. It positively glows when backlit. A finger of head with medium retention, dissipating to a thin cap and thick ring.

Aroma is equally wonderful. Fresh raspberries take the lead, with cherries and oak faintly in the background. It's hard to describe, but it smells very natural to me, not like somebody dumped puree in. The tartness on the nose is there, but not in your face. Very nice smelling beer.

Taste very much follows the nose. It tastes like fresh raspberries and cherries with a sour kick. Absolutely nothing with this beer tastes artificial. Nicely complex with the raspberries, red currants and cherries working well together with the oak. It's clean and easy drinking. Outstanding beer.

 

A local brewery I use to go to a lot did a rotating single hopped lager series. It was basically their excellent base pilsner but switching up the hops. I guess a lot of breweries do that with IPA's, it was never on that level, just on occasion he would have a new hop variety. The Nelson Sauvin one was pretty damn good, and from what I remember spot with your review. The brewery is still open but the original husband and wife team that opened it sold. They have new owners and new brewer, and the beers suck now. So I haven't been in probably over six months. Oh well.

 

Thanks for kicking off the thread @beergoot ! Been a crazy few days so sadly missed the kick off yesterday but here for my regular Saturday / Sunday slots with the only theme of clearing my final two local March Suburban beers.

Pollyanna Lakeside Gap



Can Notes: Purchased at store temperature at Beer on the Wall on 4/15/23 for $3.24, refrigerated thereafter until opening this late afternoon. 16 oz Canned 3/23/23 at 10:20 AM, can stamp Canned By Optimistic. 5.5% ABV, India-Style Pale Ale. Brewed and canned by Pollyanna Brewing Company, Lemont Illinois.

Appearance: Just over half the can via primary pour, with 1/4 secondary and final pours into a tulip glass. Creamy rich white head leaves lumpy lacing and after a few minutes a creamy cover over the bronze orange base yielding mild carbonation for a few minutes before trickling off visibly. 3.75

Aroma: Steady blend of grapefruit and citrus, light pine backing. Smells sweet, slightly dank, and refreshing, mild in strength. 4.0

Taste: Typical Midwest malt forward caramel the first impression, the nice grapefruit citrus mix noted on the aroma balances excess bread notes. Full flavor, held up well over nearly four months, bumped up 1/4 point for possible age regression. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Getting sweetness from the hops and malt, definitely Midwest IPA style. Light and easy drinking, even for the lower ABV for this style, lightly dry and dank, sweetness 6 out of 10 on a sliding scale, within proper measure, light alcohol and sweetness lingers on the finish. 3.75

Overall: Would revisit with a fresh version, but this has held up well and I'm enjoying yet another Pollyanna offering. Recommend this for those seeking a Midwest Style IPA with classic notes, not my typical first choice over WCIPA, but one I'll enjoy now and then and glad I picked this up and it held up well. 3.75

Have a RTB Zwickel planned for tomorrow that I've been looking forward to trying the past two months.

 

Taking a break from Pilsners for a minute

True Anomaly's Flanders Redux. 6.6 % ABV.

This is a Flanders Red Ale aged in Cognac barrels for 18 months, and blended with some just in French oak. I picked this up at the brewery on Monday, and have been looking forward to trying this ever since.



Pours a dark crimson red color. A dense and rocky beige head forms with excellent retention and plenty of lace when it finally recedes.
A big aroma billowing out of the glass. Black cherries, grapes, cinnamon spice even. A toasted malty character balances out the fruitiness. This is great.
Taste wise, oh yeah, black cherries and grapes. Tart and acidic, becomes just a touch vinegary. Allspice, cinnamon, sweetness, toasted and bready malts. A lingering acidity. Complex, but balanced at the same time. Love this.
A medium to full body. Moderate carbonation that smooths out. A chewy and sticky body. A very nice sipper. I will finish the bottle with ease, though the vinegar and acidity does build throughout and becomes just a tad puckering. That makes this more of a once in a while type offering, but still very enjoyable.

A style that not very many American breweries try to tackle. I'm glad True Anomaly did, because most local breweries wouldn't put the time and effort to get it right. This isn't a real knock, but the acidity does take over after a while, which makes it more a sipper. But very well done for the style, and highly recommended.

Overall score is a 4.25, easy A for me. Another example of why True Anomaly is one of the best breweries around me.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55586/663084/?ba=champ103#navigation

 

Zymurgy Brewing Marzana the Crone. BBA RIS. From Eau Claire, WI. 17.2% ABV. Courtesy of @cheeseheadinMinneapolis. Circumstances suddenly require I experience this beer immediately. The look is outer space black. A black hole, where light does not escape. There is a light brown foam ring. The smell. Phenomenal. Brownies right out of the oven. The taste is dangerous for the ABV. Light and smooth milk chocolate. Very little alcohol is apparent. Freshly-baked brownies. Vanilla, caramel, and coffee. The mouthfeel is silky and smooth. Perfect for the style. I am completely blown away. Thank you, @cheeseheadinMinneapolis!

 

Day 2, more pilsner love, this time from Transient (Sugar Creek 12, a Czech style pilsner featuring Edelweiss malt, which has an interesting story, per the Google machine).





4.17/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Pours an unfiltered straw color with a creamy white head that forms a cap on the head as you drink the beer and coats the glass with lacing. Beautiful pilsner.

The nose is filled with noble hop notes
that lean very hard on spicy herbal aromas, and a nice amount of bread dough and honey thanks to the Edelweiss malt.

The taste has that spicy herbal flavor up front and it is delicious, followed by the bread dough, which is also delicious, but the star is the honey flavor at the back of the palate, which provides a great bridge across the other flavors.

The mouthfeel is well carbed and very crisp. Such a drinkable beer, I need to secure more of this outstanding Czech pilsner.

 

Hello denizens of NBW!
This will be a cross post with the Pilsner tasting thread.

Poured a transparent light gold color with a dense nearly white head that tried and failed to reach an inch of height.
The taste is malty and sharp simultaneously, no obvious Noble hops notes but certainly some hops have a presence. A bit grassy and light, very light herbal. No pepper.
It’s not the best Pilsner to me, but I could easily see drinking liters of this on a hot day in Germany.
Cheers all!

 

#2, this is not your normal imperial stout. IJS. When Floyds throws a punch, they punch HARD.





4.34/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Pours a slightly murky mahogany brown color with a sudsy tan head that dissipates quickly, with zero lacing. No surprise there, given the 13.2% ABV.

The nose is crammed full of boozy bourbon, vanilla, toffee, and cocoa notes, with no sign of the coffee that I can detect.

The bourbon is boozy and proud to lead the flavor parade, but leaves room for the vanilla, toffee, and cocoa notes, but the coffee again is a no show, which may have helped the flavor profile of this beer, because it’s surprisingly sweet - delicious, but definitely on the sweeter side.

The mouthfeel is creamy and decadent, so fitting for a beer of this gravitas, especially as the beer settles and leaves a lingering boozy warming at the back of the palate.

This “pale imperial stout” definitely fits the Three Floyds “It’s Not Normal” tagline, drinking more like a BA barleywine that is definitely on the sweet side, but man is it a fun ride.

 

While @ovaltine is crushing BA stouts from Three Floyds, I’m quaffing German Pilsners.
Something is amiss about this.
Back with another one, this one is Bitburger, and it doesn’t add much to the party:

Beautiful beer, pale gold, transparent and capped with a 3 cm white head that left sparse lacing.
The taste is good, has the herbal notes and slight bitterness of Noble hops, some grassy flavors and while I am certain that there are malts in this I am having a hard time finding them.
Light and crisp, easy drinking, another Pilsner that rides on the style name without adding anything to the genre.
Think I’ll take a break and get the dogs out. Maybe the next one I pull out of the fridge will rock my world.
Cheers all!