New Beer Weekend #156

NBS #2. I regret I didn't review this one yesterday, on the deck on a hot, sunny day. A good fruited wheat beer is a great summertime cooler. It's brewed by Hidden Sands Brewing Company in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. This brewery has been open for several years and I've been impressed with the beers I've had recently. In particular, 608' DIPA, which has become something of a go-to.

It pours a cloudy, golden-amber color with more than a finger of fluffy, milk-white head and lacing. The smell is just as I would expect: there's fresh strawberry over wheat cracker. When sipped, the strawberry is much more tart - almost sour - than the nose implies and it compliments the dry wheat. The dry sourness makes it an ideal hot weather beer. It's simple but effective. What I find most interesting is the mouth feel. It's surprisingly viscous and creamy for 5.5% ABV. It drinks bigger than its modest gravity. Overall, this is a fine offering. It's a good summertime cooler that you could drink on the beach or on the deck with some sharp cheese.

3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Have a great week, everyone!

 

Mad Rooster Beer Co.'s Strut King New England IPA, 8.3% ABV; 3.71 Overall

Pours a very hazed gold with one finger of cream colored head. Average-ish head retention & decent lacing

S: Some citrus , coconut & pineapple once warm

T: Pomelo, a touch of green melon & lime &dryness up front. Dryness, lime, pomelo & a trace amount of pineapple, more acidity than sweetness once this beer is warmed up. Finishes dry with pomelo, pineapple acidy & lime

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, getting some acidity for sure, good, not great balance

Drinks easy enough for the ABV; I like this style sweeter though

 

Transient Reserve No Cake imperial stout


4.59/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Brewers Notes: Collaboration with Saint Errant; Imperial Stout with Violet Sky Cacao Nibs, Vanilla, Cinnamon, and Graham Crackers aged in Weller Bourbon and Blis Maple Syrup Barrels for 20 months.

Bottle received in bif17 from the overly generous @ovaltine

Chilled bottle poured into a snifter , pitch black motor oil fills the glas with a within wisp of a brown foam layer that quickly fades into the glass

Aroma is bourbon barrel, cinnamon, graham crackers

Taste is is bourbon, cocoa nibs, cinnamon without the heat , gramma crackers, hint of maple , excellent

Smooth , the cinnamon shines thru in the taste without the burn, well crafted, thick, syrupy, smooth

Really good beer, grab it if you can

watching Ted Lasso as I sip this beer, to quote Roy F##king Kent, this beer is F**king good

 

Good afternoon NBW
I never can find this beer in quite the condition I want, but I buckled and bought a room temp single at 7 months old for the pilsner tasting.

500mL can packaged 12/12/22 BB 12/12/23 poured into a mug at fridge temp 4.8% ABV. The beer pours bright, pale yellow in color with off white head. The head recedes to an uneven cap and leaves some lacing. The aroma is grassy hops and pils malt. The taste is bittersweet grassy hops before crackery pils malt and slight metallic twinge. Firm, moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, good (for a beer that spent 7 months at room temp or worse). I would gladly try again fresher.

Cheers all!

 

I concur with everything thing you say here about that beer - it was a good one, IMHO. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Day 2, just a single for me as I do laundry and get the Weber kettle ready to grill some ribeyes.

I am a multi-dimensional beer nerd.





4.35/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a dark cola brown from the can and settles black in the glass with a creamy tan head that caps the beer as you drink it and coats the glass with lacing. Beautiful beer.

The nose has a nice amount of grassy hop aromas, courtesy of the noble hops, but it is the wheat bread and roasty malt aromas that make this beer sing. I am officially drooling.

The grassy hops are forward on the taste, and blend exceptionally well with the wheat bread, roasty coffee, and subtle toffee flavors that guide this beer into a rich yet surprisingly crisp mouthfeel.

I could bathe in this beer. Really well done by Transient.

 

I'm not sure which one you're referring to. A Space to Fill? That was very good. I miss a lot of the releases that are brewery-only. Kane is too far from home for me to hit regularly. It's on the way to/from the shore but I tend to stop there off-season when the traffic isn't as bad.

 

OddSide Ales XIII Anniversary Ale; 10.73 ABV 4.04 overall


Pours mahogany with a pinky of mocha colored head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Cocoa, vanilla, caramel, a whiff of Whisky

T: Boozy cocoa, vanilla, a touch of oaky dryness up front. Oaky dryness, cocoa, and caramel once warm. Finishes a little sweet, with dryness & a kiss of Maple & some oakyness

MF: Medium/thick body, restrained carbonation , body starts thinning out a bit once warm. A little booze warmth

Solid take on the style, pretty drinkable, wanted a little more ooomph

 

4.39/5 rDev +4.8%

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

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a snifter.

Look- Very deep brown, opaque, medium brown creamy head, average lacing, above average head retention.

Smell- Bourbon, vanilla, cocoa, caramel, oak, between medium and high strength of scent.

Taste- Bourbon, cocoa, salty, vanilla, slight caramel at finish, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Between medium and full body, average carbonation, highly salty, high bitterness, highly creamy, moderately mouth warming, moderately mouth watering, mildly mouth coating.

Overall- Very deep brown and opaque with a medium brown creamy head. Bouquet was bourbon, vanilla, cocoa, caramel and oak. Taste was predominantly bourbon with notes of cocoa, salt, vanilla and slight caramel at finish. Body was between medium and full with high saltiness and very creamy properties. This beer provided a great drinking experience, but the flavor was a little more bourbon centric and less dynamic than desired.

 

Thank you! I enjoyed it.

 

Thanks to the TV weather warnings and a half hour deluge, the six year old comes running down the stairs in his lab coat and safety goggles with flashlight ablaze, checks outside every window in the house. Ok...what? I'm just gettin' ready in case there's a 'mergency. He has seen the flood videos... I guess he's more prepared than I am...genius me is out in the downpour grilling Portuguese marinated pork. Hey, ya gotta eat, right?

So hoping for a rebound beer today:



This is Glimmen from Schilling - a smoked helles lager.

It pours a burnished brass color, very clear. Rocky head - pretty big bubbles that didn't persist and pretty much vanishes. No cling.

It's pleasantly smoky on the nose, complimenting the sweet, bready malts. It's almost like a honey smell. The hops are green grassy and floral, fairly assertive but not taking over. The smokiness is woody - like a distant, faint smoke from a campfire.

This beer works for me! Much more sweet malt on the taste initially - bready, a i think a little honey-like flavor. The hops layers in nicely with a hint if bitterness and a grassy floral flavor. The smoke layers over it all, but is not overly assertive. It supplements the helles part of this beer nicely, builds a little but never takes over. A little peppery taste plays along with the residual smokiness.

The feel is medium bodied, very clean, moderate to maybe light carbonation. Mildly bitter mid-taste.

Diggin' this one, kids. It's smooth, well-crafted, and easy to drink. Even with the smoke, it's very clean, not quite crisp but darn close. It'd be great with seafood - no idea why I think that, but I'm really feeling seared scallops even though I got a belly full of grilled pork. Think 4.0 to 4.2 or so. Good brew.

 

Found this as a surprise while shopping for some new pilsners for the tasting and though 'why not?'

Busch Light Peach



Objectively, this is a very sweet and tasty summer refresher. I think it'll certainly see my refrigerator shelf again.

Be back soon with a new local Pils.

Cheers!

 

Just got done with the festivities surrounding my son's 10th birthday. I probably still have Oreo frosting on my lips. Glad I get to sit down and chill with a new beer with you folks.


Outer Light - Subduction IPA

16oz can served in a snulip. Can is not dated as far as I can tell. @Roguer sent it to me in a LIF associated with NBS BIF #17.

Pours a somewhat hazy burnt orange with a bit more than a finger of head that settles into a mostly even skin with a few clumps. Smell is WCIPA all the way, grapefruit rind and pine sap, maybe a hint of lemon zest.

Taste is right along the same lines, nice and bitter with a bit of a honeysuckle sweetness, with a nice hefty bitter finish. There's some sweetness, too, that leans a bit toward honeysuckle or orange blossoms.

Mouthfeel is substantial but not heavy. Overall, very nice IPA that is hitting my mood just right today.

 

American Pilsner
4.5% Pilsner by Immigrant Son Brewery



Poured from a twelve ounce can, the body pours a light yellow, slightly cloudy. Nice initial head and modest lacing.

Aroma is mostly a grassy one with a wee bit of floral hop.

Flavor is a balance of grain and hop. The body has no sweetness from the grain bill. More light grass. Light hop bite upon a finish that dries up nicely.

Carbonation medium and mouthfeel light.

A nice basic crisp Pilsner and that's okay by me.

 

Abomination - Wandering Into the Fog (Mosaic and El Dorado)

16oz can served in a snulip. Can is dated 05/29/23. @Roguer sent it to me in a generous LIF box during NBS BIF #17.

Pours a hazy (maybe murky) pale yellow-amber with a small, very fine head. Smell is melon / bubble gum and citrus rind bitterness, cut greens.

Taste doubles down on the melon / bubble gum, juicy but not too sweet, bitterness turns more into melon rind or fruit skin. With a little twist of perspective, it's not hard to see it as a lot of tropical juice.

Mouthfeel is medium, little bit of that gritty chalkiness. Overall, very nice beer.

 

Three Floyds Cate Date DIPA, 9.5% ABV; 4.24 overall

Pours an effervescent golden honey color with a pinky of ivory colored head. Insane lacing & great head retention. Stays effervescent throughout the pour

S: Cakey, piney, probably the only flaw on this beer, the nose could be better

Follows the nose, a little mango & green melon, plus leafy hops up front, some grapefruit. Green melon, grapefruit, dryness & a little pine as this beer warms up, a kiss of orange & grapefruit as well. Finishes with grapefruit, a smidge of pineapple, some dryness & green melon

MF: A little chewy, moderate carbonation, nice balance

Great DIPA. Wish this was one I could get all the time, super drinkability for the heft. Probably needs the respect of the ABV too drinkable!