New Beer Weekend #160

Two beers I have yet to try and would love to get this year...no festbier yet and I have yet to see the Rotbier show up. You have me sold on both

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Savorers and commentators. I had a very good and instructive beer experience yesterday. I'm fortunate to have many local brewery options - and the number keeps increasing. Sometimes, if I'm not impressed I tend to put a brewer out of my mind. So it was with Flounder Brewing Co. in Somerset County, NJ. It opened in 2013 and over the years I'd had a couple of its beers that I didn't find memorable. I heard that Flounder had moved into new space and then saw @HoppingMadMonk post several Flounder cans recently so I decided to pay a visit. And I'm so glad I did! First, the new venue is really nice (and there's a distillery next door). Second, the owners are among the friendliest I've met. Third, I was quite impressed by the beer. I had a Gruit brewed with walnut-smoked malt which was excellent. And I had the Belgian Pale Ale, Lunatic Belgian, which I really liked. So I bought cans for a proper NBW review.

It pours a cloudy, dirty tangerine color with a two finger, fluffy, bright which cap and thick, clinging lacing. Its nose offers honey, lemon, banana, clove, coriander, and perhaps a whiff of pear. The flavors open with a nice balance of tangy citrus, sweet, creamy honey, and a good dose of clove, coriander, and peppercorn. The malt base is firm and adds some dry cracker notes. As it warms and breathes the honey emerges more but the spicy bitterness remains strong. It finishes with dry bitterness. The mouth feel includes lively carbonation and the 7.8% ABV gives it good substance. Overall, Lunatic Belgian is a highly approachable Belgian Pale Ale. While it offers all the expected Belgian notes the spicing isn't hardcore. I commend any brewer that offers this style and Flounder has done a very good job with it.

4.05/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Flounder Brewing Co. is now firmly on my radar. It's about a half hour south of where I live and I won't be a stranger. My beer snobbery has probably cost me some good pours. Shame on me!

 

Time for another new brew, grabbed this one on a previous visit down in Asheville NC.



Poured from the can into a wheat ale style glass.

Opaque and slightly hazed looking, with a deep lemon and very light amber hued edge. Fluffy topped two finger bright white head with some surprising retention, and a capped crown that clings and hugs real nicely.

Solid blueberry fruit note, mixing with a sense of chewy wheat and malt depth on the nose. Hints almost gose like with a touch of brine aroma quality as well.

Great palate. Real rocky and mineral tasting mid palate, with light touches of blueberry fruit, and almost a strawberry like flavor matching as well. Chewy depth is replaced more so with a real mineral hard water like palate that comes off light in feel but rich in taste. Slight earthy bitterness on the finish compounds a playful prickly and a sense of hard carbonation in the mix too.

Very neat take on a fruited wheat, solid and memorable. Also one of the better blueberry fruited wheat ales I have had in awhile.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA Generated: 4.08/5

Cheers!

 

I had a lot of new beers this week on a Beer-cation to the Chicago area. Didn't review any because I was "in the moment" so to speak. I did post most on WBAYDN.
We flew home yesterday so we unfortunately missed our local brewery's 5th anniversary block party. I really wanted their Anniversary IPA, but online and in the brewery it said "not available for Crowlers". Well, I guess my wife and I are special because they were happy to secretly pour and seal one for her. After all, they borrowed her event tents for yesterday and she gave six Illinois brewery decals for their wall.
So this is Little House's 5th Anniversary IPA. Brewer notes-

7% ABV
We're Five Years Old, and that means we needed to drop an IPA more absurdly hopped than ever before. This thing is going to run out so quickly that we're not even going to bother to come up with a cool name, or catchy description. Nectaron, Citra, and Nelson Sauvin Hops. Double Dry Hopped. At a rate of 6lbs per barrel (one pound to grow on)! Drink it, it's crazier than a five year old is after eating a whole birthday cake.

Poured from a 32 oz Crowler sealed about 2-hrs ago, to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body is a completely opaque apricot color. A half-inch, 1.5 cm white head fades quickly and laces mildly.
The aroma is clearly Citra heavy with some mustiness added in.
The taste is also Citra heavy which is good. The familiar Nelson grape taste only comes in on the finish before my tongue dries out with bitterness.
The mouthfeel is pretty hefty. A nice toothy hazy.
A pretty good NEIPA. My only complaint is not enough Nelson.
4.0, 4.25, 4.25, 4.5, OA=4.25.

Full disclosure- I may be biased for the special treatment we received so I am not entering this in the BA database.

 

Glad you enjoyed the beer and they building is definitely nice as well as the staff.
I remember the smoked beer as being very good

 

Great review, Jon! You've got me hankering to go back to Mud Hen. I'll wait till after the summer season and have dinner there and buy some cans.

 

Nice, finally, I'm not wondering why I never get the cool beers

I really enjoyed both, and will be looking for more Rotbier from other brewers if they are available. I'm all for that becoming a new trend, I don't normally jump on the trendy trains but I will for these

 

I mentioned to Mrs. Mac that you've posted beers from Flounder. Her response was, "maybe Teddy will be there today." She loves your Teddy posts! I'll have to check to see whether dogs are welcome and take Chambo with us the next time.

 

I enjoyed this brew. Cheers!
Samuel Smith's Pure Brewed Organic Lager 5% ABV
3.97/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
14.9 oz can into a tall Lager glass.
L: Pours lightly yeast hazed bright straw yellow with steady carbo bubbles, a thin domed eggshell white head that has OK retention, random med-thick skeletal lacing.
S: Bready malts, light apple, a hint of fruits, light yeast, earthy with warming.
T: Light fruits, a hint of bread, a bit grassy, light yeast, distant lemon & zest, grains, has very little after taste.
F: Straight forward, wet, med-light bodied feel with a medium-fast tapering finish that is gently dry.
O: Simple tastes make this balanced beer simply easy drinking and tasty. I taste Pilsner malts here. It is very good in its style.

 

@MacMalt Tell mrs mac that teddy would say hello himself but hes been stressed so hes getting a massage and facial right now.
They apparently only allow dogs on the patio section

 

Thanks @MacMalt please share when you do I’m wishing I grabbed some of their other singles too now. Hope you enjoy as much as I did. I was on their site and they got quite the variety of traditional and crowd pleasers. I hope their porter shows up at some point.

 

Oktoberfest

5.3% Marzen by Homestead Beer Company

Poured from a twelve ounce can with Wilkommen stamped on the bottom, the body is a dark amber with small off-white head with good lacing.

A malty nose with faint sweetness.

Taste follows nose with a grainy malt flavor. I mean that in a good way. Light grain sweetness but never overly sweet. A little hoppy presence in the finish.

Smooth lager feel and the hops dry things up nicely.

An easy drinking, no nonsense Marzen. I like this märzen and it will make me seek other beers from the brewery.

 

NBS #2: Glint, a NEIPA hopped with El Dorado from our hometown brewery, Autodidact. I tried it on draught at the brewery on Thursday and really liked it. The fun part about buying cans is that every Saturday my wife and I have breakfast at a coffee shop/diner in our little downtown. In the summer months the Farmer's Market is directly across the street and Autodidact has a booth every Saturday. So I bought my cans yesterday morning from the owner, Ron (actually, there are two owners named Ron), without having to go back to the brewery (even though it's less than a 5 minute drive). As Winston Zeddemore said in Ghostbusters, "I love this town!"

Glint pours a dense, opaque, pastel yellow with a big, fluffy, eggshell-colored head and lots of thick, soapy lacing. The nose is sweet and floral with notes of lemon, pineapple, sweet melon, and vanilla cream. It features El Dorado hops which provide notes of lemon, lime, and stone fruit. I'm not aware that it's oated but there is a soft, creamy sweetness to compliment the citrus. The malt base is firm but hardly noticeable. There is subtle, clean bitterness throughout. I really enjoy the mouth feel: it's luxuriously creamy for 6.6% ABV and it drinks incredibly easily. The best word I can use to describe it is "plush." This ale is just a pleasure to drink.

4.3/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

I still pinch myself that we have a brewery this close that brews beer this good. Since it opened in March, Autodidact has specialized in IPAs so I'm interested to see what they brew in the fall. I know they're working on a Märzen and I'm looking forward to the first big Stout.

Cheers, NBW and have a great week, everyone!

 

I think slowly more will attempt them, I’ve had a few now from smaller places, one local, two from @FBarber and of course the Schlenkerla one that I enjoyed quite a bit. Maybe that one is by you or will be soon hopefully.

 

Yeah, I can get some Schlenkerla, but that can be a little spotty. Hoping their version hits the shelf, I would love that.

 

I was in Maine for vacation this month and have an international trip coming up. I travel quite a bit domestically and will finally be able to take a long desired trip to the Munich Oktoberfest. I get to see Bayern Leverkusen at Bayern Munich followed by opening day at Oktoberfest. Dreams do happen. So, I think I’ll schedule a global entry interview . I hate waiting in lines. Tried to schedule it locally 6+ months and none of the places on my travel list had availability . I schedule a meeting in Calais ( say callous) Maine. It is friggin up there ! Four hour drive one way from Boothbay Harbor and I arrive early. The border guards thankfully agree to se me 2 hours ahead of schedule. I pass the interview ( there should be NO question about that) and am told standard processing is 4-6 weeks. The border guard tells me that they process faster and it’s typically 3-5 weeks . I am ahead of schedule and travel across the border to grab an assorted six pack of local beers . Back across the border and on to this review

@snaotheus your beer came from this trip

Got my global entry card 8 days after my interview , ready for Germany!



Yes, that is a rainbow, thunderstorms just rolled thru

Yippee Ipa by Picaroons Brewing

3.68/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Brewers notes: an east coast style India pale ale that weaves intense hop bitterness and aroma throughout a blanket of malt backgrounds.this beer may change slightly from catch to batch as we explore the various interpretations of the style

First brewed in 2006, before the days of this whole IPA craze. The name Yippee IPA actually existed before the beer was ever brewed. We knew we needed a solid IPA to back that solid name, and thus Picaroons’ first entry into the IPA world was born.


COLOUR
GOLD
IBU
85
ALCOHOL VOLUME
6.5%
FLAVOUR
GRAPEFRUIT, CITRUS
HOPS
CASCADE, AMARILLO, SORACHI ACE
MALTS
MARITIME MALT , CRYSTAL, WHEAT

Translucent honey amber liquid capped by a yellowish solid frothy two finger foam crown. Settles to a solid layer, spotty lacings

Aroma is floral over a malty base

Taste is earthy with a orange rind citrus hop presence

Big hop bite. Smooth beer

Good beer



under the watchful of Tuukka the Uber- hund

 

I have a couple of beers today from the Sam Adams fall Beer Fest mix pack, a mix pack which does not include Boston Lager, which I did not think was possible (a Sam mix pack with no BL).

I think the beer nerd world poles just flipped.

This first one I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy. I have my reservations about #2, but let’s tackle this Munich dunkel first.





3.79/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Pours a crystal clear amber color with a foamy, substantial light tan head that provides spotty lacing. It’s gorgeous to look at in the glass after the initial pour.

The nose features toasted bread, caramel, and a subtle nut aroma with just a smidge of grassy hops, but they’re all just a little ….. muted, which I find with a lot of Sam beers.

The toasted bread flavor is forward on the taste and very nice, especially followed by the caramel and nutty flavors, and that same smidge of grassy hops. Very nice.

The mouthfeel is surprisingly full and crisp, serving the beer well. If this was offered in 6ers, I’d pick one up along with a 6er of Sam Oktoberfest fest, and enjoy them both in the fall. Very nice, approachable beer, IMHO.

 

#2, my reservations were warranted.





2.9/5 rDev -8.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3
Pours an unfiltered burnished copper color with a slightly creamy off white head that provides no lacing. The nose smells like a watery cola soda, with maybe a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon.

This does not bode well for what is supposed to be a pumpkin beer.

The taste has a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, but it settles at the back of the palate like a slightly flat cola. The mouthfeel, though, is surprisingly crisp.

This is a beer the fine folks at The Boston Beer Company should never brew again, IMHO. They have other beers they can place in the fall mix pack, like the festbier or Boston Lager