New Beer Weekend #161

I read that post and was hoping it would remind you to open things up for us this weekend…

Insert Oz…

 

Good morning everyone, and thank you @AzfromOz for your always fun to read openings and reviews. This weekend I will feature two from my first BA trade ever, with the Good Doctor @DoctorZombies aka David, and a nice morning appropriate style.

Big Timber Porter



Can Notes: Obtained via trade with David BA @DoctorZombies May 11, refrigerated since until today. Best by September 16, 2023, assuming a six month shelf life, but not positive.16 oz can, 6.5% ABV, Porter. Created, brewed and canned by Big Timber Brewing Company at 2 Davis Avenue, Elkins, West Virginia. Chocolate Coffee Balanced

Appearance: Poured the first half of the can into a shaker pint glass, the rest after a few ounces remained in the first pour. Dark brown to black impenetrable base, bubbly darkish tan bubbly head lingers for a few minutes before settling on a creamy cover above the base and a nominal amount of isolated lacing. 4.25

Aroma: Strong and wonderful dark roasted malt, roast coffee and milk plus dark chocolate. Exactly as advertised, on point and very enticing. 4.5

Taste: Tastes as great as the aroma indicates, just a wonderful blend of roast malt, nice hoppy bitterness, roast dark roast coffee and would note defiantly a milk chocolate sweetness coming together in a balanced blend that's hitting the spot. Bringing me back to menthol cigarettes which are a wonderful taste memory for me. Only had an English bitter with similar characteristics I can recall, and love that beer as well. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Creamy medium body, soft carbonation feel, enjoyable easy drinking, feels light and easy like a session beer, though getting a bit of pushback going into the second half. Very nice balance, the flavors burst but all play extremely well together, light to mild dryness, the roast malt, coffee and menthol flavors linger joyfully. 4.75

Overall: I really like Porters, but this one while anticipated to be a very good beer blew away my expectations. Definitely a top porter for me, perhaps my favorite in the style and among my favorite beers I've tried period. Really held up well refrigerated over 4-5 months. I can't think of a thing I'd change with this beer. Thank you so much David! I definitely have a starting point in terms of breweries to hit the next time I'm fortunate to return to God's Country, West Virginia. 4.75

I've received many great beers during my May trades, but this may be my top score with perhaps a dozen more left to review. I have a WCIPA, also from David and also from West Virginia planned for tomorrow. Until then, I wish you all a similar experience.

Cheers!

 

Another excellent opening from @AzfromOz . Opened early and I like that.

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 8/04/23. Pours an attractive hazy yellow orange with a finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.5

Aroma is white grapes, peach, mandarin, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows white grape, peach, mandarin, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle almost creamy carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 7% it has a ton of flavor, but goes down easy. 4.5

Overall this is really well made and a very nice use of Nelson. I would recommend for sure 4.25 Cheers all.

 

Greetings fellow beer nerds. @AzfromOz thanks for kicking us off, and @Shanex great to see you back in the NBW forum.

My first beer today comes courtesy of @Coronaeus who has sent me a ridiculous amount of great beer from north of the border over the last few years. This one is the Dulce de Leche variant of the classic Peche Mortel from Dieu du Ciel

Color is cola brown on the pour before settling into a deeper brown / black in the glass. Minimal head, but good lacing & legs. While the aroma isn't overly complex, coffee with a hint of caramel sweetness suits me just fine.

Taste is very, very coffee forward. While I'm not a coffee drinker (in fact, I've never even tried coffee), I typically enjoy it quite a bit in beer, which is a good thing because this tastes a lot like what I imagine black coffee tastes like. Interestingly, while I got some sweetness on the nose, I have to strain to detect it on the tongue. Maybe a little shows up on the mostly bitter roast finish.

Overall, I'm definitely enjoying it, but would have appreciated a hair more depth / complexity to the beer. That said, it's taken no time at all to drink the first half of this, which if I put aside all the formal "look, smell, taste, feel" stuff may be a better true reflection of how much I'm enjoying it.

 

Two heads are better than one – part deux

Last weekend I discussed a collaboratively (Sierra Nevada & Kehrwieder) brewed Oktoberfest/Festbier. This week I have another collaboratively brewed Festbier from Sly Fox and Dewey Beer Co which they branded as Helles Fest. Maybe because they figured what the hell(es)?

I know Sly Fox brewing very well and after taking a VIP tour last week I know them even better. But I had to do a bit of research to learn about Dewey Brewing:

“Dewey Beer Co.

When you think about Dewey Beer Company, think local….Your beer will travel 30 feet or less from the barrel it was brewed in to your glass, which means it will be fresh. The beach is only one block from the brewery. And it is mere feet from Dewey Beach mainstays like The Starboard, Bottle & Cork and Hammerheads.

Address: 2100 Coastal Highway Dewey Beach, DE 19971”

https://www.visitdelaware.com/listings/dewey-beer-co/5705

Well, in my youth I spent a number of drunken evenings at the Bottle & Cork so I am familiar with that area. I even had a chance to see Buckwheat Zydeco perform there.

To the best of my knowledge this is the first time that Sly Fox has produced a non-amber Oktoberfest; the Sly Fox Oktoberfest (which is amber) is my preferred Oktoberfest beer every season.

A description of this Helles Fest beer from the Sly Fox website:

“Helles Fest

Lager - Pale

• 6.4% ABV

• 20 IBU

A collaborative celebration with our excellent friends at Dewey Beer Company, Helles Fest combines the reliability of a Helles with the sportiness of a Pilsner, and the capacity of a Bock. C'mon down to Helles Fest where we've got the lager for YOU!”

What!?! Three beers (Helles/Pilsner/Bock) in one!?!

I can sorta see the Bock angle given the 6.4% ABV. But at 20 IBUs this is no Pilsner IMO? Well, let’s drink this beer and see what we shall see.

Served in my Sly Fox Bock Fest mug:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a BIG white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is mostly a sweet-ish Pilsner malt.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with mostly a sweet-ish Pilsner malt flavor. There is a low bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a medium carbonation level. There is an off-dry finish.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer, it is very good. It is malt forward and definitely a Pale Oktoberfest/Festbier beer.

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

While I’ve generally liked the Peché Day variants over the years, they are never as good as the original or the BBA version to my tastes. Glad you are enjoying it. Cheers!

 

I was beginning to think my local bottle shop was never going to get any Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest, when it appeared just this week. As well as some other Oktoberfests/Festbiers. Today I'll go with Sierra Nevada.
Copper color, small white head, active carbonation,
Not much on the nose. Fruity, some floral hops.
Citrus and caramel in the taste. Some hop bitterness.
Medium-bodied, very drinkable.

 

Up next is another Peche Mortel variant courtesy of @Coronaeus, this time with Kumquats.

I hate rating the appearance of stouts, as the body of 95% of them look identical, and this is no exception (i.e. it's duper dark brown / black). The head is usually the only differentiator for me, and in this case, there's not a ton of it, but there is a persistent coffee ice cream colored ring and as I drink it down, there's very nice lacing.

Aroma is oddly muted. I just drank the Dulce de Leche version a couple hours ago and it was super coffee / roast forward on the nose, whereas this has hints of chocolate and roast, but they are faint and there is some diacetyl coming through.

Taste is very reminiscent of the base beer, with roasted malts accented by coffee combining very well. While I wouldn't be able to identify the kumquat blind (I possess nowhere near that level of skill) it certainly must be what's contributing to the light citrus acidity on the finish. Creamy, full body.

Overall, the base beer is obvious here with the kumquats adding a slight twist. Very tasty.

What really stood out was how different this was than the Dulce de Leche version from earlier today. This is much more reminiscent of the base beer. I can't help but wonder what caused the DdL version to be so much more coffee forward / bitter. Side by side you would never know they were the same base beer. Both were enjoyable, just very different with the difference not seeming to have anything to do with the dulce de leche vs. kumquats.

 

Harpoon Flannel Friday Red-Amber Ale, 5.7% - a smooth operator! Cheers!



Look: Beautiful mahogany amber with a thick, creamy, tan head.
Aroma: Pecan tart and betel nut - delightful!
Taste: Pecan tart, nutty, shortbread cookie, mild hoppy finish.
Feel: So soft and round, creamy foam - a Smooth Operator.
Overall: What a surprise - this is one to try if you see it!

When I was young we had a work-friend's family from New Delhi, India briefly live with us while their new house was being prepared. They gave me a fondness for Indian spices, and taught me to shave a betel nut. Betel nut has a distinct smell you never forget - plus you use a really cool nut-cracker with a blade tool to shave little slivers. This beer reminds me of betel nuts, and that I miss them. Protsaahit Karana!

 

Funny I bought one for today, or tomorrow, too!!! I’m pretty excited for it.

 

My work schedule got out of hand last week and I missed my NBW fix. Thankfully, I made it back for this week.

Continuing with my stash of new-to-me Jack's Abby beers, today I have a grain-forward landbier that highlights NY with locally-grown, floor-malted Pilsner and spelt malts. I wish more breweries would focus on the grain and less on (seemingly more often these days wacky) end flavors to help support crop diversity and local growers. I know Allagash has a huge campaign on Maine-grown grain, but I don't know a lot of others who do so (or at least who are public about it). It's great when your beer dollars can support not just a local brewer, but an entire local beer supply chain.

Jack's Abby Gold & Grain
5.4% landbier

Pours a medium yellow with a one-finger white head that dissipates to a coating.

Aromas of pale malt with a bit of honey sweetness and something a bit earthier, like freshly baked dark bread. Even after warming, I'm not getting much on the nose.

The taste is a wonderful explosion of grain. I get the expected cracker and white bread from the Pilsner malt, but then a more rounded, fuller grain character comes through expressed as brown bread with honey, toasted bread, and raw cereals. After this assault of grainy goodness, your mouth is treated to a mild hop bitterness that lingers pleasantly on the non-dry finish.

Nice carb makes it feel fuller bodied than it probably is and lends a nice smooth feel to the beer.

Overall, this is a really good beer. The spelt gives a depth of flavor to the malt profile that I'm struggling to describe. It's like the difference between fresh baked bread and store bought sliced white bread. Even though both are pretty much the same thing, one just tastes so much better.

 

Tonewood is a south jersey brewery that very much focuses on local grain, you’d like them.

Lots of their beer features Rabbit Hill Malt, it is a south jersey farm and malt house. People love to hate but we’re still very much the garden state, specifically south jersey.

The Seed is another NJ brewery that uses them and I believe that they use almost all their lager grain from them. They don’t distro though and their beer is quite pricey so I have less experience with them.

If you were interested…

https://www.rabbithillmalt.com/

 

Not to put words in your mouth but...

I have yet to brew using Spelt Malt but a number of Malthouses that produce Spelt Malt use a descriptor of "nutty" to describe their products. Does the term "nutty" resonate with you?

Cheers!

 

Thanks for sharing this--exactly what we need more of in the craft beer scene. I'm a strong believer that we need to find every way we can to revive small and medium scale American farming, and this is a particularly tasty way to do so. While global commodity markets are great to spread out the ups and downs of harvests in different regions, being reliant on other countries for staple foods is pretty terrifying when you really think about it. So let's grow less corn for ethanol and cattle feed, and more grains, fruit, and veg for eating and drinking. /end_rant

Yes, that's what I was looking for! Now that I'm on the last couple fingers of beer and it has warmed to room temps, it is more noticeable. I find it similar to the earthy nuttiness that you get with a good English brown ale but with a Pilsner malt profile.

I'm hoping this is still in stock when I go to pick up the festbier--definitely need more than the single I grabbed.

 

Happy Saturday y’all! Courtesy of a summer trade with my pal @ChicagoJ, I’m drinking “Loophole Technicality” by Hop Butcher for the World, Chicago IL. A DIPA (7.5%) hopped with Amarillo, Strata & Galaxy:



Hazy deep gold pour with some clarity under one finger of frothy mixed bubbles white foam; ok cap retention; solid ring; soapy lace. Nose is tropical fruit/pineapple; slight dankness as beer warms. Pineapple, passionfruit, strawberry, peach, melon; firm malt base; no bitterness, yet not sweet. Creamy soft mouthfeel; moderate minus carbonation; no astringency; no alcohol warmth; juicy medium full body. Overall, great balance, great feel, great taste; totally crushable; I could easily drink two of these “hazies” in a row.

4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5
Score: 4.42 rDev + 1.1%

Thanks Jason - this is a great Chicago area IPA! Cheers Y’all!

 

I might be in the lead for degenerate new beer drinker of the day. If so, I'll wear that badge with pride. Up next is Queen of the Season, a saison from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales sent my way from @Dimidiata.

In short, this is fantastic.

Beautiful beer. Straw in color when held up to the light, changing to more of a light yellow / orange in normal light. Loads and loads of dense, foamy white head with outstanding retention and lacing. Pushing a 4.75 in terms of how this looks.

Aroma isn't far behind the appearance in terms of quality. Funk, straw, fruity esters and yeast combine really, really well. For my personal preference, this a very, very appealing beer.

Taste is less funky than the nose, but the fruity esters give off an almost hefeweizen quality with lemony saison notes mixed in. Low acidity and not getting much in the way of oak from the foaders. Very light, lively and easy drinking.

Thanks, Christine. Really enjoying this.