New Beer Weekend #161

Hey howdy hey NBW! It feels like it's been ages for me having a new beer (not really) though I've had major fomo not having new brews on the weekend to participate.

Sadly I'll be missing Utah Beer Fest this weekend with the wife's tattoo shop grand opening, but I fully prepared this morning with some goods.

Denver Beer Co - Backyard Buzz



Canned 4.28.23

Purchased from grocer for about $1.85

Poured at fridge temp into a dumb can glass

Pours a cloudy and unfiltered pale yellow with an aggressive head that settled into 1F loose foam. 4

Aroma was very faint and hard to pick up off the can and glass. Perhaps too cold off the bat, or a bad sniffer. I do get a slight hint of cereal grain as it warms and some herbal hops. 3.25

Grainy, herbal and earthy honey with low sweetness and a touch of lingering hops. 3.5

Fairly low carbo and slight herbal honey aftertaste. 3.5

Overall I think I need to try this one again from descriptions and other reviews read. It was on the fair side of average and almost unremarkable. Glad to have tried it nonetheless! 3.5

Cheers NBW!

 

If you are going to the brewery, they had plenty of the land bier in the cooler as of a couple of hours ago.

 

Nice to see you back @NorsemanOne

Any feedback on the JA Festbier @kp7 or @LeRose. I may make it a purchase as I know it is around locally at some shops.

 

Good afternoon NBW
I stopped at a recommended, but unfamiliar to me store in Ft Wayne this morning before heading south and found several new to me beers. This is one of those "beers"...

Cook's Light
12oz can stamped 24 146 14:10 and stating its brewed by Copper Mountain Brewing Company Monroe, WI. Can also states "The Best Beer on Earth." The beer pours bright pale gold with nearly white head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and island. The aroma is mild with just a hint of malt. The taste is buttery diacetyl poured over vegetable oil. No bitterness, no malt, no hops. Thin, highly carbonated and totally undry. Overall, truly awful.

There you have it. I have more to come. Cheers all!

 

Let's try this again. I purchased a four pack of this beer in my mom's home town in north western Ohio while visiting my grandparents. My first beer from Masthead. I can't pronounce it, but it's good.

Masthead Svartalfheim Svhwarzbier

16oz canned on 04/05/23 poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 5.3% ABV. The beer pours opaque medium brown with light brown head. The head recedes to an uneven ring and island. Slight lacing. The aroma is mild with nutty & toasted malt more than roasted malt. The taste is bittersweet malt with notes of dark chocolate, nuts, and toasted bread. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, very good to excellent Schwarzbier.

Cheers all!

 

Greetings, New Beer fiends! It is my pleasure to announce that the NW Hop harvest is underway and that means it's time for fresh hop/wet hop beers.



Via Beer Fresh Hop Paradise Waits IPA
12-ounce pour enjoyed at Wildwood Taphouse in Hillsboro, OR. Served in a snifter. The beer features fresh Centennial hops from B&D Farms of St. Paul, OR.

Look:
The body is a deep golden color with a subtle greenish tinge. It's slightly hazy. (Hop haze? A man can dream.) The small head of off-white foam shrinks to a solid ring and a few thin patches. Terrific lacing.

Smell:
Semi-sweet malt which supports a wealth of fruit notes. There's a lot of orange and grapefruit, along with hints of melon, pine resin, weed, and mixed berries. I also get a whiff of green herbal fresh hop character. I hope more comes out as the beer warms.

Taste:
Faithfully aligns with the nose, opening with semi-sweet malt, orange peel, and grapefruit pith. Notes of red Swedish Fish candy well up in the middle, followed by fresh Centennial hop notes of watermelon and a medley of green herbs. Impressive bitterness gathers in the long finish, along with more grapefruit and lingering melon notes.

Feel:
Body is light-medium and a little oily. Bracing carbonation.

Overall:
Via Paradise Waits IPA is my 2nd fresh hop beer of the year. It's a tasty citrus-forward IPA with zesty fruit notes from Cascade, Mosaic, and HBC-586 hops. Fresh Centennial hops provide their signature watermelon Jolly Rancher and bright green notes. I wish the fresh hop character was more prominent but it's still part of a good start to the 2023 hop harvest.

 

I had it two years ago and rated it a 3.96, slightly higher than I have copper legend from the same time. I dont recall many details; both are on my list to sit down and write a proper review of. While their pale, malt-forward lagers have been outstanding recently, I've been drinking from batches off their pilot line purchased fresh and cold from the brewery, so I'm hesitant to say that will translate to large batch and distribution.

With the consistent quality they have, though, I don't think you'll be disappointed, but you might not be thrilled as you likely would be with one of the recent small batch brews.

 

I will be having the Fest of Both Worlds collaboration in a little bit here.

 

My wife worked 14 days straight and as a reward is off with a friend at a weekend music festival in Elora, Ontario. They are ‘glamping.’ Apparently this is the term for luxury camping (a huge canvas tent on a wood platform, full beds, claw foot tub, and room…er…tent service). Therefore, I’m entertaining the kids this weekend. We went to play miniature golf this afternoon, a new found interest of theirs. Now home, with dinner on their plates, I’m cracking into one I’ve been saving for today.

This is Godspeed Brewery (or Pivovar Godspeed) Chmelová Brigáda, a Czech style pale lager with Agnus and Kazbek hops. Im not familiar with either variety, but love everything Godspeed does in lagers. Here we go…



Pours a bright summer gold with ample pillowy white head that dissipates quite slowly and leaves a good deal of lacing as the beer is enjoyed.

The nose has some broad grassy and herbal notes, but also a noticeable lemony/verbena quality that stands above everything else.

That lemony note is present on the sip, but in a very pleasant restrained way. More striking is the spicy, peppery quality that really shines. The finish is significantly bitter. Very nice.

The body is moderate as one might expect. Crisp, spicy finish. Very enjoyable.

This is another winner from Godspeed. I’m glad I bought several and hope to share some in the coming weeks with a BA or two.

Here is the little story about the beer and the name from the side of the label.



Cheers!

 

A couple of new beers for me today, the first is from an iconic brewery in the beer nerd world that takes some hits, but I still enjoy a lot of their stuff. Let’s see where this hoppy lager lands.





3.93/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Pours a crystal clear golden color with a foamy white that provides moderate lacing. This beer is so clear, you can read through it. Beautiful lager.

The nose has some grass, lemon, and white bread, but is a bit muted. It opens up on the taste, with the white bread and grassy notes complementing the substantial lemon notes, which leave a nice lingering bitterness at the back of the palate.

The mouthfeel is fairly crisp, making for a very drinkable beer that would be a great beer to share with others at a football tailgate. Glad I had the opportunity to try this.

 

It is weird @Coronaeus I had never heard of Czech referred to as Czechia, as on that label, until the Hlinka Gretzky Cup was on TV a few weeks ago. It is neat to watch the kids and hear their names knowing that we will hear them in the NHL in just a few probably, at least some of them.

@vurt ever since our trip to Seattle coincided with fresh hop season I can't help but read and check in on that thread you all have going in the PNW forum. What a perfect time for my wife's college roommate to have her wedding, 2 years ago now. Hopefully she renews her vows someday at the same time

Looking forward to reading @LeRose if all goes as planned I'll be opening up a New England beer within the hour, if not it'll be tomorrow

 

Brix city Gloria blonde ale
...cloudy orange/gold appearance with a bit of a lasting head.
...medium light carbonation with about a medium body but overall a nice feel
...aroma is a really nice mix ofreally yeasty crusty bread,malt,dark honey,cereal and perhaps a tiny amount of citrus.
...taste has a very mild sweetness that builds in the aftertaste with the citrus showing up stronger here than in the aroma.
...overall I was pleasantly surprised by how good this is or perhaps it just suits my tastes but it very good

 

Good evening, NBW participants. Stopping by to follow up on my posts from last week. I've had a couple more Live Oak HefeWeizens from the six-pack with mixed success. One was a bit more in line with expectations for an American Hefe, but the one earlier today fell flat like the others.

So, I decided to finally crack open the other offering I got from the brewery, and their Pilz was a bit more of a success.



Starting cold, the look of the beer was pretty on point, though I increased the vigor of my pour to get a decent cap up front. Nose has some sweet grain, grassiness and a splash of citrus when it warms, but the flavor is more in line with what I expect in a Pilsner. The malt come to me as a fluffy honey dinner roll, followed by a little touch of lemon peel, finishing with a diminishing as it warms grass and earth bitterness. Definitely the better of the two beers in my estimation.

Cheers, all!

 

Up next is a beer received courtesy of @jerryfreak. This is AWAS #2 (2019) from Fonta Flora.

From the brewer....The idea for this second bottle came from the slightly lesser-known and obscure world of orange wines. Though orange wines can mean many things, we simply wanted to create a blend that would showcase a stunning orange hue. To achieve this profile, we selected two vastly different mature fruited barrels to blend together. The first barrel contained mature beer that had previously aged on an absurd amount of native and locally grown scuppernong grapes. The second had previously aged on native, Ohio-grown paw paw fruit. The marriage of these fruit barrels created the most beautiful orange color we have ever achieved in a beer.

Pours a clear orange with short-lived, fizzy white head. Aroma is mostly musty funk with non-specific fruit lurking beneath (pawpaw?). While that fruit was subtle on the nose, it's anything but on the tongue. The pawpaw really shines here. The sweetness complements the funk, with the grapes adding a subtle vinous element to the experience. Light bodied with relatively low carbonation.

Overall, very tasty, unique beer. Big fan of the pawpaw.

Thanks, Dave. Really digging this one.

 

#2, at the other end of the beer nerd spectrum, it is my belief that Rev has the best barrel program in the world.

That’s right, I typed that. I commemorated it by breaking out the Masters glass.



4.5/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a slightly cloudy rich brown color with a sudsy tan head that is not interested in lingering. This beer looks hefty in the glass.

Popping the top immediately evokes a coconut note that is courtesy of the oak, and there’s loads of caramel and toffee with some cherry notes as well, and more than a little booze.

The taste is caramel and toffee up front, but quickly slides into the oak, cherries, and bourbon, especially as the beer warms. So smooth and so drinkable at 14.9% ABV, but you are aware at all times that this beer can bite you.

The mouthfeel is rich and edges toward creamy, a perfect sipper. I wish I had more of this, because it is world class, IMHO.