New Beer Weekend #161

Tonight's victim is from Jack's Abby and apparently hits a new style for me.



Czech Pale 11, a Czech pale lager...ok that sounds weird...redundant.

Pours a deep gold color, absolutely crystal clear. Tight half inch of foam that falls and leaves nothing behind.

The smell is very bready malt with a layer of herbal, earthy hops. There's a touch of vague fruitiness.

Nothing in the smell prepared me for the taste. It opens bready malt heavy and there is an immediate bitterness I was not expecting. Rolled into the bitterness, there's flavors very much like Noble hops. The bitter fades, exposing some lemon, herbal spice, earthy, a little floral bit. It's like a chord where there's a huge clash of bitter that resolves into initially hidden flavors. It's different. Eventually there's a bit of peppery spice.

Medium bodied, mildly carbonated.

Ok...not quite sure what to make of it. I'm finding it interesting as the flavor does whatever its doing. It seems to meet the style parameters and it's well made. I'm not sure if these are the impressions I should have expected or not. I'm thinking around a 4, maybe a little less.

 

Back for more, finally! Had a fun day with the kiddos at the Living Planet Aquarium and picking 2gal of blackberries at my in laws.

Mother Earth - Project X: New Horizons



Purchased from the dabc for about $4

Poured at fridge temp into a dumb can glass(still working on a endearing name for it )

Pours true hazy tropical pog-ish juicy orange with a loose and fluffy white foam head. 4

Aroma is dank forward with what I could swear is a hint of bright pink bubblegum. Followed by more dark and dank earthy hops. 4

Delightfully bitter forward (not something I find myself saying often) stonefruit pit, some citrus rind and light but noticable booze. 4

Moderate prickling carbo, juicy with a bit of froth. 3.75

Overall a nice richly bitter IPA I'd enjoy again. 4

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Very late to the party, yet again due to work. Thank goodness we're REQUIRED to close at 6 on Sunday, because to the clown that wanted to come and buy something at 5:59:30, you're SOL!

Also, since @superspak was talking about battleships, I visited this one back in 2011

USS North Carolina. I was running through the ship like a kid, and my friend was struggling to keep up in the 100 degree day. It was fun, and I'd love to go back sometime to see it again.

I am pooped after today, and will enjoy my weekend that starts now. How? With a new beer, and one that went down way too fast for the ABV.


Black Butte XXXV - Deschutes Brewing - Imperial Porter - 11% ABV

There's just a slight bit of heat to it from the ABV, but how the heck did I down it so fast? At least I have 3 more to enjoy, but not today. I must have needed a beer.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/637205/

4.48/5 rDev +6.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
From a bottle packaged on 06/07/23

Nice hiss upon opening with a bit of smoke coming out of the bottle. This beer pours pitch black, and even when I hold it up to light, nothing comes through. The head is thick at 3 fingers, and extremely long lasting. How can the head last this long in an 11% Imperial Porter? Once it finally dissipates, it leaves a nice bit of lacing on the glass.
The aroma is quite powerful. I get tons of caramel, chocolate, molasses, coffee, plum, raisin, vanilla and cherry. These aromas are well balanced, and work very well together.
Wow, the flavor the cherries start it off and linger throughout. They fade a bit as the rest of the crew comes into play. Lots of chocolate, caramel, dark fruit, molasses, coffee all work their way into the party. The finish is where the vanilla shines as it works with the cherries. There's a tartness from the cherries that cuts into the sweetness that this style can have. It provides a nice counter balance.
Thick and full bodied overall, not Imperial Stout levels, but very full for a Porter. Getting the faintest hint of heat from the alcohol. Smooth feeling.
Overall this is an astounding beer, in a good way. Quite happy and impressed with it.


I should have another review in me tonight. Cheers all!

 

Happy NBS all! Finally get to check in with my dinner beer:

Poured the requisite opaque and the head was impressive with its retention and lacing. The aroma lost on my nose, sorry. The taste wasn't standard NE IPA, much more west coast in piney flavors with very little citrus - and oddly enough, it really worked well.
The feel was soft, almost smooth - no "bits" or floaters.
OA, this is much better than I expected, I rather enjoyed it. Many time 3F tends to go crazy, and maybe this is crazy but if so, it's one that worked.
Cheers all!

 

Samuel Adams Hoppy Lager - Pours from a bottle (BB Jan 2024) a clear yellow, nice head, moderate carbonation. Smell is Lager-y and hoppy. Taste is good and drinks bigger than 30 IBUs and 4.8% and it's crisp, refreshing and hoppy and reminds me of Victory Homegrown Lager or Yuengling IPL (RIP to both) and I wish there more things like this around: Lagers that are hoppy but not too big and heavy. Pilsners fit the bill but they have a distinct flavor profile to me and it would be nice to be able to switch it up from time to time. Solid beer, would drink again. Budmo!

 

Fresh picked blackberries are a thing of beauty, and that sounds like a long, fun, and tiring kind of day.

Lovely write up on this one...a palate homerun on NBW.

That beer was such a good one

 

All right, back for round 2, and it's one that I've been seeing here a lot lately, though, it does feel so wrong drinking this in August.


Oktoberfest - Sierra Nevada - 6% ABV

I do like interesting Oktoberfest beers. I am a huge fan of the one that Valkyrie Brewing in Dallas, WI makes, which is a smoked Oktoberfest (First Saturday in October is their Fest). I have had other interesting ones from Lost Sanity, and Trap Rock Brewing.

This one is hoppy, but not in a bad way, like the last O-fest that was hoppy. It's hoppy, earthy, and grassy. Lots of cereal, biscuit and caramel. This is damn good. If I still didn't have so much beer, I'd gladly get more. This old man had better clear out the fridge, because the Dallas Oktoberfest is coming fast.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/657725/


4.06/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a can dated 071023

The beer is fairly light golden in color. I may have been a bit aggressive with the pour, though I didn't intend to be. Thick, 1 hand white head. Obviously, it is going to take several attempts to pour this beer. The head does dissipate fairly fast, and does leave some lacing on the glass. The beer is fairly clear looking with lots of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass.
Malty nose with notes of biscuit and caramel on it.
Oh, wow! This is a unique Oktoberfest. I am getting a lot of hops in this beer, and it adds some bitterness, but this works here. I also get a grassy, somewhat wild flavor in this beer. Yeah, I get a lot of cereal and biscuit with caramel, but the other flavor profiles really take this to the next level.
The body is decent, and the bitterness from the hops cover my throat is a bit of a resin feeling.
I had another Oktoberfest that was quite hoppy, and it was a mess. This one is also hoppy, but is damn good. They made a great beer here.


Ok, I think I'm done here with new beers tonight. I may pop over to WBAYDN with something else. Cheers till nest weekend all!

 

Next up

Level Crossing - In the Pines



No canning date. Purchased at the grocer for about $1.85

Poured at fridge temp into an unfortunate can glass (liking this name for it)

Pours a fairly bright and hazy orange with a loose foam head that settled into a thin ring and no cap. 3.75

Spicy hop aroma and slight pine. Some melon rind as well. 3.75

Hops follow on the buds, with accompanying citrus and melon. 3.75

Nicely juicy and sessionable. 4

Overall a good session beer that's fairly big on flavor. 4

 

@jonphisher

Definitely a long day, if only I was homebrewing those berries into something myself!

 

Taj Mahal premium lager beer

pay attention you “serious beer connoisseurs”!



Brewers notes: Taj Mahal is the beer for the serious connoisseur. The label on the bottle depicts the heavenly beauty of its namesake. As is appropriate, Taj Mahal is brewed from only the finest water, grain, hops and yeast. It is a delicious and refreshing drink to the utmost! A cool, tall, six hundred and fifty milliliter bottle of Taj Mahal is the best way to refresh after a long day of work… or with a particularly spicy meal. Taj Mahal is as monumental among the beers of the world as its namesake is to the country of India.

First Indian beer, gift from my well intended brother in law who knows I like craft beers …I appreciate the attempt

Clear golden liquid , occasional carbonation streams , three finger frothy white foam crown, spotty lacings

Aroma is faint grains

Taste is beer flavored water

Clean crisp mouthfeel

Lawn mower beer on a hot summer day , the brewers notes are definite hyperbole from Hydrabad, would go well with hot spicy food

 

One of my favorites and I was saddened to see it go. But occasionally it's on tap at their breweries so when I see it I'm sure to get it, doing my part to hopefully bring it back

 

A little something for the end of the weekend, during a nice spell on the patio after the chores and before dinner:



Woodland Empire Long Ride Premium Pilsner
16-ounce can purchased at ABV Public House in Hillsboro, OR. Date stamp reads "1126 CANNED 07/13/2023". Poured in a UK tulip-style half-pint glass.

Look:
Hazy yellow gold capped with a loose head of bright white foam that shrinks to a tenacious skin and a patchy collar. The foam leaves good lacing.

Smell:
Clean, slightly toasty Pilsner malt with an undercurrent of floral hops, a whiff of yeast, and a touch of sulfur.

Taste:
Opens with soft, doughy malt flavor. Good depth to the malt, nice and clean, not too sweet. The floral hop character which was delicate in the nose becomes more prominent on the breath through the middle. Delicious. Spicy noble hop flavors provide bite and a welcome counterpoint to the soft malt. The finish is malty with a bit of cereal character and a gentle but enduring bitterness.

Feel:
Medium-light-bodied with a smooth, round texture and lively carbonation. Finish is crisp and quenching.

Overall:
I've had a handful of beers from Woodland Empire over the years and they've all been solid at best. But I would happily drink this one again. While I wish the flavors were a bit stronger overall, that's a quibble, and it won't stop me from drinking this one again if I get the opportunity. A tasty, well-made Pilsner from a brewery I will try not to underestimate again.

 

I’m back for my nightcap beer and I grabbed what I thought was going to be a pastry stout from the cellar: Off Color Dino S’mores Imperial Stout.

Poured stout black but was completely missing any head at all. There was carbonation, so not sure what caused the lack of foam:
The aroma was lost on my Covid damaged nose.
The taste- I will admit that I grabbed this from the cellar thinking it was a dessert stout and I suppose technically it is. But it wasn’t sweet.
The marshmallow/vanilla was the strongest non stout flavor with chocolate rather getting buried in the malt mix. There was a brief foray into graham cracker territory but it was very short lived.
None of the additives provided a sweetness that was expected from the name but all were present.
Well crafted I’d say, unless, of course, they were going for pastry stout.

 

damn it

 

4Hands Brewery Thiolized Incarnation IPA, 7.0% ABV; 4.06 overall

Pours a slightly hazed honey color with 2 fingers of pearl colored head. Pretty good head retention & lacing

S: Grassyness, citrus, green melon & papaya & passion fruit, some doughyness once warm

T: Guava, papaya, green melon, a little sweet orange, some dryness, a whisper of cakeyness/dryness up front. Green melon, dryness, guava & a little tangerine once warm. Finishes with tangerine, papaya, green melon & grassyness

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, nicely balanced

Very drinkable, solid IPA

 

Off the wagon for a bit to catch up on new offerings that came our way in August.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45496/666098/



The end of the "Days Between."
16 ounce can packaged on 08/01/2023,
which would have been my Dad's 99th birthday.
Tasted and reviewed (8/20/23) on the 35th anniversary of his passing.
RIP Vincent V. 8/1/1924-8/20/1988.

Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a slightly hazy,
near bright body with sticky lacing.

Nose of "all the melon."

Taste of "all the melon." Not much bitterness at all,
and upon a warming there is a hint of pear flavor as well.

Moderate feel with medium carbonation.

Overall, not one for all you hazybois, bitterbois, or whatever.
This Foam offering is a nice mellow IPA to pound like there's no tomorrow!

Cheers!!