New Beer Weekend #163

New anthem the dice are loaded. Fantastic hazy dipa. Aromas and flavors of huge red grapefruit, tangerine, peach, passion fruit, pineapple, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus rind, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earth. Medium pine/rind bitter finish. Medium plus carb and body. Balanced creamy bready malts and sticky resinous hops. Long resinous drying finish with mild astringency. Super dank mosaic hops all the way through with a lot of balance between juiciness and earthy/piney characters. My favorite hop and it is Intense buckets of dry hops. 4.25


Cheers

 

Hello again all, I try to test out new to me stouts and in this case I am glad I did.

I know that they can do good stouts, sadly this is not one of them. It’s not horrible at all but it’s like breakfast cereal was still in the beer.
The pour was really nice actually, gave me hope. Stout black with a light brown head that stood tall and proud.
The aroma was lost on me.
The taste was chocolate, not dark chocolate, not cocoa, but chocolate cereal. No idea how they managed that.
The feel was fine, nice viscosity. The grainy impression might have been just my imagination.
OA, glad I tried it before presenting it to my stout appreciation group.

 

Ushitora Lightline LRT Golden Ale

365ml can served in a footed pilsner glass. Can is stickered with something that says 23.02[Japanese character]18. Bought it at a liquor store in Utsunomiya, Japan last Monday (their time).

Pours a slightly hazy light yellow with a medium sized head that fades out pretty quickly, leaving a thick dusting and a very thick ring. Lots of active carbonation. Smell is lemons, bread dough, biscuits, grass, some more lemon.

Taste is bready and lemon, more on the doughy side, fairly sweet but not overwhelming, fairly mild overall.

Mouthfeel is thick but not heavy. Overall, pretty nice beer.

 

Closing out my Saturday with Bottle Logic’s “Number Crunch” (2022) an imperial stout aged in Bourbon Barrels with Madagascar Vanilla Beans and finished with Filipino Cacao Nibs:




Frothy dark tan head; poor cap retention; no ring nor lace; no legs; black body with ruby edges; no legs on swirl. Chocolate and vanilla nose; a whiff of bourbon as beer warms. Taste follows nose; loads of chocolate/bitter sweet chocolate; vanilla on backend. Silky smooth feel; medium body, moderate minus carbonation; no warmth from 13% abv. Overall a tasty chocolate/lite bourbon impy stout, but, this is an expensive beer that is underwhelming for its price point.

4.0 | 4.0 | 4.25| 4.0 | 4.0
Score: 4.2 rDev -8.5%

I’d gladly drink again, but won’t purchase…Cheers!

 

I forgot to post the back for @JackHorzempa


All the beers in Japan seem to at least have some legalese in Japanese on them, too

 

Saw that Friday, might have to pull the trigger. Was yours refrigerated or room temp where you purchased it?

 

I’m gonna miss that hood for nothing crappy can glass

 

Sorry to hear it wasn't up to expectations, but really that brewery overall is something I missed since moving to NC. BA sumo Sumatra, slamnesia, and pretty much any sour smoothie related thing are amazing of note. Red raspberry gose also I randomly met a rep from the brewery in fillmore 13 when I lived in Waterford. Always loved whatever they were doing up to 2020.

Have a good Sunday. I am still up in Wilmington watching the oceans eleven marathon on tbs. Got some good edibles and vapes down the road so it's been chill. They have just started the first episode of family matters which doesn't have urkle yet. Going to the beach and a brewery later. Been my 3rd beach weekend in the month. Great outlook on work projects and I have plenty of tests to do. Things can only go up from here. Mental health in check

My month of books had been wonderful. I love Tom Clancy and I need to read more neil Stephenson fantasy novels.


New beer is R&D imperial seven Saturdays dipa. Canned 6/27/23. This was really good overall. Aromas are a bit of musty vegetable with citrus and stone fruit. Taste of grapefruit, lemon peel, citrus rind, peach, pear, passionfruit, mango, honeydew melon, peppercorn, pine, cracker, toast, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earthiness. Medium pine rind bitter finish. Medium plus body; balanced creamy bready malts and sticky resinous hop mouthfeel. Lingering resin dryness and minimal hop astringency. For being mosaic and Citra hops, this is a lot stronger on stone fruit and piney earthy hop than I expected. Mild warming 9.5%. Really well done hazyish style. 3.88


Cheers

 

Couple of beers from a local brewery, Utepils.

Utepils Anniversary Pilsner

Appearance: Clear yellow, ok head at first but poor retention.

Smell: Grains, hay.

Taste: Pretty sweet arrival, honeyed bread, balanced with a little grassiness and tingly bitterness. Mouthfeel is coating and syrupy, low carbonation.

Overall: From a mixed 12 pack of Utepils, this is a decent pils. Maybe a little too much on the sweet side and feels like a heavier beer, kind of bock-like.

Utepils Hoppestokk
Appearance: Clear gold, ok head.

Smell: Mild, maybe a bit of grain.

taste: A little grain then a moderate vegetal hoppiness. Not really citrus, not grassy, hard to define. Balanced with the grains but leans to the hoppy side.

Overall: Number 2 from Utepils mix pack. First can seemed to be a little more dortmunder-like, this can seems to be an Americanized hoppy lager. Well, they call it a hoppy lager and it is! Enjoyable and thirst-quenching.

 

Picked it up in Central jersey. It was kept in the fridge,tasted good to me

 

Nice thrifting! I got most of my cool glasses from thrift stores, the exceptions, of course, are the truly cool ones from NBW BIF people. Still don’t have a stange though, just not finding them anywhere locally.

 

I recently had the BA Sumo Sumatra and was quite impressed with it. Other beers I have tried from them have been solid, which is why I gave this one a try- A bridge too far for them maybe? It’s certainly chocolatey but just not in a good way. Mox nix, I won’t hold it against them but I wouldn’t buy this one again. Cheers!

 

Good morning, BAs. Trying to get some work done in advance of the big Arsenal / Man United game later this morning, but no reason not to enjoy a beer while I do it.

This is Avalonia Overture, from Fox Farm. I only picked up two bottles of this back in 2020 when it was bottled, which I immediately regretted after hearing great things about it. It's finally time to open my only bottle (the other was sent in a BIF) and see what the hype is all about.

Here's how it's described by Fox Farm: Avalonia: Overture loosely takes its inspiration from Bière de Coupage, an historic method of blending old and young beer – in this case, with 60% of the blend being pulled from various barrel aged mixed culture beers (including elements from our Farmhouse Ale program) and 40% being pulled from a single cask of spontaneously fermented ale from our '19/'20 winter brewing season. Blended for balance and flavor, Overture is infinitely drinkable with minimal thought but can also beckon your attention with notes of stone fruit, citrus pith, hay and a bright clean acidity.

4.47/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
B1 (2020). Beautiful bright, translucent straw color. Loads of visible carbonation created plenty of fizzy white head that receded to a consistent thin cap.

Aroma is lemongrass, hay, oak and general funk.

Taste is wonderful. I'm not blind to my biases (both style and brewery) that could be at play here, but this is absolutely fantastic. Light citrus hits the tongue up front, which is then followed by a wonderfully complex mélange of flavors that defy proper description. What I can get is light oak, hay and light funk. Crisp, light and very easy to drink.

Overall, this is fantastic. The one word I keep coming back to in my head is 'delicate'. Nothing is in your face. Everything shows up discretely. You can drink it without thinking about it and it's delicious, but if you pay attention you pick up all sorts of little notes. Wonderful beer.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Busy as always, great weekend but the temps are getting cranked this week starting today. I am laying low and gonna stay cool.

Had this yesterday, and forgot to post it here, so I'll just add this to my new beer weekend.

Astrolab was sold and now there is a "new" brewery in it's place in the same location called Third Hill. So I am checking out the wares.

Here's one of many I am sure new beers I'll be having from this brewery. So far the track record is on point. The head brewer from Astrolab is also hired on full time, and in reference.. here's the latest.

Thank You Matt (New England IPA) - Third Hill Brewing



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Amber to chestnut brown body color, with an opaque appearance and managing to stay away from turbidity. Giant forming bellowing rich bright white head, tall as an easy three fingers plus, with thick cling and retention. Holds on for dear life, with a bold darkness that is surprisingly unexpected.

Ripping tropical pineapple like hops, with a super dank earthy undertone on first sniff. Aroma builds with more of the dankness taking over that it nearly builds to smoke like quality. Juicy sensing, with mild sensing sweet undertones which make for a good cut through the earthy power. Very impressive nose.

An impressive palate with a basic mouthfeel. Rich sensing tropical juice with minimized sweetness. Light bodied almost bordering on wet, but with more hinting fruit forward hops, getting into citrus and lime. Finishes fleeting with a faint hint of powdery flour and dryness, but continues some bitter earth that makes for excellent balance and contrast.

Solid IPA, just wish it had a bit more body, but not much to complain about here.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25 | Overall: 4.29

Cheers

Well definitely so far it looks like Matt is keeping the standards rolling so looks like good times so far.