New Beer Weekend #165

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. This afternoon I'm sipping on the latest version of Rushing Duck's Ded Moroz Russian Imperial Stout, "Double Barrel," aged for a year in Makers Mark barrels, then in maple bourbon barrels from Orange County Distillery. It was released at the end of August for the brewery's 11th anniversary. I was enjoying a short pour at the brewery when a yellow jacket committed suicide by diving into my glass. While I'm all for protein, I didn't finish the pour. If memory serves, it seemed more chocolaty, and less boozy, on draught.

Poured at 65°. The color is a very dark walnut and the foamy, medium-mocha cap fizzled away quickly leaving almost no lacing. Its nose is delightful: dark chocolate, nutty char, maple syrup, and soft but noticeable bourbon. The taste is decadently delicious with lots of roasted malt, dark chocolate, caramel, maple syrup, oak, and very subtle notes of dark fruit. The bourbon barrel influence is more pronounced in the taste than the smell. Initially, it came across quite hot but as it breathed in the glass it mellowed somewhat. Also, the initial burst of chocolate fell off as I sipped it. It's boozy for the 11.2% ABV. Unfortunately, it's a little less viscous than I'd expected. Overall, this is an enjoyable variant of Ded Moroz although I rated the original Barrel Aged Ded Moroz higher because of the mouth feel.

4.29/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

I'm glad I bought 4 bottles and I'll probably wait until November to open the next one.

I'll be back shortly with a brand new IPA to cleanse the old palate. Cheers, NBW!

 

New Holland Brewing BBA S'mores Dragon's Milk Reserve Imp Stout, 11.0% ABV; 4.2 overall

Okay slight over pour, effervescent mahogany with a thumb of mocha colored head. Average-ish head retention & lacing

S: Classic S'mores scents

T: Barrel dryness, a with a caramel, marshmallows, & cocoa up front, a little coffee too. More cocoa, marshmallow, slight smokiness, & barrel dryness & some roastyness as this beer warms up. Finishes dry with marshmallow, cocoa & some coffee notes

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, warming

Usually not a huge fan of this flavor in BA Stouts, this seems very natural & unforced

 

Live it up over there!

 

Looks like a blast!

 

Today I have a Czech dark lager from Counter Weight-12 Plato Tmave. (I'm too lazy to find the special characters, just look at the can).
Here is the brewery's blurb-
In Czech, T'mave means dark - and pivo means beer - here you have, you guessed it - Dark beer! Brewed in the Czech tradition, with a long decoction mash schedule, fermented in open top fermenters, and horizontally lagered, T'mave Pivo is our new 4.5% abv Czech Dark Lager beer. CW 12 plato T'mave Pivo offers up a touch of coffee like roastiness with some really nice malt sweetness alongside complimenting nuttiness.

3.93/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Purchased cold at the brewery and refrigerated at home.
Poured from a 16oz stamped ITS PIVOTAL 08/10/23 to a dimpled mug at fridge temp.
The body is as dark as brown can be without being black. A strong tan head looks like it could support a coin, but not for long because it fads to a ring that laces strongly.
The aroma is of slightly burnt brown sugar cookies.
The taste is quite sweet and malty with a hazelnut background. The finish dries out a little, I was hoping for more dryness.
The mouthfeel is light and very drinkable. Carbonation seems aggressive.
This beer is pretty good, but just a little too sweet to be great (for me anyways).

 

Three notchd collaborator ii. Collab With 5 other VA brewery. Franconia German dark lager. Very nice stuff. Aroma and flavors of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread/crust, toast, nuts, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, light diacetyl/yeast earth. Lt med herbal spicy bitter finish. Medium carb and body. Balanced creamy bready malts and sticky hop mouthfeel. Lingering sticky hop drying with no astringency. Very clean lager flavors. A bit fruity/yeasty. Kind of reminds me of a marzen but a bit more fruity? TIL white labs does have a Franconian dark lager yeast. 3.9/5


Cheers

 

Awesome!!! Wishing you heavy lifts and lightened hearts with friends.

 

Greetings, New Beer explorers! Over here in the Pacific Northwest, Fresh Hop season is well underway. I was all set to sit down with a new Fresh Hop beer as the first New Beer of the day, but when I opened the beer crisper a brand new festbier rolled right into view and practically said, "Pick me! Pick me!"

So I did.



(Standard disclaimer: No official review yet because I'm still working out the numbers.)

Grains of Wrath Gerstenwolf Festbier Lager
16-ounce can purchased at John's Marketplace in Beaverton, OR. Date stamp reads "ABBI NORMAL CANNED ON 8/18/23". Poured in a half-liter Becher glass.

Look:
The crystal-clear body is a deep gold color. It is topped by a dense head of bright white foam which takes a good long time to dissipate and leaves plenty of intricate lacing and distinct rings after every sip.

Smell:
The nose starts with good clean malt that's somewhat doughy. The malt shows nice depth as the beer warms. Underneath the malt are delicate notes of grain, honey, and floral/herbal hops.

Taste:
Everything promised by the nose, and more. The malt is rich and toasty, and just a shade sweeter than I prefer. The beer does dry out a bit through the middle, where a tasty herbal/minty note harmonizes with the malt. The herbal note goes distinctly floral at the swallow, and the bready, toasty malt displays a subtle toffee flavor. Finishes with a short, moreish aftertaste of bread, honey, and spicy hops.

Feel:
Light-to-medium body with crisp and finely textured carbonation. Superb drinkability.

Overall:
Grains of Wrath has a well-deserved reputation for making some of the best IPAs in the Northwest. I'm happy to say they make a mighty fine festbier too. Malty, clean, and moreish, with a proper hop bite to keep things crisp. Would definitely drink again. Preferably in a Maßkrug.

 

Happy Sunday friends!

Here's one from @FBarber 's neck of the woods. As long as we keep getting the odd distro here and there I'll keep buying em.

Pipeworks - Oktoberfest



Purchased from the dabc for $3.50 no canning date

Poured at fridge temp into a dimple mug.

Pours a solid and hazy amber with a loose head with big bubbles. Settled into a thin ring. A tad disappointed over head retention, but it has a nice caramel glow when held up to the light. 4

Not a ton of aroma off the glass (likely my sniffer) but I get some balanced but leaning toward sweet malt and pleasant breadiness off the can. 4

Sweet malt, some caramel, darker bread crust and light hop earthiness. Classic comes to mind. 4.25

I think this a Goldilocks mouthfeel, just right carbo, softness and fullness, just right all around. 4.5

Overall this may be a new favorite of mine and I'll absolutely have to get my hands on another one to see if my initial review holds up. As an additional side note, this year's version at 5.8% abv also feels like a sweet spot. 4.25

 

Cross post from the oktoberfest tasting (mostly)

Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati provided me 12 new o-fests from the singles wall and I bought a four pack of Masthead on a hunch for 13 total. I could have swore there were no old, lingering oktoberfest beers on the singles wall a couple months ago, so I skipped the date checks and wound up with at least one oldie.


Duck-Rabbit Märzen

12oz bottle with a label that only goes out to a 2021 best by, so old labels or old beer. Poured into a mug at fridge temp, no ABV listed. The beer pours bright medium amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. Slight lacing. The aroma is sweet caramel malt. The taste is semisweet caramel malt with a side of cardboard and moderate earthy bitter notes lingering on the finish. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, too much American caramel malt for me to try again, even if fresh.

In addition to 13 new-to-me oktoberfests, I also grabbed 4 new country ticks and 2 of the 3 style ticks that have iluded me since the number rose to 117. Successful beer journey, I'd say.
Cheers!

 

After a big, BA Stout, I'm resetting my palate. Some breweries just hit the ground running. Fortunately for me, one of them is right here in my home town: Autodidact Beer. It opened in March 2023. Until now, all of its recipes have either been home-brewed or written in collaboration with another brewery. Cassandra Gemini, which was canned earlier this week, is the first "new" recipe since the brewery opened. HS, is it good! To the frustration of beer nerds like me they don't discuss the hop bill. Sometimes I can make an educated guess but not here because I'm likely to be wrong.

It pours a murky, dirty orange color with more than two fingers of long-lasting, creamy, egg white head and lots of thick, clinging lacing. The lacing is as thick as I've seen from a can pour in quite awhile. A bright, fruity nose with lemon, grapefruit, tangerine, peach, and stone fruit. The taste follows with both tart citrus and sweeter notes of stone fruit, balanced by a good dose of pine sap. Great balance of tropical sweetness and resinous bitterness. The mouth feel is luxuriously thick and creamy for 6.7% ABV. Overall, Cassandra Gemini is a work of art. This is seriously, high-level good for a brewery open 6 months.

4.34/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I've been accused on BA of being a "homer" but this is a seriously good beer! At this point, given the option of this IPA fresh vs. 6 week old 3 Floyds or Toppling Goliath, I'd go with Autodidact. Thank you, Ron and Ron!

 

I've had this before, but not yet sat down to write my thoughts, so technically 'new' haha

Red Rock - Junior IPA



Canned 7.28.23

Purchased for $1.80 at local grocer.

Poured at fridge temp into a tulip glass.

Pours a deeper golden with a generous 1F dense head. 4

Gentle and dark pine, with some lighter citrus, orange and grapefruit mostly. 3.75

Moderately bitter pine, some mixed but non-distinct citrus and a herbal/resinous aftertaste. 3.75

Sessionable and easy drinking, moderately carbo'd, pleasantly light. 4

Overall a good wc IPA that's a fairly good deal and brings the pine without causing palate fatigue. 3.75

Currently I prefer NE-style so I think it's easier to pick up on specifics of those, but I think this would easily appeal to any WC- appreciator

 

Since I started the day in a disappointing manner, I'm going to continue down that road...

Carib lager
12oz clear bottle with 10:50 23156 stamped on the neck, so presumably freshish. Poured into a perfect pint glass at fridge temp 5% ABV. The beer pours bright pale gold with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Slight lacing. The aroma is mild with a bit of skunk, corn and stone fruit. The taste follows with all that and a decent dollop of diacetyl and no appreciable bitterness. Mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, poor, even for an AAL which I'm usually a big +rDev on reviews.

I need to contemplate my next move. Another suspect import AAL or a style that turns my stomach? That is the question

 

Gotta catch up on the thread but in the meantime I cracked open a new beer, finally had a chance to breath, took advantage...Our stay away from home continues as our renovations finish up, hopefully within the next 3-4 weeks; can't wait to post beers from home again whenever the time comes. Sunday winding down and hopefully everyone had a fulfilling weekend.

This beer comes to me from our world traveler @snaotheus who is currently being held hostage by @WunderLlama if we are to believe @ovaltine. If beer in Europe means being held hostage, sign me up This one a mexican lager from the land of hops...Yakima, WA

Single Hill - El Chapulín (Mexican Lager 4.2%)



Pours really really light straw color, very good clarity; vigorous carbonation reveals itself when being poured, white in color, pretty bubbly and quick to collapse, it does leave just a little thin film as head though.

Nose first reaction is lightly sweet; like honeysuckle like sweet, there is some slightly herbal hoppy undertones, corn flake like malt presence.

Taste is quite nice very balanced and light; some sweetness, almost white bread like, with a cereal like quality, light hops show on the finish.

Light body beer, very smooth and drinkable; effervescent yet smooth carbonation, very clean and dry, for the perceive sweet smell this has no real residual feel after it goes down...awesome drinkability; just a touch of light grassy bitterness, even a bit peppery on the tip of the tongue.

Heat hasn't returned but it is slightly humid again and this beer is super refreshing, really digging this one @snaotheus thanks for sharing. This is a well “drinking beer” through and through.

——————-

Have a great week everyone and we’ll see you on the other side

 

Athletic brewery oktoberfest
...cloudy pale orange/brownish appearance with a decent and lasting white head.
...carbonation is below average and the body is definitely thin.
...aroma isn't overpowering but theres mostly bread and malt. Black tea is the strongest element with oddly something that comes off like fruitcake.
...taste is black tea upfront with some malt,bread and earthy dry hops that build and dominate along with the tea in the aftertaste.
...overall its odd but not offensive. Think ill try one later to see if im off right now

 

One and done for me today, and this beer has a beer name “backstory.”

I love a good beer name story, and this one from Trillium is a good one, IMHO:

“Our annual move-in season Double IPA serves as a PSA to warn against the Boston phenomenon of lodging a box truck under a low clearance overpass on Storrow Drive. While it's a sporadic episode that can snarl traffic for hours, most of these incidents occur during college move-in weekend, typically around Labor Day. Be sure to heed the low clearance warnings at the Storrow Drive entry points!”

I’ll be in “Bahstun” this week for work and I’m trying to work in a Trillium trip. If I can’t, I’m going to try to drive Storrow Drive in a cargo truck. That’s the least I can do as a self-respecting beer nerd.





4.42/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a very hazy golden pineapple color with a creamy off white head that clings to the glass and leaves a nice cap on the beer as you enjoy it. Gorgeous hazy.

The nose is dank and includes lots of mango, grapefruit, papaya, apricot, and a nice bit of resiny pine. The mango, grapefruit, and papaya are forward on the taste and exquisite, with the apricot and bit of resiny pine mid-palate before coasting into a slightly sweet oat finish. This is absolutely delicious, IMHO.

The mouthfeel is full and soft, on point for the style. This is a well executed beer that has an adventurous flavor profile that fits the NEDIPA style perfectly.

 

Did you see those concurrently posted reviews from @WunderLlama and @snaotheus , and have we ever seen a review from the latter that wasn’t handwritten - and some of the verbiage was duplicated!!!

I think I’m on to something, Jon.

 

Well, I decided to open, and definitely not finish, my first ever milkshake IPA

DuClaw Hop Tarts Orange Milkshake IPA

16oz canned 05/05/23 poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass at fridge temp 7.2% ABV. The beer pours opaque light amber with cream colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves plenty of lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring sweet orange almost exclusively. The taste is sweet, orange candy over minimal malt. No bitterness to speak of and lingering sticky diet orange soda. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a totally undry finish. Overall, gross. I will take one for the team, because if I lived someplace where these were common, I'd want a separate name other than IPA, so that I'd never buy something like this by mistake.

My mouth is sad now. No more exploring. Positive note would be style #115 and country tick #37 happened today. Cheers all!

 

Got a good laugh out of me on this one

 

Barrel of monks three fates tripel
..cloudy rusty,amber appearance.
...above average champagne like carbonation with an above average body.
...aroma is a nice mix of sugar and malt,floral honey, plenty of mixed fruit.
..taste is sweet,almost syrupy and coats the mouth. Theres yeast,dough,mixed fruit like mango and some dark fruits.
...overall its very good,even better as it warms up.i lack the skill I think to adequately describe this one