New Beer Weekend #168

Good afternoon NBW
I had to enter this beer in the database earlier today

Terre Haute Brewing Company Ten Gallon Hat Mexican-style lager

16oz canned 07/18/23 poured into a perfect pint glass at fridge temp 4.5% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright light amber in color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild with pale malt. The taste is semisweet pale malt with a hint of toffee and toasted bread. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, good.

This wasn't what I was expecting (Mexican-style lager is a shit descriptor), but it was good. They claim no adjuncts were used and the taste backs it up. I've got a fridge full of singles that need a review and I'm on vacation, so I'll post as many as I can get through.

Cheers all!

 

Had an all Ohio stouturday of new brews and here's part 1 of them:

Jackie O's Thread Count:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1432/549788/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



And a local brew with Parsons North Mexican Hot Chocolate Imperial Stout:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55014/672830/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



Cheers!

 

I love Tonewood, and would love to take any one of you there if you're ever in South Jersey...

Got a chance to visit my favorite brewery in the world today, thanks to a marketplace purchase...to celebrate our 3 month search for kitchen chairs that finally ended today, I stopped by Tonewood and grabbed their yearly overnighted hops fresh hop IPA, this year with Cascade...grabbed some goodies to go including their vienna lage which just returned, called Vermillion, which is a shade of red, will be an appropriate beer for tonight's Phillie's game.

This year the beer was draft only and their post said something like “come sit at the bar and talk to your neighbor,” I did just that and chatted with the bartender that has been there since the beginning, a great quick afternoon beer.

My view, while drinking, below... this brewery and its people just ooze positivity and happiness; I hope everyone has a brewery local to them that makes them feel the same way.



Tonewood Brewing - Midnight Landing 2023 (Fresh Cascade Hop IPA 6.5%)



Dark straw; white head with ok retention but some nice little bits of lacing.

Nose is distinctly fresh hop; bright citrus, all sorts; lemon, orange, grapefruit; with substantial sap like resin smell, light malt sweetness.

Taste is rich in sticky hops; with mostly citrus undertones, more grapefruit than the nose, and lemon, malt is there, nicely light yet present; there is a light earthy dank that shows on the finish.

Medium body; distinctly fresh hop; resin dry hops coat the tongue and are nice and prickly, a really nice biting dry bitterness on the finish, quite drinkable.

---------------

I look forward to reading all the posts I missed and the ones to come in between this and my next new beer tomorrow. Go Phils!

 

And finished my all Ohio stouturday with a couple good Northeast Ohio brews with Double Wing Imperial Stout:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47863/270286/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



And then finished with Saucy Brew Works Brownie Butter What's His Nuts:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50629/635626/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



Should have some new brews tomorrow too, cheers everyone!

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

On the road today, and have contributed to WBAYDN. It was a good time at Dallas Oktoberfest, and good meeting up again with @cheeseheadinMinneapolis .

Now on my way home and enjoying a new beer at Sunken Ship Brewing in Princeton.

Oktoberfest

This has a nice flavor, and I like it.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63527/673896/

3.71/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Very clear pouring beer. Light amber in color, almost golden. There's a bit of carbonation rising in the glass. The head is white.
Nose is very faint. Hint of malt an caramel, very faint.
The flavor is malty. There's notes of caramel, some nuttiness in here, biscuit that is slightly buttery.
Body is decent. Full for what it is. Smooth, somewhat bubbly.
Decent American Oktoberfest.

Be back later at home for one more.

 

Next new beer for today.

Ommegang-New Belgium Belgian Essence

12oz bottle bb 26JAN2024 poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 8.4% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright medium amber in color with khaki head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves spots of lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring sweet malt, clove and citrus. The taste is semisweet pale malt with more citrus, white pepper and clove. Mild bitterness. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with above average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good tripel.

Cheers all!

 

We might do an impromptu extended weekend up in the area within the next month and may try to take you up on that offer. Kind of thinking aloud, but...

 

Good evening all! Finally able to have my first beer of the day.

I should expect now that anything from Three Floyds is going to have noticeable hops. Normally that’s not a bad thing but in an oatmeal/lactose stout, it’s rather startling.
Poured stout black with a good inch of tan head which, curiously left no lacing.
The aroma was lost on my Covid damaged nose.
The taste was, as mentioned above, almost great but those hops stick out and, IMO anyway, don’t add too the flavor in a positive way.
The feel is just good- the lactose and oatmeal both contribute to the smoothness.
OA, when I want a Milk Stout, I don’t want hops featured. But it was still pretty darn good.
So, probably not going to be using the chainsaw after this, but I do have more logs to move.
Cheers all!

 

Keeping it simple on Day 1 on a beautifully chilly fall evening in Northern Indiana, I love the style and the brewery, so I like my odds with this hop bomb.

Let’s GOOOOOOOO, NBS!!!





4.42/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a crystal clear golden orange color, so clear that it almost glows, and sports a fluffy off white head that leaves a nice bubbly cap and coats the glass as you drink the beer. Gorgeous WCDIPA.

The nose is nicely dank, with bright tangerine and papaya notes most pro, plus a bit of resiny pine. This is all about “nicely bitter old school” WCDIPA, AKA my beer nerd sweet spot .

That is where the taste goes, with the tangerine and papaya delicious together and the pine imparting a most welcome (for me) resiny bitterness that is well balanced by a bit of caramalt at the back of the palate and leaves that bitterness to linger, reminding you to take another drink of this delicious beer.

The mouthfeel is medium and drying, on point for the style and this beer. I am a fan of the style, the brewery, and this beer - it is very well executed and a pleasure to drink.

 

Just shoot me a message if I can make it happen I will. Oaklyn or bust…

They’ve been great about having cask always available again too but of course today I had to do the fresh hop that was just tapped.

 

My local, Miskatonic, has released their first smoked lager, a grodziskie at 3.1% and I am pleasantly surprised that I like it. Rubber band and band aids are the usual flavor notes I recognize in smoked beers, so it is not very high on my list of choices. There is a hint of rubber band, but it is really just smoke, so I'm pretty happy.

From their website: "A historical and unique smoked beer originating in the city of Grodzisk during the late 19th and early 20th century. Grodziskies are a playfully light, clean bittered, and crisp beer accentuated by its subtle smoked wheat malt with a highly effervescent mouthfeel. Beautiful pale gold in color with exceptional clarity and a soft white head captures the eye. Prominent oak wood smoke and subtle floral herbal hop aromatics delight the senses. Locally sourced and carefully crafted White Oak Smoked Red Wheat malt from Sugar Creek Malt provide the gentle smoke flavor and crisp clean malt sweetness. Light notes of pear and red apple meld with the floral, herbal, citrus, and clean bitterness of Czech Saaz and Polish Marynka hops. It truly is a unique beer that I think is here to stay. Stop Lat!"


and my review:
16oz undated can just released this week poured into a dimpled mug shows a clear, pale gold body supporting a 1" head of tight white bubbles that falls to a persistent wispy cap and edge ring and leaves stepped lacing.

Aroma is subtle, but a sweetness leads a light smoked malt.

A light, nearly crisp body with an even smoked malt flavor that doesn't get to a band aid, or rubber band level that I get in many smoked beers. Only 3.1% abv and it still delivers flavor and body.

Overall a solid, easy drinking, lager with obvious, and not overpowering smoke notes.

 

Good evening all. A day that threatened rain that never happened - could see rain to the southeast, but we stayed in a rain free but tropically humid pocket. Got my over 65 flu shot in the left arm and the Covid booster in the right yesterday. Felt ok initially, but by mid-afternoon I couldn't lift my left arm and today they swapped for a little while, and now no aches at all.

Here's what's drinkin':



Allagash Gatherwell, a BBA Imperial Stout clocking in at 11% ABV.

Well, it pours like a stout. Essentially black. Short, tight khaki head the collapses to a pretty decent, uniform cap.

The initial smell I get is boozy chocolate. The I get a faint vanilla, fairly decent strength coffee. There's a caramel or toffee smell and some brighter fruit-like notes - maybe cherry or raspberry. It's got a little sweetness.

The taste is a boozy chocolate, coffee, vanilla combo initially. The booze part isn't hard, but it isn't hiding, either. A kind of caramel sweetness comes through, and there's a bright fruit flavor that I'll say is raspberry. There's roasty char right on the edge of being too much. I'm not picking up any clear indication of bourbon barrel aging until it warms, but it eventually reveals just a bit of a bourbon character. It's actually a bit jagged - the overall flavor impact seems jumbled to me, not smoothly integrated.

The feel is fairly thick, no to the "chewy" point. Drying, a bit of residual sticky sweetness. Not getting much of that warming feeling I'd expect from an 11%-er. There's a kind of fennel or slightly peppery aromatic in the aftermath.

Overall - I won't buy it again. Its a decent if somewhat forgettable Imperial Stout. I'm thinking right around 3.75 - nothing particularly wrong, but no wow factor, either.

 

For what ifs worth @Roy_Hobbs

This is exactly how I personally define a great beer, well said.

 

Firestone Walker Double DBA- Batch 10,000

I have had many barrel aged offerings from Firestone Walker, I thought I actually had this before when I picked it up. Low and behold, it is a new barrel aged beer from them.

12.3% ABV, listed here as an English Strong Ale. I can get behind that categorization.



Pours a dark ruby red/brown color. At first a dense beige head forms, and rises to over two fingers. That gently recedes, with light lace left behind.
Aroma of toasted malts, wood and vanilla. A bit of oxidized cherry and plums. Baked dark bread in the mix as well. Lots going on here, and it is all very well balanced and nuanced.
Taste wise, like the nose, all the malty characteristics you can handle. Which goes from toasted. baked brown bread, wood, vanilla. Plenty of sweetness, as far as that is concerned, and becomes a bit sugary. Dark fruits of cherries and plums, along with some alcohol warmth in the background, that doesn't take over at all. This is pretty complex, but all around well done.
I was expecting a tad bigger body, still its on the fullish side . Moderate carbonation, with enough to let you know its there. Sticky and chewy with all the malts. Oh, this is a nice sipper. The alcohol is for sure present, but more warming than anything.

This is very good, as you would expect from any barrel aged offering from Firestone Walker. A lot of them seem to have very similar characteristics, and this follows suit. Though saying that, don't mess with success. Like everything they do on this front, it is very good to excellent.

Overall score is 4.18, easy A-, but can see me rating this higher after another try.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2210/657761/?ba=champ103#lists

Sipping this while spinning the masterpiece that is Keith Jarrett's Bremen-Lausanne Concerts.

 

This beer was easily my favorite new beer of the year. Side note, I rated it under the original Double DBA record, which also was barrel-aged, if in slightly different ways. Also noted that older bottles indicate ESB, though I agree English strong ale is more appropriate than that, at least.

 

Happy Saturday NBW. I had free best western Belgian waffles and hot breakfast this morning then I passed out for 10 hours. Been a great relaxing 3rd anniversary vacation here after the tesseract concert on Thurs. We are in fort mill SC at a new brewery. We only usually go to places with food lol. Just finished watching MIB. Julia never seen it before. Such a classic.



Model A derailed grapefruit ipa. Awesome ipa. Aromas and flavors of big red grapefruit, tangerine, peach, pineapple, passionfruit, mango, honeydew melon, berry, citrus rind, peppercorn, pine, cracker, toast, bread, herbal, floral, grass. Medium pine rind woody bitter finish. Medium carb and body, fairly crisp finishing. Balanced bready malt and sticky resinous hop mouthfeel. Lingering resin dryness and minimal hop astringency after the finish. Great Amarillo and Idaho 7 hop profile. Very vibrant and dank hops with a clean pale malt backbone. Love it. 4.1


Cheers

 

Hooray NBW!

Opening up with a really nice AAL from Park City Brewing - Sirens Call (great name imo)



Purchased from the brewery cooler for $2

No canning date

Poured at fridge temp into a trumpet glass. Pours an unfiltered straw yellow with a 2F head. 3.75

Grainy malt aroma, and that's pretty much it. Not uninteresting, just simple. 3.75

Floral hops, cereal grains and sweet honey. A great mix that was very enjoyable. 3.75

Moderate filling body, nearly frothy, and biting carbo. 3.75

Overall a really easy and enjoyable lager I'd consider replacing my Hamms with/rotating if it came in 16oz format. 3.75

Be back soon, cheers!

 

Oh shit they had Buffalo cauliflower. Our signature appetizers we got the first date. Deep fried and buffalo spun. This was top tier. Also got fried cheese curds, an ode to @GreenBayBA . We hope we can be honorary Wisconsinites. We are coming back up next year.




Model A vest weather. Really nice Oktoberfest. Muted nose of Munich malt and light fruits. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread crust, toast, wood, peppercorn, pine, herbal, floral, grass. Medium pine woody herbal bitter finish. Medium carb and body. Balanced creamy bready malts and sticky hops. Light resins and lingering drying with no astringency. Minimal warming 5.8%. A very clean Munich malt showcase with balanced noble hops. A bit too bitter but otherwise really well made clean lager! 3.88


Cheers

 

Dulcet nor wild east
..almost solid brown/black appearance with a long lasting almost white head
..around a medium body with soda like carbonation.
...aroma is cherries,dark fruit,fruitcake, sour fruit candy.
.. taste is tart,vinegar,sourness that coats the mouth and lingers. Fruitcake and fruity jelly but still not sweet enough to compete with the tart sourness.
...overall a very interesting beer. Makes for a good dessert beer but its a sipper,not a chug it down type.