New Beer Weekend #180

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 12/04/23. Pours an attractive hazy orange yellow with 2 plus finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with amazing retention. 4.25

Aroma is peach, honeydew, mandarin, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows peach, honeydew, mandarin, passionfruit, and apricot well balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 7% extremely easy going down. 4.25

Overall this is good, not a stand out. I would say worth a try for sure. 4.25 Cheers all.

 

Thank you @MadMadMike for kicking off the three day New Years Eve & Day Weekend! I have been looking forward to enjoying two planned Tree House beers since I was graciously given these in mid August via trade.

Tree House Double Baked



Bottle Notes: Obtained via trade from Adam, @Qu3st on Beer Advocate on 8/19, refrigerated until this morning. 12 oz bottle with no date or ABV, though this was released in 2023.

The delightfully complex beer in this bottle begins as Tree of Life aged in Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey barrels for 1 year, blended together, then re-barreled into several different apple brandy barrels for an additional three months.

It is then re-blended with a Tree of Life Rum aged in a rum barrel for 15 months. The rum barrel rendition carries a lot of caramel character that supports the apple character from the brandy blend.

Finally, we blend in a small thread of Weizenbock that was aged in an orange bitters barrel for fourteen months. This barrel, coupled with hefeweizen yeast, adds warming spice aromas and flavors throughout.

Appearance: Perhaps the stillest pour I've encountered, though yielded faint carbonation and a ring of rich tan head around the rim over a dark plumb bronze black base. Carbonation very slowly finds its way to the top after what appears to be a very thick body. Tiny lacing of tiny fine bubbles slides up and down as the glass shifts yielding no trace. 4.5

Aroma: Nice triple aroma blend of apple brandy, a sweeter bourbon and a brown sugar base, each distinct and about on par in terms of strength. Aroma stays consistent both at the onset and after about 15 minutes of warming at room temperature, gentle mild strength. 4.25

Taste: The insanely thick mouthfeel socked me, and I'll get into that further below. Once I got my bearings, I'm settle in and get a lot more, a hell of a lot more than the aroma yields, though there is a consistency about all blending well together and gently / very delicate. Starts off with orange lifesavers, caramel dipped apple, then a medley of cinnamon and spice and all things nice. Sticky toffee? Yes Please! What else? Well the Weizenbock also arrives, raisins, plums and root beer. All these sweet flavors are held together well with a nice very smooth bourbon, light and easy at first though after the coast is clear, asserts its authority by going to my head, moving clarity of senses to a Joey Lawrence Whoa! 5.0

Mouthfeel: I've only had one other beer as thick as this. It felt like overkill with the stout containing everything plus the kitchen sink, but feels like a favorite plush sofa. The gentlest of carbonation, thick sticky full body. Thinking this is a very high ABV, and while you may be getting away early, it hits you in an instant, though very very smooth. This is a sweet beer without excess. Still marveling over the depth of flavors, and enjoying the bourbon, caramel and toffee that linger on the finish. Magnifique! 4.75

Overall: This is the real McCoy. Clear your calendar, set back, relax and set aside an hour or so to truly savor this before succumbing to a power nap. I Hear A Symphony came to mind, as I don't recall a beer with as much varied depth of flavors, all just chilling, no single flavor attempting to assert dominance. This is a beer that one should seek, share, cherish and savor. I'm only halfway through this pour, now over a half hour in, and want to enjoy this as long as possible. Adam, I really, really appreciate your efforts of securing and sharing this bottle. This is an incredible experience, thank you very much! 4.75

Have my last Tree House banger saved for tomorrow, and I can't wait!

 

Hey friends, best part of the weekend…Planning to enjoy vicariously through all your posts today. Just donated blood so I’ll probably steer clear of beer today, I’ll miss hanging, but I’ll take advantage of the extra day Monday and maybe have an extra one tomorrow

Sitting my 15 minutes before driving home, thanks for the posts to keep me busy friends.

 

Hello folks. Thanks @MadMadMike for the thread. I hope you're all as happy as I am that our long weekend has arrived in tact (for most) weather-wise. A crazy December indeed on my end but our craft beers keep flowing, even with breweries goin' down like bowling pins. Sadly, many have chosen the new year transition as their time to shut 'er down. Others are experimenting and have new releases frequently. I'll do what I can to support. It's always refreshing to see the waves of new beers here! And so here's a local offering from a brewery that, IMHO, really cherishes their maltings as their beers lean that direction. I find this magic disappearing beer to be slightly above average and highly enjoyable. Cheers!
Wabasha Czechin' In Czech Pils 5% ABV
3.9/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
16 oz can canned 10/12/23 into a tall Pilsner glass.
L: SRM 1 Pours clear light yellow with a thin white head that quickly recedes to edge foam, very good large steady carbonation bubbles, light random lacing.
S: Bready malts, hay, very gently floral, white grape, a hint of grains.
T: Moderately bready and caramelized pale malts, a hint of citrus zest in the back, it is a little bit grassy in a hop way, a hint of yeast.
F: Gently crisp medium to medium-light bodied feel with a smooth middle and a medium-length lightly drying finish.
O: A delicious tasting and well balanced Pils. Very nice malts. Wabasha likes malts. This beer hit all the style marks here and it is very good to excellent.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 12/8/23. Pours a very hazy yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves thick gobs of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma tangerine, mango, papaya, cantaloupe, pineapple, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows tangerine, mango, cantaloupe, pineapple, papaya, and apricot. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle almost creamy mouthfeel, not sticky or dry, and at 8% massive flavor, but easy going down. 4.5

Overall this is another ridiculously tasty NEDIPA from the best in the business at making them. 4.5

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44979/682882/

The latest from the Ides series from Henderson Brewing in Toronto. A salted Japanese Rice Lager that celebrated the CBC television series "The King of Kensington" which ran in the 1970's.

Poured a 473ml can into a tumbler. A one finger bubbly white head on a hazy lemon. The head soon diminishes to a thin layer. Minimal lacing.
Faint lemon smells.
Malt forward. Some salt. Pretty much a standard lager otherwise.
Medium body and carbonation.
Overall an interesting Gose like lager.

 

Hey what's going on!?

I hope everyone is having a great time and ready for a good new year on the horizon. I am right now taking a much needed break and loving every second of it to recharge. It was a very tense and busy year, and I am glad to have it over with.

I am in a good spot right now, I have lots of recent New England goodies after visiting in-laws up in Maine. Trip went good, but also it was tiring particularly the drive back. Still I am ready to kick it easy this weekend, have a fridge filled with food, parties and meals to make, couldn't ask for more!

So I got my stove going this morning and I am slaving dishes to make for the weekend, so I am starting early, and boy is this the way to start the day!

What's new for our hero today???!!!

Very Green - Tree House Brewing



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Creamed white four to three finger tall filled head out of the can into the glass. Pill laced and fine bubbled, sitting on a simple opaque not quite turbid but faint caramel brown and tinged yellow color.

Delicious hop forward aroma, mostly minty with light touches of herbal like sweet tea. Touches even a little bit of bringing caramel malt to the table for balance too, and maybe some hinting fruit notes that are really covered over by this perfume like mint that really dominates. Very enjoyable and unique nose.

Oh is this palate gangbusters. Silky and perfect creamy texture, mixing with just the right amount of malt sweetness and depth to stay away from sugar and syrupy overtones. Juiced light pineapple and mint, with sweet flavors that go from vanilla to just about every tropical fruit flavor imaginable. Creamed mint and ice cream on the finish, and yes.. Wait for it… real hop bitterness that punctures through it all. Hits with just the right amount of herbal and mint green heat on the finish to contrast the sweetness perfectly.

Wow, real stunner just what I would want in a NEIPA also.

look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75 | BA Generated Score: 4.65

Cheers!

 

Thanks @MadMadMike for being the first footer to this Hogmanay weekend!

Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the old year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) and, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish bank holiday. In a few contexts, the word Hogmanay is used more loosely to describe the entire period consisting of the last few days of the old year and the first few days of the new year. For instance, not all events held under the banner of Edinburgh's Hogmanay take place on 31 December.

The origins of Hogmanay are unclear, but it may be derived from Norse and Gaelic observances of the winter solstice. Customs vary throughout Scotland and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbours, with particular attention given to the first-foot, the first guest of the new year.

I went all Scottish , almost, for my new beer selection



4.09/5 rDev -3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Brewers notes : Old World Double Bourbon is a traditional Ale brewed with a complex array of malts and fermented with a classic Scotch Ale yeast, resulting in a delightfully smoky tribute to the eclectic world of Highland Whiskeys. This beer was placed into Bourbon barrels for six months and, after this initial rest, transferred a second time into a variety of fresh Bourbon vessels.

Waxed and capped bottle, it is a struggle to open this Chilled 12 oz bottle poured into a snifter

Dark cola brown liquid , brown one finger foam cap , streaky lacings

Aroma is whisky, toffee

Taste is highland whisky , brown sugar , raisins, figs, dark fruits

Mouthfeel is boozy , settles down as the glass warms , let it warm

Good beer

 

I’m back in the saddle again!

But firstly:



Today’s beer is Theakston Old Peculier which apparently has been absent as a US import for quite some time. There is an ongoing thread discussing the return of Old Peculier to the American beer market:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...returns-to-the-us-after-a-10-year-gap.674975/

I never had this beer when it was imported 10 years ago so this is a new drinking experience for me.

How this beer is detailed on BA:

“Old Peculier is possibly one of the country’s most well-known and loved ales. This unique, beautiful brew is often imitated but never matched and is sold literally all over the world. With countless awards to its credit, it is something of which every Briton can be very proud and is the epitome of the greatest of British brewing tradition.

In the early years of the modern brewing era, about two hundred years ago, many brewers produced a dark, strong ‘stock’ beer in the winter months, to provide a base amount of fermented beer to add to beers brewed in the rather more volatile months of the summer.

Old Peculier probably owes its origins to this. The name pays tribute to the unique ecclesiastical status of Masham as a ‘Court of the Peculier’ and is also reference to the strong characteristic of the beer! For many years it was affectionately referred to as Yorkshire’s ‘Lunatic’s Broth’.”

On the bottom of the can they proclaim: “The Original Craft Brewer”. Well, that is some ‘interesting’ marketing there!

Let’s see what sort of beer the “original craft brewer” makes.

Served in my Nonic Imperial Pint glass:

Appearance:

Dark brown with a reddish hue and a thin tan head.

Aroma:

A pleasing combination of toffee and dried dark fruit (e.g., fig, etc.).

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with flavors of toffee and dried darks fruits but there is more here: subtle roastiness and as the beer warms/opens up there is even a very tiny hint of chocolate.

Mouthfeel:

This beer is medium bodied with a soft-ish mouthfeel followed by an off-dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good. I think it is a tasty balanced beer!

Cheers!

P.S. I would be willing to bet BIG BUCKS that this beer is absolutely sublime on cask.

To paraphrase Donkey: “Do you have a tissue or something? I'm making a mess. Just the thought of Old Peculier on cask makes me start slobbering.”

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

Hope to find some of that brew. I had the same thought about fresh bottles of Old Speckled Hen, that on tap it would be so incredible that I'd stutter.

 

Founders Blueberry KBS

Appearance: Black with good sized brown head.

Smell: Blueberry syrup backed with vanilla and wood.

Taste: Starts with blueberry sweetness, then the chocolate and wood in the middle. Long finish that has tart blueberry which then fades into vanilla and wood barrel.

Overall: Just hankering for a big stout, so picked up a 4 pack. Very interesting, the blueberries come through in two waves, a sweet wave, then a tart wave. Mixes pretty well with the base KBS, tasty stuff.

 

If you see it buy it right away. I saw it for the first time at my local Retail Beer Distributor a few days ago and there were only two four-packs on the shelf (now just one). My guess is this is a limited supply beer.

Cheers!

P.S. Hopefully if sales are brisk for this beer they will send another drop soon!?!

 

oh wow CANS! very cool, must revisit.

 

For some reason this reminds me of a ‘saying’ from my Irish friend John: “May the road rise up to meet you and may the wind at your back always be your own”.

I think it is a ‘perversion’ of a genuine old saying.

Cheers!

 

Ethan, as I discussed in the above post my advice is that if you see this beer at a local beer retailer buy it right away!

Cheers!

 

Hey there NBWers. I missed out on last weekend's epic thread but had tasting portions of many beers including some new ones. The highlight was definitely Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche and I was pleased to finally get to try Bell's Two Hearted.

I had the week off and used it to help clear out some old unwanted beers at the back of the communal fridge:

Athletic Free Wave
NA hazy IPA



Pours a cloudy pale yellow with a rapidly dissipating white head.

Citrus aromas dominate, primarily orange and grapefruit.

The taste is bitter grapefruit and not much else, with the bitterness turning towards pine at the finish. The bitterness builds on the aftertaste.

Light bodied bordering on thin with moderate carb.

Hard to judge a 9-month old can of NA IPA as it can't be anywhere near its prime. As is, it's pretty one dimensional.


And second was
Fat Orange Cat Baby Kittens
NEIPA



Pours a hazy pale yellow that seems to glow with an inner light. A three-finger white head dissipates quickly.

From a 6-month old can, the aroma and taste seems a bit muted to my novice senses.

Aromas of grapefruit, orange, pineapple, and maybe a bit of mango.

The taste is underwhelming with the same fruit notes as present in the aroma along with some pine and slight hop bitterness.

Nice carb and a smooth, full feel.

It seems a bit harsh to judge this based on an old can. I imagine everything would be brighter and more pronounced when fresh.


I'll hopefully be back later this afternoon with a style more up my alley.

 

Love to see plenty of a.m. activity in the thread this weekend! I planned on doing a lot of work this week, then did almost zero. At some point this weekend I'll have to address that, but instead I continue to distract myself with cleaning / organizing, soccer, and now new beer.

My first new beer of the weekend is a bourbon barrel aged barleywine from Kuhnhenn.



4.16/5 rDev -5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
2018 vintage.

Before I even take a sip, we're off to a very good start as this beer both looks and smells fantastic. Barleywines don't often jump out at me appearance wise, but I find this beer to be very attractive. More head than I anticipated, and the pour had a beautiful shade of bright reddish brown. Not to be outdone, the aroma takes it up a notch. Loads of rich caramel notes with the bourbon barrel adding a nice dimension.

The quality of this doesn't drop off in the taste department. Rich caramel malts lead the way, but it's the nuance from the bourbon that I'm really enjoying. Jut enough vanilla and wood to make this interesting. Fairly light bodied for the ABV.

Overall, very tasty.

 

There is only one way to celebrate giving blood, Jon.

Beer bong.

The last time I danced with a beer bong was my college graduation party in May 1985. That was my last beer bong because it was also at that party that my Mom beer bonged champagne.

Once that particular Rubicon has been crossed, there’s no point in going any further. IJS.