New Beer Weekend #181

I’m trying a new beer from a brewery that I’ve heard and read many good things about: Prairie Artisan Ales, “Bourbon Paradise “! I happened to find a 4 bottle gift box at my local distributor yesterday that had 2 bottles of this and 2 variations. The glass was included in the box!

It pours a thick ebony color with a thin dark tan head which quickly dissipates. Pleasant aroma of vanilla a oaky bourbon. There’s an upfront vanilla and slight oaky- char which gives way to a rich chocolaty bourbon flavor. Incredibly full, rich and smooth mouthfeel with hardly any carbonation. This is a fantastic BBA Imperial Stout and I’m so glad that I’ve finally have been able to try it!

 

4.62/5 rDev +2.9%

look: 3.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle dated 10-3-23 into a snifter.

Look- Black, opaque, scant dark brown sudsy head, almost no head retention or lacing.

Smell- Ginger, bourbon, cacao, nutmeg, cinnamon, ancho chili pepper, high strength of scent.

Taste- Ginger, bourbon, ancho chili pepper, cacao, mildly spicy, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, well below average carbonation, mildly spicy, moderately bitter, very slight mouth coating, moderately mouth warming.

Overall- Black and opaque, but the head retention and lacing were virtually nonexistent. Bouquet was high strength and a delightful mix of ginger, bourbon, cacao, spices and pepper. The flavors were also high in strength and followed very closely to the nose. The body was thinner than desired with the lack of carbonation definitely detracting from the enjoyment. Overall this beer provided a wonderful drinking experience that only needed slight tweaks in look and feel to make it legendary.

 

Hmmm . . . who's the distributor? Would love to find that set. What are the variations?

 

I have a post in Post a picture of your latest beer haul with the gift box. The distributor is Goshen Beverage in West Chester, PA. I was stunned to find it, since I have never seen anything from Prairie Artisan Ales around here!

 

Greetings everyone. I grabbed this a couple of days ago because I really like Lagunitas (the OG Sucks in the 32 oz bottles is an ATF for me) but I don’t drink their stuff as regularly as I used to, so I’m working to correct that.



4.35/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a golden color with just the slightest bit of hop haze underneath a fluffy white head that provides a sudsy cap on the beer as you enjoy it and a nice amount of lacing. The look is definitely in the WCDIPA vein.

The nose, though, is in the NEDIPA camp, with loads of juicy citrus notes, especially ripe oranges, pineapple, and grapefruit, plus a nice berry note. This is so juicy, I’m looking for haze. None to be found.

The taste also leans heavily towards a NEDIPA, with big juicy orange, pineapple, and grapefruit flavors most prominent and a nice bit of berry flavor as well - yet the mouthfeel clearly (IMHO) bounces back to the WCDIPA side of things, with a medium body that is crushingly dry and clean.

That Lagunitas managed to straddle the WCDIPA/NEDIPA line so well doesn’t surprise me, because they’re a world class brewery (again IMHO) that especially knows their way around hoppy beers.

 

Picked this up today for no particular reason, glad I did. Spot On IPA by Reuben’s Brews in Seattle. Preliminary review below. Cheers!
________________
4/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
12oz can (packaged 12/21/2023) into a tulip. Pours a clear golden color with a clean, frothy white head.

Aroma is classic West Coast IPA—tropical fruits, citrus, pineapple. If I had to guess I would say Simcoe is involved.

Taste follows nose. Pale neutral malt with a subtle sweetness balanced by the alpha acids in the hops. Pretty high IBUs here. More tropical fruits along with a slight graininess. Almost has that lively, “green” quality you get with some fresh-hop beers.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, very drinkable. Crisp finish. Hops leave a bit of a tingle on the insides of my lips and tongue, like spicy food.

Overall a solid, well made IPA. Not bad for a somewhat random choice at the local market.

 

Coast to Coast Smoke: Round 1

This weekend I have two smoked beers planned, one from the Last Frontier, that one smoked with native to Alaska alder wood and the other is an all NJ malt lager smoked with native to NJ Mulberry wood. Both enjoyed, at least a few sips, in my smoky garage

Round 1 brings my favorite brewery on earth to the arena...Tonewood Brewing. This one was brewed in collaboration with Love City from Philadelphia, what is special about this beer is that is has 4 different NJ grown malts, including the downed mulberry tree they used to smoke the smoked malt. Tonewood works with a local malster quite a bit and wow do they shine in this beer. Keep reading...

Ding Ding, Round 1:

Tonewood Brewing - Quiet Storm (Smoked Dark Lager 4.8%)





Very dark brown, light brown head, well above average retention and lacing; diminishes second half of session but first half is glorious.

Nose is a pleasant woody smoke followed by a nice chocolate presence, and darkened toasted with some roast.

Very rich in malt flavor, hearty chocolate notes, woodsy smoke and very darkened toast, lightly ashy, perhaps a touch of spicy hops on the finish.

The mouthfeel on this beer is most impressive; for having such rich heavy flavors the body remains light, nice carb bite, smooth, balanced bitterness, very clean.

The smoke on this beer is pleasantly light but still present; as you get accustomed it it takes on this very pleasant background presence to all the delicious malt in this beer. This is a pretty amazing beer to me, it’s so malty rich and yet so light and drinkable; flavor has such great balance too.

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

If all goes as planned round 2 will occur tomorrow, thanks to the generosity of Beer Saint @snaotheus

@Coronaeus

 

Czig meister miner black lager
..an almost solid black appearance with a lasting 1/4inch head. If I didn't know I'd say it looked like a pint of guiness
...about a medium body with the carbonation being lively but a little light.
...aroma is really strong with dark crusty bread, roasted malt,dark buckwheat honey, and what I can only describe as a mix of dark fruit and licorice.
..taste is interesting, almost dry at first,finish with a roasted malt charred malt with very mild sweetness. Bread,crusty dark bread and buckwheat honey.
...overall this is an incredibly interesting well done beer

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 12/29/23. Pours an attractive hazy yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves a thick wall of lace, with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is peach, passionfruit, mango, pineapple, and apricot. 4.25

Tadte follows peach, passionfruit, pineapple, mango, and apricot. 4.25

Mouthfeel is a little above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8% it goes down very easy. 4.25

Overall they are putting out a crazy amount of new beer. This one is good, but not like many they have brewed. 4.25 Cheers all.

 

What's happening, y'all!

(Or should I say, che si dice?)


Schenker Che Si Dice, an Italian Pilsner. Che cazzo, I guess is a thing now?

I never heard of this brewery, but as a fan of the original Tipo Pils, this naturally caught my eye at the store. According to the can, it's brewed at Twelve Percent in North Haven, CT.

Flavorwise it's absolutely spot on. Very herbal hop aroma and flavor woven intricately with a potent Graham cracker malt quality. Finish is resiny and noticeably bitter. Fermentation is squeaky clean, as is a soft water profile. Overall I'm very pleasantly surprised and will be making a point to get some more.

If anything, I could use a bit more hop aroma and less rounded malt finish. However, the high level of bitterness makes up for the slight lack of crispness.
A- (4.3)

 

The first of two new offerings from Goodwater Brewery, Williston, Vermont.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44376/685831/



12 ounce can packaged on 12/19/23.

Moderate to vigorous pour yields a nearly two inch tan head over a dark reddish brown body with lacing.

Nose of dark roasted malts, spice, and a bit of smoke.

Taste follows nose fairly closely with a slightly burnt character complementing the spiciness.
Finish is spicy and rather dry.

Mouthfeel is good with medium carbonation.

Overall, not a bad stab at a Winter Warmer and wouldn't turn down another.

Cheers!

 

Good evening NBW. Nice, crisp pre-snow day here. We look to be in the 3 - 5 inch snow zone here according to the pundits. But the only reliable way to tell is look put the window, so we shall see what happens.

In the glass:



Barrel Souls Cranberry Orange Sour Puft Girls. Kettle sour with cranberry, orange, and marshmallow.

Pours mostly cloudy and with a white foamy head briefly filling the glass...very briefly. It's kind of a rusty orange brown color - maybe could be brighter considering the fruits but it is what it is. Unsure of the age.

No doubt it's what it says it is. Clear orange, cranberry, and a pretty big smack of marshmallow hit the nose. Crisp fruitiness and even the cranberry comes through pretty well.

Straightforward taste that's not as sweet as the marshmallow smell suggested. Mildly tart. Orange and cranberry contribute about equally and the marshmallow layers on top. A little phenolic bite and mild bitter from the cranberry and a little orange citrus rind and oil.

The feel seems a tad thick and I don't find this as refreshing as I think it should be. The fruit flavor lingers and its almost a little syrupy feeling.

Overall, the flavors work and it's not out of control. To me its not a great beer - there's not much beer to be found - so let's say a decent fruited kettle sour. It's going to land in my no man's land between 3.5 and 3.75.

 

A break from the smoked…this one comes courtesy of @snaotheus he sent me a slew of beers right up my alley. This one I was really curious to try, this, I’m pretty sure is my first Common Ale. Much like my last beer it incorporates local ingredients (but from another state), this one is not just malt, but all Oregon ingredients.

Lets see what Common Ale is all about.

Buoy Beer - Cheers to the Land (Common 5.3%)



Pours brilliantly clear, darkened pale, white head, average retention.

Nose is pleasantly malty, it reminds me of smelling pale malt pre-brew; some nice hop character, mostly earthy and green, possible some light green grass.

The malt really shines in the taste on this one, like a light multigrain bread, very lightly sweet; lightly toasted, peppery hop bite on the finish.

Light to medium body; clean but full feeling, moderate bitterness, a good drinking beer but just slightly heavier feel than a lager, very present hops; very lightly resiny.

This beer is really interesting because it is a new to me beer style, my only frame of reference is other “hyrbrid” beers…it reminds me of a kölsch that’s more ale like; I say this for reference because kölsch always comes off to me as more lager like. So to me, this one is almost like a heavier beefed up kölsch, both malt and body wise.

Ryan thank you for furthering by beer education, this was a cool beer to drink.

Oh and because this song pops into my head every time I look at the name and label.

 

Here's the second from Goodwater Brewery and favorite of the two.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44376/685835/



16 ounce can packaged 12/21/23.

Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 1.5 inch light tan head over a black body with sticky lacing.

Nose of chocolate malt, dark roasted malt and a hint of caramel.

Taste has bitter chocolate, roasted malt, slight smoke and finishing almost dry.

Nice fairly full mouthfeel with medium carbonation.

Overall, a nice job on this and would definitely recommend.

Cheers!

 

Purchased at a local grocery store a few days ago. I didn’t see a date on this can, but didn’t bother to check the others. Poured at 35 degrees. Very little head. Looks a little like a nitro-beer. Very low in mouth feel. I find the smell to actually be revolting. Like rotten fruit, mostly moldy bananas. The flavor however is very good. Malty with some caramel notes. I just can’t get over that smell. I bought a six pack so I’ll see if my initial impressions of the scent change. I really have never smelled a beer that was this bad!

 

Hardywood Christmas stout
....solid black with a thin quickly dissipating head
...light carbonation with an above average body that has bit of a creamy feel.
...aroma is coffee, spice, maple, dark fruit, dark bakers chocolate.
Taste is sweet but kept in check with an almost dry coffee bitterness. Malty, mocha with milk chocolate.
.. overall a top notch dessert beer

 

Thanks for getting us started here @AzfromOz - another great start to the thread!

Yammit All
Picked this up after seeing it on tap at the brewery, and as I was drinking their stouts I thought this would be one too. (They were decent stouts!)
In any case, turns out it’s beer for after Thanksgiving dinner-
Probably not as fresh as it could be as it came out last October or November, but it’s still pretty good.
Poured a murky amber color with a very short lived beige head. There appear to be floating bits, albeit very small.
The taste is cinnamon sugar on sweet potatoes, and they have marshmallow in there too. It’s not something I’d drink regularly, but it’s a great after dinner beer. At least Thanksgiving dinner.

 

American Solera Strata Claus DIPA, 8.0% ABV; 4.03 overall

Pours a very hazed gold with 2+ fingers of frothy pearl colored head. Great head retention, better lacing

S: Tropical fruits, citrus, fades a touch once warm

T: Grapefruit, green melon, papaya, dryness & limes up front, fades a bit as it warms. Guava, pomelo, dryness & a little green melon as this beer warms up. Finishes with grapefruit, a little dryness & limes

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, good balance

A juicer for sure, I would've liked a little more sweetness, but pretty drinkable






Some of this can art reminds me of some Tool Album Cover art