New Beer Weekend #183

Oude Northwest - Montmorency Cherry

12oz can served in a snulip. Canned on 04/12/22.

Pours a purple-pink, fairly clear, thick ring of head with a tidy island in the middle. Smell is rich, tart cherry. A little musty oak.

Taste is screaming sweet-tart cherry. Oaky dryness, a little fruit skin bitterness, jammy without sweetener.

Mouthfeel is dry and light. Overall, this is really good.

 

Hi there folks! Really digging this brew tonight. Happy a 4pk made it home. A beautiful combo of hops. Cheers!
More Brewing Lil' Space Booties DDH Session Pale Ale. 5.5% ABV
4.07/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
16 oz can into a nonic pint glass
L: SRM 2 Pours moderately hazed light orange yellow with a dusty white hue. Has a 1/4" white rounded head that has good retention down to a loose thick skin, light visible carbonation, medium-light lacing across glass with light random banding lines.
S: Citrus, pineapple, grapefruit, a hint of cereal grains, lightly floral, background sweet malts.
T: Citrus, wheat, tropical fruits, oats, sweet malts, citrus pith, a note of confectionery sugar. It has a tropical fruit zest linger and is gently tart/sour with a fruity aftertaste.
F: Lightly brisk & gently smooth medium-light bodied feel with a subtly juicy center and a medium-short length drying finish. It is wet with a suggestion of having a party punch feel.
O: Very tasty & fruity. Not overly sweet. Quite refreshing and EZ to quaff. Nicely balanced flavors, the finish is dry and fruity. A delicious beer that is excellent to outstanding in its style.

 

Bentonville Wrecker Noir Black IPA, 6.3% ABV; an cross the board 4.0

Pours an effervescent & slightly ruddy chestnut/mahogany with 2 fingers of mocha colored head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Roasty as Hell, some chocolate notes as well

T: Follows the nose, piney notes, some woody hops as well & dryness up front. Pine, roastyness, & dryness as this beer warms through. Finishes dry with roastyness, Baker's Chocolate & Pine

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, good balance for the style

Super solid take on the style, drinkable, not a lot of brewers doing this around here

 

Hello friends, a pleasure to be back and sharing beer together once again, what we do best. Our coldest week of the year and some really great snow yesterday, still a beautiful cold winter wonderland out there. This beer from our in law beer exchange seemed appropriate.

Union Craft - Snow Pants (Oatmeal Stour 8.5%)



Pours black, slow dense forming light brown head; very good retention.

Hefty dose of dark malts on the nose; char and bitter rich chocolate, light old school American hops.

Taste like the nose is big on dark and roasted malts; very rich bitter sweet chocolate, noticeable char like bite, hefty dose of old school American hops, verges on piney, citrus skin; aftertaste is espresso like mixed with those hops, very nice.

High end of medium body, very silky smooth, appropriately low carbonation, really nice and noticeable bitterness on the finish, clean finish.

This is a delightful bitter hoppy and roasty oatmeal stout. Would definitely drink again on a cold winters night.

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Stay warm and enjoy your beers, I’ll be back tomorrow with one I’ve been looking forward to from you @snaotheus.

 

Picked this up today on a whim while grocery shopping, now enjoying it while I roast a chicken for dinner. Machine House Winter Warmer, a very tasty beer from a brewery in south Seattle. Preliminary review below. Cheers!
__________
4.19/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

500mL bottle (no date or code found) into an English pint. Pours a beautiful clear amber mahogany with a fluffy eggshell head, nice retention.

Aroma is clean, bready and spicy. Dark malt, house yeast. Enticing.

Taste follows nose. Simple and clean. Bready medium dark malt, fresh water, yeast. Some fig and date notes, light brown sugar. Gentle, floral bitterness from Old World hops.

Mouthfeel is spot on. So drinkable. The kind of beer you’d love to sip on a dark rainy night in a little English pub.

Overall an excellent, understated, well-constructed winter warmer.

 

Here's another very nice drop from Venn. I really like what they're bringing.
Venn Hibernaculum Sahti-inspired Imperial Lager 8% ABV
4.23/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
16 oz can filled 12/19/23 into a tall Lager glass.
L: SRM 4-5 Pours clear light orange & deep gold with a thin eggshell white head, OK retention, very good steady carbonation bubbles, head recedes to a thick skin, light spotty lacing.
S: A light grain note, distant farm funk, very light malts, distant fruits.
T: Tangy & bittersweet juniper resin and fruit zest with bitterness winning over, rich caramel malts, fairly full-flavored, the bitterness goes wide. Distant alcohol with warming. It is bright tasting overall and the bitter tastes are lightly intense thus creating a halo.
F: Very bright & brisk snappy medium bodied feel with a broad middle and a medium-long moderately drying finish. dryness lingers and overall it is lightly tacky in the end.
O: Excellent tasting and feeling with great carbonation quality. Alcohol is fairly well masked. It is brisk & rich tasting with a slightly drying finish. It has pleasant drinkability with depth and is excellent in its style.

 

Happy Baltic Porter Day!
Yes, that means I had a second one that I hadn’t rated yet. Think I bought this before ruZZia invaded Ukraine, it had a best by date of 2021.

Poured the color of coffee and looked black in the glass. There was no back lighting so couldn’t tell anything else.
The head was tan but didn’t leave lacing.
The taste was good, had some coffee and chocolate and more dark fruit flavors than I normally get in this style.
The feel is a nice balance of lager thin and non Baltic porters - makes for easy quaffing.
OA, a good beer and if it wasn’t from a pariah country, I would likely buy one again.
Cheers all, Happy Baltic Porter day!

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Ok, today (Saturday) was the St. Cloud Craft beer festival. I've had a ton of the beers offered there many times, however, there were a lot of new beers there that I haven't had. I am honest here, but, there wasn't a bad beer that I had there. I've had some in the past that weren't up to par, but not today. Being at the fest, it really wasn't possible to do a beer review. I am home now, and it's review time. I got this glass that I'm using from the Fulton Brewing rep. The beer I'm having is thanks to the generosity of @cheeseheadinMinneapolis


Door County Cherry Wheat - Hinterland Brewing - Fruit & Field Beer - 5.4% ABV

Maybe I'm not getting the nuances, but to me, this is very one dimensional.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4426/60060/

3.43/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
From a 12 oz bottle.

There's a bit of a hiss upon opening, and a slight bit of smoke. This beer pours amber in color with a bit of a white head from the bottle. There's a good deal of carbonation rising in the glass. Slight lacing on the glass.
There's a nice cherry aroma here. In all honesty, I'm not getting much else.
There's a bit of cherry on the flavor. Some tartness to this. This beer is very one dimensional. Pretty much cherry, but no wheat.
Crisp feeling body. Not very full, but not watery.
Not an offensive beer, but, also nothing very special.


I'll be honest, this is a shitty review in my books. Honest, but lacking. I highly doubt I'll be here tomorrow, because I am old and beyond my normal limit after today.

 

Social Project Runaway to Mars Double Hazy IPA dry hopped w/Superduec, 7.8% ABV, 4.11 overall

Pours a very hazed honey color with 1 finger+ of eggshell colored head. Pretty good lacing & head retention

S: Tropical fruits, green melon, peaches & strawberry late

T: Papaya, pomelo, green melon & white grapes up front. A touch pineapple, oranges, green melons & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes with pineapple, green melon, limes & tangerine

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, nice balance

Solid take on the style, pretty drinkable. Wish it matched the nose

 

Thank you @LeRose for kicking off the weekend. Final weekend in Vegas, my brother pulled this one to share from his cellar.

Bourbon County Brand 30th Anniversary Reserve Stout



Bottle Notes: Brother purchased at the release, kept at Vegas room temperature. Drink by July 27, 2027 15:12, 14.4% ABV. Made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original barrel aged stout. Develops in the bottle up to 5 years. Brewed, Barrel-Aged & Bottle By Goose Island Beer Co. Chicago, Illinois.

Stout aged in a blend of Basil Hayden (17%), Booker’s (36%), Baker’s (14%), and Knob Creek (33%).

Appearance: Pitch black base, rich darker tan, minor cover over 1/4 of the base. Head on pour, brother shared 8.5 oz. Rich fine generous amounts of dark thin lacing swivels quickly down, 4.5

Aroma: Mega booze 10 minutes after opening. Optimal aroma and taste 30 plus minutes after refrigerating. Smooth bourbon coats the rich roast malt base, oak, leather and tobacco nice finishing touches. 4.25

Taste: Need to give this at least 30 minutes, or the aroma and taste are not ideal. Bourbon smooth and on top, malt sweetness dialed back well in. Not getting the complexity of the aroma. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Nice medium full body, minimal carbonation. Drinks much lighter than the ABV. Sweetness overridden with the strong bourbon, bourbon lingering on the finish. 4.0

Overall: This is a solid beer, needs to hit he right temps. Thank you David for sharing another BCBS me. I always look forward to my visit. 4.25

 

Gonna catch up on reading, but I have a new one from a new to me local brewery.

Prodigy - Inversion neipa




"A long whirlpool of Citra, El Dorado and Mosaic hops directly after the boil gives this beer its cloudy, hazy pale color. Hints of citrus, tropical fruits, and pear balance out the hops for a smooth finish."

Purchased from the dabc for about $5
No canning date
Poured at fridge temp into a Fake Pretentious glass (vase)

Pours a lightly hazy tangerine orange with a wicked aggressive and nearing dense sandy head. Thick chunky lacing and ring of retention. 4

Largely cereal grain/malt on the nose, but I do get some light cantaloupe/melon, faint citrus and sweet pear. It's not nearly as strong as I'd expect or like but it's nice. 3.75

Some lemon and citrus rind initially followed by grainy malt. Mostly rind-y citrus bitterness and a tad much for the style. 3.75

Considerably dry and soft. Gentle carbo and hint of juiciness. Lingering bitterness. 3.75

Overall a bit on the higher end price-wise makes me shy from making this a regular choice, but I'd get it again. 3.75

 

Hello everyone and happy Saturday
...jersey cyclone deformation zone imperial stout
...solid black appearance with a large long lasting cocoa head.
...medium light carbonation with an above average body.
...aroma is roasted malt,mocha, semi dark bakers chocolate and molasses.
...taste was a really nice mix of everything that was discovered in the aroma. It touched on being sweet,bitter, multi faceted and very flavorful .close to 10%abv but very well hidden.
...jersey cyclone can sometimes be hit or miss but this was maybe the best beer I've had from them

 

By All Means Barrel Aged Grand Olde Ale, 11.5% ABV; 4.17 overall

Pours an effervescent hazel/chestnut with a finger of tan head. Some head retention & lacing

S: Bourbon, figs, some serious fruitcake smell going on, vanilla notes once closer to room temperature

T: Follows the nose, barrel dryness, some dark cherry notes & leafy hops up front. figs, dark cherries, less Bourbon, more leafy & some woody hops as this beer warms up, plus oaky notes. Finishes with figs, Bourbon, dark cherry & woody hops

MF: Plenty chewy, low carbonation. Body thins a little as this warms up, carbonation picks up, warming. This did thin out a little too much for me to love

Good take on the style, Started strong, finished pretty good; worth a go