New Beer Weekend #185

Thanks for getting us going early and proper @AzfromOz well done sir. This one from Other Half with Citra, Simcoe, Cashmere, and Cascade DDH.

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 12/11/23. Pours a very attractive hazy milky yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves plenty of webs of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is passionfruit, peach, coconut, pineapple, mandarin, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows passionfruit, peach, pineapple, mandarin, coconut, and apricot very well distributed. 4.25

Mouthfeel is a little above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 6.5% it has bigger flavor, but very easy going down. 4.25

Overall this is really impressive at only 6.5%. I would certainly recommend for sure. 4.25 Cheers all.

 

Will this beer leave me Thunderstruck!?!

This is the third beer I will be discussing from the Fat Head’s Head Hunter IPA Hoppy Variety IPA (12-pack): Tropical Thunder IPA.

And for you folks who are fans of the AC/DC song Thunderstruck I recommend this cover of the song by the Alex Meixner Band!

According to the description of this beer on BA: “Head Hunter variant featuring El Dorado and Galaxy hops with notes of pineapple, orange and passionfruit.”

On the can it provides the information:

· 6.5% ABV

· 70 IBU

So, the Fat Head’s brewers made a decision it lower the ABV of this variant (i.e., 6.5% ABV vs. 7.5% ABV) and the IBUs (70 IBUs vs. 80 IBUs) vs. the other two variants I discussed in the previous two weeks.

I have homebrewed with both El Dorado and Galaxy hops in past batches of beers but I never combined them together. Let’s see what this combo brings.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA Glass:

Appearance:

Golden yellow with a BIG white head.

Aroma:

A vibrant aroma which is mostly tropical fruits but there are also notable aromas of citrus and stone fruits as well. This combination kinda/sorta reminds me of Juicy Fruit gum.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with mostly tropical fruits but also citrus/stone fruits. There is a notable bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall

This beer is enjoyable, very good.

Of the three Head Hunter IPA variants in this pack, my favorite was the Simply Simcoe IPA but these other two variants were both very good.

To quote @JayORear from last week’s NBW thread: “I don't think Fat Head's knows how to make a bad beer.”

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @JayORear @ESHBG

 

Lagunitas Beast of Both Worlds

Appearance: Gold, lots of particles, good head.

Smell: Old school sweetened grapefruit.

Taste: A mild hoppy start, mild sweetness, some citrus, maybe a little melon note. Bitterness stays pretty low. Medium bodied.

Overall: A pretty nice DIPA, not completely old school, especially in the bitterness department. Nice citrus and fruit flavors, easy drinking. Another solid DIPA from Lagunitas.

 

@JackHorzempa as I read your post “thunderstruck” was playing on our kid’s playlist en route to MD. Me reading your post right now was destiny

Oh and PS I’m riding shotgun. Not NBWing and driving…

 

I think The Teetering Dykes would be a great band name.

 

Morning all,
It's cold, gray, and threatening rain in Spokanistan. I'm about 20 minutes from embarking on a trip with a friend to nearby Cheney, Washington, for a delayed birthday celebration, where, after a late breakfast at a restaurant that specializes in variations on Eggs Benedict, I'm going to be stopping by Inland Ale Works and most likely having some beers I've not had before, and then meeting up with more friends this evening at one or more downtown tap rooms.

 

Happy Birthday Celebration day! Hope you have some good ones.

 

Thanks. The birthday was last weekend, but a Sunday is a pretty crummy day to get up to anything.

 

Central Waters Brewing Twenty Six Variant. An imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels, with raspberries and vanilla. Central Waters Brewing does not have a new glass for their twenty-sixth anniversary, which is disappointing. The color is pitch black, with a light pink hue, when held up to the sun. The smell is pure raspberry cheesecake. The taste is raspberry donuts. This is the definition of a pastry stout. Not too sweet, but sweet enough that it would be difficult to drink a bomber solo. There is a light bourbon flavor, enough to remind you this is an alcoholic beverage. The mouthfeel is rich, silky, a bit thin, buy smooth, with light-medium carbonation. Overall, this would be good in a 12-ounce format. I capped this bottle after this pour. It is a nice raspberry and vanilla pastry stout. The ceiling for pasty stouts is not very high for me.

 

Hope you had a great birthday!

 

A nice sunny day with a 20 mph wind, so it feels cold out there. Neither the dogs nor I liked being out in it. Once I got back into a warm house, I wanted a beer that would warm me up. I found this guy in the back of my fridge, and thought he would do the job.
The beer is Espresso Marty from Prairie Artisan Ales, a "barrel aged Imperial Stout with coffee, vanilla, Espresso natural flavor, and caramel color."
The beer is near black with a small, rapidly disappearing tan head. There is no lace.
Aroma of coffee and roasted malt.
Amazing taste. Strong espresso to begin, a little vanilla and a little chocolate, some caramel, and a big bitter coffee finish.
Very smooth beer, flavors just explode in the mouth.
Alcohol very well-hidden. Amazed to see the ABV of 15.2%.

 

Happy belated Birthday

 

This beer is courtesy of BeerAdvocate Bad Santa, @azuelke. Thank you, sir! The color is gorgeous, hazy, honey yellow-orange, with a one-inch bright white foam top. The smell is vibrant lemon, honey, honeydew, starfruit, and grapefruit. It smells incredible! The taste is Squirt soda, grapefruit, cream, Swedish pancakes, cookie dough, and limeon. Absolutely magical! The mouthfeel is thick, soupy, creamy, and full, with medium carbonation. I cannot think of a better NEIIPA. Even by Tree House Brewing. This is nearly a perfect beer!

 

Found this gem at my local bottle shop...

Duchesse Petite, Barrel Aged Flanders Red Ale. 4.5% ABV. I don't often use my Lindemans flute glass, but this seemed like an appropriate offering to use it for, ha.



Pours a dark reddish/brown color. A dense beige head forms with good retention, and plenty of lace left behind.
Oh I love the aroma. Toasted malts, caramel apples, and sour cherries. A touch of oak aromas, and a wonderful acidity.
Caramelized apples, and sour cherries are the fruit flavors I get up front. Acidic for sure, but not overly so. There is a satisfying toasted malts, and oak flavor that gives balances to the sweet and acidic elements really well, and makes it a touch more complex than I first expected.
A lighter body for sure. Moderate to high carbonation, that is at first effervescent, but becomes ultra smooth. This is really inviting and enjoyable to drink. I can come back to this with ease.

Really well balanced, with lots of character, all in a low ABV package...yep this is what I like. The acidic sour notes blend perfectly with the malts, and it almost becomes like a dark cider...if there is such a thing. A well done example of the style of course, and just all around enjoyable.

Overall score is 4.21, this is A territory for me, so I this impressed me. Not surprising as I love regular Duchesse. Though I haven't had it in a while...would be a good one to do a side by side with...next time.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/641/512840/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Finally opened this bottle. Glad I got two. I haven't had a stout lately, but I started early today.
I love it and I think it deserves a perfect score. Impressed with the smoothness and what lingers on the tongue.

 

Thanks for kicking us off in magnificent style once again, @AzfromOz. I've been looking forward to trying this one since I saw someone had left it in the back of my fridge over the holidays. I now wonder if they did so on purpose, as it was canned on 12/21/21...

Central Waters Satin Solitude



Pours a black that is actually dark ruby/brown when back-lit even slightly. A short-lived tan head dissipates to a ring.

Aromas of cocoa, molasses, and a hint of dark fruit with a slightly woody (veering a little too close to cardboardy) underlayment.

Molasses is prominent up front and then a range of flavors hit: dark fruit, cocoa, semi-sweet chocolate, roast grain, toasted pumpernickel. Everything is a bit muddled though. A good amount of roast bitterness comes through about halfway through the sip and lingers through the finish and aftertaste as roast coffee. Underlying everything is that hint of cardboard again.

Quite light bodied for the style with moderate carb. I'm not getting any of the creamy and smooth feel from the brewer's description.

Overall, not bad but not a beer that holds up at over 2 years old. Really more like a mediorce old ale at this point than an imp. stout.

 

Drekker Brewing and Barrel Theory Beer the Execution Club NEIPA. Riwaka, Cita, Riwaka Cryo, and Cita Cryo hops. Canned 1/16/24, so quite fresh. I am a big fan of these breweries. I have yet to visit Drekker Brewing, but I met a former BA at Barrel Theory Beer. The color is vivid sunflower yellow, with minimal white foam on top. The smell is light lemon and cantaloupe. Not too vibrant. The taste is cantaloupe, guava, mango, and lemon, with a light buttery finish. The mouthfeel is soupy, creamy, thick, and full, with light-medium carbonation. Overall, this is a delicious NEIPA. I probably should not have consumed it right after a Tree House Brewing beer. That took away from what would have been a special experience. I am glad I have a four-pack of this beer.

 

Prelude to a Supernova

 

I enjoy your notebook reviews ha,