New Beer Weekend #196

1,000! Phenomenal. Thanks for keeping count ChicagoJ
This little corner of BA has been a refuge for thoughtful musings and conversations for such a gloriously long time. @malty , Matt @cavedave @utopiajane @lordofthewiens @cjgiant and many others have nurtured this gem in its different variations until now. I thank them All. Old Timers and Newer folks, this is a special place.

 

Yep, they are right outside of Fredericksburg which is a big German themed town. They just do German styles. I haven't been to the brewery/restaurant but it looks incredibly impressive.

 

Wicked Willy's
7% AIPA by Fat Head’s


Poured from a twelve ounce can, the body is a crystal clear light gold with a good fluffy head. Good lacing during the tasting.

Aroma is pine with a light citrus.

Taste is pine and earthy hops. Bitter but only lightly. Folks who find Head Hunter too bitter might like this one.

Mouthfeel is very good with solid carbonation and a soft feel.

A solid AIPA that is an easy drinker but breaks no new ground.

 

Gnarly Barley Hifi Hefe



Light golden color with good white cap.

Aroma of mild grain and something slightly tartly sweet like ripe peach.

Taste is simple and clear. A little less than medium strength with sweet grain and those ripe citrus notes. Little hop presence that I could detect.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

Good tasting brew that's not remarkable but is suitable.

 

This is not a new beer by any means, but a new version of an old favorite from long ago.

Pours almost pitch black with a light brown steady head.

Smells of pine and bready malt.

Taste follows the smell with a hefty hop bitterness, malty backbone, pine, and grapefruit.

The mouthfeel reminds me of a stout rather than an IPA.

Overall it is great, but doesn't have the wow factor of the old version. Although there aren't that many black IPAs around anymore, this is most likely the only six-pack for me.

 

@champ103 already replied but I will add my 2 cents.

Altstadt is indeed known for their German style beers and I have enjoyed every brand I had of theirs. During my recent visit to Texas I enjoyed drinking a can of Altstadt Pilsner at a craft beer bar in New Braunfels.

Over the past 10ish years I have driven past the brewery on a number of occasions and the car almost on its own wanted to turn into the parking lots but alas there were others in the car with differing agendas. Below is a photo of the brewery:



You almost feel like you are in Germany (unless you are there during the hot time of the year which is like 6-7 months of the year ).

Prost!

 

3 Floyds Turbo Reaper.
3.71/5 rDev -10%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a foggy amber, bif frothy meringue head, some lacing. Snot factory sez pine, citrus and tropical fruit, very aromatic, buds agree, but something is missing on the finish.

 

I think my car WOULD have turned in on it’s own.

 

Comfort Hops from Other Half, but I'm going to call it the Waffle House beer. Let's fight about it late at night in public, drunk.

4.09/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 16-oz can stamped “03/12/24” to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body is apricot in color and is opaque hazy. A full even-bubbled white head fades to spider lacing.
The aroma mixes mango with a distinct hop sensation.
The mango theme continues with apricot joining in. This beer is sweet until a few seconds after the swallow, then your mouth dries out suddenly. Alcohol is barely noticeable for an 8.5% beer.
The body is medium in mouthfeel, tongue coating until that dryness comes along..
Overall a pretty good beer, but it's getting hard to distinguish the OH line of NEIPAs.

 

A NEIPA from Proclamation Ale Co of scenic Warwick, Rhode Island. Proc is the name.
An "Old School" version, not all juice and oatmeal. Goes well with dinner and doubles as dessert. Cheers.



3.87/5 rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A 16-oz pour at Lindy's Tavern. Hazy orange-straw color, I can barely see my fingers. Off-white head with short retention and a thin ring.

Citrus hops greets nose, mostly orange with pineapple and grapefruit. Faint malt smell of bread, toasted grain and dough. Very faint alcohol.

Neutral taste with moderate bitterness at first, hop flavor is high, citrus plus grass and a little pine. Malt taste is low. lighty toasted bread and grain. Bitterness builds with added spice, the finish is soft and dry with spicy citrus lingering on. Alcohol is well hidden.

Medium bodied with below average carbonation, likely from the pour. Not as cloudy and juicy as most. Uncomplicated taste, like in the early years of "Hazy" IPA.

 

I need to catch up on the thread after this post; looking forward wo seeing what folks have been getting into today, and very much looking forward to tomorrow's celebration.

Starting in easy with a local ingredient Pilsner. I've got something I've wanted to try for years to crack open tomorrow.

Jack's Abby Local Hopped Pilsner
5.3%



Pours a pale yellow with a one-finger white head.

The hops are the first thing that hits for aroma, with citrus, floral, and grass/wood/pine notes. They're pretty bold for a Pilsner. Bread dough and lightly toasted grain support the hop aromas.

On the palate things reverse and the malt moves into the lead role. All your favorites are there: cracker, white bread with honey, slight biscuit, bread dough. Moving along the sip, the hops come back in with a slightly resinous bitterness that ends with a big floral kick. Both malt and hop notes linger through the aftertaste, with some honey coming to the fore.

Moderate carb and light bodied with a slight carb bite.

Overall, a really nice Pilsner/American Lager. Great to have this done with all MA hops and malt. Now we just need more MA grains like Allagash is doing with ME grains.

 

Oh the anticipation…looking forward to seeing what this beer is.

 

Hypnotic Hops IPA, brewed by Spellbound Brewing in Mount Holly NJ. This brew is 6.8 ABV. Poured from a 12 OZ can it is a pale copper color with a long lasting white head. The aroma is mild and of tropical fruit. The taste is complex and balanced. The mouthfeel is full the finish is off dry. This is a very enjoyable beer.

 

Tandem Dark
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42356/698411/

Not only a new beer to me, but a new beer altogether!

I listed it as a European Dark Lager. Further tasting might place it as a Shwartzbier or Vienna Dark lager.

Appearance: Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A very dark amber brown, almost black. You need a strong light to penetrate it. A two finger bubbly tan head. Good head retention. Lots of fine lacing.

Smell: Roasted malt smells. Coffee. Licorice.

Taste: Tastes of coffee and roasted malts up front. A dry, mild hop finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium body and carbonation.

Overall: Very nice. Well balanced. Nothing overpowering. A solid Dark lager.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Breakside My Homie IPA. 7% canned 3.28.24

4.25/5 rDev 0% (first to review)

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

L - another Breakside crystal-clear WCIPA - proper CO2 bubbling, not a huge head (so points deduction) but a wonderful color; keeps bubbling for minutes and minutes...
S - melon, blueberries, dankness, dry grass, wonderful.
T - all that the aroma offers, wiht some crispy- dry bitterness on front and back end. Just a classic WCIPA. A little twist of new hop tropicality without going all weird and mango/coconut on us.
F - Love the balance, dryness, and the end of sip drop-off-a-cliff bitterness. Fab stuff here. Breakside rarely screws up an IPA and this one is another one getting.
O - another great, recent, WCIPA find - well done Breakside. This one is just an overall winner for me.

 

You might want to tone down expectations! It's exciting for me, but maybe not for others; it certainly isn't in the whale category (I've never been one to care or chase anyway) though I've never seen it in MA and I suspect it gets limited distro. A hint will narrow it down quite a lot: when I went to VT for the eclipse I made sure that my friend had a can waiting for me.


And some closing notes on the local ingredient Pilsner I posted above. I forgot to mention that the hops are Triumph and Cascade grown in MA and that JA used a coolpool to extract aroma and flavor without bitterness. Their skill with that technique is definitely improving. Finally, as the beer warmed to the high 50s F, it became all honeyed bread and floral hops, not a bad thing at all.

 

That’s really neat on the coolpool thing, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of that.

Guess #1…lawsons maple fayston stout…

 

I hadn't either until JA put in their pilot line and posted about the equipment. I'm not sure if they have one on the main line as well.

Here's a recent short video Jack did on the process.
https://youtube.com/shorts/eoFwB9Ls4ds?feature=shared

On tomorrow's beer, great guess but no (though I should have sought that out as well!). You're definitely in the right area though.

 

Nice short and to the point video, thanks for sharing.

On beer front…since I was in the right area I’m gonna go with Luscious, final guess…don’t tell me if I’m right or wrong. We’ll find out tomorrow