New Beer Weekend #196

Fat Head - Alpha Ambush. 12oz can served in a tulip. Can is dated 01/02/24. Received from @ovaltine in NBS BIF #18.

Pours a mostly clear golden-brassy color, big dense head, lots of active carbonation. Smell is somewhere between dank and earthy hops, definitely noticeable grain notes, maybe a little bit of old hay.

Taste is a bit more expressive. There's almost a rye spiciness in the grain bill now, hops clear up more in the cut grass and leaves bitterness direction, grain opens up a bit more into honey wheat bread with a little added honeysuckle. Followed by a nice, solid pine bitter kick, counter-balancing all those neat sweet notes pretty well.

Mouthfeel is dry, soft, medium-bodied. Overall, nice.

 

Curiously enough, my next offering for this auspicious occasion is one sent to me by @Roy_Hobbs (and he sent a *lot* of Fox Farm goodness) and while it wasn't on my "wants" list, it should have been.
This is # 2 - from 2020 - aged in Armagnac and Bourbon barrels. Honestly, I have no idea what Armagnac is, so not sure if I detected this, but there *was* something other the bourbon in the flavor.
the pour was that of a filtered oil that had been in a heavy utility vehicle for far too long. Thick, black and lifeless. My mouth started watering.
The taste is devoid of any bitterness whatsoever, absolutely wondrous in execution. Mild coffee and dark chocolates with a touch of oak and bourbon and what I'm guessing is Armagnac.
The feel matches excellently, not thicc, but smoothly viscous with sufficient body to carry the weight of the flavors.
Wonderful beer, thanks Ross!

 

Indeed, I don't particularly appreciate reading reviews and usually skip over the review parts of the posts, but I'm curious about new beers, and a few people's ratings of said beers. However, since this is a thread for beer review, I decided to stick to the format.

 

Barnburner
6% dortmunder by Lagerheads



We met a few couples at a barbecue joint and I enjoyed a lager. Since we were talking I didn’t take notes, but here’s the hundred foot overview.

Poured from tap, the beer definitely was too low on carbonation and that negatively affected mouthfeel. I like my lagers full and soft. I didn’t get much aroma off the cold beer. The taste was solid: light caramel sweetness from the malt and a light bitterness in the finish.

The food was good (ribs) so I’ll likely try it again one day and hope the carbonation was a one time thing. Cheers.

 

I was very late to the NBS party, not sure why.

Lost Forty/American Solera Collab Bayou Hazard Wheat Lager, ABV unknown; my guess: 5.0% 3.53 overall

Pours a bubbly & slightly hazed gold with a thumb of pearl colored head.

S: Wheaty/bready, grassy, perfumy hops

T: Follows the nose. wouldn't surprise me if there is some millet in this as well, a little dry, hints of lemon & floral hops up front. Dry, a little grassy, some wheattyness as this beer warms through. Finishes dry, grassy & with a little lime

MF: Light/medium body, dialed back carbonation

Nothing special here, might be good when it's pushing a 100, Just a one & done that landed about where I thought it would

 

Wow. The 1,000th Sunday of New Beers. Quite an achievement.

Originally, I wasn't going to have a beer this weekend, on account of the fact that I have been drastically curtailing my beer consumption as of late. At the start of April I decided that I'm going to only drink 1-3 beers per week. On Thursday I had two IPAs at Community Pint while at trivia with friends, and then I had a dark mild at Garland Brew Werks after selling some old books at the bookstore next door. That was going to be it, but then I saw that today is NBS #1,000, and that just has to be observed!

So, without further ado, here's Mom Beer, a "wheat India pale ale with rose hips", from Rogue:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/699048/?ba=woemad#lists
I'm not sure what the hell rose hips are supposed to taste like, but this seems like a somewhat lackluster WCIPA from the early 00s, but with a creamy mouth feel and a slight wheat taste in the background. Not bad, but not terribly compelling, either. Incidentally, this is probably my first new beer from Rogue in about a decade, and one I had to add to the database. I guess folks don't rush to add the newest Rogue beers these days.

Cheers!

 

Land Grant - Hoptics. 12oz can served in a wineglass with a little bit of a tulip curve. Can is dated 02-03-07...part of which makes sense to me? It's probably not 17 years old? Got it from @ovaltine in NBS BIF #18.

Pours a mostly clear golden, big fluffy head with lots of active carbonation. Settles slowly leaving behind big clotty lacing and uneven lumpy retained head. Smell is...first thought is actually Belgian banana. A little breadiness, a little floral. After a little while, it turns into a more melon/bubblegum kind of impression.

Taste definitely in that bubblegum/melon arena, breadiness maybe is a bit more grainy now, moderately sweet, but has a strong bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is full, clean, rich. Overall, pretty good.

 

Mad props to @FBarber for this NBS BIF Brew

Civil Society Brewing Co. FRESH IPA, 6.2% ABV; 4.05 overall

Pours a very hazed honey/gold color with a finger of tight cream-colored head. Pretty good head retention & lacing

S: Oranges, hints of vanilla, mango once warm

T: Much pomelo, dryness, limes & sweet orange up front. More lime, dryness & sweet orange as this beer warms up, a touch of green melon too. Finishes with a hint of pineapple acidity, grapefruit, green melon, lime & dryness

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, nice balance

Nice & juicy, easy to drink

 

I am sure I can pound that in the heat, went down great on a cool-ish evening here!