New Beer Weekend #199

Skydance Diamond in The Buff Vienna Lager, 5.2% ABV; 3.24 overall

Pours a chill-hazed amber with a finger of cream-colored head. Better than average head retention & lacing

S: Green appleskins, grainy & toasty notes

T: Follows the nose, a little dryness, grassyness, sweet grains & a little toastyness up front. A little toasty sweetness, a little bit of brown sugar, & grassyness as this beer warms up. Finishes sweet, grassy, dry with some green apple creeping in

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, okay balance

A rare miss from these guys, strays too far off of style guidelines to its determent. Drinkable, just not there

 

Oh Jesus, Allah, Buddha, Satan, karma, kismet…yellow beers…

I’m having old keg KBS Mackinac fudge and CBS…not new by any stretch, but at least a proper beer. I will look away whilst you extol the virtues of Satan’s urine…

 

River City Brewing ( Wichita ) Rob's Pistachio Coconut ( Rum ) Imperial Stout, 14.7% ABV; 4.14 overall ( Brewed with Cardamom Pistachios )

Pours like 10K+ mile old motor oil with a sliver of mocha head. Traces of lacing, zero head retention. So far, all these bruisers in this series are not great in this category, bleeds over into mouthfeel as well

S: Coconuts & pistachios, cola notes

T: Follows the nose, mint chocolate as well, a little vanilla & cola as well up front. More pistachios, mint chocolate, cola & rum, as this beer warms up, plus the dryness that goes with. Finishes with mistiness, pistachios, chocolate, coconut, vanilla & cola, plus barrel dryness & a kiss of lime

MF: Chewy as hell but some smooth carbonation fights through, warming

Featured ingredients are on point, other than the mint, but that doesn't detract, but perhaps distracts???

 

Adroit Theory + Krypts - Mycorrhiza Visions

500ml bottle served in a big snifter. Don't see a date on it. @Ozzylizard sent it to me during NBS BIF #18.

Pours very dark, very thick, dark brown head, maybe about a half centimeter thick. Smell is chocolate cake and black licorice. Something sweet, maybe molasses or burnt caramel.

Taste is interesting and quite pleasant. Marshmallow and black licorice, sweetened dark chocolate, roasty bitterness is there but in the background. There's another source of bitterness, but I'm not sure I can identify it very clearly. Coffee is the closest that came to mind.

Mouthfeel is thick and creamy. Overall, this is very nice.

Happy weekend, my friends. Took my Alaskan math teacher friend and his daughter out for dinner tonight, going to his house for his birthday party tomorrow.

 

Yes we do. Thanks for starting the conversation.

 

Moersleutel Craft Brewery (Netherlands) ‘Macaroon Machine’ Coconut Pastry Stout

44 cL can, poured at 58° into a snifter, in Toulouse, France. Packed on 11/12/2023, giving the flavors 6 months to develop before I pulled the top.
Nothing much to look at on the pour. Nappy little brown fuzzy fizz atop dark matte brown brew.
Nose pops coconut, vanilla, dark chocolate, followed soon by coffee and molasses.
Taste is a fine rendition of classic Russian Imperial Stout,.,. with a Mounds bar melted in. I appreciate the hoppy high IBUs - kinda like the brewer put a twist of de lime in de coconut. So what we get is a choco coconut cream dream torte with a firm hop and bitter back. The 10% ABV heat is complementary.
Mouthfeel is short of pastry heft, and there is medium - low carbonation.
Overall, a sippable, well crafted treat.

4.2/5 in the BA DB.,.

 

6:16Am East Coast and we are already on page two. Thanks @Snowcrash000 for getting this thing and what a way with Tired Hands.

Tree House Andromeda 8% canned on 4/30/24. Pours a very attractive hazy yellow with a solid finger sticky white head, that leaves tons of this lines with amazing retention. 4.75

Aroma is cantaloupe, peach, mango, mandarin, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 4.25

Taste follows cantaloupe, mango, peach, mandarin, apricot, and a shot of grapefruit in the bold finish. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle almost creamy carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8% it has massive flavor, but still easy going down. 4.75

Overall another excellent NEDIPA from possibly the best at making them. 4.5 Cheers all.

 

Unibroue Saison Libre
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/608581/

Appearance: Poured a 355ml can into a tulip. A big fluffy fine white head on a cloudy lemon. Good head retention. Lots of thick fine lacing.

Smell: Pepper and lemon in the nose.

Taste: Tastes of bready malt with a dry finish.

Mouthfeel: A light body and carbonation.

Overall a serviceable and approachable Saison.

look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4

 

It may have something to do with distribution - I live in PA but I've never seen anything from Tired Hands. Maybe when I'm next in Germany...

 

A couple of Central Waters barleywines courtesy of @cheeseheadinMinneapolis

Central Waters 4 year Barleywine

Appearance: Dark brown, starts with a small head but it fizzes out.

Smell: Big caramel, sweet, boozy, wood,

Taste: Sweet, fruit like red wine, touch of maple, boozy but somewhat blended. Not as much wood as expected.

Overall: Good beer, kind of boozy (what do you expect at 14%+?) It seemed to have less barrel flavor (wood, vanilla, chocolate) than expected, just more booze. We'll see if that continues when trying the 5 year version.

5 year Barleywine

Appearance: Dark brown, starts with a small head but it fizzes out.

Smell: Wood, oxidized caramel, pretty weak.

Taste: Boozy, a kind of wine-like tannin and bite. Some caramel sweetness but boozy, woody flavors dominate. Caramel and alcohol in the finish.

Overall: While I liked the 4 year version, the 5 year seems to be a little too woody and boozy like the barrel has completely taken over. There's a bit of caramel from the beer in there but it's hidden by the wood and booze. An interesting experiment.

 

Good day BAs! Thanks @Snowcrash000 for starting us off and @ChicagoJ for reiterating the expectations for the thread.



KBS Spicy Chocolate - from Founders. Four pack of 12 fl oz bottles purchased from Franklin Beer Co, Franklin, PA, 06/05/24, $ 22.00 (Including tax), $ 0.459/fl oz. Reviewed 11/05/24 (Review 3276). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Rear label stamped “BOTTLED ON 12.26.23”. Stored on a room temperature shelf at the distributor, 34 degrees at home. Served at 54.6 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 55.5 degrees F. (I know – this didn’t last long!)
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 30), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light same. When rear-lite, same, except at the edges where some ruby is visible.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.3 cm, aggressive center pour), chestnut, high density, average retention, leaving a 0.3 cm crown fed by effervescence and a thin partial cap.
Lacing – Fair. Narrow band of near-microscopic bubbles which is short-lived, breaking into a few skinny arcs and islands.
Aroma – 4 – A bit sweet with roasted malt and a hint of chocolate. No yeast, no hops, no alcohol (12.0 % ABV as marked on the label). Lacks the barrel and coffee aromas of base KBS. No spicy or vegetal aromas found.
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly sweet and chocolatey with some roasted malt. Ends with mild pepper heat – not enough to make it uncomfortable but enough to notice. No yeast, no alcohol, no barrel. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Moderate gastric warming.
Palate – 4.5 – Full; creamy; soft carbonation.
Final Impression and summation: Markedly less coffee than regular KBS – a good thing! The pepper goes well with chocolate – they share origins (Throw some chopped jalapenos into a batch of brownies) If I had to choose between this and OG KBS, the decision of the coin would be final.

Rating 4.1, rDev -0.1%

 

If I may ask, how did you get your hands on a lot of Tired Hands? Do you have a shop that has great imports from the US?

 

Love the European start time.
Guten Morgen alle from my time zone.
A decent, if not stellar, offering.

Canned on 04/01/24
Beautiful, crystal, light gold in color. Bountiful white head. Solid retention but only light lacing.
Aroma carey a light note of citrus zest, mango, slightly earthy papaya, and a subtle grass note. Very light, almost honey like sweetness comes from the malt.
Flavor pulls off, a lot of the same notes, but in a more timid form.
Mouthfeel is a tad thin with light carbonation finishes a little on the crisp side
3.58/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

 

Great start to the thread. I've only had one variant of Alien Church, courtesy of the outstanding @JayORear, so your salvo of three of them is indeed impressive to me!

 

Ooh, that's a good 'un!

 

I was actually wondering that myself. It would indeed be ironic if it's easier to get Alien Church cans in Germany than in parts of the United States, like, say, Washington state (then again the mileage from the brewery might be about the same).

 

Sam Adams Summer Ale, a 5.3% citrus wheat ale with all kinds of citrus additives. This was left in the beer fridge by one of my son's friends. Disclaimer going into this review- Reading all the additives on the can I would not have purchased this for myself.
Stand back, pine cones burn hot!

3.32/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Poured from a 12oz can to a Nonic at fridge temp. The can is stamped JUL illegible 2024, must be a BBD.
Impressive white head with a slow pour. Body is slightly hazy and light yellow.
Minimal aroma from this baby.
The taste is definitely forced citrus. Tastes like watered down lemon puree with sugar and hops added.
Mouthfeel is light and if your in the mood for lemon you could really suck these down on a hot day.
Not horrible, but not something I would purchase.

 

Phase Three Brewing Curvature Batch 15. An imperial stout with peanut butter and marshmallow. 11.9% ABV. The look is black, soupy, and thick. Brown colors swirl as it is poured. There is absolutely no foam. The smell is pure peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate. As intended. A true pastry/candy bar stout. The taste is peanut butter marshmallow squares. Like from the church bake sale, back in the day. Rice Krispies treats of the highest order. The peanut butter, marshmallow, chocolate, and Rice Krispies flavors meld together like Mavis from the church choir could dial in perfectly. Not too sweet. Delightful. The mouthfeel is thick. Nearly pudding-like. Overall, this beer is exactly what you expect, from a brewery that never fails.

 

Hope everyone's weekend is off to a good start. It's been a crazy couple of weeks at work with one more in the pipeline, but I'm hoping to get through a couple of new beers this weekend to drink down the stash.

I had high hopes for this one. I reviewed Jack's Abby's new wheat lager a few weeks ago and found it refreshing but somewhat lackluster. My hope was that the hop aroma and flavor extracted via coolpooling would fill the gap without a ton of bitterness. But...it's just too much hop for me. And at $3.50/16oz it's hard to justify over Allagash White at $3.09/19.2oz. As I said in WBAYDN, I wish JA would bend their rules and just brew a proper weissbier.

I'm deciding between one of two odd beers for tomorrow. We'll see which I land on.

Jack's Abby Velvet Frost
5.2% hoppy wheat lager



Pours a completely clear bright yellow...huh? Ah shoot, forgot to agitate the can. With the last pour a stream of hazy sediment slowly descends in filament-like streams. A big full-hand bright white head sits atop and leaves great lacing.

(There was basically no sediment left in the can when I rinsed it, so I think we're good to go with an accurate review.)

Hops take the lead on aroma off the pour, with strong floral notes, grapefruit, pineapple, and menthol. It's like being with your grandma while she eats breakfast and puffs away. As it warms, the menthol goes away and orange joins the fruit party.

The taste isn't really doing it for me. There's a lot of bitter citrus throughout (grapefruit, orange pith) that's a bit off-putting. It's hard to find fault in that though as this is a hoppy wheat beer. I get a little bit of clove and a hint of bubblegum that builds as it warms, but none of the banana I got in the less hoppy version. I'm also not getting much malt sweetness. There's some earthy hop bitterness on the finish.
(All of this may simply be down to the fact that Pilsner is usually as hop-forward as I go. Those with IPA-adjusted palates would likely love this beer, but for me, the hops dominate.)

Carb is light to moderate but really fine. Leads to an incredibly smooth feel, but pretty light bodied.

Overall, this is good when rated to what the brewer intended, but not for me.