New Beer Weekend #201

I promise to pick up Pikeland if I see it regardless of the price. German Pilsner is such a loaded term. My go-to is JA Post Shift, but it is impossible to compare it to Jever, Trumer, or Raderberger. They are all so different. It would be good to find another contender.

 

Cape may mexican coffee stout
...solid black appearance with a very thin tan head
...medium carbonation that almost comes off too string with a nice silky,creamy thick body
...aroma at first comes off like a camp fire but then the spice starts to come through.then dark roasted black coffee , espresso beans and just a hint of mocha
...taste is the highlight with just a perfect hint of spice,mild sweetness, dark roasted coffee bitterness,espresso and a mild but impactful fudge like chocolate.
...overall,its excellent

 

Well, back it with a post work beer. Might as well finally get to this one I picked up on vacation a couple weeks back.

Summer Zest - The Glass Jug - Durham, NC - American Pale Wheat Beer - 5.4%

The citrus is the star of the show here. The flavor starts out with orange then the lime comes in on the back. Not really getting the wheat character at all, but it really doesn't matter. This is a tasty beer for a hot summer day.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35736/703228/

3.79/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From a 16oz can dated 4/18/24

This beer pours a semi murky golden color. The head that forms is a lovely 2 finger slightly off white head. Bubbles are smaller and it looks frothy. Decent head retention on the glass, and some lacing.
There's a slight citrus aroma in this beer. I get hints of lime and orange in it. I am not getting much "wheat" aroma in it, but the nose is quite pleasing.
Taste - This is a citrus dominated beer for sure. I get the orange up front, and it's quite pleasing. The orange lingers, but is added onto by lime flavor. Not really getting any wheat flavor, but not sure if they were trying to have any of it show through.
Crisp body. The tartness from the citrus does linger in my throat.
This is a tasty beer for summer.

I'll see if I have one more in me tonight. Got to work early tomorrow.

 

Browar Amber — Grand

The look is a very dark red-brown liquid with a light brown head.

The nose is of rye bread and molasses.

Taste follows the nose with sweet bread, roasted malts, and chocolate.

The mouthfeel is thinner than expected considering 7.2% ABV with a bittersweet aftertaste.

Overall it is unmistakenly old-school Eastern European Baltic porter, somewhat between Jack's Abby/Põhjala collab and Żywiec, but more drinkable considering lower ABV. This is the fourth lager from Browar Amber, and so far the tastiest one following Koźlak Bock. The other two were unremarkable.

 

Cheers!

4.3/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 750mL bottle into my Troubadour tulip.

Clear flax liquid supports three fingers of dense ivory foam. Rich soapy lacing, excellent retention.

Potent stone fruit and barrel-kissed funk in the nose. Complex and refined.

Bright, biting acidity on the palate with hints of goat yogurt and white wine vinegar. A wave of honey tinged malt follows closely behind but never quite catches up. Mineral kissed, medium-dry finish with lingering notes of white wine and winter pear.

Medium-bodied, fairly crisp yet silky. Restrained ABV.

Well crafted tart/funky yet mature and balanced domestic take on the style. Another winner from SARA.

 

I dearly miss Mystic Brewings Table Beer!
Hill Farmstead Charlie is an excellent Table Beer
Check it out
Cheers

 

Phew, it stood up to time. It is a BIG one. I popped a 2014 last year and found it to be, still, very delish. So that's why I felt safe putting that in your hands.

 

The missus made a great supper - kind of a rice bowl shrimp thing with chilis and jalapeños, a creamy cilantro dressing with a whole onslaught of add-ins. Nice, light, easy to make, delicious. Deserves a nice brew...here's hoping.


Austin Street's Kolsch style at 5% ABV.

Pours crystal clear golden color. The head fizzed up a bit more, but pretty short. Long-lasting, however, fed by a steady stream of mictobubbles. Foam clings nicely.

The smell is slightly sweet, bready malt to open. Whether Noble hops or new world were used, the beer has the right hop characteristics - grassy, a touch floral, and a very mild peppery spice.

The taste starts mildly sweet, grainy, bready. The hops might be a tad heavy, but in the right vicinity flavor-wise. Mildly floral, a little grassy, faint smidge of lemon. Ample pepper builds up. On the very back end of the taste, a pleasant vinous grape flavor. Bitterness is assertive.

Light, a bit creamy. Clean and easy on the taste bud fir the most part.

Overall, this is a decent take on the style but I think it is a tweak or two away. The bitterness and pepper take away from the smoothness - just a little jagged. I'm going to say it's in the 3.75 territory.

 

Final beer of today, and it is tasty.

Bicycle Day - Wild Mind Ales - Minneapolis, MN - Fruit and Field Beer - 3.2% ABV

I can picture myself drinking this on a hot summer day. The beer is tasty, yet light bodied. Very glad I picked this one up when I got back from my vacation.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46325/654250/

3.65/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From a 16oz can purchased at the brewery. No date on the can.

Super clear golden colored beer. Some carbonation bubbles rise in the glass. The head that forms is a frothy 2 finger white head. Ok retention, and some lacing on the glass.
The nose is fairly light. I do get a faint citrus hint to what I'm smelling, but very faint.
Taste - There's a nice grapefruit flavor in this beer. I also get a slightly sweet lemon flavor in here. Slight grain flavor.
Light, clean body.
This is a beer that would go down like tasty water on a sunny, hot summer day. Refreshing.


See you all for the extended version of this thread tomorrow. Cheers!

 

Awesome beer sent to me from @FBarber as part of NBS BIF#18. Such a great brew!

Goose Island 35th Anniversary Cuvee Barrel Aged Ale ( Listed as an American Strong Ale, seems spot on to me ), 14.7% ABV;4.48 overall

Pours an effervescent cola/mahogany color with a sliver of tan head. Some head retention & lacing

S: Raw barrel, figs, brown sugar & cola

T: Molases, brown sugar & cinnamon? plus leafy hops up front. Raw Sour Mash, leafy hops, woody hops. & a kiss of vanilla as this beer warms through. a little Maple Candy as well. Some black cherry shows up along with leafy hop presence, mostly, plus pipe tobacco & Bourbon in the finish

MF: Chewy as all get out, restrained carbonation, very warming, a little more carbonation would've pushed to greatness

Great take on the style. so much going on the heft is ALMOST missed

 

Imperial Radler is an interesting concept. Kinda like a barrel aged malt liquor (looking at you, Founders - easily the most ridiculous beer I've had).

 

Enjoyed this immensely! Schell's Snowstorm Four Rye Dark Ale 2023

3.96/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Nice caramel color, big foamy khaki head, some spotty lacing.
Snot factory says rye bread, some sugar. I loved the flavor, some spice, some sweetness. Medium bodied, easy drinking. A gift from Jerry in Minneanoplace. I'd buy this in a heartbeat.

 

Happy Memorial Day NBW!

Tomorrow is my last weekday shift at my job (Tuesday I start a new gig), although I'll still be working there on weekends for a couple months. Today is my last day I'll have entirely off til Juneteenth, so after running some errands, I popped into a pizza place on the NW side of town that I'd not previously visited and ordered a small pizza and a pint of Lumberbeard's So Easy, a hazy pale ale:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58538/489470/?ba=woemad#lists
Very fruit forward and sweet, initially, with a mild, citrusy bitterness on the back end. I find it a little bit on the bland side, but pleasant enough.

 

That is a long time with no day off @woemad Hopefully it’s all for the better and your new job is the perfect move.

PS…mmmmmm; cheese.

 

Adroit Theory - The Midnight Special RIS (12%)

16oz can served in a big snifter. 08/14/23 is on the bottom of the can. @Ozzylizard sent it to me in NBS BIF #18.

Pours black with a huge fluffy head that collapses fairly slowly, but doesn't collapse very completely. There's a lot of dark beige head still several minutes after a quite vigorous pour. Smell is first bread yeast and second black licorice. Sweetened roasted coffee is right after that.

Taste veers strongly toward the black licorice, but keeps some sweetness that first made me think of maple syrup and second made me think of molasses. I think the sweetness is a bit more toward the molasses end of that spectrum. Burnt coffee and chocolate bitterness balance that out somewhat -- still generally seems sweet, but not overly so.

Mouthfeel is big and fluffy. Overall, this is very good. Somewhere in between a "modern" stout and a RIS, but definitely RIS recognizable, and very enjoyable.

 

Pizza looks amazing! Or maybe I'm just famished.

 

Well, I hit another from @zeile33
The Gilded Hand
This was pretty good but not spectacular.
Received in NBS BIF #18.
Pours on the darker side for a barleywine. Looks more like a blend between a barleywine and an impy stout. Slight khaki head settles quickly, leaving a firm' lithe ring.
Nose begins with a vanilla tinged caramel note and some mild char. A hint of nuttiness comes through as well. Smells pretty enticing.
Flavor is more muted on the sweet notes, and the char comes in a bit stronger, almost in a drying bitterness. Almost like it's heading in a hopping bitterness coupled with some smoke. Flavor seems to fall somewhere in between an English and American barleywine.
Mouthfeel is on the thicker side, but nice.
Overall, a dialed down English barleywine.
3.58/5 rDev -9.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

 

Tiramisu Milk Porter
6.3% American Porter by Czig Meister

Poured from a pint can, the body is jet black with good head that quickly recedes. No lacing.

A pronounced roasted coffee aroma.

Taste follows nose with an appealing coffee flavor. Background chocolate and vanilla notes mellow the coffee but aren't overtly sweet. A bit of lactose is present. No sturdy malty backbone.

Very low carbonation is off putting and the mouthfeel is poor.

I'd drop the side aspects and just make a coffee porter since that flavor comes across fine. I’ll not rate as this issue may be related to canning.

 

New to me, six years old in bottling. Cross posted in the Cellar thread as well as the RIS tasting thread.
Poured stout black and the brown head dissipated before I could get the photo, and it left no trace of itself on the glass.
Aged in Rum barrels but after sitting on a store shelf for years, that aspect faded to vanilla and dark fruits that accentuate the coffee and cacao flavors generally found in stouts. I know this isn’t a good description as it is really good, but it’s what I have.
The feel is a little flat, go figure, and a little thinner than most BA imperial stouts.
OA, I really wish this was in a can (even though I prefer bottles) as cans and so much easier to ship. And I am not home at this point.
Oh well, at least I got to try it.

 

Congrats on the new work