New Beer Weekend #204

Thanks, Jon. At least one person got a kick out of it (most were probably wondering if I've gone off the deep end). I enjoy letting the creative writing juices flow every once in a while, but the results can be, well, odd. Especially in a beer review.

Maybe I should have added a disclaimer that it wasn't autobiographical, just a bit of fun? But that bitterness was seriously unpleasant and for a brew that is a recreation of Mustang Thunder I figured it deserved an equally awesome (ridiculous?) description.

 

This Black Dragon Celtic Amber is pretty damn drinkable. Malt forward, some nice hops balancing things out. 3.5 overall

 

I was grabbing some wine for my wife yesterday at the LCBO and saw this on the shelf. I almost never buy beer there as it is usually old and of middling quality. This, however, I thought would fit the ‘holiday.’ Moreover, it was canned on June 6th. I didn’t think it was possible to get a beer this fresh at the LCBO. I’m buying a lottery ticket later this evening!

This is Party Dad Crushin’ IPA. It’s a low ABV (3.5%) from Nickel Brook Brewing Company in Burlington, Ontario.



Pours a very pale stray yellow with an ample, pillowy white head that sticks around a while, tapering off to a light film on the beer’s surface.

The nose is bright citrus, citrus pith and perhaps a hint of lemongrass.

Taste follows the nose closely but very muted. The pith takes over, and the lemongrass is even more faint.

The body is light, bordering on thin, but adequate for such a low ABV ‘crusher.’

Overall, this is a satisfying light beer from a generally decent brewery that I’d gladly enjoy again, preferably in the backyard with a hot dog or three.

Cheers and Happy Father’s Day!

 

3.22 once ran through the algorithm. Still a good beer for Thailand!

 

Good Sunday morning and Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there.
Todays offering is from a 1 man operation in Colrain Ma.
Stoneman Brewing , Maggies Farmhouse Ale, uses all local grains, hops, and my favorite farmhouse yeast strain. A very good and quite enjoyable offering

Cheers all



Maggie's Farmhouse Ale

Saison | 5.5% ABV
Stoneman Brewery in Colrain, Massachusetts

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.25/5 rDev 0% | Average: 4.25
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 500 ml bottle into the test glass
A - Beautiful , bright, clear forsythia yellow, Vey active carbonation, excellent frothy white cap.
Head retention is quite something
S - Earthy grains, wheat ,triticale, spelt, and barley all in the mix, a nice spicy white pepper. Add lemongrass and a barnyard hint from the Belgian Ale yeast
T - All the aromatics, with a bit more interplay with the yeast,
M - Lite and crisp on the palate, with a steady dry texture, quick to clean up carbonation adds to the experience.
O - A very good farmhouse ale, the mixed grain bill, and the use of the Belgian yeast strain, have this one hitting all the high notes for me.

 

Siam Weizen, 4.0 ^ ABV, 3.56 PRIEN ⁶

 

Good afternoon NBW
I believe this was my last "new" beer left in the house. Fresh Head Hunter and Zombie Dust will cancel out a "let's give this a try" six pack every time. There is nearly nowhere left to buy singles around here anymore...

SA Pool Party

12oz can stamped JUL 2024 poured into a perfect pint glass at fridge temp 5.5 % ABV 30 IBU per can. The beer pours hazy, dull amber with off white head. The head recedes to an uneven ring and single layer of bubbles. Slight lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring sweet orange and grapefruit. The taste is bittersweet with minimal malt presence and heavy influence of hop provided citrus notes. Moderately bitter, probably seems more than the IBU number would point to due to the lack of malt backbone. Feel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, unbalanced to my taste for a pale ale.

Cheers all!

 

Greetings, fellow NBWers,

It's a partly sunny 53° this a.m. Yesterday was all over the place with hail, rain and high winds. For much of the past week, temperatures have been reaching the low 80s, but it's been breezy.

Yesterday, I attended Iron Goat's 12th Anniversary party. I was expecting some sort of new beer there but none was featured. After I got home, I tried an import from Goa I had stumbled across on Friday at Rocket Market:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/60851/544805/?ba=woemad#lists
Turned out that the only interesting thing about the beer was where it was brewed. This was sweet, bland and watery, and not worth the roughly $4.

Currently at the Laundromat getting my clothes washed while munching on a breakfast burrito and drinking coffee. I'll probably drink and review something else this evening when I get home from work.

 

A few thoughts and a correction before diving into New Beer Sunday.

I apologize, as I typed an extra zero (I thought it looked funny and meant to confirm, but got caught up into Saturday and didn't recheck until your post. They sold 40 cases very quickly, and based on their online store, sold their second drop of 20 additional cases, so 60 in total. Still impressive, but not 600 impressive. Sorry for the wrong info, glad I am able to correct before the thread was locked.

Also,

• Nice to see you with your mystery beers this weekend @FBarber (well except that last one which sounded painful).
• I also wasn't a big fan of the Great Lakes BB Rye beer @ZebulonXZogg , though I was glad I had a chance at one. Glad you enjoyed @Ozzylizard , as well as Supermassive which I have enjoyed n the past.

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #1008. As promised, part three of the Pipeworks trilogy after my first visit to the Dojo this Friday, and the second of a back to back new to me Witbier. Full review linked below.

Pipeworks Bolt Cutter

4.13/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25



I liked this one more than the more traditional witbier (excepting the Tamarind). Reminds me a lot of Oberon, a regular in my rotation before their sale. Hope to find this next Spring, will certainly pick up 1-2 four packs.

Hope you have an equally enjoyable Sunday. Cheers!

 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads. My oldest daughter and one of her kids are coming over later for burgers and hot dogs.
My new beer for today is Cerveza Hermanos With Lime from Brothers Craft Brewing Co. in Harrisonburg, VA.
The beer is amber colored. No head, very still.
Citrus aroma, sweet malt.
It smelled better than it tasted. Corn flakes with lime poured over them.
Light-bodied. Good beer to drink when I'm grilling outdoors.

 

Brewing Projekt Paczki XL Fruit Filled Donut Sour Ale, 7.1% ABV. Pours opaque maroon with a half-finger light-red head that left puree residue. Aroma is strawberry, raspberry, vanilla, and almond. Taste follows with tart fruit up front then vanilla and almond, moderately sweet, quite tart. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent to outstanding-adjacent. Perfect balance of sweetness and tartness.

4.36/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Happy father's day! Just doing the usual weekend stuff, though I got to pick the menu of burgers and steak. And of course craft!

 

Gleam a New England style 6.8% ABV IPA brewed in Hackettstown NJ. Poured from a 16 OZ can the brew is very cloudy with a thick white head. There is a nice aroma of citrus fruit. The taste is the same. The beer is full bodied but very little malt presence. This beer is about the hops. Citra, Bru-1 and Sabro are the hops used. They are used a lot since Gleam is Dry Hoped 2 times. This beer was pretty fresh canned on 05/10/2024. A nice enjoyable summer brew. Instructions on the can say "Keep refrigerated, recycle. Drink Immediately. good advice

 

Happy Sunday, BA!

having a Tree House Super Treat to numb the pain of yet another home repair that has come up



this is quite awesome

cheers

 

Happy Father's day. Wife came back from running her farmers market with some Crowlers from Little House Brewing that I will be drinking later. Right now I have a beer I specificaly purchased for NBW.

4.22/5 rDev +1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Poured from 16oz can dated 05/22/24 that was purchased 2-days ago in a chilled cooler at a local store. Kept refrigerated until poured to a Nonic.
A not quite clear body sits below a medium white head that fades quickly. Lacing is medium.
Hops meet the nose just seconds after the can is cracked open. In the glass it's even stronger, whiffs of pine, grape and spice.
Pine sap is the prominent taste. There is a little hop burn mid mouth, but it could be the alcohol. Grapes come in on the finish.
There is a slight oiliness to the mouthfeel but the carbonation cleans things out nicely.
A well done West Coaster.

 

Happy Father's Day to all of you out there...today has been a good one, got up early to get some reading in, my first Salman Rushdie book @champ103...Victory City, after that oldest got up and I made and shared breakfast with just him, pretty fun time; then off to see my dad with the boys, now a beer, new to me brewery and beer, oh and the Phillies on. This was gifted to me by my brother in law last weekend for my birthday. Was pretty pumped cause this and another he gave me are perfect for our upcoming AAL tasting.

Brewed in the heart of South Jersey, "the blueberry capital of the world", Hammonton, NJ. This one is also made with all NJ malt, flaked corn, and flaked oats. The oats had me a little worried but read on...

Three 3's - Jersey Life (AAL 4.1%)



Pours as an AAL should very light straw color with excellent clarity, minimal white head forms; quick to dissipate into nothing but a ring around the glass.

The nose is light, vague sweetness, light grain and cracker, dry grass clippings with some very faint green grass as well.

Taste mirrors nose but there is more malt than expected, light and lightly cracker like, picking up the same dry grass character with incredibly faint grain; some very light white corn.

Mouthfeel is light, and highly drinkable; there is a softness to it, but this thing is really clean and goes down like water, the carbonation ever so lightly effervescent; there is a pleasant light bitterness on the finish.

This beer really hits the spot on this warm, hot and sunny afternoon. The oats had me a little worried since it's not something you see often in a lager but they must just use a touch, this is also according to them "a touch of oats." This is why I'm excited to host the AAL tasting beers like this show what this style could be...no off flavors, no rotten corn, no metallic notes, just a super clean light drinking and refreshing beer. I got one more can for the tasting and I am looking forward to drinking in when the time comes.

@JackHorzempa @MacMalt

-------------

I may have one more new beer in me later but if not I will see you all next weekend. Have a great rest of you day and week to come.

 

Not too bad. I wish I'd found it fresher but it's still alright. Cheers folks!!
Drekker I Don't Know No Snakes Lagerbier 5% ABV

3.77/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
16 oz can mfgr 1/5/24 into a Pokal.
L: SRM 2 Pours light straw light pale yellow with a thin white head that recedes to thin edge foam, good steady carbonation bubbles, light random lacing.
S: Bready malts, hay, rice, distant fruit.
T: Light grains, a hint of buttered bread, distant yeast, a very light caramel note, muted fruits of pear and apple, it is very lightly pale and is gently sweet.
F: Brisk with a medium-light bodied smooth feel and a short finish that is lightly dry.
O: A nice tasting Lager that is easy to drink. Nice feel and light notes of bread & fruit mingle. It's a fine year-round beer that is very good in its style.

 

Oh, Victory City is a really good one. His last few recent novels have been OK, but hit and miss, if it wasn't for his name on the cover they would have been much more poorly received, not that they were bad, just eh OK. This is a return to form to his old days I think.

 

Happy Father's Day to all BA Dads and Dads of BAs! On Friday, when I stopped on the say to the shore to buy beer, I found a new-to-me DIPA from Cape May Brewing Co. I find Cape May to be very inconsistent. But when they are "on," they brew some great beer. This is one of them: Sea Seeker, hopped with El Dorado and Sabro, and brewed with Golden Naked Oats. In my opinion it ranks with City to Shore as the best DIPA I've had from this brewery.

It's a classic New England appearance: dense, bright orange with a finger cap of fluffy, milk-white foam and copious amounts of thick, clinging lacing. A big, floral nose with lemon, lime, pineapple, ripe melon, and a whiff of pine. The taste follows closely with a great balance of tart lemon, bitter grapefruit, pine sap, mint, and the sweetness of tangerine and pineapple. There is also a hint of coconut in the background from the Sabro hops. It has a tropical cocktail quality There is sharp, biting bitterness from the El Dorado. The flavors are highly complimentary. This ale is well-bodied with pleasant carbonation, and the 8% ABV gives it good substance without distracting. Overall, I am very impressed. It's a fine recipe that is well-crafted and a pleasure to drink.

4.32/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

I'll be back shortly with a completely different style of new beer. Cheers, everyone!

 

The softness you perceive is likely due to the flaked oats that is part of the grain bill.

I annually homebrew an Oatmeal Stout where flaked oats is about 10% of the grain bill. This adds a silky/smooth aspect to the mouthfeel of this beer.

Cheers!