New Beer Weekend #205

Juicy bitter bomb. Pretty good. New beer Martin House, Ft Worth

 

Sticke Altbier by
Uerige Obergärige Hausbrauerei

3.79/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
#6 ranked altbier on BA

Brewers notes :always on the third Tuesday in January and October. This beer is brewed with more malt and hops, and is much richer than Uerige Alt. Sticke with its intense and elegant aroma contains 6% abv. The unusual name derives from olden days, when the guests would whisper (‘stickum’ being a dialect term for whispering) that the master brewer must have been a little too generous when weighing out the ingredients. Thanks to the higher alcohol percentage, Uerige Sticke can be stored for much longer than the declared and guaranteed minimum shelf life.

Hand grenade flip top bottle purchased at Premier Gourmet in Buffalo, Ny, poured into a stange , translucent brown liquid with a pencil thin tap foam cap , sticky lacings

Aroma is sweet malt , caramel

Taste is bitter hops over a malty base , dark bread, earthy

Sudsy light mouthfeel , bitter , tangy sour hop bite finish , semi dry finish

Good beer

 

Pineland pale ale
...clear light gold appearance
...medium bodied with plenty of effervescent carbonation which seemed to dissipate rather quickly
...aroma has some malt,cereal and grain but out front is some earthy bitter hops. Pine foremost with some citrus peel
...taste is very similar to aroma.
...overall if I didn't see the can I would have just assumed this was an ipa.
Its more piney than what I expect but some might like it

 

Kros Strain Stranahan's 24mo Whiskey BA Imperial Stout, 13% ABV. Pours thick and black with a slight dark-brown head that left no lacing. Aroma is whiskey, malt, and chocolate. Taste follows, slightly sweet, faintly bitter. This has a very complex aroma and flavor I struggle to describe, which I suspect comes from the whiskey, and it's real nice. Excellent thick and sticky mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

4.46/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Still watching the flood waters rise behind our house but we're about 30ft over that, so it won't reach us. We went to Falls Park in Sioux Falls, and the falls are overflowing and raging, quite a sight. We got 7.5 inches of rain in two days, and a nearby town got over 18 inches.

 

Vitamin Sea - One Big Happy Family, IIIPA at 10.25% abv.

16oz can served in a big snifter. Can is dated 05/23/24. Got it from @WunderLlama in some craziness associated with NBS BIF #18.

Pours a hazy pale yellow with a creamy, dense, 1cm head that settles into a thin, even skin with a few lumps and a thin ring clinging high on the side of the glass. Smell is huge, rich, tropical fruit and melon -- mango and papaya and marshmallow, maybe a tiny bit of banana.

Taste is right up the same alley, adding in a little bit of honeysuckle sweetness and a little bit of an orange rind bitterness. Booziness is evident but not overpowering. Big strong flavors without feeling overwhelming at all.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth, creamy. Overall, dangerously light and easy to drink, very nice beer.

Happy NBW, friends.

 

At Lake of the Woods Brewery now and having this


Forgotten Lake - Lake of the woods Brewing- Warroad, MN - Fruit and Field Beer- 7%

We used to get cans of this locally. I have never had it apparently. It really isn't good. Just not impressed with it.
Note: the beer is listed on their Kenora, Ontario location.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32446/229911/

2.78/5 rDev -21.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
On tap at the brewery
This beer pours purple in color. A bit of carbonation rising in the glass. The head is white.
Aroma is somewhat skunky. Not pleasing. No sour or tart notes here. No blueberry.
Flavor has a faint blueberry flavor - very faint. Slight tartness. Slightly bitter.
Body seems quite light for a 7% sour.
This beer does have flaws and they really bring it down.

I will be getting another new one here in a minute.

 

Hopefully the floodwaters hold off for most, that is a whole lotta rain in two days. Water the one thing we all need to survive also happens to be the most powerful force on our planet, I've always found that fact quite interesting and wild.

 

So far, there's been no deaths or serious injuries. There have been fires, power outages, lots of water rescues, drowned vehicles, flooded houses, and lots of closed roads. The sewage plant is at capacity, caused by idiots pumping their sump pumps in the sewer instead of their yard. That rain was on top of weeks of on-and-off rain that had already saturated the soil, so most of the new rain drained off.

 

Ok done with the last one. Now on tap.

Firehouse- Lake of the Woods Brewing- Warroad, MN - English Brown Ale - 4.8%

Ok, my rating of this beer seems low to me for what I am drinking here. It is mostly due to lack of aroma. The flavor is nice and nutty. Tasty.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32446/453350/
3.64/5 rDev +2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the brewery in Warroad

Brown colored beer with amber hues. There's a nice stream of carbonation rising in the glass. The head is a 1 finger white head. Great sticky lacing on the glass.
Aroma is almost nonexistent. Faint malt aroma. That's it.
Taste - there's a great nutty flavor to this beer. Faint hints of chocolate show up here. Slightly roasted flavor.
The body is somewhat light, but not too bad for the style. Slightly bubbly.
While the aroma is lacking, the flavor is good. I like it.

Maybe one more here.

 

The family is back from dinner at my Mom's. Dinner was ok, the Phillies stomping to the D-backs was fun to watch (@CarolinaCardinals ), and dessert was black raspberry pie which was AWESOME. Going for something a little more seasonally appropriate today. I had this on my radar then forgot completely about it so I was only able to find a single. Von Trapp collab with Troegs, a dunkelweizen with maple. Very excited for this, best before 7/14.




It's very pretty, a coppery garnet color when held up to the light. The head is big and fluffy, slow to fade to lumpy lace.

I smell bananas, brown bread, some cocoa, and maybe a hint of maple. That last could be the power of suggestion though.

This tastes as the smell suggests it should, with the maple coming on a bit stronger. It isn't my favorite example of the style but I wish I had more. Fresh, high quality dunkelweizen is way too hard to find.

 

Good evening NBW
I stumbled across a new to me AAL and couldn't resist. AAL review 76...

Famosa
12oz bottle stamped 240308 BB: MAR/2025 consumed from the bottle at fridge temp, no ABV listed on label. The aroma is mild with slightly skunked grain. The taste is semisweet, slightly tangy grain with a hint of vegetable. Minimal bitterness. Feel is highly carbonated and thin bodied with a mostly dry finish. Slight sulfur / diacetyl on finish. Overall, not the best AAL.

Cheers all!

 

Maine Beer Co. Lunch—one of those beers I’ve wanted to try for years but never had the opportunity until now. Had to travel from Seattle to Rhode Island to get a glass. Review is from notes jotted on my phone while having dinner at a seafood restaurant here in Providence, but I think it captures my main impressions. Cheers!

4.15/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Served in a pint glass at Hemenway’s in Providence.

Pours a clear straw color with a thin head, patchy lace.

Aroma is clean citrusy hops.

Taste leads off abrasively bitter, dank, piney, resinous. Lots of classic C hops in effect.

Mouthfeel medium body, finishes crisp.

Overall a classic West Coast IPA—pretty standard for the style.

 

Well, at the hotel bar, and a surprise new beer.

Sam Adams Boston Lager Remastered

I think I like this way more than the original version. It seems to have way more flavor nuances than the original.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/104/

3.69/5 rDev -1.1% look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75 On tap at the bar. Clear amber pour with a white head. Malty nose. Hints of biscuit and grain. Some sweetness to the aroma. Taste- ok, this has a lot here, and it surprises me how much I am getting. I get some grain and biscuit. I get a bit of honey in the flavor. I also get a bit of an earthy bitterness. I also get a bit of lemon. The body seems decent. Somewhat crisp. I was not a big fan of the OG, but the new one I think I like.

Maybe one more tonight. Cheers!

 

Hello, weekend explorers of beer. I’m out and about in America and came across a beer that is adjacent to one I’ve always wanted to try. I’m loving getting a chance to try Surly Bourbon Barrel-aged Darkness, but hoping to run across the regular some day, as well.


To start, this is the darkest beer I’ve poured in a while. I posted the Central Waters BA Stout was black, but that seems generous given the lack of light this beer is reflecting. The head stands up in volume and medium tan color, still sitting waiting patiently to tickle my lips as I type to this point.

I’m going to make it wait as I inhale the roasted malts. What initially jumped out as a rich stout gained a sweeter edge as a sniffed more - aided by the barrel becoming more obvious to my olfactory sense. Chocolate liqueur atop coffee stood out from the other recognizable BA stout notes.

Medium heavy body with limited carbonation hit my palate on the first sip. Much like the first whiff, it was more stout beer than anything. Further sips continued with the charred malt bringing a mildly smoky bakers chocolate note with a thread of bourbon barrel coconut.

I really like the balance of beer to barrel in this one. It’s a bit heavy, putting it into the one per-evening - preferably after dinner - category. It’s not a dessert beer… but I could argue it could fill in as a digestif (even if it doesn’t offer any of the benefits of said drinks).

 

When I said I would be back with a bigger beer, I wasn’t kidding. Bombers still exist man!
This is one I have been wanting to try since I first saw it posted here.

It was worth the wait. Excellent balance of malt and smoked flavors.
Poured coffee like, appeared black in the glass.
The taste left no doubt as to the smoked aspect of the beer, but it doesn’t overwhelm the porter. Loads of malt (chocolate, coffee, raisins) and the smoke brings to mind burgers but that flavor is not in there.
The feel is soft and silky, really smooth.
OA, glad they finally got distribution to west Michigan. Good stuff.

 

Lazy day here after the heat wave. Thursday was the worst day and we had a scheduled bottling run. I picked up Gatorade on my way in to work for the team 95 outside and about 105 inside with all the hot stuff running. Put in the expense report and it was rejected. My manager learned some interesting vocabulary words and creative sentence construction...my check is in the mail...

In the glass is Bananas from Jack's Abby. It's a 6.5% wheat lager. I had it as part of a flight and it was surprisingly good. Entered into the data base and asked it to be changed to a hefeweizen - closest match after think8ng about it.



B-A-N-A-N-A-S Wheat is a strong and assertive wheat beer with, you guessed it, notes of banana. Our pilot brewing team had some fun pushing lager boundaries with this one double decocting it and utilizing our open fermenter. Brewed with wheat, warm fermentation. A beer hall exclusive.

Pours a brassy gold color with a lively but extremely short-lived bubbly head. After a minute or two it pretty much looks like Apple juice.

Initially, the smell is straight up wheat and bready malts. As the beer warms up a tad, very faint banana comes through and a light spice. A bit of a sweet smell as well.

The taste opens as a wheat beer. Wheat and a nice level of tang, bready malts, a little honey sweetness. It is fairly rich. The banana comes and goes - its faint but it's VERY banana. At the back end there's a mild peppery spice. No bitterness. The aromatics in the aftertaste are the banana and spice as the wheat and malts fade out. It's striking me like banana bread with not quite enough banana - that's a descriptor not a complaint.

The feel is medium bodied aided by low carbonation.

Overall, this beer in canned form is another that is a step or two behind the draft version. It is in the 3.75 range for me. Draft version the banana was a little more obvious and overall the beer was "brighter".

 

Pinelands white stage Munich helles
...pale cloudy light gold appearance
...medium light carbonation with around a medium body, overall a nice feel
...aroma is bread,crusty bread,yeasty bread, grainy bread, you get the idea. Cereal, malt and molasses with a slight hint of earthy citrus
...taste is crusty bread, malt,yeast with mild sour grain.
...overall this one was a total win for me

 

@cjgiant , I could help you get regular Darkness, if you want.

Now, back at the hotel room, and drinking this That @snaotheus so kindly gave me.

Kill The Sun Macadamia Espresso- Ex Novo Brewing - Portland, OR - American Imperial Stout - 13.8%

This is a damn heavy hitter. Lots of flavor in this beer. There's so little burn here. It is delicious and I am thankful it was sent to me, and thankful to share it.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35612/687421/

4.38/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
From a 16 Oz can. 2023 version.
Pitch black pour with no chance of light coming through. The head is a 1 finger tan color that dissipates to a ring around the rim of the glass.
Aroma is strong, and pleasing. Tons of coffee, chocolate, caramel, and macadamia nuts.
Taste - I get a good coffee hit up front. The coffee flavor lingers and is added to by the macadamia nut flavor. Chocolate and caramel also enter the flavor mix.
Thick, smooth, creamy and full bodied.
This is a damn delicious treat.

This is it tonight. See you after I cross international borders.

 

I just ducked in here to see what was shaking this weekend, and I had to say that is a baller pour in the NBW leadoff position. And it sounds like the beer is fantastic. Good stuff!

Cheers, NBWers!

 

I truly appreciate the offer. Love how this community is quick to aid a beer lover in need

That said, I’m really enjoying the thrill of finding things “in the wild” these days. Thank you and cheers! to you and all beer advocates.