New Beer Weekend #207

Time for another round.

Queens of the Potluck - Junkyard Brewing - Moorhead, MN/West Fargo, ND - American Pale Wheat Beer - 5.2%

Light and easy drinking. Somewhat refreshing. Quite fruit filled.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31764/629385/#navigation


3.81/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From a 16oz can purchased at the brewery.
This is a very murky looking beer, and has some chunks of fruit in it. It's hard to describe the color. A dark pink would be the best way I can describe it. The head is a thick 3 finger off white color. Fluffy looking and long lasting with great lacing on the glass.
Notes of fruit in this beer. I do get hints of pineapple and cherry. There's a bit of a creamy undertone to this beer.
Taste - There's a good bit of vanilla to start it off. I get notes of pineapple and cherry more up front as well. The orange hits more in the middle and the finish is a creamy lactose.
The body is creamy feeling and juicy. Very smooth feeling.
Tasty change up from my normal hit parade.

Be back later for more.

 

My final new-to-me offering for the weekend. I had to add this one to the database and assumed AAL by the branding, but (spoiler alert) it tasted so good I had to go to Terrapin's website and confirm the malt bill. Flaked corn they say in addition to Vienna and pilsner. Three hop varieties as well.

Terrapin Cerveza

12oz undated can poured into a shaker pint glass at fridge temp 5.1% ABV 25 IBU. The beer pours hefe-hazy, very pale amber with sticky, nearly white head. The head settles to a rocky 3/8" cap and leaves behind clingy lacing. The aroma is mild with pale malt and cereal. The taste is semisweet pale malt with with moderate grassy hop flavor and bitterness. Mouthfeel is thin bodied with just above average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good, crisp, clean lager.

Cheers all!

 

Friday night, I had myself another new beer, this time from Hop Butcher For The World:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40359/408307/?ba=woemad#lists
As NEDIPAs go, I rather liked it, but it didn't entirely blow me away.

Last night, after work, I stopped by Iron Goat to try a new beer of theirs, King Puck, a collab with MickDuff's Brewing which I had to add to the database:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29334/708787/?ba=woemad#lists
I enjoyed it, but I felt like it fell short of the description.

Probably will have one more new beer when I get home from work tonight. Today is gonna be a hot one, most likely the hottest day so far, at around 96-97°,but it's reign will be short, as temps are predicted to continue to rise through the coming week, up to around 104-106° by midweek.

 

Drekker Fluff Stuff Cherry Mallow Fruited Sour, 6% ABV. Pours opaque maroon, with a one-finger pink head that left some lacing and puree residue. Aroma is cherry and marshmallow. Taste follows, real cherry, quite sweet, equally tart, no bitterness. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent to outstanding adjacent.

4.42/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

 

I have a lot of new beers in cooler thanks to a party yesterday. New purchased by me, new left buy guests. Starting out with a brewery I've been meaning to get to.

3.98/5 rDev +9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Poured from 16oz can dated 07/14/24 poured to a Pils glass at 45F.
It has a clear light-gold body. The white head is puffy, but of larger bubbles than most Pilsners.
The aroma is quite bready with a subtle green grass background.
Taste is similar but with a little bit of spice.
Body is about right, carbonation appropriate.
Honestly, I was expecting more, given the reputation I’ve heard about this brewery. Not bad though.

 

Time for another new beer, and, I am liking this.

Working Title - Blackstack Brewing - St. Paul, MN - Witbier - 5.1%

Damn, this is really hitting the spot and going down fast.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48592/601307/

4.15/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a 16oz can

The beer looked somewhat clear when I started pouring this beer. The look got hazy as I finished. The color lemon colored. The head is a white 2 finger head. The head retention is poor and there's no lacing on the glass.
The aroma is really strong with banana and cloves. Very well balanced and pleasing.
Flavor is a great wheat flavor. There's a nice banana and clove flavor. The banana has hints of banana cream pie, though there's no lactose here. There's a good balance with the cloves.
The body is full and has a hint of a bubbly feeling.
This is damn good.

Be back later.

 

Stony Point Brewing - Helen Hazy Pale Ale 5.5% abv. Canned at Apex Brewing in Monroe NY.

This one can hang with the local competition - and that's saying a lot. Very nice looking body - near opaque with a lingering head and moderate carbonation. Nose filled with bright fruits and hop greenery. Great taste, all facets blend well together. Medium mouthfeel. With its ABV this beer can be a crusher - but it's at that level where you want to take it slow and appreciate it. And hey, the can color matches my BA avatar - but that gets no bonus points.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

4.27/5

 

Back with another. I'm not shy of beers with chili peppers, but I questioned my logic trying this on the patio where the ambient is 89F with a humidity of 95%, Turns out this was worth it.

4.5/5 rDev +10.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Poured from 16oz can stamped “LIVE WELL 07/01/24” poured to a Nonic at fridge temp.
There is a typical TH hazy apricot body with a similarly typical head for a TH hazy offering.
It really does smell of fresh, uncut jalapenos with the familiar Very Green fruitiness.
A sip brings the spice, but it's not super strong. This spice grows during the session but never to an unpleasant level. There is a strong fruit background poking through- Pineapple is the biggest note followed by lime.
Mouthfeel is also TH traditional for their hazzies. The carbonation seems stronger, but maybe that's because it pushes the spice a little bit further.
This is well done. Not skimping on the spice, but not killing the pallet. The fruity background is very welcome.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. It's funny how things happen on BA. This post follows @AccipiterofBeer's, which is ironic since he added my new beer to the database. Rood is a Flanders Red Ale brewed by Round Table Brewery in Garnerville, New York. I visited the brewery last weekend and they had a "special" on take-out beer: buy 3 and get 1 free. I bought a pack of DIPA and 2 bottles of Stout so I got to pick a freebie and selected Rood since I rarely drink the style. And I'm glad I did! While initially it's very sour, swishing the glass and drinking it slowly is rewarding. Lots of red berry.

"Winter 2024 Blend." It's hazy and a burnt orange color with rose hues, and it sports a half finger cap of creamy, ecru-colored foam with a thin ring of lacing. The nose is vibrant with musty red berry and plum, dry oak, and funky yeast. Its taste opens tart and acidic with lots of a flavor reminiscent of raspberry vinegar over a firm malt base. As it breathes in the glass the strong initial sourness and oak balances out a bit and the red berry starts to dominate. It has a good depth of flavor. The mouth feel includes fairly lively carbonation and it drinks easily at 7.1% ABV.

While I'm no connoisseur of this style, Rood is a nice change of pace - particular on a hot, muggy July day. The 750 ML bottle format encourages sharing.

3.96/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

While I'm not sure I'd purchase more bottles, I'll definitely have a pour on draught next time I'm at Round Table.

 

Wow, that says a lot considering that Foreign Objects, Rushing Duck, Tin Barn, etc. are all so close. I've been to Apex a few times but I haven't seen cans available. Is that something new?

 

Red Rock - Marmalade District Mango Mango

16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated 03.14.24. Got it from @NorsemanOne in a trade.

Pours a hazy yellow-orange with a small fizzy head with basically no retention, a tiny thin ring around the edge is sustained by some active carbonation. Smell is mangos, grass, bread yeast.

Taste is not exactly tart or sweet, kind of on the unripe mango side but otherwise pretty juicy and fruit forward. There's a little bit of fruit skin bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium to light, somewhat still. Overall...it would be good to drink at the beach or on a hot day. Easy, light, refreshing, not too sweet.

 

Konnichiwa!!! This seems like the proper way to introduce the beer that @snaotheus so kindly sent to me.


Kinmugi (Rich Malt) - Suntory Brewing - Happoshu - 5% ABV

Light and refreshing. I am liking this beer because it is easy drinking. Arigatou @snaotheus

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/865/45065/

3.47/5 rDev +18%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
From a 12oz can, guessing it's best by October of 2024. My Japanese is extremely limited.

This is a fairly clear pouring beer. Golden in color, and a 1 finger white head that had decent head retention. There's a small bit of lacing on the glass.
Slight hint of cereal on the nose.
Taste - The beer has a grain flavor, but it is also very light in flavor. There's not a lot here, but not in a bad way. It's just what it is.
I really like how bubbly this beer feels. It's quite pleasing. The body is somewhat light, but no where as light as I was expecting.
While this beer doesn't have a lot going on, what's there is pleasing. A light and refeshing treat.

See you all for more later.

 

Next up for me is Palace, New England IPA from Autodidact Beer. While I've already had a couple of cans this holiday weekend, it's a new beer to me since I never tried last year's batch and this one was canned on 7/3.

I've recently noticed that Autodidact's beers taste quite different from the can than on draught at the brewery. With the last IPA I reviewed the hops were sharper from the can. In this case, the Simcoe seemed to bite more on draught while the McKenzie hops dominate the canned version.

It's a dense, dirty tangerine color with a full finger of creamy, milk-white head and a thick film of lacing inside the glass. The smell is fruity and fragrant with pineapple, tangerine, lemon peel, and a whiff of berry. The taste opens with tart lemon and grapefruit, followed by pineapple. But what makes it interesting are the flavors imparted by the McKenzie hops. I'm tasting mint and woodsy, earthy notes that balance the citrus. The mouth feel is well-bodied with pleasant carbonation, and it drinks big for 6.2% ABV. If I were guessing I'd say it's over 7%. Overall, Palace is another excellent hazy from Autodidact. I missed this ale when it was released in October 2023 but I've spoken with several patrons who say this batch is significantly improved.

4.19/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

That's it for me this holiday New Beer Weekend. We'll be driving to Missouri later this week to visit our daughter and son-in-law and I hope to have lots of good new beers along the way. Cheers, NBW!

 

This is freshly canned. But they have worked with Apex in the past to can their Kolsch. A few spots locally have the Kolsch on draft and I've seen cans at a local store, but it's safe to assume they aren't common region wide. SPBC is still a small operation.

SPBC is a short walk from Round Table, you just have to cross the busy intersection at RR and 9W and it's past the firehouse on the right.

 

Stony Point is now officially on my "to-do" list. And thank you for your thoughts on Round Table. I read your reviews before I visited. While I miss Industrial Arts (we get the cans here but Beacon's a lot less convenient to visit), I liked Round Table a lot and will definitely go back soon. It's a great combo with D96/Burger Loft for lunch or early dinner.

 

Lost Fort - Kilt Optional

12oz can served in a tulip. Batch #3718, best by 04/27/2024 (but, based on my experience with the style, I'm not too worried about that). Got it from @russpowell in NBS BIF #18.

Pours dark brown, not coffee black, medium sized head on the pour fades to a light and surprisingly even dusting, very fine, slow carbonation visible at rest. Smell is toffee, nuts, dates, musty wood.

Taste is on the roasty side of the style, roasted nuts and slightly burnt toffee, date sweetness is there of course.

Mouthfeel is maybe a bit on the thin side for the style (maybe that's a product of age?). Overall, good solid scotch ale. Off season, but I ticked down my AC a degree or two for the occasion.

 

This is one I picked up yesterday on my trip to southern Minnesota.

All Inclusive - Sleepy Eye Brewing - Sleepy Eye, MN - American Amber - 5.4%

They style this as a Mexican Amber. At the brewery, they put a lime wedge in it. I think that would amp up the flavor even more. Delicious malty treat, and a lot more flavor than most amber lagers have.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58261/708882/

3.92/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
From a 750ml crawler purchased at the brewery. Dated 07-02-2024

This beer is a beautiful copper/amber colored pour that is fairly clear looking. The head is off white colored and 2 finger. The head retention is decent, but no lacing as it dissipates to a ring around the edge of the glass.
The aroma has a good caramel hit to it. Some cereal notes.
Taste - It is a malty beer. The beer starts off more toward the caramel end of the malt spectrum. The finish is more of a cereal grain flavor. Now, I'm not doing what my friend did yesterday and have a lime in it when he had it on tap at the brewery. That would add another layer to the flavor profile.
The body is smooth and decent fullness. Clean feeling.
Tasty as heck overall, and they really did well making it.

I think there will be at least one more this weekend. Cheers!