New Beer Weekend #208

Got a chance to visit some Texas Hill Country breweries this week. Just a few that I had...

First up visiting Real Ale in Blanco. The last time I was here, was about 10 years ago.

Real Ale 28th Anniversary, Black IPA. 6.6% ABV.



Pours a dark black color, nearly opaque. A two finger beige head forms with excellent retention and rings of lace left behind. I call this a looker.
Big pine and resin in the nose. Grapefruit and light darker malts that are more dark bread crust. The hops are the show though.
Taste wise, oh, that pine resin and grapefruit pops. That gives a substantial bitterness. Then the malts come into play, roast and bitter bakers chocolate.
A full body that has crisp carbonation at first. That levels out, and a sticky, resin, and malty heftiness lingers around. I can come back to this a lot. A big intense offering that is well made.

I have always been on the fence with so called Black IPA's. Sometimes I feel like the hops and malts clash. Maybe if I had this several years ago, I would have the same opinion. Though now, I think it all works really well together. I don't think it will ever be a favorite style of mine, but this is spot on and really enjoyable regardless. I can see myself getting lots more of this if it was a regular, distributed release.

Overall score is 4.07, A-
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Then I have been really enjoying Acopon Brewing in Dripping Springs. They do English cask styles really well.

Mircalla ESB, 5% ABV. With some excellent sausage rolls from The Great British Baking Company a block up the road.



Pours a dark reddish/orange color. A dense, and fine white head rises. Excellent retention and lace left behind. This is a looker.
Aroma is fruity spice, fruit cake, toasted malts. So well balanced, and probably the most aromatic of the casks I have had from this brewery.
Taste wise, that malty fruit cake and spice all mixed in. A bit of chocolate comes out as this warms. A touch of earthy bitterness lingering. The definition of balanced.
A medium body and that perfect cask carbonation feel. There is certainly a bite up front, but that becomes ultra smooth and silky. I can drink this in big gulps.

Another excellent cask from Acopon. This is spot on for the style, for the cask conditioning, and excellent balance. I can't ask for much more than that.

Overall score is 4.25, solid A for me.
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Heading back to Houston today...will see if I have power finally, after Hurricane Beryl, ugh. Wanted to get one last post in on my Hill Country trip anyway...

 

Waiting for my Enegren pack that is to be delivered today via UPS. Will sign for them then chill them down and begin my journey of Enegren beers. Looks like a weekend of Enegren and baseball on TV then burgers and dogs on the grill. Even with the heat, I love the good old summertime.

 

Riverside IPA from Royal City Brewing
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35844/692881/

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A two finger bubbly white head on a cloudy dirty amber. The head diminishes to a layer. Lots of settled yeast.

Fruit and a slight resin smell in the nose. Peach and apricot.

Tastes of orange and pineapple. Grapefruit finish. Moderately creamy hop finish.

Medium body and carbonation. Very smooth and creamy.

Smooth and well balanced. Worth a try.

look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Concert Beer by Tree

4.15/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned 5.31, opened 7.12

Brewers notes: Concert season is among us and to celebrate we have put together a little number we have called Concert Beer! A somewhat rare single IPA release, this gem contains Peacharine and Citra in abundance resulting in a mix of stone fruit and citrus that is to thirst for. This is the beer we dreamed of enjoying while taking in a show at the Summer Stage in Deerfield, but it will be just beautiful in your cooler in Mansfield or Saratoga this summer.

Chilled 16 oz can poured into teku , pale hazy yellow , one finger white foam cream , horizontal lacings

Aroma is citrus , tangerine, mango

Taste is tangerine citrus , mango

Silky smooth mouthfeel , enjoyable,

Good beer, not prickly at all

 

Greetings, all. I have a low key weekend of catching up on work, exploring some fall vacation possibilities, and enjoying some beer in front of me. My first new beer comes from an @2beerdogs strike maybe a couple years ago at this point.

This is Biere Blanche, a witbier aged in Chardonnay barrels.

4.19/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
This is a good looking beer. Much clearer than I expected, and the head was fizzier than expected, but who cares....it's a good looking beer. Aroma has loads of citrus based acidity, and just enough barrel funk to make it interesting. Overall, this is an appealing beer in both look and smell.

Taste and feel are both excellent. It's lively, and very easy to drink. The citrus acidity is perfectly balanced with the chardonnay / barrel flavors. Just the right amount of funk as well.

This is right in my style wheelhouse, and it did not disappoint. I may be under rDev, but that's solely driven by the fact that I'm a pretty conservative rater of beers. Totally digging this.

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I didn't get a chance to post last weekend, but I swung by Hill Farmstead on my way back from Canada last Saturday and had a chance to enjoy some Poetica #2 on side pull
.
4.29/5 rDev -4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Beautiful beer, with excellent clarity and ample, persistent head. Aroma and taste both had plenty of cracker & bread. Just the right amount of bitterness. Incredibly easy drinking, crisp and clean. Excellent beer.

 

The combination of AC, cool beer and baseball on TV in the summer is about as perfect as it gets.

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@Roy_Hobbs hope you’re excited for tomorrow’s game. I can’t wait to watch!

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That black ipa sounds awesome @champ103, hope the lights are back on when you get home.

 

Allagash Gatherwell.



Pours deep mahogany with a 1/4" head, which dissipates. Zero lacing. Aroma of coffee, roast malt, cocoa. Taste pretty much follows nose. Also ash, wood. Not getting any bourbon. Has a full body, light carbonation with a dry, astringent finish.
A nice stout, but not one of the best.

 

Wellington County Brewing Helles
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/618/311225/

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A one finger bubbly white head on a clear yellow. the head soon diminishes to a ring. No lacing.

Grassy smell.

A clean malt taste. Bread and grass.

Smooth, light body. Moderate carbonation.

A solid Helles. One of Wellington's better offerings. Would buy again.

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

 

Started my New Beer Weekend and Stouturday with The Bruery's Blueberry Brueonico:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/709457/?ba=bluejacket74#lists





I thought it was pretty good, not overpowering with the blueberry. Some age wouldn't have hurt it, but it didn't seem as boozy as I was expecting. Letting my next stout warm up now, cheers everyone!

 

Our son moved to Albuquerque a couple weeks ago. His mother wanted to visit him, so we drove up midweek to see him and his girlfriend. I'm glad to report that he seems happy, which makes his mother happy, which makes me happy.
I brought back a few ABQ beers. This one is Sucker Punch, a DIPA from Boxing Bear with an ABV of 8.1%.
A dark amber color with just a wisp of a head and no lace.
Sweet malt aroma, a little spice.
Caramel taste, pine late. Lingering bitterness.
Nicely balanced.

 

Continued my stouturday with 3 Floyds Trolls Trolls Trolls Barrel Aged Imperial Stout with vanilla beans. I liked this one a lot, but recommend this one to people who like vanilla!

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Plan on having one more imperial stout that I'll post on here. Cheers again!

 

I completely agree. Well made and a pleasure to drink, but it doesn't stand out in a crowd either.

Yes! Reminds me of the time I visited New Orleans. I keep commenting that it's unusually hot and humid this year and in typical Yankee fashion people keep telling me summer's always hot and humid in New England and this year is just slightly warmer than usual...

 

Stopped into High Nine Brewing yesterday. Even though its really close by, I haven't visited in months for some reason. They had this West Coast IPA in cans only so I grabbed a single as I had never seen this beer there.
It is made with Citra, Amarillo and Cascade.

Poured from 16oz can stamped “CANNED ON 04/25/24” poured to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body is hazy apricot but not completely opaque, letting light from behind brighten it. A tiny bubble 3-finger head sits on top and some larger bubble layer tops that off.
The aroma is light citrus.
Taste is definitively West coast, with a nice hop bite and dry finish. The citrus sensed in the smell comes back long after the swallow.
Mouthfeel is also medium with some hop oiliness. The carbonation is appropriate.
A pretty good West coast IPA. I wish I had had it on tap when it was available.

 

I've been finding it hard to be productive in this weather--not sure how you folks down south get anything done! Got some chores done this morning and then gave up. I've been enjoying this Jack's Abby Helles under the ceiling fan and hoping the humidity drops enough to get some windows open tonight. Stay cool, BAs!

Jack's Abby Down Yonder
5.0% Export Helles

This is a collaboration brew with Montana Craft Malts featuring Esma Bavarian Pilsner malt.



Pours a bright straw gold with a two-finger white head.

Big aromas a cereals off the pour with bread dough and some grassy hops coming through as well.

The taste leans a bit sweet to start, as if a tasting board of white bread, biscuit, cracker, and lightly toasted cereals was drizzled with a slightly too generous helping of honey. As it warms (doesn't take long in this weather) the sweetness fades back into place but there is still a heavy, coating sensation to everything on the palate. There's some hop bitterness on the finish but it still finishes pretty sweet, at least for me.

Medium and fine carb with a heavier than expected body leads to a surprisingly thick feeling Helles.

My slight complaints above really are slight and are more about departure from expectations than anything wrong with the beer. This is a big, bold malt-centric Helles that would fit in well with festbiers.

 

It’s brutal, we got heat wave three incoming Sunday-Wednesday. I’m working summer camp again for the first time in years, outdoors all day long. It has been brutal but the saving grace is as once you’re hot your hot, when the days done I don’t leave the AC if possible.

 

One more imperial stout and that'll be it for my new beers today. Not exactly a fresh bottle but Prairie's This Is The Way was a good one!

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Might have another new brew or 2 tomorrow but I'll decide then. Happy NBW everyone!