New Beer Weekend #217

Good evening, weekend crew. Not much happening today. Great stretch of cool days, chilly nights, no humidity but man we do need some rain. Repaired my gas grill - pretty much the issue was the regulator. Got that replaced and cleaned/adjusted a bunch of stuff. Turned the gas on and immediately smelled propane. Found nothing with the soap bubbles...hmm.. turns out some dummy had one of the burner valves wide open...

Thanks to @snaotheus for single handedly keeping the art of penmanship alive.

So in the glass:



Weihenstephan Festbier. Short version - it's OK, my expectations were higher.

Pours a beautifully clear gold with a dense white head that falls to a thin cap and ring. No lacing. Pretty beer.

The smell has a touch of sulphur, grassy/ herbal hoppiness, sweet malts. It's clean.

The taste more or less follows. It's more malty up front - kind of honey-sweet and bready. Just a bit of sulphur. Floral notes come in along with the grassy/herbal hops. There's a touch of lemon missing in the nose. Quick bitter hit mid-taste.

Feel is not at all what I expected. It's light but it isn't as crisp as I'd expected. In my mind that hits the drinkability - I can't see drinking more than one. To me, it lacks the @JackHorzempa word - suffig - for a style that should be very drinkable. Carbonation isn't very lively.

Overall it's a decent beer and is pretty spot on for the style. Adherence to the style will add bonus points here. I'm really not diggin' it very much but it's well made. Probably around a 3.8.

 

Ah to be in Germany right now... Keep the pics and reviews coming, Ryan.

 

Ommegang oktommegang
...light clear amber appearance
...medium light carbonation with about a medium body.
....aroma is malt,caramel, toffee, and sweet bread
...taste has mild sweetness, bready,.although with some caramel and toffee .
...overall its a nice attempt at the style,seems not as rich or complex as others in the style but still very good

 

Hey all! Enjoying a new beer to me that I received from @colts9016 ! Epic Brewing Big Bad Baptist “Brew Master’s Keep” 2023. This is what I dream about a BA Imperial Stout being! It pours a moderately viscous ebony color with a thin head. Subtle bourbon notes with vanilla honey. Sweet char and roasted malt flavor with a pleasant mouthfeel and slight alcohol heat. World class! Thanks again, Jammin!

 

So, this sounded like a CBS clone on steroids. Potentially amazing if done right.
18 months in a maple bourbon barrel (they don’t mention BLiS)

First off, it’s a bit sweeter than CB, at least the original. Actually, it’s sweeter than the more recent ones that have maple syrup added in and not BLiS barrels. Kosmicki is good, but the loss of the BLiS barrels must have thrown a wrench into his game.
Anyways, the pour is good, stout black with a very short light brown head.
The taste is sweet, far more sweet than CBS.
The feel is lightly viscous, at least at first. Then the bits started showing up.

The picture doesn’t show the extent of whatever it was that isn’t beer in the glass. Rather ruins the last half of the beer.
Needless to say, I am not recommending this one.
Cheers anyway!

 

this

 

Coop Ale Works Alpha Hive Peach Double IPA, 9.0% ABV; 3,89 overall

Pours an effervescent honey/amber color with one finger of beige colored head. some head retention & lacing

S: Peaches, honey, cakeyness

T: Follows the nose, a little dry, some green melon, a little pink grapefruit up front. More peach, dryness, some green melon, a touch of pine & grapefruit as this beer warms up. Finishes with peach, pink grapefruit dryness, a little grassyness & green melon

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation; good balance

If you don't like peach in your IPA, you won't like this. I liked it as a one off, drank easy enough
for the ABV

 

Yesterday

• Glad you enjoyed Goose Island's Dapper Rye @GreenBayBA Micah! I will review it in the Fall, one of three beers I exchanged based on solid local recommendations (the other two by Hop Butcher For The World).
• Also a big Haunted House fan @utopiajane and @jonphisher , though didn't pick up any as I'm trying to clear my beer backlog. Hope to find it on draft this season.

Today

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #1021! Powered by Blues Before Sunrise, a show hosted by Steve Cushing I've been listening to since the 1990s on WBEZ, before they ended their music programing for 24/7 blah blah. Steve started the program in 1980.

I return with one from a four pack I picked up during a visit with @DoctorZombies to Central Waters' Milwaukee Taproom. I enjoyed the draft, but didn't rate the beer, but taking the time this morning, or late in the day for me, to do so. I hope I didn't wait too long, but wanted to try the drink fresh style beers provided by others before jumping into my June/July new beer purchases. There is no can date, but the bartender said it was released 6/23/24, or less than a month at the time of purchase. It is a WCIPA, which coupled with Pale Ales are my favorite styles overall.

Central Waters Mental Projection

4.65/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75



Full review linked above. This beer is outstanding, one of my favorites of the year. Everything I like about a WCIPA is here, and rarely do Midwest breweries nail it this well. I've only had a few non BA stouts at the Milwaukee taproom, but it's even more of a destination than my first few great visits. Can't recommend this enough if you are looking for an old school WCIPA from back in the day. Pine front and center, grapefruit yes, light caramel malt providing minimal interference. This is what I love, and hard to find in 2024.

Great weekend for me, back to catching up on the rest of the massive WBAYDN thread.

Cheers!

 

Gulden Draak Smoked

33 cl bottle poured into a snifter. Rich light tan foam on mahogany brew with red highlights.
Aroma is a departure from all the Stouts, IPAs and usual Belgians I imbibe. The smoke rises up out the glass nicely. I probably should have opted for a wide-open Belgian chalice, but I think maybe the smoky nose could have overwhelmed my sense of taste here. There’s smoked sausage, Belgian yeast, dark stone fruit, a backdraft of clove.,. no banana.,.
Taste surprises, as the smoked malt integrates itself into the experience. It’s not up front, no, this is a classy Belgian ale with yeasty and fruity notes, fall spices abound, and the sweetness, while not overwhelming the 10.5% ABV, serves to bind the smoked malt to the elements and becomes more complimentary as the beer warms. Satisfyingly rich. (I’d lay a chartecuterie plate next to this smoothie next time.,.)
Mouth is creamy and lucious, low to medium carbonation.
Overall, a journey outside the same old, this is joyous drinking that I’ll definitely do again.

4.27/5 in the BA DB.

 

Pours a very hazy orange yellow with a half finger sticky white head that leaves some large streaks of lace with nice retention canned on 8/19/24. 4.5

Aroma is peach, mango, mandarin, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.5

Taste follows peach, mango, mandarin, white grape, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.5

Mouthfeel is pretty big, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8% it goes down rather easy. 4.25

Overall this is a very good NEDIPA. I was expecting it. 4.5 Cheers all.

 

From last night. Tivoli Outlaw with dinner on the road at Delaware County Fair for Little Brown Jug week!

 

Losing your phone in a foreign country is very inconvenient. Not recommended.

Ratsherrn - Helles

330ml bottle served in a correctly branded and sized glass that is shaped like a shaker pint.

Pours clear straw gold with brassy tinges, big floofy head that settles into a thick, dense, uneven cap. Small but undeniable amount of active carbonation. Smell is primarily lemon and grass. Some grain in there, but not what I'm expecting from a helles.

Taste is similar to the smell. Way too hoppy for a helles, a little more oomph and I'd call it an IPL.

Mouthfeel is light, slight oiliness. Overall...it's honestly not a bad beer, but not what I was expecting or hoping for from a bottle that says "helles"

Hanging out in my hotel room, partially because there's nowhere else to be if my colleagues want to contact me about meeting for dinner tonight.

Why is it so hard to find cold beer here? The stores all have dozens and dozens of interesting beers, and like three in a fridge. My hotel at least has four Ratsherrns, and (after this one) I've only tried two of them.

 

Damn @snaotheus sorry to hear about your phone. That really sucks and I’m sure it’s incredibly stressful. Best of luck and hopefully you got a solution on the horizon.

 

Ratsherrn - Pilsener

330ml bottle served in a similarly sized glass that is shaped like a shake rpint.

Pours clear yellow-gold with a big fluffy head that settles into a thick, even, but rough cap. Moderate amount of active carbonation. Smell is grassy and lemony, a little bread yeast.

Taste is honeysuckle sweetness, strong citrus rind bitterness, some pine resin.

Mouthfeel is light, pretty smooth. Overall, not a bad pilsner.

 

Continuing with my beers of Albuquerque, courtesy of my son. Today another offering from Lizard Tail Brewery, Biscochito Brown, with an ABV of 9.3%'
A medium brown color. Tiny beige head. No lace.
Aroma of sweet malt and alcohol.
Caramel and toffee taste. Alcohol. Not bitter.
Decent beer, a little too much alcohol for me.

 

Sucks about the phone. When I lived in Germany, my neighbor kept his bier outside year round.