New Beer Weekend #224

Looks and sounds outstanding, Tim! Cheers

 

Central Waters Brewing Milwaukee Three. The orange label. An English-style barleywine, aged 18 months in cognac barrels. The decision to experience this beer was influenced by @Beersnake's opening beer selection. The look is dark brown, but crimson red in certain lighting. Off-white foam appeared when pouring it, and it slowly faded. The smell is caramel, pretzel, spices, chocolate, nougat, and plum. It smells delicious. The taste is caramel, brown bread, plum, spices, raisin, and cherry. It has fruit flavors, but they blend well with light bitterness, and it has a spicy finish. The alcohol is well-hidden. It tastes amazing. The mouthfeel is smooth, bready, robust, and full, with low-medium carbonation. This beer is quite a surprise. It is very delicious. This is my favorite Central Waters Brewing Milwaukee anniversary ale. It is a very unique and flavorful English-style barleywine.

 

Yours too! Cheers!

 

The 2024 version

Today’s beer for NBW is the 2024 version of Lagunitas Born Yesterday Fresh Hop Ale.

From the Lagunitas website:

“Limited Release

Born Yesterday

"Here for a fresh time, not a long time.

Feat. fresh hops rushed from farm-to-brewery in under 24 hrs!

If we could bottle the smell of harvest time in Yakima Valley, WA, we would. Hell, we try every year! Today we get the next best thing: Born Yesterday. See, once hops are harvested, the flavor clock starts ticking’. So we rush a select bunch of whole-cone ‘wet’ hops on refrigerated trucks straight to Lagunitas. In less than 24hrs they arrive and immediately drop into this brew via a stoopid custom-built contraption, injecting all their precious aromatics. Special delivery indeed. Congratulations, it’s a beer!

Beverage Specs

Abv: 7.2%”

And on the sixpack holder:

“Bill of Freshness: Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic and HBC 586”.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

Pours a murky golden yellow with a two finger white head which dissipated fairly quickly. The head retention was poor.

Aroma:

A complex combination of tropical fruit, dank (e.g., diesel) and a hint of citrus.

Taste:

The flavors follow the nose: a tasty combination of tropical fruit, dank (e.g., diesel) and some citrus. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

A medium body, some smoothness and an off dry finish. As the beer opens up there is some hop burn.

Overall:

I was a fan of the flavor profile of this beer which I think is very good. I was not a fan of the hop burn aspect though.

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

Cheers to @Beersnake for kicking this off

Deschutes Citrus Drive IPA, 6.0% ABV; 3.79 overall

Pours a bright & effervescent gold with a thumb of ivory colored head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Some citrus, passion fruit, a little mango, fades a bit once warm

T: Tangerine, a little green melon, some dryness up front, also a hint of pineapple & dryness. Passion fruit, guava, dryness & tangerines as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry, a little juicy with tangerine & passion fruit

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, decent balance, carbonation smooths out once warm

Drinkable, but nothing new under the sun here

 

Whoops, 3.82 overall

 

Cheers to @muchloveforhops3 for this one

Baerlic Beer Co.'s Night Howler American Imperial Stout.10% ABV; 4.29 overall

Pours an ever so slightly turbid, chestnut/mahogany with 2 fingers of mocha colored head. Average-ish head retention, better lacing

S: Very roasty, some cocoa notes, iron once warm

T: Cocoa, Baker's Chocolate, roastyness & a little iron up front, traces of vanilla & woody hops. Roasty notes, chocolate, leafy hops & dryness as this beer warms up. Some smokey & char notes in the finish, along with dryness, Baker's Chocolate &woody hops

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation

Just a lovely a no-nonsense Imp Stout, nice drinkability

 

Happy you're enjoying that one, Russ!

 

Nice see on that stands on its own. I like the barrel & some times the other stuff, but this is gold!

 

Well met fellow beer enthusiasts, and Thanks for kicking off the weekend for us @Beersnake! Today I got to do something I really enjoyed and that was meeting another Advocate in person. At Founders no less. @Mikexw is excellent company and knowledgeable about a surprising amount of things other than beer. Great stories!
Won’t review the two new ones we tried but will give spoilers- we each started with the Baltic Porter; something I’ve never seen from them before so wasn’t sure what to expect.
It’s really good. Might be too viscous for the style, but the flavor is outstanding.
We had the Double Oaked KBS next and wasn’t quite as enamored with it. It’s like they made KBS taste hotter, as in considerably higher ABV, but didn’t. Same as regular KBS. So the balance is just odd.
Mox nix, those are not the one I came to tell you about tonight- this is one sent to me by @Luscious_Malfoy - part of a nine beer set that all look amazing.

Liquid Spiritual Delight, an imperial stout that has been on my want list for a while, so I was geeked to try it.
Poured stout black with a 1” light brown head that dissipated slowly and left rings of lacing. Nice looking beer.
The taste was chocolate covered raisins with mild coffee and a hint of vanilla. There was also a little almost metallic taste but it might have been the hops (which were mild) or roasted malt. Whatever provided the sharp edge that keeps it from being too sweet.
The feel is a little more viscous than I expected but quite pleasant. Had enough body to carry the flavors and just really easy to drink.
OA, good stout. Darned near a great stout. I’d certainly be happy to drink it again.

 

Mad props to @muchloveforhops3 for this my one &only fresh hop beer this fall!

Crux Fermentation Project Fresh is Best Fresh Hop IPA, 6.9% ABV, 4.09 overall

Pours an effervescent gold/honey with a little chill haze & & 2 fingers of pearl colored head. Very nice head retention & lacing

S: Floral & grassy notes, a touch of breadyness, citrus, green melon notes once warm. Wanted more from the nose, but time may not be on its side

T: A little sweet breadyness, lemon, grassy notes, some pine needle notes up front. A little dryness, Lemon drop notes, pine & lime as this beer warms up. A touch of honey sneaks in on the finish along with lemongrass, lime, cantaloupe & subtle pine

MF: Medium body, lively carbonation

Easy drinker, not a hit you in the mouth take on the style, but lovely none the less

 

It was my pleasure, @Whyteboar — fun location, good beers, and better company!

 

Brasserie du Midi (France) ‘Chaise Lounge’ Birre de Detente (‘relaxation beer’)

Weekend markets are a Thing here in France. I always look forward to the Organic one near me - first Saturday of the month. There’s a fine array of interesting goods for sale; everything from homemade breads to honey to freshly picked seasonal fruits and vegetables. There’s live music - a piano / trumpet / stand up bass trio today creating atmosphere. People sitting at small tables with tea and pastries.

And every once in awhile, something magical happens.

I encountered a hemp farmer set up with his table of stuff. Introduced myself, he spoke perfect English. Stood there awhile and listened to his story. Off grid, water and solar power, farm life, couple kids uninterested in the cel phone life. He told me about his hemp based products and their health bennies.

His beer idea is a partnership with Brasserie du Midi, and they created a beer by replacing the hops during fermentation with hemp flower from their farm, the ‘Vie des Simples’. The result is ... very surprising, aromatic, resinous, floral and lively at the same time. Its alcohol content is 5%, but alcohol is not where it’s at with this brew.,.

Pours unfiltered orange-gold. Good foam and it laces down wonderfully.
Nose is beautiful and floral - not ‘weedy’.
Replacing hops with hemp really work - there is certainly a hop note present, backed by a fine organic backbone and a mouthwatering (almost) tartness. Super fresh.
Light body, there is medium carbonation.
The shocker is the sense of calm I feel in this relaxing CBD delivery system. A chaise lounge in a bottle. This is Real Deal pleasure beer.
It’s a beer song I wish I could sing to you all.
What a delight.,.

 

Great back story and review,is giving me not only beer envy but environment envy.sounds like a great market

 

Always enjoy hitting the Baerlic tasting room near my in-laws when I visit Portland. I know I liked Night Howler, but I apparently gave it a really good review back when @Lingenbrau gifted it to me for my first try.

I was contemplating if I could do a NBW beer for a milestone rating this weekend - which is one beer beyond my current beer. Well, of course I could, but what of the myriad of beers that would fit the "new to me" made sense, and what could I do for #3999.

I decided to grab a Tonewood beer, in celebration and a reminder not just of meeting up with @jonphisher and @ChicagoJ this past year, but in representation of all the beers I've shared with BAs in person. My nearby shop had a few IPAs available from Tonewood, but I went ahead and grabbed their Märzen beer Biergarten, checking the date for the first time right before this post and seeing it is just over two months old - so not too bad for an Oktoberfest.


Clarity isn't the highest on this amber, nearing brown, beverage, but the haze is pretty light. Head volume was ok, and there is a medium-thick ring sitting atop as I go in for an aroma check. Definitely getting smells I expect - a medium grain toasted bread with some fruitiness and the promise of bitterness that will keep an malt sweetness in check.

I actually get a little earthy spice to open this beer, followed by the malt breadiness that has a bit of a raisin bread vibe - though one that is light on the raisins. Finish is a little tea-like, with both some herbal and lemon-zest aspects joining in the hops that are balancing out the brief malt sweetness.

I really like this take on a Märzen. It could maybe include a little more of the malt in the flavor, but it holds up enough in the flavor if I look for it in with the hop notes. I made a good choice for #3999.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

On the road today in western Wisconsin and right now in Balsom Lake at Balsom Lake Brewing and enjoying this.

46 - Balsom Lake Brewing- Balsom Lake, WI - American IPA - 6.8%

The flavor is so delicious. Earthy pine hops. Hint of dank. Hint of citrus and malt. Delicious.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/65441/654795/
3.99/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery

Clear golden pouring beer. Beautiful 1 finger whit head. Very frothy looking and long lasting. Some lacing on the glass.
Aroma is quite nice with pine, earthy and malty notes. Hint of citrus.
Flavor has a great hop hit off the start. I get a good pine hit with hints of citrus. There's a slight hint of an earthy dankness to it. There's a hint of malt that shines through. Slight bitterness on the back.
The body is somewhat sticky feeling. Decent fullness.
Tasty and I am glad I came here to try it.

Be back for more at my next stop. Cheers.