New Beer Weekend #224

Assuming the peppers and vinegar for your annual ferment?

Also please tell more about these gnomes…

One of our favorite spots on our Vermont trip each year is this big gnome garden in the woods one of our hikes. Love seeing what’s new each year and adding to it. This year we built a stick cabin and added a little pine tree.

 

This one is from @muchloveforhops3

Kettlehouse Muley Buck Mosaic IPA, 6.2% ABV; 4.06 overall

Pours a chill-hazed gold with 2 fingers of pearl colored head. Above average head retention & nice lacing

S: A tropical explosion, guava, mangoes & passionfruit, fades a bit as it warms up

T: Follows the nose, some lemon & dryness up front, a touch of grassyness too. Dryness, lime, pomelos, green melon & passion fruit as this beer warms up. Finishes with pomelos, limes & dryness

MF: medium body, fairly firm carbonation, good balance

Easy to drink, started strong, kind of faded a bit as this beer warmed up

 

I'm skipping the ferment this year - just going to make a straight hot pickle and dried flakes. Mixed hots, but mostly Portuguese red that I grew up with. I've got a couple pounds of Reapers I've had in the freezer...a bit leery of working with them so they sit, lurking...taunting...

Gnomes...when my grandson was about 3 we started cutting oats and spend a lot of time in our woods. Seeing how much he enjoys it, Papa got the idea to hang ornaments in the trees. Started with five or six and i think theres about 30 now. He goes searching for them - knows the land as well as i do! I've been able to get it done without him knowing for four years now. I think he may suspect, but he plays along. He's 7 now and I know it'll end some day but it'll be a memory forever. This year, he built a gnome house out of downed limbs and bark from a huge pine that either blew over or got hit by lightening - snapped about 20 feet up. He has built small structures before, but he ramped it up big time this year - about four feet around and five foot high.

So...inside...people have given him small gnomes over the years. They mostly stay in the family room, biut every once in a while they'll turn up in odd spots in the house. He knows even if they "move" a little bit. It's just snowballed and mythical things have kinda become part of the family culture.

If you ever get to Booth Bay in Maine, I highly recommend the Coastal Maine Botannical Gardens. There reside huge gnomes by the artist Thomas Danbo - all created from upcycled materials. I dont know how many he has created in total - they are all over the world - but there are five at CMBG. One is hard to find, but mostly easy hiking on groomed trails. The grounds and facilities are fantastic in themselves - the gigantic gnomes just amp it up. They light a lot of it it up at Christmas time - trying to find a way we can sneak a getaway.

 

If this doesn't show up soon, I will have to drive up to Mizzou where I know it is being sold.

 

All those Indian dishes sound delish

 

I talked with Mizzou. They said they were sold out.

 

Founders blonde roast
...really clear amber appearance.
...medium bodied with a just below average carbonation which all added up to a nice feel.
. ..aroma is light roasted coffee which dominates followed by mild floral, and something that comes like milk chocolate
...taste is sweet, almost syrupy, dry mildly bitter coffee.
..overall its really well done,may not be everyone's cup of tea but I liked it. Makes me think of a bitter version of coffee ice cream

 

The store I go to, that would be the Busch Light

 

Hope all are having a good NBW. All my recruiters ghosted me this week, so I am back to square one. I guess it's time to start populating reviews in my spare time. I have a lot of backlog for BA and I will exceed 10-10.5K reviews soon.


Firestone Walker Double Hopnosis. I will adjust my score for this as it is canned 04/06/2023. Gusher can lol. Aromas and flavors of big ripe red grapefruit, tangerine, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, berries, citrus rind, peppercorn, pine, light caramel, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass. Large sized pine/rind bitter finish. Medium carbonation and body, balanced bready malt and sticky/resinous hop mouthfeel. Lingering resin dryness with mild astringency. This has pretty strong undertones of stale hops and maillard maltiness, but overall it's still probably a winner when fresh. Liked the Mosaic Cryo, Citra, Chinook, Vic Secret, Columbus/CTZ, Simcoe hop profile. Still pretty juicy on the hops for how old it was. 3.93


I still have more old NEIPAs to review, so the suffering is not over.

Cheers

 

Old Prague Bohemian Premium Lager

One year ago I was drinking old and new beers with friends in Prague. One of the beers was my long-forgotten favorite, Bernard. That's where this mug came from. Back to today, a couple of hours ago I stumbled upon two Czech beers — one pale and one dark, with cheesy labels and names. From what I can tell, they were brewed at Pivovar Podkováň in Dolní Cetno, about 20 miles from Prague. I started with the pale one.

The beer pours transparent golden-brown, with a nice but not thick head, and good lacing.

The nose is sweet malt with a noticeable diacetyl presence.

This is an unmistakenly Czech-tasting beer — sweet, malty, caramel, with a touch of hops. Not unlike Krušovice.

There was a light metallic aftertaste in the first few sips, but it disappeared when the beer started to warm up and got replaced with a nice bitterness.

Overall, this is a nostalgic-tasting Czech lager — unassuming, easy-drinking, and enjoyable.

I'll report on the dark one next.

 

Thanks to @Beersnake -- Bottle Logic's Logic Light

19.2oz gold-crowned can served in a little WABL sample glass, can is not dated.

Pours clear light yellow with a medium to small sized head, plenty of active carbonation. Smell is grain, yeast, a little honeysuckle, maybe a hint of grass. Moderate earthiness.

Taste is earthy and yeasty with a grassy background, honeysuckle and grain sweetness definitely comes through. Bitter is earthy and grassy combined, but not powerful compared to the grain.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth, effervescent. Overall, pretty rich flavored, good beer for the style.

 

Sounds like a great meetup @Whyteboar and @Mikexw . The Robust Porter sounds really good.

Love seeing the old school labels! Their beers hold up very well refrigerated, and it’s good to know they perform similarly cellared. Their Ryeway is my favorite annual DW release.

Loved your story and writing here, makes me want to seek out a similar beer here.

Enjoyed your review, and I’m looking forward to #4,000!

This is such a great story. Thanks for sharing and thank you @jonphisher for sharing your Summer gnome experience and asking LeRose to elaborate.

 

Tonight I enjoyed just one, but it was a 14% pastry stout so one was plenty.
Pretty sure I’ve seen this posted before, it surprised me to find it here as I have never seen Hoof hearted brewery beer here before.
Of course, I may just have missed it, who knows.
In any case, tonight’s beer is Fitness Freak from Hoof Hearted out of Ohio.

the pour is stout black with a short (5 mm) medium brown head that didn’t leave any lacing.
The flavor leads and dominates with the maple syrup, it must be tough getting that to balance well. The vanilla is noticeable and it is a pleasant addition. The coffee and roasted malts are present but rather subdued.
The feel is a little thinner than expected, but that just makes it easier to drink, and with that ABV, you might want something to slow you down.
OA, I keep trying these to see if a brewery can topple CBS from its bourbon and maple syrup barrel aged tastiness. This one has a good vanilla presence but it doesn’t topple CBS.
Cheers all!

 

Much thanks to @muchloveforhops3 for this one

Henhouse Brewing Co. Liquid History Lesson Beer 2000 Imperial Stout ( that's a lot of typing ). 9.9% ABV; 4.07 overall

Pours an effervescent chestnut/mahogany with 2 fingers of rocky mocha colored head. Very good head retention & better lacing

S: Very roasty, chocolate notes

T: Follows the nose, fairly dry, also woody hops up front. More roastyness, Baker's Chocolate, dryness & leafy hops as this beer warms up, faint hints of caramel. Finishes dry, roasty with semi-sweet chocolate

MF: Medium/thick body, subtle carbonation, warming

Great drinkability for the heft, well put together Imp Stout

 

Founders winter bock
...dark black tea appearance
...medium carbonation with about the same for the body
... aroma is malt, dark bread, earthy and herbal
..taste is very similar to aroma, malty,almost dry, and herbal and vegetable luke.
.. overall its a nice beer, not like I would think for a bock but interesting and enjoyable

 

A) Great Start!
B) Totally agree, ALL ARE WELCOME
C) Great Pic! (love that opener).

 

Hello NBW!
Going to post here before reading past the fantastic opening from the esteemed @Beersnake
Get Thicker Skin
16 oz can from BA Big Beer Box 2024
Gold to peach in hue, hazy, with a fluffy white foam that exceeds 2 fingers and slowly settles into a thin layer. Lithe curtain of lacing.
Nose pops with mango and pineapple. Soon thereafter, grass, peach, orange, and hints of berry.These notes eventually waiver and the rest of the ride is more of a subtle orange creamsicle meets "green."
Flavor is more of a smooth, sauntering trail of orange, peach, tangerine zest, with a tinge of grass. A slightly herbal hop note brings a tad of bitterness.
Mouthfeel is medium, a bit fluffy, and has a respectable carb level.
3.81/5 rDev -5.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Forest & Main Brewing Company - Gradient Descent

It's a really tasty West Coast IPA hopped with Citra, Mosaic, & Chinook. Reminiscent of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale but it has its own character. It has a lovely balance between light caramel malt and orange/grapefruit rind and resinous pine. Nice bitterness but doesn't linger too long on the palate. Very drinkable, tasty, and refreshing.

#properglassware

Cross-posted in WBAYDN #4396 and What Mid-Atlantic beer are you drinking now? (2024)