New Beer Weekend #226

lol @ChicagoJ i had texted @woodchipper to see where the NBW was. No worries it’s Friday night and we are just getting started: thank you for getting the ball Rolling!

Get Thicker Skin
Anchorage Brewing Company
(From the BA Big Box)


3.73/5 rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From the BA Big Beer Box. Canned 8/22/24 poured 11/15/24 pours golden murk with an inch fluffy head that reduced quickly leaving soap suds on the glass. Aroma is orange rind, peach, taste follows including some bittery smacky smacky that’s nice, and makes you salivate (sweet and alcohol dry). Medium feel: overall pretty damn good. My second ever Anchorage Brewing Co, solid!

 

Thank you @ChicagoJ for the welcoming invite to this always cool thread.,. Cheers!

I’m a firm believer that if a brewery is gonna celebrate an anniversary milestone with a Special Drop, it should be a signature of their success. It takes a collective thought process to cultivate the sum of accomplishments and growth. Tell the story in one glass full.,. don’t just take your last good beer and beef it up.




Espiga Brewing (Barcelona, Spain) ‘Triple Hyperactive Moon’ DDH TIPA

Here’s a 44 cl >fresh< can poured into an IPA glass in Toulouse, France. It glows gold and fine, a scraggly white foam dances about.
Nose is fruity; experience says Citra is in the lead, there’s abundant mango and lime zest.,
Taste brings the Yakima Valley in the US, not Barcelona in the EU. Yeah yeah., Mosaic, Citra and Simcoe. The usual suspects. All good, but terribly familiar and nothing original or unique, this being a 10th Anniversary brew and all. It’s toot sweet and not counterpointed with zappity bam bam bitterness. Adding barley flakes for ‘smoothness’ proves unnecessary, as it mutes the strength of a potent hop mix.
Mouth is full and yep aight. Carbonation properly prickly and medium gassed.
Overall, it’s a nice TIPA.
Entendido.
Rated accordingly.
But a brewery’s ‘Special Anniversary’ brew?
No.

Still, it’s a 4.1/5 in the BA DB.,.

 

After seeing many posts on this thread of beers from Tonewood that looked right up my alley, @jonphisher has answered my beer wishes with a package that arrived on my porch this week containing 5 Tonewoods to try out. Thanks, Jon!

After a packed workweek due to the holiday, it was time for a Friday beer. Grabbed this one a little earlier today. Quite a lot going on over the next two days, but I'm hoping to pop in with at least one more of the beers Jon sent.

Tonewood Chilly Bin
5.2% West Coast Pilsner



Pours a clear straw yellow with a two-finger bright white head that lingers nicely.

Incredible aromas. It's like having a citrus picnic in a pine forest. I get a lot of grapefruit and orange along with melon all over a resinous base, with hints of bread and malt sweetness coming through.

The taste doesn't disappoint either. The sip starts with honeyed white bread and cracker. Citrus and light fruits (a mix of white grape, peach, and melon for me) arrive in the middle of the sip, blending with the malt that broadens to biscuit and hearty white bread. Nearing the finish I get pine that shifts to grapefruit with white wine notes at the finish, and then another shift to resinous bitterness through the aftertaste.

Medium-fine carb with a slight bite at the front of the sip. Light-bodied and so easy to drink.

Overall, this absolutely hits the mark for me for these new-style Pilsners; a joy to drink. As the can art implies, this would be great to pull out of the cooler at pretty much any summer activity.

 

Revolution - Life Jacket

12oz can served in a stemmed wineglass. Canned 07-13-2023. Got it from @ovaltine in NBS BIF #18.

Pours murky grayish-brown with very little head that settles into a tiny, tiny ring. Almost still, just a few lonely little bubbles working their way to the surface. Smell is huge. Boozy, tons of bourbon / vanilla / oak, something gives it a "brightness" which I guess I would attribute to the tropical fruits added to it. Dates and raisins and toffee are prevalent.

Taste is interesting. There's a definite tropical juiciness to it, comes out more on the exhale through the nose. Dates and toffee and nutty sweetness, oak dryness, less of the vanilla. Booze is super noticeable late in the aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is almost thin, somewhat dry. Overall, quite tasty, wish it was a bit thicker with a hint of carbonation.

 

Sounds like this hit quite nice for you just like for me, so that makes me a happy guy; glad you accepted the offer with open arms. I need another back up six pack to store for the next few months; it is indeed so easy to drink it’s like all that bitter and pine enhances that dry clean finish. I really hope this one becomes a semi regular beer for them.

 

Let’s go ‘old’ today!

‘Old’ as in a beer from Altstadt (which is German for Old Town) brewery: Altstadt Endoro Beer.

This beer is marketed via the so-called Italian Pilsner beer sub-style.

I am returning from a 2+ week road trip to/from Texas visiting family and friends. I have driven by the Altstadt Brewery in Fredericksburg, TX several times but this is my first visit to the brewery. I enticed my sister and wife to eat lunch there and luckily for me they said yes. A bonus for me is that the beer I drank with my lunch (a sausage platter) was only $3.00.

As you pull into the parking lot this is what you see:



It is a beautiful facility with the look/feel like you are at a Bavarian brewery.

Below is how Endoro is detailed on the brewery’s website:

“Enduro

Style Pilsner - Other

An Italian Pilsner brewed in collaboration with our friends at Save the World Brewing. Inspired by Italian brewer Agostino Arioli, who created the style by dry hopping his pilsner with additional German hops, this unique brew showcases the evolution of the classic lager. Using Mittelfruh, Saphir, and Amira hops, it delivers remarkable floral, citrus, and herbal aromas while maintaining the traditional Pilsner profile. Crafted with Italian pilsner malt, this beer offers a balanced bitterness and a clean, crisp finish.

SRM: 3

ABV: 5.0

IBU: 33”

Draft beer served at the brewery’s restaurant:

Appearance:

Straw yellow colored with a thin white head (a situation of a boss pour?).

Aroma:

An intriguing combination of citrus (lemon-like), some herbal and a hint of floral hop aromas.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a combination of hop flavors detailed above but also some bready malt flavor. There is a firm bitterness

Mouthfeel:

Light - medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

This is a very good beer, I enjoyed drinking it.

It went very well with my lunch.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

Cheers to @ChicagoJ for getting us out the Gate. This was a Mystery Beer sent to by @snaotheus via the BIF#18, LIF counter attack



I was thinking some sort of Belgian Golden Ale with some wild yeast thrown in, was sort of on the right path.

It is in fact, Ping Pong Table Beer from Ale Apothecary aged in Oak Barrels, 4.2% ABV; 3.94 overall


Pours a very hazy gold one finger of eggshell colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Bready notes, pears, a little grassy

T: Golden Delicious Apples, a little pineapple, some tartness/sourness up front. Flavor going more towards pear, along with grassy notes & tartness once this beer is warmed up, a little dryness from the oak aging as well. Tart apples and pears in the finish, some lemon & pineapple notes as well, plus some grassyness & white grape

MF: Medium body, lightly carbonated, a little grainyness on the tongue

Fairly easy to drink, not really in my wheelhouse, but feel like this beer would be at home at a Belgian Farmhouse

 

This one is from @muchloveforhops3 Cheers

Imagine Nation Brewing Together New England Style IPA, 6.5% ABV; 4.02 overall

Pours a very hazy gold with floaties galore and 2 fingers of whippy pearl colored head. Stellar head retention & lacing, stays hazy

S: Plenty of tropical fruit and some citrus, fades a bit once warm

T: Follows the nose, a little dry, passion fruit, oranges, lime & green melon up front. Some pineapple sneaks in as this beer warms up, more green melon, some white grape & pomelo too. Finishes a little dry with pomelo, pineapple & white grape

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, pretty good balance, a little over carbonated

A solid take on the style, pretty easy to drink

 

Thank you @ChicagoJ for kicking off our weekend!
Tonight I pulled one from 2021 - Neckbeard Life from Transient Brewing (Neckbeard, where does that come from???)

This is a relatively complex beer for them, a cuvée of a BBA maple syrup barrel (BLiS) aged stout blended with a rye whiskey barrel aged barleywine.
The pour was stout black, so I expected more stout presence than barleywine, but it was pretty well balanced. The stout aspect was a bit sweet due to the maple syrup and bourbon yet subdued and made to play well with the barleywine, which lost all aspect of the rye whiskey barrel, much to my chagrin.
Still, it provides a counter to the sweet stout without dominating it. Nicely done.
The feel is viscous, at 13% one should probably sip this, and I did.
OA, they haven’t brewed this since ‘21 but I think they just put out a notice on Instagram that they are releasing a fresh batch this year. Annoyingly I can’t afford them anymore, or rather I refuse to pay what they are selling them for now. But that’s me. Darned good beer, glad to have tried it.
Cheers!

 

Looks like a great beer. Thanks for bailing out. Thought I was gonna have 3 posts in a row

 

Another nice brew from @muchloveforhops3

Freemont Cambios Barrel Aged Cuvee, 10.0% ABV; 3.98 overall

Pours an effervescent cola/mahogany color with a thumb+ of mocha colored head. Pretty good head retention & lacing

S: Plenty of dark fruit, a little cocoa & cinnamon, raisins once warm, lots of plum, boozy notes too

T: Follows the nose, dried plums, some booze/barrel bite & brown sugar up front. Salted dry plums, some dark chocolate & some barrel rawness as the beer warms up, cinnamon still on the edges, but less in your face than the initial pour, dryness as well. Finishes with some barrel, plums, brown sugar, leafy hops, cola notes 7 a little cinnamon

MF: Medium body, assertive carbonation

I would call this an Imperial Stout of two beer styles. I looked at it as an Old Ale. Cinnamon is a tricky ingredient for me, probably would've liked this more without it, but almost artfully done. Carbonation level is a bit too much, drinks alright for the ABV

 

Enjoying a rare nightcap - cheers!

3.81/5 rDev -5.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Packaged on October 29, 2024 - enjoyed on November 15th, 2024. Poured from a pint can into a snifter.

Opaque bole body with a small stand of desert sand receding slowly to a popped collar and lasting surface slick. Fine sticky lacing; good retention; thin legs.

Gentle aroma with a fine balance between roast and sweetness - hints of toffee, coffee, walnuts, brown bread, and chocolate. Pleasant but a little vague.

Greater depth of flavor but the overall profile is muddled. Bittersweet with hints of cocoa nibs and pour-over. Faint char at times giving way to a sweeter note suggesting treacle, black licorice, raisins and glögg. Somehow gives the impression of winter spice without the flavor? Medium-dry finish. Low earthy hops throughout.

ABV is well concealed, but the body is a little thin for the style.

Not bad, though I think I prefer the original (by Port).

 

Thanks for the great start off @ChicagoJ, sounds like a beer that I’d really enjoy too.

@JackHorzempa loved the picture of that brewery and the recap, and the “boss pour” reference Looking forward to the other road trip beers you had as well.

Sorry the beer was a bust @sulldaddy, only one place you can go from their, hopefully that is up for the next one.

 

Stay tuned.

I will be discussing some new road trip beers in upcoming NBW threads.

Cheers!

 

Good day BAs! Thanks @ChicagoJ for starting us up. @JackHorzempa - sorry we couldn't connect - I had too many family obligations and with flight schedules... seems weird not to be taking a couple of mixed beer cases home. However, we did catch Alex at Wurstfest.

Today's New Breakfast beer is:



Coquito from Martin House. 12 fl oz can, picked up at HEB Plus on 306, New Braunfels, TX, 13/11/24, $ 3.82 (Including tax), $ 0.318 /fl oz. Reviewed 16/11/24 (Review 3396). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “10/17/2024”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 50.1 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 54.6 degrees F.
Appearance – 3
First pour – Pale Amber (SRM 9), hazy.
Body – Pale Amber (SRM 9), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, translucent honey.
Head: Average (Maximum one cm, aggressive center pour), off white, medium density. Quickly collapsing to a 0.5 mm broken bubble ring constantly renewed by carbonation and no cap.
Lacing – None, as anticipated at 12% ABV.
Aroma – 3.5 – Odd combination of cinnamon and coconut predominates - no yeast, no hops, no malt. No ethanol (12 % ABV according to the label).
Flavor – 4 – Begins slightly sweet with coconut predominating. No yeast, no hops, no malt, no vanilla. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Barely noticeable gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Not quite up to medium: weakly syrupy; lively carbonation.
Style: Distinctly does not follow the style guidelines, so I guess I picked the wrong style when I added it. Feel free to correct!
Final impression and summation: 4 The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. After the initial oddness, the coconut and cinnamon produce a uniquely pleasurable taste. No vanilla of course, but then I can’t taste vanilla in any concentrations less than absolute.
Rating 3.82, rDev 0% (First Review)

 

Good morning NBW, might as well get a beer in before another trip to Ames, Iowa for ISU vs Cincinnati football this evening.

Castle Danger West Coast IPA

Appearance: Clear amber, big head.

Smell: Quite piney, bit of citrus.

Taste: Hits with some bitterness right away, then a little balancing bread and fruitiness comes by. Moderately bitter grapefruit, pretty long aftertaste.

Overall: Wanted some hops and had not seen this one from northern MN before. It's an old-school WCIPA, not super bitter but plenty of grapefruit and pine flavors. A solid beer.

 

Espiga Brewing (Spain) ‘Pliny the Oncle’ WCIPA

44 cl can poured into an IPA glass. It’s a beautiful sight. Rich foam topping a brilliant gold brew.
Nose is everything you’d expect from a great IPA: citrus and pine. Bam.
Taste - the brew is actually a tribute to two legendary beers from Russian River Brewing - Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger. Pliny the Oncle (the collab brewery in Spain) features the same hop bill: Columbus, (also cold-hopped with Columbus), Centennial, Citra and Amarillo. They’re present and abundent here. Excellent European malt balance. Lightly bitter on the finish. All that’s missing is the ABV. Pliny the Elder clicks in at 8%, the Oncle is 6.5%.
Mouth is medium, there’s medium carbonation.
Overall, it feels and tastes like a homebrewed knockoff of the Classic. Really well done. I got it at 6 weeks past brew date, so totally fresh. I could drink this every day.

Solid 4.25/5 in the BA DB