New Beer Weekend #227

Thank @Victory_Sabre1973 for starting the new beer weekend

Colonel Toby, hoppy farmhouse ale
...somewhat clear pale gold appearance with a very thin but lasting head
..medium carbonation with about a medium body but overall it comes off light in a positive way
...aroma is barnyard funk, earthy and floral. Theres mild bread along with white grapes.
...taste has a very mild sweetness, tart,sour,hops, floral and fruity.
..overall its like they were going for a refreshing light,easy drinking beer yet it covered so many flavor profiles. Will gladly pick this up again

 

Against my better judgment, I tried Elder Son Brewing again. Probably the closest brewery to my house. I haven't been impressed to say the least with their beers...but as always I want to give places a few chances.

Jolie Saison, 5 % ABV. With Ginger, Coriander, Lemon Zest, and Orange Peel.


Pours an orange color, with a barely there white head. Which rises and recedes in a second. No lace.
Aroma of toasted, biscuit like malts up front. Which gives way to a lemon and orange peel. Very basic, and I think the fruit flavors are just additives. So not impressed with that.
Taste wise, like the nose, a malty biscuit flavor, that gives way to some generic fruit. Which again, think they just added those here, no real esters or yeast flavors.
A light body, that is incredibly thin. This is like water for some reason. The minimum amount of carbonation detected. This is a very generous, and barely there...OK. With no real Saison quality.

No yeast derived character here that would lead me to think Saison. There is some very generic "fruit" flavors, but not really what I think of as esters or yeast characters. Very basic, very watery, and not what I like in the style.

Overall score is 2.98
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61896/596321/?ba=champ103#lists

Next...

ShapeShifter Superdelic & El Dorado IPA, 5.6% ABV



Pours with a slight haze that clears up after a minute. A golden/yellow color. A one finger white head forms with some lace left behind.
Aroma is faded hops up front. Almost no fruity aromas from the El Dorado, just very vaguely "hoppy."
Taste wise, again, that faded almost old hop character. There is a malty flavor, and some butterscotch. No real bitterness to speak of. I can't say this is much of an IPA at all.
A light to medium body that is under carbonated. Almost watery for me. Easy enough to drink, for something you don't have to think about. Though not anything I'm coming back to soon.

One of the weakest hop profiles I have come across for an IPA. It seems just faded and old at the brewery for some reason. The light body and under carbonation doesn't do this any favors either. I'll leave it at that.

Overall score is 2.95
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61896/724023/?ba=champ103#lists

Safe to say, I wasn't impressed with this visit either. Oh well.

 

Do you order flights when visiting new (to you) breweries?

Last weekend I discussed a brewery I visited in Fredericksburg, TX and know I will relate some new beer drinking experiences for the return leg of the road trip.

First up: Natchez Brewing Company

Below is a photo of the flight of four beers I ordered: from left to right is Helles, Czech Pilsner, Northern German Pilsner and Belgian Dubbel. My ‘strategy’ when ordering/drinking a flight of beers is to first drink the lightest (as in lightest in flavor/body) to the heaviest. Below are some quick impressions of these four beers:

Helles: A bready malt flavor with a subtle, pleasant white grape flavor.

Czech Pilsner: A rich, bready malt flavor which is well balanced with the hop flavor of Saaz hops. A dry finish. This beer was poured from a Lukr side-pull faucet.

Northern German Pilsner: Bready malt flavor with some herbal hop flavors. A lean body with a dry finish.

Belgian Dubbel: Some dark fruity flavors from dark malts (e.g., raison, fig,…) and yeast derived fruity/spicy flavors. A medium body with a dry finish.



All four of these beers were very good – excellent.

After I finished the flight, I ordered two pints: Czech Pilsner then Northern German Pilsner.

As far as I know Natchez Brewing is the only brewery in the small city of Natchez and the folks there are fortunate to have a brewery that produces high quality beers.

Natchez appears to be a popular stop for Mississippi river cruises (both Viking and American Heritage ships were in dock when we were there). If any of you are visiting Natchez, I strongly recommend a visit to Natchez Brewing Company. The food is good there as well.

Second up: Redbeard Brewery

The last stop before returning home is Staunton, VA. After checking into our hotel, we walked to nearby Redbeard Brewery for Friday Happy Hour.

Below is a photo of the flight of four beers: English Brown Ale, German Pilsner, Schwarzbier and Black IPA.



I did not take specific notes on each beer but I can report that just as with Natchez Brewing all four of these beers were very good to excellent.

For a small brewery, Redbeard had an extensive choice of beers available on draft: 15 brands. I appreciated that they offered small pours (5 ounces) at reasonable prices. One of the beers which was a highlight was their Imperial Stout aged in Russell’s Reserve Bourbon barrels. I ordered a 5 ounce pour of this beer and my wife asked for a sip and afterwards stated: “This beer is heaven!”. I completely agree with her here.

If you ever make it to Staunton, VA I highly recommend a visit to Redbeard Brewery.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @jonphisher

 

Guiness fonio which was a collaboration with Brooklyn
..dark tea,cola brown appearance with the guiness off white head but very thin.
... light carbonation with a body that comes off a hair thin yet has a slick glycerin like feel.
...aroma is straight up campfire, smokey burnt wood, I think there's cherry or fruit behind all that smoke. I believe there's malt and coffee but the smoke is too dominant.
...taste is slightly sweet,malty, very mild coffee/chocolate/bread but theres a burnt taste that masks everything.
...overall its good but the taste is quickly dominated by the flavor of burnt rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan.
All I can say is I would have had a hard time canning this for sale.
as I continue to drink this the aftertaste is really lingering. Starting to taste like licking qn ashtray

 

You are either a glutton for punishment or, dare I say, a bit lazy (like I am).

I definitely have stopped going to a couple local breweries that I gave some chances to but felt produced inferior products. There is one I have avoided for a long time but is still in business, so I want to give them another chance at some point.

I also have two other nearby brewers I don't ever plan to visit, but because they are close, I might stop by. These produce decent enough beers, so it's nice they are close. Do I wish they were Ocelot or Port City (other local breweries)? Hell, yeah, I do!

They are not, but at least they're not, like... well, apparently you know. I hope you washed those down with a swig or two of whiskey

 

That's unfortunate

 

Most of the breweries in Fayetteville. There's a huge consume local crowd here. Not against that, but I need quality. Rogers & Bentonville is usually where I need to go to find what I seek.

 

Cheers @Victory_Sabre1973 for kick us off!

Ozark Beer Co.'s Stocking Stuffer IPA ( Hopped with Amarillo & Cascade, plus Orange Peels added ). 6.0% ABV; 4.02 overall

Pours an effervescent hazel with a thumb of cream-colored head. Above average head retention & nice lacing

S: Some toasty notes & a little citrus once warm. Nose falls a little short

T: Toasty, a little cakey, so a little dry with piney & woody hops, some orange notes as well up front. Cakey, a little toffee pineyness, woody hops & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes cakey/toasty with woody & piney hops

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, nice balance

If I had this blind, I'd think Sierra Nevada Celebration, much to love about this beer other than the nose

 

I have heard of Redbeard, and apparently had one of their brown ales (2218 Baker Brown) and liked it pretty well for a small brewery brown. I am not sure if that is the same brown ale you had, but I'd guess so, given the number of ratings it has on this site.

I appreciate your recommendation of a visit, and will likely seek out the brewery the next time I spend some time in central VA.

 

Third visit in two years, so not going there a lot. Its down the road and was not in the mood to venturing out further, so it just happened that way ha. And have a Buffalo Trace in the glass now, listening to the new Father John Misty album

Tomorrow I'm going to Great Heights as they have a new West Coast IPA I want to try, and one of the better breweries in town. Didn't end up going there today as the two roads that go up there have bad construction, so didn't want to deal with Friday construction traffic ha. Tomorrow it should be cleared out...

 

Thank you @Victory_Sabre1973 for kicking off our weekend as well as introducing us to a brewery that really appreciates Norse and late Celtic art styles.
I have another “rescue” beer that I found in a local bottle shop that stored a number of different beers (mostly stouts) on a lower shelf that was washed in the heat emitting from the nearby cooler.

Magnolias at Midnight, an imperial stout with coffee, caramel and vanilla.
The pour is stout black with one of the darkest brown heads I’ve ever seen. Sadly it dissipated almost before I got the photo. No lacing but a definite film is left behind.
The taste leads with caramel amped up with vanilla. Chocolate followed closely, and if there is coffee in there it is some of the mildest coffee ever.
I’m making it sound sweet and it is, but not as sweet as it sounds. I even detected a little bitter edge at one point before the caramel jumped onto it and beat it to submission.
The feel is appropriately viscous, thin enough to quaff easily (and likely too quickly) but enough body to carry the flavors.
OA, I pick beer like this up to try before I submit my SAN group to it. It’s actually pretty good, hopefully I picked up two.
Cheers!

 

Lawsons maple river ale
...really attractive dark amber/copper appearance with a lasting millimeter or 2 head
... aroma to me comes of like candy/bubblegum. Toast, malt,mild maple, with a floral sweet sugary candy element.
...taste is sweet with an almost dry hop bitterness that shows up then dominates the finish.
...very good but the maple is subdued and the sweetness comes off more malty with a bitter dry finish. I think my tastebuds might be off tonight

 

Mad props to @muchloveforhops3 for this Jeremiah Johnson Mountain Man Scotch Ale; 4.02 overall

My can is 6.5%

Pours an effervescent chestnut with one finger of sand colored head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: A little brown bread, toffee, nose could be better

T: Follows the nose, a little toasty, some smokey notes up front. A little peaty, s little dry, leafy & woody hops & some brown sugar as this beer warms up, peat notes picking up steam. Finishes dry, leafy hops, peaty notes, a little smokeyness & brown sugar

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, needs a little more body for the style

Solid stab at the style, I prefer my Wee Heavys a little meatier, drinks pretty easy

 

Okay doubling up, not surprised. This beer is courtesy of @snaotheus via the NBW BIF#18/LIF BIGPAYBACK

Single Hill Western Front West Coast IPA, 6.7% ABV; 4.13 overall ( With Galaxy, Simcoe & Mosaic )

Pours an effervescent gold with a thumb of pearl colored head. Pretty good head retention & nice lacing

S: Catty, some onion notes

T: Follows the nose, dry, slight breadyness, hints of pine, pomelo & grapefruit up front. Catty/weedy, dry with citrus notes, bready notes as well as this beer warms up. Finishes dry with a little onion, pomelo, sweet breadyness & some nectarine

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, good balance

Nice stab at the style, great drinkability

 

First time seeing and buying this one locally.
Initial nose is pretty boozy, and then the taste is very graham cracker and horchata and then cinnamon and kinda dry.
I get a much more milk chocolate nose at the top of the glass when it warms up and with some swirling, and a nice bourbon barrel goodness at the bottom. A lot more of a dark chocolate taste and chocolate creamy mouthfeel but still a good amount of dry cinnamon finish.
Sorry for the poorly written notes but this is pretty fun, I’m planning on grabbing more to try during the holiday dinners and to hold for a year or two.

 

Browar Stu Mostów (Warsaw, Poland) ‘Drunken Sailor’ Baltic Porter

Presenting a 33 cl can poured lightly chilled into a tulip. Nice double flying fingers of foam crown opaque deep brown brew.
The nose is malty molasses, prunes, almond extract with a coffee grounds back.
Taste; it’s sweet and deeply malty with a clean lager character, firm hop bitterness glides up the center. Whispers of black currants get quickly muted to a sour note by the use of Muscovado sugar and almond extract, adding weird dancing marzipan on the palate. As the flavors linger on finish, the almond/marzipan become annoying and, while playful, feel out of place. Slightly dry and warming on exit.
Mouthfeel is full bodied, medium-high on the carbonation.
Overall, there’s a robust Baltic Porter trying to get out from under unchecked adjuncts.

3.87/5 in the BA DB

 

Thanks for the kick off @Victory_Sabre1973 . Will try to catch up later this weekend, very busy as a volunteer yesterday, and looking for a few more hours of sleep before attending this afternoon. Here is my limited recap of FOBAB from last night, and here is my review of the best new to me offering I poured for this morning.

Milieu Fermentation Bruce

4.17/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Last Night


This Morning


11/23/24 (Home - Chicago, IL): Draft Notes: About 12 oz to go from FOBAB picked up yesterday, refrigerated until this morning. Scotch ale aged in bourbon barrels.

Appearance: Poured into a snifter glass, white foam over dark brown near black base while pouring, no head with my pour ten hours later. Judging on my initial appearance take. 4.25

Aroma: Chocolate fudge, Scotch malt, smooth bourbon barrels, fresh from keg and also this morning. Very good. 4.0

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, scotch ale leads, nice chocolate fudge, smooth bourbon barrel backing. All blends well together. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Smooth, minor to no carbonation fresh or now. Sweet but not too, proper balance. Drinks easy at first, but the 12 oz this morning is a bit of a challenge after nearly a pint of BA beers last evening. Soldiering on. Scotch malt finish. 4.0

Overall: This is a solid offering, don't have a chance at too many Scotch Ales, and while I sometimes clinch a bit of expected sweetness and heavy malt treatment, this beer was nice and balanced straightaway, and one of my favorite Dark Ale Other pours at 2024 FOBAB. Hope to find more from this brewery down the line. 4.25

Usually limit new ratings to 5+ oz for heavy BA styles, so don't expect to drink that much from a single offering this afternoon. Have a lighter beer planned for tomorrow in recovery mode. Look forward to catching up with the weekend before then. Cheers!