New Beer Weekend #227

Amazing apps. Buffalo cauliflower is our go to food. Philly cheese steak egg rolls also slap.


Hidden Gate green bands ipa. Great hazy. Aromas and flavors of big red grapefruit, orange juice, passion fruit, berries, mango, melon, peppercorn, citrus rind, pine, cracker, bread, herbal, floral, grass. Medium pine rind herbal bitter finish. Medium carb and body. Balanced bready grainy malt and sticky hop mouthfeel. Lingering resin drying with no astringency. Great mosaic and lotus hop profile. Juicy and dank hops. 4/5


Cheers

 

Hidden Gate sin semilla berliner. Very nice. Muted Aromas of tart watermelon and light lacto funk. Taste of tart watermelon, lemon, pear, apple, wheat, cracker, herbal, grass, pepper, light lacto funk. Lt med tartness and light herbal bitterness. Crisp clean refreshing finish. Light body. Not as much lacto or fruit as expected, but a refreshing berliner. 3.9/5


Cheers

 

One of my favorites from Great Notion. What at first seems gimmicky is actually pretty complex, especially as it warms. Cheers!

 

As promised, a trip to Great Height Brewing this afternoon, to try their new West Coast style IPA.

Stella, with Citra, Chinook, & Amarillo hops. 6.5% ABV, and side note named after the bar managers dog



Pours a beautifully clear golden/orange color. A small white head forms, but has good retention. Light lace left behind.
Very aromatic. Citrus, floral, piney, melon and tropical fruits all intermingle. Really well done.
Taste wise, follows the nose, with that citrus, floral, pine, melon hop mix that just bursts. A touch grainy, and sweet in the middle, and a lingering bitterness is very welcome as it dries everything out.
A medium body with crisp and effervescent carbonation. Very clean and finishes dry. Yep, this is a good one to drink. I can come back to this with ease.

The hop character is excellent, and I'm loving actual carbonation in an IPA for once. Lately, a bunch of new IPA's I have tried just seem flabby and not very crisp to me. That and that dry/bitter finish makes a lot of difference for me, when I want to come back to a particular IPA, that is what I look for. Well done.

Overall score is 4.08, and that might be a little low. I got a four pack to go, so I'll almost certainly update to a higher score after a few more pours.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50326/724086/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Hidden Gate gate-toberfest. Awesome ofest. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toast, biscuit, nuttiness, herbal, grass, peppercorn, light pine/dark fruit. Lt med pine herbal bitter finish. Medium carb and medium plus body. Balanced creamy bready malts and sticky hop mouthfeel. Lingering hop drying. No cloying. Very clean lager flavors. Big malts and balanced noble hops. 4.1/5


Cheers

 

Today's new beer is another from @jonphisher and, spoiler, it's another great one.

Of the three so far, this has been my favorite. Only one disappointment: It went down too fast! Thanks for another wonderful beer, Jon!

Tonewood Focal Point
3.8% Czech Pilsner



Pours a clear, pale straw with a frothy three-finger white head.

Big aromas of grass and hay, with some peppery spice and an undercurrent of floral notes. As it warms I get some biscuit as well.

On the palate, everything blends together into a melange from the start of the sip. Pepper and spice, grass, hay, cracker and white bread, floral, honey, lemon zest, woody/earthy. Slight bitterness on a fairly dry finish leaves you continually ready for the next sip.

Moderate and fairly fine carb give a slight tingle throughout the sip but not to the level of being a bite. Combined with the light body, this goes down real easy.

Overall, a fantastic take on the Czech Pilsner. Amazing how much flavor they've packed in at the abv.

 

Founders KBS Double Oaked Imperial Stout, 12% ABV. Pours black with a finger medium-brown head that left lots of lacing. Aroma is oak, bourbon, chocolate, and coffee. Taste follows, slightly sweet, moderately bitter. Dry mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Not a big oak fan, but the oak isn't overpowering

4.3/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Hoping our 'visitor' comes back tonight. Last night we heard a banging noise that could have been gunfire in the distance. Later I checked our security cameras and the one in the backyard picked up an IR light by our living-room window. Figured out someone was looking in our window with a drone, and the blades were hitting the siding. Hoping to catch them at it if they come back tonight, I'll jam it with a transmitter and knock it down.

 

Enjoying my first Head Hunter IPA. Amber gold body with a fine bubbled white head and clingy lacing. Great aroma of dank resin pine and grapefruit rind. Love it! Wish I had a candle with this scent. Taste also of pine resin and citrus, with hop bitterness that you can appreciate instead of it bruising your palate. Excellent oily mouthfeel with mild carbonation. This beer has legs. An excellent I P A and worthy of its awards and rating.

Look: 4.25 Smell: 4.5 Taste: 4.5 Feel: 4.5 Overall: 4.5

 

Awesome and yes that is one of my favorite beers they brew, I’m glad it lived up for you as well

 

My trip down the malt liquor aisle continues with

Icehouse Edge


Appearance: Clear gold, big head.

Smell: Starts with sweet corn, but turns into a dry barn of corn, bit of booze.

Taste: Sweet to start, some corn noted. Remains sweet but not cloying, very one-note. Doesn't seem too boozy, none of the usual apple/pear/cherry signifiers of high ABV bum juice. A little more booze shows up as it warms, more dried corn in the finish.

Overall: My first beer long ago was Icehouse, this must be its big brother. Surprisingly not terrible, I almost always get apple/pear notes from high gravity malt liquors (and some high ABV DIPAs/strong ales), but they don't show up here. So maybe a little more care was taken when brewing this “fine” beverage? Not sure I'll ever seek this out again, but interesting to try.

 

Another BIF#18/LIF offering from @snaotheus

Machine House Best Bitter, 4.2% ABV; 4.06 overall

Pours a hazed honey color with 2 fingers of tight cream-colored head. Average-ish head retention & pretty good lacing, never drops bright

S: Some bready notes, fruity notes once warmed up & a little toffee

T: Bready, grainy, a little dry with hints of toffee, woody hops up front. Biscuitty malt asserts itself as this beer warms up, grassy, herbal & woody hops as well. Finishes a little dry with woody hops & a touch of toffee

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, nice balance

Easy drinker, hits the marks for style nice flavor, was hoping for a little more nose

Edit, bumped up my taste score, last 3 ounces were the best!

 

Lumberbeard - Barrel Fort, 15.6% BA stout with hazelnuts

16oz can served in a big snifter. Can doesn't appear to be dated. Bought it at Beer Authority a couple months ago.

Pours black with about a centimeter of dark brown head that fades in a couple minutes. Smell is big, boozy, chocolate and molasses, nuts and toffee.

Taste is right in line, booziness drops a little bit (though feels like that'll change as it warms up). Sweet, lots of vanilla. Chocolate is the strongest theme, with a little bit of a nutella vibe introduced I assume by the hazelnut.

Mouthfeel is thick, rich, chewy. Overall, very nice.

 

Happy NBW - enjoying a higher gravity offering as the pressure drops and the precipitation creeps in. Cheers!

3.86/5 rDev -6.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Packaged on October 10, 2024 - enjoyed on November 23, 2024. Poured from a pint can into a snifter.

Opaque black bean body with a low dun cap receding to a lasting collar and faint surface slick. Fine sandy lacing; viscous sticky legs; good retention.

Mounds, pour over coffee, and faint tobacco in the nose.

Big waves of chocolate and coconut start the assault with potent bitterness (coffee, cocoa, earthy hops) in pursuit. Roast malt mingles with the coconut flesh leading into a medium finish with hints of burnt sugar/toast. Wonderful base beer as always, but the coconut is a little overdone and while not cloying, the beer leans towards dessert.

Oily, medium-full bodied with low but sufficient carbonation. Warming but not too hot.

Very good, but I much prefer standard Speedway.

 

What!! That’s wild, I’ve seen drones around above our yard at time and other neighbors but that close? That’s ridiculous, probably just annoying teenage shenanigans.

 

Julia played tetris. I failed at contra.



NoDa gorgeous pumpkin. Great pumpkin ale. Aromas and flavors of big pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, nuttiness, peppercorn, herbal, grass, light pine. Lt med pine herbal bitter and spicy finish. Medium carb and body. Balanced creamy bready malts and sticky spices. Lingering sticky drying finish with no astringency. Great brown ale base style. No complaints. Very Balanced. 4/5


Cheers

 

Punish them by getting naked in front of the camera

 

This BIF#18/LIF Mystery Beer is totally in my sweet spot. Cheers @snaotheus

Great Notion Double Stack Imperial Breakfast Stout with Maple Syrup, Coffee & some adjuncts or extra flavors that actually work, 11.0% ABV; 4.74 overall






Pours an effervescent chestnut/mahogany with a thumb+ of mocha colored head. Pretty good head retention & lacing, stays effervescent throughout the pour

S: Maple in spades, a little bit of chocolate too

T: Follows the nose, some coffee notes, caramel also there up front. Maple syrup still winning the day, but enough coffee & chocolate bitterness to balance everything out, caramel & a little dryness there as well. Finishes a little dry with plenty of maple sweetness, cocoa, caramel & a little coffee on the edges & a faint amount of woody hops

MF Medium body, smooth carbonation, a little warming about halfway through the can

ABV is dangerously concealed with this beauty, I would've guessed many points lower. Great use of maple syrup, hard to do it well, but this a masterpiece IMHO

 

Like you @sulldaddy today was our first soccer free weekend in months. That meant entertaining the kids a fun trip out to farmland to get some stuff, and we also ran into a craft fair where the kiddos got a small budget and bought some stuff.

We’ve slowly started getting Christmas stuff out and my mother in laws house is decked out already so its got me all Merry & Brite, just like this beer, a new seasonal from Cape May. They’re definitely going for a Celebration like IPA as it’s the same hops of Cascade, Centennial and Chinook; let’s see how this one is.

Cape May - Merry & Brite (AIPA 7.5%)



Beautiful colored beer; its a mix of amber and brown, very clear, light red hints depending on light, head is brownish white; clumps up real nice as it settles into a substantial cap, above average lacing.

Nose is a perfect medley of all things classic IPA; there is caramel malt with a light sweet aspect, little bit of toasted character, citrus skin, pine and sap with some nice floral undertones; its so aromatic, its like a potpourri or old school IPA scented candle to take a cue from @turfy …intoxicating beer to smell.

The taste doesn’t let up just so pleasantly malty with all the american hop character you could ask for; the malt dances on the tongue first rich but not sweet or syrupy; lightly toasted, then the hops come; caramelize citrus that finishes nice and piney; awesome aftertaste of floral character.

The body is medium; it dry and clean; hops lend some stickiness and the bitterness is moderate; its quite tame actually but does hit quite nicely; really zero hint of the 7.5% which makes this quite a dangerous beer.

This beer is really really good, I very much enjoyed its malt presence; just a lot going on without being too malty sweet. I would recommend anyone AIPA give this a try, best I can say is that it’s almost like Hop Devil and Celebration had a child…I think that should sell it for some of you. I hope this sells well this year and returns next year, delicious stuff.

@TongoRad @JackHorzempa

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That may be it new beer wise for me this weekend, we'll see what I get around to tomorrow if anything new. Looking forward to seeing what everyone is drinking the rest of the weekend. Cheers and have a great night, and week, if this is my last beer. My favorite work week of the year coming up!!!