New Beer Weekend #228

We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at my daughter's house, and today is going to be a relaxing one. My son brought some beers with him, so I'll start with one of them. From Second Street Brewery is an American Pale Ale, Rakau, with an ABV of 6%.
The beer is a hazy gold color. Small white head with a bit of lace.
Aroma of sweet fruit and piney hops.
Taste of mango, pineapple, and orange. Some pine late.
Smooth and creamy mouthfeel.

 

Oops sorry guys. Posted this in the wrong thread. Remove if needed. Cheers anyways!

 

"Let’s go ‘old’ today (again)!

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

And: And a belated Happy Thanksgiving wish to everybody!!

Two weeks ago, in my NBW post I discussed my recent road trip to/from Texas:

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 (Enduro Italian Pilsner) 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.

As I left the brewery, I purchased a six-pack (cans) of Alstadt Pils.

On the back of the can:

“Altstadt Pils

German-style Pilsner, Made in Texas

In tradition with Germany’s take on the classic Pilsner style, our Pils is a full-bodied, crisp and refreshing beer. The fine golden color comes from using 100% German Pilsner malt. Hallertau Mittelfrueh and Saaz hops add a slightly spicy note to balance out the malt backbone.”

And some information from the Altstadt website:

“SRM: 3

Aroma Floral, Malty, Light Spice and Cracker Notes

ABV: 5.1

Mouthfeel Smooth, Medium-Bodied

IBU: 25

Finish Dry, Clean, Refreshing

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw yellow colored with a billowy white head.

Aroma:

The first (and continuing) impression is bready Pilsner malt aroma but there is some herbal/spicy hop aroma as well.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with bready Pilsner malt flavor front and center but also noticeable herbal/spicy hop flavors as well. There is a low-medium bitterness

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

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

I appreciated the nice balance between malt flavor and some hop flavors. For my palate this beer would have benefited from a bit more hop bitterness.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @jonphisher

 

Bonus points for two likes in different threads?

I too prefer my pils on the more bitter side

 

True Anomaly's White Dwarf. I have been looking forward to trying this one for a while, it has always eluded my around town for some reason.

Foeder Aged Saison fermented with Gerwurztraminer grapes, and their mixed culture yeast. This has won GABF awards in the Wild Ale category, and I think that is a more fitting spot here, than a traditional Saison. 7.5% ABV.



Pours with a beautiful clarity, a golden/yellow color. With a one finger white head that gently recedes. That sticks around as a small cap throughout.
Aroma of musty basement like funk is up front for me. Mixed with lemon zest, peach, grapes. There is a floral, peppery spicy character here, as well that works really good.
Taste wise, again, that basement funk is apparent. Vinous grapes and a more wine like character. Along with the lemon zest, fruity esters, floral and spicy character. There is a substantial sourness that builds and lingers on and on. While not unwelcome, and very much to style, maybe makes it just a bit unbalanced. But small gripes.
A medium body with bubbly, effervescent carbonation. I love the crisp dry finish here. Just a touch of tannin like quality as well. This is really nice, and I can sip and enjoy this in a long leisurely setting.

Up there with one of the most wine like beers I have had. Which is a compliment because that is what they are going for. The Wild Ale isn't lost either, with plenty of funk, esters, yeast, and sourness. As always from True Anomaly, really well done.

Overall score is 4.15, easy A- for me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55586/724388/?ba=champ103#lists

Nice one with some Bill Evans...his masterful Village Vanguard show.

 

Goose Island Macaroon Bourbon County Brand Imperial Stout, 14.6% ABV. Pours black with a ring of brown bubbles that left no lacing. Aroma is huge coconut, ginger, and chocolate. Taste is strong coconut, dark chocolate, ginger, coffee, and bourbon, slightly sweet, slightly bitter. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.23/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

This is nowhere near a pastry stout. Not a huge fan of coconut, but this is well done. Still, I doubt I'll buy more.

 

Bottle Logic - 3 on the Tree, blonde ale with nectarine

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Don't see a date on it. @Beersnake handed it to me last month in California.

Pours clear light gold, medium to large head, visible but sparse active carbonation. Smell is mild, bready, vaguely fruity in a way that easily maps to nectarine. Maybe not so vague, but probably would call it "vague fruitiness" if I didn't know it had nectarine in it.

Taste is very fruit forward, again obvious nectarine-yness knowing that's what's in there. Moderate grassy bitter bite, make me think of stems and leaves a little bit. Some honey / honeysuckle sweetness.

Mouthfeel is light, crisp, dry. This is really tasty, really easy to drink. Would be nice to have a four pack on a hot day.

 

Hey there, extended NBWers! Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I got to enjoy it with family, slightly extended from my point of view, enjoying a few pours of beer (including Rusty Nail that was beloved) and whiskey (including some Octomore, which was not, other than by me).

Today I will review a beer that I could debate doesn't fit the intent of this thread. I have rated/reviewed a version of this beer, which has yearly entries on this site, but it has been over 10 years since that review was done. I found it interesting how I rated it and how my opinion on how the categories should be used has changed.

In my review in 2013 of Old Guardian (2012) by Stone, I indicated that I liked the beer but didn't think it fit into the style of barley wine. I even mention it in my review. My overall was 2.75 - obviously (to me) indicating I was using overall for how I felt the beer met style, and my other categories were how much I liked the smell, taste, etc.

A couple of notes. First, I was, and really still am, an English barley wine fan, but think I understand the American barley wine version better now. Also, I rated more harshly and with a tighter window than I do now. And I still feel I could widen my ratings, expanding more to the lower end versus the higher end I moved towards as I realized I couldn't as easily distinguish the beers I really thought were good if they were all within .5 rating points of each other.

But I digress. How am I rating what is probably only a slight evolution of this beer, paired with the evolution of my palate and rating theology.


Ok, it's a pretty good looking beer, nice and clear, with a rusty amber body and a fair head for a higher ABV beer. Lacing is minor. I gave the look a 3.75 in 2013, but I'm giving this version a 4.25 today. I noted a cloudiness in the older version, but I wonder if there was some sediment from, and I'm guessing here, a 22oz bomber. It definitely wasn't a 16pz can.

Nose has a slightly tart cherry to cranberry tang with a spruce-y pine hop note. I went earthy and plum a decade ago - so this has a "fresher" hop edge to it. It must be the can

Anyhow, I'd go 3.75, maybe 3.5 on the nose today, versus the 3.25 I did in the past (which would be more of my center point that 3.75 became as my ratings crept up).

As expected purely from it being a Stone barley wine, the taste reminds me a bit of Bigfoot (and a lot more of that than say, JW Lees). There is a fruity toasted malt note to open, quickly pushed under the bitterness that evolves to the piney side as the nose indicated. The clean opening makes this seem lighter than its at first, but the drag of bitterness on the palate seems to add some weight to the pour. I'm likely going to go up a notch in taste and down one in feel from my rating of the 2012 version.

Overall, this is likely going to be a 4, maybe a 4.25 after I settle in with another from the 4pk. I'm also definitely going to compare this to Bigfoot and maybe to my last Third Coast from last year.

Cheers!

 

Well, the ‘plan’ was to have the original post moved to the ‘official’ NBW thread but I was told this wasn’t possible. I was able to do a copy and paste so…

Since I have your attention I was able to purchase a sixpack of Cape May Mexican Coffee Stout at my local Retail Beer Distributor earlier today. I lucked out since it was the last sixpack on the shelf. There was also quite a bit of Tonewood there but they are all pricey (more than I am willing to pay).

 

That is unfortunate on Tonewood because here they are the most affordable craft beer around, by far. I’m guessing because of the distribution model and they can’t self distribute in PA like they do here. Lager six packs in stores here are $10-12, depending on store.

 

I had some of that cellared a while back, but have worked through the stash. I also don’t think I’ve seen it in a short while, although I need to make it a point to check because I love that beer.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Well today is the day we know as Black-out Friday. The Bud reps. brought in lots of Bourbon County, and other Imperial Stouts. I must admit the Bardstown really shocked me how good it was. The Vanilla Rye also was delicious as was the Macroon. We had a bottle of the infected 2015 to try, and it was turning to a sour a bit. The 2014 was tasty as heck.

Time for a post work beer at my local, Back Shed Brewing in Waite Park, MN. It is a special one that has been in the works for 18 months now.

Separated at Birth - American Imperial Stout- 11.4%

This was a collaboration with Lupulin, and they also released their version today. Aged for 18 months in Wild Turkey barrels.

Seeing the barrels for the past year and a half has been making me drool. Now that I have tried the liquid inside, I am drooling more.

This is so thick and delicious. Such great flavors. The nose is light, but everything else is great.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61553/724732/
4.36/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
On tap at the brewery.

This beer looks like 10w 40 motor oil. It just has an aura of being thick as heck. It is a pitch black beer. There is no head to it. It was aged for 18 months in the barrels.
The nose has nice, but not extremely strong stout notes. I am getting a decent dark fruit hit here. I also get some vanilla, caramel, chocolate, toffee and coffee notes with a hint of bourbon.
Taste - well this is for sure an Imperial Stout. I get a great hit of chocolate right away. The other flavors follow. I get great notes of toffee and caramel. Nice hints of vanilla. The back is all raisin and plum with the bourbon barrel finishing it off.
The body is very thick feeling. Very smooth, creamy, and full. Very faint alcohol burn on the back.
Wow, what a stout. This is so well made. Very impressive.

I may be done today after this. If so, see you all tomorrow.

 

Sapporo-Stone
Hoppy Holidays - Triple IPA
Nailed it on the West Coast palate assault that made them famous.
Not sweet nor sticky , hoppy as fuck and a good afternoon delight

 

I had one of these yesterday, but that was my first one, and this is my first time reviewing it: Shadowed Sun, helles lager from Fort George.

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Dated 09/10/24. Bought it at Chuck's Hop Shop Seward Park two days ago.

Pours crystal clear, dark gold, small head settling quickly into a thin, dusty skin. Moderate to low quantity of active carbonation at rest. Smell is grainy, bready, with a slight lemon twist and a little grass.

Taste is more lemon than I remember from my first can yesterday. Plenty of grain and bread, though, a little earthy bitterness rather than grass.

Mouthfeel is very light, effervescent. Overall, very nice.

 

Tröegs Mad Dreams



A 50/50 blend of Mad Elf and Dream Weaver. This works very well. Has the cherries and sweetness from the former and some citrus and banana of the latter.