New Beer Weekend #229

I guess my biggest "aha' is that Tulsa now has a Trader Joe's?!?

 

Well, I really wanted to like this one. But judging it for what it brings to fermented fun...Meh.
Maga Tears


Well, the initial pop of the can brought some nice green notes of alfalfa, citrus rind and some grass but that soon tapered off.
Straw to gold in hue, fluffy white head rises high, but quickly gives up. Low retention, light lacing.
The flavor is tepid in ints attempt at citrus rind, grapes, and hints of generic tropical notes.
Mouthfeel is a tad prickly and yet it doesn't really feel lively.
Overall, I wanted to like this more.
3.31/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

 

I enjoyed this one as well.

Canned 10/31/24
Cloudy gold to peach in hue. Fluffy white head forms a firm cap with decent retention and sheets of lacing.
Nose starts off with a creamy orange note, some green grass, mango, and pineapple. Herbal notes leave a hint of space for a wet bread dough malt note.
Flavor begins, much like the nose, with orange. But a meaty, orange pulp kind of orange. The herbal notes hint at pepper with a nod toward lemongrass (with a hint of ginger). This may sound a bit strange but it really works here.
Mouthfeel is medium heft, good carbonation, and a smooth bitter finish.
Solid.
3.74/5 rDev -11.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Really fun reading through the Saturday entries.

• @Roguer - Would your Barrel Aged Pitch and Roll be eligible for a separate annual entry due to the different barrels used?
• @mickyge - Nice to see you return to New Beer Weekend!
• @Victory_Sabre1973 - Your review of the Lemoncello version of Darkness really makes me want to find one.
• I'm not much of a Miller High Life fan either @jonphisher , though I am fortunate to enjoy a few beyond the craft beer realm. Looking forward to the holiday beer you teased for tomorrow, and your selections for the tasting next week.
• I loved my visit to Pure Project just west of Balboa Park in San Diego @mactrail . Definately worth a visit, enjoyed their beers, the spot, staff and of course San Diego.
• I have the same exact Fifty Fifty Bottle in my queue @sulldaddy . I really enjoyed the honey in the various ones I tried from a different year, and looking forward to it more after your review.

Too early/late for a beer now, but should be back later this morning.

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #1033! Calling an audible, and will honor Micah with my last beer among the beers @GreenBayBA shared last July. This is also a new to me brewery, and I had to look up Algoma, Wisconsin to see where it actually is per BA, and then Suamico, Wisconsin, which is the town on the label. Turns out, they have two locations.

This is a lighter than normal BA Imperial Stout at 9% ABV, with Knob Creek the barrels used and a regular bourbon offering when I was able to hang with bourbons as my go to drink. My review will be the first for this beer on Beer Advocate.

Ahnapee Barrel Aged Hobo's Breakfast

4.11/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25



12/8/24 - (Bottle - Home) (Chicago, IL) Bottle Notes: Obtained via a beer share with Micah, @GreenBayBA on Beer Advocate, in Sheboygan on July 19. 2023. Refrigerated upon returning home until this morning. 12 oz, bottled 24.122, which i take to convert to the Julian May 2, 2024. No ABV listed, 9.0% ABV per Beer Advocate. Brewed & Bottled by Ahnapee Brewery, Suamico, Wisconsin.

Appearance: Full pour into a medium sized snifter yields a dark ruby to black pour, nice dark tan lacing that lingers for a few minutes before leaving a fine cover over most of the base, a bit fuller along the rim. Carbonation bubbles above the base are very tiny, about as small as they can get visibly. Looks very good. 4.25

Aroma: Let this sit about 15 minutes. First take is a nice warm chocolate fudge base, backed by a smooth light bourbon, brings back Knob Creek memories. Overall strength mild, enjoyment of what I gather a bit higher. 3.75

Taste: Strong full flavors unlike the aroma experience. Strong chocolate fudge, chocolate cake batter front and center. The Knob Creek bourbon barrels come through as well, smooth, pretty strong but nice interplay with the base. Sweeter base than I typically like, but also enjoying this more than the standard BA Imperial Stout. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Drinks lighter than the typical BA stout, but stronger than the Beer Advocate listed 9.0% ABV. Drinks even stronger as I get past halfway, wondering if 9.0% ABV is accurate. Sweet base tamed by the strong bourbon barrel presence. Both work well to blend a solid offering. Body thin plus for a stout, gentle carbonation doesn't add to the depth. Chocolate fudge and smooth bourbon finish. 4.0

Overall: Really enjoying this one, the flavors burst out and work well together. I'll go to the grave thinking this is stronger than 9.0%. Really thoughtful selection Micah, glad you picked this out for me and I selected this morning. Makes me want to visit the brewery and find more of their offerings. 4.25

Nice way to close out primetime Sunday for me. Need to go shopping for a few selections to enjoy the Holiday Beers Tasting @thebeers plans to host next weekend. Hope you can join us in both threads.

 

Beer Tree Brewing
Animal Style - American IPA



3.66/5 rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
This version features Columbus, Simcoe, Chinook, and Amarillo

Decent looking IPA shaded towards amber and caramel. Flavors are caramel malt with middling sweetness progressing to piney and floral bitterness with hints of citrus. Decent but rather unremarkable IPA that does get better as it warms.

Overall, I found this just a tad too sweet and there is a mint element that detracts. If it were upped into the 7% range (added body and feel) and the sweetness was reduced, they'd have something here

 

District.96
Beers Mafia NEIPA



Recently, D96 has been brewing with "snake fruit" additions to their NEIPAs. Beers Mafia falls in this category. Though no such category is listed on the site, combing through recent offerings reveals a number of these IPAs

Beers Mafia does everything quite well. Lightly creamy and fluffy, but not overly so. Perfect light carbonation that enhances drinkability. Another spot on D96 IPA in body and feel

Flavors are predominantly citrus bergamot with accompanying lemon/lime, melon, and floral notes. The snake fruit tends to dominate (having had few of these beers, I can now taste a pattern)

Overall, a good IPA with a great name.

Rating: 3.87

 

Brewski Brewery (Sweden) ‘200 Units’ English Barleywine

Chilled 33 cl can poured into a stemmed wine glass. Fine foam rises up and puddles down pretty quick, above brown brew.
Sweet aroma of almost burnt caramel, toffee, a hint of coffee and stone fruit.
Taste leads with xlnt caramel and toffee, rolls around the mouth well, finishes with a mild bitterness and a sticky lip. As it warmed though, it kinda fell apart, ending up as sweet near-syrup drifting in 11% ABV.
Mouth is full, but not dense. Low-mid carbonation.
Overall, a bargain at €4.00 per can, this is a good English BW that somehow works the senses better while drank cold.

4.0/5 in the BA DB

 

All is well here in CT…..watching soccer with the Mrs. (Arsenal on the iPad for me while she watches Bournemouth), a good beer to keep me warm, and football later while we decorate the tree. Plenty to be thankful for.

My first new beer of the weekend is Marley was Dead, a BA Imperial Stout from No Boat Brewing Company received courtesy of @snaotheus

Appearance is a deep brown / black with a small amount of short lived dark brown head. Decent enough looking beer, but it doesn’t stand out in any way,

Aroma on the other hand has more going on. I can’t tell if there are any adjuncts, but there is a really nice balance of sweetness and roast. Notes of vanilla and chocolate lead the way, with the roast more discretely lurking in the background.

Taste is similar to the nose, but with a bit of barrel replacing the roast. Still plenty of sweetness, with a pleasant alcohol warming. Smooth and decadent.

Overall, very tasty beer. Thanks, Ryan!

 

I had the same thought about the Barrel Aged Pitch and Roll. Different barrel, different year.

 

Schell's Sangria

Appearance: Reddish-pink with slight haze, good sized light pink colored head.

Smell: Orange peels and grain.

Taste: Sweet, mixture of strawberries and oranges with a cakey base. Remains sweet throughout, bordering on too sweet. Full mouthfeel, quite heavy feeling, almost like heavy cream.

Overall: I've seen Schell's Sangria around but never tried it as I'm not really into fruit beers, trying it since it was 3 cans of the mixed 12 pack I purchased. It's an interesting beer that tastes nothing like beer. Very sweet with an unusual mouthfeel. Interesting to try, but not sure if I'll have it again.

 

Good Sunday morning NBS/nbw and thanks to @GreenBayBA for the hosting this week.
Full disclosure, I had some of this offering earlier in the week as well as today.
Berkshire Brewing produces the annual Holidale this time of year, historically an English Barleywine, recent years have been a Stout, Barrel aged Stout, flavored stout.
This year its a beauty of a Weizenbock.

Cheers all



Holidale 2024

Weizenbock | 9% ABV
Berkshire Brewing Company in South Deerfield, Massachusetts

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.16/5 rDev 0% | Average: 4.16
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 16 oz can dated 11/27/24 into the test glass
A - Mohagony in color, light haze , cap is off white, almost tan colored. thick and creamy.
S - Clove, banana, yeasty some dark fruit as well, Earthy grainy element, with a bit of black pepper.
T - Some raisan, clove, spicy, dark cracker, rye, and hints of caramel and bit of banana from that yeast.
M - Soft on the palate, with crisp carbonation the body floats across the tongue. Finish is a bit sweet but not offensive.
Linger is a delight of dark fruit and brown sugar.
O - A very good Weizenbock, with the wheat and yeast dancing together. 9% is hidden well. Beautiful to look at and wonderful on the palate.

 

At Bad Habit Brewing in St Joseph, MN, and having this.

Peanut butter Dark Addiction- Milk Stout- 5.2%

Delicious.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42984/465565/
4/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery.

Pitch black pouring beer with a light tan colored head.
Nose is full of roasted peanut butter and chocolate notes.
Taste - the peanut butter is strong. It has sweet and roasted elements to it. The backside is where the chocolate malts come into play, and they compliment the peanut butter well. Hints of lactose also play into the mix.
Smooth as heck feeling. Very creamy and silky feeling. Full bodied.
Tasty add on to the regular Dark Addiction.

Back for more.

 

Returning to share another pleasing collaboration - cheers!

3.84/5 rDev -5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Packaged October 7th, 2024 - enjoyed on December 8th, 2024. Poured from a pint can into a snifter.

Tangerine liquid, perhaps a little chill haze, supporting an ivory crown. Fine filligree of lace adorns the sides, faint yet sticky tears capture the foam. Very good retention.

Grapefruit, tangerine, and scallions in the nose - somewhat catty. Fruity and a little peculiar.

Potent and aggressive palate entry, moderately bitter with assertive earthy hop notes joined by an unrestrained malt presence. Clean dry finish with just a hint of flan. Some residual cedar and floral notes and another hint of citrus.

Biting, medium-bodied mouth-feel with prickling yet gentle carbonation. Warming in a menthol sort of way, but the ABV is reasonably well concealed.

I imagine this will not be to everyone's taste, as it harkens back to a more resinous PNW style IPA (though the pine/grapefruit interplay isn't particularly intense), but this brings back happy memories for me.

 

RAR/Tin Barn collab We're Out Of Gelato Smoothie Sour, 5% ABV. Pours thick and greenish beige, with a two-finger head (hard to see) which left puree residue. Aroma is apple, vanilla, dough, and lactose. Taste is vanilla ice-cream, apple, cinnamon, and dough, quite sweet, slightly tart. Nice smooth and creamy mouthfeel, overall excellent. I usually don't like apple beer, but this works.

4.31/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

 

Busy weekend with the dogs. The new arrivals are settling in nicely, and have even peed outside a few times. The older dogs have been pretty tolerant of these interlopers.
My new beer for today is Cheddar from Other Half.
Cloudy pale orange color. Small white head, not much lace.
Sweet fruit aroma, some floral hops.
Nice taste. Pineapple, orange up front, grapefruit, a touch of pine later.
Soft body.



A puppy picture. Carol in the foreground, Daryl in the background. They are mostly Blue Heeler

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. After reading VERY mixed reviews I opened my bottle of 2024 BCBS Macaroon Stout today. To say I'm disappointed is an overstatement. I sipped enough to write the review but couldn't drink any more. The combination of the spicy ginger and the alcohol is harsh to say the least.

Poured at 56°. It is nearly ink black in color. The medium-mocha cap disappeared almost immediately leaving the tiniest of rings. The first smell is the bourbon, along with fairly sedate chocolate, coffee, ginger, and coconut. When sipped, however, I'm first tasting rich, fudgy chocolate, along with acidic coffee, and spicy ginger. Initially, it is quite hot and boozy but that mellowed as it breathed in the glass. Like numerous other reviewers I am barely tasting the advertised coconut. Its best attribute is its mouth feel - fairly thick and creamy. There is no escaping the 14.6% ABV. Overall, I have to say this BCBS variant was disappointing. I couldn't drink much of it which is a shame given the price point.

3.79/5 rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

I am truly hoping that the Vanilla Rye variant is better but I'm going to wait till next week to try. I need to drink something crisp and hoppy now. Cheers, NBW!

 

You & I certainly had a different ride...