New Beer Weekend #239

Lagunitas Hazicus Maximus



Appearance: Hazy gold, good head.

Smell: Very bright grapefruit aroma with a dank edge to it.

Taste: Starts sweet, the grapefruit kicks in along with a dank note and then more orange julius sweetness. Pretty soft feel but doesn't seem to have the blah yeasty/dusty body that I don't like in most hazies.

Overall: Saw this on the shelf for $8.99 a 6er so despite my wariness of hazies, picked it up. Pleasantly surprised, nice strong grapefruit aroma and the terpenes kick it up a notch. Definitely worth a try.

 

Glad to be back among my fellow beer geeks. It's been a very busy last few weeks and I haven't even logged onto BA for several weeks. Three weeks ago I had one of those rare (for me) nights where I forgot I'm in my 50's, not my early 20's. Not sure how many draft PBRs I had, but it was a ton! Two weeks ago I was sick as a dog from the prior weekend's shenanigans. Last weekend I was down in New Orleans for the Super Bowl. As an Eagles fan, it couldn't have gone any better and it was an amazing experience to share with my daughter.

Anyway, this three day weekend is focused on catching up on work and stuff around the house, and I might as well enjoy a few beers while I do so.

First up is Heart Shaped Box 2024 - a BA Imperial Chocolate Stout from Oakshire Brewing received courtesy of @snaotheus



Body is a deep brown / black with a thin khaki colored head. Nice looking without standing out. The aroma however does stand out. Loads or rich chocolate and raspberries that smell great together.

Taste follows, with the prominence of the raspberry jam flavor leading and the chocolate taking more of a back seat. Smooth and very easy to drink. Tasty beer.

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A pic from the Super Bowl, just because....


@jonphisher how great was that game last night? 3 fights in the first 9 seconds. Not like I want every game to be like that, but it sure was fun to watch a game that both teams clearly cared a lot about. Great result.

 

Today is school day for the puppies. They do well, but are easily distracted. And there are a lot of distractions. Today's new beer is Sow, a table beer from Brewery Bhavana. Not bad.
Hazy yellow color. One inch white head that dissipates quickly. No lace.
Faint citrus aroma. A touch of floral hops.
More to the taste. Lemon, bitter.
Crisp mouthfeel.

 

Great to see you back @Roy_Hobbs, sounds like a great two weeks and what a beautiful picture!!!

As per last nights game, unreal on both accounts; two amazing teams of amazing athletes that cared so much. I like how Jon Cooper put it...

I don't think any player would've had it any other way, there had to be a winner and a loser but those of us that watched, we all won.

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #1043. Just a friendly reminder the 20th anniversary for New Beer Sunday is this Thursday, February 20, 2025, twenty years after the 2005 kickoff. We will celebrate this milestone next Sunday!

Almost pulled this one before dawn, but wasn't feeling a beer so after some more sleep and relaxing for a few hours, here I am with this suburban offering from a trusted brewer. Unlike my Saturday pour, this one is not a new to the brewery release, and has a photo and plenty of reviewer activity before today.

Art History Gravitace

4.28/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5



2/16/25 - (Can - Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Purchased at store temperature November 27, 2024 at Beer on the Wall Park Ridge for $3.98 including tax. Refrigerated upon returning home before opening this afternoon. 16 oz, canned 10/30/24. 5.1% ABV, 12 Plato Czech Style Pale Lager. Brewers Notes: Floor Malted Bohemian Malt, Zuper Saaz Hops. Keep Refrigerated below 37 F. Brewed and Packaged for Art History at Geneva Lager Works, Geneva, Illinois.

Appearance: Slow poured three quarters of the can into a large mug, yielding a creamy full rich bright white head over a crystal clear golden yellow base. Mild carbonation, head leaves soapy lacing and a creamy rich cover over the base. 4.5

Aroma: Cracker, light salt and pepper lead, backed by wild flowers and, grass. Medium plus strength, slightly higher in enjoyment. 4.0

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, though bolder with a nice salt, pepper soda cracker lead, grass and wild flowers much less prominent though still chilling. Also getting some honey taste, really enjoying. Vert nice. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Light and easy drinking, below the ABV. Carbonation consistently gentle, dry and lightly bitter overall, nice hop balance at least for me. Salt pepper cracker start to finish. 4.5

Overall: Not much left in the glass, was gulping this down and really enjoying. Hits all the expected notes, held up well over 3 1/2 months, would highly recommend and buy down the road. Another winner by Art History! 4.5

Calling out to @Todd and Mod Team to see if this thread will stay open through the Washington's Birthday Holiday tomorrow. If so, I'll pull one final beer on Monday. If not, I'll see you next week for our 20th Anniversary of New Beer Sunday Celebration Weekend!

 

Drekker Boo Caught Me Sleepin' IPA, 6.5% ABV. Pours hazy pale-yellow with a four-finger off-white head that left great lacing. Aroma is malt and fruit. Taste is malty, light pine, and spelt. Decent dry mouthfeel, overall very good. Love me some spelt.

3.84/5 rDev -3.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

That sounds fantastic! Do you cook the same meal each year? While I'll hold my OE 800 numbers where they're at, I have no doubt it tastes much, much better in that environment. Very cool.

 

Well, it's a beautiful Sunday here in San Pedro Town, Belize. Time for a new beer.

Lighthouse Lager - Belikin Brewing - 4.2%

This beer is honestly nothing special. I think it feels and looks good, the flavor is lacking. On a sunny 82° day on the balcony of the hotel room, I am happy with it.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4302/37207/
3.41/5 rDev +27.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25
From a 296ml can. BB 12, April 2025.

This is a super clear pouring beer in the glass and golden in color. A 2 finger white head forms that has very small and fluffy looking bubbles. Head retention is decent and there's a bit of lacing on the glass. There's a nice stream of carbonation rising in the glass.
The aroma is light. I do get cereal grains and a hint of corn in the aroma.
Flavor is very light. I do get a bit of grain and corn in the flavor.
The body is light, yet feels good. It is clean and clear feeling.
On a hot day in Belize, this is hitting the spot. Otherwise, nothing remarkable about it.

I will be back shortly with another new beer. I found 5 total new ones at the grocery store including this one. Cheers

 

Lost Forty Brewing - Trash Panda. Thanks to @russpowell for this IPA. Cheers.


Twelve ounce can. Body pours a yellow white white foamy head.

Aroma is fruity, mango and peach.

Taste follows nose. Though this beer is very hop forward in flavor, its sturdy malty backbone keeps the IPA from skewing hop bomb. Finish dries up quickly and that's when the briefest of bitterness shows, and it’s very light. No sign of the ABV.

Mouthfeels is soft (oats) and good carbonation.

Easy drinking IPA.

 

A new American IPA in my glass:

Saint Arnold's Eclipse IPA • 12 oz. can • 7.5% ABV • 55 IBUs • canned on 1/8/25

A little birdie tipped me off to this one, and I didn't have to look hard for it — one of the perks of living in Houston.

The short version: I love it. For me it's like a grapefruit bomb without the bitterness. Most grapefruit bombs tend to have as much bitter grapefruit peel in them as they do the sweeter pulp or even sweeter juice. This one is more like a blend of grapefruit and pineapple juices with any earthiness or bitterness showing up only as you get deep into the glass. What's more, I kind of like that late-arriving bitterness just as a balancing agent, something to remind you it's a beer not a juicebox you're drinking.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/337/707046/?ba=Premo88#review
4.35 (+7.7% rDev)

I scored this one low in the mouthfeel, but others might love it. It's got a very creamy feel, which at times comes off as flat and watery to me. I'd probably dig it more in a stout or porter, not so much here. I love drinking beer out of the can, so my guess is that will alleviate some of this mouthfeel issue for me over the rest of the 6-pack.

Cheers!

 

Next up on the balcony.

+501 Lager - Belize Brewing - 4.9%

It looks good, smells ok, tastes terrible. The skunky flavor just lingers in my throat and is not good at all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4302/599969/#navigation
2.35/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
From a 296ml can. BB 14, June 2025.

This is a clear golden pouring beer. There's a good 2 finger white head that had decent retention. There's decent lacing on the glass.
Aromais faint grain. There's a hint if skunk in this beer.
Flavor is like the nose. I do get a faint grain flavor, but I do get a skunky flavor that isn't pleasing.
Light bodied. Skunky flavor leaves a bad feeling in my throat.
This is a 1 and done for sure.

3 more new beers to go. Please be better than this one.

 

I’m gonna clean and bitter IPA you back later today, I hope it is as advertised by the brewery…

 

The teal green railings.....are they bars?
Did you get shipped off to an equatorial tropical beer jail?

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Swiggers and commentators. February is my least favorite month of the year. It is basically dreary with the promise of Spring still seemingly far off on the horizon. We had snow yesterday - washed away by rain today. Yuck! At least it is a long weekend!

Many a brewer has ruined a good recipe by driving up the ABV. It is not easy to make a really good TIPA. Locally, Magnify does a good job but Other Half is the master. Triple Citra Daydream is flavorful but surprisingly delicate and super drinkable for 10.5% ABV.

It pours a turbid, pastel tangerine color with a big, bright white cap of pillowy foam and thick film of lacing. The nose is classic Citra: grapefruit, pineapple, and ripe melon, augmented by sweet notes of oat cream. The taste follows although the oat and milk sugar sweetness is more pronounced. While the citrus flavors are bright and tart, there is minimal hop bitterness. The taste is almost delicate. Its mouth feel is super plush and creamy and the 10.5% ABV is extremely well-hidden. It is amazingly drinkable for a TIPA; in fact, I have to pace myself.

4.43/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

And hats off to Other Half. It has succeeded in hugely increasing its distribution without sacrificing quality. That is really quite an achievement. I can think of some eminent breweries which haven't pulled it off. Cheers!

 

No jail here @LesDewitt4beer . Just a tropical balcony.

Now this next beer I had to add to the database, as I will with the next one.

Mine Beer Stout - Caribbean International Brewing Co. - Belize - 6.9%

Ok, this beer is weird as hell. The flavor is all over the place, and is just bizarre to me. Would I drink it again? I am not sure.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/61148/734032/?tb=add
3.49/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
From a 275ml can

This beer looks somewhat like cola pouring into the glass. It is brown in color, yet is quite clear. There is a 1 finger tan head that dissipated fast with no lacing on the glass.
Aroma is light. I do get some faint chocolate and caramel notes to this beer, but they are way light for a stout.
Taste - oh this is interesting, and I am not sure what to think of it. I get a ton of cola notes up front. There's minimal hints of chocolate and caramel. The finish is licorice.
The body is quite light and somewhat watery feeling.
This is one strange duck. I have submitted my numbers, but it confuses the hell out of me.

2 more new beers that are chilling at the moment. Be back in a bit with them

 

Next up is a cellar pull (which I'll cross-post in the Cellaruary thread). This is Farm to Face, a sour ale aged on peaches from Allagash. Bottled in 2019.

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Bottled April 25th, 2019

Appearance is relatively unremarkable. A fizzy white head sat briefly atop a semi-cloudy orange body. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing stood out either. The nose is more memorable, only because holy cow is it tart. Impressively, there are still clear peach aromas even after almost 6 years.

The taste has held up extremely well. Nowhere near as tart as the nose hinted at, and the peach flavors are fantastic. Ironically, I don't like actual peaches, but I love when they are well used in a beer, and that's what Allagash has done here. Just the right amount of sour, and just the right amount of peach to keep things balanced, but interesting. Slightly under carbonated, presumably due to the aging.

Overall, I'm pleased with how well this has held up.

 

Stonecloud Brewing Vintage Adventure Winter IPA, 6.8% ABV; 3.91 overall

Pours an effervescent & slightly hazed amber with2+ fingers of tight beige colored head. Very good head retention & sheets of lacing. Drops bright & stays effervescent throughout

S: A little woody hop, some cakeyness, nose picked up a little once warm

T: Pine, cakeyness a little toffee & dryness up front. More pine, biscuitty malt, a little brown sugar & dryness once this beer is warmed up. Finishes dry with pineyness & brown sugar

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, good balance

Solid old school IPA, drinks well. If you like them piney, this one is for you; I wanted a little more balance/malt back bone

 

Am I the little birdie?

To me its a peach bomb, though I guess the real difference in a hoppy fruity character is very much a personal taste thing. I very much like it, and have gotten several six packs since it was released. If it had a bigger bitterness and more carbonation, this would be one of the better IPA's in Texas. As is, I think they made exactly what they wanted, but just my personal preference makes it a sold B+ instead of anything in the A range.

Anyway...I do have some beers I reviewed earlier this week...but not over the weekend. To add them here or not...hmm

 

One of Weyerbacher Brewing's flagship offerings is a really good Belgian Quadruple. Blasphemy is the barrel-aged version. Weyerbacher releases a variant each year. The 2024 variant, released 2 weeks ago, is called "Triple Sun Spirits Blend." It is named for a local distillery whose barrels were used. I think this is the best version of Blasphemy ever released by Weyerbacher. It is a lovely and delicious ale.

It is a cloudy, ruby-cola color with a big, creamy, light khaki head and sheen of lacing. On the nose there is plum, raisin, caramel, graham cracker, oak, and distinct bourbon. The taste is much dryer, and oakier, than the base Quad but I still taste the telltale plum and raisin. The barrel influence is strong but complimentary. There is just less fruit sweetness. The mouth feel is significantly more viscous and creamy than the base Quad and the 11.8% ABV is warming. Overall, this is an excellent vintage/variant of Blasphemy.

4.19/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Have a great week, everyone. Cheers, NBW!