New Beer Weekend #242

4.37/5 rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Can dated 1/21/25 from @WunderLlama

Pours a lovely juicy orange with frothy, creamy head. Looks a lot like a glass of pineapple-orange juice and no doubt checks the NEIPA characteristics. As it drinks down, nice lacing left on the glass. Smells tropical (pineapple/guava), citrusy (orange/grapefruit), and hoppy. Taste echos the smell. Mouthfeel is spectacularly creamy with just the right amount of carbonation. This is dangerously refreshing, drinks easy, and leaves a sweet bitterness on the finish. Fantastic.

 

Poured into a standard pint glass on draft at the source. Pours a very attractive hazy yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves thin steaks of lace with nice retention. 4.25

Aroma is mango, passionfruit, mandarin, and apricot. 4

Taste follows mango, passionfruit, mandarin, and apricot. 4

Mouthfeel is average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 6.2% it may drink a tad bigger. 4

Overall nothing bad, but nothing actually stands out either. It would be a nice Summer crusher. 4 Cheers all.

 

I need to take pretty pictures like this. Jesus.

 

The official share weekend is finally here!
Courtesy of @Ozzylizard

Jackie O’s - Bourbon Barrel Oro Negro



Canned 5.8.24

poured at above fridge temp into a teku glass

dark black oily pour with a wood brown head that faded pretty quick. 4.25

lovely bourbon and vanilla nose, only the slightest hint of pepper and spice. 4.25

Taste follows with the addition of heavy habanero spice, cinnamon and loads of heat. Not apparent at first but it hit hard on the way down. 4

Mild alcohol warmth, lots of warmth from the pepper addition and good viscosity and mid mouth coating. 4

overall a delight of a treat! 4.25

 

Red Rock Oatmeal Stout, 5% ABV. Pours black with a 4-finger medium-brown head that left foamy lacing. Aroma is oatmeal and roasted malt. Taste is roasty. faintly sweet, and moderately bitter. Slightly chewy, yet smooth mouthfeel, overall very good to excellent adjacent.

3.87/5 rDev +9.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Another great beer shared with me in a Stout/Barleywine BIF box sent by @NorsemanOne

 

Courtesy of @Roguer from early '25's BIF and crosspost from the BIF thread:

This is hands down the oldest Bigfoot vintage I have tried. I think the earliest I had access to would have been 2018 fresh and every year after (except 2025 since who knows where the hell this is in Wisconsin). I always try to keep a Bigfoot at least five years since it does so well, but hard to do it longer since they taste so great 3-6 years. The oldest I have in the fridge is a lonely 2020.

I didn't attempt to save the last ounce of dregs as it looked very unappealing although a smidge did make it into the glass. That said, this is a real treat. Head retention was minimal but some lacing stuck to the glass as beer levels got progressively lower. This has a wonderful fig, caramel, banana thing on the nose. Taste is fig, caramel, raisin, with a healthy malt backbone. Hop bitterness is surprisingly still there given the age and lingers but doesn't take away at all from what this beer evolved into. Even carbonation held up with this much age.

The bottle date says 022714C115 so just over eleven years old by my math. This is heavenly and makes me wonder if I need to try to get some bottles to that age.

I'm at about four ounces left and really don't want this to end. It's so damn good.

 

Spring is near...cheers!

4.08/5 rDev -4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Packaged on February 17, 2025 - enjoyed on March 8th, 2025 - poured from a pint can into my Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

Not quite clear jasmine liquid supports a fat fist of ivory merengue. Rocky, pearling lacing; excellent retention.

Aromas start tropical (passion fruit, pomegranate, lime, kiwi) while a dank/herbaceous edge comes forward more slowly.

Palate is suffused with fruit and resin: complex citrus/tropical/berry notes lead into an earthy/pine-kissed finish with hints of scallion. Moderate bitterness throughout - clean malt bill; neutral yeast.

Creamy yet crisp (almost biting), medium-light bodied, with assertive carbonation.

Another tasty seasonal Swami's variant with a complex yet complimentary hop profile.

 

Brasserie Mira (France) ‘Passion IPA’

44 cl can poured cold into an IPA glass.
Begins with rich foam on yellow-gold brew. Foam dissipates fast.
Nose is malty, with passionfruit evident.
Taste - this is a pale ale flavored with passionfruit. It’s closer to a sour than an IPA. That said, the first taste is OK, sweet and sour playing nice, and, again, there’s passionfruit in there, but then the magic poof disappears. Fruited ale. Not an IPA. Syrupy residue on the lip is confounding.
Mouthfeel is medium with a bit of oil, medium carbonation.
Overall, the gimmick is butterflies, nature, 22,000 year old spring. Good game talked, pretty can, overpriced, and meh.

(Yet another new French beer added to the BA data base!)
Next!

3.53/5 in the BA DB

 

Cross-post with the ISBW BIF #2:

Getting ready to make a grill fire, maybe get some wood from the back… Popped this American Solera Small Business Blend from @russpowell . It’s a banger! Much thicker than what imagined it might be. String bourbon aroma and loads in the flavor. Just enough tannic bite to cut through the weight without much drying effect. Quite enjoyable and meat enough deal with the blustery cold outside. Thanks Russ!

 

Dude, SawDog is a pro. He's got the eye for lighting and format and he has the patience to take *the* shot, not just *a* shot like most of us.
That said, we need more people who actually put in the effort for a really nice shot, so go for it!

 

Who would have thought that Ireland was making one of the few (maybe the only in my case) English bitters? It sounds like my perfect beer by your description, hopefully I can track it down.

 

Hello all.

I’ve been indisposed for quite some time but have kept meaning to check in here and catch up with all my NBW friends. Life has really gotten in the way lately. Sadly, my mother-in-law has been suffering from the dementia associated with her Parkinson’s. The decline is very steep. It’s a terrible disease.

Sad stuff aside. My lovely wife, despite her current myriad responsibilities, organized to send me away on a trip to visit an old friend in Calgary last week. I haven’t been out there - or anywhere really - for a few years. He isn’t a beer guy, but nevertheless chauffeured me around to a few spots to grab some new beers. One spot in particular - new to me - was recommended as a great lager brewery. The brewer, I was told, formerly worked at Godspeed in Toronto (Canada’s best lager brewery). I made it the first beer stop on my trip.

It was a great spot. I grabbed a few things to mail back to myself. This is the one I was looking forward to trying the most. This is Tailgunner Linton Stephenson Czech style Pilsner. According to the can it is unfined, unfiltered, naturally carbonated and made with all Czech ingredients. Triple decocted and lagered for 90 days.



Pours a hazy straw gold with a fairly active carbonation that makes for a nice head that sticks around for a while settling out as a thin film as the beer is enjoyed.

A lovely biscuit aroma with some light grassy and herbal notes on the nose.

Nice sharp first sip with a gentle bitterness, more of the biscuit and grass with a long finish. Really good.

The body is soft and lovely and the beer is eminently drinkable. The soft quality might be the best part.

I’m really liking this. I’d dare say this would be a strong contender for my ‘go to’ if I lived out in Calgary!

I’ll try to make an effort to participate mate frequently….

Cheers everyone!

 

Sorry to hear about your Mother in Law. Went through that once, sux. Luckily for my Father in Law it didn't drag out.

 

It’s really great to have you back @Coronaeus even if it’s not on the basis it once was.

Sadly we lost my aunt to it as well, I know it was so hard for everyone; it’s horrible, I don’t think there is any other word to describe it. Thoughts to you and the family.

 

Helmet nachos double ipa
....burnt orange appearance with a thick long lasting head
...bodybreminds me of thick mango juice with the carbonation being very light.
....aroma is like opening a can of fruit cocktail with grapefruit peel. Some mid grass and earthy hops
...taste is somewhat sweet,mixed fruit, citrus peel with a dry lingering finish.
..overall a well done beer

 

Cross post with the Barleywine/Stout BIF #2 thread

Tree House Thrice Baked



4.45/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a 12 oz stemmed tulip

Thanks to @WunderLlama for this one

The beer pours a reddish brown color with no highlights when held up to the light. An aggressive pour yields virtually no head and there is no visible lacing.

The aroma is big and boozy, with notes of baked apples, vanilla, brandy, caramel, and dark fruit.

The flavor is just as big as the aroma; apple brandy, baked apples, prunes, vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon. There is a warming booziness, and a "apple pie moonshine" aftertaste. Medium bodied and lightly carbonated. The beer is slick on the tongue

Overall, this is a nice sipping beer with alot of complex flavors. I really enjoyed this one!

 

Well. Not what I was expecting at all. Thought I'd had this or something like it from them years ago so grabbed one when I recently came across it.
Whatever I'd had back then I remembered as an IPA.
Soon as I opened and poured a boozy flush aroma popped out. Hmmm? Def not IPA- ish. Looked it up on BA and whaddya know: listed as a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Not one that I'm familiar with, and I've drunk a ton of them. And love that style.
Initial reaction: they sold me a Barleywine. And truth be known, that's a style that's falling off my do-list. Haven't even pulled the trigger on Bigfoot 2025, and literally had my hands on a six- pack the other day.
But there are a lot of flavors competing to come out here (see above).
Oh well, it does the trick on this chilly night. And there's an Ayinger Weizenbock queued up for the mess of Chinese food I picked up for din- din. Hope that pairs well, didn't have any lagers in the cellar.