New Beer Weekend #243

That is one pretty pour, looks like you got a real winner this weekend.

 

Yesterday was my birthday, so I left work early with my wife in tow and traveled an hour to see the new facilities at Tilted Barn Brewing in RI. Pretty impressive, they have done a lot there since I last visited in 2018.
Of course I brought back a few beers for NBW. I am going to start with this Dark Czech Lager, a 5.3% heavily malted version of their Lawn Boy lager.

3.89/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Purchased cold yesterday at the source, kept cold. Poured from a 16 oz can dated 12/11/24 to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body is extremely black. No light is detected passing through the edges even when held to a bright window. A 2in/50mm deep tan head sits above, the top of which holds some hills and valleys. The head fades to a ring within 5-minutes. Lacing is great early on, but poor later.
No surprise on the smell. We are talking malt here, some burnt caramel, brown tree leaves, dark chocolate and some tea.
The taste is similar to the aroma, but sweeter. Only long after the swallow does it dry out. Certain caramel and ash sensations linger for quite a while.
The mouthfeel is light but oily. Personally, I would like a little more carbonation.
A little sweet for a Czech Pilsner, but it's not sold as one. The can says Dark Barn Lager. Interesting beer. Glad I tried it and I will enjoy the other three from the pack. Not sure I would buy it again though. A little too sweet for my taste in a malty beer.

 

Future Primitive Old No. 6 Barrel Aged American Barleywine 2023, 11% ABV. Blended from six years of BA barleywines. Pours reddish-brown with a half-finger beige head that left little lacing. Aroma is sweet stone? fruit, toffee, and bourbon. Taste is toffee, fruit, slightly sweet, quite bitter, some bourbon burn. Dry mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.21/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to @snaotheus for including this epic glass and excellent BBA barleywine in a Stout/Barleywine BIF return-fire box.

 

It's been a while, NBW. Things are crazy at work as we enact budget cuts and try to prepare for general uncertainty around federal funding. Makes a new beer on the weekend taste all that much better.

Today's new brew has been on my list for a long time and I've been looking forward to it for a few months as I've worked through more urgent pours from my overloaded fridge.

Ipswich Oatmean Stout
7.0% oatmeal stout



Pours very dark brown with ruby at the edges. A one-finger tan head starts frothy and dissipates to a lingering coating.

Off the pour I get chocolate, a hint of coffee, and an underlying old ashtray vibe. I don't get much more as it warms, but that's probably my nose acting up.

It starts deceptively simple; a little cocoa, a little black bread. As it warms--in the glass or on the palate--baker's chocolate comes through, then bold roast coffee, woody hops, and toasted black bread. Finishes with big woody hop and char bitterness that lingers through a long finish.

Moderate carb and oats let this dance on the tongue before becoming smooth and frothy. Slightly lighter bodied than I'd find ideal with those big flavors.

Overall, a fantastic oatmeal stout that's a showcase for the style.

 

Oh, I remember this one well; glad you finally got around to trying it.

 

Back again with my 2nd Tilted Barn Brewery beer today. And wow, this one is impressive. I had not been aware of this 7.8% "core double IPA" of theirs and just purchased it like I was throwing a dart at the to-go menu. Really happy I picked this.

4.53/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Purchased cold yesterday at the source, kept cold. Poured from a 16 oz can dated 03/11/25 to a pub glass at fridge temp. It has only spent four days in this can.
The body is a milky haze of orange/apricot color, completely opaque, but glowing when back lit. The head is very white and looks structural. Lacing is phenomenal.
During the pour I could sense some guava without even trying. Further on the aroma is strictly orange, and a very good surrogate for the fruit I might add.
I was expecting orange to dominate the taste. Actually there is a mixture of guava, mango and orange in the front and middle of the experience. The finish though is a satisfying dry out with a hop bitterness.
The mouthfeel is one of the creamiest in recent memory. It's a thick one for sure.
This is a really good NEIPA.

 

Lawsons Finest Liquids - Nitro Stout



4.1/5 rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a 16oz can into a Sam Adams Nitro Project glass.

The beer pours nearly black with ruby highlights and a huge creamy tan head that takes forever to recede. No real lacing to speak of. An aggressive pour yields a moderate cascading effect.

The aroma is roasted malts and chocolate, with a nice acidity. Fairly moderate, but inviting.

The flavor is roasted malts and dark chocolate with a mild acidity. There is a slight grassiness. Medium bodied with a velvety nitrogenated mouth feel. Slightly dry finish

Overall, this is a very nice example of the style.

 

Since @GreenBayBA is at the source today, I decided to go with something from there. This beer was given to me by @cheeseheadinMinneapolis .

Wolf - Cocoa Nibs, Cinnamon, Vanilla, & Guajilla Peppers - 3 Sheeps Brewing - Sheboygan, WI - American Imperial Stout - 13.5%

I am a chili head, and it takes a lot of spice to scare me. I can see that some would be scared by the name. You shouldn't be. There's not a lot of heat here, well, almost none. There's a lot of flavor, and the spice adds to it. I've had a lot of Wolf over the years, and it keeps impressing me. This is downright delicious.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28879/729372/
4.44/5 rDev -5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
From a 12oz can. Canned on 11/13/2024

Well is this a wolf in sheep's clothing? It looks like the standard Wolf. It is pitch black pouring into the glass with no chance of any light going through the beer. There's a 2 finger brown head that has great retention for the ABV. I think the lace looking lacing on the glass looks good.
Aroma - I get a lot of cinnamon in the aroma. I am getting the delicious Wolf aromas - chocolate, caramel, & toffee. I do get a very faint touch of the peppers on my nose. I was expecting a touch more of the peppers, but, what I get is pleasing.
Taste - I get a ton of toffee up front. There's hints of chocolate and caramel that also show up front. The stout flavors mellow out and the cinnamon hits. I do get a slight bit of heat coming into the beer. This hint of heat from the peppers is mild and pleasing to me. I am also getting hints of coffee in my throat.
Thick smooth body. Very full feeling. Nice heat feeling from the cinnamon, peppers and the ABV.
I can see if you're afraid of heat, you might be inclined to avoid this beer. I don't think you should. The heat from the peppers is very mild, but adds another flavor profile to this beer.


Will this be the end today? Not sure yet, but it will take a long time to enjoy it. Cheers all!

 

Barrel Theory Full Send



Appearance: Cloudy orange, big head.

Smell:Citrus, light melon note.

Taste: Sweetness to start, then a mostly melon flavor with mild bitterness. Soft and smooth.

Overall: Another solid NEIPA from Barrel Theory, the style in general seems to have a lot of “samey” type beers. This has more melon flavor than their Rain Drops flagship, so I might be able to tell them apart. Tasty beer in any case.

 

Just a couple new to me brews today:

Barrel House: BBA Imperial Stout | Braxton Brewing Company | BeerAdvocate



Lights Out | The Bruery | BeerAdvocate



Might have another new brew or 2 tomorrow, cheers everyone!

 

Humble Forager + Brewing Projekt - Ash

12oz can served in a snulip. Shipped to me by @bbtkd from South Dakota, carried by me to Fargo and back. If there's a date on the can, I don't see it.

Pours dark, thick, not quite still but nearly, quite dark vanishingly thin ring of dense head along the rim. Don't see active carbonation from arm's length, but there's a little bit up close when I move the glass around. Smell is rich chocolate, boozy vanilla, molasses sweetness, a whiff of cinnamon bark, maybe more than a whiff.

Taste is sweetness -- maple, molasses, very sweet coffee. Cinnamon is there, but not front and center. Almost comes across as a late-breaking spiciness. Booziness is quite evident, vanilla gets mixed in and not quite drowned out in the sweetness. I get the feeling as it warms up and I drink more of this, the cinnamon's gonna get arrested.

Mouthfeel is thick, silky, smooth. Overall, very tasty, very nice. Would like a tiny bit more carbonation, worried how the cinnamon's going to develop, but hopefully I'm psyching myself out.

 

Ghost in the Machine from Parish Brewing. Wow - you can smell it from several feet away. Great mix of dank (with a little bit of sweaty armpit), pine, resin, with some grapefruit thrown in there. Big DIPA that is not messing around. MANIFESTED ON 01/20/25.

 

Hey all. Back from the microbially-induced hiatus. The misses actually had pneumonia which is no joke with her but we are definitely on the mend.

Going to ease back in with a beer I can't believe I haven't had - Jacks Abby House Lager. Maybe overlooked because JA does a lot of interesting brews, but we need a basic lager to cook the corned beef tomorrow...


It pours a crystal clear golden color with a fluffy but short-lived pure white head. The head falls to a nice cap with some bigger bubble at the edge.

The smell is malty and yeasty. Bready, dough-like, slightly sweet. Just a bit of grassy malt, a tad bit of lemon, and even fainter peppery spice.

The taste follows closely - slightly sweet and bready. The minor contributors to the aroma step up. Lemon, a little yeast, some grassiness, mild peppery spice on the finish that hangs without building. Mildly bitter. I'm also getting a little vinous white grape in the aromatics.

A little short of medium-bodied. Crisp, clean, easy drinking. Slightly dry.

Overall this is a nicely balanced beer with good flavor anchored by the malts. I'm glad that the other kids came out to play in the taste - the smell was a little weak and almost one-dimensional, but the flavor saved the day. Right around a 3.8 or so.

 

Tackling this crowler tonight from @snaotheus via the barleywine /stout bif. Two pints is quite a commitment for a serial ticker, this better be good Ryan! Reconstructed Chaos from Formula Brewing, they call it an English Imperial Stout with coffee.



And hell yes it's good. The coffee addition absolutely runs the show here, just the way it should. It's prominent from start to finish, straight up magnificent dark roast up front before mellowing a bit into something more nutty at the end. There is a little dark chocolate to be found here and there, giving this a mocha vibe at times. I can't taste the 12% anywhere. The body is slick and oily while the carbonation is smooth and creamy. Fabulous beer from a new to me brewery I never heard of, thanks Ryan.

 

4.03/5 rDev -7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Courtesy of @Roguer in '25 BIF

Pours black with no head and thin ring of bubbles on the glass. Smells of chocolate, bourbon, maple syrup, banana, and vanilla. Taste follows the nose. It's decadent with bourbon, maple, and chocolate dominating, vanilla and banana taking a backseat. It's lightly carbonated, slick and somewhat syrupy in mouthfeel. The finish is maple, bourbon, dark chocolate, but as it warms, gives somewhat of an astringent aftertaste--if it wasn't for this, I'd have likely rated higher. Gastric warming after each sip, but not surprising given the 19.7% abv. This drinks easier than the abv would suggest though.

 

Happy Saturday NBW!
In concert with the Irish stout thread, I picked up a few of them to try.

This is my first new to me brew-
The pour is lighter than stout black, but it looks like a stout in the glass. A proud one inch head left copious amounts of lacing.
The taste is maltier than Guinness, more coffee and chocolate notes, more bready flavors. Given the choice, I’d take this one over regular Guinness.
The feel is appropriate for the style, a little body but not enough to slow you down.
OA, might have to make this one an annual purchase.
Cheers, these are pretty light so I’ll be back.

 

Completely exhausted wrapping up 9 hours emersed in a deep Rotisserie Baseball draft, plus pre and post draft work. Have a second draft to follow tomorrow afternoon. Grabbed the lightest new beer, will catch up with the thread tomorrow or Monday. And away I go.

Café-Brouwerij Loterbol & Brouwerij Fonteinen Tuverbol

4.42/5 rDev +13.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5



3/15/25 - (Bottle- Home) (Chicago, IL) Bottle Notes: Purchased at Beer on the Wall for $17.66 on December 13, 2024. I refrigerated this bottle upon returning home before opening this morning. 12.7 oz, bottled in 2021-2022, best before the end of 2027. 9.6% ABV. Ingredients: Wheatmalt, wheat, barley malt, water, hops, sugar, yeast. Product of Belgium. Imported by Lime Ventures Inc., Concord, California.

Brouwerij Loterbol and Brouwerij Fonteinen collaboration. Tuverbol is a blend of Loterbol Blond and 3 Fonteinen lambik. Spontaneous refermentation in the bottle. Non-filtered, non-pasteurised.

Appearance: Poured about 2/3 of the bottle into a tall tulip, yielding a generous bubbly foamy bright head which lasted for several minutes leaving significant lacing and a nice creamy thick cover over the crystal clear apple juice base with sustained generous carbonation. Looks great. 4.5

Aroma: Nice funky lead, wet wool horse blanket, apple, oak, white grape, all blend together well. Very enticing. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with aroma, perhaps even stronger. Funky fruits, apple, lemon, citrus, white grape. Oak, grassy, 4.5

Mouthfeel: Tart, mildly acidic. Drinks below the 9.6% ABV. Light crisp body, gentle sustained carbonation. Leans a bit sweet, but enough tartness to contain excess. Lemon citrus grape finish. 4.25

Overall: Solid blended lambic offering by these two breweries. Drinks light and easy, but the ABV will catch up with you in the second half. Enjoyed the full strong flavors, and nice mellow experience. Just what I needed. 4.5

See you tomorrow, hope to catch a second wind.

 

Tree House White Fern

Thanks to @WunderLlama for this one!

 

Gqrage beer classic light
...very clear light gold appearance with a lasting white head
...medium carbonation with a just below average body
...aroma is cereal,yeasty crusty white bread,malt and perhaps some light citrus
...taste has a very,very mild sweetness almost like corn syrup. Theres cereal and grain along with yeasty bread crust
...for a lower abv light beer it ranks pretty high