New Beer Weekend #247

Thanks for kicking us off, @Beersnake! I haven't come across that guide before, but definitely appreciate you sharing it.

Had a new one earlier..

Bias Brewing - Straight Up Stout



Didn't do a full review on it, but I can happily report that it was really solid- Nice blend of roast, cocoa, and a bit of smokiness

Cheers to a weekend full of good beer, NBWers!

 

Not Fade Away

Today’s new beer is draft beer from Von C brewing with an intriguing brand name: NFA Lager.

A description from the brewery’s website:

“NFA Lager

von C Brewing Co.

Pilsner - Czech / Bohemian

5% ABV

This Czech Style pilsner was brewed with 100% traditional floor malted barley and Czechoslovakia’s gift to the beer world: Saaz hops. Served from our Czech Lukr side pull faucets this straw colored beer with a dense, mousse-like head is well balanced with smooth bitterness, pleasant malt and floral hop aroma. We are Not Fooling Around when we say that our love of traditional lagers will Not Fade Away!”

My NFA Lager beer was poured via a Lukr faucet into a dimpled (Tübinger) mug. Von C has four Lukr side-pull faucets/taps:



Appearance:

Golden yellow with a big fluffy (and long-lasting) white head.

Aroma:

There is a combination of bready malt and herbal/spicy hop aroma; very enticing.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a combination herbal/spicy flavors and bready/earthy malt flavors; the malt profile is quite rich in character. There is a notable bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied, a very smooth mouthfeel and a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good. This beer is very nicely balanced between the malt and hop flavors and I really enjoy the richness aspect of the malt profile.

Na Zdravi

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH

 

Rye on Rye by Boulevard Brewing


4.15/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Beer received in bif2 barleywines and stouts from @Bishop

#7 ranked rye beer on BA

Brewers notes: This brawny, tawny ale is a savory celebration of spicy rye malt and rye whiskey, compliments of extended aging in freshly-emptied rye barrels. Rye on Rye pours a deep amber and evokes notes of charred oak and vanilla, with a finish this delightfully boozy and sweet!

Malt
Pale
Rye
Munich
Cara
Crystal Rye

Hops
Magnum
Citra
Styrian Golding
Athanum

Adjuncts
Brown Sugar
Rye Barrels

Why Rye? This assertively flavorful grain is more often associated with whiskey than with ales. Even in that arena, it has largely been eclipsed by corn and barley, the sources of bourbon and scotch. But when we procured some seasoned barrels from our friends at Templeton Rye, we asked ourselves, “Why not?” Why not brew a rich, tawny rye ale, then mellow it in the warmth of charred oak rye whiskey casks? Two kinds of malted rye provide spicy sweetness, giving way to notes of caramelized wood and the citrusy tang of Perle, Magnum, and Saphir hops before easing into a dry, lingering finish.

47 IBU

Chilled bottle poured into a bissell brothers glass, dark cola bore in liquid. , one finger tan diamond cap, settles to a ring, occasional lacings

Fragrant pour of barrel aged rye

Taste is Sweet rye whiskey , brown sugar , spicy sweetness, barrel char

Boozy without the heat , nearly syrupy full rich body

Good beer

 

Thanks for getting us started @Beersnake - Tonight I have a gift from someone I meant at Arvon Brewery and (to make a long story short) invited her and her husband to our SAN. She’s been so amazed that we were sharing stouts every month that she gave me a gift on her one year anniversary-

Poured espresso dark and was stout black with a light brown head that left sparse, but insistent lacing . Even after the second pour.
The taste is reminiscent of Goose Island Brand Stout - no hops or roast edges to cut the sweet, yet still amazingly delicious. So much chocolate and coffee, dark fruit, warm leather (not sure why warm, but there it is) Amazingly good for a local brewery.
The feel is nicely viscous, excellent for the ABV and style.
OA, the only thing that would have made it better would be to have shared it with a friend.
Cheers!

 

That's a cool tool. Thanks for getting us started

 

First beer on Saturday for me...

Caghiya Pils No. 1

 

None of their Imp Stouts have really wowed me

 

Great name!

 

Hawkmoth Brewing ( Bentonville, used to be Rogers ) Hoppiness is a Choice IPA ( Dry hopped w/Citra & Vista Hops ) 6.0% ABV, 3.7 overall

Pours an effervescent & slightly hazed gold with a pinky of ivory colored head. Very good head retention & better lacing

S: Grassyness & a little citrus, nose is nothing special

T: Dry, grassy, some woody hop bitterness, along with nectarine up front. Bready & dry with some white grape, grassyness & woody hops as this beer warms up, a little pomelo as well. Finishes dry with some bready notes & grassy hops & just a little pomelo

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, pretty good balance

Easy enough to drink, but not one I'd buy again

 

back to back

Social project Brewing Magnolia Triple Hazy IPA with Mosaic, Strata, & Simcoe Cryo hops, 9.8% ABV; 4.25

Pours a hazed & effervescent gold with 2+ fingers of fluffed up eggshell colored head. Above average head retention & epic lacing

S: Hints of melon, passion fruit & mango & citrus late. Nose could be better

T: Nectarine, pomelo, mango & guava up front, a little guava up front, some dryness. Cantaloupe, oranges, dryness a touch of peppery hops once this beer warms up, a little pineapple. Finishes with a smidge of dryness, pineapple, oranges, green melon, lime & mango

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, lovely balance. acidic once warm, carbonation picks up a little

Through the roof drinkability, nose is the only thing holding this back, still great

 

Thanks for the open @Beersnake and sharing your flavor chart. I saved your guide. I’ve used these three resources the most during my beer journey, especially for new to me or infrequent styles and hops:

• Beer Advocate Style Descriptions
• Beer Maverick Hop Database
• Pints and Panels

Have two Revolution beers this weekend, though will either go with my last Deep Woods or an IPA tomorrow depending on my mood and when I’ll enjoy (before or after attending the Sox game). These are more my style for this high of an ABV (12 oz cans vs. soloing a 19.2 oz stovepipe).

Revolution Lumberstruck II (2025)

4.33/5 rDev -4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



4/12/25 - (Can - Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Received from Revolution Brewery as part of the Deep Woods Season ticket package on January 30, 2025, refrigerated where it remained until opening this morning. 12 oz, canned 1/10/25 @ 8:05:59 AM, 13.0% ABV. Black Barleywine Ale aged in bourbon and amburana barrels. A percussive strike of Brazilian Oak. Revolution Beer LLC, 3340 N. Kedzie Avenue, Chicago, IL.

Appearance: Poured full can into a Deep Woods handheld snifter, yielding a near black base and tan bubbly somewhat creamy fine cover for a few minutes before retreating to form a creamy ring around the rim and slight cover over the base. 4.5

Aroma: Let this sit for 15 minutes to warm to proper temperature, a medium plus strength black berry and unexpected cinnamon blends that smells delicious, with bourbon barrels emerging as this warms further. 4.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, but the bourbon and red cherry wine I imagine is from the amburana barrels all come together in a very sweet but still within enjoyment level flavor medley. Sweet fruit, strong somewhat harsh but some smoothness from the bourbon barrels. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Medium thinner than usual Deep Wood body, drinks lighter than expected for the 13% ABV. Sustained slightly prickly carbonation almost pop like. Sweet, nears cloying but doesn’t reach that stage to my sweet averse taste preference. Amburana over bourbon, sweet malt, fruit and wine from Go! through the finish. 4.25

Overall: This is my favorite among the cycle of Amburana barrels used in their wide releases plus variants this season. I like all berries, and the black berries come through well, a highlight for me. This is a fruit release which works for me, and IIRC the second Lumberstruck I’ve enjoyed for the uniqueness and concept. Well done as expected Marty and Revolution Team! 4.25

 

Good day BAs! Thanks @Beersnake for opening the bar! I feel like the red-headed stepchild of this thread yet again - today's New Breakfast Beer:



LAWS Whiskey Yeti (2024) from Great Divide Brewing. Purchased at Franklin Beer (Franklin, PA) 11/03/25. 16 fl oz can, $ 11.00 (Including tax)/ $ 0.688 fl oz. Reviewed 12/04/25 (Review 3501). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “CANNED ON 9/5/24.” Stored in reefer at distributor and at 39 degrees F at home: served at 57.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 60.9 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, opaque with light penetration at only the bottom edge – ruby.
Head – Average (Maximum four cm, aggressive center pour), tan brown, high density, average retention. Drops to a 0.8 cm crown and a rocky, complete cap, turning biscuit as it oxygenates. A wide band of open lacing remains.
Lacing – Excellent! Wide band of tiny to near-microscopic bubbles coating the inside of the glass, breaking into extremely torn curtains along the upper extremes.
Aroma – 3 – Virtually none. Weak roasted malt, no hops, no yeast, no alcohol. Especially neither whiskey nor barrels.
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins bittersweet. No yeast, no hops. Distinct roasted malt. No alcohol (12.5 % ABV, according to the label). Some initially weak whiskey overtones do come to the forefront as both the temperature and time of palate exposure rise. Unfortunately, there is next to no oakiness as well as nothing resembling my morning coffee. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Mild gastric warming. Ends slightly sweet.
Palate – 4 – Medium: creamy: soft carbonation
Style: Follows the style guidelines as condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 4 None of the advertised vanilla, naturlich! Honestly, I haven’t seen a base Yeti in years, so I can’t comment on any changes from the base beer, but this brew, taken alone, is OK – nothing special – just a basic imperial stout.

Rating 3.98, rDev -6.4%

 

Interesting - in my experience, cinnamon is exactly one of the things that I would've expected from an amburana finished beer and I'm a little surprised it or a similar earthy warming spice didn't come through in the taste. I really like amburana and haven't seen many beers since Oskar Blues attempt at it years ago. I have found a few whiskeys using it though

 

Hive Mind Honey Oat Ale from Royal City Brewing Co.

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A one finger fine white head on a cloudy dark amber. The head diminishes to a ring. lots of fine lacing.

Sweet fruit in the nose. Some apricot. The taste follows the nose. A sweet finish. Very milf hop bitterness at the end.

A creamy texture. A medium/light body. Good carbonation.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Haven't posted for a while, but glad to be back this weekend enjoying a new beer. This one is The Order of Things 03 from Hill Farmstead. It's a blend of bourbon barrel aged imperial stouts aged in sherry barrels, and it's wonderful.

4.3/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Appearance is mostly unremarkable, but with a noticeable lack of head. Even with an aggressive pour I got nothing more than a small ring around the glass. The aroma on the other hand is wonderful. Sherry, chocolate & berry notes all work together to make this a very enticing smelling beer.

Taste is also wonderful. I get more roast and bourbon barrel than I did on the nose, but the way they combine with the sherry notes and the base stout is wonderful. Complex and beautifully balanced. Very little carbonation with a nice full mouthfeel.

Overall, this wouldn't jump out at you on the pour but you'd be missing out if you only judged it based on that.