New Beer Weekend #253

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I will start out with the question that @Beersnake asked: my best reviews are done at home. I like to be there, and relaxed at my computer to do them. It's a lot easier for me to do them on the computer than on my phone.

Speaking of being on my phone, I am at Spilled Grain Brewing in Annandale, MN right now trying this:

Lake Series 2025: Lake Augusta - Cream Ale - 5.2%

Wow, this is quite delicious. The pistachio hits in waves, and it all works well together.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41674/746768/
3.77/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the brewery.

This beer is very clear looking and has apale golden color to it. There's a bit of a white head.
Aroma has a creamy hint to it. I also get a nice big pistachio hit to it.
The pistachio flavor comes in waves. It hits right away and mellows to a creamy flavor. There's a malty undertone to the beer. The finish is where the pistachio does build again and had a solid finish.
Body is very smooth feeling. Very creamy and velvety feel to it.
This is quite tasty and a pleasure to drink on a warm day.

I will have another beer when I get home from here. Cheers all!

 

Another fine Mortalis beer gifted from @TCgenny, Yakima Blend.
Although I could not find out exactly what the hop make up is, the can has a Yakima Chief Hops brand logo on it that is not visible in the picture.

4.38/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Gifted to me in person last weekend from a fellow BA. Kept cold until served. Poured from an undated 16-oz can to a bulbous, tulip-like glass.
Pours out opaque, hazy light orange/yellow. A pure white meringue-like head is large and although it fades in a few minutes to a ring, it graffiti-laces well throughout the session.
The aroma is mild, but reminiscent of grapefruit with herbal notes.
The taste however is very berry with a hop bite up front and sweetness on the back. This is opposite of a lot of the NEIPAs I have reviewed. I think I like this sequence better. Alcohol is noticeable, but not intrusive.
Viscosity and carbonation are about average for the style.
A very good beer overall, nice reverse hop/sweet progression.

 

Crucible - Jake Gave Dick Wood, buckwheatwine

500ml bottle served in a big snifter. Bought it at Special Brews about a week ago. If there's more than one bottling of it, that would surprise me. Cap under the silver glitter wax was significantly corroded, though seemed fine within the sealed area.

Pours dark, murky brown, with a medium sized frothy head. Smell is a little wet cardboard, lots of nuts and toffee and pine. Something creamy and sweet.

Taste is sweet, cherry tart, cough syrup, raisins. Some caramel sauce.

Mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Overall...it's OK. Not sure I'm going to finish it.

 

Big Beginning!

I for one prefer trying new beers, on tap, at the source when possible. *Bonus when the staff can give you some insights about the beer. Ideally, this is in good company, preferably just a few people. *Bonus if the company is made up of beer aficionados.

But, sitting at home is good too. And sitting at home after the heat of some yard work will do it for today.

Rainbow Brite

16 oz can from Trader Joe's stamped 04/21/24
Bright peachy gold color pushes up 2 solid fingers of white, almost milky, fluff. Good retention. Settles down to a thin cap. Light, soapy lacing.
Nose is a very bright melange of tropical fruit, citrus zest, with a gentle coconut background. Orange zest, lime, papaya, with a smooth cracker sweet note.
Flavor leans in more on the tropical notes: papaya, mango, apricot, a hint of green pine needles lead off and then comes in a nuanced candied orange flavor, some coconut. Sabro hops?
Mouthfeel is slightly fluffy, low on the carbonation, and smooths out with a mildly dry bitter finish that still presents a generally tropical palate.
3.89/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

I do find this one to be an example of how initially positive takes on the beer can be slightly eroded by deficiencies in the mouthfeel.

 

Love reading your stuff Jack, both here and on MoreBeer.

 

For further discussion, below are various ‘classes’ of residual sugars which can exist in a finished beer, presented in the order of less perceptible sweetness to more perceptible sweetness: dextrins, lactose, and caramelized sugars from caramel malts:

“Dextrins:

These are complex carbohydrates that are not easily fermented by yeast. Higher temperatures during saccharification can lead to the formation of larger dextrins, which contribute to a fuller body and a perceived sweetness in the final beer.

Lactose:

This is a type of sugar found in milk, and it is often used in brewing to add a creamy texture and a noticeable sweetness to beers like milk stouts and milkshake IPAs.

Caramel grains:

These are also a source of sweetness in beer. Caramel grains, or any fermentable that starts with "cara-" or "crystal," contain higher concentrations of caramelized sugars, which can result in a sweeter taste.”

In my recent batch of Milk Stout, I only used half of the amount of lactose provided within the kit to ‘modulate’ its contribution to the resulting beer. That kit also included maltodextrin and I used the full amount of that ingredient.

Cheers!

 

I don't dig doing them on my phone, I usually shorten them because of that. Plus I have to use a computer to add pics I am not that deft on the phone

 

Love the glass

 

This beer is courtesy of @muchloveforhops3

No-Li Brewhouse Red, White & Hazy, Hazy IPA, 6.1% ABV 3.97 overall

Pours an effervescent & rather hazed gold with a thumb+ of pearl colored head. Stellar head retention & lacing

S: Oranges, a little doughyness, peaches once warm

T: Tangerine & pomelo, plenty of dryness up front. More dryness, a little guava & plenty of orange as this beer warms up & a touch of green melon. Finishes dry with plenty of green melon & a little cantaloupe

MF: Medium body & soft carbonation, pretty decent balance

Solid, drinkable hazy. The dryness did detract for me, but drinkable enough

 

Handsome Pooch!

 

New Hefeweizen Weekend:

Plank-Bier Hefeweizen • 5.2% ABV • "B.United/PR2017" printed on bottom of can (in case anybody knows if that means anything )

I've been on a German/Czech import kick lately, and while I'm not the biggest fan of wheat beers, I do think they fit hot weather splendidly. This one is solid but does remind me more of a Belgian pale or even a tripel with loads of clove/all-spice and fruit peel/rind flavors, not so much banana or any big sweet notes. It's very neutral overall ... not sweet but not bitter or medicinal. Just beer, frankly, and there's nothing wrong with that. I do think the fans of big clove/all-spice flavors would enjoy this one.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5943/36171/?ba=Premo88#review
3.74 (-3.1% rDev)

Cheers!

 

Glad to see @woodchipper enjoyed the Mortalis from last Saturday’s meetup/ beer exchange. I saved some Fox Farm, from CT for NBW and so here we go:


Canned 5/2, gifted by a fellow BA, cracked 5/24 , pours golden yellow straw, nice head that reduced to a a lager like appearance. Aroma is lighter lemony, floral. Taste is again lemony, pepper cracker , bitter and dry finish. Light , refreshing , with a bitter pepper aftertaste , smacky which is very pleasant. This will be a tasty ipa to bring to the Memorial Day picnic as a responsible drink. Yummy!

 

Good evening. I've got 14 pounds of pork shoulder on the smoker. About six hours into what should be a ten hour cook... Funny day here with alternating peeks of sun and short, light showers. Did some garden work but not a lot. Enough to justify a beer? Oh hell yeah.

I like to do my reviews in peace and quiet. Typically for this thread, I'm typing while I'm drinking. Sometimes I edit on the fly. But I like to focus and pay attention to the beer and what I am experiencing. Equally enjoyable is the try before you buy experience at a brewery where half pours of flights give me an indication of what I might want to buy and review.

Tonight's volunteer is Modern Pils from Jacks Abby.



Short version - it's OK but does not deliver on the promise of being a modern pilsner. Rare let down from a great brewery.

Pours slightly hazy golden color with a huge cushion of white foam. Foam sticks to the glass and the remains are a respectable cap.

The aroma has just a bit of crackery malt and I'm not getting much out of the Noble hops that were used in the cool pool. Very faintly fruity, maybe a little floral. Not what I think of with Noble hops, but OK different technique.

The taste is rather non-descript. There is a decent base pilsner malt.a bit more of a hop statement in the taste, but it still doesn't say Noble. A little lemon, very mild spiciness, vaguely fruity and floral. There is some bitterness on the end. A very mild black pepper taste comes in well after the swallow.

Feel is light and lively but I don't find this beer crisp and refreshing.

Overall, not what I've come to expect from these guys. Misses the mark. I know they can make a darn good pilsner, and this one isn't there. Thinking 3.5 or so. Drinkable but not something I need to buy again against better options even from the same brewery.