New Beer Weekend #258

Finally able to join in my favorite weekly thread-
To answer your question @Beersnake - this really is my favorite weekly thread and I strive to have something every week.
This week I have a few, the most recent first-

No Rules Chunky Monkey variant.
Chunky Monkey is known for banana, chocolate and walnuts.
I could not find any banana flavor here, but the chocolate was prominent - as close to a pastry version of No Rules that I have had.
The “Vietnamese” porter aspect is present, and very good as most of Perrin’s offerings are.
Cheers, later I’ll share notes from last night, our monthly SAN.

 

Tonewood modern country rye lager
...pale gold with a slight orange hue appearance with a thin but lasting head
...medium carbonation and about the same for the body.
... aroma is definitely grain upfront which i assume is rye. Grain,lightly toasted grain something that comes off like very earthy buckwheat honey
...taste is a nice hit of rye backed up with grain. Some mildly toasted grain along with earthy honey.
..overall I'm doing a poor job of describing this but its a very good beer

 

Founders KBS-Iced Latte American Strong Ale, 11.0% ABV; 3.82 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with a thumb+ of ivory colored head. Below average head retention & average lacing

S: Coffee & vanilla, a little Bourbon once this is warmer

T: Follows the nose, plenty of sugar sweetness, traces of Bourbon, mostly oakyness. Some woody hops fight through the sweetness, & the barrel fades except for a little dryness once this is warmer, some coffee & vanilla too. Finishes with oaky notes, maximum vanilla sweetness

MF: Medium body, subdued carbonation, skews sweet

Okay for what it is, but I need the flavor profile delivered by darker malts to balance all the sweetness. I have a sweet tooth& this is a bit much even for me., sweetness dropped off some once warmer. ABV is well hidden

 

Tab, yikes

 

Stonecloud Brewing Total Smokeshow Grodziskie style beer, 3.8% ABV; 4.23 overall. Made with 100% Oak Smoked Wheat

This can checks in at 3.8% ABV

Pours a bubbly & chill-hazed gold with a pinky of beige head. Drops bright, better than average head retention & lacing

S: Some smokeyness, a little bit of grain

T: Beechwood smoke, some dryness, a trace of grassyness & light breadyness & just a hint of white grape up front. Slight grainy sweetness, a little dryness mixes in with the smoke & more white grape notes once this beer is warm. Finishes smokey with a little grainy sweetness & some dryness

MF: Light body, Champagne like carbonation

Superb drinkability, lovely take on style. Had this on draft as well, seems better in the can, but I was just blitzing through flights there

 

Madewest/ISM Collab Short-Lived West Coast IPA, 7.0% ABV; 3.96 overall

Pours an effervescent & bright gold with 2 fingers of pearl colored head. Super solid head retention & lacing

S: Melons, breadyness, some grassy notes, some peach once warm, doesn't really nose like a West Coast IPA. .5 deduction for that

T: Dryness, green melon, a little lemon & dryness, some grassyness up front. Some dryness, tangerine, peach, a little pink grapefruit, green melon & crackery notes once this beer warms through. Finishes dry with tangerine & green melon notes, more crackery flavors as well

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, good balance

Easy drinker, doesn't quite push through for West Coast IPA greatness, but knocking on the door

 

La Père l’amer (France) ‘Cuvée Léon Pineau Des Charentes Rouge’ Barrel Aged Barleywine

A 4-cereal barleywine that returns after spending 10 months in a magnificent 500L Pineau des Charentes Red French oak barrel.

The base barleywine itself is splended, and the barrel is completely expressed: cereals, sugar, wine, wood. Winey, not sweet and super dry, the oak just dominates the senses.

The 10% Organic elixir is a rare treat I am pleased to have experienced.

 

PIVO Brewing Protivin Czech Pilsner

Appearance: Clear gold, good head.

Smell: Bready.

Taste: Balanced start, some mild sweetness and breadiness. Mild grassy hops. Slick mouthfeel. Balanced finish, bread and hops again.

Overall: Picked up 4 beers from Pivo on the way into Iowa. Here is the czech pils, it is a perfectly fine beer, well balanced. I prefer a little more bitterness in my pilsners but this was good.

 

It's a nice day outside after the storms last night. Time for another new beer this Sunday morning.

Double Dry Hopped The Fens - Trillium Brewing - Canton, MA - American IPA - 7%

I am honored that @CanConPhilly sent this beer to me. I am glad to have had the chance to try it and review it. I do see one problem with it: the bitterness. I love a good bitter IPA, but this one the bitterness seems harsh. That flavor and feeling does linger, and isn't as pleasing as I would like.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/43481/618655/
3.9/5 rDev -8.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From a 16oz can. No date on the can.

This beer looks quite good in my glass. The beer is hazy and murky as expected. It has the color of pineapple juice and has a 2 finger white head. I think the head retention is good, and there's some lacing on the glass.
The aroma is quite tropical, as I would expect. I get the pineapple from the hops. There's some notes of grapefruit in the hops. Very nice citrus notes all around.
The flavor is a bit different than what I was expecting. The pineapple just hits my taste buds full on and never lets go. There's hints of grapefruit that show up here, but faint and don't last long. There's just a ton of bitterness on the back, and it might be a bit more harsh than I would have expected.
The feeling that the bitterness leaves in my throat is a bit harsh. The body is quite full, but that bitterness feeling dominates.
This beer is a pleasure to try, but that harsh bitterness feeling is a bit over the top.


I am sure there will be one more round today. Cheers all.

 

Vecchia Orsa - Rye Charles

 

Esel, kellerbier at Vecchia Orsa

 

Now at Lortica with Mascarella, an IPA collab between Rurale ant Lortica

 

The Schlafly Tap Room - Mexican Chocolate Stout

I was pleasantly surprised from this beer that I drank from my cellar. Schlafly beers usually don't disappoint, yet they also may not be super impressive. This had great balance of roasty, cocoa, cinnamon, and smoothness. It's labeled as a Sweet / Milk Stout, however I was not able to confirm anywhere that this beer has lactose or any milk in it.

Cross-posted in WBAYDN #4636

 

Next up is one from Castle Danger Brewing in Two Harbors, MN.

Summer Slice - American IPA 5.2%

This beer doesn't taste bad, but totally misses what it was intended to be, an American IPA.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25567/752399/
3.03/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
From a 12oz can. Canned on 04/14/2025

The beer has a lot of carbonation in it rising in the glass. The color is a nice golden color and is mostly clear looking. There's a 2 finger white head that has decent retention and some lacing on the glass.
The aroma is not very hop oriented. I am really just getting a malty biscuit character. There's some citrus notes, but I don't think they're hop based.
Taste - There's almost no hops in the flavor. I am getting lemon and lime citrus notes in here. I do get some malty biscuit, but I'm not getting anything that would describe the flavor as an IPA. The flavor isn't off-putting or terrible, just wrong for the style.
The body does seem ok for the ABV. Not watery feeling, but lighter.
They were trying to make a light IPA here, but I'd say they missed the mark. Flavors aren't bad, just wrong for the style.


I think there might be one more new beer today. Cheers to all in the virtual bar.

 

Deez Nuts
by Beards Brewery
4.6% American brown ale



I split this one with a friend. The body pours the expected opaque brown with off white head. Not much lacing.

Aroma and taste featured a malty, nutty ale with a definite sweetness. Not cloying, but sweet enough to be the predominant flavor. A wee too much sweetness for my preference in a brown ale. No discernible bitterness.

Mouthfeel is medium with strong carbonation.

Passable brown ale but not one I'll likely revisit.

 

Zapap - Sick Boy IPA

 

Drekker Fluff Stuff Lemon Lime Fruited Sour, 6% ABV. Pours thin and murky yellow with a ring of white bubbles that left no lacing. Aroma is lemon/lime and marshmallow. Taste is strong lemon/lime, overpowering the marshmallow, though there's marshmallow on the aftertaste. OK mouthfeel, overall very good.

3.87/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

For this week's new beer, I took a clue from this week's Treehouse video where Nate tries to sway macro lager drinkers into trying craft lager. It has been discussed extensivly here on BA-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/why-macro-lager-is-great.681011/

So today, besides other Foxfarm purchases, I bought 12oz cans of Sway, an American Lager. They were sold out of 16oz cans so I settled for 12oz. This beer should come in stovepipes.

Here are the brewery's notes-
Our Pre-Prohibition American Lager has its own complex brew day. It starts with parallel mashes that are eventually united - one with locally malted barley from Valley Malt and another cereal mash with corn grits from a unique heirloom variety (also from Valley Malt). The soul of this beer is equal parts grain and hops; for the latter we used whole leaf Mt. Hood and Vermont-grown Crystal and Willamette followed by a light dry hop addition of VT Cascade. Built for summer time refreshment, we’re excited to have Sway in both 12 and 16 ounce formats and look forward to hearing which folks enjoy most.


4.19/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Purchased at the source today cold and kept cold until served. Poured to a Nonic glass from a 12oz can stamped “CANNED ON 6/11/25”.
The body is a very light gold and almost, but not quite clear. A three-finger head sits after the pour and fades over a few minutes to a glass-hugging ring. Even so it laces moderately on tilts, but falls rather quickly.
The aroma is of spicy straw with a nice malt background.
The taste is similar, spicy, hoppy straw and malt finish. The hop sense is the best part.
The mouthfeel is light and slightly oily. At 4.7% the alcohol is unnoticed.
An excellent lager. The 12oz can format I had feels like a shot glass. This beer is very slamable.