New Beer Weekend #262

Lazy rainy day today, so no new adventures. We will hit Portland eventually, maybe even venture beyond Allagash corner. Definitely will be visiting Barreled Souls...hey, I can't help it if the farm stand is on the way...

But for tonight:



OEC Hidalgo Best Bitter Ale, 4.5% ABV. Brewed with Maris Otter Pale Ale & Crystal malts, hopped with Challenger and East Kent Goldings, open fermented and rested in the cellars for several weeks before packaging. According to the can, that is.

Pours murky golden color with an inch or so of off white foam that holds nicely, falling to about a quarter inch of rocky residue. Nice draping on the glass. Actually looks like apple cider with a head on it. Bubbles keep fueling the cap to the"bitter end".

Immediate smell of bready malts, sweet toffee, a little lemon, black tea, faint peppery spices, nutty, a bit of apple fruitiness, floral and herbaceous hop notes.

Tasty, tasty, tasty. The malts are a mix of bread and biscuit with some sweetness. There's quite a pronounced and very clear black tea flavor. Then the background singers pipe in - lemon, black pepper, some apple, hops more floral than i. the aroma, and some nut flavor - not quite hazelnut but close. Very earthy. The bitter is welcome at the end as a reset - not overly assertive but enough to notice.

Feel is slightly dry, and it feels creamy with a medium body. The pepper and lemon hang around for a bit.

Really liking this beer. I believe it is reasonably representing the style as I understand it - admittedly not much. Flavorful and full for a modest ABV. I can understand exactly where this fits in the beer universe. I think right around the 4.0 mark.

 

Louie's Cherry Bounce
A blend of one and two year old barrel aged Louie's Resurrection finished on Door County cherries.10.2%


Poured from twelve ounce can dated 12-11-24, the body is black with white head. No lacing.

Aroma is boozy first and cherry second. A good hit of raisin and plum as well. Delightful.

Taste follow nose as the booze remains up front. The cherries cut into the ABV but are not sweet: solid cherry flavor note to tart and not too sweet. As it warms a lovely plum cake flavor. No bitterness. Flavor dries up quickly after swallow with only a bit of lingering alcohol.

Mouthfeel is medium with light carbonation.

A boozy treat that was enjoyable to sip.

 

Okay more disclosure, this beer is also from my buddy's brewery where he works

Cabarrus Beer Co. Killarney Irish Red, 5.4% ABV; 4.24 overall

Pours a chill-hazed amber/orange with one finer of tan head. Above average head retention & better lacing

S: Toasty, caramel & toffee notes, great nose

T: Follows the nose, woody hops & dryness up front. Plenty of woody hops, toffee & toastyness as this beer warms up. Finishes with a little caramel, woody hops & nice toastyness

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, very good balance

Good take on the style. Easy to drink. I usually find this style too dry, this hits just right

 

Back to back, this doesn't bode well for 8 pages

Bearded Iris Double Homestyle DIPA? Imperial Hazy?? 8.2% ABV; 4.34 overall


Pours a hazed gold with one finger of ivory colored head. Above average head retention & better lacing

S: Tropical fruits, a little pineapple, guava & passion fruit, fades a touch once warmed up

T: Grapefruit, a little dryness, passion fruit & pineapple up front. Guava, pineapple, oranges, green melons & dryness as this beer warms up, some dryness. Finishes with pineapple/orange juice, in a good way, some green melon & dryness

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, great balance, carbonation tails off a little once warm, a little acidy

Super Imperial take on the style, stellar drinkability, just a riot of citrus & tropical fruit

 

American Solera - Howdy Porter

12oz can in a tulip. Don't see a date on it. Got it from @russpowell in NBS BIF #18, apparently more than a year ago! Been lurking in my fridge.

Pours black with a smallish head, fine bubbles that settle into a thin skin with a couple bigger bubbles. Not much carbonation. Smell is sweet coconut and molasses.

Taste is similar, way more chocolate though. Coconut is clear but not dominant, sweetness is strong but not cloying, some burnt nuts bitterness.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly light and smooth, particularly for a porter at 8%. Overall, pretty good. Thanks Russ!

 

Coconut was more in in your face about a year ago. That is the way I like it, but some do not

 

I'm not sad I waited a year for the coconut to not slap me in the face quite so hard. This was a good level for me.

 

That would be me with any cinnamon forward one

 

Sorry the Sox lost the last two, but still a good day as the Brewers are still in first, and Dick Allen is in the Hall of Fame. Had a different Off Color selection planned, but with today and two more days of AC before I hopefully can cover it up until next year, I wanted to also try your selection, on this the 1066th edition of New Beer Sunday. Got most of what Micah did except the green apples and peaches, the former leading to a better experience based on my flavor preferences.

Off Color & Binny’s Beverage Depot Barrel Aged Growl Royale

4.04/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75



7/27/25 - (Home) (Chicago. Illinois) Bottle Notes: Purchased a single 8.5 oz bottle at store temperature on 6/17/25 at evening. No bottle date, though distributed the week ended June 20, 2025. 10.0% ABV, Gravity 20 P, IBUS 28. Belgian Style Quadruple Ale blended with bourbon barrel aged imperial stout. Malts: Pils, Dark Munich, Oats, Dark Crystal. Hops: Nugget. Secret Ingredients: Dark Candi Syrup, Bourbon barrels hand selected by the fine folks at Binny's. Brewed and bottled in collaboration with Binny's Beverage Depot by Off Color Brewing, Chicago, Illinois.

Appearance: Poured the full bottle into a Chimay chalice, yielding a Tootsie Roll dark brown base, silky lacing that slides down to congregate around the rim, and a Milky Way shaped cover fed by the consistent carbonation emerging from the center. Really nice. leaves minimal soapy lacing and a light cover over most of the base, concentrated around the rim. 4.25

Aroma: Getting an Tootsie Roll aroma of chocolate and clove. Let this sit for over 15 minutes, but no bourbon until the 20 minute mark, then a little sweet and complimenting the other components. Solid. 4.0

Taste: Syrup, baker’s chocolate, chocolate chip cookie batter, and a smooth wonderful bourbon. The barrels and stout reign dominant, any quad noted in the aroma is gone. Would have liked to see a split taste flavor here like the nose yielded, but still very much enjoying what I’m tasting. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Sweet, sticky medium plus body. Faintly felt carbonation. Drinks strong, above the 10% ABV. Sweet chocolate and bourbon from my first stab 20 minutes in until finish. 3.75

Overall: More a barrel aged bourbon stout than any quad notes, perhaps I let this warm to much, but in the end, it’s and enjoyable stout, but if you are looking for nuance or even any quad flavor beyond the aroma, you may be disappointed. Dropping a quarter point from overall for this aspect of the experience. That said, would still order for fun looking for a BA Off Color BA desert stout if this ever returns. 3.75

 

Apologies for not following up with more reviews of stout appreciation night, Sunday is game night and 3 hours just disappeared.
The nifty tool I used to post the last picture is now misbehaving and Imgur continues to give me urls that work everywhere but here so I can’t even share my gaming beer.
I will find an alternative way to post photos tomorrow, rather exhausted now.

 

Olde Hickory The Event Horizon Cake 2025, 10.4% ABV; 4.04 overall

From a 16 oz can

Pours an effervescent chestnut/mahogany a pinky of mocha colored head. Zero head retention & a little lacing

S: Plenty of barrel, coconut & vanilla, fades down the stretch

T: Follows the nose, barrel dryness, molasses, some cocoa & vanilla, a little bit of leafy hops up front. Rum & cola notes, warming booze bite, vanilla, oakyness & leafy hops once warmed up, plus coconut. Finishes a little warming, with leafy hops, rum & touch of cocoa & vanilla

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, warming

Flavor delivers, the rest of this beer needs work, perhaps better in a bottle?

 

Cinnamon for me is the #1 overpowering flavor. Basically never want to see it in a beer's description. Coconut's #2.

Love you brother. Come on down to California in a couple weeks to help me and some other BA's with a nine-year vertical of B-Bomb...no cinnamon or coconut...

 

If only. the coco loco works for me when done well. I do enjoy Rum....

 

I get that. An Irish red ought to have nice agreeable malt that invites the next pint, toasty with a little toffee/caramel to offset the dry character and make you question the low ABV a little.

 

Fort George 3-Way IPA (Tropical WCIPA)
This is the third 3-Way variant of the year, and the second WCIPA for 2025. Date stamp reads "DOB 07/15/25 DON'T FORGET TO HYDRATE"

The body is an attractive pale yellow-gold with canary yellow highlights. The head of paper white foam doesn't last long before reducing to a persistent skin and heavy ring that leaves scattered chunks of lacing. The nose is semi-sweet malt, mango, strawberries, green grapes, pine resin, and a whiff of...spicy mustard? (Take this with a grain of salt. This isn't my first beer of the day, but there is some kind of spicy, almost savory note that translates as "mustard" in my brain right now.) Flavor is quite frooty, but mostly dry. Mango, of course, along with a cocktail of Twizzlers, peaches, ripe pears, and a drying mineral character. Good bitterness in the finish, and that teasing mustard note on the breath. Body is medium-light. Carbonation is champagne-like, lively and frothy.

It is no insult to call this the 3rd-best 3-Way variant of the year. It's still quite good, but the first WCIPA was better, and the hazy (surprisingly enough) better still. That's an impressive result for my favorite Fort George seasonal, which is always worth trying and sometimes ranks among the best beers of the year (looking back at you, Fort George 3-Way IPA 2014).