New Beer Weekend #266

Tim, it is a combination thereof! Most times, because i am trying beers that would obliterate my wife's palate, i keep detailed thoughts to myself sharing in general terms my enthusiasm for a particular beer. For beers that she can handle, i will offer a taste and what i am getting from it. Mostly i don't say anything.
But yeah, she is a trooper in terms of interest in going out to breweries and she'll always get a pint and patiently wait if i have a second pour of something. And she is pretty cool about sitting in a car waiting for me to carouse an unplanned local beer store shopping trip but the mental stopwatch is on while i am looking!

Onto today's new beer review, this one is a Dunkel from Brauerei Göller.

4.21/5 rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Picked up a 500 ml bottle from the Appalachian Vintner in Asheville 6-20-25 for $4.99. Best before 4-21-2026; consumed for review 8-24-25. Cold stored since purchase.

Beer poured brown with a beautiful tan head.

Nose is toasted malts forward with a touch of earthy hops.

Taste is pumpernickel bread with a touch of chocolate. Hopping brings an earthiness quality, definitely there to balance, yet leaving a style appropriate sweetness.

Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, so soft and smooth, yet refreshing.

Overall, this is a really nice representation of the style, glad i was able to try!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. To answer @Beersnake's question, my son and son-in-law sometimes stalk my New Beer Sunday posts and we occasionally email each other about new beers. In fact, my son and I corresponded last week about the Czech Dark Lager I posted. Our daughter also emails me about beer although she is on a temporary hiatus from drinking. I'm sure she's looking forward to imbibing again. We are all craft beer aficianados although I am the only BA in family.

Yesterday, I visited a newly-opened (April 2025) brewery called Buena Connection in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It is located in a rural part of the county, just off U.S. Route 40 (the Black Horse Pike), north of Vineland. It is a fascinating business model: the venue is very large (the building formerly housed a gym) with 2 levels of seating and special rooms for private parties, as well as a dedicated game room. The decor is cool and includes an MG sports car in the seating area. Despite its out-of-the-way location, they apparently host lots of events. The real estate market in that part of the state is rather depressed and apparently the building was vacant for years and they got a great price for it.

One of the beers I tried on draught was a Belgian Quad called Monkey With a Razor. It exceeded my expectation - a great local example of the style. So I bought a pack of cans. My review includes elements of the draft and can pours.

It pours a muddy apricot color with a fluffy ecru-colored cap that dissipated quickly leaving a simple ring. The draft pour was more attractive than the can pour. The smell is bold and fruity with notes of apple, pear, plum, raisin, and brown sugar. Its taste follows with a big dose of raisin and plum, along with burnt brown sugar. It is also dry and earthy with char and a fairly bitter, hot aftertaste. I didn't notice the bitterness as much in the draft pour. Nonetheless, it has all the flavors I would expect in a Quad. This ale has a thick mouth feel with fairly lively carbonation, and I can feel the 11% ABV. It is a sipper.

4.22/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Since we're on vacation, this is a less manic Sunday and I have a couple more new beers to review, including another one from Buena Connection. Cheers!

 

Happy NBS!

Having a very juicy/tasty NEIPA from Weldwerks/Casey (CO).

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38773/757845/?ba=Wasatch#lists

Cheers!

 

It's that time of year. I always grab the SN Oktoberfest collabs. I see this beer made it to the top of trending beers as of today on the BA home page, so without looking back on the thread, I'm sure its well represented here in NBW. (I will go through the entire thread after this post). I always try too not look at other's reviews until I've done mine.
Side note-I got stung in the neck by a yellowjacket while reviewing this beer. Kind of lost my train of thought for 20 seconds. I wonder if it was attracted to the malty sweetness of this beer's aroma.

3.74/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Purchased 2-days ago from a store cooler and kept cold until served. Poured dimpled mug from a 12oz can stamped PKGD 071525.
The body is light amber, probably an 11 or 12 SRM. With a simple pour I got a ¾”/18mm head white head of multisized bubbles. This faded to a ring within 3-4 minutes and lacing only amounted to a few bubbles that wanted to slide back to their buddies rather quickly.
The aroma is malt forward with a sweetness.
The front end and middle of the taste is similar. Very flavorful malt thats hard for me to describe, almost metallic, but not in a bad way. The swallow brings some real dryness, but the malt comes back on the long tail.
The mouthfeel is medium to light. Carbonation is a little light.
Not bad, not great.

 

NBS #2 is DDH Eviscerated Pathway of Beauty (Citra) from Tired Hands Brewing Company. I love trying new Tired Hands beers when they are fresh and this one was canned on 7/28 - fresher than we'd likely see back home in North Jersey. For anyone who likes DIPAs that showcase Citra, this is for you!

It pours a hazy, grassy yellow with a full finger cap of fluffy, bright white home and thick, clinging lacing. On the nose is lemon, lime, pine sprig, and a whiff of pineapple, along with sweet floral hops. It's fresh and vibrant. This is spectacular! Lemon and lime peel, grapefruit, pine sap, and just a hint of oaty sweetness. As it breathes I also taste a hint of tropical fruit. The flavors mesh beautifully and the ale is crisp and easy drinking. Its mouth feel is luxurious in its creaminess and the 8.3% ABV gives it a lot of substance. Overall, this is a terrific DIPA; one of the best I've had from Tired Hands. And the can art is (typically) cool.

4.43/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I'm not always a fan of when a highly-regarded brewery starts to distro widely (e.g., I've been very critical of Equilibrium and Three Floyds). But Tired Hands seems to pull it off. For which I'm thankful. Cheers!

 

Duct tape can do anything

 

That's most likely brewed by Oskar Blues. Monster Beverage purchased Canarchy and therefore owns quite a stable of craft beer-
https://www.canarchy.beer/

 

Surgical duct tape...

 

Covert Artisan Covertuccino Imperial Coffee Porter, 10% ABV. Pours dark black with a one-finger light-brown head that left no lacing. Aroma is strong cappuccino and chocolate. Taste follows, plus nuts and vanilla. Decent mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

4.52/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

A two new beer weekend for me!!! The family left me to go to Delware beaches with the in laws, because of our dog, etc. I'll be heading down tomorrow for a night and a day, so that means I've had a quiet house since 3 PM, weird...got the grass cut, dinner made, other chores done, now it is time for a beer and Sunday night baseball before calling it a night.

This is another single from a lesser known Vermont brewery that I brought back, Queen City, they specialize in mostly European styles and this is a style I rarely see anymore so I grabbed it for this here thread, a perfect weekend closer for me before mini 1.5 day vacation with all the in laws.

Queen City - Landlady (ESB 5.2%)



Pours a lightly cloudy, pretty clear, watered down amber, pretty bubbly head; doesn't vanish right away but also doesn't linger long; never devoid of some form of head but nothing notable here.

Nose first picks up some toasted quality, rustic grain, some light sweetness; gentle and subtle floral notes with light orchard fruit.

Taste is nicely malty but really well balanced, hearty with toasted notes; followed up by good hop presence and fruity yeast esters; the hops come off a bit grassy with light yeast quality on the finish and in aftertaste.

Mouthfeel is a highlight for me, that rich malt hits but this is a highly drinkable beer; in the medium range for me, barely; lower and softer carbonation, light hop coat with a noticeable but not in your face bitterness, enough to keep the malt in check; leaves a light stickiness that addds to the desire for a second sip.

I haven't had an ESB in quite sometime but this beer hits all the notes I remember in ESBs past, RIP Flying Fish ESB...its rich in malt character, with nice hop presence and remains highly drinkable; I haven't had a beer from this brewery that I haven't enjoyed.

Happy weekend everyone and I will see you all next weekend, my final week of summer before heading back to teaching; with summer camp and vacation behind us here it is time to gear up.

-------------------------

I will close out with a song that hypnotized me on vacation, Goose randomly released more studio songs and this one really sucked me in; lyrically, vocally, musically, a gem that has helped calm my mind this evening and on our vacation last week...



Just a beautifully written song...

@cavedave

 

Good evening NBW
I picked up the Sam Adams fall mix pack to revisit Raison D'etre and review this stout.

Chicory Stout
12oz can stamped JAN 2026 poured into a DFH signature glass at fridge temp 5.2% ABV. The beer pours very dark brown with minimal light penetration and medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a web of lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring layers of roasted notes including licorice and coffee. The taste is bittersweet roasted malt with more coffee, dark cocoa, anise and chicory. Minimal hop flavor and mild bitterness. The feel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good stout.

 

Great question,
I do push those dates and exercise my patience.
Been rewarded by many but not all.
Cheers

 

Still working through the great amount of beer @Ozzylizard sent me several weeks back, this is a Baltic porter, brewed with coffee. Grim Wizard Cold Brew Coffee to be specific.

The pour is dark brown, not quite stout black with an impressive light brown head that left rings of lacing.
The taste is very flavorful; coffee, chocolate, roasted grain. It has a very good flavor, just never would have guessed it was a Baltic Porter. No bitterness from the coffee at all.
The feel is pretty much right along the lines of the style sheet, not quite crisp, but light and very easy quaffing.
OA, really good beer, hopefully they keep brewing it.
Cheers! Back in a little with another beer from @Ozzylizard

 

@russpowell good thoughts for your rehab and recovery. Hope it all goes smoothly.

In the glass tonight:



North Coast Brother Thelonius Belgian dark strong ale.

Pours a deep mahogany red/brown color with a short and short-lived khaki colored head. Leaves a ring of bubbles at the liquid edge that cling nicely to the glass.

There's sweetness on the nose along with some dark/sweet fruit. Toasty malt and a vague spicy phenolic smell.

There's a sharp tang initially that gives way to sweetness. Thinking Belgian candi sugar and caramel. The malts come across as toasty and sweet. There's dark fruit - fig and plum. The spice note seems like maybe nutmeg or allspice. There's a bit of a wine-like character and a bit of a mineral almost metallic taste.

Feel is medium-bodied and despite the sweetness its on the dry side. It's got a weird tingly feel in the aftertaste.

I'm honestly not super-impressed here. I think it's an OK beer but not one I need to have again. Somewhere in the 3.75 neighborhood.

 

How old is this one?

 

It's got 4136121824 on the label. I'm guessing that's some sort of date code thats December 18th 2024? So yeah - getting on. I had high expectations - it's good, maybe short of what I expected. I've got quite a few sips left - that SWAG score will probably go up.

 

Funny you tagged me, not only because I love that song, and most of what I've heard from Goose, but because I've had the pleasure of drinking at the Queen City taproom twice. Memorably had their stout with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that was out of this world, but enjoyed all of the beers me and @WillieThreebiers tried. Glad to see you enjoyed Landlady, which wasn't available either time I was there, (I always go for an ESB) Have fun in Delaware!