New Beer Weekend #268

Back at you, I’ve learned of so many Garden State breweries thanks to you. Don’t get around much but you know, when I do, I know a few and if I never have trouble deciding I know who I can rely on.

 

Congrats! And so glad you got the insurance figured out...Although, that will probably only be for a while because in our system it is CONSTANTLY evolving.

 

I know you liked this one, but NO marketing person would EVER ask to use this quote. HAHA

 

I drank a shit ton of that in Guatemala in the 90's. Maybe not so interesting, but it is a fact. In Guatemala it goes by Gallo.

 

I moved on to this collab. Pretty nice.
Short-Lived- Maui Brewing by Maddest.
This is Madewest's collab series where they literally name the collaboration brewery in the title. Pretty cool.

16 oz can dated 08/18/25. Love the art.
Pours pretty enough. yellow to muted gold, loosely packed white foam asserts 2 fingers and slowly settles in to a lithe film. Delicate lacing, good retention.
Nose is tropical as advertised. Guava, some lemon zest, and a nice "green" pineapple note.
Flavor starts off with the tropical guava with a lemony edge. Slight herbal notes come in. Finally some pineapple, and an earthy bitterness that hints at piney grass.
Mouthfeel is ok. Mild carb and a dry finish.

3.73/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

Black Hog Brown Ale is a classic.

 

Reuben's - Fresh Hop Fresh Fest

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Can is dated 08/20/25. I think I got it at Chuck's Hop Shop Seward Park.

Pours clear light yellow, pours with about a half finger of head, moderate carbonation sustaining a thin skin and a medium sized ring. Smell is lots of floral and citrus, something almost bubblegummy. Grain is there, but not very dominant.

Taste is nice and grainy, earthy bitter, lots of grass. Fresh hop presence is negligible.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth, maybe a bit on the still side. Overall, it's pretty good as a festbier, it's unimpressive as a fresh hop.

 

Thanks Jon. That is kind of you! Cheers!

 

I don’t think I can share anything this weekend. I’m a little Beer’d out!

I attended the 7th Annual Toronto International Barleywine Festival last night hosted at Toronto Brewing. There was a tonne of tasting going on; lots of barleywines, but also some other styles thrown in to cleanse the palate.

Highlights for me were Anchorage A Deal With the Devil Triple Oaked Batch 2, Pelican Mother of All Storms 2014 (held up amazingly well), Bas Canada Métaphorik and a really nice homebrew IPA brewed by one of the attendees.

Here’s a shot of the final tally. It was my second year attending and I plan to keep going. Cheers!

 

Closing this weekend out with a bottom 100 beer

Kirin Light

22oz bottle Best Before 17MAR26 poured into a mug at fridge temp not more than 3.2% alcohol by weight per label which translates to around 4% ABV. Might be the most interesting thing about the beer. Bright pale gold with nearly white head. Head recedes to a thin cap and sticks. No lacing. The aroma is corny, skunky & vegetable oil. Taste is semisweet extremely light malt with skunk and sulfur. Delightful really. No bitterness really, just weird sticky diacetyl or sulfur byproduct to cut the sweetness. Thin bodied, highly carbonated with a dryish finish. Overall, truly bad and I'm typically very kind to light lagers.

Not what I was expecting at all. It does look magnificent in the Spuds MacKenzie mug though. Cheers all!

 

That looks like a helluva session

 

The last of my vacation beers...after traveling to Little Rock, Southern Tail Brewing is just around the block from my hotel...

Above Ground Pool Czech Pilsner. 4.1% ABV

Description from the brewery...
About as simple as it gets, this pilsner is crisp and clean with a soft bitterness from CZ Saaz hops...






Pours a clear pale yellow color. Almost no head forms and recedes to nothing in a moment, obviously no lace.
Aroma is cereal grains and cooked corn. Some lightly hoppy aromas lingering...
Taste wise, again, cereal grains, crooked cream corn. A light hoppy flavor that is more lemon with maybe a touch of bitterness, but very faint.
A light body and high carbonation. Though not a particularly clean lager. Which all leads to something I want to get through fast, so I can move on to something else...

A not very good example of a Pilsner. The cooked corn character is almost like DMS, and very minimal hop flavors other than that. Pass on this.

Overall score is 2.94...blah.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/69297/761539/?ba=champ103#lists

Next up is...

Cosmic Koala, they call this an Australian Pale Ale...I'm sure that is just cause of the hops used.

Which are: Eclipse, Enigma, and Galaxy Hops



Pours a slightly hazy orange color. A small white head forms that recedes to a ring quickly. No lace left behind.
A nondescript fruity aroma. Basically a hop salad, that is kind of like berries...though that is just my own personal default setting with new age hops. others might get something else.
Taste wise, follows the nose with that nondescript fruit salad flavor. Kind of berry like, maybe kind of "tropical fruity" like, and sweet, really sweet.. Then a cereal grain flavor takes overs. With almost no bitterness to speak of.
A light to medium body. Moderate carbonation but with no real finish or definition. I guess its OK to drink, but really standard and generic.

I think the generic fruit salad hop character is just enough to cover up a very basic pale ale underneath. Cause, like their Pilsner, almost became a cooked cream corn mess. As is, just generic enough to be inoffensive. And while not outright bad, just...blah.

Overall score is 3.15, yeah, again another blah...I didn't even bother posting the lack luster cold cut sandwich I had ha.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/69297/761541/?ba=champ103#lists


The good thing is Southern Tail is just down the block from Lost Forty, which is the best Arkansas brewery...at least IMO They didn't have anything new, but their NATIV IPA, and Snake Party Double IPA are both very good...and got more Bottled Conditioned Brett Belgian Pale Ale...though I have already reviewed those a while ago now ha. But they are great...

 

Alright I didn't plan to have a second new beer tonight but I've been trained by our friends in Oregon and Washington to drink any fresh hop beer ASAP so...as a cool fall night sets in on Main Street I cracked open this gem sent to me from @vurt. Drank this one and wrote notes out on the deck as the crickets all came to life this evening, a solid and grounding feeling I embraced.

Breakside - Fresh Hop Wanderjack



Pours highly opaque, gold with light orange hue; attractive white clumpy head, above average retention, not zero lacing, but minimal spurts here and there.

Huge fresh hop nose; just jumps out of the glass, strong rind character, lightly fruity, dank, maybe some berry and light tangerine, a very fragrant beer.

Taste, um yea, very rarely do I think the term dank applies well to beer, there is no better word here, full on stinky dense nugs; it’s that perfect combination of weed: pine, prickly spice on the finish; reminds me of kief, lightly fruit laden, and the feel enhances all of it…I want to mention malt cause it’s not devoid, but man I’m sipping on hop nectar, malt is there but it’s riding in the trunk.

Medium body, full but very drinkable considering its abv, clean; full on mouth coating stickiness and a bitterness that lingers accompanied by an almost black pepper feel on the tongue; malt shows in feel more than taste as a light bit residual sweetness.

This is a really great beer that showcases how special fresh hop beers are; grateful to have generous friends in hop country sharing their special time of year with me out here on the east coast, thanks again Eric.

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On that note I’m signing off for the weekend, thanks for another fun one friends. See you all next weekend! Have a great week everyone!

 

You're learning. I admire that.

 

I was taught by the best…

 

Salmon was on sale, so salmon hit the pellet grill tonight. It was an easy and fairly quick cook. Dressed with softened butter, shallots, chive, and parsley with a bit of garlic and black pepper. The recipe seriously underestimated the amount of the dressing needed so a little scramble to make more, but it did taste great.

Interesting beer in the glass tonight:



OEC Brewing Aether. The can says dry hopped sour ale. The database says wild ale. It's brewed with wheat malt and oats. Dry hopped with Hallertau, Blanc, and Loral.

Pours a fairly hazy orange gold color. About a half inch of fluffy head that didn't last long and left nothing.

Very bright aroma. It certainly promises tartness to come. There's a pleasant, mild floral smell. Lemon. A bit fruity - apple or pear or both. A nice white wine smell, grassiness, and a little bit of peach. It's all very tidy - very pleasant package.

The taste amps it up. It ends up pretty balanced but it comes in waves. Up front there's lemon juice with the fruity apple/pear flavor. White wine that's a bit vinegar. Get some earthiness from the wheat and herbaceousness I'm guessing from the dry hopping. Underneath all that there's some crackery malt. It comes together late in the taste - white wine grapiness, that apple/pear fruitiness, lemon, hoppy grassiness and floral notes, a bit of wildflower honey, a touch of peach. There's lots going on but eventually everybody plays together nicely. No rough edges.

Medium body and moderate carbonation. Dry, refreshing, moderately sour.

This is a pleasure to drink. Light, refreshing, lots of flavor sour enough to get my attention. I'm feelin' the 4.0 - 4.2 zone.