New Beer Weekend #275

It is a rare thing to be able to master two unrelated art forms, but Austin Lunn has indeed achieved this distinction. In the new edition of America's only print heavy metal magazine, Austin Lunn's Panopticon was honored by being inducted into the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame for their Autumn Eternal album. It is an album about Austin Lunn's experience moving from Kentucky to Norway for a brewing apprenticeship, then to northern Minnesota, where he founded his remarkable brewery, Hammerheart Brewing. This beer is Hammerheart Brewing Loyly. A sahti ale. A Minnesota take on a traditional sahti ale. It is brewed with a hollowed-out log with juniper branches and juniper berries. The name comes from the heat and steam from a sauna. The look is clear blood red. Remarkable. There was a touch of light foam that quickly disappeared. The smell is smoke, berries, wood, green tea, mint, and malt. The taste is smoke, strawberries, blueberries, banana, brown bread, mint, herbs, and burnt toast. It is unique, but absolutely delicious. The mouthfeel is sparkly, bready, thick, creamy, and rich, with medium carbonation. Overall, this is a special experience. I am uniquely connected to Austin Lunn, being a Norwegian from Minnesota who lives for family, metal, craft beer, and nature. I met Austin Lunn at his brewery's former location, and at a metal show in Minneapolis. It was an honor to meet him, and experience his artistic expressions. This moment would not be possible without @Mdog, a true ally.

 

Panopticon is great. Had no idea this man was out here brewing sahtis. Jealous!

 

Happy Stouterday!
Tonight I have one I’d never seen before and was doubtful in buying it because the base stout is unimpressive.

35K is the base stout and that is, in my opinion, a rather mediocre imperial stout.
This one is much better.
The pour is dark, like oil, with a tall brown head that leaves copious amounts of lacing.
The taste leads with chocolate covered figs and moves quickly to mocha where it remains for most of the rest. The oak, if there, is lost along with the bourbon. That is okay by me.
The feel is very nicely viscous, of course with enough lactose that would be a given.
OA, I enjoyed this quite a bit.

 

I had to pause listening to the album as I reviewed the beer. It was sensory overload. I was happy to be done critically thinking, so I could sit back and enjoy both. I intend to drive to the new Hammerheart Brewing location one day. I will have to snag @Mdog on the way.

 

First ever CellarMaker, StarGazer triple BA barley / Munichwine cuvée. Big name barrels: one barleywine 19 months in Heaven Hill Select Stock Bourbon, a Munichwine 15 months in Savage & Cooke Rye and another Barleywine 26 months in Russell’s Reserve 16 Year Bourbon. Just like I like them: not very hoppy, residual controlled sweetness, and lots of complex spice and wood.

Pours a dark chestnut brown to the Willi Becher. One finger of dense but lively creamy coffee colored head. Not much aroma, something in the leather category maybe. First sips are heavy. Big mouthfeel with a lot of earthiness from the Heaven Hill up front, which I’m in a phase of not really liking. Followed by a brighter spicy rye to balance out the heavy front. Finishes with a gentler sweet bourbon note on top of all the big caramel and darker malt base. 14.6% ABV fighting in its weight class from the start. Very enjoyable. Received as part of a trade with @westcoastbeerlvr . Glad to have tried it.

 

My only connection to Parker is I purchased a Pickup truck there about 20 years ago. Cool that you could see your niece perform.

 

Junie 2024
...solid black appearance with a thin lasting brown head
...light carbonation with a thick,creamy body with just a bit of alcohol burn.
. ..aroma is boozy,alcohol thats almost too much. Malt,coffee,toffee and I swear something that comes off like blueberries and blackberries. As it warms chocolate and fudge start to come through.
...taste is definitely sweet but not too much. Boozy,alcohol, chocolate and fudge with malt and mild coffee.
....it definitely needs a moment to warm up for it to be at its best

 

More fresh hops! The focus of this weekend. Many thanks to @snaotheus

Single Hill Brewing ( Yakima, WA ) Energy Cone Fresh Hazy IPA, 6.0% ABV; 4.4 overall

Pours a slightly hazed gold with one finger of pearl colored head. Never drops bright, better than average head retention & lacing

S: Catty, grassy notes a little guava as well

T: Follows the nose, some peach & pomelo notes as well up front along with dryness. Some green melon fights through the cattyness. more, plus guava & a little white grape as this beer warms up. Dry finish with green melon, grassy notes & tropical fruit notes, just a little pomelo

MF: Medium body, smooth carbonation, nice balance

Drinks very easy, lovely use of fresh hops

 

Now I feel like I need to file for compensation

 

Crap, I got some dried squid thanks to him. Maybe he can hook you up. I may also, but it will take longer, since my nephew isn't going back till late 2026.
I may have gotten some Japanese beers also.

 

Ditto on the Japanese beer, was turned on to dried squid when stationed in Korea, great beer drinking food, goes great with peanuts & some hot sauce IMHO. Some in my pantry now

 

More @snaotheus care package

Rueben's Brews Fesh Hop Double Crush Imperial Hazy IPA, 8.0% ABV; 4.65 overall


Pours a very hazed straw/gold with a thumb of fluffy ivory colored head. good head retention & great lacing

S: Citrus, grassyness, melons, passion fruit, fades a little once warmed up

T: Passion fruit, dryness, a little pink grapefruit, some catty notes up front, a little white grape. Cattyness, a little pine, grapefruit & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes catty, a little dry with loads of citrus & some guava

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, stellar balance

Superb drinkability, loads of hop flavor with some nice juicyness

 

Looking forward to catching up with Saturday, but still awake and like.y heading out for a burrito after I complete my review for the early morning Sunday here, or more specifically New Beer Sunday #1079!

There are not many breweries I trust to buy four + packs for this thread, but Beachwood is one of them. Not sure I’ll like the hop choices including multiple “Krush” insertions, but away we go.

Beachwood Tailgate Mate

3.08/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5



10/26/25 - (Can, Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Purchased 4 pack 16 oz cans refrigerated at The Beer Temple for $18.73 including tax. 6.7% ABV, 60 IBUs India Pale Ale, 16 oz canned 9/12/25, can stamp C1 Tailgate. MALT: American 2-row. HOPS: Krush Cryo, Krush, Rakau, Ekuanot, Simcoe, Riwaka Hop Kief. Store refrigerated at all times and drink fresh. Brewed and canned by Beachwood Brewing Huntington Beach, California.

Brewed for the ones who show up early, fire up the grill, and bring the hype to the game. With ultra-dank and tropical fruit notes, this beer’s got your back—keeping the energy high and the cheers loud.

Appearance: Poured about half the can into a nucleated pint glass, yielding a very bright white creamy puffy thick head over a crystal clear golden base with moderated carbonation after initial pour burst. Takes several minutes for the head to settle leaving full generous creamy cover and nominal scattered lacing. 4.5

Aroma: Pine, citrus, and tangerine, light dank pine. Took multiple sniffs to get that far due to the light strength, but I enjoyed the journey. 4.0

Taste: Less taste variety, dank diesel alcohol, pine and citrus. Alcohol fierceness fades slightly as I get into this further, but it’s the predominant flavor. 2.75

Mouthfeel: Drinks stronger than the ABV due to the diesel alcohol, sort of like vodka poured in, wincing at times to drink. Faint to no carbonation felt, lightly dry, bitter and mean, pine, diesel alcohol and dank finish. 2.50

Overall: My disappointment could very well be chalked up to the various hop profile and Cryo which I typically dislike. Even so, the diesel alcohol is unexplainable and I feel this is not well executed, an experience I can’t recall by memory over the dozens of previous different Beachwood and Beachwood Blendery offerings. Oh well, three more left. 2.5

The single serving purchase or sample method seems to be the right way to go. Hope your New Beer Sunday #1079 goes better, and I’ll see you next week with BA Big Beer Box selections.

 

Keweenaw Level 92
6.2% Black IPA




Twelve ounce can. Body puts a dark brown like a cola.

Aroma is a nice combination of malt and pine.

Taste follows nose with the malt backbone carrying the mail. Bitterness would benefit by being a bit sharper. I like my black IPAs very bitter. YMMV. Finish has a bit of tongue tingle, but it dries up quickly.

Mouthfeel is medium with good carbonation.

Easy drinking IPA that fits the style.

 

Maple Strong & Free from Caledon Hills Brewing Co.

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A two finger fine off white head on a clear light brown. The head diminishes to a layer.

Some maple in the nose. A strong maple flavour in the first sip. Some burnt sugar in the middle. Toffee and nuts. A distinct but mild hop finish.

A smooth, medium body. good carbonation. Overall a fine, sessionable American Brown Ale. The addition of maple syrup makes an interesting addition. You have to like maple though.

3.9/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

 

Hello All. Happy Sunday! I probably won't be chiming in with a new beer tonight because I'm heading to a small Oktoberfest and silent auction at my dad's church. However, I am pulling out a few Bruery beers from the cellar to add to the auction: Hopefully, there will be a beer geek or two (or even somebody curious enough) to pull the trigger on a fine looking bottle, with a tempting description, that will nice with the upcoming holidays.

I'm bringing a BBA 10 Lords A Leaping which I think would pair well with Thanksgiving or Christmas dishes.

Also, debating between a Black Tuesday or Chocolate Rain. I'm thinking the Chocolate Rain might have a broader appeal. What do you all think?

 

Good Sunday afternoon NBS/nbw and thanks @jonphisher for hosting this week.
Todays offering is from the Big Box, a beautiful coffee stout.
One that would be in solid rotation in the house if it was nearer.
Finished some yardwork, today, kitchen remodel is post demo phase, so everything here is topsy turvy.

Do good
Be well

S.C.C.C. - Coffee Imperial Stout

American Imperial Stout | 11.5% ABV
Sapwood Cellars Brewery in Columbia, Maryland

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.22/5 rDev -4.5% | Average: 4.42
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from a can dated 9/23/25, recieved as part of the BIg Box series.
A - New moon midnight in color. thin off white cap retreats quickly. The way is slides slowly down the glass has me wondering about sweetness.
S - Coffee, black cherry, bakers chocolate. hint of char, and dark molasses.
T - Dark chocolate, layers of coffee, with again dark cherry, roast hazelnut, molasses, espresso. Wonderful flavors,
M - Slick on the palate, pleasantly , not to sweet as I had guessed earlier. enough of the coffee elements play with a gritty, sweet, bitter tension. Linger is semi sweet, and rich.
O - A very good, coffee stout, not a hint of the 11+%. Viscous, and delicious.