New Beer Weekend #276

Bentonville Brewing's Freshly Wrecked IPA, a brewery only release, 8.0% ABV, Simcoe, Strata & Mosaic Hops flown in. 4.16 overall

Pours a hazed gold with 2 fingers of pearl colored head. Pretty good head retention & great lacing

S: Citrus, melons, white grapes, peaches late

T: Grapefruit, grass, dryness & melons up front, plus piney notes. Green melon, pine & pomelo as this beer warms, grassyness & a touch of peach & berry too. Finishes dry with grapefruit, melon & pine

MF: Medium body, subtle carbonation & good balance

Drinks fairly easy for the heft. I hope this becomes a tradition for this brewery

 

Good afternoon NBW
Craft shelf presence is nearly non-existent in Kentuckiana these days. Picked up a Sixpoint mixed 15 just to try a few things and revisit Resin, which was a staple for me at one time.

Sixpoint The Piff

12oz can BB 11JAN26 PDG 25192 poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 8.6% ABV. The beer pours slightly hazy golden amber in color with off white head. The head recedes to an irregular ring and island. The aroma is mild with muted fruit. The taste is semisweet tropical fruit salad over a neutral malt profile with a hint of dank. Medium bitterness. The feel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, good IIPA.

This one isn't wowing me, but NE style is not my favorite. Cheers all!

 

Thin watery dark brown, 1/2" tan head fades to a ring. Snot machine senses some chocolate and booze. Taste buds get similar sensations. Thin texture does nothing for this beer. I think the plain old Old Rasputin is the gold standard for Russian Imperials, this one is lacking.

 

Well hello Sunday participants in our wonderful corner of BA.
The computer is loading slowly from my hotspot at Native Son in Santa Ana, CA. So we'll see how this goes. Have no idea what the name means...
Shamone (Hee Hee) by Synth

On tap at Native Son in Santa Ana, California.

Pretty enough for a hazy. Nice head, good retention, and some nice curtained lacing.
Nose is understated. A mild tropical, meets citrus, meets creamy grain sweetness.
Flavor is a tad more developed with the tropical and citrus notes going in a slightly earthy direction before a moderately pronounced sweetness carries the bulk of the flavor.
Mouthfeel is nice for style. Slightly fluffy and moderately carbonated.
3.69/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Aecht Schlenkerla Weichsel. A Rotbier smoked with cherry wood. 4.6%.



From bottle, body pours an opaque brown with a finger of white head. Light lacing.

Aroma is a light smoke with a light malt. Taste follows nose as the smoke carries the bulk of the flavor. There are notes of fruit and cherry in the smoke mid-swallow there is a smoky bitterness that trails off at finish.

Mouthfeel is medium and nicely soft.

A delight to sip on an autumn afternoon.

 

Trap Door / Taproom - Reginald fresh hop IPA

 

Well, it's definitely the end of Fresh Hop season here in the PNW. But there are still a few wonders out there, even now, and this is one of them:



Sunriver Fresh Whammies FH IPA

The beer is a bright, pure yellow with daisy-gold highlights. A cap of white foam quickly shrinks to a thin ring that leaves respectable lacing. The nose is full of mixed berries and the signsture Mosaic "tropical diesel." But the flavor is where the beer comes to life completely. This beer is bristling with fresh Mosaic hop flavors. Pungent blueberries and cannabis up front, with tons of fresh pineapple character on the back end. Pleasant lingering bitterness in the aftertaste. There's a rich sort-of pine finish on this beer. Like a deep breath of forest air. Or a good gin with an array of interesting botanicals.

Somebody in theNW forum commented that the Mosaic hops were particularly good this year, and this beer is excellent evidence of that.

 

Lumberbeard - Fresh Hop Most Hopular

 

A Nightmare on Alvarado Street BA

Pumpkin Porter with Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Spices & No Actual Pumpkin
7% ABV

This is about the only Pumpkin beer I picked up this season. Aside from the annual Kern River Brewing offering I really don't see too many options near me tbh. So it's a "Pumpkin Porter" sans any actual Pumpkin! Should have read the fine print.

Dark Brown Cola appearance with a frothy dark tan head that fizzles like a root beer float.

The nose leads with mostly nutmeg and cinnamon spices backed by some cocoa powder, dark bread and an overall brown sugar vanilla sweetness.

Flavor is spot on to that of a real natural soda pop. Has the spice and cola elements with a thin fizzy body similar to a nice cream soda or Sarsaparilla. You get a slight notion of some pumpkin pie there with the baked crust. A dusting of cocoa and some sweet crème in the finish with the alcohol never making a show.

All in all I did want something with more lush body and Porter notes however this was a fun one to enjoy. A real novelty like brew for sure.

 

I had good luck with the 2008 version, so here's the 2011 edition:



J. W. Lee's Harvest Ale 2011. I expected it to be potentially more of the same except it isn't.

It pours a much lighter color vs the 2008. Light brown and fairly murky. Nearly still - only a few bubbles at the edge that dissappear rapidly.

Very fruity. Apple that is close to cider, slightly woody, then some stone fruit - apricot or peach. Kind of a sherry or port wine smell as well. Caramel/toffee.

The taste follows up on the fruit theme - apple, apricot, figs, plum/prune and raisins. Caramel sweetness and a little brown bread. It does have aspects of a port wine. As it warms, oak comes out with a hint of cherry tobacco. It has depth in the flavor and while it's quite sweet it is not cloying.

Feel is medium bodied leaning to a bit lighter. There's a little bitterness and a licorice-like aromatic after the swallow. Slick on the finish.

This stuff is pretty fine. It's not quite as full as the 2008, but it's still great in its own right. I understand the reviews now - under Harvest Ale but note the year. I'll go back and fix the 2008 I added as a distinct beer to follow the established method. This will be 4.2-ish I think.

 

On Sundays we drink Barley Wines, at least that’s what I was taught.
So I pulled one that I was given, I think (the tape with the name fell off) by @Ozzylizard -
Barley Wine Holzfassgereift

The American version of the style tends to be more bitter than most, the English versions deep wells of malty goodness. What will a German take on the style be?
This one (it’s the only one I’ve ever tried) is more akin to the English version. The slightest bitterness (and I mean slight) is just noticeable amongst the caramel and brown sugar malts that fill my taste buds. The flavors, but not really the sweetness. Tried to find a better way to describe it but couldn’t.
The feel is lightly viscous, very nice and very pleasant quaffing.
I think I could drink a few more of these, quite good.
Thanks Bob!

 

I like the sound of that. Today I had a special barleywine from 2 breweries.

(Sorry, no photo.)

Block 15/Hair of the Dog Gus

8-ounce pour enjoyed in a snifter at Wildwood Taphouse in Hillsboro, OR.

Gus has a clear burnt orange body with vivid Pantone 021 highlights. (Hey, sometimes this is what you get when a graphic designer does a beer review.) A thin vanilla-white ring hugs the edges of the glass without leaving much lacing.

The nose is loaded with oak, bourbon, and traces of caramel, malt, almond cookies, white toast, and dried apricots and strawberries.

The flavor is initially sweet but dries out as fast as water evaporates on a hot sidewalk. Semi-sweet malt and roasted mixed nuts provide a backdrop for flavors of honey on toast, candied orange peel, pears, and bourbon-adjacent notes of vanilla and oak. Muted bitterness is prominent yet nuanced. Pine and orange peel bitterness rush to the front, but the lingering bitterness is earthy/herbal.

Full-bodied with a texture that stops just shy of oily. The Hair of the Dog impression is heavy on this one.

 

Social Project Space Oddity Triple Hazy IPA ( Nectaron, Citra Incognito & Citra Hops ), 10.1 % ABV; 4.27 overall

Pours a super hazed gold with 2 fingers of ivory colored head. Above average head retention Very good lacing

S: Guava, melon, a little dankness & stone fruit, great nose

T: Peaches, melons, tangerine, guava & passion fruit, plus dryness up front. Guava, green melon, some mango, pomelo, pink grapefruit, pineapple & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes dry with, grapefruit, passion fruit, white grape & a little pineapple

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, a touch of grittiness, nice balance

Dangerously drinkable for the ABV, enjoyed this one

The last 4 beers I've reviewed from this brewery were 4th anniversary beers. This is the pick of the litter IMHO

 

Had to put this into the DB.
Trustedgut Brewing
So it turns out that this place is focused on gluten free and/or gluten reduced beers. Glad I tried the beer before knowing that.

West Coast IPA
On tap at Native Son, Santa Ana.

Straw to gold in hue with a bountiful white head. Great retention and light lacing.
Nose has a smooth mix of citrus and pine followed by a grain note that is lightly sweet.
Flavor follows the nose faithfully. The grain comes in as a mildly bready version of buckwheat. Hint of nuttiness but really smooth.
Mouthfeel is almost medium heft with decent carbonation level.
Overall, if this is one of their gluten-free or gluten reduced beers there is absolutely nothing that hints that way. A solid IPA.
3.75/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

That probably bias me as well. Most are not great