New Beer Weekend #280

Another generous offer from @TCgenny

Tree House Sap, 7% ABV, NEIPA.



Pours a murky orange/yellow color. A dense white head and lace left behind.
The aroma is kind of muted for me. Vaguely of fruit salad. Melon and generic berry medley. Not a ton here for me.
Taste wise. for sure fruit salad, with melon and berries. Very sweet, kind of a chalky finish.
A medium to full body with lower carbonation. With an odd chalkiness. Not the worst drinking NEIPA I have had, but I'm not enjoying this nearly as much as Julius.

This is more my typical experience I have had with the style. Which is not something I'm the biggest fan of. Also, with a name like Sap, I was expecting more pine resin and some bitterness. Which I really didn't get personally. Though always glad to try something from Tree House.

Overall score is 3.42, B
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28743/88298/?ba=champ103#lists

Oh and More Dylan, book provided by Tom as well

 

Tired Hands This Is the Path of Totality QIPA 13.5% abv

4.32/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Received via a care package from the generous @jzeilinger

Beer poured turbid orange with a nice white head.

Nose is full of citrus and stone fruit.

Taste is a large pale malt base in which i am getting a lot of peach with a lot of orange in post sip aspirations. Finishes with a zesty pithy hop bitterness; 6/10 on my scale.

Mouthfeel is medium to large bodied and very smooth.

Overall, this one massive brew that delivers a ton of flavor!

 

Was kinda hoping to sit on my BCBS variants for a little while longer, but seeing your reviews of them I think I might have to try them a little sooner than I had planned on. Cheers!

 

And for my next stouturday NBW review I had this tasty Dogfish Head WWS variant:

World Wide Stout - Triple Decadence | Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | BeerAdvocate





Debating on whether or not to have another new brew or some whiskey next. Either way, I'll be back here tomorrow with some more new beers!

 

I like to try one of each soon after release so I can decide whether to seek more while they're still available.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 11/21/25. Pours a very attractive hazy milky yellow with a 2 plus finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.75

Aroma is is peach, tangerine, white grapes, passionfruit, and apricot very nicely balanced. 4.5

Taste follows peach, tangerine, passionfruit, white grapes, and apricot very nice. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above medium, soft almost creamy mouthfeel, maybe a touch dry works very well, and at 8.7% it drinks bigger but still crazy approachable. 4.75

Overall this one from Spyglass Brewing is rather impressive. 4.75 Cheers all.

 

Lucked into some yesterday. Usually just the stock version available thereafter

 

Sam Adams Old Fezziwig

Thanks to snagging the SA 12-pack, there are new beers for me. Old Fezziwig has a clear ruby red look and a nice caramel malt aroma. It folds into the cold here at the end of November.
Cheers, Happy Weekend, and all the best!

 

Nice picture!

 

No Boat - Lagerhead

16oz can served in a stemless rastal. Don't see a date on it. No recollection where I picked it up.

Pours clear light yellow, medium-ish head that settles into a thin cap sustained by a steady stream of very tiny bubbles. Smell is lager yeast and lemon / lime freshness.

Taste is moderate grain tea sweetness, a little bit of yeast roll character, bright lemon zest undertones and something still reminding me of lime.

Mouthfeel is very light and clean. Overall, pretty nice.

 

Good evening NBW
After failing to review a single quad in 2024, I've been fortunate enough to grab two here towards the end of 2025. This is my 40th quad review here on BA.

Weyerbacher Quad

12oz bottle with a smudged code that ends in 25 poured into a chalice at cellar temp 11.8% ABV per label. The beer pours bright, medium dark amber in color with mahogany highlights and khaki colored head. The head recedes to an irregular ring and tiny island. Minimal lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet malt and dark fruit. The taste is burnt sugar caramel, prune, raisin and cherry with a noticeable earthy hop finish and medium bitterness. The feel is medium bodied with just less that average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. The abv is fairly well hidden here other than a gentle warming of the tongue and tummy. Overall, very good American quad, if a bit more bitter than most the Belgians.

Between Taxman switching their distribution method and skipping southwest Indiana and Belgian beers essentially vanishing locally, it's been hard to find my favorite styles. Had to travel to Cincinnati for this one and to a nearby convent for the other quad. Hoping someone figures things out locally, but it's headed towards IPAs and AALs only around here.

 

Upright Caramel Stout

8-ounce pour enjoyed on cask at Belmont Station in Portland, OR.

Opaque black-brown body with red-brown highlights and a tall crown of fluffy tan foam that leaves an absurd abundance of lacing. The nose is roasted malt, black coffee, chocolate shavings, and a morsel of butterscotch. The flavor doubles down on the dark malt and slightly acrid coffee. These flavors are lightened with cream and sweetened with a ripple of caramel. (Not too sweet!) The sweetness drops by half in the middle. A delicate plum note comes through with resurgent roasted malt and bittersweet chocolate in the slightly chalky finish. There's a nice hint of licorice in the long, dry, malty aftertaste. The mouthfeel is just gorgeous: medium-bodied, round, slightly chewy, with a superb silky texture. Upright Brewing is in its last days, alas, but beers like this prove they are still at the top of their game across a wide range of styles.

 

Tamamura Honten - Barrel Aged Yama Bushi Red Grand Cru

750ml bottle served in a little Cantillon glass. Got it in Japan, but don't currently remember if I bought it myself or if @shigg85 gave it to me. Batch 008 (H.B) bottled on 2022/7/22. Since I like it, I'm crediting Shawn.

Pours dark brown-red with a small head, fine carbonation. Smell is tart cherry, cherry skin, juiciness, maybe some plum. Sweet tart acidity.

Taste is very cherry juicy, but a stronger kick of the fruit skin bitterness than I expected. Oak is a bit more noticeable, sweet-tart candy is still a pretty good descriptor. Maybe something that reminds me of red grapes or a sweet red wine.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, smooth, dry. Overall, quite nice.

 

Poured into a 20 oz tulip glass bottled on 8/5/25. Pours midnight black with a massive 3 plus finger mocha head that leaves a few streaks of lace, with solid retention. 4.75

Aroma is dark chocolate, heath bar, coffee grounds, vanilla bean, and a healthy balanced kiss of bourbon that really opens as the temperature warms. 4.75

Taste follows dark chocolate, coffee, vanilla, heath bar, amaretto, and oaky bourbon well balanced. 4.75

Mouthfeel is thicker than most in this series. Nice carbonation creamy and soft, not really dry for the style, and a sipper for sure but goes down quicker than it should at 14.6%. 4.5

Overall this one is really a standout in the series. The look and feel is the big difference for me. Carbonation spot on and that is what often is missing from this legend. 4.75

 

Some nice beers posted this weekend! I picked this one not anticipating I would need defrosting. Our grandson sang with the 3rd grade chorus at the holiday lighting basically across the street from the stronghold. It got pretty freakin' cold...

Here's the brew:



Brouwerij 3 Founteinen Oude Gueze purchased recently from the localish bottle shop clearing their curated cellar and it was steeply discounted. This bottle says it was born on 11/09/19 which I assume is a normal date number. I can't read a word on the label...

It pours a very lightly hated deep golden color. A few bubbles form on the pour but vanish almost immediately. There's a mini ring of bubbles once things settle.

The smell is earthy but not quite full on funk. It has a pronounced apricot/peach smell with just a bit of lemon. White wine or white grape must. A tiny bit of pepper. Crackery malt and I get some apple and mild cider vinegar on the nose as well.

The taste is more funky than the smell - no doubt it's there but it's well-restrained.
It's got peach and apricot going on with just a little lemon. I get an apple note as well, but the vinegar in the taste is more like white wine or champagne vinegar. The malt comes through as more bready than cracker. Pepper kicks in on the back end of the swallow. It's very mildly on the acidic side but I find a little light sweetness as well - very little. After the swallow there's an almost oaky phenolic bite along with the peppery taste.

Mildly tart, zero bitterness, moderately carbonated. Finishes a little dry but not excessively so.

Overall this has a lot going on and even though it's old enough to shave, it's delightful to drink. I like that the funk comes to play in the taste yet doesn't overpower the other flavors. This is a fun beer to drink. I'm in the low to mid 4 range on this.

 

Greetings BAs!

Back from



With today's New Breakfast Beer:



Universe from Scratch from Bottle Logic Brewing. Single 16.9 fl oz bottle, picked up 15/11/25, at HEB #45, SAT, TX, $33.62 (including tax)/$ 1.99/fl oz. On room temperature shelf in store. Reviewed 29/11/25, review 3643. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of label stamped “PKGD. 08/2025.” Stored at home at 37 degrees F. Served at 55.5 degrees F (Suggested temperature on label is 58 degrees F) in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature is 58.1 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, ruby.
Head – Average (Maximum two cm, aggressive center pour). Caramel, high density but fizzy, short retention, dropping to a 0.1 cm constantly renewing bubble ring (which eventually disappears), and a thin center island which devolves into an atoll.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4.5 – Begins with strong caramel and sweet “dark fruit”, along with some maltiness, no hops, no alcohol (14 % ABV according to the label).
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins moderately sweet with caramel and “dark fruit.” Hints of vanilla and bourbon. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Faint gastric warming from the well-hidden alcohol. Not finding any apple or cinnamon.
Palate – 4.25 – Full: Between syrupy and creamy: Soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the BA style description.
Final impression and summation: 4.5 Uncredited art work. Excellent English-style barleywine! And I only had to drive 1500 miles to find it!

Rating 4.46, rDev +0.5%

 

Greetings all, happy Stouterday!
Tennessee was a bust for imperial stouts, but Bloomington, IN has a chain of bottle shops called Red Barn Liquors (or something like that)
The main store is worth visiting as they have a great (relatively speaking, certainly no Total Wine or Horrock’s) and I finally found some imperial stouts.
This was one.

No clue when this was packaged but it was enjoyed on 11/29/25
The pour is truly black, one of maybe three stouts that I had claimed that with. The Hershey’s chocolate bar brown head was one finger tall (in a very short glass) and dissipates gently but quickly. It leaves rings of lacing.
The taste. Well, no getting around the chocolate. Permeates the whole thing. Pretzels make a brief appearance and peanuts dance with the chocolate. There is an excellent imperial stout that carries it all.
The feel is full on viscous, quite close to syrupy.
OA, it’s not as sweet as I have described, but it’s still sweet.
Oh, they had BCBS too, but no thanks. Still, not as steep as Tennessee -

Cheers all! Tonight it’s definitely one and done.

 

Fat orange cat brewery im a grown ass cat imperial stout
...solid black appearance with a thin but lasting mocha head
...just below average carbonation with an above average body. Has a nice thick heavy creamy feel
...aroma is malt,roasted malt, mocha candy but not sweet with the coconut showing up more as floral
...taste definitely has some sweetness but not overdone with a bit of coffee grind bitterness to make it nicely balanced. Malty sweetness and coffee grind bitterness coats the mouth and lingers.
..overall the only knock is the coconut wasn't very strong but I didn't care as it was really enjoyable.