New Beer Weekend #282

Swish
Bissell Brothers
Double NEIPA
4.45/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
PKG 11/23/25. Poured into a Samuel Adams Perfect Pint.

A: Hazy gold with 1-2 finger white frothy head with good retention and copious lacing.

S: Intense pineapple, passion fruit, guava, and tangerine fruit with subtle green herbal hoppy undercurrent.

T: Flavor brings even more intense fruit with pineapple, melon, passion fruit, mango, guava, tangerine, and white grapefruit with some green hop herbal notes. Bitterness is moderate. Slight sweetness in the finish and aftertaste.

M: Stellar feel for the NEIPA style with medium body, slightly gritty hops structure, and full finish.

O: Swish is not screwing around - it being a the whole package for the double NEIPA style. Great beer.

 

This afternoon I sampled a collaboration between Fort George Brewing (Astoria, OR) and Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR). It was a bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with grilled peaches and vanilla.

(Sorry, no photo.)

Fort George Peaches and Cremation
5-ounce pour enjoyed on draft at Noble Hop Bierhaus in Hillsboro, OR.

Black-brown body with persimmon highlights and a thin skin of foam that just won't quit. No lacing, but impressive legs. The nose is dark chocolate, dark fruit (peaches show up, but are thoroughly upstaged by plums/prunes), a dusting of cinnamon, and lush bourbon. Peaches make a better appearance on the tongue before vanilla steals the spotlight. The overwhelming flavor impression is raisins soaked in bourbon, with some peach character around the edges. VERY sweet. Full-bodied with an oily feel that ends up sticky. Well-made, and I'm glad I had the chance to sample it, but 5 ounces was about as much as I could take. Ultimately, the name remains my favorite part of this beer.

 

Elise Navidad Christmas Ale
8% winter warmer by Schnitz Ale Brewing



Poured from a twelve ounce can , the body is a medium brown with a light tan head. Modest lacing.

Aroma and taste are dominated by the spice mix: lots of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. The malty base is sturdy but a bit overpowered by the spices.

Mouthfeel is medium with strong carbonation.

In my opinion if they adjusted the malt to spice balance and bulked up the malt flavor, then you'd get a much better beer. Your mileage may vary.

 

Side Project - Vertical Ascent, robust porter

 

Happy NBS! Tonight I have one I meant to drink yesterday, another holiday beer and while it’s likely been around for decades, I’m just now trying it.

(Thought I had taken a photo at the beginning but apparently didn’t!)

Poured transparent honey color with a dense off white head that left a few rings of lacing. Maybe if I had taken smaller gulps it would be many rings.
The taste leads with bread and toffee and segues into caramel and flowers on toast. It doesn’t seem to have the clove that so many winter warmer’s have featured, which seems not a bad thing as it would have overwhelmed the subtle flavors in this one.
The feel is light and very easy quaffing, certainly something I could drink a few of without any problems at all.
Cheers all!

 

Social Project and Soul & Spirits - Since UBEen Gone

16oz can served in a stemless rastal. Don't see a date. @russpowell shipped it to me.

Pours dark, almost black, with a ghostly lilac colored head that disappears pretty quickly. Smell is yam, sweet with a hint of vanilla. Coffee and coconut become more noticeable as it opens up.

Taste is hella sweet. Vanilla is really strong. Coconut is noticeable, but dominated by the vanilla. Coffee is there, too, but in the shadow of the vanilla. Strangely, I get less yam in the flavor than I got in the aroma.

Mouthfeel is big, thick, chewy. Interesting beer, pretty enjoyable.

 

So knew were getting to 7-8 pages this weekend with the holiday beers tie in. Russ is full of it as usual

Drekker multiple ECTOGASMS DDH IPA, 7.0% ABV w/Citra & Mosaic Hops, 4.08 overall


Canned 10-3-2025

Pours hazed gold with a thumb of beige head. Traces of head retention & lacing

S: Citrus & tropical fruit, pineapple, nectarines, oranges, slight bit of onion, still a great nose

T: Mango, passion fruit, tangerine & lime up front. Blood orange, guava, grassyness & lime as this beer warms up, pink grapefruit as well. Finishes a little dry with pink grapefruit & pineapple

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation. Carbonation gets creamier as it warms up, good balance, some acidic notes

Easy to drink juicer, good not great

 

Hmm, looks like I swapped up my NBW and WBAYDN posts.

 

Less than 2 months old, loved the color in it, to include the head. Didn't really come through in your pics or mine

 

I've never, ever, ever done that

 

Cough

 

Christmas BOMB!
Prairie Artisan Ales
Spiced Imperial Stout
4.47/5 rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
10/7/25 on neck. Poured into the includes Prairie Ales stemmed cervoise.

A: Black with short cap of beige head that leaves no lacing.

S: Complex, intense spiced aroma of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove with vanilla and espresso on a background of roast and medium caramel with hint of chile heat.

T: Flavor brings similar intensity with medium caramel, vanilla, espresso, graham cracker, nuttiness, all accented by cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg and the Prairie trademark sneaky chile heat
In the finish.

M: Dangerously drinkable for the ABV with medium-full body and full finish.

O: Prairie Christmas BOMB! is an exceptional winter imperial stout with a great balance of the sweetness, spice, bitterness, and heat. Can’t wait to try the BA version.

 

CLAG Daddy Turns 50
8% New England IPA



Poured from tap at the brewery. The body looks like a morning pour of orange juice with white frothy head. Good lacing.

Aroma and taste about the same. Juicy! Orange, pineapple, clementine. Perhaps a bit of earthy hop, but not much. Light bitterness. A bit of malt only just enough to keep this one from being a Tropicana product.

Good carbonation and mouthfeel medium.

A fine representation of style.

 

Dogfish Head Affagato World Wide Stout, 15.0% ABV; 4.21 overall

Pours an effervescent chestnut/mahogany with a pinky+ of mocha colored head. Some viscosity, way below average head retention & lacing

S: Espresso, brown sugar & vanilla; epic nose

T: Follows the nose, dry, roasty, some prickly booze up front. Plenty of roasty coffee, booziness, a little Baker's Chocolate as this beer warms up, some brown sugar.

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, warming. the caramel warmth elevates this

Still a touch hot, booze wise & more coffee than I prefer, but well worth a go, so close to greatness. Very much a sipper

 

Sliding in under the wire (I hope) with a brand new IPA from my local favorite Breakside in collaboration with North Park Beer Co. of San Diego.



Breakside FUturism IPA
Breakside plus North Park is an IPA dream team for me, and this lively and zesty beer is very nearly worthy of the pairing. The bright yellow body is capped with a head of snowy white foam that disappears quickly but leaves copious lacing. The nose is full of melon and stone fruits that lean tropical. There's also some spicy pine and citrus (mostly lime zest and orange juice). The flavor is largely the same, leading with orange that's supported by pineapple gummi bears and lime curd. There's decent bitterness on the back end. A fleeting lemon-lime note leads into a finish of orange peel and apricot-pineapple preserves. Underneath there's an intriguing cross between pine resin and some aromatic wood. The light, lean body has vigorous carbonation and a crisp, tangy bite. It's very well made and plenty tasty, and I'd be happy to drink it again. That said, I've had better IPAs from.Breakside this year, so FUturism doesn't quite reach the heights I'd hoped for from a Breakside + North Park collaboration. Maybe the draft version will get this beer over the line.