New Beer Weekend #285

Spinning Yarn (2022) from Avling Kitchen and Brewery

From a 375ml bottle dated 2022/05/01 poured into a tulip. A big three finger fluffy white head on a hazy dirty gold. The head diminishes to a solid layer. Lots of fine rocky lacing.

Vinous smells are apparent as soon as the bottle is opened. The first sip is slight citrus sour with some fruit. Initially sweet but soon dries. A long brett finish.

Very smooth for a Saison. Medium body and good carbonation. Overall a fine, interesting farmhouse ale. You want to keep drinking more.

4.17/5 rDev +5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

It's a one and done for me today, but only because this was a strong brew:

Cherry Chocolate Reign | The Bruery | BeerAdvocate





Still debating on whether or not to finish up with some whisky. Plan on having 2-3 more new brews tomorrow, happy NBW everyone!

 

Went in to work today, was a pretty easy day but now it is time for a beer.

Steel Toe Czech-Style Pils

Appearance: Pale yellow with some particles, good head.

Smell: Grassy with some sweetness below, tiny hint of skunk.

Taste: Mild sweetness, then pretty solid grassy hops. Not quite to the Prima Pils level of hops, but high level. Medium bodied, finishes with a little sweetness and grass.

Overall: Can't believe I hadn't had this one before, was almost done with the 6 pack before I realized I hadn't reviewed it. Tasty, hoppy pilsner, easy drinking. Another winner from Steel Toe.

 

I noticed that this beer has a BA score of 100, I don't mean to quibble with anyone, but nothing is perfect, (not even me, but I'm close) and there is always room for improvement. That being said.......
L: Almost black, terrific khaki head and some top notch lacing.
S: Chocolate and booze, some coffee, smoke, and leather.
T: All of the aforementioned plus some licorice and black cherry.
F: Surprisingly thin, light passes thru, smooth, creamy.
O: This is about as good as they get. I'll call this a 4.49.

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 12/08/25. Pours a very attractive hazy yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with nice retention. 4.5

Aroma is tangerine, peach, passionfruit, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows but more balanced and better, especially as it warmed a bit. Tangerine, peach, passionfruit, pineapple, and apricot bold balanced flavors. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, soft carbonation, not sticky or dry, and are you kidding me 11% it goes down way too easy. 4.5

Overall this is a Big Imperial NEIPA brewed with tangerine and peach, I believe the name is Horizon Lines. It am really enjoying now it isn’t fridge cold. 4.5 Cheers all.

 

Happy early birthday!

 

Good evening, all. A little snow out on the grounds here at the stronghold - very cold but not windy so able to go outside for a while and burn some holiday calories. Not many, but at least a few.

I know nothing of this one and I don't remember were it found me:



Ok...Brasserie de Blaugues LA Moneuse Special Noel...no more spelling! It's an 8% Belgian saison. Green bottle obviously stored on its side since half the bottle the long way is coated with sediment which was surprisingly easy to avoid pouring.

Very robust pop from the cork and no geyser. Not a lot of aroma from the "smoke". Pours a kinda tea color with a huge, rocky, very light tan head. It's a bit cloudy but I expected worse! The head fell to a quarter inch cap.

Nice bit of earthy funk on the initial sniff. A little hoppy spice and a little pepper. Yeasty and bready, apple. A tiny bit of banana, clove, and coriander. There's a lot going on, but its hard to find.

The flavor delivers - saison thru and thru. Light funk and earthiness with more of a yeasty cracker flavor providing the groundwork. The spice shows up early - clove and coriander along with some white wine must. There's more fruitiness - apple and apricot and a bit of lemon. It gets maltier - more bready. Hay and herbal play around and the spices come back strong at the end and are abetted by a strong pepper on the finish. A very faint Juicy Fruit gum estery deal on the aromatics.

Light to medium on the feel and pretty crisp for 8%. It's pretty brightly carbonated. It's dry but not overly so. It's got a little bitter bite and maybe a minute trace of oxidation.

Pretty darned good. I have no idea the history of this bottle. The label doesn't match the pictures in the hive and I don't see a date. Would not hesitate to buy a presumably fresher version. I'm going to be in the 4.0 neighborhood with this.

 

Hey hey BAs! Trying a new to me beer tonight - “The Wolf - Mexican Style Hot Chocolate” by 3 Sheeps Brewing:



Pours black with thin, ruby edges.; Light tan head with rocks; poor cap retention, thin ring, no lace, thick legs on swirl. Cinnamon and a whiff of bourbon on the nose; some booze in exhale, sweet bourbon and milk chocolate taste; green chilies; cinnamon finish. Silky smooth feel; light body for ABV; light carbonation; not adjuncty; some mouth warmth from 14% ABV. Overall, a passable Mexican cake style imperial Stout leaning more hot cocoa than Mexican; would like more bourbon/more chilies.

4.0 | 4.25 | 4.26 | 4.25 | 4.25
Score: 4.24 rDev 0

An excellent beer, but a bit sweet. A worthy Wolf variant. Cheers!

 

Have a good new beer weekend. Hope all have had a good holiday week. Time to get back to reviewing, I have been uploading more of my reviews from untappd and the past Green Bay tasting over the summer to BA. Still got a lot to go, and I also have place check ins to review as well.

I was smoking all day yesterday on a music binge, and fell asleep after 4PM and woke up around 6AM. I have been totally geeking out for 24 hours on Haken Aquarius. The best concept album about making a mermaid a freak circus show ever written. It had me inspired to pull my Ibanez RG852LW out of the closet. I got a Behringer UM2 U-phoria USB interface. Cheapest deal you can get for one. Use ASIO. If I can get myself to play more often I might buy the Focusrite. People always rave about those. My unwound gauge strings are getting rusty now, but I have a fresh pack of EB 8 String Slinky 10-74. The factory gauges were .009-.065, but I like a thicker gauge for tuning down to E A D G C F A D like Archspire and Beyond Creation . My Epiphone SG has 11s and pretty much always in drop C for dat Gojira tone. The EMGs are the best pups I've had. The Gojira pick scrapes are clear as day on the bridge. Battery might need to get a checkup, but I never left it plugged in lol. Well worth $1500, I got it at Motor City Guitar in 2020. I also have an RG1527 7-string I got at Guitar Center in 2007 for $800 with some chipped paint. I need to get a tremol-no for the Edge bridge because tuning it pisses me off I love the Neural DSP Gojira plugin, including Richard Henshall's tones as bonus artist presets. Overdriven dual rectifiers are the best tone. Be'Lakor is by far my favorite guitar tone, and Haken's is super similar.


Jackalope Lovebird fruit wheat. Good head retention and light lacing. Aromas of big fresh tart strawberries and raspberries, fruit skin/seeds, light pepper/pine, wheat, herbal, grass, yeast earthiness. Taste of big tart strawberry, raspberry, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, wood, peppercorn, pine, light clove, wheat, cracker, bread, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Medium pine, herbal, spicy bitterness, and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, light to medium body, and crisp/clean/refreshing finish. Balanced bready/grainy malt, sticky/resinous hops, and fruit tang in the mouthfeel. Very flavorful with big authentic fruit flavor balanced with an American wheat style beer. A bit jammy, good hop bitterness, no real complaints. 4/5


Cheers

 

Finally, I get to join in my favorite weekly thread here.

The pour is dark, a bit darker than stout black with no head and less lacing.
The taste is, well, really good. So much coffee, espresso even. Chocolate for miles.
Figs and dates dance around the edges, but coffee shuns them. The bourbon takes it to the edge of sweet but stops short.
The feel is a great fit for the flavor, not quite viscous but close.
OA, one of the best BBA stouts I’ve had for quite a long time.
Cheers all! Back tomorrow.

 

BIF beer from @Ozzylizard . Ranger Creek Bourbon barrel Imperial Brown. Poor head retention and minimal lacing. Murky colored beer. Aromas of caramel, bourbon, toasted oak, brown bread, wood, pepper, pine, a bit of boozy nail polish. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, wood, peppercorn, pine, bourbon, toasted oak, and yeast earthiness. Touch of dark fruit. Light-medium pine/woody bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body. Balanced creamy/silky malt, sticky hop, and oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Lingering bitter and tannic oak dryness, with no cloying flavors. Smooth sipping, quite a boozy lingering 9.28% and barrel character. Well balanced barrel character, good malt complexity. 3.85/5


Cheers

 

American Solera Amber Canyon Magic, Sour Amber aged in oak barrels, 6.0% ABV; 4.0 overall

Pours an effervescent amber/honey color with rapidly falling beige head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Pears, oakyness, some funk on the edges, Chardonay once warmed up, a little honey too, great nose

T: Follows the nose, dry with leafy hops, white grapes, & tartness up front. Some blood orange mixes in with the grapes & oak as this beer warms up, plus tartness. Finishes with tartness, some citrus & oaky white wine

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, clinging to the teeth stickiness

This almost drinks more like a wine wanted more funk & hops. Full disclaimer, not a wine fan

 

Toppling Goliath Term Oil Coconut Cookie Monster Barrel Aged Stout, ABV listed at 13.4 ( see below ), 4.41 overall


TG Site says 13.2% ABV, probably varies batch to batch

Pours thick & effervescent cola/mahogany with rapidly falling mocha colored head, plenty of coconut residue. Zero head retention & lacing, plenty of viscosity. The residue gets a pass as it looks like coconut flakes

S: Loads of coconut, some cinnamon & Bourbon on the edges, dark chocolate in abundance once warmed up. Fantastic nose

T: Coconut, Bourbon, a little caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla. More Bourbon, Dark Chocolate, plenty of Coconut & a little vanilla coke once this beer warms up. Finishes with rich barrel notes, Dark Chocolate, Coconut & caramel

MF: Chewy, low carbonation, fairly warming, sticky on the teeth

So rich & decadent, a sipper to be sure, I am all about coconut being done right, this hits the marks for the style

 

This was my favourite beer of 2025, glad that you also likedi t!