New Beer Weekend #286

Had an enjoyable band meeting. Much needed. And we had a few scoops at Luce Line. The place was wedged. Lots of kids, some dogs, a tasty food truck, and I think quite a few folks were there to watch the Green Bay vs Chicago football game. Luce Line is doing well based on the scene last night. That's really cool. So I tried 4 new beers and towed a 5th new 4pk home. This beer is called Dark Helmet Schwarzbier. It's coffee-centric with some light char, a touch of cocoa, gently sweet toasted malts, a slight cola-like feel, and it goes down like a cheap hooker. <> My friend Hal, the sousaphone player, has had his beard since he was 17. He's never shaved it off! and was in rare form last night and really enjoyed his pints. What really gave me a lift was the blushing, eye contact, and massive pheromone release from the young hot bartender when I ordered the beer.
Hal gets schwarzbeard.

 

Cranberry IPA by Thirsty Dog
5.6% American IPA



Twelve ounce can pours a faded cranberry red body with white head. Scant lacing.

Aroma is faint cranberry woth light malt.

Taste follows nose. The cranberry flavor is quite tart, almost astringent. No hint of sweetness and the malt bill gets buried. Upon swallow, there is a modest hop bite.

Mouthfeel is medium with good carbonation.

Not a fan of the taste here which is too bad as I really enjoy their Bloodhound IPA featuring blood orange.

 

Does this have any similarity to Two Hearted? The can makes me wonder if Bell's is brewing this for Aldi

 

https://i.ibb.co/hJWrFQwv/****on.jpg

****onale from Birra Baladin

From a cellar temperature 330ml bottle dated 09/2025. Poured int a tulip. A two finger off white head on a clear gold. Good head retention. A thin layer that persists to the end. Sheets of clingy fine lacing.

Spice in the nose. Tastes spicy up front. Clove and orange. An almost imperceptibly bitter finish.

Very smooth. A medium/light body and moderate carbonation. Overall and outstanding and interesting Belgian Pale Ale. The spicy and floral notes and smooth body set it apart. Well worth a try.

3.94/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Next beer today.

Norwegian Haze - 22 Northmen Brewing - Alexandria, MN - American IPA - 7%

I want to like this beer. The flavors that come through are tasty. The problem is that there's so little flavor there. This beer confuses me, and not in a good way.
Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/56480/644470/
3.44/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
From a 16oz can. No date on the can.

With the name of the beer I was expecting a very hazy beer. This beer has some clarity to it. The color is a darker golden color. There's a thick 3 finger white head. The head retention is quite long lasting, and I am really enjoying the clingy lacing on the glass.
The aroma is somewhat faint. I do get some orange and tangerine notes to it, but all hop aromas are faint.
The flavor is like the nose - faint. I get some orange and tangerine notes from the hops. This beer seems somewhat malty to me. I don't think the beer is old, so I am confused by the flavor, and lack of hop flavors. The one positive is it has a nice bitterness on the finish.
The body is clingy feeling. The bitterness feeling lingers in my throat.
This is a confusing beer for me. I want to like it because of the bitterness and what hop flavor there is, but the flavor and nose is so damn weak.


I'll see if there's one more new beer in me today. Not sure yet.

 

Good mornning NBS/nbw and thanks @Beersnake for hosting this week
As per this weeks question, I mostly blind taste. Then read the thoughts of my esteemed coleauges.
Its warm and wet here in the 413, not a fan of this type of "winter"
Todays offering is from a brewery that we get here on accasion and rarely dissapoints
This Tripel is brewed with orange peel, yarrow and 3 hop varieties, and spices. I enjoy the depth of flavors, the texture is silky without being gross, yeast choice is spot on with nice esters, and a bit of white pepper.
I really enjoyed this

3 Hoppy Tripel Ale

Belgian Tripel | 9% ABV
HaandBryggeriet in Drammen, Norway

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

4.06/5 rDev +4.1% | Average: 3.9
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from an 11.16 oz can, with a BB dated of 08/27.
A - Deep yellow, slight haze, excellent vigoruos carbonation. A thck white cap resides during the experience. Lacing is spectacular. A visual beaty this one is.
S - Some orange peel, yeasty esters, warm baguette, a bit of white pepper, and honey, a floral element in there from hops and yarrow.
T - Spicy belgian yeast flavor, add to that the nice grain bill with a nice crisp cracker flavor, Orange marmalade, and again some honey thread, really interesting,
M - Medium in body with a sweet thread that runs through the entire sip. Palate is balanced with some nice carbonation. Finish is protracted, linger is a bit sticky and Sauterne like
O - A very fun offering that is packed with flavor, delivered in a silky texture that coats the palate without being intrusive.
I will be purchasing more for certain

 

I'd mix the cranberry with the blood orange. Sounds like they let the cranberry overpower the beer. The blood orange would help take the edge off. Or it could be worse... But I do know the two fruits go well together from my past life.

 

I’m game. Hopefully I will be at their tap house this week for their annual Wulver release event and I’ll ask for a small cuvée. The Bloodhound Orange is a super enjoyable IPA that matches the fruit flavor and hoppy bitterness. Cheers.

 

Another tasty drop from last eve. Luce Line Distant Future NZ Pils. Quite fruity, dry as a mofo, earthy, gently sweet, tangy with overripe fruit & zest in a lightly lingering finish. Very smart tasting and lightly full-bodied. Damn good as they say in Marrakesh. I'd get this one again in a heartbeat.

 

It's got some similarities, but it's more of a tropical juicy west coast ipa. Not as malty on body as two hearted. I looked online and it said they use centennial and galaxy. So my blind assessment was not too bad it's brewed at ABW Virginia Beach. As far as I can tell, that's probably New Realm's contract brand.

 

Sierra Nevada - Springfest IPA
6% ABV

I'm trying to get into this beer, it's leaving something to be desired to my taste. It treads waters very close to session IPA territory in feel and taste IMO



3.77/5 rDev -8.9% | Average: 4.14
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Springfest can be described by the following ...dry, grassy, herbal, light, crisp, lemony, citrus, pale, cracker malt, rice malt, easy drinking, hoppy pilsner-like, summery, and thirst quenching. Pouring delivers a bountiful head leaving some suds along the glass. It drinks quickly with some drying bitterness. I find this to be closer to a summer appropriate IPA as it reminds of a session IPA very much. It's a nice option that would go well with about most any meal. A safe approachable play from SN, but I'd reach for many many other IPAs first if given the option

 

Interesting! Thanks, Ian!

 

Last night at the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, OR, I enjoyed The Fire Next Time, a Bamberg-style smoked lager from Otherlands Beer in collaboration with Wander Brewing (both breweries are in Bellingham, WA).



Everything about this beer is a delight, from the clear mahogany body with fiery orange highlights to the rich, soft malt flavors adorned with a gratifying amount of smoke.

Not gonna lie: I'm kind of thinking about going back for another couple pints today. It could happen.

 

Other Half X Monkish - All Puggle Everything
DDH Imperial Hazy IPA
8.5% ABV
Canned 12/19/25



3.98/5 rDev -5% | Average: 4.19
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This collab by Other Half and Monkish delivers a nice one-two punch from Citra and Nectaron powered flavors. Fuggle hops are in the mix as well, supposedly bringing an earthy nature to the experience. A nice full bodied pour provides muted scents that are in fact earthy in nature. I was expecting the strong aroma that Citra can provide, but no. Sips are full flavored crossing the palate with lemon, lime, orange, peach, strawberry, and kiwi fruit notes while sweetness is limited nicely. Some dankness, resin, and drying bitterness are present with none being overly prevalent. This is well balanced for the style, and rightfully so the hops are in the forefront while oats and wheat bring up the rear. Overall, this is good to great hop juice that is very drinkable albeit a bit ubiquitous in the Citra forward vein.

 

Happy NBS all!
Today I finally got to a crowler that my niece had sent me last December.
It was 32 oz so I needed to wait for someone to share it with.
So - how many of you knew that there was a Minneapolis in Kansas? My niece apparently lives there or close by.
The very interesting brewery there, “The Farm and the Good Fellows” has some impressive sustainability features. This one for instance has kernza wheat which apparently has 10 foot long roots that allows it to grow back year after year.

The pour is transparent amber with an impressive near white head that leaves sheets of lacing.
The taste threw me a little, but then I read the description. A type of flaked wheat (Kernza) is added to the mash and it adds a nutty taste that is simultaneously bitter.
It’s a good thing that it’s crisp, (well, relatively) as I wanted to drink it fairly quickly so we could get back to work.
OA, it’s really quite good. The addition of the flaked wheat makes it stand out from the normal.
I kinda miss the growlers - at least those you can re-cap and extend the drinking time for a bit.
But it was still a fun beer.
I’ll be back later tonight,
Cheers all!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. While Ludlam Island Brewery in Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey, is not well-known outside of South Jersey, it brews some very good beer. One of my personal favorites is a 14.5% Coffee Stout called Harry's Darker Side, which is released annually. It is brewed with excellent beans from a local grinder. I drank a can last night. For years I've wondered how a BBA version would drink. I now have the answer. BBA Harry's Darker Side is aged for more than a year in Elijah Craig barrels. This monster is 17.5% ABV. I'm surprised it isn't packaged in12 oz. cans.

The cans were released around December 20, 2025. I let the Stout sit at room temperature for about 2 hours. It is a dark mahogany. The frothy, medium mocha-colored head disappeared very quickly. A fragrant nose with roasted malt, freshly-brewed coffee, chocolate, and some dark fruit. The bourbon scent is subtle but noticeable. This is delicious! Like the base Stout the Harry's coffee is the key - it is strong and fresh. The chocolate notes are of the baker's variety - more bitter than sweet. There is a hint of back cherry and raisin, along with earthy char, in the background. The barrel effect is strong; you taste the Elijah Craig. It compliments the other flavors without distracting. It seems to me that the mouth feel less viscous that the base Stout which is surprising. I really thought it would be more chewy. The carbonation level is a little higher than I'd anticipated. And there is no escaping the 17.5% ABV; this Stout is a monster so sip it slowly. Overall, this variant of one of my favorite Coffee Stouts is terrific. Well-conceived and executed.

4.39/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

I rated the base Stout slightly higher because it is more viscous and chewy.

I hope you are all enjoying your new beer(s) as much as I am. Have a great week, everyone. Cheers, NBW!

 

Please tell your friend George RR Martin to go finish his damn series of books

 

Levante - Royal Scepter, RIS thanks to @Braunmeister_1943

16oz can served in a curvy Fremont glass. Canned 10/16/25.

Pours very dark brown with a more than a finger of head on the pour. Head settles over a few minutes, leaves some nice looking lacing up the side of the head, a thick meniscus, and a thin but even skin across the surface. Smell is chocolate and vanilla, definitely some black licorice and dark roast coffee.

Taste is kick-in-the-palate RIS. Black licorice and almost resinous bitterness, nearly charred coffee, background molasses sweetness, burnt chocolate and scorched marshmallow.

Mouthfeel is almost thick, very smooth. This is a really nice beer.