New Beer Weekend #290

Also a fan of Old Chesterfield!
Cheers

 

Thanks for the kick off @Beersnake . In terms of tagging me for your Bigfoot tasting, just try to adhere to BA dictates, so used GMT BA Time for my one day Old Rasputin tasting to avoid issues. It’s pretty late for my normal beer drinking routine at home so typically stick with a Saturday and a Sunday beer here unless out and about.

Picked up several lighter new to me weekend beers to contrast with the heavy fuel cellar beers during February weekdays. Haven’t bought a Half Acre beer since they ended Lee McComb’s mixed fermentation program, but saw this one. I believe I had this before, but couldn’t find a rating, so here we are.

Half Acre Space

4.22/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



Full review linked above. I’m squarely with the masses with a -0.2% rDev score across 537 ratings. Wasn’t expecting the bronze / heavier malt treatment, but this is r the standard expectation for a Midwest IPA, and this is executed better than most. Can typo with Flaconer’s Flight listed for the classic C Hop blend known as Flaconer’s Flight. These are the hops I’m most in love with, and perhaps this is why this can spoke to me like a puppy at the dog pound looking for an owner. Solid offering with these listed expectations.

Saved their next door neighbors’s new beer I had to enter here for Prime Time Sunday.

Cheers!

 

O'so Brewing Double Narcissist. An imperial stout aged in Evan Williams and Elijah Craig bourbon barrels. I picked this beer up when I met with @Mdog at the brewery last Saturday. Later that evening, after getting off Central Waters Brewing's free bus to Stevens Point, WI, at the wrong stop, @LeRose, I had an encounter with a large white figure. As I was waiting for a Uber ride, as I sipped my on a barrel-aged stout pour I snuck on the bus, a large, very-intoxicated, pale man in his white underwear was slowly running from a very attractive female police officer. He ran up to me and put his arm around me. The cop was in good spirits, and simply requested that he return to his hotel room. I had the dark beer in a clear plastic glass in my hand, and just froze. He eventually complied. They did not pay any attention to me. After that, I traveled to my hotel room, then set out to find more trouble. This beer is a black hole that no light can escape. There was no foam. The smell is vanilla, charcoal, and bourbon. There is not much of a chocolate scent, which is typically an indication that the taste will be special. The taste is a bit chocolaty and nutty, with a strong boozy flavor that is solid. There is vanilla and caramel flavor that comes through on the back end. The ABV is 14.5%, but it is not too hot. The mouthfeel is thin, but silky, creamy, and smooth. Overall, this is a solid double-barrel imperial stout. I plan to purchase more if I come across it again.

 

Had to break from my planned Stevens Point reviews to pick up this new collaboration between Bauhaus and Hammerheart!

Bauhaus/Hammerheart Gråor: Alder the Grey

Appearance: Black, good head.

Smell: Roasted malts, hint of pine.

Taste: Mild sweetness then a complex mix of chocolate, roasted malts, and somewhat sweet smoke. Alderwood seems to give a sweeter smoke than other woods. Gives a little piney note, probably from the juniper. Full bodied. Finishes with a nice long lingering smokiness.

Overall: Ran out to grab some of this collaboration as soon as I saw it. Bauhaus and Hammerheart’s previous collab was tasty, and this one is another winner. Nice mix of standard porter flavors with the alderwood smoke and the botanical tincture doesn’t get completely buried.

 

Number two of two until I’m home later tonight. This is a šnyt pour of Pepa Speciální Ležák, a beer lagered in Godspeed’s pitch line Urquel barrels in honour of the barrel make, Pepa.



Pours a bright gold with ample expected foam.

The nose has a greater mineral quality to it, with muted herbal notes.

The beer is sweeter than expected, likely due to the higher ABV (7.2%). Soft texture from the pitch lined barrels. Grassy with a little soda cracker.

More substantial body than their lighter beers.

This is good. It’s a very different beer than I’m used to from Godspeed. Sweeter and more body. I’ll grab some cans to enjoy at home.

oh…. And here is my great lunch.



Kielbasa with sautéed onion, house sauerkraut and curry ketchup with a side of duck fat fries and maple mayo. Cheers!

 

Happy NBW everyone! This will probably be my only new beer of the weekend since I'm drinking more of my cellaruary ones. Luckily this one works for both as this was bottled in May 2023:

Mixed Blessings | Siren Craft Brew | BeerAdvocate





I liked this one a lot, but think it would have been better when fresher too. Still nice and flavorful though although I do wish the lime and coconut had more of a kick. Cheers everyone!

 

I picked this up yesterday, and always look forward to trying a new to me offering from Fair Isle.

Cab, 9.5% ABV.

Description from the brewery: A fruit forward and oak-aged farmhouse ale refermented on whole cluster Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Yakima Valley. Cab joins our line up of farmhouse ales that tease the line between wine and beer.



Pours a dark crimson/purple color. A dense pink head forms and rises quickly, and almost as quickly recedes to a ring.
Oh, big jammy grape aromas up front and center. With a near equal amount of hay field earthy/mustiness, and a bit of oak tannin character as well.
Taste wise, like the nose, big on the jammy fruits. Grapes become sweet and that funky hay field is right there as well. There is a light oak/vanilla character, and a tart acidic bite lingering on that I love.
A medium to full body. Crisp and effervescent carbonation that feels spritzy, that mingles with the acidic bite and becomes almost refreshing. With the tannins, it also finishes dry for such a fruit forward offering. And all leads to something very easy to drink, even with the ABV. Which is nowhere to be detected.

Another excellent offering from Fair Isle. Everything is so well done here. From the fruit, funky yeast and light oak balance, to just how drinkable something this close to 10% ABV is. Like just about everything I have had from this brewery, highly recommended.

Overall score is 4.24, easy A- bordering on an A score for me
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57519/779669/?ba=champ103#lists

Perfect while enjoying this beautiful weather out in my courtyard. With book and my old pup, Moe...who says HI

 

So I had a new to me beer that is from 2022, namely one of the four BCBS “Easter egg” 12 oz bottles.
@FBarber sent me one of each and I’m just getting around to drinking them.
Yes, my cellar is a bit out of control.
I grabbed one at random and it turns out I pulled the Wild Turkey edition. So after unwrapping the electrical tape, I popped the top and poured.

You have more fun than any other ten of us put together. Glad that story ended well!

 

Sorry, no great story like @GreenBayBA has, but I did drink a new to me wee heavy that was perfect for the 20 degree day we are enjoying.

Think I picked this up last November when I was in Tennessee, or maybe in Indiana going to or coming back. We used to drive it all in one day, but since it’s the closest thing to a vacation I get, we stop in the middle for two days of easy driving.
But I digress, the beer - it was on a clearance rack and the only one there I chose to take a chance on. Glad I did.

Pour was a warm mahogany color with a 3 cm beige head that left sheets of lacing.
The taste surprised me just a little with almost a clove flavor that came and went. Might that be the Angelica? No idea, but nothing else in there fit the bill. But beyond that, the vast majority of the flavor is a deep well of malty goodness with a slight smokiness to it.
The feel is nearly viscous, it has to have some body to carry all the malt in this.
OA, an excellent example of the style with a subtle twist. When I find it again I will buy the 4 or 6 pack, as not only is it really good, but it obviously aged well.
Cheers!

 

HammerHeart Brewing Host Ol. A smoked wheat ale. Courtesy of @Mdog. HammerHeart Brewing is New Beer Weekend personafied. My clear drinking horn shows a crimson red body with a pumpkin bottom. There was a light off-white foam ring. The smell is bacon, burning leaves, brown bread, cinnamon, and cardamom. The taste is oatmeal with cinnamon, honey-baked ham, tobacco, brown bread, and buttered popcorn. It is delicious. The mouthfeel is bready, creamy, and soft, with medium carbonation. Overall, this is a unique and delicious beer, that provides its own atmosphere. It is best enjoyed in nature.

 

This review is fantastic: a drinking horn, wonderful descriptors with a taste I had to google (cardamom). The best way to drink it, it’s always my favorite part: on a snowboard, while roofing the shed, or even stringing popcorn for the Xmas tree: best used when it’s more of a demand than a suggestion. I will apply these theorems when I try some new to me SB beers Sunday .

 

I already have this beer packed in a box for you. I will text you the picture.

 

Covert Artisan Cup Of Cocojoe Imperial Pastry Porter, 11% ABV. Pours black with a ring of brown bubbles that left an oily sheen. Aroma is coffee, coconut, vanilla, and cocoa. Taste follows, heavy on the amburana/cinnamon, quite sweet, faintly bitter. Decent sticky mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

4.4/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

First go with this one from Ever Grain. Assuming the hop bill is same as when first released, this one did well with the foul Sabro hop



Psychedelic Rooms
Hazy IPA | 6.9% ABV
Ever Grain Brewing Co. in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania

Reviewed by beerdedking from Pennsylvania

3.8/5 rDev -2.8% | Average: 3.91
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
There is quite a bit of dry rind flavor in this NEIPA. Noteworthy is the brewer's descriptor of "tangerine skin" in the taste profile. I get this plus a ton of rind. Other flavors are orange, grapefruit, and perhaps kiwi. Its appearance is quite nice. Akin to the look of pineapple juice, there is also a lush head that leaves ample lacing especially at the top of the glass. Scents are fairly minimal. Given the dryness, this beer drinks quite quickly and has active carbonation with a moderate feel. This is an interesting and unique NEIPA that I would drink again.

 

I got a selection from Tree House in Saratoga Springs last week. I was looking for new beers and this showed up. I had this before a number of years ago. I’m more a WCIPA fan, but this is still a very nice beer.


https://imgur.com/vJJsvwl
Drinking out of a Treehouse snifter.
Pours a hazy copper with a full frothy head.
Very strong smell of tropical fruits - particularly pineapple.
Nice thick mouth feel.
Absolute juice bomb with notes of oranges, pineapple, mango.
Some bitterness.
Nice balance.

 

Hop Butcher Mosaic Traveling Scientist APA (Mosaic pellets and Quantum extract).

Pours fully opaque, rich dark gold/orange color. Finger of soapy white head that dissipated quickly. 4.0

Aroma is diesel, sweet grapefruit, grapefruit peel, some lime. Hops are a little muddled. Sweet bready malts underneath. 3.75

Taste brings more complexity. Diesel, lime sorbet, some cherry, tangelo, dried blueberries, grapefruit peel, some earthy dank. 4.25

Solid medium body. Soft, lush. Little sweet upfront, but dries out nicely in the finish. 4.5

Packs a punch both in body and flavor for a sub 6% beer. Nicely done. 4.25
Overall: 4.14

 

East Brother - Bo Pils. Pint at Mojo's.

Pours clear light gold or dark yellow, medium sized to small head, lots of active carbonation. Smell is tons of grass, cut greenery, lots of bready grains.

Taste is similar, somehow leaning into both the hops and the grain at the same time. Bitterness is palpable and pleasant.

Mouthfeel is light and clean, crisp is not quite the right word. Good beer.

 

Grimm Martian Wildlife - Red IPA
Look: deep amber, thick fluffy head, excellent lacing
Smell: citrus zest, pine, grapefruit, apricot, orange
Taste: grapefruit, apricot, orange, pine, citrus zest
Feel: med body, mod carbo, good bitterness, juicy
Overall: 6.6% abv. - West Coast style Red IPA with Simcoe and Idaho 7 hops. Juicy feel with good bitterness too but not abrasive. Love the citrusy flavors with pine and citrus zest to round her out. Nice new brew.