New Beer Weekend #303

When we start getting drone pics of the beer???

 

Did you find that bad boy locally?

 

Glad that one held up for you. I have had quite a few positive experiences with Bruery bottles that I sat on for way too long.

 

Well, I am headed home from lunch with my mom for mother's day. The lunch part was not good for me, because the place didn't have their normal menu, just a brunch menu that had nothing on there that I had any desire to eat. Time for a beer at Hayes Public House in Buffalo, MN.

Spruce Tip Scottish Ale - 5.5%

Spruce tips and a Scottish Ale, hell yes. This is absolutely delicious. So happy I stopped.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33504/800193/
4.15/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
On tap at the brewery.

Clear looking amber colored beer. The beer has a bit of a tan head.
The aroma is lighter, but I do get the malty notes I would expect from the style. Nutty notes hit my nose.
The flavor is, well, for a better word - wow. I get some caramel nutty notes off the bat. These notes are replaced by the spruce tips. The spruce starts off floral and has a green finish to it, if that makes sense. There's a slight bitterness on the finish with an earthy flair.
The body is good feeling. Nice depth, and fullness. The spruce tips add an amazing sticky feeling to the beer. Clingy feeling.
Well, I am so glad I stopped here. This beer is hitting everything right with me.

See you all for one more beer when I get home.

 

Hola Todos.
Been a super busy weekend but I did squeeze in a tiny bit of "hydration." Also I got to add it to the DB.

Tropical Tides
On tap at the brewery in Coronado.
Slightly hazy in appearance, straw to gold in color. Fluffy head. Good retention. Light lacing.
Nose is a mellow, slightly creamy, melange of tropical notes with a hint of citrus. Mellow mango, pineapple, and orange zest.
Flavor is definitely a balance of the orange zest and smooth mango. A slightly creamy malt note serves as a nice foundation.
Mouthfeel is on the lighter side, good carbonation level, and the finish is both dryly bitter and a tad sweet.
3.75/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Okay. I I'll admit I am the last person on the face of the earth (or at least on BA) to drink Hop Stoopid. I am mightily impressed! For its price point this is a terrific DIPA. I would drink this regularly if it were brewed year round and available fresh.

It pours a pretty honey color with a half finger cap of fluffy, milk-white foam and soapy lacing. The smell is bready malt, and notes of lemon and grapefruit. This stuff is great! The taste is simple but effective with sweet, bready malt, tart lemon and grapefruit, and biting hop bitterness. It has a full, creamy mouth feel with appropriate carbonation, and the 8% ABV gives it good substance but allowing for a second (or third) pour. Overall, Hop Stoopid is, if the phrase exists, a Sessionable Imperial IPA.

4.19/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Have a great week, everyone! Cheers, NBW!

 

Whams Above Whams Below
10% pastry stout
Mortalis



Poured from a pint can, the beer is black with tan head. Very nice lacing.

Aroma is a delightful mix of coffee and vanilla with a smidgen of coconut.

Taste follows nose with the coffee up front. A wave of chocolate at mid swallow . You can feel the ABV, but it is not hot. Upon finish, a bit more vanilla flavor.

Mouthfeel is heavy with good carbonation.

Hard to imagine a better pastry stout for coffee lovers.

 

That is a sexy looking beer IMHO

 

Sadly, the last of my 2026 Super Bowl Squares BIF haul courtesy of @masamuel2 Cheers Mike!

North Park/Horus collab Bird World Fighter Jet ( appears to be a F-35 ) Double Bourbon BarrelAged Imperial Stout. Aged for 28 months in Heaven Hill barrels & blended some aged 24 moths in 14-year Ellijah Craig barrels, 16.5% ABV; 4.42 overall

Pours like 10,000-mile motor oil in a chestnut/mahogany hue with a pinky of mocha colored head produced by a super vigorous pour. Zero head retention or lacing; viscous as all get out

S: Plenty of Bourbon, dark cherries, plums, figs

T: Smooth Bourbon infused with chocolate, leafy hops, figs, dark cherries up front. Dark chocolate, Bourbon, figs & cherry tobacco as this beer warms up. Finishes with plenty of Bourbon dark chocolate cherries. plums, figs & faint tobacco notes

MF: Chewy, subtle carbonation, pretty warming to be sure. Body just gets smoother as this beer warms up, pretty sticky on the teeth

You can tell this is a monster, but the brawn is accompanied with some finesse, much to love here

 

I am sure most of the beers I reviewed my first 2-3 years on BA wouldn't impress me as much, until we develop time travel, we will never know

 

‘t Smisje BBBourgondier

Really nice Belgian Quad

Reviewed by zotzot from Vermont

4.16/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Drinking out of a small goblet.
Pours a dark amber with a thin head.
Smells of caramel.
Nice smooth mouth feel.
Malt forward. Sweet taste of light caramel.

 

Today's first New Beer comes from a brewery that's new to me and a state I haven't ticked yet.



RaR Doppelbock

Nice clear mahogany body with persimmon highlights. A gentle swirl of the glass regenerates the head of ivory foam, which shows low retention and minimal lacing. The nose falls on the sweet side, with touches of brown sugar, wheat toast, and faint cherries rising above a mouth-watering foundation of nutty Vienna and toasty Munich malts. The flavor starts out quite sweet, but once again the malt character slides in to blunt the sweetness. Munich malt flavor steals the spotlight, followed by Vienna malt, Wheat Thins, subtle roasted malt, a hint of caramel, a trace of cherries, and a whiff of alcohol. Bitterness starts off earthy and turns floral, and never really challenges the malt. The body is medium with a soft, creamy texture and fine, reserved carbonation.

This is a really nice doppelbock, especially on this mild, partly cloudy spring afternoon. Not much to quibble about, though I'd prefer a smidge less sweetness and less prominent alcohol. But this beer is still a very tasty way to tick a brewery and a state that are new to me.

 

Well, home now, and my final new beer this weekend.

Frilly Toothpicks - Three Twenty Brewing - Pine City, MN - Amreican Pale Ale - 6%

Wow, this is tasty. Lots of pine flavor in this Pale Ale.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49804/800208/
3.9/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a 16oz can. Canned on 04/22/2026

This beer is nice and clear looking. The color of the beer is a nice golden color. There's a 2 finger white head to this beer that is very fluffy looking, and long lasting. There's a good deal of lacing on the glass.
The aroma is hop based. I am getting some earthy pine notes in this aroma, that are pleasing.
Oh, wow. The pine just hits right away in the flavor profile. This is a nice long lasting flavor on my taste buds. There's an earthy quality to the flavor, and there's a nice smooth bitterness. The finish is still mostly pine, but there's also a slightly floral element to this beer.
There's is a resin feeling in this beer. Nice bodied. Good depth.
This is very tasty, and I am so glad I brought a can home to try.

See you all when this virtual bar opens back up again. Cheers!

 

Look: glowing gold, cloudy on the pour but clears up, lively carbo bubbles, long lasting creamy head, excellent lacing

Smell: vanilla, berries, orange, oak

Taste: vanilla, berries, orange, peach, melon, resin

Feel: med, well carbonated, creamy

Overall: 11% abv. Big heat on this one. Like a shot of liquor was poured on top of the brew. The vanilla, oak notes blend in great with the citrus notes quite well. It's inviting to take another sip, but the heat gives me enough restraint to slow down. This brew is a bit harsh, but I do like it and look forward to knocking down more. Pairs well with Flame Thrower by Judas Priest. Cheers!

4.37/5 rDev +11.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

 

Trap Door - Plague Doctor black IPA

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Can is not dated, as far as I can see. Bought it a week ago at Chuck's Hop Shop.

Pours dark brown at the thin parts and near black at thick parts. Smallish head, tan in color, fairly coarse. Lots of carbonation. Smell is roast coffee and pine, some toffee.

Taste is similar, seems surprisingly malty and rich, bitterness is a strong compound of burnt coffee, singed toffee, and pine resin.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, surprisingly smooth despite the apparent carbonation. Overall, pretty good.