New Beer Weekend #304

Life's Story from Red Tape Brewery

Poured a 355ml can into a pint glass. A two finger off white head on a cloudy dark apricot. Good head retention. Sheets of fine lacing.

Fresh citrus and pine smells. The taste follows the nose. Bready malts. The flavours are well melded. The overall flavour intensity is somewhat subdued compared to many American IPAs. A very mildly bitter finish.

A smooth texture. A medium/light mouthfeel. Good carbonation. Overall a nice clean American IPA.

3.56/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

 

Thank you Ian for your open. Glad your car situation is resolved as soon also will be your kitten situation. Also didn’t notice mouthfeel and aroma have been shortened/changed to feel and smell for the drop down menu until reading your post.

Offered an idea (from my ratebeer days) of having a Mayor for each brewery based on the Beer Advocate who has reviewed the highest count of beers. Regular posters here know @jonphisher is the Mayor of Tonewood, @mactrail is the Mayor of Twin Elephants, and so on, but adding the Mayor designation to each brewery would help others know who may be the most trusted person to consult their reviews if considering a new brewery.

I did plan to hit Spiteful early this afternoon, but have been up for several hours, sleep screwed up watering new sod in the early morning. Will go there early next week to rate a few more plus stock up on more new to me beers to rate from home. Going with a Revolution weekend theme, starting with a Belgian-Style Saison Ale from the past they returned after a long hiatus. I still recall a board game of the same name we played as kids in the 1970s.

Revolution Brewing Coup D’Etat

4.16/5 rDev +10.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4



Full review linked above. This beer returns after a several year hiatus. Bought a four pack and glad I did. Lots of funk, coriander, citrus and lemon. Hops helps balance the sweet fruit. Drinks at about 5-6% ABV vs. the listed 8%. A solid offering I recommend and would buy again.

Will set the alarm for 6 to watch Les Habs on ABC and listen to the White Sox. Cheers and see you tomorrow!

 

I love the mayor idea @ChicagoJ, I dub thee mayor of Revolution.

Just checking in from lacrosse tournament, beers later.

Go Habs Go, but if buffalo wins I’m ok too, it’ll be interesting to see if anyone can take the Canes down. I feel like the last few years has put them on a mission to finally accomplish the goal this year.

 

Time for my next new beer. I picked it up last Saturday.

Cascadian Dark Ale - Three Twenty Brewing - Pine City, MN - Black IPA - 6.3%

There's not a lot of beers in this style, so it is fun to see one pop up. Very tasty. Nice malt forward with licorice notes. Hop bitterness on the finish. Delicious.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49804/792693/
3.81/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From a 16oz can. Canned on 05/06/2026

This beer is totally pitch black colored with no chance of any light shining through. The head is extremely thick - 4 finger in size and tan colored. The creamy looking head is long lasting and it leaves pretty good lacing on the glass.
The nose is dark and roasty smelling. I do get licorice notes in the aroma that add to the roasted malts. There's a hint of hops that also come into play.
Up front the beer has a slightly sweet malty hit to it that has roasted notes. Licorice notes come into play in the middle. This beer does change over toward the hops right after. The hops don't go away with lingering bitterness.
The body has a clingy feeling with the lingering hops. The body is pretty full feeling.
This is a tasty beer in the style. I am glad I got it.

I may have one more in me today. See you all later. Cheers!

 

Hey, gang. Thanks @superspak for the kickoff. Love the kittens! At one time we had five - started with one rescue, vet checked totally missed the fact of pregnancy and suddenly we had four. The fifth - "that cat is absolutely not coming in this house" says me...two days later... It was friendly but slightly neurotic - mostly stayed in our bedroom closet. We had two rescued brown Labs at the time. One of the kittens adopted the dogs - wouldn't leave them. It was a zoo, though.

It'll be a light weekend for me. Dress rehearsal last night and a show tonight and matinee tomorrow. Then we're mostly done with music for a while. Next weekend we'll be headed up to Barreled Souls for a release event - looking forward to that break as we are spending all our time clearing rooms for our upcoming addition. Amazing how much crap you collect in 40-plus years and how much hasn't seen the light of day in quite a while.

 

Central Waters Twenty Eight

Appearance: Black, small head fades out to a ring around the edge of the glass.

Smell: Chocolate, wood, molasses, a secondary baker’s chocolate.

Taste: Neutral arrival, then slowly eases into mild chocolate and wood flavors. Low sweetness but not bitter. Alcohol is apparent but not hot. Medium bodied. Stays woody through the finish.

Overall: A beer received from @GreenBayBA this is a somewhat muted barrel aged stout. The base beer and the barrel fight it out, with the barrel winning with some strong wood flavors. Very neutral—not sweet, not bitter, not overly boozy. A solid beer but not a standout.

 

Happy NBW everyone! With my first and only new brew of the day, I liked this collab barrel aged imperial stout from The Bruery and More Brewing: The Pact | The Bruery | BeerAdvocate





Nice amount of barrel character in this one, would be interesting to try a blend of the base beers used here without the barrel aging (More's Henna and Bruery's Monster stouts). Cheers!

 

Phenomenal start, Ian. Sending positive vibes on the job front.

 

When I first saw your pic, I thought they were selling "Buckets of Beer."

 

Haven't seen Schell is ages.....miss many of their classic style offerings!

Good stuff!

Cheers

 

Peroni Nastro Azzuro 0.0% • Low-Alcohol Beer • 2/11/27 best-by date (Nov. 2 or Feb. 11?)

Short version: I was looking for a "beer-flavored beer" in the N/A category and found it. I'm tempted to buy a sixer of regular Peroni to compare with this b/c I'm not 100% sure I'd be able to tell the difference. This is frankly a fantastic version with a solid peachy bread malt presence both in the nose and the flavor. About the only knock on it is I drained its carbonation pretty good with a heavy pour, but that's nitpicky, especially for a beer I'm as likely to drink straight out of the bottle as pour into a fancy glass.

There's no way N/A beers used to be this good, right? Or maybe it's just me? Either way, I would consider buying this by the 12-pack or even case, and right now I'd say it's my favorite N/A beer out of the 5-6 I've tried so far.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/258/601773/?ba=Premo88#review
4.11 (+24.5% rDev)

No surprise I'm over the mark with my numbers — my Top 20 rDev beers are almost all macro-lagers and AALs. I figure it's because I'm reviewing to style and not comparing Miller Lite to Heady Topper or BCBS, but what do I know?

Cheers!

 

Straw included?

 

Onto the real thing:

Real Ale Brewing Co.'s TXPA • American Pale Ale • 5% ABV • Sept. 4, 2026 best-by date

A solid if simple APA with the hops showcased ... mostly I get grapefruit up front and onion in the finish. They used some rice in the mashbill to give it a slightly crisper, cleaner finish, and it works — in fact, you can feel the biscuity malt flavor trying to jump in but coming up a bit short, which is cool if for no other reason than it's different from the average APA. Others with a more discerning nose and palate might get other fruits, but I'm stuck on grapefruit and maybe a bit of guava.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/458/757439/?ba=Premo88#review
3.78 (-7.6% rDev)

It's arguably better than I'm scoring it, and it hurts to underrate anything from Real Ale — one of my favorite Texas breweries. I am enjoying it, and I kinda dig the way the rice (or something) has tamed the malt presence, making it less thick and sweet. A nice variation.

Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBW
This is one of many new-to-me beers that I picked up in Indy last week. My first from Baladin. My first teku was branded Baladin, but it didn't survive...


11.2oz bottle coded 040/250-3 poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 6.5% ABV. The beer pours somewhat bright in an orange amber color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island leaving a few tiny spots of lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet pale malt and vague spice and orchard fruit. The taste is more semisweet pale malt with clove, bubblegum and maybe coriander? all mingled up. Very mild finishing bitterness. The feel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. The label claims bottle conditioning and it's apparent in the softness and smoothness. Overall, very good Belgian pale from Italy.

Cheers all!

 

Right? They should at least include a lil cup, attached to the side, so as to dip in the bucket!

 

Good Saturday afternoon, New Beer Weekenders. This Spring has been wet and cool and this is really the first good day to review a new beer on the deck. Our in-town brewery, Autodidact Beer, has been on a southern hemisphere hop kick for quite awhile. They release at least one DIPA almost weekly. While they are well-crafted, I am burnt out on these ales. And it's not just Autodidact; many of our local breweries are totally dialed-in on New Zealand hops. So, I didn't have super high expectations for Gilded Cage - until I tried it at the brewery. It is hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Southern Cross, and Riwaka Hop Kief. I think the inclusion of Mosaic hops makes a huge difference. Gilded Cage bridges the gap between southern hemisphere and more traditional Citra/Mosaic IPAs.

Reviewed one week after can release. It is murky, muddy tangerine in color and it sports more than a finger cap of fluffy, bright white foam and very thick, long-lasting lacing. The floral, fruity nose includes lemon, lime, tangerine, tropical fruit, berry, pine needles, grass, and hot house flowers. It is delicious! The hop bill is very well-balanced with abundant tart citrus, sweet tropical fruit, melon, and red berry. The Mosaic hops really stand out. But the Southern Cross adds notes of pine sap and earthy spice. All of the tastes are bold but blend seamlessly. There is a pleasing dose of clean hop bitterness throughout. This ale has the luxurious mouth feel that typifies Autodidact's DIPAs. It is plush with appropriate carbonation and the 8.1% ABV gives it good substance without overpowering.

4.44/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I truly hope that Auto brews this one again. Cheers, NBW!

 

Boskeun
Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers


Overall, disappointed.
Very sour, which dominated for me. Hard to find any other taste.
Little head, so maybe there was something wrong with the bottle I got.

3.64/5 rDev -12.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Drinking out of a small snifter.
Pours a clear dark gold with an almost non-existent head.
Smells of sour Brett.
Fair mouth feel.
Much more sour than I would expect.
Sourness really dominates for me to the extent I can’t taste much else.

 

The weekend is filled with kids' theater, not as much with beer reviews, but here's Revolution of Ruby from Firestone Walker + Revolution, a "dry hopped American barleywine ale."

12oz bottle served in a snulip. 2025 bottle. Bought it at Propagator a few weeks or a couple months ago.

Pours slightly hazy amber-ruby, medium sized head on the pour, settles into a barely detectable dusting with a strong ring and a couple abstruse islands. Smell is bark, hops, pine, toffee, strong Bigfoot vibes with something more overtly fruity overhanging the whole thing.

Taste is similar -- not as bitingly bitter as Bigfoot, more on the fruit side, something makes me think of currants. More toffee and less bark. Grapefruit juice, or rind.

Mouthfeel is big, chewy, not oppressive but not relaxing. Overall, very tasty -- cross between Bigfoot and Imperial Red, I think.

 

Good evening NBW
I've seen nothing but high praise for Transient's big stouts (@ovaltine), so it was hard to contain myself when I stumbled across this and 5 of the variants at a store in Indy.

Transient Artisan Ales Buckley

Imperial Stout with vanilla beans, Tugboat coffee and maple syrup added


500mL bottle 2025 vintage poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at just above fridge temp 13.5% ABV per label. The beer pours dense black with no light penetration and meager light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and a tiny island of microbubbles. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring vanilla, black coffee and bittersweet roasted malt. The taste is a bittersweet delicious blend of cold brew coffee, vanilla and maple syrup over deep roasted malt. Moderate final bitterness. The feel is full bodied with just less that average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. The ABV is felt only as heat to the tongue and belly. Overall, delightful, world class stout. Near perfect balance of sweet and bitter adjuncts.

I've got one each of rye barrel and Bliss maple syrup barrel aged variants, but they will have to wait for another weekend. Cheers