New Beer Weekend #122

Next up is another beer courtesy of @foundersasap and our current BIF. Saugatuck Brewing Peanut Butter Porter

Dark brown with a good amount of khaki colored head receding to a thin cap. Aroma is heavy, heavy, heavy on the peanut butter. Hard to detect anything beneath it, but it still smells nice. Taste is also peanut butter forward. Faint roast notes lurk behind along with mild bitterness. Relatively light bodied and moderately thin. Good after dinner beer. Thanks, Jeff!
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Village Cork & Keg in Granby

It's almost inevitable with some of the super, super highly rated beers. I think Tree House makes great beer, but I'm below rDev 95% of the time.

 

I have read about Casita and I know they make some really interesting and quite tasty brews. Wilson is an interesting location.

 

Lawson's Mad River Maple Amber, 8.0% ABV; 3.75 overall cheers to @WunderLlama for this one.

Pours an effervescent amber with a thumb of sand colored head. Great lacing & very good head head retention

S: Maple candy & toastyness

T: Toastyness & Maple sweetness, plus dryness & a little woody hop bitterness up front. More of the same as this beer warms. Finishes a little dry with Maple & Caramel sweetness, leafy & woody hops

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, good balance

Drinks easy for the ABV, the Maple adds some balance for the style. Good for the style, but wanted a little more taste-wise

 

Godspeed x Czechvar Speciální Edice Buh Originálí Ležák.

This is a beer I am excited to try. It is the first collaboration beer Czechvar has been a part of and it is with my favourite local lager makers Godspeed. In fact, I must have been too excited as I forgot to snap a picture of the pour…



Pours a bright copper with moderate head that sticks around a short while before retiring to a thin film on the top of the beer.

The aroma is soda cracker, light floral and grassy hops. Pleasant.

Taste follows closely. Cracker, grass, floral notes, a light spicy finish. Very well balanced and enjoyable.

Light to medium bodied and eminently drinkable.

This is really a great lager. It feels like something one should stock one’s fridge with. I’m glad I bought a few and am looking forward to sending some out to my BA NBW BIF brethren.

 

New beer #2 for the weekend

Left Hand Wake Up Dead
12oz bottle vintage 2022 best before 08/12/2027 poured into a teku glass at just above fridge temp 10.2% ABV. The beer pours midnight black with sparce light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. Minimal lacing. The aroma is mild with dark chocolate and licorice, plus a hint of berry. The taste is bittersweet roasted, charred malt with more dark chocolate, dark fruit and coffee notes. Medium bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with just less that average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. ABV is well hidden. Overall, very good RIS.

It's been years since I've seen this beer around so I bought a four pack before I realized I'd never reviewed it. It's a throwback straight forward Russian Imperial Stout and I like it. Cheers all!

 

Excellent review, Kane barleywines are special.

 

All right, I've decided to have one more tonight, and it's another thanks to the awesome @Beersnake1

Diggin' and Diggin' - Monkish Brewing - Torrance, CA - Imperial IPA - 10% ABV

I will say that I think this is a very well constructed beer. I think these brewers know very well what they're doing. The problem with this beer for me is there's a flavor in it I have a problem with. I'm not a fan of "herbal" flavors - to dance around the subject. They do not agree with me, and there's a bit of it on the back. I'm honored to try this beer, but that flavor does have an effect on my review.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28657/358552/


4.04/5 rDev -7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
This is a beautiful pouring beer. It looks quite thick while pouring. It looks like juice, and looks somewhat creamy. Pineapple colored pour with a 2 finger white and fluffy head. The retention is decent and there's some good lacing on the glass.
The nose is hop based, as expected. I get a ton of pineapple in it.
The flavor is juicy - pineapple juice hits up front and hard. The back has an "herbal" flavor to it. I will be honest: I am not a fan of "herbal" flavors. To me, it takes away from the pineapple.
The body is so damn thick, and juicy. This beer is not boozy feeling at all.
I think this a well constructed beer, it's just that one flavor that doesn't agree with me at all.


Another that I'm way off the charts. Since I have to work tomorrow, I'd better call it a night. Maybe my beers after work tomorrow I'll be a bit closer to the target. Cheers all.

 

Old Irving Brewing Triple Beezer 3X IPA, 10.2; 4.14 overall

Cheers to @ovaltine for this!

Pours a very hazed gold with a pinky of cream colored head. Sheets of lacing & above average head retention

S: Cakey, tropical fruits, some citrus, nose seems muted

T: Cakeyness, pineapple, mango, passion fruit & green melon & a touch of piney hops, some dryness up front. Passion fruit, mango, leafy hops, dryness, tangerine & pineapple as this beer warms up. Finishes with pineapple. lime, dryness, a little pine & mango

MF: Medium body, super light carbonation that becomes creamy as this warms, lovely balance

A big beefy bruiser of a Hazy Imperial that is in my wheelhouse, but drinks like it is at least a few ABV points lower

 

TRVE Brewing Cosmic Crypt farmhouse pale ale. Courtesy of @beergoot. The color is clear golden yellow. Picturesque. I experienced quite a bit of foam. The smell is lemon, honey, lavender, and freshly-baked bread. The taste is yeasty lemonade. Light white grape and grassy flavors are also present. The mouthfeel is clean, smooth, and light, with higher carbonation. Overall, this is a flavorful but light, easy-drinking, delicious beer. This would be the perfect beer to rehydrate with after digging a final resting place for someone in outer space.

 

Sea Hag New England Brewing 6.8% IPA

Not sure sure if Ive ever seen this beer locally, figured I give it a shot.
Pretty hazy with nice frothy head. Body is slightly lighter than medium
Taste is oranges and pine. Hint of pilsner malts balances beer nicely.
Finish is crisp and clean with a nice citrusy/piney bitterness that lingers.
Nice straight forward IPA. Glad I bought a sixer of 12 ounce cans! .

 

Well hello everyone, I have been following along all day and now I finally join the fun. I really wanted to try this beer last weekend but didn't get around to it so here I am now, excited to try this one.

Sam Adams - Chocolate Bock



This one pours very very dark brown, crystal clear when held to light; very frothy and dense cream brown head, lingers in the form of a ever present thick film; some minor lacing.

Chocolate is front and center, it comes off almost as cocoa powder in dark chocolate form; minor dark toast aroma; rich all around in both chocolate and malt.

The taste is very rich; chocolate, darker toffee, slightly toasted dark bread; just a hint of rye like spice on the finish.

The body is somewhere on the blurred line of light and medium; has a very soft smooth and creamy carbonation, this pairs very nicely with the chocolate; and what makes it even nicer is how clean it finishes...the chocolate comes and goes; one second its there the next its gone; really no bitterness to speak of. For such a rich beer there is very minimal sweetness.

This beer is quite tasty in my opinion; the flavors all meld so well, very balanced and drinkable.

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Hey @MacMalt this is the book our boys picked out at the library today...who is getting the C & D letter, authors or brewery?



So which is it friends???

 

I saw NEBCO pop up at a few stores here and was really hoping they had this beer, I remember trying it years ago and really enjoying it. Unfortunately the store I was at had two of their hazy IPAs but not this one. I'm hopeful that I will see it soon though.

 

This was my 1st NEBCO beer for me. Its a really nice old school IPA.
Nice change of pace from all the NEIPA I have had lately. I will definitely try some of their
others beers that are in stock locally.

 

I had a NA beer earlier so now I can have a real beer for my next post. It's Founders 4 Giants Imperial IPA. It's been around a few years now but I'd never had it until today. It was on the singles shelf at the store so I grabbed it.

I should have looked at the date on the bottom because the beer is almost 6 months old. Add to that the fact that I rarely enjoy double IPAs because they typically use too many different varieties of hops so that they end up a muddled mess of flavors. Either it's for that reason or because the beer is almost old, but I didn't really enjoy it. Oh well, not much lost, but experience was gained.

 

Your description of this (“a big beefy bruiser”) is spot on, Russ. I had two of these in one sitting right after I purchased it and I ….. needed a moment.

Or three.

 

Dangerous!

 

It's this

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9790/