New Beer Weekend #124

pFriem - CDA

16oz can served in a curvy Fremont glass. Can is dated 11-17-2022. Bought it at Beer Junction earlier today.

Pours black at arm's length, dark brown when inspected more closely. Fairly large head, pretty good retention, settles into a thick pillowy uneven layer with strong lacing all the way up the sides. Smell is a little bit of roast coffee, some hard to place citrus/resin aroma, something else, darkly fruity...maybe figs or dates or something, but not very clear.

Taste is strongly roasty with a strong bright citrus and floral hop profile, a little piney resin. A little bit of a burnt toffee sweetness, maybe a little bit of a nutty chocolate.

Mouthfeel is medium and dry. Overall, quite nice. I have black IPAs on the brain for the last couple months, and jumped at the chance to try a relatively fresh one from pFriem, for whom I have a great deal of respect.

 

Lost Forty Tanooki Suit Double Trash Panda, DIPA, 10,5% ABV; 4.26 overall

Pours a hazed honey color with one finger of eggshell colored head. Pretty good head retention & lacing

S: Nice tropical & citrus notes

T: Grapefruit, dryness, oranges, & a kiss of green melon up front, some nectarine notes up front. Dryness, grapefruit tangerine & green melon with just a kiss of pine once this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry with lime, green melon & nectarine notes, plus a little tangerine

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, lovely balance

Easily one of the best new beers I've had from these guys in forever, so easy to drink, you slowly realize how lethal this beer is...

 

They do a good job…I like a lot of them. That småland one is my favorite followed by the gold and last one I think. Thanks for sharing, I did a quick search but this is much better and it’s all in one place.

Also who knew there was a beer named after a phish song (incantation is a better description…) Kung



Just don’t ask people, I know haha

 

Good evening, NBS/W folks. Been a busy couple of weeks. I only got one new beer in on a four day weekend...and only one this weekend. My wife and I sing in a chorus and we had our first performance today. While we have played and sung hundreds of gigs over the years plus church music, this was our first with a large group (around 90) in a really, really long time. It was great, but also exhausting. And who knew wearing real clothes was such a pain in the ass...my own fault I suppose since I pretty much live in cargo pants and whatever shirt smells the least... the tux, shoes with laces with no steel toes... well, it was a good show, almost packed house, did most of the full program which we get to repeat twice next weekend, so basically an extended rehearsal with a real audience.

The table is a mess so no picture since we also worked in our grandson's sixth birthday that is actually Tuesday. But in the glass is Definitive Portals Sour Ale. This variant is with strawberry, pineapple, and vanilla.

Pours a pretty much orange color with a very short lived fizzy head that vanishes leaving no trace.

The smell is a tiny bit heavy on the vanilla, bit the pineapple and strawberry hold their own. I can detect the base sour beer in the background, so this seems to be starting out in a good direction.

The taste is very bright and lively. The sour base is actually pretty prevalent, and the strawberry and pineapple layer nicely on top. The vanilla...it fits but maybe just a tad bit stronger than it needs to be. That said, it does layer in a very nice level of sweetness, fairly marshmallow-like, actually.

Lightish, quite lively, acidic enough to remind you it's in the sour family. No bitterness to speak of, a touch drying. Maybe just a little towards medium on the mouthfeel, but that is buoyed up by the lively flavors and it feels subjectively lighter than it is.

Overall, the flavor is the star here. It's bright and tasty, vibrant. Nothing got out of control here. In this mild sour the extra "stuff" is added judiciously. Around a 3.8 or so on the BA-o-rometer, and there's nothing wrong with that! Obviously a better summery beer, but I wanted easy and refreshing tonight - this did the job.

 

The Chosen One by Tilted Barn of scenic Exeter, Rhode Island. The best IPA is Rhody? You be the judge, Cheers.


4.44/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
An easy pour released a finger of off-white creamy foam with very long retention and rings of lacing. Semi-opaque yellow straw color.

A balance of hops (herbal and citrus) and bready malt greets the nose, toasted bread and some pine in the background.

Semi-sweet with medium high bitterness, as in the smell bready malt and balancing bitter hops lead the way. Not as juicy as the look suggests, some orange, lemon and apple that doesn't overpower the malt. A little grainy and grassy with a slight astringency. The finish is semi-dry and is drawn out with spicy/herby bitterness lingering on.

Medium bodied with lots of carbonation, well balanced despite the big flavors. Alcohol is noticeable and warming,
Great representation of the style, a little boozy but it is labeled as a DIPA.

 

The Småland design is nice I agree, as well as the one for Bryggmästarens, the gold can. My favorite design of the bunch is that of Svensk Starköl ("Swedish Strong beer", a generic brand name), but that might be influenced in part by the fact that it displays the biggest design improvement over time. It originally looked like this:

Hey at least their pronounciation of kung is spot on, I give it 5/5 Swedish fish.

 

Man I havent had any of their lagers I didnt like yet. They are still flying under the radar...I guess because lagers arent in the spotlight so to speak. They have the beer of 2022 believe it or not for me - Dvanactka. Incredible brew.

 

Great brew. I would be Longlive in the running for best IPA as well as Grey Sails Eleven....

 

Good evening all, I'm back (the last one was a whole 4% ABV, thought I needed something with umph.
So I dig into the recent shipment from @Victory_Sabre1973 for the 16th Anniversary offering from Surly Brewing. Sixteen. A BA Imperial Red Ale with Strawberry and Raspberry puree added late to smooth out the rough edges. At least that's how I read it. :-)

I had this in the fridge as it mentioned fruit puree and those, to me, are generally better a bit cold. But I needn't have worried-
The pour was deep amber color and the manila head started strong at over an inch and it never went away. Nice.
The aroma is fruit forward but not like a juice, just present and accounted for. There were other parts, but my poor nose couldn't define them for me.
The taste is a menagerie of flavors hitting almost at once, the fruit is certainly in there but so is some barrel and malt and, if my taste is on, some hoppy bitterness. If they put in the puree to take the edges off, this must have been bleeding sharp before that addition.
The feel is fine, maybe even ideal. But not the most important aspect of the beer. IMO obviously.
OA, glad to have tried it. Tasty and not as fruity as the description suggests. Thanks James!

 

Good evening NBW
I've been sitting on this bottle for a couple months and today is the day.

Hitachino Red Rice Ale
11.2oz bottle coded RR.22.03a poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 7% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright reddish amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is mild with a sweet, grainy note (possibly red rice?) and a hint of stone fruit. The taste is semisweet fruity malt with an odd, grainy, tangy note. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with above average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, unique. There's something about the aroma and flavor of this beer that I've never experienced before. Not bad, just very different.

Cheers all!

 

If you’re looking for more fresh ones I may know a guy…just say the word he has holiday discounts right now, free shipping.

 

Alesong - Cherry Parliament (2021)

500ml bottle served in a pair of WABL sample glasses. Vintage 2021. Bought it earlier today at the Beer Junction.

Pours dark purplish-ruby with a fairly large and lively head that eventually settles into a thick, foamy meniscus. With a light behind it, it's definitely translucent, but not exactly clear. Smell is gorgeous cherry, a little hint of vanilla, just a slight hint of wood.

Taste is jammy, cherry is there but it's a more general mix of berries and dark red fruit. Oak and vanilla are in there as well, but pretty muted. Very dry.

Mouthfeel is super dry, super light. Overall, very good beer.

What do y'all do when you see mold on the outside of a beer bottle?

I tend to assume it's an aging/storage environment issue and/or spillage from the filling process, and not indicative of the contents of the bottle. I wipe or clean as appropriate to make sure it doesn't get into my pour, of course. Am I crazy?

 

I mean...if you need or want anything from the PNW, I wouldn't want to deprive you...

 

One vote for not crazy

 

Another vote for sanity. I have had some corked bottles with definite seepage and this isn't like that. External source by the looks, maybe during filling without being rinsed off.

 

Bound By Dust

13.3% stout aged in bourbon rye barrels for 16 months by Jackie O's

Poured from a bottle, the body is black with little head and no lacing throughout the tasting.

Aroma is rye and chocolate. Taste follows nose with the rye dominant without being hot (your call on whether that is good or not; it's okay with me). Along with the rye, chocolate, figs and a vague sweetness of vanilla and caramel.

Low carbonation but pleasant, bourbony mouthfeel.

Another very good stout that I might have said could use more aging, but after sixteen months I'm not sure it will become more than a bourbon forward stout without a malty presence. If that's your jam, belly up.

 

Metropolitan is easily a top 3 Chicago brewery for me. They do so much right and their passion for high quality German style beers is unmatched. I would certainly suggest finding a fresher Stromhaus to retry, as well as picking up their Krankshaft and Humbucker.