New Beer Weekend #13

Greetings, NBWers.

Skipped y'all last week. Simply had too many new beers to report back with. Last Friday I went on a brewery & pub crawl with the idea of hitting every fresh hop beer in and near downtown Spokane that I could. Next morning was rough, but I rallied and got myself up to Hidden Mother Brewing, where the owner was putting on something somewhere between a tap takeover and a full-on festival, all fresh hop beers.

Many were consumed. By Sunday I was pretty much done. The one beer I had wasn't much, so I just skipped.

Much more restraint was applied this week. I grabbed a couple new fresh hop cans, hit one yesterday, one today, both from Varietal Brewing, in Sunnyside, WA, practically ground zero for hops.
Yesterday's was Picking Window, a comet & citra hopped fresh hop pale ale brewed in collaboration with Stoup Brewing in Seattle:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50306/513480/?ba=woemad#review
Bitter, dry, west coast IPA. Not gonna please the hazy-only crowd. The corners are way too sharp for them.
Today I'm hitting 2 Kings, a collab between Varietal and Wandering Hop. Apparently there's more than one version, with different hop bills. This was brewed with Simcoe & Mosaic hops.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50306/513633/?ba=woemad#review
Not as distinctive as the one from yesterday, but it's extremely easy drinking. Could have several of these in a sitting.

Might be back with something else. If not, y'all have a great week.

 

Howdy NBWs
Drinking this for the first time ever.


Canned 10/1/20

rated out for me to a 4.94

Poured into a pint glass yields a fluffy 1 finger head and moderate lacing, it's color looks a lot like a glass of orange juice.

Aroma is tropical and citrus as in oranges, pineapple, mango and pink grapefruit.

Taste is tropical fruit juice, orange juice and hints of mango and sweetened grapefruit.

Mouthfeel is full, medium carbonation and smooth. Slightly sticky sweet with a mild bitter citrus rind finish.

Overall I feel it's a perfectly balanced NEDIPA juice bomb. It's sweet but not overly sweet, the citrus and tropical fruits come out but not over powering and it has a nice slightly bitter finish that lends to a lingering orange taste.

 

I appreciate the understanding words, and I thank both of you for your candor! The worst part of all of this is I have to work closely with her. She is my partner at work, and one of the people who understands me best (and vice-versa). We respect one another a lot, and I think that was the reason she initially let me in. I think we kinda "used" each other last week (she used me for comfort/escape, and I used her to fulfill my personal desires to be with and around her outside of work), and that really threw a wrench in both of our understandings of the relationship. Like I said, I hope this week is less awkward than I'm thinking it'll be... fingers crossed. Cheers, may you both have a great night.

 

Hello Late NBW.
Been smashed with work here all week. I guess I should be grateful but holy scheisse. Well there is beer...
Hazy Life by Revision Brewing, Sparks NV.

Yep its a bit hazy. But the fluffy head pushed 2 fingers, lingers, and settles down into a nice clumpy cap. Pretty good retention. Nice lacing to boot.
Smell pulses with a cornucopia of berry, tangerine, sweet bubble gum, spicy weed, and then back to a gentle melon meets pineapple. Wow, lots going on.
Flavor follows the nose but soon settles into a groove of mainly zesty lemon blossom, melon, peach, pineapple, and smooth weed.
Mouthfeel is a tad lighter than medium, a smudge fluffy, yet tingly with carbonation. Really seems to carry the flavors all over.
Overall, different than a lot of hazies. And that makes it unique.

3.93/5 rDev -4.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Your situation sounds eerily similar to the one I mentioned in my post and I completely understand. My advice after living through it is back away quickly, save yourself the heartbreak down the road. Start steering it towards professional only and maybe one day down the road that will change IF her situation changes but for now yeah, no bueno.

And maybe a straightforward conversation would be best. She sounds like a cool person so if you are honest with her it may go better than you think. I am huge fan of communication and I had to learn over time to never think for and/or underestimate the other person...a difficult conversation may clear the air and make the work situation better.

 

Resolved Enigma from Ology.

16oz can served in a big snifter. No date that I see. Probably bought it on Tavour.

Pours a clear medium amber with a smallish head and lots of very fine, very slow carbonation. Smell is a little biscuit and grain, some pine / grapefruit zest.

Taste is moderate grainy sweetness with a fairly strong piney bitter finish. Bitterness builds. Reminds me of an old school not-so-intense west coast IPA, which I think is what they were going for.

Mouthfeel is light and dry. Overall, enjoyable for sure, but not particularly notable.

 

Better late than never...my sister in laws fiancé brought me a mixed four pack from a local brewery by them in Maryland. This is one of the ones that was included...



Pours a hazy light brown with a quick dissipating head but a nice creamy layer of carbonation remains, makes for a very appetizing look on this beer.

Aromas are all the typical pumpkin pie/fall spices but it is not an overpowering smell which is very nice. The taste is very good and very well balanced it almost tastes like there is vanilla in it, I’ll check for closing comments, because there is a pleasant and again subtle sweetness. The mouthfeel is also nice on this beer medium body with a really nice creamy carbonation. There is also a subtle little bitterness on the end that really makes the sip enjoyable.

I have to say that I really am enjoying this beer a lot for what it is. If I want a pumpkin this is about what I’d like it to taste like. It’s more beer than dessert and it is incredibly balanced all around. I would gladly buy a four pack as my pumpkin purchase this year if I could.

***no vanilla but interestingly it has ginger in it which I’ve never had in a pumpkin beer. Also actual roasted pumpkin and squash.

 

My entry this NBW is a tasty IPA from Spellbound Brewing in New Jersey, a beer I received from @MacMalt in BIF #12
Expected a typical east coast IPA (bring on the haze!) but beyond the appearance there was little typical about it. The balance of malts to the variety of hops in the beer make this taste more like a midwestern IPA than eastern, and as I’m in the Midwest, it tastes great! Very enjoyable and I was sorry to reach the bottom of the glass. Very glad to have been able to try it, thanks @MacMalt

 

Another thanks to @RedhawkPoke is due. This time for this Black Is Beautiful from Prairie. 10%, and the label says "Coconut, Hazelnuts, and Cacao". I'm only getting hints of of Coconut and Cacao, and no Hazelnuts, but it's still a very nice brew;

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/513653/

 

Yardwork is done, figured I'd enjoy something refreshing and grab a shower before the Niners game. Crooked Lane's Millenium FalCan is labelled as Galactic Kölsch with Citra and Galaxy hops at 5.3%



L: Hazy white yellow with 2 fingers of fluffy white head with great retention and left huge ringed lacing.

S: Tropical fruit forward with bisquit undertones.

T: Follows the nose well, finishes with subtle bitterness that hangs around awhile.

F: Low-medium bodied with moderate carbonation, full on the tongue and swallow.

O: Not refreshing enough with a crisp finish for me to revisit. The amount of suspended solids softens the mouthfeel, which I didn't desire.

BA Score = 3.71, rDev = -1.3%

Likely back with one more at halftime. Cheers

 

Finish the weekend with Modern Times Coffee Cake Date Share, big thanks to @Dimidiata for this very dangerous beer!
4.64/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Thank you Dimidiata for this
22 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head.

S- Chocolate, coffee, bourbon, cinnamon, touch of coconut and vanilla, nice undertones of dates and walnuts.

T- Chocolate, coffee, dates, cinnamon, dark fruits, bourbon, some vanilla and coconut, touch of walnuts.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- An excellent barrel aged stout. Everything comes together very well and the 14% is incredibly well hidden.

Cheers NBW, my next week will be rough but I will be doing my best to stay safe, hope everyone else does the same!

 

A semi-new brew here. Fort George Overdub. I know I drank a few of them when they were new a few years ago, but, shockingly, I hadn't reviewed it. Thanks to BellinghamBeerQuokka for gifting me this tick:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16077/170523/?ba=beertunes#review

 

Final beer for the day: Yuengling Hershey's Porter. Smell is of Hershey's syrup and the unmistakable "cheap" Yuengling smell. Taste is nice, a touch of the Hershey's chocolate but not too sweet and ends on a bit of a crisper drier note. Very drinkable and much lighter than the 180 calories and whatever carbs suggest. Glad that I got a six pack and this would be a nice finisher to something like the KBS fudge variant if you wanted to enjoy two beers in a sitting, one bigger and one smaller.

 

You are doing something right if you have someone not even in the family bringing you beer. Well done.

 

Last contribution is a collab between Slice Brewing and Melvin. Lupulin Vision is a 9% West Coast DIPA with Strata, Mosaic, Enigma and Citra Incognito hops. Last one is a new one for me personally, beer is both new to me and BA.



Can dated Hops Ninjas 10/08/20 into an imperial nonic pint glass.

L: Bright golden with 1+ finger of mixed density white head with good retention and left windshield lacing.

S: Nice super dank and earthy, but a bit one dimensional. Once it warms it gains some berries and tropical fruit undertones.

T: Follows the nose well, but more dynamic with tropical fruit (particularly papaya and pineapple) having more prominence. Finishes with medium-high bitterness and some acidity, acidity lingers a bit.

F: Medium bodied with medium carbonation, tongue tingles subtly from the ABV and acidity.

O: Its a solid West Coast DIPA that has a mix of classic and modern attributes. Not sure I'd grab another, but part of that may be the use of Enigma hops in this recipe, which I've yet really find appealing.

BA score = 4, rDev =0.0%

Have a great week everyone, be safe and healthy.

 

I’d planned to finish the night with my final mystery beer from the NBW BIF boxes sent my way by @Ozzylizard. unfortunately, the kids haven’t cooperated and I’m just about out of gas for the night.

Earlier this evening with dinner I had:

Great Lakes Brewery Burst!, a New England pale ale. Great Lakes is one of the old guard of craft breweries up here. Back when they were starting up in the late 1980s, they packaged their beer in 1 litre plastic soda bottles. Over the years they have made many excellent beers, and before the haze craze took over here, were making the most popular and arguably best IPAs in the province.



Pours a cloudy gold with a generous head that sticks around for a while and leaves moderate lacing as the beer disappears.

Bright floral and tropical hop notes greet the nose. Pineapple and tropical fruit juice up front. A little undefined citrus following with a hint of bubble-mint gum trailing off at the end.

The sip is a bit of a let down. The tropical notes are still present, but so muted as to be hard to find. Quite watery. No bitterness to speak of. Dull.

The body is quite full in spite of the watery ‘flavour.’ Somewhat creamy.

I find generally that New England pale ales just don’t work that well. The juicy hop flavours one expects tend always to be so subtle so as to barely be noticed. There is body but little substance. The complete lack of bitterness hampers the beer even further. This one is ok for the style I suppose, but really not my thing. Disappointing, considering how much I’ve enjoyed their IPAs over the years.

 

Oskar Blues Can O' Bliss
3.83/5 rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Another good beer from Oskar Blues. I felt that the hops could use a little more presence which affected the overall taste and mouthfeel. Still a solid beer !

Cheers !