New Beer Weekend #138

OG Haze

 

Hey NBWs
New to me,
Dreamstate by Kettlehead Brewing out of Tilton, NH




Poured from a can dated 1/30/23

Thick light orange/ yellow color, almost like a mix of orange juice and grapefruit juice. White foamy head that dissipates to a snowy cap and soapy lacing.
Big aromas of peach, pineapple, apricot and citrus. Kind of overripe or earthy smelling and a bit floral.
Taste is all fruit all the time, juicy but not real sweet, mango and apricot stand out to me. Citrus and peaches are noticeable. Nice layers of flavors
Mouthfeel is thick and full, kind of prickly. Astringent like and finishes dry and with a bit of a citrus rind feel.
Overall it’s a great tasting and feeling beer. Classic juice bomb and pretty filling.

4.5/ 4.25/ 4.50/ 4.25/ 4.25/ 4.37/ rDev +0.7%

 

Good afternoon NBW
I typically pick up a single of any of Lexington Brewing Co. beers, as I find them worth the sample. Here's there latest.


12oz bottle with no discernable date poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 12% ABV. The beer pours dense very dark brown with medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. The aroma is mild with sweet and roasty notes and a hint of oak barrel. The taste is a bittersweet mix of milk sugar and roasted malt. Minor notes of bourbon and oak barrel. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. The twelve percent is not invisible, nor is it distracting. Overall, well done, although straightforward, BBA imperial milk stout.

 

Dirk Diggler

 

Happy sat afternoon and thanks for the start @AzfromOz !

Joining @champ103 with a dunkel as well.

The Bruery - Ruekeller Dunkel



Thanks @IrishMASMS for another delicious looking beer.

Canned 2.4.22 and poured into a Pils glass

Pours a dark cola color with some lighter amber tones and a very attractive and aggressive sandy head. Settled into a sticky ring and mostly full cap. 4

Sweet malt, with a fair nutty aroma. 3.75

Dark and sweet initial taste. Balanced chocolate and caramel, neither overwhelming/dominating the other, and roasted nuttiness. Good lingering aftertaste as well. 4

Moderately filling and lightly carbonated body.Nice and lager-y, but I'd argue this is a Lager+. 3.75

Overall a nice meal of a beer, as I didn't pair it with anything, but wasn't left dissatisfied, and great representation of the style.4

 

Have a classic Doppelbock that I haven't got around to until today, inspired by our discussion in the 2023 Bock Thread.

Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu Spaten Optimator



Bottle Notes: Purchased 3/2/23 at Beer on the Wall at store temperature for $1.98. Bottled I believe on 8/29/22, the 241st day of 2022 based on bottle code L2412204 20:56. Freshest before August 2023. 12 oz green bottle, 7.6% ABV. Malt Liquor. Dopplebock. Spaten-Brau, Munich, Germany. Imported by Import Brands Alliance, St. Louis, Missouri. Average analysis: 249 Calories, Carbohydrates 21.9g, Protein 3.4g, Fat 0.0g.

Appearance: Beautiful clear dark copper brown base, light carbonation, creamy generous tan head after a single bottle pour into a large tulip glass lingers for a few minutes before leaving a creamy cover and generous fine lacing in its wake. 4.5

Aroma: Caramel malts lead here, getting some pine, raisins, dates and tobacco. Medium plus strength, nice. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, though lighter in strength. Caramal toffee malt flavor still leads the way, less complexity than the aroma however with brown sugar, and a nice hops presence asserting some dry bitterness to the proceedings though without a discernable flavor component. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Sweetness contained by hop bitterness noted above, but sweetness slightly emerges overall. Drinks pretty strong, I'd say at or above the listed ABV. I like more hops and less malt in general, so this works for me, though I don't recall that this is typical for a Doppelbock. Light caramel dryness aftertaste. 4.25

Overall: I'm digging this beer, glad it is more balanced than what I anticipated coming in. Flavorful, looks and smells very good, wish the taste had the same complexity as the nose. Still glad I tried this today, and would buy in the future when in the (somewhat rare) mood for a Doppelbock. 4.0

Not sure which local beer I'll go with tomorrow at this stage. Til then, cheers and may the beers treat you well!

 

Had a couple new to me imperial stouts today:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/573951/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57968/581027/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



Happy NBW everyone!

 

Insanely fresh, and one of the best Imperials I've had the pleasure of imbibing recently.

4.29/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Packaged on 3/6/23 - enjoyed on 3/11/23. Poured from a pint can into a snifter.

Clear golden amber liquid with a low ivory cap receding to a lasting collar and surface slick. Fine sandy lacing; vague legs. Decent retention.

Potent, tropical fruit aromatics suggesting passion fruit, mango, melon, and peach. Some floral/citrus elements as well.

Crushed orange, a touch of apricot, and a lasting chive-kissed bitterness on first sip. Finishes medium-dry with some residual fruit and herbal/dank notes. Hop-forward, but the crackery malt character adds balance and interest (Maris Otter/Goldpils Vienna, etc.). Alcohol contributes some flavor and heft without being fusel.

Medium-full bodied, oily, and rich with decent carbonation.

Wonderful, unapologetic, well crafted example of the style.

 

Tree House Curiosity #129 7.8%. Pours an attractive hazy orange with a finger sticky white head that leaves thick streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.75

Aroma is peach, mango, orange peel, carrot juice, apricot, and white grapefruit rind. 4.5

Taste follows mango, peach, carrot juice, oj, apricot, and a little grapefruit bitterness. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 7.8.% it goes down really easy with tons of tropical flavor. 4.75

Overall this is a really impressive beer. I always go in with high expectations and they always deliver. 4.5

 

My brother’s brother in law is named John Holmes, I don’t think his parents ever watched **** or they might have rethought the name. He was an Eagle Scout to boot.

 

Wasn’t he more like a triple D?

 

Haven't had a chance to read through most of the posts just yet but I'm taking a break to share this one.

Graf Stolberg - Dunkel



I'm a sucker for German imports, where I lived before the US there was a whole different pocket of German import beers. I feel like most countries have different offerings. I miss some, but it's nice to see something new to me. Anyway.

Pours dark with some light bleed at the edge. Near pitch black, but with a lagered aesthetic.

Nose is soft and subtle. Barley sugars, coffee, earthy hops. Roast malt.

Taste is initially herbal and spicy. Gives way quickly to weak coffee and milk chocolate. Earthy, but easy drinking.

Finish is long but delicate. The beer's visual really does add so much more to its overall enjoyment. It's middle of the road but easy to enjoy regardless. More in the vein of kostrizer than your average craft American take on the style which I appreciate it. But a bit more heft and a bolder hop character in the middle would work nicely.

3.87/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Cheers all.

I’ve been shying away from dessert stouts of late. The sweetness is too often too much for me nowadays. That said, when I had the non-BA version of the following beer a year or more ago, I really enjoyed it. So, I threw caution to the wind and got a couple of these when they were released a few weeks back. The can came with a warning label on top that would warm the heart of Tipper Gore. This is the first warning label like this I’ve ever come across.



The beer is Blood Brothers BBA Banofee Dessert Imperial Stout w/ Chocolate, bananas, Graham cracker and toffee. For those that don’t know Banofee pie, it is dee-licious! This is from their ‘Over The Tap’ anniversary release.



Pours a deep oily black brown with a quickly disappearing dark brown head. No lacing.

The nose notices toffee and Graham cracker pie crust first. Sweet chocolate and some milky coffee notes follow. Vanilla and banana are very slight in the background.

Banana jumps forward on the sip with a lovely toffee note. The chocolate and bourbon barrel sit in behind. Quite sweet, but not too sweet.

The body is thick and oily, but drinkable and in no way syrupy.

This is as good as I remember the non-BA version with that added BA complexity. I’m glad I bought it.

 

4.43/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Packaged on 2/13/23 - enjoyed on 3/11/2023 - poured from a pint can into my Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

Turbid jasmine liquid with a finger of off-white soft peaks. Soapy lacing; excellent retention.

Gooseberry, white wine, and passion-fruit in the nose. Faintly spicy as well.

Grapefruit, pink peppercorn, pineapple, grapes, and more on the palate entry. Lightly grainy, complex, and satisfying. Medium-dry finish with pleasing minerality and white tea notes. Faintly floral. Excellent balance. Moderate but persistent bitterness.

Medium-bodied, creamy yet crisp.

Lots of comparisons to O.G. Alpine Nelson, but this has evolved, taking advantage of contemporary ingredients and practices.

 

@AzfromOz - once again an amazing start to the thread, I do enjoy your writing.
But this is about beer, so…
The first one for me from the Extreme Stouts box.

Poured looking like used but clean motor oil. Enticing due to the fact it was from *the* box but dinged a bit for not having any life at all.
The aroma was sadly lost on my nose, Covid hangover I think.
The taste though, yum. Vanilla certainly but I didn’t find it overwhelming at all. I did get a lot of heat from the bourbon for a few minutes but that faded out. Left the vanilla and chocolate and dark fruits and a seriously smooth coffee.
The feel is very appropriate for the ABV - this isn’t a beer that I would want to drink quickly.
Darned tasty IMO. Happy I got to try it.
Cheers all!

 

A couple tonight with ties to NBS #16. The first is from a LIF I won courtesy of our friend @JayORear . He crushed me with world class hops, and this beer is yet another example of that magnificent selection of New England hops.





4.46/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a turbid pineapple color with a creamy white head that provides moderate lacing. The nose is crammed with mango, berry, passion fruit, and ripe tangerine notes - and more than a bit of weed. Dank indeed.

The taste is led by a strawberry note, with the mango taking over in a big way, then tangerine and passion fruit and a big hit of weed (pun intended) with a creamy oat finish. Absolutely delicious.

The mouthfeel is full and pillowy, per the style. The Fidens hop game is “top of the food chain” stuff indeed.