New Beer Weekend #144

Wanted to cheat a bit here.
I enjoyed a few other beers late Friday night from the penultimate pummeling perpetrated perniciously against my person and porch. All courtesy of @FBarber in our latest iteration of NBS BIF...#17.

Greener Times
Loved this one

Alterior Motive
New brewery to me, and a pretty nice first.

God I love these BIF's/

 

A bit more intimidating, but a more direct comparison: All 27 of the beers that both of you had rated/reviewed as of Friday morning (@ovaltine)

 

That's pretty amazing how relatively similar our ratings are - I wonder what happened to @Roguer on Jjjuiceee Machine (I loved that one, him not so much).

 

Have a good Sunday Advocates,
here is my new beer, bought for the first time last week on the shelves of Eataly (a sort of quality supermarket where you can find many artisan products, including beers. Not like in supermarkets where you usually do your everyday shopping ).

Birrificio Balabiòtt (Domodossola, ITA) - RUTAMÀTT - American Pale Ale Gluten Free (5,6%)

33 cl can. On the label: "Best before: 12/13/2023"
Light notes of summer fruit and citrus on the nose.
Poured has a deep blonde/light amber colour. Very clean, only slightly veiled but not opaque at all.
Minimal foam and no texture.
In the mouth the body is very light and the carbonation is present, but it is a little low, they look like very small bubbles which give a different impression from the normal carbonation, which by the way should be more lively in this type of beers.
Malt notes characterize the soft entrance, the beer slips away and citrus notes emerge (orange peel, grapefruit) with a slight glimmer of more tropical and summery notes (apricot, mango).
The final bitterness is dry and perceptible, but still very light in measure with the beer.
Basically a simple, fast, very light drink, a beer that is not unforgettable but not with obvious defects either: it lacks a bit of explosiveness both in taste and in bitterness, the malty notes should be dominated by the taste of the hops, the carbonation and the foam should be more evident..... but it could also be that the Brewmaster has opted (and if so it would be incomprehensible, in my opinion) for a beer with little "push" for the only gluten free beer I've seen in their line.





Slàinte !
Cheers !

 

Good morning NBW…I started my day finishing off that BBA Brick Kiln from yesterday – about 10% into the writing of the review last night, I was called to join my family in an impromptu social engagement, which resulted in my saran-wrapping my glass and stashing it in the fridge until this morning. My confidence that this would be OK was well placed – no noticeable degradation of the beer overnight.

Family plans for the day will suck up a good portion of the middle of my day, reducing my capacity to crack BIF beers to an unacceptable level, which leads to the extremely unusual scenario of starting my third beer of the day before 11 AM.

My big, exciting plan for NBS today was to open both of @ozzylizard’s mystery beers side-by-side. Aside from the “serve at cellar temp” note, the context that he was probably talking about Brauerei Heller-Trum / Schlenkerla and he carried them home by hand, the information about these beers that I have is: “As far as I know, these are only available from the brewer in Bamburg and are experimental brews run off on their small pilot setup.”

I let them sit on the counter for 45 minutes or so to simulate cellar temp. I also trimmed off the top of their disguises, so I could actually pour the beers.



Here we go...



Appearance

Mystery Beer #1: Light brown, clear, with a medium sized head on the pour that settles into a lasting ring with a light dusty island in the center. Seems to be pretty carbonated. 4

Mystery Beer #2: Dark amber, tiny amount of carbonation, basically zero head. Clear or at least translucent, based on the pace of the bubbles that do form, it looks pretty thick. 3.25

Smell

MB1: Not getting much in the way of smoke – maybe a light hint. Something vaguely fruity about it, though I can’t place what it might be. Might be something esoteric like jackfruit – almost an umami + fruit thing that I can’t identify. 3.5

MB2: Screaming smoke. Somewhere in between campfire and burning charcoal. Couple more whiffs and I get a little nuttiness. 4

Taste

MB1: This is hoppy. Grapefruit rind and lemon zest. Really hoppy. Again, an umami hint in the background which works surprisingly well. Bitterness keeps building as I sip it. Really interesting. 4.25

MB2: Less one-note than the aroma – super smokey, dates as well. Smoke seems more like charred oak now. Toffee sweetness. Start getting some molasses later on. 4.25

Mouthfeel

MB1: Moderately thick, a little syrupy, smooth, nowhere near dry. 3.75

MB2: I keep getting distracted by new flavor notes when I’m trying to think about the mouthfeel. Body is medium thickness, a little chewy, not nearly as still as the appearance suggested…in fact, a small ring of head has emerged since I started this experience. 4.25

Overall

Two very different beers. I would guess MB1 is a double IPA or American barleywine that has been very lightly smoked (that would explain the vague umami-ness that I’m probably imagining because of its supposed origin). I would guess MB2 is a heavily smoked dubbel. I like them both a lot, and I can’t wait to find out what they actually are.

After I finish these two five ounce samples, I'll do the dramatic reveal...

 

Working my way through the BIF box from @woemad brings me to an interesting take on a NEIPA this afternoon, YaYa Fluffy Puffy Sunshine



I was a little weary going into this one with the lack of a canning date, but I was surprised by how fresh this was when I poured it. The nose is very bright, with the tropical fruit notes you expect from the style, but elevated by notes of lemon and pine. It's more rounded in taste, which brings the score down a bit unfortunately, but it's still good for what it is, just more straightforward tropical fruit with light hops to back it up. It's lighter in body than many in the style, making this very drinkable and refreshing. A great beer to start my afternoon

4.24/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

 

No.1 for today and a later start than I would've liked. Courtesy of @WunderLlama's ninja strike.

Vitamin Sea - Four the Shore (2023)



Canned 4.6.23 'best of the shore'

Poured into a weizen glass at fridge temp.

Pours a pale pineapple juice yellow with a dense and soft white head, persisted quite a while and left behind a very even lattice lacing. 4.5

Aroma is some citrus rind, soft and subtle stonefruit from the Nectaron I suspect, and very faint florals. 4

I get some sweetness in the following; peach, pineapple, passion fruit, as well as some dank almost weedy hops. Really enjoyed this. 4.25

Body is light with moderate carbo that fades as I near the bottom of the glass. A bit frothy and dry. 4

Overall a great IPA to start out NBS! 4.25

Thanks again Maynard!

 

I think I did pretty good on #1 and kinda meh on #2...
For starters, I was fooled into thinking they were from the wrong brewery -- I think it came more from proximity to statements about Schlenkerla than anything else. I could have easily disproven my misconception before opening the beers by Googling the logo on the caps, but consciously avoided that to preserve the mystery.

Both beers are from Weyermann, in Bamberg, I assume a near neighbor of Schlenkerla (looks like a reasonably good guess -- according to Google, less than a 30 minutes walk from one to the other).

MB1 is indeed a barleywine (starkbier?). MB2 is a barrel-aged barleywine. There are not many words on the labels, and none of them are English, and I don't speak any German, so I don't know about smoke. My wife absolutely shares my opinion that #2 (the barrel aged one) is smokey as heck. She guessed MB1 was an English Bitter and MB2 was a barleywine.

Thank you SO MUCH @Ozzylizard, this was tremendously fun (and delicious)!

 

Thanks for the nice send off. And let me include everyone here in that. Thankyou. When Maria and I were talking over whom to replace us it was your flair for the poetic that made you an obvious nominee. Just like, as you say, my mission in favor of well done, honest reviews made me an obvious nominee for Matt.

Like you say, see you on the other side.

But I depend on you guys for my beer fixes, so I will still be reading and enjoying you and all the wonderrful folks here every weekend. And who knows, I may confound rational expectations and outlive my cellar and ***gasp gasp*** have to start buying my one a month beer instead of pulling it from downstairs The list of new ones I would love to try grows every time I read this thread.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Busy weekend for myself, but a good one. I spent most of the time doing yard work and lots of cycling outdoors. It's been a good weekend for it, however the rains came early afternoon which was fine enough as we need it badly around here.

Things are blooming and looking good. With that said, cherry season in the DC area is in full swing if gone but Spring still remains. And with that comes the plethora of cherry themed beers.

What's the latest for our hero??



Poured from the can into a wheat ale glass.

Really nice pour out of the can. Makes a nearly giant hefeweizen foamy rich head, large and billowing, but luckily doesn't and keeps to controlled measures. Still a big rich bright white head and fistful top is created. Quite a decent body too, slightly hazed but not terribly and a golden dark lemon and brown with ample amounts of carbonation. That head manages to stay for a bit too, with some ring like lacing. The beer has a real polished look to it, very nice.

Fruity and floral sensing on the nose, flirts a little bit with grass and maybe even a touch of yeast like sourness (not sure if that is intentional). Chewy sensing, also notes of waxy honey a bit too.

Palate is unexpected but in a good way. A very hop biting forward brew, with some real neat surprises. Chewy excellent wheaty body, with a mid palate hop forward in florals and green bitterness. Finishes with banana and some more pine like action, with good malt density. There's almost a candy like quality to this hinting of taffy but without the sweetness.

Pretty neat and unexpected for this brew, wasn't sure what direction it would go in, but the result is quite solid. This is quite hop bitter in that realm but in a good way, but if that's not your thing you may want to steer clear.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA Generated Score: 4.02

Cheers!

 

Drekker Graveyard BRAAAAAAAAins Double Fruit Smoothie Sour, 6.4% ABV. Pours thick and opaque medium red with a three-finger pink head that left puree residue. Nose is vanilla and a fruit mashup. Taste follows, strawberry forward but pretty much a mashup of six fruits (blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, guava, pineapple, mango), quite sweet, slightly tart, salt on the close. Excellent thick and creamy mouthfeel, overall outstanding. One of their better fruit smoothie sours, if a bit busy.

4.45/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Nice spring day to get a few things done outside and do some grilling. Got the cars washed, Christmas lights down, etc. Gumbo in the crock for supper, smelling great inside.

 

Something new to me, and surprisingly refreshing on a warm day:

3.75/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

"Enjoy by October 1st 2023" - doing so on April 23rd, 2023. Poured from a 12oz bottle into a snifter.

Faintly cloudy persimmon liquid with a dense creamy champagne cap. Fine, sticky, wavy lacing; very good retention.

Subtle aroma - figs, plums, green raisins along with light vanilla and floral notes.

Malt forward with hints of caramel and toast. Mild earthy/citrus-y bitterness is subsumed in the bourbon notes which have distinct spirit flavor without the heat. Cherry, vanilla, brown sugar, and floral notes. Low char around the edges of the medium-dry finish. Fairly clean overall - reminds me a little of a Japanese highball or an Old Fashioned on the rocks...

Medium-bodied, modest carbonation, slightly thin perhaps. Gently warming.

A restrained strong ale base infused with bourbon flavor but without much heat or barrel character. Almost refreshing which is sort of strange for the style.

 

So, #16 (MB2) is not smoked -- but it was aged in Ardbeg barrels, according to the brewery, which is amazing -- that means it picked up a *ton* of character from the barrel.

Haven't found a similar listing for #10 (MB1), the barleywine yet.