New Beer Weekend #149

Did you ever buy a beer based on the name and label. Well this one entertained me, despite being a member of the group that is the butt of the joke. However, the asterisk you see near the top leads to a puddle from the cooler that says "Old Guys", so they're making fun of themselves. I know a lot of boomers, but none that dress like the guy on the label.
This is a collaboration between two breweries I respect, Fat Orange Cat and Willimantic Brewing. Unfortunately it's only okay, not great.

3.69/5 rDev -11.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 12oz can stamped 04/10/23 to a Nonic glass at fridge temp.
The body is opaque hazy and the color of pineapple juice. A ¼” white head struggles to survive 60-seconds. Lacing is represented by individual bubbles that seem to be averse to each other.
The aroma is slightly onion, overall dank with a hint of citrus pith.
The taste is better, pith is more prominent, the finish is sweet and the aftermath dry.
The mouthfeel is on the light side for the opacity of the body.
Drinkable but not a go to.

 

Drekker Ice Ice Prrrty Lemon-Lime Slush Style Sour, 6.2% ABV. Pours thick and opaque pale yellow with a two-finger light-yellow head that left foam and puree residue. Aroma is lemon, lime, and coconut. Taste follows, with pear and coconut helping take the edge off the lemon/lime, quite sweet, slightly tart, pear on the close. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.14/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

If anyone is looking for this Simon Pearce giant tulip, someone is selling a pair of used ones on Ebay. They're discontinued. I'd be tempted but I already have two. It's a quality sturdy hand-blown glass that will hold a stovepipe, though not cheap. I use mine for almost every beer.

 

Good afternoon New Beer folks. The weather is mostly cloudy and mild, perfect for putting some miles on the bike. I rode from Beaverton over the hill into Portland, and then across the river to The Beermongers (about 14 miles).

It's time for a beer. In fact, it's time for a New Beer!



We don't usually see Hill Farmstead beers around here, but drafts and bottles have been popping up here and there over the past couple weeks.

Hill Farmstead Marie Helles Lager

(Haven't posted a review yet. Still working on the numbers.)

Look
Straw gold and slightly cloudy (unfiltered?), capped with a finger of loose white foam that shrinks to a tenacious ring. Leaves a few strands of lacing behind.

Smell
Bready malt and spicy/floral hops with a hint of yeast. Slight grassy character comes through as the beer warms.

Taste
Ahhhh. Nice toasty malt up front, light but satisfying. A bit of a yeasty twang rides on top of the malt through the middle and gives the beer an appealing rustic edge. Finishes with firm bitterness and just a touch of sweetness.

Feel
Light-bodied and soft, with moderate carbonation.

Overall
I'm glad I finally had the chance to try a Hill Farmstead lager. Marie is a fine example of a helles lager, malty and quenching and moreish. The delicate yeasty character is a nice bonus.

 

Had a few good stouturday brews today:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35568/656600/?ba=bluejacket74#lists




https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59430/656611/?ba=bluejacket74#lists




https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31221/591577/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



Cheers everyone, should have another couple new brews for tomorrow!

 

Good afternoon NBW
The lawn is now cut and it's beer time.

Warka Classic (Poland)

500mL bottle coded L2277616B1842 poured into a mug at fridge temp 5.2% per label. The beer pours bright light golden amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and cap. The aroma is mild with pale malt and floral hops. The taste is semisweet pale malt with a hint of toasted malt and a grassy & floral, moderately bitter finish. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good.

Not sure if this brewery is extremely inconsistent, or if BA is just extremely unkind to any mass produced yellowish beer. I'm a +25% rDev on this one. I wish someone would brew and can a beer like this around here. I haven't sampled this year's Summerfest yet, so there's hope. Cheers all!

 

Happy Saturday, New Beer Weekenders. It's a beautiful day in North Jersey. Our daughter flew in yesterday and is leaving tomorrow for an archaeology project overseas. So we spent the day together - watching the local Memorial Day parade and hiking on a former railroad right of way. Home now and I'm reviewing a new local beer, 2-Player Co-Op, a collaboration between Two Ton Brewing and Twin Elephant. It's a tropical punch-style IPA with New Zealand hops and coconut and it's really quite good!

It pours a dense, murky, muddy orange color with more than a finger of fluffy, milk-white cap and clinging lacing. Its nose is tropical with lemon, lime, ripe melon, and mango, along with a whiff of coconut. It drinks like a tropical punch with lemon, lime, and stone fruit notes from the Motueka hops and earthy sweetness from the Wakatu. The coconut is evident and it compliments the tropical fruit. There is modest bitterness at the finish. Its mouth feel is thick and creamy with appropriate carbonation, and it doesn't feel like 9% ABV.

4.19/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

While I generally prefer OG-style IPAs, I think this one really achieves the brewers' objective. It's not gimmicky and is a great kick-off to the summer.

 

Ended up at a casual bar this afternoon. Kind of towing that line between a dive bar, but they had a few nice beers on tap. One was Live Oak Hefe, which is one of my all time favorites (of coarse I had one). Though another was this one...

Entropic, Equal Parts Brewing. American IPA, 6.9% ABV.



Pours a yellow/orange color. A small white head forms, light lace is left behind. The rather thin head is more an outcome of the bartenders pour. So, I'm not really concerned with that.
Citrus, orange, maybe some berry like aromas. Pine in the finish. Simple, enjoyable enough, but very standard as well.
Taste wise, Citrus orange peel, light berries, and pine are the hop flavors. This becomes a bit soapy, with a lingering bitterness.
A medium to full body. Moderate carbonation, but soapy/slick and oily. Even with the soapiness, still something I can drink, and come back to on occasion.

While the soapy character is not among my favorite of the style, and overall, its a simplistic version of the style anyway. Despite that, not a bad IPA. I could come back to this when in the right mood. Though there are better versions out there. Both on the local and regional level.

Overall score is 3.57, solid B score for me.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44383/506042/?ba=champ103#lists

 

"Landscapes 3" by Sante Adairius Rustic Ales.

4.07/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750mL bottle into my Unibroue tulip.

Unclear aureolin body with a thin smattering of large bubbles up top. Vague, soapy lacing; mediocre retention.

Bright aromatics suggest citrus, gooseberry, Brett. laced peppery funk, and dry white wine. Balanced and inviting.

Tart lemon kissed palate entry with kiwi, pineapple vinegar, and white grapes coming through. Moderate grassy/tropical bitterness throughout, with a touch of wildflowers playing off the intense wave of wild barnyard notes. Goaty, with hints of raw pu-erh. Finishes medium-dry, with some zesty minerality.

Thin, slick, with very little carbonation (closer to a lambic than a saison).

Superior aroma and potent flavor, but poor bottle conditioning for this batch.

 

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone, and a special shout out to those that served - so much of our great country’s uniqueness is attributable to the bravery of our heroes that have served.

All of my beers this weekend are tied to NBS BIF #17. This one-and-done today is a long time major want (and I don’t have many of those) sent my way by my friend @Roguer . I literally squealed when I saw this in the gigantic box he sent me a few weeks ago.

Let’s GOOOOOO!!!





4.5/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a gorgeous slightly unfiltered golden color with a creamy white head that yields to the body of the beer fairly quickly. Beautiful tripel. The nose is crammed full of oak notes, with caramel and vanilla in plentiful amounts and a bit of bourbon and pear. I am literally drooling.

That oak flavor is forward and melds well with the caramel and vanilla to provide a smooth foundation for the bourbon to provide a modest amount of booziness, but it’s the pear at the back of the palate that is knocking my beer nerd socks off. So many flavors and so well balanced.

The mouthfeel is substantial and fairly crisp, making for an oxymoron of a beer - a crushable 10.2% ABV beer. This is exceptionally well crafted and a world class tripel that I am so glad I finally had the opportunity to enjoy.

 

Oh, I miss that one. Use to be all around Houston. Then, of coarse Allagash pulled out. Great beer.

 

Founders green zebra mango
...cloudy light amber appearance with very little head.
...body is about medium with just a hair below average carbonation.
....aroma is fresh mango that for the most part comes off real and not artificial,. Floral,perfume fruitiness, with some mild grain and cereal in the background.
...taste is sweet but not to the point of disgust. Mango juice along with other fruit,starts sweet but finishes with some mild tartness that starts to get stronger as the juice sweetness wears off. Salt is there but more of a backup dancer
...overall, I took a shot,figured I would try it and glad I did. Nice after working in the yard and not ready to hit a more substantial beer.

 

Can't believe I never had one of these before, but thinking this my intro. Will go with that.
This hits on a lot of notes. Hadn't had a Saison in a while, don't think us is quite in the classic mold. They call it an "American Saison", guess that means they can amp things up. 8.5%, which does seem a little high for this style. Not complaining.
Has that Belgian yeasty bite, but not pronounced. Sort of a toned- down Tripel. Bit of pepper on the aftertaste, and a noticeable hop burn, though listed as only 38 IBUs.
Picked up a 4- pack of 16 oz-ers, at a good price. Not sure on the date-code, but think it's about 3 months old. Happy with it overall, glad there are 3 more in the fridge.

 

Agreed, I wish I had 24 of these to enjoy over the next 8 years. A phenomenal beer, IMHO.

 

Green zebra peach
...almost clear light gold appearance with a thin lasting white head.
...maybe a bit thin with just below average carbonation.
...aroma is peach juice,jam,as well as fresh cut fruit. Floral,peach skin with very mild cereal in the background.
...taste is sweet,a little syrupy, mild tartness on the finish. Peach comes off as fresh cut fruit with the skin with just a mild pinch of salt
...overall its another good fruited beer,definitely not one that you would knock several down in one sitting but very enjoyable

 

It's been a couple of weeks for me posting. Wrecked with allergies, then super busy week with our spring concert. Rehearsal with orchestra, tech rehearsal, two shows. You can see us here SMFC but not hear us due to copyrights and such. Great day today out in the garden - a different kind of busy. Got pork shoulder ready to hit the smoker after the Celtics game...didn't think I'd be saying that tje way the series started.

In the glass:



This is Aine from Barreled Souls collaborating with Mortalis. It is a 6% peach and mango gose. I like the label - no clue why.

Frothy orange juice pour and the head actually hangs for a while, falling to a thin cap, a hefty ring, nice cling.

It's not presenting much on the nose. Vaguely fruity sweetness.

On tasting, it defines juicy. Plenty of peach and mango, clearly identifiable, fresh, sweet. A tad bit of saltiness and a faint beeriness from a little bready malt. So a fruit juicy beer with just enough beer presence to count.

The feel is light, but it is quite sweet while being refreshing. It's very mildly tart.

I'm liking this more than I expected. I am pretty lukewarm on Barreled Souls line of goses (geese???) There's a bigger fruit contribution, maybe influenced by Mortalis, but it's nowhere near a Mortalis slush bomb. Ultimately, this drink well, hits the spot after a day outside. Going to be around a 3.8.

 

Natural State Beer Co Kolsch Ale-Lager Hybrid, 5.2% ABV; 4.56 Overall. What a pleasan surpsise!

Pours an effervescent gold with a pinky of cream colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Bready, grainy with pears, perfumy hops; fantastic nose

T: Follows the nose, some white grape skin/pear & a touch of dryness up front, plus some grassy, peppery, lemon & flowery hops. More grassy hops mixing grainyness & lemons & a kiss of Golen Apple skin as this beer warms up. Finishes with grainy sweetness, grassyness, lemony hops& a kiss of dryness

MF: Light/medium body, delicate carbonation

Nailed this, if I closed my eyes I would think I was sitting in the Platz in Cologne. Well made & so easy to drink

 

A new beer for me and I took the time to flesh out what I thought. I have recently been been questioning my ranking methodology and I am taking a more firm stance on beer rating.

For one, if I would not purchase it again in that category then it gets a poor or below. Sadly this is the case with Odell- Easy Street Wheat Ale. Final tally = 2.85

Odell Easy Street Wheat

Color is light orange and mostly opaque. Nice off white fluffy head, disappears quickly with some lace. 3.5 = good

Nose is light yeast and light whole wheat bread aromas. 3.5 = good

Taste is watery with no wheat sweetness and not much character. It seems to be playing down malt but really has no hop bite either, just a slight bitterness. That may be due to the alcohol (but it is only 4.6%), as there seems to be nothing left in maltiness or residual sugars. There is a hint of maybe orange peel but just a hint. 2.5 = poor

Body is thin and watery. Some hint of buttery smoothness as it warms, but too lean for me. 2.5 = poor.

Overall a disappointment. I was expecting a lot more wheat freshness and a bit of esters or something. 2.75 = poor