New Beer Weekend #158

I am going to bend the rules a bit since we've been on vacation and made a few brewery visits this week.

Barreled Souls was our first stop, Part 1.



L to R. Uncle Dino's Yummy Bars an Imperial Stout with a hefty 14% ABV brewed with cacao nibs, walnuts, almonds, and vanilla beans. Collab with Mast Landing and Vitamin Sea. I think it suffered a little from too many cooks, maybe. The base stout flavor is killer, the chocolate adds nicely but the walnuts kinda took over in an unexpected way I can't quite describe. The almonds were pretty hidden. Good, not great.

Second, another Vitamin Sea collab Sour Pipe Project Tangerine and Marshmallow. Nice fruity sour with excellent tangerine flavor. The marshmallow is present enough, not overwhelming, adding a touch of sweetness.

Third, The Dude Abides, an Imperial Stout. Hey, man...there's a beverage here. I really wanted to love this beer, but I didn't. Way over the top (expected, duh), but far too one dimensional in the coffee and kind of an unpleasant level of acrid/acidic aftertaste. Nothing really reminded me of a White Russian. It needed more lactose in my opinion - couldn't taste that part at all. Fuck it, Dude...let's go bowling.

Fourth, Penguins in Chile, almost a fruit smoothie type sour. Brewed with Chilean blackberry, concord grape, vanilla, marshmallow. They seem to have a thing for marshmallow and it pays off better in this concoction. Heavy blackberry, subtle concord grape, and just enough marshmallow to be heard. Flavors were very clearly present and worked decently together. Not one I would buy, but tasty and fun.

Back with Part 2 in a bit. Gonna rain heavy here this afternoon, so a quick trip to the grocery store since tomorrow is supposed to be glorious.

 

Road Trip! Road Trip!

Does the above remind you of the movie Animal House!?!

Well, yesterday my wife and I took a road trip to New Hope, PA with the intention to just walk around to see the sites and eat some lunch. It has been a number of years since we have been to New Hope. My wife commented a number of times about shops: “that used to be x, I am sorry to see that business has closed”. I am not a shopper but I did notice that downtown New Hope now has a number of taprooms for local craft breweries. Inside a small mall type business in the corner is a taproom for Neshaminy Creek brewery; this was an inside type taproom.

Great Barn also had a taproom but with outside seating that overlooked a stream. The production/farm brewery is located about 20 miles from New Hope in Kintnersville. This location was more inviting for my wife so we stopped by for a beer. I have never had a beer from Great Barn so I was looking forward to trying beer from a new brewery (for me). My wife ordered a small glass of the Pilsner. As I looked over the beer menu, I took a small sip of her beer and I too ordered a Pilsner but I went for the pint (see photo below). This Pilsner was quite tasty with a nice balance of bready Pilsner malt flavor accompanied by a herbal/spicy hop flavors. And on this very hot day it had great drinkability, a pleasant thirst quencher.



We did a bit more leisure walking and decided to stop at Triumph Brewery for lunch. We have visited Triumph a number of times in the past for lunch/dinner and a beer (or two) and we have always been very pleased. This time was no different. My wife loved her salad with salmon and I loved my burger. As before we both ordered the same beer: Keller Pils. I thought this beer was excellent! It was hazy in appearance with a vibrant flavor profile balanced by bready Pilsner Malt and a complex hop aroma of herbal/spicy but also a hint of floral as well.



We did not have a wild time like the fraternity boys from Animal House but a fun road trip with two tasty beers enjoyed by us both.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH

 

Never posted to this thread but I had a new Veil beer last night and going to have a new Veil beer (Crucial Taunt4) tonight. I will give the post a try.

 

Thanks for the kick-off @beergoot. I just got back from 9 days in your general neck of the woods. Should have been 8, but I had the great pleasure of spending 6+ hours at the Denver airport on Wednesday night before my flight was canceled, thus resulting in a trip back downtown and an unexpected extra night in CO. Oh well, #$%$^ happens.

Now I'm going to enjoy spending a weekend at home for only the second time since April. I've been largely drinking saisons & wild beers recently, but I was in the mood for something darker this morning.

This is The Empty Sea, a Baltic Porter from Forest & Main.

4.25/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Canned March, 2022. Pours a root beer brown that settles into a deeper shade of brown once in the glass. Plenty of foamy beige head with good retention and lacing. Overall, very attractive beer.

Aroma is a really nice combination of sweet molasses and light roast.

Taste is heavy on the roast, with pumpernickel and other bready notes present, along with just enough sweetness to keep the balance right. Nice, dry finish. Medium + bodied.

Overall, this exceeded my expectations. Very good beer.

 

Picked up a completely new to me beer and brewery from NY. The Downed Lands Brewery, Maturus Saison. 5% ABV.

Before I get into my review, these are some of the labels I hate. All I saw at first was the Foeder Saison.

Then, after I got home, saw on the back it also has mango, lime, and ginger added. Since the label is way to busy, and I was hunting for some information, that slipped passed me, as each rotation of the label has a slightly different design. I am a sucker for a good American "foedor aged Saison" anyway, so lets so how this goes...






Pours a hazy yellow color. A dense white head forms with good retention and lace left behind.
Aroma is a mixture of cereal grains, ginger spice and lime. I don't get much on any yeast derived aromas here.
Taste wise, at first cracker, and cereal grains, that leads to the flavor additives. Spicy ginger and lime mostly. Becomes a bit soapy. Would like more of a true yeast character, and ramping up the hops just a bit wouldn't hurt either, as some bitterness might be nice.
A medium body, with a slicker feel than I would like. Could be more crisp IMO. Not particularly hard to drink, if you don't think of this as a Saison.

Overall, a little let down with this. The flavor additives are the show. I'm not completely against using flavor additives in this way, and while its not over powering or unbalanced in that regard. It could still use a bit more actual Saison characteristics. As is more of just a "spiced/fruit" beer. Decent enough in that regard, but can't say I'll be looking to come back to this one soon.

Overall: 3.41, B-, bordering on a B score.

Didn't see this in the database, so I added it.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58867/665279/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Looks like just one new beer for me today:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/652745/?ba=bluejacket74#lists

Wasn't sure how this would work out since I haven't had many imperial stouts with lemon as an ingredient, but I liked it a lot. Should have at least one new brew for tomorrow too, cheers everyone!

 

Not sure why I'm gravitating towards porters today, but here we are.

This is Pause and Reflect, from Kent Falls.

3.49/5 rDev -8.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Canned 10/3/22
Pours a deep, deep brown with a medium amount of relatively short-lived light khaki colored head. Aroma is light roasted malts with cocoa and very faint sweetness.

Taste is heavy on the roast. I'm not a coffee drinker, but this has some coffee vibes. Light bodied and easy drinking.

Solid beer.

 

Finally had some time to sit down with a new beer and write a review. Glad to be jumping back in with the NBW crew, but I'm still going to be a curmudgeon about posting pics until we can upload directly to BA. Sorry bout that folks.

Onto the beer. I recently made a trip to Jack's Abby and picked up a bunch of new-to-me beers. Hopping that I gey around to sharing them with you all. Today's really hit the spot on a warm, muggy day.

Jack's Abby Ray Catcher (the new rice lager recipe)

Pours a deep straw gold with a three finger white head that fairly quickly dissipates to a coating.

After the pour, I'm primarily getting aromas of pepper and spice; hints of Allagash White. As it warms, this balances out with a bit of malty sweetness and graininess.

The flavor is nicely done with cracker, lightly buttered white bread, a hint of honey, and hop bitterness playing off of each other. Everything on the palate is clean and distinct, which might be due to the rice but is likely mostly a testament to the skill of JA. Light bodied yet with a smooth, full mouthfeel from the natural carb.

Overall this is a really nice rice lager. Everything the macros could be. It can be hard to justify craft prices for macro styles, but this beer shows why it can be worth it.

 

To late to edit, the brewery is Drowned Lands, I got the correct brewery for the review just a typo in my post ha.

 

Sun Crusher

5.3% summer ale by Revolution

Poured from a twelve ounce can, the body is a yellow-orange and it has a good fluffy white head. Very good lacing throughout. Nice looking beer.

Nose is a floral and tropical mix. Good citrus aroma.

Taste follows nose as the hoppiness is assertive. There is a bite, but not a strong bitterness. A bit of malt balances the bitterness and lets the hoppy flavor carry the beer.

Good mouthfeel and aggressive carbonation. Soft finish on this easy drinking ale.

Good but not great beer from a brewery that is the best in Chicago in my opinion.

 

Is it safe to say that if your were aware of the adjunks that you would not have chosen to purchase these beers?

Cheers!

P.S. My local Retail Beer Distributor carries a number of Drowned Lands brands but after reading the high prices I have never purchased any of them.

 

I'm a sucker for "foeder saisons" for some reason, so I might have gotten it anyway. Though typically, for any other style, yes, I would have avoided that. Though, saying that, I have had some Saisons with additives that I like a lot (Jolly Pumpkin comes to mind, but I would have to look up which ones as it has been a while), its just the absents of anything else that I would consider Saison-like, which was a bit of a let down for me.

My local store got in some new beers from them this week, I'll be looking more carefully at the labels now, and they are a bit pricier like you said.

 

I agree wholeheartedly about Rev being the best brewery in Chicago, especially when you consider their prowess across many styles.

 

I attended the National Homebrewers Conference held in Grand Rapids back in 2014 and afterwards met some friends and family to do some camping in Traverse City. During our touring around we visited Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales brewery for some beers and an early dinner. I enjoyed drinking glasses of Bam Biere there but that was a ‘straight up’ Saison (i.e., no adjunks).

If you ever visit that area of Michigan, I would recommend a visit to Jolly Pumpkin.

Cheers!

P.S. There are lots of good wineries to visit in that area.

 

Hoppin' Frog - Barrel Aged Rocky Mountain Muileann Toir T.O.R.I.S.

16oz can served in a snulip. Can is dated Best By Nov 22 2025. @Ozzylizard sent it to me in an aftershock sneak attack in NBS BIF #17.

Pours perhaps the blackest I have ever seen a beer pour, with a strikingly dark head that emerges after the pour, grows impressively, and settles in a dark tan ring with a cohesive but very thin island with one stubborn bubble in the center that is about five times the size of its neighbors. Smell is powerful booze and char, burnt molasses, black licorice.

Taste is intense -- the first few seconds on my palate cycled through screaming booze to screaming dark roast coffee to screaming dark chocolate. Feeling around in the corners, there's toffee and vanilla sweetness, an elusive hint of smoke.

Mouthfeel is thick, satisfying, chewy, smooth, a bit sticky -- all very appropriate. Overall, this is great.

 

Do you have a Johnny Cash song 'playing' in your head!?!



Cheers!