New Beer Weekend #18

My next entry this gray and slightly rainy Fourth Corner day comes from PDX and Ecliptic Brewing. Seventh Orbit is an anniversary brew, a Golden ale with raspberries and chocolate. A nice change from the usual stouts that get this treatment. The beer was certainly ugly, but damn tasty: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33058/519612/

 

My Jersey girl daughter is also a North Carolinian now although she's not the typical transplant since my family's roots in the Old North State go back to the 1700's and she did her undergrad at UNC Chapel Hill. Our son also lives in the Triangle.

 

I've shared your experience of being sure I've had a particular beer but without any review to substantiate my memory. Cheers!

 

Nice! Simcoe and spruce tips sound so perfect together. You definitely put this one on my list.

 

Moving on to Barn Yard Hawaiiowan Punch, thanks @Orca_Whale! Both of novelty sours I have had from Barn Yard today are nailing the flavors they are going for and I am impressed!
4.13/5 rDev +4.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Orca_Whale for this
16 oz can poured into a pint glass

A- A hazy reddish grapefruit color with a small pink head.

S- Tart and sweet, Hawaiian Punch, some cherry Kool-Aid, pineapple, hints of lactose.

T- Tart, Hawaiian Punch, some pineapple, some lactose.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- Barn Yard did a great job with the Hawaiian Punch flavors, nice balance between tart and sweet.

Cheers NBW!

 

Mystery beer from @2beerdogs with a note, “a bit sour and more”, must be a sour? Pours a deep mahogany with little head, smells funky and wine like, huge tart cherries, plums, unripened berries, tart and tart, must be a sour or wild ale but the color does not suggest
And the reveal Bruery Terreux Tart of Darkness a sour stout, brewed with blackcurrents- outstanding beer but never would have have guessed a stout, thanks Derek

 

Same here. 1700s in Manhattan, and Pee Dee, South Carolina, and Alabama (Indian territory). It's a crazy long story and well noted.

 

My first review from 67 Degrees Brewing of scenic Franklin Massachusetts.
Making its BA debut......Autumn Red, I fine example of an English Brown Ale.
Cheers.



Autumn Red

Red Ale - Irish | 6.4% ABV

67 Degrees Brewing
Franklin, Massachusetts

3.67/5 rDev 0% | Average: 3.67
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

A strong pour is needed to reach a finger of light tan soapy foam with below average retention and no lasting lacing.
Cloudy copper-amber in color, I can't read though it but I can see my fingers.

Mild smell of bready malt with caramel and faint floral/herbal hops.

Semi-sweet from caramel malt with below average bitterness, toasted malt is noticed with apple and a faint alcohol bite.
The hop flavor is low with mild bitterness as this Beer dries a bit towards the fast finish. Caramel malt lingers briefly with the hops and bitterness dropping of quickly.

Light bodied with low yet lasting carbonation, it appears to go flat however a swish brings back a thin head. Smooth with well hidden alcohol, a little high for the style. Fresh taste, canned on 11/13/20.

 

Next up for this particular NBSer comes from BrewGentlemen and is General Braddock's. I received this in the recent Can Cans BIF from @adrock314 , and it's pleasant enough.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34599/119709/

 

The Shakes by hitchhiker brewing

3.9/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75



New brewery thanks to @Pinz412 in an Lif associated with Bif12

16oz can poured into a snifter

One finger fluffy taupe foam cap, good retention , some lacings , settles to a sparse island over a dark cola like liquid

This coffee porter smells like coffee. Fresh coffee beans, yup coffee

Taste is coffee, roast malts, taste

Thin mouthfeel , low sudsing , gentle coffee astringency , semi dry finish

Good beer

 

Last entry of the night is this imperial peanut butter/chocolate/coffee stout from Tree House, given to me by a friend because he fuckin' hates peanut butter beers and didn't realize what he was picking up when he got it. His inability to pay attention to detail will hopefully end up being to my benefit. I'm going to go ahead and assume right off the bat that this doesn't suck. It's Tree House; they have a reputation to uphold, right?

Pours a black-as-pitch liquid in my glass, topped off with a threateningly dark mocha head that quickly sinks down to a more demure form. The head is retentive and lasts for the entirety of my enjoyment of this decadent treat, though it leaves behind no lacing and its legs are rather sparse. I kind of expected as much from a beer with so many adjunct ingredients involved in the brewing process, but part of me was hoping TH would pull it off a bit better than some other "lesser" breweries (you should read that sarcastically; hazebros might hate me for this but I refuse to put these guys on that tall of a pedestal).

The nose here leads off with dusty peanut butter... slightly salty and expressive, followed up by intense dark chocolate and a hint of roastiness. Perhaps even a touch of acidity and a very light undertone of dark/pit fruit. I will say that the peanut butter element here really lasts and lasts, intensely coloring the entire way the beer comes across pretty consistently, even as it warms. I'm pretty excited for this one, as I love a nice, authentic-tasting strong PB stout *thinks back to the one time I was able to enjoy a can of Imperial Gunner's Daughter split with some friends*

Flavor profile is exactly as expected in terms of what elements are present and strongly-represented, though perhaps even slightly better in terms of saturation of those elements. The coffee is way more intense than expected, and it lends a superbly-earthy and unique roast character to the proceedings. The peanut butter isn't exactly lost by comparison (though it feels goddamn salty), but it definitely doesn't feel as prominent. As someone who loves dark chocolate peanut butter cups, this is a good thing but I know some people probably prefer the less-bitter/less-complex PB flavor. I think this beer works really well for a stronger, more fortified PB imperial stout, and the TH pedigree certainly does not hurt. Feel is rich and chewy, carbonation is ample and proper, and the overall way it drinks is superb. Highly recommended. Seems this currently has a 98 on BA (wow, so unusual for Tree House... ), but it's pretty damn deserving of the high ratings. Love it. Want more. Will probably never have it again. Ouch. Better to have drank and lost than to never have drank in the first place, though... alright, that's all from me this NBS. Cheers guys. See ya next week, hopefully.

 

I had to make a trip to the store to grab some charcoal yesterday, so naturally that allowed for some beer shopping. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this first beer at my beer store.

For a brewery that has such wide distro, this beer came and went last year before I could pick it up, so I grabbed it and ran to the cash register like I was stealing it.

PS: the labels are AWESOME on the individual bottles of the 6er. If you grew up in the ‘70s (guilty as charged, your honor), you’re in for a treat.





4.42/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a gorgeous golden copper color, just a smidge of hop haze, and a light tan head that provides ample lacing as you progress through this deceptive DIPA. The nose is ripe berries (thank you Idaho 7 hops!), and a healthy dose of pineapple and tangerine aromas.

The berries are forward on the taste as well, and they’re delicious. The pineapple and tangerine flavors seem to have a drying impact (if that makes sense), and there’s a caramalt flavor at the end of the taste.

The mouthfeel is substantially dry, in line with what is IMHO a WCIPA, making this beer exceptionally poundable, which is where the “deceptive” comes into play, because you forget you’re dancing with a 9% ABV beer until you get that subtle alcohol burn at the very end of the taste as the beer settles after a substantial pull.

I have too many “favorite” breweries to count on two hands, but if I was asked to name my favorite brewery, Bell’s is on the shorty short list.

 

First Sunday beer of this NBW is now officially in the books.

Yesterday I purchased 192 ounces of canned local beer. Some of that was for myself, and some was for my target in the upcoming NBS mini-BIF #12.5.

One of the beers purchased was a 4-pack of Batch 1, from Lumberbeard Brewing.
I really dig the looks of that building. Kinda art deco, but not. I wish they weren't at the opposite end of downtown from me.
Anyway, I'm reasonably certain I have had this beer at some point since Lumberbeard opened their doors, which was roughly a year ago. However, I have never reviewed it, and if I have had indeed had it, it was long enough ago that I could not recall the particulars, so I'm calling it fair game for NBW.

As you can see, things started out on an inauspicious note. The tab failed to pierce the can opening. I had to pierce it with the handle of a fork, and this resulted in disturbing things to the point of the massive head seen in the pic.
Once it finally settled down, it was very drinkable stuff. Described by the brewer as a kind of hybrid between a west coast and hazy IPA, it definitely leans toward the latter, but still has a bit of west coast style grapefruity bitterness and the back half.

I'd definitely hit it again.

 

Pretty nice brew, glad to see it around.

Nelson Sauvignon Blanc IPA Untitled Art

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47802/518927/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Back with yet another from @adrock314 , from Dancing Gnome, one of my favorite beer names ever, Swingin' At Strangers. A pleasant brew indeed.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47223/421282/

 

Ha!
Lumberbeard? that has to be among the most hipster'ish named places for a brewery.
That said, I'm not making fun of it. I'd go there. Cuz I'm a man and I have a beard!
Cheers!

 

Dogfish Head Campfire Amplifier! Milk Stout, 6.5% ABV. Pours black with a 3-finger light brown head that left no lacing. Nose is lactose and slight chocolate. Not much sweetness, slight bitterness, chocolate aftertaste. Excellent mouthfeel, overall very good. The add-junks (not adjuncts) are well hidden. They forgot to amplify it. Decent for a milk stout, but this can hardly be considered a s'mores stout.

3.81/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

I'm really into s'mores stouts and this is the lamest attempt I've reviewed, though another candidate in the fridge could steal that ranking.

 

Off the wagon one day early this week for a new one from Lost Nation Brewing.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31645/519644/



16 oz. can.
Canned 10/29/20.
Moderate pour yields a one and a half inch white head over a superb bright golden body with very nice lacing. Nose of cracker, malt, a little hops and a bit of spice. Taste of cracker and malt with slightly burnt toast and finishing a tad dry with a little spice. Very nice! Feel is more than adequate and overall, the boys up in Morrisville, Vermont did a stand up job with this one.
Cheers!