New Beer Weekend #20

Good day BAs! Thanks, @SaeDog505 for getting us started at a decent time. For a cross-post with WBAYDN and a New Breakfast Beer:




Porter from Carlsberg Sverige AB. Purchased 10/20/20 for $ 4.23 (Including tax) for 11.2 oz bottle ($ 0.378/oz) from Shangy’s in Emmaus, PA. Reviewed 12/5/20.
No date other than “Argang 2016” on front label. On room temperature shelf at store and stored at home at 42 degrees. Served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 57.9 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Deep amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Ruby brown (SRM 24), opaque. When held to direct light, barely penetrates but distinct ruby where it does.
Head – Average (Maximum three cm, aggressive center pour), buff, high density, average retention, rapidly diminishing to a three to four mm crown fed in several places by effervescence, and a thin, rocky cap.
Lacing – Fair. Narrow band of extremely torn curtain.
Aroma – 4 – Moderate roasted malt with a bit of sweetness, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4 – Begins with roasted malt and coffee, extremely bitter, no hops, no yeast. The bitterness quickly ameliorates and leaves a bit of sweetness on the tongue with hints of cola. No alcohol (5.5 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, almost creamy, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Good.

Still another new baltic porter or two to review in he next few days.

Rating 3.97, rDev -3.6%.

 

Barreled Souls - PB&J Stay Puft (2020)



I liked the original Stay puft a lot but when I saw this variant on on untappd it caught my eye. I have had quite a few bad PB+J beers bit this but I trust Barreled Souls and (and &colby600) for helping get this delicious nectar into my stomach. The mouthfee

Nose: Nose is kid of a mess for some reason. I can tell it is a stout but not beyond that..

Taste. DELECTABLE. Real peanuts, huge strawberry jam notes. Sweet, not cloying. It is delectable.

Color: Black

Carbonation and lacing on the side are both a bit less than I would expect for this beer. And I didn't tell anyone in this world I wanted this beer and it ends up on my doorstep. We were meant to be.

Solid 4.45 total. A delicious treat stout that isn't a huge sugar bomb.

I can't name a better PB+J off the top of my head but this one really wins for the real peanuts used and strawberry jam (and master brewers). This is super drinkable and I am thankful I got to try it. The one of the left is the empty of the regular version.

 

20 minutes out of the fridge and this guy smells delicious. A graham cracker I assume is from the vanilla, chocolate notes from the, the peanut and they jam all meld to together perfect.I should have let it warm before opening but I have been sipping it slow to get the notes at a warmer temp.

Absolutely delicious

 

Was at Holler Brewing yesterday afternoon. Since they still can't sell for on premise consumption, you can get "beer to go" from the taproom and basically walk across the parking lot to a secluded and nice area with picnic tables. I will usually park my butt there for a beer to enjoy before getting a four pack of something to go.

New beer for me is Keep Houston Krispy, Kolsch style. 5.3% ABV



A classic Kolsch style with Mandarina Bavaria hops for an added little twist.

Pours a beautiful bright and clear golden/orange color. A dense white head forms with excellent retention and plenty of lace left behind.
Aroma is sweet bready malts and grains. Citrus/orange rind is light but pithy and a bit peppery and estery. Like it a lot.
Taste, oh yeah, that sweet bready flavor is there. Baked sourdough and lightly cracker like. English biscuits. Then the light citrus fruits from the hops come into play. Its all subtle but really well done. An excellent peppery spice shows up, and just a touch of lingering bitterness. This is excellent.
A light body and certainly crisp effervescent carbonation. As the name suggests. Its semi sweet, but superbly clean. This is excellent to drink and come back to. Downed in big gulps.

The Mandarina Bavaria hops works really well here. It is incredibly balanced with the sweet bready like malts. I think this is an all around really well made Kolsch style. It has plenty of character to keep you interested, without being over the top or over balanced in any one thing. I'm all the more impressed with a beer that can pull that off than anything with big in your face flavors. Highly recommended, and another hit from Holler for me.

Overall score 4.28, a solid A
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45647/519193/?ba=champ103#review

 

Sound like a dream afternoon to me, weather looks perfect and that beer sounds and looks great.

 

An Indigenous American beer!

There are a few beer styles which are historically indigenous to America:

· Beers brewed with pumpkin (e.g., Pumpkin Ales)

· California Common (aka Steam Beers)

· Kentucky Common

· Classic American Pilsner

· American Adjunct Lager

· Etc.

Today’s beer is an interesting version of a Common beer in that is is brewed solely with ingredients from New York State: Industrial Arts Autumn Landscape New York Common Lager.

I am fortunate to have this beer to drink since @cavedave generously gifted it to me.

Below is how this beer is detailed on the Industrial Arts website:

“Description

This year's celebration of fall, Autumn Landscape, is a NY Common Lager. A common lager, also known as a Steam Beer, is a Lager fermented with yeast tolerant of a higher Ale-ish fermentation profile. Our 100% NYS Common Lager welcomes cool temps with toasty notes of freshly baked bread, a peppery hop note and a wash of fresh malty characteristics. 5.6% ABV

Our seasonal Landscape Lagers are sourced directly from NYS farms, and give 100% of the profits to a local environmental or agricultural organization. We are proud to support Soul Fire Farm with the sale of Autumn Landscape 2020. Learn more about our New York State Landscape Lager Series.”

https://industrial-arts-shipping.square.site/product/autumn-landscape-new-york-common-lager/251

For the interested student who wants to learn more about the progenitor for today’s beer below is a short description of the California Common beer style courtesy of the BA website:

“California Common / Steam Beer

The California Common, or Steam Beer, is a hybrid style unique to the US. It's usually brewed with a special strain of lager yeast that works better at warmer (ale-like) temperatures. This method dates back to the late 1800's in California when refrigeration was a great luxury. At the time, brewers had to improvise to cool the beer down, so shallow fermenters were used. In a way, the lager yeast was trained to ferment quicker at warmer temperatures. Today's examples are light amber to tawny red in color, medium bodied, and possess a malty character. Some mildly fruitiness along with an herbal yet assertive hop bitterness are also typical. San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Company trademarked the term "Steam Beer" and as such all other examples of the style must be legally referred to as "California Common."

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/styles/132/

Well, let’s get ‘steaming’ and drink some beer!

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Medium - dark golden in color with a white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is predominantly cracker/bready malt but in the background there is a very subtle aspect of herbal/spicy hops.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a mostly cracker/bready flavors. There is a moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a moderate carbonation level. There is an off-dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good! I enjoyed the maltiness of this beer and the hop aroma/flavor provided some balance.

What I most appreciated about this beer is how cleanly it is brewed along with its high level of drinkability. With every sip I had a very strong desire to have another. It actually required self-control to not ‘guzzle’ this beer.

Cheers to Industrial Arts for crafting this lager beer (fermented warmer)!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

@champ103

Cheers to a good plan!

 

As always, great taste in books. Literally finishing up Piranesi this morning.

 

Nice, that is next for me. I have had Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell for years and never got around to reading it, and just started it yesterday. Decided to read that first before moving on to Piranesi. Its a great winter read as well.

 

I haven't had the Carlsberg version yet, but I do recall 15 or so years ago that Carnegie Porter seemingly had some psychoactive qualities.

 

You'll love Jonathan Strange, I think. Read it when it first came out and it still lingers. This recent profile of Clarke in a recent New Yorker is well worth the read: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/14/susanna-clarkes-fantasy-world-of-interiors

 

Good morning NBW
I was excited to find this bottle in Bloomington a few weeks ago

Traquair Jacobite Ale

500mL bottle stamped BBE SEP 2029 poured into a thistle glass at just above fridge temp 8% ABV. The beer pours bright medium brown in color with mahogany highlights and tan colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is mild in strength featuring rich malt, subtle earthiness, dark fruit and a bright note of coriander. The taste follows with the coriander up front before the rich (toasted, but not peaty) malt and oak begin to assert themselves. Lots of prune, raisin, leather in the taste as well. Minimal bitterness, but never sweet. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a dry (spiced) finish. No hint of the ABV in the taste or aroma. Overall, good. I'm not a big coriander fan, but it works in some Belgians. It's extremely well used & offers a subtle balance here, but to my tastes it's out of place.

Scotch ales are extremely hard to find and are an automatic purchase for me. I prefer the peaty examples, but I'm rarely diassappointed with one. I have the other Traquair ale for later in the day. See you then. Cheers & enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

I thought and hope the same thing @Roguer it was very quiet last week. I’m hoping to get at least 2-3 new ones in, I’ll do my part the best I can.

 

Hofbrau Winter Spezial is a new-to-me seasonal treat.
-optically clear mahogany colored bottle pour with a 2 cm cap of fine, tan foam.
The aroma is provides a wisp of toffee.
The flavor features toasted malt, sweet caramel and woody hop notes.
The brew is light-bodied and finishes smoothly. This is very good. The 8.4% abv is well-hidden.

 

We've had some cold weather this past week, low 20s overnight and warming to either side of 50. I've discovered that golf isn't that much fun when it's 40 degrees and breezy. In fact, if we hadn't played for three weeks because of a lockdown, we would not have been playing in this type of weather.
My new beer for today is Winter Warmer Ale from Marble Brewery in Albuquerque. It is 7.5% ABV and best by 2/26/21. I was about to add this as a new beer when I found it in the Retired beer section.
A pretty beer. Vibrant copper color, modest off-white head, plenty of lace.
The aroma is lacking. Some sweet malt and a little bit of hops.
Caramel taste, moderately hopped.
This "winter warmer" acts more like a junior barleywine.
Still a nice beer, but I was expecting something more malty and spicy.



@SawDog505: Enjoy the snow Tim!

 

Both of those are among my favorites. I have the House Ale I'm going to probably open later today.

 

Thanks fro the kick off @SawDog505 and greetings and salutations to Beer Advocates across the globe.

Kicking off NBW #20 with a 16 ounce 12% ABV Imperial Porter from Phase Three, a brewery located in the far NW Suburbs. The beer features Tugboat coffee and coconut as the adjuncts, has no can date but was purchased during the July 2020 release.

Phase Three Pressed Coconut



Appearance: Black dark brown pour, 16 oz poured fully into a large snifter, no head immediately cleared as poured, light bubble off tan bubbly ring around the top of the glass. 3.75

Aroma: Bold and very enticing dark roast coffee leads, a nice bakers chocolate backs well. Let this sit for 15 minutes, as this warms a wonderful bold coconut emerges as well, glad all these great flavors held on for the 5 months from canning. Excellent. 4.5

Taste: Mirrors aroma, but even more bold and wonderful. Great roast coffee beans lead, coconut complements well, with a rich malt backing that holds this all together very well. Get lactose as well, not sure if added. Excellent coffee porter! 4.75

Mouthfeel: Full body, rich and creamy, silky smooth, totally decadent. Extremely faint carbonation, nice balance of sweet coconut and chocolate offset by the roast coffee, lightly dry, pleasant coffee aftertaste. ABV hits you as expected. 5.0

Overall: This is an outstanding strong coffee coconut porter. The mouthfeel and rich taste and aroma are bold and very enjoyable. Phase Three brews great beers, but this was a cut above their typical offering. So glad I picked this up! 4.75

Great beers posted so far early this morning! @Roguer 's Duchesse Petite and @champ103 's Kolsch read like good Summer considerations, would also love to try @lordofthewiens 's Winter Warmer if I'm ever able to drive to New Mexico this Winter once restrictions clear.

Will come back with another either later today or for NBS #823 with at least one more. ABV is getting to me and I'm barely half way through. Will I make it without a nap? I'll let you know.

Cheers!