New Beer Weekend #212

1840 Brewing I Forgot That You Existed. A barleywine aged in bourbon and Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels. The look is thick dark brown. There was thick brown foam, but it disappeared very quickly. The smell is Cabernet Sauvignon wine with bourbon poured into it, with a back end of brown sugar and leather. Intriguing, but not very enticing. The taste is very wine heavy. It tastes like Cabernet Sauvignon wine with bourbon poured into it, topped off with barleywine. It is unique. Familiar barleywine flavors of toffee, pretzel, and fig appear after a couple sips, but this beer is primarily a boozy Cabernet Sauvignon wine. The mouthfeel is pure cough syrup. Thick and soupy, with light carbonation. Overall, this was a valiant first attempt at releasing a barleywine for 1840 Brewing, but this was not one that I would drink again. This beer is right in their wheelhouse, stylistically and experimentally. I believe they are an excellent brewery. This was a worthy effort, but the result did not meet very high expectations. I look forward to their next barleywine release.

 

Tonewood parkway to paradise pilsner
...pale cloudy gold appearance
..medium carbonation with a close to medium body
...aroma is simple,cereal and grain with lemon and lime zest
...taste is grain and cereal with the citrus really building in the finish. Leaves a dry hop burn finish that lasts a long time.
.overall its very good but never had a pilsner with this level of hop burn

 

Hey friends, this weekends new beer goes out to @LeRose who is in this breweries home state. Enjoy Maine round 2 and share some beers from vacation, I know you will

The nasty weather has left, still a touch humid today but nothing like it has been and it’s supposed to all be gone by tomorrow, hooray.

Took this beer from dads fridge when we were visiting last week, let’s see how it is.

Allagash - Beach Report (American Lager 4.2%)



Pours dirty gold with some light opacity; white head, not much retention but a nice cap sticks around for a while.

The nose is cereal and grain like; vague hop character, I would say it leans very lightly herbal, maybe a hint of zest character.

Taste is very cereal forward to me, it is also light sweet like a ritz cracker; hops are present little grassy with some light citrus underneath.

Body is light; touch of sweetness, light bitterness, lingers on the palate a bit but otherwise cleans and drinkable, there is a softness to this beer.

It’s an ok beer, nothing I’d rave about or seek out again but if you’re curious it is worth trying IMHO.

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Have a great night everyone, see you around tomorrow

 

3.35/5 rDev -6.9%

look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

Poured from a 12 ounce can with a best by date of 9-10-24 into a tulip glass.

Look- Deep gold, plentiful tiny particulate, moderately hazy, slightly off white creamy head, above average head retention, slightly above average lacing.

Smell- Grapefruit, biscuit, slight pine, slight floral character, between weak and medium strength of scent.

Taste- Biscuit, grapefruit, very slight pine, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, high bitterness, highly creamy, moderately astringent, mildly mouth watering finish.

Overall- Appearance would have rated higher had the can not stated “clear” and upon examination in my glass I thought it was moderately hazy with plentiful tiny particulate. Bouquet was simple and on the weaker side of the strength spectrum. Flavor was uncomplicated as well and too dominated by malt. Feel was more robust than I expected and very creamy, but had too much astringency. Overall this beer was well below average and did not deliver a memorable experience.

 

Unpacked and chillin'...

In the glass is Definitive Orbit 2024. Anniversary New England DIPA. It's hopped with Citra, Eukanot cryo, and Sabro if I remember right.

irry
Pours dirty yellow, high turbidity, huge fluffy white head that last several minutes before collapsing to a thin cap leaving ridiculous residue on the glass.

This is a citrus and tropical fruit bomb as the hops suggest. Big pineapple, lemon, nice earthy herbal undertone. There's some light berry notes in the mix as well. Slight sweetness - candy-like? There's some mango along for the ride - resinous.

The taste follows somewhat - pineapple, more grapefruit than expected. Some lemon. It's fairly sweet but balanced off with some bitterness. Might be nuts but I get a sugary almost cotton candy flavor in the background. A bit of berry, a touch of hercaceousness. The bitter lingers. There's other tropical flavors in the mix - notably mango but the rest is a bit vague.

Feel is silky smooth, a bit of a tingle at the end. The bitter in the aftertaste borders on the no fun zone - not quite but pretty close.

Overall, this is a pretty good beer. Wouldn't rush out to buy more but it's good, if fairly typical, for the style. Thinking in the 3.8 range.

 

Finally!
Spent the morning cleaning the house and then the local kids showed up for a day of board games. Except I’m not sure any board games were played.
The house is now empty of guests so I can post here.
First up (yes, there are two) is one from der wundrous @WunderLlama and it easily blew away my expectations.
Tree House - Moment of Clarity
They state that it’s a nitro infused milk stout in easy reading lettering. So I am thinking Left Hand’s Nitro Milk Stout.
I thought wrong. Had to excuse myself from the game just to read the fine print. They put maple syrup in this, but while it is very obvious it didn’t taste like maple syrup to me, had a nice spicy (as in heat, not pepper) edge but it wasn’t hot. Not sure how else to describe it. But it was delicious.
The feel was also hitting above its weight class, I guess the syrup had something to do with that but it was more like a BA imperial stout in feel.
OA, I could see how someone would want a case of this after drinking one, it’s really quite good. Thanks Maynard!

 

This next one is one I bought for the Sheboygan bottle share but it never got tapped, so I get to drink it. Lucky me.

That’s right, a porter that weighs in at 15%. It’s a beast. And lest it confuse anyone, there is no such thing as Vietnamese Porter, it’s just what they call it. (They also did a Japanese Emperor Stout)
Okay, this one is black, darker than many stouts and has a very short light brown head.
The taste is coffee and cacao and marshmallow (why coconut comes across as mallow is beyond me) and a lot of bourbon.
The additives almost, but not quite overwhelm the base beer, providing a nearly sweet bourbon infused porter that is surprisingly tasty.
The feel is appropriately viscous, this is a sipping beer.
My last for the day as well. Cheers all, have a great evening!

 

Cheers to @snaotheus for this

Great Notion Northleft Hazy IPA, 6.8%; 4.25 overall

Pours a hazed gold with a thumb of beige head. Average-ish head retention & better lacing

S: Citrus & tropical fruits in abundance, great nose

T: Guava, mango, oranges a touch of powdery dryness up front. Tangerine, lime, guava, passion fruit & a little pineapple as this beer warms up, dryness decreases as this beer warms up. Finishes with passion fruit, guava, a little pineapple & some dryness

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, good balance

Easy to drink, much to like here. Thrilled to have finally tried this brewery

 

From @Whyteboar via the NBW BIF#18 LIF

Odd Side Ales Dark of Night Imperial Stout aged in Whisky Barrels, 12.44% ABV; 4.15 overall


This iteration has 12.44% ABV

Pours an effervescent ebony with 2 fingers of mocha colored head. Viscous, some head retention & lacing

S: Dark fruits, a whiff of coffee & barrel notes, vanilla & cocoa once warm

T: Dark fruit, coffee, charred grain, booze bite & oakyness up front. Some Baker's chocolate & vanilla fights through the booziness & charred grain, some banana taffy, just a hint of peatyness as this beer warms up, coffee is more present as well. Finishes with a little smokeyness, charred grain, a little vanilla, some leafy hops as well

MF: Fairly chewy, restrained carbonation, warming. Carbonation picked up a little once warm

This was a sipper. nice flavor, not next level, but lots to love

 

Lehe Brewing (Estonia) ‘Singularity’ BA Imperial Stout

33 cl Birthday Bottle, poured into a snifter in Toulouse, France.
Very small sketchy bubbly foam dances and disappears.
Nose is barrel, booze, belt, dark chocolate.
Taste slaps with big flavors of bourbon barrel, plummy prune, coffee bean, rich chocolate a hint of tobacco. Swoony booze clocks in at 18% ABV.
Mouth is full and dense. Mid carbonation driving.
Overall, a super One Hitter from Estonia!

Rated 4.5/5 in the BA DB.

 

@jonphisher - I had a very similar experience with Allagash's Surf House "Summer Lager", released in late February.

Welcome to New Beer Sunday #1016! Today is Day three of Roaring Table beers.

This one is similar conceptually to @woemad 's The Love of God Brewing, in that this beer was released previously with different hops and description based on the notes entered by @steveh , but unlike the batch number labeling, Roaring Table did not indicate a batch number.

This is somewhat ironic, as they released a four pack called Sequential Series with cans prominently labeled with a large number 1 through 4, but all four cans were the same exact beer brewed with multiple hops including the Grungeist used in my selection today.

Roaring Table Holiday Romance

3.16/5 rDev -19.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3



Full review linked above. Bottom line is people seemed to like this better when it was released with a different profile a couple of years ago than this latest release, which I find light overall for the style.

That's it for the weekend baring an unexpected trip near the lake today. Will be in Grand Rapids for a bit over a day and hope to see @Whyteboar and perhaps his friend Garth while there, and I'll post a link to any solid beers I come across next weekend, slating likely three of six from my trade with David @DoctorZombies .

Cheers!

 

Have had two new beers this weekend. The sour from yesterday was amazing, the stout this morning is pretty good. Not sure what else I’m drinking today, but if it’s new, I may stop by again. Cheers!

 

Well, let's see if the BA site will let me post today - yesterday it kept kicking me out saying I wasn't authorized to do (anything). It worked OK for WBAYDN, but NBW was a total washout.

Today's New Breakfast Beer is the last New Breakfast Beer I brought back from Germany, although I've got some to be delivered soon to someone else.



Ur-Ur-Ur-Ur-Ur-Opa Historisches Brotbier – from Braumanufaktur Hertl. Single 500 mL bottle purchased from Bierothek, Bamberg, DE, late June, 2024, price unknown. Reviewed 11/08/24 (Review 3335). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Stamped on the rear label “13.02.2025”. In reefer at store. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 47.2 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 59.1 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Amber (SRM 9), clear. Second pour loosens a cloud of large chunks of precipitate.
Body – Amber Brown (SRM 18), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, Deep Amber (SRM 15), translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.3 cm, aggressive center pour), cream, high density, average retention, leaving a 0.4 cm crown and complete rocky cap.
Lacing – Poor. High density drag marks which rapidly disappear.
Aroma – 3.75 – Very weak bread, maybe a hint of toasted malt, no hops, no alcohol (5.4% ABV, according to the label).
Flavor – 4 – Follows the nose, definite dark bread short of pumpernickel with a hint of malt. No hops, no alcohol. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Faint gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium; almost creamy; soft carbonation.
Final Impression and summation: 4 Despite the absence of aroma and flavor of hops, they make their presence felt in the slight bitterness. An interesting attempt to reproduce an old beer recipe.

Rating 3.94, rDev +2.6%

As a point of interest, the back label says "Marzen".

 

I think Allagash, to some extent, is trying to hit the tourist trade with some of these recent beers. They have certainly moved away from the Belgian model to a degree. They have even done a couple of IPAs recently - one I liked a lot, but this year's I haven't tried yet. I didn't understand the From Maine With Love series - there's I think 86 of them now. Even though the concept seemed gimicky, I tried a bunch of the FMWL offerings when they were single digits and didn't like most of them, but the recent ones have been good.

I can't fault them for trying trying to sell beer and woo new customers, and they still make beers true to their roots. They have had some near misses, though. Nothing "bad", just mildly head-scratching.