New Beer Weekend #212

Looks succulent!

 

Another new beer from a MN local, Steel Toe Split-Point Pilsner

Appearance: Clear yellow, big head.

Smell: Mild sweetness, hint of grass.

Taste: Mild bread, then some mild grassiness to balance it out. Nice bready undertone. Finishes dry, easy drinking.

Overall: A very good pilsner from one of my favorite locals. Very balanced flavor, definitely not a super hopped craft pilsner. Good drinking beer for summer or anytime!

 

Good morning BAs! This morning’s eye opener come courtesy of @ChicagoJ - Revolution’s “Life Jacket”:



Canned 7/13/23. Poured at 55°. Fast fizzy light tan head vanished immediately leaving no cap retention, ring nor lace; deep amber/ruby body with excellent clarity; medium legs on swirl. Sweet tropical fruit juice nose; No bourbon, no coconut. Taste follows nose; overripe mango; sweet tropical fruit. Silky smooth feel; medium body; mouth warmth from 15%abv. Overall, other than color, nothing like a BBA BW; tropical fruit punch spiked with alcohol; at 13 months out no coconut; no bourbon or barrel notes; nevertheless, very tasty for what it still is…

4.0 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.0 | 4.0
Score: 4.16 rDev: + 0.5%

A BBA BW? I donno…but a tropical fruit juice high alcohol breakfast beer - I’m on board. Cheers BAs!

 

Brasserie Goudale France) ‘La Raoul’ Blonde

Well chilled 50 cl can poured into a near-pint glass in Toulouse, France. Nice thick plume of white foam above clear gold brew.
Nose is classic Blonde. Yeasty with a bit of spice.
Taste, at first, is right there too. There’s a distinct tinniness that ultimately keps this ale from scoring better, and is a distraction. Sweet but not cloyingly. Thin in a Leffe way. It’s a basic everyday sud. 7% ABV is a savior.
Mouthfeel is light leaning medium. Medium carbonation.
Overall, I’d try it again sometime to see if it doesn’t taste like the tank it came from.,

3.28/5 in the BA DB

 

Bourbon Barrel Aged Orange Vanilla Expedition Stout

13.3% Russian Imperial Stout by Bell's

Poured from a twelve ounce bottle purchased at Bell's General Store, packaged date of 3-22-24. Body pours an opaque black with no head. Just a tiny ring of mocha colored bubbles at glass edge. No lacing.

Aroma is a mix of bourbon barrel, malty char, and delightful orange.

Taste follows nose. The orange hits the palate in true form. This flavor isn't an artificial ghost, it's real orange. As such, it holds up to the powerful base stout. The bourbon flavor is strong but not overly done. ABV is felt, but not in harsh flavor. The base stout is very much in the mix. Vanilla is present but mostly serves to bridge orange to bourbon. The flavors work well together.

Mouthfeel is heavy and carbonation, though barely visible, is contextually appropriate. Post swallow there is barrel and light orange.

A very good variant of a great stout.

 

Hey BAs! I’m back with another new to me beer - Bell’s “Chocolate & Ancho Chile Expedition Stout”, courtesy of my buddy @Blogjackets :



Bottled 5/10/23. Poured at 53°. Black body; dark tan head that disappears quickly leaving a few surface spots and a thin ring at best; no legs. Green chilies nose; no bourbon. Spicy verde sauce; hot mole chocolate sauce; no bourbon nor barrel flavors. Burn on tip of tongue; silky feel; medium light body; light carbonation; mouth warmth from 13.3% abv. Overall, long hot spicy ancho chile linger; chocolate in the mix but sitting in the back seat while the chilies drive the bus; my whole mouth tingles from the alcohol and peppers.

4.0 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.25
Score: 4.24 rDev: -0.7%

The chilies overwhelmed the whole, and the barrel treatment is missing in action. Nevertheless, a spicy imperial stout that is quite tasty in that regard. I’d drink again. Cheers!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, weekend experimenters. I figured I'd check in here today because I am having a beer from a brewery that has @jonphisher at the head of its marketing department and which @HoppingMadMonk had yesterday. I was able to also get Poolside, Jon, but this is a review of Tonewood's Parkway to Paradise.


There's a tinge of a tug on the heartstrings in the name, as one of the first breweries around my childhood hometown is named Parkway. But that's an aside. I don't recall having this one on tap earlier this year, but I wasn't paying a lot of attention to names while chatting with my fellow BAs in the taproom.

Pale body - with the haze of a hefe but with the color throws it into a doppleganger for a white ale. The body de-hazes a bit as it warms up. Head builds up to a couple fingers halfway into the pour into a tall glass, and holds steady there all the way to the top. Spongy lacing is more present at the top, with less white bubbles sticking to the glass as I drink this beer down.

Nose is a bit more grainy than bready, but definitely has a noble hop grassy aroma that I am used to getting from American made German-style Pilsners. I wasn't noticing the citrus zest that @HoppingMadMonk noted at first, but its definitely there.

There's a light grain note in the open, with a lemon zest edge to it. The middle brings about the grassy note from the nose, itself with an accompanying note on the edges - a generically herbal one. The beer is pretty dry throughout, with a light-plus bitterness that accomplishes the feat of begging another sip shortly after the previous one. Lastly, for my palate, I am not noticing anythin I would consider as hop burn, at least not in the way I have in certain NE IPAs.

 

Okay, this brings to mind Brewery Vivant, which dedicated themselves to (essentially) French Country Beer, which you might imagine, regardless how good it is (and it’s really good) if you don’t have any IPAs then many people aren’t interested.
So to address this *without* watering down their original mission, was to open a new brewery in the suburbs. Broad Leaf Brewery is the American style brewery for Vivant. They have awesome food and good beer, but it’s not, IMO, as good as Vivant’s beer or many of the other local breweries. But it gave them their IPAs and such.

 

Sixteen Shots in Munich



5.5% German Pilsner by Weathered Ground Brewery

Poured from a pint can, the body is a mostly clear yellow with good fluffy white head. Good lacing.

Aroma is faintly sweet malt with some grassy notes.

Taste follows nose as the malt is the lion's share of the flavor. Minor hop notes that add a light bitterness. Things dry up nicely after swallow.

Mouthfeel is good, soft with good carbonation.

A pils that breaks no new ground, but is a refreshing, super easy drinking pleasure.

Thanks @DoctorZombies for this beer.

 

Enjoying a visit with our son and his girlfriend. He brought some beers that we have been sharing. This one is from Flock of Moons Brewery, a hazy DIPA.
The brewery's one year anniversary beer.
Gold, with a light haze. Good-sized white head with some delicate lace.
Fruity aroma, both citrus and tropical.
I tasted orange, tangerine, peach, and mango. Minimal hop bitterness.
Light-to-medium bodied.
Very nice.

 

Man, if only they’d hire me officially one of their biggest positives is the quality and price combo. Very few, if any, places can match that combo locally.

I too forget if this one was on during our hangout. I doubt it cause it’s for Morey’s Pier and we just reap the benefits of their relationship.

Thanks for sharing and supporting the company I unofficially work for

 

Cone Head an IPA from Zero Gravity Brewery in Burlington Vermont. This is a pretty standard IPA but a very good one. Poured from a pint can into a pint glass it’s gold with a white head. There is a nice spicy aroma. The taste is on the bitter side but with a nice malt balance. The mouthfeel is full and the finish dry. Overall a enjoyable IPA.

 

Its been a very long time since I had a beer from Berkshire Brewing. Here is there Hoosac Tunnel Amber Ale.

3.67/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 12oz can stamped “BORN ON 02/19/2024 to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body pours deep gold, kind of like tea. A three-finger off-white head sits on top and fades to a ring in about 90 seconds that stays for the session. Lacing is medium.
A sniff yields chalky caramel with a slight vegetation background.
The taste is quite malty with a bitter start and a little sweetness creeping in at the end, but after the swallow your mouth dries out completely.
The mouthfeel is medium and this could use a little more carbonation.
Tough judging a 6-month old can, but I will drink the rest of the 6-pack and enjoy it. The can says 23 IBUs so I think some of the hop kick has faded, but still good. Can also says “LOCAL FRESH” but……..

I got curious and had to look up the Hoosac Tunnel, pretty interesting Wiki entry. It's located in Florida................Massachusetts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosac_Tunnel

 

Today's new beer is a fun one from Jack's Abby's Pilsner series from earlier this spring/summer. This one is hopped with all Australian hops.

Jack's Abby Destination Australia
5.0% "Austrialian style" Pilsner



Pours bright gold with a four-finger white head that persists for some time and then remains as a coating throughout.

Big hit of citrus aromas get us started with some pineapple as well. As it warms, some honey and cracker comes out too.

Taste is wonderful. That citrus comes to the fore along with pineapple again and the addition of pear, but is almost immediately balanced out by classic pilsner malt characteristics of cracker, white bread with honey, biscuit, and I'm getting slight bread dough as well. The finish is moderately dry with earthy hops that give this a third axis of balance.

The usual soft Jack's Abby natural carb makes for a nice feel for this medium-light bodied beer.

Overall, this is really nice. It's a good summer refresher with all that citrus and light fruit, but has far more subtlety and depth of flavor than the beers I would typically slot into that category (shandy, radler, AAL). This one leaves you continually wanting that next sip.

 

Dude- You are working this thread overtime!

 

A couple of breweries localish to me have done that "sub-branding" approach. Jack's Abby had Springdale for ales/sours and barrel aging. Had their own space in the same building but served food from Jack's. They closed it down last year but they bought Wormtown. Smuttynose had Smuttlabs, but it was just an experimental brewery - made some really good stuff - not sure if they still exist on their own.

The bottom line is you gotta keep the lights on - I don't begrudge any brewery for branching out and trying new things to expand their customer base. Allagash has chosen to keep it all under the big umbrella. It's easy enough to say "they should/shouldn't..." but the owners are the ones paying the bills.