New Beer Weekend #226

Mountains Walking 2021 Barrel Aged Imperial Stout from @muchloveforhops3

10.0% ABV; 4.09 overall

2021 Bottle pours an effervescent & chill-hazed chestnut/mahogany with a pinky of fast falling mocha colored head. Zero head retention & lacing, viscous

S: Dark chocolate and dark fruits, Bourbon & Figs, fades a bit once warmed up

T: Dark chocolate, Macadamia Nuts & candied Pecans, some figgyness & rich boozy barrel, dark cherry, a little leafy hop as well up front. Some coconut, molasses, boozy figs, some plum & cinnamon as this beer warms up, plenty of dark cherry, hints of tobacco & a little red wine too. Finishes with dark chocolate, dark cherry, barrel dryness, figs & sweet red wine

MF: Pretty chewy, low levels of carbonation, warming

Not surprising the carbonation might be a bit subdued due to age, which knocks down appearance & mouthfeel. Drinks great for the ABV, pretty tasty

 

Brewery X - Halo Light

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Dated 9/6/24. Handed to me by @Beersnake a few weeks ago.

Pours light yellow, pale, small head, moderate active carbonation. Smell is grass and lemon, pretty loudly so. Maybe a bit heavier on the lemon side. Some grainy/yeasty character.

Taste follows the aroma pretty well, adds in some floral honeysuckle and doubles down on the grassiness in the form of bitter bite.

Mouthfeel is light, crisp, quite effervescent. Overall, very nice as far as light lagers go.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

All right, I am about 8 hours later than planned on getting in here. The closer at work called out, and guess who had a 14 hour shift today.

Well, I told my opener tomorrow that I was going to have a really big beer when I got home, and this qualifies. She said I've earned it.

Barrel God Cuvee 2024 Four Year Blend - Lupulin Brewing - Big Lake, MN - American Imperial Stout - 14.3%

This looks thick as hell while pouring. Great aroma and the flavor is quite good. I am a fan of this beer and it is relaxing me tonight.
Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40035/693439/
4.57/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
From a 12oz bottle purchased at the brewery. No date on the bottle.

Slight hiss and smoke upon opening the bottle. This beer is a pitch black pouring beer. It looked very thick while pouring it. This beer had less than a 1 finger brown head that didn't last long at all with no lacing on the glass as the head dissipates to just a ring.
I was getting a huge wave of dark fruit as I was pouring this beer. Up close I am getting such strong and pleasing barrel notes. I get a good caramel hit. I am still getting a great dark fruit hit. I also get notes of chocolate, caramel, and toffee.
The flavor has a roasted hint right away. This roasted flavor goes into dark fruit next. The sweetness comes in with notes of caramel, toffee, and chocolate. There's a hint of brown sugar and barrel on the finish.
This is one hell of a thick feeling beer. Very smooth and full bodied. There's almost no burn in this beer.
This beer is quite an experience. It just delivers very well on all counts. Delicious!

I'll be back tomorrow for more beer. Cheers!

 

Back again for the probably last New Breakfast Beer of this year's trip to visit my brother and his local offspring in TX - since the last few trips, one son has relocated to Houston, one to Nashville, and one to Phoenix - so the local TX branch is getting pruned.

Today's crosspost with WBAYDN and NBW:



Speedway Stout Barrel Aged Vanilla Shake from Alesmith. 16 fl oz can, picked up at HEB Plus on 306, New Braunfels, TX, 13/11/24, $ 13.85 (Including tax), $ 0.840 /fl oz. Reviewed 17/11/24 (Review 3397). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “CANNED ON 03/08/2024”. In reefer at HEB. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 53.9 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 57.2 degrees F.
Appearance – 3
First pour – Deep Brown (SRM 30), hazy.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, Ruby Brown at the bottom edge.
Head: Average (Maximum one cm, aggressive center pour), Santa Fe brown, medium density, initially fizzy. Quickly collapsing to a 0.15 cm broken bubble ring constantly renewed by carbonation and a thin, medium size island.
Lacing – None, as anticipated at 14.03 % ABV.
Aroma – 4 – Distinct sweet cocoa aroma with a hint of caramel - no yeast, no hops, no bourbon, no barrel. No ethanol (14.03 % ABV according to the label).
Flavor – 4.25 – Begins slightly sweet with cocoa, coconut, and marshmallow predominating. Subdued caramel as it warms. No yeast, no hops, no coffee. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Barely noticeable gastric warming initially, but it builds.
Palate – 4 – Medium: weakly syrupy; soft but lively carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines as loosely condensed by BA.
Final impression and summation: 4 OK variant of Speedway but not one I’d seek out – however ANY Speedway that made it to my area would be a rarity and I’d snap it up.
Rating 4.04, rDev – 5.4%

 

I had pandan for the first time this summer--grassy, earthy, with a vanilla-like sweetness. Seems like you did a great job recognizing those notes despite being unfamiliar with it. I found it to be odd for the first bite. By the second, I was hooked.

 

I did a quick stroll around the place and I did not see a helipad (but maybe I missed it?).

Some other 'attractions' is that they have a separate building which houses old tractors and they have a bar with draft taps so you can enjoy beers while looking at the old tractors:



And just outside the Tractor Museum is a BIG Live Oak with picnic tables to sit while drinking the beers on a nice day (it was a nice day when we visited):



And while in Fredericksburg I recommend a visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War.

Cheers!

 

Good morning BAs! My new to me Sunday breakfast beer is from Alesmith Brewing Company, San Diego CA in collaboration with Maui Brewing Co. - “Coffee & Beer - Modern Times Coffee” (Shadow Party Blend), an Imperial Coconut Porter:



Canned 3/11/24. Poured at 56°. One finger of creamy light tan head with a few rocks; ok cap retention; solid ring; bands of sticky lacing; no legs; black with ruby see-through body. Coffee and coconut nose. Coconut and coffee entry in equal measure; mild bitter roast and caramel malt; not sweet. Medium minus body; silky feel; moderate minus carbonation; no warmth from 9% abv. Overall, very well balanced; both the coffee and coconut seamlessly compliment one another; best of the Coffee & Beer series.

4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5
Score: 4.48 rDev: +1.4%

One of, if not, the best coconut beers I’ve had this year - Delicious! Cheers y’all!

 

When taking a short break yesterday I saw that @GreenBayBA was having this beer, so I thought I might as well have it. This came into work on Friday, and I bought it.

Black Bird - Lakefront Brewing - Milwaukee, WI - Black IPA - 6.8%

This is not a bad beer, but, the flavors just don't pop out to me like other beers in this style do. It does taste good, but seems lacking to me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/717302/
3.59/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5
From a 12oz can best before April 17, 2025

When pouring it into the glass it somewhat looks like cola. In the glass this beer is a dark brown color, but, when held up to the light, I get some amber hues in the beer. There's a 2 finger tan head to this beer that is quite long lasting. There's some good sticky looking lacing on the glass.
The aroma is somewhat mild. I do get some licorice notes in here. I do get a slight pine and citrus hop aroma in here on the nose. I am also getting a faint biscuit aroma in here.
Taste - I do get some licorice in the flavor of this beer. I do get a nice pine flavor from the hops, though it isn't too strong. There's some citrus notes cutting the pine a bit. There's a bit of a grainy/biscuit flavor going on in the beer.
The body is ok. It does have some depth. There's a slight feeling of the bitterness and the hops do linger in my throat for a while.
Overall this isn't a bad beer, but, it is also nothing special. The flavors just don't seem to hit as hard as other black IPAs do.

Be back later with another from the Lakefront drop on Friday.

 

You both sold me on an upcoming NBW, grabbed a single of Old Man Winter to try, it had "piney hops" in the description sooo...

 

A cool and rainy day, so I will be indoors watching football and drinking beer (which I was planning to do anyway). First up is Thank You for Juicing! from Other Half.
A hazy pale yellow color. Medium-sized white head that reduces quickly. A little lace
Fruity aroma, some floral hops.
Taste of orange, mango, pineapple. Mild hop bitterness later.
Smooth and creamy.
A pleasant beer.

 

Here's the 2nd beer that came in from Lakefront on Friday.

Holiday Spice - Lakefront Brewing - Milwaukee, WI - Winter Warmer - 10.5%

This beer just tastes like the holiday season for me. The flavors are damn good. I am very happy with it.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/741/680554/
4.03/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
From a 12oz can. Canned on October 9th, 2024.

This beer is dark red pouring. When I hold it to light, I do get a slight bit of haze to it. There's a 1 finger off white head to the beer. The head retention is not the best, but not too surprising, and there's no lacing on the glass.
I get a lot of orange in the aroma. I also get barrel notes, as well as a spiciness from cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
Taste - The spices really come into play right away. Theses spices are added to by the orange. There's a bit of sweetness on the back, almost like caramel.
The body is very smooth. Somewhat bubbly feeling, though the head dissipated so fast. There's just a very faint warming feeling on the way back.
This is very tasty overall and a good beer for the season.

I am not sure if I'll be back today. If not see you all next weekend.

 

From your photo I'd say it ain't exactly clear. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm a huge Buffalo Springfield fan!

 

Left Hand Candy Cane Nitro Imperial Peppermint Milk Stout, 9.5% ABV. Pours black with a nice two-finger light-brown nitro head that left good lacing. Aroma is lactose and peppermint. Taste is malt, lactose, chocolate, and peppermint, faintly sweet, slightly bitter. Decent nitro mouthfeel, overall very good to excellent.

3.94/5 rDev +13.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

I'm not a fan of mint, but the mint is pretty subtle here.

 

I almost grabbed a single of this for holiday time; your review has me closer to grabbing one next time I’m there.

 

Loved all three contributions. I must look locally to see if I can find some of these.

 

Empyrean Old Fashioned BBA Imperial Stout, 8.5% ABV. Pours black with a one-finger brown head that left no lacing. Aroma is orange and cherry. Taste is zest and cherry, no bourbon noted, no sweetness, slight bitterness. OK mouthfeel, overall very good. Underwhelmed.

3.77/5 rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Whelm me Empyrean.

 

Well Hello NBW.
I had a little bit of time last week near Orange, CA. So I popped over to Chapman Crafted. I like getting there every few months or so, but it has, sadly, been about a year since I last did. But I did do my economic civic duty. I imbibed and grabbed some cans to go. Support your local.

Super Fudge
Canned 11/07/2024
Poured from a 16oz can
She's pretty. Deep brown capped by a solid, mocha colored foam. Great retention and swoops of lacing.
Nose is cocoa, mildly roasty. A gentle nudge of vanilla kind of carries the malt around and hints at a cafe latte.
The flavor follows the nose well. Predominantly sweet, but not cloying. Again, the vanilla is smooth and creates a little space for the roasted malt notes to present more subtle notes.
Mouthfeel is not lite but seems to lack heft. The finish is a nice balance of sweet and slight, roasty bitterness.
3.79/5 rDev -5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

Want to see a pic of the tree lit up.