New Beer Weekend #236

A Greek Beer? Well, not really

Earlier this week my wife and I did a return leg of a road trip from visiting good friends in Florida and we stopped in Athens, GA. After checking into the hotel, we visited Blind Pig Tavern and to my delight they had Creature Comforts Tropicalia IPA on tap. I have always wanted to try this beer but it is not distributed to my area. Below is how the brewery details this beer:

“Tropicália

RIPE & JUICY | AROMATIC | BALANCED

IPA | 6.6% ABV

Tropicália® is a balanced, soft, and juicy IPA. A hop aroma of citrus and ripe passion fruit leads into a full, fruit-forward hop flavor that washes over the palate, and ends with a subtle bitterness.”

For further discussion, the Creature Comforts brewery is located in Athens, GA.

Served in a shaker pint glass:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a one finger white head.

Aroma:

The most dominant aroma is citrus but there is also some tropical fruit as well.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with mostly citrus but also some tropical fruit. A notable bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

I thought this beer was very good – excellent. If this beer was available to me via my local beer retailers I would buy it.

Cheers!

 

Wow! Seeing that old Boulder label messed with mind for a second. So cool to see it again! And so great that a beer that old still was that drinkable.

 

Thank you @Victory_Sabre1973 for inviting pros and amateurs to the NBW. I am def new to this but I love to learn how my beer mentors do this thang!
Other Half Riwaka



Excellent:

Golden murk with a pillowy head that reduced soap suds down the glass. Aroma is pineapple candy, light lime leaf. Lime peel zest, lemon heads , pina colada now and laters. Taste follows the nose, super frothy, churned , feels fluffy, sturdy. I love the Dankiness. Moteka hops are delic combo of mojito lime character with hint of smoking a joint in an apple orchard on 9/20 sunny afternoon. Signature dry smacks makes you want more. Additional white grape and passion fruit as it warms.

that from a smoke free BA.
Cheers

Thank you!!!

Delicious

My BeerAdvocate review

 

At Great Heights Brewing this afternoon. One of the better breweries around town.

New from them...Stout, 5.3 % ABV. Great Heights calls this an English Stout, with a touch of oats.



Pours a near opaque black color. A tan head forms, and rises to about two fingers. Plenty of lace left behind as well.
A simple, but spot on aroma. Roasted malts, light coffee, baked bread and chocolate.
Taste wise, oh that malt character is great here. Plenty of roasted malts. That leads to light coffee, baked bread. Bitter bakers chocolate that lingers on with a nice dryness. Really well done.
A medium to full body. Moderate carbonation, that finishes very dry. A really nice one to come back to. I can have multiple in a sitting. Liking this a lot.

Great Heights calls this an English Stout, with just a touch of oats, but not really enough to be noticeable. I won't disagree, as the differences aren't really worth arguing about. I would say it is similar to Obsidian Stout in a way, which is high praise. Well done, there needs to be more plain stout like this.

Overall score is 4.15, east A- and might up the score on more tries.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50326/731258/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Thanks @Victory_Sabre1973 for the start, I remember Obovoid! When I reviewed it 17 years ago, a Boulder beer rep sent me a beer-mail that thanked me for the nice review.

Falling Knife/Lua Wackadoo

Appearance: Slightly hazy yellow, good head,

Smell: Stinky socks then transitions to citrus rind, unripe peels.

Taste: Bright and very dry. Fruity—citrusy, pithy, maybe a little pear note. Light bodied and dry, moderate bitterness.

Overall: Picked up a 4 pack on discount, no canning date apparent. A collaboration beer that uses southern hemisphere hops, doesn't taste much like a pilsner, more like a hoppy pale ale or IPA. Very drinkable and pretty tasty, if not to style.

 

Thank you @Victory_Sabre1973 for kicking off the weekend for us!
Tonight I had one from a trade with @Luscious_Malfoy - 2024 Liquid Spiritual Delight - aged in a variety of bourbon barrels.

Poured stout black with a medium to dark brown head, at least attempted head. Never quite covered the surface.
The taste is very good, I mean so many BBA Imperial Stouts are, In my opinion, too sweet and relatively one note and done. This has layers of flavors with multiple bourbon notes, lots of chocolate and vanilla, a bit of oak and leather. No harsh notes or bitterness, flirts with sweetness but pulls up short.
The feel is viscous, needs a lot of body to carry all the flavors.
OA, very good BBA imperial stout, one I’d be happy to drink regularly.
Very tasty beer.
I really appreciate the people on this site who are so willing to share their local beers. Just amazing to be able to try beer that I would never have otherwise even heard of.

 

Wild air beerworks good good things doppelbock
Hopefully nbw doesn't go down hill now that amatuers like @TCgenny are joining in
...dark amber/tea like appearance with a lasting thick head
...medium bodied with light carbonation and a sort of sugary coating that lingers
..aroma is malt,yeasty dark bread,especially the crust.mixed grain and toasted grains that come off a bit dry.
..taste is a bit sweet that builds and gets almost sugary on the aftertaste. Definitely dark bread along with toasted grain.
...overall its very good although the sweetness, dry grain and higher abv don't seem to work together smoothly

 

Cheers for getting us off to a roaring start. How old is that brew? I vaguely remember this one...

 

How did you like the snow? I loved all the pics I saw east of y'all in Louisiana/New Orleans

 

Fossil Cove Brewery ( Fayetteville ) 2025 Frost Fest DIPA. This tied in with the local Outdoor/Indoor Beer Fest they do in February. It's fun, but pricey, I am getting too old to do these unless I have company

10.9% ABV; 4.17 overall

Pours a bright & effervescent gold with a thumb of cream-colored head. Nice head retention & lacing, stays effervescent throughout

S: Breadyness, grassyness, nose could be better

T: Cakey/biscuitty malt, loads of pine& Tanin & grapefruit, plus dryness up front. Grapefruit asserts itself as this beer warms up, plus pine & dryness, the cakey malt cedes the battlefield for the most part. Finishes a little bready, plenty piney & with abundant grapefruit

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, good balance. Carbonation picks up as this beer warms up

Lovely take on a West Coast DIPA, this is easily one of the best beers from these guys, Super drinkability for the heft!

 

Garage beer lime
...ultra clear light gold appearance
...medium carbonation with a close to medium body which surprised me a bit but an overall nice feel
...I like how the lime comes off in the aroma,like fresh grated lime zest. The lime dominated but there was cereal and grain behind it
...taste was almost soda like at first in feel and taste but then the..beer.. like qualities came through.
..overall its not pretending to be world class but for such an inexpensive beer I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it

 

Probably stepping on toes, but let's get this out there. Certainly ties into this thread in the future!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/barleywine-stout-bif-2-sign-up-thread.679713/

 

4.55/5 rDev +6.3%

look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

2023 vintage: 14% ABV

Poured from a 12 ounce can dated 10-16-23 into a snifter at 51 degrees.

Look- Black, opaque, large visible particulate at the margins, dark brown frothy head, average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Bourbon, cherry, vanilla, cocoa, oak, very high strength of scent.

Taste- Bourbon, cocoa, slight vanilla at the finish, mildly sweet, highly boozy, high strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, highly bitter, moderately mouth warming, highly boozy, mildly sweet, moderately mouth coating, mildly creamy.

Overall- Deep black and opaque with large visible particulate at the edges. The bouquet was a delightful mix of bourbon, cherry, vanilla, cocoa and oak with a very high strength of scent. Flavor was bourbon dominant with cocoa in the background and vanilla at the finish. The body was slightly thinner than expected with moderate mouth warming and coating properties. Overall this beer had an outstanding look and nose. The flavor was slightly too bourbon dominant, but still delicious. This beer provided a great drinking experience.

 

. Sad beer. For the end of The United States. This week has broken me. It's over