New Beer Weekend #26

Alright, back for a couple of new beers today. The first is from our friend @Roy_Hobbs in NBW BIF #12, and is another excellent beer from Fox Farms, a brewery I’d never even heard of 4 months ago. They are truly amazeballs.



4.43/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

An aggressive pour reveals a beer that looks like a glass of really well made ice tea and features a sizzling light tan head. The nose smells like a bottle of dry red wine (a cab maybe?) when the bottle’s opened, and then the tart cherries make their presence known, and there’s some earthy notes as well.

The tart cherries are more forward on the taste - WOW!!! They almost elicit a pucker, but the red wine flavor prevents that, and the earthy notes, which I’m assuming are courtesy of the malt bill, guarantee that this flavorful beer will be nicely balanced and keep drawing you back for another sip.

And when the glass is empty, you’re STILL looking for another sip. That to me is the definition of a great beer.

 

#2, let’s dance with this BBA imperial cream stout with maple syrup and vanilla from Transient.



4.5/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Straight down the side pour reveals a perfectly black beer with a dark tan head that lingers a bit. The nose reminds me of the fudge my Mom used to make when I was a kid - rich milk chocolate and cocoa aromas that don’t relent, with maple syrup notes that are perfect, and a bit of vanilla. The bourbon barrel is ..... subdued on the nose.

It is not subdued, however, on the taste. It allows the decadent milk chocolate and cocoa notes to shine up front, and it looks slightly askance at the maple syrup as it decides to bust a move, but it puts its foot down and demands to join the vanilla flavor in crashing the party with an oaky booziness that is sublime.

The mouthfeel is rich and creamy, as expected, and I keep returning to that fudgy, boozy, maple flavor that provokes me to keep seeking that next sip. What a pleasure it is to drink this beer.

 

Today's NBW is Fresh Rotations - Nectaron , from Aurora Ale & Lager Co.
One reference on the brewery site mentions Citra & Nectaron, with all others just mentioning Nectaron.

Nectaron (named for Ron, the breeder + something else - not after nectarines) is supposed to be the next big hop thing, and was just released with the 2020 harvest. A soon-to-be overnight sensation, 17 years in the making. (As overnight sensations often are.) . It is a sister plant of Waimea.
It's described, by multiple sites, as providing some combination of pineapple, peach, grapefruit, and passionfruit.
https://nzhops.co.nz/products/nectaron
https://yakimavalleyhops.com/products/nectaron-hop-pellets
Let's see :
Short version : overall, this beer is in the subset of NEIPAs, that mainly taste of fresh-squeezed (Valencia) orange juice, + slightly bitter/green peach & peach pit . & in this case + a little bit of other fruit. It's slightly to the bitter side of the NEIPA spectrum . This specimen is a little green , and could probably use another 2-3 weeks on it. Nothing spectacular, but still pretty good.


Canned 12/31/20 . Let sit out for 7-8 minutes before opening.

Hazy yellow , with a slight pinky-orange tint. One finger of very fine white head. Looks like pineapple juice with a bit of tangerine & grapefruit mixed in. When first poured, it looked like homemade apple sauce, that needed to be cooked down some more.

Smell is pineapple and orange, mostly, with hints of peach, guava, prickly pear (fruit)[My aunt in CO used to make prickly pear jam, + I've tried both raw & baked fruit], and grapefruit.Yeah, I get "prickly pear" rather than passionfruit . More of a plain,sweet fruit, rather than the tang+jammy of passionfruit.

Taste is mostly pineapple juice and slightly unripe peach/peach pit, with a little bit of grapefruit and mango coming in late.The mango is more of the sour tang part, rather than the sweet flavorful part. Moderately bitter. More simple and not as sweet, as the aroma.

Feel is light-medium, slightly juicy, with light very,very fine carbonation tingle. Slight burn at the back of the throat .

Probably would get a .25 bump in Feel & Overall, if given some more time to mellow , & let the hop burn fade. Worth a try.
4.13/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45871/529281/

 

Up next is Keeps On Giving from Stoup Brewing. A nicely enjoyable Classic IPA.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33525/530347/

 

Good evening, weekend warriors o' the suds. Pretty quiet here in the stronghold. Cold and windy outside, so we did some indoor cleaning at a leisurely pace. I made a smoked chuck roast for dinner, and after several times, it is pretty much set and forget. Next time I will do two and have some nice pulled beef for tacos during the hectic week.

So tonight I am having a dessert beer.


I guess I am on the Founders train. This is Big Lucious, the 12 ounce version, recently purchased. It pours black with a pretty tan head that falls to a ring with a Pangea sized island in the middle of the glass. Initially it looks like an espresso with the foam on top. The aroma hits hard with raspberry of the jammy variety, but there is a fresh raspberry smell as well. There is a suspicion of chocolate, but I don't know if I really smell it or am just expecting it to be there. Hmmm... The flavor is intense. Raspberry like a filled candy, tart and sweet with a fresh raspberry character layered on lending some tea notes. Chocolate much bigger than the nose led me to believe, and it is really good chocolate. It strikes me as milk chocolate, but with some bitterness on the back end. Underneath all that there is all that you would expect from a Founders stout. Plenty of toasty malty goodness and a little acrid, almost but not quite burnt, flavor. The alcohol is well hidden, but you know it is there with the warmth it produces. This is definitely a sipper but mainly due to the intensity of the flavors than the barely noticed alcohol. There is enough tartness from the raspberry to prevent this from being a nuclear sweet bomb. It is lighter bodied than I expected, not syrupy, but the raspberry and chocolate leave a tiny bit of stickiness long after the sip. It actually is a little dry, to me.

Well, alrighty then...overall I like it, I generally don't like tart combined with a stout, but this stops well short of being sour. I find it fruit dominant like some chocolate covered raspberry jammy thing with fresh raspberry as a bonus. High train wreck potential, but it somehow all works. In feeling low 4 range on the BA-o-rometer.

You've all seen my University of Wisconsin tumbler, pretty much my go to. Well, sadly Bucky bought the farm in a sink accident last week. Not all that important in the big picture, but a small bit of personal sadness since it linked with grad school, good friends, and overall easier times. The pan that landed on it lived, but it did learn some new words...

 

Second and final beer for the evening (I don't even know how I was able to put away 5-6 in a night not even a year ago, I am struggling through this second one ha ha):

Sierra Nevada Wanderland Nectarine Ale - pours a slightly hazy golden color, head does not stick around for too long. Smell is heavy on the nectarine but I enjoy the smell so liking it. Taste follows the nose and very tangy, reminds me of a sour or a sparkling wine type of beverage. Not sure where the 7.5% is, well hidden. Not much in the way of hops but they are there in the background for sure, as it does not end too sweetly and pretty crisp and dry.

Nice beer, would gladly drink again (but I am a sucker for fruited beers). If you want a fruity IPA I would pass on this but if not you should enjoy...would be a great warm weather beer.

 

Baden/Bench Top North Bank Lager, thanks @bl00!
3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thank you bl00 for this
16 oz can poured into a pint glass

A- A clear golden straw with a two finger white head

S- Pilsner malts, sweet biscuits, citrus, lemons, floral, slightly grassy.

T- Biscuits, Pilsner malts, touch of honey, citrus/lemons, grassy, floral.

M- Smooth, crisp, light body.

O- A nice easy drinking lager, I like the idea of dry-hopping lagers of it’s not over done but I just think lemondrop hops might not have been the best hop to use.

Cheers!

 

A sipped for Sunday, another beer from the beginning of this pandemic world. Home delivered to the door step back in April. Kane Brewing Bourbon Barrel Age Driftwood (brewed with molasses and maple syrup), an imperial brown ale.



Pours a very dark brown, pours think with minimal head and really no lasting head at all.

Aroma is chocolate and maple, with some barrel aroma as well.

Taste follows with light chocolate and maple. But neither is strong or overpowering at all.

Mouthfeel is medium and it is very smooth with a nice low creamy carbonation.

This is the type of beer I love to sip and milk for a long time. It’s not overpowering in any way, it is also subtle and balanced all around. A very well made beer.

 

Happy Sunday BAs!

This weekend I'm trying out Sierra Nevada's Big Little Thing Imperial IPA clocking in at 9%.



I've always liked Hazy Little Thing for what it is -- a fairly cheap, clean, tasty, moderate ABV NEIPA. Not anything that will blow you away, but it has its place.

On the other hand I found Fantastic Haze to be less appealing. With the higher ABV I felt like it no longer hit the sweet spot of HLT, instead feeling a bit too boozy and cloying.

I'm happy to report however that Big Little Thing follows more in the path of HLT than Fantastic Haze; it's tasty and light enough to somewhat hide its 9%. I find the taste overall much more balanced than Fantastic Haze, and while I still don't feel like it quite fills a niche to the same extent that HLT does, this was better than I expected. Taste is mostly tropical with pineapple, citrus, and grapefruit followed by some hop bitterness to balance it out. Good moderate mouthfeel and carbonation.

This is also a bit unintuitive because I think I read somewhere that Sierra Nevada is marketing Fantastic Haze as the more "premium" beer compared to Big Little Thing, which doesn't say much for my palate!

Cheers BA!

 

I really enjoyed your thoughtful writeup. Also, beautiful photo.

 

What will likely be my last entry for the week was an absolute pleasure to savor and review. My wonderful wife allowed me to enter her name along with my own into Hill Farmstead's shipping lottery that was held last week. While my entry came up empty, hers was chosen. We decided to start tonight with Arthur. This was a great choice to introduce ourselves to the Farmstead ales that made them famous, and it's easy to see why. Everything about this bottle was what I'd hoped it would be. A gorgeous beautiful appearance, layered aromas, complex flavors in a simple presentation. It's easy to see how they've earned their reputation.

4.64/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Look - Poured into a wine glass, a cloudy straw haze is topped with a one inch white head lingered in suds of varying sizes before dissipating into a delicate crown.
Smell - Funk, increasing as it warmed, was the first thing I noticed, but was quickly joined by lemony citrus and a touch of spice.
Taste - A restrained tartness washed over my palate while barnyard funk quietly let its presence known. The citrus was from the aroma was present as well. Bright lemon was the most prominent of citrus, but more of a grilled lemon than overwhelmingly sour. Some spice on the finish with a lingering minerality that I find hard to define. Complex and changing with every sip, it leaves my mouth watering for more.
Feel - Lively and effervescent with a medium body.
Overall - Truly fantastic.

 

Norfork Brewing Co.'s Woodsman Pilsner, 6.0% ABV this was a dud; 2.6 overall


Pours an effervescent and bright gold with a thumb+ of eggshell colored head. Traces of head retention & zero lacing

S: Bready, grassy, soapy

T: Grassy, some lime, doughyness and an overpowering soapyness that really doesn't work for me up front. Sweet doughyness a little bit of glue/paste-like flavor. Finishes dry with some grassy & soapy bitterness and more cloying sweetness & paste taste

MF Medium body, delicate carbonation, terrible balance

Easily one of the worst beers I've have had in a while, no freshness dating, so who knows how that factors in? Didn't seem to be an issue with the other cans I tried yesterday from this brewery. Got slightly more drinkable once warm, but ended drain pouring about half of it. The only way I would try this again would be some sort of free taster or sample

 

From a purely curious perspective, I ask:

• Why a 3.25 if the eye appeal was bad enough to mention it?
• Nothing in your ratings indicates the drain pour you admit to, do you think it should?

I think you did a good job indicating you were giving the beer a fair shake. But do you think the drain pour was based purely on preference?

I want to say I’m not at all trying to troll, I’m curious in the thought process. I’ll admit to having bouts of being wary over being over-critical, but I think I recall a recent FW that I panned (and it was a HUGE surprise).

 

One more tonight new beer for the weekend, Frothy Beard Mega Buster, thanks @Dragginballs76!
3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you Dragginballs76 for this
16 oz can poured into a tulip

A- A hazy purplish red with a small pink head.

S- Berries, pale malts, touch of caramel, a little earthy. The blackberries and blueberries kind of there but they come across much more as a general berry.

T- Pale malts, candied sugar, berries, a little earthy, some caramel.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- They are calling it an Imperial Blonde with blackberries and blueberries but it is coming across more like a fruited Tripel.

Cheers NBW, until next weekend stay safe!

 

Thanks for responding. Purely in context, I offer a follow-up:

If, in your opinion, it is seriously flawed - on who's opinion are you rating it above a 3?

I admit, this is no exact science, and I'm likely into the stage of being annoying, but why do we (100% including myself) seem to have an aversion to rating a beer "poorly" although we think it deserves it?

 

Depends on how one interprets the 1-5 scale.

Typically, grading systems have a high floor, and dropping below this floor is a failing grade.

3.25 is at 56% of the 1-5 scale. In academic grading systems, this would be an "F".

 

Good evening fellow BAers! After reading through some of the earlier entries it dawned on me that I had never tried a number o beers local to me that I see discussed on this site. I simply had my standards and for years, never thought to deviate from them (when one can get Bell's Two Hearted on a whim, why would another IPA be necessary? Or so I thought.)
Come to find out other good beers don't diminish existing ones, simply broaden my horizons a bit, so to speak.
So, first up tonight is the local standard from Founders, Centennial IPA.

Probably the first 'transparent' IPA I've had in many months, and it surprised me that it was a proto-typical midwestern IPA - hops were featured, centennial hops to be specific, but barely overpowered the malt backbone of this beer. I suspect it's almost retro in flavor - as in, "This is what IPAs tasted like when they were new to the country type of retro. Crisp, clean, balanced, easy drinking (maybe to easy!) and tasty. Nothing "In your face" about it. Not one I'll likely drink often (Hey, I still like Two Hearted!) but glad to have tried it! Thanks for the nudge.