New Beer Weekend #27

Ok, final new one tonight.


CPB from Lupulin Brewing - 5.25% ABV - 20 IBU - 35 SRM.

Dark, rich and full of chocolate and peanut butter. Very tasty.


Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40035/441602/

4.24/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a very dark brown color. Light tan head - 2 finger. Very frothy. Retention is amazing. Some lacing on the glass.
The nose is full of dark chocolate and peanut butter. Both aromas work very well together.
Taste - As the name suggests - peanut butter and chocolate. Chocolate is more up front and the peanut butter is more on the backside, and it lingers.
The body is a bit lighter than expected, but not by much. The peanut butter feeling seems to linger in my throat.
Tasty and very delicious.


That's it for new beers tonight. See you tomorrow for more.

 

Another local beer with local food
..forgotten boardwalk dark ride stout
. Solid black appearance
..light carbonation with a just above average body.
..aroma is malt,can actually smell salt,espresso, dark chocolate, and what seems like a lot of honey
..taste is mildly sweet, some hop/dark cocoa bitterness. Espresso with a mix of malt,honey,molasses, and sugar.
...forgotten boardwalk may not make world class beer but I don't mind. They always make creative flavorful beer that are very enjoyable

 

Yum...that was one of my five favorite new beers of 2020. Probably one of my top three, since specifically three come to mind and this is one of them.

 

Dope Down Under from 3 Sons.

16oz can served in a big snifter. Canned on 11/17/2020. Gift from @mr-jj, who surely purchased it from Tavour.

Pours a hazy yellow-amber with a big fluffy head that collapses and leaves a thick webwork on the side of the glass and a thick fluffy ring and a few clumpy islands. Smell is piney, floral, resinous.

Taste is a disconcerting mix of tropical juice and piney bitterness. Bitterness is deep and lasting, tropical juice is bright and fleeting.

Mouthfeel is medium, fluffy and light. Overall, pretty good beer.

 

Troegs Munich Dunkel Lager - one of those styles that I wish there were more of. So smooth, chocolatey, roasty, toasty and delicious...this one is definitely hitting the spot.

ABV 5.2%; Hops: Hersbrucker, Tradition; Malts: Chocolate, Munich; open fermentation, Krausen

 

I've got a fridge full of Treehouse and other NE treats thanks to @brutalfarce and his fantasy football team. Time to break out the first one.



Pours a very hazy (ha) orange color with a very tall head on a gentle pour with long retention and clumpy lacing.

The smell is tangerine, grapefruit, and citrus peel.

The taste is very tropical forward with some dank, earthy hops. The finish is bitter with a nice malt presence.

The mouthfeel is like a pillow - low/medium carbonation and medium/thick body. The finish lingers.

Overall this is excellent. It has a beautiful mouthfeel and a great blend of flavors.

 

NBW #2 today is a fairly new local brewery that hasnt knocked me out yet but this sounded interesting.
Smug Brewing Haulin' Oats.
Oatmeal DIPA.
Pours a semi hazy yellow with a short lived rocky head with almost no lacing.
Aroma upon opening can and sticking my nose in is orange juice followed by tropical notes of passionfruit, pineapple and mango. Strong onion/garlic and a decent amount of cat piss.
Taste follows with all that but flavor is muted. There's a good amount of bitter grapefruit/orange peel bitterness but the whole flavor just seems lacking . There is very little residual sweetness. The beer seems out of balance. Its not terrible there are just not many defining factors. Palate burn? Possible but since I had a CBS before this I think its unlikely. I usually get enhanced characteristics from hops after a beer like that.
Feel is medium and a pretty good amount of carb lasts throughout. Beer is dry and there is no real invasion of oils you might expect. Its not soft in the mouth either. Rather rough. Alcohol is rather strong too.
I'm not here to rip down a local but rather to praise them. This just didnt do it for me. Its not horrible but it seems like they went for high ABV and easy drinking and just didnt make the mark. Its not easy. TH and Trillium have made a science of it. I will try another but this was disappointing. Cheers! Edit: This just confirms my personal belief that a almost 100% oats mash doesnt work. They even say it was almost impossible to remove from the mash
Tun. After working in a brewery Im picturing this and how painful it must have been for the workers. Hope the goats and pigs ate well.

 

Le Trou Du Diable L’Impératrice, got this in Montreal on vacation in 2018.
3.9/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a huge light tan head.

S- Roasted malts, some dark chocolate, touch of dark fruits, touch of bourbon.

T- Roasted malts, some bourbon, touch of caramel, some dark chocolate, dark fruits, touch of coffee.

M- Smooth, medium body, high carbonation.

O- A decent barrel aged stout, barrel is weak but still enjoyable.

Cheers!

 

You don´t see that hop often so your post reminded me of this beer, a Franconian unfiltered pils at strength from Weißenohe, which was dry-hopped with Hersbrucker. That was quite a wild run between 2019/20 (I had pretty much all the beers from them, very fresh), and really wish they make a come back around these parts again. Their beers were 'hit and miss' maybe but thouroughly enjoyable and interesting, with at least a total favorite in between them. One of those really exciting beer moments which are growing scarce.

I might open my very last Jarhundert after this post, and close the shop.

 

Junkyard's Australian Cheat Codes, a New England style Triple IPA.

750ml can served in a big snifter. Packaged 11/09/20. Gift from @mr-jj.

Pours a very murky yellow with a medium head. Smell is something tropical with a strong resin. Something harsh and green. Definitely some pineapple.

Taste is pineapple and bitter citrus zest. Some resin, and a harsh bitterness of some sort.

Mouthfeel is thick, a little filmy, not too effervescent. Overall, it's not bad, but it's not great.

 

I enjoyed this local take on a Czech pilsner earlier this evening.

Godspeed Sklepnic V Oceli.



This is the latest Czech style lager from Godspeed, and to my mind, probably the best. The label is great. Other than the brewery address, everything is written in Czech!

The beer pours a bright, deep straw gold with slight opacity. A moderate head gives way to delicate lacing as the beer is consumed.

Mild floral and grassy aromas up front.

A strong mineral presence in the taste and a pronounced but pleasant bitterness. Gentle floral hops over a biscuity backdrop.

Crisp and satisfying. Generous carbonation. Far too easy to knock back.

I really enjoyed this one. It has that mineral quality on the tongue that I find throughout the Godspeed line-up. The strong bitter finish was somewhat unexpected, but very enjoyable. I hope this becomes a flagship beer for Godspeed.

 

Not really trying to focus on that particular hop here, which would be silly for defining these beers, but the fact that it is local to them in the same way as the water, the malts and the overall process are.

 

Another great NE beer.

New England Brewing
BA Imperial Stout Trooper



Pours a deep brown with minimal head and lacing.

The smell is great - chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and dark fruits.

The taste is char, chocolate, tons of dark fruit, and more chocolate especially on the finish.

The mouth feel is medium body and low carbonation. There's some bitterness on the finish.

Overall this is very enjoyable - good flavors, not overall sweet.

 

How is your new gig working out for you?

 

KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge



4.06/5 rDev -10.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured into a DFH tulip. Inky brown body topped by a full fluffy head. Lots of chocolate and malts in the smell but the bourbon and barrel are AWOL. Maybe the maple manifests itself as a sweet smell but not the expected woody bitterness. Same with the taste; the fudge is absolutely out front but masking almost everything else. Although as it warmed I started to detect the maple. Mouthfeel is fine for a big Founders stout.

Maybe I've been spoiled but I expected slightly more from this.

 

I had this yesterday, and it's easily the best Tree House ipa I've had in the last couple years. I'm usually not all that into their ipas, but this was a standout for sure.

 

Another Saturday has flown by entirely too quickly - a common theme - but I suppose that's not entirely a bad thing when beer awaits at the end of the day. As much as I need to make some progress on drinking through my selection of IPAs that never seems to shrink, this has been staring me in the face for weeks now and seemed like an excellent choice to start the evening.

Classic Memories from Highland Park Brewery is a Flanders red aged in third-use brandy & bourbon barrels. The musical accompaniment is Asphyx's new album "Necroceros," not for any thematic reasons, but simply because it's been dominating my playlist since its release on Friday morning. Time has done nothing to dull their ability to weave soul-crushing doomy riffs with moments of unhinged brutality, and Martin van Drunen's tortured screams remain one of death metal's truly unique and treasured vocal deliveries.

The beer pours a deep, translucent garnet with an off-white head that quickly dissipates into a ring of loose foam, along with scant bits of lacing.

Dark fruit abounds on the nose, as Bing cherries, ripe plums, and figs leap forth from the glass, along with an underlying vinous note that evokes a bold California Pinot Noir. Toffee and light caramel comprise a lean malt profile on which the fruit rests, bringing just enough sweetness to provide balance. Restrained acetic acid lends brightness to the aroma without presenting any abrasive edges, while a barnyard-centered funk profile builds as the beer warms, but remains a supporting element. The barrels stay in the background, contributing wisps of spirit character and oak, but they could be a touch more assertive.

On the palate, the fruit takes on a drier, somewhat earthier hue as it morphs into prunes, raisins, underripe figs, and dry Burgundian Pinot. Less bold, more refined, and with a greater sense of age and grace than the bold vibrancy of the nose. The malt backbone hits on the mid-palate with a more assertive toffee note, along with touches of leather that dovetail nicely with the fruit character. Acetic acid is restrained throughout the entire sip - enough of a presence to serve as a reminder of the beer's style, but always an understated element. The backend hearkens back to some of the nose's bolder notes, as the toffee melds with the fig and raisin notes to evoke sticky toffee pudding topped with a balsamic reduction.

Light- to medium-bodied and moderately carbonated, it glides effortlessly across the tongue but has just enough heft to carry some of its bolder flavors.

It's an enjoyable effort overall, and my only real complaint is that it's just a bit too subdued. I'd rather err on the side of nuance than have an overwrought Flanders red hitting me over the head, but I can't help but feel this would rise to the next level if it was a touch more intense at times. Its sense of subtlety leaves room for tertiary flavors to build next-level complexity, but some of those holes are left empty, creating a slight sense of lacking. It's a minor quibble, but the sort of thing that separates a very good sour from a great sour.

Score: 4.1

 

Welcome all to New Beer Sunday #830!

Starting the day with a Brown Ale which has been around for at least a decade, but is nonetheless new to me.

Cigar City Maduro



Can notes: Purchased as a pick six single at Binny's. 12 ounces canned 10/17/20 @16:49, "silky smooth" follows the can date and time. 5.5% ABV, 20 IBUs. Brewed with Flaked Oats. Drink fresh, do not age. Binny's put this in room temperature adoption rack on 11/17/20, I purchased shortly thereafter and refrigerated the can since purchase. Multiple pours due to heavy head formation into a thin nonic glass.

Named after a dark cigar wrapper, Maduro Brown Ale boasts notes of semi-sweet chocolate, toffee and hints of fresh coffee. Complex and full bodied, our malt-forward ale is brewed with flaked oats to add depth of character.

Appearance: Very dark brown, almost black, nice creamy rich head lingers for a while before leaving generous lacing in its wake, and a nice layer over the top of the pour. 4.25

Aroma: Primarily roast malt, smells sweet. Light toffee, no coffee. 3.25

Taste: Taste mirrors aroma, malty, neutral in terms of balance. Several sips later, that's all I draw from this one. Bland beyond light bitterness felt midway through. 2.5

Mouthfeel: Medium body, creamy, carbonation lingers throughout, lightly dry and bitter. Light fizzy carbonation persistent, easy drinking. 3.25

Overall: Bland beer overall, don't believe freshness is the issue here. No toffee or coffee as advertised. This is a mediocre offering I wouldn't seek out again. 2.75

Hoping the second beer planned for later today ends the weekend on a high note.

Cheers!

 

I totally love it. A great fit for me.