New Beer Weekend #270

Not a fan of the spices associated. Making an IPA with that: A crime against humanity

 

Cheers! First 2 sips seemed way bitter, but just figured that was temporary and it was.

 

Well here's my first new beer of the day, but I won't be finishing this one.

Hell For Stout - Paradox Beer Co. - Divide, Co - Wild Ale - 10.5%

Oh man, I had a bad feeling upon opening the bottle and there was no hiss. The pour looked good, but there was no head. The taste is just a total sour bomb, and nothing that indicates cacao nibs or vanilla was used in this beer. This will be a drain pour for sure. Time has not been kind to this beer at all.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29972/218201/
1.94/5 rDev -35.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 1.25 | overall: 1.25
From a 500ml bottle. 2016 release.

There was no hiss upon opening the bottle. The beer pours pitch black into my glass with no light at all shining through the beer. There's no head to this beer, and that does concern me that there might be issues with the beer.
The aroma is tart and sour smelling. There's no hint of vanilla or chocolate that the beer was aged on.
This beer is just a tart bomb. Holy cow. The bottle does say it is low tartness, but close to a decade and it has gone totally tart. I don't think it is infected, it is just from the yeast used and age on the bottle.
The tart feeling just doesn't seem to fit with what this beer might have been like fresh.
I have a feeling that I am not finishing this beer. Time has not done it well at all.


I'll be dumping this and find something else shortly. Cheers all!

 

All right, time for an upgrade, and it is a major one, though, this is also an old beer.

Wee Heavy - Einstok Beer Co. - Akureyri, Iceland - 8%

Well, this is tasting damn good right now. I'm half way through the glass in a very short time. I just wish I would have pulled this from the fridge about a year ago.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27839/239920/
4.02/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
From a 12oz can. Canned on Dec. 28, 2023

This beer pours a dark amber color from the can. The beer is pretty clear looking. There's a 3 finger tan colored head to the beer that has pretty good retention, and sticky clingy lacing on the glass.
Malty and nutty nose to the beer. I do get that leather smell that this style seems to have.
Taste - This beer is malty as I would expect from the style. The malts seem to have a bit of a nutty character to them. Roasted hints to the malts.
The body is smooth feeling. There's a touch of bubbliness to the feeling. Full bodied.
I am really happy with this beer, I just wish I would have gotten to it with less age on it. Delicious.


I may be done with new beers today, but I should be back tomorrow for more new beers. Cheers all!

 

Hey, kids. I likely won't be playing with you all this weekend. Combination of ragweed, goldenrod, and a head cold. I can hardly taste or smell anything. Grandson has been back to school for two or three weeks I can can absolutely confirm the germ factory is open for business.

I do have a quite a bunch stacked up and i don't want to waste them on germs. Nikki's in Providence put their "cellar beers" on sale last weekend - some excellent selections and major discounts on many. Just Better Beer in Norwood, MA is closing after a nine year run - big selection, decent discount, and a very happy owner. I suspect he was doing his part for on site "inventory reduction", but also he said he felt like the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders, citing the difficulty being profitable in a shrinking niche market. Everything including the refrigerators is being sold - if I only had room. Sad to see him closing, but happy that he's happy - always treated us well once he learned we know a thing or three about beer and weren't just looking for the trendy haze bomb of the day. So cheers and tears.

 

Thanks for the kickoff @Beersnake . I likely won’t be able to catch up with the thread until Sunday evening, but still plan my allotment of two beers from a Chicago brewery which I usually keep in the can for two weeks as they can be not ready if opened right after canning, even for the partial wet hop selection I plan for tomorrow. My selection for today was purchased for the Nelson Sauvignon and Amarillo hops.

Hop Butcher For The World Chicagohenge

4/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75



9/20/25 - (Home) (Chicago, Illinois) Can Notes: Purchased a single 16 oz can at Beer on the Wall at store temperature on 9/12/25 for $5.12 including tax. Canned 9/8/25 @ 11:33:37; Can Stamp: Beauty Beating Down. 7.5% ABV, Nelson Sauvin, Amarillo, Motueka & Nelson Subzero Hop Kief-Hopped Double India Pale Ale. Tasting Notes: Dank Greens, Juicy Stonefruit & Crisp White Grapes. Artwork by Dan Grzeca. Brewed and canned by Hop Butcher For The World in Chicago, Illinois and Bedford Park, Illinois.

Appearance: Poured about 2/3 pf the can into a teku glass, yielding a hazy orange juice appearing base, a substantial murky orange juice and dreamsicle base, and a creamy bright white head that leaves a slightly creamy bubbly full cover of the base with minimal lacing. 3.5

Aroma: Medium plus strength dank wee-duh, cat piss, backed by citrus and pineapple. Blends nicely. 4.0

Taste: Flavors consistent, but flipped in prominence, with the citrus, pineapple and white grapes bring delicious fruit flavors and borderline cloying sweetness, with cat piss weed playing a supporting role. I’m averse to sweet beers, but this tests the boundaries and is working well for me, so very good execution. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Sweet and easy, the former perhaps influenced by the strong 7.5% ABV that hits you somewhat early in, though clean with no diesel alcohol vibes. Body light annd slightly creamy, not boosted by a dainty gentle carbonation. Citrus pineapple white wine sugar sweet finish. 3.75

Overall: This edges in and out of toosweet borders for me, but likely great tasting and near balanced for the typical craft beer drinker. I like this dispute my preference for dry and bitter, but this would be more of an occasional purchase vs. a house beer. Still glad I purchased. 3.75

 

Probably only one new brew for me today, I liked The Bruery's Gray Monday which is a double barreled variant of their Grey Monday:

Gray Monday | The Bruery | BeerAdvocate





I might have a new brew or 2 tomorrow. I'll try and come back over the next day or so and see what everyone else has been drinking. Cheers!

 

Love The Bruery's imperial stouts!

 

Good afternoon NBW
This new festbier from Short's showed up in Kentuckiana this week, so I picked up a six pack.

Short's Rocktoberfest

12oz can stamped PKG 08/25 (I think?) poured into a mug at fridge temp 5.8% ABV per label. The beer pours mostly bright light golden amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is sweet pale malt with hints of honey and pear. The taste is semisweet pale and toasted malt with a noticeable floral / earthy hop presence alongside a slightly tangy note. Mild bitterness. The feel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, decent festbier. Fairly hoppy with the malt more subdued.

 

Rest up @LeRose, peppermint tea and honey

 

Yeah. I usually do a better job with ragweed and goldenrod than I did. Like all of a sudden there's a bunch of it... and you know about the scholastic petri dish! Almost everybody we know with kids or grandkids in school has something.

 

Drekker HØp Diss Track West Coast IPA, 6.8% ABV. Pours golden with a four-finger white head that left some lacing. Aroma is malty sweetness, and caramel/toffee. Taste is a balanced malt sweetness and hop bitterness. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.09/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Earlier I had a Fest beer but it was one of three that I had already reviewed so it didn’t make it here.
So I grabbed a different one that I bought for the weekend, and I know I have never reviewed it; it is quite new.

A couple years ago I drank a lot of these, so when I saw Kos took it on, I was intrigued.
Spoilers- it is quite good, just not my favorite of the style.
The pour is coffee colored and looks very dark brown in the glass. The light beige colored head is tall and dense which dissipates to a ring that stays all the way down, but no lacing.
The taste is certainly malt forward; more caramel and white bread than the biscuit flavor I generally prefer. Still, within the style guidelines and it is very tasty.
The feel is light and almost crisp, belying the dark appearance. Easy quaffing.
OA, I do appreciate the style and glad Kosmicki decided to brew some.
Cheers!

 

It was manufactured 10/29/24, so not quite a year old.
I see them at International Beverage (which I seldom visit because they have some really old ones mixed in with the new ones.)
I’ll look to see if they are still available. Or maybe this year’s release will be out in early November.
Cheers!

 

Thanks buddy!

 

Tonewood birdie rice lager
...very clear as well as very pale gold appearance
....close to medium carbonation with the body equally about medium
...yeast,toast, malt,white rice with a bit of a floral element as well
...taste has just a touch of sweetness, dry toast,white rice with a bit of yeast and malt
...overall this is a style thats relatively new to me but of all the ones that I've tried this is one of the best. If @jonphisher hasn't already tried this one i suspect he would enjoy it

 

I posted it in here when it was draft only a few months back, they said it did so well into cans it went.

After your haul pic I couldn’t help but go crack one open, drinking one as I type this