New Beer Weekend #296

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. My wife and I spent a very enjoyable day down the shore yesterday. The only negative is that I missed the 3rd Anniversary celebration of our excellent local brewery, Autodidact Beer. I drove back early today hoping there were still cans of the special releases available. I missed out completely on the TIPA collaboration with Other Half, Oakflower, and Twin Elephant (not even draught pours left) but was able to buy cans of two of the other releases. This one is Natural Mystic, an Imperial Hazy brewed in collaboration with Obercreek Brewing Co., in Dutchess County, New York. It is southern hemisphere hopped with Riwaka, Rakau, Waimea, and Motueka. There were 2 BA ratings yesterday. Interestingly, one was 4.53 and the other was 3.89. I am closer to the higher rating - this DIPA is a terrific use of the hops.

It pours a muddy tangerine color with a very large cap of fluffy, milk-white foam and heavy lacing. The smell is decidedly southern hemisphere with notes of lemon, lime, stone fruit, and white wine. Its taste follows with big flavors of lemon, lime zest, tangerine, peach, mango, red berry, and a hint of pine sap. There are also some nice earthy, herbal notes. The bitterness is mild and clean and there is no astringency. All of the flavors are soft and they blend beautifully. It is a tasty tropical citrus punch. This ale has a plush, creamy feel with mild carbonation, and it is hard to believe the ABV is 8.6%; it is super-drinkable.

4.37/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

While I'm burnt out on southern hemisphere IPAs, this one is first rate. I'd now like to check out Obercreek Brewing. I have 2 more new-to-me IPAs to review this afternoon. Cheers!

 

Back-to-back, which is appropriate. My last review featured a cocktail of southern hemisphere hops. This one, Earnest Intent, from The Seed in Atlantic City, NJ, features solely Riwaka. I've never had a single-hopped Riwaka IPA before. The Seed is a high-quality brewer, probably top 5 in New Jersey, and this ale is excellent!

Canning date not indicated but I was told it had just been received and the shop at which I bought it is very close to Atlantic City. It is a dirty tangerine color and sports a large cap of fluffy, bright white foam and abundant, thick lacing. The nose is dank with lemon, lime, grapefruit, white wine, and herbs. Its taste is big and bold with notes of Pinot Gris, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and sweet tropical fruit. There are slight hints of resin and a good, sharp hop bitterness. For a single-hopped IPA, The Seed has coaxed out a lot of flavor. The mouth feel is well-bodied and moderately carbonated, and the 7.3% ABV doesn't overpower. I give it style points as an excellent single-hopped ale. In a world of multiple hops, I like how the Riwaka is showcased. I haven't had another similar IPA.

4.34/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5.
Reviewed by MacMalt in New Jersey.

 

Catherine The Great
Brouwerij Smisje

Reviewed by zotzot from Vermont

3.65/5 rDev +7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Drinking out of a small goblet.
Pours a clear light mahogany with a minimal head.
Smells is sweet caramel.
Fair mouth feel.
Somewhat boozy taste. Sweet caramel.
Doesn’t really taste like a stout, let alone an Imperial Stout.
Otherwise a reasonable beer.

 

Here's a pic, mind you pretty much an afterthought

 

Did you go to Mudhen @MacMalt ?? I always forget where your shore house is. I was so excited to find a new to me of theirs locally, their pale ale. An old school through and through thing of beauty.

 

Another special anniversary release by Autodidact: Reeking Tunnels, a "WCIPA" collab with Widowmaker Brewing in Massachusetts. First, I'll say that I generally don't like Strata hops in a West Coast IPA. It seems like sacrilege to me. But, I'll give it a shot. This is not a classic West Coaster. The taste is really unique and if I think outside the box I like it! Pliny the Elder might sue for appropriation of style but all's fair in beer and war.

Reviewed one day after can release. It is hazier than many WCIPAs and is a honey color approaching amber. It boasts a half finger cap of fluffy, bright white foam and very thick lacing. The nose is sedate: malty with some faint citrus and herbs. It's not your father's West Coast IPA! The taste opens with a bit more citrus sweetness than I'd expected. There is lemon and grapefruit but also something like orange/tangerine. It's dank as hell with a heavy, earthy, weedy taste from the Strata hops. There is hop bitterness throughout but it isn't biting. I like the taste but I cannot easily describe it. For a West Coaster, the mouth feel is quite heavy - almost syrupy. The carbonation is pleasant and the 8.1% ABV is well-masked. Overall, this is a quirky WCIPA - in a good way. By the way, I like the name. I don't know where it comes from but I think of the PATH train and NYC subways in the summer.

4.04/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

The whole point of drinking beer is whether you like and enjoy it. I could be a pompous BA and say this isn't really a classic West Coast IPA - but who cares? I'm enjoying drinking it. Cheers, and have a great week, everyone!

 

Sunday afternoon to myself...hi friends!

Trve - Ostara, a mixed culture sour with dandelion, lemongrass, and lemon peel.

16oz can served in a snulip. @beergoot sent it to me a few months ago, been sitting in my fridge ever since.

Pours clear light yellow, initial smallish head dissipates to basically nothing, ghost of a rim around the edge but a lot of active carbonation is visible. Smell is tart -- lemon and wet vegetation. Something old-wet-wood-like. Some saison funk.

Taste emphasizes the lemon but brings in some mystery fruit tartness. Saison funk reminds me of Dupont, though it's way tarter. Something in the fruity tartness gives it a bright vibe. More than just lemon going on in the citrus domain, I think there's some lime in there too.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth with a little bit of a prickle. Nice beer.

 

No, I didn't get down there this time. Yesterday, I intended to visit - and started driving to - Slack Tide but there was a huge traffic problem on Route 9 South. I sat there for almost 10 minutes without moving - then turned around and went to the first brewery I encountered, which was Meyers Lighthouse. We need to get back to Mudhen. It's a madhouse during the summer and we're running out of "off-season." Cheers!

 

Thanks always for the welcome to NBW @Beersnake. I tend to stick to my preferred styles of ipas, lagers, pils. If you calculated my beer intake over my bullshitting on the threads you would be surprised to learn that should prolly be taken out of Grand Pooh-Bah (which is an honor just above my Eagle Scout award) and be reclassified as a punk jerk novice Old Mill peddling on a ten speed to the High School party.

Luckily for me my respected beer buddies on BA share many different styles of brews that have expanded my horizons: thank you @beergoot , @GreenBayBA , @woodchipper , @mickyge , @Ocalafox , and by the end of the week @Danmullens1. I just had this conversation with @beerloserLI .
Enough with the name drops…..

‘Other Half Florida Plates (12 year Throwback)


Reviewed by TCgenny from New York

3.3/5 rDev -23.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
This is a 12 year throwback OH brew canned 1/22 & cracked exactly 60 days later. Pours a glug glug golden rod color opaque with a 1 inch head that is velvety latte froth that looks like merengue. Aroma is peach sugar plums, tropical Mike n Ike’s. Taste is a daiquiri of strawberry, peach, and pineapple. The can says this is dosed with peach and pineapple and this makes sense. Have you ever had apricot pez candy that dispenses out of Governor De Santos’s mouth? This is it! For OH this is sweet, and missing is the trademark dryness I associate with Other Half. Just …. Aight….

 

Ozark Beer Co. Spring IPA, 6.2% ABV; 4.17 overall

Pours a slightly hazed gold with 2 fingers of beige head. Drops bright as the pour settles down, good head retention & fantastic lacing

S: Bready, grassy, trace amounts of diacetyl, but not in a bad way. Cakey once warmed up

T: Dry, grassy, bready, trace amounts of pomelo & grapefruit up front. Grassy & woody hops dominate along with breadyness, just a touch of sweet grain & pomelo once this beer is warmer, just a little green melon too. Dry finish, cakey, pretty grassy, some pine & leafy hops

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation. good balance

Old school IPA that really showcases the Nugget & Chinook hops, easy to drink

 

4.4/5 rDev +12.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Look: clear gold, lively carbo bubbles, white creamy head, lacing was heavy

Smell: piney, citrus, blueberry, herbal

Taste: piney, blueberry, grassy, pear, watermelon, bubblegum

Feel: med body, moderate carbo, stinging pine needles = excellent bitterness

Overall: 6.5% abv. 85 IBU. Knocked down two 16 oz'ers for this review and this brew is definitely all about the hops. Starting with the look, lively carbo, creamy white head and the lacing was heavy duty. Most excellent! A little chalky flavor on the first sips but this brew really took off after that. It's very piney and a bit grassy, maybe peppery too, with accenting fruit flavors. Blueberry prominent with pear, watermelon, and of bubblegum. I absolutely loved the stinging pine needles bitterness sensation. This is my kind of brew. Very impressive West Coast IPA. Glad I tried it and will be going back for more.

 

Cheers to #1100
Thanks for keeping the calender up to date
Best

 

You guys using a clawdbot or something? is that some repost thing? never saw that bold lettering with the user's name in it before...

 

Just linking their profiles and bolding like this with the link addition StoutElk_92

 

Vlad the Impaler, a Russian Imperial from Hailstorm from the southern 'burbs clocks in at a sessionable 10.7%, purchased at a distant Binny's, if memory serves, $16 for a 4X16.
A: An aggressive pour of the oily looking substance left a great big foamy head that lingered and left some nice lacing.
S: Roasted malts, dark chocolate are the big whiffs here.
T: The malts and Chocolate again dominate, there is some toffee and plum?
F: Thick'n chewy, smooth, well carbonated.
O: This is a really well done Russian Imperial, reminds me of Bell's Expedition.

.....sorry, recycled photo from a couple of days ago.....

 

Good afternoon NBW
My part of Kentuckiana no longer gets the token seasonal beer drops, so I had to pick up my only "Irish" beer of the year at Total Wine in Indy.

Sullivan's Irish Gold

Can simply labeled 1 Pint and stamped BBE: 05FEB27 poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 5.2% ABV. The beer pours bright light amber, golden when back-lit and has plenty of light khaki head and sticky lacing. The aroma is subtle with pale malt and woodsy hops. The taste is bittersweet pale malt with more woodsy and black tea notes from the hops before a firm, moderately bitter finish. The feel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, excellent pale ale. Nicely balanced and infinitely drinkable. There is a note on the can that this one is brewed and canned by Sullivan's in Stratford, CT.

I have an Irish stout and an Irish style red from Indiana left in the que for this weekend or next. Glad to have gotten a chance to check a couple stores in Ft Wayne and Indy. Cheers all!

 

Pure Project - Pluot Twist (oak barrel aged sour ale with pluots)

 

99 bottles (or cans) on the wall...
And this one makes 100!!
Woo hoo! BA Milestone!
And it's a NEW one for NBW!
Thanks to @whitro17 for putting this hop beast on my radar! Been waiting all week to pair it with something worthy, something heavy. So, live from the Doom Saloon with some new Temple of Void
Initial impression?
I popped the top and the intense hop aroma almost knocked me off the bar stool!
Packed with Strata hops, which are dank and resinous, so I'm anticipating wicked good things.
1st sip, indeed promising. A little cold (beer and Saloon), so will update as things warm up....
Cheers!

 

From the awesome BA @muchloveforhops3 Cheers, mate!

Fremont 1765 Old Ale, 13.9% ABV; 4.36 overall

2024 Vintage pours an effervescent chestnut/mahogany with one pinky of mocha colored head. Viscous, some head retention & lacing

S: Tons of dark fruit, plums, dark cherry, leady tobacco & a little Bourbon

T: Some Baker's chocolate, woody & Tobacco hops, dark cherry, figs, dried plums, bourbon && Dark Chocolate up front, plenty of barrel. More Dark Chocolate, some Caramel, barrel & Bourbon as this beer warms up, dark cherries & salted plums, leafy hops as well, some cinnamon & mocha also. Finishes with Dark chocolate, mocha, plums & Bourbon Cherries

MF: Fairly chewy, slight carbonation, a bit warming at first, skews a touch sweet, some stickyness on the teeth

Just a beautiful sipper that still has plenty of barrel presence. Not perfection, but not much to nit pick either