New Beer Weekend #297

Is this beer “ripe”?

Today’s new beer is Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale.

For folks who might be unfamiliar with the term “maduro”:

"Maduro" is a Spanish word meaning "mature" or "ripe", commonly referring to cigars with dark, fermented, and often sweet-tasting wrappers. In Spanish-speaking contexts, it is also used to describe food (like plantains) or describe a person’s mature judgement.”

On the beer can is the story:

“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”.

Well, I am not a cigar guy but this story has me wanting to drink!

Served in a tulip glass:

Appearance:

Dark brown colored with a BIG tan head.

Aroma:

A combination of toffee and cocoa

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with toffee and cocoa flavors. Low - medium bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light - medium bodied with a dry-ish finish.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer. It is good – very good.

This beer would have benefited by some more body for my palate.

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH @rotsaruch

 

Welcome to the weekend, NBW crew!! Appreciate the to-the-point opening, so I'll get straight to the point as well.


Ok, who are we kidding, no I won't.

We had my sister-in-law (the GF's sister) in town this week. They went out for dinner and beers yesterday, and I wasn't in the mood for food or drink, though they were going to our favorite local craft beer bar that had a brewery I really wanted to try. So I gave them two growlers to fill and I am starting with the first tonight.

I have seen a lot of love for Fox Farm on this site, including this thread. And I'll give a tl;dr version before I post a picture, admittedly after a too long intro. I actually love the beer from the first growler (The Cottage), but I do not feel it is a proper representation of a Helles, so my rating is a huge negative rDev (the howler is from the place they visited).


So... I actually thought they might've mixed up the growler labels. To give a foreshadowing of a future post, here was the beer list:


But nope, the smallest pour of Gather was enough to indicate it wasn't in the realm of a Helles to me, either. I'll hold off on trying a full review of it until I have more than 2oz or so.

Anyhow, there was a little chill haze to The Cottage, but it cleared up as I have sipped it. The nose foretold of some grassy bitterness, and the palate confirmed it on first sips. A bit of fruity yeastiness tried to push through as it warmed, with mild success up front; however, the finish stayed a bit too bitter.

It is this bitterness that seems to weigh down the beer a bit, for me. I don't feel the beer is heavy, but it is also not easy drinking. So it's not literal weight dragging this down, but more of a bitter frictional drag, if that makes sense.

So this is one of those rare beers that I rated the beer overall way above the other four categories. I like the beer as a beer, full stop. As a Helles, I look at it this way...

I have non-beer enthusiasts in my life (like my Mom). I generally look for a Helles for her (aside: if not a coffee imperial stout - yes, she has a specifically wide spectrum, but there needs to be a balanced to sweeter edge). There is no way I would recommend this to her. Does that make it a bad Helles? I am arguing yes. Does it make it a bad beer? Not at all to my palate.

 

Yet another case of a little bit of a surprise when a long, long time BA hasn't had a beer I figured probably made its way to them by this point. I sort of agree with you, in memory from when I had it a long, long time ago, myself. I think I want a fullness to the beers I feel should be more malty. And I realize there are both American and British style browns, I don't feel you have to lose maltiness to add hoppiness.

 

Sierra Nevada Trip In The Woods BA Narfoot American Strong Ale, 12.8% ABV. Pours black with a 3+ finger medium-brown head that left no lacing. Aroma is roast malt and bourbon. Taste is dark fruit, bourbon, and roast malt, faintly sweet, moderately bitter. Decent mouthfeel, some dryness. Overall excellent.

4.24/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

It's been ages since I've had the component beers, but this seems less than the sum of the two. Definitely stout-forward.

 

Well, for openness and full disclosure, the majority of the beers I drink at home are my homebrewed beers. For example, after this commercially brewed beer I drank a homebrewed Dubbel and now I am drinking a homebrewed 1896 Michelob beer as I watch the Duke vs St John’s basketball game.

Only so much ‘window’ to drink the commercial stuff for NBW.

Cheers!

 

Hmmm...the weekend of short, yet bold questions...

What will be asked next?

 

It has been a long time since I've had Fox Farm @cjgiant, my memories are fond but now I wonder if they are just memories.

I think it is interesting to come back to a beer after a long absence; I feel as if it almost confirms said beer as very good, or "eh, what was all the fuss about?"

It will be interesting when I finally revisit one, Gather, their pils is the one I remember loving the most, and probably has had more than any other. If I drink one someday I'll report back.

 

Good evening NBW
I picked up a six pack of this last week when visiting northwest Ohio and just finished entering the first review.


Columbus Brewing America 250

12oz can stamped 02/16/26 poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass at fridge temp 5.7% ABV. The beer pours bright light golden amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a web of lacing. The aroma is mild with pine, citrus and a hint of pineapple. The taste is more of the same with hops up front offering citrus and pine before a light, pale malt middle. Moderate plus bitterness is the end with lingering hop flavor. The feel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good, easy drinking IPA.

I've never went wrong picking up something new from Columbus Brewing Company. More beer in the fridge for the rest of the weekend. Cheers all!

 

This reads like a tasty beer, looks like a tasty beer; and also comes in a cool looking package.

 

I want to point out that I, personally (as if there is any other way to portray "me") really like The Cottage as a drink in my glass. I would buy it again, and again, if it lived up to my experience today. But I still don't think it's a Helles.

Since I took the time to check the other growler, I obviously felt it fit more into the German Pilsner range of things. Speaking of which, let's just Gather together andget into it...


So, looks wise, after things settles down, the fuzzy, pout of focus look you see in the picture still portrays the difference in looks pretty well. The German-style Pilsner is more hazy, though it might not be as orange-tinged as the photo shows.

The nose of Gather has breadiness, but at first it was oddly not as strong as the Helles sitting next to it in the photo. The I realized there was no space for aroma to develop in the glass. So I will get back to it. The flavor is similar to my last beer, but has a bit more of a peppery lean to the grassy hop notes. The firm bitterness is more in line with what I expect from a Pilsner vs a Helles, but still seems on the heavier side of things. My preferences want to point out that is not a complaint.

So I wanted to circle back, and the opening on this is a bit thin, but it fills in with some light but bread-leaning malt, right about the time the hops start to assert themselves. I almost feel the Helles did breadiness better. And, oh yeah! I have some left.

So yeah... at the very least, the malt shows a bit more in the Helles. It does seem a bit more fruity and light in comparison, now. But it isn't light and fruity, just not as not light-and-fruity as the Pilsner.

I like Gather more than The Cottage, but that is a completely subjective statement.
I think Gather is a better beer to style than The Cottage, and that is a subjectively objective statement.

I can say without any qualification to do so, having only two Fox Farm beers, but I feel they are doing their own thing quite well. At the very least, they have more than a toe in the classics, given the malt profiles I perceive in these two beers. The hops are bold, but I feel in the proper Old World direction. I would love to be in a place I could regularly get their offerings. Hoping this recent windfall is just the beginning.

 

@cjgiant I went years ago and it is truly a picturesque brewery a true “place.”

It’s Hill Farmstead ‘esque in terms of feel, this old renovated barn in true connecticut woods. I really hope to make it back there one day.

Thank you for the revisit of Gather I was just talking about

 

Cheers to @vurt for tipping? us off.

Pure Project /Tripping Animals Smoothie Sour Ale from @masamuel2 via my Superbowl Squares 2026 BIF winnings

6.0% ABV; 3.83 overall

Pours a turbid purple with rapidly disappearing pink head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Blueberries, vanilla once warmer

T: Blueberries, mangoes, a little vanilla & dryness up front. Dryness, blueberries, a little banana & mango & vanilla cream as this beer warms up. Finishes with sweet blueberries, a little mango & vanilla

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, sticky on the teeth. Very smoothie like, a bit of grittyness

Easy to drink, good flavor

 

Duke limps by...



Cheers to @timmy2b for this Superbowl Squares 2026 BIF Bounty



Memories of Thailand

 

Destihl Brewery Tour Bus
Our DeadHead IPA Series melds the alluring vibe of our favorite music with unbounded takes on the hoppy beers we love to drink, unleashing a whole new groove. Our TourBus IPA features 2-row malt, flaked oats & wheat with Citra & Mosaic hops, providing dynamic notes of tropical, citrus fruits & berries.
Ok, sounds good to me.
Rare Friday night NBW, before I’m too rowdy….
This offering was gifted by non other than @Danmullens1 that I received today
Had to try immediately

4.27/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Canned 2/11 and cracked Friday 3/27 pours glug glug golden yellow opaque into the glass with an inch fluffy head that ultimately reduced to cotton candy spiderwebs on the glass. Aroma is a very pleasant tropical with a hint of piney bitter. Tasting cold is zippy lime, grapefruit and as I sit and contemplate, the flavor profile transitions more toward passion fruit , melon, mango. I really like the piny bitter to balance the sweeter melony softness. Rich, creamy, thicc, lux, smacky, resinous feels come to mind. Overall this is well made and award winning, as it says in the can!
Yup, I’m on the bus
Goin down the road feelin bad……

 

Had a feeling you might appreciate that one. More than just a cool can—spot on review from my chair! Once in a while, you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Cheers, Tom!

 

From the other direction
She was calling my eye
It could be an illusion
But I might as well try

I knew right away
She was not like other girls

‘such a great song,
And I really like the feeling of this

 

ugh wrong forum. Review coming soon. I can blame it on the hoops, but me not paying attention

 

Okay review of this banger from @timmy2b Treehouse King Fern Imperial Hazy IPA, 8.6% ABV; 4.59 overall

Pours a super hazed gold with 2 fingers of fluffed up eggshell colored head. Very good head retention & better lacing

S: Pretty darn dank, some pine & tropical fruits to include pineapple late

T: Pineapple whip, cattyness, green melon, grapefruit, dryness, & a little peach as well up front. Pomelo, dryness, green melon, papaya, guava, plenty of pine as this beer warms up, and more pineapple, plus guava. Finishes with pineapple, pomelo, papaya & piney dryness

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, nice balance, a little acidity, clings to the teeth some as well

A ton of pine, but enough fruity flavors to keep this very drinkable