New Beer Weekend #305

Tox brewery clurichauns mischief imperial stout
...solid black appearance with a thin head
....medium light carbonation with a thick heavy body, creamy almost syrupy feel
...aroma is an intense hit of milk chocolate, mocha candy,malt,roasted malt. Vanilla becomes stronger as it warms
...taste sweet and syrupy but pulls back the reins before it gets candy like. Milk chocolate, irish cream, roasted malt and mocha.
... I swear I reviewed this beer but it makes for an excellent dessert beer

 

It'll be different for sure. I saw them at the Gorge in 1997, the tour where they did 2112 from start to finish. Later read in one of Neil's books that the Gorge show had been their largest crowd specifically there to see them up to that time, at around 24,000. That personal record was utterly smashed when they played in Brazil in 2002(?), though.
I suspect Geddy's voice, being bery much not what it once was, will be more of a flaw than Annika's playing, though, however different it will be.

 

Kapple (aka Keystone Light Apple)
4.1% light lager
Molson Coors



Poured from a twelve ounce can, the body is a clear yellow with white head. Light lacing.

Taste and aroma are a light cidery apple and pear. Nose is a trifle sweeter than taste. Not much going on here as expected given the base. That's not a knock given the base is a light beer. Mid swallow and finish present a slightly grainy flavor that reminds me of the base beer. I'd prefer if this one were just a cider.

Mouthfeel is light. Carbonation good.

Inoffensive beer that is easy to drink, light and inexpensive.

 

Great post! Cheers to ya!

 

Having seen them on the R40 Tour* (and numerous times since 1982), I think your suspicions are correct.

* Jeez, that was 11 years ago. Trying to wrap my head around that...

 

Still have the rest of Saturday to catch up with and enjoy, but want to send prayers and wishes to Ian for a speedy recovery and the ability to enjoy what you love, with a mix of N/A and regular beer working nicely.

Time to kick off New Beer Sunday #1109 with my second and final Spiteful selection in hand, this one a lower ABV hazy IPA which I hope packs as much punch as their Spite Light offering I enjoyed yesterday.

Spiteful Brewing Corporate Lemmings

4.21/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



Full review linked above. This is a solid Citra Mosaic blended beer, body nice and light, bursts with expected flavors just like my Spite Light yesterday. Bottom line, Spiteful is my #1 Chicago Brewery in terms of their brewing style, and this a fine example.

Bought a variety pack to get to a Revolution beer I haven't tried planned for tomorrow. Til then cheers!

 

That's how I interpret this as well

 

Alesmith Speedway Stout • American imperial stout • 12% ABV • 12/24/25 born-on date

Short version: A classic big bruiser of an American imperial stout that I love but would likely love even more with a bit more age on it. It's dark, woody, loaded with coffee/espresso notes but not as much balancing sweetness as I'd prefer. My guess is this sucker starts blossoming at the 12- to 18-month mark, much like Sierra Nevada's Narwhal from my experience. Unlike Narwhal, however, I don't feel like the big bitter bite is coming from hops as much as simple dark malt.

Great beer and one I will revisit. In fact, I'd like to buy 2-3 more cans of this particular batch and hold onto until next winter to see how aging affects it.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/396/3833/?ba=Premo88#review
4.18 (-4.6% rDev)

I suspect I will have to adjust my score for this one when I get a chance to try an older version. It's easy to see why it's widely considered a classic. More than anything, I was happy to find a regular version ... I swear there must be 100 different versions of Speedway Stout with a million different things added. I might try some of those too, but it's cool getting to start with the base beer.

Cheers!

 

Really glad you enjoyed it! Sounds like you liked it better than I did this year. (Don't reference my rating on it. That's from a long time ago.)

 

I loved reading this. I have a friend in Newburyport, MASS. I need to get out there. But when I do, this place is definitely on the list.

 

It isn't far from Newburyport and its pretty easy to get to right on Rt. 1 - dont have to suffer the highway if you dont want to. I personally like their beers - they maybe aren't quite on the dot for adhering to styles, but that's not too important to me. Plus it's the overall experience - food, people, setting, vibe. Drinkable beers (meaning not "world class") are a fair tradeoff for all the rest. If the beer was drainpour worthy then it'd be a different story. They have plenty on tap to pick from so it's fun to try 'em. I like their spicy Bohemian pilsner - I'd drink that if they didn't have other new ones to try.

 

It's beer time on the road.

McLeren's Session IPA - Hayes Public House- Buffalo, MN- American IPA - 4.9%

Delicious beer, though there is a dank aroma that I do not like at all.
Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33504/801711/
3.86/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery

Clear looking golden pouring beer. There's a white head to the beer.
The aroma is very dank and herbal. I was not expecting the scent in this beer. It is on the border of being too much.
There is an herbal flavor right away, but it goes away fast. The flavor turns to a pleasing citrus flavor in the middle. The finish is a nice pine bitterness flavor.
The body is quite good feeling. The bitter feeling really lingers in my throat.
The aroma for me is the only downside of this beer.

See you all at the next stop.

 

Sounds great. The overall vibe of a place, especially was you described this one, is a major factor for me.

 

I kind of debated whether or not I should post this review...as it didn't do much for me, but oh well...here you go.

Yesterday I was Baileson Brewing before going to a concert...while waiting on friends I was able to take notes and get in a review.

SMASH Session IPA w/Motueka, 5.8% ABV



Pours with a chill haze, that clears up after a minute. A yellow/orange color, and a small white head forms. That quickly recedes.
A light citrus aroma, maybe some grains, and not much else.
Taste wise, a bit of a chemical flavor here, with an oily pine sol character. Some citrus, some cereal grains, some light bitterness.
A light to medium body. With moderate carbonation. This could be a bit cleaner for my tastes. Though overall, easy enough to drink one at the brewery just to try it.

Pretty average and middle of the road. I do get a chemical/pine sol character that I'm not the biggest fan of. Outside of that, there is not a lot of hop flavors going on. Its all very light in that sense. While I get they are trying for a "session" type offering, but at 5.8% ABV, there should be more pop, regardless of the "session" moniker. I like Bailseon generally, but they can be hit and miss. This is more of a miss for me.

Overall score is 3.26, I don't really care to give out letter scores for things in this range...again just middle of the road.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50448/794309/?ba=champ103#lists

But, anyway...met up with some BA's at the Mucky Duck in Houston, a great music venue up the street from the brewery. I met @Bigrock (stole his picture below, sorry ha, but I love this picture, sent it to my Mom to show off what I did over the weekend ha) and @Premo88 at The Duck for James McMurtry and Betty Soo, great show.

 

That book sounds amazing. I just looked on thriftbooks and they have a good condition copy for $7. I am going to get it. Also, that beer is amazing. I had it for my 3000th review on March 7 2015. I think I got it from Tavour, they always had a bunch of those Alaskan beers, got a lot of Anchorage stuff too, also top tier.

I got out of the hospital yesterday at around 4PM. Gotta go to the urologist to get the sound beam done. Have to call on Tuesday cuz of the holiday. But hopefully can get me in quickly. Got painkillers and other stuff til then. Also went to the smoke shop. These cats are being crazy in here. The 2 former stray girls Roxy and Girly have been getting to cuddle in bed.


I wish I took my headphones with me when I went to the hospital, I had to wait 8 hours to get into a treatment room(but the tests took up to 4 hours of processing from MD). So I could have been finishing my current book. I am listening to The Road Taken by Henry Petroski 4/5 and it is a great engineering history of transportation infrastructure. Very detailed and technical, great amount of pictures, diagrams, and charts to go along with the history. Good overview of everything including how potholes form, and it was actually originally called pitholes. Politics as expected of anything related to the government. Really into it, I am a mechanical engineer so I always like stuff like this. I just started to read Electronics All-in-one for dummies by Doug Lowe. It's a 960 page dedication, but I won't do it all at once.

Next up in 2 days from due dates is We the People by Jill Lepore about the history of the Constitution. And then Ted Turner's Autobiography Call Me Ted. He just passed away very recently, and I got it before everyone put it on hold at the Cleveland Library. I grew up on cable and watched channels like adult swim/cartoon network, TBS, TNT. Always loved the 24 hours of a Christmas Story. They still do it. I am sure there will be a great history of what goes on there behind the scenes. I read tons of biographies, 19 this year so far. Always enjoyable.

These kittens have been getting wilder and wilder. They are yelling while wrestling and I have to break it up, quite chaotic. But then they wear themselves out, and I can finally chill. Going to play some more chess.


Cheers, have a good extended holiday weekend NBW. I am thinking about going to Total Wine to pick up some singles from the NA section, so I may report back soon. I'll wait until my wife wakes up to ask if she wants anything. I wonder if I still have the $5 off coupon I got last time, but it probably expired.

 

Awesome pic. Nice to put faces to the names here. And James McMurtry, wow.

 

Time for my next new beer.

Lake Series 2026: Maple Lake - Spilled Grain Brewing- Annandale, MN - Fruit And Field Beer- 4.8

Damn, this is dangerous on a hot summer sunny day. So refreshing.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41674/801521/
3.97/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
On tap at the brewery

Beautiful hazy pale golden color. There's a bit of a white head to the beer.
The aroma is light. I get grapefruit notes in it that is actually grapefruit and not hops.
This is dangerous. The flavor is a smooth grapefruit flavor that is not artificial. They used actual grapefruit making this beer.
This beer is so damn refreshing feeling. Clean. Crisp.
This is a dangerous beer, because it is so refreshing, it will go down stupid fast on a hot sunny day.

I think this is the last new beer till tomorrow . Cheers.

 

Mischief - The Bruery...



4.1/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
As advertised, it's a hoppier type of Belgian...

Though I don't shy away from hopped-up brews, I'm really not an IPA-guy. I prefer my brews less hopped, but I feel like I do appreciate the bitter-arts. All that said, though I liked the look of this beer - great, bright yellow hue with a thin foamy head; and I liked it's smell - very fruity to my nose; and the mouthfeel was crisp and surprisingly clean; the hoppy Belgian is something that I didn't find that appealing. Not to say it was bad, because it was not, but certainly I won't be on the lookout for this...