New Beer Weekend #306

Actually feel a bit sleepy after my shower preparing to head out, so audibling based on @Beersnake 's theme of sharing beers last week. It's my brother's BD, Sawbuck on Rate Beer, but not registered here. Bringing this up because we shared some beers when we last met for a Sox game to close out April, and I have two planned for the weekend likely on opposite ends of the BA appreciation scale.

Will start with the beer some here may be skeptical of, and perhaps they have good reason, but I wanted to try this one even though I'm not a big apple fan, but just didn't want to pick up a brick or even a six pack. Sawbuck to the rescue!

(InBev) Anheuser-Busch Busch Light Apple

4.05/5 rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25



Full review linked above. I'm not a big apple flavor fan, but this one delivers sustained enjoyable apple, a blend of real apples and taffy apple. The bloating heavily sustained carbonation the one change. My one home beer a day pace makes a 30 brick unreasonable, but hope to find a draft pour or perhaps a six pack or singles in my future.

Will see you tomorrow with a beer I never had the first time around, about four years before my craft days, but grateful I can try the second attempt this weekend!

 

Another "Foreign Export Stout" that gets short shift and impossible to find is Guinness Antwerpen. But my favorite of the Guinness lineup.
And as to beer styles scarcely seen: Bierre de Garde. Like the Antwerpen, haven't come across one in ages.

 

Good evening, NBW BAs! A cool, autumn-like day here in the Hudson Valley. Took the boy fishing, the dog walking, did the house and property chores...
home now and time for some NEW BEER!

The 2nd of the Kentucky quartet gifted me by my neighbor.
Linchpin Hazy IPA
5.5%
Dry-hopped with Mosaic, Citra, Amarillo, and El Dorado
No date on can.
The haze is thick, the melon strong in both aroma and taste.
Will review later, as it's just out of fridge and still waaay too cold ...

 

Thomas Hardy Ale 2024, English Barleywine, 11.3% ABV. Pours copper colored with a ring of off-white bubbles that left no lacing. Aroma is light toffee, slightly sour. Taste is slight toffee, faint sweetness, slight bitterness, faintly sour. Slightly heavy carbonation, overall excellent.

4.1/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Having this beer almost seems like a rite-of-passage for English Barleywine fans, though it's far from the best I've had. Admittedly, I prefer BBA English Barleywines.

 

That looks like one sexy beer right there, nice write up.

Catch anything good? I can’t wait to finally start getting out again now that it’s warm. I know I won’t have the energy but I told the youngest I would tomorrow, should be a fun time another beautiful cool yet sunny day.

 

Dreary cold and windy day here at the keep. Still working on clean out - hole-diggin' is supposed to start next week. The weather is supposed to improve tomorrow so I will be able to finish moving the dog's fence. My contractor called it mini-Jurassic Park so I've started calling it the raptor pen. Fortunately left the old perimeter in place - one of the little buggers launched thru the stair rails and broke primary containment. Breach sealed. They are good dogs but stubborn as hell. They know the words but obedience is an option.

Tonight's tasty treat:


From the notes: Oxbow 15 Years Saison is a crisp, highly attenuated farmhouse ale brewed with 100% Maine-grown barley and wheat. Conditioned with estate wildflower honey, white sage, and sweet orange peel, this commemorative anniversary release is known for its delicate, rustic profile.

Pours an every so slightly hazy pale yellow color with a huge and fairly dense mound of white foam. The foam falls to a hefty cap that lasts through consumption. Clumpy lacing.

The smell is...different. It's quite earthy and theres a fair amount of sage. Orange is in the background. The herbal note is balanced by floral honey. There is crackery malt in the background.

The sage and earthiness lead the way in the taste as well followed by slightly floral honey sweetness and a lightly toasted cracker malt. The orange is pretty subtle - barely there and could maybe use a bit more. A lttle wheat tang. At the end there's a green herbal bitterness and a nice, peppery bite. There's a bright herbal aromatic in the aftertaste - assume it's the white sage - clears the nose like menthol. The orange comes in stronger with a little bit of warmth from fridge temp.

Feel is light and it is refreshingly carbonated. It's very dry.

Very nice beer - as with most Oxbow saisons it would you well across multiple food genres. In the 4.0 to 4.2 range.

 

Good evening NBW
I thought I was buying an English strong ale as I didn't realize this Trappist brewery had released a second beer. Now I want to try the original even more.

Tynt Meadow Blond Ale

330mL bottle Best before end 30/09/27 poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 5% ABV. The beer pours bright light golden amber with abundant off white head. The head slowly settles to a thick (2+ inch) cap and leaves a few spots of lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet pale malt, orchard fruit and the slightest hint of barnyard. The taste is semisweet pale malt (Golden Promise?) with hay and more subtle pear/apple. Mild bitterness. The feel is thin to medium bodied with bubbly, above average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, lovely English ale with a Belgian feel. It's considerably cloudier once the last ounce is poured from the bottle, but taste and aroma are unaffected.

Cheers all!

 

Source farmhouse brewery jersey lager
...very clear light pale gold appearance with a lasting white head
...close to a medium body with light carbonation that almost gives it a watery feel
..aroma is yeast,grain, cereal and earthy hops
...taste is almost identical to aroma with very mild sweetness that gets overtaken by mild hops.
....this is a decent lager that comes off a bit watered down but still flavorful enjoy to keep it enjoyable

 

Nice start Craig! Underrated for me is free beer!

 

Hi All,
Finally hit this one after a helluva busy week!
Poet's Walk by Suarez Family Brewery
Poured a deep brown with burgundy to garnet revealed along the edge. Mocha colored head forms a slightly milky foam.Good retention, ight lacing.
Nose delivers some form caramel, dates, and figs but then makes way for some deeper vinous notes like a madeira: deeply fruity, with some leather.
Flavor really delivers what the nose foreshadowed. Yes, the deep fruity notes stay in the mix, but subtly so. The caramel, toffee, dates, and fig are the stars. Having said this, the Madeira qualities never surrender. A smooth, deep port barrel fruit, some leather, tobacco, and a very nuanced tannic nuttiness comes in for some variety. But the blend of the sweeter characteristics and vinous notes really make for a complex and varied flavor experience.
Mouthfeel is on the heft side for a barleywine, slightly warm, and smooth on the swallow.
4.1/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Narrow Guage Brewing Co. Scales of Eternity West coast Style Imperial IPA, 8.3% ABV; 4.25 overall

Canned 4-27-2026

Pours a bright and effervescent gold with two fingers of ivory colored head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: Catty, some breadyness, tangerine

T: Piney, grassy, dry, bready, a bit of lime & orange up front. Cakey, some tangerine, dryness along with more weedyness as this beer warms up, a kiss of booze too. Finishes with a little pineapple, plenty of cattyness, some grapefruit & cakey notes

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, great balance, you can feel the heft

Pretty good take on the style, very drinkable

 

E9 - Zoology, an IPA at 5.8%. 16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Can is dated 05/05/2026. Bought it a week ago at E9.

Pours almost clear, yellow with a slight amber tinge, pretty good sized head and a lot of carbonation, very fine and pretty fast. Smell is spicy, zesty hops, some wild grass and lots of citrus.

Taste is a bit earthier than I expected, but delivers on the WC bitter profile without kicking out any teeth. Lemon is clearer but the citrus zest is vaguer, malts are peeking around the corner with a little bit of husk.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, fuller than I would expect from the abv. Solid but not standout IPA.

 

Ship bottom lbi lager
Pale gold appearance with a thin but lasting head
...medium carbonation with about the same for the body.
. Aroma is yeasty dinner rolls, grain, mildy floral with a bit of buckwheat honey
...taste has some very mild sweetness but the grain and cereal element keeps it in check in a nice way. Leaves a mild hop dry grain finish that lingers
..overall I very enjoyable lager
...overall

 

E9 - Sound to Narrows, 6% IPA. 16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Dated 05/12/2026. Bought it a week ago at E9.

Pours mostly clear, dark yellow, medium to small sized creamy head. Moderate carbonation. Smell is catty and dank, cut weeds greenness.

Taste is earthy bitter, leaves with a little bark, light bubble gum hints, bitter melon. Noticeable but not dominant sweetness, slightly floral/honey in character, mild biscuit graininess.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly thick, almost chewy. Nice beer.

 

Ship bottom chocolate cherry stout
....murky brownish/black appearance
...medium light carbonation with an above average body
...aroma is fudge, cherry syrup, chocolate, fresh cherries, malt , mild burnt toast
...taste is syrupy sweet but not cloying,chocolate syrup and cherry jelly. Toast and toasted grain in the background
... good,even very good but its a little weak