New Beer Weekend #32

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. It's a miserable, cold, rainy day here in North Jersey so I'm happy to stay indoors and review some beers. First up is a collaboration between Magnify and Vitamin Sea Brewing in Massachusetts, Sea Migrations. It's an 8.5% DIPA hopped with Citra, Galaxy, Strata, and Rakau.

Reviewed a little less than two weeks after can release. Poured into a Magnify tulip glass. It pours a bright golden orange color with over a finger of fluffy, bright white head and thick, clinging lacing. A fruity nose featuring lemon, lime, grapefruit, lite pine, and floral hops. The initial taste is tart with lemon peel and grapefruit rind but as I swirl it in my mouth I detect sweeter notes of tangerine and perhaps some passion fruit and lychee from the Citra and Galaxy hops. The Strata hops add herbal dankness and the Rakau hops provide clean bitterness at the finish. The taste really pops as it warms a bit. This ale has fairly lively carbonation and it drinks very easily for 8.5% ABV. I was surprised how quickly I drained the can. Overall, Sea Migrations is very good. It's a little more delicate than a typical Magnify DIPA; perhaps the influence of Vitamin Sea Brewing - a brewery I haven't experienced. I really enjoyed it!

Here's the score:

4.35/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I'll be moving on to something maltier shortly. Cheers, NBW!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A cloudy, breezy day here in the Fourth Corner, but at least the temps are around 50. Finishing up a collab brew from Varietal + Wander, Quack! Quack! Quack!. It's a murkbomb with Comet, Ekuanot, Mosaic, Talus, and Triumph hops:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50306/536810/

 

Time for another beer sent to be in an outside BIF from @azuelke

'Sconsin - Plymouth Brewing Company - Plymouth, Wisconsin - Farmhouse Ale - 5.2% ABV

This is the ticket. So good. Lots of dread flavors. Some banana flavor. Wild, funky. Damn good, the only knock is it took a damn long time to actually be able to drink it, because it was so carbonated.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40687/285608/

3.93/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a golden color. Very high carbonation, and it fizzed out as I opened the can . 4 finger fluffy white head. Retention is very long lasting, a bit too much. There is some lasing on the glass.
When it finally settled down - The nose is a light funky bread aroma. Some banana.
Taste - Wild, funky Belgian style. Tons of bread flavors. Tons of banana. A bit of sweetness.
Nice full body. Bubbly feeling in my throat.
A very tasty beer of this style.

 

Blessings to your brother-in-law and family!

 

Great reviews, Dennis. I agree with you as to both. I liked Keogh Plan better but they're both really a pleasure to drink. I love what B n B is doing. It's become one of my favorite spots to stop for a beer after work. They'll be canning soon!

 

Alright, here's my first of two abominations against all that is holy and right about beer. Slightly kidding, of course, but this one is probably the more egregiously-sinful of the two in my humble opinion. Enter 2021: A Brewer's Odyssey by Widowmaker...



Full disclosure: my buddy is a cellarman at Widowmaker, so I received this can for free from him. However, he handed it to me and told me to "get it out of his home," while also simultaneously telling me that it's objectively good but the dumbest idea ever. I guess I'd be likely to agree with that latter part of that statement. We are going to check the veracity of the former part of that statement now, however.

Pours a radioactive purple color with a surprisingly-nice head that forms on top pretty quickly, measuring about a half-finger but retaining well considering the style at play here. The foam is a medium-magenta/crimson color and leaves behind a bit of lace as it slowly sinks. Moderate surface haze and solid legs for a fruited sour. I'm into it, even if it looks suspiciously like a magic potion.

My very first sniff made me feel something akin to a combination between amazement and whatever the emotional version of an "eye-roll" is. How can they get away with this? This is the same brewery that made a goddamn peanut butter and jelly sour that actually completely ruled, mind you. It was one of my favorite beers of 2020, and I'm extremely excited to have been bestowed eight more cans of it thanks to the aforementioned buddy of mine, but... this is unholy. It's an abomination. It smells good. I get the unusual chocolate biscuit notes of the Oreo cookies right upfront, though they're quickly subsumed by immense blueberry fruitiness and a dose of marshmallow/vanilla sweetness. This is some "deal with the devil" shit right here. I don't want to like this, BA. I want this to be bad.

Why isn't it bad... why couldn't it just be shitty? This has no business being so tasty. Some tartness and jamminess upfront with flavors of lightly-tart raspberry jelly, blueberry, grassiness, and some strong vanilla. The mid-palate is straight-up chocolate malt, Oreos, and biscuity chewiness, and the finish is more sweetness with a hint of acidity that nevertheless fades out rather quickly. Extremely heavy body without much complexity to the flavor... so I guess that's probably the worst part about this (other than the fact that its mere existence is akin to a surfaced cosmic horror) but what's there is satisfying and accurate to the brewer's unholy desires. I definitely prefer Bastards in a Basket (PB&J sour I mentioned above) over this... this seems a bit too heavy and viscous in my opinion, but it's almost exactly what it says it's going to be, and that's... weird. BA, 2021 is really freaking me out already. *curls up in fetal position*

Oh right, I have one more friggin' Oreo beer to review after this... can't have a mental breakdown just yet. I'll keep fighting the good fight, and I hope y'all are too. Time to catch up on other posts!

 

Cross posting with both side by side and WBAYDN. So Gonzo isn’t new, although it’s been many years, but the BA Willetized is new. Not super different from the original, it does have a creamier mouthfeel and of course the added barrel character. Good stuff.

 

I'm simultaneously disgusted and intrigued by this "beer".

 

I usually review local beers on NBS but today I'm joining @jkblr and @DoctorZombies in sampling Panther Cub. And like my august fellow BAs, I only purchased a single. Well, I may be picking up more as I like this a lot.

Poured into a Founders snifter. It's almost jet black with a foamy, light mocha-colored head and thin sheen of long-lasting lacing. On the nose there is roasted malt, maple syrup, vanilla bean, earthy nuts, and just a whiff of tobacco smoke. I don't smell any bourbon. The taste follows the nose: it opens with with a lot of sweetness from the vanilla and maple syrup It's strong but not cloying. At mid-sip I taste the bourbon barrel; it's fairly delicate and doesn't distract. As it warms I'm discerning burnt coffee and charred nuts which add bitterness and a touch of acidity. The flavors blend well. It has a rich mouth feel for a Porter with light/moderate carbonation, and the 9.2% ABV seems appropriate. It seems that "Imperial Porters" are all the rage these days. It's more of a sipper than a beer I would pair with a meal, although it would go well with cannolis or vanilla ice cream.

4.24/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Have a great day, everyone. I'm enjoying reading your reviews.

 

Two for one! Suitable and More Than Suitable from Adventurous Brewing. Spoiler: These are great.

Neither can is dated. Both obtained from Tavour. Both served in Flat Stick Pub can-shaped pint glasses.

Suitable:
Pours hazy dark amber with a small head. Smell is surprisingly muted -- I get a little tropical juice but not much else. Taste is nice. Juicy and fresh, friendly, very tropical, a little creamy. Moderate pithy bitterness. Mouthfeel is soft and fluffy. Overall, this is a really nice beer.

More Than Suitable:
Pours a hazy amber with a medium to small head and medium to low carbonation. Smell is tropical, but muted. Taste is a little boozy, but a really bright tropical juice forward beer, I get some fruit skin / zest / pith bitterness. Mouthfeel is fluffy, creamy, smooth, nice. Overall, very good beer.

Side-by-side comparison:
The color is hard to distinguish. More Than Suitable might be a little darker. They're both very hazy with small head. Both of them have similar, muted aromas, slightly tropical. Not sure if that's the beer, temperature, glassware, or my weak olfactory system.

Taste is a bit brighter, fruitier, and definitely boozier in the More Than Suitable. Suitable is dryer and maybe a bit less exhausting on the palate, which is not a description I've ever felt inspired to write before.

Mouthfeel for both is really creamy and smooth, very pleasing.

Overall, you can't go wrong with either beer. If you're looking for a one-and-done, I'd probably go with the More Than Suitable (both for abv and palate purposes); if you might have another, I'd go with the Suitable.

 

That IMHO is the whole point of drinking “craft” beer.

 

Great Raft Life Itself Salted Watermelon Gose, 4.5% ABV; 3.96 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with rapidly dissapearing beige head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: A little bit of Jolly Rancher Watermelon candy

T: Follows the nose, dry & a little tart. More Jolly Rancher & some salt as this warms. Finishes dry, salty & sweet

MF: Slight body and carbonation

Great Raft should make this a Summer Time offering, I could kill some of this in the heat, very drinkable. I will certainly buy this again if I see it after Memorial Day

 

Last new beer of the weekend, Bottle Logic Arborescence Hazelnut Berry Stout, thanks @BartS!
4.59/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thank you BartS for this
500 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small dark mocha head

S- Hazelnuts, chocolate, touch of berries, whiskey, oak, roasted malts, some allspice.

T- Chocolate, hazelnuts, whiskey, oak, allspice, roasted malts, some blackberries, some caramel.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- A great barrel aged stout, get a lot of barrel without being overly boozy or unbalanced. Berries and hazelnuts are a nice touch.

Hope everyone has a good, stay safe until next weekend, cheers!

 

Next on the agenda from a beer trade. I know he's very happy with the Drekker I sent him, even if it was delayed by 2 weeks because of the extreme arctic blast.
Cloudy Donkey from Tampa Bay Brewing Company. NEIPA - 5.5% ABV.

You can pack good flavor in a "small" IPA. This has tons of mango and backed up by pineapple. Very tasty lower ABV IPA.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/487/489661/

3.9/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a murky hazy goldern color. There's a 1 finger white, and fluffy head. The head retention is good, and there's some good lacing on the glass.
The aroma hit me as I was pouring. Tons of pineapple backed up by mango.
Taste is opposite of the nose - tons of mango, and backed up by pineapple.
Soft body. Creamy feeling. Good body.
Tasty and delicious IPA, and it proves you can pack a good amount of flavor in a lower ABV IPA.

 

Greetings fellow nbw hours

Last week I skipped out, as I was wrapped up in house sitting and pet sitting for my friends Abbie and Amanda. They have two dogs and a cat that all, in different ways, managed to be somewhat high-maintenance, although they are also quite friendly. I did managed to knock out a sixer of Brick West's hazy IPA that is now being canned and put out into local stores, but no new beers were consumed.

Today, I'm hitting a smoked Helles from a brewery in SW Washington that is primarily known for sours:


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25710/454528/?ba=woemad#review
It's okay. Surprisingly dry and herbal for a Helles. The smoked malts are fairly mellow and don't really kick in until midway through.

I might be back with another one later.

 

Last one before I retire for the evening. Oreo beers, man. Why not? At least this one makes a bit more sense. Cream Team is a 9.5% imperial stout brewed with chocolate, lactose, and natural flavors.

CT pours a solid-looking deep stout with a medium-khaki colored head that builds up to a decent finger-and-a-half or so before sinking to a single finger of retentive suds. Some drippy lace and moderate legs here. The surface is a bit bubbly and coated with a thin film over about 70-75%, which isn't bad at all. I think this could have had a more expressive appearance, but maybe I'm asking for too much.

The nose is very accurate to cookies 'n cream ice cream, that's for sure. I want to grab a spoon and dig right in, but in all actuality, it's way easier for me to just take a sip! Before I do, however, I must say that I am impressed by the character of the added elements here. Now, I'm not sure what "natural flavors" are used but I bet it's literally just Oreos (or some form of generic chocolate/cream sandwich cookie, perhaps) in the mash. There's a hint of espresso for sure, but I get a ton of chocolate biscuit, some sweetness, and a whiff of ethanol. I'm into it.

Hot fudge and vanilla on the tongue with a lot of really legitimate Oreo cookie flavors. This is frickin' great! Medium-bodied with a little bit of prickly heat, but the feel is well-rounded overall and the oats do help pick up some slack in the finish. Digging the interaction between the lactose and (what I assume to be) cookies here, as they seem to play off one another in a satisfying and logical way. Marshmallow cream in the mid-palate is paired with a bit of sweet milk chocolate and hints of dusty cocoa powder that come across as very satisfying when taken with the well-developed and well-built malt bill. This is less ridiculous and stupid than the previous Oreo abomination (I say this lovingly, mind you) that I just reviewed about an hour ago, but it's still kinda stupid in a sense. That said, if you like sweet stouts, and especially if you like chocolate sandwich cookies, this is made for you.

 

I'm in!

 

Next up is my last from @Coronaeus and the never-ending NBS BIF #12, Helliwell Old Ale from Muddy York Brewing. Aged in Chateu Lafite Rothschild barrels, this brew has a lot going on:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38904/536833/

 

Did I pass along this news piece on that beer?

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5440134