New Beer Weekend #38

Awesome!

 

Excellent kickoff @JackHorzempa ! Loving the spring weather, had a few days off of watering the grass due to the rain which has already cancelled the Sox game today. Trying to get grass seedings to take in an area beyond my patio that doesn't get as much rain and sun as it should.

Also loved your Pilsner comparison, your brew is darker than the typical, I take it the Vienna Malt is responsible, saw many dark lagers on your website trip picks. were there many Czechoslovakia Pilsners available? I don't recall coming across that here, domestic or foreign.

I started a little earlier here, before the rain cam. Starting the weekend with a local saison, brewed by John Laffler, one of the many great brewers who graduated from the Goose Island brewing tree.

Off Color Space Tiger






Bottle Notes: Really cool artwork, recreation of the 6/21/69 moonwalk. Funky Farmhouse Ale. 7.8% ABV, Gravity 16P, IBUs 21. Malts: Pils, Flaked Wheat, Special Aromatic Dark Munich. Hops: Galaxy, Kazbee, Sterling. Secret Ingredients: Oxygen. Funky. No date, but released the week of 1/22/21 per social media.

Appearance: Single pour into a large tulip, beautiful orange clear base, darker at the top, lighter golden at the base. Persistent carbonation throughout, creamy rich head lasts for several minutes, leaving a luxurious lacing on the glass and over the base. 4.5

Aroma: Heavy Belgian yeast dominates the aroma, light citrus back, likely the galaxy hops. Light funkiness as well. 3.75

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, Belgian yeast dominant, light sweet backing of citrus. Negligible funk. 3.5

Mouthfeel: Light fizzy carbonation lingers throughout, light to medium body, somewhat creamy, neutral taste profile, dryness throughout, easy clean finish. 4.0

Overall: This is a good saison, though not as complex as I was hoping for. Belgian yeast, minimal funk was disappointing. slightly dry, minimal complexity. Good, but prefer other Off Color offerings. 3.75

Will return tomorrow with two lagers, one dark, from a new to me suburban brewery I've been waiting to try for New Beer Sunday 841.

 

Trying some Voodoo Rangers in honor of @scream.
3.9/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

19.2 oz can poured into a snifter

A- A fairly hazy golden straw with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, grapefruit, some pale malts, floral/herbal.

T- Citrus, pale malts, some grapefruit, floral, herbal, touch earthy.

M- Smoot, medium body.

O- Tasty and easy to drink, might not fully fit into the NEIPA category but still enjoyable.

Cheers!

 

Jack, all that I can say is that this year's version of your BoPils was one of the best you brewed; and you have brewed a lot of this great style of pilsner and done them incredibly well. Thxs again for sharing. And it's clearly understandable why your wife selected your beer!!

 

Congratulations on your Daughter's arrival!

 

You don't have an emergency supply of barleywines on hand, should you find yourself needing to open four, five, even six different examples of malty splendor in the course of an afternoon?

Glad you enjoyed the Summer Life! I'm a fan of the beer just on its own merits, but when you factor in the $6/12oz price point, it's rather insane. I'm finding myself wishing I had stocked up considerably more than I did. Damn me and my occasional flirtations with responsible choices...

 

Two New to BA, new to me, 5% NY Ales rated 4+

Smile My Guy | Bronx | 5% | IPA Session
4.02/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
1st review. Added by Act 25. Fave brewer.
a) Sudsy thumbful of white head over hazed yellow body.
s) Big snootful of lemon, fresh sawn wood, caramel.
t) Ariana - new to me, addes floral, creamy tone. Slightly medicinal and fresh cut wood.
F) fresh, light, medicinal. Weird.
o) Ariana, Cascade, Centennial, Comet, Mandarina Bavaria, plus lemon peel (must like lemon!)

Baby Dragon | Woodstock | 5.5% | APA
4.15/5 rDev +7.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
5th Review, my 1st from Woodstock (in Catskills, good water)
a) Hazed thinly yellow body wth wispy head.
s) Excellent floral and tropical nose.
t) Malt background supports layers of floral tropical and citrus fruit, astringent.
f) Astringent, wine like, low carb, excellent drinkability, packed with flavor.
o) Sourced 7th Ave Park Slope Grocer.

 

Wisconsin Belgian Red by New Glarus

4.5/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Bottle poured into a stemmed new glarus glass



One finger fizzy off white foam cap settles to a thin layer over a translucent deep ruby brown liquid. Some lacings

Aroma is cherries,

Taste is cherries, spice, cinnamon , sweet tart, crisp , mouth watering

Low sudsing

Delicious beer, repeatable

 

Normally I am drinking the 11 degree from this brewery, as it is a beer that is very often on tap in Prague and one that I am really used to and really enjoy. I stopped by the brewery today to grab some cans of the 11 and decided on a whim to also grab a couple of the 12 degree as I had never had it and it is my first time trying it. And wow, kind of wish I was buying the 12 degree more often and will definitely do so in the future.

 

It's a spectacular early spring day here in New England. Low 70's and sunny. I had originally eyed up some different beers for today, but with this weather, I called an audible and dug into my stash of beer I received courtesy of @Whyteboar in NBS BIF #12 last fall. This one is Incipient, a foeder aged solera sour ale with blood oranges from Speciation Artisan Ales. Speciation hasn't let me down yet, let's see if that holds true here.

As expected, this was really good. Perfect beer for today.

4.06/5 rDev -3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Crystal clear, apple juice colored beer. Small amount of very short-lived fizzy white head. Aroma certainly hints that this beer will be plenty tart. The tart / funk is the dominant aroma, with the blood orange lurking beneath it. Taste is where this beer shines (which is of course, a pretty important category to nail). Whether it's the blood orange, or the character picked up from the foeder, or maybe just the underlying base beer, it's damn tasty. For those just getting into this style, this may not be the best option, as it's plenty tart, but for those who love the style (looks in mirror), it has just enough sour to get your attention, but without getting out of balance. Carbonation is on the lower end. Overall, very tasty.

p.s. @FBarber glad to see you cracked open that Varonna. I love that beer.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Well I am down and drinking some new beers! Big shot out to @JackHorzempa there, and for making me jealous about how I still haven't made it to Prague in my life... some day...

But with all that said, I am toning things down these days, but there's always new beer to be had. So I grabbed one of these, oh!!! Is this what all the young cool kids are drinking now?! Milkshake IPAs?? this is a thing... let's see what this here said "thing" is...

what's new for our hero today.



Poured from the can, into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Fairly clear bodied, with a real nice copper and brass like color. I figured a milkshake IPA was going to be a sludgy turbid appearance, but even this is a real nice almost mixing light bock color, with very clarity and carbonation. Fluffy topped three finger head, off white, more of a vanilla yellow and tight bubbled. Super sheets of lacing. Great looking beer otherwise, but with that milkshake moniker I am not sold, so we call it good either way.

Mild sensing pineapple aroma of hop, and a noticeable touch of vanilla and maybe even some caramel malt squeaking through. It is though a bit faint, with the cream like character dominating more so.

So this is unexpected. Heavily sugar sweetened of milk like lactose as a guess, and flavorful fruit. Pineapple shake, and upside-down cake hit the mid palate easily, with a cake like icing sugar feeling. Finishes with a mild bitterness to take this in for balance. Lots of pineapple juice, and manages to stay away from chalk flavor, and gets more into a real light icing sugar that is barely sweet. Hints with frosting and pineapple and a touch of booze, and the icing character gives a real nice boost to mouthfeel and stays away from sugar bombing.

This is neat, and probably should have read the can a bit more. Added lactose and actually pineapple, makes sense. Definitely I think though this fits more in a fruit beer realm, but that cake like flavor really makes a nice splash.

look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25 | 4.06/5

Cheers!