New Beer Weekend #39

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass not sure when it was bottled. Pours a very attractive cloudy amber brown, with a 2 finger sticky khaki head with reddish hues that leaves thick waves of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is dates, figs, caramel, toffee, hard candy, and bourbon. 4.5

Taste follows fig, dates, toffee, caramel, brown sugar, and oaked vanilla bourbon. 4.5

Mouthfeel is big, gentle carbonation, a tad dry, and at 12.5% ABV it goes down extremely easy. 4.5

Overall this is an absolute gem, every thing I was hoping for and then some. Thanks @jzeilinger for this savory bottle. 4.5

 

Wiseacre Xanadu Hazy IPA, 7.0% ABV; 4.0 overall

Pours a hazy gold with a thumb off shell colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Mango, strawberry,

T: Mangoes, green melon & dryness up front. Pomelo, green melon & lime as this warms, Finishes with green melon & pomelo, plus dryness

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, good balance

Easy drinker, not a bad effort, but doubtful I would buy it again

 

Thanks for starting us off @ChicagoJ

I am starting off with this gem from @MacMalt sent to me in our little corner of chaos known as NBS BIF #13.

Citra & Motueka: A Hop That Needs No Introduction

Very hazy swirl of peachy orange pushes a very fluffy head. Great retention, layers of lush lacing.
Nose is zesty lemon, tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and a mild tropical note that doesn't specifically taste like any one fruit.
Taste is very bright lemon, some pithy grapefruit, and notes of peach and apricot. A tad of mango peeks in as well. Finishes a slightly drying bitterness.
Mouthfeel is lush and pillowy. Carbonation keeps everything moving.
Overall, a great NEIPA. And I am not a big fan of Motueka hops but they do add another pleasing note to this one.
4.26/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Really love this one. Thanks, Rob!

 

Ooh, Ooh, Ooh Mr. Kotter!!! I just got one of those from @Victory_Sabre1973 but I have to wait until tomorrow. I am sharing a few beers with somebody who doesn't party well with lactose.

 

Augustiner Maximator...reviewed before tasting the whiskey next to it.

330ml bottle served in a tulip. I don't see a date on it. Bought it at Total Wine a week or two ago.

Pours a very dark tea color. Initially large head, collapses to a thin layer. Ongoing, active, fine activity. Smell is tea, grains, figs, maybe a little dates.

Taste is way farther down the dates and date skin path, roast bitterness in there as well, but still with a tea-like sweetness.

Mouthfeel is somewhat watery and somewhat thin, a little filmy, no detectable effervescence. Overall, it's an OK beer.

 

Amazing writeup. That sounds phenomenal, and I love all of the caveats. Very transparent and full of context.

 

That futsal is insane when people are playing at the level of THAT video.

 

Breaking a personal rule of mine to post a couple beers in here before Sunday... I usually only participate in NBW threads on the "original" day because I'm a nerdy purist like that, but my recent job change messes up my typical participation in Sunday beer-drinking considering I now work the Sunday night shift and am off Monday and Tuesday. So, looks like I'll be potentially slowing down my NBW posts soon, though I may try to fit some in on Sundays after I get out of work. Hopefully I can get a somewhat different shift soon, but id est quid est for now.

Anyway, no one cares about that. Y'all care about beer. Which is fair, cuz that's why you're on this site. Tonight I have two newly-canned beers from Amory's Tomb Brewing Co. out of Maynard, MA. I went to this place a couple years ago when they were newer and their beers were pretty good, so I was stoked to hear that they were canning and self-distributing those cans... they're also located a short walk from the newly-opened location of the company I just started working for, GreenStar Herbals. I don't work at that location, but if I did, I bet AT would get more of my money. And, hell, maybe I'll end up transferring there in the future depending on what happens.

Okay, beer time.



Silver Tree is a rye grisette clocking in at a nice and easy 3.9% ABV. The brewery makes no qualms about claiming that this utilizes their "ever-evolving house cultures," so that tipped me off to the possibility of this being a little funky. Also, although the can states that this leans on Noble hops, it does say this is Batch 6 and features Meridian and Loral hops. I have long believed Loral to be an excellent farmhouse ale hop, and Meridian is kinda cool in its own way, so yeah.

The pour here is an extremely pale, almost straw-looking beer with a moderate-to-high haze in the body. The initial head formation is massive; almost five fingers(!), and it takes quite a while to sink down to the half-finger it eventually retains at, leaving some soapy, inconsistent lace as it does so. Definitely gonna be a funky one, I can feel it.

Oh yeah, definitely picking up a bit of Brett in here. Lemony and crackery with light spice, menthol, and a bit of mango/pineapple followed by lively clove-like phenols. Okay, I see where this is probably going, and I'm not upset about it. I bet it'll be nice and refreshing but also a little more complex than it seemed at first glance. I mean, a grisette should be a properly-drinkable saison-ish beer, but I definitely don't mind an example that has some interest going for it.

Bright and effervescent first few sips. Flavors of dried hay, grassiness, light lemon peel and yuzu, along with some light barnyard funk and esters/phenols in the finish. Pretty much bone-dry and appropriately carbonated; not too much or too little, which is good cuz that pour and the Brett-like culture this was probably fermented with could easily make this one too dry and crisp in a way that could make it difficult to drink. That said, it's obviously not a super full-bodied beer given the ABV, but I do like the light mint notes (seems like maybe a Meridian thing? Cool, actually), and the rye does give off some peppery spice here and there. This is good. Definitely would be a refreshing beer for crushing while gardening... which I should be doing some time over the next four or so weeks.

Back very soon with one more from these guys. Something darker. Then I promise I'll leave this thread alone until like 9 tomorrow night.

 

Thanks to @strohme2 for this one.

The Shiawassee

Pale gold and hazy. White froth pumps nearly 3 fingers high and breeches the rim.
Nose slightly herbal in the lead. Orange, lemon, a hint of mango, and onion.
Flavors follow nicely with an added touch of a dank to onion note.
Lush and fluffy.
Overall, a great NEIPA.
4.19/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

 

I dug into the ninja box from @JayORear this morning, so I figure I should return to the main event with another Half Acre can from @FBarber's salvo.
Green Branch is a DDH DIPA that does a really good job, in my opinion, of riding that line between the hazy world, while maintaining some of the IPA characteristics that make them IPAs.



The pour is undeniably in the hazy world.. chalky pale yellow so thick that there's a noticeable shadow through the middle of the glass when held up to the light. Massive rocky white foam is like those last desperate couple of folks at the tail end of a party who just aren't ready to move on and go home or go to sleep... stubbornly sticks around, clinging to the glass and leaving massive splotchy patches of lacing as I drink it down.

Nose is immediately all pine sap. Like I have to check my fingers for splinters out of associative memory because it smells like splitting wood at my parents house. There's a touch of pineapple lurking, and I could be convinced of some citrus and 'spicy' hops as well, but it's mostly pine with a bit of pineapple.

Taste doesn't delve quite so hard or quite so initially into the pine side of things. The pineapple asserts itself a little bit more, but there's still a strong current of pine to the proceedings. Culminates in a dry swift bitter pine finish, that I find quite pleasing.

Feel is pillow soft with a bit of spicy indiscrete carbonation, and the bitter finish lingers in a really pleasant manner.

I am enjoying this quite a bit, and honestly moreso than I expected. Thanks Frank for sending it my direction! All the Half Acre beers I've had from this box have been delicious, and this is no exception

Cheers!!

 

Amory's Tomb also came out with this, a traditional robust porter, recently so... yeah. Obviously, I want that. I mean, it did just snow yesterday in parts of MA and New England in general, so dark beer is still relevant for the time being.

This beer pours a pretty gorgeous dark brown with some slight nuances of mahogany, especially right around the bottom of my glass (as you can see from the above picture). The head is tight and slow-forming, measuring about two-and-a-half fingers at its highest and slowly fading to a single-finger ring with good legs and solid lace.

The nose is chocolate, light roast coffee, and nuttiness with some earthy overtones coming out as soon as I pour and sniff it. After a few minutes, this element fades and reveals some toffee and caramel, along with a fair bit of biscuity maltiness that almost smells like a chocolate cookie when everything else is taken into account. A kiss of herbal hops rounds everything out... good ol' East Kent Goldings.

Semi-sweet and firm chocolate flavors upfront with some slight "baker's chocolate" bitterness, a bit of roast in the mid-palate, and a solid malty finish that leans towards the aforementioned biscuity flavors. Definitely not overly-roasty or charred in the grain department... this is nice and smooth with a, well, robust flavor. The can label mentions dark fruit, but I get none of that here... which is good, if I'm being honest... I find that type of flavor distracting and unnecessary in something like this type of beer. Anyway, this clocks in at 6.3% ABV, and delivers a solid hit of complex dark malt flavors with a dry and surprisingly-refreshing finish. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but these guys are not trying to do that by any means, and I respect the hell out of this effort. It is a very nice, old-school, uncompromising porter in the old English style. Would certainly drink again and again. I'll have to keep an eye out for more cans from AT, and I should pay a visit to their taproom again soon.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Got home from a very long and productive day at work, but I sure as hell didn't have enough time to get everything done I wanted to. Oh, well, I work tomorrow, and I should have time to get the rest done.

Since I'm working tomorrow, I'm one, and done tonight.

This beer is thanks to the generosity of @woemad


Head Full of Dynamite V27 - 6.8% ABV - Fremont Brewing.

This is just the perfect juice to end my day today. Nice juicy feel and flavor. Delicious, and I can't thank you enough for this beer.

Review:
4.19/5 rDev +9.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a hazy, murky golden color. There's a 2 finger white and fluffy head here. The head retention is damn good, and there's nice lacing on the glass.
The nose is tropical. Mango, and hints of pineapple, and grapefruit.
Taste - I'm actually getting some lemon here. Wasn't expecting that. I also get mango, and pineapple.
Very soft and juicy body. Creamy, and full.
Delicious IPA from Fremont.

 

My wife asked me to open a sweet stout tonight. I opened this one. She took one whiff of it and turned up her nose. So, I’m all in by myself on this sweet behemoth.

Trillium Barrel Aged Danish Gentleman.



Pours a deep thick very dark brown. Opaque with what looks like very small particles. I am assuming this is from the cinnamon. Minimal head.

The aroma is without a doubt an almond Danish. It is spot on. Sweet pastry. Mild amaretto. Boozy bourbon.

Taste follows nose. The barrel jumps out first. It gives way quickly to vanilla, cinnamon and mild almond. The beer is appropriately sweet for the style.

Thick, full body. Not syrupy which is always my worry with pastry stouts.

I enjoy pastry stouts. They aren’t my favourite style by far, but I do enjoy them. When they are good, I really like them. This one is very good, particularly if you like sweet cinnamon.
Cheers.

 

So I am hitting my Mystery Beer#1from @MacMalt


Frothy, sandy head is assertive at first but drops off to a thin ring. So retention is not that strong,
A very subtle nose of pepper, caramel malt and maybe a tad of vanilla? A slightly west coast IPA hop note comes through as it warms.
First sip is slightly herbal, a tad peppery, and hints at brown bread.
Going to have a little more as it warms.

 

Great Raft BA Baltic Porter Heaven Hill Edition ( Jan 2021 ), 10.0% ABV; 4.17 overall all 22 ounces!


Pours an effervescent Mahogany with fast fading caramel colored head. Some head retention & lacing, plenty viscous. Was a noisy pour, the bubbles raised ruckus before vanishing for the most part

S: Dark fruits, some Bourbon notes that persist through the bottle & vanilla late

T: Vanilla, Bourbon, a little barrel heat & some dark chocolate & dryness up front. Barrel & oaky dryness as this warms along some Bourbon bite & a little caramel & cola flavor. Finishes dry with vanilla, a little oakyness

MF: Medium body, subdued carbonation, warming as can be

Solid BA take on the style, plenty warming not one to rush through

 

Ok so it is a Rye Ipa...

Reef 11 by Slack Tide
So the pepper and slightly citrus meets earthy pine west coast IPA hop note was fairly on the mark. The nose was just very subtle. I have no clue where I got the hint of vanilla.
A pretty nice take on a Rye IPA. I like rye.

Thanks Rob.

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are warm and sunny. In need of rain but for today we will take it.

This weekend we have Mountain Mama Citrus Pale Ale. Anyone remember John Denver? "Country roads, mountain mama." But I digress. A balanced and drinkable pale ale.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20679/338674/

Until next time. Take me home country roads.

 

For my next trick...
(you could remove the 'r' and the 'k' if you really wanted to)
I dip back into Frank's box and pull out a little twofer. In addition to the delicious brews, the tasty coffee, the saltysweet nuts, the glassware, the hat, the unintentionally-birthday present for my dog (happy 7th bday Porter!), the stickers... I'm sure there's other elements I'm overlooking but I'm just going off memory... but anyway, he also sent a long a couple of little airplane bottles of local liquors. One of them is Jepsons Malört, a very herbaciously bitter spirit, that he explained is traditionally paired with an Old Style (or any other lager nowadays) and called a Chicago Handshake. It came with an explainer sheet and directions. He told me I should pair it with the Chicago Tavern Beer from Haymarket Beer Company, and so I have.
Tonight felt like the right night to dig into that, and so I have.



So I have in front of me a glass filled with faintly cloudy gold liquid, capped with big wet just-off-white bubbles. They dissipate pretty quickly, leaving a couple of patchy spots on the glass, but they are easily washed away as I sip.

Nose is all about the malts. Straw and some biscuit lead in and lay across an earthiness that could could call grassy, and so I have. A bit of graham-cracker sweetness to it as well, but that first impression remains the strongest.

Taste starts off sweeter, heading to an almost honey-like realm, before winding through those same grainy straw malts, and bringing that earthy bitterness verging on grassiness. As I work through the glass, the spicy element of the hops builds to a defining black-pepper character that comes to share top billing in a now-ensemble cast alongside the honeysweetness and grainy malts.

Good slippery moderate+ sized body to it, and a finish that ends dry with some of that earthy bitterness and a bready malt character that helps balance the very dry herbacious bitterness of the Malört. So I halved the can... half into the glass, and half remaining to do the handshake as I imagine it's intended... shot with a canned chaser.

Thanks for sending these all my direction Frank!

So, I have to try the BA Malört as well, and at risk of turning this into BoozeAdvocate (gotta maintain the BA branding!), the first thing that jumps out isn't necessarily the smoothing influence of the barrel, but how it almost gives it a peppermint quality. So I have to admit that I was not really expecting that. Like really bitter mouthwash, though less unappealing than that makes it sound, ha.
So I have to bring it back to beer by comparing... I think the BA version actually merges better into the beer, but the base version sits with more contrast, so I have to leave it up to the reader to decide which one sounds more appealing.
@FBarber

I was considering dipping into the last true mystery beer -- the one who's only interruption to the aluminum foil mystery wrap is an advisory in sharpie that reads, "High ABV," reminiscient of the "Don't Panic" inscribed on The Guide -- in a touch to round out the night, but the shots, the beers, and the lack of food and sleep are telling me I should probably heed the warning sharpied in and leave that until tomorrow. So I have to say good night, and cheers to all you wonderful witbier wanderers, diligent dortmunder diggers, and gregarious gueuze guzzlers (and the rest of ya), and change gears, so I have the wherewithal and energy to re-engage the quest tomorrow. Cheers!!

 

Well, shit. Not even an hour later, and I've already made a liar of myself.

Serendipity, from New Glarus continues the onslaught of midwestern goodness sent my direction by @FBarber. This is just my third New Glarus beer, all via Frank (actually... full disclosure... I probably tasted a Spotted Cow once in nursing school, as one of my cohort was from Wisconsin, but I have minimal recollection of that night, other than ordering White Castle [shudder] and meeting Richard Sherman and his brother while dressed as Leela from Futurama. Yeah.).

One of the cool things about the BIFs is not just the community, the generosity, the exposure to stuff you might not otherwise see, but the exposure to stuff you might not otherwise have much experience with, regardless of location (though NG has enough of a rep that I'd probably have pickd up their stuff if I was ever in Wisconsin, regardless. But I digress).
I don't have a lot of experience with fruit and field beers, as most of the fruit forward options I've tried are kettled sours with fruit. Frank sent me a bunch of New Glarus brews, and they seem to specialize in the fruit and field category (doubt this? just look at the top of the 'fruit and field' category here on BA...), and are incredibly good at what they do.



Pour is a clear garnet red with just a touch of browning to the edge. The glass actually screamed at me as I was pouring, and what it said was, "autumn."

Nose is immediately reminiscent of the Wisconsin Belgian Red I had from them earlier in the week: jammy sweet fruit juice... kind of smells like a jolly rancher. While WBR was all maraschino-esque cherries, this one brings a little more laterality, using the cherries as the sweet/tart bridge between the cranberry reds and the golden apple sweets.

Taste does not deviate from this blueprint. Red jolly ranchers in liquid form, with a tart build to the back end, but even that is quickly subsumed with the jammy sweet fruit juice.

I was really excited to try these offerings, and had listed this one in particular among my 'wants' list. These are incredibly well crafted examples of their style, and New Glarus are clearly masters of their craft. It oozes competence and care. But, I learned something. I learned that this is not as much the expression I want out of a beer as I had thought, at least not right here, right now. It veers a little too far, for my personal taste, into the jolly rancher candy sweet. I'm not a big candy guy in general, which probably influences my opinion here, but I just can't escape that comparison. This is a perfectly executed jolly rancher beer, but the problem is I'm not that into jolly ranchers. And I didn't know all this about myself before. So thank you Frank for sending along incredibly crafted beers, and for forcing internal reflection to learn about myself!

Cheers! And for real this time, I am going to go eat something, and probably am not having another beer tonight. Probably.