New Beer Weekend #54

I was confused to @officerbill its my educational reading up until I join in. Thanks for starting this weekend, I'll be posting one, probably two, today.

 

The thread has been a late start for two weeks now. I do wonder why.

Since I'm not normally a morning drinker (even on Saturday morning, and even though I'm retired), I did miss seeing it, but couldn't really start it myself.

I will be back later with a new pale ale from a Minneapolis brewer.

Thanks for kicking it off, @officerbill.

 

Thanks for kicking things off today @officerbill , I've only had Kwak once with the traditional set up and it was a treat.

Have two canned in June planned for the weekend after which I will begin going through a bunch of new to me beers, starting with lighter summer beers before attacking the heavy hitters which have added up over the past few years.

I don't by many from this brewery since they typically roll out haze or lactose beers, but they are typically solid producing standard styles.

Hop Butcher Alemerica The Beautiful



Can Notes: 16 oz canned 6/29/21 @10:01:02, single can $3.65 plus tax. 1776 Never 4Get.
Mosaic-hopped American Pale Ale, 6.0% ABV. Ripe Citrus, Pleasant Dank, Tropical Fruit.

Appearance: Clear tan pour, mild carbonation, weak egg white head dissipates quickly leaving nominal lacing. 3.25

Aroma: Pleasant aroma mild in strength, pine, grapefruit, mango, citrus, sweetness held in check by a dank piney bitterness. 3.75

Taste: Consistent with aroma though much stronger. Slightly bitter, dank pine leads well, tropical fruits complement well with tingling sweetness, grapefruit and mango. Get a pleasant weed backing as well, minimal malt, they way I like it. I'm really enjoying this. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Light, crisp and easy. Carbonation is negligible, easier drinking than a 6% should be. Slightly dry and bitter overall though well balanced and consistent to style, crisp clean finish. 4.25

Overall: Didn't look all that great after the pour, but it's better to taste marvelous than to look marvelous. Brewed consistent with the brewery tasting notes, a well executed pale ale, dry dank, pine bitterness with a nice complementary fruit makes this an overall winner. Well done Hop Butcher! 4.25

Review powered by Pat and David's excellent piece. The film worth checking out as well for 80s nostalgia.

 

Continuing with my multi-week tastings through selected Minnesota brewers, today's beer comes from a Minneapolis brewer with decently high ratings locally and here on BA. I've tried 5 of their beers before: 3 different IPAs, a pale ale, and a blonde ale.

My ratings indicate they do well with IPAs, not so well with blondes and pale ales. But, my experience with them overall is limited to the 5 beers.

And, I'm always ready to try a new pale ale.

Fulton Pale Ale Project
This is a Brewer's Beer (yup, that subtitle's on the label...)

From the brewer:
Simply put -- Pale Ale is the quintessential American craft beer, arguably deserving of more credit for the success and growth of our industry than any other beer style. And in an era when breweries seem to be using more candy and cereal than malt and hops in their beers -- we think it’s time to rediscover the Pale Ale.

This is the FULTON Pale Ale Project. We are on a journey, a mission, (a side quest?), to craft the perfect pale ale. It's an audacious project, we know. Will we achieve it? Don't know; you tell us if you think we've done it. But we know this: Pale Ale is the purest expression of American craft beer, and we're having a hell of a lot of fun bettering our own best version of it.

Dry hopped w/ Galaxy & Nelson Sauvin.

There is a QR code on the label to scan to "find out ... what's inside", which just takes you to their web site page for the beer, which I already quoted above.

Well, a lot of marketing puffery, to be sure. Does the beer itself measure up?



Aroma has moderate strength. It brings bright citrus and some piney elements, backed by fresh bread.

Amber-orange, somewhat hazy, carbonation is a bit skimpy. I probably was over-gentle with the pour resulting in a ½ inch white head, thick and creamy with an almost nitro appearance. The head has decent retention.

The flavor is pine-forward, with a mild bittering at the start, growing a bit through to the finish. Beneath the pine are the citrus and bread flavors, a little "other" fruits, but the taste is definitely dominated by the resiny pine and bitter hops. This is like a "west coast" style APA (no such thing, but I use that descriptively). Comparing this to the recently reviewed SNPA done for "SNPA Day", I like this beer better. I like the up-front unabashed pine and bitterness, cranked up above the somewhat (IMO) subdued SNPA. The finish is dry with a very enjoyable lingering piney bitterness in the aftertaste.

Moderate body, more substantial than many APAs.

Overall, an excellent APA. Well done.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.25 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.19

 

New as of yesterday and WOW! Very impressive Kolsch action here.
Blackstack teams up with Bricksworth and drops this heavenly beer. My rating may appear high but in my travels I've tried a fair amt of Kolsch beers. Many in good oulde Germany. This one kicks kabooty... esp in the correct glass. It might even be considered smooth for it's style. It's superb.
30-40 min drive from my stube.
L 4.25 S: 4.0 T: 4.5 F: 4.5 O: 4.25
Pours a pale light transparent straw yellow with a chill haze. It has a thin fizzy head and is med-carbonated. The nose is flowery, white bread, grass and light grains. It's taste is very clean, lightly sweet and fairly hopped with a tad of bitterness lingering. Very bright tasting and it's feel is right there with the brilliant taste as it has a brisk light-bodied mouthfeel that is rather crisp with a fast finish. It is moderately dry. Overall this Kolsch is superb in every way. Crushable, sipping, great tasting, complimentary and excellent in it's style. I done cleaned out my local store Cheers BA!

 

Work has been beyond crazy the last two weeks. It's a beautiful day here in CT, but I decided to do ~9 hours of work to try to catch up some, and it was definitely the right decision. Big weight off my shoulders having a bunch of items off the "to do" list. Anyway, now it's time to enjoy a new beer! This one was sent to me by @MacMalt. It's Wall Kill, a Sour IPA from Drowned Lands.

I edited this photo to remove some shadows, which improved how it looks in the photo vs. real life. For whatever reason, I find the real beer all kinds of ugly. That said, onto the review.

3.96/5 rDev -6.4%
look: 2.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Not sure what it is about the appearance of this beer, but I don't like it. Murky, muddled orange / brown with almost no head. Not sure how to rate to style, but I think it's pretty damn ugly. Aroma is exponentially better than the appearance. The vanilla is really nice, but not overpowering. Lurking beneath are some hops and the rhubarb / strawberry. Taste is also really nice. I pick up more of the strawberry and much less of the vanilla, but it still works well. Super easy to drink. I'd love to see just a tiny bit more carbonations, but overall, this is a beer I'd gladly drink more of.

Thanks, Rob for sending this my way. I really enjoyed this one.

 

Icarus ounces of feathers pilsner.
...appearance is a very cloudy pale orange
... body is around medium with carbonation being just below average but overall a decent feel.
...aroma is citrus fruit,peel,with orange standing out a bit. Very mild pine, earthy honey and malt.
....taste has a mild sweetness with an even more subdued bitterness. Citrus peel,fruit, and again orange standing out a bit.
Overall its not what I think of when I have a pilsner so im not sure what they were going for here. It was an interesting flavorful beer so I cant say it wasn't enjoyable.
It was a local beer so it always feels good to support local breweries

 

Thanks @officerbill for kicking this off finally.
Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned 7/20/21. Pours a very attractive hazy orange yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with nice nice retention. 4.5

Aroma is peach, melon, papaya, mandarin, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows peach, cantaloupe, papaya, mandarin, and apricot balanced and really nice. 4.25

Mouthfeel is pretty big, not sticky or dry, soft gentle creamy carbonation, and at 8.4% it is big on flavor but easy going down. 4.75

Overall this is another excellent offering from Tree House Brewing Company. Juice Project with Citra + Chinook. 4.25

 

F—- 2020 bourbon BA imperial cream stout with maple syrup & vanillla



4.33/5 rDev -2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottle received from @ovaltine in a strike from Bif 13

Black motor oil poured poured into an Ipa glass , fizzy one finger brown foam. Cap , good retention , settles to ring with constant carbonation volcanically producing more islands

Aroma is maple and vanilla candy , dark roasts, hint of char

Mouthfeel is heavy, full , syrupy, bit of heat

Delicious beer , thanks @ovaltine

 

We’re laking it again this weekend, and tonight’s the big campground potluck, so my apologies for the weird pic. This is Air So Thicc from Transient.



4.35/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a beautiful hazy straw color with a dense, creamy white head. Huge pineapple and passion fruit notes on the nose, with a bit of ripe tangerine as well.

The pineapple and passion fruit are forward on the taste, with the tangerine at the back end accompanied by a sweet oat flavor for a nice balanced finish. Absolutely delicious, IMHO.

The mouthfeel is full and actually a bit dry, which was a pleasant surprise. Transient continues to do a fantastic job with the hazies they produce.

 

14th star maple breakfast stout
...almost solid black appearance.
..medium light carbonation with about an average body.
....aroma is roasted malt,dark bakers chocolate, roasted coffee beans, black coffee, malt and chocolate .
....taste is slightly dry,roasted malts and coffee beans,dark chocolate, malt and chocolate.
...overall it was a really good beer just almost zero maple in the aroma and taste

 

First beer went down very quickly so it's onto #2. This one is courtesy of @sulldaddy who was generous enough to pick this up for me on a recent trip to Central PA as part of my winnings from our EPL fantasy football (soccer) league last season. If there are any soccer fans out there, particularly those who watch the English Premier League (@WunderLlama ?) consider signing up for our EPL fantasy football league (details in the Beer it Forward Forum). Tons of fun.

Anywho, onto the beer. This is a crowler of Lemon Hibiscus from Wolf Brewing Co. in Mechanicsburg, PA. From what I can tell, this brewery just opened about a month ago. As such, this is the first review of this beer on BA.

Not a bad beer for a new brewery. Not on par with the best of the best with this style, but I don't at all mean this as a criticism. Considering how new they are, they did a really nice job with this.

3.54/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Pours an effervescent, clear fairly bright red. Not traditional in its appearance, but still relatively nice looking. Aroma is relatively indistinct. I suppose it's the hibiscus I'm picking up. Smells good, just doesn't have a ton of complexity. Taste has the floral notes from the hibiscus and it works pretty well. Little bit of funk on the back-end. Not quite as lively as the pour indicated. Easy drinking. Good beer for a nice summer day.

 

@HoppingMadMonk i have had that beer several times in the past. In my experience I agree zero maple. I don’t even want a lot of maple just a touch, that beer I’ve never noticed it.

@sulldaddy how was Wolf Brewing I saw them pop up in an add. I am partial to all things wolf.

 

Jacks abby ray catcher lemongrass lager
...semi clearamber
...medium light carbonation with a just below average body.
..aroma isnt overpowering but theres lemongrass, malt, floral earthy honey,lemon peel.
..taste is malty,mildly sweet honey, earthy hops, some lemongrass and citrus peel but not in par with what showed up in the aroma.
... overall an interesting beer that tastes better as it warms up a bit. Not my favorite from what I consider an excellent brewery but still very good

 

This week I was looking at the singles and an Irish beer caught my eye. I don't know much about Irish breweries and haven't explored them much so I thought it was a good choice. I also love low abv beers so when I saw this was only 4% and nitro, I had to buy it.

Murphy's Irish Stout



Pours a very very dark brown, it comes off as black but the edges and holding to light reveals the dark brown. Beautiful creamy nitro head with a nice off white color with a hint of brown. Some really nice lacing that usually comes with nitro beers.

Aroma is roasty, the the smell of a very light coffee, then some wood-like notes. I’m no wood worker so I’m not gonna pretend to pick a certain one but it’s definitely there.

The flavor follows the nose. The roastiness comes out really nice and flavorful. I didn’t notice any chocolate in the nose but the flavors meld together to taste like a lighter chocolate which oddly finishes like a dark chocolate, because of the substantial roast going on. Really enjoyable.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth and creamy. I’m really thrown off by the bitter aspect, I can’t tell if it’s bitter or it’s just the roastiness making me think it’s more bitter than it is.

I love this beer, complex flavor, low abv and super drinkable. Im glad I tried this beer, in fact I think I’m going to pick up a four pack next time I’m at the store I got this. I haven’t had a Guinness in quite some time but this reminds me of a Guinness with just a little more roast and flavor going on. A perfect future side by side @cjgiant. I’m sure the comparison is common and it’s been done but I’d love to do it to see how similar and different they are.

Up next a local hoppy beer…

 

Hey what's going on?!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend I most certainly am myself for sure.

I started off on Friday with some Bourbon County Anniversary Stout, that's the Weller, and as far as new beers only a small handful to partake in this weekend.

Fun fact. My next new beer after this will be my 5000th unique Untappd check in.. ha ha... and I think I know the perfect ironic beer for that... but first...

I just got back from a bike ride and this is hitting so nicely right now.



Poured from the can into a nonic(k) pint glass.

This is definitely a real nice looking radler. Rich lathering head at just over three fingers, off white, and slightly pink hued in color also. Dissolves nicely with a foamy touch, and leaves a deep lemon to grapefruit orange opaque body color. Aggressive bold head and a rich thick looking body, totally unexpected.

Aroma is straight up rich grapefruit oil and huge amounts of pith and zest. Doesn't come off artificial, but doesn't provide much other beer character either to hint at. A one note nose, but a dang good one that isn't sugary sweet either for this style.

Palate gives just the right amount of goods nearly. Slightly wet bodied, with a big amount of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and pithy oils. Slightly bready finish which is real nice, sweetness dialed down to a minimum if down right completely off, leaving for a real unexpected malt dryness that just makes you want more.

A real excellent fruited beer. I love that this isn't really sweet either, but hits somewhere between fruited excess, and dried out malt flavors. Could pound these all day, good stuff.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: | BA Generated Score: 3.99999999999999999

Cheers!