New Beer Weekend #59

Samuel Adams Festbier - poured from a bottle a darker yellow-ish color, generous head. Smell is the typical SA Lager. Taste is pretty good but there's just not much going on however, if you were looking for something to session this would be a good choice (but 5.8%). I would gladly drink again but in comparison to some other choices I have available to me this is kind of boring.

 

Lost Forty Brewing's N^TIV IPA, 6.3% ABV; 3.75 overall

ours a bright & effervescent gold with a thumb of eggshell colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Grapefruit & Breadyness

T: Follows the nose, plus dryness & lime up front, some herbal notes as well. Hoppyness with citrus & mineral edge as this warms, also fairly dry, Finishes dry with grapefruit and mineral edge to it

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, decent balance

Solid, pretty drinkable old school IPA

 

Got a few new beers to try for the long weekend. Starting with New Trail Forest, thanks @thebeers!
4.34/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

16 oz can poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden orange with a two finger white head

S- Citrus, mango, piney, some caramel malts.

T- Mango, oranges, piney, touch of caramel malts.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- A well done and balanced triple IPA, 11% ABV is very well hidden.

Cheers!

 

Good evening NBW
It's a weekend of hard to find styles here at the Jkblr household.
Terre Haute Brewing Company Hansel & Gretel Roggenbier


16oz stamped CANNED ON 08/26/21 poured into a wheat beer glass at 63° Fahrenheit 5.5% ABV 20 IBU. The beer pours hefe-hazy in a medium dark amber color with light khaki head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild with rye malt, clove, bubblegum and slight vanilla sweetness. The taste is semisweet, clovey, rye malt with a subtle vanilla note throughout. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and somewhat dry finish. Overall, very subtle Roggenbier. This beer is barely a week old at time of review and the big, bold Hefeweizen yeast notes aren't there. That's fine with me, because I'm not a fan of all that anyway. Nice drinking beer.

In my memory, the Roggenbier that I reviewed from Urban Chestnut back in 2017 was much more bold and somewhat less agreeable to me. I try to get at least two reviews per style just to say I've given it a fair shot. Mrs. Jkblr is a Hefeweizen junkie (I "borrowed" this glass from her) and she is a fan of this beer.

Cheers all and hooray for a third day of beer reviews this weekend!

 

Alaskan Brewing SMaSH Galaxy Single Malt/Hop DIPA, 8.6% ABV; 3.63 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 3 fingers of bubbly beige head. Below average head retention & lacing

S: Cakeyness and that's about it

T: Cakeyness, pineapple & grapefruit, plus dryness up front. More cakey sweetness as this warms, plus pineapple & dryness. Finishes dry, sweet with a little pineapple cake

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, good balance

A solid DIPA, drinks easy

 

Heavy Seas Hazy Cannon - like I always say these days if I am going IPA I am typically going hazy and I saw this and figured I would give it a try, as Citra is the main focus and I enjoy it. Pours a yellow-ish hazy with a generous head. Smell is the usual. Taste is nice, typical Citra and about the perfect amount of bitterness to balance it out, and a nice crispness to it as well. The 7.25% is well hidden and very drinkable. I'm digging this and would be in for a six pack.

 

Another new to me beer from THBC


16oz undated can poured into wheat beer glass at 60° Fahrenheit 4.6% ABV 12 IBU. The beer pours bright hefe-hazy in golden amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is mostly wheat with just a hint of bubblegum and clove. The taste is semisweet bubblegum wheat with a hint of clovey spice. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, good. Lacks the yeast character of some of the German versions.

I'm probably done with new beers for today. Cheers all!

 

Good evening, NB-Extra Weekend. Best intentions last week...had a beer set aside for my birthday, but I got the bright idea to do a pulled pork on the smoker, so wee hours Sunday morning, food coma Sunday evening equalled sawing logs on the couch and no new beer...


So this was a gift from my SIL. Laser Cat Imperial IPA from Medusa Brewing.

Poured nicely, mostly clear deep kinda pumpkin color and a chunky head that is actually clinging pretty nicely.

Smell is grapefruit peel, malt, earthy, and slightly resinous pine on the tail end.

The taste opens with pithy citrus, I get mostly grapefruit with some orange. A bit of a caramel taste, a bit of breadiness, slight resinous tingle, a mild bitter hit. Enjoyable flavor, nice lingering citrus.

It's smooth on the feel. Almost soft, but there is a decent tingle that keeps it lively. Not dry, a little juicy.

A good, well-made representation of the style. Although hop dominant, there is enough malt presence to counter and balance the beer. Nicely made Imperial IPA, nothing earthshattering. I think probably a but under the 4.0 mark on the BA scale.

I will catch up with the thread later, hopefully have another contribution on bonus day...

 

Bought this last week and saved it for this forum. Almanac X-IPA (whatever that is). Described as a a Hazy IPA dry hopped with Nelson Sauvin and Galaxy.6.1% ABV. Canned 7/14/21. This is noted as their 10th anniversary offering. Only one rating (4.04) on BA. I am drawn to anniversary beers because (rightly or wrongly) my thinking is that this should be the brewery's stellar effort. I am often disappointed.
Bought off a room temp shelf less than a week ago, refrigerated since then and poured into pictured tall tulip. About 1 finger white head. The liquid is actually lighter in color than the photo; less orange and more yellow grapefruit in color. I'm getting nelson hops on the nose. Rather short lived head and very little lacing.
I 'm struggling to come up with a description of the flavor. I'm not getting identifiable fruit. mostly just a balance between hops, especially Nelson, and the malts. If this went flat maybe I could compare it to a viognier wine. Not much bitterness, but not really expected for NE IPA It is lighter body than I expected for a hazy IPA that is this opaque. Fine, but borderline foamy carbonation in the mouthfeel. Upon swallowing it triggers a weird phlegmy feel or secretion that I can't remember having before and don't care to have again. This won't make a 4.0 rating if I review it. One and done for me in view of how many easily obtainable better hazy IPAs are out there.

 

I got pretty excited when I saw this beer. I love the taste of gin and tonics but really only drink them when there’s a wedding or something like that. So when I saw this beer I hoped I’d get my fix until the next wedding comes around, which ironically two are pretty soon.

In honor of the Labor Day weekend I’m watching the all time classic we like to call Weekend at Bernies

Einstock - Juniper and Lime Pils



This one pours a pretty much clear gold, big puffy and rocky perfectly white head. Some decent retention with no lacing.

The aroma is mostly lime with some piney like smells I associate with gin and tonic. I really know nothing about juniper but I guess that’s what adds that noticeable smell.

The taste is, well, gin and tonic in beer form, no other way to put it. It does have some added cracker like notes from the beer side of things.

Nice light body, smooth carbonation, goes down easy and finishes with a piney lingering bitter just like a gin and tonic.

This beer is perfect for what it is supposed to be, it is gin and tonic in beer form. It has the added body of beer which is actually even more welcoming to me than a normal gin and tonic. This beer did exactly what I wanted it to, scratch and gin and tonic itch and it does it very very well.

If you like gin and tonics give this beer a try, you’ll enjoy it.

*man I just typed gin and tonic a lot

 

Too kind you are... But no worries, should be easy to find out here. I'm thinking I should grab 2, pop one soon to see if I like the peppery rye you mentioned. And one to sit on for a bit.

 

Random NBS BIF notes:

"Rasputin BA Rye didn't make it this far, hope Parabola 2021 makes up for not landing this one." -@ChicagoJ

Noted.

 

Back from a late lunch that turned into a trip to the mall and stops at two grocery stores, followed by a brief and broken nap on the couch. Kids had to immediately liquidate Lego gift cards, and miraculously they've been sitting together Legoing nicely for an hour. This calls for a celebration! Well, not a Celebration...it's actually a Hopulization...the DIPA from Stoneface. Which is also extra exciting because it's my first Stoneface beer! According to the nice folks at Pint Defiance where I bought this on Friday, Stoneface actually has a distributor in Washington now, so I may not have to look with as much envy at the Stoneface posts.

16oz can dated 06/28/21, just over two months old.

Pours a moderately hazy orangey-amber color with a medium sized head that settles into a fairly tame layer. Smell is tropical fruit, very ripe.

Taste is quite nice -- boozy, strong tropical fruit notes and a solid resinous bitter backbone.

Mouthfeel is actually pretty light and dry, especially considering the strength. Overall, this is a very nice IPA.

 

Seems weird to me that this is the first time you're having Space Dust. It's ubiquitous out here, and I just assumed it was everywhere since Elysian got bought out.

I remember when it first came out, Dayglow came out at about the same time, and I liked them both but I couldn't understand why Space Dust got more attention than Dayglow.

Cheers! Glad you like Space Dust!

 

New state, new hotel, new beer. Just a relaxing evening of pizza after hitting a beverage shop. Found this behemoth with a not so great date, but not too horrible for such a famed brew (@JayORear likely disagrees )

So, I think the GF and I had some King Sue at an Extreme Beerfest years ago. We decided to get in one of the longer lines to help us… recalibrate ourselves a bit. I (*ahem*) don’t recall anything about it, so we’ll call it new.


So, this 2-month old beer still gave off some hoppy aromas just by popping the can. Weak orange juice would be at home in this glass, so what you’re seeing is appropriate. Soapy head stuck together in weird firnatons before flattening against the plastic.

Nose is generically juicy with a bit of bitterness before digging in. There’s an oat-like damper on the pine notes I am getting, but aid might be useful in cutting through the tangerine, orange, papaya, and light pineapple aromas. The combination brings a bit of a honeydew and musk melon, as well.

So it’s not popping in the nose profile, but it’s easily as good or better than many a NEIPA to me. Taste is actually a little more toward the bitter notes I got in the nose. Pine and a bit of cardboard (i get this with wheat and/or oat flakes) hides the juice notes out of the gate. They make up lost ground quickly, though, more citrusy than tropical. The pine returns, but so does a little sweetness, oddly.

Pretty smooth and medium in heft, this beer, at this age, is pretty dang good. I’d probably give it around a 4.25+ and I’m sure there’s some decent upside beyond that given what I’ve seen other people say about the beer when fresher than this one.

 

Legos are life in our house too! Though together and peacefully doesn’t happen often cause little brother likes to swipe at big brothers completed legos to get a rise.

Peacefully and together now that definitely calls for a celebratory beer!