New Beer Weekend #61

I was going to post about my first experience with Oktoberfest limited edition Marzen collaboration between Golden Road and Spaaten but I forgot to take a picture so won't describe how I think it is an Americanized, bastardized, muted version of what could have been a good Marzen, consistent with Golden Road's habit (IMO) of making beer for the great masses who think things like Blue Moon is an edgy beer near the limit of their comfort zone. Anyway this "double hazy IPA" from a very local brewery (Brewery X here in SoCal and just a few miles from me) has zero entries in BA reviews so far. It is 8.1% ABV, canned on 9/9/21, bought off a room temp shelf at Trader Joes and then refrigerated and drunk from the tulip glass shown here. Popping it open releases a veritable explosion of citrus dominant/tropical secondary aroma. Voluminous dense white foam like a giant pillow you want to jump into. You can see the color...I call it an opaque (very opaque) yellow grapefruit/gold color with a hint of tan. Some minor, spotty lacing. Taste follows aroma but the mouthfeel is where this stands apart from many other hazy IPAs. This one feels like it has wheat or something to be very viscous and effective at coating the mouth. The brewery website has no description so you have to take my word for it. I like this one a lot, but I am partial to high viscosity beers, perhaps as a result of my affinity for big barrel-aged stouts.

 

Taking a break from the ongoing Oktoberfest thread with a new beer.

Remedy Brewing of Sioux Falls, SD has just started distributing in MN. I don't know anything about this brewery, but since it is the first brewer (that I know of) from SD to distribute into MN, I bought a 6 pack to try. There were 4 beers to choose from, 2 IPAs (one hazy, of course), 1 hefe, and the one I selected, an "Imperial" cream ale. I thought I'd try something not too challenging for my first beer from them.

Remedy Queen Bee
ABV: 7.3%
IBU: 20



Cloudy pale yellow body, nicely carbonated, below a tall white, thick head from a vigorous pour from the 12 oz can into the Imperial pint nonic. The head has moderate to low retention, leaving strings of lacing.

The aroma is not at all strong, but brings a bready honey smell.

Very mild taste, as per the style. The honey is to the front, but also nicely integrated with the bready somewhat sweet malts. The hops contribute a bit of grassiness and a bit of spice, but no bittering at all. The overall effect is on the sweet side, but also nicely balanced keeping it from becoming overly sweet. The honey and malts linger very pleasantly in the aftertaste. I'm enjoying this one a lot as an undemanding, easy-drinking laid back, cream ale.

It has a good body, smooth and a bit sticky in the mouth.

Well done, Remedy. Very good first impression. Really, well done!

L: 3.75 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.0 | F: 4.0 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.88

 

Very nice early fall day here in the kingdom, we stumbled upon some fresh swordfish on special, so that landed on the grill for supper. Something like this always makes me nervous cooking something pricey (even on sale they weren't exactly giving it away), but the results were outstanding if I do say so myself.

This was intended to be my birthday beer at the end of August, so better late than never.



This is Terration Vinha from Allagash purchased at the brewery. According to the brewer:

TERRATION VINHA
In clay pots—historically used in winemaking—we aged a combination of spontaneously fermented ale and Pinot Noir grape must, which is the unfermented juice of the grapes. The clay vessels added minerality to the blended ale’s array of lightly tart notes including apricot, vinous grape, red currant, and a hint of blackberry. Spontaneous fermentation adds complexity to the beer’s balanced flavor and helps it achieve its refreshingly dry finish.

So this is a different technique and it seemed interesting....so what gives?

It actually looks like very ripe peach color with a scant but persistent head. It is opaque - no seeing thru the glass - but not like a juicy IPA.

Very subtle on the nose. Definitely wine-like with very mild funky wild yeast notes, vaguely fruity and mildly sweet in the red berry way. I'd say more peach than apricot in the aroma department. As it warms, the berry becomes more defined and I will agree with the blackberry. Red currant? Who knows...in my experience currants are not a very assertive flavor.

For a wild ferment, this a pretty clean beer in terms of flavor. The wine grape shows first coupled with a fruity tart taste. The peach smell...I gotta stick with that as I am not getting the suggested apricot. The blackberry finishes strong, lending a sweetness. Riding through all of this is wild yeast funk, just enough to anchor the whole show. There is a decided mineral/salty note which I presume comes from the clay jars, lending the beer a gose-like quality.

Light, mildly effervescent, quite dry on the finish.

Interesting beer and I have one to store for later so I can see how It fares with age. This is an easy 4 to 4.25. Mildly sour, pleasant fruitiness, enough sweetness and the wild yeast funkification lending interest and tying things together. I don't think this is too far off the beaten wild yeast path for Allagash. Whether the clay treatment made a difference, well...there is that salty mineral thing going on that would say it did something significant.

 

Good evening NBW
I was lucky to pick up two 4 packs of local beer aged in local barrels this week. First up is THBC BBA Rose aged in Westfork Bourbon Barrels

16oz canned on 09/10/21 poured into a Duvel glass at 50° Fahrenheit 10.8% ABV. The beer pours dense dark brown with light brown head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. Slight lacing. The aroma is mild with notes of bourbon, oak, vanilla and chocolate. The taste is semisweet, rich, dark malt with barrel char and bourbon crashing through mid sip. There's a hint of chocolate covered cherries or plum in the finish. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry. There's a alcohol heat in the feel and taste that's noticeable, but not detrimental. Overall, very good. Glad I bought a 4 pack. I'll be curious how this one tastes in 6 or 12 months.

I don't believe I'm up for a second 16 ounce 10.8% beer tonight, so I believe this is it. Cheers all!

 

Earlier reviews of previous batch(es) did not portend what I experienced with this newest batch.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33018/115707/#navigation



No date.
12.7 ounce bottle received to VT distro this week.

Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch pink head over a dark reddish-purple body with sheets of lacing.
Nose of citrus and a bit of sweetness with the floral/herbal attributes of hibiscus wafting in and out.
Wonderful taste of slightly tart citrus with the sweet and sour flavors of hibiscus.
Finishing nicely tart and dry.
Very nice feel for the style and highly recommend seeking this latest batch out!!
Cheers!!!

 

Well earlier today we were on the west coast now I’m sitting on my couch drinking a new fresh hop beer that I flew home. It doesn’t even make sense that we can do that as humans, blows my mind.

Holy Mountain - cones and cones (Citra and loral fresh hop)



Pours a very hazy pale with little hints of orange when the light hits it right. Really nice white head gives way to islands of white bubbles filled in with opaque white film everywhere else. Decent splotchy lacing.

Really nice tangerine like floral smell to this beer, every now and then I get a whiff that reminds me of an orange like Hawaiian Punch.

Taste is much like the nose I notice the tangerine first here too. I also notice some resinous grassiness as well.

Mouthfeel really nice and clean, no cloying feeling at all. The fresh hop kicks is more balanced here than in a few others I had but definitely still present. It also has a medium bitterness.

Overall really good beer it balanced the line between juicy and traditional quite well. I’m glad I chose to add this to my box of fresh hops home.

 

Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen is the first new beer today that I've sat down to pay attention to (although the pinot noir Tilquin and the mure Tilquin collab were both very, very tasty). Anyway, I'll talk about this beer now.

330ml bottle served in a stemless wineglass. Dated 03.22q L06315. I assume March 2022 is the "best by" date.

Pours a clear light caramel color with a smallish, dense head and medium to high carbonation. Smell is primarily grain tea.

Taste is fairly sweet, kind of nutty, lots of grain, not much bitterness, until I've gotten a few sips in and it's had a chance to build a bit.

Mouthfeel is light and clean, almost watery. Overall, it's pretty good, but I'm not blown away.

 

Had a liter of this on Oktoberfest opening weekend, sadly not in Munich but in Michigan.
Poured from the (really big) can into the (really big) glass mug that was its packaging.
Pours a very nice golden amber with a nearly white foaming head which leaves considerable lacing,
The aroma was faint but pleasant, got malts and biscuits and not much else.
The taste was *not* lacking. Very well balanced hops and malts, an amazing flavor from the restrictions they must follow. The liter is gone and I already want another!
The feel is ideal, crushable and carbonated for crisp edges. Really nice.
OA, I still have 5 more Munich fest beers and or marzens to try, but this is a great start!

Prost!

 

Fossil Cove Brewing Sabretooth Saison. 4.5% ABV; 3.2 overall

Pours an effervescent light straw color with a pinky of fast falling head. No head retention or lacing

S: Lemons, grassyness

T: Lemons & Oranges with a little dryness & faint juicyfruit, plus blueberry up front. Slight banana flavor along with lemon & dryness as this warms. Finishes dry with blueberry & green banana notes

MF: Medium body with light carbonation

I'm not getting much yeast character, would've guessed this was a Golden Ale or a Fruited Ale if I wasn't told otherwise. Poorly executed

 

Homegrown Beer Release Number 8, Fresh Hop IPA. Made with 100% home grown hops and 100% homegrown barley.

16oz can served in a stemless wine glass. Bought it at the Ballard taproom yesterday. Packaged SEP1621.

Pours clear light brassy/gold or slightly dark yellow, medium sized head. Aroma pops as soon as you crack the can. Green and resinous, floral and bright.

Taste is right along the same lines. Maybe a bit heavier on the grain than I would have liked, but not lacking in hops and pretty balanced overall.

Mouthfeel is light and clean. Overall, very good beer.