New Beer Weekend #65

And I hear tell that there is another thread that might be perfect for such a write up, one which my sources say @JackHorzempa knows of.

 

I'll be brief because phone. And left my notebook at the hotel. At Good Beer NYC, a second visit, this time with my wife. Last day in NYC, flying home tonight. My first Finback: Coast to Coast DIPA.

Hazy, pale yellow, very pretty creamy head. Smell is slightly minty/herbal. Maybe some lime zest.

Taste is somewhat boozy, tending toward vegetal earthiness, some citrus zest.

Mouthfeel is very dry. Overall, quite good.

Wife is drinking Miscellanea Volume 3 (Off Color et al) and it's excellent.

 

Good afternoon NBS/NBW and thanks to @JackHorzempa for hosting this weekend.
I really enjoyed your lead review this week. Todays offering is from our dear friends at Hill Farmstead, Its Pear 2020 harvest. The offering has all the HFB hallmarks, the blend of pear varieties are so expressive and still not exclusive to the experience. As the offering warms the it really moves toward a natural french wine model. Lightly carbonated, sweet, then tart, then clean finish.
Sadly only bottle in the house.
Cheers all

Pear: 2020 Harvest

Farmhouse Ale - Saison | 6% ABV

Hill Farmstead Brewery
Greensboro Bend, Vermont

4.41/5 rDev +0.9% | Average: 4.37
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from the 375 ml bottle into the test glass
A - Light golden straw colrerd backdrop, lovely carbonation dance on display. Activity accumulates in a small loose knit ring that hangs to the side of the glass
S - Farmstead fingerprint as always, the fruit aspect is complex, a sweet thread, then a bit if pithy skin aromas, then some lemongrass, the a hint of oak tannin. As the offering warms the pear is forward and delightful.
T - Frontloaded with light grainy elements, matched with wine like citrus and chalky components. The pear medly really keeps the depth. At any one point there are sweet, tart, bitter, aspects to the fruit all in play.
M - Delicate, comes to mind immediately, the subtle movements across the palate are traceable, semi sweet, follows a path layed out by slight tartness, followed by a lovely minerality, with a bit of an ashen closing. So much to process.
O - A treat to be relished, the base offering, the blend, the barrel, and finally that ful exploration of a variety of pear is just delightful

 

Watching the NFL game in London, two teams with one win between them. Fittingly, they're tied with three minutes to play.
My new beer is Kolsch from Station 26 Brewing Company in Denver. Not too bad.
A pale yellow color with a small white head and a tiny bit of lace
Not much aroma. Sweet malt, floral hops.
Not much taste either. A little bread, some late hops.
Crisp and refreshing, yes. Tasty, no

 

Here is my share from the BIF. Cheers to @FrankenMiller for sharing.



Pours a golden-yellow with a hint of fog through it. Head is two fingers of dense white foam. Aroma is light tropical fruits, lemongrass, herbal, and a touch of banana. Flavor profile light tropical fruits, adding just a hint of sweetness without being overly punchy of juicy. Lemongrass, herbal, banana, and grassy hops add some depth. Light dryness at the finish, not strong enough to kill off the starting tropical fruit sweetness from lingering, but a pleasant shift in dynamics nonetheless. Mouth feel is medium in thickness. Light crispness with finishes soft. Overall, a well balanced and clean IPA.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | BA Score: 4.09 | rDev: -5.3%

 

Next up is another beer from @2beerdogs. I've been doing my best this weekend to make a dent in the huge amount of beer he sent me. This one is Swim Good, a Blond Ale from Henhouse Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, CA.

3.75/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Bright & translucent with two full fingers of foamy white head. Good retention and a small amount of lacing. Aroma has a pleasant lemony hop vibe going on. Taste largely follows the nose. While it doesn't remind me of a typical blond ale, it still drinks well. Lemon notes up front (or something approximating lemon) and a small amount of hop bite on the back end. Just the right amount of carbonation. Easy drinking and smooth going down.

 

I had Evil Twin's Grape during the sour tasting and was impressed with how well they nailed grape soda. So when I came across Orange I had to give that one a try too.

Nothing on the website, the can says 5% ABV and “sour ale with milk sugar and orange syrup with natural flavors and certified colors”, canned on 5/18/21.

Orange tries to replicate the Nehi, Fanta, and Crush you grew up with and comes pretty close. The bright color is there, along with a quickly dissolving light orange head.
But the aroma just misses. Instead of a bright artificial orange scent you have the smell of overripe oranges.
The feel is spot on with soda levels of carbonation, a slightly sticky finish, and a sweetish aftertaste with a hint of tartness at the finish.
The taste is where it really falls short because it is a little too sweet. Instead of tasting like an orange soda it tastes like a melted orange popsicle and that sweetness keeps you from wanting another.
Overall Orange is a well made attempt to be a beer for people who “don't like beer” held back by being too sweet.
4.09/5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

 

My favorite of the fresh hop beers I had in Seattle. They really have the whole system down, it’s wild. I picked up my four pack a day after it was canned. Ditto with the other 3 I picked up from breweries, amazing stuff.

 

Happy Buck’n Sixth Anniversary a 10.5 ABV Imperial Porter aged in Bourbon Barrels. This beer made a poor 1st impression. The top of the bottle is covered with a thick and hard wax that was extremely difficult and time consuming, almost 10 minutes to remove. The second, third, forth impressions were much better. This brew looks as you expect a Porter to look black with a thick brown hear. The aroma Bourbon and malt hits you as soon as the cap is removed and gets stronger as it’s poured. The taste is the same except the Bourbon takes a slight backseat to the malt. The mouthfeel is full the finish off dry. Overall an excellent very enjoyable beer.
Bolero Snort has been a Gypsy brewer until recently. This beer was brewed at Cypress Brewing in Edison NJ.

 

Poured into a giant 24 oz snifter canned on 7/26/21. Pours near pitch black with a half finger sticky mocha head that leaves thin streaks of lace, with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma is back strap molasses, dark chocolate, vanilla beans, dark fruit, char, leather, pipe tobacco, and rum. 3.75

Taste follows molasses, dark chocolate, vanilla, fig, leather, char, pipe tobacco, and rum soaked raisins. 3.75

Mouthfeel is above average, maybe a tad dry, soft carbonation, huge in flavor and drinks for me bigger than 10.5%, and goes down fairly easy. 4

Overall I expect excellent BA Stouts from these guys and for me this was a little better than just ok. Won’t get again, but am also pretty happy I got to give it a go. Complex anyway and a nice sipper. 3.75

 

I received a mystery beer in BIF 14 . This event is named in Latin but loosely translated to two rats shagging in a hot wool sock. I did hear a similar line when I recently watched the movie Tommy Boy. The beer was received from @snaotheus and in my initial package we’re two mystery filled wool socks.


My biological home security system has discovered that in One of the socks are two plastic toy rats. A gray one named Remi and a white one named Roscoe. The WunderLlama security detail has properly chewed the faces off both rats and rated these as a beers at a 0.0. Certainly the lowest rated beers I have ever had. However as dog toys he thoroughly enjoys them .

In the other sock is definitely a can of beer . This has been chilled in the refrigerator for several days and will be poured into a holy mountain sea Seidel, glass dimpled Stein. This glass is also courtesy of @snaotheus , perhaps a clue to what is inside the other wool sock


A full poor of the can fills the mug, producing one finger light brown foam cap over a brown cola like liquid. It looks like I have poured root beer into the stein, reduces to a thin creamy layer, first produces some lacings

Aroma is a faint maltiness , bit of nuttiness , a very faint hint of caramel malt sweetness Don’t get any hop or yeast notes

Taste is maltiness , there is something else that I just can’t identify , almost like a hint of sour, maybe coffee bitterness . really no dominating coffee or chocolate notes. Not getting any hop presence

Sudsy , creamy , quaffable , suitable for drinking in the Munich English Garden


Not a dunkel hefeweisse, no clove yeasty, or banana. It could be a European strong lager. However, I declare my mystery beer to be a Munich dunkel lager. Reveal to follow after a few more sips

 

I can't wait to find out what it is!

 

Jack's Abby is doing a series exploring beer flavors from Asia/Pacific. I didn't care much for their Australia so it was with some trepidation that decided to pick up a 4 pack of Destination: Japan

Not much info on this beer, just a paragraph on JA's blog. The can informs me that 5.5% ABV Destination: Japan is a “rice lager dry hopped with Sorachi Ace, green tea and yuzu”.

I don't think I've ever had a Japanese rice lager, but going by the BA style guide (Pale yellow in color with a soft hop nose, Japanese Rice Lagers often have a rounded, firm malty character with moderate bitterness and a trademark dry finish) Japan hits the style.

As soon as you open the can you're hit with smooth citrusy hops and background tea.
The beer is a clear, pale yellow straw with a thin quickly dissolving white head.
The taste is full of floral and citrus hops, with a light malt base, and a hint of honey and straw. This is laid over an herbal, grassy green tea and lemony grapefruit.
The finish is clean and light; dry with a pithy aftertaste.
Japan is a light ( in body not flavor) easy drinking beer, but the tea is a distraction and doesn't add to the experience; it makes the beer less refreshing somehow and just seems out of place. I like Japan much better than Australia, but feel that a better choice would have been a to have just the rice, hop choice, and yuzu represent the flavors of Japan
4.13/5
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Good afternoon NBW
Today is my last day of vacation, so I've been trying to get a few last projects completed. Ready to relax now with my second milk stout from Terre Haute Brewing Company


Velvet Cream Milk Stout

16oz CANNED ON 09/23/21 poured into a nonic pint glass at fridge temp 5.6% ABV. The beer pours dense black with only a hint of brown around the edges when back-lit. Minimal light brown head recedes to a pencil thin ring and incomplete layer of tiny bubbles. No lacing. The aroma is mild with baker's chocolate and coffee notes. The taste is bittersweet chocolate with a marked tangyness before a moderately bitter finish. Minor flavors of berry and earthy green coffee. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a somewhat dry finish. Overall, good. I would prefer less tangyness, but that is just me.

I preferred the coffee version of the two, but felt the amount of acidulated malt was a bit high in both.

I'm thinking this beer will probably pair well with whiskey, so I'm likely out of the new beer game for a couple hours. Cheers all!

 

Ok , I was close but no cigar . BA has it as a schwarzbier ( black lager ) and the brewer has it a a Czech black lager . I was regionally close . The thing that throws me off is the bittersweet taste , just not expecting the bitterness and was expecting more of the sweet



Chainline Cerne

3.79/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

19.2 oz can poured into a Seidel

Brewers notes :

A smooth-drinking, chocolaty and shockingly refreshing Czech black lager. A brewer's favorite after a long day shuffling grain. This beer looks like a porter, but drinks like a dream. Don't let the color fool you into thinking this beer is heavy, it was designed to be quaffable pint after pint.

**2018 World Beer Cup Bronze Medal

Brown cola like liquid with a one finger taupe foam cap quickly recedes to a creamy layer , few lacings

Aroma is malty , no hop presence

Taste is malty , hint of nuttiness , hint of coffee, there is some sour / bitterness in the brew

Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy , quaffable indeed

Good beer

thank you @snaotheus for letting me taste this world beer cup bronze medalist

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A gray, rainy day here in the Fourth Corner, perfect for knocking back several of the brews that @Ozzylizard hit me with in that great Rat-fuckery known as NBS BIF #14. Starting with a Verruckter Brauer from Hoppin' Frog. At 15%ABV, and being a lager, this falls, IMHO, squarely in Malt Liquor territory. Solidly so even. The heat is there, but there's an underlying sweetness as well. Solid brew:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14879/555575/

 

This is my 3rd post this weekend here, usually I do 2 at best but the last one from yesterday was supposed to go in WBAYDN….so mulligan on the basis that I was buzzed. So, Oddside Ales Deleterious Vanilla. 14.6% Pours a very oily, jet black with a half inch of caramel foam bubbling up and reducing quickly to a thin ring. No lacing with this bad boy.
Aroma is caramel, molasses, coffee, chocolate, raisin, vanilla, and oak, with a bourbon scent present as well.
Taste follows suit with the base stout flavors upfront, vanilla in the middle, finishing barrel and alcohol warmth. Feel is silky smooth, but surprisingly thin. I liked this beer a lot. Most Oddside stouts are pleasing to me and this is no exception. Pretty simple, but enjoyable as well. Cheers