New Beer Weekend #83

Final new beer of the evening is Lone Pine's Cloud Cake double milkshake IPA.



Funny thing about this one is it says nothing about lactose or vanilla or anything on the can. Just says it's a "soft and sweet IPA, brewed with all the familiar hops and malt that you've come to love from a hazy IPA." Pretty sure you have to disclose that cuz of allergies and stuff, right? Their site says it has lactose in it, so... yikes right off the bat.

Pour is pretty nice. It's near-opaque, orange, and creamy-looking (whaddya know?) with a sizable head that quickly settles to a half-finger ring, leaving behind lazy, tiered lace. Pouring the remains of the can into the glass after a few minutes, the head seems easily re-roused, again building up a soft, fluffy looking cap of suds. Again, this is par-for-the-course, but it's good looking, in my opinion.

Smells pretty much like a lighter angel food cake, yeah. Some light pineapple, mango, and berry notes with a definite Mosaic-like feel to it. Their site says this has Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado hops, which pretty much checks out 100% in the nose, other than the cake-like element that feels a bit like malt-wizardry. Overall, I'm alright with it. Hoping it's not too dense and overly sweet on the palate, but honestly, I expected this to be way more over-the-top (in a bad way) than it actually is so far, so... I'll give it a fair shake!

Lighter body than I thought. Doesn't drink like a milkshake DIPA! Well, sort of, but it's way less dense and decadent than you'd think. I get some nice flavors of mango and passion fruit with hints of pineapple and vanilla rounding out the finish. It's a touch more bitter than I figured, as well, and the cake-like element is surprisingly fun and works well overall. I am impressed by this. Given my concerns that it would be a big, sweet mess, this actually is quite nice. I am still annoyed they don't list lactose on the label, cuz being flippant about adjuncts in beer is dangerous, but eh... maybe they figured saying it's a milkshake IPA is enough? Whatever, this is pretty good. I would actually drink it again.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday all, hope your weekend has been great, or at least you’re accomplishing something. Me, I painted. A lot. Taking a break because the paint is the wrong color, so she who made the decision on the color went back to tell them to correct their mistake. Or “oops, didn’t like it after all”, depending on the outcome.
So time for a beer!
This one comes from our favorite Canadian, @Coronaeus and is so obscure it’s not even in the database yet.

(@SawDog505 inspired me to up my photo game a bit)
So wasn’t sure what to expect really, the overall description of an old bruin goes rather with a Flanders Red, so sour.
Poured rather light, looks darker in the glass. Tiny bit of sediment came out with it, but the bone white head absorbed it all and sank into the beer.
The aroma, huh. Sours smell like what? Not sure but this one was aged in port barrels so that is what is throwing off my nose. More port, but a tart port, which just seems wrong.
The taste leaves no doubt of its objective of being a sour, actually caused me to pucker.
Hmmm, let it warm up a little and try again.
Better now - the tart port is present as well as a touch of banana and really tasty esters.
At least that’s what I think they are.
The feel is ideal, not water like but not at all viscous. Just enjoyable to drink.
Thanks @Coronaeus - really enjoyed this one too!

 

This was a bit of unknown for me as well. My promise of something from Nova Scotia was behind sending this one as I haven’t had it yet myself. I’m glad it was enjoyable, if a bit odd. The brewery is usually on point, so I risked the blind send to get you that province tick! Cheers!

 

Sound pretty neat, let’s add it to the list of excursions

 

Awesome. I definitely look the part with the hair and tattoos but the best part is that it’s just like beer. Everyone is welcome

 

Another new beer and brewery for me from @Whyteboar’s great LIF box from the most recent NBW BIF.

Lansing Brewing Joe in Black dark ale. I used to visit Lansing periodically to watch Lugnuts games, but never had anything from these guys. It has been years though. The last time I was there, the Lugnuts were doing piggyback starts and Syndergaard and DiSclafani were on the mound.



Pours a deep cola brown with a moderate head that sticks around a while until ending in a tight ring around the glass edge. No lacing to speak of.

The aroma recalls a light Porter. Chocolate notes, hints of coffee. Smells nice.

Taste is very light. A little chocolate malt, black coffee. Mild.

Body is light, but with a slightly creamy mouth. It’s not a Porter, or a black IPA, and definitely not a Schwartzbier, but it is somewhere in that universe.

I enjoyed this beer. It recalls something I used to drink 20 years ago on the regular.

Thanks Craig !

 

Happy NBW to all you beer drinkers, thinkers, linkers, likers, hikers, bikers, buyers, triers, liars, desirers, inspirers, admirers, and all you other mug, malt, chug, gruit, grain, growlery, and glug lovers!

I wonder if I could impose to ask a crazy thing for a wonderful woman who is in constant pain from life threatening, isolating, debilitating illness. In a weird way that links back to BA and NBS, I "met" and have developed a close relationship on line with her (she is in Europe), a link that started here with @woodychandler , and involves our love of puns, and I won't describe further the route to today. She is so buoyed by her on line friends with whom she feels confident enough to share the details of her life that I wonder if I could impose on you all to write one sentence to this person you never met to wish her healing and health. Just one sentence of hope and healing. I am going to take all these single sentences and send them to her one at a time, maybe two each day, as part of an effort to keep her spirits up, and hope alive. Her name is Patricia. Next time I post I will report how it went. TIA

Never my intent to age this beer this long. It's just one of those beers we all have that we want to drink, but only when the time is right with friends, and we know how that goes, don't we? Hopefully that time still is right today, reading through reviews makes me both hopeful and apprehensive. Let's just see. Lawson's Maple Tripple, 2014 bottling

and @jonphisher the key to this is a light dusting. Tomato powder is very potent (and sooo delicious)

Cork really hard to extract. Shoulda been a tip off it was flat, but I thought must be my own old age. Not the kind of cork for a screw, so used a wrench to help. No pop. No fizz on pour. Zero carb. Pretty cordovan color, though.

What it also doesn't have are the signs of oxidation in the aroma. No cardboard, no sherry/port notes. Very subdued aroma that also is light on maple, but what there is is delicious smelling. Lightly tinged herbal hop caramel and toffee notes, honey bread, balanced, clean, enticing bouquet.

Lots of flavor thickly presented, light maple, plenty of toffee and honey bread, also sherry notes that become too much a part of this blend as it warms. Once I taste them they also become apparent in the smell, where I hadn't noticed. The taste is not awful, but this is not a pleasant thing to drink.

Thick, almost as thick as syrup, still, with a finish full of the least desirable herbal hop notes and sherry.

It is possible with this to taste the greatness that was. I do not deserve forgiveness for wasting this. Hopefully this will serve as advisory to age this a LOT less than I did.

Hope you have a Great American Beer in your glass that you haven't ruined with neglect. Cheers!

 

How about some cryo and barleywine on Day 2? Rev is quietly a Top 5 brewery for me because of their diversity - their hop game is on point, they do some cool lager stuff, and their barrel is amongst the best in the world, IMHO.

I’m going hops tonight.





4.04/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours a beautiful hazy golden color with a fluffy white head that laces the glass beautifully. Dank citrus notes on the nose, with mango, pineapple, grapefruit, and passion fruit most prominent. Lovely nose.

The mango and pineapple are forward on the taste, and they fit well with the passion fruit and a nice bit of melon. Very balanced and flavorful.

The mouthfeel is dry and has a bite. This is a flavorful, easy drinker of an IPA - that’s packing a 7.3% ABV punch. Really good stuff from Rev, IMHO.

 

Whoa - we have an NBS legend landing a whale.

Mark this down in your journals, children.

Great to see you here, Dave. You and Marie were the draws to this thread for me many moons ago.

 

I'm gonna try the tomato powder soon @cavedave but I'm gonna think on my one sentence, I will post when it comes to me.

 

Hello Patricia! I hope this brief note finds you well. With as loyal a friend as Dave on your side, you're never really alone. Take care and be well! T-Bone.

 

Well, the son of Roger Penskes Right Hand Man won the 500, and not that jackhole Keselowski (it was a bit sweet that it was in Bratty Brads old ride, which he vacated at the end of last season tho) who damaged about half the field at various times. He's always been a punk.

A holla @Pinz412 for this one, from the spring '21 edition of the NBS BIF. Sadly, I thought this Gratitude Barleywine from East End was a bit sub-par: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10485/27476/

 

Hi, kids. I'm sticking with the cellar dweller theme here with this 2011 bottle of Maudite from Unibroue.



Pours a muddy reddish-brown that seems to be in line with fresh, but not much of a head. Clears decently as it warms up.

The smell is fruity, both the raison fig contingent and some nice apple. Slightly spicy, peppery, heavy on the bread. Very weak banana when fully warmed.

The taste opens sweet and spicy, black pepper and coriander. The pepper glasses lingers thru well after the swallow. The sweetness morphs into the fig/raisin fruit thing rather nicely. I thought the malty bready notes would be stronger, but they show up almost as a third layer of flavor. There's a toffee flavor that I think can be chalked up to age. It's kind of a subdued malt bomb where the malt is strong, but the supporting cast gets equal billing.

Mildly carbonated, peppery tingle lingers, sweet but not sticky, and towards the dry side despite the sweet part.

Overall, this taste pretty fine. I'd buy it again based on how it tastes now, so I'm feeling it has lost some edge but has mellowed into something pleasant. I will rate it and note the age...self-serving as it is a brewery tick. Certainly nothing about it says it should not land at a 4 or slightly above.

 

Ironic that I never considered drinking this alone, it was too good, and the only one our group had. Yet there never was the right time to open it. And now it gets consumed by me, alone anyway, to find no one got any enjoyment from it. Seems there is another thread started by our fearless leader on exactly this.

Shouldn't say no enjoyment, I have the tolerance of a third grader now, and this is hitting the spot big time

Always great to join you guys too when I can. I think I have two more beers that I haven't tried yet, so...

Cheers!

 

#2, this is courtesy of my friend @Ozzylizard. My rating on the base beer was +20.4% rDev, so I’m inclined to think I’m gonna like this.



4.44/5 rDev +7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours the most gorgeous brown color you’ve ever seen, a little hazy, with a light tan head that sticks around a bit. Absolutely beautiful beer. The nose is rich with caramel and toffee notes, and there’s a nice oaky aroma from the barrel - and of course, the stone fruit.

The stone fruit is the key to this, and the base beer (Blithering Idiot). I am literally salivating.

The caramel and toffee flavors are forward on the taste, as they should be, and there’s a delicious oaky flavor from the barrel, which also provides a bit of alcohol heat which fits this big beer (13.3% ABV) perfectly, but it’s that stone fruit that reels me in - the dark cherry flavor is the PERFECT complement to the aforementioned components. I could drink gallons of this.

The mouthfeel is substantial and a bit creamy. I loved the base beer, and I love this variant a smidge more.

 

Thanks, it is always good to be able to join, I miss the days of sharing parts of Sunday drinking beer with you all. I wish malty and mattcrill still popped in to keep that link going back even further. Funny to think of the years I spent lurking this thread, and how great it was to be able to post when I joined BA, and here I am largely a lurker again

Cheers!