New Beer Weekend #92

Payette Brewing Porter Mexican Hot Chocolate

 

On this official share date for NBS BIF #15, I have a trilogy of beers, the first of which is from my friend @jonphisher, and is a beer I’ve had my eyes on literally since I pulled it from the box a couple of weeks ago.

It’s BIFfer time, baby!!!



4.27/5 rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours a gorgeous copper color with some haze in the body and a creamy white head that provides ample lacing. It is very easy to see this beer is unfiltered, per the zwickelbier style. Such a beautiful beer.

The nose is wheat bread, which I love, and some floral hops, a nice balance that has me eager to take that first drink. And I’m not disappointed, because that wheat bread flavor is forward and delicious, but there’s a lot of room for the floral hop flavors to provide a nice bitterness to this flavor-packed lager.

The mouthfeel is crisp and drying, a truly crushable beer that I could enjoy on a spring or fall evening as things chilled down a bit. Exceptionally well done, IMHO.

 

guess I will post this in this thread too…

When they first did this beer last year I was upset, here we go “dry hopped beer” for marketing but I was way off…I think it is such a unique take, tastes great and it all comes together it a very well balanced way; pretty much just as you said.

Glad you enjoyed it as well! Cheers Dave

 

Have a good NBS. Sent the BIF box to @snaotheus and it still hasn't arrived, should be there Tuesday. It was in Montana last I checked.

Me and Julia went to goofy foot brewery yesterday after working out. I did dead lifts.

Goofy foot In the pocket pale ale. Great pale ale. Aromas and flavors of grapefruit, orange, lemon, peach, pineapple, citrus peel, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, toasted bread, lt caramel, herbal, floral, grass. Med bitter. Bready/sticky Lt-med body. Fairly crisp clean refreshing finish. Lt resins and lingering drying. Refreshing. Great cascade Willamette profile. Classic tasting apa. Similar to SNPA. 4


Goofy foot juicy like busey. Great hazy ipa. Lasting head retention abs soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of red grapefruit, tangerine, peach, pear, passionfruit, watermelon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, wheat, bread dough, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earthiness. Light-med bitterness. Creamy bready malts. Some sticky hops and light resins lingering and drying the finish. Nicely soft feel. Minimal hop burn or abv warmth. Great Simcoe, El dorado, Columbus, Amarillo profile. Very juicy and fairly dank/ earthy hops with a soft malt backbone. No complaints. 4


Divine barrel Court shoes only 2022. Omg this was amazing. Aromas and flavors of big nutty medium roast coffee, vanilla, milk/dark chocolate, dark bread/crust, toast, wood, pepper, herbal, grass; lt maple, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, char, yeast earth. Lt med hop/char coffee bitterness. Creamy silky bready full body. Some sticky chalky drying. No acrid/astringent. Mild increasing warmth and booze of 12%. This is super similar to Founders breakfast stout with more alcohol. Advertised maple is barely there, but otherwise top tier coffee stout. 4.35


Cheers

 

#2, this beer is from @Roy_Hobbs and NBS BIF #15. He sent this beer and a box full of other magnificent beers because ….. he is awesome and he loves to ninja unsuspecting beer nerds.

I will admit that this beer terrifies me. I love Tired Hands (received my first beers from them in another NBS BIF a few years ago), but I’m not the biggest fan of milkshake IPA’s, and this is a BIG one (9.2% ABV) that also features vanilla.

Extra vanilla to be precise.

Gulp.





4.19/5 rDev -5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by ovaltine from Indiana

This beer pours a very hazy orange color with a 3+ finger white head that sticks around for a while and clings to the glass. There’s loads of ripe citrus on the nose, especially oranges and grapefruit, but no discernible vanilla.

The vanilla makes an immediate appearance on the taste, however, especially as the beer settles in the glass and warms a bit. The grapefruit provides some bitterness, and the orange provides the foundation for the flavor profile, but the vanilla is not shy, and neither is the 9.2% ABV.

The mouthfeel is very full and creamy. This is like an orange creamsicle for beer nerds, and I’m really glad I had the opportunity to try it, because it was a fun ride.

 

Allrighty then! Gonna go for my 2nd Mystery Beer from @Roy_Hobbs in NBS BIF BIF #15, and gonna go live. Seems to be a brown 16-ish oz brown bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag, the only hint being 6.5%.

No pop when I cracked the crown. Poured a dark, lightly muddy, brown color, with a touch of red around the edges of the teku, and 2/3 of an inch of light tan head that had low retention and no lacing. 3.25/3.5

The aroma had a solid fruit scent atop solid malts. The fruit seems to be grape, leaning to cherry. I'm not picking up barrel or booze. 3.5

Similar on the tongue, with some acidic/sourness, especially at the back end. The fruit wasn't as strong as in the aroma, but was still present, more towards grape than cherry though. 3.5

The body was solidly medium, leaning a bit towards full, smooth, with decent carb, and a dry-ish, bitter finish. 3.5

Drinkability was good, not sure I'd want two in a row, but would have it again.

Overall, a pretty nice brew, one I'd like to have again.




Reveal in a moment.

 

Looking forward to it!

 

Ditto! So wanted to like one.

 

Aaaaaaaannnndddddd, the mystery is solved, and, I wasn't as far off as I feared I would be. Fox Farm Amour Fou, a Biere de Garde aged in red wine barrels, with cherries. I had the grapes and cherries. Very nice brew, and an interesting choice for a mystery beer. Well done @Roy_Hobbs , well done.

 

Just off the top of my head, that might be the highest score of all the folks he sent that to in this BIF.

 

Last one, this is from @jonphisher. That’s right, it’s Mystery Beer time!!!

I am doing this live.



Pop the top and I get an immediate cocoa aroma from the can, and there’s an earthy note as well. An aggressive pour reveals a black bodied beer with a 2-finger tan head, and it dissipates pretty quickly. Rating 4.0

The nose is indeed cocoa, and there’s bit of fruity hops as well. No sign of the earthy aroma. Rating 4.0

The taste takes a MAJOR detour - there’s cocoa and maybe a smidge of fruity hops, but there’s a substantial smoky flavor. Like HUGE smoky flavor that works well with the cocoa especially. Rating 4.25

The mouthfeel is medium and fits this 6.9% ABV beer, especially the creamy side to it. Rating 4.0

Overall, I’m guessing this is a Schwarzbier or something in that family, and I’d put this solidly at 4.0, with an effective rating of 4.10. The reveal will follow in a few minutes!

 

Glad you liked it!

 

The reveal …..





I got the chocolate and overall rating right, otherwise I missed by a decent amount. Thanks so much for sending this my way, @jonphisher - that was a fun one to guess!

 

That makes sense!

 

I pretty much agree palette wise with how you interpreted this one, for me I get the woody chocolate to come out as almost a coconut flavor. Fun stuff.

Backstory…That is the beer that made me create my BA account, so I could review it cause I loved it so much when I had it and I still do. Glad you enjoyed it.