New Beer Weekend #94

New Trail, out of Williamsport, PA. These guys have been pushing out so many brews, I think they may overtake the Little League World Series in popularity.
Modern West Coast IPA. Piney aroma hits you as soon as the tab is snapped. Head diminished pretty quickly, but not holding that against them. Bitter on the taste, the way I like it and seeming harder and harder to find these days. But there must be something they're doing to the aroma hops as you get hit with it before every sip. 7% ABV, so not an overkill, but substantial.

 

Antiquity from Arizona Wilderness

350ml bottle split between three little glasses. Bottled 01.16.2022

Pours clear, still, reddish. Smell is mildly tannic, grape juicy.

Taste is very tart, oaky, juicy.

Mouthfeel is medium, very dry. Overall, this is pretty good!

 

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there. Fitting in my first of the day as we’ve been quite busy, this one courtesy of @ovaltine, glad courtesy @FBarber both via NBW BIF 15.

Dovetail - Helles



Pours cloudy but see through straw, quick dissipating head, no lacing.

Smell is a very floral like and grainy white bread; it has a crisp kick to it which makes me think of the twang side of honey, no sweet smell though.

The taste very much mirrors the nose but there is an almost wafer like quality to the bread note.

Very drinkable beer, nice light body, goes down very easy, nothing lingers in a perfect clean and dry finish.

This is a great helles; my favorite part is the mouthfeel, very impressive stuff and very much enjoying drinking it waiting for the leafs game to air when this wild/blues game finally finishes up.

Thanks Mike I got one more from you for later tonight. Two if I can get help from the mrs on Mother’s Day.

 

This cracked me up...well done. I'd love someone to read this review and not notice the last paragraph or 4.5 at the end of it.

 

#2, courtesy of @jonphisher in NBS BIF#15. This is magnificent.



4.35/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
by ovaltine from Indiana

Pours a dark cola color from the can and settles in the glass almost black with a substantial tan head. The nose is hop forward, with some citrus and a load of pine, answering the question definitively that this is a black IPA and not a hoppy porter.

The first sip confirms - black IPA, with loads of pine and a nice citrus flavor, with a dark chocolate flavor on the end of the taste. This is magnificent.

The mouthfeel is medium and dry, locking this into the black IPA slot. What a wonderful flavor ride this is.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I'm a bit late to the party, but, now that my weekend has started, time to start off right.


Stone Circle - Hammerheart Brewing - Strong Ale American - 10% ABV

Well, this is a good, yet bittersweet, sendoff to them. This is from their final drop of beers. A viking funeral I guess.

I am a fan of smoke beers, and this is just perfect for me tonight. I love it, and I will miss them. Now, if they can pull off their plans, and re-open in northern Minnesota, I will be going there and getting their new beers.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31326/599059/

4.46/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by Victory_Sabre1973 from Minnesota

This beer looks somewhat thick while pouring. It is pitch black pouring. The head is quite thick - 3 finger, and it is brown. The head retention is quite long lasting for a 10% beer, and there's a good deal of lacing on the glass.
The nose is malty, chocolate, and smoke.
The flavor is malty up front. It then turns to smoke. Chocolate then hits next, with coffee. The flavor then finishes off smoke again.
Thick and full bodied. Very smooth, and no burn. Slightly creamy feeling.
This is one heck of a beer. Delicious!


I'll see if I can pull off another beer tonight. Cheers all!

 

This one courtesy of @ovaltine as well, a beer I’ve always wanted to try and never have until now…

Columbus - Bodhi



Beautiful crystal clear liquid gold, dense thick cap of white head; substantial lacing. Just a beautiful beer to look at, verging on perfect.

Big overripe fruit danky nose; a touch a malty sweetness.

Taste mirrors nose closely but the fruity is less overripe and more crisp and fresh. Citrus with pineapple like bite too it; the big dank feel also still remains as does the hint of maltiness.

You can tell this is a big beer but my gosh is is crispy, clean and refreshing. It’s way to easy to drink; a gloriously bitter finish; like a hop cone jolly rancher.

Mike thank you for allowing me to finally try this beer. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t pour it all; a can vs glass mini side by side. I’m in hoppy heaven on Sunday night.

Have a good week everyone!

 

Rapture Brewing ( Kellyville, OK ) Sugar Foot Stout, 10.2% ABV; 3.66 overall

Pours a chestnut hued mahogany with a sliver of fast falling tan head. Viscous, zero head retention & lacing

S: Coffee, some toasted coconut, kind of fades as this warms up

T: Follows the nose, fairly roasty, somewhat woody & dry with a kiss of caramel & hazelnut. Plenty of coffee & roastyness once warm, some toasty coconut & a kiss of caramel. Finishes dry, with toasty coconut & a more subdued coffee presence

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation

Solid try here, plenty of coffee for those who are into that more than I. This is the first offering from these guys I've had. I will certainly revisit them if I see them around in OKC or Tulsa

 

Cape May Brewing Company Cape May IPA - I've had a few of their beers and enjoyed them and have had the DIPA but not the IPA. Pours from a can a yellow/orange color with a generous and frothy head, a bit hazy. Smell is nice, some hops but also a nice sweet fruity smell in the mix. Taste is really good and hops/fruit/malt, a bit crisp, and then a nice bitter dryness at the end. This is an area where IPAs can shine over DIPAs, as many of those can end a bit sweetly, especially as they warm, and can lose a bit of what makes an IPA enjoyable. I've done comparisons many times and I usually gravitate towards an IPA over a DIPA, which is now the opposite of years ago.

The beer description is a WCIPA (style) brewed in the heart of the East Coast and I would say that's accurate. Very drinkable and I would gladly have this again. And at 6.3% definitely a manageable beer. Budmo!

 

Such a great beer; it is my favorite locally brewed IPA without question. I love that slogan too, but I never thought about how accurate it was till your post.

 

I'm very impressed by this and will need to drink it more often. It has a lot going on but doesn't lean too far in any one direction, very balanced but still clearly an IPA.

 

My final one for the weekend.

This is L’amèricaine American Pale Ale from Montréal’s L’amère a boire. For those unfamiliar with French, the name is an amusing play on the style (APA) and the word bitter in French (amère). Or, Bitter-Merican! The description on the can describes this as a British pale ale with, in part, New World hops (Mosaic, Simcoe, Kazbek, Saaz).



Pours a ruddy copper with moderate head that sticks around a while and leaves a fair amount of lacing as the beer is enjoyed.

The nose is mild. Some pine, floral notes and a very little hint of caramel. This really doesn’t give itself away.

The sip produces a mildly sweet malty opening with some pine, some fruit cocktail and a lingering floral element. The bitterness is restrained.

Medium bodied.

This is an odd beer. The nose gives you next to nothing. The taste is better than expected as a result, but not anything I’d go out looking for. If they upped the pine notes and lessened the fruity middle, I’d like this more. All in all, fairly enjoyable.

 

@ovaltine sent me this beer in ongoing NBS BIF 14 or 15 shenanigans: Columbus Brewing's IPA.

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 03/22/22.

Pours clear coppery amber with a big head and a little bit of visible carbonation. Smell is classic west coast, grapefruit rind and cut vegetation, maybe a little honeysuckle thrown in there for good measure.

Taste is very similar, though with more of an emphasis on that honeysuckle and a bit of a bite in the resinous bitterness. Very bright, very clean. Reminds me of fresh hops a LOT.

Mouthfeel is light and clean. This is a really good beer.

 

It is interesting and sweet but not really my go to kind of porter. Cheers!
Modist Honeycomb Catacomb Honey Double Porter 8.3% ABV
3.88/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota
16oz can into a 16.9oz porter glass.
L: Pours deep dark brown w/mahogany edges, 1" light khaki creamy head w/creamy retention, light carbonation, very light lacing.
S: Toffee, honey, caramelized malts, dark fruit.
T: Sweet malts, rich gushing honey, cherry, char, roasted malts, pine resin, cocoa, chocolate, ginger, wildflowers, a notion of sourness.
F: Bright & lively, smooth, semi-juicy, slippery, med-heavy bodied mouth feel that finishes a bit grainy and dry in a white wine sort of way.
O: Not a timid tasting beer. A resinous, radiant & sweet double porter. Extremely full flavored. Has a long finish that becomes dry. Dripping with honey, roasted malts & chocolate notes. It is very good in it's style.

 

Another Columbus beer from @ovaltine, this time their double IPA Bodhi. So far, after trying two beers from them, I'm pretty impressed with Columbus.

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. No date on the can. Received from @ovaltine in NBS BIF 14/15 activities.

Pours clear light brassy in color with a fairly big head and plenty of active carbonation. Head settles slowly, gets denser, looks creamy. Smell is mild, but nice -- mostly citrus pith, something vaguely sweet and floral. Definitely some resin.

Taste is bitter with a lot of floral sweetness, tons of resin, tons of citrus pith leaning more towards orange.

Mouthfeel is very light, crisp, clean. This is a really good beer.

 

I believe it was @WunderLlama who sent me this back in NBS BIF 11 - but my notes were lost so not positive.
Canned 5/11/2020 - opened 5/8/2022
Poured black and viscous looking, capped with a 1” light brown head that faded fairly quickly and left no lacing.
The aroma was amazing, not so much as the smell alone (which was peanut butter first and stout second) but in the way it provided the peanut butter to the flavor- it wasn’t so much a flavor as much as part of the olfactory experience. I breathed in the peanut butter and drank the stout. Very curious and very cool.
The taste of the stout featured coffee and cocoa and caramel, but that might have been an artifact of the aroma.
The feel was smooth viscosity, just a pleasure to sip and experience.
Not normally a fan of peanut butter in my beer, but this one really works well, even after 2 years.
Thanks Maynard! I finally got around to enjoying this!

 

Columbus - Creeper. Again from @ovaltine.

12oz can served in a tulip. No date on the can.

Pours clear brassy gold with a maybe one-and-a-half finger head that collapses into a thick blanket with a lot of lacing. Smell is screaming resin. Kind of one-note, but very nice. I might get a bit of the booze, which would make sense at 10% abv.

Taste is boozy, grainy/honey sweetness, almost a tangerine citrus sweetness. Lots of grapefruit zest and pine resin.

Mouthfeel is medium, smooth, maybe leaning a bit in the direction of heavy. This is a very good beer.

 

@snaotheus did the old reverse BIF. Monkless Curtain Closer. Poor head retention and minimal lacing. Wow what an awesome quad. Aromas and flavors of big raisin, plum, fig, date, red grape, raspberry, brown sugar, brown bread/crusts, toast, herbal, grass, peppercorn; light cocoa, roasted nuts, fruit skin/seed, molasses, clove, banana, bubblegum, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, woody, grassy bitterness; yeast spiciness on the finish. Slight yeast and fruit tang/tartness. Aromas have a bit of juiciness from the fruit, but the flavors are more restrained. Mild booze in the aromas as it warms. Medium-plus carbonation and medium-full body. Very creamy/bready malts, some sticky hops; light fruit/yeast tang, chalky roast, and slick/syrupy notes in the mouthfeel. Long lingering sticky/spicy drying finish, with no cloying/astringent flavors. Mild increasing warmth of 11.6%. A very rich quad for sure. The raspberry and cocoa compliment the overall style perfectly and aren't overdone to the point of making this feel like a fruit beer. Very rich malt complexity along with candi sugar melanoidins. Munich and biscuit malt character. Dangerously smooth sipping for the ABV. Spot on base style, I was very impressed. 4.1


Ryan also sent a gift box to us both, but it was addressed with me in parentheses


Cheers