Stowe Style - Festbier by von Trapp Brewing (Stowe, VT) - Festbier
Interesting festbier with much more floral and citrus hop flavors than expected which works nicely with the malty, bready backbone. Towards the end of the sip some more herbal flavor emerge before a low bitterness finish. Overall like a lager but with more hops flavors
Budvar collaborated with one of my favourite UK breweries, Thornbridge last year. Budvar yeast and Pilsner techniques , with British hops.
It took six months but a friend tracked it down in their local Lidl. I often find Czech Pilsner ls a bit too malty and sweet. The UK hops added some bite and freshness and I preferred it to the original.
Just before I had it, I drank an original Budvar in my local for comparison.
Out of Order: Freeze’s Blueberry Birthday Surprise by RaR Brrwing (Cambridge, MD) - Pastry Sour
Another pastry sour which unfortunately disappoints as it is quite unbalanced - nice flavor upfront which reminds of a nice good blueberry muffin but barely and tart flavors. So it’s more like a milk shake but not a sour
Pale 143 by Untold Brewing (Scituate, MA) - Pale Ale
Plenty of citrus, grassy and piney notes throughout the sip with a quite malty, bready backbone. Dry, quite bitter finish which lingers firmly some time. A bit one-dimensional but not bad.
The 2023 edition of Sierra Nevada’s Celebration IPA–hoppy enough to stand up to red beans & rice with smoked pork.
Moved all the 2024 posts to this thread.
Bar Harbor Real Ale by Atlantic Brewing Company (Bar Harbor, ME) - American Brown Ale
Very malt forward ale with little hops flavors. Mainly bready taste with some roasted malts and light chocolate notes. Hints of sweetness in the finish with hardly any bitterness. Drinks quite watered down and light.
Cryo Fresh Hop Bayou Juice by WeldWerks Brewing Company (Greeley, CO) - Hazy IPA
Cryo hops are a popular way to amp up the juiciness of IPAs and this example is no different - bursting full of citrus, mango, peach flavors but also nice piney balance with a dry, medium bitter finish. Cryo IPA are always fun to drink
The auxiliary refrigerator 
Extra Extra Juicy Bits by Weldwerks Brewing Company (Greeley, CO) - Hazy DIPA
Interesting juice bomb with plenty of orange and pineapple flavors but also plenty of resiny funk throughout and some long lasting orange pith bitterness. Some light malt sweetness lingers in the background. Dry, quite bitter finish which lingers for a long time.
I have a bunch of these as well. It will be flat, high in alcohol and very sweet, maybe syrupy as well. I didn’t like it when i had one back then and my tastes have changed, i’m no longer fond of high alcohol brew or super sweet stuff. I think these are better served cold…also in this vein was Old Crustacean from Rogue, BigFoot from Sierra Nevada.
Big Ern by Belching Beaver Brewery (Oceanside, CA) - Hazy DIPA
Hazy IPA which is really big on the dank part. It starts with orange and grapefruit flavors but quickly turns into dank bomb with strong piney, herbal and weed notes which even last into the dry, bitter finish.
Rage Side by Urban Roots Brewing & Smokehouse (Sacramento, CA) - Triple IPA
Quite smooth WCIPA with a citrus peel start which quickly turns over to a lot of dank and piney hops with some herbal and spicy notes. Very long lasting, dry and bitter finish. Quite easily drinkable with hardly any noticeable alcohol taste despite the ABV.
Boo Berry Muffin by Great Notion Brewing (Portland, OR) - Pastry Sour
Great Notion has more recently put sometimes artificial flavors in some of their sours which tends to do no good for the overall flavor - this one is no different. Good tartness but a horrible artificial flavor with no resemblance of blueberry or anything “normal”. Disappointing sour.
The Execution Club by Drekker Brewing Company (Fargo, ND) - Hazy IPA
Interesting IPA as it had tropical flavors like peach, melon and papaya “competing” with dank piney notes throughout the sip. Quite nicely balanced with some pronounced bitterness in the finish.
Double Dobis by Cellarmaking Brewing Company (Oakland, CA) - Hazy DIPA
This IPA nicely showcases Citra hops (on steroids with additional cryo Citra) - lots of pineapple and pine notes throughout. Silky mouthfeel with long lasting bitterness.
I just gotta ask: Is there any beer you drink regularly because you like it?
There are so many good and easy sources for very diverse range beers available and so many new beers constantly popping up that I rarely repeat beers (and after a while you get experience picking good breweries and review apps/pages so that the success rate is quite high). And it is no different with recipes - too much to explore, too little time in life
I could kinda tell, based on your prolific daily postings. Either that or you spit out a lot.
I had a winemaking friend who claimed to remember every wine he’d ever tasted. I always considered this completely absurd. Ranking right up there with him was the vegan sommelier who claimed to be able to do pairings with that day’s foods based on “knowing what meat tastes like.”
You’re not one of those, are you?
Definitely not - there are enough apps or webpages to capture own reviews. I tend to remember the really good or bad beers for a long(er) time. But it is fun to pair beers to our dinners at home (in restaurants I tend to choose cocktails for pairing)
