New Beer Sunday (week 459)

Rainy and cold here, but didja see the weather in the NE-ish outdoor games - 'specially Detroit at Philly? That was crazy. Great times football-wise (for me, anyways), even though my longtime favorite Giants are in the process of being disassembled in San Diego and my forlorn Steelers just lost at home to the 'Fins. Other games've been good.

Ommegang's Wild At Heart American wild ale featuring brettanomyces, Moteuka and Topaz hops.

A fair enough beer, but insofar as brett-y beers are concerned, I prefer a less "wet," drier and more tart character. I haven't quite found the right "American wild ale" yet. Perhaps they're just not for me. I really dig brett in saisons and pale ales in general, but this beer was rather uninspiring.



Cheers, all

 

Sometimes American brewers just can't nail certain styles! But that in turn can make them interesting, if not fullfilling.

 

Heck, there are plenty I bet fit the bill. Even ones made here in New York, especially Brute, and LeBleu. If you are ever up my way, especially on a Sunday, let me know and we can enjoy some together that I bet change your mind.

 

New Saison Sunday

It's a snowy, chilly day in West MI.

Got some miles on the treadmill at hit the pool with the kids this morning. Got in a round of snowy, front yard football. Warmed up with this offering from Short's.

I think they accomplished what they intended, but it's not necessarily my favorite. I think they would have done well to scale back the hops.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9629/72349/?ba=GRPunk

 

New American Barleywine Sunday

Happy NBS everyone! For my first new beer of the day, I had a bottle of Evil Twin Freudian Slip barleywine: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24300/78159/?ba=bluejacket74

I thought it was good, although I'm sure the hops have faded some since I had this bottle a while and it wasn't really fresh. But it aged well and was tasty. I'll have another new beer review on here in a while, and since I'm lazy as usual I'll posts my pics on the "What are you drinking now" thread later. Cheers!

 

I see this bottle all the time. Evil Twin is hit or miss with me, sounds like this is a hit. I will make a purchase sometime next week.

 

Hoppy Feet > Supa Hero. This beer is a fine BIPA. Cheers!

 

New Winter Warmer Sunday

Greetings NBS,

Southern CT was quite chilly today with hints of sun but no complaints because it was a great day to be outside. The weekend was spent prepping for Christmas and nursing our daughter back to health as she was running quite a temperature on Friday.

I picked up this Deschuetes brew on a recent trip to PA since its not available in CT. This was darn good and the best way I could summarize it is a nut brown ale with winter spices.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/2178/?ba=CHADMC3

 

Happy New Russian Imperial Stout Sunday!

Today I cracked open a bottle of Great Lakes Blackout Stout. While this is my first NBS in a while, it isn't my first ever. Glad to break back into tradition with such a good brew, and really start getting back to forum posting. This is a very solid RIS offering from GLBC, and one that makes me happy that I can finally get their brews anywhere in NJ. This is a good way to end a snowy day, and a good way to celebrate an amazing performance by the Eagles. Sorry there is no picture today.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/73/15813/?ba=MadCat

 

New American Barleywine Sunday

For my second and last new beer review of the day, I had some Sam Adams Griffin's Bow Oaked Blonde Barleywine: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/74591/?ba=bluejacket74

Turns out my bottle was a couple years old, but it aged pretty well. I usually end up putting barleywines off to the side for a while when I buy them, and just didn't end up drinking this one until now. It was citrusy and malty at the same time, I think the oak aging certainly helped this brew. It was a nice surprise, I did like this one a lot.

 

Hard to get in the holiday spirit when it's 80+ degrees outside! Took advantage of the weather, though, to brew a best bitter to serve at my home-brew club's January banquet. Thought an Old Fezziwig might help with the holiday spirit. Good seasonal, but I thought the spices brought a bit of astringency that detracted from the overall experience.

Cheers!

 

New American Stout (local shout!) Sunday!

Roughtail Brewing Polar Night: 8% abv.

I thought this would be an appropriate time to break out this aptly named, local brew! Smells strongly of dark malt and roasted coffee grinds, and it is one of the most well done stouts (non imperial) that I have had in a long time, and I am proud that it is brewed so close to home! They just released this one with a couple others in 4 pack tall boy cans for under $8 per pack, and it is a STEAL at that price! Love when breweries want you to drink good beer, and make it completely feasible to do so! Cheers NBSers!

 

"Tigers and Spartans" Love it! Way to work in the football theme.

I'm having a nice porter after the Seahawk loss. Snake Bite Porter. Not that the Seahawks were "snake bit." If home field is worth 3 point the 49er's lost that game.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10271/45499/?ba=RJLarse

Not a bad porter, I'd have it again, but it won't be a regular at my house.

Brutal cold here in the Columbia Basin. Haven't seen a temp above 15 in nearly a week, and sub zero on some nights. Fortunately it is a "dry cold." It still sucks I'll take triple digits over single digits any day.

Here's the pic with a tip of the cap to my UNLV Reb's (I'm alumni) on their 4th bowl appearance in school history.

Happy Trails!

 

Happy Sunday all! It's a bit chilly this weekend down here in Louisiana, but since Abita's Grapefruit IPA just hit shelves, I had to give this a shot:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3/106843/?ba=Mikecap

It was ok, but didn't scream IPA to me. Going to move onto something darker now, cheers all!

 

New American Stout Sunday

Wow, tons of good beer being enjoyed today and plenty of the festive variety. Good to see so many winter brews, my inner fat kid loves it.

I just polished off Bell's Java Stout. Great beer and appropriately styled. It falls just short of being an Imperial Coffee such as ST's Jahva, but is certainly on the bigger side of American Stouts:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/2010/?ba=CHADMC3

Have a great week all.

 

Two new beers and new breweries today.

Alpine - Nelson: One of if not the best west coast IPA I've had, fantastic beer, look forward to trying more from Alpine, too bad it takes a king's ransom to get any.

Hill Farmstead - Everett: I love porters and stouts, and I've been very much looking forward to trying anything from Hill Farmstead. That said, this was possibly the most overrated beer I've ever had. A colossal disappointment and it feels like a chore drinking this.

 

New Computer Keyboard Because of New Barrel Aged Stout Sunday

Okay so technically I opened this on Saturday at a party with some very lucky friends of mine, but I was still drinking the beer after midnight so that counts in my book. This Jester King / Mikkeller Whiskey Barrel Rodeo was one of many beers enjoyed last night, but definitely the one I was most excited about. I also opened up several prairie standards, a BCBS, a Caractere Rouge, a Rubus con Lamponi (also new for me), a Stone Coconut IPA for a friend who didn't care that it was past its prime, several Rahr winter warmers, some punkels apparently, some Breakfast stouts, and some other stuff I don't remember. Yes, it was that kind of party. Anyways, onto the beer itself…

Very tasty stuff. Very tasty stuff. The whiskey comes through most in the nose (and so much coffee, even after the year+ in the bottle!), but the flavor of the beer is nothing to scoff at. It reminds me a lot of Prairie Bomb!, honestly. Which is good, because I've got plenty of that. Oh, and then I got a text from a girl who wished she could have made it to the party and told me what we'd be doing if she had, and said it in such a way that caused me to spill my Whiskey Barrel Rodeo all over my laptop keyboard. Luckily that was my second glass, and I have enough left in the bottle for a third glass tonight, and now my computer smells of Kopi Luwak coffee and whiskey. Yay! That was an expensive text to get though, at least the beer didn't kill anything more than just my keyboard.

So here's my actual review:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24018/82379/?ba=WTKeene

Cheers!