New Beer Sunday (Week 527)

Hey what's going on!?

Well... a good weekend, picked up some new beer wares, and even some happy goodies (such as the surprise of the Grapefruit Scuplin in my neck of the woods for once). What would be another talk about complaining about the weather here... dang it's barely above freezing even with the sun out,... THE HELL?!? Cherry blossoms in DC now? uh no... seriously??!

I have my tomato planters going but they hopefully in the coming weeks are gonna sprout and get a head start on some heirlooms. I spent yesterday at a fundraiser gala run by some friends. It was a Latin night so I got a salsa lesson in, stuffed myself with some empanads, chorizo with chimichuri and pounded some sangria and margaritas. Great time! But now the Sunday has arrived.

So what is new for our hero TODAY?! Hey! wait a minute! I swear this isn't new! wait a sec I SWEAR I reviewed this way back in the BA days of yore... but looking it up again I had no review... not even one of those new ticks.. or hads that came in later.

I keep saying...I SWEAR I reviewed this... but that's ok! This is a GREAT opportunity to go back cause I also remember that I REALLY liked it too. So here is to not new... but actually real new... NBS

ANOTHER BOCK!

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Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock - Bell's Brewery, Inc


Bell's Brewing - Consecrator Doppelbock Beer by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a Libbey style pilsner glass. Packaged Jan 25th 2015.

Classic deep red mahogany, and chestnut hues, even a little orange as well. Great clarity, minimal amounts of carbonation, thin pinhead bubbles and slowly creeping up. Head creation is only slightly creamy, barely two fingers and manages to dissolve quickly. Very even thin puck and solid tan collar while settled. Very nice.

Excellent aroma. Very classic inviting doppel, thick toffee with a hint of sweetness, almost nutty. Hint of a bit woody like pine in here, perhaps that's more of a clove bent that takes a different angle but also gives a real clean classic German sense. Borderline thick, but also airy and warmed spiced steamy kind of bouquet. Excellent.

Palate flows nicely, with a few surprises Mild caramel and a good toasty finish. Carbonation play is tighter and affects the palate cutting through much of the malt to take away some of the toffee thickness, but highly emphasizing the aftertaste. Mineral almost carbonation, but not distracting, with a mild sticky toffee mid palate. Crackling toast a bit on the finish, and a big almost earthy and woody character and hop bitterness just seems to come off on the finish, almost with a cedar and pine note. Unexpected but enjoyanle. Lighter bodied caramel, clean but interesting, woody warm (but not hot) and mild/spiced bitter finish.

Overall I like this take, it's different than I think some classic German styles in the same vein, but I like it for that quality particularly.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA generated score: 4.14

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Well there you have it...

wait a second...



uh oh....



Bell's Brewing - Consecrator Doppelbock Beer GOAT TAKEOVER! by imbibehour, on Flickr

The goat has kidnapped my beer... gonna have to fight em off to get it!!!


Bell's Brewing - Consecrator Doppelbock Beer - GOAT by imbibehour, on Flickr

Cheers to NBS!

 

Cool photo on a subtle-but-still-strong early start to another fantastic photo day on NBS (I'm a sucker for 1. any cool photo, 2. all photos with beer in them, and 3. earth tones, which your Rothaus Pils photo is chock full of -- and that label is AWESOME!)

@Ozzylizard and the tower of Terrapin Mosaic power is awesome; @Boca-X and the Bockzilla is awesome; and even though @Greywulfken sort of took it easy on those of us with photo envy this week, he still produces sweet snow shots in a more minimalist fashion ... your average photos make my A-plus photos look like D-minus photos ... if that makes sense.

Speaking of D-minus photos:

(opened, photographed, consumed and reviewed earlier Sunday morning)

"The Original German Eisbock" from Kulmbacher, which I see is imported by the Shelton Brothers -- double which makes me think it must be good.

And it is. Perhaps not as good as Aventinus' eisbock, but it does what my early delvings into the style have taught me it can do -- pretend to be a quadrupel. It's full of dark fruit notes (figs and grapes especially) and is relatively sweet and super easy to drink. The 9.2% ABV is completely hidden. Dangerous.

It has a "dusty" smell to it until it warms up, and I've only encountered that dustiness in Belgian quads, particularly in my one encounter with Westvleteren 12. Is that an age thing, I wonder? A yeast thing? A my-nose-doesn't-work-well thing?

And the first taste is salty ... or let's say "almost" salty. Think of it as a total absence of sweetness if you can't buy salty. I can't figure exactly what it is myself, though as I worked through the bottle, it took on a possible earthy character (like from hops) or a fruit peel/cucumber skin taste ... that really bland, bitter flavor that distinctly lacks sweetness. At one point, kumquats came to mind.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/412/11582/?ba=Premo88

4.0 (-3.1% rDev)

Enjoy your Sundays, hopefully with some new beer.

Cheers!

 

One of the top American examples that I've had so far. Definitely worth hitting up again .

 

THE GOAT!!!!!

Holy crap do I need one of those! Don't let him drink all your beer ...

 

Don't mess with the Navy Goat!

 

Thanks Jack! Yes Organic??!? boy that's a surprise, guess I'll have to hit em up!

 

Ethan, this likely goes without saying but... remember to bring lots of money!!

Cheers!

 

$7 bomber poured into an over-sized Sam Adams Perfect Pint.

Appearance: Steady pour pretty much got the whole bomber into the glass with only a slim finger of a tan head on top of the beer. Drinking along, there's only a little bit of lacing. The color of the brew is a ruby black when held to light, and there are some floaters. It looks like a porter, despite being a brown ale.

Smell: As expected, all about that roast. The most significant aroma I get is caramel, but there's a kind of light roast coffee aroma there alongside it. Not much depth (considering that's really all I get), but it's very pleasant and fresh smelling.

Taste/feel: Quite good -- tastes just like the smell would suggest with a mostly caramel malt flavor, and some light roast coffee as well. The finish has a very, very slight (for the lack of a better description) spice and very subtly gritty/dirty flavor that makes you want to have another sip. The mouthfeel is "on point" as the kids say these days: medium-ish bodied with a moderate-to-high carbonation that makes this a very drinkable brown. A simple, very tasty beer. One of the better browns I've had in quite awhile.

Cheers, BA!

 

Listen to this first, please:





This beer is darker- Apostelbrau Roggen- than I would have imagined, like pumpernickel, slightly tart and sour in a good way. Interesting is an understatement. This beer is like a Dagwood, fully loaded with flavor and "style". Robust, full of flavor, yet light and easy to drink.......no easy feat. One of these is perfect for lunch!
It was damned cold this morning and my hounds did not care. Life in the woods is always an adventure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEHtfdGElKo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu8_-jNhwT8
Love these local boys!

 

Oh say can you see, by the impending light radiating from the empty tomb of our Lord? A joyful Palm Sunday (and no, I’ll not be drinking Palm today) to you, NBSers. It’s time for your favorite (in my delusional mind at least) NWNJ NBS participant and hopeful passer of his Cicerone test… John of Stanhope. For those of you dutifully following the saga- Wednesday I took my Cicerone test at Cloverleaf in Caldwell, NJ. It was me, seven beer reps from Hunterdon, one from Peerless, two bartenders, and me, the only civilian. While I knocked the style identification out of the park, I completely floundered on off-flavor detection. My written section was solid but not perfect, and I believe I made a convincing demonstration of dismantling, cleaning, and reassembling a beer faucet for the taped demo portion (in the span of three minutes). In reality, I feel I either barely passed, or barely failed.

Today’s subject matter? Firestone Walker’s Anniversary XVIII, a hell of a blend, and a fitting brew to dissect and reflect upon the first NBS after my daunting test.

Poured with vigor into my Lucifer snifter

Sight: Very dark amber brown, nearly purple low-lights… or are they highlights? Big tan, thick head sits on top, resembling a freshly made espresso. SRM is so dark I cannot tell about carbonation from below. I do however; see very fine particles of something. Head settles down to a thin cap, and holding.

Aroma: Vanilla and oak. Dark fruit with suggestions of figs or raisins. Perhaps some piney east-coast hop varieties on the end of the nose? Is it me, or do I smell plums… prunes? Surely the work of the yeast.

Taste: Drumroll please. It mostly reminds me of a BBA American Barleywine. However, the blend is very pleasant to drink and dissect. Perhaps some treacle (molasses) and caramel up front. The middle almost reminds me of a Chimay Blue, but toned down on the carbonation and tang from the yeast. The end is full of roasty bitterness and piney hops. The alcohols are smooth and warming.

Feel: Lush, rich texture with an oil slick on the inside of the mouth. Moderate carbonation, just enough to keep it from bearing down on your taste buds like a “monster cab.” Finish is long with both bitterness and sweetness playing a duet.

Overall: Oh God, I thought §ucaba was FW’s pinnacle achievement. Sorry, whalez, I’m a fan of tuna now.


And now, another famous 18… blended through classical guitar…

 

RIDICULOUS PICTURE. Great review.

 

Or anyone from the Navy, which includes my brother.

 

Great review, great song. I ALWAYS thought that was a creative story by The Man In Black.

 

Good afternoon to all the wonderful NBS followers. Since we lucky folks here in central NH are still dealing with winter stuff like the dusting of snow that we were supposed to get yesterday that turned in 4 inches. I had to shovel the deck off this morning since I plan on using the grill this evening for dinner.

In trying to keep my reviews for NBS to local Breweries yesterday I found myself at the Rockingham Brewing Co. in Derry, NH for the release of there Stout Belly of The Beast. This is a stout brewed with smoked bacon. There also was a Maple Beast. I brought home a few bottles of the Belly of The Beast to enjoy later, and a growler of Maple Beast for this review.

The Maple Beast pours midnight black color when poured into my tulip glass. There is a dark tan head about 1/2 inch thick on the top. The first thing that comes to your nose is the maple aroma with rich smokey overtones in the back. The maple once again comes through in the first taste not in any way over powering but very smooth. The smokey bacon flavor flows as you let the beer warm in your mouth. As it warms in your hand I think the maple subsides and everything balances out with the rich malts giving some great smoothness to the beer. The mouth feel is smooth with just the right thickness for stout of this great quality. All in all a great drinking stout with some wonderful local flavors blended in. If you really want to think about this beer, think of MBCP on steroids! That's what came to mind while drinking this beer.

Hope you all can enjoy the rest of your Sunday. I had hopes of riding my bicycle outside today but with the snow yesterday and temps in the low 30's right now guess I'll just have a log my miles on the trainer in the basement this afternoon.

 

IF YOU like barreled tripels, try Mother Earth's Tripel Overhead.

 

Happy NBS! What is this word "snow" some of you keep mentioning? All I can do is offer my sincerest condolences and some spring imagery and beer to help you through this trying time.

My new beer today is an appropriate Maibock/Helles. Covington Brewhouse's Bayou Bock. 6% ABV; 15 IBU; Single hopped with German Perle.


Beautiful light amber color, thick off white head, a bit of cloudiness, and I'm digging the artwork on this one too.
Smells very lager-yeasty, a little hop spiciness, and lots of fruity esteryness.
Tastes much the same; rich and yeasty, very pleasant sweet malts come through and they definitely weren't shy with the German Perle. Quite balanced though at the same time. Alcohol is evident in the taste.
Mouthfeel is decent. Carbonation is good but it does feel a tad bit thin overall.

Overall this is a pretty damn good Helles, and I have to say I am glad I gave Covington another shot. I wish I had more than just a single of this, and I'll be picking up more very soon!

 

Those are such pretty azaelias. How do you spell a-zale-ya?

 

I think it has to have an H on the end if your in new England

 

Good early afternoon, NBS. Took last week off mourning UVa's horrible showing against MSU. This weekend is a bit better, got to enjoy a couple of good games yesterday (ND - Ky better than good); taxes are done, and I should have some extra $$ soon to spend on something. Caps-Rangers a little later today and opening day and the Masters are on the horizon! Unfortunately, the weather today is not foreshadowing these rites of spring very well.

The beer:


Today's beer is a second item from @richj1970 - Straight to Ale's Unobtanium. Funny that when I googled this, it is actually a term, as the brewer's website also divulges. The nose of an old ale came to me before I even brought the beer to my face. Dark brown sugar, even a tad burnt, some spice (cinnamon or licorice?) fill my nostrils. The taste is more raisin, plum, even some red wine (and some tanin-like feel) later. The booze is fairly evident, which is fine with me with this style. A very nice sipper - thanks Rich!!

 

Dude I totally know what you mean by the mysterious disappearing review. There are beers I come across that I see everyday and have drank for years and find that I had not reviewed them. What the hell? I swear they vanish from my review database. I swear!