New Beer Sunday (week 562)

Greetings friends,
Taking it easy here, watching an enormous assortment of birds feasting on the black seed. They know that the weather is changing. I saw the high cirrus clouds on Friday and new "weather" was on the way. We shall see. We will just see rain, but I like inclement periods.

This is Haw River Farmhouse Ales Mille Fleur Rustic Saison. Very champagne like, with vibrant carbonation, and so true to it's legacy that it indeed makes me proud that we have local artisans that do not fixate on Ipas, etc. This beer is dry and alive, goes great with turkey, and has a serious hay, herbal, farm edge. It is a great beer that goes down so well! Highly recommended.

Here's one by Robert Frost.

Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day that I had rued.

Here is the master. I had the great good fortune to see him live.

 

Happy belated Thanksgiving Everybody!

I was gifted a bottle of Ithaca Excelsior Anniversary Series – 17 and on the bottle it is labeled as being a Wheat Double IPA.

Below is a description from the BA entry for this beer:

“Our Anniversary 17 is a hybrid between a Wheat ale and an India Pale Ale. The vision was to create something that had a round bitterness, a dry finish, but a nice wheat sweetness. The aroma is straight up spicy and citrusy like pink peppercorn and oranges. This beer is bottle conditioned with a brettanomyces yeast strain so it will evolve over time and add more complexity to an already unique brew.”

It is my understanding this beer was bottled in 2014 so it will be very interesting to see how this beer tastes now. Whatcha think!?!

Served in my Spiegelau IPA Glass:

Appearance:

A light golden yellow color. A HUGE white head. This beer is highly carbonated!!

Aroma:

A big whiff of funky – barnyard on the nose. This beer has indeed evolved from the Brett added at bottling. I could not discern any hop aroma.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with barnyard funk dominating the flavor. I could not pick up any hop flavor. A mild malt backbone.

Mouthfeel

Medium- thin body.

Overall

I really liked this beer but that is because I am a BIG fan of barnyard!!

Cheers to my benefactor for giving me this wonderful beer!!

 

Jack that is a nice beer from Ithaca! Cheers =) They say that you can age these beers and they will develop. I am sure the only one I have had was relatively new. Awesome.

 

For some odd reason, your description of this beer almost made me feel like I'm enjoying it with you. So many good reviews around, but today, in this moment, this one "spoke" to me. Or maybe it was the pic .

Spent some time filling out full reviews for beers I had partially reviewed. Rule G by Smartmouth (SE VA) has almost 180'd from my initial thoughts (although some initial signs of age at 1.5 months, may be affecting). Was an okay to halfway decent offering to a barely passable - and totally pass-uppable beer. Might be willing to check it out completely fresh or at brewery. CCB Maduro I am enjoying a bit more, but needs to be the right situation before I'd get again. Think the can's "suggestion" to pair with food may be a wise choice.

 

Core Hazelnut Brown Ale
L - 4 pours dark brown to almost black body. Caramel lingering head S - 3.75 hazelnut, caramel T - 4.25 hazelnut, malty, caramel, sweet, roasty, toffee F - 4.25 really smooth, no carbonation, light feel O - 4 really good brown ale. My favorite of core beer I've had this far. Really good solid beer I can drink a few of these really easily.

 

New Sour Sunday

This one seems really appropriate for today. Not only because I am sour over all of you that can go out and buy Bourbon County stuff this week, but this beer has been reviewed by many NBS faithful, and was even featured in one of our BIFs. Not to mention that I have reviewed another beer from this brewery for NBS that @Roguer sent me. Anyway, this Flanders Ale from Evolution Craft Brewing was sent to me via @Shroud0fdoom


I have to admit, it did not look real inviting, but the whole "never judge a book.." thing came into play here.


4.03/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

The beer pours fairly thin with a cola like carbonation that gives it a fizzy, short lived head. I would describe it as very Dr Pepper like. It is mostly brown, with a reddish hue.

The aroma is very sour and acidic with some oak, apples, berries, and red grapes. Smells like an apple cider getting it on with a sweet red wine.

It is super tart, mouth puckering sour up front. I feel like I got roundhoused by Chuck Norris wearing Jolly Rancher shoes that were used to smash grapes for wine. After I acclimated to it, the rest of the flavors are wonderful. A cranapple/cherry/raspberry fruit boquet along with a musty yeast, some oak, apple cider vinegar, and some subtle bitterness.

The body is a little thin and the carbonation seems a tad high, but I do like that the yeast strain does not seem to overpower it. Otherwise, it is a little astringent, but not from the alcohol.

I am still very new to the style, but this seems to be an excellent representation.

 

Well done, my friend!!! :-) Looking forward to more of your photos in this and WBAYDN thread of course!

 

I'm glad you dig it!

 

good morning BA"s out there.
something to start my day off

sometimes it pays to be hostile so spiteful hostile harry fits the bill
it pours out thick black sticky.has a sort of mocha haze swirling around on top


first scent gave me vanilla and alcohol (that's the point here)
I get the vanilla to taste, and also a molasses cookiesort of semi sweetness.
I think also semi-sweet chocolate, and I like the bitterness level.


check out the dude on the swing! funny crap.

good mouthfeel, chewy I guess with a tad bitter finish.
by bottle shop guy said to try this and I like it.

 

Core Boubon Barrel Oatmeal Stout
L - 4.5 poured beautiful into a tulip glass with a black body then thick caramel head S - 3.25 slight bitterness and strong blinks smell T - 3 taste like a basic dry stout. The bourbon flavor was none-existent. Guinness?? F - 4 smooth, low carbonation. Decent coat of mouth O- 3.5 decent beer. I probably won't have another with there being far more superior beers of this style, not the best wee heavy I've had by any means. Felt like I was drinking a slightly heavier Guinness draght.

 

Ha! I just spit out my coffee reading this!

 

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend and even better NBS! I have been consistently drinking new beers and have passed the 900 mark. Onward to 1,000! If anyone has a good idea on how to get a squirrel out of a garage, I am listening. I'm going to try leaf blower and garden hose in a bit.

So the beer I am enjoying right now is has about 10 months of age on it.

A - Obsidian with a thin mocha head. Appears viscous with no light passing through. The slightest of rings remains clinging around my class. Minor lacing on the glass.

S - Very nice aroma sweet bourbon, mocha, chocolate, vanilla, even some molasses with a hint of charred wood or smoke.

T - Nice blast of sweet bourbon, mocha, vanilla, coffee, and molasses. There is some alcohol heat in the finish along with a slight smoliness, but it just ads to the experience. Taste is sensational. Really enjoy sipping this.

M - Somewhat heavy and thick, but not over the top. Smooth and creamy. Low carbonation as expected, but pretty good for a barrel aged stout.

O - Reminds me of BCBS with a hint of smoke. Awesome!

 

Bam Bier is still a fave of mine. Very different from this one because it is very funky, but damn do I love it.

 

Thanks @Sixpoint !!! Sounds right up my alley, and you put it on my radar. Much appreciation!!!
EDIT: I just looked it up. I had this one on my radar a few years back, but forgot about it. Prior "thanks" and appreciation still stand.

 

Yeah, I've always enjoyed the Event Horizon. Trade for it on a semi-regular basis. Is that the most recent bottling? The label is totally different.

 

My wife expects "diversions" to bottle shops and breweries when we go for a distance.

 

Well my favourite holiday of the year (history notwithstanding) is over and done with, I am fully moved out of my old apartment and into a new spot mere blocks from a: the place I was born, ii: one of my favourite breweries, and 3: one of my favourite local landmarks. Plus just a better area if a strange mood strikes me and I opt to venture out of my cave and be around people. And the kitchen is bigger! Success. Even better, an increased commute time (meaning more time home alone for my little booger while I am at work) is not going to be as big an obstacle as I had feared! A bus I'd somehow missed the existence of allows me to leave almost fifteen minutes later and still get to work easily on time. Good omens continue.
That aside: the weather has taken a turn for the cold (for around here anyway), with the temps consistently hovering right around freezing (hey, that's cold for us!). The rain has abated for now, and no snow has moved to take its place. Fog on the other hand...

Heater Allen does great lagers. That's what all the people say anyhow. Today I am drinking their Rauch Dunkel. (@utopiajane I noticed you were one of the few other reviewers on this one. I dare say I think I enjoyed it more than you, though your numbers turned out nominally higher).
Thin pour shows a chestnut at best body and head that dissipates quickly. Moderate lacing. Nose is less smokey than I'd anticipated, and more sweet and distinctly nutty. There's something warm and round and nondescript to the sweetness that I've been unable to precisely pinpoint. Otherwise I get creamy nuts and fresh dark bread.
Flavour delivers the smoke promised, though does not overwhelm. The smoke is an entry point for that same unidentified sweet nuttiness. These notes play together wonderfully. Finish starts with that nutty sweetness I keep harping on before giving way to a bitter ashiness. It may be worth noting that this bottle is from when I was in Oregon in like... June? Something like that anyway. It's been sitting in my fridge since then.

Woah, this is the very first beer I've drank in my new apartment.


I couldn't find any uploads of Hendrix performing it, so this will have to suffice.

Cheers!

 

I got it in a trade about 9mo ago. I think it was pretty new when I got it. I will definitely be seeking out more in the future.

 

Wow @Roguer . Such detail. I felt like I was getting a tutorial. Thanks for the great read.