New Beer Sunday (week 572)

As another one that tried this beer this week I can't say that I found it watery at all almost to much like a coffee milk shake at the top. I will say that when I open the first can at around room temperature it was a gushing mess on the counter. I didn't have that problem after proper chilling or improper if you consider this is supposed be a stout. But in all not a bad beer.

 

Happy NBS everyone!
Made a quick run this morning to grab some stuff and fill my growler with some of westbrooks bearded break in gose. Excited to try that stuff.
Waiting on the super bow and cooking figured I'd go for a new stout like I usually try to on NBS.
So I grabbed a Prairie Barrel Aged Bomb.
Love regular bomb probably my favorite stout. I've been getting into spirit barrel aged stuff lately so this seems natural.



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L: jet black tiny tan head left a nice ring around the glass. Some oily lacing.

S: charred oak vanilla chocolate sweet Roasty malts.

T: tons of smooth vanilla oaky bourbon/whiskey character. Some chocolate and roasty malts come through.

F: thick oily smooth.

O: really good barrel aged beer. Probably my favorite now.

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Be back later with a jester King. But only if the panthers win tonight!
Actually I'll probably need it for pain and suffering if they don't

 

The cold returned to Central Texas this week ... not crazy Arctic wind cold, but cold enough that I brought the bougainvilleas inside. Midnight the Cat is happy -- he loves his boogie buddies.

This brew popped up unannounced at my grocery store this week. I hadn’t heard of it, had no idea Karbach was working on it, and frankly I wasn't looking to buy. But when I see a new Karbach beer, buy is what we do.

Karbach’s Three-Legged Lab imperial stout



"Tri Paw'd Approved" ... a beer inspired by the brewery owner's dog "Molly".

This might be the least sweet big stout that I like. In fact, how much I like a stout generally coincides with how sweet it is -- this beer is the exception. It glances up against some of the typical (and sweet) big-stout notes, coffee and chocolate and such, but it’s got a unique note in the nose that starts taking over the flavor that is damn near impossible for me to place -- it’s a bit musty, very earthy, kind of red-wine meaty. It’s not bitter. It’s not sweet. A very hoppy burp suggests it might be a combination of American floral/citrusy hops mixing with the dark malt in a unique way, but that’s only a suggestion. And it’s not sour ... a lack of sweetness generally means bitterness or sourness, but neither are happening here. Licorice is a favorite descriptor for this beer, but I hate licorice and I like this beer ... so I’m saying for me, it’s not licorice.

With all that said, there *is* some sweetness here. It’s a perfect amount, too, just enough to balance out that unique earthy note, nothing more.

The review:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26762/165815/?ba=Premo88
4.27 (+0.9%)

Karbach continues to impress. Even when I can’t figure out why I like their beer, I like their beer.

I've got some catching up to do in here, so I'll put on my reading glasses and enjoy some of your fine work.

Cheers, NBSers!

 

Yep!

 

This is more of a new batch rather than a new beer. From New Hampshire I'm enjoying the Henniker Brewing Company COMPANY 2016. Company-Company; yeah I know. Sounds redundant but that is the name of this beer. It is the second year they have released this Belgian style Quad with an ABV of 10.5%. I had it in 2015. They put it out to celebrate their own anniversary. If they keep brewing beers like these I wish them many many years of success!

Reddish tone. Quick lasting head. Big aromas of Belgian roasted caramel, yeast, sweetness, and cherry. No booze considering the ABV. Ah, but yes, the booze kicks in once you sip it. But it has more of a warming quality to it. Quads are right up on my Top 5 favorite styles lists and Henniker really nails it. $9.99 for the bottle but it should age well.

 

Good morning and greetings friends,
The birds are going crazy for black seed today with many new sightings (gorgeous vireos and nuthatches this morning). They know the weather is changing and they load up! If it doesn't snow, it will be nasty and these birds know the ropes. They know weather and all one has to do is watch them. It's all activity and frenetics and I love it! We're drying out from all of the rain and more weather is on the way. The reason we have such a beautiful diversity of trees is.....well what is the reason? I've lived here for over 40 years, wander around in the woods, and marvel, daily, at such a beautiful urban environment. We truly love where we are!
Today's beer is Sierra Nevada Five Hop Experimental IPA. I think the label depicts the road into the Mills River facility. Looks like it. Bone dry, austere in a nice way and beautiful in the glass. Full white fluffy, meringue-like head, steadied by a constant bead, supplying an undiminishing white cap. This is an excellent IPA with tropical, floral, and some white pepper notes, bright gold/yellow, with aromatics that match the flavors well. This one weighs in at 5.6%, which is perfect, was bottled in December and is in very good condition. This beer is from a 12-pack of IPAs and I am delighted to have discovered it. Hopefully it may appear somewhat regularly! Panthers and Broncos should be an entertaining contest!


Here's my kitty Kiki. This photo is for @smakawhat. Good animals are always ready for a home! She was a foundling and now a loved friend.
This is a wild Super Bowl tune from a group that I could occasionally countainance, but one that I always knew to be way ahead of their time. Cheers.

 

Thanks for the cat drop @rgordon , always a nice touch, we're enjoying our time with her friend who is still kicking round, nothing is gonna stop my other cat I swear.

Well it's time for another brew!

Canvas Series: Fille De Ferme - Wicked Weed Brewing


Wicked Weed Brewing - Fille de Ferme by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into tulip glass. Bottled September 10th 2015. Batch #941.

Bright and deep lemon yellow body, glowing like a lightbulb practically,and slightly green as well. Thin head creation, what little is bright and creamy white, but dissolves to a fine collar and minimal puck. Looks like a big lemon drop candy.

Good solid sensing brett nose, and a hint of dough malt qualities. Very nicely balanced with hits of lemon tartness an pastry white bakery sweetness. Sweet aromatics really seem to take off and dominate the beers character after only a short while. Fairly basic, but also real solid.

Palate takes some surprising turns. Wet like in feel but not totally washed out flavors in the palate. A real nice fruit quality that’s fairly varied on the citrus angle. Slight lemon juice but also a good thick peach flavor coming out nicely in the mid palate. Finish is a bit fast and quick feeling flavors, quite fleeting actually. Orange notes really seem to come out in the oils and zest. Slight bit of a bread like sweetness and pils to chewy malt like density as well.

Overall a real easy drinking saison, but comes like a simple session one but with great fruit qualities.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4 | BA Generated score: 4.08

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Gotta love me some Wicked Weed! on to more!

 

Had the pleasure of seeing Dan and the Hot Licks in a small setting.
Another sad loss in music.

 

Thank you Dave for getting us started on this beautiful Sunday here in Central NH. We all went out for a nice hike on the local trails this morning covering about 8 miles in all much to the dislike of my faithful Deisel who would have just soon stayed home and slept by the fire. I'm all for Drinking Local myself and today I'm once again reviewing another beer from Deciduous Brewing in Newmarket NH. Less than an hour away so I consider it to be local. They released two variants of there Imperial Porter Dormancy one with Tayberry and Coconut and the other with Mission Figs and Maple Syrup. Today I will give you my take on the Mission Fig and Maple Syrup variant.

3.88/5 rDev n/a
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

This beer poured a black color into my snifter glass. A thin tan head on top and lower carbonation compared to the Tayberry/Coconut variant . The nose is strong of the sweetness from the figs. The taste follows the nose with lots of the flavors of the figs coming through. I really find it hard to find much if any maple flavor. The mouthfeel is smooth with the mild carbonation. A nice drinking porter but lacking the real maple flavor I always hope to find in a beer. I have a few more bottles I am hoping that perhaps a little warmer serving temperature may help the maple to shine through more.

 

Good afternoon NBS, thanks to @cavedave for the kick off and the focus, after a long morning climb,
back at home making Canadien yellow pea soup, second try at this. A beautiful day in WMass, "pretty" snow
clinging still. We had a rip to CT yesterday and enjoyed thoroughly the Willimantic Brewery, nice house beers, good extended guest list, and a solid menu.
Today I reach into the basement and opened BFM Cuvee' Alex le Rouge, A fascinating offering from a talented brewery.
Cheers all
Cuvée Alex Le Rouge (Jurassian Imperial Stout)

BFM (Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes)
American Double / Imperial Stout / 10.28% ABV

3.79/5 rDev +4.4% | Avg: 3.63
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pored from 11,2 oz bottle into a goblet, vintage is 2012.
A - Translucent, hickory colored, a thin veil caps this offering with support from a gently rising
champagne size spheres.
S - As soon as the swing top popped, dark tea nose was evident, add anise, cocoa, mint, wet cedar plank.
and mature blackberry waiting to be picked. Oddly no vanilla notes, a boozy ester rises as the beer warms.
Abbey ale, Quad elements abound. Exceedingly complex.
T - Vinous, aged grape skin, strong Assam black tea. Interestingly fruity, dark fruits, plum, and fresh fig.
There is a sweet almost off putting component that accumulates with each sip. Surprisingly there is a resonating hop presence.
M - This in body, syrupy, the coating is complete across the palate, with time the finish is 180 deg, super dry. A byproduct of the Tea maybe. The underside of the tongue bears the brunt of this offering,
O - What a wonderful challenge this beer from BFM is. Rich in aromatics, challenging in the feel and the flavors. Deceiving in the connection between the nose and the palate in the best ways. Quite the treat.
Cheers all.

 

Happy New Beer Super Sunday!

So I was inspired by @SawDog505



Tried this beer today because my sister gave it to me from my brother-in-law's beer of the month selection and it's from North Carolina, home of the Panthers. Not rooting for them, but anyway...



Pours a dark ruby color, with little head. Not much to the aroma here. Faint spices, like maybe cinnamon and ginger? Taste is similar, very mild. This is your basic winter warmer, not one of my favorite styles as it is. This one doesn't stand out. Oh, well. This being Super Sunday, at least I'll be drinking more reliable favorites today.

Cheers!

 

Welcome to NBS! =)

 

Next up is Dino Smores from Off Color Brewing



Hard to get any head on this one, as a forced pour gave me this fairly small dark, foamy. Otherwise, black and opaque.

Nose says chocolate and not a ton else.

Taste is massive chocolate bomb time, seriously. Sweet up front with a little dark fruit as it falls off, but wicked sweet.

Decently bodied, more carbonation than if thought based on lack of head. Aftertaste is cloyingly sweet.

Pretty decent, but wow it's sweet.

 

Aventinus Cuvee Barrique, 2014 Edition



Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone. Happy anniversary, too, I guess.

So, I actually have been drinking local beers all week -- Victory Experimental IPA and Sly Fox Helles. I don't have anything local for NBS, but this has got to be local to somebody.

Bottle opens with a strong pop. Pours an orange-brown color with only a half-finger of off-white head -- small, but lasting. Think I may have picked the wrong glass for this. A Teku or a tulip may have been better.

It has a very strong sour aroma with berry-fruit, a touch of old chewing gum and plenty of oak behind, much more reminiscent of a Flanders than Aventinus or Eisbock.

Medium bodied and fairly smooth mouthfeel, with some slight chewiness to it. Very nice mouthfeel, actually.

Tastes tart and sour up front, with red wine character in the middle, and just a hint of gum and banana behind the oak and lingering sourness in the aftertaste. This is a very nice beer, but nothing like what I was expecting based on the beers that it's based upon. Definitely something I'd be happy to visit every year.

 

Under Crown by 18th Street Brewery

Pours a cloudy butterscotch with a two finger head that dissipates to a thin film that lingers. Aroma is slight with citrus peel, peach, and orange blossom. Flavors follow suit of citrus pith, peach/nectarine with a lot of bitterness for 80 IBU and a pretty long linger on the tongue.

 

Beers sounds great. Band and tune are awesome!

 

It was great to see them can their brown.
I had a talk with one of the owners back in the summer. He was telling me how they were going to start to bottle. I mentioned that I thought they should try to get some visual cohesion with their bottles and cans and he replied that they wanted to but it was a challenge. Looks like they did a good job.

 

Hello NBSers!



Well, this idea seems mildly terrible from the offset, but I've actually enjoyed all the released variants to some extent or another, so why not? Picked up a single for about $3 or so, so not the worst deal, especially at 10% like regular Dorado.

I've been a fan of regular ol' Dorado for a while. It's pretty solid, pushing "triple IPA" with its boozy bent and its over-the-top citric, juicy fruit and pine aromatics layered with medium-strength caramel flavor. Adding watermelon flavor to it doesn't really seem like the best idea, but it is a dumb idea, and I tend to like those to some extent (lots of dumb ideas get turned into surprisingly-good homebrews, for instance!).

Anyway, this pours a clear and deep orange with a cap of several fingers of head. Leaves pretty great lace as the head sinks to a single finger after a few minutes. Each sip leaves mild lace as well. Nose is bready, caramel maltiness, pine and... well, watermelon. Kind of silly, as expected. Doesn't really seem to work well in tandem, but it also doesn't seem offensive to any great extent, so why not? On the tongue, it starts with a bitter astringency, leading into mild estery fruit (bubble gum comes to mind), pine and toffee. Very clean, also as expected. No yeast notes present. Feel is medium-heavy on the tongue, as it commands the palate to pay attention to its flavorful intensity; works for a 10% IPA. Carbonation is fairly heavy-handed. Massaging, if you will. Alcohol is fairly distinctly present and pushes a lot of flavor around. Finish holds a lingering, sharp and tangy bitterness with watermelon sticking around in the aftertaste. Watermelon candy flavor pops the most in the transition to the piney closeout of the finish, though, right after I first taste the bready malt segment of each sip.

Hmm... well, I dunno. Obviously, as with all of these so far, liking this is going to depend how much you enjoy the flavoring present. Watermelon flavored Jolly Ranchers and pine are probably the biggest flavor descriptors, and I'd say it doesn't really mesh well at all, but it's fun and kind of stupid. Likable for one reason or another, but glad I didn't buy more than one.

*shrug* I... I'm inclined to say this is a miss, as "fun" and goofy as it is. Got a Pineapple Sculpin that I'm more looking forward to. I'd have to say Mango Even Keel and Ginger Big Eye have been favs so far.

Cheers!