New Beer Sunday (week 609)

I see what you did there, even if you didn't do it .

(meaning this week's side discussions have me reading into things a tad )

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We are back home and sipping a Wicked Weed Freak of Nature - so we went WW Belgian Blonde to a non-WW Belgian Blonde to a WW non-Belgian Blonde. This is a Double IPA that I have to agree with the latest review is a regular IPA with a DIPA ABV. Unlike that reviewer, however, I rather enjoy it for that.


This is a clear, nice looking beer with the classic tropical, pine and grapefruit nose and a taste that is light on the tropical (melon perhaps replaces it) and a bit thin on feel for the alcohol content. There's a little vegetal leaning to this which thankfully doesn't go onion/garlic - at least for my tastes. A nice offering, but I still ike Pernicious better,

 

That is also very similar to the PNW, and Seattle in particular, sports. Seattle only had the Sonics for a long time, then the M's and Seacows came in at roughly the same time. For the M's, 1995 is the shining moment in an otherwise (mostly) bleak history, and it's brought up by fans, the team, and media at the merest suggestion of a drooped hat.

The only team I've never left is the Montreal Canadiens. Yvan Cournyer (The Roadrunner) was my favorite player as a kid, then Larry Robinson and Ken Dryden came along. Plus, most of friends growing up were Bruins fans (the Rochester Americans of the AHL were the B's farm team most of my youth), and I tend to be somewhat of an "upstream swimmer".

 

Have you guys had other cucumber beers (say, like saisons)? I've somewhat enjoyed the ones I've had that are on the lighter/cleaner base beers. I actually am having trouble seeing how a cucumber Berlinerweiss would work for me .

 

Mariano, hell yeah. Cheater? That sumbitch never touched second base on a DP in his life. I'm probably the only Jeter hater on the planet. That said, dude stands alone on the top of the "Women I've dated" mountain. So, he gets props for that.

 

Doesn't mean we don't choke on the words as we say them though.

 

Lol, the Indians and Cubs are going to the world series. Epic historic event for real. (I've always been an Indians fan though, hometown is in Ohio )

 

No one touched second base until replay was instituted. Geez, are you sure you aren't a closet Boston/NYY/Cubs fan, given your statements today??

 

Anyhooo, back to beer. I must offer an apology to @WesMantooth . I stated that I had never had any Jackie O's brews, and he Ninja'd me some bottle during NBS BIF#4. Turns out, I had ticked a couple during a bottle share. Oh well. I settled in with this bottle from that ninja box, and I'll be damned if this isn't going straight to my permawants list: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1432/87719/

 

True enough, but he took the "Neighborhood" play to include all 5 burroughs, and Westchester county! I think I saw him field a grounder at a little league game here in Bellingham, and the umps called the Mariners out at Safeco Field!

 

I hope it's Nelson Sauvin, because if it is I have to buy it. I've only had Nelson in Against the Grain's Rico Sauvin and it had one of the best hop profiles I've ever experienced.

 

I love Nelson hops!

 

Unleashing the monkey one more time thanks to @Dragginballs76 in the latest round of NBS/BIF. Another farmhouse ale from Wicked Weed of Asheville NC by the name of Bombadile in a 500ml bottle with an abv of 4.2%. The label states fermented with strawberries. Let's have a taste!

Pours a cloudy gold with two fingers of creamy white lingering foam. Thick lacing is left behind as it slowly settles. The smell is tart strawberry, mild band aid and sour funk. Taste is tart strawberry, orange zest and the band aid flavor I associate with brett beers. The feel is crisp and tart with a very dry finish.



Another excellent farmhouse ale from Wicked Weed. I'd probably rate this world class if it had bigger fruit flavor. That's really my only minor complaint about this beer. My score is 4.27 / rDev -1.2%.

This wraps up another Sunday for me, have yourself a great week. Here's the score for this one......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30581/186162/?ba=Prager62#review

 

New Amer. Wild Ale Sunday (week 609)
Back with another, and this beer is the tits (haven't used that colorful phrase in a while so hope no one is offended). Golden Brett from Allagash, courtesy of our own @LeRose . Thank you sir, you could not have been more right when you suggested this one would be in my sweet spot.

Not as part of the BIF. No, this was offered to me after he read that I really wanted to try it, and I had seen it on shelf and was going to go back to the store to get it. He messaged me to say if I couldn't get it he could hook me up as a gift. Well, of course I went back and the beer had sold out. I tried every store in our area and it was sold out. I messaged him that I would love to get that beer but only as a trade. He tried to slick me into accepting a huge box of incredible beer as a gift by refusing to send his info, but relented, and his return box is going out tomorrow. This folks is what true advocacy is all about, reaching out to each other and sharing the best

What can I say, every sip of this beer is a joy. It is a complex mix of all the flavors brett throws, none overpowering the others, set in a recipe that showcases them perfectly, and now blended through additional time to be the masterpiece of clean flavors it now is. The whole story is here:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4/88816/?ba=cavedave#review


Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

Good evening, all, and Happy New Bourbon Barrel Barleywine Sunday! Barely through Page 1, and there are already tons of great reviews. Well done, all, and a big "Thank you!" to @utopiajane for the fantastic opening review. I was trying to decide what to do for today's NBS festivities. This was my weekend to work , the Buckeyes and Vikings both went down , and I ran out of propane in the middle of grilling my dinner . On the positive side, the Bengals picked up a game on everyone else in the division , I scored a 2016 Darkness last night , and I have two growlers of Bodhi on their way here as we speak . On balance, life is good. That in itself is cause for celebration.

Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Barleywine


Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a tulip glass. Color is a translucent light chestnut, resembling caramel sauce when held to the light. There were a few small flakes of sediment visible in the glass. An aggressive pour yielded an off-white two finger head that left lots of nice lacing. The aroma is very heavy with bourbon and barrel notes, with some light toffee in the background. The bourbon barrel character is also quite prominent on the palate. As the beer warms up, some other flavors begin to come through. There is light caramel, a little dried fruit, a hint of coffee, and quite a bit of alcohol warmth (11.5% ABV). The mouthfeel is silky, the finish slightly sweet. There are some lingering notes of toffee, along with a tinge of burnt-coffee bitterness. That this is a world-class brew is evident from the first sip. The only problem I had with it was that it was gone before I had recorded all of my observations. Despite the alcohol bite, this is very smooth and goes down very easily.

Rating: 4.44/5 (rDev +3.7%)
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Galaxy is from Australia, though, not New Zealand, and Galaxy is like, tropical and stone fruit. Maybe it's Pacific Jade, Waimea, or Wai-iti.

 

This beer didn't quite require choking down or chasing with another beer. I still had a quarter full glass after discovering Cucumber Crush is well loved by most others who reviewed it. I gave it every possible chance to turn into something enjoyable in my mouth, with this new realization that it was possible to enjoy it, but it never got better than, "hmmm, I wonder how stoned that brewer was to think cucumbers would make a great Berliner?".

 

I would have no problem drinking two of these versus Creme Brûlée which I could barely drink two ounces of. This is a much better beer in my humble opinion.