New Beer Sunday (week 616)

I drank this in NZ last year and recall being underwhelmed...it was just too much...

 

New BBA Russian Imperial Stout Sunday



Free Will Ralphius

Happy Sunday, BAs. I'm gonna start this one with something controversial: the BA Ten Fidy is overrated. Don't get me wrong. It's an excellent beer. But to put it in the same category as world-class BBA stouts is unwarranted, in my opinion. Ralphius, though...

Ralphius pours a viscous-looking plum-tinted black color with a half finger of mocha head that quickly dissipates into a thick crown.

It has a big cherry-bourbon aroma with dark fruit, vanilla and vodka-like alcohol in the mix.

I was expecting something on the sweet side, but this is actually fairly bitter tasting at a month old, with a mix of light earthy hops, tobacco, baking chocolate, as well as more bourbon, cherry, dark fruit and vanilla, and some strong alcohol in the aftertaste.

It's got a medium-bodied and slightly-sticky, slightly-slick mouthfeel, with solid carbonation.

This is a nice, big, boozy RIS. The bitterness is a pleasant change of pace. I'm sure this would age beautifully, but why not drink it fresh? Wish I'd bought more when I saw it.

Have a great week, y'all.

 

Howdy, NBSers!

Work continued for me at a healthy pace this week with four of our area high school football teams in the state semifinals (only one made it through to the big show), but I got a rare Saturday off yesterday for my family's third annual Christmas hockey trip. Our Texas Stars beat the Rockford IceHogs 2-1 (2-0) in a shootout, pushing our family record to 2-1.

I went to Houston on my "weekend" last week and made a big run on my favorite Whole Foods. So much beer ... Lone Pint's now putting Yellow Rose in pints and four-packs of pints, which is glorious, and that Whole Foods always has a few bottles of Jester King stuff hanging around. And they had this:


My first brew from The Bruery, a 2015 vintage Saison Rue

The aroma is both super dusty and super sweet with a slight musty/earth lemon peel flavor that takes over the major note as you get into the bottle. It's similar to Jester King's aged fuggle hop flavor, a bit like a sack of grain that's been wet but has dried ... slightly funky but more earthy than what I'd call "funky". There's no major medicinal flavors, no finger nail polish/remover. This bottle being over a year old, the malt/rye has given it a super sweet presence, like sweet dried apricot, but the earthy flavor of yeast still pervades over the other notes.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/42434/?ba=Premo88#review
4.16 (+1.2 rDev)

I've had enough beers from Jester King, Prairie Artisan and Jolly Pumpkin to learn their signature farmhouse flavors, which are all different. This first brew from The Bruery is most similar to Jester King, for it has no sharp fingernail polish-like flavors (Jolly Pumpkin) and enough yeasty/earthy flavor to keep it from tasting clean or like fresh lemon juice (Prairie Artisan). The age on it makes me think it's sweetness is age induced ... I'll look for more Bruery beers with an eye on finding something a bit fresher to see if they might be a bit more lemony/tart/sour.

But that's out of curiousity, not because this one sucks. It's fantastic, and I do enjoy finding non-stout beers that handle time in the bottle/can well.

Cheers!

 

I only had that one once but I actually liked it quite a bit. It was definitely smokey.

 

I guess you could apply the same type of thinking to a a massively hopped zero malt IPA.

 

Very nice brew! I like the old label better though.

Cheers!

 

Fourth and final Against The Grain beer - Citra Ass Down

This isn't a single hop IPA despite the name. Malt character is reserved but still characterful. The beer is lemony from the hops, bitter and a bit floral. Actually reminds me of Two Hearted a little bit. This one doesn't have the fantastic feel of Minor Axident, but it's very nice.

 

Love that fuckn' name.

Cheers!

 

With an hour to go EST this may be my latest ever NBS entry. I had a busy day and am glad I'm finally able to relax with a NEW beer!

On a somber note I need to share, I just learned a close friend's brother (who I also knew though not as well) passed away unexpectedly on Friday. AB be damned but he was ITB representing Goose Island- I hadn't been in touch recently but he had a big heart and even though we best knew each other before we could drink I know he helped our beloved beverage. RIP Mark. I raise a beer from our mutual home town Columbus to you!



Zaftig brews big beers and this is no exception. I visited them in their first space and have yet to vsee their new venue but am glad to hear they are about to enter the Cleveland market as a result of their expansion. I apparently missed their flagship on my visit there. This is a good example of a strong ale. Brandied cherry, lots of malt, fairly sweet but a decent hop background. I'd love a bit less sweetness/malt though I also need to try it fresh vs the few months age this bottle has.
Cheers!

 

Hi NBSers. Has been a while since I stopped in here, but I was at the beer store buying Christmas presents (for other people, not for me....well mostly not for me!) and figured to pick something new up to try. Looks like everyone has had an interesting new brew to enjoy today. We've had plenty snow this weekend in the Chicago area so settling in the for night with a stout is the way to go.

So onto 'Milkstachio' - a collaboration from Hop Butcher for the World and Dryhop. This one has been out a few winters now but it is my first time partaking. It jumped out to me as being a fine option for a sunday sipper. The artwork on these cans is great - quite an invite.

Pours a nice deep brown, with a slightly tan head that stays around for a while. Faint scent of salt in there, though i'm reaching for the nuttiness early on here.

At 6%, this is a fairly light offering but the milk sugar really helps to give this a smooth and silky feel. The aftertaste of the pistachio nuts come out as this warms and even more so with a mouth coating swirl or two. The aforementioned saltiness keeps this ticking along too. Some coffee and caramel notes come into play here also.

Not quite as sweet as some adjunct stouts can be, this retains some balance amongst the additions. The cacoa is well integrated and complements the salty piece.

Overall, I enjoyed this brew. A canned, easy going stout with some interesting flavors that is not going to give you a sugar rush.

 

Welcome to NBS! =)

 

I love it when we get to see each other's opinion on the same beer. Just like @Lingenbrau with the witterkeke wild. Cheers NBS! =)

 

Just a wird before the thread closes. It was a No Beer Sunday for us. Too much going on. New grandson, managing the pack of relatives so the new parents could have some peace and quiet, a little shopping. And the bell performances... We set everything up Thursday night, pastor said nothing was scheduled, and we get a call Fruday that there is a funeral on Saturday. So it was tear down, set back up...decorations are a PITA when normally we dont have them. Plus we ran as many extra practices as we could in addition to the small group vocal stuff we have coming up. Concert was OK, only two minor train wrecks in an hours' worth of music...given where we were a week ago, I will take that as a victory.

Have not caught up, but Page 1 looks oustanding.

Later, my friends!