New Beer Sunday (week 622)

Happy NBS! I'm joining this week from rainy San Francisco having just watched my Packers fall to the Falcons. Oh well, beer makes games more fun and helps drown sorrows. And being in a different city means different beers!

This is a nice DIPA. Far more pineapple than I've ever had in a pale ale and it's quite fresh and juicy along with tropical fruit notes. Full-bodied but balanced given nearly 10% ABV. Definitely fits the DIPA style just more fruit than hops. Not sure why the avg is only 88 as it's much better than that imo, pick one up if you see it.
Cheers!

 

Brewery Ommegang/Urban Chestnut Collaboration 2016
This is Urban Chestnut's dopplebock, brewed with Ommegang's yeast.

It pours a dark chestnut-brown , with deep red highlights, a thick (as expected) light tan head, that is long-lasting, with moderate lacing . The brown color is more apparent with smaller volumes. (Probably should have taken another pic. )

The aroma is dried stone fruit (prunes,cherries,etc), and a brandy-like (but not exact) booze smell.

The taste follows the nose, plus a slight bit of nuttiness, and the characteristic Ommegang yeast, though that is more subdued than most of their beers. Very smooth feel, & goes down (way!) too easily.

Overall, I'd recommend it. It tastes very similar to Ommegang Abbey Dubbel. That "tobacco-y" flavor in that one ( more so fresh) is not there in Collaboration 2016. I prefer Abbey Dubbel, but if you like that , but not so much the "tobacco" flavor, then this one might be more to your liking.

 

Wow Rogue. If I wanted a hazelnut chocolate bar I would have bought one. How about a stout? Drain pour.

 

I would buy that for the label alone, and your description (although undeniably influenced by subconcious influences from R'lyeh) has me wanting to find this brew immediately!

 

New Oh My Darling Sunday
I have been on the sidelines for a few weeks voluntarily. Shed a few pounds and a couple of inches. Turned out to be fairly easy to put aside the beer anway as I ended up being sick for a week and have occupied the rest of my time with my oldest's swimming schedule. That included hosting almost 20 schools for an invite yesterday and we are lucky enough be be in charge of the concession stand among everything else. Our son had a tood day. Especially considering he tested positive for type A Influenza in the ER on Tues. and missed 3 days of school. He finished 2nd in the breast with his third best time and his 200 free relay was .01 seconds short of the school record, which included his best split time. Otherwise, we have been dealing with the results of the lung tumor we found out our 12 year old lab has last month. Things have been declining rapidly, but she is still as stubbornly happy and hungry as ever.

Anyway, in the meantime I swapped a few beers. This is one of them. From Griffin Claw Brewing

3.68/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a can dated 12-1-16 into a stemless wine glass

It produced a decent amount of light tan foam with a moderate amount of retention on top of a very dark copper to brown amber colored beer. Mostly cloudy.

It smells, in order, like tangerine, sweet caramel malts, and a bit of spicy pineapple and mango.

Lots of orange flavor. Especially in the aftertaste. Some spicy mango and pineapple mixed in there. Very malty with a sweet bread flavor. Some bitterness creeps in toward the end.

Body is a little bit heavy and slightly syrupy, which makes sense based on the significant malty aroma and flavor.

If you are looking for an ipa featuring orange/tangerine/clementine, you probably want to check this one out. Otherwise, it is not done as well as some others, like Enjoy By, in my opinion

 

Well hello again- a rarity me with 2 brews on NBS. There are so many talented people on this thread- and with so many fascinating brews. Thanks for letting me join in the fun!
Beer # 2:
14TH STAR BREWING TRIBUTE DIPA
Pours a reddish gold with a large tan head and tons of lacing.
Aroma is pineapple mango, pine and candied citrus fruit.
Taste follows with lots of bold tropical fruits with a sweetish malt base.
excellent balance of flavors. The malt is not a caramel malt taste and there is a lot of flavor going on
Medium to full bodied with a slickness from the hops. Carbonation is medium.
If youre looking for a juice bomb look elsewhere. You want a balanced, full flavored DIPA this is it. An excellent brew. Reminds me a bit of "A Year With Dr. Nandu"- I hope I can find more.
Have a great one!

 

If I had the willpower to wait until Sunday this would be one in a series of Jackie O offerings that will debut on my palate in the near future.

Those who know this brewery and this beer already know of its charms. I am glad I am now one of those. For those who have not and big stouts rock your world, this is a pillar.

Only the strongest of light can penetrate the deep brown color. The fine head dissipates but the carbonation replenishes just enough to ring the glass. The flavors are difficult to describe. Vaguely familiar but unusual, unexpected and almost seem out of place except they are so captivating.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Hit my 5000 review last Wednesday and I still have plenty more to review left. New releases seem to be coming in every week. Still really busy at work with 2 programs, but I seem to be pulling through on deadlines. Much more still needs to be done this week. At least my management is giving me a bit of leeway with the work load. Not much else going on, just relaxing and reviewing some beers tonight. Did some laundry and took my empties back to the store this morning.

New Beer:

Really delicious milk stout. Aromas and flavors of big milk chocolate, cocoa, creamed coffee, vanilla, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted brown bread, and light nuttiness; with a touch of herbal hops. Light herbal/roast bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus bodied; with a really awesome creamy/silky mouthfeel; touch of chalky roast and hop stickiness. Minimal dryness. Not overly sweet. Extremely session-able, almost refreshing. Lots of flavor and nice malt complexity for the 5%. Really spot on to the English base style. 3.95


WOW, incredible! Amazing head retention and lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big tart/tangy cranberry, raspberry, cherry, lemon, green apple, red grape, hay, straw, grass, pepper, and oak; with some wheat/crackery malt balance; and lighter notes of leathery funk and vanilla. Moderate fruity/lactic tartness and light Brett/tannic oak spice on the finish. Medium bodied; absolutely perfectly balanced mouthfeel between acidity and grainy/creamy wheat; touch of tannins. I can't recall that last time I gave a sour a 5 mouthfeel; but this takes the cake, just unreal. Moderately crisp, dry, and refreshing from balanced acidity. Never puckering, way too damn easy to drink. Amazing complexity and perfect balance between the fruit, yeast, and oak presence. This is a truly wonderful fruit sour. Blew me away. I'll take a case 4.55


Great pale ale! Fantastic head retention and dense lacing on the glass. Nice clarity. Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, mango, melon, passon fruit, papaya, citrus zest, light pepper, and pine hops; with moderate honey, toasted biscuit, light caramel malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine/herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied; balanced hop stickiness and bready/grainy malt creaminess in the mouthfeel. Touch of resins; slightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. No hop astringency. Really juicy on hops and a bit dank; nice malt backbone without being too sweet. Really spot on American pale ale, zero complaints. Showcases my favorite hop extremely well. 4.03


Cheers, be back later NBS

 

Now up 4 Hands Barrel Aged Bona Fide, have to give a big thanks to @bstyle for this. Enjoyed regular Bona Fide and this barrel aged version is amazing!
4.58/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Big thank to bstyle for this
22 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a two finger dark mocha head.

S- Coffee covered in dark chocolate, whiskey, oak, mild rye spice, vanilla.

T- Roasted coffee, vanilla, caramel malts, some whiskey, touch of rye, rich chocolate, touch of oak.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- A great barrel aged stout, barrel really tasks the base to the another level. Really worth seeking out!

Cheers!

 

Ok, finally the barrel-aged beer I have that is both new and fits the unofficial theme of today's thread. But first, the build-up (such as it were)...

The GF and I went to Savor (beer event) here in DC a couple year's back. This event has "sessions" you can go to to listen to Brewer's Association breweries talk on topics pertinent to the industry. We decided if we were going to do this, we'd spend the extra couple $$ for a session and get the full experience. No topic jumped out at me specifically, so I ended up choosing the presentation by Sam Calagione of DFH and I believe Tom Schlafly (sadly no quick find of the old press for that event).

The talk was on wine/beer hybrids (which the GF tends to like), but there was a point when the Schlafly representative (Tom?) said something that I both agreed with and disagreed with. He mentioned the thick, sweet stouts that seemed to have a decent level of desire in the beer drinking community could be examples of poorly brewed beers (specifically being under-attenuated). We could (and likely have and will again in other threads) have a debate about the merits of that comment, but we'll save it.

The reason I bring that up? My new beer, a barrel aged one, is from Schlafly, and has been reviewed once today (as usual, I will compare at the end), and is Barrel Aged Imperial Stout (Ibex Series) - Schlafly is generally not one for a flair with names.


This beer pours a dark brown and thin-looking. Given my intro, it's not surprising this isn't a motor oil-like pour. The head builds up respectably on a moderate pour. As I let it warm typing up the intro, the head is a creamy khaki that just seems to be waiting for me to take a sip. Quite enticing.

If that was enticing, the smell is even more so. A nice somewhat chocolatey stout plays bass. The nice vanilla, oak, and bourbon notes play a chord atop it. Simple but quite amazing.

The taste follows that pattern - simple and amazing. The stout and bourbon barrel combine a little more than in the nose to produce a slight cola impression, but that comes after the stout taste initially hits. The bourbon follows quickly to generate the aforementioned taste, and if I were to have a knock, it would be that I'd like a little more bass. But not much. The vanilla and bourbon grow from there, and the chocolate malt does regain the back end.

This is not a thick, sweet, heavy BBA stout. It has a feel more reminiscent of maybe a Wulver or Backwoods Bastard; okay, maybe just a little more creamy than those. It's far from heavy, but full of flavor as the entire palate gets a sensation.

Not a surprise that this comes across to me as a well made beer. It is a little bit of a surprise I find it so wonderfully tasty. Definitely need to track down some more of this.

I must admit I do not get the butter that @THSdrummer got, but I think this could be explained by both palate and choice of description, given the rating that he gave.

 

New Beer Sunday: A Winter Warmer with potential

Evenin' NBSers, with special greetings to those sterling souls who savor spices in their suds.

With most of the afternoon and early evening spent watching football, as halftime in the Steelers-New England game starts it's time to start pulling together both my notes and thoughts about a new Winter Warmer call Below Zero that comes from the Double Nickel brewery over in NJ and up the river a bit from here.

My review, in progess until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42881/207782/?ba=drtth#review

I’d say this is a Winter Warmer worth a try at least once for the combination and controlled use of the spices (cinnamon and cardamom) which don't overwhelm. Rather they are well balanced and also well integrated with the malt in the aroma and flavor profiles. Although the flavor has a nice bit of dark caramel sweetness going for it there seems to be a hint of almost burnt character here that is also almost off-putting to me. So I suspect this is a beer that some will like and some won’t. I’ll probably not be looking to do a repeat since there are other Winter Warmers that I prefer. But don’t let that slow you down if you happen to find a bottle to try for yourself. Double Nickel seems to me to be a fairly new brewery with some potential for the future.

Cheers, all!

 

Hello NBSers. I'll be back with a BA beverage, but I'm going to lead off with this excellent oatmeal IPA.



Bent Paddle does some cool stuff, and this is another example of them stepping outside of "traditional" boundaries and creating an excellent beer.

When I saw "oatmeal IPA," I thought, "Ruh, Rog, Raggie, another beer that looks like a milkshake" (NTTAWWT), i.e., another Midwest brewer making their interpretation of a NE-style IPA. This is not that.

It pours a fairly clear golden orange, supporting a finger+ off-white head. The aromas are bright and spritzy hops, with strong citrus mixing with an astringency I associate with Mosaic and Citra hops. No evidence of the oatmeal.

Yet.

That comes through in the taste - in triplicate. The hops are very forward - and then, just before your palate is bruised into submission, the oatmeal comes forward to provide some sweetness and provide a softer mouthfeel than a "typical" IPA - but not the pillowy softness of a NE IPA. Just an excellent beer from a brewery that isn't really known outside of Minnesota but should be.

 

This brewery puts a high value on art in general, specifically with their labels. It was once noted to me that may be part of the problem with the price they were charging as they started to distribute. They have been using a local contract brewer (same one that does some/many Grimm beers) which have helped the cost a bit. It's definitely worth a try, though distro is still mostly local.

As we got to the gym today, there were a LOT of cars in places there usually aren't cars. Luckily our lazy asses found a decent parking spot. The GF said she'd never seen it like this in almost a decade. My best guess: a swim meet, since our gym has a pool. She sorta agreed and we were both right (though I guessed first !!!)

Anyhow, almost took a pic to show for you (200m freestyle was going on as we entered the workout room that overlooks the pool). The kids in the race seemed quite young (I'd guess maybe 10-12 tops, leaning towards the lower end).

The pool crowd slowly thinned out. Just curious, is it typical for you to have people essentially leave after their children have participated (which seemed to have been the case here). This pool isn't overly conducive to crowds, but it seemed... unsportsman-like in a way to me seeing it.

I have had only a couple Jackie O's stouts. I'd have to say I'd be interested if more people familiar with that brewery would weigh in with an opinion on the Schlafly beer I just had.

 

Greetings All:

A cold and rainy winter afternoon here in the Great Northwest. So we are drinking a crisp, light IPA and dreaming of Spring. Easy Way IPA from Ninkasi.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14400/206310/

Not a bad brew, but very light and dry. Ninkasi has better IPAs for any season.

Got the brew kettle fired up this afternoon. I bottled a batch of a Red Chair clone recipe yesterday,
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/55564/
and it was so encouraging I brewed another batch today.

Love the Red Chair.

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

Time to drink some big bottles...to make room for more big bottles.
I've had this one since May, been in the fridge taunting me ever since. Purchased from Sierra Nevada Mills River. I love Backwoods Bastard and was thinking this sounded familiar. Let's find out.

Pours deep brown with ruby highlights. Tan head, it disappears rather quickly. Smells like bourbon candy, that is, sweet bourbon and wood. Taste is amazing. Very reminiscent of Backwoods. Sweet, caramel, toffee, smooth bourbon and wood. Some overall smokiness in there which differentiates itself from Backwoods. Better drink ability than BWB, smooth and no heat.

 

A couple of new beers and reviews occurred during game one when it was apparent the Pack was packing it in for the season. Football, food and hanging with my brother took precedence over posting at the time, so I'll drop the links to the reviews and leave the heavy lifting to you the reader. Please forgive my sloppy post!

First up was this tasty and easy drinking bargain at $8.49 a six pack. Nothing special, but a good enough bang for the buck. My soft spot for New Belgium because it started me on my craft beer journey compelled me to try it. I wasn't disappointed.



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/259546/?ba=Prager62#review

The next one was purchased for me by a friend at the brewery's release back in November. I shared this one with the bro and we both really enjoyed it. A very solid and robust imperial milk stout. Wonderful dark roast/chocolate taste and quite easy to drink despite the hefty 13% abv. I'm hoping they barrel aged some!



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34315/257843/?ba=Prager62#review

I'm hanging it up for today as I watch the conclusion of the Pats-Steelers game with the other eye on the Hawks-Canucks hockey game. Have yourselves a great week!

 

Yup. Even the largest facilities are never big enough and a lot of people leave when their kid/grandkid is done swimming so it always thins out as the day goes on. People twnd to come and go/roam too like track meets. When we are on the road I tend to go get lunch and sometimes do some beer shopping during the 400/500 events that can take up to an hour and a half. It is a very unique sport. Interestingly enough since you bring up the topic though, for as much individual participation that is involved, it is very team/spotsmanship oriented overall. Kids are always rooting for each other and even for other schools because many of them tend to swim in clubs together inthe off season. The parents also get along great. I had several of the newer ones comment on how enjoyable it is compared to football etc. I know what they are talking about. I have watched several baseball games from the outfield fence where you can only hear the sounds of the game (ie no parents). I figure it comes down to playing time, because everyone swims even if they aren't a strong swimmer. One thing is for sure, I wish we had our own pool, or a Y because it is great cardio and easy on the joints

 

And here's my BA beer .....



I took Mrs. O to the Mankato Craft Beer Festival in January 2016 expressly to try this beer. Got into the Expo, went to the Central Waters booth, saw this on the menu, requested it - "We don't have that with us."

Um, what? "We don't have it - issue with the keg." I'm pretty chill, but if a doctor had taken my blood pressure at that moment, he would've stuck me in a hospital.

But I digress- this is phenomenal. The barrel is present, but not overwhelming. Central Waters has an incredible barrel program, and this is another example of that.

Now excuse me whilst I go eat my body weight in ribs.

 

That team attitude is what I expected to see more of, maybe. Granted, I took a few looks and formed an impression that may not be a good representation (knowingly). It was just an interesting dynamic from a casual observer.

 

Good to see you again Mr. Tooth! Sorry about the sick, and the pup . But congrats on the damn near record breaker for your kid, and the shedded inches! Cheers!