New Beer Sunday (Week 662)

If you have a chance pick up -or find- The River of Doubt by Candice Millard. This is a great eye-opener about Teddy Roosevelt's expedition in unexplored (by non-natives) Brazil. Also, Apsley Cherry-Garrard's, The Worst Journey in the World. This is a nerve-wracking picture of Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1911. These are both great exploration non-fiction.

 

Oops, forgot the review!
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/341/53187/?ba=woemad#review

 

Hey what's going on?!?

I've been a little minor incognito of late, not terribly, but I am always in to digging in to some new brews!

Had recently the regular barrel aged version of this hybrid Imperial Stout/Old Ale -ish brew, and this variant is one serious trip.

What's new for our hero today?

Modern Times Beer - Devil's Teeth aged in bourbon barrels with Orange Zest, Hazlenut & Cocoa Nibs


Modern Times Beer - Devil's Teeth aged in bourbon barrels with Orange Zest, Hazlenut & Cocoa Nibs 2016 by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a large snifter glass. Bottled Sept 15th 2016.

Dark simple walnut body and fairly opaque, but up to the light a touch of reddish orange and brown can be seen just below the head with clarity. Very good forming foam head and creamy tight bubbles of two fingers, even an almost orange tinged dark khaki to light tan color. Thin but big bubbled collar as it settles with a whispy nice top. Great solid looking beer.

Aroma is just gangbusters. Creamy smelling and no joke on the additions. Creamy hazelnut whaffing with light touches of milk chocolate and orange citrus. Litterally smells like jellied orange fruit, covered in sugar with chocolate. Just like the stuff that would be in your stocking for Christmas. Wow. Shockingly impressive. Mind just blown.

Palate teases, with flirtations of true perfection. A little bit better than your average mouthfeel, hinting and almost creamy warm brandy quality with a touch of playful dull fizz. Mid palate is just a rush of great quality. Silky light chocolate and orange smack the lips and roll of the tongue with an almost Grand Marnier flavor and matching liquer like warmth. Faint touches of dipped liquored cherries and nougat mixing in with each passing sip. Jesus.. This is unreal. Finishes with a bit of char and hop bitterness to bring everything back into play. Almost smokey barrrel notes mixing in with an eau du vie quality, but really borders if possibly jumps the line into brandy and fruity liquer greatness.

Amazing blend of flavors. Even at this imperial and high expected abv, there is still a bit of booze but it's a dam good one in flavor and feel. Runs a bit hot, but it would be one of the few things I can find a fault with this amazing put together brew.

look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75 | BA Generated Score: 4.73

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Cheers!

 

I found a very nice copy of Richard Powers', The Gold Bug Variations today. It cost me $2.50. My favorite used book store always has something I look forward to reading.. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

So I stopped by the local bottle shop this afternoon to pick up some Victory Black Forrest Cake with Cherry but the keg blew right before I got there. Rats...

Saw Weihenstephaner Vitus on the list, and decided to give it a try.

Really well done, and recommended.



Poured from 32 oz growler.

A: Straw yellow with 1-2 finger white head. Nice retention and leaving moderate lacing.

S: Clove, banana, dried apricots, and a spicy note that reads like pink peppercorns.

T: Sweet bready malts mixed with clove, banana, apricot, and mango. A little apple and pear. Fruitiness up front and subtle spices lingering in the back.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Soft, creamy texture. Drinks like a Hefe.

O: This is a style that I don’t have a ton of experience with, but is a winner in my book.

 

Other Half and Amager Bryghus collab, Heavy Mental’s 9.4% IIPA brewed with Amarillo, Mosaic, Mosaic Lupulin and Cascade hops, and Golden Promise malt...

Full of citrus and tropical juiciness, relatively big-bodied but bitter enough to have a tautness that reigns it in... Some chew and shellac, like fruit leather chews, not overly sweet... Picking up impressions like papaya, guava, orange, mango, and lime... The abv is well-hidden, but the feel will make you full... Solid entry to the style... 10/13 canning...

 

Vitus is one of my favorite German beers! Cheers!

 

Their BA Scotch Ale is better than their BA Stout, IMHO, and I like it better than Backwoods Bastard.

Yep, I typed that.

 

Nothing wrong with your beer reviewing chops. It's all subject to your palate, anyway, right? Unless you just don't enjoy doing it, I'd say come back anytime!

 

You missed the link to your review, but I saw it. The “human sweat” is cool to read. I get that body odor/sweaty clothes a lot with simcoe and mosaic. Then I feel weird because they are my favorite hops. I always send that one out to everyone when I ship beers to see how it holds up. Apparently we aren’t too biased here because out of about 2 dozen people you and @Roguer I believe are the only ones to come in under 4.5, and it’s not by much. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Thank you

 

It was fun!

 

Same here. I tend to associate it with the super-dank hops. Sometimes it's like weed, sometimes it's onions, and others it's that body odor scent. Somehow it really works for me, though. It's pretty present for me in Victory Hop Ranch, a beer I really enjoy.

 

Agreed. It seems to be one end or the other for me. The weed and/or onion is never really present with the BO for me. The “dank” definition kind of covers both in my reviews though. I usually use “medical” with the weedier (made up word?) ones like Waldo’s or Captain’s Daughter

 

Pliny still stands up to the best of them

 

Odell Isolation Ale, 6.1% ABV, 42 IBU. Pours pinkish red with a one finger white head. Malty, but not picking up much on the nose, and the taste follows - pretty bland - a bit fruity tang with a very slight bitter close. Excellent mouthfeel, overall very good. Figured I'd try a winter warmer as we just had our first snow. This was the first sunlight in days.

 

Happy Return to New Beer Saraunacday (Week 662), Part Deux!

Hmm. The Law of Unintended Consequences struck when I realized that many of the Saranacs held over from last Sunday were ones that I had reviewed before! Grr. Well, waste not, want not, I always say & so I revisited them & any that were still duplicates got gifted away.

My last officially new Saranac beer of the day is another bottle from my local, in-person trader @tone77 : https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/141030/?ba=woodychandler#review


avec some examples of my previously mentioned reading matter. "Nightmare Range" is a collection of Limon's short stories & I have yet to read "Tel Aviv Noir", but it is in the roto. Pick any Hard Case Crime novel & you have a winner. Until next week ...

 

Also, I think that was a 9/11 bottle date?? That’s even more impressive because I feel like that beer really starts to fall off around the 3-4 week mark. In fact, one if my brothers was just saying the other day that he wouldn’t buy any more than a month old again