New Beer Sunday (Week 675)

I know some of my BA pals made it to Central Waters’ 20th Anniversary shindig yesterday (I have seen photos), and it only seemed fitting that I honor it’s milestone with arguably the best beer in Wisconsin, CW’s “Black Gold” 2017:



Pours an opaque black with ruby edges and deep tan head; the dark foam fades quickly to no retention; the original loose bubbles give way to a thin ring and spotty lacing; upon swirl, medium heavy legs sheet the glass. Chocolate fudge with baked walnuts nose; lite fruity esters of dark fruit, otherwise low hop aromas; bourbon and oak. Flavors of chocolate, roast malt, caramel, bittersweet dark chocolate, dark fruit - more dried cherries and fresh plums; bready toasty tarry flavors; subtle vinous notes at the end. Smooth, almost full almost chewy mouthfeel; moderate carbonation; slick tongue coating; lightly dry finish; noticeable warmth, yet deceptive as there is no alcohol bite. Overall this is world class; complex fruit flavors meld harmoniously with roasty malt/chocolate flavors; bitter roast linger; more bourbon than barrel and both are restrained. I’m so enjoying this beer, and here’s to CW and another 20 years of Barrel Aged perfection!

 

I would agree. If you look at it as a beer focused on sharing the qualities of a whiskey barrel, I think it would score higher, but as an imperial stout aged in whiskey barrels, it feels a bit lacking in all categories. Especially the mouth feel.

As a KC local, it's a promising addition to Boulevard's line up. Hope they can use the barrel aging experience here on a heavier beer.

Thanks for your review!

 

Finally getting around to trying this as it was received 16 days ago!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32763/317815/



Canned 18th of December, 2017.
Moderate pour yields a 1/2 inch white head over a hazy body with some fleeting lacing. Nose of tropical fruit (melon, papaya) and citrus (orange, tangerine), with ever so slight pine. Taste mirrors nose with a nice mouthfeel and an almost dry finish. Overall, an enjoyable experience to be sure. Cheers!

 

Happy New American Impy Stout Sunday!

Pretty nice day on the Western Slope, around 41, sunny. Still some snow hanging around, but not for too long, this week we will see some mid/high 40s again, maybe a 50 in there. Cleaning out the little cellar I had going. Always a joy to drink this shit. Picked up some marinated pork tacos on the way home.

look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5 4.94/5 rDev +10.5%

Revisit: 28 Jan 18
22 oz. Bomber
Capped/Black Wax
2015 Reserve
Best After: 12/08/16

Over 2 years on this bottle.

Poured into a Tree House glass a very nice black color, very nice carbonation, with a very nice one-finger plus thick/creamy tan head, which leaves some small islands/oil slicks and some sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, roasty, slight licorice, slight vanilla, very nice chocolate/toffee, dark fruits, with some bourbon/wine/oak notes. The taste is absolutely awesome, malty, nice sweetness, very nice touch of chocolate/toffee, slight licorice, dark fruits, very slight touch of bourbon/wine/oak, nice little roastyness. Full Body, ABV hidden very well, goes down very smoothly, with a slight dry finish. Overall, this is an exceptional brew, holding up very well after 2 years.

Cheers!

 

Give us a little more, Hank - what made it solid? Was it the hop bill, or the mouthfeel, or the way it looked in your glass?

Thanks for your contribution, BTW. This is a really good group in this thread.

 

#2, how have I not danced with this beauty yet? I’m flummoxed.



4.35/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pour is black, the slightest bit of leakage to mahogany on the edges, and a bubbly tan head. The first note I get on the nose is stone fruit, but there’s also a bit of char and cocoa, and there’s a significant vanilla note as well.

The taste is dominated at first by the stone fruit, but the chocolate and vanilla notes come forward as this warms, and the almond makes a very brief appearance in the form of a nutty flavor at the very end of the taste.

The mouthfeel is fine, but if it had more gravitas, this beer would be at the tippity top of the imperial stout pile. It is still an excellent choice.

 

That coach, Mr Bennett, is a keeper!!

Edit:I played college ball and had a coach much like TB. Martin Morris was like a great big brother. I'll never forget it or fail to mention it....

 

New Beer Sunday: A Bourbon Barrel Aged Dopplebock

Evenin’ NBSers with an alert for those who like to try Bourbon Barrel Aged beers that aren’t Stouts. Also thanks to @cjgiant for his thought provoking start this morning.

This evening’s new beer is in fact going to be the Bourbon Barrel Aged Trogenator from Troegs over in Hershey, PA. It sits in the barrels for about 6 mos.

As usual my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/112218/?ba=drtth#review


The aroma/flavor profiles of this beer show a definite influence of the Bourbon Barrel with some bourbon, vanilla and a bit of oak all showing along with the malty caramel sweetness of the base beer. The finish shows just enough spicy, earthy bitterness to dry out the ending and prevent the beer from being cloyingly sweet. Personally I’d say this is neither better nor worse than the base beer, just different. However, if pushed to choose between them I’d probably opt for the regular Trogenator.

This evening’s American Musical Original Cast Recording is The Fantasticks which had a very long run as an off-Broadway production. One of the original cast members was Jerry Orbach.

Try to Remember

Cheers, all!

 

That is one I am always hoping to stumble across in the sunshine state

 

Happy Sunday everyone, I'm back for my seemingly once-a-month entrance to this online gustatory gathering. I haven't had much time to sit and review beer recently -- it's been a lot more Untappd scribbles and quick scoring. I find myself leaning towards the latter more often as I focus more on the beer itself than on the scoring/reviewing. Seems counterintuitive, right? Well, no one has ever blamed me of thinking in a way that makes sense to anybody else .

Canned on January 18, but I've had this one before. I had it back in December when it was still in development, and I had a taster or two of it at the brewery when they released it last week. That said, I've yet to sit down with a full pour of it, to take the time to get to know the abundance of galaxy hops that reside within. Hopefully you'll forgive my slightly-not-new transgression, but mama always said honesty is the best policy.

Sixpoint -- Party Hat
6.6% ABV
What's an IBU?
My Score -- 4.26



L – 4.25
Pours a hazy, opaque yellow white a pure white, frothy head that falls off quickly to a ring around the edge. Not a ton of lacing to speak of.

S – 4.5
Tropical fruit very strong up front, with a slight dankness on the back end after spinning the glass a few times. Pineapple is what comes straight to mind, a perfectly ripe edition, that has the right mix of fruity sweetness while still maintaining the acidic zing you get with pineapple. The dank is fruity, but a little earthy as well. Warmth brings dimension to both aromas, with the addition of a little peach here and there from the yeast. The aroma becomes danker as it warms, but it’s mild and pleasant, not in the least bit skunky.

T – 4.0
Follows the aroma spot on, in the same order – a burst of tropical fruit, followed by a calm dankness that chases the fruit down the side of your tongue towards the end of the sip. There’s an ever-so-subtle hint of bubblegum, also from the yeast, but it’s much more subdued than it was with Hootie. I think the flavor falls behind the other aspects of the beer – it’s missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on. This may be a Tyler thing – I’ve had a few all-Galaxy beers, and most of them are missing the kind of depth that keeps me really interested in exploring where the beer goes.

F – 4.75
Really great smoothness here, while still maintaining the right amount of carbonation and zip to account for the lack of boiled bitterness from the hops. There’s a small amount of resin coating the tongue, but the bubblegum note from the flavor is here, almost like each sip brings with it the oils from a freshly-bitten piece of Dubble Bubble. I appreciate the decidedly medium-to-light body here – it’s eminently drinkable, moreso than many NEIPA offerings that come off a little too thick to have more than one of. I’m going to quibble and say it could perhaps use a little more carbonation to bring it all together.

O – 4.25
I really dig this beer. While I’m missing a depth of flavor, the flavor that is there is fantastic. The mouthfeel and drinkability is sky-high for a beer like this – I’m glad this doesn’t try to be pillowy soft to the point that you feel like brushing your tongue after every sip. The cool part about single hop beers is you can see them evolve and I think this one will be fun to keep up with. I’m also looking forward to sessioning them next weekend, seeing how they stand up after 2 or 3 – perhaps the depth I’m looking for comes with a little more contact and enjoyment.

 

Here's the last of my line-up today. I traded for a couple Foley Brothers bottles, and a local mix-six, and this was one of the two Foley Brothers beers I got. I can say without a doubt the other beer was sublime. So I know the Foley Brothers can make a kick ass IPA, but how about a stout...? Let's find out.

Photo info: taken at dusk when natural lighting in the house is weak, I turned on a few lights and used my old school lighting trick. It required a high-ish ISO, and resulted in an exceptionally warm/yellow image. While I tried to edit most of the warmness out and bring it back to ideal, I'm still not sold. Many new skills to learn in both photography, and editing. And it would be nice to have some nice studio lights. Let me know what you think of how my editing was in this photo. Only looking to improve. Cheers.



Foley Brother's Loco Moco.

Pours black with a finger of khaki head. Head retention is fair, with no lacing left behind. Aroma is a light hit of milk chocolate, but quickly followed and swallowed up by toasted, earthy malts. Flavor profile is earthy, biscuity, toasted malts, with a light hit of chocolate, and spices. Flavor profile is medium in thickness, with a smooth feeling. Overall, spices, and chocolate are pleasant, but the earthy malts are a little too grounded, and earthy for my liking.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 4.06 | rDev: +5.6%

Personal notes: While this is not remotely bad, I would say snag up any hoppy Foley Brothers offerings well in front of this, and give this a slight second thought. Seriously, Pieces of Eight might as well have been gold. Then again, Pieces of Eight and this are the only two beers I've had by my favorite NE brothers. Although with what I'm tasting, I wouldn't mind adding onto that.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday, everyone. Today I was having an awkward, forced conversation with the guy at the sub shop about this winter, and what weird weather we've been having in New York. Then it occurred that I had a beer in my fridge called Weird Weather that I had never had before--a New England-style IPA, no less. So that's what I decided to have/start with for NBS this week.



Peering into the can, it immediately looks like Sunny D. Holy crap! One whiff from the can and it smells like pineapple juice.

I pour it out into my trusty Upstate glass. (which I haven't used in a while, but I figured it would showcase a hazy NE IPA perfectly)

The beer comes in a cloudy, almost completely opaque dull yellow with a big creamy white head. After a few minutes, the head dies down to leave long trails of sticky lacing.

The aroma smells like diluted pineapple and orange juice, almost like Sunny D. I'm getting notes of honeydew melon and green grape as well, and some musty wet grain character. Probably heavy amounts of oats and/wheat in this. There's also a catty dankness, which makes me suspect Simcoe. It smells amazing. I keep getting wafts of pineapple and honeydew just sitting at my computer typing from the beer several feet away.

The taste follows the nose almost impeccably. It tastes like diluted orange and pineapple juice upfront. It has the essence of said fruits without either the sweetness or the tartness. Just a generic orange/pineapple flavor. Then comes honeydew melon, green grape, and almost something like lychee. There is a HUGE (more on that later) creamy, doughy malt backbone. Then a sticky, dry, lightly bitter catty dankness on the back end like cat pee and green herbs. Zero residual bitterness, nor sticky sweetness. Almost perfectly clean finish.

Anyway, where this beer really shines is the mouthfeel. This is by far the thickest IPA I've ever had. I hate to think how much oats they must have used in the grist. It's literally like a milkshake. It's like drinking a huge imperial stout--except it feels arguably thicker, because the carbonation level is so low.

Man, what a great NE IPA! I wish the flavor was a little bit forward or aggressive in the fruits or the dankness, but this is still a great NE IPA.

L: 5 S: 4.75 T: 4.25 F: 5 O: 4.5

 

My NBS #2 on the day. Another brewery that I hold dear to me who started to dabble into this style. Let's see how it goes...

Ex Novo
We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat- NE styled IPA







We're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat pours a glowing and vibrant yellow dancing on the fence of light orange. It is opaque, but not painted looking. It has an unimpressive 1/2" white head that puts little effort into hanging around, but does leave a fine film of lacing.

This smells very herbal. Floral, weedy, but citrusy too, mostly a combination of grapefruit and pine with infrequent hints of melon. There is also a hard candy sweetness aroma lingering in the end.

The first sip is very citric. Orange, grapefruit, lime. Those same elements seem to speak for the only detectable sweetness as well, and it is finished off with a sharp blend of weed and pine, and notes of alcohol.

A good blend of the new and old styles, this beer lies right in the middle. A somewhat smooth start is met by a sharp and crisp end. A good amount of carbonation makes it feel a bit tingly, and it ends quite bitter, which I enjoy. There is a good amount of alcohol warmth however.

As mentioned with its feel, this is a good blend if styles. Honestly, I feel it fits more in the category of West Coast DIPA, but it's moderately opaque look and smoothness dial it back towards a blend. Good, not great. Glad to try it, but I prefer many other great offerings from Ex Novo.

After my official review, I gave this a rating of 3.99 with no rDev as I entered into the database.

Cheers everyone, and I will see you all soon.

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Oh, boy, I'm finally here, after a very stressful day. It was just one of those days that everything went wrong at work.

At least I'm home and it's time for a beer. It is the first of, at least, 2 tonight.


From the country of Belize - Belikin Beer.

My friends got back from there, and brought this back for me, and it was actually not bad. For what it is, it was delicious. Hopefully I'll make the trek to there, and enjoy it from the source.

3.42/5 rDev +14.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

This beer pours a light golden color. Quite clear. White head, less than one finger. Retention was poor. No lacing on the glass.
The nose is a malty aroma. It smells like a BMC beer. It does have a crispness to the aroma.
Taste - Not bad. Fairly light lavored. Malty. Crisp.
Feel is quite light bodied, watery.
For what it is, it's not a bad beer at all. I wouldn't mind having more if I someday visit Belize.

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I'll be back in a bit or the second new beer of the day.

 

Evil twin even more coco jesus. Color is solid black with a thick brown head. Aroma is coconut,cocoa,dark chocolate, coffee, and malt. Taste is similar,a slight sweet edge but far from sickly sweet. High abv is only slightly hidden but just adds a burning aftertaste. Had a nice creamy feel ,oily slick feel that overall felt really nice. Overall an excellent unique beer that deserves the great reviews it receives

 

Looks like another David Hockney inspired can.

 

Meant to be back with my first New Beer of this Sunday much earlier, but some chores kinda got out of hand.

This beer is technically not new to me as I had one earlier in the week, when I wasn't in the mood to do a review. So I just knocked out one now, and plead mercy from the NBS Court:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46251/238289/?ba=woemad#review
Courtesy of @gopens44, this is brewed in honor and in support of the S.S. United States, largest ocean liner built in America, and fastest ever built anywhere. She's currently rusting away at a pier in Philadelphia.
The beer's not bad, though definitely more malty than, say, a typical PNW IPA. If I lived on the shores of the Chesapeake, I'd drink it regularly.

I plan on one more tonight after dinner, a big 'un that I've had before, as a birthday dessert beer.
Cheers!

 

Up next, and it's a beauty that a lot of you all have reviewed here.

Founders CBS.

This is a rich, thick, complex beer. Delicious and damn amazing.

4.73/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

This beer pours a thick pitch black color. The head is 2 finger, brown, frothy, and retention is good. Some lacing on the glass.
The nose is rich with coffee flavor, some chocolate, and there's a hint of sweetness to it.
Taste - is quite interesting. Up front is is rich with coffee. Then it changes over to a chocolate flavor. On the back side it gets some sweetness. Really a rich, complex flavor profile. There's also a bit of a barrel flavor in this beer, but it isn't overwhelming at all.
Feel - Full bodied. Barrel feel. Rich, and thick.
This is a world class beer, and I'm glad I got to try it. I highly recommend it.

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There's a chance that this will be it. We'll see in a bit, but I will enjoy this while I can.