New Beer Sunday (Week 680)

Olive Brewing Co. (Baltimore) - The Eye of the Beholder - American Pale Wheat Ale style
A-A dark amber color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has mosaic, citra and centennial hoppy hints
T-Taste follows the nose with decent mosaic, citra and centennial hoppy flavors
M-A light bodied well carbonated beer
O-A well balanced, well made beer

 

Poured slightly chilled into and got a nice 2 plus finger of sticky brown head, that leaves big streaks of lace all over the sides of the glass, before it settles in a quarter inch of light brown bubbles, canned on 2/13/18. 4

Smell exactly what I signed up for cocoa nibs, vanilla, toffee, and a hint of coffee. 4

Taste follows, but cocoa is definetly the dominant force and I can’t complain a bit. Some biscuity grains, vanilla, and toffee round it out. 4

Mouthfeel is a little bigger than medium, plenty of life, really not dry, and at 6% ABV as crushable a stout as you will ever find. 4.25

Overall this is what I had hoped this beer would be, a nice chocolate stout that isn’t overly complex, but still really tasty and smooth. 4

 

Good morning Jack! I'm sure you've visited the Schlenkerla brauerie and you probably remember the smokiness emanating from the building, indeed the entire area. I don't think Herr Kolb can make a beer without a trace of smoke unless they brew at another location. Even his recent beard is smoky!

 

Thanks for the great start to NBS @lordofthewiens. Will be back later today with a new brew. Definitely looking forward to trying this one out.

Cheers!

 

Bob, I have not yet had the pleasure of a visit to Schlenkerla brauerie. Thanks for relating a story of your visit. I enjoyed it!

Cheers!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, @lordofthewiens, for getting us off to such a European start today - now the old ladies in tennis shoes will be picketing the site! Unfortunately for me, my dreams are more mundane and (former) work related. More like nightmares, actually. However, today's New Breakfast Beer is much more pleasing!



$ 14.90 (Including tax)/bomber ($ 0.677/oz) from Spec’s, Live Oak, TX.
2017, no other date on bottle, stored at 42 degrees and served at 50 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Deep amber, clear. Occasional effervescence.
Head – Average (Maximum three cm, controlled center pour), dense, tan, excellent retention, slooowly diminishing to an irregular three to five mm ring fed by desultory effervescence. No lacing is left behind.
Lacing – None, as expected based on ABV and oak aging.
First pour – An odd icteric amber, clear.
Aroma – 4 – Sweet malt.
Flavor – 4.25 - Initial and main flavor is sweet malt. Some oakiness appears at the end of each taste and as the predominant aftertaste. Caramel and a touch of tasty diacetyl complete the flavor profile. Hops are not evident in either the taste or nose. Alcohol is not noticed except in the post-drink gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3.75 – Medium to full, creamy, lively carbonation.

Impression and summation – 4.25 – The flavor pretty much says it all – sweet and tasty! This appears to be a cross between an American- and an English-style barley wine. The color and clarity are typical of an American style, the low to non-existent hop levels an English style, and the flavor consistent with both or either. No matter what you call it (Karbach an English barley wine and BA an American), this a very good drink! I wish I’d picked up a few more bottles.

Rating 4.15, rDev +2%.

 

I figure if I'm gonna go I'm gonna go so I may as well be smiling.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Starting with another new-to-me Other Half brew today...which might be included in a BIF box to someone this week if my target is in need of some NY hops

Green Flowers - Other Half
IIPA - 8.6% abv
Canned 2/22/18 (10 days ago)
Score: 4.1 (rDev 0%)



L - 1-finger dense white head atop a juice-like orange body.

S - candied orange, a little pine, melon. Also a spicy/exotic scent that I can’t identify. A small amount of booziness.

T - bittersweet citrus to start. Earthy middle. Very bitter finish. Sweetness persists through the taste but it doesn’t overpower. Moderately boozy.

F - medium body, with higher than normal carb.

O - This is a very well balanced brew. More bitter than a typical NE IPA, but that brings things into balance. I wish the alcohol was a little better hidden. It’s not the best OH beer, but put this blind against other IPAs and it would do very well.

 

I'm tentatively heading back to Bamberg at the end of May for a few days touring breweries and hitting bierhalls - I say tentatively because this is a fun tour but not enough people have signed up so it may be a no-go. I could do it on my own, but Mrs. Lizard doesn't trust me - she's afraid I'll take the wrong train and end up in Tehran or somewhere, like face down in an alley in Leningrad.
If you're curious, BM me.

 

To pair with the NEIPA. Toasted cashews with sage. You would not add vanilla to these nuts but you could. You would not douse them you would just introduce them to it. cheers.

 

Good morning NBS and thanks @lordofthewiens for the thought provoking start today.
I hope you were not affected by this weekends storm. Today's offering from Clown Shoes is a big Espresso barrel aged stout. I hope the Merger with Harpoon doesn't impact the barrel program these folks have going.

Breakfast Exorcism

Clown Shoes
American Double / Imperial Stout / 11.00% ABV

4.29/5 rDev -3.4% | Score: 4.44
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle dated 4/18/17 into the test glass.
A - The color of a bar of bakers chocolate, the tiniest of spheres struggles through the body toward the surface. This feeds a thin off tan cap. The best part is once that cap goes, an ever changing pattern of tiny bubbles feed the surface in kaleidoscope fashion.
S - Blackberry reduction, Espresso, Madagascar 80%, Chocolate malts, just a hint of bourbon.
T - Coffee is present add a bit of roast chilies, dark chocolate, matched with a kiss of bourbon barrel elements. Vanilla, charred oak, some cigar wrap tobacco, anise, and finally a bit of earthy spice.
M - A hefty feel on the palate, not quite to Danish Stout level but close, Slick feel fully coats the palate, semi sweet start the mid experience has the alcohol as the agent of change. The linger is nicely dry, the offering avoids the sickly sweet trap quite well.
O - A well crafted offering, big on the palate, complex in flavor with an aromatic profile that includes some surprises. Like the blackberry hint and anise as well. Each so slight and inviting.

 

Olive Brewing Co. (Baltimore) - Beyond the Doors of Darkness - American Wild Ale
A-A dark amber color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has resounding plum hints
T-Taste follows the nose with a very nice plum flavor
M-A light bodied well carbonated beer
O-A well balanced, well made beer

 

Lost Abbey ex cathedra. Color is a cloudy murky copper brown. Body is medium with just below average carbonation and a lingering alcohol burn. Aroma is bourbon forward followed by orange peel, yeast,dark dried fruit, and a mix of different spices. Taste is definitely bourboun,orange,dried fuit, and several different spices. The abv is hidden much but doesn't ruin the taste. Overall a very flavorful well made beer thats more of sipper and dessert beer

 

My first offering of three for the day...

From Springdale, a subsidiary of Jack's Abby, this is an oatmeal "breakfast stout" featuring coffee, lactose, and chocolate, coming in at 7.5% abv with a canning date of 2/20...

Brigadeiro


A "brigadeiro" is a Brazilian chocolate covered with sprinkles...

--> you can click the pic for a link and a video, though you'll need to translate the page...

The beer presents a rock-solid chocolate and coffee stout, very richly flavored and thankfully, not overly sweet - the medium-weight body is supremely smooth and creamy, bittersweet, with a drying char and a wonderful aftertaste... The beer tastes the way that candy looks in the picture, plus espresso...

Springdale just hit my local store this past week - I had Amirite?! last night...

It was incredible, too, though I'm about 9% over the current rDev on both - either they're both just really fresh (Amirite?! was a 2/22 canning) or they just hit all the right spots for me, or both...

I highly recommend these Springdale brews...

Cheers...

 

Nice! I always like the beer reviews, and can particularly relate to the sentiments re: ex-wives! Cheers!

 

Happy New Bud Light Lime Beer-A-Rita Sunday (Week 680)!

As a young, single sailor, I indulged in sex in every port. It was like the United Nations at times & I have carried that thinking into my later years. I am unabashed & unashamed & so threats of blackmail have ZERO effect on me. I turned 53 y/o last Sunday, which partly explains my absence. I was at a wild bottle share on Saturday & it took me most of Sunday to make the odyssey home.

As to this week's misadventures: The impetus comes from a discussion yesterday at the FGBS in which I was queried as to having drank all of the new Ritas. I knew that I had a stash in abeyance, so I declined any new purchases until I could get home & see what I already had.

The day will be dedicated to my late-Great Aunt Rita, one of my favorite relatives. She lived in a suburb of Kleveland with late-Great Uncle Max & was my late-maternal grandmother's sister. As a kid, they would come to visit my teetotaling, religiously morally upright grandmother with Max at the helm of his Caddy, its trunk laden with smokes & booze of every stripe. Y'see, PA has the State Store system & until recently wine & distilled spirits could only be purchased at a State Store & beer could only be bought at a distributor at a minimum of a case. Nothing was available on Sundays, a product of our Blue Laws, which is why NFL games start at 1300 - to be finished by sunset. Legend has it that on one visit, Max awoke early, was having a Vodka & Grapefruit, scandalizing my grandmother and offhandedly remarked that it was the last of his stash so following church, he would need to stop off & reload. Her response caused his mouth to fly open & his lit cigarette to fall into his lap & he began to weep. He informed Rita that right after church, they would be westbound for Ahia, toot sweet! Haha. Even better, as soon as he passed through the PA/OH Turnpike's tollbooth, he would shimmy the steering wheel, flash the high beams, toot the horn & lean out the window, proclaiming that he had returned to sanity. I remain unsure since they lived in Kleveland, but it was his gig. After that, he was like a Boy Scout - fully prepared. I loved those two & I don't know if it was a tic or that Max knew that I got it, but he would always punctualize his conversations with me with a wink. Man, when they showed up, the Vice Squad wasn't far behind - alcohol, tobacco, playing cards & dice. Hoo boy, was it a great time with them!

I got an early-bird start (post-Midnight, pre-opening) with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/271167/?ba=woodychandler#review

& CANtinued with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/327194/?ba=woodychandler#review


I am now off to see "Death Wish (2018), but the Ritas & I will return with more CANsense, including my doctoral thesis; my Oscar non-Blues pic picks & other ... stuff after this break. Stay lit, er, tuned!

 

HAHAHA Classic opener.