New Beer Sunday (Week 680)

Happy NBS! Hope everyone is well. I am enjoying the last day of Spring that made it's way to WI the past 5 days. Looks like winter will be making a comeback tomorrow, with snow in the forecast.

I found a bottle of Schell's Tidal Disruption still lingering on the shelf and decided to by it after passing over it last year. Glad I picked it up.

It pours a dark plum color with a 2 finger very light purple head. Thin collar and spots of lacing. Fresh berry and blackberry jam in a Berliner Weiss. Hints of lemon and wood. It is tart, but not overly, there is some sweetness. I can tell this was aged over blackberries and it has a nice juice and slightly jammy quality. Some lemon zest and straw finish it off. Light bodied and big carbonation makes for a fantastic mouthfeel. I have enjoyed this series and have trended toward buying the fruited varieties.

 

Hi, hope you’re all having a nice NB Sunday. Grey and drizzling here, figured I would “Crack” this one open.

Pours black, bit syrupy and opaque. Thin creamy mocha colored head of small bubbled foam. Head settles into a thin tan collar with a few bubbly floating islands.

Aroma is rich medium roast coffee, slight sweet vanilla syrup and bittersweet baking cocoa.

Coffee takes the forefront in the flavor. Bold and rich, hint of sweetness and dark roasted malts over a base of chocolate and baking cocoa.

Mouthfeel is smooth and silky, lightly carbonated which matches this brew nicely.

Overall a ton of flavor and extremely balanced. A pleasant first brew of the day.

 

Traquair Jacobite Ale

First off, I’m bending but not breaking the rules here. I opened this last night, but I purposely waited until after midnight for it to be “Sunday.” If I get to my other beers today, my theme is “strong ale,” so I felt like I needed to space them a little.

Secondly, this is one of those beers that I can’t believe I never had before. I always passed on it back in the day due to price and then I stopped seeing it for years.

Best by date is August 2026. A date like that makes me assume they gave it a 10 year shelf life. If so, that makes this bottle 1.5 years old.

Love the white on black look of the label.

The beer is a deep, dark brown with sienna highlights. Head is minor. Beer is quite clear at lower volumes, but the light fights to get through a full glass.

Feel is thin and smooth. It’s a little sour at first. Off-puttingly so. The sourness goes away in time. Taste is dark malts, sweet, dates, slightly burnt. They’ve added coriander to this beer, but I’m the type that isn’t ashamed to say that I get no coriander or oak flavor.

The beer immediately starts as slightly sour, but the dominant character is sweetness... until the hops reveal themselves on the finish. There isn’t much character from them beyond bitterness, but they provide an interesting and needed counterbalance.

This one really grew well on me by the midpoint of the bottle. Lately, I’m having this happen to me more and more with UK beers. I end up needing a little time to get in sync. This beer was a treat in the end.

 

Allagash James and julie. Pours a clear copper/brown color. Has a champagne like feel and body, definitely above average carbonation. Aroma is vinegar,grapes, and lemon and limes as well as yeast and some malt. Taste is sour cherry juice,lemon and limes, yeast with a bit of sweet malt. The vinegar aroma wasn't too appealling but it didn't show up in the taste. This wasn't too sour or tart which worked really well and allowed the whole flavor profile to come through. A very decent beer that would work after dinner with dessert

 

I said the same thing a few years ago:

 

Good afternoon BAs, and happy New Bark Sunday! "Bark" with the double meaning today, but I'll get back to the beer in a bit. First, time to share this weekend's trip highlights. The family treated me to a special day out in my personal heaven again, The Columbia River Gorge. We had lunch at my favorite brewery location, Thunder Island in Cascade Locks, where we walked out to the island to take in the dramatic views of The Bridge of the God's, and the snow dusted peaks on both the Oregon and Washington sides. I could've stayed there all day.







But, the kids got restless, so back home it was, with a quick stop to the gorgeous (pun intended) Multnomah Falls. Unfortunately, still no hiking back there due to the fires last year, but the kids were cold and tired anyway…



On to the beer. Hair of the Dog, Cherry Fred From The Wood. Ah ha, the double entendre to the ”Bark” reveals itself. This is Fred, aged in Bourbon barrels for 18 months on top of locally grown black cherries. At 13.5% abv, we know this dog can bark, let's see how well he bites…

Hair of the Dog
Cherry Fred From The Wood-American Strong Ale





As with most of Fred's litter, Cherry Fred From The Wood doesn't make a sound as the cap is pried off. I'm not worried this time. The pour reveals a deep crimson fluid, which collects as a solid body of dark cherry or even prune purple. As expected, it is completely flat (says right there on the bottle that it would be!), with just a few beads floating around the perimeter of the glass.

Bourbon, cherry, and wood are intoxicating as they lazily ascend from the surface. Wonderful compliments of chocolate, cinnamon, and granola make my mouth begin to water as I imagine this is going to be like taking a bite into freshly baked cherry pie, only the cherries were bathed in sweet bourbon first.

Sweet Baby Jesus. The first sip comes out of the gate with smooth and mildly oaked bourbon being front and center. Slightly tart dark cherries glide over next, drizzled like a syrup reduction. Sweet milk chocolate dusted in spices finish this off, and without the perception of granola or bread, this ends up being a bit more like a cherry truffles than pie. Fine by me.

There is no carbonation, as expected with Fred. And once again, it works quite well. It would only distract from the rich and syrupy full figured mass that Fred is. Sturdy. Strong. Bold. At 13.5% abv, it's no wonder there is a hearty warmth, but still this manages to hide it well.

Once again, Hair of the Dog delivers an incredible beer. And once again, a beer that is probably not for everybody. But those who are fans of this incredible brewery need to put this one on their wants list, right up there at the top. Plenty of bite.

After my official review, I gave Cherry Fred From The Wood a rating of 4.52, with an rDev of +6.1%.

Cheers everyone, and I will see you all soon.

 

I know right?

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. The wind, although much slower gusts, really hasn’t stopped since Thursday night. Other than that a rather nice grey day here on the island. Shot some hoops earlier and did a bunch of housework. Really looking forward to my first week of vacation in just two weeks.

My first new beer today is Thomas Hardy’s Ale, a barley wine, from Meantime brewing in god damn England. The brew checks in 11.7% abv, and is the 2017 vintage with a Bby date of 6/17/27.

The pour yields a rich amber color with blond highlights. Hazy clarity with a moderate white head that dissipates rather quickly. The nose is big and floral with sugars and fruit. Rather smooth and dry upfront with some definite weight provided by the high abv. A smooth and sweet flow that finishes pleasantly bitter. Lots of nice candied fruit notes. I’m getting figs, raisins, and plums. Additional notes of caramel, brown sugar, and I really get a sort of butterscotch flavor. Full bodied and nicely booze with just the right amount of stick to it.

Overall, just very nice stuff. A style that seems to have deminished a bit in recent years but one I really enjoy. These are shelf turds, at one of my stores, so I’ll be buying more. I’m in the 4.2 range here players,

 

Hey what's going on?

Beer drinking that's what... and it's about dam time...

Taking it pretty straight-forward and a little easier these days. Managed to survive not getting hit by tree limbs, so I am grateful for that this weekend.

Looking for a nice simple winding day down, will be heading out to dinner later, for a nice change of pace. Although, last night I made killer carnitas which was great!

So what's new for our hero today?



Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass. Packaged December 5th 2017.

Big opaque and dark walnut red body color, barely any light getting through the body at all. Pours slightly inky but with a rich and light looking texture. Faint mocha and nice tan color, fleeting half top head but leaving a very large bubbled collar.

Hints of cherry kirsch like brandy character on the nose, but without large booze. Hints thick oak a little, and soft sweet roast qualities. Fruit dominates at first, but moves away after sometime, letting more coffee and chocolate notes come through, bitter and thick in many ways. Quite a nice mixture going on.

Palate takes a bit unexpected turn. Tart cherries on first sip that dominate. Mid palate fills with touches of acidic cherry juicy with an extremely wet body. Finishes watery and almost metallic tasting. What is surprising, is what seems to be missing from the hinted nose. No roast quality or chocolate flavors. No hints of sweetness or even oak like flavors and texture. Extremely ordinary texture, with a light body for a barrel aged beer.

So where's the rich barrel and even roast qualities one would find on a barrel aged stout here? Starts off quite solid and comes out pretty underwhelming unfortunately. Drinkable, but tastes like an ordinary fruited stout, and a one note flavor for that.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25 | BA Generated Score: 3.55

Salud!

 

I had no sex or political dreams last night, but I do have a beer new to me from a brewery I respect and have had the pleasure to visit.

3.97/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz can stamped "Best by 05/08/18" to a tulip.
Body is deep amber, not hazy buy not see-through. Head is frothy, high and "chunky". Head fades in about 3-minutes to nice lacing with small bubbles on the surface and a remaining "island" of froth. Maybe I could retire on that island.
Aroma is a balanced hop/malt mix, each distinguishable, but yet simultaneous.
Taste follows, but the two are separated and in reverse order from many beers. Nice sweet coating up front, fades almost instantly to hop bite with a real dry finish.
Overall nice.

 

Like, Charles Bronson Death Wish? That dude was a huge badass!

 

New beer #5. Fucking weird @TheIPAHunter .

Place To Be - Tired Hands
Pizza IPA - 6.5% abv
Canned 2/22/18 (10 days ago)
Score: 3.74 (+9.4% rDev)



L - 2 finger fluffy white head atop a dirty orange/brown body.

S - italian pizza spices. Some sweetness, a little booze. Very unusual.

T - oregano, parsley, rosemary. Very odd. It tastes like food, not beer. I’m confused.

F - medium body and carb.

O - Super weird. Super spicy like a pumpkin beer, but with italian spices. I’m at a loss for words.

 

Einstok Icelandic Wee Heavy

I’m moving from a Scottish Scotch ale to an Icelandic version. The success of this brewery (both in terms of the drinking experiences and Stateside store presence) has always surprised me. They are a welcome addition to the shelves.

Beer is a dull hazy brown. Head is great but the carbonation doesn't get in the way. This one is made with smoked Icelandic barley (birch wood?) and angelica root (which Vikings used as currency). The smoked malt immediately announces that this is more of a "craft" version of a Scotch ale than Scottish.

Having said that, the smoked malt here doesn't assert itself as if it was a Rauchbier (as is also the case with some other US "Scotch ales"). It's subtle here... not "smokey." This doesn't have the fruity sweetness of the Traquair ale either. It's meaty and bitter. I don't want to say that this is the influence of the smoked malt, but perhaps I'm lying to myself in thinking that. It really feels like the burnt end of a piece of beef. Feel is viscous in an oily way but not due to a heavy body.

I find the entire lineup of beers from this brewery to be pretty well integrated offerings. In some ways, they feel like a US craft brewery from a time capsule. I enjoyed the Traquair Jacobite more, but in terms of cost per ounce, this beer is a success even if it could use a touch more personality (talk of Viking currency is only good for labels).

 

Still not worth the price tag. I’d rather have more Alien Church

 

I feel that I can now retire my jealousy over all the great beer you drink because of this post, haha! Please, when the time comes, don’t post the ketchup Hefeweizen.

 

You live in an amazing part of the country. I haven't been out there since the 90s, and I miss it dearly- especially after seeing those photos. I still remember the hike to the top of the falls one year, because it literally convinced me to quit smoking I was so winded. That hike was worth it in a number of ways, I guess .

Anyway, I love living vicariously through you folks, so keep those pics coming. Cheers!

 

Still taking care of a few things, I will be opening it up soon!