New Beer Sunday (Week 719)

Greetings fellow NBSers! A sunny but chilly day here in The Fourth Corner. Several of us have birthdays within about a 10 day window, so the last two weeks have been pretty beery, even by my standards. My buddy Chris' birthday was yesterday, and today he's throwing a 12 pound turkey into his rotisserie, so I'll be heading over there in a while.

Starting of my beery Sunday with The Hemperor, from New Belgium. Not pleasant, all skunk: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/326798/

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A rather gloomy and wet fall day here on the island. Waiting on the rare 4:00 start for the Jets game and just relaxing the rest of the day away with the rest of the games. Had a nice little bout with the god damn flu the past few days but I'm finally feeling good enough for a beer.

My new beer today is Double Dunk, imperial stout w/oreo, from Prairie Artisan Ales. The brew checks in at 11.9% abv and no apparent bottle date. I'm a bit fan of cookies n cream ice cream and oreo milkshakes so I figured this is worth a try.

A black color on the pour with a minimal tan head/ring of bubbles. The nose is full of chocolate malt and sweet lactose. The drinking starts with big notes of slick chocolate malt and sweet sugars up front. A rather lush and smooth flow that finishes bitter sweet. There is a highly sweet decadent feel here. That aspect seems to grow the more I consume and starts to drown out the base stout a bit. I'm not really getting the true oreo cookie flavor per say. I just get a sort of chewy chocolate cookie note. Additional flavor notes of vanilla, brown sugar, smoke, sweet milk and black licorice. Full bodied with a sweet, heavy and lush feel.

Overall, I saw some high reviews from those who's opinions I respect but this is just not doing it for me. My taste might be a bit off from being sick so I may have to revisit. Right now, I'm in the decent but not great area. It doesn't taste like an oreo for me. I'm at a 4 at best here players,

 

2nd new beer for today, and I'm staying with the BA Stouts. So the local beer joint got a case of Victory Java Cask. As in one.

I could just get by by saying this beer is just incredible. Because it is.

Roasty, toasty, nice use of Chinook, and Cascade hops, nice blending of One Village Coffee, a big boy at 14.3abv. Medium body, so very similar to KBS, this a barrel monster, but the soft chocolate lightens the finish. If you like bourbon, chocolate, coffee this should so easily please. A little alcohol of the finish as well, but the chocolate and bourbon last forever.

Case worthy, I'm going to buy whatever is left on the shelf and I'm not telling where it is. IMO as enjoyable at Kbs without the Kbs price tag.

 

I have one more beer to finalize my New Beer Style day.

Braggot, as defined by Beer Advocate:

"With references dating into the 12th century, Braggot was historically made by blending spices and herbs with mead and beer. Many taverns would make this blend right at the bar, though brewers would also blend them as well. The ultimate goal is a beverage with perceivable honey and beer qualities (meaning malt, hops and/or yeast) that compliment each other, though not necessarily equally present. Ideally, there should be a balance between the honey character and malt flavor with the hop bitterness not overpowering the sweetness while remaining noticeable."



Rogue Farm's Marionberry Braggot.

Pours a dark plum that shows translucence around the edges. There is no head. Aroma is plum, raisins, cardonney, grapes, and honey in a complex whirlwind of notes. A touch of heat seeps through via the alcohol. Flavor profile is plum, raisins, grapes and a pleasant honey finish. It opens with fruity notes and closes with a fierce, notable honey quality. Toasty, earthy, caramely malts and light herbal hops add a little complexity. Heat meets the palate late in the flavor profile, but swells to a very notable, and unavoidable, level. Mouth feel is medium in thickness with a consistent, velvety texture that feels like static signal on the tongue. Flat lined overall, but bumpy. Overall, a very intriguing beer with notes of the underlying beer coming through, before mead comes through and completely takes over.

Score: 3.5 | 4 | 3.75 | 3.5 | 3.5 | BA Score: 3.72 | rDev: -0.8%

Personal notes: this leaves me 3 styles away from finishing the current list. Unfortunately, this is the last of my style 'ticking' for the day. I hope to revisit this style with another example at some point next year.

 

I’ve never seen that variant, but now I’m on the lookout. Sounds amazing!

 

I've only had one and that was from Buriel. I thought it was outstanding, I believe it was Ritual Knife.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @cjgiant for getting us underway.

My first NBS in a couple weeks. Last weekend I was having a delayed Thanksgiving at the parental palace in my hometown. Lots of food and drink were consumed, and I got to play the goofy, cool uncle for my nieces, leaving little time for NBS. The Sunday before that, I wasn't in a beer reviewing mood, as I'd slipped on some ice on my way home from seeing Steven Wilson in concert the night before and was heavily bruised and sore.

This weekend, the football gods smiled on me and my college teams. UW won a defensive slugfest against Utah for the Pac-12 title and my Eagles defeated Nicholls St in an FCS playoff game that wasn't as close as the score indicated.

Today I pre-funked watching the Seahawks game with my first geuze-an Oregon geuze, anyway:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/313291/?ba=woemad#review
Really dug this. Very well balanced.

 

Remedy's Re-Source.

Pours black with a finger of khaki foam. Head retention is good. Aroma is huge notes of roasty, cold-pressed coffee. It's expressive, bold, rounded coffee notes without a particular focus on any notes. Roasty, toasty, and earthy malts add some depth and bitterness to the aroma. It smells dark, but a little overcooked. Flavor profile is bold cold-press coffee. Coffee is bold and expressive, but thin, quickly revealing notes of earthy, roasty, toasty, and nutty malts. Quality notes with the ABV (5%) considered. Mouth feel is fizzling, with a little bubbly, fuzz coming through adding a touch of texture. It has a medium-thin consistency. Overall, big coffee, but not super expressive. Underlying stout is simplistic, but tight in consistency.

Score: 4 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4.25 | BA Score: 4.15 | rDev: -0.7%

Personal notes: A totally different stout from Barrel Aged Coffee Shop Vibes, barrel use aside. This one could be drank all day, anywhere. Coffee Shop Vibes is more of a one-and-done. Which has me thinking, and maybe I'll start a thread on it - but do you consider ABV when reviewing/rating a beer? On paper, both of these beers are coffee beers, but one is much more expressive, at the cost of only being able to drink so much in a day.

 

Good Afternoon BAs thanks to @cjgiant for the start today it looks like the remodel will be finished tomorrow and the furniture moving can start. It has been a long little over a week and i am ready to get things back to normal hopefully before Christmas travels


Starting the day with a coffee porter from Sweetwater Exodus Jamaican Coffee Porter. i am not sure how old the can is someone gave to me it has a best by 12/13/18 so I assume what I am experiencing is what they wanted me to experience. This thing has great head retention it falls short for me on the nose I do not get any coffee and it is a little overcarbed for a porter.






Appearance 4.25 - Pours dark cola color with thick light tan head with excellent retention. Once ti settles it forms a thin ring with spotty lacing.

Aroma 3.5 - Lots of roasted malts and chocolate, coffee may have fallen off a bit I am not getting much coffee at all. Light vanilla combined with a nutty aroma.

Taste 4 - Lots of chocolate, roasted malts, the coffee comes out much better for me in the taste than the nose. There is again the light vanilla taste on the finish. Bitter nut shell taste on the finish as well that seems to go away once it warms a bit.

Feel 3.5 - Feel is light side of medium, carbonation is a little high gives a little prickly feel on the tongue. Slightly dry finish.

Overall - Wanted a little more coffee or some in the nose and the carbonation was a little high. taste is very nice.

 

New brewery opened up on Bostons South Shore. Have tried a couple of brews from Stellwagen and they show some promise. Here is my review of Folded Space their new stout

4.1/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

“It’s always fun to see how many flavors you can coax out of just 4 simple ingredients of malt, water, hops and yeast. Full bodied with rich layers of bittersweet chocolate, coffee, roast and toffee notes that intertwine with hints of dark fruit.”

ABV: 9.3%
MALT: Maris Otter, Wheat, Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Special B, Flaked Oats
HOPS: Columbus

Can poured into a snifter

Dark brown liquid, two finger crackly , frothy brown foam cap, recedes slowly, sticky lacings

Aroma of chocolate, toffee and roast malts

Taste is chocolate, roast malts

Mildly sweet, not bitter, roasted notes linger

Good beer

 

I'm long overdue for some NBS action. I haven't been reviewing a lot of beers lately. The only real reason is that I just haven't felt like it. I'm sure I'll come back soon enough.

The today couple weekends have been spent decorating for Christmas. Today is the end with the decoration of the trees. I've been enjoying this beer while we do it.



Pours a light straw yellow color with a champaign-like head on the pour, which created a huge, soapy white head but minimal lacing.

The smell explodes with citrus on the front and a great barnyard funk that comes through strongly.

The taste puts the funk at the front with a strong hit of sour followed by the citrus coming through on the end.

The mouthfeel is smooth and medium/thick with strong carbonation.

Overall this is an excellent beer with great, complex flavors.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Another usual weekend, nothing new. New beer hauls for all BCBS and other things. Will be getting a doctor checkup this week for the first time in a while. Hopefully I'm not dying, but wouldn't care either way.

Beer:

Very nice Munich Helles. Fantastic head retention/thick soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of cracker, white bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, light honeyed malts; and some herbal, floral, grassy, peppery hops. A bit fruity aromas, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, fairly crisp finishing. Creamy/bready/grainy Munich malts, and some sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very smooth, pretty refreshing, 5.5%. Very clean lager flavors, minimal fruity/yeasty. Nicely clean and rich Pils/Munich malt showcase, and great noble hop presence/balance. Well made style example. 3.81


DFH RIS. This was amazing! Fantastic head retention/lacing. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, juicy/tart raspberries, fruit skin/seed, coffee, roasted nuts, vanilla, cream, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, and toasted dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, smoke, charcoal, raisin, prune, fig, date, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, grassy, peppery hop; roast/char bitterness; and light fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body. Very creamy, silky, bready malts; some sticky hops, chalky char/roast, and fruit tang/acidity in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing hop/char bitter dryness, no cloying/acrid flavors. Dangerously smooth sipping, minimal warming 10%. Amazingly balanced rich malts, jammy raspberries, cocoa, vanilla, and earthy hops against sweetness. Spot on RIS and dessert stout at the same time. Nailed everything. 4.33


Cheers

 

Good afternoon NBSers! Life lines up a little better for me this week to participate while I help my son with his math, watch the Pats, and pack up some boxes. Sunday Funday.

First up is Punctuated Equilibrium from Speciation. Those of you that know me know how much I adore this brewery. This particular brew is from their "staff small batch" series, where they let their employees write a recipe, brew it, and release it in a small batch. This is the third in the series, created by Quinn, and it is a grisette aged in Chardonnay barrels:



Thin white head immediately dissipates, leaving just a tiny ring around the outside of the glass. The liquid is moderately cloudy and a dark straw color. The nose is fruity, a bit of hay quickly overtaken by white grapes, apple, and banana. This is extremely light on the palate, like a German hefe and a nice saison had a baby and gave it a bath in a chardonnay barrel. Extremely crushable, but with some interesting notes to explore. Crisp mouthfeel and short clean finish. Definitely a fun brew.

 

Good evening NBS!! This afternoon I bought the Boon Geuze Discovery Box and trying to take it all down today and make two blends. I’m eating dinner between the first two and the last two.

First up was VAT 91

4.3/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

375 ml bottle, bottled 12/19/16, poured into a flute

A- A slightly hazy gold copper with a three finger white head

S- Sour, oak, barnyard funk, some peppercorns, some lemons, floral, hints of wheat

T- Nice barnyard funk, tart, some lemons, touch of pears, peppercorns, a little floral

M- Smooth, medium body, soft/fluffy

O- A very nice geuze, great balance, very easy to drink



Working on finishing VAT 92 and some water while eating

4.09/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

375 ml bottle, bottled 12/14/16, poured into flute

A- A fairly clear golden copper with a two finger white head

S- Tart, barnyard funk, herbal tea, oak, touch of red wine, a faint hint of smoke

T- Tart, funky, tannins, some red wine, oak, a mild smokiness

M- Smooth, medium to full body

O- A solid geuze, easy to drink, but not as good as VAT 91


So far this box is really fun and informative. I can’t wait to crack open 108 and 110 in a little. I will check in later with those two bottles and my costume blends later, cheers!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. It's an unseasonably mild but rainy, murky day here in New Jersey. I had planned to review a whiskey barrel aged Stout from Cape May Brewing this afternoon but a stop at Kane yielded an unexpected bottle of Medovik, a "Russian Honey Cake Stout" brewed with honey, graham cracker, and cinnamon, and conditioned on vanilla beans. It was released a couple weeks ago and I was surprised that bottles were still available. Now, I wish I had bought more. I'm not familiar with Russian honey cake but this stout has a unique combination of flavors. I was a little skeptical of honey and cinnamon but it works very well. The flavors are delicate and blend very nicely. This is delicious! I'm pouring the rest into a growler to enjoy later. Here's my full review:

4.29/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from 750 ML bottle into Kane tulip glass. It pours a very dark walnut color with slight cola hues, and a large, frothy, medium-khaki cap and spotty lacing. The nose features light roasted malt, fresh coffee, chocolate, honey, cinnamon, and vanilla. It smell becomes more evident as it warms. This is unique and delicious. It opens with freshly-brewed coffee, honey, and cinnamon. At mid-sip I pick up chocolate, vanilla, and graham cracker. It finishes with a dose of bitter char. The flavors come in waves but they compliment each other very well. The tastes are easily recognizable yet delicate. I don't think I've ever had this combination of flavors. Then again, I haven't had Russian honey cake. This stout has a medium mouth feel with moderate carbonation, and at 9.7% ABV it's a big stout without overwhelming. It's clearly a dessert stout and a mighty fine one. It appears this is a limited release and I wish I bought another bottle or two.

I hope you're all enjoying your new beer(s) today. I hope to be back with a beer from a new-to-me brewery in Pennsylvania. Cheers, NBS!

 

New Dark Lager Sunday (Week 719)
Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Incredibly wet here with the last of the foot of snow now showing only as the grey remains of shovel piles, and some small piles are islands now in moving streams of melt and rain. Only the second time this property has puddled this severely in the 30 years I've been here, and the only other time was Hurricane Floyd, so... Very impressive, not in a good way. On a positive note the cellar hasn't flooded. And good beer is in glass. Industrial Arts Winter Landscape, a Dark Lager that hasn't been added here yet, and not sure what style name to use to enter it. Open to suggestions from those few who have tried this.

Not gonna go crazy with a review to style, since I have no clue what style this is supposed to be. If it had smoke I could see it as a rauchbier, if it had noble hops going on and more bready, maybe European Dark Lager. Seems too dark and roasty to be an amber lager. So, does it matter? It does not. The short and sweet of this beer is it is sort of like a Dunkel meets a Cascadian Dark Ale, and the results are amazing. Definitely one of the top ten new beers I have tried this year. All the flavors in the aroma are balanced and present in the taste. Dark caramel, espresso, and slightly burnt toast are the main players, but there are subtle grapefruit and burnt barley bitter notes that don't overwhelm, and have no ashy or acrid flavors There are subtle tickles of licorice and herbally cola notes I catch every occasionally as it warms, like flavor ghosts. Also more subtle grainy notes appear, I swear I get spicy rye taste. This is just sweet enough to make the whole work and it works so well. What a fucking beer! If you see this, get it, I am back to my store to buy the remaining cans soon as I'm able.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!