New Beer Sunday (Week 760)

Bittersweet “new beer Sunday” , best friend, the guy on the right, passed away four years ago due to undiagnosed high blood pressure so each September I do a little toast to Big Bass Bob ( his nickname due to uncanny ability to find large fish),... been saving the Foreign Extra for this day. So Beer Advocates, please raise s glass and cheers to all

 

A Lost Nation Mosaic (5.5% abv.) preceded this new Skadoosh XXXIII: Mosaic on my Sunday beer menu. Such a wonderful concept from John K. with his Skadoosh series in which he uses the same grain bill with different hops. This may be the 3rd or 4th time he's used Mosaic hops, but each time he uses a different format of the hops and/or a different hop schedule.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46317/439605/



16 oz. can.
Two different forms of Mosaic hops were used at two different times in the brewing process for this bad boy. Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a golden straw colored body with nice, sticky lacing. Dank nose of citrus, a little pine, and a tiny bit of tropical fruit with some earthy wet leaves kind of thing going on. Taste mirrors nose with a dank, dry, bitter finish. This is the real dank deal right here. Wonderful Skadoosh feel and overall, a real dank pleasure to experience. Cheers and dank you very much!!

 

Pietra Amber from @Shanex. Very good Vienna lager. Great rocky head retention, spotty lacing, and clarity. Aromas and flavors of brown sugar, brown bread dough, toasted biscuit, and light caramel/nutty/roasted malts; with some herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery hops and yeast earthiness. A bit too fruity/yeasty aromas, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Fairly clean lager flavors, not too fruity yeasty. Smooth, pretty refreshing, no warmth of 6%. Nicely clean vienna malt showcase, and noble hop presence/balance. Mild residual sweetness with crisp dryness. Well made for the style, just wish it was a bit cleaner. 3.78


Cheers

 

Romantic Movies? Not really my bag, But When Harry Met Sally & African Queen would be my top 2

Prairie Karate Chimp Sour ale with Tangerine & Apricots, 5.4% ABV. 3.84 overall

Pours an effervescent & hazed honey color with a sliver of beige colored head. Stays effervescent throughout. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Pears, citrus

T: Tart orange, dryness a little apricot up front. More tartness, apricots & citrus as this warms. Finishes dry/tart with citrus & apricot

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation

Pretty solid take on the style, but there is a sameness to these sours Prairie does, good, not great

 

I watched the African Queen a few weeks ago, great movie. The look on his face when she was throwing all his Gin into the water was priceless.

 

Wasn't gonna post again, but you guys have blown me away with your kindness. I need as much motivation as possible to beat this thing, and returning to join all you wonderful folks is certainly gonna help. Been a pleasure to know you all for all these years, and I hope to be back. Thanks again, you have made this old hippy a happy man today. Cheers!

 

I like the Mount Rushmore analogy. I wish I had thought of it. Dave and Maria certainly deserve to be there.

 

New Beer Sunday: American Imperial IPA

Evenin’ NBSers with a report on a big brother to one of my all-time favorite IPAs

This evening’s new beer is the Double Two Hearted from Bell’s.

My review, which will be in progress for a while, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/172944/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors are much as expected from having had the regular Two Hearted, there’s grapefruit, some floral character and some pine resin. There’s also some rich caramel from the malt and a bit of peppery spiciness. The alcohol isn’t really noticeable until the warmth begins to spread. So I’d say this is a sippable and enjoyable beer but one that is also a one a night beer to have “every little once in a while.” Double Two Hearted is clearly a big brother to Two Hearted but each stands on its own as being well made and each is enjoyable in its own way.

While waiting for the Eagles-Falcons game to start there are a few Opera excerpts on the player tonight. For example, one of the most famous love duets....



Cheers, all!

 

Its going to be 8 pm EST in five minutes, 7 pm CST, 6 pm MST and 5 pm Pacific. How about a nation wide toast to cavedave, I'm going with Portland Pale Ale from Long Pine.

 

Rustic Leaf Liquid Cobbler - Peaches. Excellent blonde ale. Nice rocky head retention/soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big lightly tart/tangy peaches, fruit skin, cinnamon, vanilla, graham cracker, toast, nuttiness, and biscuit dough; with lighter notes of pear, red apple, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness; cinnamon spiciness; and fruit tan/tartness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp finishing. Creamy/bready/grainy malts; some sticky spice, and fruit tang in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter/spicy/tart/tangy dryness; no astringency. Refreshingly smooth, zero warming 6.3%. Awesome balance of juicy peaches, cinnamon, vanilla, clean malts, and earthy hops. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. Tastes spot on to cobbler flavors 4


Cheers

 

Woodgrain Four Roses Bourbon BA Confectioner Stout, 14.2% ABV. Pours black with a slight ring of brown bubbles from an aggressive pour. Nose is bourbon and chocolate, taste follows, with light bitterness, and some sweetness. Decent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Coincidentally, I had a 2017 BCBS earlier today and to me they taste identical. Or, perhaps closer to BCBS 2018 Prop, which was heavy on chocolate.

4.31/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

I am not having a beer right now, but I join you in the toast with Macallan Edition 4. Let us not forget @AyatollahGold in this toast as well.

 

Go Birds , and that Big Boy got me pretty good the other night. For me a one only from here on out. That 11% is very well hidden.

 

It was a picture perfect early Fall day here in the kingdom. Beautiful blue skies with the infrequent high, lacy cloud, seemed to hang around 70 degrees with no humidity. Great for spending time in the 88 degree hot tub with the grandson, who is alternatively a shark, frog, or scuba diver.

We are in one of the zones plagued with EEE virus, and were saddened to learn this morning that the brother of one of our church family has made the news as one of the afflicted. In the hospital, 30% chance of survival right now. The odds come to mind here...of all the people living in the region and the somewhat small percentage of mosquitos carrying the virus, plus the precautions everyone is taking, these two things manage to intersect and impact a person we know. And the stark reminder...a tiny insect, horse, and an infinitessimally small ball of DNA that is arguably not even an organism can combine to end you and there's damn near fuck-all you can do about it. A bit ashamed to admit as a native of the area with a degree in biology, I don't know much about a disease I have heard about since childhood.

On to more pleasant things, and this has turned out to be a real treat:



I snagged the last four pack at one of my local haunts last Saturday afternoon. Founder's Underground Mountain Brown graces my glass. It doesn't look nearly as dark as the picture, more like weak, diluted coffee brown with a khaki head that I would call rocky. The foam falls to a thin layer, but clings with tenacity to the glass. The nose is assailed by coffee, vanilla, kind of a brown sugar caramel, and well done toast. There is a kiss of bourbon barrel character, but no indication of the ample ABV.

The flavor somehow manages to be assertive yet light. No doubt, a lot going on. There is coffee, brown sugar caramel, and bright, rich, slightly acidic, and slightly bitter coffee. Very light chocolate. Ample vanilla that lends a sweetness, balancing the tannic predecessor the barrel. It is sweet, but not to the point of annoyance. There is a bit of alcohol sting in the taste, but I wouldn't call it hot at all. It feels medium to heavy bodied, and the flavors linger gloriously on the taste buds with just a bit more barrel emerging. Not highly carbonated, very slightly chalky feel on the slightly drying finish.

Diggin' this one, folks. Is it a classic brown ale - maybe too intense for that. Is it a worthy riff on the basic style - gimme an oh hell yeah on that thought. My son just took a sip and we think it is like a stout without actually being a stout...stout light, if you will. If more crosses my path, it will likely follow me home at $14.99 a four pack. Landing zone should be in the 4.2 neighborhood, probably higher.

Cheers, folks.

 

From the convivial Dan...

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41980/239416/



16 oz. can.
Canned 08.21.19.
Best by 10.03.19.

Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a hazy golden body with some lacing. Nose of orange, ruby red grapefruit, and some slight herbal/floral aromas as well; kind of like an orange perfume?!? Taste of sweet citrus, citrus pith, with the pith carrying through to the finish with a slight pine sap bitterness on the finish as well. Very nice feel and overall, what a nice treat for my first pale ale from Dan. Cheers to Dan for this!!!

 

Exquisitely said.

 

Sorry to hear this. Hiking is very good, but you need to really get into it to improve health, but once there, you will know it. Get yourself a bike, also very good. Hope to see ya around, take care.

Cheers!

 

4.22/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Canned 8-21-19
Pours hazy orange, light head and minimal lacing. Aroma is fairly light.. mostly tropical, with a bit of citrus. Taste is heavy on pineapple, mild on stone fruit. Citrus light as well. MF is medium smooth in the front. A little bitter on the backside. Overall, a very good tasting hazy IPA. Love the MF, as it incorporates a nice amount of bitterness to counteract the smooth.

I screwed the pooch on this one..should've bought a 4 pack.