New Beer Weekend #108

Black Cat Moan

11.3% stout by 8one8 Brewing

Poured from a pint can. Body pours dark black with little head. Not much lacing during tasting.

Nose is a nice malty char. Taste follows nose with some coffee and accompanied by a good hop bite which effectively hides the ABV.

Carbonation was low and mouthfeel was light but not unpleasant. I slowly sampled this stout, allowing it to warm to room temperature.

Good stout strong in power, nice hoppy presence and offered without affectation.

 

Happy birthday!

 

Decided to crack this since its my Birthday.
And holy crap this is damn good.
Cocoa Colored beautiful head.
Cocoa powder on the nose as well as espresso, vanilla and spices.
Head lingers as the 14% abv lurks but never overpowers. Nice bourbon and oak with white pepper, sweet black cherry, coffee, caramel. Just layers of incredible dark fruits, licorice and spices. Body is lighter than you would think for a dark fruity beer. Still medium but astoundingly drinkable.
One hell of a good beer. Feeling some bourbon burn now. The buzz is real.
Fantastic brew IMHO. Im not a huge pastry stout guy so this fits the bill with all that character and not the sludgly body. Loved it.

 

Happy birthday and great choice - an awesome brew!

 

Aslan - Captain Ron

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 07/26/22.

Pours hazy whitish-orange with a big head, like three fingers or so, that collapses slowly and leaves thick clumpy lacing. Smell is mildly resinous, fruit skin and citrus pith, a little bit of pineapple.

Taste is kind of similar, leaning a bit more toward pith and fruit skin and away from juice.

Mouthfeel is dry and slightly chalky. Overall, it's not bad.

 

September Fest

5.6% festbier by Wolf’s Ridge

Poured from a twelve ounce can dated July 15, 2022. Body is an Amber that's slightly cloudy. Small initial head and good lacing during the tasting.

Aroma is a hearty wheat nose of cracker and bread along with a touch of caramel. Taste follows nose and adds a bit of hoppiness which serves to balance.

Carbonation is light and mouthfeel is good. This one is a drinker - perfect for an Oktoberfest celebration.

 

Hi again. Back with Sam Smith's Imperial Stout. Hard to believe I haven't had this but I haven't so here we are.



Pours an excellent, dirthy, viscous and full bodied dark, deep black. No light bleed. Head is hanging around and is deep earthy brown. Nose gives huge elements of baltic porter, like zywiec or black boss: toffee, caramalt and some solid residual brown sugar leading into a hint of oxidized hops (nose), liqourice (licorice?), plum, cane sugar, maybe some smoke (but the weber is going so who knows)

Hell of a beer, really complex. Those notes above all pertain just the same in the flavor, but just in phases. Like from fruity to chocolatey to smokey and on and on just evolving.

4.39/5 rDev +5.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

This is wonderful. Cheers and have a great Sunday!

 

Toppling Goliath King Sue - Their beers have been in my area for a while now but carry a hefty pricetag and although the reviews are great and I figured I would like them, I'm not one to spend too much on beer because I have an enjoyment scale with it aka did I enjoy beer A that much more than cheaper beer B? Usually the answer is no and beer is not like some of the other things in life for me.

I found a single canned on 06/09, BB 10/07/22 but judging by the packs it came from it has been refrigerated the entire time so I'm not that concerned. Pours a very hazy orange juice color, thick head. Smell is straight fruit. Taste is excellent and there is a lot going on here but it's very balanced and the ABV is well hidden. Citra is a good hop and one of my favorites and this beer's simplicity is also what makes it complex and I'm glad that there's not a lot of added stuff.

It's a great beer but would I spend $20+ for a four pack? I still would not. I would gladly drink this anytime if handed one, though, and it's everything I like about a well done hazy IPA. Budmo!

 

First day back from vacation and all the recreating must have worn us out. Neither of us had a lick of energy today. Did check the garden - we got a bunch of different tomato varieties this year and due to late planting ripening is just getting underway. So fresh Taxi and Black Krim tomatoes, fresh farm stand corn, with the ultimate cop out - store bought rotisserie chicken....

So in the glass:



Definitive Brewing Camp Beer - designed to be an easy drinker with wide appeal basically for hanging out. BA says its a helles. So let's get to it.

Pours a slightly hazy brassy color with an apparently uncontrollable soapy white head. That lasts...and lasts... finally falling to a heavy ring with a nice residual mound, lots of cling to the glass.

The smell is sweet and bready, just a bit of spicy hop character with a little lemon floats on top.

Tastes like a beer...it's simple and strsightforward. Slightly sweet opening, lots of malt that is a combination of bready and crackery. After the swallow there is a slight spiciness and even later in the aftertaste there is a pretty decent hit of lemon. Bitter goes through quickly and there is a very slight yeasty sulphury taste, but VERY slight.

The feel is a little more substantial than a pilsner, so while refreshing it feels a bit richer.

Overall, a good beer for just drinking. Good price relatively speaking. Going to land around 3.75 or so.

 

Birthday party for one of my soccer mates. I am known to bring “German Gatorades” for the post match festivities. Brought a variety of beer including this one. New brewery for me



chopping wood - Czech style Pilsener by mountains walking



4.24/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Brewers notes : Traditional Czech Pilsner brewed with Bohemian Floor-Malted Pilsner Malt and 100% Czech Saaz Hops. This lagerbier is meticulously crafted, decoction mashed, naturally carbonated and cold-conditioned for 2 months before being packaged. It's bold, grassy hop bitterness, bready malts, and clean finish are a quick trip to Prague and Plzen! Na zdrawie!

Can poured into a plastic wine glass, thin white foamy layer over a translucent golden liquid

Aroma is malts, grassy, lemony , whiff of peppery spice

Taste is crackery , grassy, hint of lemon, hint of light peppery spice

Clean , crisp, crushable , semi dry finish

Good beer

 

Poured into a snifter a medium brown with a tall manilla colored head that was very tall.
The aroma was sweet malts, but not sugar sweet, more dark chocolate sweet.
The taste was excellent, so good, dark fruit, dark molasses, mild malts and yeast for a mild grassy touch.
The feel was very good, just very smooth and drinkable.
OA, darn tasty dubbel, will gladly drink again.
Cheers all!

 

3.27/5 rDev -7.9%

look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Poured from a 16 ounce can dated 6/14/22 into an IPA glass.

Look- Straw, sudsy white head, very hazy, no visible particulate, below average lacing, average head retention.

Smell- Guava, passionfruit, pineapple, grassy.

Taste- Moderately astringent, underripe guava, very pithy, woody clementine/pineapple finish.

Feel- Between thin and medium body, moderate astringency, low bitterness, average carbonation, soft, mildly mouth watering finish.

Overall- Moderately astringent NEIPA with flavors and bouquet of underripe fruit.

 

I have no brain energy left to put towards reviewing a beer today after the family gathering and a 3.75 hr drive but a small world story about that Cremo beer... @Coronaeus

My grampy owned a destruction company in Connecticut, he passed away when I was a kid and my uncle took over the company. At our family gathering today I showed him the beer and said check out this cool story, he instantly goes "oh yea I took that place down” so my uncle tore down the original cremo brewery, wasn't a brewery when he tore it down obviously, I forget what he said it was but it is the building where the beer was brewed. When I got home I get a text that says “a little history for you nephew”



I look forward to catching up on what I missed later tomorrow and I look forward to next week.

Have a great week everyone, cheers.

 

It has been a rather long weekend. It started with good news, as three beer packages en route to US based Beer Advocates and that had been stuck at ‘inbound into customs’ for a week, finally started moving on Saturday morning. In fact, one was actually delivered Saturday afternoon! That said, the rest of the weekend was all work and no play. I had a new beer last night, but was far too tired to comment on it. Tonight, with the kids in bed, my wife finishing up some work, and me with nothing left to do, a beer was calling my name loudly. I’ve been looking to try this one for some time now, so was pleased when a great BA slipped one into a box sent my way recently.



Hamm’s

Pours a bright light harvest gold with strong bubbly head that dissipates fairly quickly, leaving a a noticeable ring around the top of the glass. Light lacing as the beer was enjoyed.

A strong corn quality hits the nose first. The slightest green apple note pokes through along with a very faint grassy quality.

Light malty character on the tongue. Corn, but not sweet. None of the apple that was in the nose hits the tongue.

Bright and effervescent. Lighter body.

This about as good an AAL as I’ve had. It is very light and clean and the corn quality isn’t at all sweet. I’d be happy to have this again. Cheers!

 

Welcome to New Beer Sunday #912!

I’m drinking a smoked cask beer that might be new, not certain as I don’t see a 4.5% Helles Marzen (it’s 5.4%). I’m with my brother in Vegas so not researching further, but will PM Frank if I need to add a new beer.

Aecht Schlenkerla Helles Marzen Rauchbier



Bar Notes: This beer is fully Krausened, like OG Old Style. This beer is unfiltered and poured from a cask filled by their importer in Oxford, Connecticut then sent directly to Vegas. This may be a different beer then the Marzen listed at 5.1% ABV. This beer is listed as a Helles Marzen at 4.5% ABV. Enjoying at my favorite Beer Bar on Earth, The Silver Stamp in Beautiful Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.

Appearance: Upon shining a bright light on it in this dark bar, I get a nice bronze pour, nor carb out of the wooden keg, creamy foam after the pour and leaves a creamy cover over the base the whole 16 shake pint pour. Looks very good. 4.25

Aroma: Very smokey roast malt leads, a sweet breast backing. Strong and very pleasant. 4.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, though flipped, with a sweet bread, pumpernickel and fruit cake lead, the smokey roast malt more mellow and works really well in tandem. Amazing. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Light slightly creamy body, very light alcohol wise, a nice balance between the sweet bread malt and the Smokey roast malt flavors. Switches between light smokey and sweetness on the finish. Loving it either way. 4.25

Overall: This is a great unfiltered marten by the always great beers from Heller-Trum. Going to straighten out whether this needs to be added to the database this week, but in the interim, I’m going to drink as much possible before the keg runs out. 4.5

Hope to catch up the thread tomorrow.

Cheers!

 

Glad to see these guys are still alive & kicking

 

Happy Birthday again, since I did it 15 minutes early last night.

 

Have a good Sunday. I was up assembling a 72 inch black shelf in our bedroom at 2AM, now we don't have any books on the floor downstairs, and we can get another 36 inch one for the top of the shelf in the living room. I slept until 830PM after going to sleep around 8AM. I bought Anno 1440 and will play that tonight. Made some air fryer frozen burgers with deluxe american cheese. So good.

Also RIP spiegelau ipa glass, I knocked it off my desk while typing this But anyways it was getting stained and the design makes it hard to clean. I am going to order some from crate and barrel and get a few this week.





This is the NBS BIF from @snaotheus . Iron Horse Quilters Irish Death. Great strong ale. Great soapy lacing and head retention. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread/crust, toast, nuttiness, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, pine; lighter notes of cocoa, coffee, raisin, fig, date, and yeast/roasted earthiness. Moderate pine, herbal, woody, spicy, roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; creamy/bready malts, some sticky hops, and light chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Slight lingering resins and long lingering bitter/roast drying finish, no cloying/acrid/astringent flavors. Minimal warming alcohol of 7.8%. As indicated by the name this is basically just an imperial Irish red. Nice rich malt complexity, with balanced earthy hops, and restrained fruity Irish yeast complexity. No complaints. 4


Cheers