New Beer Weekend #127

Back for the second of four Chicago area R brewery beers for the weekend, this the one planned from another solid suburban brewery, though West vs. Northwest.

Riverlands Amber's Soul



Can Notes: 16 oz canned 10/6/22, purchased at store temperature for $4.75 as a single can at Beer on the Wall on 11/23/22, refrigerated over the past 31 days. Black Rye India Pale Ale. Brewed and packaged by Riverlands Brewing Co. Saint Charles, ILL. 8.2% ABV. Brewed by friends for friends.

A dark and desolate place, full of nothing but vile creatures with nefarious intent. Amber’s Soul is a Black Rye India Pale Ale hopped with Citra, Amarillo, and CTZ hops. As the sky grew darker, it was somehow still daylight out… this brew is a dark force, with a strong body reinforced by rye malts. An opaque liquid that seemingly was not an IPA, yet it was. Balanced with hops and evil intent.

Appearance: Amber has a near pitch black soul, faint browns come through, light impenetrable through the darkness. Cream rich darker tan colour head leaves generous rings of lacing while drinking and as I top off secondary pours into the shaker pint glass. Looks great. 4.75

Aroma: Malty leaning on sweet, getting coffee, milk chocolate and faint rye, comes together well. 4.0

Taste: Rye leads and for that I am grateful, lightly spicy, backed by dark roast coffee and milk chocolate. Citrus asserts its authority after a few sips, just a banquet or rich and wonderful flavors. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Light carbonation persistent throughout, dry and bitter in a good way, the sweet flavors provide balance. Drinks light and easy, now nearly half way in, clean finish, creamy medium body, chocolate and rye linger nicely. 4.5

Overall: I fall easy for this style, especially when it's done well as it is with this beer. This is a great beer for my palate, and if you love rye, malt, coffee and citrus, this is a beer you should pick up. Held up well over 10 weeks. Priced at Beer on the Wall a bit more than other singles, but well worth the price. Brewed for Halloween, held up well and enjoyable for Christmas or any day. Well done Riverwoods! 4.5

 

Good afternoon NBW
Happy I picked up a four pack of this one.

Guinness Old Fashioned Inspired Ale
11.2oz undated bottle poured into a rocks glass at just above fridge temp 10.8% ABV. Medium amber color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and island. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring caramel, cherry, orange and bourbon. The taste is semisweet caramel with added notes of vanilla, cherry, orange and bourbon. Mild bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just below average carbonation and a semi dry finish. ABV is well hidden. Overall, very good.

 

Piggy back question below....

We've always gone natural, my longest held job, other than my career now was working on a tree farm. We still go back every year to get our tree, Frasier Fir this year and with our small house we go about 5 ft tall, and I'd say midway between narrow and fat. Pre kids we had a nature them going with icicles and white lights sprinkled in. We are now at the hodgepodge phase; first year we went with colored lights, I love them, never say never but I think we'll always go color from now on.

I'll piggyback off this one and add a question, post a picture of your favorite ornament and the story behind why...

Our first Leo was born Dec 17 2016, right before Christmas, mrs phisher got me this handblown glass ornament that year that say's "play it leo!" with a noticeable phishy pattern and color combo...the ornament that made me a dad

 

Sorry to hear this about your Dog

 

I can't get the Variants & the regular one is good, but not worth the cost the last few years. As long as I can get Founders or a couple of local options, I can take it or leave it

 

Natural
7' ( they got too expensive for the next size up )
Hodge Podge. A variety of ornaments from Hawaii, Germany, & UK with some old homemade ones from the kids thrown into the mix.

 

New Province Brewing's Beaver Lake S'More Stout, 6.0% ABV; 3.84 overall

Pours a chestnut tinged mahogany with a thumb of tan head. Average-ish head retention & lacing

S: Graham Crackers aplenty, a little vanilla, nose picks up as this beer warms

T: Dryness, Graham Crackers, a little roastyness, cocoa, & vanilla up front. More of the same as this beer warms up, dryness & roastyness is more pronounced. Finishes roasty with marshmallow sweetness & a little cocoa

MF: Medium body, pretty firm carbonation

I wouldn't call this a dessert or pastry Stout, more like a regular one with some bonus flavors. Drinks pretty easy, but I would most likely only buy this again to support the good cause. I like my beers of this ilk bigger & badder

 

Merry Christmas Eve to those New Beer Samplers and commentators who celebrate. I'm taking a brief break from holiday beers to review a new DIPA collaboration between Magnify and Foundation Brewing Company, Peak Epiphany. Based on Magnify's Peak Oil, it has elements of Foundation's Epiphany. It's hopped with Citra, Idaho 7 and Apollo hop oil in the whirlpool and double dry hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, Ella and Apollo hop oil. It was canned four days ago.

It pours a murky, muddy golden tangerine color with more than a finger of fluffy, milk-white head and thick, clinging lacing. A big, dank, fruity nose with lemon, grapefruit, mango, melon, and earthy biscuit. The initial tangerine, melon, and mango tropical sweetness quickly gives way to tart lemon and grapefruit from the Citra and Ella hops and earthy pine from the Apollo. It finishes with considerable bitterness. This ale has a thick, creamy mouthfeel with moderate carbonation and it drinks very easily for 9% ABV. Overall, it's very good although I think I prefer the O.G. Peak Oil.

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

I'm looking forward to reviewing a couple of long-time wants for NBS tomorrow. Holiday cheers, NBW!

 

Here's this year's tree

 

I've only had the Sir Isaac thus far and I really liked it a LOT. The Old Fitz and the 30-Year are the two I was looking forward to the most when I purchased my allotment through the Binny's lottery, so I'm pretty sure I've gotta dig into those two this long Christmas weekend, but I'm going a little different direction this evening whilst grilling a Tomahawk Ribeye tonight for me and Mrs O on the Weber kettle.

Can. Not. Wait.

 

Didn't feel like trying to polish this off during the winter ale tasting - enjoying it now instead. We have an Oregon grown table-top white fir this year with a small collection of ornaments/lights (the latter rarely lasting more than a season at the hands of our young children).

3.76/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

Best before 7/15/2025 - consumed on 12/24/2022. Poured from a caged-and-corked 750mL bottle into my Westvleteren goblet.

Opaque liver liquid supporting a modest stand of dense bone foam, receding to a lasting collar and surface slick. Fine, even lacing; delicate tears.

Brown bread, toasted sugar, and faint floral and clove/cinnamon/orange peel notes in the nose. Pleasant, light.

Bittersweet palate entry with toast, weak coffee/cocoa, orange zest, apple cider, and root beer. Moderate bitterness fades quickly into the fairly dry, somewhat bready/spicy/phenolic finish. Unibroue's signature yeast adds some complexity and maybe a touch more fruit. Improves a bit as it warms.

Smooth, creamy, medium-body with rich carbonation and slightly concealed ABV.

A decent value, well crafted, and not overly spiced winter offering. Always happy to pick this up, though I rarely buy more than one bottle.

 

Lupulin Brewing Schokoladenkuchen Imperial Pastry Stout, 11% ABV. Pours black with a one-finger light-brown head that left no lacing. Nose is German chocolate cake. Taste follows, quite sweet, moderately bitter close, alcohol well hidden. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent. Probably the strongest chocolate taste of any beer I've had, though I docked it for being too bitter.

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Four of these and you'd believe you can pronounce Schokoladenkuchen. Bet Feli From Germany could.

 

Karluv 13 by Schilling




4.35/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Brewers Notes: Pours a rich black with a khaki head. An aroma of cocoa powder and light roasted coffee beans. Robust taste of baker's chocolate and fresh baked pumpernickel bread. Full bodied in the mouth feel, finishing with a pleasant earthy dry character.

Black liquid two finger frothy taupe cap

Aroma is roasted malts , coffee, cocoa powder

Taste is roast malts, no char, hint of coffee, chocolate, cocoa powder

Smooth , soft mouthfeel

Good beer

 

Gmen played a fantastic game but fell short. Should be exciting next week when I go to Metlife with my son to aee the Colts game.
Rare Sat NBW for me.
Hop Butcher Beef Trip'd TIPA
Pours straight up OJ with a slight off white head with great retention for the abv. Lotsa lacing as well.
Candied citrus, mango, passionfruit, peach, sprucy on the nose.
Taste is full flavored fruit; tangerine, tropicals- with a bit of pineapple added. Sweet fruits melds beautifully into a piney bitter finish. Pretty balanced and no hint of the 10.5%!
Medium/full bodied. More aggressively hopped for the style which is nice. Resins on the finish with some green hops. Delicious flavor lingers a long time.
This is an excellent TIPA. Best I can remember. Happy I bought the 4pk.
Try it, youll like it.
Cheers and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays!

 

Switching things up for beer #3 with this bottle of Pastiche, a spontaneous ale aged in brandy barrels with peaches, from Fox Farm.


2.62/5 rDev -23.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.75
Pours an effervescent bright yellow with excellent clarity and plenty of fizzy, short-lived white head that receded to a ring of inconsistent size. Aroma is extremely strong, bursting out of the glass and clearly present from even 5 feet away. Unfortunately, I openly dislike the smell of this beer. I tend to like earthy funk both on the nose and the tongue, but this is beyond barnyard funk into barnyard #$%^.

Taste is unfortunately similar to the nose. Deep, deep funk. I can live with it, but the peaches, such as they exist, are not bright and fresh, but rather taste like they went bad. The brandy barrels may be there but they don't add to the experience. The feel is bright and lively, but overall, this beer just doesn't work for me. I believe this is the first spontaneous beer from Fox Farm that I haven't enjoyed.

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@jonphisher my favorite ornament is this star I made when I was 4 years old. As you can see, my creative genius was apparent from an early age! We have a similar ornament on the tree from my oldest daughter when she was +/- the same age, and our tree topper is a similarly created star glued to a toilet paper roll from my younger daughter also at the same age. Certainly no things of beauty, but arguably my favorite ornaments on the whole tree.

Here's the tree in full. Can't get a real appreciation for the hodge podge nature of the ornaments, though.

 

Beautiful @Roy_Hobbs and @russpowell love it.