New Beer Weekend #172

Happy Saturday everyone, Advocates!
This is my new Saturday beer. Recently delivered to my home I'm happy to uncork one of the two bottles I managed to get my hands on.

Moody Tongue (Chicago, Illinois, USA) - NECTARINE SLICED IPA - Nectarine Peach IPA

33 cl bottle from the renowned and two-Michelin starred Brewpub and restaurant, taken out of the fridge and left to dissolve for 3 minutes before being opened.
On the nose aromas of tropical hops and light herbaceous notes. The fruity notes of exotic and white fruit are amplified once poured.
The colour is tending towards orange, veiled but not too much. The foam is abundant (in the right measure) and of medium structure, it never disappears from the room and is very tasty (just like peach).
Medium body in the mouth, supported by a carbonation that almost tickles the tongue and makes drinking very easy and pleasant.
The taste is characterized by peaches: white and yellow peach pulp, light more tropical notes (mango, melon) and a bitter finish in which more citrus (grapefruit) and also herbaceous and resinous notes emerge.
This light bitterness leaves room for the very pleasant taste of white peach peel on the palate for some time after swallowing, although the tongue is cleansed of these light citrus and resinous notes (Chinook hops were used).
Wonderful balance: peach flavour enhanced in a beer that remains an IPA in all respects, without compromising to enhance the fruit, which integrates very well within a product that already has its own identity.
A beer that I can't find any faults in, drinking it's a real pleasure sip after sip.





Sláinte !
Cheers !

 

Lost Forty/Modern Times Lost in Modern Translation Double Hazi IPA, 7.5% ABV; 4.45 overall

Hops used: Mosaic, Motueka, Citra, NBC 1019 and dry hops of Cryo Nectaron & YCH-002 CRYO ( not heard of some of these...)

Pours a hazed gold with a thumb+ of eggshell colored head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Tropical fruits, oranges, fantastic nose

T: Passionfruit,, guava, tangerine, dryness & lime up front. Hints of peach, strawberry mix in with kiwi fruit, & guava as the beer warms up, plus a little lime. Finishes sweet & dry with nice orange & peach flavors

MF: Medium body, low carbonation, nicely balanced

Super drinkability, loads of flavor, well done! Flavor matches the awesome nose

 

Drekker With All Your Power DNEIPA, 8% ABV. Pours hazy orange with a three-finger white head that left nice lacing. Aroma is citrus and berry. Taste follows, quite juicy, moderately sweet, faintly bitter. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.23/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

I checked out North Shepherd Brewing this afternoon. This use to be called Astral Brewing, but new owners means new branding and new beers.

First up Dry Irish Stout at 5.5% ABV



Pours a dark brown, nearly black color. A beige head forms, but quickly recedes to a small ring. No lace left behind.
Aroma of roasted malts up front, and are the show. Coffee, bitter chocolate, and toasted malts. Simple and enjoyable.
Taste wise, like the nose, all the roasted malts are up front. Again coffee, chocolate, and a bitter roast lingering on.
A medium body with crisp carbonation. Finishes very dry and clean. An easy drinking stout I can come back to.

I don't have much to say about this, just very simple. Which is far from a bad thing, actually that is why I like it. A stout on the near 5% ABV end, with plenty of character that makes in enjoyable to come back to. Yep, I'll take it.

Overall score is 3.81, B+
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55581/677602/?ba=champ103#lists

Belma Pale Ale up next, again at 5,5% ABV



Pours a clear orange/copper color. A two finger white head forms and recedes after a minute. Light lace is left behind.
Aroma is big citrus/orange rind up front. Very hoppy with a piney like edge as well. Not much malt character in the nose.
Taste wise, that big citrus/orange/grapefruit rind, and pine resin. A touch of honey like sweetness tries to balance, but struggles. A long lingering bitter finish.
A medium body with crisp carbonation. Finishes dry with a bit of an astringent aftertaste. Though, mostly a nice bitter pale ale that I can come back to.

I'm hard pressed not to call this anything but an IPA, basically a West Coast IPA at that. Its just a bit on the unbalanced side for me, though still solid. Among the first from the re branded Astral Brewing, now known as North Shepherd Brewing. I'll get it again.

Overall score is 3.77, boarders on a B+
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55581/666528/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I was planning on reviewing from the road, but was too busy talking to do anything beyond quick UT reviews. I am back home now, and it's time for a more proper review.


Double DBA Batch 10,000 - Firestone Walker Brewing - English Strong Ale - 12.3% ABV

This is a nice, and tasty, upgrade from the DBA. I am really liking the taste of this beer.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2210/657761/#navigation

4.41/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
From a 12 oz bottle:

Upon opening the beer I get a nice bit of smoke rising from the bottle. The pour is quite a dark amber color. When I hold it to the light it's fairly clear looking. I see a cascade of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. The head that formed is 2 finger, and light tan in color. The head retention is decent. There's a small bit of lacing on the glass as the head dissipates, but not much lacing.
Aroma is strong with dark fruit notes. I also get some green apple notes. Tons of vanilla and caramel also shine in this beer. There's a hint of oak that also tickles my nose.
Taste - The flavor Is a lot like the nose, though I'm not getting much green apple in the flavor, just the faintest hint on the back. I get lots of vanilla and oak in this beer. I get some caramel and toffee notes, along with some dark fruit, more plum like to me.
There's a bit of a burn to this beer, but it's really not a harsh burn. The body overall is quite good. There's a bit of a bubbly feeling to this beer.
Overall it's quite delicious, and a nice take on their regular DBA.


I'll see if I can pull off one more today. See you later.

 

What do I have here? A big ass rum barrel aged barleywine that is what

Southern Yankee's Grand Cru 22-Rum Barrel Aged Barleywine, at 13% ABV.



Pours a dark ruby brown color. A small beige head forms, that sticks around as a cap throughout.
Big malty and boozy aromas up front. Toasted malts, toffee, rum soaked raisins and wood. The boozy character is more warming than harsh, but definitely noticeable.
Taste wise, again, rum soaked raisins. Toffee, toasted malts, caramelized sugars, vanilla and wood flavors. Again, noticeable alcohol that is more warming.
A full body with moderate carbonation. A full on viscous, chewy and sticky feel. Along with the warming alcohol, makes this a great sipper.

Oh yeah, this is a big one. With all its alcoholic warmth, and big flavors, it never seem over the top. I wouldn't call it balanced by any means. With plenty of sweetness that might be off putting to some. Though, for me, it is appropriately big. If that makes sense ha. Well done.

Overall score is 4.08, A-
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/54216/677327/?ba=champ103#lists

What do you know, that is my 3000th review

Still working my way through the big Marlon James novel. A fictionalized history (well some real history along with it, but a definite novel) about the people behind the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. Perfect sipper while reading this out in my courtyard.

Gratuitous puppy picture, just cause, Moe really wants to chase some squirrels but I won't let him off the lease

 

I’m taking Mrs O to see a movie tonight for the first time since ….. I think last summer (Top Gun: Maverick), and it’s a looooong one (the new Scorses movie with Leonardo DiCaprio), so an early one and done for me.

It’ll be juiceee.





4.5/5 rDev +5.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a very hazy mango color that swallows light and sits under a creamy white head that coats the glass as you enjoy the beer. Beautiful hazy.

The nose is preposterously citrus laden, with loads of ripe oranges and mango, and a nice scoop of passion fruit and some sweet oats following. I like where this is headed.

The taste is all about the Citra hop flavors as represented by the juicy oranges and mango, with some passion fruit and sweet oats at the back of the palate to balance the surprising bitterness present in this juice bomb.

One note: the can references “liquid hop product called Spectrum,” which, as a curious old guy beer nerd, I naturally used the Googler to find the following information:

1. SPECTRUM® hop extract is the easy and efficient way to dry hop your beer.
2. SPECTRUM® disperses even into cold beer so it is easy to dose and dial in your recipe.
3. SPECTRUM is 100% natural and captures all delicate hop aromas. SPECTRUM is variety-specific and is available in Citra® and Mosaic® to start, but with more varieties on the way!

So us beer nerd that love Citra and Mosaic hops have THAT going for us.

The mouthfeel is full, soft, and pillowy as expected. Tree House continues to amaze me.

 

Happy stouturday and thanks to @Brutaltruth for these brews! Braxton Brewing Buddy Stout was tasty:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35568/655627/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



And so was Fat Orange Cat Purrkatory:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45814/637409/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



Cheers!

 

And thanks once again to @Brutaltruth for these stouturday brews. Branch and Bone Black Candle:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/52516/398646/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



And Timber Ales Pallet Brûlée was tasty too:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58819/648574/?ba=bluejacket74#lists



Cheers everyone, should have some more new brews here tomorrow too!

 

Just realized I had access less than 2 years ago, still kinda new to me and I agree, they kick ass. Barleywine especially.

 

Well, garage and laundry/storage room cleaned out and reorganized, bedrooms and linen closet tomorrow


Treated myself to a NB Juice Force earlier as a break, but it's not a new one to me.

Onto my second commendation/accolade.

Dogfish Head - 90 Minute



Best by 01.24

Purchased from the dabc for about $3

Poured at near fridge temp into a fake Pretentious glass.

Pours one of the prettiest autumn leaf red/orange/amber I've ever seen, with a nice tan head as well that's quite persistent. 4.5

Perhaps a bit aged, even though within its BB date. I get a decent dose of malt and malty sweetness and earthy spicy hops. I feel like I'm missing something. It's nice just not "wow" 3.75

Fairly resinous though not unpleasantly so. Lightly noticeable alcohol, more pine, and malt. 4

Body has a noticeable but soft boozy bite, and accompanying warmth. Moderate sticky mouthcoating and heavy lingering piney bitterness. 4

Overall a very good double/imperial IPA that hits hard on the malts and hops and does so very well. 4

Be back soon, cheers friends!

 

Back again, and this is one that @cheeseheadinMinneapolis so kindly gave to me.

Edtoberfest - Karben4 Brewing - Madison, WI - Marzen - 5.8% ABV

I'll say that this doesn't taste bad, but it seems very weird to my taste buds. I just don't think it is to style in my opinion. I get a ton of sweetness, that just seems over the top for the style to me. I am, however, thankful that I was gifted this beer.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30629/669290/

3.34/5 rDev -7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
From a 12oz can.

Fairly clear pouring golden color pouring beer. Some carbonation rising in the glass. The head is slightly off white looking and 1 finger. Slightly frothy looking. Decent head retention, and there's some lacing on the glass.
The nose has some notes of sweetness, like honey sweetness. Getting some notes of malty biscuit.
Taste - There's a lot of sweetness in this beer, and, like the nose suggested, I'm getting honey in the flavor. I do get some malty biscuit flavor here. I do get faint caramel notes.
The body is lighter, but not watery. Slightly crisp feeling.
This doesn't taste bad, but is it to style? I am not thinking so. This is a confusing beer to me.

I think I should be able to pull off another tonight. Be back later for it.

 

Looooong soccer tournament Saturday didn't end well for either boy unfortunately. Watching a movie and enjoying a barleywine from Phantom Canyon aged 3 months in Elijah Craig 14 year barrels. Thanks @beergoot !



I get lots of charred toffee and brown sugar plus hints of raisin, candied nuts, and vanilla. The barrel character is surprisingly strong for only 3 months of aging, adding a nice layer of booze and an oaky tingle. Good stuff!

 

The baby is teething hard. She woke us up early enough that we caught an absolutely stellar sunrise out our bedroom window. We were able to get a decent amount of work done outside, including getting all of the bulbs planted, and almost all the rest of the trees in the ground as well. Plus, as a bonus we finally have propane so we have hot water and a fun4ctional stove again!!



I've got a few options for this weekend, including both stuff I brought with me on the move as well as some stuff I just picked up at the grocery store. I think I'll go with one of the stouts I snagged. Someone had recommended that I check out DeCicco and Sons for a good selection, and that's what I did. And they do indeed have quite a selection! Not as much of a local focus as I'd expected, but still more than I'm going to get through anytime soon!

Drowned Lands - Black Gold

The pour is gorgeous, with Mrs. Kemo exclaiming as soon as it reached the glass, "oooh... that looks decadent!" She's not wrong (she rarely is!) It's a deep espresso brown bordering on black with a velvety mid to deep brown head. The head settles down but maintains a strong presence on the edges and a good dense galaxy swirl through the middle.



Nose does nothing to dissuade the descriptor used above. Decadent carries through here as the character leans heavily into fudgy chocolate, some espresso, molasses, and a huge dose of vanilla. At first I thought it just carried super strong from the barrel, but nope, it was aged on vanilla as well. That makes sense, and it works really well here. I'm not the biggest adjunct fan, but I can enjoy a good vanilla twist when done well, and this qualifies. No hint of alcohol heat here, all fudgy brownies and vanilla.

The aroma does a good job of prepping one for the flavour. Chocolate with some rounded almost nutty wood, a bit of bitterness (again Mrs. Kemo attributes a lot of coffee here... I wouldn't say a lot, and I'd say it's more the kind of velvety bite of creamy espresso with the bitter foam scraped off). The vanilla is less prevalent, though still present, and the bourbon finally comes in a bit on the back end to give it a nice round finish.

Throughout most of hte sip it's pretty standard body, but when you get to the finish you realize just how thicc and oily this thing has been the whole time. I blame the fine pinpricks of carbonation for distracting me. As it warms, the barreling emerges a little more and it takes on a little bit of bittering alcohol finish, but it's still well measured, and incredibly well layered.

This is a decadently tasty vanilla BBA stout that is all of those things.

Cheers!!!

(EDIT: two image max? LAAAAAAAME)

 

Hey favorite beer people in the world, happy to be back and happy to have the privilege to drink a beer with you and share my thoughts on it. My new beers this weekend are another two from my dad, brought them back from his semi annual work trips to where we lived in Spain when I was a kid. This one is German though, a 500 mL swing-top bottled schwarzbier; my remaining to beers from him are both from Spain...hoping to do a longer write up on one of them tomorrow, if I have time. For now though, short and to the point, dead tired, brain is fried but a beer will help me relax, as will contemplating it, experiencing it and putting into words

Schwaben Brau - Das Schwarze (Black Lager 4.9%)



Pours a deep dark brown with a perfectly light brown head that was quick to rise, though it settled quickly it leaves a thick persistent creamy looking head that leaves some really nice lacing.

The nose is interesting to me, if I were blind tasting I'd guess this one to be more light in color; it has remarkably "lighter" beer quality to the nose. This may be more common with actual German black lagers, I wouldn't know since all we get around here is Kostritzer...anyway it has low touch of DMS, after that I mostly get a little bit of generic noble hop presence; and then just the lightest of "dark" character, in this case a super light coffee and toasted pumpernickel like bread, like all aromas these characteristics do show more as the beer warms up.

The taste again just the lightest hint of sulfur, but then, yes more of schwarbier notes I'm familiar with...lightly darkened toast, a more noticeable bit of roast that really lingers nicely on the back end and in the aftertaste, earthy hops on the finish.

Light but fuller body; ultra smooth and creamy carbonation, goes down clean as a whistle while leaving a really light but just noticeable touch of hop and roast driven bitterness, it really does beg for the next sip; if I wasn't trying to savor and ponder this beer it would probably be gone quite fast.

Really fun and neat to try an actual German schwarzbier, probably one of my favorite styles around and I wish I had more like this to compare to my locally produced counter parts. Since that is not possible I will enjoy every last sip of this one and this colder fall night. Cheers friends, enjoy your beers tonight e