New Beer Sunday (week 432)

If your around the Grand Rids area...Founders sleeper cell is an amazing one-off IIPA. It has a great fruity note (not sure what hops) and at 10.7%, it catches up with you very quickly.

Cheers,

 

Cold front passed though last night enough to drop temps just below 50, so I thought this would be a great day for a RIS. Stone has a winner with this one; not distributed to WI! I have to thank Chris for picking it up for me when he was in CA. My review.


Matt, I hope that your wife and you have a nice day celebrating her Bday. Cheers!

 

Morning, folks!

Warm and dry and breezy here on LI, after a few days of hot and humid weather.

Been serving jury duty this past week. Continuing on Monday. Gotta say, one of the best experiences I can recall - I get that some people balk at being summoned, but lemme tell ya - its better than TV - learning so much and really riveted by the proceedings.

Also, really grateful to be in an air-conditioned courtroom .

Shopping yesterday, I found another cache of J.W. Lees ales - last week I found their 2011 Harvest Ale in Lagavulin and Sherry casks. Yesterday, I found the same but with 2007 bottling dates, as well as a Calvados cask edition from 2006 and their regular Harvest Ale, also from 2006! Crazy, right?

Had to share this with y'all, and update my reviews from last week.

So I botched my Lagavulin cask pour and all the sediment went in.


Heady Topper's got nothing on this sediment-load.
This is what I left in the glass - call me a priss, but I didn't drink it:

I was disappointed in how the Lagavulin cask edition aged - all the smoke and peat was gone, leaving me with a candied apple-tasting beer, as documented here. Maybe that's to some folks liking, but I missed the duskiness of the Scotch.

In something of a two-fer post, I'm just finishing the Sherry cask edition now.

Much more careful with my pour - see only a little piece or two of sediment. Felt like this aged better, or at least stayed truer to the 2011's taste in that I could still appreciate the fruity sherry flavors. I also updated my review to include this bottling date here.

Further paired it with some smoked gouda and brie (and water crackers).

I'm under the impression that smoked gouda goes with any beer (at least that I've tried so far), but the creamy brie really worked particularly well with the Sherry infused ale. Top notch.

Bullet For My Valentine has randomly come up a few times so far in my iTunes rotation as I've been drinking, reviewing, and photographing, so I'm gonna publish that to the jury as well (lol)...


I've got nothing but new stuff in the fridge, so I hope to be back later - all barleywines though, so if I get a little loopy, you'll know why ...

Cheers!

 

Well, I'm back already .

J.W. Lees Harvest Ale (Calvados Cask Edition)

Man, that sediment is quick - I don't know how it slipped in so fast - this is what I was left with in the glass:

Looks like Italian dressing seasonings - lol

Well, if I thought the Lagavulin cask version tasted like candied apples, you can imagine what this was like (Calvados is an apple brandy). Lotsa apple and caramel, no hint of the alcohol, very slick across the palate. I did try a couple of pieces of brie with the beer, and it was very complimentary.

I like how J.W. Lees used a Spanish fortified wine, a French apple brandy, and a Scottish single malt whisky to impart different flavors to (his) ale, but it seemed to me that over time, the barrel-imparted flavors became less distinct - particularly with the Lagavulin (Scotch whisky) version. The sugars really ramped up over time and I wasn't as impressed with the results as I'd expected.
Sucaba, King Henry, (barrel-aged) Bigfoot, Old Ruffian, Bolt Cutter and Arctic Devil remain my favorite barleywines.

Soon enough I'll be trying J.W. Lees' base Harvest Ale (2006 bottling) to get an idea what the ale tastes like without the influence of barrel aging.

Until then (which'll probably be sooner than you think - I have nothing else to do today ): Cheers!

 

Boy, I musta started drinking early toady - is 9:00 am early? Got a lot warmer here on LI since then - and its almost nap time (yes, I'm that old OR you just don't know what you're missing )

Well, here's my final new beer review until I tap my Cockeyed Cooper later...

J.W. Lees Harvest Ale 2006 bottling date

Tired of getting nailed with the sediment bomb, I was real careful here - poured the murkier remains into a shot glass, so you can see the murk...

I suppose I've had too much of the line today, because it was starting to take on a same-iness to me, taste-wise, but then this particular brew really blossomed for me - I appreciated the complexity a little more in this non-barrel-aged version - still a lot of what I'll call a characteristic toffee and caramel sweetness, but it was more subdued and enjoyable, with some nice spice and fruits in the mix. I'll go so far as to say it was a tad better than the cask-matured versions !

Curious how this tastes fresh - I'm assuming less sugary, maybe a little more "heat" - but I suppose I may never know. These last two weeks represented some really serendipitous finds.

Again, having some cheese and crackers on hand, I had some brie and crackers with some of my sips, and it was a damn good combination.

Last song in my ears?
Grave of Opportunity - didn't even know there was a video for stuff from this band (Unearth) that I thought was fairly obscure!

Looks like a lotta fun . Cheers!

 

New Am. IPA Sunday,

Greetings NBSer's,
Not that warm here in SCMN, but at least it is sunny. We been missing the big orb around these parts lately and it sure is nice to have it out again. Hopefully, this week will be dry enough so I can get my garden in. Normally I'd be doing some early harvesting by now.
A warmer weather style today (although it is really an all year style it seems to go particularly nicely with sunny and heat). "West Coast Style IPA" from our friends at Surly. They sure do like their hops. It's bigger than Furious, but doesn't present that way. Anyway, here is a review.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13014/89747/?ba=garymuchow
Best to all this week.

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A cloudy Juneuary day here in the Fourth Corner, with temps in the mid-high 50's. Not much happening this week, the local Highland games are going on, and I poured for a bit in the beer garden yesterday, and got my fill of bagpipes and dudes speaking in fake Scottish accents for the year. Still shaking my head over how the Mariners blew that game to the Twins yesterday. I'm just watching NASCAR, and hoping the M's don't screw the pooch again. But, they're starting a pitcher who hasn't thrown in the majors since 2010, so I think the Twinkies can probably chalk this one up.

There's only a couple new things on the board today, and I'm starting with this slightly disappointing Lager from Full Sail: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5316/66358/?ba=beertunes

 

My second entry is a regional brew that I've never hit, due to my hatred of the 22oz format. The beer was decent, and if you like grapefruit IPA's, this one is probably for you: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16396/68184/?ba=beertunes .

 

New LOCAL IPA Sunday !

Greetings to the NBS crew from a sunny, 89 dergee Jersey Shore.
It's been a great week, lots of action and many new beers that I promise myself to get the reviews posted before long.
Today I opted for this local IPA from East Coast Beer Co. They are headquartered in Point Pleasant, NJ, a shore town here in Ocean County just a short drive north of me.The goods are contract brewed in PA, but that does not bother me. All that matters is the finished product so let's get to it: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24460/93282/?ba=NiceTaps.

What a disappointment! C'mon guys, you call yourselves the 'East Coast Brewing Co.' and are claiming my territory as your home. Yes, it's easy to criticize, and I'm critical towards this beer.
There's nothing IPA about this brew, much less an East Coast IPA. But it'll sell like crazy on summer nights, "down the shore", I guess. There's an ass for every seat.

Have a great one everyone, and I'll check back later to see what you're drinking today.

Cheers!

 

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/42434/?ba=MarkJBurch



Cheers!

 

Well, the M's are getting spanked, but Tony Stewart made a late pass to win the NASCAR race (although, it seems Jimmie Johnson got screwed), the sun has made an appearance here in the PNW, and I tried this brew from the Great Plains: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/65113/?ba=beertunes

 

NEW KRISTALWEIZEN SUNDAY

Greetings from PA Dutch country. The amish would say its "close" (humid) today. Hot and sticky it is with storm clouds rolling in.

I started my new job this week, nothing all that interesting or exciting. No lifelong ambitions fulfilled, but I do like it better than my old job and I only work 3 days a week which enables me to be a stay at home father two days a week. I love that. My wife, son, and I visited a new store today that features fine meats and cheeses plus a pretty good bottle shop. We stopped for Ethiopian takeout which I enjoyed with this.



http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10607/80745/?ba=DIM

Cheers and happy NBS guys!

 

Here's probably my last new brew for today (but we've been surprised before, haven't we?), a really good brew from a really good brewery, that suffers from mis-classification, IMHO: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18353/94648/?ba=beertunes

 

New American Strong Ale Sunday​

Greetings, NBSers!

Cool, overcast day in the greater St. Louis area today. Recuperating from a great vacation, but 24-hour trip home due to the Midwest storms. Prayers and thoughts to all those impacted by this latest round. Blessed that our home was unscathed.

Picked up a Lagunitas brew that I've never had before and I really like it - Undercover Investigation Shut Down Ale:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/48385/?ba=FanofHefe

Since this is seasonal, I'm heading out to find some more while it lasts.

Prost!

 

New American Session Ales Sunday (week 432)


While I can't link to pictures, or to a formal review, I can say I tried many new beers today as we brewed a pac man powered beer we serendipitously named for a storm that lightninged mightily, and produced enough rain to make us need to move to a covered location at South Mountain, sunny rest of the day.

Two of the many beers sampled today were Yards Brawler Session Ale and an Extra Pale Ale from Flying Fish. The Session was so much fuller tasting, highlighted by some wonderful citrus rind and herb that lightly ushered a delightful sip to a just dry enough finish. Really refreshing for big flavor beer, really big flavor for a low ABV beer.

The Extra Pale Ale was as advertised, super light look. However it also had a super light flavor, thin in the taste dept., some grainy sweet that was refreshing for sure, but left me wanting more flavor, more zing to it, not just something goes down easy enough when so many tastier pale ales out there.

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

 

we brewed a pac man powered beer
Trying to be an Eastern Rogue?

 

Came home with a mason jar destined, believe it or not, to be Pac Man powered co star of a Berliner Weisse.

 

Happy NBS to all and a very Happy Birthday to Mrs. Matt...

Cooler and less humid here on Long Island today so I got a few outdoor things taken care of.

I worked up a thirst and drank this to quench it...

Old Guardian OAK - SMOKED Barleywine​

​

​

 

NEW BARLEYWINE SUNDAY

Hi again, an unusual second appearance for me. A buddy came over to help us move some heavy furniture so I let him pick the bottle to open. These high octane large format bottles are usually impossible for me alone these days.



http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20417/87654/?ba=DIM

Last time I take beet pic in front of company. I took some shit. :-)

Cheers again!