New Beer Sunday (week 468)

New "Poor Quality Control" Stout Sunday

Hello again, NBSers! After last week's thoroughly disappointing Super Bowl, my college's stunning win over Cincinnati in basketball last night certainly cheered me up. We'll likely be ranked tomorrow. GO MUSTANGS! I also went on a date last night that was very promising, and I'm hopeful will lead to many more dates in the future. So, I decided to open up a bottle that had been lying around in my cellar for a while. Tonight I opened up a Ranger Creek "Small Batch Series No. 7: Imperial Sweet Potato Stout."



What did I think? Beautiful appearance and a really nice nose that reminded me of some of my favorite pumpkin stouts, like Warlock and Pumpkinator. Unfortunately, once I tasted the beer I got a really unpleasant metallic aftertaste. Ranger Creek's Small Batch series has been notoriously uneven, but usually with infection issues (which I've heard about but never experienced, I thought #2 (Smoked Saison) was delicious, and #6 (Flanders Red) was good, but a bit too vinegary for my tastes. So to see a rusted cap on this beer was disappointing, because the beer was so promising. I got lots of the sweet potato flavor, mixed with roasty coffee flavors and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. But mixed with the rust, it was just disappointing.

Full Review here:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23672/107943/?ba=WTKeene

I'll open up something else later tonight, probably a Backyard Rye, which was just released in Texas this week. For now, I'm hoping my garbage disposal doesn't mind the rusty flavors of this beer as much as I did.

Cheers, NBS!

I heard this song on the radio last weekend, and it's been stuck in my head ever since:

 

Happy New Hefeweizen Sunday!

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25327/72506/?ba=MadCat

So yesterday after an adventure with my wife, we stopped at a liquor store that I had thought carried beer from Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel, but none could be found after scouring the shelves, so instead of leaving empty handed, I picked up a mixed 6 pack. So today I started working on that pack, starting with DC Brau's El Hefe Speaks. This makes it also a new brewery Sunday. Not a bad Hefeweizen, but I have yet to find an American one that compares to German ones. Made me wish I had also picked up some Weihenstephaner at the same time. The past week has been pretty typical winter, just cold, no snow. So I also was surprised at the snow we are presently getting. I knew it was coming, but figured it would be a dusting. Now I think it will be enough to shovel, but not snow blow. At least it makes it feel appropriate to watch the Olympics.

Cheers!

 

>>>>> New Export Stout Sunday <<<<<

Greetings All:

I was going to break out this Pale Horse Export Stout last weekend when the Seahawks were facing the "Pale Horse" Broncos. I decided not to provoke the beer Gods. So, this week Pale Horse Export Stout from Salem Oregon. http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19915/71835/?ba=RJLarse

It's a dry stout, thin for the style. I wouldn't go out of my way to have it again.

5 inches of snow over night. the first significant snowfall of the year in these parts. Temps today into the upper 20's, forecast for the low 40's by mid week. So the snow won't last.

Now that football season is over I'm thinking March Madness and holding out some hope for my alma mater. Hence the pic.

Happy Trails!

 

Carton Boat Beer - A hoppy session APA 4.26
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I give this beer a 4.5 for being a flavorful, true session APA with plenty of bite, bitter, and complexity. If I had to drink beer all day long, this would be for me.

A: Pours a very hazy light blonde with a trace of visible carbonation. It pours into a tulip with a finger of head and leaves lots of dotty lacing.
S: Plentiful aromas of grapefruit, herbal hops and pine resin, stronger as the beer warms. Pleasantly hoppy.
T: The taste follows the smell but the pine resin kicks in stronger and longer. More complexity and a good finish of bitterness. A nice sweet malt underlayer, but hops win the show.
M: It is light-bodied with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Extremely flavorful. This is the hop heads session beer, beats Bitter American which is a close 2nd, but entirely different character.

Visit the Carton brewery when near 07716.

 

Looks like Ri0 and I forgot to call each other and talk about what beers we are having today. So my second new beer today (gosh, this is embarrassing) is Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Barleywine. Now I will say that there is a difference between Ri0 and I though, and it may be cheating, but I've had this beer before.

Wait! Before you begin stoning me, hear me out! This bottle I am drinking right now has been pulled out from the cellar, where I've been keeping this beer for a year. This is my first taste of this beer with a year on it, so I'm counting it as new.

Now I definitely remember what I thought of this beer when it was fresh. Smelled and tasted of wood, bourbon and alcohol. While I did enjoy it, I was really disappointed in the fact that I did not get much else in terms of flavor. My, does the year old version have a different story to tell! So enough with my rambling, here's what I think about it:

Ri0 seems to have summed up the appearance for me. The smell has much more going on than when it's fresh. There's wood, dates, molasses, grapes, vanilla, caramel and alcohol. Taste is just incredibly sweet, and it leaves a strong aftertaste of dark fruits and vanilla that will linger forever if I let it (and I'm considering doing that). Even though it tastes so darn good, the body of this beer makes it a very slow sipper. This beer has been one of my most successful attempts at cellaring beer.

Two songs in one day? What the heck!


I think it's time to crack open another beer from the cellar, a 2012 Bigfoot. That beer, though, is far from new to me. So I guess this is enough out of me.

Have a great week everyone!
Cheers!

 

New Anniversary Ale Sunday...I won't tell you how it's not cool enough for me here in SoCal...ooops, I just did.

Well I pulled the trigger, and broke open my first bottle of FW 17. I found it to be good, but overall I think it needs time to meld. I was hoping for a bit more of the Stickee Monkey to come through. There was a certain aspect to the OAK barrel that seemed like it needed to mellow, and let some of the other sweet flavors to come forth a bit.

It's good, but I wanna wait a wjile to open another. I think the wife liked it more than me.

Cheers To All

And, Thanks Again to Matt for keeping NBS going!!!

 

I loved this fresh! I need more bottles to tell me how it ages.

 

NEW AMERICAN IPA SUNDAY

Hello all! Getting to my beer late today. On my second one as I am typing this. It's the same as the one I just reviewed, showing it's not that bad. (It's not great either.) A new brewery opened in Wisconsin, and so I bought a variety pack: Wisconsin Brewery. The IPA was pretty good, though nothing particularly noteworthy. I recently put the review in. The "Session IPA", which I reviewed today, was decent. But, again, nothing particularly noteworthy. Seemed like a thin APA that leaned a bit more hoppy than malty. Anyway, it's not bad - looks very good, has a nice aroma and drinks easily enough. I think part of the marketing strategy is the "Wisconsin" labeling. The state has so many breweries, it's going to be tough to compete, but I wish them the best! Always nice to see a new brewery! Both beers I've had so far seem to be brewed competently enough, though, again, nothing particularly special as far as other readily available options from other breweries.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33205/106914/?ba=jwc215

Anyway, I'm on the third of the three, then going to watch a movie and go to bed!

Have a good week everyone!

Cheers!

 

Some friends convinced me to go see the (half) season premiere of Walking Dead as it's shown at a local theater for free live on air. Was kind of let down, though that may be because I've been spoiling myself with my TV habits of late, catching up on season three of Game of Thrones (sd;fkjhsgkjlh), and finally getting around to finishing TNG and DS9. Oh well. Got to throw some snowballs, so that's always a plus.

My second beer for the day dates back a couple of years...
not really, I just couldn't think of any clever-er lead in. 500BC. Redwood's are awesome. Miss me the west coast. Figured Civ V earlier with my friend from Redwood's country was enough theme for me to pull the trigger on this one. It doesn't really present anything particularly new in the DIPA game, but that doesn't mean it is not done well. While it doesn't blow me away or push any particular boundaries, what it does it does very well. Sweet floral and caramel nose, gives way to tropical fruits and some grapefruit on the tongue, all wrapped up in a pretty little amber package with a pillowy white bow.
Saw the news about Michael Sam just before posting here, so I had to comment on it (as football's been on my mind, this being the first week without any for several months... I've been rewatching highlights of SB48, the victory parade, and anything else surrounding my Seahawks). That young man showed a lot of courage in my opinion. I hope for his sake it doesn't, but if it does indeed cause his draft stock to slide, I sure would love to see a 2nd round DE talent picked up in one of the later rounds on my team...
Enough politics and (almost, anyway) sports, looks like everyone's been drinking well, and may that trend continue into the foreseeable future! Cheers


(As I said, I've been watching a lot of Seahawks related stuff since there's not more football for a while. As a fan, I realize I'm biased, but that's kind of a hot beat, (ir)regardless...

 

New Fruited, Barrel Aged Stout for Dessert Sunday

Hello again, NBSers, after dinner I decided to open up a beer that wasn't tainted with rust after having both the above reviewed beer and a slightly off Weihenstephaner Original. So I opened up my first ever Bourbon County Backyard Rye, and promptly fell in love. The only fruited stout I'd had before was Raspberry Truffle Abduction, and while that was delicious, Backyard Rye was perhaps even better. Stupidly thick and really sticks to the mouth, with a wonderful fruity tanginess coming through along with loads of chocolate. Glad to say I could finally try this, and I hope to get more at some point.

Here's my full review: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1549/102122/?ba=WTKeene

 

Yeah, I love this one too. It was a surprise thrown into a box from sammyjaxx, and turned out to be one of the true highlights of said box.