New Beer Sunday (week 522)

Time for the last of my NBS BIF beers from @superspak , finishing it up with Short's The Liberator:



I'm just honestly not a fan of this one here. Tastes like a solid DIPA but the lemon and orange zest take the bitterness to another level. If you like eating Grapefruit you would probably enjoy this one, I, unfortunately do not.

 

Well, I FINALLY brought my Porter pumpkin noodle booger back down to the big city. Porter has spent the last little bit with my parent up on paradi- I mean Lopez Island. Transitioning from living in a cabin on five acres in the middle of the woods will probably not be an easy transition for her, but damn if I'm not going to spoiling her rotten in relief of having her around anyway, so that'll probably help.
I've missed this goober (you'll have to forgive all of the [technically speaking {the best kind of speaking} PERFECTLY appropriate!] pet names), and I'm over the moon to have her back in my every day life. I am a little nervous considering the long (and unconventional) hours I work, but my neighbour (and more specifically his girlfriend...) have already begged to be able to take her for walks, so I figure leaving them a key to let her out briefly while I'm at work could be a perfect solution to my concerns while also offering them an opportunity for puppification.

My new brew this afternoon/evening is one that has been on my radar/wishlist for years. I finally picked it up a couple of weeks ago, and it has been sitting in my fridge waiting for this exact moment since then (the moment being the Porter moving back in with me). The reason should be obvious.
Mogli is a porter brewed by Caldera with chocolate and aged on oak barrels. All of these components come together verr verr nicely. Upon prying the cap off, the chocolate aroma was in full effect. Soft sweet milk chocolate is the preeminent note carried on the nose in the glass. On the table and floor, however, it's a little different. Porter decided that it smelled good and tried to drink some. TOTALLY in the interest of her health; what with chocolate being bad for dogs (DEFINITELY not just because I was being greedy and didn't want to share/have my beer contaminated by EW! GROSS! dog tongue) I yanked it away and tried to put it on the end table. Well... that spot was occupied. It spilled. In the cleanup effort I got strong notes of tamari/soy sauce. I've heard this flavour described in stouts/porters though never really went all in for it before. I'd chalked it up to those phantom (not to be confused with fantome...) flavours we love to evoke... think 'horse blanket,' or 'cat piss' to name most peoples' two favourites to parody. There is no soy sauce to be found in the beer in the glass, however. Moving along to after I cleaned up and caught up shooting the shit with the neighbour the one who will be my saving grace on working nights... keep up!), I tasted mostly chocolate. Go figure! Milky chocolate with roasty malts and wood, with a lightly bitter finish that I attribute to the oak. Good stuff. I think I hyped it too much in my head (classic rookie mistake: it will NEVER live up to your expectations. I don't care what it is. Beer, food, vacation, sex; it won't be in real life what years of anticipation have crafted of its pre-essence. Don't hype things. Keep your expectation low. You won't be disappointed), but this is a very good beer. The preceding sentence (and parenthetical fun in particular) might make it sound like I was disappointed/didn't enjoy it. This is not the case. It's very good. But when you've been building something up for years, it is not going to equal your brain-version. Drink this beer and enjoy it. Just don't tell yourself for years that it will change your life.

And literally as I was writing this, my neighbour and his gf knocked on my door to hand me a bowl of the soup (winter melon and beef-bone) she'd been making. Awesome! Thanks guys!

Aside from just being a great track, the reasons for my selecting this in particular should be reasonably obvious...

 

Happy New American IPA Sunday!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/141/16403/?ba=MadCat



Started the day with snowblowing slush, then had to pack for a trip before I hit my parents house for dinner. My dad had visited Smuttynose on a recent work trip, and brought me back Finestkind IPA. What a wonderful surprise! I figured it was a sign on what to drink today! Delicious, and fresh. Sorry for the brevity, but I can't stay long. Cheers!

 

Speaking of @beertunes, anybody hear from him? Is he still alive?

 

Man seriously I had a dog that I I was very attached to and loved dearly that looked exactly like yours Her name was Beau. I wish many happy and healthy years

 

Good Evening NBS! Hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. A little backstory on my beer journey as of lately is that I literally ran out of new Single 12 ounce to review and hadn't made an actual beer haul/hunt in quite a while. So It had ended up with me digging into my hard and heavy beers I had in my cellar for my new beer reviews(which were starting to get low too). But good news today! I woke up really early and couldnt get to sleep, so I drove down to Livonia to my old standby shops I haven't seen in a couple months and procured 1.75 cases of single 12 ounce and 1.5 cases of large format NEW beers and a 2013 Old Guardian at shelf price (I know they aren't all going to winners to be quite honest, but I love trying new stuff) A nice 4 hour shopping trip there. I look forward to sharing them with all of you during the week in WBAYDN and here on Sundays. They include a lot of American beers in all kinds of different styles, and some really new bottle releases out from Belgium which were steeply priced, but I really wanted to try them. So on with my new beers tonight!

This is very lively carbonated, but not infected from what I can tell at first aromas. Dense foamy lacing coats the whole glass though the drink. This was really nice. Very nice classic witbier nose with lemon, pear, apple, and light banana with orange peel/coriander spice, clove yeast, and wheat/honey/bread malt. Nice prominent strength and great balance. Taste of lemon, pear, apple, light banana, orange peel, coriander, clove, wheat, honey, bread, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light earthy herbal/yeast spice on the finish. Really spot on balance between malt, spice, and yeast ester flavors. A smooth, fairly crisp, and lightly creamy mouthfeel from the flaked wheat. Overall really there are minimal complaints about this. I have had some other witbiers that seemed maybe a bit bolder flavored than this, but this still lines up to pretty much exactly what I expected for the style. The honey does add a bit of a new angle, but it blends in well with the wheat malt character. The lively carbonation seemed to dissipate pretty quickly, and even though there was still rapid steaming carbonation; the mouthfeel lead to more wheat creaminess and dropped out the some of the crispness on the finish. It never felt sharp or prickly at all. Very enjoyable. 3.9


This is a superb session IPA. Nice slightly hazed appearance and sticky coating lacing down the whole glass. Nice sized bright hoppy aromas with grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, mango, lemon zest, orange peel, and light pine with some floral/grassy hop earthiness and a tiny bit of bready/honey-like malt in the far background. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon zest, orange peel, mango, floral, grass, pine, and light honey/bread malts. A fair amount of pine/grassy bitterness on the finish. Once again very bright and juicy on those citra hops in the taste. Malt flavors are light, but definitely noticeable; and just enough to really give it some balance and really kill any sort of watery flavor quality about it, as far as I expected give the ABV level. Nice crisp ans moderately sticky hop finish; well balanced bitterness with no cloying flavors. Extremely impressive, and it really showcases the citra hop perfectly with the restrained malt character of this beer. This beer expired on 2/4/15 and its still just as bright and juicy as I would have expected it fresh. I will have to keep an eye on GF's website for more of this series(never seen them around my area). The beer finder led me to a store in Livonia today where I got this, Cedar, and Symposium. Love it. 4.1


Brand new Griffin Claw bottle release. Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Coffee Stout. This is awesome stuff all around. Really nice aromas with dark roasted coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, toast, toffee, vanilla, and bourbon/oak notes. Really well balanced with the bourbon barrel character with plenty of nice roast malt complexity. Taste of huge dark roasted coffee, dark chocolate, cocoa, toast, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, oak, and a slight bit of roast/oaky earthiness. SOme slight roast/oaky bitterness on the finish. Superb balance between the coffee, roast malt, and barrel qualities. None are overpowering, and there is zero booziness. Very smooth sipping finish with nice creaminess and not really all too heavy for 12%. A fair amount of warmth after the finish, but not overbearing. Extremely well done overall. There are some coffee stouts that just get all up in your face with coffee, but this shows some restraint and really blends together nicely with the barrel and malt flavors. Seriously delicious. 4.2

Yea I can feel you there. It is a bit smoother when it's fresher IMO, but it's still a real palate crusher. They rate it at 116 IBU on their website, and it's only 8%. I just drank my last bottle yesterday and it was pretty brutal, but still enjoyable for me. Glad you liked most of my selection though! I might hit you up for some locals beer trading sometime, I want to try that Spring House PB beer pretty much haha.

Cheers! Have a good night NBS

 

Big Gruesome? Did I miss that when I was trying to find stuff to send you in that thank you box? Anyways that won't be a problem, I'm always up for a trade. That Kuhnhenn beer you sent was excellent and it looks like they make some awesome stuff, is their stuff easy to get for you?

 

Aw, @kemoarps, as someone who has had a couple of "black dogs" and been an "uncle" to a couple of others, your post was both great and tugged at some heartstrings, much as I generally despise the term as cheezy.

 

You sent me the Satans Bake sale which was really delicious. Right now my Kuhnhenn access is limited to me sending you growlers, they are supposed to have a bottle facility going later this year. Their bottling right now is limited to the solstice releases, which are a complete waste of time due to the crowds. I just have some 4D from previous years when they were easier to get at the pub in the weeks following the solstice parties(I already drank the other numerous styles that were available at the time). I have numerous other beers and breweries I could offer and recommend from in state. I've reviewed almost 500 beers from just Michigan.

 

Ok cool, I'm not picky at all and my hads are up to date on here. If you find anything else you want from this area let me know and I'll see what I can do. Send me a BM sometime and we'll work something out.

 

Happy 10th NBS
I cant think of a better day to have my first NBS post, and here is a good one for me to do it with. My first Bigfoot.
I don't do allot of full reviews so bear with me.


4.5 Look
Pours a deep translucent amber orange with 1 finger of white head that quickly disappears but leaves a fair amount of lacing.
4 Smell
mango and peach with some sweet malts and a touch of alcohol.
4.5 Taste
Sweet malts up front with a lasting tropical mango undertone lots of bitter hops that have a long lasting aftertaste along with a touch of alcohol on the end.
4.25 Feel
Sticky and alcohol warm and long lasting. Kind of like a song that you cant get out of your head but a good song.
4.25 Overall
Wow I love this. I have limited experience with barley wines but this is already a favorite. I can hardly wait to see how this develops over time, if I can keep my hands off what I store away. I will definitely be buying at least 1 more 4 pack especially at a $10.00 price point. tasty tasty tasty.

4.31/5 rDev + 3.5

 

I'd say that's a "ringing" endorsement!!!

 

LOVE this beer. Just as the name implies it makes me feel Durty.

Perfect for coming in out of the rain or mud and pouring a glass before cleaning up. The highish (8.3) abv will warm you to the toes quickly. The deep malt backbone make this beer taste earthy while the high notes of hops add a delightful piney flavor without getting overly floral. All in all I don't really know how to describe it other than springtime in the swamps of FL.
Time for The Walking Dead!

 

Thanks for adding this one @woemad.

 

New Beer Oscar Sunday

I had a chance to try a new (to me) IPA from Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget


This is a really good IPA. TG is making some incredible beers. Almost good enough to make me want to go to Iowa

Here is my review
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23222/69760/?ba=SammyJaxxxx

Been listening to this guy this evening

 

Damn Man. One of the reasons I love Caldera's Mogli, is the story and the pic. Reminds me of my dear departed Taddy(after Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter). My big lug of a Black Lab who had those lite brown eyes like your Porter. Damn that first pic! I lost him on Father's Day a few years back. And now, I had to put down Fearless, a lab mix of questionable lineage, but with those same lite brown, expressive eyes. You're blessed to have her. She's a great looking pooch. So lift your Mogli, or Taddy Porter and toast to that lovely dog.
PS. One Christmas morning about 10 years ago my Taddy cleaned a plate of 12 ounces of Belgian Chocolate truffles. My sister, a vet in Oregon, later told me he would've only sufered some diarhea but otherwise been fine. Wish I'd known that before the $250 for the canine purging at the animal hospital. But I'd take him back in a second. Ramble done.

 

New Imperial Oatmeal Stout Sunday

Hey NBSers,

Happy 10th NBS Anniversary to everyone! Missed a couple of Sundays, but I'm back with beer stories and a fridge full of Washington goodies including tonight's pick. I had the good fortune to hang out with @distantmantra, @jpbebeau and the rest of the Seattle Beer Zoo last weekend. We shared some amazing stuff including a 2006 Abyss, which has held up beautifully, while losing/regaining repect for each other over Cards Against Humanity. :-)

I then hosted some old friends for a week, culminating in Friday night's block party celebrating Bend Brewing's 20th Anniversary. Live music and 10 extra taps set up to pour special kegs saved for the event: sours, barrel aged, etc. all for $3 each. My personal favorite of the night was Raven, a Baltic Porter aged in Bourbon barrels, with the anniversary beer (Outback X Strong Ale aged in Pinot barrels with Brett) the runner-up.

Dark Star Oatmeal Stout by Fremont Brewing of Seattle, Washington



I have had nothing but great experiences with this brewery, and really dig their art as well as their beer. Pouring silky black with a fluffy khaki top, head retention is good and the legs reveal minimal residual sugars. Aroma is roast and dark chocolate, no booziness. I was pleased that the dark chocolate flavors were not overpowered by roast. The beer is not sweet, but the soft mouthfeel and lack of intense bitterness let some milder toasted bread and nut notes come through. 8% seems low for imperial stouts these days, but this beer doesn't need the extra alcohol to get the job done. 4.5/5

 

Tonight on the way to work I stocked up on some new beers, taking advantage of Kroger's "buy any four six-packs and get 20% off" deal that's going on right now. They sat safely in my car (it was below 50 outside all day, dipping into the 30s once it got dark, so I figured they'd be fine there) while I was at work and then I drove them home. I kinda wish I'd decided to do my beer shopping after the snow had cleared up more, though, because parking was hell once I got back in town... the only decent parking space near my apartment had been taken up by somebody's giant SUV (which only just barely fit--the spot was much more appropriate for my little old Volkswagen Rabbit), and after driving around in circles a few times having no luck at finding a good spot elsewhere nearby, I ended up parking in the lot where a few restaurants and a closed-down movie theater are. I'm hoping people are going to be nice enough to not tow my car even though it's technically not supposed to be parked there, but there really wasn't anywhere else I could go within walking distance.

So I parked there and lugged my four six-packs (a pair each in two reusable cloth Wal-Mart bags across each shoulder) back home across the slightly slippery icy roads and snow-covered sidewalks.

I wasn't originally planning on having a beer tonight, but after how much of a pain it was to get these four six-packs back to my apartment I figured I'd go ahead and have one of them now rather than waiting. XD



And my first from the "oversized variety pack" I brought home today is technically not a new beer, but since I've only had it far-from-fresh before (and I keep reading that hoppy beers like pale ales and IPAs are almost always better fresh) I figure having a month-and-a-half-old bottle at least almost counts as a "new" beer when compared to the nearly-a-year-old bottle I had before. XD

Anyway... I can definitely tell the difference between the fresh bottle I'm drinking now and the old one I had before. I didn't find the old one to be bad, but the fresh one is definitely better. The hop flavors and smells are quite a bit stronger in this fresh one, though still not super-strong. Smell-wise I'm picking up mostly pine and... I'm not sure what, this weird funky sort of smell I can't really identify. Taste-wise there's the piney flavor, but also some noticeable citrusyness (which I was expecting since the old one had a little of this too) and a pretty nice malt-based flavor toward the end too. That malt flavor on the end sometimes reminds me very slightly of the unidentifiable funky smell, though less funky--maybe has something to do with the type of malt used, or the yeast? But anyway, he hops are the first thing I'm tasting, then the malts show up later on, and it seems to vary from one sip to the next which one seems more prominent at the end--usually the malt comes out right at the end as the hops fade back a little, but when I took a drink just now I got a pine-citrus blend popping up again right at the end.

Overall, this is really nice. I'm finding I like the pine+citrus hop flavors more than the "all pine" version I've gotten from most of the other hoppy beers I've had--not sure what makes the difference here, but almost all the pale ales and IPAs I've had are usually described as having "pine and citrus" flavors, but this might be the one where the citrus element is most noticeable (the Starr Hill pale ale and IPA both had a bit of citrus going on too here and there, but it comes out more often in this one.) I guess the best way to describe the difference here is that this one seems more complex than the other pale ales I've tried--the others were "HOPS! ...and a little bit of malt" and this one is "hops! different hops! malt! ...yeast, maybe?" I suppose this is why the old bottle seemed sweeter and less obviously "hoppy"--this is more of a balanced beer to begin with, so when the hops do start to fade it'll start to lean the other way rather than still being "super hoppy, but less so."

Probably the only thing I'm not liking so much is that funky smell, which I still can't quite place. I almost want to say it reminds me of BO or onions, but even that doesn't seem quite right, it's just vaguely reminiscent of those things rather than actually being a lot like them. "Orange BO" maybe? It's kind of like an almost-too-ripe orange plus BO, almost. Even that doesn't quite describe it thoroughly enough, but it gets close. I dunno exactly how to describe what I'm smelling here.

Last gulp from the glass gave me a whole lot of the citrusy flavor right at the end, as if the beer was apologizing for its slightly funky smell by making itself taste really good. Apology accepted, beer. XD

 

She wasn't going to be a furniture dog. Sure, she sleeps on a special sheet on the foot of my bed, but she had NEVER been allowed onto the couch, etc.
The other reason I went back up to the islands for the weekend was that an elderly couple I used to work with wanted to give me their extra couch (they had to move downstairs [mobility took another step {no pun intended} away from being able to safely navigate the stairs] so they are now sleeping in the former living room. The couch that previously occupied that slot has moved to the 'little house [now, effectively, a guest cabin, most often used when their {retired} son comes to visit], and the couch that previously lived over there was just in the way. They love me. For some reason. Even through dementia bad enough to erase her memory less than a minute after she's met someone/told a story/whathaveyou she recognized me and lit up, six months since the last time I'd seen her. Ego stroke! [Goodness gracious, that was a long sidebar]). Slowly but surely my apartment is coming together (neighbour had an extra low-squat table that he was about to take to the thrift store, but which is now a perfect TV-stand!). My dad and I were sitting on the (new!) couch, and Porter just looked anxiety-riddled and uncomfortable. She was disinterested in her toys, didn't want to sit on her pillow she loves, and was just whining at the window (not the door to go void, just the idea of somewhere new). Well, realizing that her two people were sitting on a thing, she hopped up between us and immediately curled up and closed her eyes. I was going to chastise her and reinforce my 'no furniture' dreams, but seeing her FINALLY at peace and comfortable, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead I draped the couch in an ugly old fitted sheet and gave her free reign. What have I done?

I keep forgetting it's winter. I have many friends out on the east coast, or in parts of the south and they keep posting about the 8" new snow they got today. Meanwhile, it's sunny and clear, and even warm-ish at times here in the 206 and associated areas, and I keep forgetting it's February. It should be raining if not snowing, but instead we're getting days that make me think it's a cold summer, not a clear winter. I worry what this means long term for the summer/watertable and that, but for now I'm going to enjoy the mountain being out in full effect, and that I was able to get the full view visiting Mt. Erie while waiting for the ferry home from Anacortes!

(ok, it was still pretty cloudy in this particular picture, but for the rest of the weekend it was actually blue-skies-barely-a-cloud)
TEN YEARS! I forgot to acknowledge it earlier. Big news. I missed the first 'ten year' post due to work, but participated last week. In anticipation of this anniversary, I'd been mentally preparing to break into the 'cellar' (a combination: dark corner full of boxes, and cabinet deftly sealed with a 'hazardous drug precautions' sticker I found in my pocket left over from work) and break into some aged or vintage or anniversary or whathaveyou beer. Instead I opted to go fresh. Celebrate longevity with something short-lived. Juxtaposition. Vulcan vs Xindi (Enterprise isn't as bad as it gets a rep for! [it's still not great... {Voyager is worse <still Janeway *greaterthan* Archer>}]).
I picked up a couple of bottles of Blimey! That's Bitter from the brewery a couple of days ago, and thought I should break into at least one of them immediately (hops being fickle as they are chronologically and all that...). Man, have you ever regretted an action completely, wholly and immediately, only to have that regret linger as the consequences and ful effects unfold and are better understood? Well, this experience was like the exact opposite of that. I'm incredibly glad I broke into one of these. This is, simply put, one of the best IPAs I've had.... that I can remember. Like, ever. It's got the caramel and fruity bits that I love so much. It's got a punishingly bitter core, that asserts itself, then steps aside to let the nuance and balance shine through. Truly something to be proud of. The nose is more of the sweeter (caramel/tangerine/apricot) side, while the flavour uses those notes as balance and external support for a focused centre that presents pine and pith like something something something (my analogy bank is overdrawn).


Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be back to my studying for my PEARS course re-certification tomorrow.


Cheers, y'all!!