New Beer Sunday (week 523)

You bastard.

 

For the second entry into my personal Barleyswine Fest, a beer which finds me an outlier. Again. I find the base Bigfoot too hoppy to be enjoyable until they've sat a minimum of 3 years. In this version, the booze is so strong that it covers up even those very generous hops: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/34129/?ba=beertunes

 

Greetings again for round two,
That's a dry hopped amber that my son brewed and brought by just a while ago. Mostly pilsner malt, with some Munich and chocolate for richness and color. Nugget, Palisades, and Simcoe hops work very well against the grain structure. This beer is rich and dry, around 7%, and easy as hell to drink. I would buy it!
That's Otis, the Treeing Walker Coonhound, our resident sentinel busy on duty being a bit leasurely, but alert! Hickory Wind!

 

Great beer review, but Amorphis... just wow. Perfect winter music. I love and still listen to Tuonela. I always thought it cool that Divinity featured on a car commercial way way back, and NO ONE knew who the artist was, except metal heads.

 

New Milk / Sweet Stout Sunday

Temperatures around the freezing mark today here in Milwaukee. Can't complain too much, because it's still warmer than it has been.

My first selection for today is from Lake Louie (a brewery I had not heard of until moving to Wisconsin). It's a nice, easy-drinking, creamy milk stout. I scored it a 3.8-ish -

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/793/7801/?ba=jwc215

I plan to have another brew this evening, so I'll most likely be back (I'm eyeing the Enigma from New Glarus...)

Cheers!

 

Here's Hickory Wind!

 

Greetings NBS participants!

Today I'm reviewing another Short's Brewing concoction called Woodmaster. Feel free to insert joke! I probably review more Short's beers than any other brewery for NBS. While I'm attracted to their creativity, the results seem to be split even for me in regards to satisfaction. Let's give this recent release a whirl!

Pours a cloudy thin light brown color. A small amount of off white foam quickly settles into tiny islands, and a ring around the glass. Light passes through, and there appears to be a mass of particles suspended in the center of the glass.

Aroma is a faint perfume-like spiciness, along with a hint of maple. Not really picking up any toasted pecans.

First sip is a spicy bite! Once again a perfume-like flavor, perhaps from the maple, followed a some alcohol tingle. There is a strong tannic quality to this as you finish the glass. The toasted pecans come out last after you set the glass down and sort through what it is you're really drinking. A roller coaster of flavors for sure, which is typical of many Short's beers.

Mouthfeel is thin but a bit astringent along the line of mouthwash. Pretty potent considering the Abv is 9.5.

In all a very interesting spin on a brown ale. A nice winter warmer, but I wish the maple would shine a bit more. Woodmaster seems to be an appropriate name, as that is the predominant flavor. A six pack of this is plenty, I'll pass a couple to friends. My overall rating was a 3.84.


Have a great week!

 

Sir, I don't doubt the quality of the brew you pictured, but I like my amber to be on the malty side, a la Abita Amber. I'm sure I speak for others on this site.

 

Streets of Baltimore was what the Byrds were supposed to play when they were allowed to do a song at the Grand Ole Opry, but they changed it to Hickory Wind instead at the last minute. This got them (and GP) forever banned, as legend would have it, and Charlie Louvin was fighting mad about it. Gram later said that he didn't know it at the time, but Louvin was the composer of Streets of Baltimore and took it as a personal insult. They all thought it was a Merle Haggard song.

 

Conshohocken brewing is an upstart brew pub that started bottling here in the Sepa tundra.
This one is thier IPA that I'm drinking.
Its your classic east coast style, boldly hopped and balanced with big malt attack as well.
The smell is quite fresh and hoppy.
The taste is bold hops and a big malt bill.
Drinks quite nice.
A perfect beer for watching the race and my boy Kevin Harvick in the J and J #4 car currently in the second spot.

 

Oops- I seem to have misremembered that factoid . The song in question was Life in Prison. I guess this is the stuff that happens after you turn 50, only I'm forgetting important things now...

 

That beer sounds like something I'd like to try, but I'm even more stoked about your music. AIC was one of my favorite bands back in high school. I actually saw them on one of their last tours (at least with Layne Staley), when they played in my hometown (presumably their manager owed someone some money locally...), which usually saw the likes of an angry, drunk Kenny Rogers or some lame ice show at the local hockey arena.

 

New Coffee Ale Sunday

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31383/106066/?ba=WesMantooth
4.06/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pitch black pour from 12 oz can into snifter. Big, creamy, frothy ,khaki brown head.

Aroma is not real intense, but is predominantly coffee. Also sweet, like chocolate candy and some roasted malt in the background.

The flavors are much more significant than it smelled. Still not intense. The coffe is definitely at the forefront, but is more of a creamer type. It blends very well wih the roasted barley and not as sweet as I expected chocolate flavors. Not much bitterness in this one. Aftertaste is much more sweet than bitter. No noticeable alcohol.

Body is not quite as creamy as the poor led me to believe. A nice solid medium body though. Seems to have a "cotton mouth" dryness to it though.

Overall, this doesn't say black ale to me. No real noticeable hops. I think this is wonderfully balanced for a coffee stout. Even though the beans are on full display, I would recommend this to another fellow non-coffee drinker. It is an excellent, easy drinking beer with ample amounts of quality flavors that I would love to have again.

 

Yes, I'm sure you do speak for some, but not me! Personally, I find malty sweetish ambers like Mac & Jack's African Amber or Fat Tire rather insipid. I generally only go for ones that do have a hoppy bite to them.

 

What's next?

Me & The Dev-Ale - Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company


Lazy Magnolia Brewing Co. - Me & The Dev-Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10990/99067/?ba=smakawhat

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Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass. Bottled September 13th 2014.

Deep orange to lemon bodied yellow. Kind of looks like a classic American barleywine, but only manages a half finger of faint tan head, before quickly dissolving into a bubbled collar. Slightly slick and oily top, but with a very nice contrast of orange, yellow, and even red color.

Interesting nose. Hints of honey and floral sweetness on the front, with a fairly candy like aroma. Not particularly fruity smelling, but a nice aroma. It really does remind me more of a braggot actually.

Oh boy this is a doozy. The mouthfeel on this has really gone south. Watery and with a bizarre mineral tinge to it, for a high gravity beer this has really light and wet character. Interesting flavors though, large honey cookie and biscuit sweetness. Flavors of waffery cookie and a bit of vanilla to match. Real unique flavor. Big biscuit like cookie finish as well, with hints of treacle and thin pancake syrup. Chalky aftertaste quite a bit too though.

Pine and citrus? Where? Has a real unique character unlike any other high gravity beer, but a classic example of how a bad mouthfeel can just ruin the party.

look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5 | BA Rating : 3.09

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Yeah this just got worse as I tried a few more sips, got real powder grainy and acrid tasting as well... Wont be drinking much more of this unfortunately.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/34129/?ba=Bitterbill

The warmer the better BA Bigfoot got.
Watching some Fritz Lang movies on my Roku player whilst sipping on this.

 

Good afternoon imbibers of IPA's!
We have some more snow falling here in the Lehigh Valley on this first day of March! Predicted is 3 - 6"!


Today's entry for me is from Great Lakes
Commodore Perry IPA


Pours a beautiful crystal clear golden body with a soapy bubble head, leaves a minimal amount of lacing in the glass.
Not getting much in the way of hops, was expecting a lot more; mostly a dry biscuit malt smell. Hoping this bottle isn't old, even thought the best by is 04/15/15.
Taste isn't that great. It has a nice bitterness to it, just really dry on the end.
Super easy drinker, just not my rocking my world. Was kind of hoping for a juicier IPA than this, I guess.
Overall, I might try this again if I find a "fresher" bottle, because this one has not impressed me like other offerings from Great Lakes. I do have to say that I hate best by dating.



Cheers fellow NBS-ers!

 

Alice In Chains Unplugged ... so so good. Great post, a "like" doesn't do it justice.

 

Now time for my second new barrel aged stout from @bstyle. This time it is 2014 Darkness, cheers!

Darkness - High West Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged (2014) - Surly Brewing Company

4.54/5 rDev +0.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to bstyle for this!
750 ml bottle poured into a teku

A- Black with a two finger light mocha head.

S- Bourbon, dark fruits, cherries, some vanilla, oak, faint piney hops, dark chocolate, really sweet.

T- Bourbon, oak, sweet dark fruits, figs, cherries, chocolate, coffee, some vanilla, just enough hoppy bitterness, piney, warmth from the alcohol and bourbon.

M- Smooth, full body, slightly syrupy.

O- A nice sweet bourbon barrel stout, boozy but still pretty easy to drink. Worth seeking out, if you like what Surly does you will love this.

 

Okay one last one before bed.

Fun art work...
I'm still working my way through the case of American beers I got as part of my Christmas present.

3.86/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Appearance - Light amber colour with mild streaming CO2. Good off white foam head that is around 3 fingers and is pretty tight in make up. Good head retention and some light lace

Smell - Yet another IPA that smells like a Lemon Geranium plant ie piney and citrusy. There is also decent amounts of grape, orange, mandarin, coriander seed and leafy wood.

Taste - Sweet at first, this one rides from sugary malts to citrus fruit; mandarin and through to piney hop but none of these elements are over powering or dominant. The whole experience is well balanced, full and refreshing.

Mouth feel - Smooth and medium bodied, neither dry nor cloying but also lacking in pronounced linger.

Overall - WEll balance and tasty but slightly pedestrian the mouth feel is the weakest link but this beer is by no means a bad beer just a bit of a let down given the hype.

Tomorrow is Monday... bleh



Enjoy what is left of your weekend everyone
Guid Forder