New Beer Sunday (week 526)

I missed that thread yesterday. Spent most of the day running around like a madman for my daughter's birthday party. Damn kids!

 

You should read through it when you have a chance- lots of really cool posts.

Happy birthday to your lucky daughter, though. She seems to have a daddy with his priorities in the right place .

 

Warpigs (Three Floyds/Mikkeller) Black Flame Imperial Stout. One of the weirdest beers I've ever had, but it's absolutely awesome. If Dreadnaught and Dark Lord had a baby, this is what it would be. Somewhat like FFF BOTS, but bigger, more complex, and more delicious.

Tons of fruity and juicy American hops bring grapefruit, orange, mango, pineapple, pine, and grass. Then the dark malts bring milk and dark chocolate, roasted malts, molasses, and carmel. The hops and malts work together so well throughout the flavor profile. Body is full and mouthfeel is outstandingly creamy. Unfairly smooth at 12% abv. At this point only being about a month old, it's like an enormous black IPA. After some time this will probably transform into a nice complex stout; however, I recommend drinking it now. I guess it all depends on what you prefer. In all honesty, I hate black IPA's, but for some reason this one works. So weird, yet so good. I wouldn't expect anything else from these two breweries. Cheers!

 

I will check it out. Thanks, man. I mean, my wife and I did still eventually have a couple brews after all the crazy 10 year old girls left.

 

Glad that the chose to release this beer this year after me not having ever seen it since I've become a certifiable BA.

Like @nauc said, this beer is almost too smooth. A bit lighter on the nose and malt that my go-to for the style, Bigfoot, but that in no way shape or form is a knock.
Great color and lacing on the glass and super smooth going down (TWSS ).
Oh, and $3.99 at Trader Joes!

 

So I just had to double up on NBS today because I had to try Weyerbacher's Sunday Morning Stout. Wow! Amazing bourbon barrel aged coffee stout. I'd put it up against any other one. Beautiful black oily pour. Smeels mostly of coffee but I do get some booze. Oh boy, the taste is crazy. Huge coffee notes on top of the booziness. It's definitely hot; I'm going to save at least one or two to see how some age mellows this out. Thick and creamy, this one was almost too easy to drink on a Sunday.
In fact, you might say it was easy like Sunday morning.

 

I did a little brewery crawl yesterday and visited 4 nano-breweries in the Derry-Londonderry, New Hampshire area. In the last year this area with a population of about 5,000 has been a big draw for nano-brewers. Not sure why but I won't complain about it. So I visited 603, FTB (From the Barrel), Rockingham, and Kelsen. Kelsen was unveiling its limited edition Vinatta Russian Imperial Stout which comes on at 12% ABV.

Jet black pour with a foamy tan head. The aroma is dark malts, prunes, black licorice, tobacco, and a hint of booze. Full body that warms its way down my throat. The taste emphasizes the roasted malts, dark fruit, and licorice but not so much the booze. There is a lingering earthy bitterness at the finish. No coffee. No chocolate. Just a fine Russian Imperial Stout that I now put high on my Top 10 Favorites list.

 

A little head cold showed up right on time for a mini-vacation, so I've gone beerless for a couple of days ... but not today:



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/35625/?ba=Premo88

3.83 (-10.3% rDev)

I fear my recovering senses are still off today, because Weihenstephaner's Vitus is good but not great ... specifically, it doesn't have the full sweetness it seems to be promising both in the nose and in the first half of each swallow. The back half and finish of each swallow is bland, losing both the sweetness and fruitiness of the first half. Banana, clove, lemon/tart grapes all show up in the nose and the flavor, and the mouthfeel is solid.

Fortunately, I have another pint that I'll hold onto until I'm fully recovered. And if it warrants, I'll adjust my review numbers to give Vitus its due.

Went to Houston yesterday for friends, a quick beer run and a good play at Stages Repretory.


_Stupid F###ing Bird_ was fantastic. It should run/be taught side-by-side with Chekov's _The Sea Gull_, in my humble little English major geek opinion.

Cheers!

 

I've scuppered my plan to drive down to Fairfield today, as the guy who was going to do the driving is not answering his phone and my tabs are expired. They're not massively so, and it will be remedied tomorrow when the courthouse is open, but driving down a remote highway after "exploring" a new brewery while supplying some Sheriff's Deputy with a valid reason to pull me over is not a page from the smart move handbook.

Since I'm a little irritated at how the day has gone thus far, I thought I'd start off with a beer I pretty much knew I probably would find lacking anyway: an adjunct lager from the wilds of Guatemala (totally a ticker acquisition, I know) - http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/888/5294/?ba=woemad

Pretty much like what I thought it would be – an exercise in characterlessness, though at least due to the can, it wasn’t lightstruck or skunky, just relentlessly bland - and now I've had a beer from Central America!

 

I remember few over the years, they usually wind up in the Breweriana forum.

 

I can't really participate in this week's NBS because of a bad head cold. It is a shame because I have a ton of stuff that is NBS eligible. So the least I could do is post some openers.

 

Been to those areas many many times.

Cheers!

 

New beer and brewery Sunday. First time having anything from Great Lakes, which, makes for the first time having Chillwave.

Surprisingly didn't pour much head but with very little agitation the head foams up but does fade fairly quickly. Beer is a clear dark copper with almost some red coloring. Some impressive alchool legs. The aroma and taste grapefruit/citrus, and tropical dank like sweetness. Some malt backbone to balance it out, but definelty more hop forward. This isn't a citrus bomb which sets it apart from many other IPAs.

With Mosiac hops I get a unique aroma and flavor unlike another other hop that I have a hard time describing, it's like a sweet dankness. As the beer warm that dankness comes out more on the nose and taste. The beer didn't blow me away at first but became better and better the more I drink it.

The body is a bit heavier and slightly syrupy but only a little. Medium carbonation. For a 9%+ beer I don't get any alchool and drinks easy for the abv. If I had one knock would be a bit too sweet. I would prefer a beer abv to give a more dry less sweet finish.

Overall a great beer and I am glad I got my hands on a few.

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A gray, cloudy, yet warm, day here in the Fourth Corner. I've got a few things to touch on here today, if it's just beer you want, fast forward to the review.

Some of y'all may remember that I was heading to a bottle share last week. The centerpiece was a 10 year vertical of one of my personal favorites, North Coast Old Stock Ale. Yes, it was pretty awesome. Of course none of us showed up empty handed, and the other highlight was a bottle of Tactical Nuclear Penguin. 32%ABV. And a total smoke bomb. In the best possible way. There were many other great beers, and a couple whose best times were behind them, and I finally straggled out of Justin's house about 11:30pm, with a couple cans of Field 41, to keep me hydrated for the rainy walk home, in my pocket.

Thursday a couple friends and I did a day trip to score some locally hyped beer, and visit a couple breweries. A fellow BA is brewer at Skookum Brewing, and I finally paid my first visit to their great tasting room. Nice space, and great beers. I've been a fan of the brewery for years, and their location across the street from a bust airport means I'll be back. We then made a visit to the newish Whitewall Brewing. Really good brews, very nice folks, and a couple of the friendliest Spaniels you'll ever meet. They are a must visit if you're ever near Everett/Marysville/Arlington WA.

You might remember a couple weeks ago, I wasn't feeling so sprightly in the A.M., after attending a burlesque show. Well, last night was the first bout night of the season for the Bellingham Roller Betties, which found me in usual spot providing security in the beer garden. A good crowd of folks showed up, we sold more than 5 kegs of beer (mostly craft, supplied by the brewery I help out at, 1 keg of Ranier), everyone remained well-behaved so I didn't have to do anything more strenuous than chat with folks, enjoy the derby, and, of course, flirt with girls. Whew!

My first entry today is my second beer of the day, a solid little Pale ale from Or-uh-gun: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19378/158152/

Back in a bit with more!

 

I had some last year, It was so sweet with honey I didn't pick up any hop flavors. Maybe this year's is better.

 

Head colds suck. Hang in there, buddy!

(and nice openers)

 

Haha, I just edited my post stating that my one knock is it's a bit too sweet. The hops still came though but it's a bit sweet, espically when I came to the end of my glass.

 

Happy New American Porter Sunday!

Happy NBS,

About 50 today, cloudy, little breezy at times. Did a little hike as well. This brew surprised me, really was not expecting it to be this good.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/139172/?ba=Wasatch

Cheers!