What beer are you drinking now? #1068

Fruit and honey makes it a balanced breakfast, right?

 

Random day off. I figured I would start off with this bad boy. So tasty.

 

It's been too long since I've posted in one of these threads. Anyway, I'm having one of these while grading papers... review up in a bit. Unsurprisingly a pretty awesome beer. I bought three bottles, so I plan on probably aging at least one of the other two to see how it is once some of the booziness mellows out. I dig it as it is though.

Cheers, BA!

 

Happy Fall, BA'ers! A little Firestone Walker Bretta Weisse to start the morning off...

 

Here's my Bell's 30th Anniversary Ale review... probably the geekiest sounding review I've done in my entire life. Wanted to save this for NBS, but I'll probably be working Sunday.



First off, cheers to Larry Bell for 30 years of excellence!

I got a few bottles of this stuff for $3.49 at my bottle shop. Bottle dated 8/27/15, and poured 9/23/15. I've been waiting for this one for quite awhile, so I'm really looking forward to having this beer.

Appearance: An abyss. Even with sunlight shining right on my glass, there's no seeing through this beer. A beautiful two finger creamy tan (almost orange) head floats on top for a little while before going down to just about nothing but a ring. Unfortunately, not much lacing on the glass. It looks awesome regardless. (4.25/5)

Smell: Deep roasted malt that gives off a bit of a coffee vibe, with notes of dark chocolate or cacao nibs. I occasionally pick up traces of smokiness as well... almost like a smoked meat, which I get time-to-time in big, burly stouts like this one. Accents of stone fruit and a bit of cherry specifically sweeten things up at the end of the sniff. There is also some definite alcohol coming through on this one as well, which may be expected for an 11% stout. Very nice, eclectic aroma on this beer. (4.5/5)

Taste/feel: Unfortunately, I don't find that the phenomenal smell translates all that well on the taste buds. No doubt about it, this is a delicious beer, but it's not as deep as I was anticipating. Some sweet dark fruit on the back of tongue, dark roast -- borderline burnt roast -- on the middle, and a long, bittersweet, and modestly ashy finish. Where this beer shines more than anywhere else, in my opinion, is the body: Bell's 30th has one of the best mouth feels I've experienced... perfectly silky with the slightest carbonation. At the end of each sip, the alcohol dries up my tongue and has me going back for more. (4.25/5, 5/5)

Overall, this is a fantastic beer. It looks nice, smells great, and has a phenomenal mouthfeel. While this beer tastes very good, it doesn't deliver quite like I thought it would. In my opinion, this is either only very slightly better than Expedition, or equal. I know some people are bummed out that this beer wasn't barrel aged, and in a way, I am too, since I've found that in nearly all cases, bourbon barrel aging improves a stout. However, I commend Bell's for the decision to leave the bourbon qualities out of this beer. After all, this is a beer brewery's 30th anniversary... Larry's letting the BEER shine.

(4.5/5)

4.44/5 (-0.9% rDev)

 

Sad news indeed.

 

cheating: last night, La Cumbre Elevated IPA. Damn I love that beer. Hopefully Jeff can work with the distributor in Denver to get a distro plan for Colorado worked out. I need this beer in my life...

 

Haven't seen it in western NY, but until now I wasn't really aware of it. As for Heady, well, if it crosses my path OK, if not...

 

I think Treehouse might have beat the game with this one. Just a perfect IPA. WOW

 

For lunch:

 

Enjoying some Double Duckpin with my lunch today.





Tis the season for Type O Negative. This beautiful cold weather calls for some gloomy music.

 

Good morning! Friday morning here (3am) and starting with an English brown ale brewed with cocoa nibs and coconut - "Brave Bikkie":





I'm always looking for coconut beers that taste like coconut, and this drinks like a liquid Mounds bar; chocolate candy and plenty of coconut both in nose and on tongue. I like! From Behemoth Brewing Company, Warkworth, Aukland.

Warkworth is an hour drive north of Aukland. In addition to this great little brewery we found "Sheep World" yesterday and took a tour of the farm, learned about training herding dogs, and watched our guide shear a sheep.



Wife feeding a lamb after the show.



Have a great Thursday - cheers!

 

Dude, how long are you over there for??

 

Two more weeks :-)

 

Welcoming autumn with a day off and a Founders Breakfast Stout...

Bottled 09/01...

Hope you enjoy the darkness - the equinox has passed...

The days are getting shorter...

Winter is coming...


Storm and urge...


Quick shout out @WckdVbz and @PatrickCT (and anyone else who was wondering)... I asked after Jay and was told that he (@TurkeyFeathers) has retired his BA account...

Happy holidays as it applies, too... Cheers...

 

Knee Deep does DIPA's right by my book! TIPA's as well!

 

Damn, that's too bad about @TurkeyFeathers!

 

good morning. it's Wednesday here. where in the galaxy are you that it's already Friday??? jus sayin' - having most Fridays off/home, i need to be headed to where you are every Tuesday night! did i miss something?

 

Tasty California IPA from Saint Archer for lunch today...

 

We get fresh KDB in NY, sometimes with just 2 weeks on it