New Beer Sunday (week 561)

LMAO-I happened to be checking what you thought of Fort "officially" (you rated it higher than I expected, but likely quite fairly, IMO) - I saw you had rated this beer. Then I checked after this post to see if I had rated it, knowing I've had it, and...
Your adjustments ended on the exact same category by category rating I had given. Granted, my review was on cask. Despite that, glad to see more "local" love being shared .

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to our hostess @utopiajane for getting us underway,

It’s been an eventful week in Washington’s second city, where it’s a crisp 22 degrees. Tuesday night featured hurricane force winds. The official NWS reading was 71 MPH, but that was before their equipment was ripped out by the freaking wind. Unofficial readings have put it as high as 87. Two people were killed locally, one a few blocks up the hill from me. The upper South Hill, when I drove up on Thursday, looked like a cross between having been victim of a bombing raid and having been run through a pencil sharpener. Big pine trees are still lying across roads. I was lucky. My power went off for about 5 minutes. Entertainingly, it was about 45 seconds after I had emerged from the shower. 5 minutes later the power came back on and I got to find out what I was wearing! Many haven’t been so lucky. Thousands lost power and still don’t have it, and/or had their houses and/or yards rearranged by falling trees. What’s particularly diabolical about it is that it’s been the coldest week this fall, with night time temperatures getting down to the low 20s and high teens. Not a great time to be huddling in a house that’s been sent back to the 19th century.

In other news I watched my alma mater lose to a Portland State team that’s seemingly a team of destiny this year, making my Eags unable to make the FCS playoffs without some judicious plane crashes, though my Huskies did blow up the Beavers, as was kind of expected. They have to win out to have a realistic shot at a bowl game, making for a fairly intense Apple Cup (Hell, they’re all intense).

Today I’m digging out the winter gear, doing some cleaning, and watching the NFL. The Seahawks SHOULD beat the Niners, but I’ve been down that road before many a time. There may be some episodes of The Last Ship worked into the rotation as well.

Numerous things on deck today, as I’ve got a mixed 6er I picked up at Huckleberry’s, plus some new beers I grabbed in Kennewick, WA, a couple weeks ago. In the meantime, here’s a couple new beer Growler Guys fills from earlier in the week:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/191390/?ba=woemad

Like @kemoarps, I don’t think this quite came together, though I definitely enjoyed it. I was drinking this the night of the big storm. I didn’t post it at the time because I shut off my computer when the lights began to flicker ominously, though I did write down a review.

Yesterday (the first day they were open after the storm), I paid another visit to the Growler Guys up the hill (creepily, about a block from where someone was killed in the storm) and grabbed a grunt of a beer called Shadow Ninja. Even if the beer sucked, it’s a great name, right? http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30176/115138/?ba=woemad My first beer from Loowit, it definitely didn’t suck, though it was not exactly groundbreaking, just a great example of a PNW IPA.

Back with something new for today in a few hours.

 

I pride myself at being objective. Maybe a little generous across the board, but I call 'em as I see 'em. For example, I will admit that my wife's complaining about my beer purchasing is valid as much as I don't want to.

 

Welcome to NBS. You did fine. I'm actually thinking about Anchor IPA later on today. I haven't had a beer from them in a long time, for some reason.

 

Hahahahaha ... fantasy football makes fools of us all.



Hang in there, buddy! If it makes you feel any better, Philadelphia Eagles RB DeMarco Murray is probably the one chance I have of making any of my fantasy football dollars back this year ... oh, the irony!

 

I once had a dog diabolically clever enough to run construction equipment - fortunately he never got the chance.

Interesting that you like coffee beers without being a coffee guy. Myself, I love coffee beers and I love coffee, and have never before heard of the two not going together.

 

Do you have a picture of that dog? I have a hound now that I swear is smarter than some folks I know . There is a type of intelligence in dogs and all creatures that sometimes takes your breath away. Otis, the Treeing Walker **** Hound is mesmerized by airplanes, stars....all things up in the air! I love the dog so much it's difficult to express. He is kind and gentle and truly knows when I do not feel well. He makes an effort to make me feel better. Empathy is a powerful attribute and defines many of us. He does make me a better person. He shows no interest in mechanical earth-bound stuff like tractors.! He is a creature that could have been envisioned by Kurt Vonnegut.

 

G' morning NBS-ers and thanks again to Maria (@utopiajane ) for starting us out again this week!
Spent all day yesterday at Animal Kingdom; the morning and into the afternoon on the Wild African Trek! I'll post pics over on WBAYDN#1128....here's today'[s selection
Terrapin W-n-B Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout

Pours a deep dark brown to black body, thinnest amount of head makes an appearance. Small amount of lacing left in the glass.
Aromas of coffee, chocolate and lightly roasted malts.
Taste has coffee up front and then falling slightly into some bittersweet chocolate, small amount of sweetness.
Mouth feel is full with the oats adding that nice smoothness throughout and not a hint of the 9.4% at all!
Overall, a really tasty beer! One I would definitely pick up again! Nice amount of coffee, but not too much too make it bitter; there's that nice amount of chocolate in there as well. Really tasty.


Cheers!

**Edit: Will be back later with another post...planning on seeing Spaceballs in a little bit!!

 

@utopiajane @BeerVikingSailor @cavedave @JackHorzempa @Premo88

Good morning to all of you weekend warriors. Decided to go with a canned IPA sent in from my friend out in Oregon from a smaller craft brewery. Interesting stained glass motif on this one - has a striking look to it.

The beer has that modern raw and hazy look, and does smell like an intense dose of dry-hopping. Little bit of barnyard aroma as well, which is not bad.

Definitely a "chewier" beer than I was expecting. Lots of gooseberry flavor and some esters coming through. Kind of like a rich hop stew :-)

Overall this would make a great beer to have in the backpack while hiking the Columbia Gorge. Oregon has such a rich craft brew scene...its truly aspirational.

cheers

 

Since my GF likes Prarie BOMB! as well, I had the share the 12oz bottle with her (WBAYDN). So I feel I can have another this weekend AM, and why not something new?

Bought this a month or two back, and it had a discernible date on it, but I have inadvertently rubbed it off. Guessing it was from earlier this year, even if the beginning of the year. May I present Smuttynose Imperial Stout:


Pour is nice - as close to back as possible, if not-it seems. Got a shot of the nice brown head that is still around as I let it warm a bit. Nose coming off the pour was odd, time to go in for the official word.

Hmmm... not much roasted notes. It actually seems a little like a slightly citrusy yet balanced APA/IPA. Also perhaps a slight hint of oxidation. Maybe I'm still in bad beer mode; hoping it's not a bad bottle . At this point I'm thinking black IPA based solely on the smell.

My first sip and there's an improvement over the nose, but still thinking black IPA. When a beer is this off from expectations, I start checking other reviews. Seems I'm not totally off my rocker viewing a few of them. Hmmm... <sip, sip, swish, sip>.

Okay, eventually the roasted notes voice their opinion a little more, but they are interrupting the vegetal/earthy/lightly tart hop-like notes. In a certain way it's just becoming a "more black" IPA. There are still some notes I am perceiving as possible oxidation, but not entirely sure.

I might stick with a rating only, officially. If I could make out the date, I'd most likely feel differently. I am missing some more assertive roasted notes I expect from a stout, especially given they are overwhelmed but notes that should accent the roasted notes-not dominate them.

 

Your impression makes it sound like it is more of a huge West Coast Stout (a la Victory Storm King) rather than the more traditional style of Imperials. In that case I'd assume that freshness does matter more than you'd think.

 

I hear that, and considered it. But if I recall Storm King, it had a ton of hop bitterness, but also a decently bold roasted malt flavor to battle. This beer isn't nearly as bold as Storm King in either aspect.

Also, the bottle mentions "rich notes of coffee and chocolate" - not what I'm getting, and what the brewer puts on his/her bottle as to what to expect does have some influence on my review, however small.

 

cold beer sunday here!
here is a beer from a brewery not far from me and this is a view out my back window




this is one of three different heavy handed's, this is the cascade hops (aroma)

pours out clear orange with a rather smallish white head

I smell pine, and that is a grapefruit note, no orange

good medium bitterness and dominant grapefruit , no orange for example .maybe a hint of unripe or flat orange .

I like it

a bit chewy and carbonated. I enjoyed it and so i'll go ahead and finish the sixpack (some other time!)

back later , have to go beer shopping!

 

So last night I stayed up past midnight drinking old ales, scotch ales, and barrel-aged IPAs -- I was hitting it pretty hard. So naturally while I was running my 10 mile turkey trot race this morning in 30 degree temps with howling wind, I realized Life has neat ways of punishing you for your bad decisions.

I'm home and cozy now, so let me talk about Stone's collaboration brew with Juli Goldenberg and Monkey Paw. It's a carrot cake-inspired Belgian-style ale brewed with carrots, cinnamon, raisins, and vanilla beans. As a general rule, I love golden ales that are produced in the summer months that are brewed with citrus. This beer sounds really interesting, and it weighs in at 8.5% ABV.

The beer is more of a burnt orange color than anything, and has a cream or tan colored head that doesn't leave much but a wisp of bubbles after it recedes. Lacing is very modest.

The aroma is a bit boozy up front, but behind that I find a good relationship between cinnamon and vanilla which absolutely gives off a carrot cake kind of aroma. I'm not finding much raisin or carrot, but this beer also has a pretty strong Belgian yeast smell to it, and even some bubblegum notes as it warms.

My immediate reaction when I took the first sip was that I do not like this beer. I think it's the yeast that ruins the taste for me, but Belgian-style ales are hard for me to fully appreciate sometimes. Getting beyond that, the beer has a good cinnamon component that adds some spiciness to the taste. Where the raisin/carrot is unidentifiable in the aroma, it is vague in the taste profile but it's there in the finish. I'm just not getting much overall carrot-cake taste like I did in the aroma. Pink bubblegum sweetness comes in before a tart, slightly bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and dry.

Overall, I don't know. I think the aroma is more straight-forward and the taste profile is a bit of a mess. The longer I drink this beer, the more prominent the Belgian yeast is. It sounded like a delicious combination of ingredients but may work better for me in another style.

 

Where I live in Vermont, I woke up to mid '40 degree temps and was hoping for snow on the ground like our cohorts in the Midwest to Great Lake states have. I really want to bust out the snow machine, , where's the dag gum snow? Anywho, well, in preparation for watching the Eagles blow their season today another (is that really gonna happen?, oh I dunno), I figured sure let's pull out Frost Beer Works first non-hoppy offering, a new one to Beer Advocate.

Say hello 'babyface'



"hello beer advocate, drink me."

I swear I heard this stout say that.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/39297/200062/

 

Greetings again,
This is not Clamato, it is V-8. It has a distinct red nature and vegetable taste. I want a beer, but this is pretty damned good! That's Otis, Mr Brilliant!
Once again, here's one more and cheers to all! I love reading about all of the great beers and by Thursday, I'll be back in the saddle! Some Belgian beauties. It's a Manfred Mann kind of day. There's more, but I'll put it on pause (paws).

h
One more true classic that is a strong piece of our culture!

 

Follow up: as the Smuttynose Imperial Stout warms considerably, it does start to strike a better balance of roast/hops. However the oxidized notes seem stronger in the nose and even taste a bit. Maybe it's just not the best bottle to represent the beer .

 

Easiest for my dinosaur PC to do it this way. EWU's done for the year, anyway, and Cooper Kupp is probably bound for the NFL draft.

He was a German Shepherd named Sasha, though we often called him Diablo once we got to know him. Whip smart, if he only had devoted it to good instead of evil, and one of the most striking looking dogs I've ever seen. He was actually a very sweet dog in a lot of ways, but he was an alpha male from hell from the word go, and had this impish streak that led him to all kinds of things. He HAD to be an outdoor dog - he'd have utterly destroyed a house if allowed inside with his tail wagging alone (he made a few epic illicit runs into the house, though). He didn't really mellow until he was about 10, and had to be put down at 13 when his hip dysplasia got to be too much.

 

Happy NBS! We had our first official snow fall Friday/Saturday and everything is now white outside! A bit of shoveling, sledding, and football yesterday. Going to plow through a bunch of new beer today, because why not?

A new local brewery has 4 beers for me to try and this on is the first; I had to add it to BA. 3rd Sign Sumatra has a coffee brown color with a 1.5 finger tan head. Fades into a collar and leaves spotty lacing on the glass. Aroma is lighter coffee and roasted malt along with hints of toffee and bread. Flavor is some coffee with some nutty, toffee, and bread. Almost a bit of spice on the finish? Feel is lighter as expected for this style with a softer carbonation. The coffee notes went will with this style.



I already finished it, so I'm moving on!