New Beer Sunday (week 567)

Stone Stochasticity Project Grainiac aka Colon Blow
This is a malt bomb made with some grains not brewed with very often. Brewed with 2 row pale malts, white wheat,grouse Malted Millet, Grouse Malted Buckwheat, Cararye Golden Naked Oats & Triticale. Hopped with Columbus, Chinook, Cascade and Centennial hops. A nice orange red color and off white creamy head make this beer looks good. I pick up some rye in the aroma but nothing stands out. All the grains in this brew are blended so well that no flavor stands out. There is a hint of this followed by hint a that followed by a hint of something else ect.. There is very little hop flavor or aroma. The finish is a tiny bit sweet. Overall a very nice beer.

 

Or absurdly... but it was fun for me, at least .

 

Hello NBS'ers!

My recent expedition through dusty old boxes and stacks of 70's LPs has unearthed many artifacts.
I fear 2016 may be the year WBAYDN is forced to see many of them.



You certainly don't have to force me to drink this delicious Belgian-Style BSDA made possible by
the great BeerAdvocate @Prager62.

At a modest 8.8% ABV, Barrel Aged Retribution from Greenbush Brewing is not for amateurs and
tastes more like an 11% BSDA that hides its ABV.

Does that make sense?
Sure it does!

In other words, BA Retribution is fantastic. If I were to geek-out about it, and I guess I will, I would say
it's rich with lively carbonation and sweet spicy flavors slightly burnt by the up front whiskey component.
Yeah!

The big problem I have with this ale is the 12 ounce bottle. It's too small.
(That's what she said. Sorry)

I would love to feast my eyes on a corked and caged 750ml bottle of BA Retribution.
Maybe a case of it with a few set aside for aging.

Cheers NBS gang!

Now back to ~ Pigs (Three Different Ones)

 

Afternoon, BA's. I really enjoyed this Brown Ale. I seem to like it more than the average reviewer.

4.04/5 rDev +15.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into tulip glass. It pours a deep, dark mahogany but when you look through the glass into the light, it is a pretty ruby-red. It features a thick, frothy one-finger head and extensive lacing. It's really a lovely pour. It smells of bourbon, oak, caramel, and roasted malt. There is a strong bourbon taste but also a nice blend of caramel, molasses, and chocolate. Also, there is a noticeable oak flavor. For an ale, it has a nice, rich, creamy mouthfeel and surprisingly little alcohol burn for a 10% ABV. Overall, I really enjoyed this ale. It is potent but not overly boozy, has a great blend of flavors, and a pleasant mouthfeel. It's one of the best Brown Ales I've tasted.

 

Hello NBS people,

Bittersweet day here in NJ. Nice, crisp winter day. Taking down last of Christmas decorations. Putting away patio furniture. Last day of vacation. And doing something for the first time besides tasting this beer: watching the Jets instead of my Giants (sigh).

Anyway, on to the new beer: Stoneface Porter. Pours jet black, with a big fluffy tan head. Smells a bit of chocolate. Tastes very roasty, which I like. This could just as easily be a stout. Anyway, more chocolate in the taste, but subtle. Nice creamy mouthfeel to this one. I like that it has a thick body with a low ABV. Overall, a really tasty porter.

Cheers!

 

Beautiful cat (an oxymoron for me)! I never knew polydactyly was even a thing in mammals other than the Amish, although I suppose it's a logical outlier based on gene frequency - the things I learn on this site!

 

Happy NBS everyone!

There's finally a chill in the air here in NJ. The snow will show up eventually I'm sure. Turkey chili is in the crock pot and the Jets are on the tv fighting for a playoff spot. Spent NYE visiting some friends in Maryland and plenty of beer was had. They're big into high octane IPAs, which I enjoy from time to time but they're not really my speed, so I brought some other beers down with me. Eventually, my stash evaporated and I succumbed to the call of the highly hopped brews. So on this NBS, I'm reaching for something dark and malty.

Brooklyn Insulated Dark Lager



This is a new winter seasonal from Brooklyn. It's deep brown in color with an medium-sized, creamy, tan head. Good retention and lacing. Mild roasted malt and dark chocolate aroma. The taste is more roast and chocolate with a hint of coffee and some breadiness thrown in. Some light spicy, grassy hops are there too for slight balance. Really nice. The finish is bitter but the body remains medium-light. Slick texture with clean, smooth lager character.

Overall, I think Brooklyn absolutely nailed this beer. I really hope they continue to brew this beer or even make it a year round offering, because it's hard to find any faults with it. Cheers!

Look 4.00 / Smell 4.00 / Taste 4.25 / Feel 4.25 / Overall 4.25

Score: 4.18 / 5

 

Glad you enjoyed it! No worries, I have more. One of my favorite albums to accompany it is the perfect touch.

 

I need to work on my subtle-hint technique.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @JMS1512 for getting this train outta the station,

Happy 2016 to everyone. New Years Eve was a bit of a non-event for me as I'm just getting over a headcold from hell that flirted with me over Xmas, kicked in fully last Monday (had to tell my 5 yr old niece not to hug me goodbye so she didn't get my cold) and required antibiotics to only just now get out from under. Other than that, Xmas was fun. I got to hang out with both my nieces and bond a bit with the new one who hit her 6-month birthday while I was there, and managed to have some great dinners (no trad fare this year, but some great steaks and prime rib, so I think I did alright).

Weirdly, Xmas featured no new beers at all for me, and I think I only had two the entire weekend (Lagunitas IPA at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Olympia while bowl-watching - go Dawgs -, and a Redhook ESB at my brother's place), but there was a fair amount of wine drinking, including a Leonetti Cab-Sauv at my aunt's place Thursday night (this isn't Wine Advocate, but I assure you anything Leonetti is something special). My Bro tried to get me some of the barrell aged variants of Fremont's Abominable (soon to be called something else for legal reasons) and Dark Star, but he started looking weeks after they sold out in Oly, so he got me a bottle of Woodford Reserve bourbon instead, which is a pretty good way to buy my goodwill for another year.

Now that I'm able to have alcohol and address the stockpile of beer in the fridge, I decided to start off with a Deschutes IPA that seems to promise to be a throwback to the traditional PNW IPA :

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/95114/?ba=woemad

Pretty good stuff, unless you only drink fruitbomb IPAs, in which case you'd probably find this too bitter for your alcoholic orange julius palates.

Now I'm off to watch the Seahawks with some friends. I'll be back later to dispatch one or more wintery and Xmasy beers that I've been staring at all week, wishing I could drink them.

 

That's a great album, @LeperJim! The first concert I ever attended was Pink Floyd performing Animals at Madison Square Garden in 1977. That album has special memories for me. Enjoy!

 

Yeah- I may be a bit of a heretic, but I always thought Animals was their best album.

 

Nice LP, though it appears Battersea Power Station has grown one more stack in your pic, one that looks oddly like a bottle.

That album is one of my faves, in part because it represents the dying embers of the Floyd being a collaborative band. I'm enough of a Floyd freak that I actually made a pilgrimage to the banks of the Thames across from there in London in'01 just so I could take a pic of the ruins of that place.

 

Oh yeah. Saw the show (in Cincy I think) that year with the floating pig. Good memories but it's a little fuzzy these days. I was more of a Yes / Genesis fan at the time, but that show change things.

 

Happy New Year NBS afficianados! Kicking it off with a bottle of Christmas Bomb that I picked up at Whole Foods while in Illinois visiting friends yesterday. This one has been on my radar for a while, but my timing has been off securing any until yesterday. Let's pour this festive Bomb into my 13oz. snifter and see what it's all about?

Pours a dark oily black with a small ring of tan foam that forms around the glass. lt looks a bit under carbed. The aroma is cinnamon forward with some nutmeg, tobacco, and leather. Flavor once again begins with a good dose of cinnamon, followed by allspice, nutmeg, coffee and tobacco. It's a little on the messy side with some medicinal aftertaste. Feel is oily but thin and a bit under carbed.



I'm a big fan of Bomb and had high hopes for this, but it left me rather underwhelmed. I found it thin, flat and artificial tasting. I'll take Stone Xocoveza or 18th Street Bitches Bank over this any time. Another want scratched off the list, my rating was 3.79 / rDev -10%.

Have a Happy New Year/New Beer Sunday. A big thanks to the Detroit Lions for moving my Bears up in the draft! Link to review below.....

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/198842/?ba=Prager62

 

Awesome album. Not sure if you are a Les Claypool fan at all, but the Frog Brigade live cover of that album is a must listen.

Les Claypool's Frog Brigade - Live Frogs (Set 2)

 

I still think it's their best album, @TongoRad!

 

Nice tale!

 

I've been starting to finally try to get into sours, wild ales, saisons and the like. Living close to Russian River (and Rare Barrel) and being a co-member with @CommanderOfAwesome of Bruery Hoarders Society, I've been lucky to have access to great beers of the styles.
I've seen Almanac and have been buying their BA Heirloom Pumpkin stuff, but since I'm starting to get into the lip-puckering styles, I saw this yesterday and thought why not...glad I did!
I get a lot of the lip and cheek puckering feeling and while the blueberry is noticeable, it's not as forward as I would have hoped. And as I suck the after-taste in my mouth (the best way I can describe it), I get notes of Capt'n Crunch. Which isn't a bad thing.
Overall a good beer. Not great, and it's actually better than good, just not sure of the word for it.
Bring on baseball season!

 

Happy New Herbed/Spiced Beer Sunday!

Happy New Year NBSer's!

Today we have some sun, but mostly cloudy, mid 20s, still some snow on the ground, nice day in GJ! Watched some of the Jets/Bills game. Broncos game is coming up, not really a football fan, gave up on it around 1988 or so, but would like to see the Broncos win it, baseball and hockey for me. Also, Shameless Season 6 will start next sunday, been watching the reruns for the 2nd or 3rd time from the beginning. Man, what a father good old Frank is!Today's brew is pretty tasty, DFH is always doing some experimental shit!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/64/87844/?ba=Wasatch



Cheers!