New Beer Sunday (week 576)

So, I maybe should not have popped this (10.5%) after my first couple , but, it's my Friday night and I may open another!



Les Trois Mousquetaires is one of my 3 favorite breweries out of Quebec and their Porter Baltique is my favorite Baltic Porter.This is their Bourbon and Brandy barrel aged version.



Vigorous pour yields a nice big head that disappears rather quickly. Nose of bourbon and brandy soaked raisins (ya think?!?!?) and caramel. Tastes of bourbon and brandied cherries, chocolate and coffee. Decent mouthfeel, although less full than the non barrel aged version. Overall, I will be getting a few more of these and pairing with a Black Forest Cake!

 

Congrats on going solar.

 

Cool concept by Evil Twin.

This beer is in fact barrel-aged. One thing I learned recently though is that this year's is actually a blend that is something like 20% barrel-aged whereas in previous years the beer was a blend relying much more on barrel-aged beers if not being entirely barrel-aged.

 

When I get the chance, I'm going to try the app suggested by @Prager62 Even the full version of photobucket on my laptop is getting pretty horrible with pop up adds... I guess they have to make their money somehow...

 

Moving on to this interesting brew from my favorite local bottle shop...

Peach Gruit by Mountain Town brewing


Appears a hazy golden orange color with almost no head.

Smell is straight peaches. Slight herbal notes...what they are, I don't know.

Taste is peaches, and herbs....I guess. As far as picking out what herbs go into a gruit I will admit I am fairly inexperienced. Slight sweetness that lingers a little.

Mouthfeel is medium. Slightly creamy body with some drying on the palate.

Gruits are not very common so I don't really have a baseline. This just seems like a peach beer to me. Peaches are dominant all over.

 

It's nice to be back to NBS! Thanks to our brother @JayWhitson, I am reviewing Crazy Mountain Brewing Lawyers Guns & Money.

Appearance-pours a golden amber/caramel body with a good finger of creamy head with a decent amount of bubbles at the top
Smell-dank hops, resin, grass, and pine with some sweet bread malts and a bit of caramel/toffee
Taste-it is primarily typical barleywine flavors of sugar, bread, malts, caramel/toffee, with a touch of hops but to me the hops lighten the body up vs a straight up barleywine.

 

lot of booze and smoke up front...have another i'm gonna cellar for a yr or so.. but still noy bad

 

Hello Late Night NBS
Well I'm back with another big one. And what a finisher she is!!!

In honor of our kicking off NBS BIF #3 I finally popped this beauty that a most generous BA (@Prager62 ) crushed my porch with in NBS BIF #2.
Thank You for digging into your cellar to share this gem with me.
I haven't forgotten you. And a thank you is late coming, but it is coming...

Bourbon Barrel-Aged HiFi Rye by Flossmoor Station Brewery & Restaurant
Bottle marked “Batch #2 02/12

Pours a deep burnished mahogany. Slight cocoa brown head forms and retreats. Light lacing. Aroma is, Wow! Definitely coming out with bourbon, dark baker’s chocolate, some oak, and toasted caramel.
Taste is amazeballs. Bourbon definitely in the front and middle, but it lets a lot more shine through. Dark chocolate, caramel, a hint of date, a hint of char, and some heat. But all of this gracefully ebbs and flows. This sipper wants to hang with you and tell a long, lovely story. At times, a little peppery nip at the tongue comes through for just a moment. Is it the rye? Is it some leftover hop contribution. I don’t know, but it adds to the mystery, and it’s deliscious.
Mouthfeel is full and round, yet a tad creamy.
Overall, I was elated to finally try this one. I’ve had it on my list for a few years. Lived up to hype…and then some.

 

Tonight I get to join @2beerdogs in the Late Night West Coast New BSin'. I'm quite excited about this, as the reasons for my joining in so late this week are joyous ones indeed.


I traveled north to my island this weekend, where I've been able to enjoy the pristine early spring sunshine on the island where I grew up. My dog gets to play with her best friend. I get to visit the parents. My dad and I are building some bookcases which I think are going to turn out quite nicely. I even got to head out to community basketball tonight (and we won a bunch of times and lost no times!)!


(the reflection in that TV looks like @Homebrew 's avatar)

I picked up Ring of Fire by Narrows Brewing down in Tacoma, largely because it was the only beer of any interest at the store here on the island that I was %100 sure that I had never had before.

-The pour is opaque without being cloudy; an orange/amber. The colour of the cider that we used to make at my buddy's farm. Nice tight head that sits around and marks up the glass sides.
-Nose is muted and of all things seems to highlight the Filipino contribution to this concoction: the rice. There's maybe some grassy hops in there as well? This is the first hint of things not going as I had hoped.
-Taste is not well defined. There is a softened pine and some other hops that I can't quite pin down. Cold, it suffers from a cloying bitterness that has nothing to offset it or balance it out, but as it warms it becomes less caustic.
-Surprisingly solid body, the carbonation arrives all in a petite rumble, and recedes just as delicately. Finish is long and bitter. Initially I was quite put off by the post-taste as it as the cloying, unenjoyable side of bitter I allude to above, but as it warms, that becomes less the characteristic and it is just tar/sap bitter.

Overall this is not a beer I will likely grab again, but I wouldn't pour it out or anything.


I hope you are all well.