New Beer Sunday (week 586)

Hi everyone. After a really hectic couple of days, I'm relaxing and enjoying your reviews. I've tried several new beers thus far this weekend but this is my "official" NBS selection: Avery's Samael's Ale. I generally enjoy English Barleywines and I'm typically not scared off by a high ABV but this one, though well made, is just a too sweet and too boozy for my liking. Here's my review:

3.86/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured into tulip glass. It pours a coppery orange color with a thick, foamy, ecru-colored head and lacing. The smell is predominately oak, caramel, brown sugar, and molasses. The taste is very hot and boozy with burnt oak, burnt sugar, molasses, malt, and maybe a hint of apricot. It is also extremely sweet - even for an English Barleywine - and extremely potent. It has a chewy, syrupy mouthfeel with light carbonation. I'm not a shrinking violet when it comes to high ABV but I think this would be a lot more enjoyable at around 10.5%. Overall, it is definitely a drinking experience. Just not one I'd have on a regular basis.

 

Back again, this time with a beer I should have waited until after dinner for, as it’s so richly decadent it should be considered a dessert:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/652/16062/?ba=woemad#review

HUGE shout out to @Ri0 for this. It’s not perhaps everyone’s ideal RIS, as it’s a bit sweet, but it drinks so, so well. I’ll remember this next time I eat a rich meal and have a cigar afterwards, because this beer would be a fantastic accompaniment to such an evening.

If I make another contribution to this NBS, it shall be fairly late. Cheers!

 

Thanks for your review. I'm in kind of the same boat. I see this one in the stores all the time and I really like Choklat and Oranj. Every time I almost purchase Creme Brulee, I think about reviews from other BA's and I pull back my arm.

 

I am assuming (without actual knowledge or research) that Chocolate Sombrero is the base beer. While it is not bad by any means, I found it had virtually no chilie pepper notes. Based on that, I also assumed this would be the same or worse. Low and behold, it is more prominent. Go figure.

 

I have been told it is the base beer. I was expecting Xocoveza, and I didn't get it. Probably not fair on my part. I also missed the chilie peppers.

 

Are they bottling yet?

 

Sunday morning cartoons stout. Might have bought it for the name and cereal bits in wax on the top. Roasted coffee nose, low AbV. It's OK, not a whole lot going on. The nose is better than the brew itself. If you see it, get it. But don't seek it out.

 

I think it was their Peated Imperial Stout that I had from them recently, although I don't remember if it was a NBS beer for me or not. I've had the Export Porter 1750 too, but it's been a few months since I drank that one. I do remember liking both brews!

 

That's a ringing endorsement....Sold, to this guy!!! ISO: Live a Rich Life.
PS Post that review @beerloserLI . It's a great read.

 

After a brief afternoon nap, it's time for more beer. While I didn't have last year's version, I've been told this is better. I can definitely see how these flavors could easily get muddled if not done right. I have to say, as strange as a coriander, sea salt, gose sounds, this is mighty tasty and drinkable. Review is below along with a couple gratuitous deck shots.







Poured from a 12 ounce can into a tulip. Minimal white head with some small lacing on a orangish/amber color. The coriander hits you on the nose immediately followed by that salty, briny smell you expect from a gose. Mouthfeel is medium to high carbonation, ever so slightly oily, and a bit thick. The taste is exactly as advertised: coriander and sea salt. I like coriander, it reminds me of cucumber, which I also like, and I think it pair well with sea salt. Along with the expected briny, sour flavor, all the flavors play well together and balance each other. I'd say Sixpoint did a great job on this one

 

Should've just told em a Happy Naked Day...

 

Sorry there's no pic, @Ri0. Photobucket is being rather petulant at the moment. If I hit another one tonight, I'll throw it in.

 

Just had the most stressful uncorking ceremony of my life. This incredible beer (just released this past Friday!) was unfortunately cursed with a rotted cork that took the better part of a half hour to extricate without getting cork shrapnel in my beautiful whiskey barrel aged maple bacon stout! The things I do for beer!



So it's kind of a lie that this is my first experience with this, as I tasted some at the Rockingham tasting room before picking up four bottles to take home. I hope you NBSers will still grant my credence with my definition of "new" so that I may share with you the wonders of Barrel-Aged Maple Glazed Belly of the Beast!



The original BotB was also an imperial stout made with real bacon, though it clocked in at 8% instead of the monstrous 10% this version boasts. BAMG BotB was aged in whiskey barrels primed with maple syrup (aka the best way I know of to add discernible and appreciable maple flavor to a big stout) for just over 4 months according to the brewers.



This pours an absolutely pitch-black, no-holds-barred thick and rich chocolatey black stout color of which very few can truly claim to approach. The head is voluminous and thick with mocha foam, leaving some sticky lacing as it dissipates over the course of ten or so minutes.



The nose is redolent of sweet maple syrup, heavy amounts of smoked bacon, earthy and peppery spice, warming ethanol, tannic oak and, of course, whiskey all atop a luxuriously-rich and deep maltiness. I just cannot stop smelling this beer. It balances everything so well, while being markedly different from something like CBS due to the intense smokiness. I think this might be even more focused on maple than CBS as well, though it definitely doesn't have the same barrel depth as that wonderful brew does. That said, this has a very pleasing, deep and complex nose.

Flavor is sweet and deeply malty with a lingering smokiness after each sip. Maple syrup is very obvious on the tongue, though it dries out the palate towards the end where the whiskey barrel tannins mesh with the entire thing and carry each sip to a concise close. Not noticing too much heat on the palate from the high ABV and whiskey, which is pretty interesting. As the beer warms, it seems to sweeten up a bit more and I get more interactions between the maple-whiskey duality and the malt bill. Kind of takes on a honeyed malt approach with the requisite ashy and roasty brutality of a stout of this caliber. Interesting combination of flavors.

Feel is thick and chewy with a very viscous palate that nevertheless retains decent carbonation despite having been open for about 45 minutes at this point (still very much savoring/enjoying my first 8 oz pour!). As mentioned before, this finishes pretty dry and displays a great balance of flavors. I bought a few bottles to split with friends and one to age as well (the brewers assured me this would age strongly), so I'm getting my mileage out of this one! Hope the other corks aren't rotted, but this was incredibly worthy of the struggle it required to be able to pour it!

Also, inspired by this excellent beverage, I just pan-fried some applewood-smoked bacon with maple syrup, brown sugar, freshly-ground black pepper, cinnamon and a quarter-shot of Knob Creek Single Barrel bourbon. After all, if you're not going all-in, you're not doing it right! Cheers NBSers!



By the by, I'm listening to what may very well become my top album of the year right now, to make things even more awesome. Just discovered the band Mechina with their new album Progenitor... they're a futuristic modern metal project with a riff style based on old-school melodic death metal combined with modern "djent"-y metal stuff. Great songwriting, awesome use of symphonic synths, moments of aggression and contemplative emotion perfectly paired together. Usually not the biggest fan of things like this, but the vocal harmonies, expansive riffcraft and epic songs have me hooked. Breathtaking work.

 

Last week was crazy busy, and didn't get a chance to participate in NBS. This week isn't much better, but managing to squeeze one in...

This is Battleground from Mantra. These guys are a relatively new brewery out of Nashville, and I picked up a couple singles last weekend to try. Turns out to be a very nice basic saison. Nothing flashy, but easy drinking and refreshing.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/43249/210346/?ba=richj1970#review

 

Posted this already on WBAYDN (but a different picture...); hope that's not an offense. But this is a new beer for me, and it is Sunday. Given some comments I'd read, it was not as sweet as I expected. Don't drink it if you don't like cherries, though.

 

You know, I totally agree with you here. This was rather weirdly underwhelming. I've had better kellers from American breweries, honestly (Idle Hands' Adelais is top-tier, for example). This one felt to-style but also like nothing particularly special. Seemed kinda phoned-in, and the price for a sixer was a bit steep (somewhere in the $13-14 realm in MA where usual Weihenstephan stuff is no more than $10-11).

 

Good afternoon BAs! It has been a chilly but beautiful sunny weekend here in TN, with massive blue skies. The beer scene in Nashville (like our population) continues to explode and I enjoyed many great local brews over the past 3 days. Our son is working the pizza oven at Tailgate Brewery for the summer, so we paid them a visit Friday night to check out his culinary talents and sample some new beers. His meat lover's pizza was outstanding and paired well with their new Citra Mosaic IPA:


Another great up-and-comer in the area is Mill Creek Brewing Co, which just started canning 4 of their beers. I spotted their Woodshed IPA at the store and picked up a sixer - very glad I did. It's also nice to give them their first review on BA:

A moderately hazy golden straw color. There was a two-finger white foamy head that lingered and left nice tracks. Very fruity nose: big aromas of grapefruit, mango, pineapple, and peach, with just a faint bready smell. It tasted just like the nose suggested; lots of citrus fruit and great Galaxy hop notes. Moderately bitter. Understated malt presence but the feel was nice and not too thin. Nice dry clean finish. To me, this felt and tasted much bigger than a beer with 4.5% ABV. Very nice!

Cheers!

 

Hi all, trying this Urban Family Brewing More With Honey. Cheers.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28192/226014/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

Ahh, yes, I do specifically recall you reviewing that one, but I thought reviewed both. Maybe I was transferring my intent to do both in one day onto you . Regardless, I did read your review of this beer and I think we got fairly similar things, though I got more heat than you seemed to indicate.

And speaking of the Peated Imperial Stout...


Seemed to me to pour a little thicker than the Export Porter 1750, but the head built up even less. I quickly snapped the right picture as I saw the head fizzing away right after the pour. Though the head is less in volume, it expands on the inner wall of the glass with each tip, some of which sticks to provide small amounts of lacing.

Nose is more subtle than the previous beer, quite interestingly. I do get the peat coming out faintly, but against... almost nothing. There's a light amount of roasted malt, maybe? Ok, I'll come back if additional warmth aids the nose.

First off, even though it has a higher ABV, this beer has nowhere near the heat of the last beer. It actually has a very nice mouthfeel, as the beer softly envelops my mouth. There is a smooth creaminess that is a little coating. This beer seems a bit sweeter than the last, more like sweetened coffee - one of those with a little nuttiness to it. Bitter coffee and nuttiness are not predominant, but that sweetened coffee impression does provide a solid base. On top of that come the more noticeable notes of a light smokiness and peat, but these are far from overpowering. The combination adds a little tang, but one that is richly consumed by the other notes.

Back to the nose, it did open up a little and gained a bit of strength as it warmed. However, it didn't really expose any new notes. I actually like the scents I do get, despite the straightforward nature of them.

I ended up liking this beer better. I found it more well put together and softer overall in the way it presented itself to me. The alcohol is hidden many times better than the previous beer. To me, the peat was subdued and played a nice role in the beer without being an overpowering component. Lastly, figured I'd give the GF's opinion on a few sips of this one as well, "This one seems more chocolately to me. I like it better."