New Beer Sunday (week 597)

A cloudy Sunday in New Hampshire but the temperatures are comfortable. There may be some rain on the way. So whenever the weather gets grim (like rain, snow, sleet, etc), I pull out a dark beer such as a Stout or a Porter. Today it is a Porter from a new nano-brewery in New Hampshire. It is the Mooselick Hoof Print Porter. The brewery just opened last Fall and this is a new beer as it was released for the first time in March, 2016.

New Hampshire is going through a Renaissance with new breweries opening every month. I do like a good Porter but sadly this one did not live up to my expectations. Certainly I get a vanilla and sweet roasted malt character along with a little dark fruit and a low to no hop profile. But the fruit seemed on the sour side - and I'm not talking about Brett or a wild yeast beer. That's the kind of sour I am expecting and can handle. But that sour character at the end brought this down a notch for me.

 

I'll be hitting my first from them later today, courtesy of @Ri0.

 

Ah, that's unfortunate! I'm in northeastern KY, so I'm a decent haul away from Lexington, which is home to both CB and West 6th - both great breweries. Each has a pretty outstanding barrel-aging programs, with their 'shelf' beers being 'ok' to 'outstanding'. W6 makes some good IPAs whereas CB seems to be better at crafting darker beers. Shotgun Wedding is on its way to getting year-round distribution in cans and I can't wait.
On the other side of the state is Against the Grain. We just started seeing distro from them in my neck of the woods but I've been pleasantly suprised so far.
KY is trying to get caught up with the big dogs of craft. We're a bit behind in terms of quantity, but equal in quality IMO.

 

Been leaning toward session IPAs lately and have heard a lot about this IPL so picked up a single yesterday.



At first sight/smell/taste I'm wondering if I will pick up any other hoppy session brew this season. It's really good! Appearance is typical for and IPA/L, golden and clear. Smell is pear, pineapple and nectarine. Taste (and there's a ton of it) follows suit with a slight bitterness at the tail end. Overall this is a great beer, especially for a lager of which I am not usually a fan.

 

This has been a great three day weekend. My wife and I got a lot of outdoor stuff done, and had a couple lunch dates in addition. Today was supposed to be cloudy and cool, but it has turned out to be rather nice. No rain (yet) and a temperature of 60. I played golf this morning and continue to be frustrated with my game. I am thinking too much instead of just letting things go and swinging the club. Golf is such a head game, and that's probably why I like it so much.
My new beer for today is Bluegrass Billionaire from Clown Shoes. I picked it up yesterday at Spruce Creek Provisions in Kittery.
Not a particularly attractive beer. A murky dark cider appearance. No head at all.
Things get better. Bourbon and caramel aroma, some dark fruit.
Bourbon up front, followed by caramel and toffee. Raisins also.
Incredibly smooth. Although the bourbon was most noticeable, it did not dominate.
Great beer!

 

Good morning BAs. With the last couple of weeks here in South La being the release of "space-themed" IPA/DIPAs, I'm using today to review one of these: Bayou Teche's A Giant Hop For Mankind. ABV clocks in @ 8% and 137 IBU.

A: 3.75 - Pours a amber color with a good sized white froth. Good lace down the glass



S: 3.75 - smell is more on the maltier side with sweet bread and caramalt present. Hops are represented with aromas of candied orange and candied apricot. Very sweet-smelling.


T: 3.5 - taste is heavy on the malt backbone. The hops remain the same with the candied fruits and some noble hop presence. Bitterness is somewhat subdued by the big malt profile. Still bitter on the finish. Definitely some boozy heat there as well
M: 3.5 - body is medium with a slightly bitter finish.
O: 3.5 - not a bad first stab at a DIPA but there are definite rooms for improvement. Personally, I like big hoppy bombs of DIPAs and unfortunately, this one isn't that.

Avg= 3.58.

 

I've been drinking local Pennsylvania beers all weekend while attending my son's college graduation. This is the last one: Elk Creek Poe Paddy Porter. I was very impressed. Lots of chocolate and burnt coffee. It's better than I anticipated. Here's my review:

4.12/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had this on draught in a pub. It was poured into a pint glass. It pours virtually jet black with a creamy, mocha-colored head and lacing. It's a most attractive pour. It smells of dark roasted malt, coffee, chocolate, and nuts. The taste begins with sweet chocolate on the tip of the tongue, followed by burnt coffee and a hint of caramel. This porter is creamy, medium-bodied, and lightly carbonated. It's ABV of 5.5% makes for easy drinking. Overall, I was quite pleasantly surprised by this local Pennsylvania porter. It is well crafted, has a nice flavor, and is very pleasant to drink.

Now we're off to Connecticut for our second graduation this weekend as our daughter receives her Masters degree tomorrow. Hopefully, she'll have beer waiting.

 

I suppose it is nice that Saranac is brewing a 'heritage' beer but... Centennial hops were not available in 1914.

It seem that breweries (e.g., Pabst) are taking a fair bit of artistic license when 'reconstructing' old time beers.

Cheers!

 

Today started off with a blind tasting of two not-new-to-me beers. Reissdorf and Gaffel Kolsch.



I thought I had these two figured out, but turns out I had them flipped in this blind tasting. These are always fun. Today's Gaffel sure tasted a lot like yesterday's Reissdorf. Gaffel is a much better buy around here, and easier to find. I heard that Reissdorf will soon be available in 16oz cans.

My first new beer of the day was Mendocino Eye of the Hawk.



I love it when there's a gap between the average rating and "The Bros" rating. This is often the case with beers that look like craft dinosaurs today. The average user sees certain older craft beers as being unappealing compared to today's offerings, and "The Bros" review(s) sometimes are a decade and a half old. Would The Bros rate this beer as high if they had it today? Who knows. A good beer is a good beer no matter what the year, but everything is still relative. Mendocino seems positively out of step with the Beer Advocate crowd. I have had very unpleasant experiences with their beer, but this is also somewhat due to their unsexy and undated beer sitting around for ages.

This is as unfashionable as you can get. This beer is a nice light copper color. See how I've matched it up with the hawk in the pic? The oxidation announces itself immediately. I don't know how old this beer is, but it's unpleasantly oxidized. The brewer calls it an American strong ale and the Beer Advocate listing agrees. The bittering hops are assertive on the back-end. There's a caramel quality. It feels like a fully American craft rendition of a light barley wine. In this state, I can't finish it.

Hopefully the next beer will put things right.

Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown.



Unlike the Mendocino beer, this beer is fashionable... at least for a brown. A fashionable brown ale needs to look almost black and this one does. Full disclaimer - I rarely like the execution of a coffee beer. I passed on this one a few times due to my preferences but finally caved in to check it out. It's incredibly heavy on coffee bean flavor... not coffee, but actual coffee beans. The malt is just buried underneath it. The alcohol and hops manage to fight their way up to compete against the beans. If I was grabbing a 9% brown, I'd want the malt (in this case: caramel, chocolate, and Munich) to shine much more.

Comparing this to a local brown ale - Newburgh's Brown Ale... Newburgh's is so much more my speed. It too is very dark. It too tastes of coffee... but the Newburgh beer doesn't actually use coffee. It's ABV is half that of Founder's. It's delicious.

The fact that the Founder's beer is the current #1 rated American brown on BeerAdvocate is a little sad to me. I mean no disrespect if you love it. Don't send me your hate mail. You should just revel in the fact that I can't tell my Gaffel from my Reissdorf today.

 

Spell T..E..M..P..O..in your head very slowly as you build speed in your swing. It works- usually- and is easier than rubbing your stomach and patting your head! Honestly, tempo is as good a key that I've found. The bad shots aren't as bad.

 

Thanks to @utopiajane for getting us going,
New English Barleywine Sunday
Brooklyn Monster Ale 2012

3.75/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12oz bttle from cellar
2012 vintage
poured into libbey-tulip
L- hazy dark red, plenty of yeast flouting around(bad pour), capped with an off-white head which turns into ring of lacing
S- strong sweet aroma, with notes of dark fruit
T- hits the tongue thick and sweet, to the the tune of dates and prunes, has a nice spicy linger, and they blend together with the alcohol for a balanced finish
F- full bodied, heavy-ish mouthfeel with slightest amount of carbo tingle
O- Sweet, Spicy, Boozy is how I'd describe this brew, while a little rough around the edges, alcohol doesn't overtake you, a great representation of the English Barleywine Style

Cheers!!

 

I purchased two bottles this week and am really looking forwards to that brew- sounds awesome. Finished off my Growler of Epiphany last night- those beers alone seem like a worthwhile trip.

 

Personally, I love Sumatra Mtn, but I agree with you it's very atypical for a brown and a find it a little sad it's the top-rated American Brown Ale on the site. Then again, four of the five top American Brown Ales have coffee added and the other one is aged on wood. Coffee, barrel aging and certain other trends tend to get a pretty heavy bump here.

 

I expect to be driving through Louisville and Lexington in about ten days. If you had any great brewery recommendations, I'd appreciate it. Also, if you could recommend just one distillery along that Bourbon Trail, which would it be?

I love Sump. Great beer. What's a bottle go for out there? I passed on one for $18 in Denver, but only because I'm awash in beer.

Holy effing shet! $26. This is $9-11 in stores that I've seen. Who's gouging you like this? This is why firing squads and guillotines exist.

 

Welcome to VT, FW! New to the state and to my, trying this IPA:



Appearance is a little light/generic for what I typically enjoy. But from there, aroma is lemon/lime with a touch of pine. Taste is similar in the citrus department along with light pine but also has a slight floral aftertaste. Mouthfeel is slightly sharp but clean. Overall this is a very nice, easily available IPA.

 

I see you answered my question preemptively!

That Gaffel is always on tap at Brouwerij Lane in BK. I like trying it when I'm there.

 

This is Fernson's Farmhouse Ale out of South Dakota. Second SD beer I've had this weekend and both arrived courtesy of @garymuchow who had sent me a box in our NBS BIF a couple months ago and just decided to send another to prove how awesome the NBS crowd is.

More than just being a South Dakota tick, this is an excellent brew and even cooler because it's a saison in a can. Not common, but I sure it was.

Notice the bottle in the background; that's Surly Pentagram, also from Gary, and that is what I'm drinking as I write this. I'm supposed to be reviewing it, but I've been too busy reading NBS. Damn you all!

Here are my thoughts on Fernson's brew:

4/5 rDev +9.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

12 ounce can into an oversized tulip.

First off, farmhouse in a can. Awesome. South Dakota, you complete me.

This beer looks superb with it's golden, hazy, glowing body and frothy pale white head. Looks like I'm in for a treat.

Juicy citrus aroma makes me salivate. A bit peppery and floral over that. Sweet with a bubblegum quality and light sweet bread malts. It occurs to me there's a flowery honey scent in here too and I'm a sucker for it.

Not finding as much magic on the nose, but it's close. Earthy flavors show initially in a way that doesn't sit on my tongue quite right. Subsequent sips improve though, with the citrus popping more and the floral yeast doing its thing. Warmth reveals a bold pepperiness and I welcome that. The finish is minerally with a light toasted, sweet French bread flavor.

Appreciable juiciness here and I appreciate that. Light-bodied, effervescent, refreshing. The Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance should have sought this beer out as he was riding across the north in the dead of summer. Hell, his son could have drank this no problem with the 4.4 ABV. Great zestiness here, some earthiness, and a restrained floralness on the finish. Drinks really well.


This kicks their IPA's ass. Head and shoulders better, although reading other reviews of the IPA, I was the anomaly (felt like we'd drank different beers).

 

Wow, great writing yourself. Such vivid descritions. I love," ...marauding carbonation piles upward."

 

A light little squeak came with the first turn of the cage, but then silence as the wire was unfurled. A rustle of clicks as the cage is removed from enveloping the cork. A little pressure and another light squeak and the cork's desire to unwedge itself was obvious. I set up in preparation for a gusher, just in case - but all that came was a nice pop as the cork became free.


A little gurgling, and the shockingly deep pink liquid rolled from the mouth of the bottle. A lot of fizzing as the pink-hued head exploded from the beer's contact with the glass. Back and forth from glass to glass, a light clink of the bottle against glass rim providing the rhythm for the pour. Finally a little whitish puff of smoke spreading in the body of one glass signalled the last of the beer had made itself ready for consumption.

Pillowy pinkish head will not leave the top of the beer. Its softness is the visual representation of the aromas it is helping escape. Light tartness wafts up - citrus sour in nature - accented by a wet wood mustiness. Berries fight to be hidden as well, but their presence is betrayed secretively.

As the beer hits my tongue, my palate is shocked by the power of the sour that has been unleashed from the glass. The intelligence from the Olfactory Division wasn't necessarily incorrect, but improperly gauged the strength of the adversary. The Visual Division's report was a bit misleading, as the expectation of a strong attack by bubbles was faulty intel - they carbonation actually seems to add a tickling softness to the berry-tinged citrus tartness. Light funkiness throughout with a little cheesy note near the end is the signal to start another wave of wildness, lest the wet earth/woodiness set and linger too long.



The smoke from the days activity clings to the side of the glass, attempting to hide the results. However, the story is laid out here for the world to know what went on this day in NoVa. A band of wildly conditioned components banded together to produce an afternoon of light puckering, lick smacking enjoyment. Despite the dirtiness on the glass, the beer's crispness yielded a clean tasting, refreshing experience.

 

Nice day I guess for a new beer!

A few weeks back that veteran BA @ksimons said, "despite not liking coconut in candy or cake, it was
fantastic in this beer."

That was good enough for me.

Boulevard Smokestack Series ~ Imperial Stout with Coconut Added

I immediately dictated to Siri to buy this Boulevard Imperial Coconut Stout the next time she sees it. Siri replied, "Who me?" Then I remembered what a JA she can be, so I asked her to "Take a note and remind ME to buy a Boulevard Imperial Coconut Stout ASAP!" This was followed by our usual brief erotic conversation which she never plays along with properly. But I digress.

Like ksimons, I do not care for coconut in my cake or candy either. I'll still eat coconut in my cake or candy of course, but I'm generally vanilla when it comes to coconut. So I have passed on this fantastic Imperial Stout for many months until I saw the Siri reminder.

My thoughts: This is my first coconut beer. There's a lot more going on in here than coconut. All the rich qualities you would expect in a great Imperial Stout are here. Go through them you say? Dammit. Alright. How about milky chocolate, vanilla, a tad spicy, and of course coffee with a little sticky molasses sprinkled in and...

...before I drift off into territory only worthy of @superspak I'll just say if you like big imperial stouts this one ticks all the boxes including coconut, even if coconut ain't your thing.

"Right Siri? #%^$@#*?!"

: )

"James. That's not nice."