New beer Sunday (week 617)

Happy New American Impy Stout Sunday!

Did a nice hike today, around 24, sunny, a couple of inches of snow at this elevation. Not a new brew, but it's been many years between for sure. Fuck! The chocolate/vanilla is pretty awesome with this one. Glad to see it around here.

Look 4.25 Smell 4.75 Taste 4.75 Feel 4.75 Overall 4.75

Revisit: 18 Dec 2016
22 oz. Bomber

Been A Long Time Coming!

Poured into a chalice a very nice dark brown color, pretty nice carbonation, with a quick/fizzy/small light tan head, which leaves some oil slicks and some minimal sticky lacing behind. The nose is pretty nice, malty, awesome chocolate note, slight toffee, very nice touch of vanilla. The taste is very nice, malty, chocolaty, vanilla. Full Body, ABV hidden very very well with this one, nice little dry/bitter finish, a complex brew. Overall, STILL a very tasty brew. I believe I've never had a brew with this kind of chocolate note, vanilla. Recommeded!

Thanks goes out to jwc215 for this brew.

Poured into a tulip a black color, nice carbonation, nice little creamy dark tannish head, with some minimal tiny islands floating around. The nose is very malty, big tones of coffee/chocolate/toffee, nice vanilla tones, and some caramel. The taste is very delicious of malts, vanilla (sweetness), mostly chocolate/caramel. The alcohol is hidden very well with this brew. Full-Medium body. Very drinkable, a joy to have. Thanks Joe.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the kind wishes! I feel strange complaining when parts of our state have 5 feet of snow in the last couple weeks. But it has been a very trying weekend to say the least. So bad I wrote first draft of my resignation letter last night because this old body can't take it any more.

If you stay on the southern coast of Maine it isn't frigid. Inland or north different story of course. My ex had a friend in Caribou and that is like arctic circle kind of cold.

 

Trying this very nice Mexican Biscotti Cake. Happy NBS and cheers.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24134/78011/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

I have a bottle of Lindley Park arriving this week. Can't wait!

 

picked this up this morning..really good up and coming brewery here on Long Island called Sand City for those of you who don't know of them..this is Infinity +One..Anniversary IPA..looks amazing..haze for days..wonderful aroma of tropical fruits..pineapple,tangerine,mango..crisp,tropical taste with that hint of Galaxy spice and just a little bitterness in the finish..eminently crushable at 8%..as good as anything put out by Trillium,Veil,Hoof Hearted,Grimm,Other Half,etc...seek this out.

 

I dig your review style you capture your experience and key features of the beer concisely. I find you also have similar experience to me with beers we both have tried.so this one officially on my radar.

Love the comment under yours on the review page, "It tastes like they added chalk to a mediocre stout."

 

My father was born and raised in Winthrop which is about 10 miles south of Augusta. I heard plenty of cold and snowy stories. How many of those were true?

My father never, ever talked about moving back to Maine. That is reason enough for me to say "No!".

Cheers!

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @utopiajane for getting us started off this morning. Hit my 4900th review on Friday, so I am going to be pushing for the 5000 as fast as I can manage. Still have been finding a lot of new beers weekly in the last month. Should hopefully be a pretty low key work week coming up. A lot of people are on vacation since we get the last week of the year off work. I will be going back to Ohio for some of that week, but will likely come back home on NYE like I usually do. Will definitely have some great bottles lined up for that weekend to review. We get the Monday off as well, so New Years NBS will probably have really special bottle.

Starting off the evening, with a couple from @The-Adjunct-Hippie:

Great IPA! Aromas and flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, pepper, and pine hops; with some biscuit and light honey/toasted malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine/spicy/citrus peel bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied; balanced grainy malt creaminess and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel; touch of resin and increasingly drying. Refreshingly drinkable. This is extremely well balanced for an IPA, yet still very vibrant on hop flavors. Never too bitter or aggressive. Has a nice unique mix of earthy/spicy and citrus/fruity hops. It works really well. No complaints at all. 4


Wow! Incredible black DIPA! Aromas and flavors of huge grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, mango, melon, lemon/orange peel, citrus rind, pepper, and pine hops; with moderate chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toasted dark bread, and light smoked/charred malts; and floral/grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine/rind and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus bodied; balanced grainy malt creaminess and sticky/resinous hops in the mouthfeel; touch of chalky roast. Increasing resin dryness, and never astringent at all! Wow, this is a spot on Black IPA. Super juicy hops with nice balanced roast malts, without feeling to heavy or sweet. Glad I was sent a second bottle in that box! 4.35


Cheers, be back a bit later on

 

I don't want to hype it too much, as to set the bar too high for you, but it's other worldly. Next time I'm in NC and see them, I'm grabbing all I can afford!

 

Both of my kids live in NC and my daughter is bringing some up this week for Christmas. So far, I've missed out on Lindley Park but based on your assessment, I can't wait. I'll have to arrange for them to send me some more!

 

I love Maine, but I would hate to live there. Something about snow blowing my roof doesn't work for me. My son bailed on Ft Drum after 3 winters, and he bailed for Wa state and joint base Lewis McChord. The long cold winters and snow forced the twins to stay in house all winter long, and they are long.

 

Event Horizion might also be available in Greensboro, IMO it's a better BA beer than Lindley Park.

 

part 2 of Sand City release today..Fade to Jade..again..hazy..not as turbid as Infinity+One..aroma of grapefruit,melon,orange peel,some spice..taste just like it smells..slightly bitter in the finish..7/2%..well done.

 

Family event was a success, and I'm back enjoying one beer before I start ironing my shirt collars and prepping food and clothes for the four day work week ahead of me. Here's the beer of choice. It came by way of an incredibly kind BA member from Montana who sent me some BCBS after the shop I had made a reservation through had given up my order.



Bozeman Brewing Company's Buzz Kill Java Stout.

Pours black with a finger of khaki-colored head. Not much retention save a small ring of foam clinging to the glass just atop the beer. A few strands of lacing play around the glass as the beer level depletes. Aroma is rolled and roasted malts, with an ever so slight hint of coffee. Flavor profile mashes rolled, roasted, and English pale malts. Coffee comes through as a second thought, with a bit more of a pronounced presence as the beer warms. Mouth feel has a moderate to high amount of particulate, giving the beer a grainy feel. Thickness consistency is right at medium. Overall, a solid stout, but it is on the thinner side of the spectrum. While the can carries a name advertising coffee, the namesake notes are subtle to weak, which is a bit disappointing. It makes for a pleasant daily driver of a coffee stout, but not much of an experience.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 3.75 | 3.75 | BA Score 4.01 | rDev: -2.7%

 

Rhode Islands Newport Storms aged in Thomas Tew (RI) rum barrels? We have some good shit here.....

 

I've had a few of those early year Newport Storm brew's, very fuckn' tasty, miss that shit.

Cheers!

 

Good evening NBS, hope all is well! Been a very busy week and I have gotten some amazing beers in the mail now time for my favorite part, seating down, relaxing and reviewing some beers! Going to get the two quick samples I had at Bellefonte out of the way first. Santa's Favorite Scotch Ale, a well done Scotch Ale, lots of caramel, hints of chocolate, roasted malts, light smokiness, and some dark fruits, would rate it around a 4.25.

Second was Bellefonte's first non-kettle soured sour Solera #1. They are working on doing a solera barrel and they had two different worts in hits this barrel. Great sour flavors, mainly lemons, with a nice mild funk and some oak, very well balanced, would rate it between a 4.25 and 4.5.

Now up my first can of Julius, and on of the few very hyped New England area IPAs that I have +rDev this year.

4.67/5 rDev +0.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

16 oz can, dated 11/29/16, poured into a teku

A- A super hazy brunt orange with a two finger white head.

S- Mangos, oranges, tropical fruits, hints of piney and floral notes

T- Mandarin oranges, mangos/tropical fruits, passion fruit, piney/floral finish.

M- Smooth, creamy, medium body.

O- A great IPA and much more of a stand out than Sap. Nose is amazing, but the taste falls short of the quality of the nose, still great though. Very easy to drink, alcohol really is not noticeable. If you can get some it will be worth your time.

Cheers!

 

Good Evening BA, after an exciting day trying out some new beers at Ebeneezers Brew Pub for my birthday I'm back home and trying out my gift to myself beer, Oxbow Liquid Swords. A blended barrel aged farmhouse ale, Grand Cru.



Pour is a hazy golden orange with a one and a half finger head, receding down to a frothy film with moderate lacing and excellent streams of bubbles keeping at least some head on the brew.

The aroma is laced with hay, must, flowers and a distinct earthiness. Almost like standing in field after a summer thunderstorm. Lighter scents of oak, lemon, and the tart funkiness hint at the flavor.

The flavor leads off with a firm lemony tart, very gose like for a second, but then you're back in that Hayfield, the Brett shines without being overpowering, lending itself to the flavors of flower, Oak, and clove. It's got a decent bitter and drying finish. Flavors from the Brett and clove linger.

It's medium bodied, very full and plump for a sour, which is enjoyable. Carbonation is light at first and then it flattens out just a little while you drink.

Overall it's another excellent sour/farmhouse ale from Oxbow. My favorite thing is the Bretts influence, present but not overwhelming and always working in tandem with the other flavors, whether they be from the malt, hops or barrels. A definite must try for fans of sour farmhouse ales.

Cheers!

Marc

 

New Chained Duck Sunday

Today's new brew is courtesy of @SammyJaxxxx



"Chained to the Dead"

3.93/5 rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16oz can

It is a glossy pitch black beer with a decent sized, fairly frothy tan head. Retention isn't great, but there is a thin film that remians.

It smells pretty sweet. A lot of lactose sugar that almost takes on a vanilla milkshake aroma. There is some cocoa powder/milk chocolate that reminds me of Whoppers candy, some charred malted grain, and a hint of coffee. As it warms, there is a bit of alcohol noticeable.

It tastes very sweet initially. Almost too much. Condensed milk and white sugar dominate, followed by some Nesquick chocolate milk powder. On the back end some expresso like coffee sneaks in and offers a surprising amount of lingering bitterness.

It is not a real thick/heavy beer, but it is creamy and very, very easy drinking. Especially for over 10%. It drinks like a milk stout.

Overall this one is very good. I think the body/feel is the best aspect, and it smells a little better than it tastes. Just a hair too unbalanced with the sweetness in the end.

 

Still

Still on the shelf as far as I know.