New Beer Sunday (week 623)

I've been kind of back-and-forth with Almanac's dry-hopped sour stuff, but I'm gonna give this one a solid chance despite how I've felt about some of the past offerings. Generally, I have felt like they were good but not quite worth the price of entry (just about $1/oz).

Almanac Mariposa (dry-hopped sour blonde aged in wine barrels with mariposa plums)


So, I guess my first duty when reviewing this is probably to find out what exactly a mariposa plum is, eh? I know mariposa is the Spanish word for butterfly, so let's see...

Apparently, they're very meaty and sweet with a typically-juicy bite to them. I'll choose to believe that, as I've never actually been a huge fan of plums!

Pours kind of ugly, as expected from my previous engagements with the Farm to Barrel series. It's a rusty water color with near-complete opacity and a very thin ring of fuzzy white foam. Very homebrewy looking, but it's really what's inside these (and many other American wild ales) that typically counts.

Nose is amazing, actually. Gets to the essence of a juicy plum pretty much perfectly. Some apricot jam, black cherry, lemon and raspberry notes in there as well. Not sure what this is hopped with, but it seems rather new-school considering the complex array of fruit-like notes that are displayed here (turns out it's Azacca/El Dorado). There's even a little bit of fresh-cut grass and pine here underneath the fruit. Seems like it could be moderately tart. Rather clean as well and not showing off too much Brett influence in all honesty.

Flavor is tart and very juicy upfront with a quick and shocking sourness that leads into a middle that pushes some vinous notes, plum, lemon and tangy cherry. Not much bitterness at all, but there are some light tannins from the oak. There's some funk here unlike in the nose; kind of rustic but overall highlighting the plum/stone fruit elements. Feel is medium with a solid chewiness to it thanks to the density of the beer brought about by all the remaining proteins and yeast in solution here. Carbonation is on the higher end with a very solid, mildly-pushy effervescence that provides a detailed display of all the nice flavors in this beer. Honestly, this one is pretty great to me. Some of the ones I've had with too many different fruits involved feel too muted and end up losing me, but this is a pretty great expression of the mariposa plum. I might have to try plums again soon... maybe I'll like 'em this time around!

That's all for this week, NBSers! I'll be back again next week, most likely... until then, cheers and have a good week!

 

Great looking dogs and I love that glass......


Enjoy

 

NBS #3 of the day ...! Guess who I got this one from. That's right, @FBarber !

My now 9 month pregnant wife saw this and aggressively forced me ( ) to open it so she could try it. Not gonna lie though, I was a little scared for a second. Did someone mention "dessert beers" as a theme for the day? Alright...I'll oblige.

New Glarus Brewing Co.
Rasberry Tart.




I even did my very best to follow the "Framboise for Dummies" instructions on the label. So again, with better light:


I don't have a classic framboise flute, so I used my 0.3L Deschutes flute after weighing my options. I'm going to keep this review very, very simple. First off, I love the bottle. Classic, simple, and a natural bees waxed cap. Very nice!

OK, this beer is beautiful. Bright red, smells and tastes exactly like what you would hope for. Sweet and tart rasberries through and through. It TASTES like it LOOKS! Long story short, I'd put this right there up against the classic framboise's such as Lindeman's. It's a little less carbonated than the classic Belgians, but I think, again I say think, prefer it this way. Cheers and thanks again Frank!

 

New Beer Sunday: An American brewed English Stout

Evenin' NBSers, with special salutations to silent seekers of scarce stouts.

Time to relax a bit after a day full of errands, including doing my turn at ticking off the grocery shopping list.

This evening's new beer is a high ABV English Stout called "The Wrath of the Lamb" from the Apocalypse Ale Works down in south centeral Virginia. It was a gift from a family member on his last visit here during the holidays.

As usual my review, in progress until the beer is finished can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31089/200562/?ba=drtth#review

The bottle is from the 2015 bottling so the beer has about 14 mos. of bottle age. The aromas and flavors contain some dark fruits, some dark chocolate and some almost burnt dark roast. On the whole a drinkable English Stout that tastes fine but is also a stout that doesn’t challenge with complexity. I think the brewer was shooting too hard for it's imperial strength ABV and so the beer doesn't seem to be fully integrated and balanced in the way several lower ABV English Stouts are. So, while I found the beer to be worth trying, it isn't a beer I enjoyed enough that I’ll be spending any time and or money on trying to find another bottle when we make our next trip to Virginia.

Cheers, all!

 

#2, this will be short because I've got a plate of pasta looking me in the eye. This beer ..... defies description.



It looks like a fruit beer, sorta smells like an oatmeal stout Lite, tastes very much like an oatmeal stout with chocolate - and beets (which mutes the chocolate) - and feels VERY much like an oatmeal stout.

It freaked me out a bit to look at it and taste it concurrently (it was like thinking about a Pepsi when you're drinking a glass of milk), but it's a good beer, IMHO. Just don't look at it. Rated 4.0.

 

Southern Sixer IPA from Highlands. These folks have upped their game in a major fashion. Majorly dryhopped and slanted toward the hop side of the force.

 

I love Raspberry Tart! Wisconsin Belgian Red and Serendipity are just as good, kind of feel they don't get the attention they deserve.

 

Moving on:

This was delicious. Beautiful thick lacing and lasting head retention as expected. Not quite opaque. Aromas and flavors of big milk chocolate, cocoa, nutty coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted bread, and light smoke; with a hint of herbal/woody hops. Light herbal/spicy hop and roast/coffee bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied with a great creamy/silky mouthfeel. Minimal chalky roast or sticky hops. Slightly drying from lingering hop/roast bitterness. Very smooth and easy drinking. Great coffee/malt balance and complexity. Would definitely grab this again while it's around. Lots of singles on the shelf right now. Spot on American porter to style. Less roasty than their Milk stout, with more dark malt sweetness. 4.03


Nice German Pils. Aromas and flavors of lemon, pear, cracker, and lightly toasted bread; with herbal, grassy, and light peppery hops; and a bit of yeasty earthiness. Light-moderate herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish. Light-medium bodied; crisp, clean, refreshing finish; balanced grainy malt and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Moderate dryness. Well balanced Noble hop and Pils malt flavors. Not as flavorful as other German pils I've had, but it checks off all of the right style boxes. Not as "lager clean" as I'd like; a bit of DMS and acetaldehyde, but hardly enough to become an issue to enjoyment. Nicely done. 3.68


This was delicious! Aromas and flavors of big tart/sour raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, lemon, green apple, red grape, white wine, and oak; moderate cracker, bready, lightly spicy rye malts; with some hay, straw, and light lacto funky yeast earthiness. Moderate fruity/lactic tartness and light tannic oak spice on the finish. Medium bodied; balanced acidity and grainy malt creaminess in mouthfeel; touch of wine tannins. Never puckering or astringent on sourness. Refreshingly drinkable. Great balance of fruits, lacto, and wine barrel; with a nice rye malt backbone.Very impressive kettle soured fruit beer. 4


Cheers, have a good night NBS

 

It is for sure, we just won't admit it. I certainly see it used like on the can far more than the opposite... and I don't mean just here.

You know how some people like to tease @marquis when he starts to talk about beer as opposed to ale? We should be sympathetic. We're witnessing a shift, and all of the correctors are swimming upstream.

 

New Schwarzbier Sunday



Wiseacre Starless

Happy Sunday night, BAs. Thanks to Maria for the great start and to everyone for all the excellent posts. I have in-laws in town this weekend, who just went to bed, so I'm still making my way through the thread while I enjoy my first new beer of the day.

Starless pours a very dark reddish brown with three-plus fingers of dense tan head that leave heavy lacing.

It's got a malty, nutty, almost creamed-coffee aroma.

Sweet tasting, with light caramel malts and very light coffee. Slightly bitter, lightly charred aftertaste. Just a hint of that tang I like in Kostritzer.

Medium bodied -- maybe a tad creamy for a lager -- with modest carbonation.

Very easy drinking and pleasant with just enough depth to keep me interested. One I'll definitely come back to. Glad I picked up a sixer.

Have a great week, everyone.

 

I would have enjoyed that event. Are Arquebus and Blunderbuss "finished" differently every year for bottling or were the beers at the event extra special?

 

I have a Serendipity in my future, that I am very much looking forward to!

 

Your hound dog Otis looks an awful lot like the rescue dog my daughter...rescued. They told her beagle...so not true. And housebroken...also untrue! What strikes me is the feet...the long toes. Here is her Duke...he has regained health and filled out since this picture. Duke seems more **** hound than anything else, but I dont know them very well. Grew up with beagles, and certainly this is no beagle! Id guess he is 35-40 pounds, about 26 - 28 inches tall, graceful walking and running. But the feet are what seem very distinctive to me. Stubborn, willful, but totally devoted to my daughter.

 

It's a lion! Looks like one cool cat.

I'm about a minute late to this party and got a bunch of catching up to do ... so far I've seen too much to keep track of. For now I'll just point out @Prager62 is a photography bully whose incredible work conjures up feelings of photography inadequacy on this end. Bully!!!

OK, I got a New Beer this late Sunday:

Jester King's Fantome Del Rey (a farmhouse/abbey ale hyrbid inspired by a collaboration with Brasserie Fantôme in Soy, Belgium)

Also, a Jester King beer ...

... with a cork ...





Fantome Del Rey is incredible!

It's a bit shocking because I was warned about this brew. I think it went through a "ropy" stage in the bottles, and the truffle honey is controversial (supposedly) -- some people hate truffles, some people love them, some people who *do* love them don't want them in their beer. Plus there's that green bottle, granted a very dark green bottle, but skunk haters abound and can't get behind a nice little light-strike in their farmhouse brew.

My reply to all that: Whatever, dude!

Fantome Del Rey truly blends church and farm. There's plenty of Jester King's farmhouse signature aromas and flavors, musty old barn, nearly-dead-from-age hops, a pinch of lemon, a pinch of lemon peel. But the dark candi sugar, truffle honey and malt bill give this beer a true abbey ale feel. If this makes sense, I'd say over half of it comes off like a big sweet fruity dubbel. Mixed with the farmhouse flavors, it's a tart dubbel.

If it were any sweeter or any tarter, it wouldn't work. I wonder if I opened this on the EXACT day it would be this good. Who knows? But I'm glad I skipped dipping into my hoard of German imports (got a couple I want to bug you about when I open them, @TongoRad ! ) and opened this one.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24018/228467/?ba=Premo88#review
4.8 (+17.9%)

Cheers, late night NBSers!

 

Thanks! I think? I try to mask my linguistic inadequacy by casting a spell with imagery. Who knew the time spent in art school years ago would come in handy creating and posting beer ****? Cheers my friend!

 

"Sassamanash" as per label "Limited Release 2016."
Imperial Cranberry Stout Aged on Red Oak
10% abv
New incarnation, old name.
Different hops, different grain bill, different abv than the original, and cranberries instead of cranberry juice. Oh yeah, aged on red oak!



4.14/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Vigorous pour yields a 1 & 1/4 inch medium to dark tan head, dark (almost black) brown body, and minimal lacing that is gone within minutes. Nose of chocolate, slight coffee, and a little dark fruit. After warming the wood comes out. Taste follows with a nice cranberry tartness and a little vanilla and milk chocolate as it warms as well. Feel is a bit lacking, too bad. Overall, this is real nice. LET THIS WARM...

 

Non-Bottle Sunday

Old Nation M43


The hazy New England IPAs are all the rage right now. I've only been able to have one and this time before, and that was a heady topper at least 6mos old that I received as an unexpected gift. So naturally I eas pretty excited to see the buzz around a Michigan brewery's version of the style. They released at the brewery and a handful of stores near mein the metro Detroit area. I picked up one 4pk of 16oz cans to split with my #beerfriendforever...

The appearance is turbid, as expected (mandatory?). The aromas are not exactly jumping out at me, but the whiffs of orange juice clearly dominate. The tastes is as if someone perfectly mixed OJ and soda water. I don't detect any alcohol at all. It says it is brewed with whear and oats, and the texture certainly proves that to be true, but there is also a little bit of carbonation zing. There isn't much bitterness on the finish, and what is there is very OJ-esque.

Overall, i enjoyed every sip, but I think I prefer a mote traditional IPA with a crisp bitterness and at least a smidgen of malty beer flavor. When you factor in the price ($16/4pk 16oz cans for 6.8%abv) and the struggle it takes to get some, this scores as a "definite try", and "improbable rebuy."

Rochester Mills Magnificent


Bourbon barrel stouts are so two years ago, I know, but it met the criteria of the theme (was it really a theme without this beer, though?). This beer is from Rochester Mills. It is an imperial milk stout aged in bourbon barrels. It came in a mixed 4pk of bourbon barrel aged beers (along with an imperial amber, an Irish red, and a brown ale). While the variety packs were everywhere, it was kinda hard to find a single of this one.

Thr appearance is dark with the typical khaki head, as you can see. The aroma doesn't have one element standing out, but the bourbon sweetness is there and is well integrated with the dark roasted malts. The tastes is just as well integrated, but the bourbon sweetness is the one flavor that is there from start to finish with the roasted malts playing the supporting role. The feel is not light by any stretch, but the density is definitely a milk stout and not an RIS. It is creamy and soft, but it doesn't really coat the mouth and the flavors don't linger that long. Overall, it is a very good beer. The flavors are all there, but the robustness and the texture stop a touch short of being great. Another "definite try" and "improbable rebuy".

Cheers, NBS!

 

Duke sure looks like a Treeing Walker **** Hound. Otis is a tall boy, weighing in about 78 lbs. The very long and powerful "bear" claws are very distinctive to the breed. Loving, mostly gentle, and excellent with kids, Treeing Walkers are real comedians, and boy can they ever "talk".