New Beer Sunday (week 630)

Morning all! Thanks @cavedave for the start, wish you could send some of that snow south. I'd love to see my boys and puppies get to play in it, the only snow we had this year was too wet to enjoy and melted before the sun came up. I'm not sure I would want to see it for months at a time but a couple days would be lovely.
I have some running around to do today but when things settle down I'll definitely be cracking into some of my WGNaBP haul from @ovaltine. He destroyed my porch and wants list with some heavy hitters.

March 19th is a day etched in my memory bank for a few reasons, one of which was in 1982 with the plane crash that took Randy Rhodes so I'll leave a small clip of one of my favorite recordings from him.

 

Not only was Friday, St. Pattys day, but @tasterschoice62 blew up my porch with 450 oz of beer goodness. And I also picked up this beautiful rescue pooch, an English Setter. She's going to have a wonderful life a can assure you! I'll be back later to crack a beer with you, but it's going to be a hard choice, Procolamation, Trillium, ....?

 

Not what I meant. "Amber Kellerbier" doesn't have to be (and more often than not, isn't) amber either.

 

I will try to include the guidelines or some kind of reference to the new categories because I accept your scolding for being a tad lazy. I also think the word amber is misleading but not after you read the guidelines. Same with it being used to describe the vienna lager. For instacne th old guidelines use the word amber to describe th eoktoebrfest and the vienna but the american amber/red that is on the shelves is not like either of those .

 

Greetings from Palm Desert, CA, NBS and BIF brethren, and thanks to @cavedave for that rousing opening salvo in BIF #5. Normally, I'd present two beers for your perusal, but I am taking Mrs O to Indian Wells in a bit to watch some tennis, so I sadly only have a single beer from that exceptional BIF partner @beertunes to review today. I'll have 2 or 3 next week in iteration #2 of the BIF share.

First a pic of me and Mrs O from yesterday .....



As you can see, I outkicked my coverage by 40 yards. Now onto the beer, this superb NW IPA from @beertunes .....



#YouTakeWhatYouCanGetForGlasswareInAHotel

4.27/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

My first beer from these guys, this is everything I love about IPA's. Golden copper color, slightly off-white head, some hop haze. Just a beautiful beer.

The malt is really forward on the nose, but the citrus/orange hop notes dance to the front of the line on the taste, with some pine - and then that substantial malt backbone glides in to smooth out the landing. Drinking this is like watching a perfectly executed waltz - everything is in balance, and you know you're witnessing something beautiful.

Just a magnificent representation of the style, IMHO.

 

The BJCP style guidelines provides the detail for Amber Kellerbier: “Gold to deep reddish-amber color.”

I underlined the word “guidelines” since it is appropriate to view this as a guideline (vs. a ‘rule’).

Cheers!

 

New Old Ale Sunday

Smuttynose Brewing in New Hampshire has barrel aged their Really Old Brown Dog old ale in whiskey barrels. I had the original back in 2012 and was not overly impressed. It was good, but I never returned to it. Never had the other barrel-aged versions from 2015 either - there was a bourbon barrel edition and a bourbon barrel edition with cinnamon and vanilla added.

This beer, and their brown ale, Old Brown Dog, are named after their dog, Olive...


The bottle indicates that the ale is aged in whisk(e)y barrels hand-picked by the Loch and K(e)y Society, a whisk(e)y club (hence the use of "(e)" when they reference the "whisk(e)y" barrels )... Fans of the spirit may know that "whiskey" usually refers to Irish and American spirits, while "whisky" usually denotes a Scottish version (although apparently both Canada and Japan favor spelling it "whisky" as well).

Anyway... Added the beer to the database, submitted a photo, and here we go...


Clear and deep gold on the pour, expressing ruby hues in the glass. Center-pour into the snifter produced a thin layer of crystalline foam across the top which quickly slimmed into a fine collar around the edge.



Aromas were mild, suggestive of wet wood and sweet malts - carried some suggestions of vanilla and brown sugar, maybe a bit of warm brown bread...



Reminded me a bit of Fuller's Vintage Ale in it's look and feel. Thin-bodied, laying a sweet shellac across the tongue. Flavors in line with aromas, bitterness mild, sugars moderate, carbonation flat. As it warmed it took on a whiskey-like character which I rather liked. Some lacquer across the tongue lingers well past the finish, with hints of smokiness, pine, and peat.

Not bad - I certainly enjoyed it more barrel-aged than not. My retailer hadn't yet put it into his POS system when I was there, but he let me take one (to be paid for later), so I have no idea of the price. Been capping it off while I'm posting, and I'm leaning toward some favorable scores.

Dropping a birthday nod here, too - to Bruce Willis, 62 today. Notable faves include the Die Hard franchise, Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, his role on Friends and in Pulp Fiction... He's had some highs and lows career-wise, but I always thought he was a cool guy... He's gonna reprise Bronson's role in Eli Roth's remake of Death Wish, due for release this year...

Cheers, NBS - here's to new beer in your glass...

 

In my mind I was thinking of blue point toasted lager. That is one of the only actual amber lagers I think I have had. I just do not like that catch all wword amber to describe the style. How about describing the pale ale which can be somewhat orange and amber as an amber IPA?

 

Haven't dug in yet, but looking forward to it!

 

Nothing better than a great love story.
Thanks for sharing!

 

Some pics from NBS BIF#5, awesome box from @thebeers. Already opened up the Alien Church and Brain Teaser from Tired Hands brewery last weeks NBS, my first taste of the newer style of IPAs, and I'm impressed, definitely want to check others out. I already have something picked out for today.

Cheers!

 

Beautiful dog!
And kudos to you for rescuing her.

 

Maria,

At the 2014 National Homebrewers Conference I attended a presentation by Gordon Strong (President of the BJCP) where he provided a ‘preview’ of the update (2015) of the BJCP Style Guidelines. It was an interesting presentation in that there were hundreds of people in attendance and they were ‘enthusiastic’ in providing comments and suggestions. Gordon would listen to what the people had to say and would periodically ask a fellow BJCP person in the room to take down notes on some of the suggestions. Getting thousands upon thousands of folks to 100% agree to everything in an impossible task.

As I left the room after the presentation I ran into Ron Pattinson. I quickly chatted with him and I provided a comment/opinion to him of “Ron, they could use your help.” There is an old saying of if you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem.

On a related note, during the 2015 update the BJCP solicited the help of Evan Rail (he is a resident of the Czech Republic and very, very knowledgeable about Czech beer). In my opinion the BJCP greatly benefited by Evan’s contributions; the definition of Czech beer styles in the 2015 BJCP style guideline is much improved.

Cheers!

Jack

 

A new beer, from a new NJ brewery but still another IPA. Rake Breaker brewed by Jersey Girl brewing in Hackettstown. This beer is called a tropical New England style IPA and is 6.5% ABV. There are some oats in the grain bill. The beer is pretty fresh canned on 2/17/17. Rake Breaker pours a hazy gold color with a thin white head that does not last long. Mosaic and Amarillo hops are used and both the aroma and the taste are the same tropical fruit . The mouth feel is soft thanks to the oats. The finish is somewhat sweet. This beer is ok but Twin Elephant, Conclave, Brotherton and Magnify all brew better NEIPAs.

 

Well, we didn't get 30" like @cavedave did. What we did get was 18" with a changeover to sleet/freezing rain, widespread power outages, and an arduous cleanup. Isn't spring coming soon?
Looking forward to next weekend when we fly to California to visit our daughter and grandsons. We haven't seen them for a while, and I know we'll have warmer weather than we'll have in southern Maine.

My new beer for today is Barrel Aged Knave from Hidden Cove Brewing Company. It is described as a "rich intense smoky porter aged in bourbon barrels", with a 6.8% ABV.
Hidden Cove has the hardest to remove corks I've ever encountered, but I managed to overcome this one.
In a snifter the beer was a very dark brown color with a moderate cocoa head. There was good retention.
Aroma of roasted malt, smoke, and vanilla.
Taste followed the nose. Chocolate, a little coffee. Sweet vanilla and oak.
Medium-bodied. I liked it.

 

Good call - you know, I really liked that movie, but for some reason I have never saw it a second time... might be my cue for a revisit, eh? Cheers...

 

Congrats on the pretty Setter! How long did it take you to train her to get on the sofa?