New Beer Sunday (Week 663)

Good early evening (damn clock stuff) We are sharing a crowler of Nana's Nightcap from a recent trip to Harpoon Windsor, A spiced porter, think Oatmeal cookie, Nutmeg, cinnamon and dark fruits. An interesting take on the porter platform, that 9% is invisible and devious.
Cheers all


Harpoon Nana's Nightcap

3.84/5 rDev -4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a crowler filled at the brewery, into the test glass
A - Deep dark backdrop hides active carbonation, a superb frothy head starts off strong, quickly dissipates.
S - Spices like cinnamon, brown sugar and roast malts,
T - Interesting, hints of vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa all in play, they weren't kidding when oatmeal cookie was mentioned.
M - Medium in body,starts a bit sweet, then the spices move in and things pivot, a dry finish with no linger is the to follow
O - An interesting take on the spiced porter, not a hint of that 9+% shows anywhere, I am glad to have tried this

 

Have yet to crack one of the (V) Five Leaves open. From your notes, it sounds like that is one of the better ones!

 

A: Poured from 12 oz bottle into shaker pint glass seen here. Opaque or nearly opaque dark brown. Tan head that settles down to small rim at edge of glass.
S: Nutty. Hint of sweetness.
T: Mild but not bland. Nutty. Slightest hint of sour/tart quality. Dry finish. Not bitter at all.
M: Medium.
O: I generally think of an ideal stout as being something viscous, boozy and complex that is meant to be sipped on slowly, ideally with each sip blowing my mind. But as I try more stouts I have begun to appreciate that some stouts are quaffable and refreshing, and that is how I would rate Guinness 200th Anniversary Export Stout. I don't know if I am going to rush out and buy a 6 or 12 pack of this, but I am glad I bought the single to try out.

 

Yep. I started drinking it and couldn't understand why my notes were so off from your review until I noticed the version numbers.

 

New Beer: Vlad the Second Order of the Dragon Russian Imperial Stout ~ starring Coffee.

Brewery: Hailstorm Brewing Co.

Numbers: 60 IBU’s and 14.1% ABV (things are probably gonna get weird)

Bottle: Cool label and insanely waxed.

Beer generously provided by: @Prager62 almost two years ago. Undisturbed until now.

Why I haven’t drank it yet: I like looking at it in my fridge. The beer scares me.

Why I’m drinking it now: I must...let it go.

Video insert here: Let It Go ~ from Frozen



Appearance: Dark as the Carpathian forest at midnight. As @GreenBayBA might say.

Aroma: Reminds me of medieval Romanian dungeon coffee, Ritter Sport dark chocolate, warm asphalt and maybe a bit of burnt blood mixed with soggy Transylvanian peat. Fo Sho! As @joe1510 might say.

Taste: Here we go. Rich and creamy with, yes I’ll say it, a sharp bite of crispness that sinks into a creamy full mouthfeel. Coffee, smooth not bitter. Hint of molasses. Dark fruit. Port roastiness. Schwarzbrot! Schwarzbisket! Peat. Big mist. Forest floor dirt. Entrails. Coffin mold. Hint of baby deer blood. Smooth coffee. No bitterness. I’m getting some vanilla bean. Drops of Succubus nectar as well. Yeah, it’s all in there just like @superspak might say.

Mouthfeel: Creamy. Feels real good in there. As @SomethingClever might say.

Overall: A really rewarding, awesome, and pleasent drinking experience despite images in my head of the “Forest of the Impaled” that Vlad planted back in the day.

From the always accurate Mister Google:

“The sultan’s army entered into the area of the impalements, which was seventeen stades long and seven stades wide. There were large stakes there on which, as it was said, about twenty thousand men, women, and children had been spitted, quite a sight for the Turks and the sultan himself. The sultan was seized with amazement and said that it was not possible to deprive of his country a man who had done such great deeds, who had such a diabolical understanding of how to govern his realm and its people. And he said that a man who had done such things was worth much. The rest of the Turks were dumbfounded when they saw the multitude of men on the stakes. There were infants affixed to their mothers on the stakes, and birds had made their nests in their entrails.”

So, other than vivid thoughts of the above bit of disturbing historical detail, this is an absolutely wonderful drinking experience and I’m not going to let a few impaled mothers and babies from over 550 years ago ruin it.

I will light a candle for them later for my 4th pour of this RIS.



Above: Vlad dining amongst the impaled.
He did have lovely penmanship.

Vlad is a very worthy RIS and a great tribute to that great man...I’m mean blood thirsty murderous leader, Vlad Tepes, the Impaler.

Cheers!

 

Stone Delicious IPA

3.95/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Part of an IPA variety 12 pack bought yesterday. Best by date 12-26-17. Pours a nice copper with a decent head. Aroma was almost nonexistent. Taste and mouthfeel were very good imo. Overall I give it a 4

 

Happy rainy sunday, BAs!
This is the first Sunday that I haven't had to work since June and I am fairly excited. Granted, I didn't ever work too hard on Sundays and it was a beer-related dream job, but it will still be a nice change of pace to have a full day off to relax, do a few things around the house, watch some football and enjoy new beer(s) before the week starts.

Personally, I wouldn't call myself a "ticker" but if I have a chance to try a beer I've never had before i almost always will. Luckily, I am hardly ever wanting for new beers to try. I almost always have a new one for Sunday, a few new ones for throughout the week and some standbys in case I just want to enjoy beer and don't want to put too much thought into it.

My first beer for today comes from Beau's Brewing in Ontario. It is a Sticke Alt.



It pours a beautiful crystal clear ruby-amber color with a huge tan head.



Both the aroma and flavor are primarily layers of toasted malt (dark bread and caramelized sugars) with a little less of the pepper bite that I've tasted in other Altbier variations. It is still there but in the background.



It is very nice and a good autumnal beer no doubt about it. A nice malt showcase that walks that subtle, suffig, inoffensive, rich-but-light line that certain German styles can walk; and which Beau's walks confidently and consistently.

If you wanna see my official score card it is here.


Santé!

 

It’s been far too long since I felt anything real good inside there.

 

bwhahahahahahaha

 

The aroma pulled barnyard funk into a stiff basement to earthy character flowing into some white grapes. Mild non barrel woodiness bit at the end with some sweet herbal character to semi-floral leafy/pedals. Light "bleu cheese" effect on the back end.
The flavor had a semi-dry sweet to dry sour edged vinous character wrapping in and around the earthiness. Light aftertaste of the funk with some bright sour citrus.
The mouthfeel had a dry semi-sour to sweet sessionability about it. Carbonation felt right on par with an ABV feeling right at where the brewer had projected it to be. Texture was a refined semi-creaminess with just enough zip/zing to it.
Overall, what a wonderful funky saison brewed by a Belgian brewer with none other but Hill Farmstead. Would I have this again? Of course I would and wouldn't mind pairing with grilled swordfish steak.

Only posting below link as there's a part of me thinking, I may be changing some of my thoughts on this.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/825/90903/?ba=Lone_Freighter#review

 

What a great fucking post! I laughed, I learned, I got creeped out. Save something for week 666 cheers man

 

A buddy from Scotland brought me some beers, and I decided to crack this one today. Fallen Brewing ANZAC Biscuit Ale, with New Zealand and Australian Hops, Honey, and Coconut.

This is definitely an interesting beer, lots of coconut and honey, the hoppiness is a bit subdued.

 

I'm glad age was kind to Vlad and you enjoyed it. There's always another release!

 

I picked up a Summit mixed 12 pack that was on sale. I really liked that it had 4 distinct styles, English Pale Ale, Porter, Oktoberfest, and Pilsner.

Great Norther Porter pours a dark brown with a 1.5 finger off white foamy head with some lacing, Aroma of roasted grains with coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and earthy with very subtle bittering hops. Flavor follows the nose with the bittersweet chocolate, earthy and slight bittering hops with light coffee. Smooth with a medium feel and a solid Porter.



Extra Pale Ale pours a copper orange with a 1 finger white head. Thick collar and some lacing. Fruity and piney hops along with a nice sweet malt. Starts off with sweet malts, bread and some caramel, moves into the hops which are citrus and pine. Finish has some bitterness. Medium to light feel with nice carbonation. A nicely hopped English PA with a excellent malt backbone.

 

A- A hazy light copper color with no nice head and no lacing.

A- Citrus hints.

T- A nice pleasant citrus taste with hints of pine.

M- Medium bodied with little carbonation but very pleasant.

O- A decent Double Dry Hopped IPA with a nice character.

 

New beer #5.

Radiant Pig - Junior
Session IPA - 4.8% abv
Canned 9/29/17 (38 days ago)
Score: 3.67 (-1.9% rDev)



L - 4-finger white head atop a sparkling yellow translucent body.

S - grass, pine, some sweetness.

T - bready malt up front. Pine in the middle. Bitterness kicks in at the end. A hint of butter but it's subtle.

F -medium-light body. Relatively high carb.

O - If I tasted this blind I would have guessed hoppy lager. The taste is enjoyable, but this strikes me more as a summer brew versus something to enjoy in November.

 

Early on in the season I decided to enjoy it as a sort of divine comedy, and it's been a real winner in that respect.

 

It's been a while since I've shared a NBS post, but I'm back after a weekend that saw me lay claim to a Boston and New York qualifying marathon time (and a debut at the distance!) There is something about running for nearly 3 hours that has me craving beer, so I'll smash two birds with one stone and provide a little review of something new to me that caught my eye the other week at the store.



Prairie's Prison Rodeo.

Pours a cloudy, murky orange with a finger of white head. Head retention is okay, with good frothy patches of lacing left behind. Aroma is herbal, pine, and resin hop notes right at the front. The hops have a bit of a sticky quality to them. Light notes of light roast, floral Ethiopian/Kenyan coffee peek out behind the hops. Flavor profile provides a dash more of coffee than the aroma, but not by much. Coffee is still light and floral. Immediately after the coffee opening, sticky resin and herbal hops deliver a bitter blow to the palate. The only break in the bitter hops vs coffee dynamic is a small dash of citrus hop right in the middle. Not enough to counter balance the bitterness of the herbal/pine hops though. Hoppy coffee is by no means an exaggeration. Mouth feel is slightly fizzy, with a crisp feel. Thickness rides right at medium. Overall, light floral coffee with herbal, and resin hops make this one outdoorsy glass of beer/coffee. The hops here are well done, but bitter, so be warned ye with a taste for bitter-less IPAs.

Score: 4 | 3.75 | 4 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 3.94 | rDev: -4.1%

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @cjgiant for the super early opener. Another normal Sunday for me as usual, a bit stormy out there at the moment. Been on a bit of a review overdrive in the last week. I have been flooded with new beer pickups from my usual stores, more so than usual. With 6000 coming up soon, I have been putting in some extra effort. Will slow down after that probably. Picked up some prowlers yesterday of beers we can't get bottled. A lot of stores around here have installed taps with the new growler law that was amended earlier in the year. Will definitely be using them more in the future. Still have a few beers left from the BIF as well.

New Beers:

More from @jdell15 . He sent too much beer . Outstanding Marzen!! Fantastic head retention and lasting lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big brown sugar, brown bread crust, toasted biscuit, nutty, and light caramel malts; with mild herbal, grassy, peppery noble hops. Mild herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body. Awesome bready/grainy creaminess in the mouthfeel. Slight hop stickiness, with a touch of increasing bitter dryness. Super drinkable. Perfectly clean lagering, never fruity/yeasty. Damn this is a spot on beer! Very rich and complex Munich/Vienna malt character, just enough hop presence to balance the sweetness. Highly impressed. 4.18


Another one from the BIF. He sent a nice showcase of local lager styles. Another winner! Nice head retention and lacing down the glass. Touch of haze in there. Aromas and flavors of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted dark/brown bread, and light nutty/smoke/char malts; with mild herbal/grassy/peppery noble hops. Light herbal/grassy/spicy hop and roast/char bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body. Bready/grainy creaminess in the mouthfeel; light chalky roast and hop stickiness. Lightly increasing bitter/roasted dryness. Never acrid/astringent. Perfectly clean lagering, no fruity/yeasty notes. Extremely easy drinking. Doesn't get much better than this, spot on Schwarzbier. Clean and rich Munich/roast malts with balancing noble hops. Huge fan of this one. 4.1


Another makeshift Prowler label as with last night. Seems to be lacking carbonation, but this was amazing! Aromas and flavors of huge tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, light pepper, and pine hops; with some white bread, light honeyed malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Mild carbonation and medium body; balanced grainy malt and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Some resins/rinds and increasing dryness. No hop astringency. Super drinkable, mildly warming 9.5%. Even without the carbonation this was killer. Great mix of dank and vibrant citrus/fruity/tropical hop notes; with a really lightweight malt body for the ABV from the rice as expected. Just enough there to balance the fairly aggressive bitterness. Will definitely get another fill of this one. 4.32


Cheers, enjoy your evening NBS. I'll be back in a bit.

 

I do save, and sometimes buy, beers just for NBS. Occasionally, it's the deciding factor in what beer to get, if I'm on the fence.

Today's (first?) one is Beer Tree Brew Co.'s Mad Burner (Learning Curve) IPA. Had this as part of a flight four weeks ago on their first (soft) open day. 4oz was too little, with too many other competing sensations, to really get a handle on it. Might be just me, or the larger volume, but it does seem slightly different, & better (age - a few days? older batch?) , so might as well be new-to-me.




Deep orange-amber, with moderate, creamy off-white head. I.e., classic IPA color, but a slightly hazy.

Smells mostly of tangerine/floral/honey, with some grapefruit pith,pineapple juice, grass, and white spruce, i.e., the turpentine & "catty" elements of "piney" .

Taste? That's the part that takes time to get my head around . As with the beer @Squire123 described, this seems to have two competing threads, that don't quite blend. You'd think it would be pine/grass vs citrus , but no. More pine/tangerine/floral vs grapefruit/grass. Later , as it warms to almost room temperature, the two strands do blend into a coherent whole. Finishes with a light, lingering, grapefruit pith bitterness on the tip of the tongue.

Feel is slightly oily , creamy, and finishing with a very fine carbonation tingle on the tip of the tongue.

Overall, though not on any of my "Best of" lists, it's good, so overall a 4.1
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.15 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.35 | overall: 4.10