New Beer Sunday (Week 663)

Thanks! Had a little help from Vlad. Cheers!

 

Would it make you feel better to know my Seahawks are losing to the Redskins?

 

Night of the living stout,last of the Halloween beer I had in the fridge. Black color,medium carbonation and a decent thick feel. Taste is all pine and citrus,too much so where there is no stout element present. The pine lingers in the mouth like I licked a car freshener. Do i need to add that it really didnt work for me

 

Same here. It's a latex food allergy, so I'm told. Avocados, melons, bananas, zucchini just to name a few. Sucks.

 

You know it. Me, I'm becoming more appreciative of watching my son grow up and his little "intricacies" that make him unique. It's when he starts playing by himself which is when I get on here.

 

That's some good stuff there. People tell me I miss out, having a very mild peanut allergy, but I'd rather have that than your food allergies. Or be allergic to dairy, peppers or <shudder > alcohol.

 

Hello all at NBS...it is always great to read of all the "new to you" beer reviews, but the participation is always humbling. Therefore, I bring you 'Grande Noirceur' from Brasserie Dieu Du Ciel!:

Freshness concerns answered here:


Text:
Decanted from a 11.5oz (330ml) bottle with a twist-off crown(!) into a Teku 2.0 stemmed glass.

A - With the exception of some deep mahogany colors seeping through at the edges of the glass, the beer pours pitch black with a coffee colored head approaching 1-finger with minor retention. (4.25)

S - Baker's chocolate, Burndt Coffee, Molasses and a hint of dark fruit (raisin and prune). Not terribly complex, but a Russian Imperial Stout with all the trimmings. No alcohol in the nose (4.5)

T - Big coffee roast dominates with some baker's chocolate and some treacle rounding things out. Dark fruit sweeetness is countered quite handidly by the roasted malt bitterness. Like the nose, no alcohol infiltrates the palate. (4.75)

M - 9% ABV is not the most burly for an Imperial Stout and it is felt most prominently in the mouth. It features a medium body and with the heavy helping of roasted malts intensifies the bitterness and increases its drinkability. The carbonation also helps to scrub any residual sweetness from the palate and inviting another sip. (4.5)

O - At ~$4.50 a bottle, the value/flavor profile is pretty good and have no problem with that pricepoint here in The States. This is a well conceived beer and sports enough complexity to make it interesting. However, the mouthfeel is a bit thin leaving me a little abandoned. However, the heavy dose of roasted malt and residual bitterness makes this an enjoyable Imperial Stout. That said, I will still prefer the over-the-top flavor profile of Peche Mortel. (4.5)

Link:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1141/16559/?ba=threeviews#review

Fitting beer for the rollback to Standard Time.
(always a depressing time of year for me)

Giants living up to the well-deserved Most Disappointing Team of the season...pathetic!

 

Thanks for the tip! Very interesting. I've had no problems at all with their pilsner but now that you mention it, I haven't loved Conehead quite as much as I remember liking when I originally had it on draft back when they were VT only. Would love to try their Keller if I see it down here.

 

More beer:

Nice APA. Nice head retention and clinging lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of tangerine, grapefruit, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, lemon/orange zest, and light pepper/pine hops; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bready malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Very mild herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and light-medium body. Balanced bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. A little underwhelming, but a nice showcase of Citra hops. Very well balanced and refreshing. Solidly dank and vibrant hop profile. Flavorful and not watery for 4.5%. 3.68


Very nice milk stout. Aromas and flavors of milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, nuttiness, vanilla, cream, and toasted dark bread; with light notes of smoke, dark fruit, and herbal hops. Mild herbal hop and roast malt bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body. Nice bready/grainy malt and lactose creaminess in the mouthfeel. Slight sticky hops and chalky roast. Slight hop/roast dryness; no cloying sweetness or acrid roast malts. Very easy drinking. 5.4%. Spot on milk stout all the way through. Minimal complaints, other than the aromas being weak. Well rounded stout malt complexity and nice lactose sugar presence. Mild balancing hops against sweetness. A textbook example of the style and nothing less. Really delicious. 3.88


More crappy printer labels. I've never had a variant of Speedway before, so here it is. This was amazing! Aromas and flavors of big nutty medium roast coffee, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, toffee, vanilla, cream, brown sugar, and toasted dark bread; with light notes of smoke, molasses, raisin, berries, and herbal/woody hop. Very mild herbal hop and roasted coffee bitterness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel that is amazing. Slight slickness, chalky roast/coffee, and hop stickiness. Bit of increasing bitter/roast dryness, no cloying sweetness. Super smooth sipper, mildly warming 12%. Not quite as amazing as the base beer, but unique in it's own right. Not as intense on the nose, carbonation may be the factor there. The African coffee adds a unique intensified dark fruit/berry note to the beer; and you get the same backing malt complexity otherwise. Not as intense on hop character/bitterness, no real way I could know when this was brewed though. Huge fan. 4.35


Cheers, have a good evening NBS!

 

Indeed. Kind of ironic, huh?

 

Here's a NBS brew from @woemad from BIF #6
The Smog from Black Label Brewing Company


Pours deep black, some head that dies down quickly
Aroma is coffee and chocolate, a little licorice and caramel
Taste is chocolate, some coffee bitterness, vanilla on the back along with some oak or whiskey notes. Some warmth on the back, not at all unpleasant
Mouthfeel is medium-thick, long sweet finish on the back of the tongue
Overall, this is an exemplary imperial stout. At 10% this goes down way too easily.

 

Conehead's a great example of this. If you get a good can, it's really good, but never quite the same as draft.... which to be honest, varies from batch to batch and place to place. My local pizza joint always has Conehead on draft and I get one sometimes when waiting for my pizza to be finished and boy, has it changed over the last few years! First it was beyond amazing, then absolutely awful, and now it's just pretty good. This does happen to coincide with their expansion, and I'm glad they're getting back on course.

From what I understand, they're not quite as obsessive about their canning standards as other local brewers and it does show in the final product. They're more concerned with getting as much done as possible in a quick time setting and then they pass those savings on in the retail prices. Personally, I'd prefer to spend a bit more to have everything on point.

 

Hey all!
I'm back with a new gueuze, a style that I am not super familiar with. As such I'm not too opinionated about it either. I'm not a huge sour guy but they can be very good so I am curious to see how this one is.



It pours a crystal clear blond copper with a couple fingers of beige head that rapidly settles. Musty funky tartness in the nose, underripe pears, old barnwood, acetic tartness, sage. Tart and bright with an earthy backbone, green apple, crackers and musty funk. It is tart, refreshing and light with medium carbonation and a lingering twang.



Here's my review.

Cheers!

 

It's good to be back!
The graham cracker and overall S'mores impression is pretty impressive.
Some good things going on with this one but as you said in your review it needs some dialing in.

 

We really need a separate style/category designation.
Front label DIPA
Back label: NEIPA
BA Style: DIPA
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44376/305145/
Previous reviews: NEIPA



Canned 10/26/17.
Moderate pour yields a one inch white head over a slightly hazy, medium amber body with nice sticky lacing. Nose of some tropical fruit and citrus, orange mostly. Taste of the same fruit with a nice bitterness on the back end and finishing smoothly. Nice feel for a DIPA and overall this is more a DIPA to me than a NEIPA (as labeled) and I'm reviewing it as a DIPA because it is categorized as such. When will there be a new NEIPA style on these pages?

3.79/5 rDev +12.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

 

Back at home, and after a little yard work, I thought I'd treat myself to a little something. Ex Novo is a brewery very close to my home... maybe 3 miles. One thing I love about them is that they don't charge much for their beers. Another thing is that they're usually pretty damn good. And finally, they reinvest all of their gross profit back into the community. At $8 a bottle for this 13% black barleywine, some of my friends here might be seeing this in a future "thank you card."

Ex Novo Brewing
Never More- Barrel Aged Black Barleywine with all kinds of goodies





Instantly pouring it from the bottle, I realized a much more influencing hand was necessary. At first glance, it is a pretty dark color, but in light it actually shows a muddled chestnut brown. Despite my vigorous attempt, there is still only a minimal light tan ring of bubbles on the surface that completely retreat.

Whiskey dominates the initial whiff. The toasted figs follow right on the heels, then oak, sweet chocolate, raisins, and caramel drizzled toasted bread. Overall, a very sweet and boozy impression.

The first sip gives in to dark fruits and smoked meats. Fig and raisin then smoked ham or almost even beef jerky like. Burnt sugar and bitter bakers chocolate surface as it warms. The oak is subtle, whiskey almost non existent but for a mild burn. The more I drink, the less smokey it gets but still manages to stay present in a very beneficial way.

The nearly flat liquid is oily rich and sticky, yet manages to maintain a bit of smoothness to it. The warming alcohol is perfect. No burn or intensity otherwise despite the elevated abv.

This is wonderful. As a fan of smokey beers, this ones subtlety in that aspect is phenomenal. As a fan of Barleywine, this one hits all the other marks. It's not too sweet like an English style, and not too bitter like an American one. It's right in the middle with delicious and appropriate additions in just the right quantities. Cheers!

I gave this a 4.28 with an rDev of +5.9%

 

I can't thank @SawDog505 enough for sending this beer. Not only is it a new beer for me, but it's also a brand new brewery that just opened up in NH!

Pours a hazy opaque orange tan color, 'sort of resembles river water but only with a thick, dense, creamy white head. ( Oh-hhhh, those stereotypical Northeast Style opaque bombs!!! ) Moderate carbonation with lots of large bubbles. Lacing is thick and frothy. Visually, the typical Northeast style with the opacity. The nose has a citrus, ruby red grapefruit, tangerine/orange, and lots of juicy tropical fruit aroma. Taste wise, this beer is all about the tropical fruit and peppery spice. Grapefruit, nice peppery spice, tangerine, melon, & passion fruit. Big bodied and thick, silky textured, a little oily, and resiny on the very back end. Coats the mouth with tangerine and melon and creates a cotton-like sensation from the hops.

Kettlehead Brewing did a very nice job with this beer.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25