New Beer Sunday (Week 668)

Boulevard Imperial Stout X —
Stout with Coconut added
11% ABV

Well as you can see, I had a bit of a gusher. Here’s my review:

Poured into a Duvel tulip.

The beer is stereotypical “dirty motor oil black” with a huge dark khaki sea foam head that dissipates to a thick frothy layer of film. Lacing is pretty much non-existent. The aroma opens up immediately with a sweet bourbon barrel wood note that soon smoothly glides into decadent aromas of rich chocolate and toasted coconut. It really smells delicious. The taste is whiskey-barrel dominant but rich, dark chocolate, dark malt roast, and ultimately a toasted coconut flavor emerges. The mouthfeel is surprisingly medium bodied and smooth.

Overall, as the beer warms the 11% ABV gets a bit warm on the throat. The bourbon/whiskey notes are a bit thick but otherwise excellent use of coconut.

4.29/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

I will be sipping on this as I watch the Manchester derby and will probably be back with one or even two more new beers later!

 

Happy NBS! Beer #1

Actual snow on the ground before Christmas. Did our errands yesterday while the snow came down and the roads were clear. Now staying in, doing a ham for dinner, and enjoying not being on the icy roads.

First beer up, Bell's Christmas Ale. I love most Bell's offerings, so looked forwards to this one.



Pours a deep, reddish brown color with an off-white head about a finger thick, leaves a little lacing and some clinging to the glass. Smell is minimal, toasted malts, cinnamon, and caramel. Taste is a little muddled. Toasted malts, toffee, pine, burnt sugar, and a little hop bitterness throughout. Medium-heavy body, creamy, dry. Bitterness lingers. Overall, eh, it's not bad, but it's not great either. The flavors were muddled, none truly stood out at any point in time.

Disappointed in this one and glad I just picked it up as part of a mix 6.

 

Good afternoon fellow NBSrs! I would like to thank @Smokesnotes for this fine opportunity today.




Here is my short review.

Incredibly soft and creamy. Overripe tropical fruit. Smooth as silk with not a hint of the abv. Incredibly good. Hangs with any in my opinion. Cheers all!

 

New beer #3 is my favorite of the day so far.

Hubert - Melvin
MPA - 6% abv
Canned 11/17/17 (23 days ago)
Purchased for $2.79 at Monde Market
Score: 4.08 (-2.2% rDev)



L - 2-finger head atop a bright yellow body.

S - pine, some weediness, a little citrus, a little spicyness

T - very dank. The weediness is way forward in the taste. A little citrus in there too. Some spicy rye breadiness in the middle. Only a subtle bitterness. No detectable alcohol.

F - medium body and carb. Rather drying.

O - I've yet to be disappointed by Melvin. This one is up there with Citradamus, but not quite at that level.

 

Snow fell here in GA Friday night but looking outside today you can't tell. Sharing a pic from a friend's porch a little north of my house.

Started today with another from @Satch44 courtesy of the BIF #6.

Pours a thick black with thin tan head. A swirl in the glass leaves a thin, oily coating.
Definitely smells of sweet maple sugar and a touch of coffee.
Tastes follows, definitely sweet maple up front and lingering in the finish. Not overly sweet but pretty close. Getting some coffee in there too.
Feel is very full bodied, syrupy.
Initially served chilled but as it approached room temp there was a noticeable shift in taste, the coffee became more pronounced, the maple sweetness mellowed a bit.

 

I noticed you lurking recently, and was wondering when you would jump back in. Glad to see a new review from you, even if it wasn't of the most enjoyable of beers.

 

Good afternoon NBS, excited to see how the Eagles bounce back after last week’s loss, should be a great game to drink some beers during. Starting my Sunday with some Frost Lush DIPA thanks to @CanConPhilly!
4.17/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for this
16 oz can, dated 10/13/17, poured into a teku

A- A slightly hazy golden copper with a three finger white head

S- Stone fruits, piney, touch of wet grass, mandarin oranges, some hints of caramel malts.

T- Oranges, stone fruits, some pineapple, touch of wet grass, piney, hints of sweet malts.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- An enjoyable DIPA, I have had better hop combos but it is still well brewed.

 

Kane Beer in a Carton glass well done!

 

Love the label!

 

Yards chocolate love stout. nice solid black color,just above average carbonation but a nice smooth dense feel. Aroma is roasted coffee and malt with some milk chocolate. Taste is identical,a bit sweet but just a little.there was more to the taste than the aroma but it was well incorporated. An excellent version of an already good stout

 

Boulevard Tasting Room Series Oat Pale Ale, very forgettable. 3,25 overall

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/281964/?ba=russpowell#review

This would worked better for me as an English Pale Ale...

 

Lurking lurker returns alert! Have fun in Austin!

Lots to do today but got time for a new one a bunch of you have run into:


Sierra Nevada's Wintertide Ale — a winter warmer

About as standard-issue winter warmer as you could ask for IMO. Ginger, nutmeg, that dark-malt-peat-burnt-molasses thing almost all winter warmers seem to have ... nothing crazy in any direction.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/291725/?ba=Premo88#review
3.77 (-1% rDev)

The beer has a teeny little hint of wood in the aftertaste; if that wood flavor were bigger, the beer would score much nearer 4.0 for me.

Oh ... and I gave it a pretty strongish pour to test it for it's Sierra Nevada sticky-headedness:

Pretty sticky. And I still say Sierra Nevada puts glue in the vat of all their beers. Only explanation for all that stickiness.

Cheers, NBSers!

 

many you shouldn't fill your glass all the way up, to allow for some more aroma

 

My last new IPA of the day, although I've got a new stout for later...

Breaking the Waves...

Brewed for Evil Twin by Dorchester Brewing in Boston... 10% abv double dry hopped DIPA featuring Citra, Amarillo, and Simcoe, with lactose... Based on their Instagram page, looks like an 11/13/17 canning... Medium gold and hazy with fine sediment visible, contributing to a hazy look; tall white head left lace lines behind... Lotsa juicy fruit, especially tropical, with thick mango, papaya, orange and pineapple impressions, as well as hints of brighter berry notes and something danker and pithy beneath... Medium-weight body has some heft, smooth and sweet, mildly bitter... Interestingly enough, I thought the feel was it's least attractive feature - felt a little thick for something so sweet and pale...

Catch y'all a little later on, cheers...

 

Pours hazy straw color with a fluffy white head.
The nose hits immediately with sweet rice aromas with a slight earthy hop.
The flavor hits with an adjunct sweetness before finishing with a pronounced bitterness on the finish.
The mouthfeel is light and refreshing.
Overall, I'd compare this to an adjunct lager with a very nicely done hop character. Will I seek it out again? No, but it's honestly not bad.
3.65/5
It's good for what it is, but honestly there's not much to this beer.

 

New beer #4. And my first beer today that fits the weather.

Heavy Boots of Lead - Singlecut
Imperial Stout - 11% abv
Purchased for $7.99 at Whole Foods
Rating: 4.24 (-1.4% rDev)



L - 1.5 finger mocha head atop a pitch black body. Head dissolves to nothing in about 3 minutes.

S - licorice, sweet milk chocolate, leather, molasses, beef.

T - molasses and licorice coated in chocolate. Moderately sweet. Smoky middle. Mildly bitter finish.

F - very heavy with minimal carb.

O - this reminds me of non-BA Ten Fidy. It's really well balanced but still complex. The smokiness is the best thing about it.

 

2SP The Russian

Happy Sunday, BAs. Like our host, I also like the winter months. Glad to see a little snow on the ground. If nothing else, it's a great excuse to do a little shoveling and then laze around the house for most of the weekend.

Today's 2016 GABF gold medal-winning Russian Imperial Stout comes thanks to the generosity of a great BA and fellow Eagles fan named @larryi86 who I met at a NBS BIF-inspired bottle share not too long ago.

The Russian is dark brown with two fingers of slow-forming, but long-lasting, light tan head. Leaves sloppy sheets of lacing.

Classic roasted malts aroma with hints of chocolate and maybe even cherry behind. I'm getting a little more than usual carbon dioxide off the head as well.

Delicious tasting. Rich, chocolatey roasted malts. A hint of plum or prune. Maybe some anise. A creamy, almost vanilla-like sensation that adds some sweetness. Then a nice bitter aftertaste evoking hops, baking chocolate and espresso.

Medium-to-heavy bodied with strong carbonation and moderate creaminess in the feel.

This one is a real pleasure to drink. The carbonation is a tad high to my personal taste, but the bitterness of it is just about perfect. Thanks, Larry, and go birds.