What beer are you drinking now? #1896

Good morning BA, have a great Friday! Supposed to be yet another bitter cold day with some snow in the forecast. Good thing I did my main initial beer haul for the holidays yesterday. Was definitely a great one. Will do another one this weekend. Only a few more days left to relax.

Fantastic pale ale! Glad this is back in season. Flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, lemon zest, orange peel, and pine hops; with moderate caramel, brown sugar, and toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Very smooth medium body; balanced hop stickiness and bready Munich malt creaminess in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Absolutely love the balance and the juiciness of the Cascade/Centennial hops in combination with the bready malt bill. Deschutes rarely disappoints. One of my many favorites from them.


This is amazing! 12/2015 batch. Flavors of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, fudge, brownie batter, dark bread, toasted biscuit, smoke, and char; with lighter notes of molasses, raisin, cherry, and herbal/peppery/piney hops. Light-moderate roast/char and herbal/piney/spicy hop bitterness on the finish. Full bodied creamy, bready, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel. Lightly slick, hop stickiness, and chalky roast. Lightly increasing bitter/roasted dryness, never acrid or astringent. Super smooth sipper, minimal warming 10.5% Wow. I love this with some heavy age(3+ years); but this a pristine classic tasting RIS right now, and less aggressively bitter than I recall in the past with similar age. Very rich and complex. Getting close to the chocolate fudge cake profile I love about aged versions. Glad I grabbed another 2015 pack a few months ago, one of my stores still had it sitting on the shelf! Hope they brew it again in 2019, will definitely scoop up whatever else I can find from this year's batch. Will have to update my review for this today. Extremely impressed. Been casually updating a lot of reviews this week since I took a break from new beer reviews.


Always fantastic. Big flavors of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, and pine hops; with moderate caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted brown bread, and light nutty malt sweetness; with herbal, floral, grassy hop and yeasty earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus rind, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Balanced hop stickiness and bready malt creaminess in the mouthfeel; touch of slickness and resins. Increasingly drying finish; never astringent on hops, or cloying on sweetness. I realize this beer is basically Gnarlywine with brown sugar added; but when fresh this is like a blend of Arrogant Bastard-like strong ale and American barleywine. Always love it. Amazingly well balanced. Almost finished a 6 pack this week. I really need to buy this more often than I did in previous years.


Absolutely insane! Aromas and flavors of huge nutty dark roasted coffee, milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, marshmallow, fudge, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and dark bread; with lighter notes of smoke, char, molasses, raisin, and cherries. Light roast/char bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and very full bodied; with a very creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel. Some chalky roast and oak tannins. Lightly increasing bitter/char and tannic oak dryness. Never acrid or astringent. Insanely smooth, mildly increasing warming 16%, zero barrel booze. This one entered my top 15 when I reviewed it. Perfect barrel integration, with balanced fruity/nutty coffee and rich malt complexity. Glad I aged mine as with all of the barrel series. I find it interesting how they retired Mephistopheles, yet they still need to brew that beer in order to create this one. I can't complain though. Definitely will be stocking up on more. This is a world class stout. Best coffee stout I've ever had. Mind blowing, definitely worth the price.


Cheers

 

Fort George • 1000 Years of Silence

 

enjoying a 2015 Bastard. TGIF!

 

Congrats on #300!

 

X mas continues with Brewers alley kolsch, flying dogs TheTruth IPA, and Trappistes Rochefort #6.

 

Happy Friday BA's

A balmy 14 degrees today, way warmer than the past few mornings....supposed to get some snow tonight and Saturday, may have to get my cross country ski's out!

Tasty holiday porter!



took Conner to see some cars yesterday....pretty cool!



1956 Corvette

 

It's still too dark to get out so I may as well stay put . . .



Attractive dark color with red gold highlights at the edges.

Light scent of roasted malt with an underlying sweetness.

Nice flavor on entry, dark malt, a bit of cocoa, some ripe figs in the background.

Full creamy texture with balancing carbonation.

Overall this is a pleasant, undemanding Porter/Stout sort of brew with some depth and a balanced richness. Good flavor that appeals to the resident Guinness fan who says it's "smooth" and smells like "good malt" for whatever that's worth. This from a guy who drinks Guinness exclusively unless I shove something else in his hand.

 

Always tasty, especially as cold as it is out. -10 again this AM.

 

Good morning BAs! We're getting a skin of snow here in NW PA, unlike Erie which is basically buried - welcome to lake effect snow! Imgur is playing games this morning so I'll post a pic later - today's New breakfast Beer is Jester King's Gammalux - a very pleasant hoppy saison/farmhouse ale.

 

In agreement with those yesterday who said this is underrated and wishing it would join the year round coffee beer lineup.

Listened to this album yesterday for the first time in a while.


Happy Friday, virtual bar mates!

 

Good Morning BA
Picked this up in a mix six.

<<image of Sam Adams Kellerbier poured into my Ettaler mug because Imgur is sucking right now>>

This is my 71st style reviewed on BA and I may have to go back and up my score a bit. I forgot these beers aren't meant to be consumed cold. Enjoy what's in your glass today BA!