What beer are you drinking now? #1899

Good morning BA, have a great new years holiday! I only stayed up long enough to watch the ball drop and then went to sleep lol. Yet another bitter cold day once again, and it is supposed to be even colder by the end of the week. Forecast shows lows of -10! After a nice long week off, it is time to get back to normal schedule tomorrow. Have some laundry and bottle returns to take back as usual.

Awesome as usual this year. Amazing lasting head retention and thick soapy lacing the whole glass. Aromas and flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, light pepper, and pine hops; with balanced caramel, toasted bread malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; balanced creamy/bready malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light resins/rinds, increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Insanely drinkable. Super juicy and lightly dank Chinook/Centennial/Cascade hops; perfect malt balance, never overly sweet/heavy feeling. I love C hops all year, the fresh hops are very obvious with the herbal/spicy quality going on. Will definitely be getting another pack eventually. It holds up really well as with all SN IPAs.


Always world class for me. Breaking into the last 4 pack I have. Aromas and flavors of huge pumpkin, seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, gingerbread, toasted pie crust, caramel, brown sugar, and light herbal hops. Light-moderate herbal hop/spice bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus bodied; balanced bready/grainy creaminess and hop/spice stickiness in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing bitter/spicy dryness, never astringent. Super drinkable. This feels more balanced fresh than I remember a couple years ago. I used prefer it with some age to balance out the spices; but it seems to be good to go right now. The distributor randomly dropped a bunch of 2015 around for some reason, but at half the price. Might get some of it. Haven't seen any fresh ones around lately.


Incredible as always. Flavors of huge grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, and light pepper/pine hops; with wheat, biscuit, white bread dough, light honey malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Very mild pine, grassy, citrus peel bitterness on the finish. Medium-full bodied; bready/grainy wheat/oat creaminess and light hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Slightly increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very dank and juicy hops, with perfect malt balance. Never overly sweet/heavy. Super easy drinking. Glad to have this as a year round available beer. They stopped making Boxer for some reason, hope it returns in some other form. Way too many outstanding local NEIPAs now, I have plenty of favorites that I rotate through. This one has been seeing batch improvements since I first had it earlier in the year. This one is tasting exceptionally soft on the mouthfeel than some previous ones I've had. Definitely need to get another pack, this is always in the fridge now.


Self cellared 2016. This is mind blowing amazing! Flavors of huge milk chocolate, caramel, coconut, vanilla, cream, toffee, fudge, marshmallow, brown sugar, toasted oak, bourbon, maple, and molasses; with light notes of cocoa, coffee, and raisin/fig yeast fruitiness. Light bourbon/oak spice and roast bitterness on the finish. Fullish bodied; creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel. Slight chalky roast and oak tannins. Touch of bourbon/oak dryness, no cloying sweetness. Very mildly warming 15%, zero barrel booze. Just as insane as I remember from the 2015 I reviewed in Jan 2016! The barrel integration and balance is absolutely perfect. This time around the bourbon/oak tannins seem to be less prominent; which leads to a much silkier/velvety mouthfeel than I remember. Wow! Wish they did this in the 12 ounce bottles again. Would be easier to have more often. Definitely going to get more as soon as I can!


Cheers

 

Happy New Beers!

my first of these and so far it's surprisingly impressive.

Cheers!

 

Last beer of 2017...



Batch 10. Happy New Year!

 

Epic • Big Bad Baptista

 

Happy New Year!
My wife and I made it to the midnight hour (that's two years in a row). I'm getting ready to make some seitan for dinner later today, and excited about the bowl games that are coming up. I started the day with this nice oatmeal stout.

 

Trying to erase the cob webs, happy 2018 and hoping to cut back on my time with you all, but not starting today. Cheers!

 

Happy New Year BAs!
Since I will be starting overnights, mornings will be my time to relax with a beer or two...so why not start the New Year right with my all-time favorite?!

...this is the most fresh I have ever seen it in The States (Packaged: 07 2017, Released from Brewery after Warm & Cold conditioning: 09 2017):


I did however, see standard Duvel with a Best By of 03 2019 which is even more ridiculous...sadly, I passed in favor of Tripel Hop.

I wish everyone a happy and productive 2018.

 

Happy new year!

 

First beer of 2018!
Cloudwater: Small Vic Secret Pale

 

Happy New Year BAs!



Cheers!

 

I am going to start the day with a High West Victory at Sea. I ran into it for the first time a week ago. Purchased a 4 pack, snuck a taste in the parking lot and went in and bought a case. I felt lucky to get my hands on some and am enjoying every drop. Can't wait for noon

 

Cheers!

 

Starting the new year with a bang . . .





Dark burnt umber color with gold highlights and small cream colored cap.

Aroma of sweet caramel and toffee backed by chocolate dusted ripe figs.

Flavor on entry immediately reminds me of eating toffee. It's sweetish rather than sweet but there's a definite ripe fruit aspect to it along with chocolate and the richness of a full bodied Oloroso Sherry. Some heavier nut flavors as well. This is a seasonal holiday brew but it isn't loaded with spices, rather there seems to be an absence of them, yet it conveys a feeling of a holidays along the lines of Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale yet it has a deeper, richer flavor. It strikes me as more a Belgian style with a lighter touch. Very approachable yet complex enough to sit and ponder over.

 

This is a delicious IPA from North Carolina.

 

Cheers!

 

Happy new year and may this year be more adventurous with lots of more more

This is so good and so crushable I wish it came in 15 packs

 

First beer of the year while waiting for the first football game of the year.

 

Green flash WCIPA. 8% Dipa with Simcoe, Columbus, Cascade, Centennial, and Citra.
I just seen a guy on the Most Aggressive IPAs thread saying that people who say they are enjoying overly Bitter ipas are probably lying. I don't agree with him. I have other low bitterness styles in my fridge but this is exactly the taste I was going for right now. It's not my favorite beer but I'm enjoying and I'll probably have another one.