New Beer Sunday (Week 683)

Mc chouffe
Appearance..rusty brown color
Body..just below medium body, carbonation seems a bit elevated
Aroma...alcohol, dried plums, yeast and a lot of malt
Tasre... same as aroma but the alcohol is very well hidden in the taste. Some spice seems to be there as well.
Overall I would have it again but may not be my first choice in this style

 

Checking out this collab between Barrier and DeCicco & Sons...

Crowning Achievement, imperial stout aged in Crown maple syrup bourbon barrels... 12% abv; no bottling date that I can find, but presumably fresh as it just appeared on the Total Wine shelves this week and Barrier is only about 30 minutes away in Oceanside...

Black-bodied but doesn't display any heavy viscosity - not uncommon in barrel-aged stouts... Produced a finger of tan foam that slimmed to a wispy collar and some faint haze across the surface... Every sip trails lace motes behind, sliding slowly down the glass... Kicked up really nice aromas of maple and bourbon, complemented by coffee and anise impressions... Flavors bring all of that into play as well, with roasty coffee and dark chocolate malt singed with char, and rounded off with vanilla, anise, and whiskey... Light-feeling, it feels thin and slick on the palate, with a little stick of syrup left behind... Overall, delivers a very fine product - all the elements you'd expect present are in appreciable quantity and quality, from the bourbon to the maple syrup to the imperial stout base... I think it was a $12.99 bottle at Total Wine - well-worth it...

Cheers...

 

So this is my first NBS, so bear with me. IGonna include two beers, one now and one in a bit when I have more time, both given to me by the amazing @Vidblain in the most recent NBS BIF (my first)

First off, we have Serendipity by New Glarus, a fruit beer brewed with cherries, apples, and cranberries.

Looks: darker in real life tan in the picture, basically like the color of cranberry juice. Super healthy carb 'streams' similar to what you'd find in a champagne.
Smell: really smell the cranberry, with a bit of a 'wintery spice' vibe coming in underneath that not fall spices like cinnamon and nutmeg tho). lots of fresh fruit.

Taste: As NG seems to do super well, this beer is super duper juicy and fruit forward. Despite being very sweet, its still somehow balanced by a bit of tartness and a dry finish, once again like champagne. Whatever NG uses to sour/ferment...seems like its the same that folks would use for champagne.
Feel: as you can probably guess...this feels a lot like a champagne, just a bit "slicker" due to the sugar content.

Overall, I really like NG stuff!!! so far what I've had is from their very fruit forward brews, and these are brews that basically anyone would want to and would be able to drink anytime, anyday. Lower ABVs, fruit forward, and overall a pleasure. Don't know the scale perfectly yet, so don't feel comfortable putting it on that. But anyone near Wisconsin, get yourself some of these!!

 

Same price at the brewery basically (I think with the extra 99 cents lol). I haven't drank one yet, but I recently sent it out to someone in one of the BIFs I was in! Enjoy! Love me some Barrier

 

Thank you to @cjgiant for starting us out today. My new beer is from Firestone Walker and is a great transition from the heavy dark beers we all love. I think they hit this one over the fence, very clean and enjoyable. Cheers and looking forward to a great spring ahead.

4.02/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Vibrant gold with lots of carbonation, rich foamy head and good lacing.
N: Grains, soft malt/sweetness, and minor hops.
T: Follows the nose, a crisp and refreshing lager. Nice grainy notes mixed with a soft sweetness that just balances this beer.
M: Light
O: Very nice lager, excellent mouthfeel and very refreshing. I will be enjoying this all summer long.

 

Thanks for the great opening @cjgiant . I can answer your question by saying that I primarily AM a seasonal drinker, but if I have a taste for a thick RIS on a hot summer night, I’m going for it. I still drink ipas and lagers all year around, but have a tendency to put them down in multiples during the warmer months. Dealing with a pinched nerve this weekend, so this will be my only entry today. Beer medicine doesn’t mix well with real medicine, or so I’m told.

My selection for this NBS is from Infinity Ale Works called Into the Dark Roast. It’s an imperial coffee stout coming in at 9%ABV.

The pour is very dark, but not black. Minimal dark cherrywood colored foam quickly dissipated, but tiny bubbles cling to the glass after every sip. Nose is slight chocolate and spent coffee grounds. Light caramel as it warms. Taste is a little of the same, but the coffee is pretty big here. Very bitter. Feint smokiness and roasted walnuts linger. Medium body with subtle carbonation. Overall I like it, and think it’s very good. Not just for the style, but across all styles.

Thanks for this one @Graham19840 !

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! I managed to find 2 new Foreign Objects brews that had previously escaped me, so will be reviewing both today. Starting with the lower abv one...

Green Galaxy - Foreign Objects
Ale with Hops - 5.5% abv
Canned 2/26/18 (27 days ago)
Purchased for $5.69 at Beer Heaven
Score: 4.21 (+7.1% rDev)



L - 1-finger fizzy white head atop a translucent yellow body. Lots of visible carb in this one, which is not like the others.

S - classic citrus and pine aroma. Candied orange, a little grapefruit, lime, trees.

T - follows the nose. Bitter grapefruit bite at first, with a piney middle. A lot of dirt/earth too. Zero sweetness, zero booze, highly bitter!

F - higher carb than usual, with a medium body.

O - This strikes me as FO’s attempt at the west coast style. Highly bitter, not as juicy as their norm, but super addictive. Hard to put the glass down!

 

NBS entry #1


With the @cjgiant 's opening I remembered I had picked up this saison when I stopped at Tired Hands a month or so ago. Welcome to springtime and it's 33 degrees....

Ourison

Tired Hands Brewing Company
Saison / Farmhouse Ale / 4.80% ABV

4.28/5 rDev +1.2% | Score: 4.23
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottled 07/17/17

L- The beer pours a handsome gold with a one and a half finger of small white bubbles. The head recedes to a thin ring with a large island. Lacing is minimal.
S- The nose is musty barnyard funk with a tinge of sourness.
T- The taste mirrors the nose perfectly. Up front you are hit with the musty funkiness. Late in the mid palate the sourness begins to take over. The finish is dry and tart. I'm not able to distinguish the oak, but I'm ok with that.
F- Overall the mouthfeel of the beer is light. The carbonation is prickly, but not overdone and adds to the dryness perceived.
O- This is an excellent example of a tart saison. The only flaw would be that at that at 7 months of age the other flavors have overpowered the contributions of the oak. That said it is still one of the best examples of the style that I've had. Highly recommended.

 

Trve Life's Trade

My first two beers today are themed around the idea of beers that sat in barrels or vats that aren't called barrels or vats, but instead have exotic sounding names because people want beer to be seen as sophisticated as wine.

This one is a "farmhouse ale fermented in puncheons." Puncheons are bigger than "barrels" but smaller than foeders as far as I know. Personally, I roll my eyes when I see the word "farmhouse" on a beer like this, but I get it. "Farmhouse ale fermented in puncheons" isn't trying to be misleading (I imagine the brewers see it as entirely accurate), but it's definitely language that's also helping consumers be OK with spending such a high price for a beer. I'm OK with differentiation with that aim, and I understand it from a brewer's perspective.

This beer might just be the lightest/clearest combo beer I've ever had. Trying to think of one that's more extreme and I'm not sure I can do it. Carbonation permanently exits pretty quickly too.

The taste is acidic in a puckering (but not at all crazy puckering) way. Sour apple and light lime. Malt character is unsurprisingly very light, but there's some light cracker there. Hops never make their presence felt.

This one feels like an example of a beer that manages to give the impression of high quality, but also fails at being satisfying. My first Trve beer.

 

Great first time review! Let's have more.

 

Re Puncheon, would you prefer your beer aged in a tertian, a tun, a butt or a hogshead?

Sometimes the "dead hand of history" can't be avoided.

 

How's everything going NBS, It has been a good while since I've jumped in on the conversation here Yesterday Dieu du Ciel! had their annual Peche Day even where they release a 4 pack with special versions of their already ridiculously amazing Coffee Stout Peche Mortel (Mortal Sin). The one I am currently drinking is the Raspberry mix which is odd, But I have to say they did a hell of a job on this one. Cheers


3.96/5 rDev 0% | Score: 3.96
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Another brew from the Peche day box, This one is Peche Mortel brewed with Raspberries.

Appearance - This beer poured out again as black as the original Peche Mortel, But this time there was almost no head and it faded extremely quickly, There is only a very light carbonation visible in the glass but it seems to be rising quicker than in the latte version.

Aroma - The nose is almost what I would have expected but I was expecting the coffee to be a little stronger. Up front is a sweet slightly acidic raspberry aroma as well as the slight hint of alcohol which is better covered up in the original on the back end you get that classic peche mortel coffee. All in all this is pretty good smelling.

Taste - If you've had the original peche mortel picture that deep rich black coffee than balance that with a much more acidic sweet/sour raspberry that is what I get here. That balance makes this really easy to drink for a 9.5%.

Feel - This is on the heavier side of medium bodied, lighter than the latte one but heavier than the original. It is also prickly but slightly creamy, definitely not nearly as much as the latte version. I would say this still balances better than the original but That has to do with the fruit flavor added.

Overall - Overall I'm generally not a fan ov overly sour fruit flavors but DDC came through and did something right with it. The way it balances with the coffee and the slight prickle make it really enjoyable and you could drink this pretty quick. Cheers.

 

A-Pours a clear amber color with a nondescript head and lacing
A-Aroma has resin, pine and citrus hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a resin, pine and citrus flavor
M-A light bodied very well carbonated beer
O-A decent beer

 

Humor aside... as I tried to express, I don't have an issue with it, and I also understand the point of a brewer explicitly putting it on the label. I'm not familiar with the phrase "dead hand of history." Can you summarize it in a few words?

 

Renegade Depravity
Imperial Peanut Butter Cup Stout
10% ABV

I tried 5 new beers this weekend, this one being the 5th, and boy did I choose wrong. It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s definitely not grooving to the Spring theme. Oh well. I am not really familiar with Renegade Brewing, I find their price point to be outrageous ($12.99 for 4 packs? No thanks) but this one intrigued me enough to try. I am not a huge peanut butter nut — sorry, bad pun, but I actually love Reece’s which this beer is made with and I’ve also found peanut butter and Nutella to be excellent ingredients for my sandwiches I make for snacks. Here’s my review:

3.82/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Poured into a balloon glass.

Look: Pretty much at the dirty motor oil level of blackness under a khaki head that recedes to a tight collar, thin film, and an adequate horizontal mountain range of foamy lacing.

Aroma: Dark roasted malts, an inky/oily richness almost like black licorice, and if you really inhale deeply a slight dry peanut butter aroma can be found.

Taste: To me, this is one of those beers where the main ingredient, the peanut butter, seems to apply itself when you really think about it and search for it, only then can I relate. If I just take a sip and describe what I taste I find it to be very dark coffee roast, some sugary almost lactose-induced chocokate with a very bitter finish almost hinging on being sour. It’s in between the chocolate and the sourness that I detect that bit of peanut butter.

Mouthfeel: Fairly smooth and dry for such a high ABV.

Overall: I wanted to like this so much more but I kept thinking about the peanut butter too much and trying to really taste it and experience it, which didn’t always happen. The good news is that it’s not too sweet or cloying, not overbearing in any way.

That will do it for me today, I’m going to save the other three cans of this for next weekend. Happy Spring to you all — we got some rain here this morning and the temps are staying consistently in the 50’s to 70’s which sounds pleasant enough for me. Cheers.

 

I am a seasonal drinker; if it's a season, I'm drinking. I drink the lighter beers in the summer, but will drink a stout anytime. I don't look at a time of year to be drinking a particular style.
My new beer for today is The Ballad of Minnie Quay. This is the 2018 version. It is an old ale aged in brandy barrels. The previous iteration was aged in port and whiskey barrels. Mine was bottled on 3/9/18 and is 11% ABV.
The label says, "Minnie Quay's love died in1852 when his ship went down. Heartbroken, she dove into the rough water to her death. Minnie's ghost can be seen roaming the beaches of Forester; she waits near the docks for the ill-fated ship. This old ale, aged in brandy barrels, honors Minnie and Michigan. Minnie, we hope for you to find peace."
In my teku, the beer is a beautiful, crystal clear cherry amber color with no head.
The aroma is booze, toffee, dark fruit, and vanilla.
The taste follows the nose. A lot of brandy, with toffee, raisins, and vanilla in a secondary role.
Medium-bodied. Everything went together well in this beer.
Try it if you have the opportunity.