New Beer Sunday (Week 686)

Not a new beer, just some thoughts on the theme.

I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful girl many years ago. Not want one for glitz and glamour, fancy clothes and jewelry. Every once in awhile she might go out and look to buy a "new" sweatshirt or pair of slacks-sometimes it is not at the thrift store. My health is lousy so I cannot do the things I used to do, now she does them as best she can. I met her when she was travelling through Germany w another girl whose brother was my beer drinking buddy at the O Club in Hanau, FRG. A few months later we were married there by the burgermeister. We now live in the last home her parents bought and have lived there for years. Over the years we have had a few arguments but they were years ago. There are times when I get the silent treatment but it passes pretty quickly.

This November it will be 45 yrs. and I am a lucky man.

I think the worst thing she ever did was start the house on fire while scraping shingles and using a heat-gun.

A quote I found earlier-"Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished." - Og Mandino

Love you dear !

 

I came upon a bit of a dark horse this evening, and I'll be damned if I can recall who sent it to me - some stellar rockstar of a BA from California, obviously. By all means, sound off if you sent this to me, and give yourself a pat on the back. It's a fucking fantastic beer - thank you again!



Just rummaging through my beer fridge, a can of Motor Oil manifested itself from out of nowhere. I don't know who sent this to me. Goddamnit, if this was an extra, I don't know why people aren't trading for it. The chocolate and vanilla are incredibly forward. The taste is clean, and the alcohol content understated. That is a fantastic beer, and I'm shocked that it isn't barrel-aged. No kidding - I believe that ranks in my top 10 of canned beers.

I realize that I dodged the weekly topic, re: relationships. I appreciate the bravery of several BAs, among them @cavedave and @Victory_Sabre1973 (howdy, neighbor!) - I'm just getting out of a year-long relationship with a fairly messy conclusion, and realizing that I may be better off alone. I truly enjoy time to myself - I love quiet, I cherish reading time, and I don't mind enjoying a beer alone. Many times, I've considered having children - I would love to have a kid or two to take fishing. My dad and I have a really close relationship, and I'd love to have that with a child of my own.

But it's looking less likely as the years go by. I'm thirty-seven this year, and I'm single at the moment. I think more and more frequently about cashing out my 401k and buying a cheap house somewhere in a warmer climate with a lower cost of living. I'd love to go fishing and run a taco stand for the rest of my life. I don't know whether I'll do that, and I have no idea whether I'll have children someday - but I truly appreciate the stories and insight you all have shared about your own relationships.

Particularly you career bachelors. Cheers, guys - life isn't always easy on your own, and it sometimes gets pretty lonely. I feel you, gentlemen.

 

Well it is back into the chiller here in SEMass today. Very raw and unpleasant outside.

Tonight's victim is a bit of an odd one from Allagash. It is the 2017 version of Hibernal Fluxus.



Pours espresso black with a pretty generous tan head that falls to a persistent ring with a few rafts in the middle of the glass. Held up to the light, there is generous red tinting to the beer. The smell is initially malty and typical stout, some coffee and some cocoa. With warming, there are mild, vaguely fruity esters wafting over the malts. Interesting. The taste is pretty much sweet stout intially, but definitely lighter in intensity. Pretty heavy bitterness underneath and lingering in the aftertatse. Lactose sweetness. Then there is this whole ester thing going on that is not strong and seems to ge a complimentary flavor. Thinner on the mouthfeel than a stout ought to ge, but pleasantly so. It is a bright sweet stout.

Not sure where to go on the rating. I like it a lot. It isnt a straight sweet stout with the saison side of the equation brightening things up. As a milk stout, it just an OK beer. The saison is what makes it interesting. So I usually lump how much I like the beer into my overall number and that will be high. Dig the flavor. Cant call it to style. I think when all that strife ends, I will be giving it around a 4 with some 'splaining.

 

Just added that "Italian Golden" to my wants. Surprisingly, I've had 4 brews from that brewery. Weird.

 

I have faith...that I will love it. Thanks a Ton!

 

I understand that "lot of fun' part. But I am of the opinion that living some life (aka have a bit of fun) coupled with a bit of maturity (let's face it, we men move slower in that dept.) are big influences on being able to successfully give a relationship the commitment it needs.

 

Hey all, checking in with my first new beer of the day, but first I want to thank @lordofthewiens for the intro. Compared to some folks on here, im pretty inexperienced relationship-wise (or very experienced depending on how you look at it). I’ve had a lot of them, but until about 4 years ago Most of them didn’t make it past the 6 month mark, and the longest was 2 years. However, I finally met an amazing woman that clicks with me perfectly and we’ve been together for just about 4 years, and we’re getting married in 5 months. So for me, I feel fortunate that for the first time in my life I’m with someone I want to be with forever and she feels the same (or so she says at least).

As for my new beer, it’s a canned sour from Hermit Thrush, Cassis-



And my BA review-


Cheers!

 

45 years is awesome!!!! I'll be 76 years old when i hit 45 years is marriage. I'm very lucky to be with a wonderful woman who loves me no matter what.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/151124/



2017 bottle.
Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch light tan head over a dark brown-mahogany body with some lacing. Nose of raisins, caramel, vanilla, and chocolate. Taste of chocolate, caramel, molasses, vanilla, and dark fruit. As it warms a sort of cherry liqueur flavor comes forward. Yum! Nice feel and overall, I really liked the base Flying Mouflan but this is next level. Cheers!

4.34/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

 

Thanks, and yes you are lucky !

 

Got one more new one to squeeze in before Sunday ends, Rogue’s New Crustacean-

 

Just shared a few beers with my neighbor, I love sending him staggering home knowing he has to get up to get ready for work in about five hours. I'm slowly turning him into a beer nerd! One of the perks of working second shift is not owning an alarm clock for those days that the dogs let me sleep in.
Shared a couple that were from @Smokesnotes BIF box.
First up was Transient Salarium

Poured a straw yellow with an inch or so of white head that dissipated pretty quick.
Smells of lemon primarily, definitely smells tart.
Taste follows, lemon, tart (not sour), salt and coriander, wheat.
Light to medium bodied. Good carb level.
Overall a great gose! My first non IPA from Transient and it was tasty!

Had a couple Bearded Iris DDH Scatterbrain and DDH Tunnelvision, they aren't new to me but both were quite tasty!
Next up was Boss Tweed

Poured a turbid yellow orange with a good thick white head.
Smells of citrus, grapefruit and orange, pineapple, some melon.
Taste is better than the nose implies, grapefruit and orange jump out followed with more tropical notes of pineapple, mango, and melon.
Medium to full bodied, super smooth and creamy.
Overall another great beer from these guys.

 

Sounds like a class act. Both of you.

 

Thanks ! She is for sure.

 

Finishing off a BI crowler as I review what was my neighbor's nightcap, another from @Smokesnotes
Rye Hipster Brunch Stout

Poured a dark brown/black with two fingers of tan head.
Smell is dark roasted coffee, chocolate, a little spice from the rye and cinnamon. Not getting much of the smoky bacon.
Taste follows but getting some sweet maple to go with the coffee and chocolate. Some vanilla/barrel flavor too.
Medium bodied, smooth, no alcohol present.
Overall my favorite beer from these giys but I've only had a few.

 

Well Hello Late Night NBS
I usually like to pop in with a beer sooner than this. But you know how busy it get, one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. Love the theme today and the thoughtful musings by so many of you. This is a pretty deep, and dare I say "sensitive" group. I like that.

Speaking of relationships. I know it seems a bit strange, but I feel I'm getting to know some of you pretty well. Met a few in person. Chatted and texted with a few of you (especially those of you who have helped me post pics). But as time crawls by, and we meet here week after week, we have developed a little community. So even with all this new technology, we go back to our evolutionary quest: to find a tribe, a community. Pretty cool. I hope to meet more of you as the years progress. But as for now, I have my Mystery Beer from our very own @Buck89 (BTW-nice pic of you and the Mrs. early, John)

It's noteworthy that John drew my name in our BIF. This made it possible for him to hit me AGAIN. You see, he had randomly hit me many months ago with a surprise box and the coolest Yazoo Brewing tulip glass. Turns out his origins are pretty damn near to me. So, I'm using that very glass, raising my glass to the generosity, and good spirit of John and the lot of you.

Here it goes:
Pours a deep dark brown, damn near black. Some bubbles are visible rising within the opaque elixir. A firm, fluffy, almost rocky hear rises. Holds for about a minute before sloowwwly retreating to a milky tan layer. Consistent like pond scum. Beautiful.Pretty solid curtain of lace to boot.
Aroma is Mmmmm. Do I detect smoke? Why yes, I do. But not heavy handed. Strong enough to make me think it may be a rauchbier, but somebody who knows what they're doing because although that was my initial noticing, I'm picking up some malt notes akin to sweet leaning brown bread, like squaw bread. Like the stuff I get when driving up 395 on the eastern side of the Sierras. Funny thing, I tried smelling it in the bottle right at the moment of opening, I got some of what I'm getting now, but some of the brown paper bag that John wrapped it in.

Taste time. Ok here I'm getting smoke again, but some dry stout notes as well. The malt is smooth, only hints of sweet to carry the smoke. Brown bread notes are still there if I search for them. A little bit of peat comes through as well. And so I sniff again, and now I'm getting some peat on the nose. A hint of prune comes through as well. Finishes a tad dry and a bitter smoky slick hangs out near the back of my tongue.
Mouthfeel is more porter than stout. Less viscous and medium to less on the feel. Carbonation was present during the first few minutes but tapered off completely at the end.
Overall, my guess is a smoked porter, or maybe a rauchbier, albeit one that's lighter on smoke than what I've experienced.
And the reveal is....



Sue by Yazoo Brewing
The label mentions, "mellow smokiness coming from barley malts smoked with cherry wood..."
I would say mellow smokiness is an apt descriptor. This is quite good. I went through a smoke phase many years back and burned myself out for a few years. Now, when I get the craving, it seems that some are more pronounced in smoke than I prefer. This one really represents a firm but soft touch on the smoke. Thanks John.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday, everyone! I was feeling stouts tonight, so I started with this one.



L: Almost entirely black, with some dark brown at the bottom of the glass. The head is beige, small, and dies away fairly fast; but a thin ring remains, leaving spotty lacing.

S: Medium to dark roast coffee; slightly nutty, but leaning smoky and roasted. Moderately coffee presence well-balanced against malt character. Bitter chocolate, cacao, and burnt toast, with just a hint of vanilla.

T: Follows the nose. Moderate coffee character of medium/dark-roast black coffee, roasted and borderline acrid. Dark chocolate, bitter cacao, and burnt toast. Not much sweetness here, mostly just roast and bitterness. Black coffee and earthy bitterness lingers.

F: Medium-light, moderately carbonated. Drinks easily, but grows a little watery.

O: A decent coffee stout.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

New coffee stout #2. Two Roads Espressway. An oatmeal stout steeped with cold brew coffee. Compared to the Drip Drop Coffee Stout I just had, this has a less prominent coffee profile, but more malt. The malt is more richly dark chocolate with caramel, toast, and vanilla. The coffee adds roast and bitterness, but it's less a coffee bomb. However, it has a much smoother, nicer body thanks to the oats. I think I prefer this just slightly, although I wish the coffee shined more.

 

Enjoy the UK!