New Beer Sunday (Week 718)

Just between you and me, I give my kids a weekly allowance to write my NBS posts (I drink the beer though... I have some standards). I should give them a raise.

 

I’m carrying this crap for 6 weeks now, two rounds of antibiotics, all the cold shit you can find.... and fuck it I’m going to drown this virus in Scotch.

 

Good evening NBS
I've worked my 13 hour shift and put in some family time. They are headed to bed and I'm having a new beer.

The review:
12oz bottle bb 6/11/19 poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at slightly warmer than fridge temp 9.9% ABV 50 IBU. The beer pours fairly dense very dark brown bordering on black with light mocha colored head. The head recedes to a few bubbles and a fat ring leaving minimal lacing. The aroma is semisweet coffee, dark chocolate and faint ash. The taste is dark chocolate and coffee at first with a touch of malt sweetness rolling into ashy, roast and earthy hop based bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, adequately carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. There is just enough final gravity to balance the bitterness, not enough to even approach cloying. Overall, very good to excellent. I could handle a slightly fuller body, but this is really top notch non-BA RIS.

I'm really enjoying having GLBC in Indiana. It's hard to believe I've never had Blackout Stout before today, but my handwritten (pre-BA) notes and BA database indicate it is. Cheers all!

 

This will be my third NBS. I missed last week due to the entire family being sick. I swear the hardest thing about parenthood is seeing your kids unwell. Everyone seems to be on the mend, but it was a doozy. To top things off, my wife’s company was bought by a competitor and they are shutting it down on December 21st. It is actually better than it sounds. She will be getting a hefty severance and has been talking of cutting back to spend more time with our 23.5 month old twins. I will be able to work more hours and we should come out quite a bit ahead financially. So, I’ll piggyback on your holiday and be thankful for silver linings!!

Tonight’s beer is a from a small brewery in New Brunswick. I’ve been working through a box from a trade partner from there. This will be my second beer from Big Axe.



Big Axe Wrath of Putin IIPA

Pours an opaque deep copper with a moderate head that dissipates slowly. A pleasant lacing remains on the glass as I imbibe.

The aromas are citrusy but indistinct. Maybe a little brown sugar as well.

The insisting cirrus gives way to more obvious grapefruit and Jaffa orange notes on the tongue. The bitterness is strong and there is an earwax element to it, but not unpleasant.

Thick and chewy mouthfeel.

Overall I enjoyed this ‘old fashioned’ IIPA. A little better than average but nothing to drive to New Brunswick for.

Cheers.

 

My next new one tonight is Nut Cracker, a winter warmer from Boulevard-



I’ve tried several different winter warmers this year, a style I’ve never really embraced before, and this one stands out as being unique from others I’ve tried due to its bitterness.

4.08/5 rDev +9.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Bottled 9/7/18, reviewed 11/25/18

Poured from a bottle into a tulip after sitting out of the fridge for about 15 minutes

Look- pours crystal clear orangeish amber with a fluffy head that recedes slowly leaving a nice coating as well as sheets of lacing

Aroma- dark bread, ginger, nutmeg, maraschino cherry, vanilla

Taste- Woah, was expecting something fairly sweet and spicy after that nose, but it's not at all. It starts off sort of earthy and bready with a spicy hop bitterness that builds steadily and becomes fairly bitter; Under that, i'm picking up the nutmeg, cherry and vanilla that I got in the nose.The flavor is really complex and everything works well together with nothing seeming out of place or disjointed. Note that the label and description on BA don't say anything about spices being added, so I'm not sure if there are any in this beer, but I'm picking them up.

Feel- medium light bodied with moderate carbonation; Semi-dry finish with lingering bitterness

Overall- Unique winter warmer that couples mild spiciness and sweetness with a decent amount of sweetness to great effect

 

I know. Very confusing with the misspelling and the difficulty they give folks to decipher their packaging. Thanks for reminding me to figure it out better. I now have added Sonnenaufgang here, put my review there, but didn't report the other one, since there also is a listing for both on the other site .

 

Glad you made it back safely and sorry to hear about your uncle.

 

Good evening fellow NBSrs !

Tonight’s beauty is brought by the ever generous @2beerdogs !

Derek, this beer has been a long time want of mine and am very grateful to have the opportunity! Cheers and thank you again!



This beer is a near perfect combo of chocolate, bourbon and raspberry. The chocolate is semi sweet, the raspberry is near jam levels and the bourbon is perfect.

So rich and refined. The mouthfeel is incredibly smooth.

This has been a treat and well worth the wait.

Cheers all!

 

Oh my God!!!

Just knowing an American brewer is making that beer makes me very, very happy. @Harrison8 is one cool dude for sending you that one!

 

Sorry for the double if I'm doubling, but holy cow wow! That is following in @Lingenbrau's footsteps indeed ... magnificent shots. Thanks for sharing!

 

@Chambo316 this is the best one you sent me! I loved it. This one is called Putting At Night from Dewey Brewing Co. Not many reviews or ratings, 6 and 3 respectively. Here goes my attempt at it.

 

Nailed that one. Very similar concept.

 

My last new one tonight is Bourbon County Brand Wheatwine-



Cheers all, and enjoy the week.

4.18/5 rDev -1.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bottled 8/13/18, reviewed 11/25/18

Poured from the bottle into a tulip after warming from fridge temp for 20 minutes

Look- translucent ruby-tinged mahogany liquid with a tan head that recedes pretty quickly to nothing; no lacing

Aroma- Dark fruits, vanilla, mild banana-like fruitiness, caramel, mild bourbon and some alcohol heat

Taste- Starts off like the nose, but then builds on that. There's dark fruits, nutty banana bread, sherry, caramel, toffee and fairly mild bourbon.

Feel- medium-full bodied with low carbonation and a sweet boozy finish that leaves my mouth with a numbing alcohol tingle

Overall- A pretty good nose gives way to an exceptionally complex flavor in this one. Really great beer.

 

All joking aside, it’s always a pleasure to meet up with a fellow beer nerd and learn about his (or her) home turf. Plus he (in this case) shared this beer with us:


My intentionally less than 150-letter rating doesn’t attempt to do this beer justice. We were too busy talking and fawning over the beer to put together a full review of all its nuanced structure. I will say, my de facto BiL grabbed his small pour, left the room, then came rushing back to inquire including an intense inspection of the bottle.

Simply, the licorice and cinnamon are noted and interwoven into an almost BDSA/BA Imperial Stout hybrid. I’m counting on him to get two bottles for my next visit. Which I'll plan once the cameras I placed around his block indicate he’s bought more.

(Ok - not ALL joking aside)

 

So glad you liked that one, Dan. It's one of my favorites. "Jam levels" is an apt description.

 

Happy you got to see a Pirate victory.

 

So what's in the press??

Sending positive thoughts and a prayer for your uncle

 

Happy Loads of New (Mainly) Lager Beers Sunday (Week 718), But What Now/Next?!?

In my last post, I mentioned that I had run my planned gamut of beers for the day, but I still have tomorrow off. It is like a Summer evening as a kid - I don't want to go inside/home, there is no school tomorrow & there are still plenty of things to do! Do I have any more Lagers? Any more CANned Lagers? Well, onward we go!

The next to fall in/on this hit parade was courtesy of Tavour. I have broken it off with them due to inflexibility on the part of their shipper & their unwillingness/inability to go with a different company. Oh well. I will survive. Without further ado, I ask you:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31791/365226/?ba=woodychandler#review

No? Well, let's move on to:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/341573/?ba=woodychandler#review

That was … interesting! I seem to have gotten onto a Pilsner kick, so why stop now? I CANtinued with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47868/355816/?ba=woodychandler#review

but I am going to close here. I sense the door getting ready to close on NBS (Week 718) & the padlock jammed into place. 8=( I'll be back next week with more … stuff. See yinz inna funny pages!