New Beer Sunday (Week 723)

Thanks! We are brewing up version 3.0 on Tuesday. You'll have to come back for a side by side!

 

In an effort to not fall back to sleep after reading your introduction I had to find something more exciting. On my way upstairs to rearrange my sock drawer I spotted this Copper Lager I bought for myself a few weeks ago. I displayed it on the piano and forgot about it. The piano is in the piano room. My mansion is huge and I never really come in this room unless we are holding a recital.

Anyway, while this is chilling I am going to divide my gold coins up in these burgundy rabbit felt purses then join you later.

 

Happy New Beer! It's hard to believe 2018 is down to it's final hours. A very busy and eventful year around here that included a trip to Colorado in April where we purchased a house, returned to Indiana to scurry through the process of listing, selling, packing and moving 1100 miles. The most satisfying part was leaving a job I loathed for the last decade by just resigning and walking out on my final day. Only a few confidants were in the loop and did their part to keep my secret. I've never looked back and after four months couldn't be happier with how everything worked out as we're finally living the life we envisioned for many years. Life is short, work hard, dream, plan and don't be afraid to take risks. Enough about my journey, let's check out a new beer.....

Something Brewery in Brighton CO isn't too far from me and was one of the first places I discovered shortly after moving here. It's a rather small place with good beer, friendly people and located on the main street in town. They celebrated their 3rd anniversary a few weeks ago and had many special releases. Here's the second of the two barrel aged they had that's called Level 3 Mexican Chocolate. A Russian imperial stout, (I find that humorous), that was aged in bourbon barrels for over a year. Let's give it a pour in the complimentary glass and see what awaits?

Pours a thin dark brown resembling root beer. A few centimeters of mocha colored foam is churned up before quickly settling to a lasting thin ring around the glass. No lacing is present. It smells like cinnamon, coconut, chocolate cookie dough and a little booze. The taste is cinnamon, dark cherry, coconut, vanilla, a dash of bourbon followed by oak in the finish. The feel is slightly flat and a bit thin for my palate.



A flavorful barrel aged adjunct dessert stout. The feel leaves a bit to be desired but doesn't detract from a overall positive experience. This is a small brewery that is slowly growing and not afraid to take chances which is something I admire. They had some cans left yesterday and I'll buy another my next time there. My score is 4.05 and once again had the privilege of adding the beer.

Have a great day of new beer adventures and a happy new year. I'm going to spend mine watching week 16 of football. Here's the official scorecard for entertainment purposes only......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47354/390373/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Happy anniversary!

 

Red Sox aside, it was a good introduction.

 

I will also be joining you in a short while. First, I must take a cool refreshing dip in my abnormally large coin vault ala Scrooge McDuck.

 

Happy anniversary!
Here's to many more years!

 

Stick In The Mud an Imperial Stout from Sand City.Sharing this one with my daughter and then settling in to watch yet another meaningless Jet game. Pours black with a quarter inch tan head that settles to an everlasting ring and leaves nice lacing. Smells of roasted malts, dark chocolate and coffee. Tastes of dark roast coffee, dark chocolate, deeply roasted malts, caramel, toffee, toast and a hint of vanilla. Full bodied, creamy mouth feel, light carbonation and a dry finish. Sand City continues to produce outstanding beers. Cheers!

 

Yeah, silver coins. Ha. Chump.

 

...Some rise. Some fall. Some climb... Haha you motivated me to pull 10/11/89 Byrne Arena, and Terrapin is blasting from the living room system right now. Was at that show, in fact, I am one of a few people I know who was at every Byrne Arena Dead show they ever played. ...Since the end is never told, we pay the teller off in gold..." Wish I had a beer in glass to raise to the golden age of beer, and music. Cheers!

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for getting the ball rolling today.
2018 has been an eventful year. I retired in June after 40 years of practicing pediatrics. My wife and I decided we were through with snow, so we moved from Maine to New Mexico. I am happy to report that we are thrilled with the results. I don't miss work (well, maybe a little), and we love New Mexico. I golf three times a week with a great group of guys, hike and bike with my wife, and help her with her podcast. Just what I hoped retirement would be. We had a large family gathering at our house for Christmas, and we are just now getting back into our routine.

Today's new beer is one that @cjgiant reviewed recently on NBS. I've had some of Sierra Nevada's Trip in the Woods series, and have considered them to be a mixed bag. Craig's review made me want to try this, and I am glad I did. The beer is Tequila Barrel Aged Otra Vez.

The beer is a bright gold color with a small white head that persists.
Aroma of lime primarily, but also some lemon and a hint of orange. Faint tequila. A little bit of wood.
Lime up front, tart, with some lemon and orange. Salty. Nice smooth tequila finish.
This is a tart, crisp, refreshing beer, and one I would be happy to drink anytime.

 

In 2018, I slowed down a little on drinking beer, took more breaks and ultimately stopped really caring about or looking at my numbers. I have already decided that in 2019, I will be doing a minimum of 3 days off a week and a minimum of 25 extra days (not including the three days a week) off throughout the year to make 50% of the days in the year being days off.

So I’m taking 2018 out in a bang. This is huge for me. I’ve been in love with stouts with peppers ever since I tried Bomb! several years ago and today I will be trying three different beers that I have wanted to try for a good while, SIDE BY SIDE and BLIND.

•Hunahpu’s (4.57 on BA, 4.47 on Untappd)
•Abraxas (4.47 on BA, 4.44 on Untappd)
•Mexican Cake (4.4 on BA, 4.32 on Untappd)

*special note that their ratings from highest to lowest remain consistent between BA and Untappd, however Abraxas has the lowest spread between the two.

I wanted to keep this to imperial stouts with peppers, cinnamon, vanilla and cacao.

My wife will pour these and write a number on a piece of tape to each glass and the bottom of the bottles (where I can’t see, and won’t look) I will do ratings and reviews before I reveal to myself.

#1. This beer is rather black but has brown highlights around the edges of the top. Has a caramel colored crown. 4.5

The smell brings vanilla being the most prominent with peppers slightly tingling towards the back. The vanilla presence is like cake batter. Has some alcohol burn in there as well. The only one that seems to have cinnamon presence to me. 4.5

The taste brings pepper presence to the lips before very quickly turning into a vanilla cake batter/fudge brownie delight. Cinnamon there as well. 4.25

The mouthfeel thick and full bodied. Coats the mouth. No tingle from the peppers but nice fudge like body. 4

Overall, this one is by far the best for my palate preference. And the only one that I really detected cinnamon in. 4.25


#2. This beer is black with highlights around the edges of the top. Has a dark khaki colored crown. 4.5

The smell brings a deep cooked/roasted like pepper presence. Almost reminds me of a Chinese smell. Salty. Chocolate reminiscent of fudge brownies. But gotta say I’m not really into the roasted aspect of the peppers I’m picking up. 3.5

The taste comes in with that salty, roasty pepper presence again. But it’s much better in the taste than the nose. Shows some chocolate & slight vanilla sweetness. 4

The mouthfeel is full bodied. Brings a very slight pepper tingle but more of a salty, dry feeling more than anything that I just seem to not get past in this one. 3.5

Overall, this one seemed to be the worst for my palate. I was just not into the Chinese food/roasted presence that it brought. I do like how it brought some slight pepper tingle, but I still wanted more. 3.5


#3. This beer is pitch black with no highlights whatsoever. Along with the ring of caramel colored crown attached to the glass, it has islands in the middle. 4.75

The smell has peppers, but they are more green pepper like more than anything. Vanilla mixing in there as well. This one is the most underwhelming smell of three. But still prefer it to #2. 3.75

The taste brings a sweetness mixing with a soy like presence. Still more green pepper like to me than spicy peppers. 3.75

The mouthfeel is thick and full bodied. Coats the mouth nicely and fudge like before turning dry quickly. No burn or tingling whatsoever from the peppers, leaving me wanting more of that aspect but still very solid on the other elements. 4

Overall, I like the thick fudge like body this beer brought and how it coats the mouth, but it wasn’t something that blew me out of the water. And when I drink stouts with peppers, I want them to at least provide a tingle, if not a little burn and this one just didn’t bring that. 3.75


So the scorecards are

#1
4.5, 4.5, 4.25, 4, 4.25

#2
4.5, 3.5, 4, 3.5, 3.5

#3
4.75, 3.75, 3.75, 4, 3.75

And the reveal is



#1 = Abraxas
#2 = Mexican Cake
#3 = Hunahpu’s

Overall, for the whole test I seemed to be underwhelmed more than I expected for all of them, given their high ratings. But Abraxas was the clear winner. Glad I did this. And I might change/update the reviews as I finish the bottles.

Special thanks to @Dragginballs76 & @GeneralBurden for making this possible. Both great traders.

Cheers NBS!

 

Thanks to Cjgiant for the start. For us, boys # 2 and 3 moved out (after 14 years of tuition payments). The high school soccer team I coach advanced to the state championships, a crazy fun run. I suffered no injuries as a player on my "beer league" team.
I'll work a few more years I expect, but would like to have a plan for a less suburban life in future years. Anything from Provence to NH to MI Upper Peninsula to WA is in play.
Today's new brew is All Tomorrow's Parties from Root + Branch, a NEIPA. This foggy yellow can pour hosts a thin cap of fine foam that laces the glass in columns. The aroma is of pineapple and tangerine. Tropical fruit dominates the flavor, along with some grape. The body is light and smooth. This is a tasty, albeit, light feeling NE style IPA.
-wishing peace and pleasure to all in 2019

 

Awesome! Glad to hear it. It's already cool enough to virtually share beers in here with "strangers*" but adding sharing tunes makes it even better. Cheers! And have fun during your dry spell (not being sarcastic) it'll be nice and your first beer after will taste 100x better because of it! Happy New year!

*- stopping strangers just to shake their hand

 

joyeux anniversaire

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A rather cold winter day with snow flurries here on the island. Hitting up the big city today to watch the games w/friends and a little bar hoping. First stop is Rattle n Hum.

My new beer today is Green City, ipa featuring citra, simcoe, and centennial, from Other Half. The brew checks in at 7% abv.

A murky straw yellow color on the pour. The nose is very floral w/hops and fruits. The drinking starts w/soft and plush hop notes upfront, very smooth flow, and finish. Nice notes of the fruit, resin, and even a little dank. Moderate body that drinks juicy and creamy.

Overall, just crazy good hop juice. I’m a bit of a homer here but oh ipas just do it for me. Im in the 4.5 range easily here,

 

Well done, really enjoyed that.