New Beer Sunday (Week 726)

This is my third Brut IPA. The previous two were a mixed bag of aroma and flavor, that overall, didn't work for me. Not sold on the whole idea.

Sooooo……..one more try...…..

Saw a couple good mentions of Ommegang's Brut IPA on WBAYDN, so, why not? .
Wow! If this is what it's supposed to be, then the style might have a future after all.

Aromas and flavors are a mix of citrus, pineapple, white grape, charentais-type melon, cracker , & straw. Light feel, finishing dry, with fine, champagne-like* carbonation, but a bit sharper, to good effect.

Overall, it seems like some dry-hopped pils that I've had, but squared - more aroma, more flavor, dryer, sharper feel .
(*At least compared to the cheap champagne that I've had. Gives me a headache every time, so I haven't delved into it.)

To Dick, Barney, & Woody! Sláinte !

4.54/5 rDev +12.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Apparently, where I've deviated from a lot of others, is on the aroma. I was outside, at 10F, so maybe that?
Full review : https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42/371500/?ba=mikeinportc#review

 

New beer #3.

Weird and Gilly - Singlecut
NE IPA - 6.6% abv
Canned 12/28/18 (23 days ago)
Purchased for $5.49 at Monde Market
Score: 3.99 (-5.9% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30452/231916/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Very dank. To me the herbal and floral hop elements overwhelm all others, but I’ve learned this is often just due to my own sensitivity. This one looks and feels stellar. I do wish the citrus was more prominent. I understand the name now at least. They weren’t going for a “normal” NE IPA here. Also the lower Singlecut pricing ($2 less per can now) makes me more able to stomach this.

 

A-Pours a nice golden color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has lemon, wheat and coriander hints
T-The taste follows the nose with lemon, wheat and coriander flavors
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent Blonde ale

 

Happy Picking Up Where I Left Off During The Last New Beer Sundays (Week 726), Part Deux!

I had a blissful sleep & now I am fully recharged & ready to charge at the Taxman! That's Taxman B.C. in Bargersville, IN. I first became aware of those guys through Tavour, but @jkblr has been sending me a steady stream of their beers since we became trading partners. I hardly do any trading at this point, other than with my local, in-person trader, @tone77 , but between Taxman & Daredevil BC, both in IN, I CAN't get enough! In fact, it kinda inspires me to trek out to Indianapolis again … I was last there for a Stillers/Colts MNF game in 2005 & had a blast meeting Ted Miller of Brugges Brasserie & hanging out at Broad Ripple BP. Good times, bro, good times. Bargersville also puts me in mind of Sonny Barger, but I doubt that there is any relation.

For my first new beer of THIS Sunday, the Taxman tells me that my Assets have been Frozen! 8=( :
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32480/158204/?ba=woodychandler#review

He was no kinder in taking La Maison AKA Chez Woody:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32480/111237/?ba=woodychandler#review

then, he only grudgingly gave me an Exemption:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32480/114180/?ba=woodychandler#review
& finally, he ruined my around-the-world-in-a-barrel holiday plans by assuring me that he would levy a tax in every port!:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32480/387007/?ba=woodychandler#review

Okay, yah, it's outta the Midwest & off to Lawn Guyland from here!

 

Great comparison post. Thanks for reviewing these side by side. Cheers!

 

This one landed to me via @Roguer .



Bell's Barrel Aged Expedition Stout.

Pours black with a finger of khaki foam. Head retention is okay. Aroma is bourbon, char, and oak out right, but is quickly followed by roasty, toasty malts. Caramel, molasses, and toffee add a little sugary complexity and depth, with herbal and resiny hops rounding out the aroma. Flavor profile is deep, dark and balanced, hitting notes of bourbon, char, oak, toffee, caramel, chocolate and molasses with roasty and toasty malts underneath it all. Resiny and herbal hops add a little zest underneath the sugary and malt notes. Balance is solid, with bourbon adding complexity, but not heat. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a smooth, creamy texture. Overall, an incredible barrel aged stout that focuses on balance and simplicity. It doesn't taste like it has over 13.3% alcohol in it, instead it comes off smooth and easily drinkable.

Score: 4 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.45 | rDev: -0.4%

 

Two breweries I love having close to me, and love sending as extras in trades. Glad you enjoy as well! Cheers!

 

I will very much like to hear what you think about these two beers.

Cheers!

 

"Purchased for $5.49 at Monde Market"

Aww! Yer gonna give away one of my favorite shopping spots! ;=) Man, this is a must-hit when in PHL! Their prices are rock-bottom CANtastic, their selection is well above-par, their customer service is par excellence & the deli … I CAN walk in a rich mofo, load my backpack with goodies, drink a beer (or two) on station, have a sammich & leave penniless until next payday!

Mammon willing, it is a short jaunt (jawn) to The Corner Foodery with pop-ins at both Fat Jack's ComiCrypt & Home Sweet Homebrew.

I know, comics/comix + beard & beer make you think of some obese, bearded turd playing keyboard commando in his parents' basement, but I am actually almost public-ready! My mother refers to me as "My crazy eldest son", & yet I clean up well; I am twice-retired; I clean up well (with the exception of the beard); I have a phenomenal work ethic, etc.

Okay, leave The Corner Foodery & head up to Market Street & jump on the eastbound Blue Line, elbowing your way to a R-side window seat. The vista of the Delaware River as the train pumps up out from underground is to die for! Jump out at Spring Garden St & head E (away from the river) & N to The Foodery, Standard Tap, Northern Bowl & GIPHL (ask for the beauteous Lexi) or directly E to Yards, Roy Pitz & Love City.

How do I hate thee, PHL? Let me count the ways! Philthadelphia, Sh**ty of Brotherly Shove. Nah, don't let me dissuade you. Come & see for yerselves! I'll be yer misguided tour guide, but by G*d, we'll have beer! PHL, you have a straw. I have a longer straw. PHL, I drink your beer!

 

Sierra Nevada's two breweries have high quality packaging lines and they take effort to minimize air (oxygen) content during packaging.

For many (most?) of their produce line they recommend a best by duration of 150 days (5 months) if the beer is stored cool/cold. For the situation of the 12-pack of Celebration that I purchased the pack was sitting on the retailers floor at room temperature (e.g., 70 degrees F). Needless to say but this is less than ideal. How long was this pack sitting at room temperature? Who knows, maybe a month? Anyhow when I got the pack home I made it a point to store these beers cold (refrigerator temperature - 40 degrees F). So, at least for the time this beer was in my possession it was stored properly.

From the math this last bottle of Celebration IPA was a little over 3 months old which is less than the 150 days that Sierra Nevada recommends. How much 'damage' occurred from the retailer's room temperature storage? Beats me.

What I can state comfortably recommend to you is to never purchase Sierra Nevada beers like SNPA, Celebration, Nooner Pilsner, ... if they are older than 150 days. Factoring in how long it takes you to consumed them maybe 120 days would be 'better'.

If you intend to consume your Sierra Nevada beers over a period of time (e.g., 1-2 months) I would strongly recommend that you store them cold (i.e., refrigerator temperatures).

If were thinking about purchasing a Resilience/Celebration beer now I would strongly recommend that you choose Resilience since that will be likely be the freshest product.

Cheers!

 

Good Afternoon NBS! Here's to Dick!
I don't think I would have aged this intentionally, but I found it on clearance on a couple of months ago.
Heavy Seas 21st Anniversary
A Barrel Aged Imperial ESB
22oz 22oz bottle into Tulip
2016 vintage (16251)
Pours a murky brown with tan head
Caramel, oak, booze, bourbon, sherry
Taste is first dry and bitter and then opens up to a spicy rye boozy finish
Feel is light-to-medium and dry, 10.5% well hidden
Overall this is a real solid beer, that is obviously very unique in that It imperializes a session beer and then barrel ages it, but it was pulled off, great job Heavy Seas!

Cheers.

 

The description of that beer on the brewer's website claims: "It is traditionally served still (No Carbonation) and we’ll be serving it the same way." Looking at your pic, I guess they decided to go against tradition after all.

 

I always opt for fresh, and I haven’t seen Resilience here.

 

New Farmhouse Ale Sunday (Week 726)
Good Afternoon y'all from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Lord, what a horrible day. Had to chop the snow to allow my new Ego electric snowblower to do its job, while snow, sleet, and rain attacked me so I could get to work. Roads were a disaster, ten minute drive took twenty minutes. Dug and chopped the recycle center out. Town plow guys did a decent back blade job so only about an hour of that. Only three customers. Had to free my car out of the accreting ice twice, and when I left the rain had ended, but snow mixed with sleet fell heavily. Roads even worse on the way home. Did my best to finsh the whole 300 feet of my driveway, but I was so soaked through I gave up with only 2/3 of it finished. Guess I'll be parking up top until further notice, as that white crap will be hard ice by darkness tonight

Sorry for the rant, but now raising this glass to Dick to keep fighting, and to Rich for good news from his biopsy, and to Woody and all others battling to beat this bitch of a disease. Fuck Cancer!

I know this review of Domain blend 4 is not going to capture the subtle beauty that is certainly here as it is in every of Dan Suarez's barreled farmhouse ales. The extreme nature and stress of this day has destroyed my ability to react to subtlety. I feel like I am trying to feel texture of fine sculpture while wearing gloves. So I am not gonna add a review to the database until opening my next bottle, and give the nuts and bolts of this beer I am enjoying immensely.

Typical Suarez pour with a bit of very fine yeast keeping this golden beauty from being clear. Strong aroma that is peach meets grape must with abundant oakiness. The tangy and tart notes bond with overripe fruit funk, but there is more, much more going on here. Drinking amazingly well, but my physical condition is interfering in giving accurate portrayal of mouthfeel.

I think it is unnecessary to recommend Suarez farmhouse ales. They range between amazing and among the world's best, and they all are highly recommended. This one is no exception. I promise to addend a better description here in a few months when I open bottle two.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

'Afternoon, NBS!

Strange day in the works here - came home very late last night craving nothing more than a shower and to brush my teeth before going to bed for ten or twelve hours... but when I went to do those things, there was no water in the line. No idea whether it was something localized to my house, or an incident with a major main breakage. I called up the county emergency line and they weren't much help - being so late, I'm sure no one else was up to report anything. I went to bed, hoping I'd have water in the morning.

But, no such luck. Called the county again - this time there had been some other incidents reported. This made me hopeful that it wasn't something specific to my house, which was a relief. The water finally came back on around 11:30 - and now that I have coffee in me, things are better.

This cold weather is a bastard though. Stay warm, friends... on to beer.

I've been sitting on this bottle for a while, primarily due to the lackluster reviews that I'd read. It does not seem to compare favorably to the New Glarus beer by the same name. I chalked that up to favoritism of local beer and bought a bottle anyway. Reviewing Great Divide's Strawberry Rhubarb today.



Interesting. Not quite the color I'd expect. Cap removed, the beer in instantly quite fragrant - tons of strawberry in the nose. The pour is fairly well carbonated and looks almost like a lightly carbonated champagne or dry wine - it's fairly syrupy with a light white head. Hm. Not catching much in the way of sourness on the nose. Taste notes seem to accurately reflect what I've already observed - it's not very sour at all... it's almost a bit dry. The carbonation makes it taste more like a syrupy seltzer - not a fan of the carbonation at all, just too much of that in the taste and mouthfeel, really robs the strawberry of any depth or dimension. The nose is my favorite thing about the beer. Can't stand the mouthfeel. Sour notes do come through, but certainly not to the degree that I'd like.

I'm giving it a "meh" overall - it's alright, but it's certainly no New Glarus. If you'd prefer dry and light versus rich, tart, sour, and fruity, then you might enjoy more than I have.

Back with more beers later. Have a great Sunday, all!

 

Here's the first one today as I start to get ready for some football:

Another mystery from @FlintB .The assumption here was that since this was in a can, it would be hoppy, and time may be of the essence. That turned out to be not entirely true .

It's got a really mild aroma- malty and melanoidin-like with some dark fruit and something like root beer (wintergreenish). But then the palate is a lot heavier on the caramel and spice, which came more into focus as favoring clove/ginger. Dark toasted bread comes out at the end. The feel is moderately full, with a very dry finish with decent bitterness. Initial sips are pretty rough.

But after a few more ounces the spiciness is coming off as more of a noble hop quality (Tettnang, Styrian?). The overall personality is leaning towards Altbier, though stronger and hoppier. Thankfully the rough edges are getting smoothed out the more I drink and get acclimated.

Here's what it is:

Nowhere in Particular Batch 31, Imperial Schwartzbier

This one didn't quite do it for me. As noted, the hops weren't playing nice and lent the beer an initial coarseness that took a while to get into, and I'd prefer less caramel flavor even though the end result was dry. This one's in the B+ (3.75) range.

 

Lagunitas 12th of never
..semi clear pale gold
..medium carbonation with a medium light body
..aroma is malt, flowery and bitter hops. Grain and cereal
..taste is much sweeter than aroma hints at as well as being less bitter than expected.
..overall it's an easy drinking beer, nothing too memorable but still pretty decent

 

My suggestion is to just keep your eyes open. I was not really looking for it when I found it and I was a bit surprised that I noticed it since it was a single 6-pack box sitting in a cardboard tray on the floor.

Needless to say but your best option is to ask you local retailers if they have it (or expect to get it). This is a step that I should have taken but... well you know sometimes we don't always remember stuff.

Cheers!

 

Stillwater and Oliver Brewing - Double Nothing

Cheers to everyone here and best wishes to anybody with health struggles.

Today I'll feature a little bit of Stillwater - they can be both rewarding and annoying. This is a canned "nitro" Doppelbock. I was destined to pick this up for the rare novelty of it regardless of who brewed it. It's listed everywhere as officially an Oliver Brewing beer (as opposed to Stillwater), but I'm unconvinced of this. Unlike other collaborations, the can isn't really clear on the matter, and the homeless tendencies of Stillwater make it more complicated. Maybe I'm just being ignorant here.

Craft nitro cans be terrible regarding QC. I'm amazed that brewers and customers can be very satisfied with them. I'm also amazed considering that craft brewers like to differentiate themselves from macro brewers with regards to "quality." Why are they putting out such obviously inferior product then? They can't seem to resist the need to try everything even if they are clearly making a compromise with the beer. You're supposed to gently shake this can before opening to activate the nitrogen. Brewers should make instructions like this really freakin' obvious on the label. This label does not do that, but at least it's on it... although "gently shake" is practically an oxymoron. Sure enough, the nitrogen results were pretty bad in this case, but the beer was still very drinkable.

It's a very pretty chestnut brown. It's a thick beer. It's smooth and rich... malty w/o being sweet. It's actually quite dry even though it still manages to provide a caramel flavor. There's also the flavors of bread and vanilla... and there's a bitter kick in the end. That all sounds really good, but the problem is that the beer is too heavy-handed. There's absolutely no grace to it and the beer is very unsatisfying as a result. For comparison's sake, I opened a bottle of Hofbrauhaus Delicator (Winter Spezial) after this one. I'm not a fan of Delicator, it has a fruitiness that's not my cup of tea. The complexity to it however ran circles around the American beer.

Stillwater was trying to open a space in Brooklyn a while back... and I don't know if they succeeded or if it's been subject to endless delays like everything else in this sphere. It's called Production, and it's supposed to be the kind of beer place where you can eat a pickle and see a band... you know, brewer stuff. Only watch this video if you have a high tolerance for pretension.