New Beer Sunday (week 729)

Next up for today is one I’ve had for a little bit now, but upon talking to @nc41 in another thread about coconut recently, I’m going to finally open it.

Big Kahuna by Oddside Ales (Grand Haven, Michigan)

It’s a bourbon barrel aged imperial stout with toasted coconut added and sits at 11% ABV. (That must be my number today)


Pouring from a 12 oz. bottle into a snulip glass, this beer pours out dark brown with highlights running throughout. It forms in the glass an inky black and has about a pinky width of light caramel colored crown that dissipates to nothing in a matter of minutes. 3.75

The nose brings a coconut prominence first before turning to a warming bourbon presence. Almost a rum like tropical smell. Puts me on a beach somewhere, instead of Indiana in the snow. Being nit picky, the coconut seems slightly artificial, but it definitely delivers a good amount. 3.5

The taste brings that same tropical aspect. Coconut turning to tropical rum like presence. Bourbon and some oak are both detectable but not overpowering. Chocolate background. 3.75

The mouthfeel is the let down of this beer in my opinion. Way to thin and watery for a stout of this nature. Maybe it would work better in summer on a beach? Seems a little undercarbonated with no real bounce. Slightly warming bourbon and dry oak finish. 3.25

Overall, this wasn’t bad but I do feel like it has something to work on and improve on the mouthfeel. To make it more thick and decadent to counter the coconut tropicalness prominence a little. 3.5

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A cold but sunny winter day here on the island. Another lazy Sunday here and I've mostly been just doing shit around the house. Trying to decide if I should go anywhere but really leaning towards not.

My new beer today is a simple variant of a beer that I've had before. It is Peanut Butter Victory at Sea, imperial porter w/vanilla, coffee, and you guessed it PB, from Ballast Point. Been on a bit of a VAS kick lately and figured what the hell. The brew checks in at 10% abv, and has a 10/30/18 bottle date.

A black pour with good carbonation and a fast off-white head. The nose is very subtle and not nearly as engrossed as I expected it to be. I mostly just get malts and sugars. The peanut butter hits right upfront and provides a nice roasted, nutty, and sweet flavor that plays rather subtle on the base. It mixes really well with the chocolate malt. Good additional notes of the vanilla, coffee, smoke, brown sugar, and caramel. Robust and with a moderate/full body.

Overall, this is pretty good. I love how subtle the pb flavor comes off and does not drown out the base at all. I don't find it artificial or having that sandy quality that some PB beers seem to have to me. Perhaps the flavor was stronger when very fresh? I’m in the low 4’s here,

 

New beer #4. Thanks @vabeerguy !

PRBLMS - The Veil
TIPA - 11% abv
Canned 1/21/19 (20 days ago)
Score: 4.03 (-7.4% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41018/305368/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Some really tasty citrus hop flavors here, but they are pummeled by the 1-2 punch of strong dankness and prominent booze. This thing has an amazingly full body, and at 11% abv it’s not surprising that some booze creeps in. The Veil compares this to We Ded Mon, one of their other TIPAs, but I prefer the balance in that one to this. Still very happy for the chance to try it. Thanks Mike!

 

Good afternoon NBS, starting my Sunday with a very nice sour thanks to @JBowenGeorgia! Spinning some vinyl and loving Creature Comforts Subtle Alchemy 001.

4.46/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Thank you JBowenGeorgia for this
750 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- A slightly hazy golden copper with a two finger white head

S- Sour, lemons, some stone fruits/plums, earthy, a little funky, oak, some tea. More like a sour saison with some Flanders like qualities.

T- Sour, lemons, oak, some lighter fruits, getting some peach and plum skin, a little bit of herbal tea, earthy/mildly funky finish.

M- Smooth, light body, fairly dry

O- A very nice sour, Creature Comforts did a great job blending this. I’ve had a chance to a few sour from Creature Comforts and this is my favorite

Cheer NBS!!

 

Second new brew is the 25th anniversary stout from Left Hand. The red left hand on the logo always makes me think of the Peaky Blinders theme song.



This one is dark dark deep dark brown disguised as black. Ruby hints around the edges with the lightest tan head. Head retention is abysmal and lacing is spotty. Aroma is bitter hops dominating (I think I’m very sensitive to this in big stouts because they always jump out at me) followed by bitter chocolate and maybe the slightest hint of coffee, ok now I’m reaching, maybe. The taste follows hops up front (they fade a bit after it warms) bitter chocolate, some fading coffee (bigger presence when warm), and some dark fruits which I find very pleasant. Feel is medium, could be more full and I wouldn’t be mad. Overall this is a good beer but with the anniversary label you just expect more.

 

Checking out Sand City's 1/10/19 canning of III Little Birds IIPA (10.2% abv)...

Pours a golden orange, juice-like color, totally opaque under a coupla fingers of fluffy white head... Head shows nice persistence as a fuzzy film across the top, draping lace sheeting behind... Pungent fruity citrus aromas on the nose suggest orange, grapefruit, pineapple, and stone fruit like apricot and peach... On the sip, plenty of juicy fruits mask the high abv, making for a moderately sweet, barely bitter and slightly tangy beer... Body is soft and smooth, lush and plush - very NEIPA in essence...

A solid entry to the style, but I've still gotta say that in this flooded NEIPA market, it doesn't stand out much save for its high abv and local origin...

Here's to new beer in your glass, cheers...

 

Sorry it fell a bit short, I’m guessing adjuncts are a bit tricky.

But you mentioned rum. Wouldn’t coconut , chocolate, caramel be great buried in a top shelf rum barrel for a year? Maybe some aged Black Rum barrels

 

That would be a treat. I’ve had a local stout before that was coconut, caramel and chocolate. Based after the Girl Scout Samoa cookie, and it was delicious. I would be more than interested to try something like that with a rum barrel influence.

 

I had a few Junie Stouts from Transient, they’ve got the chocolate and caramel nailed, I lost the coconut in the other, but these beers put into a rum barrel would be phenomenal. You think of the above and you think sweet but it’s not, just perfect balance. It’s not even chocolate it’s fudge, I’ve never licked a glass before but I did on these beers. And it’s a bit boozy on the nose, I liked that too.
@ovaltine

 

Thanks for the link! Their description sounded similar to what I tasted. It was definitely not very hoppy compared to other NEIPAs I've had but they were still there.

I have only brewed for a couple years, but that has been my experience too, I was planning on doing the same thing this summer. After this beer I feel like maybe a classic APA could be a good fit.

This did not really taste like other citra or chinook beers I have had so I made the assumption it wasn't completely from the hops. The citrus aspect could have been from the hops, but there was like a completely unfamiliar earthy vanilla sweetness that made it seem kind of creamy, without the lactose or fluffy/sweet feel you get in a lot of modern NEIPAs.

Perhaps. It'd be interesting to try it in something more aggressively hopped than this was. It was not as hefty or juicy feeling as some of the ones made with English strains, but was far less dry and crisp than a saison yeast would have been, which was kind of what I was expecting it to be like what with the farmhouse name and high fermentation temps and all.

 

Bretta Rose' from Firestone Walker. Pours a slightly cloudy pink with orange hues, a one finger white head that settles quickly to an everlasting cap that leaves no lacing. Smells of tart raspberries with some Brett funk and a hint of wheat. Tastes of crisp sour raspberries, Brett funk, strawberries, and wheat on the finish. Very tart yet somehow refreshing. Light to medium bodied, lively carbonation, very dry finish.
IMG]

 

Visit to TreeHouse allowed me to try Double Shot



Bottle poured into a snifter

Black motor oil, solid one finger brown foam layer, some lacings

Aroma of sweet chocolate, licorice,roasted malts

taste of chocolate, roast malts, sweet , velvety smooth

Delicious beer, repeatable

 

Next up is a collab from Collective Arts and Donut Monster (awesome name) called Origin of Darkness



4.48/5 rDev +3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Hits all the appearance marks, pitch black with a copper foam head that settles in pretty quick to just hints of lacing and a thin foam cap. Nose starts a touch hot before an intoxicating sweet powder sugar and vanilla takes over. Tastes impossible. So much vanilla before the coconut thoroughly displaces said vanilla. Coconut fades into a blend of nutty coffee and earthy bitterness. This beauty falls off just a bit in the feel as it seems a but thin and flat on exit. Aftertaste is almost entirely dark chocolate, like that 86% stuff.

 

Two Roads - Dry & Mighty Brut IPA

I feel like I'm pretty much done trying various brut IPAs (not an unusual sentiment here), and I threw this in my basket as a "eh, what the Hell." It might just be the nicest one I've had though.

The champagne and wine comparisons to these beers strikes me as ridiculous. A brewer borrows a term from the wine world (and that's probably a good part of the reason for the successful snowballing of these beers), and people end up taking everything way too literally.

This beer is slightly hazy. Smells of modern hops. Body is light and the beer is dry. Taste is slightly doughy, with just a touch of leafy bitterness, and a suggestion of citrus and tropical fruits. I'm using words that convey subtlety, and as far as IPAs go, this beer is exactly that. Everything is dialed back. It's cohesive too. As far as brut IPAs go, this one really feels like everything is in its proper place... but I can't imagine it satisfying a drinker who wants something impactful. But... perhaps I should modify that thought when taking the ABV into account. At 6.8%, this beer really delivers alcohol in a consumable container. This is what really stood out to me when I had my first brut IPA. This is not the image that most press and brewers are painting though.

 

That looks to be an interesting beer. But your mention of the weather coupled with the name Boreale and the Norwegian reference reminded me of an evening about 10 or so years ago, in the dead of Winter, that I decided to take a walk at 12 degrees F. A huge polar high pressure system was locked in for days. I noticed an odd glowing that was not normal, and looked up and saw my very first encounter with Aurora Borealis. It was an otherwordly shimmering beautiful light show this southern boy will never forget!

 

So, I checked out the beer you drank:

“IPA farmer with yeast Kveik

Strong beer 6% ALC.

Champ Libre and Boréale unite for this collaborative brew that brings together the creative world of the two breweries.

Brewed with barley and oats from Quebec and heavily hopped with Chinook and Citra cultivars, this farm IPA is fermented with Kveik yeast, used on farms in Norway to make beers both rustic and surprising by their fruity aromas.

Some branches of juniper grown on our land have been added to the brew to give a nod to the tradition of these Nordic beers.”

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://champlibre.co/nordicite/&prev=search

It appears they chose to use oats (flaked oats or oat malt) to increase the protein load of the wort.

My guess is that used the Chinook hops for bittering (and maybe for flavor/aroma as well?) and used Citra for flavor/aroma.

To produce a Juicy/Hazy IPA most breweries use a ‘shit ton’ of hops for both end of boil (whirlpool) and dry hopping. Perhaps the brewers used a bit of a lighter touch here for the beer? Do you happen to know how old the beer you consumed is?

I find it interesting that they decided to add some juniper to provide a Nordic ‘twist’. Did you perceive any flavors from the juniper addition?

Cheers!