New Beer Sunday (Week 733)

I would guess that barrel aging contributes to jump starting the aging/oxidizing process in general, so unfortunately something like that won't age as gracefully as a normal Quad would.

 

The Brewing Projekt Simcoe and Mosaic Hazy Pale Ale



Picked this up on a trip across the border into Wisconsin. No date that I can find.

Citrus aroma - tropical, orange, mango, perhaps a touch of pine.

Hazy pineapple juice color, tall white bubbly head from a vigorous pour with decent retention. Leaves thick lacing.

Smooth and thick feel transitioning to moderate body.

Good malt presence transitions to the citrus promised with the aroma. Initial taste is very mild - no bittering at all. Moderately juicy - citrus, perhaps orange, pineapple. Certainly tropical. Certainly juicy, but not overbearingly so.

Well balanced. Finish is slightly sweet, with no bitterness in the finish or aftertaste. On the high side of very good.

L: 4
S: 3.75
T: 4
F: 4.25
O: 4

3.97

 

As I sit here drinking a Cafe y Churro right now, I tend to agree with you about St. Kitts in the context of the entire series. Cheers.

 

El Dorado Hero, can honestly say that I have not had much from Revolution, but this may change as this IPA at 7.2 is quite solid, nice head generation, soapy lacing, nice hop profile with citrus, orange, pineapple, not sweet, I would drink this again for sure. Cheers

 

Maple Nipple by Lawsons Finest
3.78/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

My brother in law coming home from an interview in canada needed a place to quench his thirst. I suggested Lawsons. He repaid my advice with Maple Nipple and some other selections. Liked the new taproom. Straight from the green mountains to my head!

Can poured into a snifter

Two finger off white, soapy , creamy foam cap, good retention over clear deep copper liquid

Aroma of malts, grains and whiff of maple

Taste of grains, malt, hint of maple

Good beer

 

There were a few all-malt US bocks in the post-Repeal era - including those from the Jackson Brewing Co., N.O., JAX brand (a million barrel brewery in the 1960s), Allentown PA's Neuweiler and, perhaps the largest, well-known and most recent, Stroh's Bock, of which Peter Stroh noted in 1978:

Also, most sources for the US bocks in the era before legal ABV labeling, did vaguely seem to claim at least a slightly higher alcohol content than the same brewer's light lager flagship - even if that probably meant only between 5-6% ABV (when few US standard lager beers were over 5%). Liebmann advertised that their Rheingold Bock in the 1950s met the German requirement of an OG being "not lower than 16%" (Plato, Brix, or Balling? Beats me.)

As for color - that current Genesee Bock is much lighter than the bocks of the 1970s that I recall - shockingly so. I know that when I first got a hold of Shiner Bock in the early 1980s (when Spoetzl was pretty much a TX-only brewer, under 40k bbl.), I was pretty surprised at how light colored that was compared to other US bocks.

Besides many states or state brewers organizations having agreed upon "release" dates like that NY/NJ ad, I was just reading that there was a proposal for a common US-wide date AND an agreement to pull the bocks off the shelves and taps after a season of only 3 weeks. Back when "local" meant "local".

 

Any thoughts on that beer you want to share?

 

I went out yesterday in search of some lower-cal beers that I can enjoy here and there while continuing the effort to drop some weight, with sours and/or wild ales being at the top of my list. I was really hoping to find some Plan Bee (like @cavedave ) but struck out on that end. Fortunately the store had something else in stock to fit the bill:


Carton Ewr-Mia, a Berliner Weiss flavored with spruce tips and cranberry, clocking in at a modest 3.9% abv.

Right off the bat I'm getting all three major elements (that doughy bread from the base beer, the spruce and some cranberry) in a harmonious blend that favors the spruce over the cranberry by about 2 to 1. In its odd way, this is a spritzy low-gravity brew that is genuinely evocative of the winter months.

The palate carries those proportions forward, clean tart and dry bready flavors that quickly defer to the gentle spruce, with just the right accent from the cranberry. It's probably a result of interplay between the ingredients, but I'm also getting undercurrents of dried orange peel and peppery spice lending just enough complexity and surprise to the mix. The finish is woody, and just a touch astringent, while the feel is fuller and rounder than you'd expect.

This is precisely what I was hoping for, to tell the truth, so that's always nice when that happens - anything heavier on the cranberry wouldn't have worked as well, imo. The fruit plays its supporting role beautifully, taming and lending just enough brightness to the inherently earthy and resiny spruce, all the while retaining fantastic drinkability.

I'm really happy I got this, and will happily enjoy the remainder of the 4-pack over the next week or so. Maybe even get some more . A- (4.0).

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Barleywine Sippers and commentators. And thank you for hosting, Craig. I'm a huge college hoops fan and this is one of my favorite times of the year. My two teams are UNC and Bucknell. UNC beat Duke while the Bison just advanced to the Patriot League final. And my grad school Seton Hall beat Villanova yesterday. Not a bad weekend!

On to beer. I'm reviewing Dog's Bollocks, a BA English Barleywine brewed by Rushing Duck. This the first time RD has brewed it in 5 years and I missed it last time so I was excited to secure a few bottles. The base Barleywine has all the expected flavors: caramel, brown sugar, butter, and raisin and the bourbon notes are subtle and don't overwhelm the other tastes. Rushing Duck is superb at brewing barrel-aged beers and blends. They have such a lite hand. Here's my full review:

4.24/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Batch #3 (2019). Poured from 500 ML bottle into a pint glass. It pours a beautiful honey-ruby color with a cap of light khaki lacing that dissipated quickly leaving a thin coating of creamy lacing. On the nose there is caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, raisin/fig, and subtle but noticeable bourbon. When first sipped, I taste the bourbon barrel but then the base Barleywine washes over the tongue with lots of caramel, toffee, butter, brown sugar, oak, and raisin. The barrel notes do not distract from the excellent Barleywine flavors. It's sticky and viscous with moderate carbonation, and the 10% ABV is warming. This ale highlights Rushing Duck's adept touch at big, barrel-aged beers. It's highly flavorful with just enough booze to enhance the overall experience. Like a fine English Barleywine, Dog's Bollocks is a sipper and perfect for dessert of sipping by the far with good conversation.

I bought four 500 ML bottles and probably should have bought more. One will be included in a BIF box and two will be aged. I met a guy at the brewery who still has one from the last batch. I don't think I'll wait 5 years to enjoy this again. Cheers, NBS!

 

Thanks for asking. I don't know how many French and Belgian beers are labeled "table beer" in your area. I can think of one that used to be available by me (Avril). I could be blanking on others. Brewers sometimes make beers in styles they've never actually had (or have had very limited experience with) and then claim it's in that style. These days, I've heard brewers state that they could have researched "brut IPAs" first hand from the brewers that coined the term, or they could be first to market in their area with their version instead. Guess which approach wins.

 

Great review of the Stout and the brewery. It's about 10 minutes from my office so I stop in periodically. They canned the DIPA, which was decent, earlier this year. Did it seem like they had bottles of the RIS left?

 

Btw, cheers to your Grandfather. My thanks for his service to our country!

 

Well time to check another beer off the bucket list here. Long time want, first time get. The one and only Fundamental Observation from Bottle Logic.

A - Dark midnight brown. Not much head or lacing to speak of, but i did pour it rather gently.
S - Sweet, sweet vanilla bourbon cream. Rich chocolatey roasted malt and I can't wait to take a sip. Smells like the best kind of rich dessert - one with booze in it.
T - Huge vanilla. It's so rich and decadent but not at all sweet. Literally the perfect amount of bourbon flavor for me. Oak, light coconut, and nutty malt flavors in the background. Vanilla cream pie drizzled with a chocolate bourbon sauce. Amazing, and living up to the hype at least for me. This is my 4th Bottle Logic BA beer and I just love their malt base each time.
M - Surprisingly a little thinner than I anticipated and it works great. Raises the drinkability factor. Its gonna suck when this glass is empty. Nitpicking I might want a hair more carbonation.
O - Damn near perfect for me. Havent done an official review yet, but I imagine it'll be a top 5 in my ratings on here. Can only imagine what the first couple batches were like.

Cheers to new beers everybody!

 

Back again with cookies, this time add bourbon barrels.


Beer: Bourbon barrel aged Milk & Cookies

Brewery: Wicked Weed (Asheville, NC)

ABV: 11.3%

Pouring from a 12.7 oz. bottle into a whiskey tumbler glass, this beer pours out black and forms a thin, light caramel crown that doesn’t stick around long. 3.75

The nose brings a dark fruit presence of raisins and figs tangling with a present cinnamon before finishing with a touch of vanilla sweetness. Some warming bourbon and alcohol in there as well. Pleasant, with multiple layers, but rather underwhelming. 3.5

The taste delivers a kiss of tingling cinnamon before carrying you to the dark fruit notes of raisins and figs. The background of this beer is layers of bourbon, oak and leather. Vanilla is present, but not prominent. 3.75

The mouthfeel is on the dry side with the notes of oak and leather while being tingly from cinnamon and bringing a balanced bourbon warmness. Medium bodied, well carbonated. 3.75

Overall, this is a solid, balanced brew all the way around but doesn’t bring a prominence of anything to make it really stick out. 3.75

Thanks again @Dragginballs76
and
Cheers to you NBS’rs!

 

Thank you. It was hard to tell. Looked like 2 boxes with 8 - 12 bottles each behind the counter. Not sure if there was more elsewhere.

Cheers, man!

 

Good afternoon NBS, finally opening a new beer today! I’m opening a bottle of Tired Hands Ouriserva, I’ve enjoyed SaisonHands, HandFarm and of course Ourison and this is another nice version of SaisonHands.

4.44/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

750 ml bottle poured into an Ourison glass

A- A clear golden copper with a two finger white head.

S- Sour, nice barnyard funk, oak, some band-aids, grapes.

T- Tart, some funk, oak, band-aids, grapes/wine, some light fruits.

M- Smooth, soft/fluffy, light body.

O- A very nice saison, barrel is a nice touch, might need a little more time to age.

Cheers!

 

Glad you found it. I asked my distributor about it and they said they would order me a case. A week later they me the wholesaler only bought 30 cases for PA and it was all sold in less than a week. Hopefully, they get the hint and buy more next year. At least it's an improvement over previous years of zero cases for PA.

 

Cereal spiller from tribus brewing right here in ct
Pours nice golden rich color with barely any head smells sweet and hoppy
Drinks smooth and sweet kind of cereal"y"
Very drinkable and clean finish just a good brew 4.25/5

 

Not many.

I was curious if you were being skeptical from the beginning, or if your comment was based on your experience drinking that beer and that your experience did not align with your view of what a French or Belgian "table beer" is.