New Beer Sunday (Week 752)

I see what you did there! Awesome review!

 

Another cool foggy morning in the Hills...the cats have been active all morning, and Harry wanted two walks already! This morning I’m trying a blonde barley wine from Firestone Walker that I haven’t had previously - “Helldorado” (2017):



From the box, “...an Imperial Blonde Ale or Blonde Barley Wine...[that] carries a great deal of interesting barrel character: vanilla, light char, and amazing lavender-honey notes.”

Pours an opaque coppery iced tea color at 52 degrees; quick white head; thin ring; minimal lacing; no cap retention; thin legs. 4.5



Caramel intake, alcohol exhale; lite floral hop nose as it opens up. 4.25

Caramel and bitter spicy/floral hops; not getting honey but plenty of oaky barrel vanilla; dry caramel/barrel finish. 4.5



Medium minus body; lite carbonation; slightly drying tongue coating; no warmth from 12.8% ABV. 4.0

Long dry barrel linger; not as sweet or as malt forward as other barley wine style ales I’ve had from this brewer; the hop flavors held up well and compliment the base and barrel notes; I like and would drink again. 4.25

 

Victory Maple Java Cask

Today’s new beer comes to me via the generous @larryi86. I love the regular Java Cask, so I’m looking forward to this one.

It pours a dark caramel-brown with a fat finger of dense, mocha-colored head that leave sloppy sheets of lacing.

Coffee, nuts, wood show first in the nose when cold — although none too strong. There is some maple candy sweetness and a touch of bourbon as well lurking behind.

The taste is a great, balanced mix of chocolate, coffee, vanilla, bourbon and amaretto. The maple is very reserved, but there is a nice underlying, earthy sweetness.

It’s medium bodied and creamy with nice, tight carbonation.

The coffee bitterness plays really well against the light but layered sweetness in this. None of the elements here are dialed up to eleven like in many of the top-rated beers these days. Instead, it rests on its well-balanced complexity. Really well crafted treat here.

Thank you, Larry. As per a top ten playlist, I don’t have one — but Nina Simone is my absolute favorite.

 

I did this a couple of weeks ago when I was on vacation in Puerto Vallarta when I came up with a DRINKING SONG list and had no less than 86 songs from my iPhone on the playlist.
#1 Drinking Problem by Midland
#2 Must Be The Whiskey by Cody Jinx
#3 Steak Night at The Prairie Rose by Mike and The Moonpies
#4 Situation Station by Ryan Bingham
#5 Every Little Honky Tonk Bar by George Strait
#6 Alcohol Of Fame by Michael Shane Borden
#7 Drinkin' Song by Jason Boland &The Stragglers
#8 Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton
#9 Just Me And The Whiskey by The Damn Quails
#10 Sunday Morning Comin' Down by Johnny Cash

Enjoy your Sunday. and here's a Brew I doubt anyone has tried yet.

Pulque

 

Russian River Intinction

This is a “pilsner aged in sauvignon blanc barrels with sauvignon blanc grapes.”

It's a pale gold and its tiny head disappears really quickly. This beer is surprisingly sour. It’s lacking balance for me. There’s a sharp acidity to it that hits you in the mouth and throat. Beyond the lemon, there’s a grape/white wine component to the flavor that only reveals itself once one gets accustomed to the acidity. I don’t notice the brett influence. I wasn't a fan of this one.

My lack of enthusiasm for drinking this one had nothing to do with the label, but I wish the brewer didn’t use the term pilsner on this beer. It doesn’t resemble a pilsner to me at all. That starting point was eclipsed by the end product. Just call it a “pale lager” if “beer” isn’t specific enough. “Pilsner” is too specific... and this isn’t one.

 

Got a few DFH oak aged sour this week, so deciding to open a few today. Starting with Eastern Seaboard, a wild ale aged on blackberries & beach plums.

4.13/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

375 ml bottle poured into a snifter

A- A hazy hazy/murky ruby red with a purple tint and a small light purple head.

S- Sour, plums, some slightly sweet blackberries, oak, touch of funk, some leather.

T- Sour, plums, blackberries, hints of caramel malts, oak, funky, some leather.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A nice, easy to drink sour. Flavors are nicely balanced.

Cheers!

 

NBS beer #1





Mud Season

Upper Pass Beer Company
Rye Beer / 7.00% ABV

3.8/5 rDev 0% | Score: 3.8
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

L- The beer pours a deep coffee brown with a scant half centimeter of off white foam. The head recedes to a thin ring with central island. No lacing is present.
S-The nose is a nice mixture of sweet malt, coffee, and Rye. There is just a touch of alcohol as well.
T-The taste up front is similar to the nose in that it leads out sweet with the brown ale influence. In the middle the coffee takes over giving it some bitterness. In the back end the coffee mellows out as it lingers into the aftertaste. The rye presence is hard to detect until after the coffee fades away.
F- The mouthfeel overall is on the thin side. It's not porter or stout so that's ok. Carbonation is light so that helps the thin mouthfeel.
O-I'm not a coffee drinker so this beer is outside of my comfort zone. My wife thought it was like drinking iced coffee which she enjoys. If you like coffee this one will be worth a shot. For me it's probably one and done.

 

Boulevard The Sixth Glass Quad



A- Pours a very nice amber opaque color with a nice head and lacing
A- Aroma has caramel, fruity and malty hints
M-The taste follows the nose with well balanced caramel, fruity and malty flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good Belgian Quad

ps-Adtwr drinking a few Yas, I was not about to drive to get bread for my favorite sandwich, so I am eating a salad.

 

Beethoven's Ninth is overrated!

I kid, I kid!

As a teenager I used to listen that Symphony every day and twice on Sunday! Nowadays, I’m too old, don’t have the patience to listen to it.

But, when it is performed live with a choir, I show up, and it still brings tears to my eyes!

 

The Pulque tastes a little bit like a sour beer but the thicker texture is different. I also understand that it's pasteurized for US consumption. I have found it in Texas and I tried the oatmeal flavored with burnt cinnamon and it was okay. One must acquire a taste for it. The thicker consistency might remind you of drinkable aloe vera. It goes well with mezcal.

 

Starting my Sunday with one from @TheGent (seems like a weekly theme)

Beer: Brew 3000
Brewery: Fremont (Seattle, WA)
ABV: 13.2%

Pouring from a bomber into a PAA Dino glass, this beer pours out a little darker than the normal barleywine. It forms in the glass like a black cherry wood. Enough bubbles muster up to form a crown about one finger width, tan in color. It settles in thinner than a pinky and holds, leaves no lacing throughout.

Putting my nose in the glass provides me with notes of leather, a very dry oak, dark fruit, raisins, dried plums, fig Newton cookies, slightly warming bourbon and burnt brown sugar.

The taste brings a pronounced sweetness. A lot of brown sugar and candied dark fruit dancing around the leather and dry oak backdrop. Lighter sweet layers of vanilla, toffee, caramel and brittle (without the nuts). It has a very light black tea aspect, but nowhere near as much usually detected in American barleywines.

The feel is not as dry as I would’ve expected after smelling the nose. It is slightly dry while showing a sticky sweetness throughout as well. It’s medium-full bodied and doesn’t leave me desiring for more body. Very well balanced on booze and warmth; it’s in there but nothing like I feel say, bourbon county barleywine is, at the same ABV.

Overall, this is a beautiful treat. Only my second offering from Fremonts barrel aging program (the first being at a share) and it does not disappoint. They gave me everything I would’ve asked for in a bourbon barrel aged barleywine and did so with extreme care and delicacy.

Thanks Anthony and cheers NBS, I can’t wait to see what you bring to the share!

 

-doubtful that I can cite 10 favorite songs but favorites are:
Abusey Junction Kokoroko
Diaraby Ali Farke Toure
Dark Star Grateful Dead
YEM Phish
Fort Rock Skatelites
Other Side Clinton Fearon

On to beer! DDH Premiere from Interboro is a very flavorful IPA at only 6% abv

This deeply cloudy can pour hosts a light foam cap and a tropical fruit aroma with a dank base. The flavor is superb, full with mango, grapefruit, and resin. There is sweetness and tartness. The finish is dry and flavors persists. This is a highly enjoyable brew.

 

Good morning NBS
I would have never known this was a gem in a sea of overpriced 16oz "me too" IPAs if it weren't for some WBAYDN posts this week. So happy to try this one...

The review:
16oz can stamped PKG 050919 poured into a tulip pint glass at just above fridge temp 10.2% ABV. The beer pours bright medium brown in color with ruby highlights and mocha colored head. The head raises quickly on a medium pour and slowly falls to a nice cap. Spotty lacing. The aroma is slightly sweet with some woody & earthy notes. The taste is semisweet birch & maple syrup countered with cocoa, toasted malt and a perfectly offsetting earthy bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with just less than medium carbonation and a mostly dry finish. No hint of the ABV in the taste or aroma. Overall, very good to excellent. This is exactly what I would expect coming from two breweries of this caliber. Near perfect balance of sweetness, earthy elements and bitterness. Recommended.

I've been a little down on Sierra Nevada lately with the end of the seasonal mixed 12 packs. They seemed to be following Stone down an IPA heavy path that would win none of my beer money. I am conptemplating a 4 pack purchase of this one. Cheers to something different. This beer must have blown minds ten years ago.

 

I'm happy to see someone reviewing this four pack. I expected limited distribution (Sun King is Indiana only) and wasn't willing to buy it at that price with a gose included. Hope you enjoy!

 

I’ll give the top 10 songs a shot. In no particular order:

1) Mary Janes last dance - Tom petty
2) You don’t know how it feels - Tom Petty
3) Free Fallin - Tom Petty
4) Flagship - Jason Isbell
5) Outfit - Jason Isbell
6) Decoration Day - Jason Isbell
7) Raisin Hell - Lucero
8) Little feathered Indians - Tyler Childers
9) Night Moves - Bob Segar
10) Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks



And my beer this morning is Breakfast Hero by Trim Tab brewing in Alabama

Look is black with two fingers of mocha colored head which recedes to a thin layer pretty rapidly. On the nose we got some big coffee roast, which obviously I love, some maple hiding behind that, and also a sweet smell. Taste is medium roast coffee, some maple sweetness, and not much influence from the doughnut but it’s there if you can get past the boldness of the other two flavors. Mouthfeel is thick, slick, and drying. The lack of doughnut influence is disappointing, however the coffee and maple make up for it for me at least. Those are two of my favorite flavors and they nailed them in this beer.

 

Cheers, Dayton!