New Beer Sunday (Week 763)

Neshaminy creek mudbank coconut milk stout
...muddy dark brown almost black color
... very low carbonation with about a medium body. Has a slight thick creamy feel
...aroma is roasted malt forward, black coffee, milk chocolate, coconut and toasted coconut.
...taste is a little sweet balanced with some coffee dark chocolate bitterness. Milk chocolate, coconut, toasted coconut.
..overall it was very good,not world class but they all dont need to be. Paired very well with toasted coconut chocolate cookiessafe image upload

 

Buzz Magic, a mosaic and galaxy DIPA from Solace brewing. Cracked this open at the start of the Eagles Jets game and have really been liking it.


L: Can date of 9/17/2019, so a little under 3 weeks old. Poured aggressively into a teku glass which results in a big pillowy white head. Yellow orange in color similar to an Other Half IPA. 4.25
S: Mango and pineapple jump out of the glass with some resin and pine after. 4.5
T: Juicy tropical fruits, orange, pineapple and mango, with a resinous hop finish 4.5
F: Nice smooth and almost creamy mouthfeel with a nice hop finish. Medium carbonation. 4.5
O: A great double IPA from Solace. Great showing of galaxy and mosaic. 4.5 for a BA generated 4.49/5

 

Checking in for #2000 before a little time off. 'Stout weather' has been teasing us this week, with some temperatures as low as the upper 40s, but with some days rising into the 80s - not fun running weather. Today is a cloudy day, with temperatures in the mid-50s. It feels like an ideal day to 'tick' one of my grail stouts, and hit the #2000 review milestone.



Alesmith's Speedway - Vietnamese Coffee / Rye Whiskey Barrels.

Pours black with two fingers of khaki foam rising out of the glass after a moderate pour. Head formation is great, especially considering the age of the bottle (2017? can't find a date), with head retention being good. Aroma is thick stout malt qualities of roasty, toasty, caramely and bready. Malts form the foundation, in which a lightly sugary nose is built, with bits and pieces of toffee, molasses, caramel, brown sugar, milk chocolate and coffee coming through. The latter adds just a touch of bitterness, just enough to counteract the lightly sugary notes before (while a lengthy list of sugary descriptors, they don't come off as cloying or as heavy sweet). Rye whiskey adds just a hint of smoothness at the finish, rounding out the sweet-leaning aroma with dry spice. Flavor profile is even more in-depth, with a similar list of malts forming the base - roasty, toasty, nutty, and caramely. As the malts pass, brown sugar, chocolate (mildly sweet milk and bitter baker's chocolate), molasses, and toffee come sweeping onto the palate. Together, they form a lightly-sweet leaning flavor profile. Sweetness is counterbalanced by coffee, which is mild, lightly fleshy, and surprisingly fruity, and further washed away by a dry heat courtesy of the rye whiskey. Barrel adds just a kiss of char and smoke, but is gone in an instant - akin to an ember fizzling out after sparking from a campfire. Mouth feel is thick with a velvety, creamy texture that keeps each sip flowing smoothly. Overall, lots of depth, flavor and still plenty of nuance without being just a cannon blast of flavor. Coffee is delicate, but present. I wouldn't consider it the focal point of the beer, but instead an integral cog in making this machine work. Together, it amasses to a well made stout, complimented by the use of barrel.

Score: 4.5 | 4.75 | 4.75 | 4.5 | 4.75 | BA Score: 4.71 | rDev: +2.8%

Personal notes: It's difficult to filter out bias, and I have plenty headed into this review. I do think it's a fantastic beer, but despite my notes above, I don't know that I'd track it down again. Should it ever wind up in my fridge again though? I most certainly would not complain. I find it superior to the bourbon barrel version, whereas I think the bourbon gets a little too much heat out of the bourbon, the rye here compliments and curtails the flavor profile well.

Forgot music!





Cheers.

 

First new beer of the day is one of two new Finback IPAs! Always good to have these in my fridge, as they're typically fresh and feature interesting hop treatments. Even though I don't absolutely love every Finback IPA, I generally grab one of each one I happen upon just to see what they're up to. This one features El Dorado, Mosaic, and Simcoe Cryo hops.



Pours a honeyed-gold color with some orange overtones if I hold it up to direct light. Of course, it's essentially opaque, and though the head retention isn't great, the lace and legs are pretty perfect.

The nose is pretty heavy on the El Dorado, honestly, which is definitely where your mileage may vary with this beer. I find ED to be a little bit of a letdown varietal in almost every beer that prominently features it. It usually has this weird orchard fruit note that I don't tend to prefer. Especially when paired with intense varietals like Mosaic and Simcoe Cryo in this case, it seems oddly-focused-on. Sure, this does have a lot of nice pine resin, grapefruit, and almost herbal/grassy/greenery elements, but the apricot and light melon-like El Dorado aspect just doesn't fit right to me. Coupled with an odd almost-plastic note, I'm just hoping the flavor profile saves this one, because I'm not super into it right off the bat.

This is more Mosaic forward on the palate, which is a boon in my opinion, as it starts to get some interesting berry and earthy flavors going. Vegetal green-ness from the Cryo hops and a big blast of pine and mango round out the palate. Slightly tingling carbonation and a slight hint of ethanol toward the mid-palate and the transition to the finish. Given that this is 8.5%, I don't find that aspect surprising. Lingering bitterness and strong alpha acid component... this is incredibly hoppy and saturated, which is kinda surprising because they don't claim it's DDH. Hmm... oh well. Glad this ended up being better than I assumed it'd be, but still kinda leery of El Dorado. If that hop's up your alley, you might have a more intensely-positive experience here.

 

Halftime of the Giants game and I think I need something strong. Thankfully I have something from Cape May lined up today:

Bourbon Barrel Aged Concrete Ship

Bourbon and oak lead the way on the aroma, but licorice, dark chocolate and toffee aren't that far behind. The palate is the same, and it's a rather harmonious blend. The feel is smooth and velvety, with a generous snap of bitterness at the end, very much allowing the dark chocolate quality to rise to the front for a pleasant lengthy finish. There's a touch of alcohol heat here, but it's not too distracting. Nice beer, A- (4.25), and a very good shelf option for when you're up for this kind of beer.

 

I had that one this weekend, too-

I love the balance and feel, and it's a tasty easy-drinker, but for the price I was hoping for more complexity myself.

 

Hey all! I'm still on vacation and heading back to reality tomorrow. I've been drinking lots of delicious cask beers and just got back to where I'm staying after picking up some bottles. I've gotta pack now, have a splitting headache and unfortunately don't have a new beer to share. I hope you're all enjoying yours and I'll be back next week like normal. Cheers!

 

Right along NBS. My next new beer is , categorized on this site as a pale euro lager, from god damn Poland. The brew checks in at 5% abv.

A few weeks ago I, my brother, and a friend went paddle boarding down the Peconic River a local running estuary in my home town. We ended up doing about 7 miles. Along the way we met a polish couple who were out from Brooklyn. Somehow or another we ended up talking about beer and for a simple ride back to the starting point they gave us a 6- pack of tall boys.

The pour is a pale yellow color with full clarity and a white head of bubbles. The nose is subtle with malt. A clean and crisp start to the drinking. Light and flowing with malt and a touch of sweetness on the finish. Very clean and smooth flowing with a subtle touch of spicy hops on the finish. A light mouthfeel that doesn’t fall to watery.

Overall, nothing bad or great here. Just a pretty easy drinking macro lager.

 

@brutalfarce blew up my porch earlier this week with a bunch of tree house beers and my wife says I’ve never been happier. This is one I was perhaps the most excited about.



double shot vanilla bean by tree house

the appearance is viscous dense black liquid, even on the pour. Gorgeous, dense, billowing head that almost looks like a nitro pour and hangs around for over 5 minutes. Ridiculous. Aroma is medium roast coffee, delicious. I maybe am imagining some vanilla in the scent, but I’m not imagining a little wood. Bitter medium roast coffee on the taste is complimented by some vanilla, and finished off with some spicyness and warmth going down the gullet. Mouthfeel is incredible. Slick, creamy, full(very), dense, coating, and drying at the end. Overall this is fantasticly awesome. One of the best coffee stouts I’ve ever had. Thanks again Bill!

 

For the last day of Oktoberfest, I have my last new-to-me Oktoberfest beer for this season.

This is also my first beer from this brewer, and I'm impressed.

Millstream Brewing Company Oktoberfest
ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 21



Millstream is an Iowa brewery. I may have to try a couple more of their beers.

Deep, dark, clear amber topped with a tall, thick off-white head that leaves nice-looking strings and loops of lacing. The head has good retention, with a thick domed top.

Bready malt aroma with sweet caramel.

Very malty taste, freshly baked bread and sweet caramel. Excellent lingering taste throughout, great flavor depth, finishing just a bit on the sweet side. Malty with no bitterness. The aftertaste remains on the tongue for quite some time, as with the intitial taste, bready, thick, and slightly sweet caramel.

Mouth feel is moderate to thick, like bread dough.

Overall, an excellent, well-done Märzen for those that like the darker, maltier, earlier Oktoberfest style (and I do).

L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.0 | F: 3.75 | O: 3.75 | BA rating: 3.87

 

Poured into a 16 tulip glass canned on 7/29/19. Pours near pitch black with a 2 finger sticky light brown head that leaves thick waves of lace as it slowly settles. 4.75

Smell is pumpkin, chai, nutmeg, cocoa, vanilla bean, clove, coffee, and some oaked bourbon. 4.5

Taste follows pumpkin, nutmeg, cocoa, vanilla, coffee, chai, and a nice healthy dose of warming bourbon. 4.5

Mouthfeel is pretty big, gentle carbonation, easy drinking for 10% ABV but bigger on flavor than most at this size. 4.5

Overall this is awesome, expensive at $9 a 16 oz can, but really awesome. Warlock from Southern Tier is no longer my favorite Pumpkin Beer. If you see this and you like barrel aged Stouts and Pumpkin brews this is must try. 4.5

 

Cool to see that they changed the label, though I'll miss the old one. That is hands down my favorite dark beer ever (I think) it is just great in all the right places and packs the flavor in considering its relatively modest ABV

 

I was gifted a bottle of this last Christmas by John K. of The Alchemist. I shared it with friends on Christmas Day and 3 ounces wasn't enough to review; plus, it was Christmas, after all...

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46317/358472/



375 ml. bottle.
Bottled 13 July 2018.
Opened with care and the quite lively bottle made it to the glass just in time. Very light one inch pink head subsided in a couple minutes over a light copper colored body with a little lacing. Wonderful nose of strawberry, slight funk, and even slighter oak. Taste of fresh strawberry with the tartness of a slightly unripe strawberry. Delicious! Very nice champagne-like mouthfeel with a tart (but not too tart) finish. Overall, a tremendously tasty offering from The Alchemist!
Cheers!!

 

A-Pours a very dark amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has fruit and spice hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a fruit and spice flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A decent Belgian Dubbel

 

Wheelhound from Hanging Hills in CT. This is a Hefeweizen with OJ.

3.89/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 oz can dated 4/12/19 to a Weizen glass.
A large head forms even with a mild pour. Had to wait for some settlement before finishing the pour. However the head fades to a film within 2-3 minutes. Body is light gold with a slight haze.
Nose is met with a standard Belgian/Hefeweizen yeast aroma.
Taste is similar in front, slight cardboard (oxidation or malt?). Can is a little aged after all. No hint of the orange juice mentioned on the label.

 

A-Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has malt hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a malt flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A decent English Porter

 

Good to see someone else really liked this one! I thought it was great... like I imagine a BBA Warlock would be with a bit more roasty malt and a tiny bit less spice-forward approach. Cheers!

Alright, my second and final Finback of the day. Then we're onto some weirder territory.



This one is called Sensory and features (Hallertau) Blanc and Mosaic. This one's only 7.5%, so more in the realm of a "regular strength" IPA than the previous. Also, I really like both of these hops and don't think I've seen what they can do in tandem, so this should be fun.

Pour is more of the same; should expect this kind of thing by now. Not much to say; opaque, creamy, dense, thick-looking, with a nice head that settles down to a half-finger with good legs. Lace is alright; bone-white and thin/spotty... slightly shimmery. Solid looking beer but kinda rote at this point.

The nose is really interesting. I know Blanc hops are a little bit like a less-aggressive Nelson, but when combined with Mosaic, they almost seem... well, exactly like Nelson. The intense white wine grape and gooseberry element of Nelson is brought to mind here by the combination of strong resinous and green notes from the Mosaic crossed with the Sauvignon blanc elements from HB. I can pick up slight undertones of blackberry, green onion, and pine as well. Overall, this smells like a trip and a half. I love Nelson, and this combo reminds me a lot of it, so... like I said with the previous review, mileage may vary. Just how hops are these days. Grateful to be in a world with such variety, though!

The flavor profile is chalky and fruity with notes of mango and kiwi melding with the white grape. Slight tartness and firm bitterness in the mid-palate... mostly soft mouthfeel with a little bit of transient carbonation following through toward the finish, where additional flavors of pine and wet earth come out. A touch of green onion here, as well, with honeysuckle-like florals, catty guava, and more of the resin that was hinted at in the nose. Crisp and dry finish. Recommended! Really fun stuff.

 

Boulevard 30th Anniversary Ale, 12.5% ABV. Pours black, with a 3+ finger tan head that left no lacing. Nose is wine, vanilla, bourbon, dark fruit, and brown sugar. Taste follows, plus rye, slight to moderate bitterness. Coffee in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is slightly over-carbonated and dry. Overall very good to excellent. Presumably they carefully selected the eight beers that went into this, but in the end I found it too complex - like taking your eight favorite foods - including deserts - mixing them together and expecting a miracle.

3.92/5 rDev -7.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Real nice fall day here, mowed the lawn for perhaps the last time this year, grilled steaks for lunch, and waiting for the Packers game to come on. Salsa chicken in the crock pot. Simple recipe; chicken and salsa (verde in this case).

 

Thanks @cjgiant for the start, and question about seasonal beer drinking. Here in SWFL I pay no attention to seasons as we have basically two - hot and unbearably hot. I don’t really like pumpkin beers and at best may drink one. I like fest beers and have had a couple. I look for Christmas beers, especially when we are abroad for the holidays, but as @Shanex pointed out supra, such beers can be elusive overseas.

With Zwanze Day last weekend, and our local pub’s Sours event yesterday, I’ve enjoyed a several of this style lately. Today’s new beer was one of the few bottled lambics I could buy and take home from the Zwanze event - Oud Beersel’s “Kriek”:





Pours an iced tea/light brown color; quick off white head leaves a thin collar, no cap and no lacing; ok clarity. Sour cherry nose. Sour cherries, oak, almond and faint vinegar; no funk. Light body, minimal carbonation; watery and flat. Overall, drinks like a flat cherry cola; a nice tasting cherry ale, but pretty boring as a lambic; good for the brewery tic, but disappointing otherwise.

3.75 | 3.5 | 3.75 | 3.25 | 3.5

The best buy date is 3/05/20. After researching on line, I can’t tell if this beer is 3, 5 or 10 years old. I also read that this label denotes that this beer is a special export version that has been pasteurized with some extra sugar added to help preserve the fruit flavor. All I know is I’m one and done. Cheers!