New Beer Sunday (Week 773)

Morning!
I will be back at some point with a new one courtesy of @SawDog505 my IPA loving brother from NH. Really drooling over this package of juice.

 

A-Pours a solid black color with a nice light tan head and lacing
A-Aroma has cocoa and slight orange hints
T-the taste follows the nose with cocoa and slight orange flavors
T-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A good stout

 

My relatives all live far away, so I got their presents on the hands of Fed Ex on Thursday. Office Christmas party and other work related holiday events happened last week, and my boss is off on a cruise, so, very cool Yule coming.
I have a few Christmas beers lined up for this week. Today I am drinking Bell's Christmas Ale, a 7% ABV scotch ale. My neighborhood bottle shop guy, who is from Michigan, recommended it.
Superb red highlights and abundant head. Peat is a little muted in the aroma and flavor. Some piney hops, also giving fruit and floral notes. I love having a fresh wee heavy from Bells on the shelf.

I rated it around 3.9, only giving deductions for the low key aroma and flavor.

 

Christmas shopping is nearly done. We also have a couple birthdays (son and father-in-law) thrown in.
Starting my days with Screenshot from Prairie. It is an imperial stout with hazelnut roasted coffee, ABV is 11%.
The beer is a dark brown, nearly black color. A small tan head that persists and a little bit of lace.
Aroma is hazelnut throughout. Chocolate, a little coffee, some vanilla.
Hazelnut dominates the taste. Cocoa, coffee, vanilla, caramel.
Very sweet, almost a dessert beer.

 

Good morning and happy New Breakside Sunday, BAs. To answer Craig's opening question, I do splurge a bit more, open up a good amount of the "cellar", let people pick what they want to have when over, and try to send out quite a few beer boxes. Still gotta catch up on that last part.

Anyway, once again, crazy work week followed by a an unexpected dump truck load of mulch (yeah, I know...it's December) to power through over the weekend leads to some good times. Buuuuuut on the bright side, I still have plenty of new beers to (hopefully) get to some of today. Starting with...

Breakside-
The Oligarch, Coco Breakfast- (Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout with Chocolate, Vanilla, and Toasted Wheat)





Pitch black appearance with just a crest of dark brown around the surface of the liquid when held at an angle. It's clean looking, like a pour off a fresh pot of coffee. Above lies a thin, creamy, khaki colored foam like one found on a well made espresso, rings of lacing coating the glass and all. (4.25)

Smells like straight up melted milk chocolate. No, scratch that… brownie batter. Yup. Brownie batter. Fudgy, decadent chocolate pudding with a drizzle of bourbon and vanilla glaze. My instincts tell me this is dessert, not breakfast. (4.0)

Chalk up another victory for the sense of smell. It does in fact taste just like brownie batter. Hell, I'm t almost even feels like brownie batter, but that's getting ahead of myself. Chocolate fudge, vanilla, and confectioners sugar are mercifully saved from a rediculously sweet experience by light handed dabs of oak, booze, and the ever favorite burnt edges. (3.75)

As eluded to above, this is one full bodied and creamy beer. Intensely sweet, and by being so has completely redifined the "pastry stout" for me. The booze however, is nearly undetectable. (3.75)

Well, while Breakside does deliver what was promised by the label, this is one sweet (too sweet), rich concoction. Again, I think I'd lean much more towards this being a dessert over breakfast beer. A splash of coffee could do this beast wonders, I believe. Regardless, this is going to get my day moving right along. (3.75)

After my official review, I gave Coco Breakfast a rating of 3.84 with an rDev of -5.2%.

Cheers.

 

This is something that I surmised. I tell my wife all of the time that her attention is like an old western Conestoga careening about constantly about to crash. Like out of Wagon Train or Gunsmoke.

 

Last week I featured a blind side by side with Hopfenweisse and a new-to-me modern IPA in opaque glasses. I was unable to determine which beer was the IPA. I wanted to repeat the test, thinking that a sweeter and fuller IPA would make it even more interesting. Today I’m using two new-to-me IPAs and crossing my fingers.

Barrier - Shore Shaker
Foreign Objects - Mind, Body, Light, Sound

Results were different this time around. I had no trouble determining which beer was which for two reasons: first, having done this last week, I knew how to identify Hopfenweisse in this context... second, the Barrier IPA was only 4.2 % (yeah, far from a perfect choice, but I had it in the house), and the Foreign Objects beer wasn’t the full and sweet IPA I was hoping for. (I always felt that the supposed lack of bitterness of NEIPAs was exaggerated, and these tests aren’t making me change my mind).

Some reactions:
Barrier - mango aroma, light bitterness, light due to ABV but not light for the ABV, prickly
Schneider - sweet, guava, papaya, doughy, flabby, full
Foreign Objects - gritty, tropical, bitter, herbal, bright (in flavor)

@FBarber @steveh

 

My first Quad ever, so St Bernardus 12, and I bet I’m the only person here who can say that. I’m a bit slow of trying new stuff.

Drinking this one really cold from the start, they recommend 50 plus, but it’ll get there by the time I’m done. I was expecting something a bit more sweet than this, prickly carbonation, very nice on the malt without killing it with making it too sweet. To be honest I CANT pick out stuff in this beer like cola, or cherries, or cinnamon. I couldn’t really add any adjective to it that would be true, like I said before my palate is far from trained or refined. But I do like this beer, if there’s 10% abv in there it’s invisible. I just think it simply tastes pretty damn good. I’d be a better thumbs up or down kinda guy, but it’s an up. As it warms it gets a tad sweeter and the malts coming more forward, but it’s certainly not sweet, as it warms I’m catching some fruit at the finish, also a tad bitter too. Even at 22 IBUs, it’s there. I’d say 4.3-4.4 kinda beer, but it’s a bit more flavorful as it warms. . A bit pricy at $7 out the door, but I’d never turn away from this kinda beer.

 

Funny. I've always said you can't claim to have "been drinking all day" unless you start in the AM.

 

Griffin Claw/Modern Times Flying Buffalo Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, 12% ABV. Pours black with a small beige head that left decent lacing. Nose is coffee and bourbon. Taste follows, with slight bitterness. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.23/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Got this excellent beer from @drunkenmess and having it while waiting for the Packers game.

 

Lol, that is true. I’ve had buddies back in the day who could and would open and close a bar. I could never ever do shots and beers for 14-15 hours straight. Damn that righteous right there, even as practiced as I was in 1979 I could never do that. I suspect my buddies had some chemical help from the snowman, or Krank.

 

Glad you liked that one, Bob. I kinda grew outta of the pumpkin flavored beer thing a few years ago. I mean, I still try them. A ticker's gotta tick. But I thought that one was well done, so I bought a few for the NBS BIF.

 

Turn one into a cooler, to store all of your CANsumables.
History and utility !

 

Good afternoon NBS!!! Starting my only day off this week with 3 Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvée Armand & Gaston.

4.49/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

750 ml bottle, Blend 2 season 18/19, poured into a flute

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

S- Tart, lemons, pears, touch of wheat, some peach, funky, some oak.

T- Sour, lemons, some peach and pears, touch of grapes, hints of wheat, some oak, a nice musty funk.

M- Smooth, dry, light body.

O- A very nice geuze and easy to drink. I like the noise on their regular Oude Geuze better, but the taste is more complex.

I did drink a bottle of their regular Oude Geuze last night. The nose on the regular is better and it’s a little softer. Flavors more complex on the cuvée and it is super drinkable.

Cheers!

 

Hey what's going on!

Make a long story short, don't have much time today, but definitely need a beer... god I need a beer right now...

So without further ado, the latest for our hero...



Poured from the can into a snifter glass. Canned 11/12/2019. Back in Black!!

Deep rich pouring stout, with an excellent uniform dark walnut brown nearly black body color. Creamy forming head, three fingers rich with a light tan appearance. Soft top and small swiss chesse like bubbles round out with slow settling and very good retention. Real nice looking stout.

Very impressive aroma. Thick sensing rich whipped up bitter dark chocolate on the nose. A faint almost berry/strawberry ester perhaps as well, coupled with sweet sensations of soft vanilla, and a warming almost clove like spice. Real impressive.

Palate takes things to some more familiar if not as impressive territory. Great accent on charing on this brew. Deep and light bodied roast, coupled with a real big carbon and charcoal flavor. Hits with bitter char on the end, and some matching berry fruit. Lots of lingering astringency though, pushing it into some real strong lingering black licorice flavors, and an almost steely presence. Runs a bit boozy hot slightly too.

A very impressive stout, but is a bit too aggressive and just a little overly bitter. Still drinks very well but may not be for everybody. Gets better as it settles down and warms up a bit.

3.99/5 rDev -3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Cheers!

 

Greetings all,
It's been a while for me, but I needed to mention these beers. I picked up a case of 16 oz cans at Costco simply on the assumed value per ounce. Live and learn. The beers are all quite good.
This is Sweetwater Going Coastal IPA with Pineapple It is listed at 6.1% -which is stronger than it seems. It is nice and dry, deceiving the pineapple moniker. The nose is a doughy malty combo, with a real dried old biscuit aspect. It is a bit light, but the real beer steps forward. It is well made beer.
I thought that I would not like this delicious beer and I was wrong.
Here are a couple of tunes that I wanted to share.
Sorta a cross between Credence, Eric Clapton, The Doors and edging near The Allman Brothers.

 

A-Pours a hazy light brown color with a very slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has blackberry and Brett hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a blackberry and Brett flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer with a nice sour and tartness
O-A good Belgian style Wild Ale

 

Tree House SSSappp

Happy Sunday, BAs. Today’s new beer pours a cloudy, murky orange with two fat fingers of soupy, off-white head. The head has solid retention and leaves thick, webbed lacing.

It has a delightful aroma of orange juice, pine and white pepper.

Orange, pine, English muffin and pepper show in the taste with nicely integrated bitterness throughout.

It has a creamy, thick mouthfeel with zippy carbonation.

This what I expected and was missing from the regular Sap: great, old-school piney, peppery bitterness on top of a glass of OJ. Delicious.