New Beer Weekend #3

I've had this in the fridge for a week or two, really excited to try it.
Fun beer, glad I grabbed a 4pk.

4 / 4.25 / 4 / 4.25 / 4
Overall 4.09
12oz bottled 6-20-20. Opened 8-8-20.
1" off white head. Good staying power. Creamy. Laced.
Golden amber color - slow rising bubbles on the move. Not fully clear but bright with decent clarity.
Coffee, chocolate, and vanilla - all aromas are represented as advertised.
Creamy vanilla upfront followed by coffee bitterness later in the finish.
Soft, round, and creamy mouthfeel. Higher carbonation than expected early, maybe medium-low overall.
Semi-sweet and lingering finish.
Overall a smooth experience, from aroma to taste to mouthfeel. Fun and tasty beer.
Nice use of the Golden Ale as a blank slate to build upon.
Very Good.

 

That all looks delicious!

 

Thanks @SawDog505 for getting us rolling!

Planning to hike tomorrow, and have a bunch of 'honey-dos' and house/yard tasks for most of the rest of my Saturday. Figured I'd sneak in my NBW contribution before tackling all that other BS.

Alvarado Street Brewing's Make Mischief. Self described Audaciously Dry Hopped DIPA



22 day old can into a imperial nonic pint.

L: Murky dirty white orange with 1+ finger of low density white head with moderate retention and left minimal lacing.

A: Herbal and floral on top of tropical fruit, dank attributes show as it warms.

T: Follows the nose, but with more prominence of the dank elements. Things dont mesh well together, seem to be fighting rather than complimentary. Finishes with mild bitterness, but plenty of astringency and high acidity.

F: Medium bodied with medium-high carbonation, tongue tingles from acidity, throat burns on swallow.

O: Think this is the first beer I've had from Alvarado Street where I've noticed hop burn, and not just a little bit. I've seen others talk about it in the forums, but until now I've eluded it. This beer was not particularly pleasant for my palate and preferences, I will not repeat not recommend.

BA score = 3.8, rDev = -11.2%

 

Jack's abby shipping out of boston amber lager
...appearance is dark amber
..medium carbonation with about medium prickly carbonation
..aroma is malt,molasses,brown sugar, grain earthy floral honey
..taste is rich malt,molasses, earthy grain, and a floral honey. It has a mild sweetness to it but it far off from a malt bomb.
..overall it was excellent, interesting, complex aroma and taste without being overwhelming. Could be enjoyed with food but stands on it's own very well .
..

 

Happy New Beer Weekend all!

Today I am drinking a new Imperial Stout Blend from Trillium's Permutation series of experimental offerings. This beer has a remarkable 10 different additional ingredients from the blend of beers, and 14 different malts. Right now I'm enjoying Permutation 7.06: Imperial Stout Blend.

Brewery notes:

This beer pours dark black with brown and maroon red highlights, with a frothy tan brown foam head that eventually recedes and dissipates. The first wafts from the pour were like rich peanut butter coffee, caramel swirl, maybe hazelnut, vanilla, chocolate, with raspberry fruitiness, some figs, then banana, cinnamon, almond, roasted malts, various baked goods, some dark fruit, dried fruit, caramel, dark toffee, molasses, honey, and some Columbus hops peaking through with some earthy pineyness. The first flavors that I picked up on initial taste were like a chocolate covered pb&j, rich dark baking chocolate, peanut butter, raspberry, alongside fresh banana and cinnamon, some toasted almond, vanilla, nuts, robust coffee, figs, chocolate fudge, some honey, lactose cream, caramel, dark toffee, molasses, some dark fried fruit, toasted bready roasted malts, some graham cracker, brown sugar, a lingering sweet note that I can only best describe as hazelnut marzipan, and some earthy piney hops. Lots of flavors coming in layers and waves, almost a different flavor with every sip and as it lingers on the palate. I'm not sure if peanuts or pb was actually used but it tastes a bit like peanut butter in some places to me. The beer feels medium plus bodied, creamy with smooth moderate carbonation.

Overall this is a really nice and interesting blend of beers with a lot of different flavors that I think work pretty well together. I would say this is on the "dessert" side, but certainly not pastry sweet. The fruit flavors help cut through and liven it up a little so it isn't so big, heavy and syrupy sweet. I don't think they gave the names of all the exact beers blended, but with the ingredients you can guess a few of them, namely Deciduous 2019 with the figs, someone said The Six States because of the honey, probably Raspberry Chocolate Gateau with raspberries, maybe Fireplace Bananas with banana, could be Toasted Almond and Vanilla Night & Day with coffee, or any of the other stouts they've made with almond and nuts, etc. This blend came out pretty well imo. Good balance of flavors that come through individually without anything being too overpowering. Cheers!

Well, this may not be my absolute favorite beer blend that I've had, but this is pretty interesting and good! I always enjoy the FW Anniversary blends, and when a Strong Ale or Barleywine gets blended with an Imperial Stout I think something special happens. Flight of the Angry Beast is probably one of my favorite blends too, which is 1/3 Undead Party Crasher (stout) aged in bourbon barrels, 1/3 Blaecorn Unidgragon (stout) aged in scotch barrels and 1/3 Billionaire (barleywine) aged in scotch barrels. The Boulevard/FW Collaboration No. 6 was also really good I thought with BA quadrupels and stouts mixed. There are probably similar blends too that I've had and forget. I'm also in favor of Wee Heavy Scotch Ale/Stout blends or anything similar. Of course, a blended lambic is a great style of beer too. I love a good Gueuze. Cheers!

 

Do you have a favorite blend where you are the 'blender'? Do you buy multiple (2 or I suppose could be more) beers and conduct your own blend of those selected beers?

Cheers!

 

Would gladly 'like' this a 2nd time. I love the complexities of the FW Anniv brews, look forward them every year. Cheers

 

Drekker Chonk Sundae Sour Raspberry and White Chocolate, 6.2% ABV. Pours real thick chunky and hazy red with a one-finger pink head that left residue instead of lacing. Nose is raspberry, chocolate, and funk. Taste is lactose, chocolate, and strong raspberry, quite sweet with slight tartness. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. I like pastry sours.

4.4/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

Jack's abby smoke and dagger
..cola black
..light carbonation with a just above average body with a slight creamy feel
.aroma smoke upfront, earthy,wood, charred burnt wood,roasted malt and molasses
...taste is smoke, burnt wood, roasted malt, toasted grain
...really nice feel with a lot of smoke yet it didnt come off like a smoked ham. Really deep,rich,flavorful, interesting beer

 

I have yet to make a really good tasting beer blend myself I think, though I have only mixed beers a couple times. I used to try to make a "black & tan" but I never really went out of my way to find a good flavor combo, since I'd rather just drink an individual beer. I even bought one of those "Perfect Black & Tan Beer Layering Tools" but I don't think I ever used it... Most of the times I have blended beers was at a tasting with multiple beers opened when I didn't care for one that much and had something good to combine it with. If I had some extra beers to spare or someone to share them with I would like to open some of the aforementioned beer styles and blend them a little myself, like barleywines, stouts, quads, strong ales and scotch ales. The problem is if you combine beers then you have double the beer to drink, and if the blend isn't good you have to try again. I actually got some of those Petrus Sour Ales from Belgium that tell you to make your own blends with the aged red, oud bruin, pale sour, etc. I still have a few bottles and I think about doing that, but I never dug into them yet.

 

Blackrocks Presque Ale - a seasonal summer ale, with that I assumed some fruit or adjunct to make it summery but just a light dry hopped ale that is well crafted. Aromas of citrus and pine, well sustained head with lacing along the way, tangerine, lemon some grain, crisp finish with slight bitterness. Will be crushing these while they last, if you see it, I recommend it - love the can art too!

 

You don't spoil your dogs do you? That's a happy looking little beast. I have a Maine beer on deck. Cheers!

 

Now moving on to Southern Grist Maple Pecan Pie, thanks @Buck89!
4.41/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Buck89 for this
500 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head.

S- Chocolate, maple syrup, brown sugar, pecans, vanilla, bourbon.

T- Chocolate, bourbon, maple syrup, pecans, vanilla.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- A tasty stout, delivers on the Pecan Pie flavors.

Cheers!

 

It's true... I have not had a Stone IPA before today!

I was motivated to buy it by the WCIPA on-line tasting that started yesterday and continues today. So, this will shortly be cross-posted to that thread as well/

Stone Brewing IPA
ABV: 6.9%
IBU: 71



Aroma is orange - almost sweet, hints of piney notes accompanying. A light toasty aroma underneath.

Orange-amber color, with a chill haze, ample rising bubbles to a creamy off-white head with very good retention. Nice-looking disconnected lacing. The chill haze eventually dissipates to a clear amber color.

Taste has the citrus rind (orange) biting up front, backed by some floral and orange juice flavors. The floral appears mostly as aroma that accompanies each swish in the mouth. There is sufficient malt presence, toasty bread, to provide the needed balance, but clearly the hops are the name of the game with this beer. The beer is not bitter for the first sip or two, but the bitterness builds with each successive drink to become a quite bitter beer. The aftertaste lingers for a long while and is intensely bitter.

The beer has substantial body for the style.

Overall, a very good IPA, and deserving of its iconic status in the West Coast substyle. To my palate, the bitterness is most evident in the lingering aftertaste than in the flavor of each sip itself. The bitter aftertaste comes to dominate everything before you are finished.


L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.0 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 3.92

 

I was in need of borrowing your tool for my blend today. My attempt at just pouring the Czech Dark Lager on top of the Bohemian Pilsner was a layering fail.

The blended beer tasted good so...

One more blended beer I would recommend is a spicy (lots of pumpkin pie spices) Pumpkin Ale & Young's Double Chocolate Stout. The Chocolatey flavors go real well with the pumpkin pie spices IMO.

Cheers!

P.S. Your choice whether to go with the Nitro version of Young's Double Chocolate Stout or the regular version - they both taste good in this blended beer for me.

 

Buen Sabado, BAs, and happy to join with a new one.
HALF ACRE FULLY SATURATED DOUBLE DAISY CUTTER
(sorry - I speak in all caps when fully excited)

4.25/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
....and I think I'm being restrained on my scores.

16 oz pint can - 7/7/20 canning. Enjoyed 8.8.20
8%

L - a golden yellow orb of murk, froth, head, and glorious lacing as it lowers in the glass.

S - grapefruit, mango, tangelo, more pith than a cat can pith, super fresh-cut grass greenness on this.

T -- doubles down on the "get off my fresh cut grass, ya punks" pine citrus aroma taste, and the new tropical aspects of some IPAs. A really good NEIPA/WCIPA compromise that is no compromise at all. It's all in on the palate.

F - Really good CO2 prickle for miles to FIJI here, BAs, seek it out, hunt it down. It's worth it. Is it Treehouse level? Hmm...not sure, but it's close. Floods the mouth with bitter tropical joy, and skirts that fine line between sweet imperials (as it warms) and bitter doubles (when it's colder).

O - maybe the best DDC - X variant I've had so far from HABC. Yes, I love them in general, but even in a blind taste test, this is stupid good.

 

If you're looking to buy one online, here is a link to one that I got. There is a science behind making it look like a black & tan, and I think it has to do with the weight or gravity of the beers, with the heavier one sinking. I think there is a website with a bunch of recipes to try with that layering tool.

(not sure I would really want to try those combos though, except maybe the Bass Ale blend)

A chocolate stout and pumpkin beer sound pretty good together. The few pumpkin stouts I've had I really enjoyed, like Warlock, and a local Cape Ann Fisherman's Pumpkin Stout. I need to try more of my own beer blends sometime when I'm drinking some beers I've already had before. Good idea. Cheers!