New Beer Weekend #11

Good day BAs! Today's NBS NBW entry for me is:




So Happens It’s Tuesday (2018) from The Bruery. Don’t know from where this one came, but I think I picked it up at Spec’s on DeZavala in SAT in 2019. Reviewed 10/3/20.
Only date found is “2018 EDITION” on the front label. Stored at home at 42 degrees and served at 55 degrees (Per bottle instructions) in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 70 degrees.
Appearance – 4. Really looks like most Impy stouts, minus head retention and lacing.
First pour – Deep amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When held to direct light, a bit of ruby shows at the top edge.
Head – Large (Maximum four cm, aggressive center pour), buff, medium density with a few rocks, short retention, diminishing to a three mm crown and no cap.
Lacing – None – not unexpected at 15% ABV.
Aroma – 4 – Weak molasses, some bourbon, possibly some caramel. No hops, no yeast. As it warms further, more bourbon and molasses.
Flavor – 4 – First swallow and WAM! Bourbon! And a gastric nuke. After that initial strike, the bourbon fades to a manageable level and molasses takes over, sweet and sticky, along with some weak chocolate. No hops, no yeast. Weak alcohol (15% ABV, as marked on container) taste and no alcohol aroma, so, after the first strike, a Damocletian sword. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. At 60 degrees, it’s rather harsh. Ends with a touch of soy sauce.
Palate – 4 – Full, slightly syrupy, zippy carbonation.
Final impression and summation: An unapologetic ethanol bomb. While this is certainly a good Impy stout, it is not Nirvana. It looks like most impy stouts, and, other than the Brobdingnagian ABV, is pretty typical of the style.

Rating 4, rDev -5.7%

Generally speaking, if all you're concerned about is the ethanol content, then I would suggest a cheap tawny port or something from Mad Dog. Otherwise, IMHO, invest in lower alcohol products from The Bruery.

 

Just curious (to satisfy my inner Geek; aw, heck, who am I kidding, my outer Geek, too ), how are you determining these temperatures? Best I can do is the "stored at" temp with a refrigerator thermometer, then time after taking it out.

 

Lazy Sunday as usual. New Beer Sunday 815 is likely a one and done, though contemplating another barrel aged offering for the afternoon. Will finish catching up on the NBW/NBS threads from the past few weeks.

Today's selection is similar to my Saturday beer, both are barrel aged ales from Revolution, though there was no collaboration with the offering opened today.

Revolution Brewing's Mixed Berry Ryeway:


Facts are stubborn things: Canned 7/10/20 @20:11:13, refrigerated since purchase and warmed for 10 minutes and counting. 12.4% 12 oz can poured into a Revolution stemless Deep Woods snifter. A rye ale with Raspberry, Blackberry, Boysenberry and Cranberry.

Can notes: A carefully selected blend of Ryeway barrels provides the glossy, oak-rich canvas for a raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry, and cranberry medley bursting with a finely tuned continuum of sweet and tart. Enjoy now or store cold.

Appearance: Dark violet purple pour, bright pink head dissipates within a minute, clear carbonation flows throughout the tasting. Sat beer for 15 minutes to warm before rating aroma and taste. 4.5

Aroma: Sharp sweet and most pleasant berry aroma, raspberry and boysenberry leads, light tartness detected. Syrupy. Bourbon emerges as this warms, smooth, excellent. 4.75

Taste: Very balanced taste, barrel leads. Bourbon, smooth, warm, enjoyable. Light rye lingers in the back. Berries sweet with narrow tartness, raspberries, blackberries. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Thick, rich, syrupy full body. Tart and sweet, bourbon warm and smooth, negligible carbonation on the tongue, sweetness lingers. 4.5

Overall: This is an excellent barrel aged rye stout. Fruit flavors bold and greatly balanced. Hope this comes around again down the road. 4.5

Have a great Sunday!

 

Pours a light hazy golden color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has orange peel, coriander and nutmeg hints
The taste follows the nose with a very well balanced coriander, orange peel and nutmeg flavor
A light bodied very well carbonated beer
A good Witbier

 

Pours a light hazy golden color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has orange peel, coriander and passion fruit hints
The taste follows the nose with a very well balanced coriander, orange peel and passion fruit flavor
A light bodied well carbonated beer
A good Witbier

 

Follow on to yesterday's review is yet another from Bluejacket. As I mentioned, they offer a range of styles, including the more subtle ones, which I might rephrase to those less produced by American craft brewers. For instance, today's beer from them is a Dunkel, and... it's not a new beer to me

Anyhow, you can see my original and re-review of They Both Melt (first time in a can) where they belong in the database, and I'm off to find another beer...

I did not realize this was the case. We've seen some wordy posts (I'm not just thinking of you or I, but also the official release/news posts that come from BA itself) to the point that while I figured there might be some upper limit, it wasn't reasonably reachable. Surprised we haven't seen any post about a limit if it's new.

Although, you could consider doing a "thread" like I've seen on Twitter when people have more than 140 characters (or whatever) to say. Sorry to miss your story.

 

Elijah Craig 26??? Whaaaaaa?

That definitely got my attention. It could've added a load of wood flavor in theory, but with all the other stuff in that beer, it's not surprising you had trouble picking out what the EC 26 barrels brought to the table. Still sounds like one tasty brew. Great review!

 

Pours a very nice light amber color with a nice head and lacing
Aroma has citrus and floral hints
The taste follows the nose with citrus and floral flavors
A medium bodied well carbonated beer
A good IPA

 

Good morning NBW
I went out in search of wet hop beers this week and purchased a six pack of this beer on sight. This project has been nearly invisible here in southern Indiana and I'm glad 3 Floyds got involved and sent some beer out to distribution. They are the only Indiana brewery to do so to my knowledge. Only one of the five breweries in Evansville bothered to participate with a small taproom only batch.

3 Floyds Black is Beautiful
12oz bottled 09/16/20 poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 7.5% ABV. The beer pours dense dark brown with no highlights and light brown head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a complete web of lacing behind. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring pine, caramel and candied citrus. The taste is semisweet caramel with the pine & citrus notes up front before roasted malt takes over for a mildly ashy, moderate to heavy final bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, interesting oatmeal stout as they've labeled it, but a great black IPA. I will enjoy this six pack. Numerically scored to my enjoyment, which is not my typical mode, but unfair to rate this to style as an oatmeal stout.

I can say I would have been thrown for a loop had I not read @ovaltine's review yesterday. As it is, I really enjoyed this beer, but I'm a huge fan of black IPAs. Cheers all, enjoy your Sunday and the new beer in your glass!

 

I don’t know how @Ozzylizard checks beer temperature, but I use a Thermapen:



Great for beers, quick temp checks when home brewing, and meat on the grill, etc. Cheers!

 

Pours a light hazy golden color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has orange peel, coriander and nutmeg hints
The taste follows the nose with a very well balanced coriander, orange peel and nutmeg flavor
A light bodied very well carbonated beer
A good Witbier

 

... and I found one: Schilling Landbier - listed as a European Pale Lager here on this site, and ranked #7 as such with 24 ratings and 10 reviews. Interesting.

Well, I will say that I enjoyed watching the beer fill the glass with this one, as a nice, pale golden stream (stop giggling) poured from the can.. The cold liquid fogged the glass, but the beer is actually more hazy as it sits than it seemed it would be as I poured. A strong white pillow of white adorned this hazy mass, leaving parts of itself to be remembered like fossils in the geologic strata.



Well, I gotta say the nose fits the bill for the proclaimed style - it's got the lighter malt backbone as the main influence with a bit of a grain aspect, paired with a mix of grass, vegetal, and ever so slightly skunked hops. It gets a little sweeter as it warms, with the hops edging a little more floral.

So, as the cold liquid meets my palate, I am initially thinking, "Tastes like a bland 'beery beer' - with less sweetness than your typical AAL." Since it's been a while since I've had a mass-produced Euro-lager, so I am thinking that a comparison might be in order this upcoming week.

That aside aside, the first half of the taste is a tad bland - grain husk and a mineral/metallic aspect involved. As the liquid washes along and effervescence fades, there's a mash up of grassy, vegetal, and even a little herbal bitter notes - a melange of greenness. That might sound wonderful to a hop-head, perhaps, but it's not an intricate mix... it's a conglomeration. Plus it's mixing with the mineral aspect to produce a... not offensive, but not intriguing, profile.

So put all this craziness together, and... you have a beer. It's a dry beer that has both feet on the bitter side of balanced, and as such is enjoyable enough. It isn't even considering weighing me down, but avoids being watery despite its light feel. I could totally see having a couple of these at a spring or fall back yard cookout instead of what would likely be stocked in the cooler.

 

Altstadt Brewery Amber Altbier. 4.8% ABV.



Pours a bright amber/orange color, with just a touch of light haze that clears up after a minute. A two finger white head forms with good retention and light lace left behind.
The nose is toasted malts, baked bread. Some toffee in there, not an intense aroma but very malt forward. Maybe an earthy/leafy hop aroma lingering but its very light.
A nice malty flavor again, that ranges from toasted and baked bread to a toffee/caramel sweetness. Though the sweetness drys out quickly with just a touch of earthy bitterness in the finish.
A light to medium body. Well carbonated and crisp. Semi sweet, and finishes super clean. Easy to drink and come back to. I'll be looking for this more often.

I have had very few examples of Altbier from actual German breweries, so most of what I have tried of the style is just what American brewers label as Altbeir. Most of that, I'm not really sure is really true to style. With that said, the nice, simple and clean maltiness here works really well, and seems to fit with the style guidelines I have read. Enjoyable and something I would recommend. Another quality German interpretation from this brewery.

Overall score 3.84
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49210/338476/?ba=champ103#review

 

Happy NBW Sunday everyone! Right now I'm drinking an old beer I forgot I had from Dieu du Ciel! called Rigor Mortis Abt. This is the Quadrupel version of what seems to be a line of Rigor Mortis Belgian-style ales, also coming in a tripel, strong dark, blonde and table beer version, as well as this quad aged in a few different barrels which sound great. I love a good Belgian quadrupel ale so I'm looking forward to sipping this.



Well this beer is definitely over 6 months of age, pouring a cloudy maroon red-brown with golden amber highlights around the edges, a good bit of sediment and a thin off-white foam head that sticks around in the glass with decent lacing.

Smells rich, malty and fruity, a little strong, dark and roasty, with good traditional quad aromas that I expect. I'm getting notes of red and black grapes, plum, cherries, red fruit, dark fruit, dark caramel, roasty toasted bready malts, hint of chocolate, dark toffee, molasses, sweet spice, with mild earthy hops.

Tastes a little more complex and nicely aged, dark, slightly roasty toasted malts, caramel, chocolate, dark toffee, molasses, slight sherry, tangy dark fruit, red fruit, grapes, plums, cherries, hint of sweet spice, all layered on top of each other in a beautiful balance and complexity with mild earthy hops in the finish.

Feels on the lighter side of medium bodied, creamy with smooth moderate drying carbonation.

Overall this is a really nice beer and a damn good quadrupel ale imo. Great flavors that linger into the finish with a pleasant amount of dryness and balance that isn't infringing. Nice dark/red fruity flavors with the roasty toasted malts help bring this into traditional Belgian taste territory. Not sure exactly how old this bottle is, my best guess is around 3 years. A fine quadrupel ale from the fine people in Quebec, Dieu du Ciel! Cheers everyone and happy New Beer Weekend!

 

Ok, as I start my next beer, I find that if I rush it, I can have back-to-back reviews in this thread. But, I'll likely take too long writing about it to complete the repeat. But in an effort, let's see what I think about Charlestowne Fermentory's Tmavé Pivo - a Czech dark lager.



Okay, this is a deep, chestnut brown with edges of clarity that show a bit of a ruby hue. The head struggled to gain height, even with an aggressive pour from a few inches. At least the beige ring is medium thick and provides some spots.

There's a light caramel note on the sides of dark toast that is just beginning to char. There's also a little bit of a nutty coffee involved. There's generic impression of a little bitterness that should be involved with a Czech dark lager, IMO. Does it translate to the taste?

To leave you in suspense, I'll talk about the feel. There's a light prick of carbonation (note to self, don't click link look up synonyms for 'prick' on Urban Dictionary) that fades fast to allow a medium-thin body to give up its flavors.

The initial flavor is a stale darkly toasted bread note - with a wooden bitterness quelling any sweeter malt notes. As it warns, there's a bit of a weak, watered down dark honey accent involved. Beyond that, there's a weak coffee aspect as the carbonation and opening bread-based note fades. Bitterness seems to be driven equally by roasted malts and more neutral hops.

(Darn - I see a new post(s) alert, oh well)

For a bit more than a fleeting moment between the tastes described and the finish is a dull berry/red wine/tangerine note. In its eminent indiscernibility, it doesn't take over the flavor, it just sneaks in and dives off the side of the boat. Beyond that, a fairly dry ending brings the sip to a close, but the lingering bitterness medium roast coffee and wet wooden notes linger.

A nice quaff that I will enjoy three more of. That brief fruity-ish note bugs me slightly, but it doesn't come close to ruining an otherwise solid dark lager.