New Beer Weekend #18

Good day BAs! It took a while to find this thread today. Thanks @SawDog505 for getting us started. Today's New Breakfast Beer is:



A nice Japanese/Irish dry stout:

Otaru Stout from Hokkaido Brewery. Purchased 10/20/20 for $5.82 (Including tax) for 11.2 oz bottle ($ 0.520/oz) from Shangy’s in Emmaus, PA. Reviewed 11/21/20.
Bottle marked on cap “OB1990 20.04.21”. On room temperature shelf at store and stored at home at 42 degrees. Served at 45 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 52.8 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Deep amber (SRM 15), clear.
Body – Ruby brown (SRM 24), opaque. When held to direct light, the ruby is evident.
Head – Large (Maximum five cm, aggressive center pour), tan, high density with a rocky top, average retention, diminishing to a three mm crown and rocky complete cap.
Lacing – Excellent! Wide band of tiny bubbles
Aroma – 4 – Fairly strong roasted malt and sweet lactose. No hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 3.75 – Begins and ends with a dry, roasted malt bitterness. This lessens with familiarity. None of the sweetness suggested by the nose. No hops, no yeast. No alcohol (5 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4. Decent example of a Irish dry stout.
Rating 3.9, rDev +5.7%.

And note the cap:



A call back to a previous discussion.



So I've now pulled these caps on brews from CH and JP. What other countries use them?

 

Good morning NBW
I'm on nightshifts for six nights and have seven Belgian Strong Dark Ales in the queue for review. Here's one I ordered online in a mixed pack with the glass...

Brasserie D'Achouffe McChouffe
330mL bottle BBE 11/2020 poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 8% ABV. The beer pours medium brown in color, fairly dense with abundant light brown head. The head recedes to an irregular ring and leaves a few streaks of lacing. The aroma is mild featuring toffee, spice and dark fruit. The taste is malty, semisweet toffee with pronounced spice (anise) and dark dried fruit. The finish is dry from the attenuation & spice and sits between mild and moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with strong carbonation. Overall, very good. I like this flavor profile in a dark Belgian beer. Refreshing and drinkable even at 8% with no sign of the ABV.

I've got another Chouffe beer for tomorrow morning. Hoping it will be just as nice!

Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

Good morning BAs! I’ve been getting a few beers lately, that I’ve selected, from Tavour and here is a beer that piqued my interest - “Snowed In - Coconut” (2020), from Copper Kettle Brewing Co., Denver, CO, a BBA oatmeal stout with coconut added. Sounds like it should be right up my alley - let’s go!



At 53 degrees, pours black with ruby see through; fast fizzy dark tan head; props for tons of flecks of shaved coconut; poor cap retention, no ring, no lace; no legs. Strong toasted coconut aroma as the 568 ml can is popped open; barest of drive-by sniffs of bourbon as liquid warms. Coconut!, dark chocolate entry; sweet milk chocolate fudge, vanilla and oak; bourbon on backend; did I mention coconut? Medium plus body, fluffy (oats) feel; no warmth from 12.1% abv; light carbonation. Overall, I love coconut stouts that smell and taste like coconut and this beer delivers; tastes like a Mounds candy bar without being overly sweet; there’s just enough bourbon to keep the beer from being a two trick pony; drinks thin for a 12% oatmeal stout, and I would have liked a little more bourbon; otherwise, a delicious BBA coconut stout - bravo!

4.25 | 4.5 | 4.75 | 4.25 | 4.5
Score: 4.56 rDev +8.6%
Hard to tell if this is the first review of the 2020 Release #4 version. Anyhoo, a great beer...drink ‘em if you got ‘em...my experience is coconut fades, don’t age, so drink fresh...Cheers!

 

Good morning! Thank you, @SawDog505 for starting things off. I was worried that 9 a.m. might be a wee too early in the day, but then I saw the 5:45 time-stamp on your post and figured, 'pfft.'

I'll have to take a look around later on - like, maybe after I get some chores done, if I get any chores done - but I think that this may be the only new beer I have in the house...



Spacetime Continuum - Coconut from Tree House
11.9% ABV
4.11/5 rDev -3.1%

From a 12oz bottle, undated, purchased at the brewery 11/19/20. Served in a rather fancy *LTM-branded goblet or tulip, I'm not sure which.

Pours utterly black and impenetrable with a feeble little head that doesn’t last long enough to really get much of a look at. There is a creamy, sort of pumpkin-colour collar and a rouseable thin, slippery curtain of lacing. (3.75)

A rich, robust nose of boozy barrel and coconut husks. A little... fudgy, as well. (4.5)

Initial taste impression is of handfuls of white granulated sugar, straight from the bag - which is odd because, on reflection, it isn’t all that overwhelmingly sweet. In fact, similar to the nose, the coconut character comes across more as the husk-y, woody outside rather than the sweeter inside which, I’m guessing, owes something to the barrel. There’s a fudginess and a taste reminiscent of RedHots candy, a cinnamon-like flavour defined and accentuated by the little bit of detectable heat from the booze. (4.0)

Feel is thick and dense nudging up to but not quite crossing the line into being syrupy. Hefty bodied with gentle, barely adequate carbonation - a few more bubbles would have helped the last of the glass go down a bit more readily. (4.0)

There is a detailed, three paragraph-long description of the beer on the label but the print is so fucking small that I have no christly idea what it says. I am not a big fan of sweet, syrupy stouts - which is, in fact, what nearly all TH stouts are - so I was pleasantly surprised that Spacetime Continuum Coconut was only almost-but-not-quite unbearably sweet and syrupy. I bought a few bottles for Christmas presents so I thought I'd best at least try one, and this one had a defective, wrinkled label.(4.0)



*Glassware courtesy of @TheDoctor who has, apparently, fucked off and found something else to do with his life.

 

November/Thanksgiving Beers

What do you think when it comes to November/Thanksgiving beers?

Just yesterday my wife asked: what kind of pie would you like for Thanksgiving? I immediately replied: Lemon Meringue Pie! I do love Lemon Meringue Pie. She shot me a ‘look’ and said: that is not a Thanksgiving Pie. Politics.

Anyway she informed me that she will be making a Pumpkin Pie. That’s cool. I like Pumpkin Pie.

Which brings me to today’s beer(s): Pumpkin Ales.

The past few years I sorta got out of the practice of drinking Pumpkin beers but a few months ago @jvgoor3786 started a thread entitled: Any love for pumpkin beers?

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/any-love-for-pumpkin-beers.645174/

There was a lot of good discussion in that thread which both educated & motivated me to purchase a number of Pumpkin beers this past season. One beer which seemed to get a lot of love was Schlafly Pumpkin Ale.

From the Schlafly website:

“Pumpkin Ale

ABV: 8.0% | IBU: 16

Hailed as one of the best beers of its kind, it’s the reason why fall is your favorite season. Schlafly’s Special Release Pumpkin Ale is well-balanced from start to finish, with notes of caramel and ginger throughout. Fermented in pounds of fresh pumpkin squash and a brewer’s wort and sugar mix before being filtered through a spiced infusion of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, it turns out exactly how we intend it to taste: like a slice of pie in a bottle.”

Well, the folks of Schlafly do not sound all that humble/modest. What’s that old saying? If you got it flaunt it.

The one Pumpkin beer that I have really enjoyed drinking over the years is Dogfish Head Punkin. It has been a while since I purchased this beer since in the recent past it was sold in a four-pack format at a pretty hefty per ounce price so I stopped buying it. Luckily I was able to find this beer sold as singles so I bought a couple of bottles.

I will be discussing the new to me beer of Schlafly Pumpkin Ale in a side-by-side with an old favorite of Dogfish Head Punkin. Will I have a new favorite Pumpkin beer?

Beers served in small tulip glasses:

Appearance

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: An orangeish/amber color with an off-white head.

Dogfish Head Punkin: A quite similar orangeish/amber color with a white head.

Aroma

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: It smelled of pumpkin, very noticeable nutmeg and some cinnamon.

Dogfish Head Punkin: A quite similar aroma of pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon. The level of nutmeg was more subdued in comparison.

Taste:

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: A very pleasing blend of pumpkin and nutmeg. The cinnamon flavor was subdued but good. It has a low bitterness.

Dogfish Head Punkin: It tasted of pumpkin, some nutmeg and a subtle brown sugar sweetness accompanied by some caramel malt flavors. It has a low bitterness.

Mouthfee

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: Light - medium bodied with an aspect of crispness.

Dogfish Head Punkin: Medium bodied, sprtizy carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall

Schlafly Pumpkin Ale: This beer is excellent. The flavor aspects of the pumpkin and spices are well balanced and play very, very nicely together.

Dogfish Head Punkin: Ditto to the above.

I was sorta expecting there would be a clear ‘winner’ here (for some reason) but for all intents and purposes these two beers are a tie. I suppose I am the winner here in that I have two great Pumpkin beers to drink.

Cheers!



@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

Love the glass, buddy! With everything going on, I actually forgot about Funk. Have to get some more of their stuff. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Thank you @SawDog505 for kicking things off. Some great beers posted already, looking forward to what Beer Advocates across the globe will bring out this week.

Just a friendly reminder to fans of Goose Island's Bourbon County Brand Stout we will conduct an online tasting on Beer Advocate between Friday and Sunday, November 27-29 for all vintages, including the new 2020 release. Hope you can join us, whether for a new to you offering or an old favorite.

My first new to me beer for the weekend is from a Chicago Brewery, Revolution Brewing's Riot.



Brewer can notes: 4.8% 16 oz canned 11/3/20 @19:27:28. Riot is a Bohemian Keller Pils, an unfiltered naturally carbonated lager.

Riot Bohemian Keller Pils honors the story of Chicago's first civil unrest, the Lager Beer Riots of 1855. Immigrant tavern owners and beer drinkers form the neighborhoods across the city marched downtown to protest the closing of bars on Sundays. As marchers approached the Chicago River, the Mayor ordered the swing bridges closed, trapping the protesters on the Clark Street Bridge.

Online notes: This unfiltered Bohemian Keller Pils features premium malts, Zuper Saazer hops, and soft natural carbonation. Additional information regarding the riots can be read here.

Appearance: Beautiful clear golden tan pour into a large Pilsner glass, bright bubbly white head lasts for a few minutes before settling, carbonation strong at pour and persistent at lower levels throughout consumption. Really good looking Pilsner. 4.5

Aroma: Sweet malty hops, bread and cracker, consistent with the style, slight salty back. Strong and pleasant. 4.0

Taste: Sweet malty taste, consistent with aroma. Biscuit and bread, on the sweet side. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Light body, carbonation fades a few minutes in. Delicate, not crisp as typical with this style. Clean finish. 3.5

Overall: This is a nice refreshing Pilsner, taste consistent with the style. This would make for a better Summer release for a light refreshing warm weather beer. 3.75

May check in with one more today, otherwise tomorrow. Looking forward to catching up with this thread and completed reading last week's thread for your reviews and future beer ideas.

Cheers!

 

Thanks @SawDog505 for kicking things off.
We've almost finished the first week of our two week "lockdown." Other than no golf, life hasn't been any different. We were already planning on Thanksgiving at home with just us and the dogs.
My new beer is from Marble Brewery in Albuquerque, a barrel-aged imperial stout.
The beer is black in color with a very tiny tan head.
Nice aroma: booze, coffee, some chocolate, some vanilla.
Bourbon taste, espresso, dark chocolate, vanilla. Late hint of leather.
A little bit on the thin side, but still an impressive beer.

 

This brewery is new to me, I knew them through my brother in law who used to work with their head brewer while they were at victory. Well my brother in law finally gave me some of their beer to try...it was delightful. East Branch, Der Bach, a kolsch.



Pours a pretty light pale straw color, nice initial head that left some lacing as it settled. Creamy white head remains as I drink.

Has a very very nice aroma, incredibly floral, lemongrass, white grape and pear.

Taste is honey sweetness, still get a lot of the white grape/pear thing in the taste as well.

Mouthfeel is very nice too incredibly smooth and clean. Really smooth and snappy. Super refreshing beer, nice light body.

This was an awesome intro to East Branch for me. I would happily try more of their beer if I had access. This beer perfectly blurs the line between ale and lager. It’s very very tasty and is gladly buy a six pack.

one more new one later...

 

Inquiring minds want to know: what is the brand/beer style of that beer?

I have only had the pleasure of visiting East Branch one time and I thoroughly enjoyed drinking the 2/3 beers I had there. IMO East Branch is a high quality brewery.

Cheers!

 

Sorry @JackHorzempa i edited you add after I realized the picture said nothing haha

Der Bach a Kölsch

I’ve really wanted to visit them for a while but no time these days. Unfortunately the days of an hour drive for beer are long gone. Seems like a really cool place based on their site. I’d love to visit one day.

 

Have you tried Von Trapp Kolsch? I bought a six-pack a couple of months ago and for my palate this beer is excellent. And reasonably priced too.

Cheers!

 

I have and I did enjoy it, however, it’s a style I rarely purchase though. Would be neat to do a comparison of the two if I ever had the opportunity.

 

Yes, side-by-side taste testing is the way to go!

Cheers!