New Beer Weekend #19

Cafe Deth by Revolution Brewing

4.49/5 rDev +2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

12 oz can poured into a snifter



Canned 10.13, opened 11.28

One finger creamy taupe foam cap over a dark brown cola liquid , settles to a thin layer , no lacings

Fragrant aroma on the pour of coffee, chocolate, caramel

Taste is chocolate, coffee, very slight char, roast malts, caramel, bourbon

Bourbon flavor but with no heat,medium sudsing medium mouthfeel, not syrupy, 14% abv well hidden

Good stout

 

Sorry things did not work out for you empoyment-wise. Hopefully something will very soon ! Good luck !!

 

What was the beer? (Your pic doesn’t show up for me.)

 

Thank you for kicking things off today, @eppCOS ! I definately want to hunt down the WCIPA you reviewed.

Late start for me this NBS 822 / NBW 19. Thought about pulling out 1 or 2 new BCBS's to me before deciding to drink the oldest bottles I have. Likely only one for this Sunday and weekend, this one from local brewer Haymarket Beer Co., Oscar's Pardon. While I have had several drafts from this brewery, I believe this is only my second canned offering (their excellent BA stout Clare's Thirsty Ale the other).



Can Notes: 4.5% 12 oz canned on my birthday, 6/1/20. I believe these are brewed and canned at their Bridgman Michigan brewery. Purchased 11/28 at Binny's ($1.66 + $0.19 tax).

Appearance: Slightly foggy golden tan pour, prevalent carbonation throughout, soapy full head leaves light lacing after receding several minutes in, good retention. 4.0

Aroma: Nice complex belgian style aroma, banana and lemon leads, cinnamon, citrus, pear, and cracker back. Nice inviting aroma. 4.25

Taste: Firm taste, bitter, consistent with aroma. Banana and lemon leads as with the nose, pear, cracker and pepper back well. Get some sweet floral and citrus notes, the pepper yeast provides a spicy contrast resulting in a very balanced offering. Full flavor, especially in light of the lower ABV. Well brewed offering. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Fizzy carbonation persistent throughout, no drop off after six months. Light medium body, balanced taste, clean crisp finish. 3.75

Overall: This is a well crafted Belgian Ale. Full of flavor despite the low ABV, complex aroma and taste. Haymarket is a very good brewer, and I look forward to coming across this fresher the next time I'm shopping for a Belgian Pale Ale. 4.0

Need to catch up on the threads after a busy day. Cheers!

 

Hello Late Night NBW

I bring you Late Popped South By Northwest a strong ale from Widmer Bros.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8/85106/?ba=2beerdogs#review
I consider this "accidentally cellared." The Mrs and I have been working around the house. Lo and behold, look what I forgot to drink. Well, not bad. Chalk another bottle up to cellar reduction. I think it's from 2012.

Deep mahogany hue. Initial foam dissipates promptly. Zero lacing.
Nose hints gently at chile peppers, caramels, pecans, and mild roast.
All in all, a lot of flavors waltz around this one. All are fairly subdued and patient, taking turns. Baking chocolate, slightly green chile with only a hint of past heat, pecan, date, and mild coffee roast.
Mouthfeel is medium, minimal carbonation but after 8years, I'm ok with that. No alcohol warmth. Smooth.
Overall, I suspect this has mellowed a bit on the spice, but I find it quite enjoyable.
3.7/5 rDev -4.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

 

Poured into a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 11/04/2020. Pours clear orange amber with a half finger sticky off white head that leaves some thin lines of lace with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma is rye, caramel, pine, biscuit, apricot, and grapefruit rind. 3.75

Taste follows rye, biscuit, tangerine, caramel, apricot, and a shot of grapefruit in the slightly bitter finish. 3.75

Mouthfeel is medium, plenty of life, a tad dry, and at 6.5% ABV it goes down that way and pretty easy drinking. 4

Overall this is a solid IPA, just a tad malty for me these days. Still glad I got to try a can. 3.75 Cheers and enjoy your Sunday all.

 

It was Samuel Smith Welcome Back Ale. The traditional winter warmer.

 

Good day BAs! Well, for the NBS portion of NBW, here's the last beer from the New Beer Four-pack:




KBS Maple Mackinac Fudge from Founders. Purchased 11/17/20 for $28 (Including tax) for four-pack of 12 oz bottle ($ 0.583/oz) from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. Reviewed 11/29/20.
Rear label marked “Bottled on 10.02.20”. On room temperature shelf at store and stored at home at 42 degrees. Served at 54.6 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 60.6 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Brown (SRM 20), hazy.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When held to direct light, same.
Head – Large (Maximum six cm, aggressive center pour), sandy brown, high density, average retention, diminishing to a four mm crown and an umbonate cap. Second pour produces a four mm head.
Lacing – Very good. Wide regular band of extremely tiny bubbles with rare small ones thrown in.
Aroma – 4.25 – Initially heavy chocolate fudge with a little coffee at the end, no hops, no yeast. Weakens but lasts the entire glass. As it warms, a bit of vaporous ethanol and maple at the end. NO BOURBON, no oak.
Flavor – 4.25 – Coffee, no hops, no malt, no yeast. Barely noticeable bitterness but NO BOURBON. Absolutely no alcohol (11 % ABV, as marked on container) taste, although a marked gastric warming does occur. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Ends slightly sweet, possibly from maple.
Palate – 4.25 – Full, almost syrupy, soft but lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4.25 Delicious fudgy coffee, weak on maple and lacking both bourbon and barrel. Alcohol is initially well hidden but seems to become a little harsher as it warms. It could stand on its own, without the “KBS” tag, and be an excellent addition to Founders beer menu.
Rating 4.24, rDev -6.6%.

 

Poured into a 16 tulip glass canned on . Pours near jet black with a 2 finger brown head that leaves thin lines of lace with amazing retention. 4.75

Aroma starts with blackberry, raspberry, dark chocolate, and hints of vanilla. 4.5

Taste follows the berries hit first, dark chocolate, and vanilla really balanced not overly fruity and sinfully delicious. 4.5

Mouthfeel is big, perfect carbonation, not dry or sticky, and at 11.9% it is far too drinkable and that is not a complaint at all. 5

Overall this is a special Imperial Fruited Stout, that seems a little one dimensional but is so well crafted you don’t care. This local brewery has stepped up this series to a very high level. 4.5

 

Greetings, NBS fam. This is a cross-post because I've been enjoying the BCBS tasting going on this weekend. I hope everyone is doing well, and enjoying their new beers. My first review there was a 2019 bottle of the base that I'd had once before just after it's release. That review obviously isn't relevant here, but I did pick up one of the variants. Last night I opened up a bottle of Special #4, a barrel-aged oatmeal stout brewed with coffee and maple syrup.

It poured the usual jet black color topped with a fizzy one cm head that quickly dissolved into a slight crown. The aroma on this one was interesting. After the initial pour the coffee was the biggest standout. It was akin to walking into a high end coffee roaster. This was not the aroma of brewed coffee to me, but that of whole beans. The bourbon was subtle on the nose throughout, but the maple made itself known as the glass warmed. Because the bourbon took a bit of a back seat, the roasted malt of the stout was more prominent than in other iterations I've tried. The taste showed the coffee had a bit more restraint, but had a beautiful dark roast flavor on the finish. The bourbon was more noticeable on the palate than the nose. It offered some vanilla, and the barrel offered a good deal of char. The maple was subdued, but offered a nice sweetness. The label mentioned some blueberry flavors, but I found those only sporadically. I sometimes notice those same notes in different coffees. It was similar to those notes, and not the taste of fresh, sweet blueberries that some may expect. The mouthfeel was a medium body with a slick finish. This was was not as chewy as the base or other variants. Overall, I very much enjoyed this bottle. I think when you essentially describe a breakfast stout on the label, that some drinkers will have very specific expectations of this beer that won't be met. Special #4 is instead an exercise in balance and restraint to me. I would happily drink another bottle of this.

 

2019 Bourbon County Mon Cheri


Pours dark Brown with a quickly dissipating 1 inch head into a Stout glass at about 50 degrees
Aroma is cherry up front with some roasted malt and a hint of bourbon
Taste is cherry followed by a crunchy sweetness and slight bourbon notes
Mouthfeel is full and chewy. Low carbonation and smoothish finish, really hides the alcohol, slight to no alcohol burn. There is a lingering stickyness.
Overall it’s a tick sweeter then most stouts but not on the dessert level. It’s easy drinking and the cherry/ granola taste is prominent. Really nice one
4.5. 4.5 4.25 4.25 4.25. 4.33. 07dev.

 

Every beer has coffee (so it seems to me and it makes sense as coffee is a popular beverage) and I am sensitive to coffee, so I don't drink it. I believe I have said here before that Guinness is as close to coffee as I need to get.
Regardless, for science:
Confluence Brewing out of Des Moines, Iowa brews a nice scotch ale: Gray's Lake Nessie and has added Friedrichs' cold brewed hazelnut coffee for this variant.

First pour shows a proud 1 1/2" cream colored head of foam, but it recedes to the edge soon enough. Dark, black, near burnt coffee dominates the aroma, but the nuttiness and toffee fight to show their presence.
The flavor is again black coffee, and luckily, for me anyway, toffee, hazelnut, and vanilla are easily tasted through the bitter bean. The medium heft of the silky body makes for a smooth, easy drinking 5.7% scotch ale.
Overall it needs for nothing, but I can imagine a cigarette here with the black coffee.

 

Good morning NBS/NBW and thanks @eppCOS for the kick off this weekend.
With all that BCBS going on I thought about heading in another direction. This 2.4% Czech lager form Notch brewing is just right, excellent body, flavors, and aromatics.
Stay focused and be well

Here Comes A Regular

Lager - European Pale | 2.4% ABV

Notch Brewing
Salem, Massachusetts

4.19/5 rDev +5% | Average: 3.99
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a can dated 9/18/2020 into the test pilsner glass
A - Lovely light straw color, exceptional clarity, that natural carbonation has a vibe all its own. Seductive to watch, feeds a pillowy white cap.
S - Warm bread rising, a thin line of grassy herbal hops. Excellent malt expression on the nose.
T - Biscuit, a hint of caramel, and a hint of diacetyl, all in the mix, floal center, with a bit of lemongrass and green apple.
M - Excellent body, hefty texture for a sub 3% offering. Semi sweet start, then a clean wash of the palate toward a lovely herbal dry finish.
O - A really lovely beer, excellent aromatics, lovely full feel, flavors are precise with no drift. Table style Czech Lager Yes please!

 

After a couple days of BCBS, I was craving something different today, specifically something that wouldn't kick my #$% the way a bottle of BCBS does. To that end, I grabbed this can of Endeavor, by Kent Falls Brewing Company. Kent Falls is generally under-appreciated, for reasons I don't fully understand. They are highly thought of in CT, but have never been a super-hyped brewery. Why one brewery ends up with a seat on the hype train and another doesn't is perhaps a topic for a separate thread some day (or a good research paper for a college student). Anyway....here's what the brewery has to say about this beer....

"Endeavor is a Czech style pale lager named for our favorite variety of barley. To showcase the character of the malt we took a clean, traditional approach both for the ingredients selected and as a means to minimize our intervention in the process as possible; a triple decoction mash to amplify the character of the malt and whole cone Czech Saaz hops in the boil, natural carbonation methods and several months of lagering.

Batch 1. Packaged September 9, 2020.

"We first tasted endeavor barley in the summer of 2016 when our maltstress extraordinaire brought six varieties of barley she malted to the same specifications to do a flavor and color comparison. Hands down the winner amongst the six varieties was Endeavor. Our immediate question was when can we brew with it? Shortly after the sensory analysis we signed our first malt contract and would be ensuring Mosher Farms in Bouckeville, NY that we’d buy whatever Endeavor they could grow. That fall the barley was planted, and in the summer of 2017 it would be harvested. Our journey to using 100% locally grown grains in all of our beers gained incredible momentum when we began brewing our first Endeavor beers in the fall of 2017. Now three years later Endeavor is the base of all of our lagers, farmhouse ales and plays quite an important role in Superscriptᴵᴾᴬ. We thought it was long time to celebrate this wonderful variety with a beer of its own."

4.21/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Canned September, 2020 and poured into a pint glass.

Appearance is a bright mostly translucent light amber color. Roughly an inch of fairly dense head. As the head faded, it left behind a thin layer that behaved as if it would hang around for a long time, but I could wait no longer to taste it.
Aroma is bread & malt, and very nice. Blind, I would have guessed this was a Suarez beer. On the tongue this is a really nice balance of malts & hops. Smooth, yet just the right amount of bitterness. Nice amount of carbonation. For me, this is very well done for the style, and very drinkable.

 

Happy Sunday everyone! Did a little beer purchase early yesterday and acquired a BCBS along with a variant, and a 4pk of something else that I've had before on the side. Saw that a small shop near me had the Bourbon County Brand Special #4 Stout for sale, which was the only variant of the main 3 available that I was interested in at least for the cost. Fortunately the place that got this variant also tends to sell stuff at a fair price and lower than most other stores, the downside is it is a very limited selection and only a few doors of craft beer with mostly AB and macro products, along with the popular wine brands and liquor, snacks etc. Cool to see that they have this and for $19.99. I saw the Kentucky Fog variant at another store for $26.99, Caramella Ale for $18.99, and last year's Café de Olla for $28.99. Glad to be able to pick up the one I was interested in for a bit cheaper. I would like to try all of them, at about half the price though...

Brewery notes:
"Bourbon County Special #4 Stout is an oatmeal stout variant of our original Bourbon County Stout recipe, also aged in bourbon barrels, that uses crystal oats to add a nutty character and a smooth mouthfeel. After barrel aging, we added Intelligentsia Coffee, both their cold coffee andsingle origin coffee beans from Ethiopia, called “Metad Buku,” to bring out a pleasant fruity coffee character. Lastly bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup from Bissell Maple Farm in Ohio is added which provides complexity to the nutty oats and coffee to round out the flavors, ultimately reminiscent of your breakfast ‘special’ at the local diner."

Drink By: 10SEP22 - 13.3% Alc/Vol

Served near cellar temperature. Pours a dark black color with some maroon red brown highlights around the edges, and a small frothy receding light brown tan foam head that fizzes away for the most part.

Smells really intriguing and different than I anticipated. At first big toasted bread notes come out with rich dark maple syrup, then roasted coffee comes into play with some extraordinary and wonderful fruit aromas, blueberry then morphing into a strawberry banana type aroma, dark chocolatey malts in the background with some charred oak barrel, mild bourbon, vanilla, caramel, dark toffee, and a touch of earthy hops.

After basking in the aroma for some time my first sip let out an expletive. Mass amounts of dark roasty coffee first and foremost, dark baking chocolate, oats, some dark maple syrup, roasted malts, charred oak barrel, smooth bourbon, vanilla, slight coconut, mild dark fruity notes complementing the coffee like blueberry, caramelized brown sugar, dark toffee, caramel, toasted bread crust, hints of roasted nut, marzipan, with a touch of earthy hops in the finish. The taste is pretty well balanced I think, it's certainly not too sweet or dessert-like, the coffee is forward in the taste but adds to the nuances and complexities instead of completely taking over. The maple syrup is dark tasting and pleasant, not too pancake syrupy sweet here right now which adds to the overall drinkability. The fact that this is an oatmeal stout too is a reason to acknowledge it's difference with a typical BCBS variant, and could add or detract from the flavor experience depending on personal preference I suppose.

Feels medium-medium plus bodied, a bit chewy and thick, rounded, creamy and smooth with moderate carbonation and a whiff of alcohol heat. Could be a bit more full for me though nothing wrong and the chewy smooth mouthfeel is pleasant.

Overall this is really nice and different. I'm enjoying the glorious sensations given off by this beer. I thought I've tasted some good coffee blend expressions, but this might be the best unique expression of a particular coffee yet. Maybe the oatmeal stout, maple syrup and bourbon barrel are contributing to the fruity aromas and flavor as well, either way the blueberry and strawberry banana notes I'm picking up are quite intriguing. Glad I got this beer and decided to drink it today. Cheers everyone!

 

Tranquity, a DIPA from Tree House Brewing Co.
4.22/5 rDev -3.7%

From a 16oz can, dated 11/13/20. Served in an IPA glass.

Pours a murky, dull orange with two-plus fingers of sea-foam head. Retention is excellent, leaving a heavy cap of whipped lather and a big, pockmarked, bubbly curtain of lacing.

Strong, yeasty-fruity aroma. Orange slices, kiwi, bread roll.

Taste is not just juicy; it is, in fact, super-juicy. Overripe peach, apricot and sticky, dripping melon predominate, then some tartness with gooseberry, papaya, kiwi and lime. Finally a minuscule green leafy bitterness at the finish, followed by a sour, composty aftertaste.

Feel is creamy smooth, with a medium body and subdued but adequate carbonation. There is a little boozy warmth in the gullet.

Overall... meh, another Tree House DIPA, what’s left to say about them that I haven’t already said, ad nauseum? Other than that, when you’re tired of Tree House NEDIPA’s, you’re tired of living®️. For one thing, this was brewed exclusively with Nelson Sauvignon hops, which I normally detest, and I liked it anyway! So, there’s that - sometimes it’s OK not to read the tiny little print on the label.