New Beer Weekend #21

As promised earlier.

The Admiral Nelson from Bad Habit Brewing. It is a rum barrel aged Baltic Porter - 9% ABV.

I am getting so much here. I've tried to put what I'm smelling and tasting into words. I probably didn't do it justice. I'll just say here, I love this beer.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42984/522872/
4.35/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a dark brown. Tan 2 finger fluffy looking head. Retention is decent. Some nice spider web like lacing on the glass.
The nose is quite boozy smelling. The rum barrel really puts a caramel and toffee aroma in it. I'm getting an almost creamy aroma. Some coffee.
Taste - This has one rich flavor. Lots of flavor, and I know I won't do justice to it here. It starts off with a creamy flavor. The toffee and caramel come in. A bit of coffee on the back side, and lots of rum flavors mixed in throughout from the barrel.
The body is smooth. It is thick. It just has a very slight warming feeling from the rum barrel. Slightly creamy feeling also.
This beer is a winner in my book.


I'm sure I'll be back later with another, but this one is going to take some time to finish.

 

I will respond in kind to @FBarber by drinking a beer he sent me a few months ago. This one is Berliner Apfel from New Glarus. Do I recall correctly that they don't distribute outside of Wisconsin?

Regardless, this is really tasty. My wife doesn't really like beer, but loves cider. I gave her a taste of this a few minutes ago, which may not have been the best idea, as it resulted in splitting it with her (probably 60/40 in her favor). Frank, it's not easy to find a beer that my wife really likes, but you've managed to do it. Thank you, sir!

4.11/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Attractive beer. Glowing gold color with a nice head that was both thicker and longer lasting than I expected, plus some bonus lacing. Aroma is tart apples, and likely exactly what it was intended to be, but somehow not great for me. There is a distinct blue cheese aroma lurking underneath. Definitely a unique aroma.

Taste is all apple with just a tiny bit of funk lurking on the finish. If you gave this to me blind, I'd think it was a cider. That said, it's super tasty and goes down really, really easily.

 

Please, less of the apologizing and more of the snow photoing, thanks!



Great start!

 

Turns Out I'm Not a Great Cook, After All from Evil Twin.

16oz can served in a big snifter. Canned on ??/22/20. Can't read the first numbers. I would guess it's October. Bought it on Tavour.

Pours murky, light yellow, medium sized head, fair amount of fine carbonation climbing slowly through the thick liquid. Smell is juicy and pithy, unripe tropical.

Taste is bright tropical with pithy bitterness, maybe still some unripe mango or something similar. There's probably a better way to describe that flavor, but once I map words to a flavor it's hard to shake it.

Mouthfeel is thick but dry. Overall, very nice.

 

A new beer from a new brewery, Pipes of Christmas a Scotch Ale from Bull n Bear Brewery opened 8 days ago in Summit NJ. I haven’t had to manyScotch Ales so I don’t know if this is brewed exactly to style or not. It’s an excellent beer in any case. This brew is reddish brown with a tan head. This beer is brewed with a small amount of peated malt and the peat comes out a bit in both the aroma and the taste. The aroma is strong of malt as is the taste. Full mouthfeel with a off dry and lasting finish. A very enjoyable brew to say the least.

 

With a name like “Turtle Power” I had to try it.

Pours a hazy light copper color with a creamy white head which laced quite nicely.

Nose is citrus heavy...grapefruit and orange peel with a leafy hop aroma behind it.

Flavor is the aforementioned citrus up front, with the fresh hop flavor right on its heels. There’s a mild sweetness in the background, but it’s not caramel or biscuit malt like. Agave is the only thing that comes to mind.

Moderate carbonation and a lighter body place it high on my drinkability scale. It sticks to the tongue only slightly, pretty clean finish overall considering the citrus.

Nice job by the folks at Evil Genius. This may not be a winter beer for most, but it’s in the mid 50’s in my neck of PA today. The flavor profile seems seems simple, but it’s well executed in my humble opinion.

I do enjoy a beer like this on weekends that you can make an afternoon out of, as opposed to a big one-and-done brew.

Cheers BA’s!

 

Nice post, thanks! If I see that one I'm definitely getting it.

That would make such a great cooler beer if were only cheaper.

 

Good afternoon NBW, hope everyone is doing well. Keeping things lighter to start since the wife and I are going to a local park with a friend later to see a Christmas light display. Starting with 5 Rabbit Chinga Tu Pelu, thanks @FBarber, a nicely blonde ale with an awesome message!

3.94/5 rDev +9.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thank you FBarber for this
16 oz can poured into a tulip

A- A clear golden straw with a two finger white head.

S- Lemon, biscuits, some pale malts, floral, hints of honey.

T- Biscuits, some lemons, floral, slightly earthy.

M- Smooth, light body.

O- A easy to drink blonde ale, flavor might be a little on the weaker side compared the the nose but it is well done and worth trying.


Cheers!

 

So f-ing hungry!!!

What's happenin' with them scones?

 

Good afternoon. My second, and probably final, submission of the day is an English porter...

Harviestoun Brewery Ltd.
Old Engine Oil 6.0% abv
4.47/5 rDev +7.7%... I guess I liked it!



From an 11.2oz bottle, with an either meaningless or indecipherable enigmatic code stamp on the neck. Served in a willi becher.

As advertised, pours pretty much engine oil black but with a cola-red highlight or two and a big pouffy mocha head of foam. Retention is fairly epic, leaving a thick, bubbly cap and a fat webbery of sticky lacing.

A rich, robust, roasty aroma. Chocolate pudding, cardboard and pencil erasers - I don’t know how to make that sound like something that smells good, but it does.

Tastes of roasted cacao nibs and espresso, toasted cardboard and pencil erasers and you’re just going to have to take my word for it that that’s a good taste. Clean, toasted mild bitterness and a creamy pudding aftertaste.

Feel is creamy smooth, medium bodied and chewy with gentle but ample carbonation.

Overall, an easy-drinking, tasty treat for a cold, wet afternoon in front of the wood stove. I don’t know why, but I’d made up my mind this was going to be disappointing but instead it was a big pleasant surprise to the upside. I wish I’d bought more.

Also, note that although the damn dog has his own bed, he insists on sleeping on the sofa.

 

2 Wins, 1 Fail - Local Craft Greater NJ Metro
Power Tools | Industrial Arts | IPA | 7.1% | NYC
4.09/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Found at 7th Av Grocer Park Slope and WFM. First review of brewer.
a) Clear apricot body sports perfect bright lasting, lacing white head.
s) Love the pine tempering the mango, pineapple.
t) Yeilds abundant fresh, and JUICY citrus, orange and pineapple, and mango. Tempered again by pine and hop bitterness. Well balanced
f) Juicy, crisp, clean. Well made mouth feel.

Yacht Juice | Icarus | NEIPA | 8% | Lakewood NJ
4.09/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
11th Review, my 2nd for this Brewer who is 2 for 2. Go Jersey craft.
a) apricot hazed body sports energetic head that rings and laces.
s) Very acidic citrus, orange, pineapple, mango, some melon, some malt.
t) Follow smell, but offers more rounded juicy, rindy fruit, more melon, more subtlety.
f) Leans toward fruit juice, low carbination. Very juicy.
NEIPA would be about right.

FAIL....
Swinging the Lamp | Cape May | NEIPA | 8% | NJ
3.61/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25
After 25 beers from this fave Jersey Shore brewer (along with Cartons & Kane), this anniversary NEIPA disappoints.
a) Too dull and murky body, scant head, no lace. Dull.
s) Also musty and dull in nature, wheat flakes, oatmeal, and some dank hops.
t) Dull flavor with a tingly but odd and dank, frat-floor rancor and then a hop bite.
f) too thin.
o) Back to the tank. Yes unique but in a dirty kind of way

 

Michael, let me know if you locate the Von Trapp Bavarian Pilsner. That beer is not commonly available in my area; only one beer retailer gets it and he only receives a single case intermittently.

Maybe this is a low production beer by Von Trapp?

Cheers!

 

A good brew is an excellent cooking companion!

 

Time for another New Glarus beer....again courtesy of @FBarber. My wife likes this one too, but I didn't have to split it with her like the last one. I may need to start finding excused to go to Wisconsin to pick up more New Glarus beers.

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Clear and light amber in color. Inch and change of fluffy head that didn't last long, but left behind ample lacing. Overall, a nice looking beer. Aroma is a complex mix of barnyard funk, apricots and grapes. Overall, it's intriguing.
Taste has plenty of apricot and is sweeter and less funky than I had anticipated based on the nose. Notes of honeysuckle lie underneath that apricot. I don't pick up the grapes as distinctly, but it may just be that I'm combining the apricot and grape flavors into one. Nice long finish with a medium feel. Tasty brew.

 

Dennis, did you try the Dubbel? It's the only one of the initial lineup I haven't had. I toyed with stopping in today. Last Saturday, I was able to walk right in without a reservation. I liked Pipes of Christmas but thought it was a little sweet. I really enjoyed the DIPA and the English Brown Ale. It's great having another local spot!