New Beer Weekend #25

NBW #2. Barrel Aged Peanut Butter BOMB! from Prairie. I received this bottle from @jdell15 in the Fall's NBS BIF. While we get limited distro from Prairie, I haven't seen this variant. Like most BOMB! variants it's boozy but I'm not tasting a lot of peanut butter, except in the after taste. Still, it's always a pleasure to drink a BOMB! I remember the first time I had the original was in a taproom in Gainesville GA before New Jersey had distribution. It was such a thrill. Thank you, Jacob! Here's my review:

4.14/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Received from @jdell15 in a BIF. No discernible bottling date. Poured at approximately 60 degrees into a Prairie stemless glass. It pours a very dark walnut - almost black. The creamy, medium-mocha colored head dissipated quickly leaving only a thin film of lacing. It has a pleasant smell of roasted malt, chocolate, freshly-brewed coffee, and lots of peanuts. The taste is not what I'd expected. The peanuts are deep in the background. Instead, there is the strong flavor of bourbon, chocolate, and coffee. As it breathes and opens in the glass I'm also tasting the advertised chili peppers. All of these flavors are surprisingly delicate. I'm not sure what happened to the peanut butter as the bottle is only about 6 months old. The only time I really notice it is in the after taste. This stout has the anticipated mouth feel - it's similar to the other BOMB variants - fairly thick and creamy with mild carbonation. And like other BOMBs the ABV is quite well hidden but catches up to you, so sip it slowly. Overall, this is tasty and enjoyable but not my favorite Prairie BOMB!

 

Now up Parish/JWB Greetings from Wynwood, thanks @SouthernSips!
4.27/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you SouthernSips for this
16 oz can poured into an oversized wine glass

A- A hazy pinkish orange with a small off white head.

S- Tart, lots of guava, touch of coconut, hints of wheat.

T- Tart, again guava is the focus and main flavor, some coconut, gummy bears, some lemons, touch of wheat and lacto.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- Can lists this as a Berliner Weisse and in drinking this it comes off as a fruit forward Berliner not something that is so overpowered by the fruit purée that it is fruit juice or a smoothie.

Cheers!

 

It's time for dessert before dinner!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/491765/



12 oz. bottle.
Bottled 10/14/20.

Moderate pour yields a one inch tan head over a near black body with sticky lacing. Nose of fudge, maple, and bourbon. Taste mirrors nose very nicely with well balanced flavors of fudge, maple, coffee, and bourbon. As it warms, vanilla and caramel come out from the whiskey barrel. Nice feel and overall, this certainly is a delicious stout. Too bad it was so limited here in Vermont as I would have bought a case.
Cheers!!

 

Alright, last one of the night. Woodland Farms is a small brewery based out of Kittery, Maine (same town as Tributary Brewing, founded by Tod Mott, ex-Portsmouth Brewing and developer of the original Harpoon IPA recipe; the more you know!), and this is their "peanut butter and Fluff stout," New England Dreams.



For those not in the know, "Fluff" is a marshmallow creme spread originally developed in Somerville, MA. Not sure how widespread this knowledge is considering I'm MA born-and-raised, but there ya have it. Anyway...!

The pour here is modest and solid, but not out of the ordinary at all. It tumbles out of the can as a nearly pitch-black liquid; certainly unfiltered, and builds up a nice looking head of medium-brown foam that bubbles away pretty quickly. All that remains after five or so minutes is a quarter-finger ring, though that does retain permanently. No lace or legs, really, but... meh, whatever. It's fine.

The nose is pretty accurate to the "peanut butter and Fluff" sandwich concept, which I find amusing. The can states that this has "toasted bread crust overtones," and I, somewhat surprisingly, agree with that assertion. The breadiness and peanut butter combine in a cool and rather-unique way here to bring forward a definite peanut butter sandwich feeling, and the light marshmallow-creaminess of the Fluff accentuates these elements and gives off a bit of a vanilla-type vibe to the proceedings. There are hints of spicy hops and a touch of dark fruit as well. I'm interested to see if this actually tastes good.

Alright, so... it's pretty accurate. I have had one other beer before that intentionally mimicked a "peanut butter and Fluff," and that was Pipeworks' Fluffo Sando, which was a huge-ass stout clocking in at (if I remember right) over 10% ABV. It was oily, thick, viscous, and chewy. This is not any of those things. Honestly, this is a bit too light for me, at least when it was freshly-poured. Of course, like most stouts, this starts to remedy itself as it warms a bit, but the feel here is thin-ish and not fitting the "filling" element I associate with this kind of sandwich. That said, the flavors are good; light (and not overly-intense) roasted peanut notes mingle with surprisingly-accurate (almost humorously so, honestly) bread crust/toasted biscuit malt notes, and some lightly-sweet and vanilla-tinged marshmallow. This could be much worse... I actually really enjoy it for what it is. I do still think it's a bit thin, but I'm glad they accurately-portrayed the flavors of this stalwart sandwich, which was undoubtedly present in many a child's lunchbox in the 90s!

Until next week... cheers all!

 

swore I posted this yesterday, but here ii is now, Lost Forty Currant Mood with Cherries& Red Currants, 5.0% ABV; 3.73 overall

Pours a very effervescent purple with a thumb of pink head. No head retention or lacing

S: Currant & cherry, nice nose

T: Follows the nose, dryness a little lime, tartness as well up front. Tart cherry & currant as this warms. Finishes tart and a little dry with a touch of cherry sweetness

MF: Medium body, delicate carbonation that flattens out a bit too much

Delivers on the featured flavors but just not that interesting a beer. Drinks almost like kool-aid sans sugar

 

No pour pic as I drank this from the can.
Oskar Blues Can o Bliss citrus IPA. Canned 12.14.20. 7.2%

3.84/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

L - PALE HAZE yellow with some decent head and foam. A bit of lacing down the glass.
S - citrus tropical aromas amd some hopped biscuits. Interesting
T - way more straightforward. Bitter grapefruit juice with enough malt backbone. Nothing really stands out however.
F - good carbonation and solid palate attack. All good.
O - really solid but doesn't stand out. The hazy and the DIPA in this series are the real keepers.

 

Everyday is a new beer weekend during covid, but here’s a few I had today......

this one has a lot of bad-mediocre reviews. I thought it was pretty darn good.

this one by North Park was pretty good, but seemed to be soft citra melon dominant. I feel like citra has a badass reputation but is generally pretty soft and weak.


I was hoping this would be good for a $6.50/can shelfie. It was awesome. World-class barrel aging and blending apparently.
highly recommended.
cheers dudes.

 

Day 2 will feature a couple of beers, the first from our beer nerd friend @FBarber and the still ongoing NBW BIF #12. We had been conversing about, in the BIF culture of sending “New To Your Target” beers, who would be difficult for you to send to, and because of geography and tastes, we decided sending to each other would be a relatively significant challenge - and then we discussed some breweries that would make a box possible.

One of the breweries we discussed was Goldfinger Brewing out of Downers Grove IL, and some others, so imagine my surprise when a “mystery box” showed up here in Northern Indiana, crammed with fantastic beers - including 4 beers from Goldfinger.

Goldfinger is known for their lagers. I’ve already had two, and here’s another, an IPL collab with Hop Butcher featuring Mosaic hops.

I’m so happy I could cry.





4.27/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a gorgeous golden color that features the slightest modicum of hop haze and sports a REALLY sudsy white head. This indeed looks like a cross between an IPA and a lager. Absolutely beautiful.

The Mosaic hops literally leap from the can as you pour, with dank citrus notes of grapefruit and tangerine, and a nice ripe berry note. This definitely leans to the IPA side on the nose.

The taste similarly leans toward IPA, with the previously referenced tangerine and grapefruit flavors most prominent, and the berry flavors at the back of the palate and a nice, subtle caramalt flavor.

The mouthfeel, though, represents the lager side with a medium, clean, and crisp mouthfeel associated with the best lagers.

I’m not typically the biggest fan of the IPL style, but this is executed exceptionally well, IMHO. I’d try this again in a heartbeat.

 

Poured into a 16 oz skinny pint glass not sure when it was canned. Pours a hazy orange with a finger sticky white head that leaves lace all over the place, with retention. 4.25

Aroma huge ripe melon, papaya, mandarin, and apricot. 4

Taste follows honeydew, mandarin, papaya, mango, and apricot very intense and rather sweet. 4

Mouthfeel is pretty big, a tad sticky not dry, soft carbonation, and at 8% it is really big on flavor and goes down easy enough. 4

Overall this is nice, a tad sweet but I would look for more of this down the road. 4

 

One more new beer from @SouthernSips, Southern Prohibition Sea Lord.

3.9/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

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

A- Black with a small tan head.

S- Caramel, chocolate, toffee, hints of vanilla, some roasted malts, slightly nutty.

T- Vanilla/marshmallow, caramel, some chocolate, some roasted malts, hints of sea salt. Good but there is a slight artificial flavor to it.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A nicely done brown ale that is easy to drink, adjuncts work in this but I would enjoy something like peanuts added instead of the vanilla.

Cheers NBW, stay safe everyone!

 

Hey, kids...very cold day here. I went out briefly with the intent of cutting up some old beams for disposal and immediately went to Plan B. Filled the bird feeders, went in for coffee, listened to church on Facebook, an came up with excuses to wait for football...

We had some prefab Indian food for dinner which was actually quite tasty and quick to make. Cutting up the chicken took the longest. We are always looking for quick and easy during the week..

So this becomes a desert beer:



My second KBS variant, the espresso flavored. Pours inky black with the requisite beige head, so its a looker.

The immediate smell is coffee and acrid dang near burnt coffee. Then some chocolate and not a whole lot else intensity wise. There us a bit if vanilla, a bit of oak, and a very weak hint of bourbon. Coffee dominates.

The taste more or less follows, but the traces emerge a bit more. Coffee still rules, but there is milk chocolate and a sweet vanilla taste that tries to balance out the intense, acrid coffee. The beer balances out more as it warms and as the taste buds adjust, but it never quite escapes the coffee hammer and stays a bit unbalanced for me.

Medium bodied, a touch of chalkiness. Somewhat drying, and a coffee bitterness/char in the aftertaste.

I have had this one and the maple mac fudge variant and have to say I prefer the OG KBS and it isn't close. While I can't say that either variant are poorly made beers, my buds simply prefer the unflavored version. Low 4 region for this one, folks. Negatively influenced by the overall category which equates to liking for me.

 

I found #IPA from Brown’s Brew Co ( Troy, NY). -first time to see one of theirs close to home. It seems that this is one of an experimental series ( dated 7/29/20 with no notes regarding hops) I visit the Adirondacks and Saratoga Springs often, try to drink the more local brews. This is very good for this brewer.
This can presents a cloudy, pale yellow pour with a 1 cm foam cap.
The aroma is of orange blossoms and some strawberries. (This pour is not very cold).
The flavor is full, fruit ( mostly tangerine) and moderate hop bitterness.
The mouthfeel is smooth.
I am enjoying this one.

 

A fantastic sour paired with Sunday night's
Chicken & Mushroom Surprise!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9897/28380/



12.7 oz. bottle.
Bottled 08/16/2018 @ 7.27% abv.

Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch off white head over a reddish-brown body with some lacing. Nose of grapefruit, funk, and oak. Taste of grapefruit and oak with hints of candied citrus and caramel. Near perfect level of sourness at 29 months in the bottle. Nice feel and overall, a sour lover's delight and a great example of a Flanders Red.
Cheers to Dexter, Michigan for this gem!

 

Back again. I was planning when I was drinking some new beers at Dempsey's Brewpub in Watertown, SD today, but I was too busy BSing with my friend to even do it. I had a great time, and he sure as hell needed this trip.
Now back home, and my first new beer review, something i picked up in Watertown HyVee Liquor.


Buffalo snot from Mt. Rushmore Brewing. - an oatmeal stout, and clocks in at 4.3% ABV according to the can.

This beer is ok, but in all honesty, a bit blah. Nothing to really write home about here to be honest.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50254/398345/


3.43/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a nice dark brown color. 4 finger tan head, that is nice and frothy looking. Head retention is good, and there's some lacing on the glass.
The nose has a faint chocolate hint on it, slightly malty, however both aromas are very faint.
Taste - like the nose, faint chocolate and a faint malt sweetness. Slight bit of a roast flavor. All flavors are weak.
Body is fairly thin, not really watery feeling, but thin.
Ok stout, but really lacking in general.

 

Nope. No details provided on the Workhorse website as regards hop variety(s).

Maybe they want this to be a secret!?!

Cheers!

 

Here’s the local one...Second bottle form my two bottle and glass set I got as a gift. This one is a bourbon barrel stout, info: aged 20 months in a mixture of Dickel rye, eight- and twelve-year whiskey barrels.



Pours black with a nice creamy light brown head. It settles to a really nice layer of that same light brown, a pleasant site that still lingers.

Aromas dark roast malts and all the aromas of bourbon, vanilla, coconut, oak.

Taste is dark chocolate with the richness of fudge and strong presence of bourbon.

Mouthfeel is full bodied, creamy carbonation a touch of bitterness. Little booze in the mouthfeel without the heat.

This is a really good well balanced beer. It’s relatively fresh so the bourbon is prominent at the moment. Great sipper for a Sunday night.

@cid71 figured I’d tag since our bonesaw posts the other day.