New Beer Weekend #30

I wouldn't say metal is at the top of my playlist most times, but I do have a decent collection of metal CDs.

I have a VERY diverse taste in music. I can appreciate most styles played by good musicians. Good musicians make good music, regardless of style. Crappy musicians make crappy music, regardless of style.

There are a few musicians I won't listen to, even though they are very good, because their showmanship I find to be silly and exaggeratedly self-aggrandizing. Celtic Woman and André Rieu come to mind. Has nothing to do with the style. It's just me.

 

Oskar Blues Old Chub
I like the new tartan can design. I haven't had this since I joined BA, therefore new beer.
Clear but dark whisky color, fine tan head. Strong dark fruit and toffee aroma with a light smoky malt note.
Dates, vanilla, light peat, brown bready flavors.
Smooth coating feel, light alcohol heat from the 8% ABV, good carbonation.
I think this stands with Dirty Bastard and Claymore wee heavies. I wish there were more like this. We are getting an Iron Hill Brewery here later this year and am looking forward to trying their Scotch Ales.

 

I had the same reaction to that can before I read your post @Reef. That is a beer I haven’t had in a long long time.

 

Sharing Suarez beers with others was almost as much fun as enjoying the great beers sent my way in the NBS BIF's I was in. Always fun to see folks enjoy that simple goodness!

 

White Elm Experimental Development #3 Spelt Boi DNEIPA, 8% ABV. Pours moderately thick and bright hazy orange with a 3+ finger white head that left foamy lacing, and there are solid white chunks of spelt. Nose is grainy - presumably spelt, and some pine. Taste is again grainy, with pine and light citrus, slightly sweet and moderately bitter, with a sweet coating left on the lips. Excellent thick and smooth mouthfeel, overall outstanding-adjacent. The spelt is an interesting twist, not a typical DNEIPA.

4.27/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

It's a sunny -13F here, heading for a balmy high of -8F, and back down to -27F tonight with -30F windchill. Good day to sit inside and drink craft.

 

Great review, and the beer sounds amazing.

 

I hope everyone is doing well this weekend. It's nice to be back in the fold after Extreme Beer Fest knocked me out of it last week. Lots of cold and snow hit us this past week. Last night we got a layer ice that coated everything causing me to slide down our front stairs on my back this morning while carrying one of our 22lb cranky and old dogs in my arms. Luckily, I broke Gilbert's fall and took the brunt of the impact. So it goes. Tomorrow we're expecting another 6-9 inches. All of this torturous winter weather has me looking for beverages to keep me warm. While hot cocoa and tea are fine for some, I needed something with a bit more kick. Last night I pulled out a bottle that I had planned on drinking for the barley wine tasting in January, but the 750ml would have been a challenge that weekend. Ozark's Batch One Thousand is an English barley wine aged in a blend of bourbon and rye barrels for 17 months, and this one came to me from @jvgoor3786 as part of NBS BIF #12. Thanks again, man!

Poured into a snifter glass, the liquid was a dark mahogany at first glance with little to no light penetrating it. Held up to a stronger light source, the beer took on a deep cherry color that was brilliantly clean. I achieved no head on any of my refills. The aroma was very heavy on the barrel and the libations they once held. Bourbon, rye, and brandy all seemed to waft from the glass with a touch of leather and toffee. The taste was much less boozy than the aroma. The spirits were all present in an amicable blend while also showcasing some raisin and date notes that anchored the beer. The finish was mouthwatering with a healthy dose of brown sugar on the palate. The aforementioned leather was also present, as was some molasses and spice. For no head being present, the feel was surprisingly lively and went down smooth. It had less body than I had anticipated from the look. Overall, this was a very well done barrel aged barley wine from Ozark.

 

Happy Valentines Day all!
I saw this had been released and had to try it. After all, Founders generally knows how to do BA beer.
So, Panther Cub - BBA Porter, 9.2 ABV
Poured a deep black and was topped with a medium brown head that had left solid lacing. The maple and vanilla certainly leap out from the aroma, carried along by very pleasant malts.
The taste, where the rubber hits the proverbial road, was a lovely hit of the base malts before being over whelmed by the aforementioned maple and vanilla, with the bourbon rather missing from the mix. There was a charred grain taste, maybe that was the barrel.
The feel was outright curious- it would start all smooth and tasty and full and then when it hit the throat an unexpected harshness kicked in. Too fresh maybe? It was bottled on 1/29/21
So overall, well, definitely a BA Porter with maple and vanilla and maybe if it is aged just a bit the base beer will present more and the add-ins fade a bit. Good thing I have 3 left.
As they say, time will tell.
Cheers all!

 

Happy Sunday, all!

New beer to me today is Toppling Goliath's Mornin' Delight (2020).



Poured a silky black with a gradual, long lasting head. Just from the pour I got a hint of maple.

The aroma is full of vibrant maple. It's sweet, but not artificial. Like straight maple syrup.

Light-medium viscosity, the coffee roast leads to more maple syrup, then the two combine for a balanced, lingering finish.

This is a very very well done stout, which should be no surprise, based on Toppling Goliath's reputation. Very drinkable and the adjuncts are done well without making the beer too sweet.

 

Allagash I believe in love
...pinkish amber color
...medium,effervescent carbonation with a slightly thin body.
....aroma is cranberry upfront followed in second place with raspberry. Sour tart funk with candi sugar.
...taste is dry cranberry and raspberry with some mild sweetness. Very tart upfront followed by sourness that lingers. A bit of funk and a honey/sugary taste that is very mild.
..overall,like most beer in this style you really have to be in the mood for it. Otherwise it was very flavorful,complex, and well made

 

I love this brewery's products and their theme of tools. However, as a proverbial gear-head, mechanical engineer from birth the image of a drill chuck to represent an impact wrench steers me wrong. Enough bitching, after all, the packaging is not what you drink.

3.96/5 rDev -9.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16oz can dated 1/19/21 at fridge temp to a Nonic.
A very hazy yellow/orange body sits below a small white head. Lacing is present, but not amazing in clean glassware.
Smell is of alcohol first but some hoppy goodness comes through.
Taste is similar. Alcohol is to be expected with this beer, there is some fruitiness, some musty dankness, but the alcohol rules.
Body is medium to thin, carbonation promotes the alcohol.
Well done triple IPA. If I'm having a high ABV beer, I prefer a stout, but this is well executed.

 

Afternoon BAs. Enjoying my day off after my first 3 days back as bbq pitster. I still have a few beers left from a recent bomb from @Nugganooch - 4 new. But I also have 2 Plinys so I must start with one of those so I will be back later. Great reviews so far! Cheers.

 

Happy NBW and happy Valentine's Day for those of you who are fans of that stuff. I can't say I'm into the whole romantic poetry thing - unless Sonata Arctica's "The Misery" counts - but displaying the rotting corpses of plants that were brutally severed from the Earth by a blunt knife as a means of showing affection is rather metal.

Return of the Warlord from Long Live Beerworks is a coffee stout w/ vanilla & lactose. @Dimidiata was kind enough to send this my way, and my inner ManOwaRrior was quite excited by both the name and the description of the beer itself. In anticipation of enjoying such a wonderfully named beverage, I donned my finest loincloth and turned on ManOwaR's "Louder than Hell" at an entirely inappropriate volume, ensuring that all of my neighbors would be able to enjoy the experience with me. While I could never argue that it's their best album, it was my introduction to the band, and I'll always have a soft spot for it. If you don't find yourself pumping your fist to the chorus of "The Gods Made Heavy Metal," you're very likely a wimp and/or poseur, and should therefore leave the hall.

The beer pours jet black with a dense khaki head that quickly recedes to a ring of bubbles that survives for a few minutes before fading into nothingness. Holding the glass up to the light reveals deep ruby highlights at the edges, evoking images of the blood of my enemies, but it's almost entirely an impenetrable sea of darkness.

Right off the bat, dark roasted coffee jumps out of the glass. It's not the charcoal and ash of Seattle's finest, but it runs darker than I'd prefer and throws off a slightly acrid note. Vanilla quickly follows and helps smooth out the coffee's rougher edges, as well as stand alone with a light, fruit-tinged sense of sweetness. The adjuncts tease a dual-pronged chocolate profile out of the nose. On one side, the coffee dovetails with the base to throw off dry cocoa powder. On the other, vanilla and lactose take it in a sweeter direction that sits directly atop the cusp of milk and dark chocolates - richer than milk chocolate, yet sweeter than even a 55% dark chocolate. Lightly burnt caramel lurks in the background, along with a fleeting molasses note and lactose-derived sweetness. The coffee slowly smooths out as it continues to warm, and the acrid note fades away, which made the last eight to ten ounces even more enjoyable to smell.

Coffee leads on the palate as well, but is smoother from the get-go with light notes of roasted hazelnut and a faint but pleasant smoky character. Vanilla joins the fray and dominates on the mid-palate, working to smooth out the coffee as well as conjure a rich milk chocolate flavor out of the base, creating a sensation redolent of an iced mocha. As the beer moves towards the backend, semisweet chocolate, dark chocolate, and dried black mission figs weave in and out, working atop a base that's surprisingly lean for its 12.5% ABV strength and inclusion of lactose. It's certainly sweet, but it comes across more as a luxurious canvas than cloying sugar-water. Coffee returns once more on the finish, leaving a trailing dry aftertaste with touches of cocoa and wisps of vanilla.

While it's certainly full-bodied, it never came across as overly thick, nor a chore to drink. Lactose is easy to overdo and get wrong, but they managed to use it effectively with a well-constructed base beer.

Overall, this was an enjoyable beer that hailed, killed, and did precisely what it said it would. If I were going to make changes, I'd bump the vanilla's intensity up just a bit more and lighten the roast profile on the coffee. I suspect tweaking the roast would both eliminate the initial acrid note on the nose - the beer's only real blemish - as well as yield some secondary coffee-derived flavors of dark fruits and/or roasted nuts. I'm never going to expect too much nuance out of non-BA pastry stouts, but flashes of subtlety never hurt.

Score: 4.0

 

The only Ode Bruin I’ve had was from New Glarus, I thought it was phenomenal.