New Beer Weekend #39

Ha, same.
There was a thread on the main page recently where someone was talking about verbose reviews, and was (I'm paraphrasing pretty liberally here) basically panning them as being pretentious self-fart-sniffers who were just trying to impress people by filling in a lot of words and making themselves look smarter than they are.
I was like: I don't write a bunch of words because I'm smart, I write a bunch of words because I'm too dumb to get the same thoughts across more efficiently!

Reminds me of an old bit -- I think it was Louis CK (obviously before the whole David Cone-esqu masturbation drama) who did it -- that said something along the lines of: a joke isn't done when you don't have anymore words to add, it's done when you can't take anymore words out.

 

Back with another beer, this time, NOT a beer from the current (and, yes, still ongoing: we're all fucking nuts) NBS BIF, but an IPA from an adjacent state to my own, the one I may have been born in:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29415/503286/?ba=woemad#review
This beer is apparently a nod to the Velvet Underground's Loaded album, a personal favorite of mine, and I must tell you, my review is a seriously cringy attempt to work as many of Lou Reed's lyrics from said album into a beer review as I could. You have been warned.

 

#2, a beer that would’ve fit perfectly during the holidays - and yet works well 4 months later.





4.29/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours black with a dense, creamy dark tan head that provides maximum lacing, which pleasantly surprised me, because most big stouts don’t provide a lot of lacing in my experience.

The nose has some roasty char notes, but is all about the ginger, clove, cinnamon, and allspice. The taste hast that roasty char as well, and the ginger and cinnamon are prominent as well. I just wish the allspice was a little less prominent and the vanilla had more space to operate because that would’ve place this firmly in “world class” territory, IMHO.

The mouthfeel was world class, again IMHO, very rich and creamy and decadent. Overall, this was a delightful drinking experience, and a fantastic beer, IMHO.

 

Greetings and Happy Sunday evening... ‘Pub Week’ continues with another relatively low ABV selection, again made possible by @kemoarps from NBS BIF #13.

Machine House Dark Mild, 3.7% English style ale in a 500ml bottle.



A: Pours clear dark brown with chestnut edges and a small off-white that fades to a thin ring
A: Nice roasted malt aroma with cocoa and light coffee
T: More roasted malt character with dark bread, baker’s chocolate, dry nuttiness and some caramel on the finish
M: Light soft carb, light+ body, smooth texture
O: Ridiculously drinkable, with plenty of character considering the ABV. I sound like a broken record, but I drink too many IPAs, so many other great styles out there

 

It's been nearly 9 years since I've properly visited Seattle, but Machine House is a place I will definitely hit next time I'm able to do so.

 

Poured into a a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 4/5/21. Pours a very hazy orange yellow with a finger sticky white head that leaves little thin bubbles of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is pineapple, coconut, peach, mango, white grapes, and apricot. 4.25

Taste follows coconut, pineapple, peach, mango, white grapes, and apricot. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, a tad sticky but not dry, soft gentle carbonation, and at 8.2% ABV it is big on flavor but easy going down. 4.25

 

It's hot out. 82 may not be a lot for all y'all folks in dixie, but for me, especially for mid april, that's hot. I worry for this summer (and this fall... i hope we don't have another fire season like last year...). The good news? Perfect weather for a lovely midwestern lager! I have several to choose from thanks to @FBarber and his ridiculously generous (and apparently not finished?!) BIF bombings. He, however, called Art History out by name earlier so I figured that was as good an excuse as any to crack open the Gravitace of theirs!



Pour is a slightly murky golden yellow with a good couple of fingers of wet white bubbles that settle down, but continue to leave their mark on the sides of the glass.

Nose is bready malts with earthy/spicy hops layered over the top.

Taste encourages the malts to shade back a touch and let the hops step forward, which they do with aplomb. Earthy leading into herbaciously bitter hops are the primary driver here, with just a hint of perfume-y sweetness that reminds me of a note I got repeatedly out of several NJ IPAs a couple of BIF iterations back, randomly enough. I promise that's not just because of hte convo above about Jersey and Carton (who I've heard great things about but never had), as I noticed the comparison before I'd even caught up on reading the thread! Some bready malts and an almost creamy sweetness milling about in there.

This is really hitting the spot sitting on my porch looking out at the mountains and trying not to melt in the sun. Thanks Frank for sending it my direction!!

 

That's right, you totally did. I'm still adjusting to the whole weekend NBW vs NBS, besides, last night seems like forever ago! Ha. And, in to further flush out what I think we were both getting at in our reference to it, for me, often times when I list a bunch of different things it's like you said... trying to give an impression of something that's not a 1:1 analogue, and so kind of trying to triangulate in on it... define the space not by its contents, but by it's boundaries and neighbours, so one can hopefully get an idea of the where those converge when direct descriptors don't necessarily apply. Anyway, case in point: see this paragraph.

Also, I love that Jeffersonian iteration of the concept, and it rings incredibly true for my own correspondences as well, ha. Tangentially, it reminds me of the (possibly [probably] apocryphal) tale of Calvin Coolidge at a dinner with some dignitaries or what have you, whereby one of the gals, challenging his laconic reputation, confided in the then-president that she had bet one of her acquaintances that she could get him to say more than two words.
His supposed response?
"You lose."

That's high comedy well executed, right there.

 

Last one, let’s go to lagerville - in an interesting direction.





4.17/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a gorgeous amber color that is perfectly clear and sports a sudsy light tan head. Fruity notes (like oranges) and a really nice caramel note on the nose.

The caramel flavor, complemented by the honey, works really well with the nice citrus flavor, and that flavor combo pack works with the crisp mouthfeel to leave a flavorful, thirst quenching beer that I’d buy again and again.

 

Starting my weekend off with one that I've had in my fridge for months and needed to open.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/489632/



12 oz. bottle.
11.5% abv.
PKG 09/03/20.

Moderate pour yields a one inch medium to dark tan head over a black body with sticky lacing. Beautiful! Nose of dark roasted malt, chocolate malt, caramel, dark fruit, and maybe a bit of nougat. Taste of chocolate, caramel, chocolate covered roasted cherries (yeah, I said that), and roasted malted milk and slight bitter chocolate near the finish. Near velvet feel and overall, a very nice way to start my weekend!
Cheers to those stalwarts of Comstock, Michigan for this gem!!

 

Definitive Cellar Echos DDH DIPA
Pours a hazy deep orange/gold with a nice 3/4" white tight bubble head with decent retention and spotty sticky lacing.
Aroma is peach, tangerine, pineapple, dark berries and melon.
Taste follows with juicy fruits, a nice malt base, some grapefruit/pine bittereness.
Feel is soft with a hoppy oily mid and a drying finish with no hint of alcohol.
Wanted to drop in for a quick one. Good beer. Cheers all.

 

This one was gifted to me by a co-worker , a couple of weeks ago.

O : Pretty good, though I wish there was more tartness. That said, it's less sweet than I was assuming , so exceeded expectations. Good enough. I'd get it again, though fresher. Not that it's bad, just guessing that the blueberry would be more prominent, and the herbal flavor maybe less so, or at least more defined. I don't usually like fruited non-sours, especially non-citrus ones, but like this one.

L: Hazy ruby red with purple and pink tones[at the edges] . Looks like raspberry juice + pink grapefruit + blueberry juice. Overall effect is a turbid gray-ish red. Points off for gray, but added points for the substantial (2+finger) light pink head. . Leaves 1" streaks of lacing, and a 1/4" ring.

S: Smell is raspberry + dried blueberry. As the head fades, the aroma of vanilla taffy shows up. (It's not the vanilla-beans-soaked-in rum/booze smell that is common in beers with vanilla) . When first poured, and from the open can, there are hop-derived(assuming) aromas of pine,vague citrus, and green onion (Amarillo?) , and a slight herbal smell(Michigan Copper?) so some hint of an IPA. All-in-all, it smells pretty good .

T : Taste is light dried or cooked blueberry,briefly some of the citrus/pine/oniony flavor suggested by the aroma, vanilla that definitely suggests marshmallow, and finishing with the barely bitter , not-quite-mint herbal flavor present in the aroma. It suggests the horehound/sage flavor I get from Michigan Copper hops, but not as strong or definite as I usually find, so again, that's a guess. That element lingers awhile after finish, along with the creamy vanilla, and is the only bitterness that I detect.

F: Feel is lightly creamy, with moderate, soft carbonation tingle. Lips and front of the tongue are left with a coated feel.

4.25/5 rDev -3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/51814/520863/?ba=mikeinportc#review

 

Ok, home from a very productive day at work, though, my back is totally killing me. Thank goodness I go to the Chirporactor tomorrow. Should be back in fighting form when I go to work on Tuesday.

So I need some painkiller tonight, and this is thanks to the kindness of @woemad .


Lumberbeard Brewing Belgian Style Dark Strong Ale -12.2% ABV.

Yeah, this is hitting the spot tonight. Very damn good.

Review:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58538/540036/
4.25/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a nice looking brown color. There's a bit of tan colored head here in this beer. The head retention isn't too good, but good for the ABV. There's some beautiful lacing on the glass.
The nose is a nice mixture of lots of things here. Dark fruit - raisin, caramel, toffee, and a malty sweetness as well.
Taste - This is a rich beer with lots of raisin, caramel, toffee, and a malty backbone to it. These flavors really mix together, and work together very well.
The body is thick, and full. There's really almost no alcohol burn to warn you that this is a heavy hitter.
Sold beer, and I'm honored to try it.


Maybe another, we'll see after this.

 

Ahh youre bringing back memories. Lived in Bergen Co. Grew up there really. One of my first jobs was helping to train Labrador and Chesapeake Bay retrievers with my neighbor. We did alot of training and field trials out of town and would visit the Pine Barrens. Back home I would get up at 530am and help him train by throwing bumbers and shooting pistols or rifles. I would do this before school and got paid a dollar a day...

 

Thanking @Rub_This_BBQ for this one, Tree House Juice Project Citra + Barbe Rouge. It's OK, pretty frooty.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 4/13/21. Pours a hazy orange yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves a thin wall of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is ripe melon, boysenberry, pineapple, and peach. 4.5

Taste follows cantaloupe, boysenberry, pineapple, peach, and passionfruit. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a above average, fairly soft creamy carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 7.8% it drinks bigger in flavor, but really easy going down. 4.75

Overall this is another excellent NEDIPA from Spyglass Brewing. 4.5

 

Closing out the weekend with a sipper. I know nothing about this beer at all. Grabbed it from my dads fridge when I visited last weekend let’s see what it’s about.

Gulden Draak - Classic (a dark red triple)



Poured fairly aggressively, nice bubbly vigorous growing head. Settled into a nice big clump and left some substantial lacing when it did. It appears dark brow but when held to light it is a beautiful deep dark red.

Aroma is really pleasant and sweet, smells floral, candied cherry, honey, little bit of baking spice and maybe even a tad of chocolate.

Taste follows the nose almost to a tee with every aroma again presenting itself. It reminds me of something you’d get at a bakery. Not some sugary sweet baked good but one with dried fruits and spices in it that has been dosed with a touch of booze.

Mouthfeel is medium with a lively carbonation. It warms you just enough which isn’t surprising given the abv. There is a subtle sweetness and low to no bitterness, at least nothing substantial enough to notice.

I love drinking beers I know nothing about or have not even heard of. It’s like drinking blind. I especially like doing it with Belgian beers because they tend to be very complex and yeast driven. I really enjoyed this one. Until next weekend, have a good week everyone!

edit: I never post my rating but I hit Rdev of zero with this one, that’s a first for me. Also read more about it the aroma makes more sense now “refermented with bordeaux wine yeast”. What a really neat beer. Anyone else tried this?

 

It has been one of those weekends that at some point, you must treat yourself or you will start having anger issues.
I really needed something better than a cookie, and a bottle of Mexican Cake, triple chocolate edition, sent to me by apparently a prophetic @Mbgreg in the amazing NBS BIF 13 (I don’t exaggerate here, it’s simply amazing)
In any case the beer:
Woof, Huberman. How do I describe this? It’s two beers in one. Rich, almost decadent chocolate imperial stout, barrel aged no less, and then you swallow it - wow - the heat hits and it hits hard.
The curious part is you don’t stop drinking it. You keep trying to see if what you are experiencing is real. And it is. Repeatedly.
Not a beer for the faint of heart, but if you can take it, I highly recommend trying it. Wow. Thanks Mark, this saved my weekend!
(What? It’s normal for a person to drink a bomber in a single sitting, right?)