New Beer Weekend #68

Thanks to @Victory_Sabre1973 for getting this thing started. @cavedave - awesome post as usual, good to see you jumping in!

Beauty if a weekend here in the 50 degree range and sunny. Could have done a bunch of yard work, but enjoyed time with the grandson instead. Yard seems to have survived.

Tonight's victim:



Allagash Nocturna. They say they aged a silky stout in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans.

Looks proper enough on the pour with a fairly dense tan foamy head that falls in a few minutes to a single layer of a cap that clings surprisingly well. Dark brown with good clarity.

Smells sorta sweet on the inhale, vanilla and some milk chocolate, toffee, and a nice bit of woody oak. A little bourbon. Not mind altering, but an inviting aroma.

Smooth tasting with no jagged edges. I get some sweetness initially, then the bourbon arrives but it is still quite smooth. Chocolate - just a little and it combines nicely with the fair amount of vanilla that emerges. Woody oak, but only a touch.Typical stout malt, but very dialed back on the charred bit and very mild coffee notes. To me it opens and finishes pleasantly sweet, while it dies some things in the middle There's enough of a bitter bite to keep the sweetness in check.

The feel is medium maybe a bit less. Enough carbonation to keep it alive, slightly sticky on the lips.

Overall, this strikes me as a well-balanced beer, and it is Allagash's interpretation of a stout, which to me means it has elements in common with a BSDA. It has that Odyssey vibe about it but nowhere near as intensely flavored. Much smoother than North Sky. Good, easy drinking 9% beer, deftly integrated flavors. Easy 4.0, probably a tad North of that.

 

Mmmmm

 

Cheers, Dave!

 

Another new one for me this weekend and it's just dandy as candy. Cheers Advocates!!
ZIP LINE KOLSCH
4.11/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

12oz bottle EB date 1/15/22 into a 12oz Kolsch glass.
L: Pours a slightly pale straw yellow with light yeast visible, fair carbonation, has a white 1.5 finger head with a cap that fades quickly to edge foam. There is some micro sediment which could be held back with a gentle slow bottle pour and there is light random lacing present.
S: White bread, grains, crystal malt, yeast, light grass.
T: Sweet honey malts, white bread, cracker, lightly earthy, clean, light bitterness throughout and very lightly fruity. Very fresh tasting.
F: Crisp med-bodied mouthfeel that is moderately soft with a sharp and very fast finish. Extremely well balanced.
O: A proper Kolsch glass helps make this beer even more fantastic than it already is. Very easy drinking, crisp & clean and it follows right in step with a traditional German Kolsch. It is excellent in it's style.

 

Well hello Late Night NBW
Pulled this one out as I thought it was perfect for Dia de los Muertos.
@strohme2 Justin hit me with this in our last NBS BIF #13

Bombon de la Muerte

Pours the deepest, darkest brown you can conceive before blackness takes over. A petite mocha fluff rises and slowly settles into a most elegant film and beautifully defined ring. Smooth, graceful layers of lacing.
The nose is pure bliss. Deep, rich bakers chocolate, dark fudge (still warm), slightly charred caramel, some sweet alcohol heat akin to bourbon or brandy.
The flavor follows suit. Lush and decadent. A swirl of cocoa, booze, roast, caramel, charred barrel, a gentle salted caramel note, and a kiss of vanilla. Wow.
Mouthfeel is mildly chewy, viscous, and sweet and warm in the finish.
Overall, I find this to be an amazing take on a version of a Mexican stout.
4.46/5 rDev +6.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Mil Gracias Justin!

 

@Whyteboar sent me some beer for making graphs in NBS BIF #14. I received them yesterday. This is the first one I've tried, from a brewery I've never heard of. It's a hand-canned 16oz "crowler" from Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery, labeled Kevin the Bold, abv 11, ibu 30. TAKE IT EASY!

No version of Kevin the Bold existed in BA. Based on listings on Untappd, I'm not sure whether this is a barrel-aged version or not -- three listings from Gravel Bottom with variations on Kevin the Bold, none of which have an 11% abv, which is clearly written on this label.

Pours black with a small head, small amount of fine, slow carbonation. Head turns into a thin skin across the surface and about a half centimeter up the side of glass. Smell is rich chocolate and roasted grains, tons of anise, some vanilla, somewhat boozy (based on the aroma, I'd say it's barrel aged). Also coffee.

Taste is out of Old Raspy's playbook. Dark molasses sweetness, lots of anise and coffee. Burnt/roast coffee. It doesn't taste barrel aged. It doesn't even taste boozy.

Mouthfeel is thick without being sticky. Overall, this is a very good beer.

 

Us west coasters are just trying to catch up to you...we're only two hours behind! Better look out!

 

I stopped at Alfie's Wild Ride after closing @ 6 this evening. It's a new spot in Stowe with Mexican street food, 24 draft lines, stage, pinball machines and other games. It was a car auto service shop for decades before this.
Now home for a new offering from Portland, ME.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4/473624/



12 ounce bottle.
Bottled 08/25/21.

Moderate pour yields a one and a 1/4 inch light tan head over a near black body with sticky lacing.

Nose of muted aromas of roasted malt, vanilla, chocolate, and slight oaked bourbon.

Taste outdoes the nose with much stronger flavors of chocolate and vanilla coming forward.
Nice hoppy finish is a pleasant surprise with some bourbon notes there as well.

Feel is adequate for the style.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this to anyone.

Cheers!

 

Look, see! I do buy my own beer sometimes. I bought this Threes pilsner, Vliet, in NYC and shipped it home last month. And now I'm drinking it.

16oz can served in a footed pilsner. Dated 08-26-21.

Pours clear golden yellow with a good sized head. Fades to a bunch of stiff peaks and clumpy/spotty lacing. Smell is nice and grainy, hay, moderate floral sweetness, maybe a hint of grassy bitterness.

Taste is similar but different balance. Floral sweetness on top of the grain, grassy bitterness more clear.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, crisp. This is a nice, refreshing beer.

Thanks, @snaotheus! (I'm supposed to thank people that ship me beer, right? )

 

Bentonville Brewing's Festbier, 5.9% ABV; 3.79 overall

More a traditional festbier I saw over in Germany, which WASN'T Marzens or Viennas
Pours an effervescent & bright gold with one finger of eggshell colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Breadysness, grainyness & some grassy notes

T: Grassy, bready/grainy with just a little lemons & some mineral hop notes up front. Some floral hop notes break through the grainyness & breadyness, plus some lemon as this warms, a little dryness too. Finishes dry, grassy with sweet grainy & bready notes

MF: Medium body, grainy, medium carbonation

Fairly tasty, just doesn't quite have that next level drinkability that one looks for in a festbier

 

Another beer I bought myself! KCBC - This Is Your Brain On Hops (Mosaic + Motueka).

16oz can served in a tulip. Canned on 09/22/21. Bought it in NYC and shipped it home.

Pours a hazy light amber with a medium sized head and a fair amount of active carbonation. Smell is tropical juice, mango and pineapple, pith and fruit skin.

Taste is pretty in-your-face tropical juice. Again mango and pineapple primarily. But it escapes the trap of being too sweet or too juicy. Balanced with bitterness that makes me think of mango skin.

Mouthfeel is medium, just lively enough to escape oppressiveness. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with this beer.

 

Greetings, fellow NBWers,

I've been oddly forgetful about posting here, lately. I'm not sure why. Last week I had a new beer to post, and just forgot to share it. Anyway, the fall weather is definitely here in the inland NW these days. I don't think the temperature got above the low 50s this past week, and at times it has been quite rainy. Seahawks had a bye today, so I spent the day cleaning and chilling. I finished binge watching the first season of Counterpart, and am now finally getting to The Terror. I read the novel it was based on, and have read several books about the real-life Franklin Expedition, so I'm coming in perhaps a little more knowledgeable than most. I actually saw an exhibition about the various British arctic expeditions of the 1800s at the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, where I upset the docents by snapping a picture of the James Caird. I swear they came at me from all angles, with perhaps one shimmying down a line from the ceiling. Hell hath no fury like UK museum docents.

Anyway, today, before dinner, I had a fresh hop pale ale from Fort George:

With a name like Rock, Paper, Centennial, you'd expect this to be an old school hoppy beer, and you'd be absolutely right! This is gloriously and unapologetically West Coadt style. Grapefruity, piney and clear, it's pretty much the opposite of a murky hazebomb, and it absolutely was just what I was hoping for out of the last FH beer in my fridge.

Cheers!

 

DANG. ISO: Smoked cheese! FT: You name it.