New Beer Weekend #69

@larryi86, so sorry; may you and your family hold on to all the memories.

 

I'll be finishing my evening with a big BA beer from Founders.

Founders Velvet Rush Barrel-Aged Imperial Brown Ale
ABV: 11.1%
IBU: 30



Strong chocolate in the aroma, not sweet, backed by coffee and bourbon.

Dark brown from the front, clear deep ruby with a backlight, nicely carbonated. Topped with a short tan head that recedes in a couple of minutes to bubbles and a ring, as expected for a barrel-aged beer of this strength. Strings of lacing when I tip the glass.

Flavor is fronted by coffee, joined quickly by chocolate, and more subtly with vanilla and bourbon. The whiskey is present, but not at all dominant. Alcohol is well controlled in the flavor, with virtually no alcohol warming, which at 11.1% ABV may not be a good thing! The vanilla presents as an almost cherry-like flavor. The intermixing of flavors continues throughout all the way to the finish, with a wonderful chocolate and bourbon remaining in the aftertaste between sips.

The body is moderate to a bit thin for the ABV, but not particularly thin in absolute terms.

Overall, an excellent sipping brown ale. Founders is, IMO, the best barrel-aging brewery in the country. Nearly all of their BA beers are done with a well-controlled subtly and are just a joy to drink.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.5 | T: 4.5 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.35

 

Glad you liked that on Larry. I thought it would really push you to explore what it had to offer.

 

For all the chatter about all the big, hyped, strong beers and breweries, it's a beer like this that really grounds me, and helps me focus on what a great, drinkable 'beer' really is. This is a beery beer that fits almost any mood or situation.

 

Thanks guys

 

Well I popped over to my hometown brewery to catch up with a friend visiting from out of town.
I was happy to find a plethora of IPA's that were new. But the shining star of the day was this one. She's new, and I entered her into the database.

Super Pal DIPA

From the friends who brought us Knuckle Sandwich. This is a solid, slightly lower ABV, DIPA that has some similarities to KS, yet still has its own identity. I hope they put this one in regular rotation.

Pours a beautiful darker gold hue. White head is semi-fluffy to milky. Good retention. Light layered lacing.
Nose abounds with a tempting melange of zesty citrus, pine resin, and mildly sweet malts.
Taste follows suit. The citrus is bright: orange and lemon zest. The resiny pine comes in to tone down the citrus a bit. Mildly bitter, only slightly leaning toward dank. The malt base is ever present but totally hits the Goldilocks sweet spot, just right: not too sweet.
Mouthfeel is just shy of medium, carbonation is fine for style, and the finish is smooth with a nice balance between sweet and resiny bitterness.
4.14/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Amen. I had the pleasure last weekend. That is an amazing beer.

 

Good to hear from you K! Cheers!

 

Yeah it was a very interesting brew. Like I said I love wine barrel aged brews- being a Chef for so many years I did alot of wine pairings/dinners...until I discovered crafty beers way back and transitioned to mainly craft beers. So its natural that I appreciate the WBA beers. This was packed with wine nuance though with the multiple grape adds. Not sure where I got the bourbon from.... May have just been the ABV which is high for a Gose style, BA. Anyhow I am honored to be able to try this and a big Thank You. I have a sip left for tomorrow. Cheers.

 

How cool. As for your Pete's Wicked Ale homage, I used to drink gallons of that. My buddy worked for Pete, got him distributed in SoCal, and eventually helped relaunch their lager using the very successful "Wicked" in the renaming. Got to drink with Pete at this cool local bar in Costa Mesa that was THEE go to place for beer fans. The Goathill Tavern.
Pete even barked out, "Come on guys, you don't have to keep ordering Pete's. There's so many other great beers here!" Great time.

 

Evening, fellow NBWers,

Cloudy and windy night, but it's 57° outside. This weekend has been warmer than normal for around here. Decent amount of rain during the week. My Eastern Eagles won yesterday, keeping their FCS playoffs hopes mathematically alive, but football has otherwise been disappointing for me this weekend.

Went with an imported beer today - an adjunct laden oatmeal porter from Estonia:

Billed as a "Vanilla Latte" porter, it was pretty good, without being great. Had to give it some time to warm up for anything other than vanilla to emerge, flavor wise. I'd probably not spend another $6.49 for another bottle of it.
Cheers!

 

Noy sure if I drank it before or after the creation of NBS, but I've definitely had a beer brewed with kelp, from a Scottish brewery. Probably back in the 00s.

 

That was linked, maybe this thread, maybe wbaydn, maybe the BIF thread. I haven't had that one.

 

I haven't posted in this thread in quite a while. A variety of reasons involving the busyness of life that I won't get into now. But I had a new beer I thoroughly enjoyed last night, and I reviewed it. So I thought I'd share.

4 By 4 Brewing
Smooth Criminal
DDH DIPA



Excellent beer. Pours a dark apricot color with a huge, thick, off-white head that dissipated quickly leaving medium lacing.

The smell is loads of gummy peach and tropical fruits.

The taste is mango and sweet peach. Very tasty. There's a hint of pine on the finish.

The mouthfeel is slightly slick, oily, medium body, low/medium carbonation.

Overall a very delicious beer that's dangerously easy to drink for the abv.