New Beer Weekend #70

Good afternoon NBW
I bought a six pack of these hoping for the best

The review:
11.2oz can stamped 26.07.21 BF 26/SEP/2022 poured into a becher glass at fridge temp 6.7% ABV. The beer pours bright dark amber with ruby highlights and thick tan colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves streaks of lacing. The aroma is mild with rich malt and notes of burnt sugar caramel. The taste is semisweet caramel with dark dried fruit and chocolate notes. Moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good doppelbock.

I'll have no problem drinking the six pack, but it's not as good their other offerings. Hope to be back later. Cheers all and nice to have @cjgiant kicking things off today!

 

Fernson/Hy-Vee collaboration Back to Bed BBA Imperial Stout, 11.2% ABV. Pours black and moderately thick with a real nice 4-finger medium brown head that left a wall of foamy lacing. Nose is coffee, light vanilla, and bourbon, no sweetness, moderate bitterness. Taste is coffee, some chocolate, and bourbon. Excellent dry mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

4.27/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Hy-Vee is a regional supermarket chain with real decent liquor/craft stores. They occasionally have empty bourbon barrels to provide local breweries for some incredible one-offs. This one is an imperial stout with Coffee, Vanilla, and Cocoa Nibs aged in a Bulleit Single Barrel Bourbon barrel. They already have others aging at several other local breweries.

 

I worked in the cool weather for the last 2-hrs so I figured I'd start with a stout.

3.79/5 rDev -4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16oz can dated 09/01/21 to a diagonally cut tumbler at approximately 45F.
The body is near black, but reddish at the edges of the glass when held to the light. This beer has an impressive head that is puffy, rocky and deep-tan with multisized bubbles. The head clings to the glass well all the way through the session.
The aroma is not as impressive, nothing but must really; maybe some sense of the Belgian yeast.
The taste is better- Dry start with a hint of chocolate with the Allagash yeast coming through. The finish has plum notes.
The body is a little thin but somehow works with the flavor profile. Despite the large head (or maybe because of it) the carbonation is about right.
Overall this is a departure from stouts I normally favor. Its not special to me, but pretty good for what it is.

 

Thanks for kicking us off today, @cjgiant.

Today is my only new-to-me beer currently in my 'fridge. IDK if I'll go shopping before next weekend. I might, but I try to avoid the shopping rush crowds. We'll see.

Hammerheart Löyly Sahti Ale
ABV: 7.1%
IBU: NA



Hammerheart is still plugging away as a small production brewery as they await the "next chapter" in their future. So, I pick up their beers from time-to-time.

Today's beer is a sahti, which is a Scandinavian farmhouse ale, traditionally brewed without hops and with juniper/evergreen tips.

Mostly clear "iced tea brown" (back-light gives it a bit of a reddish tinge) with gentle carbonation, topped by a ¾ inch, thick, off-white head with fairly short retention. Thick sheets of lacing are left as I tip the glass.

Smells of light smoke and north woods pine backed by a bready malt.

My first taste... I'm not sure what I've got here. None of the promised smoke, and little of the evergreen. It has a light sour flavor, but not the tartness that might be expected from a farmhouse beer. Kind if like sour malts. I know that sounds bad, but it is not. It's actually OK, but kind of bizarre. I just don't know how to describe it. No bitterness at all. The malts provide a good backing to the other flavors, but even after several sips, I'm struggling to describe it. At the half-way point, I'm now getting the juniper / evergreen flavors. The aftertaste is mild, malts, and (finally) evergreen.

Body is moderate and smooth.

Overall, an unusual beer. It's not one I'd buy again.

My expectation was for a mildly tart farmhouse ale, and I was hoping to have it with the Thanksgiving meal. I may still, but it just doesn't have the tartness I was hoping for.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.0 | T: 3.5 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.5 | Rating: 3.65

 

I'm familiar with Hy-Vee, of course, but how in the heck does a grocery store end up with empty bourbon barrels?

 

Good Saturday afternoon, New Beer Weekenders. This afternoon, I'm taking a short break from reviewing the wonderful beer I received in the BIF to sample a local offering: The Great Diamond Heist, a Red IPA made by Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Co. in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I love this style and always drink a lot of Celebration over the holidays. My favorite Red IPA comes from here in New Jersey: Slack Tide Brewing's Cedar Plug. But I was excited to see this relatively new offering from Forgotten Boardwalk, a brewery that opened in 2014 and brews some good beer but it's never really gained much notoriety.

The can was undated but I believe this batch was released in late September. It pours a clear, deep ruby-orange color with a thick, creamy, ecru-colored head and heavy lacing. The smell is rather subdued; it's malty and earthy with some citrus in the background. The taste is primarily a strongly earthy malt with lots of bitterness. As it warms the taste develops and there are notes of pine resin and herbs from the Simcoe hops. I suspect the Vic Secret hops were added late in the boil as they contribute more earthiness than tropical fruit flavors. It finishes quite dry and bitter. I like the mouth feel: it's rather creamy and viscous with pleasant carbonation, and drinks very easily at 6% ABV. A second pour is not an issue. Overall, The Great Diamond Heist is a pleasant drinking Red IPA, it lacks the depth of flavor of, for example, Sierra Nevada Celebration, or even New Jersey examples like Slack Tide's Cedar Plug or Twin Elephant's Bayonne Bleeder. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it on a cool, late autumn afternoon.

3.86/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I hope everyone is enjoying his or her new beer(s) on this fine autumn afternoon. I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of BIF selections I'm excited to try. Cheers, NBW!

 

Permit me to suggest another Red IPA for you to try: Brooklyn Winter IPA.

Cheers!

 

I had to NBW this beer. It is special. Blue-black color. It looks like wine in certain light. The smell is blueberries, cocoa, vanilla ice cream, graham crackers, and lavender. The taste is vanilla ice cream with massive amounts of blueberries and chocolate sauce. The mouthfeel is silky-smooth. The perfect amount of tartness. Not too sweet. More carbonation than expected for a stout. Overall, this is a unique, very flavorful beer, that exceeds high expectations!

 

As with another liquor store in the area, they buy barrels of bourbon, bottle it, sell it. Not sure if they sell to the public, or only within their bourbon clubs. They ensure that the empty barrels don't go to waste. That other store has sent barrels to a regional maple syrup company to use before coming back for third use for beer.

 

I feel like 95% of the beers I review in this wonderful weekly thread were sent to me by somebody else, usually via one of our BIFs. Well, for my next beer I'm actually going to drink something I bought. This is Juli-ish from Tree House.

3.84/5 rDev -10.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a hazy dark orange with a finger of reasonably dense white head. Solid head retention eventually receding to a thin ring & cap. Aroma is a citrusy grapefruit with mango and other tropical notes. Taste is a less intense version of the aroma. Both the citrus and tropical notes are somewhat muted on the tongue. Light bitterness complements the core flavors. Feel is mostly full and creamy. For a 5.2% beer they've managed to coax out a nice flavor profile. Overall, good, but not great.

 

Starting my brewday with a hit from @Ozzylizard and NBS BIF #14, Freetail Brewing's Soul Doubt IPA. A good, solid, traditional brew: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18823/66123/?ba=BBThunderbolt#review

 

Just started coming in to see what good stuff everyone’s drinking, already 33 posts!

So are you guys telling me I need to buy some St. Bernardus??? I saw the Christmas Ale the other day but didn’t grab any. I may have to rethink that decision after all the love I just read.

 

Did you try yet Jack? I was looking forward to this beer but have not seen it locally yet.

 

Love St. Bernardus Christmas Ale, just got a four pack the other day but haven't opened it yet. Will probably later tonight to the WBAYDN thread. I just looked, and I haven't reviewed their Wit, I know I have had it before, but will need to track it down again and post a review here soon.

 

There’s a store in my city that does the same thing. Their bourbon is impeccable as well. I love the opportunity to try these one offs and support my favorite store. Cheers.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/50495/573330/?ba=BBThunderbolt#review

Dippin' my toes yet again into Lake Wallenpaupack, figuratively anyway, with Kettle Wrecker DoppleBock. It's got two goats fighting on the label, so it's gotta be good, right? And it is indeed very good. This is another from @Ozzylizard 's NBS BIF $14 boxes, and I believe the last of the big hit of Wallenpaupack brews he sent my way. I enjoyed them all! They're just the kind of brewery I'd love to have in my area.