New Beer Weekend #71

One more new beer for this weekend, Other Half DDH Daydream In Green.
4.39/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

16 oz can, dated 11/4/21, poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden straw with a three finger white head.

S- Citrus, lime zest, tropical fruits, mango, slightly dank.

T- Citrus, mango, tropical fruits, slightly dank, hints of melons, hints of wet grass.

M- Smooth, creamy, medium body.

O- Another solid NEIPA from Other Half

Cheers!

 

Thanks to @SawDog505 for the start. I'm a bit tardy to the party. But making up for it with a seasonally appropriate, and warm, offering from @Whyteboar Sent in NBS BIF #14.

Uberon from Bell's
Well from appearance it appears to be a filtered wheat. Amber tinged and golden in hue, fluffy white head. Solid fluff, good retention, and nice solid lacing.
Nose is whiskey laced wheat beer. Malt comes through underneath a firm, but not overpowering, malt note.
Flavor begins with the whiskey, but does make room for some malt notes, hints of banana, and sweet grain. Whiskey is most prevalent but I think that's what they were going for.
Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, slick, and fairly full for a wheat. Gently warm considering the ABV.
Overall, a nice wheat beer for the colder months.
3.75/5 rDev -4.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Thanks Craig!

 

A little preface. I am a big participant in the midwest forum, specifically all those threads that used to belong in the Great Lakes forum (and more specifically threads for breweries that exist in Chicagoland, including Goose Island/Bourbon County). Well, at some point recently a fellow BA mentioned that they got a weird Hop Burn from their 2020 BCBS. Everyone (including myself) was pretty surprised by this. I discussed this with them some privately, but we also ended up doing a trade and they gifted me a 2020 BCBS. I told them that I would faithfully review it if they chose to send it my way. -And, here we are. Although I had intended to open another vintage side by side, I've had enough lately that I didn't think this really needed to be done.

Tonight is a new (vintage!) to me beer

Goose Island – Bourbon County Brand Stout (2020)

14.6% ABV

The beer is listed as “Stout – American Imperial” on BA.

The beer was removed from a 45ish degree temp fridge after having been refrigerated for approximately 3 weeks. Beer poured into 2012 BCBS snifter.

First Impression: Pours dark, Thin? 4.0

Appearance: Standard Bourbon County. Small head that recedes quickly. 4.25

Smell: Alcohol first and forefront, but not distinctively bourbon. I never really thought about this much until I did, like, 10 or 12 reviews in a 10 day period, but…The alcohol never much smells like the spirit. Faint cola. A bit of sugary sweetness. A touch of vanilla. A very faint note of berries mixed with granny smith apples. A touch of cocoa. 4.65

Taste: Bourbon first and foremost, as it is and always should be. Man I love that bourbon punch. For being only a year since release (although this was bottled in June 2020, so really we’re nearing 1.5 years), this is really shining. There’s nothing hot about it. It’s almost too mellow for it being so soon after release. If I was doing this blind, I’d surely think that it was 3-4 years out.

The rich mocha chocolate really comes through up front with the residual bourbon following behind. I get hints of coffee and vanilla with very little if any char. This particular vintage strikes me as very much akin to the 2014, which is often the one most people associate with as being “straight up bourbon brownie batter”. This is very good. Really, I mean, there’s really not much to knock about it from my viewpoint of what a “perfect” BA Stout should be. 4.85

Mouthfeel: This is certainly a bit thicker than the 2016-2018 originals. I don’t recall if I’ve opened a regular 19. That said, if I was going to pick my perfect mouthfeel (hahaha), I’d say this was a tad thin. But man, it’s so drinkable. Like, you can absolutely drink a full bottle IF you can keep yourself upright. It’s not a chore. 4.75

Overall: I love bourbon county, but I often find it to be quite hot when fresh. I haven’t had a fresh in several years, and this is making me rethink all of my decisions, including how quickly I pop some of my variants. This is drinking fantastic. It makes me want to pop a 17 and a 19 (the only two years I have more than a couple of, other than some pre-2015) to compare so that I can see if I should try to trade some of the older bottles for newer bottles. A really pleasurable experience. 4.7

BA Review Score: 4.726