New Beer Weekend #74

Rhinegeist Brewery -- Mushhushshu
Dark ale aged in mixed barrels with adjuncts
13.3% ABV; pouring temperature: 44 °F; bottling data: VINTAGE 2021



4.07/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Deep, dark brown body, opaque; thin head, light brown and creamy. Dark chocolate and cocoa flavors; slight booziness. Outstanding flavor; milk chocolate and cocoa; fairly sweet; moderate whiskey undercurrent; a touch of coffee taste. Heavy body; smooth and silky; mostly sweet mouthfeel offset with a slight coffee and alcohol dryness.

This is an all-around great beer. I found it surprisingly robust overall, exuding fine complexity and depth. Rich and luscious.

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...a fine barrel-aged dark ale...puts me in the mood for my upcoming massage in 45 minutes...well, I'm always in the mood for a massage, but the beer certainly doesn't hurt things......

 

Afternoon, Weekenders! Today's second new beer is an interesting kettle sour courtesy of @WunderLlama .


Artisanal Brew Works Warheads Extreme Sour (Lemon)

This is ... exactly what you'd expect. It's a lemon Warheads-themed sour - and that's pretty much all that it is. Slightly sweet, very sour, with a lovely lemon flavor.

It's quite the one-note beer, but at least it plays that one note very well. (As an aside, I was once given a project to compose a piece of music using only one note. I hated that project. I named it C.R.A.P. (Co-related Rhythms And Patterns).)

What can I say? It's lemon Warheads as a beer. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, but I don't think anyone will mistake it for Cantillon.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46685/502142/?ba=Roguer#review
3.70 / -1.3% (2nd review/8th rating)

 

Santa Rosa - Love Bird

Scotch Ale from Ecuador (8%).



Pours a cloudy, deep mahogany coloration that turns ruby red when held up to the light, with a large, fluffy, lasting head. Smells of slightly roasted, caramel malt, chocolate and dark fruit, with notes of raisin and plum, as well as just a hint of tobacco.

Taste is a great balance of slightly roasted, caramel malt, some chocolate and distinct dark fruit and lighter red berries, with notes of raisin, plum and red currants as well as hints of toffee, brown sugar and tobacco. Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness and some dark fruit, toffee and hints of tobacco lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This makes for quite a nice Scotch Ale with a great balance of sweet, and slightly roasted and bitter notes, as well as distinct dark/red fruits and hints of chocolate, toffee and tobacco. While there are some rich caramel, toffee and brown sugar notes to this, it never turns overly sweet, or boozy for that matter, with the ABV being hardly noticeable here. There's a good complexity to this as well, making for a very plesant, rich and well-balanced drinking experience. I really like how this is not overly sweet at all, with those subtle roasted and bitter notes keeping things in check very nicely.

Currently listening to: Ska-P - Animales De Laboratorio.

 

New Beer #3: Age of Leviathans, a Surly imperial stout (11.9% ABV) with ruby chocolate, raspberry puree, lactose, and vanilla.



Summary: I really like it! It's quite roasty. It really does indeed remind me of fruited chocolate. The raspberry comes through prominently on the nose (but again, more like fruited chocolate than a cup of berries), but there's not a ton of it on the palate. Rather, it's a dark, roasty, chocolatey stout, with a fruity tartness underlying - but not at all a vinegar-like sourness.

Mouthfeel is a bit fizzy, but there's virtually no alcohol heat despite the ABV.

I really like this. I think it could use a smoother body, and I would like just a touch more earthy sweetness. Raspberry fans will probably find it is underrepresented here, as well, but that's not a problem for me.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13014/567310/?ba=Roguer#review
3.89 / +1.3%

 

Thanks to @SawDog505 for opening the NBW bar this morning. I'm starting with a Canadian Scotch ale. Salty Scot, a sea salted caramel Scotch Ale from Parallel 49 Brewing out of Vancouver, BC. Cross posted with the Scotch Ale tasting thread.

Poured at fridge temp. Appearance is a transparent red/light brown with white/yellow head. Lots of carbonation with bubbles rising along the sides. 4.25

The nose is fantastic. Salted caramel all the way. Malty. Hard candy. A touch of maple. Sourdough bread, along with some dates. What a lovely beer to smell. 4.5

Taste: Smooth and somewhat light compared to the nose. Definitely getting the salted caramel and malty notes, but the lower ABV (7.5%) brings it down a notch. I can only imagine how this would taste if the ABV were above 10%. Anyway, lots of dark fruits. Plums, red grapes, and figs. Brown sugar, chocolate, root beer, and an earthy note. No hops detectable. Just a really nice tasting beer! 4.25

Overall, a really nice take on the style. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied. Nice sweet malty aftertaste. I'm a fan! 4.25

Cheers!

 

Broughton Ales - Old Jock

Scotch Ale from Scotland (6.7%).



Pours a clear'ish, brown'ish amber coloration with a medium, fluffy head. Smells of bready, caramel malt and dark/red fruits, with notes of fig, plum and cranberry, as well as hints of toffee and honey.

Taste is a good balance of quite, dark, bready, slightly caramelly malt, dark fruit and red berries, with notes of fig, plum and cranberry, as well as hints of toffee, brown sugar, spice and bitterness. Finishes bittersweet, with a light bitterness, and toffee sweetness, as well as some dark/red fruit and brown sugar lingering in the aftertaste. Smooth mouthfeel with a medium body and carbonation.

This makes for a nice, relatively light Scotch Ale that may not be quite as rich as some, but makes up for that with a great, fruity character and good balance. Although the red and dark fruits really take the spotlight here, along with some toffee and brown sugar, those subtle bitter and spicy accents make sure that this never gets too cloying, while this still feels richer than the ABV might suggest. Overall, this makes for an enjoyable Scotch Ale that's a bit more easy-drinking and on the fruity side, while still featuring a good complexity for the ABV, along with a very pleasant balance.

Currently listening to: Siouxsie and the Banshees - Hong Kong Garden.

 

New Beer #4 (splitting with my partner certainly helps!) is Doppler Affection, a "Tropical Rum Punch Gose" by Magnanimous Brewing out of Tampa, sent my way by @DoctorZombies .



At 9%, and with banana, macadamia nuts, lime, and coconut, this doesn't bear much resemblance to a gose - although it does have coriander and salt. Review this beer for what it is, then: a fruited kettle sour at imperial strength.

And as that, it's damn good! Banana, coconut, and lime dominate the palate, which finishes on a very salty back third. It's thick and creamy, overall giving an impression of puree. It's very much like a mixed tropical fruit drink, perfectly fitting for the beach; it's giving me flashbacks of the Indian Ocean and the world's most remote "yacht club." In a good way.

I liked this a lot. Thank you, Dave!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/59881/581917/?ba=Roguer#review
3.91 / added to database

 

That's a great one!