New Beer Weekend #86

Good day BAs! Thanks @Roguer for kicking off this weekend's thread! I'm putting in a more readily available brew from my reefer stock:



Big Bad Baptist = good. Black Forest Cake = good. Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake = Ehh.

Big Bad Baptist Black Forest Cake from Epic. 22 oz bomber purchased from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA, on 10/12/21. $ 16.00 (including tax) ($ 0.727/oz). Stored at room temperature in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 12/03/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottle dated “2021 REL #2”. Served at 60.2 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 62.4 degrees.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When rear-lite, some light penetration at the edges, ruby.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.7 cm, aggressive center pour), brown sugar, high density with average retention, diminishing to a three cm crown and thin partial cap.
Lacing – Good. Tight band of extremely tiny bubbles.
Aroma – 3 – A weak ghost of cocoa, no coconut, no cherry, no roasted malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 3 – Begins slightly sweet with weak cocoa and no coconut, no cherry, no malt, no hops, no yeast. There is a weak artificial chemical-ish flavor present. No ethanol (12.3% ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma; however, there is immediate moderate gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.5 I’ve consumed tons of black forest cake and there’s no comparison with the flavor of the cake and the flavor of this brew. It looks good and feels good but the aroma and taste are neutral at best. The gastric warming is comforting and never rises to a painful level. The price point is too high for what you get.

Rating 3.23, rDev -17.4%

 

March is Bock month!



In last week’s NBW I mentioned how @MNAle pre-discussed Bock beers for the month of March. Today I have a new Doppelbock to drink and discuss: Tired Hands Trendler Doppelbock.

Below is how this beer is described on Tired Hands’ website:

“Trendler Doppelbock

A tribute to our favorite strong lagers from Bavaria. This one, our first run at this monastic style, is built from a plethora of German malts and hopped lightly with Hallertau Mittelfrüh. Fermented extra cool with our house Lager strain, and stored cold for roughly 3 months. Notes of medium toast, cantaloupe, light pecan, concord grape and toffee 7.5%”

Wow! Three months of lagering is quite a commitment towards producing this beer!

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Deep amber colored with a BIG khaki colored head.

Aroma:

A prominent combination of aromas – dark bread (akin to pumpernickel), toffee, something that hints of sweetness.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with the assortment of flavors from dark bread, toffee and yes some sweetness. A low/moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Light/medium bodied with an off-dry finish.

Overall

The flavor profile is very good and it is a smooth drinking beer. For my palate this beer would have benefitted from a bit more body.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet



P.S. It is snowing right now in my area (SEPA) as I post this. Still wintertime here (today).

 

Awoke this morning in the dark to soft ticks of what was soon to come against the window. Slowly I went about a morning of actual coffee, placing a coffee product, of sorts, into the fridge as clacks occasionally interrupted a stream of clicks against the window.

The other inhabitants of the house awoke and arose to join me, so I prepped some breakfast and turned my attention back to early morning darkness. Darkness can come in liquid form, and in this case, I unleashed it on the world by opening the djinni bottle that contained it.

My head returned to the light but remained shaded by the darkness. White crystals fell from the sky, gilding the ground in similar fashion to the froth atop the latest Founders KBS variant I was trying, Hazelnut.


The perfume of bacon baking did not distract me from the sweetened coffee and hazelnut aromas that arose to greet me. Occasionally a beer succeeds in mimicking another beverage to near perfection, and this was one of those cases. I received a power struggle between nuttiness and coffee, but the scents overall reminded me of a bolder coffee version of the hazelnut brew my mother enjoys.

Before I ventured a taste, the beer succeeded in fighting the cold and chose a true winner, as a nut butter vibe overtook the coffee more consistently. This made that first sip a little unexpected. A little bittersweet fruity tang brushed by me to let a more classic coffee bitter roasted malt take the stage. The fruit tang pushed to the side gained a darker, but not sweet vibe - something akin to a more neutral prune. This seemed to fold back in as the roast faded and the hazelnut gained traction. The fading roast bitterness gave the impression of the beer sweetening into the end.

The windows were quiter by the time I neared the end of the beer, with specks of white falling vertically. They betrayed the wind's silence every so often, though the trees seemed better at keeping its secret. Similarly, the nutty, pleasantly sweet aroma of this beer hid a bitter, mildly fruity, and ultimately nutty taste, though even the finish had the bitterness of the skin of the nuts.

My conclusion, as I checked the oven for the status of a second pan of bacon, was in agreement with the few other BAs I saw comment on this beer - it's a pretty darn good variant.

@Roguer - I agree with you on the looks, especially the head retention, but I didn't find it very boozy ("hot and harsh") at all. The GF said she thought it was maybe a little, and indicated she thought it was a little woody - reminding her of a freshly shelled walnut. Cheers, all!

 

Another Modist Beer here, Mod Labs Oak-Aged Dark Lager

Appearance: Dark brown, good head.

Smell: Roasty.

Taste: Roasty, creamy, nutty, hints of caramel candy, smooth and easy drinking.

Overall: My tour around local Minnesota dark lagers continues, this collab from Modist and Bauhaus is pretty good but not as complex tasting as Fair State's version. Still, it is nice and flavorful and easy to drink. Worth seeking out.

 

This might sound like a stupid question...
I've always wondered about this sort of thing. The other items are solids that release flavors, but aren't part of the end process themselves.
It seems like cheesecake would dissolve into the beer.
Does the brewer add like whole cheesecakes or is it some sort of cheesecake flavoring?

 

If you're not including the various flavorings (fruits, etc.), your basic cheesecake tastes like lactose (cream cheese, a bit of sour cream), graham crackers, cinnamon, and vanilla. So, they wouldn't HAVE to use an actual baked cheesecake.

 

Thanks @Roguer for kicking things off. Keeping with the early morning "theme" the first of two Firestone Walker cellar beers I have planned is a "pastry quad", a BA quad with brown sugar added. It's highly rated, so hopefully I enjoy this as well.

Firestone Walker Stickee Monkee (2017)



Bottle Notes: Bottled I believe (ambiguity based on poor date stamp) on 4/21/17 @ 14:33. 2017 Barrel Aged Central Coast Quad Stickee Monkee No. 004. 12.5% ABV, 12 oz. OG 28.5 Plato, FG 7.6 Plato. IBU 26.0. Yeast Lucha Libre Ballistica. 9,500 cases produced. Color 76 SRM (Belgian Sugar). Beer Before Glory. Always store refrigerated. Store at 40 F, serve at 55 F.

Properly cellared upon purchase until 11/28/21, refrigerated thereafter until opening this afternoon.

Appearance: Single pour into a large chalice. Dark brown bronze base, mild carbonation, short white tan creamy head dissipates quickly, leaving a trace above the rim. 3.75

Aroma: Brown sugar and bourbon dominate, slight Belgian yeast after attempts to go beyond. Smells more like a cocktail than a beer. 3.5

Taste: Brown sugar continues its reign, a sharp somewhat harsh bourbon backs heavily after 15 minutes of warming. 10 minutes later, closer to 55 F, it is a mess of molasses, brown sugar and bourbon, a cocktail which has sat out a bit too long and needs more ice. No signs of the yeast or any other quad complexity, not sure if age or intent is the reason. 3.25

Mouthfeel: Medium creamy body, carbonation gone by the time I started drinking, sweet and syrupy, cloying. 1/3 of the way through the alcohol starts to make an impact. Sweet jack and coke aftertaste. 3.0

Overall: A disappointment factoring how other FW cellar bottles had held up. I believe this beer is as or near the brewer intended, but just not for me. Missed the traditional quad aspects of a beer, with the bourbon and brown sugar curb stomping all other taste and aroma attributes. Apparently, I am in the minority in terms of widespread admiration, it's just not for me and should have been more balanced. A rare miss by Firestone Walker. 3.25

Hoping Sunday goes better on the beer front. Take care everyone!

 

I listened to a recent podcast discussion with Dan Carey (New Glarus). He mentioned that somebody gave him a present of an extreme beer (a Pastry Stout I seem to recall) and that at a later date he popped the cap and drank it but only got halfway through and decided to stop drinking it. He stated it was a 'good' (as in well brewed) beer but that it lacked drinkability for him; he simply did not want to finish that beer. He commented that these sorts of extreme beers seems to the 'in thing' these days but his preference are beer styles with the aspect of drinkability; he specifically discussed 'traditional' Pilsners as one example.

I for one greatly value the aspect of drinkability in a beer (style) and more and more that is what I choose to drink. As a point of discussion I enjoy well made Juicy/Hazy IPAs (e.g., like to ones I get from Tired Hands) but for me these beers are 'one and done' beers - I just drink a single pint and if I choose to drink a second beer it will be of a differing style. Based upon the great love that many (most?) BAs profess for Juicy/Hazy beers I suspect I am in the minority in this regard.

Cheers to beers with drinkability!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Which would probably be more stable than dissolved eggs and cheese, even if they are cooked.

 

I am there with you in that minority.

 

A nicer day than yesterday. Warmer, no precipitation.
The dogs had a good walk, and now they're resting.
I am drinking beer and watching college basketball. The beer is Adobe Igloo from Santa Fe Brewing Company. It is described as a "winter ale brewed with cacao and chiles."
A pretty beer. Clear mahogany color, one inch off-white head that disappeared quickly.
Not much aroma, some sweet malt.
Taste of caramel, a hint of chile late.
Sweet, little bite of heat that shows up late.
Medium-bodied.
Not exactly as advertised, but not a bad beer.