New Beer Weekend #93

It is a refreshing beer!

 

I did something different on Saturday, I went south to Rochester, MN instead of going east to Cheeseheadland, My car tires still have air in them which is a surprise considering how bad the roads were. Is Minnesota becoming the tax but do not spend state? I hit 4 taprooms bock hunting/drinking.

I stopped at Forager, Had a very good (The Seamstress) pizza. washed it down with a brand new beer:
Paulinator Helles Bock
6.0 % ABV
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Had a full pour at the taproom with my pizza, then rated this from a 750ml crowler.
Look. transparent light gold, decent white head that leaves some lacing
smell: floral, honey
taste: sweet malt, a little white bead, Floral hops, a micro hint of honey, clean, dry on the finish. Not very sweet or bitter overall, with some bitterness towards the finish. Might be a hint of lemon/citrus plus grass towards the finish too.
Feel is good, not thin or thick, hint of softness

It's good, more of a helles/helles bock than a Maibock style wise
https://untappd.com/b/forager-brewery-paulinator/4817263
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42273/601989/

 

Forager Determinator Doppelbock. 8.0% Abv
Not on tap, but I bought a 750ml can for home and I'm a drinking it now.

Look: dark brown body with a impressive head. Tall, foamy, long lasting leaving massive amount of lacing.
Smell: not much for aroma, heavily toasted bread
Taste: Lightly roasted malt/heavily toasted bread. a little caramel, just a hint of dark fruit. Smooth, just slightly sweet. Easy drinking. Not really strong flavored in any way.
feel is OK Not think or thin. Doesn't seem like 8.0 % ABV in any way.

A solid beer that doesn't stand out in any way. 3.94/5
https://untappd.com/b/forager-brewery-determinator/4699094

 

That HammerHeart Stone Circle Gravel Ales featured by @Mdog and @MNAle looked and sounded wonderful. Also, congratulations on your 38th anniversary @LeRose !

Happy New Beer Sunday #897! As promised, here is the second of two Goose Island 2019 BCBS releases. I still have the outstanding flavor of the 2 year reserve on my tongue over 16 hours later. Life is good!

Goose Island Reserve Rye Bourbon County Brand Stout



Bottle Notes: 16.9 oz, 14.5% ABV. Bottled September 3, 2019 8:57 AM based on the drink by September 2, 2024 date/time. Develops in the bottle up to 5 years. Collaboration with our friends at Rittenhouse Rye - Straight Whisky. Imperial Stout Brewed, Barrel-Aged & Bottled by Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, Illinois. Stout aged in Rittenhouse Rye Barrels. Purchased at the Binny's Lincoln Park 2019 Black Friday release, $16.99 plus tax. Properly cellared upon purchase until refrigerating on 2/20/22.

Box Note Highlights: Heaven Hill Distillery, Bardstown, Kentucky. Rittenhouse is a bottled-in-bond whisky that has a pleasantly fruitier aroma than other ryes and adds a different layer of complexity to the final beer.

Appearance: Pitch black base, short light tan head while pouring 2/3 of the bottle aggressively into the BCBS snifter glass. Leaves a creamy generous ring and very fine lacing as I enjoy. 4.25

Aroma: A burst of aroma came through when I opened. 10 minutes in, consistent with the open, cinnamon, oak, and cherry, the latter I did not expect. Let this sit 10 minutes further to my standard 20 minutes out of the refrigerator for BA imperial stouts. Stayed consistent so time to dive in full throttle. 4.0

Taste: Taste more of the rye sans the cherry and cinnamon I was oddly picking up with the aroma. The rye asserts its dominance early, the rye whiskey very strong. Warm alcohol and much rye on the tongue, no burn. 30 minutes after opening, the harsh rye becomes a more enjoyable smooth rye, and the BC roast malt base and bakers chocolate emerges. Now over half way in, and this is most excellent. 4.75

Mouthfeel: While I love Rye, it was a bit much warming, but let this warm up to get a very nice blend. Full creamy body, faint fizzy carbonation throughout. Balanced, very strong ABV pushed hard at first, nice and easy after the 1/3 point, at least as perceived. I'm assuming the Rye lightening up played a role. In any case, this is going down very well, a little too easily. 4.75

Overall: All good things to those who wait. Beyond the initial cherry aroma and harsh rye before this properly warmed, this offering exceeded my high expectations. The base stout and rye barrels blend really work well together. Really wish I picked up more of these, and hope GI continues to release rye blends in the future. This aged really well in the cellar. Outstanding Pour! 4.75

Still have two NBW/NBS threads to catch up on (90/91), really enjoyed reading a few others this morning while enjoying Blues Before Sunrise.

Musical Accompaniment: The Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street - Live in Chicago 6/22/91

@Beer_Economicus

 

Haven't tried this one yet - maybe Sunday. But yes, generally speaking, HF's stouts are excellent, non-dark ales are hit or miss for me.

 

Good day BAs and welcome to NBS! Thanks @SawDog505 for kicking off the weekend!

Today's crosspost with WBAYDN is:



Smashing Cherry Blonde from Hoppin’ Frog Brewing. Four pack of 12 oz cans purchased from the brewery, Akron, OH (08/04/2022). $ 10.66 (including tax)/4-pack ($0.222/oz). Stored at reefer in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 01/05/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Can stamped on bottom “BEST BY MAR 23-2025”. Served at 41.5 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 53.2 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), slight haze.
Body – Straw (SRM 3), slight haze. When rear-lite, same.
Head – Average (Maximum 4.5 cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density, short retention, rapidly diminishing to a 0.2 to 0.3 cm crown and a thin and rocky cap.
Lacing – Fair. Irregular temporary band of tiny to small bubbles bounces along the glass above the beer level.
Aroma – 3.5 – Distinctly cherry, leaning toward cough syrup. No hops, no malt, no yeast.
Flavor – 3.5 – Starts lightly bitter and cherry forward. No malt, no yeast. No ethanol (5.2 % ABV as marked on label) taste or aroma. No gastric warming occurs. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Ends on the dry side with a bit of cough syrup funk.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, creamy but approaching syrupy, lively but gentle carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Not as cough syrupy as many US-made cherry beers but still overloaded with “natural” flavor – otherwise a bland blonde.
Rating 3.58, rDev +7.2%

Sorry @Roy_Hobbs - guess you gotta take the bad along with the good.

 

Happy Anniversary.

 

Half Day Peanut Butter Barrel Aged Warrior Paint Imperial Coffee Stout


3.67/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois

Thick, oily and black, nice tan head, some lacing and a nice oily film on the glass. Snot locker says coffee and peanuts, and lots of it. Taste buds get the coffee, but the peanuts come across as "Circus peanuts", a really crappy candy I vaguely remember from my youth, not a hint of the bourbon barrel aging. Nice, thick and chewy, carbonation is good for the style. I would have enjoyed this more without the peanut butter....yes, boys'n girls, that brown stuff floating ain't foam, for lack of a better term I'll call 'em "peanut butter floaties".

.......enjoy what's in yer glass........

 

Awesome Spiegelau classic Pils glass, thinking about getting those, what do you think of em?

 

I debated doing this beer for NBW, as I see that I have had Barrel Aged Gonzo before (in 2015), albeit from unknown barrels. Looking at the Flying Dog blog from that release, it doesn't divulge the barrels, although the notes here from the generic BA Gonzo indicate A. Smith Bowman barrels. One might assume that by 2015, they hadn't switched that up. Another note, the image in the profile for Gonzo - Barrel Aged is of a Willet bourbon barrel bottle, which has its own, separate entry.

Anyhow, it is debatable if this is a new beer for me, and I am going to compare to my 2015 notes for this entry.


A nice initial head does fade to a medium thin ring of bubbles that are a bit sticky, stretching from resting spot to the lowering level of the liquid as I take each sip. The nose seems to match one aspect I found seven years ago - the barrel wood is quite prominent. It seems a tad boozier than I noted before, and I am having trouble getting the fruit notes I mentioned back then.

I see in my notes to let this beer warm to appreciate it the most. I didn't follow my own advice and found the taste matched the nose - heavy on wood with a little spicy bite from the bourbon it once held.

Another similarity is that the beer seems a bit on the watery end. However, today I am feeling that this is an impression partially caused by the wood tannin notes that bring an astringent edge that cut through the base beer, making it seem a bit thin. Trying to dig through it, I think the beer has a medium thickness with a bit of depth that is starting to emerge as it warms. Who'd've thunk it? I might have actually known what I was talking about a few years ago.

Dark chocolate is the first thing that comes through, and tends to push the whiskey back, leading to a high-proof chocolate liqueur vibe. The tannin bring a bold, dark roast coffee after this, ending the taste.

As the beer nears room temperature, it's somewhat surprising how much it has transformed. The nose hasn't changed much, but the beer smooths out its rough edges. A molasses and whiskey sweetness actually starts to come through up front, and the wood seems to have burned up most of its fuel and acts on the borders of each taste instead of being woven throughout, quite boldly at times (it still has prominence in the aftertaste).

So, I never get any of the fruit I noted in my original review(s), but I can stand by and reinforce my suggestion to not dig into this beer right out of the fridge - cellar temperatures or above are the way to go. I find the notes of an higher ABV (export-ish) porter comes through better then.

 

That's kind of why I have been thinking of making the switch, the Libbey's I use which are alright but the glass is too thick which is my biggest complaint.

Waiting to break a few ... ahem... someday (which with my klutz and jinx gene should be any second now) to replace them.

 

Interesting discussion. I’ll add that I take the position that if a style is brewed to traditional guidelines, that no matter what is added to it, it still retains those style qualifiers.

This is true at least in my opinion, with other things as well. Bourbon comes to mind. Even more so than beer, bourbon has a very specific set of guidelines it has to follow to be able to be labeled as “Bourbon”. Some purists have pondered why things like banana, maple flavoring, or marshmallow can be added to the spirit and yet it is still labeled “Bourbon”.

Basically the answer that was arrived upon is as I stated above; once it is distilled to the guidelines of “Bourbon”, it retains that title regardless of what is added to it after the fact. I feel that beer should be regarded in that manner as well. I.E. if a beer is brewed as a Kolsch and then is injected with flavorings or additives such as fruit, I still regard that beer as a Kolsch. Even if it’s not one I would reach for in the store. Cheers.

 

Yeah, @BBThunderbolt knows more about it than I do -- I was pretty confident they lived there. This style of brewery is an interesting feature -- there are a number of these garage-based breweries which mostly seems like the gray area between "brewing for fun" and "brewing for profit." At another (now defunct) one I talked with the proprietor, who basically said state regulations require the "brewery" to be separated from the home, which meant he had to wall up the door between the garage and the house for it to be legal.

Visiting these places is always a wacky trip. Random residential neighborhoods, occasional brewer's family drama, and a total crapshoot to what kind of quality or what styles of beer will be available...

Foggy Noggin is kind of OG around here, though. I was pretty confident about the quality of beer I'd be getting.

I had that beer on tap with dinner last week, I think, and I also wasn't super impressed.

 

Oh man, Mad Fox glass, I miss those guys!

 

Rocky Road Stout from Untitled Art. I feel like they have rapidly become one of my favorite Midwest breweries. The quality is impeccable for beer that has this distribution scale. They’re always collaborating with breweries in the region and other assorted establishments. I have never had something from them I did not like.

From the brewery:
We’re proud to present our latest collaboration with @chocolateshoppeicecream - the 11% Rocky Road Stout! For our final bow together, we both thought we might as well end on classic. How do you a build a classic ice cream in beer form? We brewed an imperial stout and tossed in cocoa nibs, toasted marshmallow, vanilla beans, almonds and some good ol’ milk sugar. Now you’ve got yourself ice cream in a can!

I know. It sounds exciting.

Look: pours pitch black with a finger of mocha suds quickly reducing to a still oily liquid with some needle point bubbles revealing themselves on the swirl.

nose: Rocky Road Iced Cream! Chocolate iced cream on the front. Like your putting your nose in a chocolate milk shake. Followed up by almond nuttiness, creamy vanilla marshmallows, and a rich malty base stout. Delicious.

taste: follows the nose perfectly. I’ll put it in simple terms. Go get a couple scoops of Rocky Road and let it melt in a dish in the counter for an hour and then drink it. That’s exactly what you have here. No bitterness or off flavors, no flavors to even remind you you’re drinking a beer.

feel: creamy, smooth, thick, mouth coating, deliciousness.

This is really excellent boys, if you like this kind of thing. I’m going 4.5/5. Happy Sunday.

 

Ha! I sorted noted I had a Flying Dog and a Mad Fox for glass choices.

Agreed, even though Solace took over the original Mad Fox location so at least it's still a local beer spot, I miss the styles Mad Fox would make that most local brewers won't.

I will agree with that, but it also assumes that the brewer is brewing to those guidelines, and not just using a "close enough" style to convey a general meaning to consumers. I hope most are doing this, but I have seen more than one beer entered/win a different style in competition than is listed on the menu board.

Could some of that be gaming the competition? Sure. But if so, then are the styles that "rigid" in the first place? I have also heard tales of brewers indicating that the broader public doesn't always recognize some of the less known styles they brew to, so they use a more recognizable or broader style.

Either way, I think the ideal in beer is just as many in the bourbon community want - transparency as to what/how you make your product is key (in as specific terms as possible without revealing any "trade secrets").