New Beer Weekend #101

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass bottled in 2021 assuming late Fall. Pours a viscous slick black with a solid sticky mocha head, that leaves thick streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is dark chocolate, mocha, vanilla bean, and a hint of alcohol. 4.5

Taste follows dark chocolate, mocha, vanilla, and a little alcohol in the finish and that is not complaint. 4.5

Mouthfeel is pretty darn big, a tad dry but it works well, gentle creamy carbonation, and at 11.7% it drinks rather easy with plenty of flavor and alcohol warmth. 4.5

Overall this one is pretty fantastic. I would highly recommend giving this a shot. 4.5

 

I opened this beer about 3 1/2 hours ago, and I am just finishing it. This was posted earlier in the Hair of the Dog online tasting.

Hair of the Dog Maja 2019
Barleywine – English
ABV: 10.8%
IBU: NA

Cloudy brown with a tall slightly off-white airy head with short retention and no lacing (some strings of lacing as I tip the glass, but it slides quickly down into the beer). Well carbonated, lots of visible bubbles rising. By the time I’ve settled down to take a sip, the head has become a ring with mostly a still surface.

Very rich aroma; leather, vanilla, whiskey, and maple. It’s all there, and the aromas play nicely off each other.

The taste reflects the flavors from the aroma, with the vanilla being a bit more to the fore. Alcohol warming hits right away; in fact, it is anticipated as the aroma hits the roof of my mouth as I breath in just prior to taking a sip, reminiscent of a fine bourbon. The maple is subdued in the flavor. The barley wine leather is there. In general, it tends toward a sweet evening sipping whiskey … err… beer. Just a touch of bitterness in the middle and finish. The aftertaste is sweet-ish, with the pleasant mixing of the flavors lingering.

The mouth feel is dominated by the alcohol, but is otherwise smooth with a body on the thick side of moderate.

As an aside, I don’t want you to misunderstand. I do keep mentioning the alcohol, but that is in the flavors and aroma with a slight warming. This is not a “hot” beer by any means.

Overall, an excellent barley wine and a sipping pleasure.

L: 3.75 | S: 4.5 | T: 4.5 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.5 | Rating: 4.43

 

Von Trapp Helles

look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.89/5 rDev +0.5%


12 oz can
Best by: 05/03/22 (03 May, 2022)
Consumed: 25 June, 2022
ABV: 4.9%
Glass: 12 oz Becher


Look:
Bright and clear straw yellow with a 3-finger foamy white head. The head dissolves to a ring and a very thin cover in short order. Excellent lacing.

Smell:
Soft bread dough. Crackers. Hint of lemon, including the rind/zest. Mild herbal and grassy hops.

Taste:
Follows the nose. The lemon notes are a bit more prominent in the taste and have added lime notes. These mix well with the bready and doughy malts. There are also notes of fresh cut hay and some honey as well.

Feel:
Crisp, clean, and well carbonated with a very lightly dry finish. Body is light.

Overall:
A fine example of a Helles that drinks extremely easily. Not as sweet as most Helles and a slight bit more hoppy (really more dry), but it works.

 

I'm sorry, what happened to @Lingenbrau?

 

thanks Jack - excellent review as usual - makes me want to find some!

 

If you have to be in Belgium, Bruge's where you want to be! Enjoy the beer, the town, and the people!

 

I feel your pain! Since I did a dry January (just to prove to myself I could), I inventoried my beer stash and logged it by location (reefer 1, reefer 2, box 1, etc). I'm now working my way through the backlog and my purchases thus far are 50% below previous years! Saves money, travel time, and gas!

 

Greetins yinzers! Thanks to @FBarber for starting this weekend's thread! Been a VERY enjoyable last week here with temps in the 80-90s and the humidity the same range! Picked the first tick nymph of the season off my shoulder this morning - I'll call my PCP tomorrow and get a script for antibiotics - last year's bout of Lyme disease was 'way more than enough! Garden is loving it - my bitter melons are doing well again! This year I'm refusing to travel until the end of the harvest season - it's a toss-up between heading to SAT or London again - maybe we'll do both.
Today's New Breakfast Beer:



Happy New Year’s Eve 2018 from Hoppin’ Frog Brewing. Picked up at the brewery, Akron, OH, 08/04/22. $ 9.63 (Including tax)/22 oz bottle ($ 0.438/oz). In reefer at brewery, stored at 37 degrees at home. Reviewed 26/06/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
No date other than “2018” on the label. Served at 56.8 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King Snifter. Final temperature 61.3 degrees.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15), chill haze. By the time it warms to drinking temperature, the haze is gone.
Body – Deep Amber (SRM 15), opaque. When rear-lite, translucent, and caramel.
Head – None, instantly fizzes and disappears; consequently, neither cap nor crown.
Lacing – None, thanks to 13.6% ABV.
Aroma – 4 – Caramel, sweet, and some weak dark fruit. No hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.25 – Sweet caramel, maybe some butterscotch, but no yeast and no hops. No ethanol (13.6 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste, although some ethanol is detectable in the nose on the exhale. Gastric burning initially occurs but slowly attenuates. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Full, syrupy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 Despite the lack of head and lacing, the coloration alone makes this a 4 in appearance! Taste and aroma tend to caramel with ghosts of butterscotch and dark fruit, sweet. No trace of hops at four years. Just plain good!

Rating 4.1, rDev +6.8%

 

This is my plan. To work through the backlog. The only new beer I am allowing into the house are lagers/IPAs/ESB etc that will be consumed within the week. And, even then, I try to limit it to 10 to 12 bottles or cans in the fridge maximum.

Of course I make allowances for BIFs. Otherwise, I’m trying my best to get on top of this. My rough count is 750/800 stouts, Barleywines and lambic/wilds right now. I’d like to cut that in half by the new year and get it down to the few Barleywines and lambic that I like to purposely cellar by the middle of next year.

 

First up today is a beer that's been sitting in my fridge for the last few months that I've anxiously been looking forward to trying.

Fox Farm - The Cavern - Smoked Doppelbock

4.29/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours the color of birch beer, with plenty of medium density khaki colored head. Very good retention and excellent lacing. Good looking beer.

On the nose, this smells like the half burned logs you find the morning after a fire. The aroma doesn't burst out of the glass, but once you get close, it's all wonderful smoked malts creating that "campfire" smell.

Taste is very smoke forward, even for the style. Smoked malts, meat, and some really nice subtle sweetness to balance things out. Full bodied and surprisingly creamy. Long, smoky finish that evolves over time.

Overall, if you don't like smoke, you won't like this beer. Personally I love it, and I though this beer was excellent.

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We are in very similar situations, my friend! I don't think I've bought any new beer for ~3 months, which is a start. Need to get the cellar down to a more manageable number!

 

I have to respectfully disagree w/ you Sir. Although Bruges is very nice, I have to put Watou & the surrounding area, (northern FR included) as my top location in Belgium. I guess maybe that's b/c I'm a rural type person & not much for populated areas.

But don't get me wrong, Bruges is a wonderful place to visit, as is all of Belgium. Can't wait to go back! We will be touring the SW next time. Cheers!

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 5/27/22. Pours an attractive hazy yellow orange with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves loads of sticky white lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma is honeydew, mandarin, guava, peach, mango, apricot, and some grapefruit rind. 4.25

Taste follows honeydew, mandarin, guava, peach, mango, apricot, and some grapefruit in the bold finish. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8% big on flavor but easy going down. 4.25

Overall another tasty brew from these guys. I would highly recommend this one. Cheers all. 4.25

 

I understand. I really did enjoy his perspective.. Thanks.

 

As far as I remember he isn't participating in this forum any more. Has other priorities

 

I was inspired to try this particular by @LesDewitt4beer. He was spot on with his review.
The beer is a hazy gold color with a small white head and a little bit of lace.
Aroma of sweet fruit, hint of spice.
Taste of orange, peach, and apricot. Caramel. A hint of clove.
Full-bodied and smooth.

 

Thank you sir! That is one hec of a tasty beer.