New Beer Weekend #101

I feel bad I have been MIA for most of the day, it has been an action packed day for us. Mrs Phisher through my sister her baby shower while I took our oldest to an outdoor birthday party at a farm in 90 degree weather...I'm spent mentally and physically as is the rest of our house. I felt it is fitting my one and only beer today is one I can sip on slowly and enjoy while I watch game 6 tonight and then drift off into Monday.

This one comes courtesy @ovaltine via his generosity in BIF #15, one that I believe @ChicagoJ said was one of his favorite Revolution barrel aged beers, my memory could be off here, feel free to correct me.

Revolution - Ryeway to Heaven (15% rye ale aged in bourbon and rye barrels)




Pours a dirty and burnished brown, very cloudy in appearance. A light tan head that recedes into some very thin layers of swirl with a ring around the glass. Swirling the glass leaves a nice film on the glass with some dots of lacing left behind, they slowly disappear but are easily summoned again.

The nose has a very strong dark fruit note that jumps out of the glass; I will say almost tart cherry like as it comes off as slightly acidic. Some oak/wood tannin come up next and it then verges on almost having a baking like spice quality to it, but a bit sharper of a bite to them; almost cinnamon like in nature.

The taste at first comes off sweet in an almost maple sort of way without the maple flavor; if that makes sense, best way I can describe it. Then dark fruits again though I'm hesitant to really say cherry anymore as the nose implied. It's more like a very ripe red plum, with sour cherry like skin due to a tannin like bit. The spice comes out again but not as sharp as I expected well rounded baking spice notes. Big spicy bourbon on the finish too.

Big beer but in no way overwhelming in mouthfeel; it is heavy and begs to be sipped. It has a low carbonation and a tannin like bite on the finish. There is this awesome maple like sweetness on this beer that is present and then gone The warming sensation is in no way off putting but like a warm hug that pleasantly lingers in the throat for a very long time after the sip is gone.

I'd go as far as to say this is about the perfect sipping beer, I don't drink bourbon often but when I do it is nothing but the bourbon. I find it such a pleasant experience, drinking this beer is like that in beer form. It is very complex and so well balanced, like I said before, begs to be sipped and enjoyed slowly while slipping into the night. Thanks for the experience Mike, this was a great one.

 

Primator Doppelbock



Pours a dark but not very viscose almost black. Big fluffy head, recedes quickly on this and the nose is all dark fruit and roasted malt, reminds me of a domestic baltic porter, like Zywiec or Black Boss. Tastes awesome, wow. Really good. This is realtime and man is that a nice beer. Doesn't exude the 10.5% at all. Lovely malt sugar base, followed by barley character, sweet, rounded malt character. There's a lot of baltic porter here but none of the liquorice that is common in those beers. I expect it'll open even more as it gets warmer but wow, it's lovely. Great take on a rich doppelbock. Reminds me of the sort of american craft beer take on the style (at least, from what I've experienced from NE breweries).

Anyway, if you see it, worth a try, lovely beer. Edit to say, it is rather sweet. I should make that clear. I don't see myself drinking this more than occasionally.

 

Look at us, two peas in a pod crushing + 15% barrel aged beers on a Sunday night, cheers my friend, I'm glad you enjoyed that one. I certainly am very much enjoying this ryeway to heaven.

 

We drank the same beer tonight, from slightly different angles. The beer godz truly bless the barlewines because they’re so difficult to do well, IMHO.

 

Seriously, we’re the same guy tonight, 700 miles apart. Cheers to you as well, my friend.

 

It feels good to be right

I'm assuming these models you build take quite some effort to put together; small pieces and model glue?

They have been quite fun to see the past few weeks.

 

That is such a terrible beer name, you should subtract a point just for it. Bruce doesn't strike me as the skiing type.

 

Have a good NBS. I had a sleepy weekend I slept 15 hours Friday night because I was up all night Thursday. Busy work days. Listened to Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury over 2 days. Wasn't a fan, way too descriptive and hard to follow such a linear story line because it drags on like that. Apparently his other books are less flowery. I slept 11 hours after being up to 8 AM this morning lol. Need to get my license plate and DL from NC within 2 weeks from now is my birthday. Gotta study up for their dumb test lol. Ordering Subway for tonight.


I was at gate city growlers with @dbrauneis yesterday. He got a haircut lol. I reviewed 3 beers:

Edmunds oast well worn path. Great saison. Banana, bubblegum, peppercorn, pear, apple, clove, honey, wheat, bread dough, herbal, grass, yeast earthiness. Medium herbal bitterness, yeast spiciness, and light yeast tang/tartness on the finish. Balanced creamy bready malts and sticky hops. Lightly crisp with lingering drying. Spot on style, feels more banana than I expected. Like a trappist yeast, but really enjoyed it all around. 4


Burial skillet donut stout. Fantastic stuff. Aromas and flavors of nutty dark roast coffee, nuts, dark chocolate, cocoa, fudge, molasses, dark bread/crust, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, pepper, pine, herbal, grass, yeast earthiness. Light to medium herbal/char bitter finish. Medium carbonation and medium full body. Creamy/silky/bready malts, some sticky hops and chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Lingering drying with no acrid/astringency. 2020 vintage keg, still with plenty of fruity coffee complexity. Mild warmth of 8.5%. Aged great in the coffee. Was refrigerated the whole time according to gate city growlers. 4.25


Aslin no backsies. Fantastic hefeweizen. Banana, bubblegum, clove, pear, apple, wheat, biscuit dough, wood, peppercorn, herbal, grass, yeast earthiness. Lt-med herbal bitterness, yeast spiciness, and light yeast tang/tartness on the finish. Medium high carb and light to medium body. Fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/ grainy wheat and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Lingering drying with no astringency. Tastes like the classic weihenstephaner yeast, and not too far off from the actual branded beer. Just lighter and not as creamy. Loved it. 4.25


Cheers

 

Tonight's volunteer is Allagash My One and Only, a sour red ale oak-aged on raspberries, plums, and pluerries. I had to look that last one up and apparently it is an interspecies hybrid of plum and cherry with hints of apricot and peach...well, allrighty then.



Pours a clear coppery red brown with a rocky tan head that falls to a thin foamy layer.

The smell is mostly fruity and takes a bit to figure out. It is actually fairly funky out of the gate. Once past that, dark sweet cherry, raspberry and the accompanying tea notes I often find associated, then something that strikes me as prunelike so I can go with plums there. Then something else drifts in from the background as a vague sweetness - there is a bit of oakiness, and the faintest bit of peach.

The taste is dominated by the cherry. I'm guessing this is due to the use of cherries and pleurries both contributing. The plum taste is decidedly prune-like and strikes me as black plums, and again that would have an added contribution from the pluerries. There is a brief hit of peach. I couldn't find anything particulatly raspberry at first, but it is in there. There is some oaky tannin, a decent dose of funk, and a very sharp acidity. It's a bit fruity sweet but with a sudden huge and brief spike of acidity. The carryover flavor on the end is plum and cherry.

It is medium bodied, so it feels thicker than some Allagash sours. Thankfully it is not a runaway fruit train - it has enough funk and certainly enough acidity with a bit of oak to balance the heavy fruit flavors.

Honestly, kids, this one grew on me. The first sip was not something I enjoyed, but once I got past that I could dig in and appreciate everything going on. I don't particularly enjoy the dominant cherry. Maybe a bit more raspberry would offset that or just less cherry. It is interesting and layered, the flavors essentially playing well. It has fruit sourness and sourness from the process. It's weird - the acidic spike is significant yet it's not overly tart as a whole. There's some sweetness and softness to round it out. I would probably not revisit this one, but I'm feeling around a 4.0 here.

 

Wow, just thought of you @BBThunderbolt, saw on the ticker during the hockey game "8 ejected during mariners - angels brawl" now I'm gonna have to look up video...

 

It's a ok beer, ya it's sweet. The LOW price is great. I found out one bottle daily is it, hangover if more.

 

After Gate City Growlers we went to Steel hands brewing.

Steel hands all citra ipa. Awesome new England ipa. Red grapefruit, orange juice, peach, pineapple, passionfruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, gooseberry, citrus peel/ rind, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, biscuit dough, lt caranel, herbal, floral, grass, yeast earth. Lt-med pine rind bitter. Creamy/bready and sticky/resin med full body. Long resin drying with no astringency. Nicely soft but still very dank and resinous on citra. Reminds me of zombie dust a bit. 4.2


Steel hands breakfast on the Blvd. Very good fruit cream ale. Juicy strawberry, fruit skin/seed, lemon, cracker, corn, bread, herbal, grass, pepper, yeast earth. Med herbal/grassy bitterness and some fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Medium high carb and light med body. Fairly crisp clean finishing. Balanced grainy malts, sticky hops, and fruit tang/tannic mouthfeel. Mild astringency in fruit. Refreshing with a good presence of fruit. Good style example. 3.75



Amazing beer cheese and honey mustard pretzel. With cheeseburger and smoked meats pizzas.




Cheers

 

At R. Shea's original brewery I drank a Hefeweizen. 5% ABV.


The beer was served from tap and poured a lovely yellow with a nice fluffy head. Good lacing throughout the tasting.

As expected by style, the nose and aroma had clove and banana. I felt these flavors were too subtle. I like hefes for a summer refresher and subtle is not wanted. YMMV. The body also has a bit of malt and wheat flavors.

The carbonation was excellent as was the mouthfeel, which was soft and light.

A bit nonplussed by this one from a brewery that I love. Too subtle. I have a can of an imperial Hefeweizen they make that I’ll try and share for next weekend's NBW.

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we are finally in a summer weather pattern. Might not last long. Next week the forecast is for temps back in the 60s. But we'll take the 90s while we have them.

This weekend we have Alive and Amplified from Silver City Brewery.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/959/572075/

Kind of a cloying brew with a sticky finish. Not ideal for a warm day.

Until next time

 

Warsteiner Dunkel

One final beer for this weekend. I have seen this many times, but have never tried it. I am not expecting overmuch from this beer. I didn't realize that the bottle was past its best-by date until after I opened it. I'll do better with checking the date next time. I hope.


look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25
3.22/5 rDev -8.8%


0.33 bottle
Best Before: 03 Mach, 2022
Glass: 0.4L Mug
Temp at Pour: 52.5 F
ABV: 4.8%


Look:
Clear chestnut brown that picks up red highlights and appears a dark mahogany when held to a light. Initial 1.5 finger beige head dissipates to a ring a extremely thin and spotty cover. Lacing is good.

Smell:
Dark malts and lightly roasted (not toasted) grains. Semi-sweet chocolate. There is a metallic note that makes the chocolate scents seem artificial.

Taste:
Bang-on with the nose. A very light bitterness dries the sip out somewhat towards the end.

Feel:
Watery. Body seems light.

Overall:
An OK Dunkel that does have some quaffability. The metallic note(s) in the aroma and flavor are off-putting to me, however. As is the watery mouthfeel. And the roasty notes - those I expect more from a Schwarzbier, not a Dunkel. Mayhaps the age of this bottle is partly to blame.

 

Poured very, very dark brown and capped with a dark brown head that dissipated quickly. Like now.
The aroma was, to me, sweet and malty, no hops or bitterness to be found.
The taste leads with bourbon and coalesced into the ice cream flavors. Malts keep it based in beer and not a dessert. Unlike some, I didn’t get nuts or cherries. Obviously a defective bottle, I will need to try it again.
The feel was smooth and almost thick, quite viscous. With all the flavors they crammed in there, pretty impressive actually.
Whoa, glad that was only 12 oz- it hits like a ton of small furry animals.
Cheers!

 

I will try that with the next one, I intend to have this one semi regular. Really tasty beer.
Thanks for the info!

 

It's been a bit since I've been on here, but I just reorganized my cellar and need to start drinking some of these. Seems like a good reason to jump back in.

Tonight's beer...

Barreled Souls/Southern Grist Crazy Squares 2.0



4.04/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle that has been kept in refrigerator since I received it last year.

Pours a very dark brown, almost black with about a fingers worth of mocha head. A tad bit of carbonation showed in the foam, but not much.

A bit of cinnamon on the nose, but almost a cola smell overall. I don't get an alcohol smell at all.

Sweet and easy to drink. The cinnamon is there, but not overwhelming. I was thinking that could have been from holding onto it for a year, but from checking other reviews after drinking, it seems like it's held on. It's a nice taste, as I'm usually not into overly cinnamon beers.

A little on the thin side, but doesn't take away from the beer at all.

Overall, a nice offering from two of my favorite breweries. Not exactly what I'm used to barleywine wise, but I'm glad I was able to try it.

 

They need to show their ass up in here. One state away WTFO???