New Beer Weekend #119

Pre ordered about a month ago ha.

There are certainly some familiar stuff that most people that have read McCarthy will notice. Specifically from his first book, Outer Dark, and as soon as you think its going into No Country For Old Men territory it does an about face and then becomes completely different than anything he has done. He almost dares you to yell out, THERE IS NO PLOT. Which I don't really mind, but some might, though that gets me even more interested in it. Its easy to lionize people like McCarthy, and sometimes I'm not so sure thats justified, though all I know is, I really like it...so there

Let me know what you think when you read it.

Edit: I won't spoil anything, but this has more dialog than just about any of his books, its also really funny in places. While he has shown a sly wit in other books, it has never been this out loud funny before (in places anyway, and that I recall from past books).

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A chilly, windy, and rainy Sunday here in the Fourth Corner, summer is truly far in the rearview mirror. You might have noticed that NBS BIF #16 is rapidly approaching its crescendo. I'm joining in with my first brew from @beergoot , a very nice Pils from Casey Brewing in Glenwood Springs CO:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35633/573143/

 

Boulevard Brewer Choice Rum Barrel Aged Spice Cake Imperial Brown Ale, 12.8% ABV; 4.27 overall

Pours an effervescent not so bright chestnut with rapidly falling tan head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Rum & cola, brown sugar, wish the nose was more

T; Pretty much tastes like a brown sugar spice cake, some molasses, barrel dryness as well up front. Dryness mixes with spice cake & dark rum as this beer warms. Finishes dry with rum & cola sweetness, plus brown sugar & a little cinnamon

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation. warming

Flavors meld so well, not hardly any hint of the ABV at work here. There were no duds in this mixed sixer, but this was the star

 

NBS #2. This one comes to me from @BigIronH in the BIF: Reinoso, a Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout from Odd Side Ales. I've enjoyed every brew I've previously had from Odd Side (most supplied by @superspak in an earlier BIF) and this one's no exception. It's absolutely solid.

Canned on 9/13/2022. It Pours nearly black with more than a finger of creamy, light mocha-colored head and thick lacing with great retention. The smell is subdued but there is roasted malt, bakers chocolate, burnt coffee, nutty char, a hint of caramel, and just a whiff of bourbon. There is much more sweetness in the taste. I'm tasting chocolate and more freshly-brewed coffee, along with some caramel/toffee. There's even just the slightest hint of dark fruit. Beneath is a fairly bitter, earthy char. The bourbon notes are subtle at first but become more apparent as it warms and add some additional sweetness. There is relatively little hop bitterness. The mouth feel is thick and creamy with low/moderate carbonation and the 11.6% ABV is warming but not overly distracting. Overall, I seem to like Reinoso more than the previous reviewers. This is a fine but rather unassuming BA Stout.

4.12/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I hope everyone has a great week. Cheers, NBW! (and great to see @cavedave's post. Miss you, man!)

 

Went 1-2 on new beers this weekend, Solemn Oath Johnny Barleywine is a bit to sticky and sweet......
3.61/5 rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From a 160z can, undated pours a nice reddish brown, pale reddish orange head lingers leaving a nicely laced glass. Nose is mostly toffee and fruits. Taste follows, sticky and sweet finish. Abv is well hidden. Nice body, good carbonation.

 

Boulevard Crème Brûlée BBA American Barleywine, 13.3% ABV. Pours dark brown with a 1-finger beige head that left little lacing. Nose is strong caramel/toffee and vanilla, with a hint of burnt sugar. Taste follows, plus bourbon, tart/bitter/sweet in equal measure. Decent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Not generally a fan of American Barleywine, but this is really good. Let this one warm.

4.19/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 2.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

First of three beers in a six, two each. The store staff said this was their favorite of the three. So yeah, get it real cold in the fridge, then take it out let it warm/breathe 15 minutes. Weird stuff we BA's do.

 

A relatively new Beer and a new style for me, Boniface by Schilling Beer Co. Labeled as an Export-Style Helles Lager, it's a European/Dortmunder Export Lager. Rated as #10 for its style, it starts as a Helles and finishes as a hoppy Pilsner. Schilling has done it again. Prost.

4.28/5 rDev +7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
An aggressive pour from a 16-oz. can was needed to reach a fat finger of creamy white foam with long retention.
Clear pale golden straw color with lots of fine bubbles, brightens to yellow gold in front of bright light.

Fairly big smell of beady malt and toast with grass and raw grain. A hint of orange zest and herbal hops in reserve.

Semi sweet with medium low bitterness at first, malty sweetness dries while bitterness steadily rises. Bready malt leads the taste with bold herbal and citrus hops building to overtake the malt at the crisp and fast finish. Medium high peppery bitterness lingers on.

Medium light body with lasting, slowly releasing carbonation. Starts like a Helles lager and finishes like a hoppy Pilsner, Easy to drink, alcohol is well hidden.

 

Greetings all from the great northwest where we are hoping the Seahawks can trick the Giants and get the treat on this football Sunday.

Today we have Brick By Brick from Brick West Brewing.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58359/500694/

A balanced IPA with a fruity hop combination.

Until next time,

 

Fresh Hop season is well over by now, and mine was a bit odd this year. The first brews that showed up were mostly Sabro and Strata, a couple of pretty boring hops in general. Then, just as things started to get interesting, I got the 'Rona. Wasn't too bad, but I took a couple extra weeks off of beer anyway. That meant I missed a lot of the draft only FH brews. I did buy a few cans, but, as oft happens, they got nudged out of the way, and semi-forgotten.

So, my next entry today isn't a "fresh" FH brew. Journey to A New Strata-Sphere FH. I was less than impressed: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35491/627054/

 

Day 2, a TG hazy collab with North Park Beer Co. I’m old enough to remember when TG couldn’t spell hazy. Let’s see where this beer goes.





4.35/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Pours a very hazy golden orange color with a creamy oatmeal colored head that provides substantial lacing. Dank citrus notes on the nose, with tangerine, grapefruit, mango, and pineapple most prominent, and a hint of gummy bears as well. Very nice.

The tangerine and grapefruit are forward on the taste and delicious, with mango and pineapple as well and that gummy bear note as well, which is pretty cool because I absolutely LOVE gummy bears.

The mouthfeel is medium, creamy, and pillowy. This is, like so many of the TG hazies, very well executed. I’d love to see them venture back to the non-hazy side a bit, as they were when I first encountered them in 2014, just to change things up a bit, because they’re a bit formulaic.

But make no mistake, this is an excellent hazy.

 

In The Border Trilogy, one of the books describes an Indian raid on a group and their clothes are taken and the Indians parade around in women's dresses and all sorts of attire. The sentence was a huge paragraph and it stays in my vision because of the power of McCarthy's description and visualization.

 

Prolly my last new brew (maybe), and what might be my last Fresh Hop brew of the year, Three Creeks Conelicke'r. Dosed with a solid hit of Centennial, this is the type of beer a FH brew was meant to be. Getdafuqouttahere with frooty, murky FH brews. Such a waste of the precious commodity: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35491/627054/

 

Things mostly don't go as planned. I made it through the afternoon dozing through the Pat's game, actually watched the last 100 laps of the Nascar race including the insane video game final lap. Then supper happened and She Who Knows All opened herself an after dinner beer and realized after the fact it was one we planned to split...Toppling Goliath Fresh Batch Series S'mores. No way she was gonna finish it herself, and way too pricey to pour half out...

Well, if I can smell or taste anything I guess it'd be a big ol' pastry/dessert stout...

Pours like black heavyweight motor oil, thick dark tan head. Looks to have some level of particulates that stick to the glass.

Incredibly strong smell of Graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, roast malt, alcohol.

The taste is equally strong and it is extremely sweet to boot. The Graham cracker eventually gets lost, supplanted by marshmallow and very heavy chocolate. And for something so heavily flavored, the ABV is quite apparent even at 10%.

It's beyond heavy - thick and syrupy which makes the flavors linger. Can feel and taste the alcohol, but not really warming.

Overall, I don't like this beer at all. I don't like the syrupy feel, the building sweetness, the imbalance of the flavors, the ABV being so noticeable in a sea of super strong flavors. That said, I can't say it isn't well made and on target for what it is. Objectively, 4.2-ish. Subjectively - way lower than that.

I am quietly returning to my minor misery...see you all next weekend.

 

Pipeworks Time Crunch Pale Ale, 6.3% ABV; 3.54 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 2 fingers of pearl colored head with tons of floaties. No head retention or lacing

S: Some breadyness & citrus

T: Grapefruit, a little dryness, some sour orange up front. Dryness, grapefruit, tart/sour oranges as this beer warms. Finishes tart, dry & with plenty of grapefruit

MF: Medium body, low carbonation, decent balance

Drinks alright, but a little one dimensional taste-wise

 

Happy NBS everyone! It’s been an incredible weekend, weather wise, in W Michigan and I took advantage of that and got tons (literally, I think) of leaves off the front, side and back yard. Woof. Time for a beer!
Received from @woemad in an LIF associated with NBW BIF 16.
Poured the color of raw honey and about as opaque. The active carbonation provided a nearly white head and sheets of lacing. Looks great.
The aroma surprised me by how much I could smell, but I don’t have any words for the description. Maybe a fruit, maybe the Zappa hops, don’t know but it smelled good.
The taste rocks, the aforementioned lack of descriptive words carries on here, if it’s fruit that I taste I can’t determine which ones, but I really enjoyed it.
The feel was excellent, though it looked opaque it drank like a filtered beer. Nice.
First time tasting Zappa hops, if those are what I can’t describe then I need to improve my vocabulary or something. I’m a fan!

Thanks Fred!

 

Greetings, NBWers,

It was an enjoyable football day for me, as my Seahawks beat what was on paper a better team for the second week in a row. Yesterday wasn't so good, as my Eags lost again. I'm simply accepting at this point that it's a bad year for them.

While it's definitely fall here, it's not been a bad one this week. Got up into the high 50s today and was reasonably decent. That won't last, however, with rain throughout the week starting tomorrow and some snow being predicted by Wednesday. I'm definitely not ready for that.

Anyway, I'm profiting from the late arrival of fresh hop season by having a Citra Slicker, a FH IPA from Bale Breaker brewed in collaboration with Cloudburst.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31389/139365/?ba=woemad#lists
I might've had last year's version on tap during Mike Detar's much missed Fresh Hop Festival at Hidden Mother (RIP), but I've definitely never sat down and reviewed a take-home version of it. In any event, it's a quite nice WCIPA brimming with fresh Citras, nicely citrusy and tropicalish fruit flavors. I'd happily hit it again.