New Beer Weekend #128

A couple/three years old Tunbridge, VT offering from Upper Pass.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46275/635501/



500 ml. bottle.

Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch tan head over a near black body with scant lacing.

Nose of roasted malt, chocolate malt, and a bit of caramel.
As it warms a bit, the red wine aroma arrives.

Taste is when the red wine characteristics come forward; a lot.
Chocolate and caramel are still there with a little fudge as well.
Red wine tannins on the ever so slight sour finish.
Tasty!

Nice, fairly full mouthfeel.

Overall, I've had red wine barrel aged porters before, but don't remember if one had this much wine flavor.
It must have been a very wet barrel!
There might be a few more of these out in the wild.
Buy it!
Cheers!!

 

Brewers Reserver Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout

10.8% stour by Central Waters

Poured from a twelve ounce bottle, the body is a deep brown or black. One finger of a light tan head and good lacing.

Aroma is the barrel, vanilla, chocolate and dark fruit (a bit of cherries).

Taste follows nose with an assertive bourbon flavor and some oak, chocolate, dark fruit, and malty char. At the end of swallow, a light bitterness appears. As the stout warms, everything softens. Wonderful.

Creamy mouthfeel with good carbonation. Not the thickest stout feel, but flavor more than makes up for it.

A top notch barrel aged stout.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I'm very late to the party, but, since my weekend has finally started, and this thread is still going, I'd better submit one to the fellow bar patrons. I picked this up when I was in Wisconsin a few months back.

Sump Coffee Stout (2022 release)- Perennial Artisan Ales - St. Louis, MO - Imperial Stout - 11.5% ABV

I saw this in my fridge, and I know it's been in there for a few months, so I thought I'd better try it sooner than later, since it's canned.

I do like this beer. The aroma is quite pleasing with the coffee and dark/bitter chocolate aroma. The flavor is sweet up front, but turns to the coffee on the backside. I am enjoying this a lot.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25888/113523/

4.3/5 rDev -2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Pitch black pouring with a very thick - 3 finger - brown head. It looked like a nitro when pouring, though it isn't. The head is quite frothy looking, and fluffy. The head is quite long lasting. There's no lacing on the glass.
The aroma is a pleasing mix of dark, bitter, chocolate and a bit of coffee. The aromas work very well together.
Taste - There's a lot of coffee in this beer. It starts off a bit sweet, some caramel, chocolate, and a creamy flavor from the lactose. The back turns turns coffee, and dark chocolate. Slight hint of bitterness on the back.
The body is super thick, it feels very creamy. There's no alcohol burn at all. It is very smooth.
This is an amazing beer.


This is all for me in this NBW thread. I wish all those who have joined the virtual bar a Happy New Year. May 2023 be your best year ever. Cheers all!

 

Day 4! A pair of beers tonight, first up is a beer from my friend @russpowell in NBS BIF #16.

And what’s that lurking in the background (those photobombing beers have been an issue the last couple of days) …..





4.19/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25
Pours a hazy mango color with a minimal soapy white head that leaves a bit of lacing as you enjoy the beer. The nose is exotic citrus aromas, with passion fruit, mango, guava, and pineapple. Very nice.

The mango and guava are forward and prominent on the taste, with the passion fruit and pineapple at the back of palate in this very juicy hazy that has minimal bitterness. Really nice flavor profile that is poundable.

The mouthfeel is medium and a bit on the watery side. I’d love to try this on tap, because I think that would probably eliminate a bit of that watery mouthfeel. Really good stuff.

 

Thin Man Local Irish Stout with coffee and lactose.



Pours a deep cola brown with minimal head that recedes to a thin film on the beer’s surface.

Muted aromas. A little coffee, toasted grain. Not much else.

The lactose sweetness emerges first on the tongue. Coffee, a little chocolate and some lightly toasted cereals follow.

Body is big and creamy.

The sweetness is not to my taste. I bet I’d like this more without the lactose. Enjoyable beer though.

Cheers!!

 

#2, I’ve worked through all the BCBS variants except for the Old Fitz barleywine, which I’ve decided to let sit until Little O comes to visit at the end of January so we can enjoy it together.

This variant and the Sir Isaac’s were the BCBS variants that I looked forward to the most, along with the Old Fitz. I loved the Sir Isaac’s, so I’m pretty pumped to try this Biscotti variant, especially since my friend @FBarber enjoyed it so much.

Let’s go!!!





4.6/5 rDev +8.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours perfectly black with a bit of mahogany brown on the edges and a creamy, sudsy mocha colored head that is 3+ fingers after an aggressive pour. Absolutely beautiful imperial stout.

The nose led by the anise seed as black licorice, but in no way is it overwhelming to me because a substantial cocoa aroma immediately follows to provide balance and flows into almonds and a nice boozy note. I am officially drooling.

The cocoa and booze are forward on the taste and absolutely delicious, with the almond and black licorice at the back of the palate for balance. That, to me, is the magic of this beer - black licorice is used to provide balance in a BA imperial stout, and it work’s magnificently, especially with the barrel warmth at the very back of the palate.

This is a brewery playing chess with a BA impy stout while so many others are playing checkers.

The mouthfeel is rich, creamy, and decadent. I set this beer out for 30 minutes before I cracked it open, and I’m glad I did, because I got to experience all the aromas and flavors the brewery intended for us lucky beer nerds to encounter. What a pleasure this beer is to drink.

 

Last new to me beer on hand. Need to pick up some singles tomorrow. I liked the regular version of this beer as a single one off sold on daft for the first time at the 2018 VSOJ initial release. It has come full circle with Revolutions November initial release of this offering.

Revolution Very Special Old Dark Mode



Can Notes: Part of my season ticket, sold at the brewery for $40 + tax for four 12 oz cans. Canned 11/4/22 at an early 8:09:41 AM timeframe. 14.4% ABV. Deep Woods Series. Imperial Milk Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels. Brewed, barrel aged and canned by Revolution Brewing in Chicago.

A dark, sweet labyrinth of complexity.

Appearance: Slow single pour with a top off into a snifter yields a very dark brown to black base with heavy carbonation. A nice rich tan head lingered for a few minutes, leaving without a trace beyond a faint white ring above/around the base. Carbonation very active throughout. 4.25

Aroma: Getting a lot of bourbon, smooth to harsh and barrel. Letting this warm for beyond 15 minutes, that is all I am getting. Pleasant, but where is the base beer? 3.5

Taste: Ah, here it is. Leads with a sweet but manageable burst of dark and milk chocolate, cherries, lactose, chocolate fudge. All held together by a nice complementary bourbon and oak barrel. Getting heavy doses of the base malt, resembling a barleywine in this aspect, sweeter than what I typically prefer, but this all works very well to excellent. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Minute carbonation, medium body, slight creaminess, excellent balance, at first the ABV isn't felt but about 1/5 - 1/4 way in, it's strong and preparing to land the knockout punch. Bourbon emerges now 25 minutes in, potent, but smooth like Mel Torme. Very nice. 4.5

Overall: This beer is really amazing, restraining myself from gulping it down to enjoy it further and not be laid flat by the 14.4% ABV. Even beers I may initially question due to style preferences turn out to be gems with Marty's Deep Woods efforts, and this one is no exception. Really glad I have three more in my refrigerator. 4.5

Really nice to start 2023 with two excellent BA Stouts, hoping to keep the streak going with the beers I pick up before next Saturday. Cheers!

 

American Solera All of Our Friends Live in Montreal IPA,6.5% ABV; 3.73 overall

Pours a hazed gold with a finger of eggshell colored head. Great lacing & average-ish head retention

S: Some citrus notes, guava

T: Pomelo, grapefruit, dryness & lime upfront, plus a little Passion Fruit. A little pineapple mixes with the pomelo & lime as this beer warms up, some dryness. Finishes a little dry with citrus & a little passion fruit & pine showing up late

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, decent balance

Drinkable enough, juicy but nothing special

 

As an Expos fan, I am very envious. I had a collaboration IPA between these two a year or so ago that was brewed at Messorem which was pretty good. Cheers!

 

Tonewood - Lumberyard Lager

12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 12/07/22. Gift from @jonphisher.

Pours clear orange-gold with an initial flash of head that dissipates into a thin dusting. Some active carbonation. Smell is a little bit of skunky yeastiness, some light honeysuckle sweetness, some earthy/grassy bitterness.

Taste is light, slight lemony notes, a little stronger on the honeysuckle/floral sweetness, clear grassy bitterness.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, and crisp. Another excellent clean lager from Tonewood.

That'll do it for the weekend...back to work tomorrow.