New Beer Weekend #130

Another NA beer for January. Here is what the breweries website has to say-
The Ocean Under the Moon extra dark brew is inspired by barrel-aged beers. In addition to presenting woody characteristics from being aged on french vanilla oak chips, it reveals roasted and chocolate notes. It’s the epitome of a great winter brew.

Poured from a 12oz can stamped PACKED 12/07/22 to a diagonally cut tumbler at fridge temperature.
The body is brown in the pour stream and black in the glass. A minimal khaki head fades within 2-3 minutes to a ring. Although I thought my glass was clean, bubbles cling to the side all around.
The subdued aroma is mostly chocolate with a hint of vanilla.
The chocolate shows more in the taste, but still is not strong. There is a medicinal end to this beer that is hard to place. Perhaps vanilla with processing damage.
Is there an NA beer out there with a mouthfeel that is more than water? Well this one’s not it.
Almost tasty if the chocolate came out more and the finish wasn’t off.

 

Happy Sunday fellow beer friends...I'm hoping you all are having a wonderful day thus far. @SABERG describing this winter as purgatory is pretty spot on and I'm with you it sucks...I've been left home alone for about 24 hours while Mrs. Phisher and the boys visit our new niece near Annapolis, I'm home with the doggy and honestly feel lost so I guess I'll hang with my beer friends and have a beer, maybe some time for an extra one today too In between trying to stay busy and cleaning I opened this beer from Mr. @snaotheus...this has to be one of the best named beers out there.

E9 - Mugwumps (English Bitter 5.0%)



Pours crystal clear honey and copper color; lively head and active carbonation visible, low retention, no lacing worth mentioning. Despite the lack of head aspects this beer is very pretty to look at due to its clarity and color.

The nose is interesting as it smells very crisp and fresh, almost lager like to me...as it warms there is more of a biscuit like presence but I keep picking up floral notes, some graininess, an earthier honey note is also present.

The taste is biscuit like with some herbal and earthy hop presence, there is an interesting grainy bite on the finish; the bite almost reminds me of green tea in a sense.

Mouthfeel is light, clean drinking, with a low but astringent like bitterness on the finish, again grainy in a sense but slightly harsh despite it being low; there is also a slight metallic feel on the tongue.

This beer is interesting, it has characteristics that I would associate with an English bitter but somehow carries attributes of a clean lager...a very interesting beer to drink. I will enjoy seeing how this evolves as it warms up. Ryan, I'm still buried in beer from you so again, my next problem, decisions, decisions, decisions...

 

Allagash - hop reach, went ahead and grabbed 12 cos it's unlikely I don't like it.

pix host

Clear, copper/straw color, really pretty can, nice soft white head. Good looking beer. Nose is punchy and full, bitter, pithy, piney hops with resin and sap characteristics. Some malt underneath, but mostly just punchy hops on the nose.

Taste follows. Reminds me a lot of SN's Powder Day (criminally underrated). Big hop body balancing on a delicate, but nicely rounded malt body. The beer is probably leaning more west coast but in that ME/VT style with a smidge of chew on the malt body.

This fits easily into the rotation for me, perhaps one day nebco will put Sea Hag is put in 12 packs, then maybe I won't go after beers like this (or powder day). Until then, happy to have access to this, canned 12/29. Tasty stuff.

4.29/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Corduroy Lines
8,4% New England style IPA


Poured from a pint can generously sent to me by @HoppingMadMonk.

Juicy IPA that features fruit (orange, mango, and apricot) notes in aroma and taste. Low to no bitterness though plenty hoppy, so true to style. Fruit notes mask the high ABV well.

Good carbonation and mouthfeel. Creamy and textured on the palate with a soft finish.

 

I started last night With Paisley Cave Complex, fantastic dessert beer. Moved on to Crux 10th anniversary, too boozy, astringent and too much soy sauce. Moving on to a Gose, unsure what I will drink later tonight.

 

3.68/5 rDev -11.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

2017 vintage - poured from a 12oz bottle into a snifter.

Clear fulvous liquid with a fizzy whisper of foam that is quickly silenced. Nearly still, no lacing, though the tears leave a viscous even sheen along the sides.

Maple sugar, with a wave of stewed fruit and faint tobacco in the nose. Focused and potent yet fugitive/fleeting.

Unctuous, chewy, spirit-heavy, woody palate entry - burnt sugar, fudge, and peppercorn unfurl into the lumbering dry finish. Vanilla and maple are present, but there is a medicinal savory edge to everything with leather, dandelion greens, and brandy notes. Very distinctive and unusual.

Medium bodied, warming, a bit sticky.

Singular, befuddling, and lingering.

 

SN Torpedo is a classic and favorite but this is so different, should have came up with a new name. Little golden haze, nice well sustained head, light and pleasing aroma of citrus, fresh hops, herbal, lightly bitter, medium body. Nice fresh hop beer here but missing the malty backbone of classic Torpedo.

 

Dropping a quick one...pregamimg for Giants/Vikes.
Vitamin Sea Brain Waves DIPA
Pours a faded hazy yellow with a bright white huge marshmallow like head that takes almost forever to dissappear. Fantastic retention.
Looks like a root beer float.
Mango, pine, passionfruit, some floral and grassy notes, peach on the nose.
Taste follows with fruity notes, citrus rind and juice. Sweet to bitter balance. Very drinkable for 8%
Feel is fluffy soft, medium body. Resinous but drying finish with green hops. Delicious beer.
Another excellent DIPA from Vitamin Sea. Grab this is you see it for sure.
Cheers!

 

You're making progress, my friend!

 

Another liquid blessing from @FBarber: VSO Dark Mode, by Revolution.

Pours very dark with a big pillowy head on pour. That settles slowly into a dense ring and a big island, surprisingly dark. Smell is super bourbony, a bit of a toasted nut aroma, lots of vanilla sweetness and very boozy.

Taste is similar, but more chocolatey. Very sweet overall, less boozy than the nose suggested. Some of the sweetness comes across as molasses. Slowly noticing a dark roast coffee bitterness, but with the vanilla, chocolate, and sweetness, it's more like cocoa with coffee in it.

Mouthfeel is thick, sticky, rich. Overall, this is really nice...but better be in the mood for a sweet beer.

 

Great to be here NBS'ers

pFriem ~ Winter Ale

Notes: Cozy up to the fire with a pint of pFriem’s Winter Ale and gift your taste-buds with hints of spice, orange zest, caramel and a touch of spruce tree. You may even sense the subtle notes of fruitcake, which might encourage you to share this Winter Ale with your family and friends. Unlike fruitcake, this is a beer that will not be re-gifted.

The pour reveals a soft amber/dark pale orangish body, fine clarity, adorned with a very healthy khaki tan head. Dense looking with some major hang-time displayed and patchy globs of lace noted down the drink.

I get loads of fresh pine needle and sap on the nose (Spruce tips?). Candied orange peel/marmalade and some dank herbal resins. Very hop forward at first pop and then a faint toasted caramel malt presence.

Drinks much the same with a mass of sappy evergreens accompanied by cannabis and zesty orange citrus fruit. Apricot, golden raisin and Marmalade again. Some earthy ginger like spice elements to it as well. There lies a firm caramelized malt/sweet bready likeness throughout the flavor. Overall something more in line with Panettone bread is what I would suggest.

Moderate filling, stays lighter and frothy on the palate. Some nice drying bitterness in the finish. Solid resinous linger noted.

Fairly unique for the style. Really my only druthers with this one is that it drinks much more like a piney IPA vs a true Winter Warmer. Not an issue for me but what I was reaching for was something maltier to pair with the stormy CA weather we are having...more akin to Fremont's WW. I have plenty of great IPAs within my reach here. That said, like everything I expect from this brewery it is well crafted with good balance and drinkability. I would likely rank around a 4.0/ B+ or A- territory.

There is a Winter IPA listing here on BA but I me thinks this is really just the same brew

 

Old Bust Head's Caramel Macchiato Stout (5.7% abv) Picked this one up during a vacation trip to Virginia last summer. No date on the bottle, so compared to the can shown on the BA page for this beer, does that mean that my beer is older? (The beer was added in 2015.) Aroma and taste include a good balance of the coffee and vanilla listed on the bottle. The only negative about this beer is the moderately thin mouthfeel. Rated at 4.20. (rDev +5.8%)

 

I'd have guessed it was newer, since I haven't seen the bottles before, but a quick visit to the brewer's site would tend to confirm it's at least the current packaging (https://www.oldbusthead.com/caramel-macchiato-stout):


Looks like my review had it as a decent lower-ABV stout without the flavorings being overdone. They do a few flavors off this, and the GF always enjoys the Peppermint version each holiday (at least the ones that aren't spoiled, which happened to us only once on a batch a few years ago).

 

Late start to New Beer Sunday #934 for me. Was at Select Beer by 12:30, but they changed their hours to 2 on Sunday (website still says noon). Starting with a stronger pour, hope my palate holds throughout the day.

Russian River Shadow of a Doubt



Beer Bar Notes: $8 12 oz draft pour into a narrow tulip glass. Kegs all kept at 38F, so let this warm for 15 minutes before diving in.

Appearance: Pitch black, cream egg-white light tan head leaves fine lacing and a firm ring around and above the rim. 4.25

Aroma: Sweetness over bitterness, notes of milk chocolate, coffee, light caramel and pine. 3.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, sweet chocolate malt leads with coffee and a sweet caramel back. Some hop bitterness lurking but the pine aroma is awol. 4.0

Mouthfeel: Sweetness with a slightly effective hop bitterness, lightly dry, drinks lighter than the BA listed 9.6% ABV, dry caramel malt finish. 4.5

Overall: A little more sweet than I like, but can’t ding this beer for that. Solid imperial Porter full of flavor, excellent post dinner desert beer. 4.25

Believe I’ll be back shortly with another Russian River offering.

 

You make this sound like a damn tasty beer @Nugganooch

 

Congratulations on your daughter's wedding! I don't suppose you're a Sicilian and have to grant favors on the occasion of your daughter's wedding, like in The Godfather?

 

Humble Forager Foggy Footpath DDH DNEIPA, 8.1% ABV. Pours hazy orange with a 5+ finger white head that left great foamy lacing. Nose is vague citrus, taste follows, slightly sweet, slightly bitter. Decent creamy mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.02/5 rDev -1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Fruit Pizza Sour?
That sounds like someone pulled three words out of a hat, not a beer style.
I am genuinely curious about this beer.

 

I didn't expect to like it, but did because of the cream cheese and sugar cookies. A lot of add-junks in this one.