New Beer Weekend #131

Good morning BAs! Today’s new to me beer is Eclipse (2022) George Dickel Barrel from FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA:




Poured at 57°. One finger of creamy tan head with rocks; very good cap retention; bands of sticky lace; heavy ring; black with ruby see-through body; medium legs on swirl. Whiskey with subtle chocolate nose. Entry is whiskey and cacao nibs; some oaky vanilla as beer warms; more oaky barrel on backend. No warmth from 10.1% abv; silky smooth feel; moderate minus carbonation; medium body; dry barrel finish. Overall, the flavors are mild and the alcohol well hidden; the body is a bit thin, and the base takes a backseat to the barrel flavors; honestly, not a lot going on here, nevertheless, a solid BBA impy stout.

4.25 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.25 | 4.0
Score: 4.04 rDev: 0. I added beer to database.

Cheers and have a great day!

 

from yesterday..




Toppling Goliath - Fire Stoker (BA Smoked Maple Imperial Porter)

my review:

4oz draft pour into snifter. dark brown with lighter brown edges. just a tad lighter in color than the previous two stouts i just consumed. no foam or bubbles though. huge maple syrup on the nose. no one does maple like TG, it’s crazy. that said, the maples does cover up some of the other attributes of the beer that i get on the taste. as one note as it may be, i happen to like that note (maple!). as it warms a smokiness emerges. that smokiness follows through on the taste but it’s light and balanced and meshes well with the roasty base porter as well as the barrel and maple. medium-full mouthfeel. was maybe expecting it to be a tad thicker but it’s really good. this is an excellent smoked imperial porter. great barrel presence, a light smoke to it and excellent maple aroma and flavor.

4.25, 4.75, 4.5, 4.25, 4.5
overall: 4.52
rDev: +7.1%

cheers to new beers!

 

from yesterday…



TG Term Oil Intelligentsia

my review:

4oz draft pour into snifter. pitch black. no bubbles or foam to speak. chocolate, caramel-forward coffee and bourbon on the nose. taste follows the nose and i really dig the coffee notes in this one. been a good number of years since i’ve had intelligentsia coffee but i always remember it being equal parts smooth, complex and flavorful. this follows that. the coffee gives off aromas of dried cherries, chocolate and a nuttiness that works so well with the base imperial stout and the bourbon barrels. thick mouthfeel. this rocks.

4.75, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5
overall: 4.52
rDev: 0%

cheers!!

 

Good morning NBS/nbw and thank @Roguer for hosting this weekend.
Off for a short hike with my best buddie, before the weeks events, His is open heart surgery to strengthen valves my is a trip to Taiwan to see Team #1
Todays offering is from Taiwan, and an interesting one at that. Sugarcane and Oolong Ale has a certain fear factor for me, that was quickly dispensed with at the first sip.
As I write in the review, it is very Apple cider like, with a solid nod to a Witbier. The tea is earthy and herbal, with some mintyness, the sugar cane is equally interesting in that it isnt particularly sweet, and 4% with a crisp carbonation the offering is quite compellng.

Cheers all
see you in a few weeks

Sugarcane Oolong Tea Ale

Fruit and Field Beer | 4% ABV
Taihu Brewing in Taipei City, Taiwan

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

3.88/5 rDev 0% | Average: 3.88
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Poured from the 16 oz can into the test glass.
A - Lite straw colored back drop. Very active carbonation, that operates like seltzer. No accumaulation but plenty of action.
S - Grainy, with a clear Oolong thread, earthy with a bit of mint, white pepper, raw sugar cane.
T - In a blind test you would lean toward hard cider, great tension between tea and sugar with a quite nice grainy aspect. I feel like theres a strong wheat component.
M - Spritzy, delicate and dare i say refreshing, Lively palate, with a sweet start, and pleasant move toward ashen dry finish
O - An interesting offering, again its like a belgian Wit and a strong cider mashed up. One I would like on a summer day

 

one more from yesterday…



TG Double Barrel Rye Assassin

my review:

4oz draft pour into snifter. jet black with a shiny glimmer to the top surface and a ring or dark brown connected bubbles. big rye whiskey and oak on the nose. the barrel definitely takes the lead here but the tastes offers up a rich, fudge-forward stout base to compliment the rye and oak. spicy rye, dry oak, slightly bitter chocolate and the slightest hints of dark fruits but it’s barely noticeable. thick, full mouthfeel with enough carbonation to make it less difficult or tiring on the palate. this is stellar. i love rye barrel-aged imperial stouts so i figured this would be right up my alley but assassin can be a little inconsistent (looking at you green wax 2020) but they nailed this. chocolate rye liquid gold.

4.5, 4.5, 4.75, 4.75, 4.75
overall: 4.68
rDev: -1.5%

cheers!!

 

Safe travels visiting the family @SABERG. Will you be joining us from half way around the world next weekend?

 

Getting ready for some football and enjoying this very nice oatmeal stout.

Black color, small tan head. Tiny bit of lace.
Roasted malt aroma, coffee, chocolate.
Taste of espresso, dark chocolate, caramel.
Full-bodied, nice bitterness at the end.

 

post image is jammin me up, so no pic. sorry. but this is from this morning.

TG Celestial Paradox

my review:

poured from a 32oz crowler filled yesterday into a TG standard pint glass. pours out of the can a hazy yellow (almost like mountain dew) but settles in the glass a hazy orange with two fingers of fluffy white foam. citrus and earthy, herbal or vegetal aromas and flavors. quite bitter as it warms but it’s tasty. medium-full, creamy mouthfeel. not as good as TG is capable of but still solid.

4.25, 4.25, 4, 4.25, 4.25
overall: 4.15
rDev: -2.6%


cheers!!

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #935! Have a light and easy beer to start the day that I've heard great praise, this one also from Roaring Table. Sadly it's not a brewery I can access via Metra, but hope to visit one day when I have a rental.

Roaring Table Warbler Vivant



Can Notes: 16 oz canned 12/22/22 (on cask @ RTB stamped on bottom). 3.5% ABV Hops East Kent & Golding. Brewed & Canned by Roaring Table Brewing. Single can purchased at Beer on the Wall at store temperature for $3.50 w/ tax on 1/10/23, refrigerated since.

This Dark Mild Ale pairs nicely with easygoing sessions and comfy sweaters. It presents malty notes of chocolate, breadcrust, toffee, nuts and red fruits. Flavorful yet as well mannered as the style suggests, we hope you enjoy it now and again. Cheers!

Appearance: Multiple pours into a pint nonic glass. Dark brown base, clear when held to light, carbonation moderate. Rich generous tan creamy bubbly head lingers for several minutes before leaving spotty lacing and a creamy cover over the base. 4.25

Aroma: Toasted bread crust, caramel, toffee, hazelnuts, coffee, bold in depth and strength. Really enjoyable. Rich malt and sweetness perceived, but not overwhelming. 4.5

Taste: Taste is even stronger than the nose, mostly roast malt to start, bread, chocolate and caramel in that order. Liquid bread and heath bar, it's delicious on this late morning. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Very sweet, the malt and sweet flavors run wild with just a minor hops and alcohol presence to attempt and fail at containing. Light watery body, negligible carbonation, drinks at or slightly above the low ABV, caramel bready malt sweet lingers on and on, but in a good way. 4.25

Overall: You need to be in the mood for a malty sweet beverage to enjoy this one. Recommend for an morning or after dinner pour, hits all the expected notes with a vigor, another solid offering by Roaring Table that I must indeed track down on cask. 4.5

Well, the Sunday "Prime Time" Beverage won out today, though I also enjoyed their WCIPA from yesterday. Roaring Table is firmly entrenched as my favorite suburban brewery, though there are several I enjoy. Have one new to me Duvel to try next weekend plus the OG version for Friday. Till then....

 

Humble Forager Forbidden Fortune Oat Cream DNEIPA, 8% ABV. Pours hazy medium-orange with a 3+ finger white head that left lots of foamy lacing. Nose is light fruit and oats. Taste is light fruit/citrus and oats, slightly sweet and equally bitter. Excellent dry mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.08/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Humble Forager makes some well-crafted beers, vs. some brewers that seem to think they can only get decent flavor with a lot of add-junks. Narrator: he likes add-junks more than he admits

 

Fleeting a 5% ABV Saison brewed at Oakflower Brewing in Millington NJ, This Saison is brewed with Rye and dry hopped with New Zealand Cascade hops. Served at the brewery this beer is golden with a creamy white head. There is a hint of Rey in the aroma. The rey and the hops balance each other in the taste. The taste itself is great, Fleeting is one of the best beers called a Saison that I have drunk.I say called Saison because the word seems to cover a lot of ground and some very different beers,

 

Hi NBW/NBS. Stumbled across a new Sam Adams NA, so what the heck. Something light before something heavy a little later.

Sam Adams - Gold Rush (odd name, all things being even)



First note is it's a while since a poured it and the head is still hanging around, steady carb. It's a pale amber and is fairly lively.

Nose is sweet malt, maybe noble hops, some earl grey. You know, I bought this purely on Just The haze being a great beer. I'm quite impressed by Sam Adam's take on NA beers. This is quite tasty. Hearkens back to a classic sort of pub ale, like a cream ale, but more hop character than that. I'm not getting any off flavors, if you hate NA beers, please don't go buy this based on my review. I don't have an issue drinking them and they're always in my rotation (especially after activity).

Standouts here are a lively mouthfeel. Decent amount of floral, herbal bitterness from a well balanced hop bill throughout, definitely German. It's easy drinking and isn't going to set the world on fire, I think an excellent counterpoint to JTH, perhaps their take on that Kolsch beer they made but for NA. Sam wicked easy now? Or something.

Anyway, cheers!

 

First (and maybe only) beer for today is Ploosh, an ESB from Marlowe Artisan Ales. ESBs area style I don't see often enough and tend to enjoy, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

3.9/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Pours a light, translucent amber. Good amount of beige colored head and good retention, eventually receding to a thin cap and some solid lacing. Overall, I find this a very attractive beer. Aroma is equally enticing, with plenty of bread and toasted malts.

Taste is really nice. A little more malty sweetness and a lot less bitterness than I expected. I'm not getting much in the way of hops, which is fine by me as I'm not a huge hophead overall. Feel is also a little stickier and full bodied than I expected.

Overall, very tasty beer, just not spot on with what I expect in an ESB. That said, I could drink this repeatedly!

 

Certainly North of the targeted ABV for the style

 

Brewing Projekt Ending Machine Fruited Sour, 4.6% ABV. Pours opaque dark red with a ring of pink bubbles that left no lacing. Nose is a fruit mashup, plus basil and vanilla. Taste follows, as far as fruit can only pick out mango, quite sweet, slightly tart. Decent smooth mouthfeel, overall excellent. Basil sure gives it a unique nose and taste.

4.28/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

 

I've had Treehouse Sap before, but did not review. This is Super Sap. The can is almost two months old, it was a gift from a non-drinker who had what I guess was a pretty good holiday party without me.

4.17/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
Poured from a 16oz can stamped LITTLE FULL, LOTTA SAP 11/29/22 to a Nonic at fridge temperature.
The body is a glowing opaque apricot. A ¼” white head fades within 2-3 minutes to a ring but laces well.
The aroma is, well… sappy, but with a musty compost.
The taste has melon and citrus in the front, the sap comes in the end as a hop hit. The mouth dries out nicely, but there is also a mild hop burn, maybe due to the almost two month age of this can.
Mouthfeel is classic Treehouse, not nearly a milkshake IPA, but really nice for a double NEIPA.
I’m pretty happy with this beer, but I have to get a fresher can.
Tentatively planning a trip to Deerfield next weekend.

 

Fat Orange Cat - Santa Claws



Attractive pour here, looks great. Smell is traditional for a RIS, and there's an undercurrent of cinnamon and perhaps some baking spices (nutmeg, clove et al.). Cellar temp is important here I suppose, the beers is robust and full-bodied. There's a good deal of roast bitterness but nothing overtly so. Perhaps a small amount of the cinnamon bun character coming through but it doesn't drink like a desert stout. Just 9% which I think is awesome because it drinks a lot bigger than that. Very good offering. Not something I would usually buy, but this is part of my post-holiday closeout haul, got 9 of these for a buck a pop. Happy to have em.

Cheers!

 

Had some time to review a beer so I figured I'd take advantage...I was very curious as to what this beer would be like when I saw it in the box from @snaotheus, a "rustic IPA" from Washington...I can't say I've ever had a beer labeled as such so let's see what it is all about.

Garden Path Fermentation - The Twisted Branch Out (rustic IPA 6.6%)



Pours a dirty honey color, very cloudy, the head is vigorous but dissipates quickly, it does leave a nice white film though.

The nose is mildly acidic, some yeast is present, green fruit flesh, that leans grassy.

The taste has the same gentle acidity, green grape skin, a grassy bite, there is a minor malt presence as well; it also has the just the slightest hint of farmhouse funk on the finish.

Medium body, the acidity makes it very refreshing though, the carbonation is low at first but the pops out of nowhere very nicely…it’s quite clean and has a lingering moderate bitterness.

This beer was very interesting to drink and quite tasty, for me it really did a good job being a farmhouse type beer that had noticeable IPA traits, mainly an earthy grassy bitterness...pretty tasty beer. Thanks for sharing Ryan.

I'm hoping I can open one more today but time will tell...cheers everyone.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. Double Tap Brewing Co. in Whippany, NJ, opened in September 2022. This past Thursday marked the brewery's first bottle release, a Rye Barrel Aged version of its Old Man Shaggy's Imperial Stout. This was a very small (30 gallon) batch. The barrel was from a production of Dam Break Aged Rye Whiskey made by Milk Street Distillery in Sussex County, New Jersey. Like most new breweries, Double Tap's offerings can be inconsistent but some of them are very good, including several IPAs. I was also impressed by its Scotch Ale.

This release isn't a bad start to Double Tap's barrel-aging program. My issue is the exorbitant unit price. I paid more for this bottle than I did for any of the 2022 BCBS variants (except for the 30th Anniversary, which I passed on due to the cost). And this Stout isn't in the same league with BCBS. I understand that production costs are high but Double Tap will have to rectify this issue.

Poured at 52°. It's a dark walnut color with cola hues at the bottom of the glass. The frothy, medium-mocha head fizzled away very quickly leaving no discernible lacing. Its smell includes roasted malt, char, tobacco ash, burnt coffee grounds, and just a whiff of chocolate. The effect of the rye barrel is quite strong; it's dry and mildly bitter. Beneath are notes of acidic coffee and earthy, burnt nuts. Only as it warms do I detect some sweeter notes of chocolate and caramel. There is a dry, slight bitterness throughout. The mouth feel is rather thin with moderate carbonation, and while the 8.6% ABV is modest for an Imperial Stout, you can feel it. Overall, I commend Double Tap for its first bottled, barrel-aged offering. There is lots of upside for this recipe.

3.73/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75