New Beer Weekend #134

Hey what's going on!?

Having a great weekend, I GOT A NEW CAR!! Oh man.... so needed as I went about 6 months without one.

No... I will not tell you what it is... you have to guess.

That being said, I haven't had too much new beer, but I finally cracked this long hidden Christmas present and boy what a great treat it was!

Here's my 2 cents on it.



Poured from the can into a nonic(k) pint glass. Vintage 2022.

Creamed up and billowing rich and tall four fingers of height head. Very fine and nearly nitrous bubbles with a light tan color and milkshake like appearance. Body color is a dark mahogany with an excellent amount of deep red that's just noticeable enough to squeak out. Great looking stout.

The aroma is really nice and delicate. Light touches of box like milk chocolate with a sense of vanilla whipped up cream. Real nice touch of hinting orange but it's slightly faint. This is an excellent showcase of flavors that isn't over powering either just nicely complimentary and balanced, without so far coming off gimmicky.

Palate is really delicious. Velvety and cake like mouthfeel, with rich malt touches of carbon and faint char. Mid palate rushes with a nice bitter chocolate that is lighter in flavor, but has all the hallmarks of dark bitterness but milky sugar. A real nice wonderful orange sweetness mixing in vanilla, even almost a maraschino like cherry note somewhere as well. Silky, rich, just a hint of right sweetness, and a finish of charring bitterness makes for a great run.

Excellent tasting stout, probably one of the most delicious beers I have had from Rogue in a real long time.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 | BA Score: 4.44

Cheers!

 

Welcome one and all to The Big Game edition, New Beer Sunday #938. One more week to the 18th anniversary of New Beer Sunday which began on Sunday, February 20, 2005.

Beer Zombies Zombie Duck Hunter



Can Notes: $12.99 plus tax for a four pack purchased refrigerated 2/10/23 at the Sahara Ave. Speedee Mart in Summerlin. West Coast India Pale Ale. Hops: Ekuanot & Citra. 7.2% ABV. Beer Zombies Brewing is proudly brought to you as a partnership between Beer Zombies and Mason Ale Works. San Marcos, San Diego County, CA.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a shaker pint glass. Golden crystal clear base, bright white foam leaves generous lacing throughout. Mild carbonation throughout. 4.0

Aroma: Pine and citrus. Light to mild strength and enjoyability. 3.5

Taste: Much stronger flavor, bitter pine leads, light citrus backs attempting at slight sweetness. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Dry and overall bitter plus, consistent with the style. Drinks at the ABV, light resinous pine, medium body. Mild pine bitterness lingers in the finish. 3.5

Overall: This is a decent WCIPA, bitter pine, consistent with the style. Glad I have a few more. 3.75

Might come back with another later tonight.

 

Hi NBW/S. This is East Hartford Brewing -West Coast Penny

Grabbed this at a great price. I haven’t had anything from the brewery since the resuscitation. The brewery used to be Old Burnside Brewing from I believe late 90s or early 00s. Generally they brewed ale, particularly British ale. Ten penny was one of the precursors out here. Not that I was around here back then but the history was always really interesting to me. I remember drinking tenpenny and old burnside for the first time at the great wing stop in CT, J Timothy’s Taverne. I didn’t even know at the time that one could have a pint of ale at restaurants out here.



So this beautiful deep copper leading bronze beer gushes with aromatics from crack to pour. Nose is of sharp hop bitterness, pith and rind. A feint malt sugar. Sharp citrus, it smells like the visual of walking into a room and seeing that haze from citrus juice bursting into the air as sunlight hits it.

Tastes so sharply bitter and clean. The malt is the white paper the font dances on but it’s elegantly balanced. I think maybe this pint is about what happens between malt and hops, and perhaps that’s foremost the rounded mouthfeel and clean body. It’s such an elegant beer with a pronounced mouthfeel. This drinks like 7% but it’s 5% somehow. I usually avoid this abv for ipas but wow. What an excellent offering. Ever the pub ale.

 

You know it’s a big deal day when I break out the Schell’s beer bucket, and Super Bowl Sunday certainly qualifies, IMHO. I thought it would be fitting to share a beer from my local.

Let’s Super Bowl, baby!!!





4.42/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Pours a beautifully hazy pineapple color with a rocky white head that lingers and grips the glass. Gorgeous hazy. The nose is very dank and citrusy (primarily grapefruit, mango, and pineapple) and some apricot, berry and pine notes as well.

Wow, do I love the nose on these Simcoe/Mosaic hopped beers!

The taste is led by those dank citrus flavors noted on the nose, which are truly delicious, but it’s the apricot, berry, and especially the pine that makes this beer for me, with the elevated bitterness separating it from the “typical” hazy.

The mouthfeel is firm and a bit creamy, working well with the bitterness to provide an imminently drinkable beer. My local absolutely nailed this, IMHO.

 

Oliphant Honees Honees peanut butter & honey golden ale



4.18/5 rDev +15.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Can received from transacations in BIF 16 from @Victory_Sabre1973

Brewers Notes: Golden Ale brewed with honey & lactose, with peanut butter flavor and caramel color.

Poured into a willi becher glass , translucent copper liquid, creamy one finger off white foam cap, settles to a thin island and ring

Aroma is Honeyed peanuts

Taste is honey, peanuts, peanut brickle , honey grahams with peanut butter sweet but not overpowering or too cloying,

Sudsy , smooth, almost creamy , honey sweet

Good beer, i dont usually drink american blonde ales..but i like this one. Sweet, peanut brickle, smooth, thanks James!

 

Munich Lager
6.3% K2 Brothers Brewing

Poured from a pint can, the body is a caramel brown. Small initial head and good lacing.

Light aroma of sweet malt.

Brewed with Pilsner and Vienna malts that create a sweet malty taste followed by crisp dry hop finish. Clean and good malty mouthfeel

Solid lager.

 

Inspired by the Oldies thread and @jonphisher so an oldie is new to me.
Poured like carbonated iced tea with a manilla colored head - looking good.
The aroma, sorry, not smelling much of anything right now.
The taste starts mild, like a malty ale, and then the hops kick in at the swallow, not like an IPA but more like what I would think of a British pub best bitter.
The feel is very good, excellent quaffing texture with the carbonation, I can see buying this by the 6 pack. Good beer, definitely a classic.

 

Atmospheric Lazy River ~ DDH Winter IPA 6.6% ABV ~ Delahunt Brewing collab with Pizza Port - San Clemente, CA

Super Sunday Cheers New Beer Weekenders! I have many a new brews to select from right now but here is one I feel worthy of sharing with y'all. I really hope this (as it seems to be) Winter IPA "trend" continues. Not that we really need another IPA category BA but it's a much obliged movement away from the hazies!

The malt bill features German Dark and Pilsner Malts showcasing a beautiful Auburn body that also lends to the comfy warm biscuit and toasted nuttiness with the base flavor and an overall well rounded softness in the feel.

The hops are NZ Nectaron and Washington grown Mosaic deriving notes of blueberry muffin batter with lemon zest, sliced peaches, green melon, and a touch of pine. Very aromatic with only some moderate bitterness.

Going into this one my mind immediately suggests something along the lines of SN Celebration but what you get is even better! This actually hits closer to a smoother, less aggressive/more sessionable Stone Arrogant Bastard and a fruitier hop profile. A very well balanced/constructed brew overall.


Added to the db.

 

Just got home from a day out with the whole family. Time to watch the second half of the super bowl, cook the Valentine's lasagna we put together yesterday, and chill out on the couch with a new-to-me beer: Goose Island - Bourbon County Brand Double Barrel Stout

500ml bottle served in a snulip. 2021 bottle, if there's more than one vintage of this. Drink By 21JUL26, 16.0% abv.

Pours black with a small ring of head, looks still. Smell is boozy, toasted coconut, coffee and anise, burnt vanilla sweetness.

Taste is gorgeous, wow. Blast of chocolate syrup and vanilla, coffee roast in the background, booziness isn't gone but it's muted. Toasted coconut is also there, and also (thankfully) muted. Lots going on, and it meshes together well.

Mouthfeel is thick, not sticky enough for me to call it syrupy, slight grittiness. Overall, really excellent beer.

 

Winding down half watching the Super Bowl. Another memorial service today, but it was more a life celebration and actually very uplifting. Our second one in three weeks, so it'd be nice to call time out on them for a bit.

Tonight's victim also qualifies for Cellaruary. It was bottled on April 20, 2016:


Allagash Nancy - a red sour using Brett, long fermentationst in stainless steel, and Balaton and Montmorency cherries from Maine. I vaguely remember someone (non-BA) finding this beer for us...that worked out well, eh?

It pours a brassy coppery color with a short and fleeting soap bubbly head. Not unusual for the style. Fairly clear until the last little bit of the pour, but no excessive sediment or chunks.

The smell is mellow and pleasant. Bready, not particularly funky but it's definitely there, mild cherry, a hint of green apple, slight sour, some spiciness as yet undefined. A little faint citrusy not floats above. Generally, it's pretty laid back.

Taste is just fantastic. Opens with cherry, a more clearly defined but mellow Brett profile, pleasant level of sourness. A bit of breadiness serves as the anchor, in my opinion. Then the aromatics come to play - cherry and berry fruity, a little apple, light lemon, and the undefined spice emerges as cinnamon that shows up late in the taste. There's a light touch of sweetness. It's a little cherry pie-like, but funkified.

Feel is light, the flavor lingers a little long on the tongue, but the little spicy fruity earrh carryover just calls for another sip. No bitterness, sour well within sanity, modestlu carbonated, end result is refreshing.

No idea what this tasted like fresh, but it is tasting pretty incredible now. I can't say how much or if it has mellowed. I suspect the color is a tad degraded and maybe it was more clear when new. I'd say this is an easy 4.3-ish beer even with almost 7 years in the pantry. The flavors are pleasing and extremely well-integrated. Actually happy that I have another bottle.

 

I’ve been to J Timothy’s, I really want to get back one day…my moms whole family lives in the Farmington area. Do you live around there still?

 

Burgeon Beer Co ~ Subliminal Sync
6th Anniversary IPA ~ 6% ABV

Notes: To commemorate our Sixth Anniversary, we sought out hyper-concentrated “CGX” Nelson and Strata products from @CrosbyHops and paired them with experimental brewing techniques to craft the beer you’ve dreamed about but haven’t yet tasted. Subliminal Sync is a future-focused expression of the timeless West Coast IPA style, charged with saturated flavors & aromas that suspend both time and space. Open this can and let the past, present, and future collide in a moment that celebrates our community in every sense: who we were, who we are today, and who we’re becoming as we grow.

A super crushable Nelson delight/lite BA! Drinks like a session IPA with massive hop aroma and flavors.

 

Back with my second Super Bowl beer, one I approached with trepidation as it is a Rye Stout and that was new to me.

However, the Rye presented more as rye bread and not extra harsh.
The addition of the Rye added extra flavor and depth to what is essentially a sessionable stout. Fills out the flavor profile nicely.
The feel is not quite viscous but smooth and accents the taste.
This was sent to me in a small trade with @jonphisher - he sends good stuff!

 

Dancing Gnome - Pivot pale ale



Thanks @The_Kriek_Freak for this excellent dinner chaser!

Canned on 01/03/23

Pours a bright and opaque gold with a two finger head that settles into a thin ring

Clear and distinct hop aroma

Sharp carbo bite, fresh, clear, and clean hops with subtle sweetness.

Very much enjoyed this crisp APA

 

Last planned pour of the day, this one from my brother’s cellar.

Bottle Logic FOMO



Bottle Notes: 2021 release, no date noted. Stored at room temperature until two days ago, then refrigerated until opening. Approximately half of the 16.9 oz bottle. Batch 1. Vanilla and coffee stout. Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels with Madagascar vanilla beans, then finished with Mostar Coffee. Store safely 40 F, serve two 8 oz snifters at 58 F. 13.5% ABV. Joint mission with Mostra Coffee. Anaheim California.

Food Pairings: 1. Boerenkaas Aged Gooda, 2. Brisket Burnt Ends, 3. Caramel Ice Cream.

Appearance: Pitch black base, rich dark luxurious head lingered for 1-2 minutes, leaving a ring around the glass and fine bubbles slide as I swirl and enjoy. 4.5

Aroma: Chocolate fudge backed by vanilla no barrel, five minutes after opening. Fifteen minutes, a blunt bourbon barrel emerges and battles vanilla for dominance, the nice chocolate fudge all but a memory. 4.0

Taste: First sip five minutes in vanilla is strong backed by fudge, no barrel. Now at proper temperature, bourbon packing heat, getting a nice blend of chocolate fudge and vanilla. Fudge really decadent, everything held together nicely. Vanilla complements, not overwhelms as the nose would indicate. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Full creamy body, whiskey assertive, but smooth, goes down easy. Drinking lighter than the strong ABV. Chocolate slightly chalky, nice fudge finish. 4.5

Overall: This is an excellent BA stout, everything is in proper measure, delicious. Flavors all held on well over time since the release in non optimal storage. If you have one of these, succumb to your FOMO and enjoy now! 4.5

Looking forward to catching up with the thread after a busy and fun weekend.

 

The final beer for me this weekend which featured many more than normal but only 3 that were new to me.
This one comes courtesy of @Victory_Sabre1973 and his amazing assault on my porch with several boxes of beer, all related to NBW BIF #16

Barbarian Imperial Stout from Warrior Brewing- definitely one that is good to stop after.
Poured stout black with a short tan head that left little lacing.
The flavors were well balanced with chocolate and coffee and charred toast with a little bitterness from the hops to assure no sweetness gets through. Nicely mixed and seemingly morphed from malt to hops and back to malty flavors again. Maybe it’s just as it warmed the malt gains the upper hand.
The feel is ideal for a nice sipper, just a bit of viscosity but not too much.
Tasty beer!

 

This will be my last for NBW, though my weekend has started.


Neapolitan Stout - 903 Brewers - Sherman, TX - 12.3% ABV

First off, this is delicious. I like the vanilla and strawberry backed up by chocolate. This beer does seem a bit light, though. It does not drink like a 12.3% beer at all. Not watery, but not thick at all. Interesting to say the least.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31850/609541/


4.04/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
This beer looks like cola when pouring. It is dark, but also has some clarity in the glass when held up to the light. The head finished off at 1 finger. The color was tan, and the bubbles smaller. The retention wasn't the best, but not bad for the ABV. No lacing on the glass.
The nose is very strong with strawberry. I get a faint whiff of vanilla.
Taste, well it isn't as strawberry forward as the nose suggested. I get a lot of vanilla up front. The strawberry and chocolate finish up the mix.
The body really seems a bit light for a 12% stout, and there's no burn at all. Very smooth, almost too easy drinking.
Interesting, and delicious.

Since I have a needed day off tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be tipping a few back in WBAYDN thread. Cheers all and see you next weekend in the NBW thread.

 

I am drinking my very first Bark Griswold right now. I am enjoying the chocolate and mint flavors and aromas and wish both were a tad more prominent. I am no beer expert and I do not know what qualities make a "dessert beer," but this was definitely not too sweet for my untrained palate. More importantly, it was not too viscous (It's been about a decade since my one and only Hangar 24 Orange Wheat and I still feel as if I'm choking on that beer).