New Beer Weekend #142

Thanks for kicking off the extended Easter weekend @Beersnake1 !
Happy Good Friday!

Tree House Very HHHazyyy 8.8% NEIPA (as noted on BA, Treehouse labels in a Imperial IPA)

Appearance is a really nice looking opaque orange. About an 1 1/2 inch head that faded fairly quickly but maintained a nice lacing.
Above medium body with a really nice chewy mouthfeel.
Aroma is oranges with some peach.
Taste is excellent; really big bold oranges with a touch of sweetness, also getting some peach and pineapple with some dankness as beer warms.
Love the finish , no sweetness, citrus hops really linger with a perfect amount of bitterness. Also pick up some alcohol at the back end.
Superb beer: nice bold hop profile thats excellently balanced: hint of sweetness at first with a really nice semi bitter finish.

 

Thank you for getting us going, @Beersnake1! I am so ready! Surly Brewing Double Furious. An absolute craft beer legend, barrel-aged. 13.6% ABV. Not like the normal Furious that you shotgun before a Minnesota Twins game. @Mdog, I would like to hear your thoughts. The color is beautiful. Crimson red, with an almost pink color. It has a light, beautiful, off-white foamy top. The smell is grapefruit, vanilla, caramel, and bourbon. Blended together perfectly. The taste is like a barrel-aged barleywine. Toffee, grapfruit, chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon. A pleasant maltiness. The mouthfeel is thick, but smooth. It retains the characteristics of regular Furious, but amps up the intensity. This beer is the featured attraction. It does not want to be one of many cans you take down quickly while ice fishing. It has the feel of a barrel-aged barleywine, but juicier. The carbonation is medium-high. Overall, this is a powerful beer. It is unique. I like it, but I don't know if I will purchase it again. It was a nice experience. It does not disappoint, but regular Furious is a Minnesota institution. There is not much of a need to alter what has achieved greatness, even if other beers have surpassed it.

 

Firestone Walker XXVI Anniversary Ale BBA American Strong Cuvee, 11% ABV. Pours black with a 1.5 finger brown head that left some lacing. Nose is sweet chocolate, toffee, and wine. Taste follows plus bourbon and oak, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, char. Decent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Pretty complex, and of course better as it warms.

4.31/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Comes with a scroll describing who came up with it and what's in it. TBH TLDR, but I skimmed the one last year.

 

Mead + Barleywine.... Sign me up!

 

I love when NBW starts on Fridays!

#2 from good ol sneaky @snaotheus today

ForeLand + Von Ebert - Circle of Illumination



Canned 12.27.22

I think I have a new top 2 pilsner!

Pours a bright, clear gold with a bright white head that settled into a ring. 4

Subtle tropicals with some sweet hop and malt balance. 4.25

Noble hops,balanced sweetness. I really don't know how to describe it past that, but it's definitely excellent. 4.5

Biting carbo, coating hops and slight bitterness, lingering sweetness as well. 4.25

Overall I find most pilsners well done, this is damn near perfectly mastered. 4.5

 

Happy National Beer Day y'all!
I'm drinking a Black Hog Velvet Fog DIPA. Illegibly dated can into pint glass. (What the hell - it wasn't on the shelf last week so how old can it be??) Pours a slightly hazy honey-gold with a persistent off-white head. Great lacing! Initial impression is grapefruit, peach, mango, pear, and orange. Mouthfeel is a little aggressive for the "velvet" moniker. Finish fades to a lingering citrus sweetness. Overall, not bad but not remarkable.

 

That beverage sounds like a Nordic concoction, Viking even. Likely better with every sip.
I'm in my ninth week of recovery from knee replacement and I've lost track of that time. I can walk well and get around, but it's a new world of knee. It all started as a knee injury in basketball back in 1969. I was invincible but I have been humbled completely by PT and how slow time seems to move now. Injury sucks. Heal well!

 

Thanks @Beersnake1 for opening the tap on NBW

9th anniversary #9 imperial stout collaborative between homes and other half


4.24/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Brewery notes: Tommy and Nick run HOMES Brewing in Ann Arbor and are making some of the funnest and best beer in Michigan. This bourbon barrel aged imperial stout is a blend of 17-22 month old barrels that Nick helped us select, which have then been conditioned on hefty amounts of cacao nibs and vanilla.

Quoting mrs wunderllama on the opening pour, “My god, that is motor oil. Black gold”

Chilled 500 ml bottle poured into a stemmed snifter, thick black viscous motor oil , no head, no lacings, thick, syrupy, sludge on the pour, obsidian

Aroma is bourbon, vanilla, chocolate

Taste is sweet bourbon, vanilla, slight char, cocoa, hint of spice,

Mouthfeel is boozy without the heat , thick, syrupy, heavy oil

Good beer

 

Lost Fort Brewing Rooster Illusion Hazy Imperial IPA, 9.0% ABV; 4.15 overall

Pours a pretty hazed gold with one finger of cream colored head. Nice head retention & lacing

S: Some citrus & tropical fruit, not much nose

T: Nectarine, strawberry, mangoes & a little orange up front, some dryness up front. Guava, mangoes & strawberries as this beer warms up, some pineapple too. Finishes with Nectarine, Guava, sweet orange & a little dryness

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, great balance

Great flavor, but the nose was MIA. Great drinkability none the less. I certainly like the flavor better than the Alpha version of this, although it ranks .1 stronger overall

 

Thanks for the awesome start & sending healing thoughts your way. I was a hack runner, but I still miss it

 

Bourbon Barrel Aged Oro Negro
12.1% stout by Jackie O's

Poured from a 12.7 ounce bottle, the body is a dark cola brown. Small initial head that quickly dissipated and no lacing of consequence.

Aroma is a complex mix of bourbon, cinnamon, vanilla, and chile. The habanero aroma is muted but present.

Taste follows nose though the barrel is a tad sweeter than the nose. You'll need to be patient to pick up the notes of walnut and oak rising from the stout upon which this beer was made (Oil of Aphrodite). The habanero is felt in the swallow, but it's a light heat. In fairness, I love habs and you might perceive more heat. The cinnamon and cacao nibs balance the pepper and the barrel holds everything together in an unlikely tasty stout. A bit more malty char would be welcome, but that's a personal preference and not a complaint.

Mouthfeel is good but not great. I'd love a bit more body in this stout. More carbonation would be welcome.

Overall an outstanding stout that I interestingly found a bit better when colder than I usually drink stouts. The mix seemed more flavorful when first poured.

 

I am putting the glass you sent me to good use, thin walled, stylish and strong

prosit!

 

Next up is from @IrishMASMS I do believe

Alesmith - Holiday Hero (2021)



Canned 11/5/21

Poured into a nonic at fridge temp

For it's age I was surprised at what a gusher it was and tried to slurp up that chocolate colored foam, but it escaped me.

Pours deep dark brown, bordering black with an aggressive light chocolate colored head that leaves a sticky lacing and half finger ring/cap. 4.25

Some booze heat and spice lead the charge on aroma, with some trailing spice and chocolate. 4

Fairly dynamic taste that I couldn't pin down on first sip. Starts dark and mildly obscured, opens up to vanilla, nutmeg and just the slightest hint of chocolate and finished with roast. 4.5

Full, oily/sticky and lingering alcohol burn and warmness. 4.25

Overall I daresay a unique, interesting and absolutely delightful holiday impy stout. 4.25