New Beer Weekend #185

Toys R Us for beer lovers…Chucks

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Awesome opening @AzfromOz today.

Done with work today, and I thought it would be a good idea to have a cellar pull for my first beer of the day.


Dark & Stormy - Firestone Walker Brewing - American Strong Ale - 11.1% ABV

This is a 2018 vintage. I picked this up at work last year, and have been waiting for a good time to try it. Today seemed right. The ginger is the main flavor in this beer. Hints of lime, caramel and toffee also show up. Interesting, but I wonder how it would be fresh? Don't know, but it can age.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2210/313771/

3.79/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
2018 vintage - 12oz bottle. 11.1% ABV

Sight hiss upon opening, and a bit of rolling smoke coming out of the bottle. This is a dark pouring beer, very dark amber in color. There are some floaties just lazily floating in the glass. The head that forms is a 1 finger tan colored head. Retention isn't bad for a high ABV beer, however, there's no lacing on the glass.
I get lots of ginger and lime on the nose. Under the ginger and lime I get some notes of caramel and toffee.
The flavor is a good deal lighter than the nose. I do get ginger right away and it does have a bit of a punch. I also get the lime, but it seems very muted in this beer. I am also getting some notes of caramel and toffee, about what the nose suggested.
The ginger does linger and it does provide some heat to this beer. It is somewhat smooth feeling, and a bit bubbly feeling. Fairly full, and, like I said, there's a bit of heat, but it's from the ginger, and not the ABV much.
Interesting and tasty beer overall.


I should be back later for another beer. Cheers!

 

Tonewood and Love City - Quiet Storm, a smoked dark lager

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Don't see a date on the can. @jonphisher sent it to me.

Pours very dark, almost black, translucent, with a 1 to 1.5 finger head that deflates into a fluffy layer that clings high on the glass. Smell is woodsmoke -- not overwhelming, but quite insistent. Behind it, maybe (*maybe*) some dates and toffee.

Taste is mild woodsmoke, stronger char, moderate grainy sweetness, finishes on bitter char.

Mouthfeel is light and very dry. Overall, very nice beer. Thanks, Jon!

 

It is a great place. Chuck's Hop Shop -- there are three locations. Seward Park is the one closest to me (not close enough), Greenwood is the original location, Central District is the other one. All of them are awesome.

Not pictured: ~50 taps; true at all three locations.

If you need someone to buy you a pint at one of them, let me know!

 

You know the place from my pictures, don't you? I love it.

 

Of course The world’s greatest beer store but I think I went to a different one. It was a little north of Ballard, forget the name of it. Maybe it’s the Greenwood one you mentioned.

 

Pleasantly surprised by Made West's 8th anniversary WCDIPA - cheers!

$3.34 for a single at Trader Joe's:

4.13/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Packaged on January 16th, 2024 - enjoyed on February 3rd, 2024 - poured from a pint can into a snifter.

Brilliantly clear amber liquid supports a short stack of ivory foam, which recedes to a lasting collar and faint surface slick - fine sandy lacing; good retention.

Berries, melon, tropical/floral notes in the nose along with a hint of pine, citrus, and crackers. Hop forward but more juicy than dank.

Taste follows the nose with additional cotton-candy/honey kissed sweetness, potent grapefruit notes, and pine sap in the long, medium-dry finish. Moderate bitterness throughout melds well with the alcohol to suggest a touch of menthol. Faintly herbaceous and floral. Slightly more biscuity as it warms.

Medium-bodied, well carbonated, faintly oily - slightly warming for the ABV.

Very good, fresh, clean take on the style - a good advertisement for the "cutting edge" hop products utilized without departing too much from tradition.

 

Yeah, if it was anywhere near Ballard, it was Greenwood. That was the first place I ever met any BAs! And I met Chuck that night, too.

 

I have noticed a lot of places are not labelling the ABV on the BA stouts, now I know why.

 

Good afternoon NBW
I've had this six pack in the fridge for a month waiting on today, so here we go.


12oz canned 11/21/23 poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass at fridge temp 9.5% ABV. The beer pours bright medium amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a web of lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet caramel malt and a little fruity, citrus note. The taste is bittersweet caramel malt with earthy bitterness prominent and layers of candied orange and grapefruit. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Hop oil combines with malty heft to leave the finished product sticky, but not overly sweet. Overall, very good DIPA.

Cheers all!

 

Today I have Happy Lil' Pils, a Czech style Pilstner form Myrcene Ales in Old Saybrook Connecticut. Had a good Dunkel and an NEPIA there yesterday. Went home with 4-pack of this (for the wife, but you know.....).


Packaged in a 16-oz undated can, purchased at the brewery yesterday. Poured to a Pils glass at fridge temp.
Medium to light orange body with a large, fragile looking head of white multi-sized bubbles. Over pouring is easy, but the head fades to ¼” quickly but laces well. Prominent neucleation continues for the entire session, almost hypnotizing watching bubbles rise.
The aroma is peppery hinting of the Saaz.
Taste is less peppery than the smell suggests. A little sweet in taste leaning to a German Pilz. Still a good taste though.
The body is light as you would imagine. There is a mild oiliness. Carbonation is a little over medium.
A-4.25 S-4.25 T-3.75 M-3.75 OA-4.00

 

Assume CTRV is refund on return, extra 5 cents for a day

 

I like a good amount of bourbon flavors in my BA stouts and such, so I am good with no 'clean out.'

 

Happy Birthday, Fred!

 

Founders Brewing Stay in Stout. An imperial stout with chocolate, hazelnut-flavored coffee, and fudge-flavored coffee, aged in bourbon barrels. The color is pitch black, with minimal brown foam on top. The smell is very strong with hazelnut. Coffee, chocolate, and bourbon are present, but hazelnut dominates. The taste leads with hazelnut. This is liquid Nutella. With a bite of chocolate, and a sip of bourbon. The mouthfeel is oily, silky, and bubbly. This is a hazelnut pastry stout. I usually don't prefer that type of beer, but there could be a time and place where it may be necessary.

 

All right, I am back for another round today, and this is one I picked up last weekend.


Super Scotch - Omni Brewing - Maple Grove, MN - Scotch Ale - 12.9% ABV

I am somewhat reluctant to get big beers in a 750ml format. I'd rather have them in a smaller format, because they're easier for this old man to handle. I saw this and threw caution to the wind when I bought this at Omni Brewing last Saturday.

I was totally underwhelmed on how it smelled. I got almost nothing, when I was expecting a bit of a punch. When it came to the taste, the punch hit hard, and it hit in a delicious way. Damn this is so good. The smoke flavor is so damn tasty. Lots of caramel and molasses, some raisin. Damn. I'm glad I bought it.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42556/544542/

4.13/5 rDev -1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Super Scotch 23' from a 750ml crawler. Canned on 1/19/2024. Bought at the brewery.

It looks very cola like when pouring. When in the glass, it is pitch black, and when held up to the light, nothing shines through. There's a 2 finger tan head. Quite frothy looking. The main thing about the head is how long lasting it is. How can it retain so long at 12.9% ABV? Damn! Once it dissipates, there's no lacing on the glass.
The nose is really almost bland. There's not much here, and it's a bit disappointing. Extremely faint roasted malts, and a hint of smoke.
Flavor - Holy cow. The nose was so lacking, but the flavor more than makes up for it. There's a lot of smoke flavor in this beer, and it lingers. I get great notes of raisin, caramel and molasses that mingle with the smoke to just amp up the flavor.
This beer is quite smooth and full feeling to me. There's a very faint burn that tells you to take it slower.
I was not expecting much based on the aroma, well, the flavor more than made up for it. This is damn delicious.


This is probably it for today. I hopefully will be back tomorrow for more. Cheers!

 

Sorry for the double post. I got the chance to try some Four Roses bourbon, and a very high end one (don't remember which one, might have been their anniversary edition) that was extracted from a barrel that a brewery was going to use for barrel aging a beer. Yes, the bourbon was amazing. I'm somewhat surprised that they didn't get a totally empty barrel, but it was good for me.