New Beer Weekend #189

One more Mexican Stout

A couple months ago I discussed two Mexican Stouts from Cape May Brewing and Stone Brewing. Today I have Ship Bottom Mexican Stout.

How this beer is discussed on the Ship Bottom website:

“Mexican Stout

Imperial Adjunct Stout

Our Award Winning Mexican Stout has aromas of dark chocolate, vanilla and coffee along with the distinct influence of Chili peppers which provides a warm heat and velvety smooth finish. Pours a black in color, opaque with a tan head. Rich baker’s chocolate flavor is accompanied by spicy cinnamon and vanilla notes which supports the hot peppery quality of this stout, which does not overwhelm.”

On the can’s label:

“This Stout is brewed with Mexican coffee & chocolates, roasted ancho chipotle peppers, cinnamon, and Madagascar vanilla beans.”

Lots of ‘stuff’ in the beer. Will all of that ‘stuff’ play together well?

Served in my tulip glass:

Appearance:

The color is dark brown approaching black with a khaki colored head.

Aroma:

Theres is a combination of cocoa and vanilla.

Taste:

The flavor follow this nose with the flavors of cocoa and vanilla but there is also a noticeable heat aspect from the chili peppers. Low-Moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

A luscious mouthfeel, medium body and off-dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good.

I enjoyed the flavors of this beer and it’s luscious mouthfeel but I can report that I did not pick up any coffee/cinnamon flavors despite the marketing above. Tasty nonetheless.

In a few hours I will be meeting up some buddies at a local craft beer bar for a Pliny the Younger event.

@rotsaruch @RobH

 

Another outstanding new release from Jack's Abby, Nordic Frost, an Icelandic Bock.
Cheers NBW-ers!



4.25/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A moderate pour with a slight kick at the end produced a fat finger of deep beige, creamy foam with above average retention and swaths of lacing. Clear, amber-copper body with reddish-amber highlights.

Malt greets the nose, toasted bread and dough with raw and roasted grain. Hop smell is floral/herbal with a hint of pine. Faint alcohol and baking spice, cinnamon and clove mostly.

Semi-sweet with average bitterness that creeps. Malt (as expected), and fruity esters (baked stone fruits and cherries) are balanced by the quickly rising hop bitterness. The finish is soft, semi-dry and almost quick; a peppery bitterness asserts itself. The aftertaste lingers, very bitter with the malt pining away.

Medium bodied with all the carbonation you could ask for. The soft feel at first is "Kicked up a Notch" by the spicy hops and late arriving roasted taste. Alcohol is noticeable, moderate and warming. The big spicy flavors are well balanced.

 

I'll add one review from yesterday. Was at Saint Arnold's for some cask Elissa IPA and fish & chips for Friday happy hour.

Though they have a new lager out, called Grand Prize., 4.2% ABV. This does use "flaked corn" but other than that, it is not described as an adjunct lager.



Pours a clear, basically transparent, pale yellow color. A small bubbly white head forms. That recedes with little lace left behind.
A neutral grain aroma. That is about all I get, not aromatic, not really anything.
Taste wise, cereal grains, light toasted malts, some generic sweetness. Maybe just the faintest hint of grassy hops, but no real bitterness.
A light body for sure. Effervescent carbonation. Certainly not hard to drink. Though not something I'm looking to come back to all that often.

This is a hard one to really put a number too, and will for sure not be a hit on this site. Its suppose to be something you don't think a lot about, and just drink. Well, I guess it is that. Though, it is also pretty boring. I love Saint Arnold, and like the less is more approach, but this isn't anything to really look for. I tired it once, and that will be all.

Just because I had to put a score for the review, it sits at 3.26. Boarders on C+/B- I guess. Though the number score doesn't really matter all that much to me. It is fine for the intended style, but man they make some way better lagers that I will always go to before this.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/337/685256/?ba=champ103#lists

Anyway, fish & chips with Elissa IPA on cask is always great. Wish I could find this on cask more often, as I used to drink it all the time at the original Ginger Man. I probably could have jotted some notes down for this because it has been a while o but eh, just enjoying it so there

 

Thank you for such a great opening @cjgiant glad you’re here this weekend with us.

 

My guess would be they thought that marketing this beer as an "adjunct lager" (or AAL) would hurt beer sales.

I was watching a local (Philly area) beer show, What's Brewing, and one of the host discussed a brewery that made a Bitter Ale but set up two taps for this beer: one labeled as Bitter Ale and the other as Amber Ale. They would sell a lot of beer from the Amber Ale tap handle but very little from the Bitter Ale tap handle. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cheers!

 

Yeah, I have also come across brewers that did that, the same beer on two taps, one called Pale Ale and IPA. IPA of course was the one that sold more.

 

Thanks for opening up, @cjgiant. Seemed like old times for a minute.
Typical Saturday for me. Walked the dogs and picked up groceries. Now I've opened up Project Dank Winter Edition from La Cumbre.
Gold color, small white head, some lace.
Aroma of sweet malt and pine.
Taste of biscuit and dank pine. Nicely bitter.
Medium-bodied. The bitterness lingers and really makes this a special beer.

 

This is interesting as Tonewood has taken the opposite approach. Here is their description of Wading Out, their AAL, it’s really really well made IMO, note the underlined portion…

 

Tonewood is taking an interesting approach to marketing this beer. They are upfront in their descriptions of the ingredients of this beer but from a packaging perspective they just list "American Lager" without the adjunct part spelled out:



My local Retail Beer Distributor sells Tonewood beers but mostly their popular beers (e.g., Fuego IPA). I seriously doubt that I will ever see Wading Out on the shelf there.

Do you have any idea how well Wading Out is selling in Jersey?

Cheers!

 

This is true Jack but right on the other side of that label is all the malt, hops and yeast used...listed nice and legible: " 2 row and flaked corn" under the malt section.

I don't have official number but judging by local fridges it seems to sell quite well as I've went to get more down the road and it was gone. It is only $9.99 down the street, $11 flat at the brewery; they almost never undercut their sellers but some stores do add a $ or two sometimes.

To your point about their beers in PA I'm guessing you are right, it seems most of their rotating beers stay closer to home. Whether that is by design or just volume, I'm unsure. I think you would really appreciate this beer if you got the chance to try it.

PS...you're making me want to open my last can now, then go buy more

 

Yes, a 'dual' marketing approach.

I wonder how many people read the sides or backs of cans/bottles prior to deciding to purchase a 'new' beer?

Why not!?!

I would encourage that. The more you (and other Jerseyans) buy this beer, the more that Tonewood will produce it. If I ever luck out and see this beer at my local Beer Distributor I will do my part.

Cheers!

 

Why not? Driving the kiddos to grandads in a moment. I’m leaning towards tomorrow in the beautiful sunny 60 degree day we should get.

I will do my part, as I always do with their beer, just not sure if it’ll be today or later this coming week

 

Maybe Homer can help you decide?

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I am taking a road trip today, and I have ended up in Starbuck, MN, and am at Old Firehall Brewing.


Hook & Ladder Oatmeal Stout - 4.5% ABV.

This beer packs a good deal of flavor in a small package. Quite delicious.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/65137/653171/

3.84/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the source.
Pitch black pour with a tan head.
Nose has a nice roasted malt aroma with notes of coffee and dark chocolate.
Taste - there is a hit of coffee up front. The middle is a sweeter chocolate that turns to dark chocolate on the back. There is a roasted malt flavor on the back as well. Slight hint of bitterness on the back also.
Smooth body. Somewhat creamy. Slight bitterness on the back.
Tasty and fun to drink.

Not sure where I am headed next, but, I will be back later.

 

Thank you @cjgiant for your kick off! Look forward to catching up with the thread when I return home after a busy (fun) few days.

Here now at the Goose Island Fulton taproom, their only American location while they are building out the brewpub space.

Heard a lot of good things regarding this collaboration, so I made a special trip down to catch the Rye Tusk & Feather Barleywine listed on their current Untappd, but it’s gone. Next want is cask, but not on either. This is my third choice based on their menu.

Goose Island Lagers After Dark



Goose Island Taproom Notes: $7 16 oz draft, 5.5% ABV.

Appearance: Caramel black base, thin tan white lacing and thin cover over the base. 3.5

Aroma: Light chocolate malt, slightly roasted. 3.25

Taste: Stronger taste, caramel toffee lead, chocolate roast malt. Pretty good. 3.5

Mouthfeel: The roast malt helps keep the sweetness in check. Heavy felt carbonation, feeling bloated from go. Alcohol light and easy, caramel toffee carbonation finish. 3.0

Overall: This is an OK offering, but I’m sensitive to over carbonation, and perhaps should have left when my first two beer choices were off the menu. 3.0

 

Hey there NBWers. I made a Jack's Abby run this week and will have quite a few fun things to try out and share over the coming weeks. I'm particularly excited for the smoked marzen we saw here last week and a straight-up wheat lager (not fruited) that I assume they are testing for a summer release (I grabbed a single of both the regular and hoppy versions).

For today, it's the full production release of their new Schwarzbier, which I had last fall as a test batch. I liked it then and still like it now. I think they toned it down just a bit for the large scale run as some of the flavors aren't as robust as I recall, but it's still quite enjoyable.

Jack's Abby Dark as Hell
5.0% Schwarzbier



Pours black that goes deep ruby with a bright light behind. A moderately aggressive pour creates a two-and-a-half-finger tan head.

Aromas of chocolate, dark roast coffee, and freshly-baked black bread.

Similar to the test batch, this is not just Smoke & Dagger without the smoke. The taste starts off as baker's chocolate, pumpernickel bread, coffee, and burnt toast. The roast characteristics overshadow any malt sweetness until it warms, when molasses, burnt sugar, and milk chocolate come in to balance things out. Finishes slightly sweet and with some stickiness.

Gentle carb and a light body lead to a black lager you could easily have multiple pints of if so inclined.

At the end of the day, another solid lager from Jack's Abby. Their ability to combine big flavor with easy drinking is becoming a signature.

 

I have a fresh Tree House "Mole Stout" that was only introduced this week. I was excited to try this as I'm a fan of chocolate/chile stouts. Unfortunately it disappointed me. Maybe its too young. I'll save the remaining cans and try this again over the next few months.
I'm not sure that Tree House monitors these threads, but if you do (Nate).. PLEASE make a bitter stout some day.
3.91/5 rDev -6.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 16-oz can simply stamped “SPRING 2024”. It was purchased cold at the Charlton location yesterday and kept cold. Poured to a snifter at 52 degrees F.
The pour stream is almost opaque black, in the glass it is a complete black out. The tan head is half the glass despite a careful pour. Had to wait a few minutes to get the complete can in the glass. The head fades but still covers the entire surface as a shadow of its former self. Lacing is minimal at the most.
The aroma is strongly reminiscent of hot chocolate (but cold) with a hint of vanilla.
The taste is different from the smell. The chocolate is still there but it is fighting with a ripe fruit sensation. Vanilla is there but the ancho chile on the label is hard to detect. There is some mild heat but it's either the cinnamon or the chile, can't tell. Sweetness definitely trumps spice in this beer. If this Mole was used to cook the protein on my dinner plate I would send it back.
The body is medium. There is some chalkiness on the finish, giving the impression that cocoa powder is still in its original form, but I don't really believe that. Maybe it's the cinnamon challenge.
Not what I wanted, but I have come to expect TH stouts are always sweeter than I want them to be.