New Beer Weekend #242

One more tonight.

I never had this fresh, so can’t compare.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Fourteen Stout.



Pours a deep black brown with a moderate head that dissipates to a thin ring after several minutes.

Lots of aroma here. Milk chocolate, cinnamon, light coconut, rye whisky, malted grain. Very appealing.

Taste follows fairly closely. Rye whisky notes up front with chocolate, cinnamon and coconut in behind. The flavours are mellow, but all present. I’m assuming they were more distinct when fresher, but as it stands, this is very good.

Nice full body with a long finish.

This is very good. I tend to like the add-junks a little more on the mellow side so I’m guessing the age has made this perfect for me. Great beer. I think I saw a couple more hiding in the cellar, so this makes me happy.

Cheers!

 

The gold and red are on my list for the future…next time I need beer I’ll check for them.

 

Keep those cards and letters coming. Always look forward to your dispatches from our friend to the North.

 

Happy March Mildness!!!

Sorry I didn’t pop in last week, I enjoyed following along but didn’t have any new beers last week and we were too busy for me to sneak out. The season finally seems to be taking a turn here and this week’s forecast is more April like than March, it’ll help with the annoying loss of an hour tonight.

My beer today is themed with March Mildness, an event started by Machine House out in Seattle but it has caught on out here over the past few years as well. Tomorrow I plan to go meet my best friend at Tonewood for some dark mild on cask but tonight this will due. A local collaboration between two great breweries who love, and do English beers very well. Really looking forward to see the results of this collaboration

Forest & Main/Tonewood - Undercurrent (Pale Mild 4%)



Pours a mix of gold and amber, cloudy; off white head, quite bubbly looking, above average retention with a nice thick film; attempts to lace, but falls short.

The nose is distinctly English; light breakfast tea, leafy, slightly toasty; light fall fruit character upon warming.

Taste is doughy cracker with light toast and some honey; the finish is hoppy; to me mostly earthy, leaning towards grassy but there is a distinct, albeit light, floral note on the exhale.

Light to medium in body; its smooth and soft on the palate; appropriate lower carbonation, smooth; a light but firm bitterness lingers on the finish.

A really solid beer; the hops are noticeable but they are not overdone and all the English character still shines front and center. Looking forward to some more mild tomorrow, but it won’t be a new one so I'll post in another thread I do have one I could review in the fridge tomorrow but I'll see where the wind blows me, if I don't see you all again have a great week!!!

 

I just picked up a pack of Irish Gold that’s 10 months old, do you know the age on the beer you reviewed?

 

Mystery Beer!! Thanks to @WunderLlama for this one

The beer pours an opaque black color with no visible highlights, an aggressive pour produces no head to speak of, and there is no lacing whatsoever. From the look alone, i am guessing some kind of stout.

The aroma is sweet and chocolatey. No roastiness is present, no booziness or barrel character. I am guessing some sort of chocolate or milk stout.

The flavor is sweet and chocolatey. Full bodied and creamy, light carbonation (nearly still). just a slight alcohol burn so it is a big beer, but not too big

Overall, this is very nice Pastry Stout? I quite enjoy it, and look forward to the reveal to see if I am right

 

Digging into mystery beer #2 from @snaotheus , we have a 500ml bottle here with a very handy pull-tab on the wax. Much appreciated. I love the words, "my dad sent you beer".



Well now this is very interesting. The first thought I had was, wow this is dry. I then thought this was a heavily hopped barleywine in the American style but with English hops maybe? Subsequent sips and vigorous sniffs disabused me of that notion.

This smells strongly of apricots plus potpourri and toffee. The taste is similar and tea-like in some ways. There is some light sweetness up front, the finish is quite dry. Some oak at the end maybe? Reminiscent of a Belgian strong pale, I haven't had one in a loooong time but the primitive series (pig nun?) from de Proef comes to mind. So now I think brett is involved but this isn't super funky like Poet's Walk from Suarez. Another beer that comes to mind is Black Eagle from Goose Island. I just looked that one up and it's a recreation of recipes from 1666-1989. My review even mentions de Proef, interesting!

Whatever this is, I'm liking it very much. I just don't know what to call it.

 

This is mystery beer#1 sent to me by @NorsemanOne in a Stout/Barleywine BIF box. All I know is the ABV is 8.7%. It pours brownish black, with a one-finger light-brown head that left great lacing. Aroma is roast malt, chocolate malt, and a touch of vanilla. Taste is roast malt, light chocolate, no sweetness, no bourbon burn, moderate bitterness. Dry mouthfeel, overall excellent. I'd say this is a non-BA Russian Imperial Stout with no add-junks. The second picture will reveal what it is, he sent the label and I'll tape it back on...



Well, I wasn't far off geographically, Belgian instead of Russian. I haven't had a lot of Belgian stouts, so didn't recognize the difference. It's a RoHa Nights Out Belgian Stout.

4.04/5 rDev +9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

 

The reveal- I don't know much about stock ale and I've never heard of this brewery. Thanks @snaotheus very cool to try this! Kind of a history lesson in a bottle, and uniquely delicious. I failed my first mystery miserably but I'm pretty proud here, my taster passed this test I think. This was a GREAT choice for a mystery beer.

 

I just grabbed my can out of the recycle. The can has a Best By date of 12/25 (or that is the best I can read it ha). I don't know how long there BB dates are, but I assume that is at least relatively fresh, for imports. I didn't notice any real signs of aging in any of their offerings I had. The local bottle shop I go to just got a new shipment of these in when I bought them. That doesn't mean they are super fresh, but with the date, as best I can interpret it, seems in good order to me.

 

I assumed that was the canning date, but if’s a best by, the one I bought is probably a couple of years old, what a bummer, it’s definitely shows it’s age.

 

I was pretty close! BA calls it an American Imperial Stout, while Untappd and the breweries website calls it a Russian Imperial Stout. Either way it was quite good!

Victory Art Brewing (Moscow, Russia) - Tiramistout.
Bottle dated 19.11.2018.
Per the brewery webiste it is brewed with savoiardi cookies, cocoa nibs, high-quality chocolate, dessert wine, and a hefty shot of espresso

Very good beer! Thanks Comrade @WunderLlama

4.34/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Cross-posting with the ISBW BIF #2 (I don’t want to call it the IBS #2…IYKYK):

Drinking a ?HUH? By Who? courtesy of @russpowell . Definitely a stout with its dark body. I get a hit of fresh cinnamon on the nose. First sips bring in a light amount of cinnamon up front intertwined with a sweeter malt base. I’m getting some tannic quality, so I’d say it’s barrel aged or maybe aged with wood. Thick viscosity that leaves a full coating on the glass. As it warms, I’m getting raw coconut flavor and creaminess in the middle. Tiny hints of vanilla in the way way back. I’m still feeling some aftermath from the American Solera, but I’d guess this is an 11 or 12% ABV sipper range.

 

Okay Mystery Beer from @Stoutofmymind for the NBW Imperial Stout/Barleywine BIF#2



My initial thoughts were it was some sorta BA Barleywine with Maple Syrup ( wrong )& probably about 11% ABV




Reveal: Jackie O's CYCLOSIS BA Barleywine conditioned in Vanilla Beans, Coconut, & Hazelnut ( never really picked that up ), 12.6% ABV; 4.27 overall


Pours an effervescent mahogany with rapidly falling tan head. Plenty viscous, zero head retention & lacing

S: Tons of barrel, plenty of dark fruit. Started strong, but faded a bit down the stretch

T: Follows the nose, what Initially perceive as maple sweetness, vanilla & toasted coconut as well up front. Plenty of figs, sweet vanilla, Bourbon Bite, leafy hops as this beer warms up. Finishes with Bourbon twang, sweet vanilla, maple candy & figs

MF: Fairly chewy, low carbonation, warming, skews a bit sweet

Drinks pretty easy all things considered, a little more carbonation & balanced would've helped

 

The maple flavor is strong up front, sweet and genuine, pairing nicely with the coffee that manages to peak through. It's more maple than I prefer but I can see the appeal. At the finish though a kind of artificial note lingers. I know it's extremely highly rated but this isn't my cup of tea. I've long been curious about this though and I'm glad I got to try it, thanks @snaotheus !

 

Rupee mango wheat
..cloudy amber appearance
...light carbonation with about a medium body
...aroma is a hefty hit of fresh mango and mango juice. Some grain in the background
...taste is definitely mango upfront and is sweet but nearly as sweet as the aroma suggested.
...at 4%its a low abv that was flavorful and interesting

 

Minor edit, the beer also had coconut sugar in it as well