New Beer Weekend #242

No haze?

 

Hey everyone, busy day; sunny and breezy here. Soccer game, check...cask mild with best friend, check...tacos for dinner and ice cream for dessert, check...time to review a beer now.

A few years back Saranac did a throwback variety pack (2023) this weekend I went beer shopping and boom, out of nowhere there it was again. Saranac was a gateway brewery for me and I always grabbed their beer, seeing these lables gives me all the feels and drinking them is like drinking in a Time Machine; reminds me of simpler times. I never reviewed beers back then so I figured it wouldn't be cheating to review some zombie beers from the pack. Tonight's victim..I think its funny on the bottle it says this on the old labels, back before most knew of such things...

Saranac - Golden (Dry Hopped Pilsner 5.2%)



Beautiful pouring beer; absolute lot crystal clear and bright gold; head is white, doesn’t last long but glass is never void of white layer.

The nose is bright to me; I know crisp isn’t a smell but it instantly pops in my head; it’s got some fresh grain smell, carries some sweetness; noble hop character; like a floral laden white bread.

The taste is simple and to the point; nothing complex and nothing offensive; it’s got good pale malt character, light sweetness; hops cut through it on the finish; ever so slightly grassy but otherwise nondescript; possibly picking up some hop staleness.

Body is light-medium; quite clean, some light residual sweetness that dries out, mostly; very light bitterness; hops linger a little in the form of a light stickiness on the tongue.

Overall this beer is fine and drinkable; nothing offensive, nothing special; just a good beer that serves the drinker well. I’m looking forward to sharing the others from this pack over the coming NBWs; all beers that were gateway beers for me and a ticket to the past.

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That is it for me this weekend; I've enjoyed seeing all your stouts this weekend, have a great week everyone and hope to see you all again next weekend!!

 

Never heard of that brewery before…so many out there!

 

Greetings, New Beer Weekenders. Here's a new beer I took a chance on yesterday:



Trap Door Trap Room Vol. 2
16-ounce can purchased at Trap Door's taproom in Vancouver, WA. No date stamp, but the beer was brewed for last month's Festival of Dark Arts event at Fort George Brewing in Astoria, OR.

Trap Room Vol. 2 is a collaboration with TapRoom Beer Co. of San Diego, CA.

Look:
Opaque black-brown body with rich gold-amber highlights that are only visible when you backlight a small portion of beer at the bottom of the glass. The head is a fluffy tan confection like the middle of a 3 Musketeers bar, with impressive retention. It leaves behind a sticky fog which coats the inside of the glass and eventually diminishes to a thin, gritty lacing.

Smell:
Good lord, this beer smells like a donut shop, that cloud of coffee, sugar, and fried dough that sinks into your clothes and takes two washings to remove. I smell tons of sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and bourbon. Secondary components include chocolate, coffee, sweetened coconut, and glazed donuts. I think there's also a note of hash browns in there, although that might just be a hallucination.

Taste:
Oooooff. It starts off every bit as sweet as the nose warned me. It's like drinking a liquefied Peep. Fortunately, the sweetness quickly veers into a good amount of cinnamon and dark chocolate, which briefly distracts from that powdered sugar intro. Flavors of coffee and dulce de leche (yum!) follow. A burst of coconut and sweet bourbon punches through. Then there's a bright flare of cherry candy and marzipan before the coffee returns to provide a small but perceptible drying effect. A plasticky alcohol flavor mars the finish.

Feel:
Body is medium to heavy, with a texture like warm coffee with heavy cream. Carbonation is gentle. Alcohol heat lights up the inside of my mouth and leaves my lips tingly, then numb.

Overall:
Full disclosure: I don't like pastry stouts, and if I'd known this was that kind of beer I wouldn't have bought it. On the plus side, there's so much going on in this beer that there are a few elements I actually enjoyed. Beyond that, there's no getting away from the fact that this is an overwhelmingly sweet beer, by design. If you have a sweet tooth, Trap Room Vol. 2 will give you what you need. If not, approach with caution. In my case, it might take me 3 nights to finish this cloying beast.

 

Not even a hint of content warning for that sort of amalgamation. “Imperial blended stout” connotes tastes of stoic malts, not donuts and gumdrops. The bass turds!

 

So, I stopped by a local bottle shop to see if there was anything I needed, and lo and behold, but a barleywine that I'd never seen before.

The pour was a dark mahogany with an aggressive light brown head was measured in inches, not cms. Forced me to pause a few minutes to put a 12 oz beer into a 16 oz snifter.
The taste is caramel, figs and raisins that plays with a sweetness and is stopped short with a nice piney backstop.
The feel is a touch thinner, a little viscous but way too easy to quaff, and quaff quickly.
OA, actually a really good barleywine that checks all the boxes but doesn't really leap out as amazing. Keep in mind that this was up against some stiff competition for comparison.

 

I’m glad you liked it. I think that was the best of the three versions they made.

I almost included their double barrel version, but your avoidance of fruit nixed that. The double barrel uses grape brandy barrels as one, and it’s another odd ball that I liked and didn’t like, but liked enough to get another bottle. LOL! Quite unique.

 

That sounds too bad not to be good. Jealous!

 

Next up (yeah, two in one night. Living on the edge!) came from the person who crushed my porch in the current barleywine and stouts BIF. Sent to me by none other than @DIM. (for those of you that like those styles, the next time this BIF is offered, I *highly* recommend signing up. The people and the beers have been outstanding.)

Prodigality, from Jackie O’s.
The pour was, for a barleywine, very dark brown. And not clear, so unfiltered looking. A centimeter of tan; not light brown, not manila, not beige, not khaki, a tan colored head reached just over a centimeter.
The taste leads with caramel, leather, bourbon, figs, prunes and raisins and I would swear some cinnamon was in there somewhere but so subtle it couldn't be nailed down. This is an an amazing barleywine.
The feel is a nearly perfect viscosity, but then, most of Jackie O's are. Very nice sipping beer.
OA, it's beers like this that could turn me from predominately stout drinking to a barleywine fanatic, so good.

 

You got a Unicorn there! Peanut butter usually spells disappointment for me, not always though...

 

Glad you liked that one!

 

Streetside Brewery Speak of the Devil Double Barrel Imperial Stout. Aged for 16 months in Bourbon Barrels, another 6 months in Apple Brandy & Maple Syrup for another 6 months ( not sure I understand that part of the label )

This 16% ABV bruiser is from @Stoutofmymind via the NBW Imp Stout/Barleywine BIF#2; 4.51 overall

Pours an effervescent mahogany/ebony with a pinky of mocha colored head. Below average head retention & lacing, fairly viscous

S: Dark fruit, some Bourbon, a little Maple

T: Dark chocolate, vanilla, plenty of Bourbon & also barrel dryness & Maple Candy up front. Maple syrup, dark chocolate, some Apple Brandy shows up as this beer warms up. Finishes sweet with plenty of Dark Chocolate, Vanilla, & Maple, a little barrel burn & dryness, hints of Bourbon & Brandy

MF: Pretty chewy, moderate carbonation, pushing the flavor along, warming, the barrel keeps the sweetness in check, fairly sticky

A demon of a beer! You feel the ABV, but the booziness isn't overdone, a sipper to be sure

 

My own fault, really. It was on tap, so I should've sampled it before taking it home. Fortunately, I only nabbed a single can.

 

Sierra Nevada Dank Torpedo IPA, 8.0% ABV; 4.36 overall

Pours a slightly chill hazed amber with 2 fingers of eggshell colored head. Sheets of lacing & stellar head retention

S: Not a ton of dankness in the nose, cantaloupes & green melon, a little breadyness. Faint pineyness once warm & grapefruit

T: Follows the nose, some pomelo, pine, a bit of cattyness & dryness up front. Lemongrass, pine, a little white grape, pink grapefruit & a whisper of cattyness once this beer is warm. Finishes with plenty of pink grapefruit, some dryness, pine & cattyness showing up at near room temperature

MF: Medium body, fairly lively carbonation, great balance

Not really that dank, so some style point deductions, but damn drinkable & tasty. Probably the best new thing I've had from these folks in ages. Please do this as a mass release 6 Pack!