New Beer Weekend #243

Well, I am having a 1 and done type day today, and this one is from @cheeseheadinMinneapolis

Black Walnut Belgian Imperial Stout - Raised Grain Brewing Co. - Waukesha, WI - American Imperial Stout - 9.1%

I am impressed with the bitterness of this beer. It clings and lingers in my throat. The aroma is so faint, even after warming up close to room temp. It is tasty, and I am thankful to have had the chance to try it.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42573/192766/
3.88/5 rDev -3.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
From a 16oz can. Canned on 10/31/2024

This beer pours totally pitch black into the glass. I am surprised by the carbonation. I got a 4 finger brown head to this beer. The head retention is quite long lasting and some great looking lacing on the glass.
The aroma is quite light to be honest, and I've let this beer warm up for quite awhile. I get some chocolate malts off the nose, but really not much else.
The flavor has a lot of chocolate in it, with a touch of coffee. I get some hints of vanilla. I do get a hint of sweetness up front. The main thing I get off this beer is a very strong bitterness on the back.
Decent body. The feeling of the bitterness clings in my throat. Full bodied.
The aroma is lacking, but the flavor makes up for it.

I will see you all next weekend when the virtual bar opens once again. Cheers!

 

Half Acre/Side Project Generational Blend #2 (Imperial Stout blend aged in Willett barrels and conditioned on Madagascar vanilla, Sump coffee, and toasted coconut).

Pours like motor oil into the glass. Pitch black with a half finger of dark mocha, reddish head that dissipates quickly. 4.25

Aroma brings a big barrel presence. I'm not sure how long this version is aged in barrels for, but the first batch was 2 years. I could see this being the case for this one as well. Bourbon spirit, charred oak, and vanillin all on display from the barrels, as well as dark chocolate fudge, big vanilla bean, caramel, slight coffee, some coconut, cherry, and roasted malt. 4.5

Taste mimics the aroma well, with the barrel character at the forefront. Bourbon spirit and charred oak tannin in spades, complemented nicely by big vanilla bean frosting, brownie batter, coconut macaroons coated in dark chocolate, dark cherry, dark roast coffee, caramel, and slight tobacco. 4.75

Full body. Low carbonation. Sticky, oily, and dense. 4.5

I appreciate the elevated barrel character with this one, which balances the thoughtful addition of adjuncts well. High quality all around. Wouldn't expect anything less from two breweries of this pedigree in the stout world. 4.5
Overall: 4.59

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass not sure when it was canned. Pours a very attractive hazy milky yellow with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace, with excellent retention. 5

Aroma is tangerine, peach, mango, passionfruit, papaya, and apricot. 4.5

Taste follows tangerine, peach, mango, passionfruit, papaya, and apricot. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above medium, not sticky or dry, soft gentle carbonation, and at 8.2% a nice amount of juicy flavor, but easy going down. 4.75

Overall this one is rather impressive. I would highly recommend. 4.5 Cheers all.

 

Just one new brew for me today, if you like boysenberries then I think you'd like this one too:

Sundae Sunday | The Bruery | BeerAdvocate





Cheers everyone and I hope to have some more new brews next weekend!

 

Really glad I get try this 4.5 year old offering from @Whyteboar via the barleywine/stout bif.



The years have been kind to this. Smooth dark chocolate with a bit of a bitter tingle at the edges up front. The finish adds a little smoke, coffee grounds, licorice, and molasses. A damn fine, dry RIS overall, thanks for the opportunity Craig.

 

2nd day of NBW for me, 3rd new Tilted Barn beer. Another good one, this is pretty much their flagship The Other One a 7.9% IPA. You may or may not realize, but I use a template for my reviews. My yesterday's beer, TB Cactus, had some similar qualities. I did not have to change as many words as usual. Similar beers, in many ways, different flavor profiles.

Purchased cold 2-days ago at the source, kept cold. Poured from a 16 oz can dated 02/25/25 to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body is a milky haze of apricot color, completely opaque. The head is very white with topography. Lacing is pretty wild.
Aroma is citrus and pine. Enticing frankly.
Taste is similar and enjoyable. I can't remember a beer where I get both fruit and pine. There is a bit of a hop burn on the finish, but it's not distracting. There is some sense of the alcohol.
The mouthfeel is quite creamy and the carbonation is about right.
This is a really good NEIPA.

 

Bottle Logic/Toppling Goliath collab New Leaf BBA Imperial Stout, 14.6% ABV. Pours thick and black, with a ring of brown bubbles. Aroma is maple syrup, pecans, and roast malt. Taste is roast malt, maple syrup, pecans, black licorice, quite sweet, slightly bitter, some bourbon burn. Thick and smooth mouthfeel, leaving sticky lips. Overall outstanding to world-class adjacent.

4.48/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

An outstanding beer that @Beersnake included in the LIF box that he sent me. I've always wanted to try Bottle Logic, partly due to their cool detailed labels. Turns out the beer is every bit as good as the label. If we had distribution here, I bet BCBS would barely sell.

 

I can attest to the Van Winkle variant being world-class. Micah shared a bottle with me when I was in town for a game. Really incredible. Thanks again!

 

Bürgerbräu Schwarzbier 4.5%



Poured from can, the body is the expected opaque black. A small head that quickly dissipates. Very light lacing.

Aroma and flavor feature a light toasty malt. Notes of crackers and light caramel. Very mild hop presence at finish that lingers a bit.

Mouthfeel Is medium with a light coating after swallow. Carbonation is good.

Pedestrian schwarzbier that is easy to drink but too mild in flavor for me.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. Yesterday I paid my first visit to Obscura Brewing Co., in Cape May Court House, NJ. It opened last weekend in the space formerly occupied by Bucket Brigade Brewery. The owner of Obscura is the son of one of the Bucket Brigade partners and he was the head brewer at Bucket Brigade during its last year or two.

Obscura opened with a very nice selection of beer styles, including a BBA Russian Imperial Stout called Cocoa Conspiracy. RIS is my favorite beer style so it was the first glass I ordered on draught. I was impressed by how pretty a pour it was. And it was really tasty with big notes of hazelnut and chocolate and a hint of dark fruit. I was delighted to see it was canned so I brought some home for a proper review. For the record I'll say that the can pour is more earthy and bitter than the draught pour.

Poured at 55°. It is nearly ink black with a two finger cap of creamy, medium-mocha-colored foam with excellent retention and lots of thick, clinging lacing. It is a beautiful pour both on draught and from the can. The fragrant nose is hazelnut-forward with notes of chocolate and burnt malt. Initially, the taste is dominated by hazelnut and bitter, nutty char. On draught I noticed more milk chocolate sweetness. Swishing in the glass helps the Stout to breathe and the chocolate quickly becomes more noticeable. In addition, there are faint hints of dark fruit deep in the background which I really like. The barrel-aging is delicate and not distracting in the least. The mouth feel is nicely thick and creamy with low/moderate carbonation. And while the 10.5% ABV is evident it doesn't overpower. Overall, I am very impressed by this Russian Imperial Stout. Obscura Brewing Co. is a welcome addition to the Cape May County beer scene and I look forward to visiting frequently.

I also had two big IPAs - A Double New England and a TIPA. Both were impressive for a new brewery but to me this RIS is a gem.

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

This will be it for me today as I move on to some Irish beers and local IPAs. Have a great week, everyone. Cheers, NBW!

 

Spent the morning cleaning the patio after two days of high wind and blowing dust. Now I'm waiting for the final round of The Players to restart after a rain delay.
I'm drinking False Summit Amber Ale from Sawtooth Brewery.
A cherry amber color. Large off-white head, abundant lacing.
Caramel aroma, a little pine.
Caramel taste up front, late piney hops.
Medium mouthfeel.

 

Jever


Appearance: Clear yellow, big head.

Smell: Grassy, bread, maybe a touch of butter.

Taste: Dry, then a mild bready sweetness for a short while before giving a dry grassy bitter finish. Super drinkable.

Overall: I've wanted to try this for quite a while but never saw it here in MN. Finally found a 4 pack and it lived up to my hopes! Hoppy pilsner with just enough sweetness to balance, supremely drinkable.

 

Nice payback, Ryan! @snaotheus

 

Sorry about the chaos at the federal level having such a direct impact on you.

 

Such a good one, glad you finally found some

 

Great pics!

 

Yeah, they've had WAY MORE than their minute. I'm sorry, I don't get them at all.

 

Drekker - Morning Ritual, coffee milk stout

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. "OR ANYTIME 02:25PMFL" is stamped on the bottom, if it reveals the canned on date, I don't know how. Bought it at Drekker last weekend, brought it home in a suitcase.

Pours black, big fluffy head that settles into a thick lumpy ring and some big floaties on the surface. Smell is mostly coffee, some roasted grains, some sweetness.

Taste moves toward milk chocolate and coffee, creamy sweetness and coffee bitterness. Maybe a little hint of black licorice. Something a little bit nutty.

Mouthfeel is medium, smooth, clean. Overall, very nice stout, on the sweet side but not oppressive.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday!
I have another new to me Irish style dry stout, this one from Shorts.

The pour is dark coffee brown and settled stout black in the glass.
The taste leads with coffee and coffee roast, the chocolate comes after and there is a roast or hops bitter at the swallow.
Feel is quite good, little body and very smooth as nitro infused beer tends to be.
OA, definitely very flavorful, just a little too bitter for my preferences.
As the Arnold says: I’ll be back.
Cheers!

 

Thanks for that. I'm grareful that it's been limited thus far and that we have good recession SOPs that put layoffs as the last resort. Sucks going from building out strategic growth to do some great stuff to just trying to survive, but I know a lot of folks in my field who work for the feds and no longer do for seemingly no reason, so it's not all that bad for me.

Thank goodness for the beer-centric, apolitical sanity of NBW. Hopefully see you all with something good in your glasses next week!