New Beer Weekend #247

Good evening one and all! This was my pre-dinner beer, one I drank in front of a small fire that I set at the edge of a pond to try and kill the cattails that keep sneaking onto the lawn. Dated last August, and was still

Poured stout black with a dense light brown head that reached a few centimeters and left sheets of lacing.
The taste actually resembles what they state it is meant to; pecan is strongly featured, followed (or accompanied by) a toffee flavor that was somehow not overly sweet. The base stout flavors are not completely hidden, there is the coffee and warm bread, any chocolate is blended in with the toffee and presents as white chocolate (which really isn't chocolate)
The feel is not heavy and not crisp; a light body that comfortably carries the flavors.
OA, nice dessert beer, not too sweet, not un-sweet. Good beer-
Back later with my gaming beer-
Cheers!

 

Greetings, fellow NBWers

It's a very sunny 55° in the wilds of south Spokanistan. Last week, I worked day hours because the school district I work for was on spring break. Wednesday was an especially tough day to go to work because it was over 70° and sunny, and I wanted to be out hiking or something, anything but working.

Today I popped into Huckleberry's in pursuit of a breakfast burrito, and wound up walking out with a mixed 4pk. This was one of those beers:

Shadow on the deck makes it hard to see, so here's a closeup:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/65186/232045/?ba=woemad#lists
A nice Oregon hazy that isn't a revelation in terms of flavor but is incredibly easy drinking, I'd definitely hit it again if I should encounter it on tap somewhere.

 

Picked this up while I was in Colorado for a memorial service I generally prefer whiskey barrel aged stouts as they tend not to be so sweet. So any time I find one, I buy it with great expectation.
Most times it works out great; will this one?

Poured stout black with a 1 cm light brown head that left sparse lacing. Considering the ABV, any lacing is fairly impressive.
The taste is a tiny bit sweeter than I expected from a whiskey barrel aged stout, but as they don't specify which whiskey I can't knock them for what I expected. Think bourbon barrel aged stout with considerably less sweetness and an edge that *might* be rye, but I can't tell. Regardless, it was very much a barrel aged stout and is very enjoyable.
The feel is nicely viscous; certainly not chewy, just enough body to encourage sipping. And this is definitely one you want to sip.
OA, Not what I expected, but very much enjoyed.
So good night and sweet dreams!

 

Jackie O - The Art of Lollygagging

12oz can served in a tulip. Canned on 11-21-24. Got it from @DIM in Stout/Barleywine BIF #2.

Dark cola color, small head that is dense and even. Smell is horehound, nuts, toffee, molasses.

Taste is boozy, dense fig and molasses, strong vanilla and wood, dark charcoal bitterness. Horehound, maybe some cola.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and a little prickly. Smooth, syrupy. Overall, really nice.

 

Busier than expected weekend on the music front. Kind of an impromptu chorus was put together for one of our local state reps' celebration of life yeaterday - members of three different choruses, two directors minimal rehearsal but it went well. Then the church choir performed our Palm Sunday cantata twice today. Just as well because the weather was miserable - harmless weather, but icy cold rainy and raw.

Tonight's victim has been around for a while - 2019 to be exact.



Barreled Souls Dark Matter with caramel and coffee, bottled 2/27/2019, bottle 113 of 720. Label says it is a dark ale, 10.1%. Here it is an Imperial stout. The OG Dark Matter is an American Strong Ale, the brewery used to call it a dark ale, but they decided its a stout based on broadened definition of what constitutes a stout. Identity crisis?

Pours extremely dark brown with a very dark tan head that hangs a bit before turning into a ring of fine bubbles with some trailers across the surface. Those bubbles elegantly coat the glass on the sip as does the liquid. There's no tints or hues when held to the light. Inky and oily, Gandalf paraphrased in a glass - light shall not pass.

The smell opens with pretty strong coffee. Pretty fresh considering the age. There's a brown sugar aroma that could be caramel. Roasted malts, some dark fruitiness. No sign of the 10% alcohol.

The taste inverts this a bit on terms of how the beer presents itself. It's malty and roasted - very stout-like right off the bat, then hints of this and that come to play. The coffee and caramel-like flavors kinda swap in and out. There's dark fruit - going to lean cherries and figs on that aspect. Just a hint of chocolate. These other flavors swirl around but there is no doubt about it - first and foremost this does drink stout. The coffee eventually carries over into the aftertaste, but there's like a chocolate covered cherry taste pretty clearly in the post-swallow as well. Slightly sweet.

The feel is more medium bodied than I thought it would be based on the visual. Smooth, luscious, not overly heavy. Moderate carbonation. Ever so slightly drying.

Very drinkable. Lots of flavor but not an over the top flavor bomb. It's almost playful as the taste morphs a bit with each sip and the contributing flavors dance on top of the base. Yeah - it's old but it has certainly aged gracefully. Not as decadent as some of the breweries offerings but accessible and interesting. I'll say around a 4 to 4.2 on this one. Accurate to style - well, I guess it depends on ones interpretation of what Dark Matter might be.

 

Meant to post this one yesterday. Enjoyed on tap at the source..

Tamarack - Ted T. Hop Hazy IIPA



Notes:
P hazy deep orange; sm white cap; med-hvy lace toward top
N med to med bold; juicy melon, nectarine, meaty stone fruit, sweet and sticky, nice
T melon, guava, orange w/ a bit of tartness, meaty stone fruit, and apricot, some heat, crackery malt is heavily outweighed by the hop presence, light tangy bitterness in the finish; juicy, satisfying
Mf med full bodied, med to med high carb, lightly sticky
O really nicely done hazy dipa

Cheers!

 

Urban South Brewery Holy Roller Hazy IPA ( NOLA ) 6.3% ABV; 3.7 overall

Pours a hazed gold with 2+fingers of pearl colored head. good head retention & great lacing

S: Grassy, faint citrus, nose ain't much

T: Follows the nose, some green melon & white grape, traces of tangerine up front, some dryness. Some nectarine shows up once this beer is warm. citrus is a little more assertive, faint grainyness & more white grape as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry with green melon & tangerine

MF: Medium body, subtle carbonation, decent balance

Very easy to drink, serviceable, but really not wowing me

 

Think I saw it up in Kansas & thought WTF?

 

Best of luck Ian!

 

Sawyer - 100LL, blend of barrel aged stouts

12.7oz bottle with silver wax, served in a snulip. 2023 vintage, stickered 702, whatever that means. Got it from @bbtkd in Stout/Barleywine BIF #2.

Pours black, thick and dense, small head leaving just a tiny ring. Smell is dominated by bourbon and booze, tons of roast and some anise, some vanilla. Molasses.

Taste is sweet, almost cherry cough syrup, some acidity and a bit of of sherry. Booze is noticeable but not dominant. Almost a cherry coke vibe.

Mouthfeel is light and smooth, a little bit of fizziness. Very nice beer.

 

Greenhouse Aleworks Chickweed Double Hazy IPA w/Krush & Citra Hops, 6.0% ABV; 4.25 overall

Pours an effervescent & hazed straw color with 3 fingers of fluffy eggshell colored head. Above average head retention & lacing

S: Guava, Strawberry, Vanilla & Cantaloupe once warmed up

T: Follows the nose, some lime, dryness & green melon up front. More strawberry & guava, this is working for me! Dryness, a little pomelo & Cantaloupe once warmed up. Finishes fairly dry with strawberry, tangerine, grassyness & guava

MF: Medium body, medium carbonation, nice balance

Crushable, loved the flavor mix, if it was a little less dry, I'd be in love, still in lust/like

 

It just didn't deliver an overall good beer experience to me. Sorta overthought or not enuf thought put into the actual taste profile. A strange beer.

 

Hot tub time. Peace out LNBAers!