New Beer Weekend #248

Good evening and happy Easter to those who celebrate. Music duties wind down for a bit until our show with the big chorus. Nice breather! Two nice days in a row here so got some yahd work done. Couldn't fit the tractor through the dog fence gate so got the bucket as close as possible to the leaf piles and raked the whole mess in by hand. I don't like these reminders that I'm not as young as I used to be...

So another Barreled Souls offering tonight. This one from 2024:



Peach and Apricot Big Bang, an American barleywine aged in Bookers barrels before resting on the fruits. Sounds a wee bit unholy, but if anybody can pull it off it'd be Barreled Souls.

It pours murky brown with some reddish tinting. No visible head but when you swirl the glass there's some fine bubbles clinging to the glass. Lots of liquid cling as well.

Smell is sweet, malty, and unbelievably fruity. Vanilla and oak, the sweetness is caramel and peach. The fruit subsides a bit, but the first whiff was peach and apricot. The alcohol does make a token appearance.

The first sip is shocking. It is sweet and there's no doubt about the peach and even more so the apricot. I'll stick with a caramel, malty sweetness. The apricot bring some welcome tang. Then once the onslaught subsides more subtle notes from the barrel come in - vanilla (like if needed more sweetness), oak, cherry (huh?) There's some dark fruit - dates I'm thinking. Just at the end there's some resinous hops and a but of bitterness. In the aftertaste it's an alcohol apricot sensation. As it warms, the OG Big Bang comes out more and the fruitiness hammers the back end if the taste managing to hit some aromatic notes. The barrel treatment kinda floats in the background and says hello once in a while. So it's morphing sip to sip - its pretty cool. There's a bit of fruity sourness/ bitter - like the peach right next to the pit - fortunately not a huge contributor but definitely there.

Feel is thick, sticky, and a bit drying.

Ok...overall...a little mystified but I like it. This is certainly not everyone's cup o' Joe here. It's very different. The flavors essentially keep me guessing as they swap places. That's a good thing because this is huge, carries megaloads of flavor, and it is quite sweet. But I find myself wondering what the next sip will reveal. It's a sipper and probably not a "single serve" bottle. I think somewhere around the 4.0 mark.

 

Courtesy of the Quality Inn Placentia Anaheim Fullerton (IYKYK):

3.96/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a deep amber, two fingers of head, quickly dissipates. Smell is bready, malty, trace caramel. Taste carries much of the bready notes, introduces some minor hop presence with a very malty backbone. Moderate carbonation, creamy mouthfeel. Finish is dry, somewhat bitter. Very clean and refreshing lager.

 

Dust Bowl Brewing Tomorrow's Clear West Coast IPA, 7.3% ABV; 3.17 overall

Pours an effervescent & hazed honey color with loads of beige colored head, a bit of a gusher. Good head retention & better lacing

S: Wet cereal, grassy notes, some citrus, all fade

T: Pomelo, leafy hops, traces of passion fruit & a little dryness up front. Dryness, grassyness, a little bit of citrus & leafy hops once warmed up. Finishes with some bready notes, leafy hops, woody hops & just a little passion fruit

MF: Medium body, starts out aggressively carbonated & fades fast, okay balance

This one is a big mess, again, a year old, thanks for not putting dates on your boxes Dust Bowl

 

Courtesy of the Quality Inn Placentia Anaheim Fullerton (IYKYK):

3.79/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Can dated 12/21/22

Pours a pale, but vibrant yellow, almost neon color. Was a bit of a gusher from the can but not unsurprising given a wild ale and age. Three inch head, very foamy, quickly dissipates into lacing and a thin layer of bubbles. Smells of lacto, lemon, tart berries, barnyard, faint apple cider vinegar. Taste is tart, not quite pucker-the-lips sour, but tart. Lacto is very evident, barnyard funk comes through echoing much of the nose and really inline with ACV. Mouthfeel is moderate-to-high carbonation, prickly. Finish is dry, lemon, somewhat earthy and some chalkiness. There is some complexity that I am longing for from wild fermentation but these are largely unpredictable with age. Very hard to say what was/is the intended outcome.

 

Monday Night Brewing - Death Raptor IPA



4.2/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 19.2 oz can into a Willi Becher glass

Pours a somewhat hazy golden straw color, with about two fingers worth of off white head that recedes slowly, leaving behind lots of sticky lacing.

Very nice aroma. Big and citrusy with notes of grapefruit and orange, with hints of peach and some piney notes as well.

The flavor follows the nose quite closely. Grapefruit, orange, and some peach/apricot and piney notes as well. There is just the slightest bit of bitterness in the finish. Just the slightest sweet malt presence works to balance out the hoppy flavors. Medium bodied and moderately carbonated.

Very nice IPA. I don't drink alot of IPA's, but this one is quite nice

 

My Easter beer - as they had killed off their barleywine program 5 years previously and resurrected it in 2022, it seemed appropriate for the day.
Received from @DIM during the continuing Stout and Barleywines BIF.
The pour is dark, and I liked it. Not quite stout black (okay, it looks that way, but it wasn’t.) Darker than most Barleywines and more than a few stouts.
The taste is almost all barleywine, with some bourbon added in.
And what a barleywine. Chocolate and coffee and leather, some dark fruits and what I can only describe as malty goodness. Freaking delicious.
The feel is viscous, truly a sipping beer.
OA, I am indebted to @sulldaddy for sending me this treat.

 

We are getting to 9 pages....

This one is courtesy of @muchloveforhops3 Georgetown Brewing Co. Bodhizafa IPA, 6.9% ABV; 4.15 overall

Pours a slightly hazed gold with one finger of cream-colored head. Above average head retention & nice lacing, never drops bright

S: Citrus & tropical fruit, pineapple for sure

T: Dryness, pomelo, guava & white grapes & pineapple up front. Orange & pineapple, plus dryness as this beer warms up, a little green melon as well. Finishes a little dry with pomelo, pineapple & white grape

MF: Medium body, fairly creamy carbonation, good balance, body thinned a little once warm

Great drinkability, super solid offering unless you don't like pineapple

 

Fox Farm - The Cabin, smoked helles lager

16oz can in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Canned 02/19/25. @Roguer sent it to me as a bribe to sow chaos.

Pours clear golden with a dense, creamy 2cm head. Smell is mild campfire woodsmoke and nuts, a little yeasty bread in the background.

Taste is grainy and sweet with honey bbq notes, crisp grassy bitterness lurking around in there, plenty of woodsmoke.

Mouthfeel is light and smooth. Very nice beer.

 

Interesting, Mr Quality Inn Placentia Anaheim Fullerton

 

bwahahaha...


Fox Farm - The Cottage helles lager

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Canned on 01/29/25. @Roguer sent it to me.

Pours clear light golden with a medium-sized, short-lived head. Lots of active carbonation after the pour. Smell is light, bright, grassy lemon and grain.

Taste is a nice contrast of grainy sweetness and grassy bitterness, leans more toward bitterness with a little bit of earthy hops tilting it that way. Sweetness also has a honey-ish thing going on for it, too.

Mouthfeel is very light, very clean, maybe a bit on the watery side. Overall, easy drinking and tasty beer.

Satisfying as a beer, and as a reward for sowing chaos.

 

Another winner from @muchloveforhops3

Bombastic Brewing Co. Santa Caws Choclate Orange Imperial Stout. 10.5% ABV; 4.18 overall

Pours an effervescent Mahogany with one finger of mocha colored head. No head retention or lacing, pretty viscous

S: Plenty of orange, some chocolate & vanilla, Orange Liqueur once all warmed up

T: Follows the nose, some booze on the edges, along with a little roastyness, & a hint of smokeyness up front, some woody hops way in the background. Some cinnamon & nutmeg showing up as this beer warms up, milk chocolate and oranges as well. Finishes with a little orange peel infused booze, some chocolate & a little vanilla & dryness

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, fairly warming

Love Terry's Orange Slices, this is knocking on the door of that, the orange needed to be a tad sweeter & the chocolate a little richer. Drinkability is lovely. Was on the verge of loving this, body not quite there

 

My math has failed me; I don't think we're making 9 pages today...

 

New Glarus Brewing Thumbprint Series ~ Barley Wine 2024

This beer was gifted to me by the BA extraordinaire @GreenBayBA who insists that I drink more Barleywines and he is right. I need to seek this style out more often. Early BCBBW was a game changer for me hence the avatar! I truly respect this style as the very best expression of brewing Malt, Water, Hops, and Yeast BA... and at the higher gravity it reaches a fortification level that is worthy of the Kings imo. Similar to the effect of a hearty Mead, Braggot, Wheatwine, Old Ale, etc.

The New Glarus take is surprisingly fruit forward to me and of the pitted orchard varietal. Like biting into a fresh peach or apricot here. I get a dab of honeysuckle sweetness with some soft caramel candy notes and just a touch of earthy hops underneath. It is slightly vinous making you aware of the wine aspects to this brew but otherwise it is very easy drinking for the ABV. This is a unique barleywine that is quite clean and really well crafted overall. I am very thankful for the opportunity to sample it!

 

Happy Sunday, in case any of you are still up. It's been a pretty good day indeed. One of my best friends from Los Angeles (and an old homebrewing buddy, no less) was up here in Portland this weekend to watch LAFC play the Portland Timbers in an entertaining match last night at Providence Park. This morning we got together for brunch and chatted for a long time yet still not long enough.

Now I'm seeing out the weekend with an excellent beer I got to sample on a brewery tour last weekend at Fort George Public House and Brewery in Astoria, OR: Barrel-Aged Coconut Cavatica.



BA Coconut Cavatica has a nearly opaque black-brown body with dark chestnut highlights. The tan head of thick foam slowly recedes to a long-lasting collar that leaves small, isolated patches of sticky lace behind.

The nose is loaded with coconut and bourbon foremost, on more or less equal billing. The backing band consists of prunes, dates, caramel, fruity dark chocolate, and a little vanilla.

The taste starts with rich and fruity high-percentage cacao dark chocolate and plenty of coconut. Bourbon follows, with warm caramel and toasted black bread close on its heels. A zesty compote of dates and figs and prunes comes through in the middle, along with a few bright cherry notes as the beer warms. The long aftertaste is full of alcohol and a reprise of coconut and bittersweet chocolate.

The body is medium-full with a silky texture that is just gorgeous. Gentle carbonation provides a sparkle like distant fireworks. Pleasant alcohol warmth hangs like a well-worn hoodie on a cold and windy afternoon.

Overall, I do love a beer that does what it says on the label. Fort George Barrel-Aged Coconut Cavatica delivers. It has plenty of coconut and offers loads of bourbon barrel character. Not too sweet, luscious texture, very nicely done.

It is good to see Fort George doing a special Cavatica variant every year for Stout Month (February), and even better when a barrel-aged version of that variant arrives a year later. My wife and I will be back in Astoria next month for Fort George's Lupulin Ecstasy Festival, and I'm pretty sure another bottle of BA Coconut Cavatica will follow me home.

 

Playoff hockey is the best. I was happy with the Jets/Blues and Avs/Stars results this weekend (and pleased but not terribly surprised by the Leafs/Sens result), but for me it's all about the Kings/Oilers series that starts tomorrow. I would very much like to see my Kings get past the Oilers this time. But if that doesn't happen I am prepared to jump onto the Jets bandwagon.

Hmmm. I think I need to find some SoCal beer for tomorrow's game.