New Beer Weekend #284

First one of these I’ve had.



It’s alright. I’ve had much better BA barleywine but I’m also learning that I may not be the best candidate for these. My slow dippers tend to be distilled and likely from the isles east of here.

That said, no complaints. Mouthfeel is thick and viscous and there’s good body throughout. It’s boozy and lively and nothing suggests it’s fallen off at all. Very tasty all in all

 

Walnut River Brewing Co. Velvet Tracksuit Oatmeal Stout, 7.1% ABV; 3.58 overall

Pours an effervescent hazel/chestnut with a thumb+ of tan head. Below average head retention & better lacing

S: Roasty, some coffee notes, improves as this warms up

T: Plenty roasty, some creamy notes, coffee in good amounts, dryness up front. Faint chocolate mint notes fight through the coffee & roastyness as this beer warms up, some woody hops. Finishes very roasty with Baker's Chocolate, watered down coffee & dryness

MF: Medium body, modest carbonation, body thins as this beer warms

Good flavor & decent drinkability, body dragging it down. I need more heft from an Oatmeal Stout of this ABV

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. I hope everyone is enjoying this festive holiday season! I just experienced a senior moment. I intended to review a BA Russian Imperial Stout from Bottle Logic before I realized that I had reviewed it in 2021. Not exactly a confidence booster. So I'm pivoting to a new-to-me DIPA from LIttle Willow Brewing Company in Massachusetts: Snow Sculpture. Citra and Vera hops. It's my first beer from this brewery, which recently began to distribute in New Jersey. This is a very tasty ale!

Canned on 12/1/2025. It pours a hazy, pale orange with a big, fluffy, bright white head and abundant, clinging lacing. The nose is fruity and fragrant with lots of lemon, grapefruit, pineapple, and white wine grape. Its taste offers a fine balance of tart citrus and sweeter tropical fruits. I'm tasting a lot of grapefruit rind, along with sweet peach and pinot gris. Beneath lies a firm crackery malt base. There is clean, mild bitterness throughout. This ale is well-bodied and pleasantly carbonated. And the 7.1% ABV gives it good substance without seeming heavy. Overall, a very tasty and enjoyable DIPA.

4.31/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I somehow managed - unintentionally - to hit it the average. There were 2 ratings of 4.19 and 2 or 4.44.

I hope everyone has a great week with New Year's only a few days away. It will be another New Beer Weekend before we know it. Cheers!

 

With my last new brew of the weekend, had this tasty one from Masthead:

BBA Raspberry Espresso Torte | Masthead Brewing Co. | BeerAdvocate





This blend seemed more like an imperial stout than a barleywine to me, and the barrel character wasn't strong at all. Guessing it was overpowered by the raspberry and espresso, but good for me that I like both of them a lot! Would love to have this one again sometime. Cheers and have a great week everyone!

 

I believe this is from my Kansas haul

Prairie King Nut Bourbon Barrel Aged Imp Stout with Vanilla, Coconut, Dry Roasted Peanuts, Hazelnut Spread& Toasted Marshmallow Flavor, 13.6% ABV; 4.25 overall

Pours a bit sludgy, some floaties with rapidly vanishing mocha/dark brown colored head. An ugly pour to be sure. Minimal head retention & lacing, sludge from the adjuncts. Plenty viscous

S: Peanut butter/chocolate cookies, coconut, nose fades more than a bit

T: Loads of marshmallow, coconut, milk chocolate & hazelnut, faint Bourbon & Coffee on the edges up front. Coffee ramps up once this beer is warmer, along with chocolate, marshmallow, & Bourbon Barrel. Finishes with Bourbon infused marshmallow, hazelnut, coconut, & cocoa, on the verge of a 4.75. Edit it is a 4.75!

MF: Medium/chewy body, low carbonation, warming, fairly sticky

Rich & decadent, this is Imp Pastry Stout done correctly, still a formidable sipper, wish the nose would've held up & plenty ugly on the pour

 

Good evening denizens of NBS!
Tonight I am going to have two again, and the lower ABV will be first. (Made sense to me!)
Got this from a fellow BA in a trade and rather wish I had access to it regularly as it’s a lower ABV stout that has great flavor.

The can I had was dated Feb 2025, not fresh but it seemed to not suffer from the time.
The pour is stout black with a very impressive light brown head (look at that head!) that left islands of lacing.
The taste is very coffee forward, a slight nuttiness and a hint of hops edge to provide an edge. I didn’t notice any licorice, maybe it was what dropped off in the last 10 months.
The feel is smooth but thin, far too easy to drink quickly. I expected a bit more body from the ingredients used. No idea the percentages, so I’m referring to my expectation, nothing else.
OA, an excellent lower ABV stout that I appreciated being able to try.
I know we get Dogfish Head beers here, maybe it could be ordered.
Cheers all, back in a couple hours.

 

It's been a sunny and brisk afternoon here in Beaverton. I got out for a long walk in a nearby park, then ambled over to Loyal Legion for a beer and a bite with a book.



pFriem + Loyal Legion Eagle Rare Double Stout
This is a blend of pFriem Double Milk Stout and Double Oat Stout aged in Eagle Rare barrels.

Look:
The beer is the deepest red-brown, with dark amber highlights. When the beer arrived at my table it had only a thin and incomplete crescent of foam at the edge of the glass. A vigorous swirl fails to generate more than a few Islands of foam.

Smell:
The nose is a luscious combination of dark chocolate, caramel, bourbon, and the good kind of fruitcake. (You hush. It exists whether you like it or not.)

Taste:
As the nose was an improvement over the look, the taste is an upgrade of the nose. There's still plenty of dark chocolate there, followed by a cherry/blackberry note, and a nice bit of dulce de leche under that. There's also a good amount of vanilla. Plenty of bourbon. A hint of candy corn. (Odd, but it works here. And there it is in the nose, now that I check again.) Sweet but not too sweet. The finish is almond paste and fruity dark chocolate and more bourbon.

Feel:
Medium-heavy body that could use a few more pounds, but the texture is exquisite. Moderate flare of alcohol heat at the very end.

Overall:
This is a fine stout that could use a little more depth and a little more heft. But it shows off a lot of bourbon, and that suits me just fine.

Coda:
There is a parallel version of this beer: the same blend, but aged in Weller Antique barrels. I probably should've tried both beers side-by-side to get a better sense of how the barrels affected the base beer. (Better yet: both beers with a small pour of each bourbon on the side!) Well, that's not going to happen today. But I look forward to coming back here to try the Weller version next time.

 

Warm enough for a trail walk today - small game, fox, cat, deer tracks all over the place. We half-watched our Pats game today and are in the uncomfortable position of having to root for the Iggles to beat the Bill's which looks like it isn't gonna happen...unless Allen throws the ball away on the 2 pt!!!!

Well, kids, it is Sunday...



All My Friends Were There - 13% English Barleywine from Grimm Artisinal Ales in Brooklyn. It's brewed with Maris Otter malt and East Kent Goldings hops and aged 18 months in oak barrels - some that contained apple brandy and some that held brown sugar rum.

Poured syrupy-looking and a murky chestnut wood stain color. A few bubbles tried to form but it looks essentially flat, but there are some microbubbles at the edge. The liquid absolutely sheets the glass.

The nose is wonderful. Sweet bready malts, toffee and brown sugar, molasses, honey, dark sweet cherry, fig/date, apple. There's a very faint spice note.

Oh my...what a great random grab! This is silky- smooth with very nicely integrated flavors. There is enough barrel to notice - kind of a woody vanilla/buttery flavor. Apple brandy, then some sweet cherry, figs, and date come through. I get some toffee and brown sugar pushing towards molasses, a little nuttiness and crusty baked bread. A light honey flavor peeks through here and there. There's a bit of raisin and plum. Earthiness grounds the experience. In the aromatics I get a light thyme flavor and just a bit of lavender, thank you East Kent Goldings.

It's minimally carbonated. Full-bodied and creamy. The sweet fruits linger. Slightly sticky and VERY pleasantly warming. No obvious sign of the 13%. It's sweet but not obnoxiously so - it's just right.

Overall this is a real treat. I'm going to enjoy sipping on this for quite a while. This is easy A+ 4.5-ish territory here. Fantastic, skillfully concocted brew! I'd buy this again in a heartbeat.

 

For my second new beer of the weekend I'm turning to the woods of the pacific northwest with a beer from @vurt. Spruce tip beers prompted our little recent exchange and this was a nice little surprise, a porter brewed with foraged spruce tips. Really cool because I don't think I've ever had a dark spruced beer. This beer fit the evening I hope to have and the quiet dark vibes of a winter's night, so here we go...

Ferment Brewing Co - Woodsman Porter (Porter with Foraged Douglas Fir Tips 5.6%)



Attractive looking beer; dark brown verging on black, creamy light brown head; sticky cohesive with a nice looking bubbly cap.

Nose is bittersweet; roast and char, powdered dark cocoa; damp forest vibes, I want to say evergreen forest but I go back and forth or knowing what's in it vs. reality; maybe some bark and woodiness.

Taste brings really great dark roasted malt flavors; lingering char, even on exhale, perceived light smokiness, cocoa powder mixed with dark chocolate; little fruity twang; a light pine character lingers on the tongue.

Body is medium; very nourishing feel to it, rich but drinkable, carbonated on the lower end, to much personal enjoyment, good roast bitterness, lingering prickliness coats the tongue, hop resin like but different.

This is a really enjoyable beer for me personally; it’s drinkable and yet big on dark and roasted malts. The spruce tips are definitely noticeable and just add a unique, mostly prickly feel, to this beautiful beer. I feel like I should be drinking this beer with a gnome under a bridge in some forgotten corner of logging country. Thanks for this experience Eric, another awesome beer.

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A great long weekend for us and now I get to have fun with the boys all week while we're on the longest possible winter break thanks to timing of New Year's Day this year. I'll be dead by tomorrow night but then look back on it with fond and loving memories on that fateful day we return to school for 2026 See you all next week when I try and finish off, or almost finish off my awesome box from the NW, still got a Czech Pils and Brown Ale left!!!

Posting my favorite picture from our one trip to the Pacific Northwest seemed fitting for this beer...one day I really hope we'll return, maybe we'll disappear in the pines and find the gnomes and more of this beer.

 

You're not alone @beergoot I had it once a while back and felt similarly, some times I wonder; though I think I know, how much hype and expectations play a role in ratings...

 

That is an oldie revived from the variety pack they did, it will return again next year in the Winter variety pack; along with some other good looking ones. Hope you can find some then, though we got some time...

 

Good to know! Thanks, I’ll make a reminder to check next October.
Cheers!

 

My gaming beer, another one from the same trade mentioned earlier and another really good beer.

The pour is essentially stout black, brown highlights when backlit. And another great head considering the can had been dented at some point.
The taste is deeply malty, chocolate with coffee and vanilla - there is cinnamon but for a change (for me anyway) it is almost hidden behind the vanilla. The coffee is definitely the star of this beer.
The feel is lightly viscous, appropriate for the flavors. They must have more additives than most stouts in this.
OA, one of the best porters I’ve had in a while.
And one of the very few that have had cinnamon that wasn’t overpowering.
That will do it for me tonight
Cheers all!

 

Season’s Greeting all.

Busy holiday season in these parts where we had a green Christmas, a very white Boxing Day, and now about ten straight hours of sleet and freezing rain.

Perhaps it’s a good thing I grabbed this little stout a few weeks back. This is Old Flame Brewing Co. Perry’s Chocolate Orange Seasonal Stout. I got this from their Newmarket location north of Toronto. The can indicates Maris Otter, Caramel and Chocolate malts, roasted barley, ‘hops’ and vanilla and orange extracts.



Pours a deep black/brown with a negligible head that dissipates to nothing almost immediately. No lacing.

The aroma is dominated by the malt. Toasted grain, chocolate, light char. No vanilla or orange to my nose.

The taste follows closely. Much chocolate maltiness, some light char, a little black coffee. The orange extract peaks in a little, but in the background, and not on every sip.

The body is very light, bordering on thin. Significant carbonation. Very drinkable at 5% ABV.

This is fine. The flavours are not strong making this more of a simple stout than what it purports to be. As a man who has enjoyed several Terry’s Chocolate Oranges in his time, I’m rather disappointed this barely hints at that. I wouldn’t bother buying again.

Cheers everyone!

 

River City Brewing 2022 Rob's Raspberry Coffee ( Aged in Blanton 1,2,3 Barrels & Blemded with Jack Daniels's Barrel#2 ) , 16.0% ABV; 3.82 overall

Pours a very thick chestnut/mahogany with traces of carbonation & mocha colored head. Zero head retention & lacing, viscosity in spades

S: Tons of Raspberry, some dark fruit & coffee, booze on the fringes. Only the raspberry really sticks around & a bit of coffee

T: Much raspberry, dark fruit, coffee & dark chocolate up front. Plenty of raspberry, bourbon barrel, dark chocolate & a smidge of coffee once this beer is warmed up. Finishes with plenty of barrel, dark chocolate, raspberry, vanilla & coffee, decadent


MF: THICCC, some carbonation struggles to fight through, booze presence, but not overwhelming. Age isn't helping with carbonation here; super sticky to be sure, warming

A sipper, as expected coffee is fading, which okay by me. Solid base but need a little carbonation to drive the flavors & over all enjoyment. Raspberry, coffee & Bourbon Barrel rule this one

 

My last New Beer for the last New Beer Weekend of 2025 is a triumph.



Ferment Blend No. 34 BA Imperial Stout
(exclusively for Zupan's, a gourmet market with 3 locations in the Portland area)

Look:
Very dark brown-black with umber highlights. Hard to get a sense of the color even with strong backlighting. A fluffy head of impressively dark brown foam fizzes up and then disappears in about the same amount of time it took me to write this sentence. No lacing, nice legs tho.

Smell:
Semisweet dark chocolate, bourbon, red wine, oak, and fudge. Notes of vanilla and caramel come forward as the beer warms, along with a mild tannic character. The various components are distinct, yet blend nicely. (Interesting: Up close, the bourbon is stronger than the red wine character. When the glass is on the table 3 feet away, however, I can smell the red wine but not the bourbon.)

Taste:
Starts sweet, with the chocolate, bourbon, and vanilla flavors dominating up front. Red wine comes through in the middle and dries out some of the sweetness while introducing rich grape flavors and a tannic bite. A wave of gentle bitterness rises next, followed by quick bursts of blackberries, char, and a lingering warm licorice note. Roasted malt and hints of tart and sweet red grapes harmonize in the long, satisfying finish. A drop of caramel stirred into black coffee has the last word.

Feel:
Medium-heavy body, round and chewy with a creamy texture. Mild-mannered carbonation and restrained alcohol warmth provide unobtrusive punctuation to every sip.

Overall:
Ferment Blend No. 34 has a wonderful collection of flavors that offer contrasts and delicious harmonies. The red wine and bourbon barrel components remain distinct yet work well together. Full of character, not too sweet. Great stuff.