Blind BIF 6: Reviews Part 3

I have two or three to go. And I've been baad about it, long story short things around here have been crazy. I have a three day weekend this week and I *will* drink 'em

 

My last blind beer from Shogo...

Beer #12.
Bomber served in an imperial nonic.

Phil left the cap uncovered on this one and it has a big Harpoon Brewing 'H' on it... So unless this is a homebrew that re-used a cap...

Anyway-- pours a reddish orange copper color with a head the color of that belonging to Coca-Cola. Pretty weak retention and virtually no lacing. Very clear.

Nose holds some caramel malt, some odd fruity ester notes, and something I associate with Xmas. Is this a spiced Xmas ale?

The beer starts off sweet with a decent dose of caramel malt before the Xmas tree vibe takes over and dries it out. The finish is dry and somewhat bitter with an odd lingering resiny vibe. Pretty noticeable boozy note in the finish too. It almost makes me think the was aged on wood or perhaps put in a barrel for some period of time.

Feels pretty decent, medium body with a bit of an oily feel. Lots of carbonation leaves me belching between intermittent sips.

I am thinking this must be some sort of spiced barleywine or strong ale, perhaps even a winter warmer? If it is spiced, it is done so sparingly...

REVEAL-- Harpoon 100 Barrel Series; Vermont Spruce Tip.

Wow-- this is called an herb/spice beer. And it's only 7%... I would have guessed more than that!
Well, after reading the description (and the name!) I totally see that 'Xmas trees' as a flavor descriptor wasn't too far from the mark.

Am interesting beer, as I don't know that I've had a beer made with spruce tips before, but this is not one I'll have again.
To be fair, the booziness I was getting now seems to be more of an abrasive resiny dryness on my tongue than a true boozy bite.

Now that I know what this is, here are my ratings;
A-3
S-4
T-3.5
M-3.5
O-3.5

 

You sir, are entirely welcome. I got frustrated with the theme so I kind of failed mightily on that front, fell back to just trying to put together a really interesting and rewarding experience. Hope you enjoyed. Cheers!

As an aside, I have one last bottle to drink and two reviews to post. Slowly getting back on the BA horse after the site-splosion.

 

I cracked my fridge this morning and pulled Blind Beer #11 from the fridge. The bottle is slieghtly squat. Opened the bottle after a quick sniff test I poured it into a snifter.

A- The body of the beer is a clear red with a thin white head. The head desolved rapidly to a ring of white foam. No lacing remains behind on my glass.

S- This beer smells like spiced apple cider vinger or perhaps balsamic vinegar over berries, cinamon and peppery cloves. Alcohol is prevalent in the aroma.

T- Sweet brown sugar infused with Ricola cough drops. Solvent alcohol flavors are very problematic. Vinegar infused cider along with alot of oxidation.

M- The body on this beer is thin and a bit astringent yet manages to coat like cough syrup and definitely fueled with booze.

O- This one is for sure not to my taste. Just yuck!

The reveal: Scaldis Noel. This is a beer I have had previously. I dont recall it being a mess like this bottle. No date on the bottle but I am sure this one has sat around for a good long while. Thanks Thirstyherf for an interesting beer drinking experience. I am going to let this glass sit awhile before apologizing to the sink.

 

Ouch! My bad bro. That was intended to be tasty. My apologies to your sink.

 

You have a few reviews of mine still right?

 

Already given. No worries sometimes a bad bottle sneaks in. You sent some real gems early on. Thanks again!

 

The last blind beer in my fridge. Number 12. The beer is chilled and served in a pint glass.

A- The body of the beer is brown with chestnut highlights to light. Nice thick tan head thick rings of lacing mark my glass. Very nice start.

S- Sweet caramel laced darkly roasted malt. The dark roasted malt hits numerous layers, bittersweet cocoa, light roasted coffee, ripe figs, and a bit of ashy burnt character. Really digging this beer so far.

T- Burnt and caramelized sugar molasis, dark roasted and even to the point of burnt malt a bit of fruit either figs or dates come up behind all that roasted carnage. If you dont like a well roasted beer move on to the next bottle. Lucky for me IU love deeply roasted flavors in my beer.

M- The body is medium and very smooth. No heat from the alcohol but it is a nicely warming prescence.

O- Very well done! This was a very nice way to great a snowy day in Cincinnati. This is a malty beer treat that is full of roasted layers.

The Reveal: Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter. I told my wife half way through this beer that this was the beer. I alot of this beer when it was released and have slowly been going through some cellared bottles. Thanks Thirstyherf for a great finisher. Thanks for a great package of beers!

 

yup. finished the final one on saturday. will post final three shortly

 

Noooooo! my bad. Always one in the bunch it seems.

 

Right on, looking forward to reading them, and round 7 too!

 

I believe this bottle was from 2009. It was also the first beer you reviewed on BA.

 

Man, this thread is still going strong. Can't wait for the next round!

 

catching up on my last 3 reviews. finally finished the last one this past weekend.

bottle labeled #12. shared with mikereaser.
A: 4.5 pours pretty much a black color. struggle to find hints of any other color hiding out. nice tan head which was huge and seemed to last forever. the lacing that followed was awesome
S: 4 a roasted malt smell. traces of oak and chocolate and some faint smoke aromas
T: 4 a decent amount of hops which was a bit of a surprise. chocolate roasted malt taste - primarily follows the smell. ample amount of alcohol there as well. some smoke and some faint coffee taste.
M: 3.5 nice medium body with adequate carbonation, but a bit heavy on the alcohol side. there was also a weird aftertaste that was noticed - like a burnt mint.
D: 4 pretty darn good beer overall.

I think I have had this beer before. At least it wasn't unique or different enough to definitely tell me I haven't had it.
GUESS: no idea on brand. but without a doubt some type of imperial stout with pretty high alcohol.
REVEAL: Alesmith Speedway Stout

another perfect beer for a blind BIF. I have indeed had this before but it has been years. thanks again for another great beer which was perfect to taste blind.

 

Completely forgot about this BIF! It has been so long since my last blind beer. going into withdrawl state.

 

22oz bottle label #8 courtesy of flexabull

A: 4.5 pours a beautiful looking burgundy color with a moderate sized off white/ tan head. the head seemed to last quite a while as it was still around after taking some notes. it left a nice collar and top film with more than abundant lacing.
S: 3.5 a very ho hum smell. sweet caramel malts, minimal hop presence.
T: 3.5 more hops in the taste. but mostly dominated by caramel malts, biscuit and some mild spiciness.
M: 4 medium body, plenty of carbonation. some lingering bitterness.
D: 4 not bad.

GUESS: not really sure. some sort of amber maybe. or a mild pale ale. no clue on brand.
REVEAL: Ninkasi Believer Double Red Ale.

Ok - was quite a bit off on this one. but glad to try yet another beer that I have never tasted before.

 

I actually had my last blind beer quite a while back, but I cannot find where I scrawled the review. It was arctic panzer wolf and I enjoyed it! I'll poke around...

 

final review. 22oz bottle labeled #7 courtesy of flexabull

A: 3.5 pours a dark brown nearly black color with an off white head. not much of a head and what was there didn't really last all that long, but was quite bubbly. left a nice collar around the glass and the eventual lacing was not much.
S: 3.5 strong malt smell, caramel, nuts, faint cherry, smoke, molasses and faint chocolate. lots of little things going on but nothing overwhelming. no hops to pick up on.
T: 3.5 much more hops in the taste that the smell. strong malt taste similar to what was found in the aroma. no one taste dominating over the other. a little spice showed up in the taste as well. all in all a very sweet tasting beer.
M: 3.5 a bit on the thinner side. mild carbonation. slight bitterness.
D: 3.5 ok overall. nothing to write home about.

GUESS: totally perplexed on this one. have not had this before. At first I thought maybe a black IPA of some sort. but there wasn't enough hops. thinking maybe a strong ale or something (basically I have no clue).
REVEAL: Ninkasi Imperiale - imperial stout! what???? ok - either my taste buds were on vacation or this is really not a good example of an imperial stout. while the beer was ok - just didn't seem to have the characteristics of an imperial stout. another great beer for a blind tasting.

Sadly, this round is over for me. I can't thank flexabull enough for sending great beers (most of which I have never tasted before).

soon - we will be ready for round 7!

 

So are we all done, then? After a (very) quick skim of this thread, it looks like everyone has at least drunk all their beers, though there might be one or two reviews outstanding. Is anyone still going? No pressure or anything, I'm just itching to start round 7