New Beer Sunday (week 485)

About to try this for the first time.

 

ESB Taste off! Carton Dont Panic 4.08 handily better than Steel Wheels 3.88.
Carton Dont Panic

4.08/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Served on cask at Carton's tasting room.

A: Pours a clear bronze into a tulip at room temp. Thick head lasts and laces.

S: Bergomot! You can smell just Enough. Cross between Earl Grey and gun powder.

T: Follows smell, but more so. Unique, complex. Would try another. Caramel, biscuity like most ESBs but smoother, less cloying. I like it.
MF: Great finish. Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Slightly creamy.
Another style - ESB - that is one notch above most US brewers AND with an original flavor tweak.
That seems to be Carton signature.

Steel Wheels 3.88/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Can in a Whole Foods craft pack.

A: Pours clear bronze amber with golden highlights, an offwhite thick head with a fast fade to a ring but lots of lasting lace.

S: Smell is almost a 4. Caramel malts dominate, with biscuit, spice and earthy, barnyard hops.

T: Follows smell but gets bigger. Upfront caramel sweetness with biscuit character followed by earthy, spicy hops which contribute to a long bitter finish.

M: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Good weight, slightly creamy

O: More caramel and more hops than expected. A nice beer with a big finish and feel.

I let this warm to room temp. It went flat. Much preferred Carton's ESB - Dont panic

 

New WILD ale Sunday!

Back for more ! Back for more!

What's up y'all - just wanted to chime in again with a new beer for me - Mikkeller 2.0 yeast series pale ale with Brett - I'm not too familiar with wild ales like this but I'm so enthusiastic on beginning a next chapter in beer - kinda like "stepping my game up"



Bargain! 5 dollar beer




Still learning how to decode such bottling dates - one things for sure - this code has a 12 at the end of it - and some info I remember from a @Roguer post way back tells me that the 103 in the front could be the hundred and third day of the year-


This beautiful head lasted about 12 seconds -

Anyways I definately smell that yeasty funky smell at first but now that the glass is (half full ) the aroma is long gone -

Looks awesome - dope color that can confuse Pantone experts - is it brown is is orange? It has many shades!

At first I thought this beer had been oxidized or maybe it was just near a drain pour - but turns out it was rolling around in my truck today so I must've agitated the yeast a bit -

Now that it has had a couple minutes to sit in the glass it's back! Pale ale flavors - with yeast funkiness replacing what would normally be hop bitterness - sour malts! I never thought those words would be next to each other !

Mouthfeel has a bit of wood and sparkling fizziness -

Overall this was a STEAL!! And they have more so I'll be back to get te rest of these bottles

 

Greetings fellow NBS'ers,
Beautiful week here in the PNW - summer is brewing and its the best here in the ol' Seattle metro area. BBQ's, people strolling with their families outside, picnics and of course... beer
Family's in town for the little one's 1st birthday next weekend and man it's been busy!

Tonight, as the family settles back home after a long day sightseeing and shopping - I decided to unwind a bit and grab this from the cellar:

Clown Shoes - Undead Party Crasher
I poured the 22 oz bottle into a Lost Abbey Teku glass. Fantastic appearance - upon pouring it formed a thick mocha-colored head that slowly yet steadily sank into the beer below. There's residual lacing that marks what once was a glorious thick and foamy head, but ultimately settles into a ring around the glass.

Nose is very sweet with pronounced notes of chocolate, cinnamon, oak, molasses and roasted malt. Taste is very similar to its nose, with slight bitterness in the finish yet a sweet and chocolaty aftertaste.

Overall I do recommend this brew, its a nice "dessert" beer or one to enjoy with cheese methinks - it reminds me just a little bit of Dark Lord (not in the same category nor the same profile, but still a distant relative).

Cheers, friends!

 

Tonight, I join the Watchers on the Wall.
​

Anticipating this day for months, the day when all the omens of the past years come to a head, and the Night's Watch must defend the Wall they gave up everything to protect. After word came last week of the horror in King's Landing, I knew it was close. We've been preparing for ages and have no choice but to do our best to defend it. Our entire lives have led to this point.

This moment requires a beer suitable of the occasion.

This moment requires a Take the Black Stout.





The battle may be over, but the war is not won. I'll see you next week, NBS.

 

Hello NBS'ers

Well, I think this one counts. Stone's Enjoy By 7/4. I've had others in the series. Love the dankness of the 4/20 (they did it on purpose). The last on from may went well with Mexican food cuz it had some onion going on . Now this current version is not as good as the meaty 4'20 but I like it fine. Slight coriander meets hay going on.

Sorry I don't have much else to offer. Closing down classroom and all the required BS...oops I mean paperwork that has nothing to do with teaching kids, but seems to be held as a high priority, has really been getting in the way of some good beers reaching my maw. Hmmm, can you say, "Run-on sentence?"

Cheers Folks

 

Thanks for putting it on our collective RADAR!

 

New Sandy Sunday

I've not been able to partake in my favourite online community in several weeks, but it's been for extremely worthy reasons, I promise. Ski to Sea up in Bellingham took over my first missed week (though there were several new beers sampled that Sunday, I had no technology with which to join in with you lovely souls).

My first time participating, and I was quite disappointed in my performance (worst placing on my team!), but take solace in the fact that I could have done worse, I'd never engaged in a competitive biking venture before, and now I have a time to beat for next year! It was great fun even if it was miserably wet and cold (JUST for the biking leg, thanks weather). Good chance to reconnect with some people from back in the day and just fun all around.
Last weekend was, if possible, even better. My five year college reunion in sunny sunny CA (worth the sunburn to run around like I was 18 again surrounded by my best friends drinking and jumping on giant inflatables).

Again I had many new beers over the weekend, some were delicious (my first Fifty/Fifty Eclipse for example [Lime green wax: High West Rye], and my first forays with Consecration and Supplication) some were not as exciting, but I was too distracted loving every minute to figure out where I had left my computer. I'm sad that never again will life be so simple and joyous, but buoyed by the memories that I have to share with those I love. I've long been impressed with almost all my school does (they're top ten in the country for a reason), but they reinforced this at the reunion: the reception featured several local breweries showcasing everything from top notch sours and IPAs to established brews such as Old Numbskull. Even the beirut [Beer pong] kegs they supplied us were the blonde from one of the local breweries instead of some typical 'ice' swill. The bbq (I had to go stand in the smoke from the meat for a while. I was in heaven. And drunk. Irrelevant.) had a couple of options: a really good stout, and a solid pale, also from the local offerings. If only they'd been brewing when I went to school down there!!

Anyway, the weather up here in the PNW while I've been here has been immaculate (except for the aforementioned rainout of the bike race), and I've enjoyed getting back into recreational reading (haven't had time for that in a while!) while refamiliarizing myself with my hammock and many of the beautifully bountiful local beaches (Watmough! Agate! Barlow Bay! Otis Perkins! Blackie Brady! Shark Reef! My Beach!) and monuments (Iceberg! Thanks OBAMA).
Last night was an ideal mix of tequila, strawberries, and skinny-dipping in phosphorescence/bioluminescence until the trip home revealed the emergency response to a near (and maybe not just near, sadly) fatal car crash. The lights scared the ladies in our backseat, but our driver was sober. DON'T DRINK/DO DRUGS AND DRIVE KIDS.

If I have to be holed up here in paradise instead of gallivanting around I'm glad I at least have the escape of open gym/community basketball as an outlet on these lovely Sundays. Thankfully I did not injure myself this evening (that's a rarer occurrence than you'd imagine, and than I'd care to admit). We lost more than we won, but it was fun, more games were competitive than were blowouts (even if there were two games in a row I'd rather pretend didn't happened when the opposing team had far and away the two best and probably four of the six best players on the court), and everyone walked away with just nothing more than typical aches and pains. The beer I chose to greet myself with when I returned home was one I had brought with me from Los Angeles while down there for reunion/visiting with my sister. Upon unpacking I was dismayed to recognize it as one I'd had before, but quickly realized my error and that it was simply the sister-brew of one I'd had from the same brewery (Black vs. White Sand). It's a solid IIPA, with a fruity/juicy aroma that draws you in before the taste delivers a definitive pithy bitterness, but pulls back before it gets overwhelming leaving a nice profile that is still quite drinkable. Following the Pliny blueprint in that regard. I'd absolutely pick this one up again, and would love to try it on draft if I get the chance. Wish I could have roadtripped north with my brother, but I'll see him tomorrow anyway since he had to hustle to get home in time to catch his fishing boat up in Alaska.

Cheers all, and again, gratitude to UtopiaJane and CaveDave for having taken upon themselves the mantle of holders of the flame for our beloved troupe (and thank you to all the contributors old and new!). It makes me smile to read through the contributions, particularly on weeks I am unable to participate, so keep drinking you crazy fools, and have a good week!


(I apologize: It's been stuck in my head super randomly these last couple of days)