New Beer Sunday (week 513)

I've lived in NEOhio for over four years yet today is my first time on a date with D.O.R.I.S., picking her up at the brewery a couple weeks ago. A great beer, though its strong bitterness is a bit of a detractor for me. Still lots of very nice dark stout notes and fairly balanced save for the bitterness. I may open a bottle of the barrel aged version later tonight as well.

 

A happy solstice to you all!

On our darkest day...

The light inside the darkness...


Stone's Master of Disguise...

On the day that is both the winter and summer solstice...

...An Imperial golden stout...

Yin-and-yang and stuff, right?

Clever, I suppose, but I don't know what to do with it...

(well, other than drink it )

Tastes and smells like a "tainted" stout, but with a pale body... ?

Nothing wrong with the beer, but nothing I'd personally return to...

Ahhh... it's getting dark out.
Plus its been cloudy and cold all day. The air is thick with the hint of snow, but its just a tad too warm for it...
Love this weather, this time of year... windows open , watching football, Christmas lights on, snacks & beer digesting...

...and no work tomorrow...

"...the most wonderful time of the year..."

Cheers

 

Spencer Trappist Ale Brewed by Trappist Monks at the St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer MA. A nice Golden Ale 6.5 abv sort of a Duvel light.

 

Been awhile since I've done NBS. Looks like we do not do the old format anymore.

Cloudy rainy day here in Northern Utah, low 40s. Went on a nice little hike today. I like the 750mls from this brewery alot better. Tasty brew though.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/65113/?ba=Wasatch

Cheers!

 

Pumpkin has flavor, just like any other ingredient. It's not mind-blowingly flavorful, but it does indeed have flavor. It is more vegetal and squash-like, and nothing akin to cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, etc. <--- These flavors however are complimentary and help to elevate the pumpkin's character, just as lemon does with tea.

Nevertheless, I am always left dissatisfied when tasting a pumpkin "spice" beer with no actual pumpkin in the recipe. Not only does the pumpkin help from a flavor standpoint, but it also gives the beer a bit of body.

Pretty sure I could decipher a pumpkin ale from a winter warmer. Though, all palates are not created equal. I've served cherry pie to people, called it raspberry pie, and they whole-heartedly believed it was raspberry pie.

 

Greetings and Happy Holidays to all my NBS friends. Going back to the dark side today with a cellared bottle that I traded for at Dark Lord Day a couple years back. Time to start tasting some of these experiments.

Removed the cork quite easily despite the 2011 bottle date with no pop whatsoever. I remember all the Lost Abbey jokes about flat beer and chuckle. Vigorously poured the liquid in my glass hoping for some carbonation. Nothing....
Looks like a glass of spirits.

The aroma is whiskey forward, some vanilla, and dank wood. Still pretty strong for 3 years old.

The first sip is an eye opener shot of whiskey! The mouthfeel is thin and flat, followed by loads of alcohol heat. I had to check the label again to remind myself that it's 12.5 abv., as it feels much higher. A few sips reveal notes of whiskey, vanilla, cherry, and oak. You can feel the heat after a while. Tastes more like drinking a fine spirit, than beer, but I'm alright with that.

My synopsis? I couldn't imagine drinking this fresh because of the hot punch in the gut it still possesses. If you're a whiskey drinker, this is your beer! While not disappointed I opened it, another year, maybe two might have turned this into something more balanced and stellar. All said, it was a pleasing experience, I'm rating it a 4.25.

Hope everyone is enjoying their new beer exploits!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers on this Dark Day,

For the first day of winter, it's rather cheerful in the city John Stockton calls home. Nearly 50 degrees and the sun has come out after days of rain and mid-30s temperatures. Yesterday was spent working and buying x-mas presents online, so today I'm relaxing between bouts of cleaning and mostly disinterested football watching, since this week's big game for me doesn't start until this evening.

I'm starting off with a beer that was only moderately dark, a winter warmer from Oakshire:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16068/53716/?ba=woemad
An alternative to Celebration and it's many imitators, this is essentially a brown ale that's been bulked up, chocolaty and roasty, with a dry, almost porter-like mouthfeel. Pretty good, I'd definitely have it again.

I'll be back with a MUCH darker beer - Spice Wars is on deck!

 

Did some scouting for NBF BIF beers yesterday. Overheard a lady speaking about beer, and while her effort to enjoy beer is applauded, her statement still made me chuckle: "Have you ever had that Flying Dog... 60 minute... mixed with the 120 minute, and it like makes the 75 minute". She was hesitating along the way, far from matter-of-fact speaking, and since I wasn't a part of the conversation, I didn't inject myself into it.

Today is watching what may be the last interesting week for most NFL football teams. Last week @Roguer, @Ozzylizard, and @TongoRad (and perhaps others) all approved of this beer, so I decided to give it a try:



After reading the review last week, and getting a whiff of the beer, I thought it might have been a mistake. The dry-smoked sausage scent was a bit strong. However, the first sip was a surprisingly (relative to the nose, not to the previous reviews) fuller-bodied dark malt, smooth, with notes of molasses to me. The feel was the strength to me. I almost missed having some smoke, but I noticed it come in a bit more as the beer warmed a bit.

Thanks for your inadvertent suggestion, guys!

 

I started my NBS with this

I used to think Eviltwin was to full of themselves but the past few from them I've had have been awesome, so this beer at $3.50 seemed worth a stab.
Nose reminded me of a porter with maybe some IPA left in the bottom of the glass and they combined on the pour.
Look was great. Also reminded me of a porter and the hear didn't tip it's hand..a sweet light brown foamy goodness.
I took a nice pull and went upstairs for a bit and I kept sucking my breath (if that makes any sense) because the taste was great! Especially as it warmed!
Each sip reinforced my belief that I need to grab more of this. The shop I get the Eviltwin stuff at seems to not sell much of it, which is great for me...more I Love you With my Stout, that long ass name about Christmas in a Hotel room, and now this.
If you see, you should grab.

 

When actual pumpkin is not added to pumpkin ale (and enough of it), I notice it as clear as night and day. Blind tasting or not. There are plenty of breweries doing pumpkin beers wrong by simply adding this so-called "spice packet" without using actual pumpkin.

Elysian does pumpkin beers right. Schlafly uses a combo of butternut squash and pumpkin, which makes it unique. And then there are the overly spiced versions like Weyerbacher, which punch you in the face with harsh potent clove, nutmeg, etc... Despite actually containing pumpkin, they overdo it with the spices, which ruins it for me.

 

New Bastard of an Ale Sunday!

First off, my day at work was great! (Sarcasm). I'm off now, time for a new brew. That there new brew is this!



I've never had this Lukcy Basartd before, yet I know it's going to be good...right? Well what do I have in the glass. This brew pours nice dark copper body that seems a bit rebellious against the normal hoppy beer. Nice frothy khaki head, this brew looks amazing to me! Now what will the nostrils detect? Nice wave of deep malts that are molesting some citric pith hops. Also some pineapple astringency is making itself known. Sweet burnt brown sugar hangs in the balance. Very Nice, yet not really grabbing my attention. Now for the FLAVAH! First hits the palate with sweet residual sugars and some tropical vibe hops going on. Very aggressive on the tongue! Nice notes of roasted malts and citric pith also make themselves known. The hops come and play toward the finish and they are resinous and alpha acid bitterness coats the sides of the palate. This finishes a bit harsh, but I think that was the intention. Huge bitterness cuts the malt sweetness though, I do enjoy that! Aftertaste is of pineapples and resinous hops just perpetuating to a climax of "Damn, this aftertaste is banging!". This brew feels pretty good on the palate. Medium body that's flexable and carbonation that promotes all the flavors to pop.

Overall: This is a pretty aggressive brew. Malts and Hops are in a continuous battle for supremacy. With that battle being fought on your tongue, you still feel that the hops are beating the malts into submission. This aftertaste is pretty outstanding, I like pineapples and hop resins....go figure. The aroma could be more exciting, yet the flavor makes up for the lacking aroma. Well I'm done here, this brew is Worthy!

Grade: B+ to A- (this brew is leaving me puzzled!)

Cheers My Fellow New Beer Sunday crew!

 

Thanks again to @beertunes and @Lehighace06 for their work on our BIF, and thanks to @cavedave for being such a cool helpful dude with the shipping tips.

I'll get to something dark next beer (I swear!) but I very much wanted to share my first one of these with the NBS crew:



My first oud bruin, a style I felt certain I'd hate from the word go. I'm an idiot.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48/10482/?ba=Premo88
4.43 rating (+15.4% rDev)

I love it! In fact, I love it so much I'm very suspicious of where Monk's Cafe fits into the cannon of the world's best oud bruins (as in it must not fit because I love it -- yes, a bit of the old wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member). Seriously, it wouldn't shock me if big sour fans and oud bruin experts give this one a big meh.

Why do I love it? Because unlike most brews in the sour/tart part of the beer world, it's not *just* sour or tart. It's tart for sure, but it's also got some curious mix of other flavors happening including what has to be good old fashioned malt. A Vienna-lager-like malt or California common malt like Anchor Steam, a nutty/bready/ toasted malt -- and you ... OK, *I* ... I never find malt notes in beers that are also tart/sour. Not even Jester King's English dark mild had anything about it that tasted like malt, not to me.

The upshot: It tastes like toasted cranberries, tart rasberries, lemons and strawberries ... something tart and something sweet, something a bit sour and something a bit fruit.

The best part is how much it is refreshing my palate. There's no big hops here and no big dark stout-like malt, two things I've been hitting hard the last month. This feels so good right now ... light, tart, easy but making my mouth water and cleanse (and get ready for that dark brew next).

This one feels like a brew I'll reach for periodically throughout the year. And the style is a winner so far ... I'll try more oud bruins and learn as I go.

Cheers!

 

I had one fresh, I loved it! I also though am an ex Spirit drinker. Yet I cannot get into a lower ABV brew that has too much heat. Like an IPA that scorches the back of my throat! Wait..... Yeah.

 

Actually, I prefer this to regular and Double Bastard. I have no problems killing this bomber!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A partly-cloudy partly-rainy partly-windy day here in the Fourth Corner, in other words, typical for this time of year. I lost a dear cousin this week, so I'm a bit melancholy the last few days, but I'd like to thank all me BA friends who reached out with comforting words this week. Cheers all!

A big thank you to all the folks who have joined the very first NBS BIF! 26 NBSers took the plunge, and lots of tasty, tasty local brews will be criss-crossing the nation, and on January 25, the big reveal will happen here on NBS. Some folks might sneak in a week early, but we'll all be getting enough brews to last us a couple of NBS's, so pay attention to find out what we all think of each others local specialties. Our former host, @mattcrill , chose not to be a part of the BIF, but I'll be sending him a box so that he may join in the festivities. If (and, honestly, it's probably more like when) we do NBS BIF #2, I highly recommend that even more of y'all join in.

First up is my first review of a beer from this brewery, although, this seems to have come from a brewery in South Carolina, and there seems to be a version from a brewery in Maryland too: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25191/149907/ .

A couple historic notes this week; and we'll start by celebrating the birthday of the Reverend Willie G! Play it Billy!