New Beer Sunday (week 516)

That was insane. Shame he ran into Gano on second one. Not sure how he kicked it by him twice.

 

For this Sunday, I pulled a 2014 Slumbrew Yankee Swap out of the cellar. I put it in the fridge for about an hour and poured it into my snifter.



4.28/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

2014 bottle says that this is an imperial stout aged in rum barrels.

L: Pours a deep jet black with a small light khaki colored head which gives way to a ring around my glass with a few bubbles.

S: Roasted chocolate malts shine through in the nose with a faint rum character. A little oak as well, but nothing much else coming through.

T: The taste follows the nose pretty well. The chocolate tastes more like milk chocolate if anything. The oak imparts some woody characteristics. The rum comes through towards the end. All the flavors mesh pretty well here and the final product is sweet, but not too sweet.

F: The alcohol is non-existent, which is quite impressive for a beer that packs 12%. I can see this leaving some quick after-effects on whoever drinks this too fast. Medium mouthfeel which, again makes this beer an easy drink.

Overall: This is a very delicious beer in which the flavors become one. It's very common to see barrel-aged beers to be all barrel and not much base beer. Overall this is a pretty good beer and I might go grab another bottle of this and let it sit for a bit. This might be my first offering from Slumbrew, but it's definitely a good one.

 

*REALLY* New IPA Sunday!



Blackwater Draw's SMASH IPA - Sorachi Ace hops with Vienna malt

BWD is new and it's SMASH IPA series rotates different combinations of single malt with single hop, so I had to add this beer to BA.com. Below is my rather wordy review:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33495/153979/?ba=Premo88

One word: smores. Or is it s'mores? However you spell it, that is what I'm tasting. Seriously, an IPA that tastes like toasted marshmallows, a twinge of caramel ... maybe not chocolate, but this thing is super sweet and mellowed out by that Vienna malt. And it is B-I-T-T-E-R! It's almost too bitter, but it's almost too sweet, so you combine the two in one brew, let them duke it out on your palate, and what you have is a pretty damn good beer.

It's hard to rank, rate or compare this one because it's truly unique. Other than the super bitter bite, I recognize none of the smell or taste notes. Part of it is probably because I'm not sure I've had a beer with sorachi ace in it. I'll seek it out in the future just for comparisons sake -- one thing seems sure. It's freaking bitter.

Love the beer. I bought it mainly to test the growler out ... I've only filled my growler once before and sucked down that beer fast, so this time I'm going to test to see if beer will keep in it for 3-4 days. I've heard growler beer keeps so many different lengths of time that I figured the only way to find out was to do it.

OH ... one other thing. The clarity of this beer brewed in-pub:



That sort of shows it. Really pretty beer.

Cheers!

 

Right in the show's sweet spot. I am more of a Mike fan (sorry Joel) but I liked Dr F more than Pearl. Have a favorite episode/movie? I know that I am supposed to say "Manos" here just like a Bond fan is required to say "Goldfinger" (From Russia with Love or Casino Royale for me for what it's worth), but I dig "Soul Taker". Man, I love DVR. One of the best inventions ever. However, I do miss the experience of parking yourself in front of the tube at a certain time every week.

 

Another Bourbon Barrel aged Imperial Stout, this one from a brewery I hadn't heard of before yesterday. Blue Mountain Barrel House Dark Hollow 10% abv. 70 ibu's 25.5 Plato o.g. This beer has great aroma,nice body and mouth feel but very little Bourbon flavor. I've tried a about 5 new BBA Imperial Stout recently and this is the only one that was a disappointment. Oh well the 12.7 oz corked bottle is awesome.

 

Best athlete I've maybe ever seen!!!!!

 

I am not going to waste a new beer on this head cold today, so I shall return with some BIF brews from @Homebrew next Sunday. I just wanted to throw out a quick reminder though.

 

Chancellor is great!

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers,

It’s a cold gray morning in the city that doesn’t have an official animal, but if it did it would be a marmot. Maybe an inch of snow fell yesterday afternoon and evening. Last night I enjoyed the satisfying experience of watching the Seahawks win their first playoff game of the year while drinking Selkirk Abbey’s Guilt at the Swamp Tavern, then I watched episodes of “Justified” into the wee hours of the morning. It was a tight game at first, but the ‘hawks wore down Carolina and pulled away, with multiple highlight moments from Cam Chancellor <see current avatar>, some of which have already been remarked upon in this thread.

Today I’m starting off with a fall seasonal beer from Sixpoint Brewing that would seem at first to be yet another iteration of the already-overbrewed style known as the amber ale. Do not be fooled – this is way more subtle, more drinkable and more enjoyable than I was expecting:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10607/104466/?ba=woemad

Truly a unique beer, not really comparable to anything else I’ve had.

 

Cool. I was not aware of this one. Is it normal distro? The regular Imperial is one of the better cream stouts. I don't believe I have had a barrel version of any cream stout either. I really dig the label. Very 70's.

 

I've only had one Zwickelbier, from this place: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/7350/
I didn't really know what I was drinking back then, but I liked it - ridiculously drinkable. I'd love to go back someday.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Time for a new brew... just like every other day. So what's different about this one? well it's SUNDAY for beer drinking... which is just like almost every other day for beer drinking... something NNNNNNnnnnnnnnnneeeewwwww!

What's new for our hero today... oo oo oo got a doozy as been getting back on this train again which is always fun to ride!

Imperial Eclipse Stout - High West Bourbon - FiftyFifty Brewing Co.


Fifty Fifty Brewing Co. - Eclipse Imperial Stout / High West Bourbon - 2014 by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14936/98577/?ba=smakawhat

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Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass. Tangerine wax, vintage 2014, Bottle run No. 2.

Deep walnut brown body and opaque, but with just a hair of dark red tinge to it on the edges. Manages a creamy mocha brown head of about a finger, but settles to a good three millimeter collar, with a nice whispy top and not filmy. Some spotted lacing manages to round out. Quite a nice looking beer.

Excellent aroma and bouquet. Great hints of fruity quality, almost like a cherry brandy of sorts. Liquid maraschino chocolates, clove, with black forest cake and fudge qualities. Dense, almost kind of buttery in a way. Incredibly impressive nose with a very unexpected fruit character I didn't expect coming.

Palate is quite interesting. Light bodied but with definite whisky flavors and a bit of roast bitterness on the finish. Good round coating but missing some of the classic barrel aging silky and creamy coating texture. Still the flavors in the mid palate bring loads of fruit and dark chocolate, with a big whisky wooden tannic and bitter note. Cherries, spiced clove, sharp wood and an almost pencil shavings and lead sensation. Bitternes tones down after some time, with some leafy tea like hops to really jack things up even more interestingly.

I am shocked at how fruity this is, and how much it reminds me of a true whiskey barrel. It also seems to have more character of a rye than a bourbon cause of the fruit angles messing with me, but either way it's another dam good Eclipse worth savoring.

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People want to keep bitching about how pricey these bottles are, but I am always blown away by how impressive some of them turn out. Hopefully that leaves more for me, and I can't wait till I can try others. Hope the magic still continues.

 

Here's my second German of the afternoon!
This is Lammsbrau Winter Spezial. Good God this thing is packed full of malt! This must be like a beer from another era. It has the beautiful rich malty nose, and a cloudy/unfiltered appearance, very tiny slow bead of carbonation, dense and full of bready goodness, enough to keep warm for a good while. Weighing in at 5.1%, organic amber barley malt, organic whole hops, organic yeast, this beer tastes "natural", like a home brew with true class. The hops emerge fully at the finish, balancing rich malty sweetness as only great Bavarian lagers achieve.
Here is a great rendition of a classic tune. I first heard this one as as a raw college freshman and it still haunts me in a very nice way.

 

Good afternoon my NBS friends!

Cracking a Terrapin Moo Hoo chocolate milk stout. Freshness date of 03-16-15 and an ABV of 6.1%.

Pours a dark and thin brown color with little carbonation. A small ring of tan foam forms around the glass. Very little light penetrates the liquid.

Aroma is comprised of dark chocolate, roasted malt, and brown sugar. If blindfolded I might have guessed this to be a bakery confection. A very pleasant symphony of aromas!

Flavor is dark chocolate forward with a bit of roasted malt. Finishes a bit bitter and dry with a slight licorice flavor. The mouthfeel is thin and rather disappointing for a milk stout.

Overall I'm a bit let down by this one. The aroma delivered nicely, but the flavor and thin mouthfeel fell a little short. Maybe I should have just tossed some chocolate in Wake n Bake, as I much prefer that beer. My final score came out to a 3.79.

Happy playoff Sunday, good luck to those that still have a dog in the fight!

 

Halftime. Time to do a New Beer Sunday beer.

Went to Caps game last night, a solid win even though the game wasn't overly exciting. Man it was chilly, even more than the thermometer might have indicated. Fell back to Coors Light for the game, so glad to have a god beer today. Also glad UVa got 2 more ACC wins, including another top 25 victory, pulling ahead late in both games.

Sent off my NBS BIF package, crossed fingers all goes well with it. I do not know if my target is aware, but all the hints are there. Got one more dead obvious one fir end of day if not, and of course messaging the tracking number Monday. Also learned the identity of my "secret beer giver", and am anxiously awaiting beers for subsequent NBS.

Found Stone's new Delicious IPA along with some Hop Ranch at Whole Foods before the game yesterday. Have had Hop Ranch, so this post is about...


Nice pale golden color that I appreciate. Initial scents were a bit different, but quite fruity. I got a bit of lemon first, but later whiffs I notice the El Dorado more. Taste is fairly balanced, for a Stone beer, but that's probably more due to the flavor of the hops than the amount of them. Quite enjoyable. Will formal review with a later bottle.

 

I

I gotta go with Joel - he displays a Candide-like innocence while Mike seems to alternate between ******ed and smartass, depending on the week. Dr. Forrester over Pearl any day. "Robot Monster" is probably my favorite followed closely by "The Giant Gila Monster" (best acting by a lizard in a B-movie - I could feel his pain). Any Gamera flick is good too - when my son was little I'd set him on my left knee, hold my snapping turtle Heinrich on my right, and we'd watch Gamera movies - "Gamera is really neat - he's full of turtle meat (sic) - we're all eating Ga - mer - a" or something like that. I try to limit myself to one episode a day, usually at 0730 before my wife gets up.

 

Sorry to hear that one let you down. That's my favorite milk stout, with some stiff competition from left hand. I will admit that it is a little thin out of the bottle. Draft is a different story though. If you ever find it on draft then I'd give it another chance if you're in the mood. I'm also seemingly sacrilegious in saying that left hands is better non-nitro... Just my 2¢

 

New BDSA Sunday
Greetings from the "frozen tundra" of MN. Wish my local football team was still in the game. Instead I have to satisfy myself with watching the team from the next state over (of whom my spouse supports).
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/735/52510/?ba=garymuchow



And a song for the season


Best to all this week

 

I wish I could like this 100 times. MST3K and great beer? You be careful, lest you snort it out your nose in a fit of laughter.