New Beer Sunday (week 528)

We had our Easter celebration yesterday, but I see no reason why I can't keep it going for just a bit more. My folks had us up at their place in the Catskills, where it was nice enough to snow; and we feasted on ham, cornbread, rack of lamb and lots of other goodies. My finicky son even joined in! Now we will have to keep a fridge full of burrata cheese and the choicest cuts of meat- if only we'd known not to be feeding him all of that second rate stuff all these years .

Today we're home, and I'm celebrating with the animals who missed me. First up is a perfect choice for NBS-

Why didn't I buy more of this when I could?!! It's delicious- rich without being cloying, just the right amount of roastiness to avoid clobbering you over the head with chocolate, perfectly constructed, and made for consuming a few at a time. The nose gives me rum and raisins, first and foremost, but also backs it up hints of cocoa and dried lavendar. Caramel and brown sugar come on mid-palate, but are gently swept away by a clean wave of bitterness, leaving the cocoa to linger, begging for another sip. Great stuff- not trying to be anything other than a great brown ale, dammit! Solid A- (4.25)

Time to relax-

 

I'm jealous--I have not been able to try this one yet. Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald is another top choice if you have not tried it yet. Cheers!!!!

 

Good Luck Wisconsin

 

Now time for something new from Victroy, Kirsch Gose. I bought a whole 4 pack hoping it was good, but thought it might not be as good as it sounds. When I poured it I felt very hopeful that I made a good call buying a four pack, when I smelled it I got pretty happy, and when I took my first sip I knew I made the right call picking up a 4 pack.

4.14/5 rDev +2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into a flute

A- A clear light bright red with a two finger slighly pink head.

S- Tart, some sweet cherries, hint of cereal grains, touch of salt, some earth/barnyard funk.

T- Sour cherries with hints of sweetness, almost reminds me of a sour cherry hard candy, some cereal grains, touch of salt.

M- Smooth, crisp, light body.

O- A nice sour cherry beer at a great price. Very clean flavors, easy to drink.

 

Good evening New BSers! Hope everyone is enjoying the day with family and/or friends when possible. It was a pretty decent day here in NW PA after the wind gusts died down. Another week of warm weather and most of the snow piles will be gone, the woods will dry out, and I can hit the trails again. It'll be nice to start moving outside again.

Well, the first building project of the year should be complete tomorrow - final touch-ups, wiring connections, door hangings, etc. to my wife's new quilting room - somehow I think that 500+ sq ft addition will be filled in no time. But it will be nice to start moving stuff stored throughout the house, garage stalls, son's house, storage sheds, etc. into one location. Of course the next phase is new garage doors and new siding. And so it goes...

This Sunday's new brew is Het Anker's Gouden Carolus Easter Ale - how apropos!



I broke out my Tripel Karmeliet chalice for the occassion. This is quite good - I got it on line from Craft Shack - the amount of dust around the cork makes me thing than this might be last year's, but I don't care - it's pretty damn good. The aroma is somewhat weak but the rest - appearance, flavor, palate - are good to excellent. I might just pick up some more to cellar.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1534/23399/?ba=Ozzylizard

Oh, and for those lamenting not being around for music in the sixties, the good old days weren't so good - AM radio, 8 tracks, cassettes just starting, FM having the best music if you could find a station - Motown just cracking white airtime,
metal and prog unheard of, nobody ever thought of CDs or satellite radio (except Arthur C. Clarke) - some things are definitely better now but the overall quality of music hasn't changed much - there was as much crap then as there is now. And I'm proud to say I was a soldier in the sexual revolution - even so, no "menage a tripel" for me - I'll stick with Belgium strong dark dogpiles!

 

ROFL... and ugh.

 

Completely agree. I wish I had bought a few more of these. A solid brown for sure...

 

Happy Easter, BA's. I'm enjoying this excellent beverage from a brewer in Minneapolis that is doing some great things in the shadows of Surly and Summit.



Look: Aggressive pour into a snifter yields 3 fingers of tan head. Body is jet black. Looks exquisite in my snifter.

Smell: Toffee malts, citrusy hops in the background. Alcohol is there, too.

Taste: Cocoa and booze up front, then the hops slam into your palate - Centennial, Citra, El Dorado, and Sorachi Ace. Unrelenting, piney, fruity goodness, then toffee on the finish. Simply outstanding.

Feel: A little syrupy, well carbonated.

Overall: I enjoy a well-executed DBIPA, and this is an excellent example of the style. Another world-class beverage by Indeed. Overall rating = 4.42

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, BA's, and enjoy this tune.

 

Second new one tonight thanks to @egrace84.

Everything barrel aged that I've had from CW has been outstanding and this is no exception. BA barleywines are a favorite style of mine and this one is certainly in my top five. Really nice balance and complexity, and it only got better as it neared room temperature.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/652/41300/?ba=richj1970

 

Happy Easter everyone.

Brewed a hoppy red yesterday. Was able to visit treehouse this past Thursday and pick up some cans. Was able to share a few cans with a couple of people. I had a few new beers today, but with company over I did not post. However, this beer gets a post since company is gone.

Look: really murky, nice lacing, golden color, looks like oj. I wonder if it will clear after some time in the can. 3.75
Smell: hoppy, mostly tropical 4.5
Taste: really hoppy and tropical, starts off sweet and finishes bitter and dry, slight taste of alcohol 4.5
Feel: nice mouthfeel, slight resin feel 4.75
Overall: 4.5, not Th best offering, but a solid hoppy brew


Edit: beer name is Curiosity Thirteen by Tree House

 

So how were those brews?

 

Was told that I had to give the Habit a try. It is convenient that the namesake of this beer has a very sinister Easter feel. Easter bunny's are a little like clowns - one step away from massive homicidal massacres...

 

Greetings All and Happy Easter.

I'm settling in for the start of baseball season. Cubs vs Card's in Wrigley. It doesn't get much better than that.

Dawn Of The Red IPA from Ninkasi. An IPA with a solid malt presence, but I don't get the red part. It's a deep gold color.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14400/109613/

Seasonal here in eastern Washington, sun, clouds a bit of breeze, temps in the mid 50's, and hopefully a little rain in the offing. Super dry here for this time of year.

Until next time 'Play Ball' and Happy Trails!

 

Tonights NBS entry:


Cigar City Brewing - 110K+OT

Got this one from @valrxman in the Horizontalhood box as part of the ongoing Locals BIF thread.

This is an interesting beer, description on the bottle is Ale with Cocoa Nibs Added so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. This looks and drinks like a super thick Porter of maybe a solid stout. Real thick, creamy mouthfeel which I love. Cocoa nibs come across as bitter chocolate but then there's a sweetness that I'm reading as vanilla. Overall a very different beer, I like it and I'm glad I got to try it.

 

Unwinding on this Easter edition of NBS with Fleetwood Mac's Then Play On while trying Southern Tier's 2Xpresso, another solid milk stout & for Tier as well. Coffee on the nose, in the mouthfeel which is nice & creamy w/a solid roasted coffee linger throughout...

 

Full disclosure on this beverage for Round #2 - I received this in a trade over 2 years ago, and it sank into the abyss of the beer fridge, only to be discovered this weekend when Little O came home. Glad we found it, because it's a very good representation of the style.



Look: Aggressive pour into the snifter yielded a finger of white head, body is amber/orange hued.

Smell: Apricot with some citrus, no discernible malt.

Taste: Apricots, oranges, and cherries (if that makes sense), plus a bit of toffee malt which is really nice.

Feel: Well carbonated, very dry.

Overall: only my 2nd wheat wine that I'm aware of, I'm glad I found this in the beverage fridge after 2+ years. It held up extraordinarily well. Rating = 4.00

 

Ok-new beer #2 this week (eventually). Started this weekend with a tasting of Zombie Dust for the first time. It was only an oz pour, so no review or anything, but in that oz I could see why it's highly rated, and could also possibly detect what the detractors might see.

As stated in previous post, I got to play 18 today, and shot a decent score. One of the reasons was that I eagled the ninth hole (a fairly short par 5), something I've only done twice before (and no holes in one). To celebrate I decided to pop open a beer I was saving for a "special" occasion, and the eagle seemed like a good excuse.


I had a sip of this about a month ago at the same place we tried ZD, and enjoyed it enough to plop a few $$ down for it. I recalled it being a bit sweeter than I am now, but that fact is for the better. Fairly flat pour, but there is actually some carbonation in the feel. Nice bourbon notes in the nose that transition to the taste as well. This is a malty beer, with birch beer like flavors (and maybe a raisin tart bite just...) ahead of the bourbon.

Caps 1 pt from clinching playoff spot after finishing road trip with a win. Really they're playing for playoff position. As one season ends (or begins to end), Cardinals-Cubs start another. Oh, and go Wisconsin! For 1 game I am with those of you who have been cheering for them; unfortunately I see Duke in a convincing win. Hope I'm wrong.

 

No offense @cavedave but you almost sucked the fun out of drinking CBS on draft. I took offense to the tone of your private message and to the one above. I leave you to your forum, you police it very well. Try to let folks have a little fun.

Again - sorry for my massive blunder.