New Beer Sunday (week 573)

New Beer Sunday: New American Porter

Evenin' NBSers, with special salutations to all you pursuers of potentially practically perfect porters.

Good to see that @JackHorzempa was able to step up to giving this NBS a special start.

Well last night and today the Polar Vortex that began to move in Friday night helped us set a new record low. Throwing the wind chill into the mix it felt like -4 in some places out in the world around SE PA. I didn't have to go anywhere today so I didn't, in fact being somewhat of a wimp I didn't even go out of the house at all except to take stuff to the recycling bin or the trash can.

Being indoors for the whole day did make for an interesting day selecting which of the "honey-do" tasks to work on so I could at least look like I was getting something done.

I did have a chance to peek in now and then earlier in the day and there were definitely some beers talked about that I'll be adding to my shopping list if I can find them in SEPA.

For me this evening's new beer is an American Porter from Ithaca with the name "Embrr" which is a fall seasonal brewed to help warm up a cold evening (that certainly fits tonight). I liked this enough that next Fall I'll find some earlier in the year to have a few on evenings leading up to the cold of winter as well.

As usual my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/651/139189/?ba=drtth

As I said, I like this beer and find, at its present bottle age, there's a lot of interesting subtleties to tease out of the beer and enjoy, so I'm sure I'll enjoy some evenings next fall just drinking and thinking ( ). The beer is pretty much a basic American Porter exept for the use of some Rye in the grain bill and the Polish hop used in brewing. The Rye comes in very quietly, just sort of hanging out back there, and the particular hop used adds a nice bit of spicy herbal character with only a light touch of bitterness. Next to the fireside with a good book in hand this will be a good beer for a cold evening (to drive away that brrr feeling with an Embrr ).

The connection between this beer and Valentine's Day is pretty subtle, but a clue can be found in the words of a song by Emmylou Haris.

Cheers, all!

 

Happy Valentine’s Beer Day Everybody!

I finally finished my adventure with Doctor Who that took me back to last Fall! I began where I left off last Sunday by drinking:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/8/25752/?ba=woodychandler

I followed that up with: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9790/53182/?ba=woodychandler

and since I was caught up in that regard, I moved on to the Holidays with:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/695/206629/?ba=woodychandler

Suddenly, I realized that I had not gone back in time far enough, so we got in the TARDIS and went backwards another year so that I could drink:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3/145523/?ba=woodychandler

We left 2014 and landed in the back yard at Chez Woody, where I was bade farewell so that I could be up to date with:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13884/144158/?ba=woodychandler

No time travel next week as my Bottle Backlog is finally starting to dwindle!

 

Okay, thanks to HUB pulling the wool over my eyes and getting me to drink a mediocre coffee porter twice by repackaging it so I didn't recognize it, here's the first new beer I've had today:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34277/214998/?ba=woemad

A very solid addition to the ranks of American brewed doppelbocks (why aren't there more of them?), I will very much be drinking this again.

Now it's time to cook dinner. After some chipotle seasoned pork chops I'll be getting into a one of a kind Belgian dark ale brewed about 20 miles east of me.

 

Been lurking and making bird-related comments all afternoon since I wasn't ready to embark on the NB journey. Finally got to it with Deschutes's Abyss (Cognac barrel-aged).











4.01/5 rDev -10.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Bomber poured into an oversized tulip.

Appearance here approaches perfection. Thick, viscous and petroleum-like on the pour. The head that forms is a cocoa and dark khaki, chewy, foamy beast. Just marvelous and it retains excellently. Sets high expectations. 5

Smell is different and intriguing. Heavily oaken, sweet and syrupy, but with a distinct booze character. It reminds me of a port or sherry or something of the sticky and sweet wine variety. Fig and date aromas ooze sweetness. Light notes of dark roasted malt, coffee and vanilla. Pretty expressive in the nose and seductive. 4.5

Taste and feel are part-and-parcel here so I'll discuss them together. The first sip disappoints. It's thin and devoid of almost everything the nose exuded. What I get instead is a highly bitter roast flavor and residual booze. I'm not in love. This is Valentine's, so no biggie.

I keep sipping at this bad boy and the earlier bitterness becomes much more tobacco-like and I realize it's a lot like licorice too. Unfortunately, the bitter, herbal aspect and bitterness of the aforementioned never segue to something sweeter and/or more savory to strike a balance. T- 3.75 M- 3.75

At day's end, this beer is good, but the price tag, high expectations, and wealth of other barrel-aged beers make this a one-time buy (although I did buy two, haha).

 

I

I really need to check out that band. I've seen mention of them for years ( I was once misinformed they were a Christian rock band, which is really not my thing) and I suspect I'd dig them.

 

Out of curiosity, what was the price? I was an early fan of Abyss, but I kinda think they're overpriced at this point, and I think the ba variants were gone locally before I knew about them.

 

Think around $25. Pricey.

 

Just had this and have another in the fridge. Not a big coffee drinker believe it or not but I did enjoy this beer. And like you I thought its body to be a bit thin.

 

Yeah, that's a lot for a beer that doesn't do your dishes and provide at least a wee bit of fellatio!

 

Had some Citradelic IPA, it was decent, just was hoping for more citra and tangerine. Now up new beer number two from Stillwater, Moneytree$.
4.11/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

22 oz bottle poured into a teku

A- A slightly hazy golden straw color with a two finger white head.

S- Sour, lemons, citrus hops, slightly floral, hints of salt, mouth watering.

T- Fairly slur, but not overwhelming, lemons, some limes, lime rinds, faint saltiness, hints of peppercorns, stightly dank.

M- Smooth, light body.

O- A nice blend of a Gose and an IPA. Worth picking up, Stillwater has been brewing some good sours.

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Not as good as Gose Gone Wild, but loving the trend of hoppy sours!

 

Nico is my lady's kitty, and she is quite pretty. My big tom cat Moon/Chunky makes more appearances...

 

Ok, after letting dinner digest, we decided to have a second dessert. This has been in the fridge for a late night NBS for at least 3 weeks. Finally a good weekend to try it. I offer up Smuttynose Rocky Road, Smuttynose's first dessert stout, according to their website.


Pours nicely, as you can see. Black as I sit in a fairly lowly lit room. Trying to let it warm enough, but the early aroma is faint notes of coffee and nuttiness. Since that isn't quite what I think they are going for, I will let it warm some more.

Ok, couldn't wait long, so I went to take a sip... for science. Flavors of chocolate, including the light chalky note of the cacao nib, and indiscernible light sweetness, and the oak chips. I am thinking maybe the oak was causing the nutty notes in the smell at this point.

A little more warmth...
Less coffee in the nose, and a little more sweetness. I think I get a little impression of marshmallow, so there's another component of their target. Still a light whiff of coffee in the back.
[Side Note: the creamy head does look a bit like melted Rocky Road ice cream]
Feel is still a bit rough though the chalk note his all but faded. Chocolate and coffee notes starting to balance out and meld together. Getting a little note of alcohol - maybe its from the amaretto soaked chips, but it's not really that distinguishable.

Close to room temps...
Nose heading back to heavier roasted malts: little char notes, deep robust coffee. I've lost that sweetness in the nose, and any chocolate note is more baking chocolate than ready-for-dessert chocolate. This seemed odd. Then I stopped trying so hard, and just looked for an impression and I got cocoa with marshmallows. Seemed the further away from the beer I was the better the notes came together.
I took the same approach with the taste, and a very similar effect. The taste still seemed a bit too roasted overall, but in different moments I did get a Rocky Road feel to it. But in the end, it was more coffee or unsweetened cocoa powder than chocolate to me.

All that was assessing this as Rocky Road. As a milk/sweet stout (style listed here), not so sure. As a regular stout, it was quite decent. There wasn't any hop bitterness (as far as my palate can tell), and the roasted malts and/or cacao nibs seemed to add their own bitterness.

 

Definitely not Christian rock, my favorite band. I would recommend giving In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3, my favorite album from them!

 

KITTY!!!

(Cat T.V.!)

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @JackHorzempa for guest hosting today's thread. I made another haul new beers on Friday night, I feel like the new beer coming in distribution is endless as of the last few months. Tomorrow is going to be my 4000th beer review; still no idea what it will be yet, but it will likely be a last minute cellar grab into the fridge. Here are today's new beers:

This is a damn good American porter! Aromas and flavors of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted dark bread, and light smoke/charred malt; with moderate herbal and light pepper/piney hops. Medium herbal and roast/char bitterness; balanced malt/bitter finish; moderate creaminess and light sticky/chalky roast character in the mouthfeel. Medium roasted dryness. Once again Blackrocks nails all the right marks for the style. This is spot on for an American porter. Great dark Munich malt and roasted characteristics; with balanced hop flavors without going overboard. I will probably be buying this again, at least in singles. 4


This was a delicious German Pils! Brewed with Chinese peppercorns. Great lasting head retention and soapy lacing down the sides of the glass. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, lime, coriander, peppercorn, and light smoke; with moderate cracker/bready malt and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness. Medium herbal/spicy bitterness; very smooth, crisp, and clean finish; slight touches of grainy creaminess and spice stickiness in the mouthfeel. Nice dryness; super clean lager characteristics with zero off flavors or esters. I loved this one. The peppercorn flavors blended really well with classic noble hop characteristics for the style. There was a light smokey note there from the peppercorns too, but not too noticeable unless you went looking for it. For 4.5% this was very flavorful too. 4.03


This was bottled over 5 years ago. Random store find a couple weeks ago. This was pretty good! Aromas and flavors of sweet/tart black cherries, lemon, grapefruit, green apple, hay, straw, and musty funk; with light-medium wheat/crackery malt and peppery yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/acidic tartness and yeast spice; with a high carbonated crisp/dry finish; nicely balanced malt, spice, and cherry acidity. Not exactly the Lambic I had in mind; but this was really enjoyable. Nice big Brett presence with balanced cherry tartness/sweetness. Was expecting some lactic tartness, but acidity seems to be only from the cherries. This was very drinkable with the drying carbonation and lighter acidity. More of a fruited Brett wild ale more than anything, but I really liked it. 3.68


Figured I'd get this out before the expiration date . This is incredible! Aromas and flavors of huge tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, papaya, passion fruit, mango, melon, berry, lemon/orange peel, and pine hops; with some moderate chocolate, cocoa, coffee, and toasted dark bready malts; with herbal/floral/grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus rind bitterness; with a very smooth and sticky finish with light creamy/chalky roast character in the mouthfeel. Moderately dry finish, zero hop astringency. Literally identical to regular Enjoy by on the hop profile, with a nice roasted malt backbone for support that is not overdone. Love this one! 4.32


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

New beer for me this Sunday.

Cismontane's Hop Dumpster


Really nice Imperial IPA. 9% but not drinking like one. Nice dankness to this beer. BA has this beer as "Retired" but this bottle is dated 12/21/15

 

Woah! Look at *that* dude!!! That's the look of a professional on window watch. Fantastic photo.

Midnight says howdy to both of you cool cats (from atop his current post):


Found this while grocery shopping ... wasn't planning to buy it but saw the born-on date and just had to:



*fresh* Revolver Sidewinder Southwest Pale Ale

... and based on the nose, I think that born-on date isn't a lie. The beer is rated just 25 IBUs, but the Citra hops hit you like it's a DIPA. For me, that means a ton of onion, green grass, green onions and grapefruits, and I love all of those things. In fact, it's so oniony it's got that broiled steak-and-onions thing happening, almost meaty. Man is it awesome!

The flavor is much tamer in terms of hops with the spices, agave and maybe even the maize pushing in a big earthy presence, one that restrains the hoppy flavor as well as the upfront sweetness that may be both citrusy from the hops as well as light and sugary from the malt.

The nose alone makes this a winner for me. And now that I'm a sour convert, the roadblock of earthy flavor on sweetness lane, while a bit annoying at first, is actually quite nice ... gives it a bit of complexity that makes you want to hunt for that sugar fix and also fits nicely into the entire presentation which is everything in proportion.

The review:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30128/99114/?ba=Premo88
4.16 (+17.5% rDev)

Cheers!

 

Looks like the PERFECT kitty spot! Cheers to you both!

 

Now up Stillwater Stouff. Third beer from Stillwater, all have been great.
4.2/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

330 ml bottle poured into teku

A- Black with a two finger mocha head.

S- Rich creamy milk chocolate, some roasted coffee, caramel, hints of vanilla, smells great.

T- Dark chocolate, roasted malts, some hints of vanilla, some dark fruits, caramel malts.

M- Medium to full body, carbonation is a little high.

O- A solid chocolate stout. Worth trying if you get the chance, just wish it tastes as good as it smells.

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