New Beer Sunday (week 614)

Well Hellooooo Late Night NBS.
A cool thanks to our benevolent host Dave for the setup. I've been reading some great posts here. And I've probably commented on a few too many. But, sitting here on the Left Coast, it's hard not to chime in before partaking.

As for me, we have recently had another glorious hint at Autumn. We got some glorious rain yesterday, and a tad today, and some nice wind, and dare I say a bit o' lightning and thunder. Booya!!! We seem to get that so rarely.
Got some stuff done. Due to the wife taking the lead, we got the "office" painted. And now that we feel that we did a pretty good job, we think we're ready to tackle the redecorating of the kids' rooms. Well, as teachers, they know they gotta wait for the winter break for that round f home improvements. But with the money saved, I'm hoping to really finalize plans for our back patio project.

Plus, I shared this beauty with some family members 2 nights ago, courtesy of our very own @larryi86 A very generous offering, unsolicited, and gratefully received.
2SP Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40976/186765/?ba=2beerdogs#review

Anyway, here's today's beer...

Citrus Ass Down by Against the Grain.

3.79/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Poured from the lovely can. (Where's Woody?)
I love how this pours. A gorgeous orange to copper hue with hints of amber.Slightly hazy. And a nice meaty head comes up nearly 3 of my skinny fingers in elevation. Off white in color. A mix of medium, small, and minute bubbles form a packed head. Moderate lacing sticky and sweet.
Smell is not just Citra. I'm getting the citrusy waft of orange zest, but also some earthy and sweet hop notes. This is what I get from Centennial on a great day. There is also some fruity sweetness coming through as well as a malty structure.
Taste is definitely citrus upfront. Quick to follow is an earthy overripe peach, some grassy notes, and a grainy sweet quality akin to slightly underbaked cobbler dough (melding with the peach, or maybe apricot filling). On the finish, there's an ever so slight yeastiness that comes through. Finish is a mix of the fruit, orange and peach, the malt (slightly sweet and biscuity), and a hint of pine. A lot going on here. And it's all good.
Mouthfeel is on the fuller side for style, and that's quite nice. Slightly slick on the finish.
Overall, I like this one a lot. Some people may think it a tad full in the mouth, that's not a knock for me.

 

After a week of doing lots of things and being very busy, which I normally like most of the time, today I sat home and pretty much did absolutely nothing. And it was what I needed. Ending my night the coconut rum barrel aged version of new Holland Brewing's Dragon's Milk. Really an excellent beer indeed here!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/241733/?ba=neenerzig#review

Eric

 

Death.

That is the topic of the day. With no intention of being morbid. Death is an important and heart breakingly intimate conclusion to this experience we think of as life. It's funny the deaths that effect us and its funny how death affects us individually. 2016 has been a year with many deaths, across the 'P' spectrum of personal, professional, and public. My Opa is in the process of dying. Yet I find myself responding considerably more acutely to a musician who I had never even heard of until about 5 years ago. Death is also an unavoidable component of my professional life. At work, death ebbs and flows. At the moment we are in an ebb of that particularly ethereal tide fortunately but we are all aware of the ease with which that trend can reverse, and indeed earlier in the year the trend was firmly in the other direction. Death can inspire depths of maturity far beyond the age of the well from which it is drawn. It can leave otherwise unflappable people in shambles. It is at once the single most personal experience of our existence and one that holds the greatest potential for impact beyond our selves. This is without even getting into the abstractions of the death of ideas or ideals. Death at its heart is about the cessation of existence, and I think the lack of control we are able to exercise over its consequences is what frightens us so much about it. But death is also beautiful. It can bring a measure of peace long overdue and, if the transition is shepherded in such a manner, it can lead to some of the most profound and formative influences on the lives of those left behind.
I don't know.
I don't have any overarching point or take home message or anything, it's just something that's been on my mind a lot lately.

As a result, I will be dipping into something I've been holding onto since early this year/late last year for today's festivities.



La Mort Bourbon is an annual release from Black Raven over on the east side (ha) and it is delicious. This is a 2016 vintage released at the beginning-ish of this year(?).

The pour is a dusty dark brown reminiscient of old leather bound volumes and dimly lit shelves. Decent little tan head settles into its late-life crown and dusting fairly soon, but laces the glass impressively well all things considered.
Nose gives a preview of the subtlety and soft hand that is evident throughout this one. Sweet vanilla bourbon is the first guest to arrive, but is soon found mingling amongst soft stone fruits and raisins and dates.
Flavour follows the same cues, allowing for a deeper exploration of the themes featuring seet sticky raisins and dark fruit and figs soaked in bourbon and introducing some of the refined leather and tobacco more traditionally found in old ales, all dusted with a light cocoa touch.
Light bodied with a finish that turns slightly bitter I find myself enjoying this beverage immensely. Will definitely be grabbing a couple of the 2017 and starting a vertical...


Hope y'all are enjoying yourselves, and cheers!



RIP to one of the best embodiments I've ever seen of the term 'dynamo.' Accidentally stumbled across her set in Golden Gate Park some years ago and was blown away. Been a huge fan ever since.

Bonus: depending on the chemo a kid is getting they may have pee parameters they have to meet (X amount every Y hours etc). I took care of a kid last night who claimed (and proved) to be the pee queen (always exceeding the necessary time/volume constraints, clearing methotrexate abnormally quickly, etc), so we joked she needed a crown, which obviously turned into a pee-ara (tiara + pee... nevermind). Well, I actually had some downtime towards the end of the night and so I decided to make her her pee-ara out of supplies we had laying around and leave it for her to find when she woke up.

Had to share it because I am not at all artistically inclined, but I had so much fun with it and was so tickled with how it turned out I had to brag a little. Plus I just finished this 11% beer so I can always blame it on the alcohol (the sharing. Not the making. Would never drink before/at work)! This is (one of) the reason(s) I love working in pediatrics.