New Beer Sunday (Week 717)

Excellent choice! I will keep my eyes open whenever this rolls out.

 

Henry sent me one of these and I felt the same way about it, near perfect.

 

A-Pours a dark amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has roasted malt and molasses hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a roasted malt and molasses flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent winter lager

 

I could session this, which is a scary thought for a 13% beer!

 

Happy New Beer Sunday, everyone! After sleeping all day yesterday--16 hours yesterday, and 5 more this morning--I'm taking it easy today. I had breakfast, did some grocery shopping, and then did some cleaning/housework. Now I'm settling down and relaxing with a nice stout. Swiftwater Brewing's Rosebud Stout. Now onto the review.



It comes in a pitch black color, although the photo shows some ruby red highlights. The head is tan, but small despite a semi-aggressive pour. Decent retention. A thin film remains. Not too much head for an imperial stout but oh well.
The aroma is very chocolatey--semi-sweet dark chocolate for days. Heavy on the pure roasted grains, toasted bread, some black coffee in the background, with a hint of raisin or other dark fruits.
The taste follows the nose pretty closely. Lots of dark chocolate and bitter cacoa, leans more toward baking chocolate and cocoa powder than a dark chocolate bar. Burnt toast and roasted grains overtake the palate, along with the malted milk balls note I usually get in lower-abv stouts and porters. Lots of fresh roasted black coffee in the flavor. There is not much sweetness to this one. Mostly a bitter and very roasted stout, although there is a hint of burn raisin in the back.
The mouthfeel is smooth and medium, although a little less creamy and carbonated than I would like at 8%.
All in all, this is a pretty solid stout. I would recommend trying it at least once.

 

First up today is Nice Nice Relationship Relationship from The Veil



4.41/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

As soon as I popped the can open I was hit by massive sweet tangerine, mango and maybe a bit of honey. Taste confirms the smell quite identically up until the grapefruit bitter finish. The tangerine thing is sweet and rolls out to the honey. Bitter finish feels a touch chalky but it’s anything but dry as this medium bodied beer stays pretty quenching throughout. Really nice beer overall.

 

Hello fellow NBSrs!

My apologies for last weeks absence but it was a rough weekend.

I have some very nice beers from some incredible BAs on deck for thanksgiving weekend. Today’s first new beer to me is from @TheGent . Anthony crushed my porch twice and since I didn’t have much in the fridge yet his latest box was perfect to throw in it immediately.

The beer:



My humble review:



I hope to return a little later this afternoon. You fine folks enjoy your Sunday!

 

Back again! And even figured out how to add pictures this week thanks to the good BA @Vidblain !!! This week I am going to do a blind review. I have four variants of The Abyss from Deschutes. Tequila barrel, Brandy barrel, Rum barrel & Scotch barrel.

My wife is going to choose one, put it in a bag to where I can't see which I have, and I'm going to pour it, review it, make a guess on which variant it is, then reveal it.

So pouring this from a 22 oz. bottle into a snifter this beer pours out black as night with no highlights whatsoever. It forms close to a pinky width of creamy caramel/mocha colored crown. (4.25)
The smell has a tropical like alcohol accenting the chocolate layers that are prominently present. You can smell the booze all the way through, with the layers of chocolate and dark fruit underneath it. (Almost a fresh lime like spritz) almost wondering if it's the tequila one from the smell. (4.25)
The taste comes in with a bitter chocolate element. Almost like bakers chocolate bouncing off of a dry barrel presence with a tropical kick. Dark fruit still present in the form of some raisins as it warms up. (4.5)
The mouthfeel is roasty bitterness and dry barrel tangling together all the way through while providing a full body. (4.5)
Overall, this is a very enjoyable drink. I love the complexity and the way the elements are all tangling together to make a wonderful and unique drinking experience. (4.5)

From the tropical notes and light fruit kicks in this it's hard for me to decide from Tequila or Rum. But I'm gonna go with tequila based on some of the lighter fruit notes that resemble lime to me. Let's see!

Anddd... I was wrong! It's Rum!
Oh well. Very fun and enjoyed the experience!
It ends up being one of the best Rum barrel aged Stouts I've had to this point. Maybe that is because it works so much with the original complexity of The Abyss and doesn't overpower or thin it out, but adds to it. Cheers!

 

Damn forgot the pic, it's the codeine.

 

Been making an effort to try more classics and styles lately, and this one ticks both of those boxes.

Style: Belgian Faro.

Beer Advocate's description:

"Traditionally brewed in Belgium, Faro is a blended Lambic with the addition of candi sugar, resulting in a lighter, quite sweet, and more palatable beer. Widely available throughout the Senne Valley up until the early 20th century, Faro was often made from second and third runnings—which led to a beer with a lower alcohol content. It was commonly spiced with pepper, orange peel, and coriander, with spontaneous fermentation by the microbes found in the air. The end result was a light-bodied and gently flavored acidic beer that sometimes had hints of spice. Faro was usually sweetened before packaging or on-premise. Sometimes faro was a blend of aged lambic beer with freshly made low-alcohol Lambic or even a low-alcohol non-Lambic ale. Modern faro is usually stronger in alcohol compared with historical examples."



Lindeman's Faro Lambic.

Pours a translucent brown with a finger of white foam that dissipates fairly quickly, and resides in a foamy ring for a long while. Aroma is sugary sweet, with notes of berries, cherry, dark fruits and plum. A bit of yeast concludes the aroma. Flavor profile is sugary with notes of dark fruits, cherry, plum and berries. Complexity is modest, with the beer finishing with lingering notes of cherry and sugar on the tongue. Mouth feel is still, with a very fine amount of graininess that bumps it up a touch from smooth. It has a medium-thin consistency. Overall, drinks splendidly, but is rather sugary (as per the style). Nice blend overall here. Very easy to drink, and would make a welcome addition to anyone seeking a flavorful, sweet, light beer.

Score: 4 | 3.75 | 4.25 | 4 | 4.25 | BA Score: 4.09 | rDev: +11.4%

Personal notes: Rating new styles of beer is tough, especially one as sparsely populated as Belgian Faro. Beer Advocate lists 16 beers in this style, with only 2 of those with an overall score over 4.0 (average rating across all 16 beer is 3.224). I'm thinking that's a little skewed. This beer is good per the style notes outlined by the site, and while I don't have anything to compare it with experience wise, matching up with the site defined descriptors is a promising start. I hope to revisit this style from another brewery at some point to add some depth to this review and my understanding of the style.

 

Cheers, Dan! Nice review. Had the same feelings about this one.

 

New beer #3. Thanks @akatz821 !

Galaxy + Vic Secret - Other Half
IIPA - 8.5% abv
Canned 10/30/18 (19 days ago)
Score: 3.92 (-5.1% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/379147/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
The Galaxy shines, but the Vic Secret detracts. The Vic seems to add vegetal, herbal, and white wine notes, but to me that clashes with the wonderful pineapple and citrus imparted from the Galaxy. Still fun to try. Thanks again Azi!

 

Saison Sunday?

I'm in.

Now I have to reconnoiter - my NBS plan today included a saison from @TongoRad from NBS BIF #8. Need to save it for Saison Sunday.

This beer nerd avocation is indeed quite the scene, man.

 

Raspberry Truffale from Avery, a BBA stout with chocolate and raspberries added. I would just like to start by saying that I LOVE raspberries. That being said, I have never met a raspberry flavored beer that I liked except for lambics. My family wants to know why I keep trying new ones. Pours black with a fluffy one inch mocha head that settled to a ring in about a minute and left beautiful blotchy lacing. Smells of chocolate, raspberries and a hint of bourbon. Tastes of semi-sweet chocolate, sweet raspberries, very mild tart raspberries, bourbon, vanilla, oak, sweet malts and caramel. Medium bodied for the style, lightly carbonated, creamy mouth feel. I wish it was a little more full bodied but it is by far the best raspberry flavored beer (non-lambic) I have tasted. At $13.99 a bottle it is not something I will seek out in the future.

 

Troegs wild elf
..around a medium body with medium carbonation
...a cranberry, orange appearance
...aroma is a cherry vinegriet, some sour and tartness as well as sweet and sour cherries
..taste us very similar to aroma,not much honey but plenty of cherries in every way imaginable. Sour, tart, sweet, and vinegar like cherries
...overall it was good,glad I tried it and might possibly try it againupload hoster ru photo

 

@joe1510 @ovaltine

Putting a new-to-me saison in the fridge now.

 

Nice, I'd love to tag that Scotch Barrel. Enjoy I bet they're delicious.

 

Sierra Nevada Single Hop Amarillo IPA

This one is a clear deep yellow/very light amber. Great head. It's sweeter than the previous IPL. Tastes of orange marmalade and then a big wave of bitter grapefruit pith hits you. I'm missing the crispness of the IPL, but also reminded about how amazing it is that bitter beverages became so embraced (and then unfortunate that "bitter" has started to become a dirty word again).

 

Up next is Astro Thunder from Aslin



4.1/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I know that the word “dank” is overused and underdescribed at times but this one earns it. Smell wafts green onion, earthy clay and turnip. Yes, turnip. Taste doesn’t stray too far from the impression from the smell, as first up is big green onion, followed by turnip with a little bit of grass sprinkled in. Aftertaste is saccharine sweet with some earthy bitterness. Otherwise, finishes wet and medium bodied. Super complex beer with what seems like above average attention to detail throughout the whole experience.

 

Sticking with BBA stouts it would seem. Java Stout from Victory Brewing. Pours black with a one inch mocha head that leaves blotch lacing all the way down the glass. Smells of bourbon, coffee and coffee. Taste is very much bourbon in the forefront, dark chocolate, vanilla, oak, slightly sweet roasted malts, caramel and surprisingly coffee has a very mild presence. Medium bodied, slightly dry finish, light carbonation, very mild bitterness and a lightly creamy mouth feel. I really expected far more coffee flavor out of this beer but terrific none the less.