New Beer Sunday (Week 719)

Poured into a 16 Snulip glass not sure when it was canned and 10% ABV. Pours a very slick near pitch black with a solid finger brown head that leaves thin webs of lace with excellent retention. 4.25

Smell is what I signed up for, maple, vanilla bean, coffee, cocoa, and cinnamon, maple stands out most. 4

Taste follows maple, cinnamon, vanilla, and a little bit of coffee. 4

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, moderate carbonation, not really dry, and at 10% no hint of booze. 4.25

Overall this is another very solid, one dimensional stout that is really tasty. Thanks @jzeilinger for this guy. 4

 

Happy cjgiant Portland Sunday. As mentioned in the opening post, I had the pleasure of meeting @cjgiant and his lovely girlfriend for beers on Friday after work (and I agree Funky Buddha’s Morning Eood was exceptional!). They were generous enough to bring me some rare gems from Portland, one of which I had been looking for a long time, thank you! So I have a few beers from @cjgiant to review today, and I am really looking forward to it.

The first one up is from a brewery which I have had one previous beer, and they have a strong reputation.




A-Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has a smoky maple barrel, pecan pie, toffee and chocolate hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a generous smoky maple flavor, and a more delicately balanced pecan pie, toffee and chocolate flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A very nicely balanced Maple Smoked Porter

 

Well, I'll try this again and maybe it won't blow me out.

Good morning New BSers! It's yet another typical summer day here in NW PA - cold and rainy. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy running in a blood-warm rain but this 40 degree stuff sucks. Yesterday we went to a memorial service for my BFF's mother - she spent the last nine years dying. It's a shame when the mind functions but the body disintegrates. Or maybe the opposite is worse - mind dies but the body still functions. Either way, you can't beat the second law.

Today's New Breakfast Beer is from NBS#8:



Received from @Bum4ever in NBS BIF #8. Wrapped in Aluminum foil and labeled “Blind NBS #2. The top of the cap has been disfigured so there’s no positive ID. Based on the bottle shape, the remaining symbol on the cap, and the location of my sender, I’ll start by guessing something from The Lost Abbey. Removing the electrician’s tape wrapping the cork, I can now read “The Lo” before the cork enters the neck! One for one! Reviewed 12/2/18. Thanks Josh!



Cork and cage bottle opens with a faint “POP” and no overflow. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 45 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.5.
Body – Dark brown/black, opaque. A very minimal effervescence is present. When held to the light, zero penetration.
Head – Small, dark brown, fizzy. Doesn’t last long enough to measure. No ring, no cap.
Lacing – None.
First pour – Dark brown, hazy.
Aroma – 4 - Upon opening the bottle, dark fruit, predominantly figs, with some weak date aroma. As the glass warms, the aroma weakens. No coffee, no vanilla,
Flavor – Begins moderately sweet with less dark fruitiness than the nose led me to suspect. There is somewhat more date in the flavor than fig but still pretty weak. Ends with a slightly sour and weakly alcoholic vapor impinging on my hard palate. No hops, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide. There is a slight alcohol gastric warming not long after swallowing.
Palate – Medium to full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – OK, without looking up the Lost Abbey line of current and past brews, I’d say this is supposed to be a Belgian Dubbel – alcohol is too hidden to be a quad although the body feels more like a quad than a dubbel.

The reveal:





Nope. Totally wrong. “Barrel-aged imperial stout with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, Tahitian vanilla beans, and Ghanian cacao nibs”. I must say that the coffee is very mild – knowing it is there and drinking it, I still cannot taste any coffee, although the alcohol gets more prominent as it warms further (up to 58 degrees now). As for vanilla, I usually can’t taste it at all unless the level is pretty high. Cacao? Dream on.

 

Let’s take a trip in the woods!

Today’s beer is Gose from Sierra Nevada that in the parlance of Emeril Lagasse has been “kicked up a notch”: Sierra Nevada Trip In the Woods: Tequila-Barrel-Aged Otra Vez.

Let’s talk about the base beer first which is the Sierra Nevada Otra Vez: a Gose that is brewed using lime and agave. Well agave plants are used to produce tequila so I am guessing for some Sierra Nevada person a ‘light bulb’ went off and the idea of aging this beer in tequila barrels came to mind.

I must confess that the majority of my tequila drinking has been cheap tequila to make margaritas and in my younger days drinking shots of Jose Cuervo. In my later years I have sipped on some high priced tequila and for my last birthday my sister bought me a bottle of Herradura Plata Tequila she bought when she visited Mexico. So, I suppose when it comes to high end tequila I am still a work in progress.

For those of you interested in knowing what Reposado Tequila is: “a type of tequila that has been aged in oak for a period of two to twelve months.”

Below is discussion about this beer from the Sierra Nevada website:

“Tequila Otra Vez

Otra Vez Aged in Reposado Barrels

For this limited offering we pushed beyond the typical barrel-aged beer theory. We got our hands on some Reposado Tequila oak barrels and then aged our new Otra Vez Gose with Lime and Agave. This Trip in the Woods starts out tart yet juicy, with hints of lime. For the finish? The unmistakable silkines of a classic Reposado.

2018 release 2 of 3 | 6.4% ABV | Aged 6 months in Reposado barrels”

One thing that I think is interesting is the listed ABV of 6.4%. The regular Otra Vez is 4.9% so this barrel aged version ‘picked up’ some alcohol content from the contents of the barrel?

Enough jibber jabber – time to drink!

I will be splitting this bottle with my wife.

Served in two small Duvel tulip glasses:

Appearance:

A light golden color with a 1 finger white head which dissipates fairly quickly.

Aroma:

This beer has a complex aroma profile: there is some citrus (lime), some fruitiness, and some white bread aroma.

Taste:

Wow! The flavor profile is even more complex than the nose. Yes, there are the flavors of citrus, fruitiness and white bread but there is more! I am picking up subtle not noticeable saltiness, subtle sourness, some flavors of ginger and vanilla, and… There is low bitterness to this beer.

Mouthfeel:

This beer is light bodied with a refreshing effervescence accompanied with a dry finish.

Overall:

In one word: EXCELLENT. There is a lot going on in this beer and everything works together beautifully. This beer is a symphony!

Kudos to the folks of Sierra Nevada for coming up with the concept of aging Otra Vex in Reposado barrels.

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH @SierraTerence

 

Continuing the cjgiant Portland Sunday. This is another beer that @cjgiant and his lovely girlfriend were generous enough to bring me from Portland, this is a Rye IPA.



A-Pours a hazy light amber color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has spicy, rye bready and citrus hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nicely balanced spicy, rye greasy and citrus flavor
M-A light bodied very well carbonated beer
O-A very well done rye IPA

 

Sixpoint barrel 4 bean
..black color
..medium light carbonation with an above average body that felt a little creamy
...aroma is almost all bourbon with hints of coffee and malt
...taste is much more complex with the bourbon dominating but followed by a nice compliment of roasted coffee and malts
..overall this was a really nice beer to try and I'm glad I picked up a four pack

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Was fortunate this week to have the chance to meet up with the legendary @JamFuel during his weeks-long jaunt up the east coast. We met up Monday at Crime and Punishment, then Wednesday at Tired Hands. He was kind enough to give me some beers from RVA and from Sweden, so starting today with one of those nifty gifties.

Sight Lines - Triple Crossing
IPA - 6% abv
Canned 11/13/18 (19 days ago)
Score: 4.25 (+4.9% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34442/381672/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Meat beer alert! This must have old Citra in it, as I’m getting powerful meaty notes on the taste. Smells like a traditional citrus/pine/caramel west coast ipa, but the taste opens with well-done brisket, topped with blue cheese crumbles. I get some citrus and pine at the end of the sip, but not much. Loving every ounce of this!

 

It’s a matter of taste I guess, for me it was just right, but I can understand how others may prefer a bit more.

ps-The last beer to be reviewed, the one I was really looking forward to, will have to wait until the late afternoon as I have a family function. I guess I always save the best for last!

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for the great start to this weeks NBS. Will be back later on with a couple of new brews.

Cheers!

 

Cool and rainy and grey - in the low 50's or something here on the island long - and with the tree and the lights and the football, it's like a New Beer Christmas Sunday...

And what better kickoff than a new bourbon barrel imperial stout?

From Ommegang, part of their somewhat underwhelming Game of Thrones series...

King in the North...

Pours dark translucent brown into my proprietary Ommegang Game of Thrones goblet, appearing black in the glass under an incredibly tall head of dark tan foam... As the foam subsides, leaving lace lines clinging to the glass interior, a dark cola-colored edge is apparent on the sip...


From the nose to the taste, it is immediately clear that this will be my favorite Game of Thrones release from Ommegang... Aromas of bourbon and wood, vaporous with tones of vanilla, preview a classic bourbon barrel stout flavor profile... While the body is relatively thin - something of a medium-weight - it is an acceptable feel and not uncommon to the style... Impressions of bittersweet dark chocolate malts are aired out with light boozy wood notes... Light cocoa and molasses sweetness mediates the bitter char and tannic wood-tones, and presents a refined and enjoyable ale, suitable for both the King in the North and Beer Advocates from here to Westeros...

An $11.99 sticker at Total Wine makes this an approachable buy, too...

Here's to new beer in your glass, cheers...

 

Happy New Taking the Central Waters Sunday (Week 719)!

For those who may be coming late to the party, I have been a life-long Pennsylvanian. This used to be nothing new as the average Pennsylvanian did not move outside of a 20-mle radius during their lifetime, according the U.S. census, until Reagan busted the unions. Historians talk of the African & Jewish diasporas, but suddenly, we had the Pixburgh diaspora! I met a LOT of people in California who moved there, set roots, had families, but would love to come back to Pixburgh, were it not for the economic bath that they would take, especially in terms of real estate.

I, on the other hand, have grown weary of my hometown & state. PA is no longer for Pennsylvanians & the old ways have fallen away. I have run (unsuccessfully) for mayor twice, both times defeated by an auslander. Fair dinkum. My blimp is tethered only by my mother & my uncle, both of whom own the family homes. Mom-Za has the house that I grew up in (4-20 W Walnut, in case any question lingered as to how I ended up this way) & Uncle Steve has their family home in West Lampeter Twp. She is 86 y/o & he is 79 y/o & both of them have increasing frailty, so should I outlive them, my balloon will float east to west, landing squarely in the Midwest.

People scoff about the "flyover states", but the second-best 2.5 years of my life were spent between June 2006 & August 2008 during the Woody Him Forward Tour, in which I visited all 50 states & most of the CANadian provinces, drinking beer & writing about my exbeeriences.

How does this apply? I fell in love with the Upper Midwest! As a pseudo-Pixburgher, is Pixburgh the westernmost city on the East Coast or the easternmost city of the Midwest? To me, it is the latter. Visiting the upper Midwest, I felt as though these were my people! Friendly, down-to-earth, welcoming + beer! PA knows how to make Lagers, but the German heritage here extends well into the Midwest. WisCANsin, especially, where they appreciate a good pretzel & some beer to wash down a brat or two.

Imagine my joy & elation when we began to get Central Waters' beer! It is only due to an interpersonal relationship between CW's owner/brewer & someone that he was friends with in PHL! 8=O We are the ONLY area outside of WisCo that receives their beer! 8=O

Wait until you see what I have in store for today, beginning with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/652/185548/?ba=woodychandler#review

A check of my inventory reveals that the rest are simply vintages, but the die has been cast! Today will be dedicated to barrel-aged beers, some new, some revisitations. C'est la guerre!

Invoking Dennis Hopper as "Frank" in "Blue Velvet": "LAGERS?!? F**k that s**t! Today, it's all barrel-aged, mister! Ask him if he's ever been to 'Barrel-Aged Heaven'!" (Mumble.) "What?!?" "No, Frank, he says he's never been to Barrel-Aged Heaven." "Good, 'cause that's where we're headed … at 110 per! It'll be a brand-new exbeerience! Me, I'll drink anything that moves!"

 

New beer #2. Thanks @FlintB !

Paris - Brewery Vivant
Red Wine Barrel-Aged Sour - 11.5% abv
Vintage 2017
Score: 4.33 (+4.1% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24678/134519/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Barrelled in 2016, bottled in 2017. This is just a lovely beer. Bracingly tart, with enough sourness to keep you interested. The red wine barrel is present but not overbearing. I did a double-take on the abv...almost 12%?!? I was thinking 5-6%. You don’t taste the booze at all. I’m really loving these Vivant sours. Thanks again Brian!

 

Central Waters' Brewer's Reserve stuff is the real deal, IMHO. All the iterations I had were very cost efficient and exceptionally well-executed, again IMHO.

 

I, too received one of those from Brian and had pretty similar impressions. Rereading my review, I believe the quote was, "HOLY SHIT THIS IS 11.5%??!? I could easily believe half of that. The alcohol is hidden incredibly well."
Also got a lot from the red wine barreling.
Good stuff.

 

Today is a special day, so I'm diving back into my fall 2018 barley wine lineup for a few that are new to me. Going to start off with two English classics presented as barrel aged variants. First up is the Thomas Hardy's Ale "The Historical Vintage 2017" aged in Tennessee whiskey barrels.



The 2016 version of "The Historical" was aged in cognac barrels. I guess they are going to change things up each year until they run out of gas. The 2018 was Scotch whisky. The confusing rational of calling a barrel aged edition "The Historical" is that the very first edition of Thomas Hardy’s Ale was aged in Sherry barrels.

This skimpy 8.45oz bottle went down my throat way too fast. It is essentially still and without carbonation. It has a pretty wood stain appearance. Body is viscous and slick. Aroma is sour and fruity. I was worried about the whiskey barrel approach, but I'm very happy with the results and I'm sure plenty of beer geeks would be annoyed with them. I just don't get a substantial whiskey or oak presence here. If had blind, I wouldn't guess this was aged in such a fashion. The beer is sweet and sour. Caramel apples without the intense sugariness. Grapes. A layer of acidity that adds balance and drinkability. Nice malt character. I'd be curious to have this alongside their regular version from the same year... or to have had this when it was first released. Cheers.

 

Good morning NBS
I'm celebrating this first day of Advent with my first Brut IPA (sorta)...

The review:
12oz canned 11/13/18 (19 days ago) poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 7% ABV. The beer pours bright golden yellow with plenty of nearly white head. The head settles to a fat ring of big bubbles and leaves some splotchy lacing. The aroma is candied citrus, tropical fruit and slight caramel. The taste is grapefruit zest and pine laid over a mild caramel malt background. The finish is medium plus in bitterness and dry, but not extremely so. Mouthfeel is thin plus bodied with above average, but not champagne level, carbonation. Overall, good. This strikes me as a very Midwestern take on a coastal style. Keeping the caramel malt and bitterness so not to alienate the core audience, but lightning the body some and boosting carbonation levels.

I was concerned this style would blow up, peak and die before I would ever find an example in a Midwest bottle shop. It seems regional and national brands are jumping on, so my fear was unfounded. I would be much more excited for the second coming of Black IPA, but I digress. I will dedicate the rest of today's NBS to the obscure and odd. Cheers all!