New Beer Sunday (Week 743)

Funkwerks Saison

This beer is a clear gold. It’s refreshing to get a saison with this level of clarity. This saison drinks like one trying to be part of a European tradition rather than a brother of the heavy-handed American versions. It goes down way easier than the latter. There’s a yeast spiciness, a bit of hop bitterness, and a light malt breadiness. This beer is especially good given it’s 6-pack format. This is perhaps one of best 6-pack saisons I’ve had. Nice.

 

Allagash River Trip

I’m doing something different for me for NBS today. I bought two 4 packs of beer this week that were new to me, drank the first three from each, and saved the final ones for NBS. Consider this the final impression from a 4 pack of new-to-me beer. River Trip will be the first of the two.

This beer appears to be the next phase of Allagash Hoppy Table Beer. I really liked the latter beer and I really like this one too. It’s a slightly hazy pale yellow. It’s crisp and a little prickly. It’s light, grainy, and has a nice yeast character. Tastes of white bread with a twist of lime and a bitter finish. The coriander has presence. It goes down really well.

 

Sunday chores (what there was of them) completed. The plan for today is to sit on my butt and watch the PGA Tournament.
My new beer for today is Sump. The label says it was bottled on 01/16/19 and has an ABV of 11.5%.
In my snifter the beer is a black color with just a film of tan head.
Aroma of roasted malt and faint coffee.
Coffee is more prominent in the taste, and lingers throughout. There is a little bit of chocolate.
Big-bodied sipping beer. Alcohol not at all apparent.

 

Terminal Descent RIS from Adroit Theory...


A collaborative effort with Fratello Cigars... 4/10/19 bottling... Ghost 728...

Pitch-black pour into an over-sized snifter kicked up about a finger of creamy-looking dark brown foam... The head slimmed into a faint but persistent sheen over most of the surface, and draped shiny lace motes behind...

Promoted as a beer designed to pair with a cigar, this Russian imperial stout is a killer... Big chocolaty malts, rich coffee impressions, bittersweet oaken char, herbal elements suggestive of leather and tobacco... Full-bodied, smooth, bittering... Dries out at the very end, allowing the beer to really develop across the palate - blackstrap molasses sweetness flashes up front, followed by boozy chocolate syrup... Cold espresso starts the bitter drying that finishes with a leathery char of dry tobacco and wood...

Served about 10 minutes outta the fridge, consumed over the course of a couple of hours... I don't need to tell you how nicely the beer developed as it warmed but I'm doing it anyway... Still has a rustic, earthy edge - something almost mineral-esque at times - but fruitier notes of citrus pith and peel added some honeyed brightness to the beer...

Mentions no additives or adjuncts or barrel-aging, but tastes like there could be...

Know what I mean?

An excellent Russian imperial stout...


Grab a bottle or two...

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

 

Well... it was a collaboration with Kodak designed to develop film stock (hence the Super 8 play on words). So I guess it can be used instead of something like 4-(N-Ethyl-N-2-hydroxyethyl)-2-methylphenylenediamine sulfate. Sounds yummy!

 

Lawson’s - The Space In Between

Looking at the BeerAdvocate listings, I suppose this is version #2 of the beer, but I wouldn’t have realized that there were other versions if I didn’t look it up.

I kinda liked the “undefined ale” term on the beer label when I thought it was signifying that the beer was a real oddball, but now that I think about it, I guess it’s trying to signify that the beer is the space between an APA and IPA… either that or the space between an IPA and NEIPA. Either way, I’m now far less intrigued and I like the term much less. I was hoping for something “different” and this is the opposite of that. Disappointing.

Regarding “the space in between,” I think this beer has more in common with a NEIPA than anything else, but if someone is going to be strict about the NEIPA tag, they wouldn’t use it for this beer. It’s an extremely chalky looking, deeply hazy (not opaque), ultra-pale, unsaturated sickly yellow. Tastes of lemon, chalk, slight bitterness, and a rough hop finish. The best thing about the beer is the handsome can label that feels out-of-step with contemporary design. The beers coming out of the new Lawson’s have been hit or miss for me. This one isn’t offensive, but it’s certainly not a hit either.

 

Not my usual cup of tea (certainly not choice of beer) but tailgating with friends at Sonic Temple Festival and they bought it and I’ve never had it so damn it here we are! I can’t not join you, my finer beer loving friends.
Not bad at first, then quickly becomes too sweet. It does match the strawberry lemonade but one person also described it as strawberry. Refreshing at first but I couldn’t finish it and won’t be stocking up for summer. Now onto Coors light which I also never drink but adjunct lagers do occasionally have their place and this is one. Cheers!

 

Recommended by teh guy behind the counter at Olivers beverages in Albany. Great selections, growlers fills, can buy singles, knowledgeable staff. He was spot on!

Mc2 by Equilibrium

4.63/5 rDev +5.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Can poured into a teku glass

Frothy off white two finger foam cap over a hazy day orange liquid. Good retention , good lacings

Very fragrant apricot, juicy mango , some pineapple

Taste is mango hops

Low sudsing , smooth hop taste, no bite, no nibble

ABV is very well hidden, sneaks up on you

Good beer, repeatable

 

A-Pours a murky brown color with a slight head and lace
A-Aroma has wine and sweet potato hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a slight sweet potato flavor but also an overwhelming wine flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent Dubbel, but more of a wine beer

 

This is a great one! Off top of my head best Sixpoint small batches have been Master Blend, Batch 1 of Vanilla 4 beans and Undefined Varaible.

 

Just finished my last shift before taking the next two weeks off to show my two best friends from nursing school around my favourite sliver of Earth: the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
Seems like the kind of thing to celerbate!

Today I'm grabbing a bottle that... I think is from this year? But I don't really remember? It got kind of lost in that jumble of bottles I haven't officially sorted and filed and stored away in my 'cellar' (read: collection of dividered boxes stashed in any available dark empty cupboard/closet/whathaveyou), but that are destined for that direction and are pulled out and added to then returned but maybe put back in the fridge because I might drink but no it's not the right time I'll actually lay it down this time but I don't feel like pulling out the boxes and organizing and who really cares that much about tracking what all's in there but then I don't remember what all I have and what I should dig into but then does it really matter but also then why am I hoarding all these damn beers that I never seem to drink? So I'm pretty sure it's from this year, but it's possible it's a little older than that and I just can't find a date code anywhere.
But what is it? Oh, yeah. THat part.

Brewer's Reserve Barleywine from Old Schoolhouse.

I think barleywines might be my favourite style if I had to pick just one. They just seem to embody the most exciting elements of brewing, even if not necessarily the most difficult (I generally agree with the sentiment that a well done clean crisp pilsner or the like is the truest test of a brewer's skill as there's no room to hide on that bare canvas): the big bold flavours, but also the subtlety and nuance and complexity and layers that can be achieved. They are big and brash without being crass. Complex without being convoluted. Sweet and bitter and rich without being cloying or buckling. At least when they're done well. Is this one? Let's find out.



Upon pouring, no new information is uncovered. It is a rusty brown colour that is not uncommon for the style it inhabits. The colour of rust and old leather. A small soapy head quickly contents itself with a winking ring and gestures towards a central galactic map. Didn't expect any lacing, and an initial expansion glasswards is unable to maintain its inertia.

The nose is, at first, puzzling. Green with perhaps a persimmon bent, as well as more-than-grape-but-not-quite-raisin which brings to mind a couple of Southern Tier brews I've had (specifically the oak aged Backburner and Iniquity), which is reinforced by an almost candy-cinnamon type spice. That ST is the closest analogue I have and kept creeping into my mind as I tried to put words to this liquid, despite not having had Backburner in 3+ years, and Iniquity in almost 6. Classic caramel and leather and the like round out the first impressions.

Flavour gives better definition to some of the uncertainty I was left with on the nose. First sips are dominated by spicy green tobacco character as well as big bitter earthy hops. The size o f these characters reminds me to treat this as a sipper, and in smaller doses, the tobacco spice simmers down a bit, while the earthy hops are tamed enough to allow golden raisins, toffee/caramel, and some candied fig to shine through and display their wares over a still earthy substrate. Alcohol is very present, and the big earthy hops are still the driving force.

Before we get to the finish (it's crushingly bitter, and the alcohol gives a harsh little rasp down the middle even though it never really presents as 'hot'), we have to talk about the body. Because holy shit is it incredible. Silky, smoothe, creamy, velvety, whatever other descriptor of that ilk you prefer... it's also incredibly thick without really feeling chewy, sweet without becoming sticky, creamy in the way that fresh warm caramel is creamy, not like, well, cream. Carbonation is present enough to let you know that it's not flat, but does not distract or make a name for itself in any way, it just does its job and gets out of the way. This is one of the more decadently smoothe beers I've had recently, and I've had some doozies.

If cellaring is supposed to mellow hop bitterness and soften the harshness of the alcohol, then this looks like one of the most cellarable brews I've come across, though I suspect it may take a little longer to reach peak experience level compared to its peers. I fully plan to use myself as that guinea pig, however, and lay a couple of these down and test them over the coming years, as I suspect that the reward will eventually be substantial.

-------------------------------------------------------

Old Schoolhouse is located in Winthrop, a town built on the facade of an old west mining encampment (that's actually, oddly enough, kind of a... thing out here. Is that something other places? Entire towns built on the conceit of being a _____? Like sure, there's reenactment towns or whatever, but a living breathing town built around the gimmick of pretending to be a different time and/or place? We have Leavenworth which is full facade of old bavarian town, Winthrop which is old mining town, etc. Even as a little kid, I always wondered what that was like for the people who actually live there), so maybe there's something thematically appropriate in the conclusion that this is also an anachronism. Winthrop is trying so hard to belong in a time long past, while I feel that this beer is one that belongs in a time long hence, set aside and left to settle into itself. To drip across its bones and allow the winds and sands of time to scour its rough edges down to the smoothe edges of windswept sandstone. Or maybe it's the end of a long stretch of not much sleep and the onset of 'vacation' mode. Either way, I look forward to grabbing a couple more bottles and seeing how they develop over the coming years.



Cheers!

 

Lush DIPA from Frost Beer Works is a new beer today. -deep orange-amber can pour with 1 cm fine foam cap. The aroma is mango-rich with orange blossom notes. The flavor is of tropical fruit with citrus zest. The hop flavors are backed with a mellow malt base. The mouthfeel is smooth and there is no alcohol heat. This is superb.

 

I haven’t had any of those, so now they are all on my wants!

 

Good afternoon, NBS! Some yard work and additional gardening done this morning and now moving onto this one courtesy of @Orca_Whale

I’ve been shirtless in my backyard for most of the day. Neighbors haven’t complained of blindness yet, so I’m gonna keep this going as long as I can. Blindness may result from either physical appearance or deflection of the sun off my pale white skin.

This beer is a “want” after seeing it reviewed around these parts. It’s a new state tick and a new brewery for me.



Look: As we approach the low 80’s with a cool breeze, this beer pulled from my 38 degree fridge is sweating. Almost as much as me. The beer should quickly reach my ideal temperature for the style. The frothy, two finger, espresso foam colored head settles down to a finger, leaving thick globs of lacing. As I work my way through the beer the head disappears leaving a thick ring of foam around the edge of my glass and some streaks of foam on the glass. The liquid is absent of color, opaque and devoid of visible carbonation. An appropriate looking stout.

Nose: This beer has a distinctive smooth creaminess on the nose. It’s not the biggest BBA Stout nose I’ve experienced, but it is unique and delightful. Soft oak, vanilla, coffee, milk chocolate. A hint of meaty roast and some fresh pumpkin aroma, followed by a cinnamon spicyness. Zero indication of the ABV. Creamy.

Taste: Coffee with cream, milk chocolate, caramel, toffee, fudge, vanilla, chocolate covered raisins. Soft and sweet bourbon notes. This beer is sweet, but not cloyingly so.

Mouthfeel: This beer nails the mouthfeel for me. It’s so smooth and creamy. Low carbonation and a full feel that perfectly complements and elevates the flavor profile of a bourbon barrel aged stout done right. A hint of dry toast and bitter oak on the finish. Sticky, residual sweetness on my lips.

Overall: This stout does not have the biggest nose, although it is very nice. The flavor is amazingly smooth and creamy, and the mouthfeel puts this beer over the top for me. The flavor is defined by caramel, toffee and fudge notes, which are delectable. As stated on the can, this is “honest beer” and clearly a result off “hard work.”

This drink is an example of beer done right, at an ABV that suits the style without being excessive for the sake of excess alone. Hands down one of the best and most drinkable BBA stouts I’ve ever had.

Thank you so much, Bill! I really enjoyed drinking this beer!

 

Barrier - Hearts & Minds

I go back and forth on this, but I gotta put an end to buying these Barrier IPAs. There’s nothing wrong with them, but it just becomes a money issue.

This beer is slightly hazy but it’s shockingly clear given the expectations. Very nice head. Full bodied. Tastes of dulled down pineapple and dough. Not digging this one. It has no finesse.

 

A-Pours a dark amber color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has caramel and malt hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a caramel and malt flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent Maibock