New Beer Weekend #127

Bottle Logic - Number Crunch

500ml bottle split between four sample glasses. 2022 release.

Pours black with very little head, looks thick and syrupy, a drip on the side of the glass crawled like molasses, putting up a pretty respectable fight against gravity. Smell is mostly chocolate and sweetness. Basically smells like chocolate syrup.


Taste is sweet, chocolaty, with a slight cherry twist. (which might just be my brain struggling to describe the roasty bitterness's failure to turn the onslaught of sweetness). Vanilla is there, too. Boozy.

Mouthfeel is not as thick as I was expecting, though still pretty thick, and surprisingly has a little bit of liveliness (which be lightening the mouthfeel a little). Overall...it's good, but it's too sweet and they leaned too hard into the chocolate to really do it for me.

 

Continuing with this Inbev collection

Red Hook Winterhook
12oz can PKGD ON AUG 25 22 poured into a tulip glass at fridge temp 8.2% ABV. The beer pours bright bright copper tinted amber with khaki colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and a few scattered bubbles. Minimal lacing. The aroma is mild with toasted malt and earthy hops. The taste is semisweet toasted malt with mild toffee and earthy medium bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, average, drinkable.

Cheers all!

 

Rheingeist Crumb Cake
7% red ale

Poured from a twelve ounce can, the body is an amber red. Modest head that quickly recedes and a little lacing along the way.

Nose is as the name suggests, a crumb cake: cinnamon, vanilla and a bit of coffee.

Taste follow nose and things sweeten a bit from the added lactose and vanilla, but the malt and its caramel flavor hold things together. Not much hop action despite being called an imperial red. At 7% and with the malty base, I consider it an amber ale.

Good mouthfeel and carbonation. Creamy feel.

Not sure I'd drink a lot of this one, but it's a festive holiday choice that went down easy.

 

LMAO...one of my Dads favorite holiday movies and totally out of character for him. But hey...I will sub for Chevy as long as I can be in the other Griswold movie and go swimming...

After a couple of holiday favorites, winding it down with a new one.




This is Munro from Barreled Souls, a 10% abv Scotch Ale. Not sure what the front side of the label has to do with anything, but it looks cool.

The pour is a very clear red-tinted brown, more or less looking like cola. Scant half inch head dissappears without a trace. Some little microbubbles at the liquid edge but that's it.

The smell is malty sweet, lots of caramel/toffee, some vague dark fruit. There is a peaty earthiness to it, and a hint of alcohol. I swear I'm picking up just a touch of cinnamon...a little weird, but doesn't seem totally out of place.

Malt heavy on the taste as it should be. Sweet but not overly sweet. Caramel comes through pretty clearly. Fruits like dark sweet cherry, figs or maybe dates, and that earthy peat lends an almost smoky note. The alcohol isn't shy but it isnt all that hot, either. It seems to have more of a spirit taste to it. It opens up as it warms and the flavors intensify. The alcohol tingle blends in better as it warms. On the aftertaste, I'm getting that little cinnamon spicy kick like the aftermath of a cinnamon candy.

The mouthfeel is maybe a bit light - I think a little more body would be a benefit. Quite warming and that's a nice perk with it being ten or so degrees outside. Slightly dry, low carbonation.

Overall, getting into this more as it warms up and the flavors emerge and intensify. I'll call this a good one, not quite great. Right around a 4 on the scale here.

 

Merry Christmas to some of my favorite people! Finally getting to join in on my favorite thread.

Received from @colts9016 as part of NBW BIF #15 - Saved for a special event, Christmas works.

Poured coffee black and was opaque black in the glass. The dark brown head showed up and dissipated, but not before leaving a positive impression.
The aroma, roasted malts, French roasted coffee.
The taste followed, along with some burnt sugar, into an excellently balanced imperial stout. No sweetness whatsoever, this is all about dark roast and solid hops bite.
The feel is slightly less viscous than expected, but as it isn’t BA, I think it’s spot on for the style.
Nice RIS - quite enjoyed trying it.
Thanks Jammin!

 

Thanks to @Beersnake1 for this
Story Walking - NEIPA - Monkish Brewing 7% ABV

This is delicious. Quite juicy tasting and feeling. I am greatful that you sent this to me Tim. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28657/536023/#navigation



4.22/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
This beer pours a very murky and hazy pineapple color. The head is 2 finger, white, fluffy looking, and fairly long lasting. There's some lacing on the glass.
There's a very juicy aroma going on here. Quite tropical smelling. Pineapple and mango is what I get in the aroma.
This is tasting like pineapple juice. There's a bit of mango, but pineapple is the star of the show.
The body is quite soft and juicy feeling. It doesn't drink like a 7% beer at all.
This is delicious and very well made beer.

Maybe one more tonight. Cheers all!!

 

Day 3, the Bigfoot I indulged in last night whacked me pretty hard, so like any self respecting beer nerd, I reconnoitered and went with this Tree House holiday treat.

That was a good decision, and a lesson learned - proceed with caution when tackling 750ML 15% ABV sledgehammers by yourself. IJS.





4.44/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Pours a very hazy orange color with a creamy white head that lingers and grips the glass like Saran Wrap. Beautiful beer. The nose is filled with dank citrus notes of tangerine, mango, and pineapple, and maybe the slightest smidge of pine.

The pine asserts itself up front and at the back of the taste with a delightful resiny bitterness that works really well with the citrus flavors and bit of sweet oats to provide a dangerously drinkable holiday themed NEDIPA.

The mouthfeel is the ubiquitous Tree House full and creamy, adding to the drinkability. This is a fun holiday beer I’d gladly try again.

 

The craziness of today has finally come to an end, now a peaceful and quiet house; A Christmas Story will be put on shortly but first lets share a beer...courtesy of @NorsemanOne

Bohemian Brewery - Chern Bock Schwarzbier (4.6%)



Pours a very dark brown, crystal clear; slightly off white head, better than average retention with some very nice lacing.

Nose is ashy, with some coffee and weak bakers chocolate, little bite of malty sweetness hides underneath.

The taste is bright malt; with the roast and coffee notes on the finish. This would be a fun blind beer the way the taste comes off...I think at first someone would think it is a pale lager but then on the finish the dark comes out; really neat. Lingering ash and roast on aftertaste.

Light body, incredibly bright feeling on the tongue, nice biting carbonation; minor roast driven bitterness on the finish, noticeably dry.

A beautiful lager, this drinks so light and the dark doesn't show itself till your tongue adjust from the bright bite this beer has; it is perfectly balanced. Excellent beer; very much looking forward to the other couple I have from this brewery.

And now we rest...I probably won't join tomorrow but I'll be back with beer next weekend; have a lovely week everyone. Cheers.

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I thought I knew every/most songs from The Band but somehow this slipped me until this year. I only learned of it because a band I like covered it...I know there are some other Band fans in here, so I'll close out my Christmas NBW with an appropriately named song...

 

He sent me that one too, that beer was awesome!

 

Love that ornament

 

Boulevard Space Camp Hyper Warp Balck IPA, 5.9% ABV; 4.03 overall

Pours an effervescent mahogany/ebony with one finger of tight, tan head. Nice lacing & average-ish head retention

S: Pine, roastyness, chocolate notes once warm

T: Follows, the nose, some Baker's Chocolate, a touch of brown bread as well up front. Dryness, Baker's Chocolate. Toastyness & pine as this beer warms up. Finishes dry, piney with a little toastyness & a little Baker's Chocolate

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, good balance for the style

A pretty serviceable take on the style, not quite elite, but worth a try

 

Merry Christmas ya filthy animals.
This is the first year in a really really long time that my family has tried to do Christmas on the traditional day. We usually all get together in January (or sometimes even February) to do our 'Christmas' thing, but this year, for whatever reason, my brother had this strong push to do it on the actual day. Well, he and his pregnant wife are still in Texas, since their flight was cancelled due to the weather. Bah. Humbug.
They're still going to fly out tomorrow and we'll all get together and still have a few days and do the festivities and that, but it's just funny that this was the one year, and he was the one person who really wanted to do it on the 25th. C'est la vie.



For the evening, I'm popping into a beer that @Beersnake1 sent my direction as return fire during the recent BIF.
Enegren - Christmas Bock

Pours a crisp, clean, rich, ruddy brown colour. Nice pile of soft foam. Lacing is sparse, but extant.

Nose is immediately apparent as soon as I pop the cap. Sweet malts up front. These mellow a bit and let the rest of the profile through, though it's still the malts driving things (as well it should be here). Toasty and somewhat nutty. Kind of reminds me of like a fresh warm loaf of good brown seed bread. A bit of something vinous/green and sweet for which I can't quite find the words.

Flavour follows the same outline, but explores the corners of each component with a little more depth. It's quite lovely. Toasty/nutty brown bread with a sprinkling of sweet that's between toffee and caramel. If we continue the analogy of the bread, it's like a drizzle of icing, or a thin layer of jam. There's a touch of sweet spruce-like character which I really like as well, before returning for the finish to the nutty bread, with some earthy hops to bolster.

Body's a little thin, and the sweet malts with the hops necessitates a certain amount of patience while working through the glass, but those are pretty minor complaints when the overall package is this enjoyable.

Thanks, Tim!!

 

Christmas Eve is our family's big meal day. We go a bit lighter on Christmas Day. For the last couple years, my wife has been making French onion soup. This year she also made baguettes.




Now we're sharing de Garde's The Peach from 2021.

750ml capped/corked bottle served in a pair of little Cantillon stemmed glasses. Bottled 10/21.

Pours clear, light golden, with a small ghost of a head that disappears and leaves a tiny ring around the glass. Smell is tart and funky. A bit of wood, some dry chardonnay. Something musty. Very interesting.

Taste is dry, tart, very chardonnay buttery, peach / stonefruit notes are there but kind of drowned out by the woody / chardonnay notes. Tartness is somewhere between unripe peaches and lemons. Mustiness is some combination of the butter and wood notes I think.

Mouthfeel is medium to light, super dry, slight filminess, gives a sense of liveliness that might just be prickly acidity. Overall, it's good and very interesting.

 

Now that’s just cruel @snaotheus what a solid looking night. Had to be delicious.

 

Next time you visit, reserve a night! I'm sure I can convince my wife to make you dinner.

 

BARREL-AGED WEE HEAVY (2022, 14.08% ABV) 330ML BOTTLE

Notes: This barrel-aged version of our Scotch-style ale is matured in premium bourbon and rum barrels to add layers of complexity to its rich, malty flavor profile. Notes of vanilla, oak, dark fruit and spice from the barrels combine with the beer’s profile of caramel and toffee to make this an utterly unique beer that we think you’ll love. Enjoy it now or let it mature in the bottle for years to come.

A vigorous pour into a Bormioli Rocco glass yields a mild khaki tan rim. The body is dark root beer brown. Semi thickness. Prune juice looking with only minimal spotting noted.

Aromatics of dark pitted fruits, roast malt nuttiness, figgy pudding. Sweet with some spicy elements.

The flavor is like rum soaked raisin bread. Chalked full of dark fruits and deep barrel juice character. Coconut date rolls. There is a spicy hop bitterness on the backend. Earthy yet redolent of some dark fruit maltiness. Warming alcohol spice finish.

In many ways this drinks much like some of the great BA Barleywines out there today and is a great lil Christmas celebration beverage BA!

Highly recommended

 

pFriem - Cherry Brandy Barrel Belgian-Style Dark Ale

375ml corked and caged bottle served in a pair of small Cantillon stemmed glasses. No date in the "Bottled on" box on the label, though it does say it's a 2022.

Pours dark dark amber, smallish but persistent head, moderate creamy looking lacing. Lots of active carbonation. Smell is light cherry and booze, maybe some dates...definitely some dates.

Taste is tart cherries, bitter cherry skin, a little raisin/date sweetness, a leathery bitterness.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly light, effervescence is very noticeable -- lively, gives it a refreshing feel (which is dangerous for a 10% abv beer). Overall, interesting and good beer.

 

Happy Xmas edition of NBW!

Big shout out to @Roguer for this!

I split it with my brother after dinner at his place in Olympia. Utterly delicious and luscious (the beer, not the brother). Cinnamon was used with a relatively light touch, and everything melded together nicely. I was a little surprised but not unhappy about the depth of chocolatey flavor. Pretty much a perfect dessert beer.

Hope y'all have had a fun and safe holiday weekend.

Cheers!