New Beer Weekend #145

Loved the Fruit Force Comparison, this is pretty much my current gauge on horrible recently. Sorry to hear about the Mother in Law, we all feel powerless in those situations

 

Stonecloud The Merry Mollusk Oyster Stout, 6.0% ABV; 3.82 overall


Pours an effervescent mahogany with a finger of tan head.

S; Roasty, some cocoa notes; great nose at first, fades a touch as this warms up

T: Follows the nose, very dry, metallic notes ( I tend to always get this with Oyster Stouts ), but in a good way up front. Roastyness, charred grain, woody hops, & bone dry as this beer warms up, just a hint of brinyness, plus a little bit of carob. Finishes dry with charred grain & a little chicory

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, body thins out as this warms up

Solid take on the style, but too dry for my liking, killed the drinkability aspect

 

And just like that, I’ve killed off the first BIF box that @woemad sent me. My last box took me several months to get through, this one took just 2 weeks. Oops. Finishing things off with Muffintop Breakfast from Lumberbeard



The nose comes on strong, every adjunct is present and there’s a nice malty backbone to it. In taste it’s a bit more restrained, but not boring in any way. It’s nice and creamy from the lactose but still roasty. A solid Milk Stout thay does indeed emulate a blueberry muffin quite well

4.09/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

 

Could be worse, could be glitter...

 

Y'all sync skills are to be feared!

 

Alright, well I'm back on my CDL game, while watching the Kraken (hopefully) close out the defending champs, after the Mariners had another epic comeback against Toronto, the Seahawks had an incredible draft and my West Coast Eagles... well... we're in a bit of a rebuild. I hear the top cat in the draft is a potential game changer. Whatever. Carlton always just makes me think of Fresh Prince and his dance, anyway.



E9 is another brewery, similar to Lowercase yesterday, where they don't get a tonne of plaudits, but I feel like I've generally enjoy their offerings when I've cracked into them. They team up here with Chuckanut, a brewery who's praises I have sung here before, but suffice to say that if it's Chuckanut doing a lager, I generally expect at least above average if not great results.
Spoiler alert: This is enjoyable, well done, and does nothing to dissuade my general positive impression of both breweries.

E9 (featuring Chuckanut) - Czech-A-Nut

Pour is once again beautiful. Crisp dark mahogany, slightly darker than the brew from yesterday, but both are beautiful. It's also got a more impressive head, with better retention and lacing to boot.

Nose is less easy for me to parse out (compared to the beer from yesterday) individual components/profiles, but it just... makes sense. I don't know CDLs great, but I stuck my nose in the glass here, and I was like, "yeah, that's about what I'd expect." Malts that have a little bit of sweetness, some rye-bread grains meet earthiness, and an organic element to the sweetness too.

Flavour is less explicitly sweet up front, and less pervasively bitter on the backend. Grainier and more traditionally lager-y, with earthy brown bread, that earthhy quality which ties it over to the hops which present more citrus-y/earthy compared to the beer yesterday. The back end gets a little swell of sweetness that harkens back to the sweetness found in brown bread from the malts, and an almost nectar-like quality from the hops. Overall it's more restrained and subtle whereas the Lowercase brew was much more bold in stepping forward with each of its components. Both are quite enjoyable, but the E9/Chuckanut feels more settled in, like it's had more of a chance to marinate and blend together. Dull earthy bitterness is present, but doesn't absolutely dominate the way it did in yesterday's offering.

Smoothe, and with a sharper carbonation profile, it also finishes quite dry (though without that charcoal profile from yesterday).
It's another flavourful brew in a small (sub-5%) package, and I'm really enjoying my exploration of this style with which I was not previously familiar.

I liked both of the offerings that I tried this weekend. They were certainly different from one another and had varying strengths (and not really much in the way of weaknesses), so I'd be hard pressed to offer a preference of one over the other. Not a bad place to be, one might say! Both are good in their own way and I'm happy to have some tasty options locally.

Cheers, y'all, and Let's Go Kraken!!!

 

I want that beer.

Where do you live? I will come get it. Give it to me now.

 

Dangerously enough, about 3 or 4 blocks from Bottleworks, ha.

 

Hot tub time, dipping back into the 30s tonight. I want to get back to the 80s



Stone Patio Magic DIPA



Tomorrow is son#2's last day at High School, we all have the feels right now



Peace out LNBAers

 

Well, I just signed up for a trade, so visiting Bottleworks might be in my near future!

 

Let's pretend I meant to post this here

 

I 100% believe you meant to post that here.

 

Can't prove otherwise unless you are willing to do 2 minutes of research

 

I tried really hard to trade with @Coronaeus, but the border bureaucracy decided my box was not going anywhere. So, he's sad and bereft, and I'm drinking this "Alsatian Pilsner" from Badlands. I thought I needed something lighter and cleaner after that sprinkles beer.

473ml can served in a snulip. Dated 23/May/23, which I guess must be a best by date.

Pours a slightly hazy light amber with a pretty generous head. Head fades into a lumpy half-centimeter layer. Looks fairly carbonated. Smell is yeasty, some grain, a little grass. Mostly makes me think of bread dough.

Taste is not so similar to the aroma. I get a lot of honeysuckle sweetness, moderate grainy/yeasty presence, some grassy/lemony bite to it.

Mouthfeel is a bit heavier and a bit stickier than I would really expect. Not disturbingly so, but just a bit more than I expected. Overall, it's pretty good, although I would appreciate it being a bit dryer.

Don't worry, I'm working on a way to make at least partially good on my side of this trade.

 

Start of the 3rd period of the Kraken vs. Avalanche game in Denver. Really good game so far, and I'm enjoying a really good New Beer with it.



A dark Czech lager collab from Ex Novo and Oregon lager-legends Heater Allen? Yes please!

Ex Novo/Heater Allen Darkmoor Czech-style Dark Lager
16-ounce can purchased at Uptown Beer Co., and enjoyed in a British tulip-style half pint. Date stamp reads "04/25/23". (That's right, this beer was canned 5 days ago.)

Look:
Darkmoor has a perfectly clear body of an exquisite red-brown color with deep amber highlights. The pour raises a finger of rich beige foam with good retention that leaves intricate lacing on the glass.

Smell:
Rich toasty malt, semi-sweet with notes of roasted nuts and multigrain bread. Mild caramel is also present, tempered by a whiff of earthy and spicy hop character.

Taste:
Superb depth of semi-sweet malt, toasty and satisfying, along with a touch of caramel cream. Notes of coffee, crusty brown bread, dry-roasted almonds and cashews (unsalted). Toasted malt carries through the middle, with subtle layers of unsweetened cocoa, dried fruit, anise. The finish is a fine balance of malt, roast, and earthy hops.

Feel:
Medium-light body, rounded with smooth, slightly rich texture and temperate carbonation.

Overall:
Darkmoor is a fine, well-made example of the Czech Dark Lager style. Beautifully balanced, it has excellent depth of malt, and is never to sweet or too roasty. Delightful.

 

Two minutes of research? Nope, that is un-possible.

 

It was a delightful beer; I found it the other day and reviewed it.

 

I spent most of the day outside, there was sunshine, and I forgot what that felt like after six months of shitty winter weather. Eclipsing my 1900th review, I pull out Red Poppy; I bought this a few years back and waited to try it. It went down great after being outside. The beer is tarty, bright, acidic, and oaky, with loads of cherries. The nose and taste are about the same. The head came and went quickly, leaving no lacing on the glass. I enjoyed this beer but I can see where the aggressiveness could put people off. Great beer 4.35