New Beer Weekend #20

Sammy Smith's Nut Brown was a staple beer being sold in Phish parking lots back in the mid-late 90's(now it's all Heady, Tree House, Other Half, Lawson's, etc). It was also the first beer I remember seeing in a local distributor that went for over $100/case. I had their Winter Warmer last year and was underwhelmed, but your review makes me want to give the Nut Brown and Taddy Porter another go.

 

Good morning NBW
I'll be one and done today as I have picked up additional nightshifts for yet another quarantined co-worker. Making it count...

Bourbon County Brand Special #4 Stout

16.9 oz bottle DRINK BY 10SEP22 poured into a large snifter after a 45 minute warm up from the fridge 13.3% ABV. The beer pours very dark brown with only a glimmer of light penetration around the edges. The head is a rusty tan color and builds to a couple inches on a hard pour. It recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles over time. The aroma is mild in strength featuring maple syrup, coffee, roasted nuts and a tiny amount of fruity brightness. The taste is semisweet stout with maple and berry up front. The coffee comes through more mid palate along with minimal bourbon barrel before a mildly bitter finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with less than medium carbonation. The beer is sweet at first, but the barrel character does a nice job of drying things out and providing balance. No hint of the ABV other than the warming up of one's insides. Overall, very good to excellent. Very complex and nuanced flavors. I did not even attempt a sip at fridge temp, but even as the beer warms from cool to room temperature, it continues to open up.

I try not to discuss price in my reviews, but I would never purchase this again for $24/16.9 oz. That's the most I've ever paid per ounce for beer (purchased price unseen, behind the counter last Friday). I will recognize and acknowledge that the Bourbon County lineup is top shelf, but I can get 90-95% of the way there for less than half the price, in a better format, with Revolution, Lagunitas & Founder's.

Hope that wasn't too much of an old man rant, but for a guy pulling extra nightshifts in a steel mill to put his kids through school, I'm no longer concerned with missing out. Cheers all, enjoy your Sunday and the new beer in your glass!

 

Wow, what a great memory, thanks for sharing. I can imagine that aroma myself and younger me probably wouldn't have enjoyed it any more than you did.

I posted my results in What food are you eating now?. Thankfully there's even a little left over that I'll be dunking bread in all afternoon, so who knows if there'll be any more beer reviewing after that .

 

Every now and then, I trip over a beer that I would SWEAR that I've had before, yet somehow haven't. Ayinger Celebrator is a recent example. So when I was doing my usual Sunday morning scroll through the new posts in this magnificent thread and saw you had this iconic beer tee'd up, it was an, "Ummmm, what?" moment.

This just points out the amount of tremendous beer that's available in our beer nerd world. It's truly staggering.

PS: excellent review.

 

Looks delicious! Time to make some lunch, and get to beer reviewing!

 

Good morning NBS/NBW and thanks @SawDog505 for hosting this week. Its slowly turning toward winter here, as my Pepere used to say. "The trees are singing the winter song with this wind" That tone is now what we are hearing.
Todays offering is from Zero Gravity, A Czech - Style Pilsner, of the aspects I appreciate the most in this offering is the palate texture. Excellent water feel matching the style guidelines. Superb expression of the complimentary nature of semi sweet malts, then hops deftly coaxing the palate toward bitter, all the while never staying in the center lane.
Really nice work

Jaws

Pilsner - Bohemian / Czech | 5.9% ABV

Zero Gravity Craft Brewery / American Flatbread
Burlington, Vermont

4.19/5 rDev +1% | Average: 4.15
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 oz can dated 11/12/20 into the Pilsner glass
A - Fading Forsythia yellow in color, Exceptional clarity, vibrant at first, the carbonation feeds a frothy white cap. In time the carbonation settles in to a steady paced marathoner.
S - Warm rising country bread, some verbana, mixes with grassy notes.
T - More of that fresh biscuit, lovely grain flavors. The hops add that lemongrass snap, with a bit of citrusy pith in the mix.
M - Excellent water treatment, light in body but punching above its weight on the palate, Semi sweet start then a wash towards bitter, finishing dry and neutral.
O - A very good Pilsner, texture aromas, palate all refined in the best ways.

 

In total agreement with you on the pricing. Just as good or better out there for a fraction of the price.

 

A Steinbier from Bierkeller, brewed and facilitated by Hazelwood Brewing. 5.5 ABV, 18 IBU. How does a steinbier collaboration happen? Well, someone posed this question on Facebook,
Anyone heard what Bierkeller in Columbia, SC has planned for this year's Okto offering?

@herrburgess replied:

hey. i had planned to do a dampfbier, but the timing with tank space at our host brewery didn't work out. so we actually ended up doing a steinbier. another local brewer gathered some blue granite (and had a tank free), so we got a grain bill together that wasn't all that different from what I was planning for the dampfbier and heated some stones to 1200F or so and used then to get the brew boiling. pretty cool, I have to admit. tasting good so far...using the ayinger strain for that more-immediate maltiness it kicks out. we'll see....

For it’s part Hazelwood says this on it’s website:
Steinbier... fire heated local blue granite stones used to build Hazelwood in 1891 are dropped into the depths of this Bamberg style lager to heat from within which is exactly what it will do to you while enjoying next to our firepits this winter.

Bready, nutty and and slightly smokey with a full body and crisp finish. Aged 6 weeks cold and never filtered.

steinbier we brewed by heating the wort (malt-water mix) by adding super hot stones (steine) to the boil; the beer is malty with hints of toffee and a clean minerally finish

The smoke is definitely present, but doesn’t drown out the malt and hops. The mineral note is also noticeable. Low carbonation in the crowler which I am drinking, but I hope to try this on tap next week at a Bierkeller event, which may have more head. Unusual, but high quality as I would expect from these brewers. I rated it 3.8 based on the flavors being muted and the low carbonation. Expect this to be a one-off.

 

Lager fermented stout, huh? Okay.

Kinslahger Coconut Tropical Stout
Seems thin for a stout but it is delicious. The coconut hovers over the malt like a wispy memory and there is nothing artificial about it. The issue I have is the focus on coconut and stout in the name and packaging. If you want a coconut stout, look elsewhere. If you want a dark lager with a hint of coconut, look no further.
Cheers.

 

Final beer today, a second Bell's, though new to me so my lone entry for NBW #20 & NBS #823. This one was rescued last week from the Binny's singles section for $9.99 for six plus tax. Bell's presents this as a "Belgian Inspired Wheat Ale".

Bell's Bright White



Bottle Facts: Bottled 11/5/20 @ 4:28, drinking on 12/6/20, just a month out, well before the listed 6 month shelf life. 5% ABV, 12 oz bottle poured into a tulip glass.

Appearance: Golden bright orange colour murky/foggy pour, generous creamy and bubbly head lingers for a few minutes before receding, leaving soapy clumps of lacing behind and a layer covering the top of the glass. Hard to see through the cloudy pour, but light carbonation is noted. Generous lacing rings develop throughout the pour, a really good looking beer. 4.5

Aroma: Strong banana and clove aroma, lemon the strongest backing fruit with pear and grass noted as well. Consistent with Belgian style. 4.25

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, strong clove and banana backed by a somewhat sweet fruit medley, citrus, lemon and wheat. Light bread taste as well, refreshing and pleasant, the wheat providing a platform for the clove and fruits to shine. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Light to medium body, slight creaminess and overall sweetness, faintly dry. Persistent fizzy carbonation throughout, easy clean finish. 3.75

Overall: This is a solid Belgian Wheat Ale offering, Bell's executing what it set out. Not necessarily my favorite style, but scoring within the style this is a very good beer and I am glad I picked it up. Light, refreshing bold tasting wheat beer, cloves and banana strong backed by fruit, if this fits your taste profile pick up a six pack next time you're out. 4.0

Time to catch up on the weekend thread, lots of great reviews with a half a day to go.

 

@jkblr

Better for a fraction of the pricing? I disagree.
I'd be interested in your examples. If they're available here, I'd have to, of course, attempt to verify your opinion!

Almost as good? Agree.

These ~$23-24 per 500ml variants are a try one only for me.

(This is WRT BCBS generically, not this specific variant. It is in my 'fridge, but I haven't opened it yet. Specific variants have fallen short, but, overall, the line is so superb I still grab one, at least, of each that is available.)

 

Welcome, and excellent first post to the thread. Come back. Often.

 

Yep, its really good. I got to meet Amor Towles when he did his book tour when that was released. Really cool guy.

I keep hearing that a TV adaptation of the book is being made, but don't know the progress of that since the craziness of this year? I do know one of the guys that did Peaky Blinders is suppose to be directing it.

 

A cold and overcast day always makes me crave a dark beer. The problem with that is that most of the dark beers in my fridge are high in abv, and it's still pretty early in the day for me. @Roy_Hobbs supplied me with a perfect solution in Suarez Faimly Brewery's Bones Shirt Black Lager. Thanks for this one, Ross! It's always a treat to have Suarez in the fridge.

It pours a dark brown with light only penetrating near the edges of the glass, and a healthy one inch head. There was some slight white sediment at the bottom of the glass. Roasted malt and biscuit were the predominant scents that I picked up, maybe a touch of yeast. The flavor did not have the roasted character of the aroma, but rather a lighter clean malt profile. There were more hops on the finish than I would have suspected from the smell. The balance was deftly tuned in. It had a great feel. The carbonation kept it crisp, while the low-medium body kept it drinkable. Very nicely done.


4.14/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

 

Howdy NB weekenders
Cross post from WBAYDN
Double Shot Expresso from Tree House

4.50 4.50 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.33

Pours dark brown with a foamy chocolate 1 inch head fairly quickly dissipating chocolate head
Aroma as poured is roasted coffee, chocolate, molasses and brown sugar
Taste is complex and follows nose, coffee, roasted malt, chocolate, molasses sugar and a touch of alcohol
Mouthfeel is definitely sticky and kind of full with a lingering expresso taste, low to medium carbonation
Overall with the amount of brown sugar and molasses taste it is not real sweet, it's coffee forward and kind of light for a stout. Good beer.

 

Here's a fun one sent by @beertunes to add a little tropical spark to this chill December weekend

Tiki Breeze from Gruff Brewing

It's a coconut IPA, not only brewed with Sabro hops, but also conditioned on coconut. And there's a definite natural coconut thrust to the flavor for sure, but it's also not overdone. What really makes this work for me are two things. First, it's really crisp and dry for a 7% beer, with a solid slap of bitterness. Second, and more importantly, is the background dank complexity contributed by the mosaic hop addition.

It drinks like a beer, in other words, not like a dessert. And a very pleasant surprise at that. A- (4.0).

Thanks again Terry!

 

While looking for Christmas beers I came across a new offering from Sprindale,
Conversation Piece.

There is nothing on the website, other than an Instagram link, about this beer; not even under seasonals.
The IG page simply says

The can just says the same thing and adds that it is a "Holiday Table Beer", a "Holiday Ale" and the flavors are "Bold, Spice, Sweet".

Well, well, well; it tastes like a tripel, and not a bad one at that.

6.8% ABV and canned on 11/04/20
Conversation Piece is slightly darker (on par with Fin du Monde) and slightly hoppier than your standard Belgian tripel.
It pours a cloudy reddish/orange/amber with a loose ivory head that quickly dissolves into a thin film.
There is a mild aroma of cloves, banana, and pepper with a mild lemon background that slowly fades along with the head and carbonation.
The taste follows the smell with the addition of some wheat, malt, fig, caramel, and dates.
There is a tingly peppery feel on the tongue and a dry, pleasantly lingering, mild bitter-sweet aftertaste that turns slightly sticky when the beer has warmed.
Overall, this is a pretty good effort. Conversation Piece is very approachable. It doesn't have the depth that a brewery dedicated to Belgian styles would give, but in a way, that's a good thing.

Springdale was probably wise to label this as a generic "holiday table beer" as that fits what the were aiming at; a nice, flavorful beer to drink with your holiday meals without the baggage and intimidation the Tripel label might bring.

Is Conversation Piece going to beat out a "real" tripel? No, but at $14 for a 16oz 4-pack you can have several pretty good ones without breaking the bank