New Beer Weekend #204

Jacks abby pre pro
...pale gold appearance
...medium bodied with about the same for carbonation
...aroma is yeast, cereal grain, toast, earthy buckwheat honey
...taste doesn't stray too far from the aroma. Slight sweetness but the toast,cereal and grain combined makes it really nicely balanced.
...overall its an excellent beer

 

Save one for the AAL tasting, it was added her as a German Pilsner but it’s got corn in it and American hops…I’d say it qualifies

 

Good evening NBW. Nice day here with not a ton going on. Typical chores, burgers and dogs on the grill. Smoking some chicken tomorrow - haven't quite got that meat down yet - always?edible, just not where I want it.

So here's something really different from a brewery that kinda doesn't do different:



Jack's Abby OGs With Bad Knees - they call it a black pilsner. The label says it is a tribute to their OG sales team. I believe it ended up as a Bohemian pilsner here. I had a sample at the brewery and it was, well, a black pilsner in character but it defies style parameters. It was brewed with Simpsons Roasted Barley and German Pilsner Malt, hopped with barbe rouge and Hallertau, cool pool hopping and step infusion mashing.

Pours as dark as s stout with a gigantic craggy milk chocolate head. The head falls to a flat cap, lots of sticking to the glass.

There isn't a significant aroma. There is a very faint roastiness, not much on the hops, but there is also a crackery/biscuity "lighter" malt underneath and a mild as can be sweetness. Interesting.

I like the taste but it is confusing. It's like a mask up of Framinghammer and maybe their house lager. And oddly both aspects vome through. Clear char, a bit of coffee, but really not that strong. Drifting thru that is a lighter, bready malt and a fair amount of sweetness. There is some spicy hop presence but it's faint. Bit of an acidic tang develops with more sips.

The feel is light, not exactly refreshing. Mild carbonation.

Overall it is an odd duck. It certainly won't be for everybody. The flavors are a little more jumbled and less well-defined than I remember from the taproom taster and I think it is quite a bit darker than I recall. Can't really judge it to style but I think I'll go 3.6 or so for the unique experience.

 

Good evening NBW
A nearby brewer put out a salted lime "Mexican Style" lager this year so I picked up a four pack.

Aguila Mexican Lager

16oz undated can poured into a shaker pint glass at fridge temp 5.1% ABV 17 IBU per brewer's description. The beer pours bright pale gold in color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is mild with clean malt with slight salinity and lime. The taste is semisweet, mildly corny with pale malt and subtle salt and lime. Negligible bitterness. The feel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, very good AAL with a slight salt & lime addition.

Cheers all!

 

Bellwoods Jutsu Pale Ale to finish off a sunny Saturday evening.
Could really be called ‘Juicy Pale Ale’. A good drink for a summer day, but this brewery has better offerings (in my very humble opinion).

 

Had another while playing Rummy Cube with the eldest stepson, his wife and my stepdaughter.

Poured stout black with a reasonable brown head which left less lacing than anticipated. Still, nice looking stout.
The taste is quite good, the ABV is hidden somewhat, which allows the malt flavor to shine. Loads of mild coffee, dark chocolate and darker fruit. The hops are present only in the sense of an edge that keeps the whole thing honest.
The feel was nicely viscous, very appropriate for the style and ABV.
OA, would be interesting to try it with the BA version, but I didn’t find that one there. Oh well.
Won one game, got skunked in the second and came close in the third. Odd game.
Cheers!

 

Good ol' Bloomington. My hometown! Cheers!

 

We seem to have a difference of opinion - I went back twice and managed to buy my distributor out - I'll agree that rye barrel aging could have improved this but considering how few rye beers are available...

 

Good day BAs! Back again with another Deep Wood series brew from Revolution:



This is essentially the same as yesterday's "Stoopermassive" - in fact I could have used the same review with a few changes (no cherry, a bit thinner, etc). Actually, this rated marginally higher (4.31 for Super Massive vs 4.3 for Stoopermassive) because of the bourbon on the aroma.

Supermassive Café Deth - from Revolution. 12 fl oz can purchased from Half Time, Mamaroneck, NY, 17/05/24, $ 16.77 (Including tax and shipping), $ 1.40/fl oz. Reviewed 16/06/24 (Review 3299). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “14.8% ABV 04-04-2034”. Stored at 34 degrees at home. Served at 46.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 50.5 degrees F.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Amber Brown (SRM 18), clear.
Body – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, same with some light penetration at the edges – ruby brown at the bottom and citron at the top.
Head – Average (Maximum 2.5 cm, aggressive center pour), rufous, high density and fizzy, short retention, leaving a 0.1 cm crown constantly being reinforced by carbonation and a center island.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4.25 – Sweet bourbon, coffee and chocolate. No yeast, no malt, no alcohol (14.8 % ABV, as marked on the can).
Flavor – 4.5 – Follows the nose – distinctly coffee with chocolate. Bourbon is much less noticeable than in the aroma. No yeast, no malt, no alcohol. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Moderate gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Medium but just a touch thin; approaching creamy; soft carbonation.
Final Impression and summation: 4.25 Good – one I’ll be revisiting if I can ever find it again.

At a little more than half the price/fl oz and if you're willing to give up the cherry notes in Stoopermassive, Super Massive is certainly a better buy. But still, those cherry notes...

Rating 4.31, rDev -4.2%

 

No, seriously, how do you really feel? A sometimes solution is a rooftop and a scoped in 30.06. Not that I'm suggesting a course of action, only mentioning a rare, socially unacceptable, occurrence that may align with your fantasies.

 

Brasserie Le Grand Bison (Lavelanet, France., 45 miles SE of Toulouse) ‘Sa Majesté’ Organic Imperial Stout.


On the bottle:

“Its Majesty is opulent, overflowing, generous... Intense roast aromas, firm fruity (and delicious) note, long bitterness on the palate, and nice alcohol which warms the taste buds.
Excessively excessive...”

33 cl bottle poured into a snifter, in Toulouse, France. Tan, slightly orange foam crowns deep black brew and hangs around.

Aroma is indeed intense! Rich dark roast malt with just a hint of char, fully aromatic hop blossom, cocoa.

Chocolate on the taste lead,, wow., shovels full of hops plow right on in, I get freshly mowed grass, hmmm.,. Pyrénées mountain water., wild lavender lurks about. (Or am I becoming more.,. French?) Right fine puckering bitterness on the finish that leaves a semi sweet shmear on the mustache. The 8.9% ABV in this Russian Imperial Stout is perfect - it’s complimentary, not in-ya-face or too warm.

Mouthfeel is rich and full in body, medium carbonation.,

Overall, this regional south France microbrewery makes big noise big taste right here. The organic ingredients are of top quality, and this is a wonderful creation.,.

The brewery’s (and beer) name pays tribute to the cave drawings in Niaux, a few miles away.
I hope to visit the caves - and the brewery - very soon!