New Beer Weekend #235

Great Raft - Old Mad Joy Baltic porter, thanks to @russpowell in NBS BIF #18.

16oz can served in a tiny dimpled mug. Canned 01.24.2024.

Pours dark brown, translucent, medium head on the pour that fades to basically no head except a tiny ring after the pour. Smell is lots of roasted nuts and a little coffee, some chocolate, some anise and molasses.

Taste is chocolate and cola, some vanilla, lots of anise, some coffee. Roasted nut bitterness, bark and wood.

Mouthfeel is surprisingly light and soft. Overall, very good.

 

I really enjoy this. The BA one is pretty damn good too

 

This one is from @muchloveforhops3 Cheers Doug!

Kettlehouse Brewing Cp. Snowblind White Stout, 6.2% ABV; 3.82 overall

Pours an effervescent & slightly chill-hazed gold with a thumb of eggshell colored head. Above average head retention & nice lacing. Stays effervescent, almost drops bright

S: Plenty of coffee, some caramel & vanilla show up once warmer, just not much depth on the nose

T: Plenty of coffee, vanilla cream & some dryness, along with some woody hops up front. Dryness folds in along with sweet, not strong coffee as this beer warms through.

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, became a bit prickly once warm

Not wild about "white" Stouts, but this one brings plenty of flavor and is pretty drinkable, tried not to let the lack of darkness influence my score, I am pretty sure this the best score I have given for this iteration of Stout. Just not enough here to make me think I would ever think of this as anything but a one off

 

I apologize for asking a question I'm sure you've answered before and that I could look up myself, but: Is that a Samuel Smith glass?

 

Greetings, all,

Been a while since I've shared a beer with y'all. Usually because I've been so busy with things on the weekend that I forget the posting part! Anyway, it's a clear 25° this late a.m. I'm just getting over a head cold and am thinking I might be out of the danger zone. Sucks that most of my 3-day weekend has had to have been spent recuperating rather than doing useful things, but it's better than during the work week, I suppose.

Anybody hear of Beer Drop? My brother did, and he got me a substantial gift card with them for Xmas. My first package of beer from them arrived a little over a week ago. Unfortunately, so far, all the beers appear to be either very old or have something wrong with them (or perhaps both). A wheat ale from Texas was dated to have been canned last March, and most of the other beers have no dates at all. I had an IPA from Roughtail that was clearly oxidized, and yesterday afternoon, feeling my cold had declined enough for me to have a beer, I drank one that was undated, dented in places, and very dusty.

So, how was that beer?

Piglette, from Brewery Bhavana, is a grisette brewed with Brett. How much Brett? Who knows? The beer was so old that it had entirely faded away. While the can label declared the contents were "tart & funky," it was entirely tart. Having said that, what flavor their still was tasted like a fine, sharply lemon-like saison, yet still light and crisp like a grisette. So, I sort of dodged a bullet in that the beer was clearly old enough to have deteriorated but in a way that didn't make the beer at all undrinkable.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48597/347856/?ba=woemad#lists

I'm pretty sure that when that gift card runs out, I'm not keeping up with my subscription, as it seems Beer Drop makes a point of buying beer that is being discounted by distributors for being old or flawed.

 

Certainly doesn't look very West Coast. What did it taste like?

 

Good to know

 

Thanks to @Beersnake for getting us started. Will have a few more new ones closer to tonight's game.

 

Nice to see you @woemad sucks about the beer but at least it’s been free, to you at least.

 

Tonight we have a beer from Portland, ME's Belleflower. They have been popping up around here more frequently.



This is their American stout called A Secret Only We Know that I added to the database this morning.its a 5.8% American style stout.

Photo bomb courtesy of Thor - a gift to the grandson from a Swedish elder at our church who invited us for a visit. She has hundreds of gnomes amongst her multiple collections (including an incredible array of old tools). Many of the gnomes come from Sweden and each has a story - we were there a while! She taught Noah the Swedish name for farm gnomes, which I have no ides how to spell, and gave us a folklore lesson. This included the idea that he has to get milk and cookies every now and again or he will play pranks. I have already combed some crumbs out of his beard...just sayin'...

The pour is gorgeous- rootbeer colored with ruby red highlights and a ginormous foamy khaki- colored head. Head falls to a wide ring with mad cling.

The initial smell is chocolate and more chocolate - more towards the baker's chocolate or maybe dark chocolate. There is a mild coffee aroma and a wee bit of brown sugar. There's a little charred malty smell as well. Fairly typical but quite chocolate-heavy.

The taste is much less chocolate driven. It's still there, but the beer is more malt-forward. Dark bread and roasty. The char is a little jarring on the first sip, but calms itself pretty well. Atypical of the American take, I'm not finding a ton of hop flavor - vague spiciness, maybe a hint of resin, and a decent bitterness level that's helped by the char. Very mild and very fresh coffee note as well. There is just a little brown sugar flavor on the back of the swallow. After a few sips there is a pleasant aromatic licorice flavor after the fact.

The feel is pretty light which I think makes sense with the lower ABV. A little sweet residual flavor and fairly dry.

Overall this is a good beer - it's flavorful and ultimately drinkable at 4.8%. It could easily be a year-round stout since it is lighter and less intense than most in this style. Thinking right around a 3.8 or so but I've got quite a bit more to drink and make up my mind!

 

That's true. There's been nothing truly undrinkable so far, but I feel like it's only a matter of time when they're selecting cans that might be as much as a year old.

 

Equilibrium Brewing, Einstein's Decadence DIPA w/Marshmallows, Vanilla & Orange Zest, 8.0% ABV; 4.15 overall


Pours a very hazy straw color with 3 fingers of whippy pearl colored head. Fantastic head retention & lacing

S: Oranges, vanilla & marshmallow, fades a little as the beer warms

T: Sweet & tart oranges, vanilla, dryness, a hint of lime up front. Bitter & sweet orange, a little marshmallow & more lime as this beer warms up, along with pineapple notes. Finishes with sweet orange, pineapple, a little dryness & some marshmallow

MF: medium body, moderate carbonation, good balance, some acidity once warm

I liked this one, easy to drink, I do like a well-executed Milkshake style IPA

 

Happy Martin Luther King day!
Tonight I am bringing you a Baltic Porter from Jack’s Abbey that was sent to me but to my shame I don’t remember who.

Poured almost stout black with a curiously short brown head (for a lager)
The taste is, as the label suggests, full of chocolate and a hint of coconut. There is some very subtle coffee and biscuits.
The feel is not viscous at all, but for a lager that is a good thing, right?
OA, I think it is true to what they intended and quite tasty.
On to the Baltic Porter thread!

 

Not sure we're making it to 5 pages...

River City Brewing Aged ( In Barrel 54 Blue Note Bourbon Barrels ) Rauchbier, 6.0% ABV; 3.56 overall

Pours a gushy & turbid amber with 2 fingers of cream-colored head. Never drops bright, good head retention, so-so lacing

S: Boozy orchard fruit, faint smokiness, Nose improves as this beer warms, smokeyness is subtle

T: Follows the nose, smokiness, plenty of barrel, tobacco hops notes up front. Figs, cherry, leafy hops, some barrel burn & rawness, to its determent & a little smokiness once this beer is warmed up, some caramel notes as well. Booze burn on the finish, not mixing well with the smoke, plenty of cherry notes

MF: Medium body, fairly restrained carbonation, warming

This one is a miss, very seldom do these barrel aged lagers work for me. They have even less of chance the lower the ABV. Just too much going on with this one, not horrible, but wouldn't buy it again

 

Off putting almost a little too bitter. And I don’t mind the bite most IPAs have because I expect it. And for $17 for a four pack of pints I’ll pass

 

Happy MLK day to all in the NBW extended edition. I am still working on The Dark Half from Stephen king today. We had to take Frankie to get rabies shot at the vet and he is gaining some weight and looking great in health! We ordered some Tito's, I got a huge Steak and Cheese deluxe, double meat/cheese. Plus 2 large pizzas and chili cheese bacon fries Julia got a meatball sub. Titos is a great local joint.


From @FBarber in a BIF. Pollyanna Das Ist Zwickelbier. This is a fantastic beer. Amazing head retention and lacing on the glass. Very vibrant nose of German hops. Lemon, lime, pear, apple, cedar, mint, peppercorn, pine, pils malts, herbal, floral, grass. Taste follows with lemon, lime, pear, apple, cedar, mint, peppercorn, citrus rind, pine, cracker, light toast, herbal, floral, grass. Medium pine, rind, herbal, woody bitterness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation and light body. Crisp, clean, refreshing, nearly bone dry finish. Balanced grainy malt and sticky/resinous hop mouthfeel. Lingering resins on the palate with minimal hop astringency. Perfectly clean lager flavors with no yeasty notes. Amazing showcase of german hops and a clean malt backbone. This has been in my fridge for 3 years and it still tastes fresh! I love this brewery. 4.34/5


Cheers

 

Hey All. Happy Late Night NBW (MLK extended version).
Spent the weekend in Vegas. Over 2 nights hit 4 solid locations. Truth be told, I'm not really a Vegas guy, but I found the BEST Beer Bar in the world...

The Silver Stamp
After walking in, bathing in the ambiance, and meeting the beertender I felt at home. This place makes me want to go back to Vegas.


Also visited:
CraftHaus
Solid place. Great beertender.
Highlight: Hell(es) Yeah

Able Baker
So many offerings, not a clunker had. And great food!

HUDL
Highlight: Soul of a Star
GABF gold winning wheatwine. I was dumbfounded to find it was missing from the DB.

So basically, I have found a lot of reasons to go to Vegas.