New Beer Weekend #241

Thanks for getting us started

 

Hello everyone just finished work and no way can I sleep so nbw it is
....hoof hearted discount nachos double dry hopped ipa
...cloudy burnt orange appearance
...medium bodied with light carbonation
...aroma is citrus fruit and peel and im sure im wrong but something that reminds me of whipped cream
...taste is citrus,really mild bitterness, creamy vanilla
...overall an unusual but thoroughly enjoyable beer. Not at all what I expect from a double dry hopped ipa but very pleasing

 

Cerveza Numero Uno de @bbtkd: Lucky Seventeen, a barrel aged stout from Sawyer in Barleywine/Stout BIF #2

375ml bottle served in a tulip. Don't see a date on it. Got it in a Barleywine/Stout BIF #2 box from @bbtkd earlier today.

Pours darker'n a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. Basically still, a few lone bubbles float around before expiring unceremoniously. Smell is big, rich, boozy. Vanilla and chocolate syrup, char and molasses. Straight up cocoa powder, with a background maple syrup vibe.

Taste is intense. Boozy. Sweet but not cloying, dark chocolate and vanilla cream, bourbon. Horehound, maybe cola.

Mouthfeel is thick, sticky, a bit on the heavy side -- just a touch of carbonation would help a lot. Overall, this is an excellent beer.

 

Still on my overnight schedule, so may stay that way until DST next week. Tomorrow may be a wild card, but today is the first of two planned 2023 Eclipse Stouts I picked up at Woodman's last July. Guess I could have dropped these in the Cellaruary thread.

First exposure to this series (2017) was bottles purchased in a nice Local Option to go sale at the start of the first of many government lockdowns here in Chicago. Really loved the honey aspect, don't think these feature honey based on the bottle notes, but hoping for a similarly great experience.

FiftyFifty Imperial Eclipse Stout - Garrison Brothers' Bourbon Barrel (2023)

4.33/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5



3/1/25 - (Bottle - Home) (Chicago, IL) Bottle Notes: Purchased store temperature at Woodman's Kenosha on 7/21/24 for $19.96 including tax. Refrigerated upon returning home before opening this morning. 16.9 oz bottled in 2013, more specifically April 17, 2023 based on social media release day posts. 12.5% ABV, serve in a snifter, enjoy at 50-55 F. 2023 Eclipse Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. Garrison Brothers bourbon Barrel. Imperial Stout aged in Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Small Batch Bourbon Barrels. Proudly brewed and bottled by FiftyFifty Brewing Company in Truckee, California.

Now in its 16th vintage, 2023 Eclipse is our rich Imperial Stout aged to perfection in whiskey and spirit barrels. All Eclipse starts with the same base beer bringing hints of dark chocolate, espresso, and a smooth complexity, with each barrel treatment delivering its own unique character after a minimum of 180 days of aging. Garrison Brothers Bourbon Barrel is aged exclusively in Texas Straight Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey barrels.

Appearance: Poured about 40 % initially into a small snifter, yielding a pitch black base and brief creamy white tan head that leaves a creamy with partially large bubbles around the rim, faint thin lacing in rare spots, and a razor thin cover over most of the base. 4.25

Aroma: Waited 20 minutes to warm, resulting in a very nice blend of a roast malt yield, and chocolate fudge, backed well by a smooth bourbon. Mild plus strength, higher enjoyment. 3.75

Taste: Stronger flavor though consistent with the aroma. A tug of war between the rich chocolate fudge and roast malt base, with a backing caramel, toffee and butterscotch which may derive from the base, whiskey or both. Whiskey turns from smooth to stronger as this warms. Really enjoying. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Drinks too easy for the 12.5% ABV. Creamy rich and decadent full body, negligible carbonation. Leans sweet plus, but within proper range. Toffee roast malt chocolate fudge with a bourbon topping finish. Really decadent. 4.75

Overall: This is a very good BA stout. Really like the base, like the bourbon at times. The luxurious mouthfeel is my primary takeaway. Only dislike was the wax bottles, but worth working through it to reach the contents. Well done as usual with this Eclipse release. 4.5

 

Good day BAs! Thanks @mactrail for opening the bar!

Today's New Breakfast Beer is a cross-post with WBAYDN, received from @Whyteboar in Barleywine Stout BIF #2:



Sumo Sumatra Imperial Stout from Austin Brothers. 12 fl oz can. Received from @Whyteboar in Barleywine and Stout BIF #2. Received 22/02/25, reviewed 01/03/25 (Review 3458). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Bottom of can stamped “10-27-2023 PACKAGED.” Stored at 39 degrees F at home. Served at 55.5 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 58.4 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Amber brown (SRM 18), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, red at the edges.
Head: Large (4.3 cm, aggressive center pour), caramel. High density. Short retention, leaving a 0.6 – 0.7 cm crown fed by carbonation, and a rocky, complete cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Chocolate and coffee. No hops, no yeast, no ethanol (11.4 % ABV, as marked on label), no bourbon, no barrel. No disulfide or diacetyl.
Flavor – 3.75 – Begins with chocolate, very slightly bitter, no coffee. No yeast, no hops, no ethanol, no vanilla. No disulfides, no diacetyl. Weak gastric warming.
Palate – 3.75 – Medium; creamy; soft carbonation.
Style: Follows the loose style guidelines as condensed by BA.

Final impression and summation: 4 Cocoa comes through, but the coffee and vanilla seem to have faded away – I expected bolder flavors, particularly from the coffee. This is very easy drinking, almost a lawnmower beer, but probably not a good idea at the ABV.

Rating 3.88, rDev -5.8%

 

Boulevard 35th Anniversary

Appearance: Dark ruby, minimal head.

Smell: Wood, some dark fruit hiding in there.

Taste: Moderate sweetness, then a mix of caramel, woodiness, and mild dark fruit. The wood sticks around along with the caramel for a coating feel and lasting finish.

Overall: Boulevard's barrel-aged beers can be a mixed bag in my opinion, but I like this one pretty well. Kind of goes like an English barleywine, lots of caramel, lots of wood from the barrel. Congrats to them on 35 years!

 

Storm Watch from Small Pony Barrel Works

Poured a 473ml can into a tulip. A one finger fine tan head on a hazy dark amber red. The head diminishes to a fine layer. Lots of fine lacing.

Mild brett and lime in the nose. Ginger is apparent. Tastes of lime and ginger up front. Very clean flavours but somewhat overpowers any malt flavours. A long mildly tart finish. Some ginger and spice.

Medium light body with good carbonation. Overall an interesting moderately sour Wild Ale. As a play on the Dark and Stormy cocktail it works quite well.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

 

I love me some ginger in the right bwee when done right. Sounds like a neat one.

 

Ommegang Belgian Essence - a 8.4% tripel. Thanks to @TCgenny for this beer.



From a bottle, the body pours a golden amber with good fluffy white head and light lacing.

Aroma has a mix of floral and clove along with Belgian yeast. Delightful.

Tate follows nose and offers a nice fruit element. Pears and melon. A wee trace of bubblegum and a bit of funk at finish, which dried up quickly.

Mouthfeel is good, soft with good carbonation.

An easy drinking tripel offering as its name implies an essence of a belgian beer wrapped in a fruity Hefeweizen.

 

Founders KBS Double Oaked (Imperial Stout brewed with chocolate and coffee, aged in bourbon barrels, and then aged on fresh oak). My first stab at this one. Been a minute since I've had a KBS.

Pours pitch black into the snifter with two fingers of a dense and creamy mocha colored head that dissipates slowly. 4.5

Aroma is typical KBS, but with a higher presence of oak and bourbon spirit. Getting coffee, some milk chocolate, cocoa powder, bourbon spirit, charred oak tannin, some vanillin, roasted malt, some caramel. 4.25

Taste follows the aroma well, bringing big charred oak, coffee, bourbon spirit, vanillin, plenty of bakers chocolate, slight caramel, dark chocolate fudge. The additional oak tannins dry out the beer more than your typical KBS. 4.25

Medium body. Creamy, slick, slightly sticky. Quite dry due to both the oak tannin and alcohol. 4.0

Overall this is a solid variant and is exactly as advertised. The additional oak leads to a drier take on KBS, which lends itself more to showing off the char, roast, and bourbon spirit of the beer. 4.25
Overall: 4.24

 

Eredita Double Hoot DIPA (Citra/Riwaka). My first experience with this brewery. Brewed through Twelve Percent in North Haven, CT.

Pours a hazy golden orange color with a finger of off-white head that dissipated fairly quickly. Tons of floaties. 3.25

Aroma is big ripe navel orange flesh and peel, apricot, funky diesel, tangelo, and some grapefruit. 4.0

Taste is ripe navel orange, tangelo, pink grapefruit, orange and grapefruit peel, diesel, nectarine, resin. 4.25

Medium body. Soft, chalky, oily. Dry with a solid hop bitterness. 3.5

Not a fan of the floaties and the chalky feel, but the aroma and flavor are quite nice. Enjoyable stuff. 4.0
Overall: 4.01

 

Side Project Brewing Morning Vibes. An imperial stout with barrel-aged maple syrup and coffee beans. The look is super thick. It poured pure black and soupy, with zero foam, but then some brown bubbles began to develop. The smell is strong with maple syrup. Coffee follows, along with chocolate and vanilla, but maple syrup takes over. It smells delicious. The taste is very strong with maple syrup. It is quite sweet, but too sweet. Coffee is present, and it finishes with a wave of chocolate. It is delicious. He mouthfeel is what makes this beer stand out. I can't think of a thicker stout. It pours like syrup, and it coats your mouth like syrup. It is silky, thick, and lucious. Overall, maple syrup can be difficult to dial-in properly when added to a beer. In this case, the maple syrup flavor is strong, but not too strong. It makes for a delicious sweet breakfast treat. It is perfect for a cold winter morning.

 

Yes. I am not generally a big fan of fruit or vegetable additions to beer, but this one works. Quality ingredients really matter.

 

I have found that there is quite a bit of batch variation on the heat levels in Mexican Cake.

 

Three Floyds Brewing Pillar of Beasts. A barleywine brewed with coconut and salted caramel, and aged for 12 months in bourbon barrels. The look is apple cidar reddish brown, with floaties of some variety. There is a ring of off-white foam. The smell is equal parts coconut and caramel, with chocolate and bourbon emanating from the depths. The taste is quite unique. The caramel and coconut flavors fight for control. Chocolate, vanilla, and pretzel's music hits, and they run down to the ring to join the chaos. Bourbon jumps out of the audience with a chair. The flavors don't seem to blend together, they wrestle for dominance, but in an exciting and unique way. The mouthfeel is syrupy, silky, and smooth, with light-medium carbonation. Overall, this is quite a unique barleywine experience. The caramel and coconut flavors battle for supremacy, which creates a memorable experience, but I don't think I will seek out a beer that blends them together in this fashion very often. I do like this beer. It tastes good. But a single of it is all I need.

 

Red Rock Ono BBA Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV. Pours black with a three-finger medium-brown head that left great lacing. Aroma is bourbon, coconut, and coffee. Taste follows, plus vanilla, with a pleasant bourbon burn, slightly sweet, slightly bitter. Mouthfeel is slightly dry, overall excellent.

4.27/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This is another great beer shared by @NorsemanOne in a Stout/Barleywine BIF box.

 

Enjoying time off before total knee replacement surgery on the 12th of March with 4-6 weeks recovery time afterwards. A lot of prepping and freezing meal portions with the freezer now almost full.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47666/719543/



500 ml bottle
Brewed May 2023
Bottled May 2024

Moderate pour yields a nearly one inch white head over a golden body with some lacing.

Nose of earthy funk, oak and a bit of citrus.

Taste mirrors nose fairly closely with slight sour citrus (grapefruit) giving way to an oaky and quite earthy, refreshing finish.

Nice full mouthfeel with medium carbonation.

Overall, a fine offering from Albany, VT and should not be passed over if you see it out in the wild!
Happy hunting!!

Cheers!!!