New Beer Weekend #288

Thanks for this @KP7 I've wanted to try this one ever since it was released, first the 15 pack format scared me away; though the price was insanely good, it was the gamble on having to finish 15. Then the variety packs, but I just didn't need that many beers at those times.

Not that I won't try it if a single opportunity arises but this solidifies my choice given our similar likes in beers. The fact that it was a cascade hopped lager really peaked my interest but that fact that you note it missing that crispy finish makes me sad.

 

I really like the new format and love BCBS

 

Pizza Port Bacon & Eggs

Appearance: Very dark brown, big head.

Smell: Nice sweetened coffee aroma.

Taste: Mild sweetness, then pretty strong black coffee. Medium bodied. Finishes with more dark coffee.

Overall: A single received as a gift, this is a pretty straight forward coffee porter. The coffee kind of takes over everything but even though I'm not a big coffee guy, it still works for me.

 

(This is my 2nd beer from last night, with my notes hammered into an actual review this morning.)

I'd already thought about following the Low Key Small IPA with this beer, partly because the ABV is almost exactly 4 times as high as the small IPA which preceded it. And also because @Whyteboar opened one of the stouts I sent him and I thought one good turn deserved another.



Dark Horse Plead The 5th Russian Imperial Stout

Look:
Brown-black with cola brown highlights. Strong backlighting reveals a clear, reddish-brown body with garnet highlights. The head of thick tan foam recedes to a thin ring and gauzy skin that leaves crazy lacing.

Smell:
Milk chocolate malted milk balls. Sweet but not obnoxiously so. Hints of prunes, cherries, butterscotch, iced coffee, dark chocolate morsels.

Taste:
This is really interesting (the good kind, not the faint-praise kind). The flavor starts off simple with the malted milk balls promised by the nose. There's also a little bit of char and a whispered suggestion of dark fruits from someone in the next room. Not bad, but frankly kind of dull.

But then it starts to pick up speed as the sip progresses. An excellent coffee flavor fades in, followed quickly by shadings of dark chocolate, toffee, and heavily roasted malts. Then there's a fanfare of dark fruit: some prune, a few raisins, a thoroughly unexpected and delightful hint of raspberry. The long finish leans back into earthy coffee and dark chocolate with traces of caramel, brown sugar, and roasted nuts. I also get a faint spicy note which seems to be the only real evidence of hops in this beer.

Feel:
The body is nice and chewy, and closer to full than medium. Luscious creamy texture with wooly carbonation. Mild alcohol warmth.

Overall:
This is an excellent imperial stout which seems shallow at first but grows in complexity with every sip. Slightly sweeter than I prefer, but not nearly enough to be a dealbreaker. I would definitely work this beer into the RIS rotation if it were available near me.

Thanks Craig!

 

Four Sixes Grit & Glory Brewing Amber Lager

Clear bright red gold color with quickly vanishing white cap.

Aroma of rich malt and lightly floral hops.

Flavor is malty allright, like chewing on a malt sandwich. Complementary hops riding on top all the way to the clean dry finish.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

I rank this one well for taste, feel and overall.

 

New American IPA in my glass this afternoon:

Lone Pint’s Zythophile Metal Head
American IPA • 6.7% ABV • 60 IBUs • pilsner malt • Strata hops • 1/12/26 canning date

Lone Pint made its name on a SMaSH IPA (Yellow Rose) and this Zythophile series is in essence a recreation of Yellow Rose's recipe with the same pilsner malt but different strains of hops other than Mosaic. I've only tried one other in the series (Summit hops 12 years ago), so this is my first dalliance with a Zythophile in a long time.

Incidentally, it's very fresh for me — 3 months old is typically the freshest I find most beer, so 2 weeks is practically drinking it off the line by comparison — and the hops are bouncing and popping. Green flavors, green onion, cilantro, lime peel with a biscuity malt presence that feels exactly like a Lone Pint brew. While present, the malt is not offering much sweetness, only enough to help balance out the finish. I'd suggest the malt is also giving the mouthfeel a considerable thickness.

Original review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30380/661272/?ba=Premo88#review
4.07 (+0.5% rDev)

I wanted hops, I got hops. It's very tasty, certainly on the bitter side but not to its detriment. I'm going to enjoy getting a chance to compare this fresh first can with the rest of the 6-pack over a span of weeks. In fact, I might hold back a can to see what it tastes like in 6 months just for Ss and Gs. Lone Pint's track record with me suggests it will be equally as good as can No. 1, just different.

Cheers!

 

Definitely seek out a single if you can find one. I was one of the lowest ratings (small pool thus far) and it might hit you differently. I suspect it would be far better in the summer and will likely improve as they tweak things. The more I think on it the more I think it just needed more time in the lagering tanks and LT (or their new owners) pushed it out a bit too soon to get closer to ale turnover times.

That said, I'm still picking up a Pils, Kolsch, or Fest before this one if I want a refreshing pale lager.

 

4.05/5 rDev -2.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Look: pours cloudy straw, fluffy white head, scattered lacing
Smell: coriander, orange zest, herbal, floral
Taste: coriander, orange zest, ginger, pineapple
Feel: light body, moderate carbo, prickly crispness
Overall: 5.2% abv - Pretty spicy out of the gate. Coriander and ginger dominant. Nice fruitiness of pineapple and orange zest. Wonderful floral scent came thru as it warmed. Very good new brew to me. Glad I picked it up and reviewed the #2 ranked Witbier. Cheers!

 

Next up today and probably my last new to me brew of the day was this tasty imperial coffee stout from Bottle Logic:

Red Eye November | Bottle Logic Brewing | BeerAdvocate





Still waiting on the snow we're supposed to get later to show up. Guess most will come tomorrow so if that happens, I have a feeling Monday will be a work from home or a sick day so there will be some more new brews tomorrow!

 

Jackie O's Dark Apparition, a sessionable 13.2% BA Russian Imperial from Ohio. Got this at Beer Bazaar near Hainesville.
This baby pours an almost jet black, the few bubbles created were a very dark brown. Basically, no head, no lace.
Aroma, this has almost to much. Vanilla, dark fruit, molasses, roasted malts. Flavors are similar. Not quite "chewy", smooth. This was the last one on the shelf.

I'd have another!

 

Happy Stouterday denizens of NBW!
@vurt had one of mine earlier so turnabout is fair play. It's a lower ABV stout than I normally tend to drink, but beers like this rather make me wonder if i'm missing out on some good stuff.

The pour is stout black with a just tall enough light brown head to reach the top of my imperial pint glass. The lacing is some of the best I've seen, absolute sheets remain on the sides of the glass well after finishing the drink.
The taste is excellent as well; deep malts, toasted raisin bread, chocolate and toffee, french roast coffee, and just a hint of hops at the swallow.
The feel is not bad, just expected a bit more body from the oatmeal. Still a soft and creamy feel, just doesn't have the body to back it up. But that's a tiny quibble for an otherwise outstanding stout.
OA, see above. It's outstanding. If they could figure out how to add some body to it, it would be even better.
Thanks Eric!

 

Genesee Dry Hopped Cream Ale

Thank you @Victory_Sabre1973 for starting the thread and yup, after my 4 week suspension from NBW for my lack of descriptive words about beer, I’ve learned more words than yummy, me likey, and blech.
Some say I speak for the common man. People want to know: what’s new in Genny land.
Your voices are heard, I hear you, I acknowledge you, let’s git this shit started!
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Reviewed by TCgenny from New York

3.32/5 rDev -8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

NYS garage conditioned, Wegmans approved, bought in panic for a winter storm.

Looks like this was canned 11/5 but showed up in Wegmans yesterday before the winter storm , I have had this at the experimental brew room in Rochester, then last night. Pours with a nice rich thin head that hung around a bit, body is very yellow, prolly looks better drinking from the can. Smell was nice hoppy mild. The taste I like which is mild citrus, sweet, lemony. From the crystal muddy waters of the mighty Genesee river to your finest shaker style glass , this is approved.

As a brand ambassador I say that this is a a very drinkable, tasty , light, classic. This Genny Dry Hopped Cream Ale is like my hard working wife, making a difference in the day light, and feeling like Marilyn Monroe when the lights go off!

 

Good evening, friends. Hope everyone affected by the storm is OK. We got everything battered down that needs battering and have stocked up on food. It's 10 degrees now and feels much colder. My brother in law in Tennessee was looking forward to snow, but they got mostly ice and don't have power. Going to be interesting - we haven't had significant snow here in years.

So here we go:



On the left is Goodfire's Harvest Jellies that was my wife's choice. It's very good - raspberry, cranberry, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon fruited sour. My choice is my last new Firestone Walker - 2017 vintage Bravo, an Imperial brown ale aged in bourbon barrels. It's 13.2%.

Pours a murky brown with a half inch of dense, light tan foam. Not unexpected for an 8+ year old beer curated or not... the head sinks to a ring with wisps over the surface of the glass. Laces just a bit.

Smells bourbon right from the jump. Not boozy, just bourbon-y. Woody oak and toffee, darkish bread malts, some vanilla, dark fruits and another fruitiness my nose isn't helping my identify at first, but seems like apple or pear with little warmth.

The taste follows but holy cow has this got some oak bite to it. Lots of bourbon flavor and woody oak phenolic astringency. That's followed by toffee and slight sweetness. It's fairly fruity with some fig and a bit of dark cherry plus the lighter fruit notes that do seem to be pear-like. I'm getting a bit of pine resin or maybe orange rind on the back end of the taste. More aromatic bourbon on the swallow.

Feel is light for the ABV, mildly carbonated, a little creamy Very nicely warming.

There's a whole lotta bourbon going on here and that's fine with me. As strong as that presence is there's plenty of supporting flavor going on to carry it. Suprising for a brown ale - reads more like a strong to me. I think it's past its prime a bit but I'm thinking this may have been extra-hot when fresh. As it is, I'm liking what's going on here. Low 4.0 range.

 

Good evening beer friends and beer lovers…I’m happy to be back and able to join tonight. Great morning, got up very early and got in a pre-sunrise arctic air walk that cleared my head and soul. Snow arriving overnight, it has been a trip watching and listening to people talk about it all week.

Anyway, to celebrate the occasion I have an nice dark beer. I was pleasantly surprised to find a single of this locally last week and instantly grabbed it for this here thread. I doubt it lives up to the oatmeal stout I had a few weeks ago from @vurt, which @Whyteboar coincidentally just posted, but let us find out shall we…

Sly Fox - Softly Falling Darkness (Oatmeal Stout 5.9%)



Pours dark brown, edges highlight clarity; creamy light brown head, puffy, concentrates nicely as it collapses to a nice cap; above average lacing.

Nose initially a little week, brings some dry ashy roast character and watered down char, nondescript sweet; sort of like artificial cherry or something along those lines, this will sound weird but its making me think of luden's; pleasant little coffee emerges as it warms up a bit.

Taste brings much more to the table than the nose; oat laden rich bittersweet dark chocolate, little hit of espresso on the finish; leads to lingering char in the aftertaste and retro-nasal; little bit of that cherry vibe but its weak and no where near what my nose hinted at.

Mouthfeel is two faced, it presents itself just a tad watery as it enters but then the rich full feel of the oats kicks in and it gets semi-full medium body; drinks easy, pleasant creamy carbonation coats the tongue; as the sip goes down there is a nice bitterness that bites the back of the tongue and throat.

Despite me pointing out a few negatives on this beer it is still a beer I am enjoying this evening; I think all its flaws kind of get tied back to being a tad watery; even the nose sort of gave off that vibe to me. I do love the second half of the taste and feel; I love a reasonable abv oatmeal stout, especially on such a cold evening. As expected this thing doesn't stops pretty shy of that Machine House Oatmeal Stout I mentioned, still not a bad beer but in this case I'm glad it was a single.

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Probably only one new beer for me this weekend but I'll linger and look forward to what everyone is drinking tomorrow in the snow and also...

For anyone who needs to pretend they are elsewhere on this cold cold evening: