New Beer Weekend #294

Epochal - Aiken Drum, Scottish stock brown ale hopped with Amarillo

375ml bottle. Best before 04.03.2028. Bought it at Jubilation in Albuquerque yesterday.

Pours a brassy amber color, maybe a bit darker than that, smallish head and not a lot of carbonation. Head is quite dense, settles around two or three millimeters. Smell is kind of tart -- lots of carbonation, Lots of wood. Lemon, lemon rind.

Taste is quite tart and woody, bright lemon. There's a lot going on, but it's hard to describe. It fits more into sour beer territory than most ales. Lots of oxidation but not unpleasant. Grain, old hay.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, smooth, fairly still. Interesting and good, but not sure exactly what to compare it to.

 

Polotmavé Pivo 13º
5.5% Czech amber by Noble Beast



Poured from a pint can, the body is a clear amber. Very small head with no lacing.

Aroma is a light caramel malt with earthy hops. The taste is a good balance of malt and medium hoppy bitterness. Body is mid-weight. At finish the bitterness slowly trails off.

Mouthfeel is average with good carbonation. Upon warming, mouthfeel is a bit sticky.

A solid if unspectacular amber. A boost in malt flavor and body would be beneficial.

 

Hey BAs! Tonight’s new beer comes courtesy of Tavour - Equilibrium’s “BA Peanut Butter PI”, an imperial stout aged 22 months in Weller barrels, with dry roasted peanuts, peanut butter and chocolate covered peanuts, Virginia peanuts, Vanuatu vanilla and cacao nibs. A recent Tavour purchase:



At 58° pours black with ruby edges; tight dark tan head; poor cap retention with small islands of micro dots; thin ring; no lace; thick legs. Roasted peanuts nose; a hint of cacao. Peanut butter entry; some chocolate; not much bourbon nor vanilla; semi sweet. Viscous feel; heavy minus body; light carbonation; mild burn on tip of tongue from alcohol; some mouth warmth from 17% ABV; thick, but not adjuncty. Overall, if you like peanut butter stouts this beer delivers; chocolate fudge brownie with layers of heavy peanut butter; I was looking for more bourbon, but overall a delicious beer.

4.25 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5
Score: 4.4 rDev +1.15

A beer I would gladly drink again. Cheers y’all!

 

4.01/5 rDev +0.2%

look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 ounce can dated 3-3-26 into a snifter at 46.1 degrees F.

Appearance- Deep gold, mildly hazy, white sudsy head, average head retention, slightly below average lacing.

Aroma- Clementine, peach, pineapple, mango, bubblegum, between weak and medium strength of scent.

Flavor- Clementine, pineapple, pith, bubblegum, slight pine, medium strength of flavor.

Mouthfeel- Medium body, average carbonation, moderately creamy, moderately bitter, moderately mouth warming, mildly mouth coating, soft.

Overall- Deep gold with mild haze, average head retention and slightly below average lacing. I expected this beer being labeled an “Imperial Hazy IPA” to be much more hazy. The bouquet was a mix of clementine, peach, pineapple, mango and bubblegum with an intensity on the weaker side. The flavor was a mixture of clementine, pineapple, pith, bubblegum and slight pine at medium strength. I couldn’t taste any peach or mango, but I did get them in the aromatics. The beer had a medium body with moderate creaminess, bitterness and mouth warming properties. Overall, this beer was enjoyable, but I would consider it at precisely the average mark for the style.

 

Alright, didn’t plan on having a second new beer but breaking my patterns as of late. One just excited because it is a new Troegs seasonal but two as a celebratory beer; and a perfect Sunday night sipper.

Took the boys out into the woods behind my mom’s house in hopes of finding some antler sheds. We’ve never found any but I know now is the right time, I knew our chances were slim to none, we went in just looking for adventure in unmarked woods.

Found tracks and game trails right away but we were stopped not far in, too much mud and briar…slowly we took our time enjoying the scenery on our way back out and it is like @LeRose said yesterday “- kids are the best at finding stuff so maybe fortune will be with the younger eyes. You never know…”

Oldest stops on our way out by this small little drainage stream, about a 1-2 feet wide, and says “look at that leaf it’s so cool,” it was indeed unique it looked like leather and it was on top of a stick like a flag. I squat down to get a closer look, I just happen to look down and see something poking out of the water…I reach in, and in the unlikeliest of places I pull out a beautiful little yearling, or so, shed; smiles all around, we were all shocked; the way we found it is just such a twist of fate. Youngest walked out of the woods with it like a golden treasure.

We were on a high so we went into the woods somewhere else with better acces and found all the game trails and lots of bedding areas, explored for close to 45 more minutes with no luck but so much fun watching them explore and hunt, what a fun special and exciting day for the Fisher boys.

Now this, a beer fit for a beautiful Sunday evening as we metaphorically gaze into the work week to come….

Troegs - Night Gazer (Extra Stout 7.1%)



Pours so quietly and smooth; deep dark brown, a behemoth of a perfectly browned head slowly towers then condenses into a thick silky smooth cap with substantial staying power, beautiful lacing present.

Nose is deeply roast filled; tobacco ash and licorice, unsweetened chocolate, or cocoa powder; stem like hop character lurks and pokes through from time to time; maybe a touch of abv sinus clearing.

Taste, oh yea; this is a rich hugely roast forward and sticky beer, this has wow factor for me...deep roast, intently bitter chocolate, touch of licorice on the finish with good old classic american hop chacter; there is no grapefruit per se but its got that sort of bite on sticky earthy finish.

Medium-high body; has a lusciousness to it, smooth; low carbonation, great hop stickiness, smacky and nicely bitter; lingers like an espresso pull with hop cone.

I'm not big on big stouts; but this, this beer is about perfect as far as stouts go, just all around; it is big, bitter, hoppy, and just so smooth and luscious to a degree; that finish, just beautiful, seriously espresso pull with a hop cone thrown in.

I love Storm King but I'm too weak to weather that storm, this beer is absolute perfection in the style for me. So well done Troegs...

@JackHorzempa
@thebeers
@hillind

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Alright everyone, I couldn't think of a more beautiful beer to sip this quiet unseasonably warm and spring like evening. Sometimes, the stars align on a given day...just like the label.

Thanks for entertaining my musings if you read this post, I love you all and look forward to choosing what to purchase and share next weekend.

 

Beautiful story, my friend. Treasure.

 

Great story!!
Keep taking those kids outside
Cheers

 

Love this story. Thanks for sharing it, Jon. Magic is where you find it. The beer sounds excellent too. Proper.

 

Thanks you; sometimes the stars just align and this beer is the icing on the cake.

PS… @snaotheus and @vurt have you two ever met up in Albuquerque? Seems like both of you are there quite often.

Don’t worry @SABERG our kids will always feel at home in the woods, dirt and mud.

 

Mexican Sotol Barrel Aged Pentuple 2023
15.4% Belgian Tripel by Hoppin’ Frog



Poured from tap at the breeery, the beer is a handsome brown-orange. Neither head nor lacing.

Aroma is a mix of clove, sugar, and fruit. Tate follows nose with added elements of a light Mezcal like smokiness and Candi sugar. Apples and pears are other flavors that work with the booze. I had hopes of a more aggressive alcohol presence but the uber heavy malt is a difficult foe.

Heavy mouthfeel with light carbonation.

An interesting variant of their Pentuple but likely not enough interest for me to try this version again.

 

I was expecting my next beer to be very different from my first, but when I got to the Horse Brass Pub all 3 barleywines I wanted to try were gone. Ah well. These things happen.

Instead, I rode the bus down Belmont and came to the re-opened ForeLand Beer taproom, where I enjoyed a pour of cask-conditioned brown ale. I suspect @jonphisher would have liked this one.

ForeLand Country Mile Brown Ale
Collaboration with Heater Allen Brewing

(No picture, unfortunately. The bartender is an old friend I hadn't seen in a while, and we had a bit of catching up to do.)

Brown-amber body with pale orange highlights and a thin tan head that leaves no lacing. The nose is a tasty combo of roasted malt, whole wheat toast, and brown sugar. The flavor follows faithfully, with roast malt leading the way, wheat toast behind, and brown sugar lurking underneath. There are also trailing notes of earthy hops, molasses, and nutty granola. Medium-bodied with gentle cask carbonation and a soft, velour-like texture.

Overall, a worthy version of a style that benefits from cask conditioning. ForeLand is good at such beers, and I'd be happy to drink this again.

 

I’m there…haha…sounds like an awesome beer. One day hopefully I make it back out there. You can be my official Portland brewery guide.

 

Count on it! I will hand you a Trimet transit pass and then we will be off and running.

(Offer stands to anyone else reading this thread!)

 

We got some major cleaning up done on stored foodstuffs today. We cook lots of stuff and can get carried away on ingredients that end up one and done, we never quite use up, or frankly forget we have. Wasn't a ton of fun, but I do have a beer kinda in that spirit tonight (not my oldest, but certainly a forgotten back of the fridge relic).

But first- @jonphisher - now THAT is an absolutely glorious day! So good to hear about kids getting out and discovering the world around them. Finding the antler - major bonus points for cementing the memory. Especially the way it happened. And to follow it with a great sounding beer for yourself? Yeah! I am also sorry to hear about the issues at work. Sounds like a disservice to you and the students. I recall my wife being told she was teaching earth science and freshman physics one semester - not good for anybody (including me...). Hang in there.

So here we go:



Timber Ales Fields of Fall - no idea when or where I bought this biut it was way back in the beer fridge. Unreadable date code. It's a 12% AIS brewed with pumpkins, conditioned on cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla beans.

Liquid black hole in a glass - light dares not Pentwater. It's freakin' dark. Dark tan head that's foamy but has bigger bubbles trapped in the matrix. Falls fairly quickly to a ring. Not much cling but the liquid sheets the glass like oil.

The initial smell I get is vanilla, mild pumpkin pie spices, some roasted malts, sweetness, a little chocolate.

The flavor flips it a bit - I get the stout basics first with a nice dark malt, some slight char, cocoa. The additives are nicely restrained here. There's a vanilla sweetness that's not overdone and the cinnamon and nutmeg are harmoniously blended. The chocolate is lingering as a milk chocolate flavor. Cinnamon spice bit at the end and there's a vegetal squash flavor from the pumpkin but essentially a background player. Chocolate, char, and cinnamon linger quite a while. The flavors overall I'd say are intense when taken together but nothing is particularly overpowering.

A little more than medium-bodied. Moderately carbonated and somewhat creamy.

Ok...I can appreciate this beer and it is very, very nicely made. But I don't like it... Score-wise that doesn't matter as it's a 4.0 - 4.2 easily. But I don't need to have it again, although I'd certainly go for a different or BA version of the base stout.

 

Rim that glass with some salt and squeeze in some lime, you got a whale-like experience IMO. Of course, I think Corona is premium beer, so what do I know?

Enjoy your time down south!

 

Otherlands deserves a lot more attention than they get.

 

I still remember bringing back a bottle of their festbier; one I still remember vividly, a very well made beer. Nice to hear they still are something special.

 

Definitely something special. Plus, you can get pierogi if you go visit them. @BBThunderbolt taught me that.

 

Hush on up!

It gets too busy as it is.