New Beer Weekend #41

Today's new beer comes courtesy of @Victory_Sabre1973 as part of NBS BIF#13. This one has stayed in the main fridge since it arrived, as I knew I wouldn't have the discipline to resist drinking it for long.

This is Rubescence, from Eponymous Brewing Co in Brookings, SD. Bottle 125 out of 600.

3.95/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a vibrant red that settles into a nice burgundy color once in the glass. An inch or so of fizzy, short-lived head. Aroma is raspberry forward, but without going over the top. Smells delicious. Taste is pleasantly nuanced. Raspberry is definitely there, but it's not imbalanced. The vanilla, which I didn't pick up on the nose is definitely there on the tongue. While I'm not sure vanilla is a flavor I've sought out in a sour, it adds an interesting dimension. Carbonation is a little less than I would have expected. Overall, an enjoyable beer.

Thanks, James!

 

Saint Arnold 2020 Cognac Barrel French Press Imperial Porter, 9.3% ABV; 3.87 overall

Pours a chestnut tinged mahogany with one finger of tan head. Traces of lacing & zero head retention

S: Some Brandy boozeyness & coffee, a little chocolate late

T: Follows the nose, some plum & dark chocolate up front. Dry roastyness & a little Baker's chocolate as this warms, plus a little leafy hop & fig. Finishes with with a hint of booze, roasty dryness & coffee, plus some vanilla late to the party

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation

I would never guess this as the ABV. I feel like this doesn't really deliver on the barrel aspects & the coffee should be more pronounced

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass not sure when it was canned but guessing a little over 2 weeks ago. Pours a very hazy yellow with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves scattered lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Aroma papaya, peach, pineapple, apricot, and grapefruit rind really pleasant. 4.25

Taste follows papaya, peach, pineapple, apricot, and pink grapefruit really balanced. 4.25

Mouthfeel is big, gentle carbonation true to the style, not sticky or dry, and at 10.6% loaded with flavor but the alcohol is well hidden and very easy drinking. 4.75

Overall @jzeilinger has a nice local brewery in his town, look forward to trying more from this place my friend. Excellent NETIPA in my opinion. 4.25

 

Happy Sunday all! Today I'm drinking an old beer that I received in a trade from someone in the northwest about 4 or so years ago, With Friends Like These, a wild grape ale fermented in oak with late harvest Muscat grapes, brewed by De Garde in collaboration with Jackie O's.




750ml bottle pours a lightly hazed golden yellow orange with a creamy white foam head that sticks around with good retention.

Smells a bit dusty, mild funk, floral, some sweet wine grapes, juicy apricot and citrus notes, oak, toasty hay, hint of barnyard, bready crackery malts, moderate strength of aromas, not too pungent and strong smelling.

Tastes pretty sour and puckery, tart apricot, peach jam stone fruit notes, bit of orange citrus, lemon acidity, toasty hay, dry oak, peppercorn spice, pale bready crackery malts, trace of vanilla, some dusty floral earthiness, pretty complex and bold with some sweetness pairing with the sour acidity, almost some tropical notes as it warms up, lot of orangey and apricot flavors, jammy sugary grapes, beer is definitely sour but the sweetness from the Muscat grapes help balance out the tartness and give it an almost juicy taste.

Feels medium-light bodied, juicy, bit of creaminess with moderate high carbonation, finishing fairly dry.

Overall this is a really nice oak aged wild ale with Muscat grapes. The several beers that I've tried from De Garde through shares and trade have all been excellent. Now that the weather is starting to warm up around here I'll be digging into some more old sour bottles that I've been holding onto for too long. Cheers everyone, and happy New Beer Weekend!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. @Roguer hit me hard this week with a ginormous box. Based upon his post in the BIF thread one of the more intriguing offerings was Lord Grey, an "Earl Grey Tea Sour Ale" from Three Taverns Craft Brewery in Decatur, Georgia. First, I really like the can art. Lord Grey reminds me of a character in Yellow Submarine. It pours a cloudy yellow-orange color. The thin, ecru-colored head dissipated almost immediately. I like the smell, which boasts orange peel, lemon, and subtle but distinct tea leaves. The taste opens with tart, sour orange and lemon peel and I can easily taste the Earl Grey tea. At the back end the initial sourness is nicely balanced by sweeter fruit and honey. It's like Earl Grey with a teaspoon of honey. The mouth feel is lite, crisp, and clean with moderate carbonation and it drinks very easily at 5% ABV. I agree with those BAs whose overall rating is greater than the individual categories. Lord Grey is imaginative, well-executed, and fun to drink. Thanks Andrew for the opportunity to try it!

3.91/5 rDev -4.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Back for another round, and, again, thanks to @woemad

Homegrown Beer Release #6 - Hazy IPA - Bale Breaker Brewing - 7.1% ABV

This is good. I am having a tough time pulling out individual flavors and aromas, but I do like the smell and flavor of this beer. It is good.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31389/542531/

3.81/5 rDev -8.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a murky, hazy, dank looking orange color. This beer has a nice, fluffy looking 2 finger white head. The head has good retention, and there's some nice lacing clinging to the side of the glass.
The nose is a nice tropical aroma. I am having a tough time pulling out individiual aromas, but I'll say that they all work together, and smell good.
Taste - Like the nose, I'm having trouble pulling out individual flavors from the hops. I do get pineapple, and am getting more, that I can't pin down.
The body is pretty good. There's a bit of a juicy element here. The hops linger in my throat.
I am enjoying this beer.


I'll be back for at least one more later.

 

Other day shopping beer guy at the store said this was one of their favorite Belgian pales so I picked it up to give it a try. I will say it is good and has some nice big flavors it is hard to say that this is better than Orval.
3.96/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

330 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- A clear amber with a three finger white head.

S- Apple, pears, some breads malts, slightly herbal, a little earthy. Mildly tart apple and pear notes dominate the nose.

T- Tart, apples, pears, some sweet bread, a little herbal and earthy, more balanced than the nose.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A solid Belgian Pale Ale, definitely on the fruity/tart side but not in a bad way.

Cheers!

 

Finally getting to the mystery beer from @2beerdogs's amazing second NBS BIF #13 box. The shape and weight of the bottle indicate Bottle Logic, but the cap is strategically blacked out, so I can't be totally sure, especially given some of the other shenanigans in this BIF so far. The somewhat cryptic message on the wrapper seems to hint that there might be a Mexican/Spanish dimension to this beer; let's see what's what:



Pour is a deep, dark brown, nearly black with a thinnish but persistent cocoa head. Swirling produces viscous, oily legs that snail their way down the side of the glass, definitely characteristic of many Bottle Logic stouts. Sometimes people use "brownie batter" to describe taste; in this case, it works for the appearance. It has my mouth watering, even before smelling. Aroma is pretty wild, lots of cinnamon, chocolate, and a prominent barrel, but it might not be bourbon. I'm letting it warm a bit before sipping, and a little coffee starts to emerge on the nose. Again, the relative balance and restraint read Bottle Logic all the way. Still can't figure out this barrel, though. First taste is a swirl of cinnamon, vanilla, and . . . tequila (bearing out the wrapper's message)? I'm getting that more on a bracing, top-of-tongue aftertaste, although there's still a somewhat bourbon-y warmth as it goes down. As it warms, the cinnamon starts melding into coffee and chocolate more complexly, with vanilla remaining on the tongue after the rest slides down. At this point, I'd bet almost anything this is a Bottle Logic stout, but not one I've tried before . . . this is just how BL rolls, somehow incredibly subtle and bold at the same time, with no one flavor muscling out the other. Mouthfeel follows through on what it looks like: rolling, round, almost chewy, with the mildest of effervescence. Altogether, it gets more enjoyable, more "fun" to drink as it goes, which may be a result of drinking 11%+ ABV.

If this isn't Bottle Logic, I'm going to turn in my BA card. Let's see . . .



Ha! Bottle Logic Transmit in Color BA Cafe de Olla Stout, aged in tequila and bourbon barrels! (And 14.25% ABV!) Gotta say, this is in a completely different league from the BCBS version from a couple of seasons ago, way more subtle, dimensional, and "Mexican" tasting. It's more than just the tequila barreling, which is surprisingly well-balanced. It's one of those beers that could have gone wrong a lot of different ways, but leave it to Bottle Logic to pull it off masterfully. Just a stunning beer, which I'm honored to have tried. Thanks, Derek!

 

From tea to coffee. Another offering from @Roguer: Rêve, a coffee stout, from Parish Brewing Louisiana. This is very well-crafted and packs considerable flavor and mouth feel for 7.2% ABV and a 12 oz. bottle. Poured into a stout glass at 57°. An oily black pour with a modest, creamy, light khaki-colored head and thin sheen of lacing. It smells of burnt coffee coffee grounds, earthy char, a whiff of tobacco smoke, and subtle vanilla. The initial taste offers freshly-brewed coffee with vanilla cream and sugar. But it finishes with the bitterness and acidity of burnt coffee and charred nuts. The two extremes balance each other well and this stout grows on me as I sip it. The mouth feel is rich and smooth and surprisingly creamy. The carbonation level is lite to moderate and it drinks very easily. Overall, Rêve is an absolutely top flight coffee stout. It deserves its lofty rating.

My rating is bullseye on the average. Trust me, I lack the math skills to achieve that intentionally.

4.43/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5.

 

Time for another new beer.



Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Pale orange body color, quite dark a bit but not totally hazy or turbid looking. Odd head creation, about three fingers but incredibly soapy and macro looking in appearance and retention. Scattered lacing, and thin looking in looks for an IPA.

First reaction on the nose is odd. Some notions of juiced up hop, hits slightly tropical pineapple but my first experience and words that comes to mind is "funny". There's this very odd sensing almost diacetyl butter "like" aroma but something more peculiar, almost a sweet slickness that's hard to put into words.

Palate is a real bizarre mix. Extremely wet and watery body, worse than session IPA character which I would not be so critical about if it was a session IPA. Mid palate is dry almost burning grain, with a bland and bitter hop profile, that tastes mostly of dried out dirt and dust. Faint finish of orange, and a real distracting pine heat that comes out more like burnt wood. Exceptional dry flavored, weak bodied, chalky finish, and certainly not juicy.

You know what this almost reminds me of? A No alcohol IPA I had recently. This thing while drinkable doesn't come across like anything it is advertising and just unfortunately tastes lousy.

look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2 | Total 2.57/5

Really odd. I rarely write poor reviews but this one unfortunately stands out.

Cheers!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A sunny and warm-ish day (about 60) here in the Fourth Corner. Long work day yesterday, and maybe jury duty this week. I'm shocked they called me, they must be running out of warm bodies.

First up is one of a series of beers from Stoup Brewing in Seattle, Please & Thank You IPA. Now, nowhere on the label does it tell what separates this from others in the series, other than the word Please above the date. The label tells us to visit their website. OK. See if y'all can figure this out: https://www.stoupbrewing.com/

Anyway, the beer is solid enough:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33525/547344/

 

The best non-BA coffee stout I've ever had, and right up in the top three including BA stouts.

 

Weird day. Had to dig the hole for my old cat Lucy. I like getting everything ready for when the time comes, Which is any day. Sorry to be a downer but at 19 plus years thats pretty freaking old for any domestic animal. We all know its hard to say goodbye to those companions though....
Lets get to more positive things. I think I missed last week so this week I have Exhibit 'A' Demo Tape DIPA DDH with Nelson and with Gewurztraminer grape juice added.
High hopes for this one as a Nelson Lover. Canned 3/30
Pours a hazy amber/gold with a voluminous eggshell head that has great retention and leaves tons of Queen Annes lacing. Good start but....
Aroma is well, lacking for what I would expect from this hop. Pineapple stands out with very subtle notes of grass, white grape and passionfruit. Im not getting any of that gooseberry/kiwi I was expecting. Bummer.
Taste follows with overipe sweet tropicals, sweet grape and malt. Its almost like they added Boones Farm to a beer. There is a little bit of drying bitterness in the finish - a tad of grapefruit peel.
Feel is medium bodied, soft, low tiny carb, pretty unnoticeable 8%.
Jeez. Not going to spend alot of time on this one. Disappointing to say the least and I bought the 4pk. If youre a Nelson lover let this one slide. Not sure what happened here. They cant all be great! Cheers.

 

@Roguer mentioned in the BIF thread that you're a big fan of Rêve.

 

I agree 1,000%. That beer is the shizzle in my dizzle.

 

I'm sorry for the loss of your pet. They are special parts of our lives.

 

I got my jury duty notice last year for late June and then they delayed it a year because of the pandemic. I got a notice a few weeks ago saying that on June 27 I was expected in a city that is far away that I never go to that I have to transfer 2 or 3 times by train to get to, so I got it moved to a closer location for next year. I'm sure a lot of people don't want to go inside the courts right now to sit around for hours just to be told to go home, it's a waste of time honestly, if something needs to be done then call some qualified people lol. Jury Duty sucks. Cheers!

Sounds like a cross version of Trillium Dialed In, Nelson which gives a more crisp Sauvignon Blanc tropical white wine note, and then Gewürztraminer which is a sweet dessert wine grape, not a very good pairing with Nelson I think, better with something like Citra with sweet peach orange mango flavors. Exhibit A makes some good beers though. Cheers!

 

I’m doing a little fridge cleanup, so I’m going to stray from the IPA Fest beers and enjoy a couple of NBW BIF #13 beers, plus a beer from my beer sensai, which was hand delivered a couple of weeks ago.

This first beer is courtesy of @larryi86. It is magnificent, as is the glass courtesy of @BBThunderbolt in a BIF long, long ago.





4.42/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a golden straw color with with the slightest smidge of haze and a sudsy white head. The nose is a subtle lemongrass note and loads of bread - like a bakery of bread aromas. Wow.

The lemongrass is both forward and significantly more prominent on the taste, and it is complemented beautifully by the bready malt flavors. The lemongrass flavor imparts a nice amount of bitterness that lingers well after you take a drink - this tastes like a beer for a LOOOONG time is the best way I can put it.

The mouthfeel is fairly crisp, per the style. What a fantastic beer this is by a world-class brewery.