New Beer Weekend #5

So we are back to our home base here. Really hard to return from vacation for any number of reasons.

Imgur still won't upload a picture, so that hasn't changed. It took me fforever to get Imgur to work in the first place. I have no patience for nor desire to fix it or find an alternative.

Baxter Brewing Stowaway IPA is in the Nonic tumbler. It pours a clear, deep gold color with a dense, white head. Doesn't last long, but clings like crazy.

The smell isn't much. Pine resin dominates, there is a faint suggestion of a bread malt base. Some citrus in the grapefruit firm, but hardly noticeable.

The taste is pretty much a middle of the road west coast IPA. Bitter drops Iike a hammer at the end. Citrus seems to accumulate and gets a bit numbing as it builds. Seems out of balance to me, passable but it seems unfinished.

Feel is astringent on the finish, citrus lingers and definite tingle from the hops. Bitter carries over.

This is an OK beer, but I wouldn't go look for it. It will be around 3.5 to 3.75. It is what it is supposed to be, but nothing more.

 

She's fine she just misses jumping in the pond and running circles around everyone, ha. She's in good spirits though and I think it bothers my brother and his partner more than it actually bothers the dog, ha.

After yesterday correcting a great injustice (having never tried Pfriem Pilsner before), today I'm finally cracking into a can that's been sitting in the fridge for a little while now just waiting for the right moment.
Forest King is a brown ale from Structures, located up in The City of Subdued Excitement, Bellingham.



Body is a muddy brown that is dark enough not to be able to see through unless you hold the corners up to the light. Nice little finger of greybrown foam that stays tight as a buzz crop on the top of the liquid.

Nose is the dryer ashier side of things. Some faint chocolate and char. Presents like a dry stout moreso than a brown, at least to me. But then style lines are all so arbitrary and blurred anyway.

Same story for the flavour. Dry ashy char and some dry bitter bakers chocolate. I'd call this more of a dry stout than a brown, but again, splitting hairs. It's not all one note ashy char, though, as the flavour also carries a rounded nutty backing that gives it depth and balance.

Full smoothe body that provides another counter balance to the dry force that drives most of the experience. I like it quite a bit.



Cheers all!

 

A new pilsner by a brewery known for weird IPAs and adjunct-laden stouts... let's see what they've got, shall we?



This is Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato by Branch & Blade, a Keene, NH based brewery. This beer clocks in at 5.5% ABV. The name and odd art intrigued me, and the can itself elucidates a bit of the idea behind this: "What is your lightest sandwich? It's the classic BLT. What is your lightest beer? Also the classic BLT. Some of the simplest things in life are the most enjoyable. This beer is not flashy. It isn't dry hopped. It isn't overloaded with fruit. It isn't 'hype.' What is this beer? Damn clean and enjoyable. A classic pilsner." Okay guys, go off. *claps*

The pour is, well, nice and clean looking. Pretty much totally clear golden with a nice looking head of shimmering foam that has great legs to it and seems like it'll probably have nice lace as it sips. Already impressed... B&B has made several of the ugliest "milkshake IPAs" I've ever seen, so to see them do something so clean and crisp looking is impressive.

The nose is quite floral with notes of juniper, along with some light crisp pilsner malt and a touch of grassy hops. Some hay and crackery grains along with just a hint of light orchard fruit. Yeah, smells like a nice little nouveau American pilsner. Somewhat in the German tradition if I had to pigeon-hole it, but I don't find that to be necessary as I've had plenty of New England-born pilsner beers that are quite good but don't feel quite "traditional."

Flavor profile is a little bit chewier than expected, but it's still pretty crisp and enjoyable. I get a bit of apple skin, raw barley, nuttiness, and some floral notes with an herbal and semi-spicy bent toward the finish. It takes guts for random breweries to make approachable, good-quality pilsners as they're a very tough style for smaller brewers to take on, especially when it comes to batchy NH outfits like I assumed B&B was. I guess I should give them a bit more credit, though, as this is pretty quality. It's not as lean and well-developed/defined as something from, like, Notch... but it's quite good for what it is, and that should be celebrated. I'll be buying more beer from these guys in the future now that they've proven their trustworthiness!

 

Good evening New Beer Weekenders and Advocates. Happy to post for my first time here in several weeks, including since the move from NBS to NBW. Actually, it has been over a month since I reviewed a new beer.

I knew that when @jkblr sent me this beer I would save it to post here with a full review. This is only my third beer from Jackie O's and it is one of favorite styles: Bourbon Barrel Aged English Barleywine.





Look: Pours dark brown from the bottle and sits black and opaque in the glass. A pinky-finger of loosely packed beige head that disappears fairly quickly, but for a thin ring around the edge of the glass. No visible carbonation. Deep, dark and void of color. I looks dark for the style.

Smell: I opened this about 20 minutes ago so it has had the chance to warm a bit. Sweet malts of dark breadiness, dark, dried fruit, including raisins and dates, milk chocolate, vanilla, toasted coconut, sticky toffee, and caramel. Nice combination of sweet malts and bourbon barrel. An excellent nose.

Taste: Oh man, this is an excellent beer. So much depth of flavor. On the tip of the tongue, a touch of alcoholic warmth with some milk chocolate and cola sweetness. Mid palate the beer opens to raisin, sweet dark bread and a lot of butterscotch. This last one seems to define the beer for me. The finish is long, and it dries out a little bit with some warmth.

Feel: Medium bodied with low carbonation. Smooth. Moderately sweet, but some great sticky sweetness on the lips. Pleasantly warming as expected and appreciated for the style.

Overall: This beer is excellent and really hits all of the notes that I want in a bourbon barrel aged English Barleywine. Deep malt flavors, nice barrel presence, sticky sweetness and warmth.

4.32/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you for the chance to try this one, Justin!

Been sipping on this for the last 40 minutes and enjoying it more and more.

 

Glad to hear that ! Hugs from Wisconsin !

 

Poured into a 20 oz giant tulip glass bottled 5/10/17. Pours a very attractive near pitch black with a solid finger sticky light brown head that leaves some thin streaks of lace, with solid retention. 4.25

Smell oaked bourbon, roasty coffee, vanilla beans, and dark chocolate. 3.75

Taste follows oaky, dark chocolate, vanilla, dry black coffee, and some boozyness. 3.75

Mouthfeel is maybe a touch above medium, gentle carbonation, a touch dry for sure, and at 12.8% ABV it is a sipper and goes down slowly. 4

Overall this was a gift and a solid imperial BA Stout, but a tad thin and a bit boozy. 2500 beer on BA and I trust I have had more like 3000. A solid milestone beer, but wouldn’t seek it out again. 3.75

 

Good Evening and Happy NBW everyone.

I'm once again skirting the rules, and going to review a beer that is not truly new to me, but new to me in the sense that I'm not just chug-a-lug-a-luging this deliciousness, but I'm actually savoring it and focusing on the review.



Weltenburger Kloster- Barock Dunkel

The beer is listed as: Lager - Munich Dunkel.

The bottle was opened and immediately poured into a dimpled stein (Hofbräuhaus). It poured a deep brown, immediately letting you know of it's malty goodness. Brown, thin, with the correct amount of carbonation (approx. 2 inches from a gentle pour with a tipped glass). The picture was taken about 20 seconds after the pour was complete...Had to get Pizza on the plate, first. Not sure how the look could get any better for the style. The head retains nicely at the start, and is pale tan.

Appearance: Score: 5.0

First impressions: Like many german beers, nothing jumps out. Opening a dunkel isn't like opening an IPA. You don't open it and say, OH MAN, THAT"S BREAD IN A GLASS! You have to get close and smell it. Everything about the pour and initial smell lends itself to being a traditional dunkel.

Smell: Not much smell, which is fine. A lot of malt, and a lot of those "lager notes," which I am struggling to describe. You just know it when you smell it. I suppose there are limited ester or yeast smells that remain, but it's nothing like a Belgian. Score: 4.0

Taste: Classic Dunkel. I'm not experienced enough with traditional German styles, or dunkel's in general to know how this compares as a munich dunkel, but within the dunkel category it is stellar. It's my favorite, although admittedly I have had few compared to say, stouts, for example. Taste is heavy on the malt, low on the chocolate (which directly stands in contrast to the Von Trapp version, which is almost like a chocolate-bar level of chocolate). Outside of these flavors, you just get some of those classic traditional lager/bready notes that I'm struggling to describe. Score: 4.75

Mouthfeel: Traditional. Thin, with the appropriate amount of carbonation. Score: 4.50

Overall, I love this beer. It's so easy drinking. One way or another, I've made sure to have at least a couple bottles on hand at all times for the past several years. I've even driven out of my way on work trips just to pick some up from stores that I know that carry it, if no one near me does. (That's no longer a problem, since we moved last year, but it used to be for years and years.). I've loved this beer since before I ever found BA. Score: 4.75

Review Score: 4.56

Review posted to BA.

 

As before, I'm reviewing a beer that is not truly new to me, but new to me in the sense that I'm taking the time to savor the beer, and review it the way that it is meant to be reviewed..



Jackie Os- Cellar Cuvee 11

The label not the bottle lists this as a cuvee of "barley wine style" beers that they brew (all BA). Despite that, it feels like there's some stout in it - and I could have sworn that the prior iteration (may or may not have been the first iteration, back in...2018 I think) included stout.

Please see my "WBAYDN" post regarding how I am only drinking half this tonight. The first half was poured into and consumed out of a snifter yesterday, the second half tonight, out of this sort of stemless wine glass. As far as I can tell, there's no difference between what I am drinking tonight, and what I drank last night. The pour has no carbonation (or almost none - perhaps not actually "still"). Poured a B-E-A-Utiful mahogany-brown (very similar to 2013/2014 BCBBW).

Appearance: Score: 5.0

First impressions: I haven't had this in awhile - perhaps almost 18 months. I loved this beer previously. During that iteration I had only purchased, I think, 6, and I ultimately ended up sharing most of them with people. Which, while I was glad, I was also pretty sad about, because it meant I only ended up drinking it twice I think, and at the time it was a favorite beer. I think my eyes probably lit up when I got the chance to try this again. The pour was right (although perhaps slightly too low carb - see taste below), the color was right, and you do get some of that BBA goodness floating up during the pour.

Smell: Not much smell compared to something like BCBBW. There's definitely bourbon, but it's more subdued by fruit and leather. There is something else. It's pleasant, but I can't pick it up. Maybe a hint of cola? Chocolate? Not quite sure. Score: 4.0

Taste: Not strictly your classic BW - but that's ok, it's not just a BW. It's a cuvee which includes several types of barley wine style brews, and a BBA quad. Taste includes berries (perhaps chocolate covered? mostly dark, but also a bit muddied), leather, and tobacco. Tobacco is perhaps a bit of a second fiddle to the leather, which is way more the star of the show. As is typical for BWs for me, after having taken a sip, if I focus on it, I can tell there's almost a dry component at the back of my palate that feels heavy with malt, which I can't scrub off my tongue using the roof of my mouth. Score: 4.75

Mouthfeel: Mostly traditional for the style. It's fairly middle of the road as far as viscosity is concerned. It's not a SP stout, and it's not a lager. It does have an oilyness to it, which can be seen in the glass. It's soft and pleasant. I think it's a little too still - I think it could have used a tad bit more carb. This almost comes off as being cellared a little past it's prime. Score: 4.15

Overall, I love this beer. It's easy to drink, and is fairly reminiscent of 13/14 BCBBW, which is a favorite. On some level, I think I'm probably rating this not just on this experience, but how I've experienced it in the past. That said, if this just had a little more carb, I feel like it would be very close to what I remember. It's a very easy to drink, not heavy BW. That's actually tough to do, but that's pretty much what JOs is known for (drink ability). The fact that it's not at the level that I remember in the past makes me question whether this is missing Brad's touch. If it's not, then it must be something about my palate tonight. Score: 4.75

Review Score: 4.53

Review posted to BA.

 

Late check-in for me. Friday involved drinking beers with several friends, to a degree that I didn't want to look at a beer yesterday.

Today, I had an IPA given to me by my friend, Jason, a few nights ago that comes from his hometown, near San Diego, and is just about his favorite. It's now available in the state to the left of mine (they opened a second brewery in Nampa) and a friend presented him with a 6er, apparently:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22610/114020/?ba=woemad#review
Canned about 4 months ago, it's a bit past it's prime, but still seems pretty good, and is probably a knockout when fresh.

 

That sure sounds like the beer brewed by Falstaff at their Ft. Wayne, IN brewery, (not "Tennesee") using the 'dba' of Great Lakes Brewing Co. (apparently a 1984 version came out of San Antonio TX, most likely brewed by Pearl, which had the same parent company, S&P, as Falstaff).

Wonder where that "5.4%" and "pale ale" info came from? Both seem unlikely. Released at the end the beer can collecting craze, the most notable feature was the different colored labels on the cans.
"Hey, Kids. Collect 'em all!"