New Beer Weekend #82

Kulshan - Red Cap. I bought this beer to taste with my coworkers, but ended up not being able to join them that day. So, I get to have it now!

12oz can served in a tulip. No date on the can that I can see.

Pours a dark cola color without much head, and what does bubble up disappears quickly, leaving a tiny meniscus. Smell is toasted grains, a little yeast, lots of nuts.

Taste is nutty/toasty/toffee, moderately sweet. Maybe even a hint of light roast coffee.

Mouthfeel is medium to light. Overall, it's pretty good.

 

@GreenBayBA - Is the Central Waters Pecan Kringle the best Kringle style beer you've had? I am not a huge fan of pastry stouts, but really liked that one, and would get it again if they release it in the future.

Also, check the Mikerphone can, perhaps it was brewed at Octopi like some of their other beers.

@jonphisher - Finally got around to trying the Duchesse recently and really liked. Cherry will be my next selection (not sure I'm going to like chocolate and cherry, @Roguer , but perhaps will give it a shot if I like the cherry. I also love Flanders beers, really hope it's a tasting thread style we tackle later this year (Oud Bruin should be a co-style).

Welcome to New Beer Sunday #886!

Pulling out a beer I've enjoyed for years, though this is the second of three "Easter Eggs" from 2020. Typically BCBS "Regular" is brewed with blended barrels, but for 2020 GI had a broader release of single whiskey barrels which were reserved in very small quantities in previous years mostly for the applicable distillers and select customers. I've enjoyed the Wild Turkey version (3.75 / 3.75 / 4.25 / 4.5 / 4.0) for New Beer Sunday 875, so here is take two eleven weeks later.

Goose Island Bourbon Country Brand Stout 2020 - Buffalo Trace



Bottle Notes: 16.9 oz bottled 9/30/20. Best by 9/28/25. 0810 BT (Buffalo Trace). 14.6% ABV. Develops in the bottle up to 5 years. Purchased Black Friday 2020, properly cellared until 11/28/21 when transferred to the refrigerated where it stayed until opening this morning.

Appearance: Two pours (main about 12 oz, the rest of the bottle follows) into a large BCBS snifter. Pitch black base, short creamy rich tan head leaves within one minute, leaving a creamy ring around the rim and nice fine tan bubble when swirling the glass. 4.25

Aroma: Let this sit at room temperature for ten minutes before diving in. Getting oak, leather, tobacco, a sweet bourbon emerges a few minutes later. Smells good, but not great, not digging the sweetness. 3.75

Taste: Tastes better than the aroma would lead, the bourbon a bit more harsh than anticipated, the heat is on as I start 15 minutes after opening. Rich roast chocolate malt follows. The oak, leather and tobacco enjoyed in the aroma are absent. As this warms further, bourbon uber alles. Getting slight coconut notes later in. It's good, but lacking the balance I've enjoyed over the years with the standard blended version, or perhaps my palate has changed over the years. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body, creamy, faint fizzy carbonation adds depth, drinks under the ABV now over 1/3 of the way in, than switches to stronger as the bourbon seems to increase and the ounces pile on. Sweet overall, both the taste components and bourbon, the sweetest "regular" I recall having. Light dryness, clean finish. 4.25

Overall: This one was mostly a one note sweet bourbon play. While I'm glad I tried, I was also somewhat let down by the Wild Turkey "Easter Egg" a few months earlier, at least in comparison to the standard blended versions sold throughout this beer's history. I am enjoying the bourbon more as I reach the 1/2 way point, sweetness decreasing, becoming smoother and more enjoyable. That said, this is a solid beer, but if given the option down the road, I'll select the blended version over the "Easter Egg" single bourbon offerings, beyond say "ticking" a new one. 4.0

First Blues Before Sunrise start to finish program in at least a month, perhaps the first in 2022. I leave you with Albatross.

 

Mrs Phisher, has been obsessed with Johnny Weir, and figure skating forever. My first intro to him was his reality show, I forget how long ago. He cracked me up then and still does now, they may have the best pairing of commentators of all time, it is great.

I’ll be curious to read your thoughts @ChicagoJ if you do try the other ones.

 

I ordered 12 x 12.7oz bottles for a cost of $141.88, plus $37.28 shipping (FexEx ACTUALLY brought it to my door, actually KNOCKED, and actually half-assed checked to see if it was the right house), plus $ 10.76 tax, for a total of $189.92 or $1.246/oz of brew, still cheaper than driving to Athens and having at least one meal on the road.

 

Down to the price per ounce. Damn! Thank you, now I gotta have that awkward “hey can I order some beer to your house?” Text convo.

 

Buckledown Clencher #7

3.89/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
by ZebulonXZogg from Illinois

I assume this is the 7th variant if Clencher, I really enjoyed the original. This poured a "hazy" pale orange, a nice cream colored head, excellent lacing. Aromas of pine and citrus were noticeable as soon as I popped the can. I was expecting a juicy & sweet NEIPA. It was fruit forward, but not to sweet and had a nice bitter finish. I didn't like it as much as the original but it was OK. I'll try any other/new varieties if see them.

 

I’m exaggerating a little. He is a good speaker, especially when it’s about science and astronomy. He does a good job explaining this stuff to kids too.

CBC radio just seems to have him on weekly weighing in on any number of things, talking about his music (terrible), politics, literature, etc.

It’s more a ‘not this guy again’ thing than a true dislike.

Cheers!

 

Well, @Roguer - finally a weekend where we can both try the same new beer. The GF bought a large can of Atomic Torpedo this week, so we will share it for comparison with each other, you, and my memory of a few other thoughts from WBAYDN (which more or less mirrored what you said in your review).

Since I also bought another beer that is an alternate take on an O.G. craft pale ale, I decided to try Double Dale's alongside Atomic Torpedo, letting the GF try them double-blind. I don't expect these to be similar in makeup, just thought it nice to share them in a single post.

Based on @Roguer's post, I expected a little more haze from Atomic Torpedo, it seems almost clear to me. The two beers are closer in look than I expected, though Double Dale's is more straw color where Atomic Torpedo is more amber. Double Dale's had better head, but I think me Atomic Torpedo pour was a bit softer.


I am getting a little bit of tropical fruit from Atomic Torpedo, but it accents the more typical west coast grapefruit pith with some pine influence. Double Dale's is relatively a little more grainy and grassy. It also has a bit of bite that seems like alcohol. Atomic Torpedo is more pleasantly aromatic of the two.

Atomic Torpedo's flavors are more neutral than the nose, to me. Like the nose, there's a hint of sweeter, tropical-evoking fruit up front. The middle is more neutral, with a bit of caramel from the grains providing the transition to the citrus pith ending. The pine seems to lie in wait until the beer starts evaporating before tickling my palate. This does seems like a tempered version of Torpedo, based on memory.

Double Dale's seems more straightforward from start to finish, initially. There is a balance of light biscuity grain and grass up front. Bitterness seems to increase throughout, but subtly at first. To me, each follow-on sip intensifies this aspect to where the beer does seems to evolve a bit more from start to finish. The bitterness also does gain a little pine wood edge to it. The citrus note in Double Dale's is more white grapefruit to lemony versus the pink/ruby to tangerine/orange of Atomic Torpedo's.

I think I prefer Atomic Torpedo just a tad more, but I could see mood dictating which I would reach for from the fridge. The GF said she liked Atomic Torpedo a little more, and thought it was "less bitey" than Dale's - with "bitey" often times meaning that she perceives an increased alcohol presence, which would be true of Double Dale's.

 

Yeah, I didn't expect a lot of haze by your description. However, the reason I mentioned it, even, is that on my own, I might not have found or mentioned it at all - this can seemed near clear to me.

Yeah, I usually see new 6ers on the shelf with a month on them. Luckily it still sells enough that I don't have to wait too long to find it with this decently fresh age. I did a mini-vertical of Dale's in last year's side-by-side thread: I believe one, three, five month as I recall, with three months being still okay. Then again, I've already forgotten the specifics, so I'm glad I documented it

 

Good day BAs! Back for my pre-Noir Alley brew, today being on from last year stored in the depths of Beer Reefer #1:




Scotch Barrel Aged BORIS from Hoppin’ Frog. 22 oz bottle purchased at the brewery, price unknown. Stored at room temperature in store and at 40 degrees after purchase. Reviewed 13/2/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated bottle, but I think it was issued in 2021. Served at 55.9 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 58.7 degrees.
Appearance – 4.25
First pour – Ruby Brown (SRM 24), nearly opaque.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When rear-lite, opaque with light penetrating only at the edges, ruby.
Head – Small (Maximum one cm, aggressive center pour), fawn, poor retention, diminishing to a one to two mm crown and no cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.5 – Roasted malt, no hops, no yeast. Peat smoke is the total aroma upon popping the cap but allowing the bottle to breathe soon allows the typical BORIS aromas to immerge. Flavor – 4.5 – Very temperature dependent – as it warms to cellar temperature, the peat becomes less aggressive and obnoxious and begins complimenting the roasted barley. Also, as it warms, the alcohol slinks into the background, pacified by the comforting temperature. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, almost creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4 After deducting 0.25 points off the top for an undated bottle. Definitely allow this one to warm up to cellar temperature, otherwise the peat smoke tastes like burning rubber. In the proper temperature range, the peat smoke smooths out and, while it never drops to the level of a Bamberg rauchbier, becomes tasty (vs testy). The base beer B.O.R.I.S. is always great.
Rating 4.1, rDev 0% (First review)

 

Ha!

Epilogue:
I poured the last couple ounces of Atomic Torpedo together with Double Dale's. It actually worked pretty well. Somehow the back-end bitterness multiplied and provided an experience a little more like a classic west coast DIPA, IMO. Interesting, since these last minute cuvées are usually fails.

 

Central Waters Brewing's Pecan Kringle Stout is my favorite kringle beer. Mikerphone Brewing's When You Say Wisconsin... was brewed in Elk Grove Village, IL.

 

Interesting -- I specifically remember trying Clencher (the original) almost six years ago and being quite unimpressed. I had no idea they had made a series out of it or named for it. I also didn't really my rDev on that beer was so negative. Maybe I got an old can or something.

I don't make it out to Chicago often anymore, but I'll have to give Clencher and its variants another shot if I ever find it on tap or in a fresh single.

 

Nice to see you embracing the lower end of the scoring spectrum

 

Couple things, first, I really hope your partner is feeling well! The one lady in our SAN (stout appreciation night) group has stomach issues after drinking a beer and must take a month off. At least. I hope and pray that your partner doesn’t suffer the same problem for both of you.
Second, you seriously know how to make a person want to try a beer! I may never get the opportunity to try it but your words made it almost like I have had it.
Cheers!