New Beer Weekend #87

Good afternoon NBS patrons! I meant to post at least a couple of new to me beers that I have really been wanting to try, however! An annual event that was missed last year and delayed this year was actually happening yesterday, so we followed our original plan (as it normally happens in mid February) and drank solely from *his* cellar.
I speak, of course, of the Annual Christmas Tree Bonfire:

This was actually before we started throwing on any of the 35 (yeah, small count this year) trees Garth had collected.
So from his cellar we pulled 2 new to me and one not so new but dang, it was good.
The first new one was Big Bad Baptist, circa 2018, aged in Whiskey barrels and had coffee beans and cocoa nibs tossed in.

This was the only picture I got, the rest of the night got a little busy.
Poured near black with a nice mocha head and smelled of malty goodness with some interesting notes of bitterness that I couldn't define as coffee. The whiskey? Probably.
The taste was very nice, I recall reading these guys were prone to infection but this was definitely not. Slight bitter up front, very full dark fruit and dark bread flavors, I think the coffee and whiskey got together and beat up the cocoa as I never did notice it.

The second beer was BBA Old Rasputin and the one we had back a couple months ago in our vertical had sweetened to the point of being cloying. This one hadn't. Remained delicious and balanced. But not new, so moving on to the third:

Another 2108 BA Big Bad Baptist, Quad barrel, rare release with coffee, cocoa, almond flavoring, and aged in a barrel that had aged coffee beans, another that had aged coconut, and one more that aged almonds.
It was, as you might imagine, a lot like drinking an Almond Joy bar - but extra heavy on the almonds. The smell was more candy like than beer like, but the stout was just big enough to not get lost in all the decadence that had been brewed in. Definitely pastry Stout territory.

Right, stuff to do, I'll be back!

 

A second new beer (really third) to review today - Revolution’s “Dark Mode” BBA Imperial Milk Stout:



In this week’s Tavour box. Canned 12/2/21. Poured at 58°. A fizzy rocky fast tan head leaves no cap retention, ring nor lace; black body with ruby see-through; thick legs on swirl. Nose is boozy bourbon and milk chocolate with a bit of char. Bourbon, chocolate, black licorice; boozy roast malt. Full minus body, not adjuncty; light carbonation; a little alcohol bite on tip of tongue; face warming heat from 13.8% abv. Overall, an awesome BBA milk stout; mostly bourbon and chocolate, and a boozy that I like - bravo!; Revolution consistently puts out some of the best barrel aged stouts in the country, imo.

4.0 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5
Score: 4.41 rDev +1.4%

Mrs. Z got up for brunch about noon, then went back to bed…I‘ll busy myself with kitchen cleanup and laundry, and maybe I’ll drink another beer … Cheers y’all!

 

Saint Errant Creme de Vie (Imperial Stout w/ coconut, cinnamon, and vanilla). 11.1% abv. Saint Errant knows how to make a pastry stout, so have high expectations for this one.

Pours pitch black in the glass. Produced a three-quarter finger dark mocha, reddish tinge of a head that dissipated quickly. Coats the glass with a dark film as you swirl it around. 4.0

Aroma is not as impactful as you'd expect, but as it warms, it improves. Also lacks some complexity, but what is there is nice though. Get cinnamon, vanilla/marshmallow, some coconut, slight roast, some milk chocolate. 3.75

Taste is much more impactful. The cinnamon stands out the most, but doesn't dominate the beer like it has the potential to do sometimes. You're popped with the cinnamon spice and a nice dark chocolate character up front. Slight roasted malt up front as well. Moderate coconut comes through mid-palate in the form of coconut macaroon. Creamy vanilla (almost like marshmallow) shows up on the finish, which mellows the cinnamon and sweetens the chocolate character. As it warms, the coconut comes through more, which is what this beer needed. Warming as it goes down, but really no alcohol coming through. 4.25

Full body. Creamy, silky, sticky, thick. Coats the mouth. True pastry stout body and feel. 4.5

This is a solid pastry stout by a brewery that makes some damn good ones. It definitely became more complex and cohesive as it warmed. I feel the aroma could use some work and a touch less cinnamon and a bit more coconut on the palate would really improve this one, but it's still some tasty stuff. 4.0
Final Grade: 4.09

 

Greetings Fellow NBSers! A partly sunny spring morning here in the Fourth Corner, about 50 degrees, a light breeze, and trees budding out. Grabbed a sixer of my first entry tody when I was down in Mt. Vernon on Friday. I may have made a bad choice. This Migration brewing Cannonball NW Red Ale has fruit and tart aspects that I strongly suspect that the brewer did not intend:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22185/523535/

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Been slacking on posting in here the last few weeks, and I have to say sorry for that.

Now on to my new beer for this weekend.

Dark Forest - Barleywine - 10.5% ABV - New Belgium/Surly Brewing

Ok, this is a WTF beer, but not in a bad way.

Is it a sour, or a barleywine?

Well, I'd say both. It's got more of a sour up front, with barleywine on the back. I do like it, and really wonder how it will age. I do know there's more at work, and I'll snag some more to see what happens.

Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/588742/

4.17/5 rDev +3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
by Victory_Sabre1973 from Minnesota

This pours a nice amber color. There's some floaters in here, though it's not really been aged. The head is 1 finger, and off white. The head is fairly long lasting, with really tiny bubbles. The head does cling to the glass, and it really does cling like glue.
The aroma is - wait? Is this a sour? But the bottle says it's a barleywine? Wait, what? Wild and funky describes the nose, but in a good way.
Taste - I am still confused here, The flavor up front is all wild and funky - floral and earthy. The back is where the barleywine flavors kick in - toffee, caramel, malt, dark fruit. I am confused, but pleased.
The body is good, and full. There's a hint of tartness that lingers on the back, in spite of the BW flavors hitting on the back.
This is a VERY strange beer, and I really wonder how it will age? I have a feeling it will in a good way.



This may be it for this weekend, though, I may walk over to Back Shed for another new one. Not sure yet.

See you all down the road.

 

Back with an upgrade in the beer department, 7 Double IPA from 7 Seas brewing down in the South Sound. A "Traditional" ImpIPA, with plenty of malt and tons of bold hops: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20658/498608/

 

One more new beer today - BCB Fourteen Stout (2021):



Bottled 23/Sept/21. Poured at 54°. Black with tan head; no cap retention, ring nor lace; no legs. Sweet spicy fruity berries nose. Weird strong wooden bark flavor and super sweet; caramel base, and if I think about it - bourbon…mostly spicy bark flavor, no coconut, just sugary spicy tree bark. Medium plus body, smooth velvety feel; no warmth from 13.2% abv. Overall, this beer is gimmick crap; the bark is strong and off-putting in the nostrils and on the tongue; any otherwise good base flavors are overwhelmed; hard to finish…

3.75 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 3.5
Score: 3.69 rDev - 15.6%

I will not buy any more of these Central/South American special wood infused beers…expensive brews with only hype and marketing silliness to bolster the brewery’s claims…rant over…Cheers y’all!

 

Hey all! Time for a new NBW, eh? I have three new ones on deck for today. Let's start off with a doozy of a beer, shall we?



This is my first non-IPA from Green Empire out of Colchester, VT. It is a 10% imperial stout brewed with hemp, aged in gin barrels, and conditioned on chocolate. If that seems weird and like it's a lot and also probably likely to be bad (but you're also morbidly curious at the same time)... what a coincidence! Those are all of the feelings I felt when I saw this on the shelf of my local store. So, of course, being a morbid curiosity addict (well, when it comes to beer, anyway), I picked up a single can for consumption.

Special Brownie pours a decent dark-brown color with a good amount of chalky, yeasty haze throughout if I pay close attention during a slow pour. The head builds lazily and never really gets big at all, but I'd say it's a decent finger of khaki suds when all is said and done. That said, it doesn't last very long, and sinks to nearly nothing after five minutes or so, leaving behind some soapy, equally-lazy lace. Not a wonderful-looking stout, but let's see if we can pick out any of the various weird things they claim are happening here.

The nose is strong citrus, very bergamot-forward (like Earl Grey tea), with hints of herbs, brownie batter, and gooey chocolate. I'm impressed... this actually smells kinda like what you'd imagine the "wacky" ingredients list would approximate to in this style. Weird, but good. Some light hay, thyme, and even minty undertones if I inhale deeply from my glass. Sort of a cross between a rustic farm beer and an imperial stout, in a way, I guess? There's no "rustic funk," per se, but something about the herbal components + the gin barrel citrus-ness gives me a feeling of something funk-adjacent, I guess I should say.

First sip is... wow, this is good. It somehow marries the flavors in a pretty cohesive way. First off, I get a big hit of dark wheat-like malt with chocolate and roasty notes, but the roast fades quickly and is replaced by the light tang of citrus and fresh-cut herbs from the gin barrels (I assume). The finish is smooth, soft, and complex, leading to a zippy parting note that beckons another drink. I'm really impressed with this one! I thought it would be a weird mess, but it's probably one of the better strong stouts I've had lately. I like that it isn't overly-sweet or cloying like some of these big dark beers can be, especially these days, in the era of "pastry" beers. It displays a stately complexity that hides its alcohol well while pushing a few different envelopes in markedly different directions. Yeah, this is great stuff. Green Empire's IPAs have been pretty much "whatever," but they should do more stuff like this for suuuuure. I'll buy and try it all if they do. Recommended.

 

I did not get to the sour yesterday. I will start with a beer I know nothing about. My friend found it at a beer store in Oregon last month and thought it was the perfect beer for me. Needless to say, I am not a fan of these styles of beers, IPAs with fruit. Anywho, here go nothing.
Lobster and Pina Coladas.
Words Elude me on how gross this beer is. Fruit additions and hops in an IPA.
Judging the beer on the style I gave it a 3.23. It is probably four months old. My friend found it in Oregon and thought it funny and I must try it.

 

Drekker BRAAAAAAAAins Passionfruit/Orange/Guava Double Fruit Smoothie Sour, 7.2% ABV. Pours thick and opaque orange, with a four-finger light orange head that left puree residue. Nose is passionfruit, orange, and vanilla. Taste follows, moderately sweet, equally tart. Tastes like a creamsicle. Mouthfeel is thick with good carbonation, overall excellent.

4.18/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thought I was out of new beers to review, but found one more hiding in the fridge.

 

Switching to a different beer now

Rich malty complex with subtle spices make for a delightful beer to sip on during an snowy afternoon in Idaho.

 

Haven’t had time for a beer yet but wow here have been a lot of good ones so far today. @ichorNet that one certainly sounds like a pretty neat beer.

@Whyteboar I worked on a Christmas tree farm for years. We have a huge burn pile of the trees that didn’t sell. You could feel the heat from so far away. It was a scary site seeing the owner use the front loader to lift the smoldering ashes to the center of the pile as it died down.

I've always wanted to see the Sawtooth Mountains maybe one day...

 

So my hype-local brewery Little House, had their first can release in their 3yr history. Good for them. My son went to the event and came home with this beer.
I assume the name "Rare Candy" refers to a game (maybe Pokemon?) that I'm not familiar with, but I could get real familiar with this beer.


4.54/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
by woodchipper from Connecticut

Poured from a 16oz undated can, (but was purchased at a can release on 3/18/22) to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body pours as a completely opaque and bright orange. A large, and large bubble, white head tops the glass.
The aroma is musty but sweet.
Taste has mango and apricot in front but a pleasant bitterness comes near the end.
The absolute finish is a creamy tongue coating. The mouth feel is maybe the best part of this beer and I rarely see that in any beer.
One of the best beers from this brewery that puts out quite a variety of good beers for such a small operation.

 

Got the NASCAR race on, and have another new entry Monkless Peppercorn Imperial Wit. I love Wits, but it's certainly isn't a style that is necessarily improved by a making an Imperial of. I did enjoy the beer though: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37871/290278/

 

I am hiking those mountains this summer. If I get your email, I will share photos with you. This the Grand Teton after I hiked Table Mountain. The altitude is 11,800.

 

Doing a Drekker Beer now, not my favorite but tasty. I would give it a 4. The dragonfruit gets lost among the pineapple. The beer is sweeter than I prefer.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. Yesterday was a beautiful Saturday and my wife and I paid a call on Ashton Brewing Co. in Middlesex, NJ (about 25 minutes from our house). Ashton occupies the building that once housed Demented Brewing (which was a really appropriate name in light of its owner's travails). I'd had a couple of canned beers from Ashton and while they were okay I wasn't overly impressed. Recently, I've had conversations with several beer nerds whom I respect who were saying good things about Ashton so I decided to check it out. I had an Altbier (Ober Baron), which is a big version of the brewery's initial canned beer Red Baron, and a DIPA hopped with Lupulin. I enjoyed them both and bought bottles of the BA Stout and Barleywine.

BA Midnight Moonlight is aged in Patriots Trail and Crossroads bourbon barrels from Jersey Spirits Distilling (which is interestingly enough located next door to Magnify in Fairfield, NJ). This is a first rate BBA Stout. With the exception of Kane there aren't many Jersey brewers making a better one. Poured at 59°. It's inky black in color with a large, foamy, medium-mocha head that fizzled away quickly. It has a big, bold nose with dark chocolate, burnt coffee, molasses, caramel, burnt nuts, rye bread, and a heavy dose of bourbon. It opens with a mix of slightly sweet cocoa and bitter bakers chocolate, along with acidic burnt coffee grounds. In the background there is some additional caramel and molasses sweetness but it's subtle. At mid-sip I can taste the rye and barley from the Bourbon which add dryness, along with nutty char. The barrel notes are strong and it's a bit boozy for the ABV. The locally distilled bourbon is not quite as smooth as the better known brands. There is a touch of hoppy bitterness at the finish. The flavors blend very nicely. It's mouth feel is excellent: silky and creamy with a pleasant level of carbonation. This batch is 12% ABV and it drinks big. Overall, this is a great local BBA Imperial Stout - the whole of which exceeds the sum of its parts.

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

This will be my only new beer - but certainly not last beer - today as I look forward to rooting for Michigan State against Duke later. Cheers, NBW!