What beer are you drinking now? #1304

Taking a break from mulching and enjoying the moment. The wind blowing through the trees, the birds chirping away.....Not a care in the world right now.

 

Knocking Italy off the list! Birra Moretti. Cheers! Beermail for @MikeRotten enjoy it bud!

 

Starting the week with Creature Comforts Athena (3.71).

 

A great, great beer! In my top 2 or 3 all-time favorites.

 

Almost traded for this beer until I found a 4 pack, but didn't want to splurge on a 4 pack. Ended up finding individual cans the other day. Glad I could finally try it. It's my second Against the Grain beer.



35k Stout.

 

More Surly...



Cheers!!

 

My last FW luponic series (001), killed. Now for a digital break for about a month, with much wine, in France.
LATER GATORS> see you in June! Happy summer....

 

So different from yesterday. I'm sitting on the deck and watching a duck swim by. Starting things off on a light note with a Founders All Day IPA. And looking through the new Kino catalog of Spring Sale DVDs and Blu-rays. I could get into trouble here.

Happy Monday BAs..

 

God these northeast brews are so good, my regret on every beer haul is the same-> should have bought more

 

Cheers!

 

I see your Luponic and raise you one..

 

A little bit of my daily drinker this afternoon

 

St amboise oatmeal stout!

 

I'm finally getting around to completing my 2 year aging trial of FBS, but online ordering got in the way, so it's really 2.5 vs. 0.5 years. Aged is on the left, glasses are similar and fresh was poured first.



The final installment 0.5 years (2015) vs. 2.5 years (2013). I shall refer to them as aged and fresh.

Appearance - Identical head volume and retention. World class lacing fresh vs. poor for aged.

Aroma - Vastly superior nose for the fresh - rich coffee, chocolate and roast. Very little aroma when aged, just light chocolate and a very subtle stale note.

Mouthfeel - Dramatic difference in mouthfeel with fresh being full bodied and creamy with a finely bubbled prickly finish. Aged produces a medium body that is smooth with hints of creaminess and a slightly lower level of carbonation resulting in a finish that hints at being prickly.

Taste - Again the clear winner is fresh. Aging has reduced the coffee aspect precipitously to a mere hint while fresh is robust and complete with that coffee bite. Roast influence is also greatly diminished from aging by roughly 60 - 75%. Aging shifts the flavor profile towards chocolate, but not very sweet nor bakers bitter. Honestly, 2.5 year old FBS is better than many fresh stouts I've had; however, the result is inferior by a wide margin when compared to fresh. Aging 2.5 years has produced a subtle stale cardboard note that lurks underneath and comes forward in the finish and also allows alcohol to become briefly uncovered. Bear in mind that "fresh" in this case has been aged 6 months and honestly is not as good as it was when less than 30 days old.

If you wish, you can read the trial (roughly 6 month intervals) in my review.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/11757/?ba=tillmac62#review