Ymm, Beer

[fuse]

Found another Victory variant of the Golden Monkey:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/90834/

Not cheap (like me) either at about $20/25.4 ounce bottle, IIRC. The $$ may also explain why I've never bought/tasted it .

When White Monkey came out several years ago, I bought it and Red Thunder(?, whatever they called their cabernet barrel aged baltic porter).
Way too expensive for what it was. Enjoyable nonethless, just better beer out there.

[devildeac]

When White Monkey came out several years ago, I bought it and Red Thunder(?, whatever they called their cabernet barrel aged baltic porter).
Way too expensive for what it was. Enjoyable nonethless, just better beer out there.

The Baltic Porter style was also likely very unappealing to your taste buds. Tough style to like/enjoy.

[fuse]

The Baltic Porter style was also likely very unappealing to your taste buds. Tough style to like/enjoy.

Yeah, there was that aspect also. Not a style I enjoy.

[Tripping William]

Mayflower IPA: Decent from a 12-ounce can.

Fiddlehead NEIPA: Terrific on draft. Super-hazy. Notes of guava and a little mango. I don’t “wow” about a standard IPA often anymore, but I did with this one.

[mattman91]

Revolution Anti Hero IPA @ the Detroit airport.

Not exactly worth $9.50, but quite tasty

[devildeac]

My Fiddlehead tasting experience from 8/13/14:

Brett on the Dancefloor (draft)-Fiddlehead Brewing (Shelburne, VT)

Tap takeover (sort of) at The Farmhouse Tap and Grill just off Church Street in downtown Burlington, VT. Lunched with the legendary and lovely DBR poster budwom today and his much lovelier wife after about a 4 mile stroll in the rain along the shores of rainy, overcast and cool Lake Champlain this AM. We divided a 4 beer sampler and this one was first as we moved from middle-of-the-road ABV to high gravity.

Fermented with 100% Brettanomyces yeast and dry hopped with Citra and Simcoe, this poured a medium, cloudy orange with a modest foamy head. Luscious aromas of grapefruit zest and other citrus, the tastes resembled a Sour Patch Kids or Warheads grapefruit candy with the typical Brett barnyard/horse blanket funkiness. IBUs given as 60 and the ABV at 5.9%, both in line with the IPA style of beers. Highly flavorful start to the midday meal.


http://www.fiddleheadbrewing.com/beer/

Second in the sampler was:

Rang Duce, a hoppy American wheat ale. This really most resembled a blending of styles combining the IBUs and ABV of a traditional IPA with a standard wheat ale. Poured a cloudy golden hue with aromas and tastes of orange peel and other citrusy fruits. Some bready/malty/light caramel-y sweetness with a definite bite-you-back hop forward presence. IBUs a stunning (for a wheat ale) 75 and the ABV an equally impressive 7.2%, also high for a wheat ale. I guess those stats put this beverage into the imperial wheat ale category. This was a nice pairing with a bacon Angus burger and mixed green salad with a light apple cider vinagrette dressing. Interestingly, we both agreed this had a bit less character than the Brett IPA from above, despite its higher hop and alcohol content.

2nd Fiddle DIPA is up third. This was a bit disappointing as I generally really like this style. Poured a cloudy, yellow-golden with a modest head and all the requirements for an IIPA with IBUS of 80 and ABV at 8.1%, the mild citrus notes in the nose and on the palate were still a bit lacking. Still, it was a pleasant pairing with the meal.

Mayflower IPA: Decent from a 12-ounce can.

Fiddlehead NEIPA: Terrific on draft. Super-hazy. Notes of guava and a little mango. I don’t “wow” about a standard IPA often anymore, but I did with this one.

An outstanding discovery.

[devildeac]

Revolution Anti Hero IPA @ the Detroit airport.

Not exactly worth $9.50, but quite tasty

Hopefully, being sooo close to Canada, you were able to order a bowl/plate of poutine to accompany that tasty beverage .

Yea, considering I think I had about five ounces of that at their brewery for about $2 as part of a flight, $9.50 is damned spendy. They typically have a great selection of drafts at their 2 locations in Chicago.

[accfanfrom1970]

Ommegang BBA Adoration. Single 12oz. bottle purchase. A dark ale aged for 6 months, with very specific instructions. “Serve at 40 degrees F. Pour slowly so as to not disturb the yeast sediment, but with enough vigor to create a luxurious head and release the rich bouquet.” I tried. 11% abv. It is advertised as a Belgian spiced Noel ale. Hints of oak, bourbon, spices (coriander and cardamom and grains of paradise on the label). Very enjoyable and one I’d look for come winter. I would also like to visit them whenever I can get back to Cooperstown and the HOF.

[devildeac]

Ommegang BBA Adoration. Single 12oz. bottle purchase. A dark ale aged for 6 months, with very specific instructions. “Serve at 40 degrees F. Pour slowly so as to not disturb the yeast sediment, but with enough vigor to create a luxurious head and release the rich bouquet.” I tried. 11% abv. It is advertised as a Belgian spiced Noel ale. Hints of oak, bourbon, spices (coriander and cardamom and grains of paradise on the label). Very enjoyable and one I’d look for come winter. I would also like to visit them whenever I can get back to Cooperstown and the HOF.

A visit to the baseball HoF and the Ommegang brewery were completed on our 2014 beercation in the northeast that included a wedding in Bahston, visits to the Maine Beer Company and Sea Dog Brewery before spending a day in Acadia NP. We then traveled to parts unknown in upstate Vermont to stroll, sip and dine with the budwoms, have a large tasting at Ben & Jerry's along with some purchases from the Hill Farmstead Brewery in really upstate VT. That journey was interrupted by lunch and a flight of in-house brews at the Flying Goose Pub and Brewery with a friend and her family in downstate NH. The HoF was a nice stroll down memory lane for an old, old baseball fan like me and the Belgian-themed restaurant before the brewery tour were also quite enjoyable.

[devildeac]

A late review:

Curieux-Allagash Brewing Company

Bottled on 12/12/18
10:58

Beer #4 from my April beer club 4 pack.

I can't recall the brewing and/or blending process, if any, for the 750 ml bottles they've used for many years but with this, they take their Tripel and age it in oak bourbon barrels and then blend it back with a portion of fresh Tripel. This one was pretty heavy on the Tripel and light on the BBA. Pour was vigorous from a 12 ounce bottle into my Ommegang tulip. Appearance was a medium gold color with a moderate, fizzy head that left plenty of Belgian lacing on the glass as I sipped. Pretty typical tripel style nose with spice, pepper, orange peel and flowers without much bourbon. Tastes represented the style well, too, with orange, coriander (?), black pepper, nuances of vanilla and toasted coconut, light candi sugar and hints of bourbon at the end. IIRC, the large format versions we've shared at tailgates (2013, 2015 and maybe 2016) were much boozier the earlier brewing date and softened as they aged. I'll guess IBUs of 20 and the ABV is 11%. Their Tripel is among the best "imitators" in the US of the original Belgian recipes but the new format/small bottle format for the 2018 Curieux leaves a bit to be desired from the BBA concept/process. I'm not sure I'd buy a 4 pack of this for $18 and I hope I don't ruin accfanfrom1970's enjoyment of his litter.

[devildeac]

I return from my unnecessary self-imposed exile with an update on Dark Lord Day '19... With our 4 tickets this year, we'll be walking away with 16 bottles of DL19 as well as 4 of the following:

2019 DARK LORD VARIANTS
(RyeBADL) Dark Lord aged in rye barrels

(xBBA xDVR)Dark Lord aged in bourbon barrels + Divine Rite malt whiskey barrels

(xRBA xDVR) Dark Lord aged in rye barrels + Divine Rite malt whiskey barrels

BBADL Dark Lord aged in bourbon barrels

BROSURE Dark Lord aged in ruby red port barrels

CAVALEIRO OF VARNOV Dark Lord aged in Calvados barrels

CHEMTRAILMIX Dark Lord aged in rye barrels with cinnamon + pink peppercorns

FRENCH VANILLA MILITIA Dark Lord aged in Sauternes barrels with vanilla, cocoa nibs + coffee

LOADSTAR Dark Lord aged in Sauternes whiskey barrels with toasted coconut

LOUNGE AGAINST THE MACROMACHINE Dark Lord aged in bourbon barrels + finished in tequila barrels with Mekong cinnamon, cocoa nibs, guajillo peppers + tangerine peel

MARSHMALLOW HANDJEE Bourbon barrel-aged Dark Lord with vanilla beans

REPTILEFUND Dark Lord aged in bourbon barrels and mezcal barrels

’RRARI CROCHET Dark Lord aged in port whiskey barrels with vanilla, freeze-dried strawberries, cocoa nibs + toasted coconut

At first glance, my top picks would be 1) Handjee 2) Chemtrailmix 3) 'Rrari Crochet 4) Loadstar, although if we get 4 Handjees I know now to sell a couple and pocket some cash for bargaining!

They still haven't released the schedule of which previous years' variants will be on sale at the various tents throughout the day, but I'm starting to get pumped for this Saturday. Between this and the GOT finale it'll be a weekend to remember

Is recovery complete?

[fuse]

A late review:

Curieux-Allagash Brewing Company

Bottled on 12/12/18
10:58

Beer #4 from my April beer club 4 pack.

I can't recall the brewing and/or blending process, if any, for the 750 ml bottles they've used for many years but with this, they take their Tripel and age it in oak bourbon barrels and then blend it back with a portion of fresh Tripel. This one was pretty heavy on the Tripel and light on the BBA. Pour was vigorous from a 12 ounce bottle into my Ommegang tulip. Appearance was a medium gold color with a moderate, fizzy head that left plenty of Belgian lacing on the glass as I sipped. Pretty typical tripel style nose with spice, pepper, orange peel and flowers without much bourbon. Tastes represented the style well, too, with orange, coriander (?), black pepper, nuances of vanilla and toasted coconut, light candi sugar and hints of bourbon at the end. IIRC, the large format versions we've shared at tailgates (2013, 2015 and maybe 2016) were much boozier the earlier brewing date and softened as they aged. I'll guess IBUs of 20 and the ABV is 11%. Their Tripel is among the best "imitators" in the US of the original Belgian recipes but the new format/small bottle format for the 2018 Curieux leaves a bit to be desired from the BBA concept/process. I'm not sure I'd buy a 4 pack of this for $18 and I hope I don't ruin accfanfrom1970's enjoyment of his litter.

I hope internet tone deafness does not take away from the tongue firmly in cheek nature of my response.

I have nothing but respect for devildeac’s tastebuds and his ability to match taste to prose.

Please pray tell how you concluded the balance of BBA Tripel and fresh Tripel. 😳🙄🤣

Sad to hear it didn’t live up to expectations.
Curieux is one of those beers I have always enjoyed, and had fun visiting the Allagash brewery. There were a lot of barrels aging beer to admire.

Cheers, devildeac! 🍻😀

[devildeac]

I hope internet tone deafness does not take away from the tongue firmly in cheek nature of my response.

I have nothing but respect for devildeac’s tastebuds and his ability to match taste to prose.

Please pray tell how you concluded the balance of BBA Tripel and fresh Tripel. 😳🙄🤣

Sad to hear it didn’t live up to expectations.
Curieux is one of those beers I have always enjoyed, and had fun visiting the Allagash brewery. There were a lot of barrels aging beer to admire.

Cheers, devildeac! 🍻😀

Easy, the dreaded/scorned DBR "eye test," or, in this case, the palate test.

Your query is actually quite interesting and there's no way I can quantitate percentages like 90/10 vs 80/20 or any other "guesstimates." You did prompt me go to the "cellar" and grab a 750 ml bottle dated 02/08/18 and read the label and compare it to the label on the 12/12/18 bottle. There is a slight difference in their wording as the February, 2018 bottle quotes "a small portion of fresh Tripel," making me think it's brewmaster's discretion as to the proportions of the final blended product. It fact, you made me curious enough to chill the 02/08/18 bottle for consumption later this week (and, at 11% ABV, it'll be over two nights) and compare mental tasting notes to last week. Or, you're also welcome to buy a "current" 12 ounce single and I'll bring my large format container and we can perform a side-by-side .

All above in good fun and to foster more Ymm, Beer discussions.

[fuse]

Brewery Bhavana Polyflora

A delicate sour that went quite well with wings ahead of the GoT finale.

The Love Ninja has made a dragon scale red velvet cake and I am scratching my head at a beer pairing. It will all work out, I am sure. 🍻

[fuse]

Easy, the dreaded/scorned DBR "eye test," or, in this case, the palate test.

Your query is actually quite interesting and there's no way I can quantitate percentages like 90/10 vs 80/20 or any other "guesstimates." You did prompt me go to the "cellar" and grab a 750 ml bottle dated 02/08/18 and read the label and compare it to the label on the 12/12/18 bottle. There is a slight difference in their wording as the February, 2018 bottle quotes "a small portion of fresh Tripel," making me think it's brewmaster's discretion as to the proportions of the final blended product. It fact, you made me curious enough to chill the 02/08/18 bottle for consumption later this week (and, at 11% ABV, it'll be over two nights) and compare mental tasting notes to last week. Or, you're also welcome to buy a "current" 12 ounce single and I'll bring my large format container and we can perform a side-by-side .

All above in good fun and to foster more Ymm, Beer discussions.

What would be both difficult and interesting would be to procure multiple years in both 750ml and 12oz format to see if any difference is perceived. That would be fun!

[devildeac]

Brewery Bhavana Polyflora

A delicate sour that went quite well with wings ahead of the GoT finale.

The Love Ninja has made a dragon scale red velvet cake and I am scratching my head at a beer pairing. It will all work out, I am sure. 🍻

An imperial stout.

[devildeac]

What would be both difficult and interesting would be to procure multiple years in both 750ml and 12oz format to see if any difference is perceived. That would be fun!

We can start any day...

Interesting observation is that the 750s are typically about $18. I got half a case in Chicago last summer for about $11 each, tax included. Accfanfrom1970 got 4 as traders and I kept two, one is chilling as mentioned above for tasting later this week. The 750s remain priced at about $18 but the 4 packs are also about the same price, a much lower cost per ounce than the large format.

[devildeac]

Brewery Bhavana Azalea

A blend of two saisons and mosaic hops...

Hazy pour, no head.

An unusual nose. A little bit of (fresh, not soiled) diaper.
Something really floral- lemongrass?
Maybe some tropical fruit, papaya?

Thankfully the taste is a lot easier to describe than the nose.
Massive tropical fruit- pineapple, mango, papaya with a lime citric acid finish.

The nose will throw you, the taste on the palate is amazing.

My first bottle:

Azalea-Brewery Bhavana

No diaper nose for me (), only some citrus and tropical fruits.

Your "spoiler" for the palate was exactly right. My taste buds sense an outstanding, fresh, clarified tropical/citrus juice blend with the above-mentioned flavors along with some orange and lemon, too. I'll guess about 20 IBUs and the ABV was 6%. I'm having 250 ml tonight and following it with a Platform imperial stout.

Thanks for including this in the recent traders package! Another winner from Brewery Bhavana.

[richardjackson199]

If you like sours, keep your eyes open for styles like:

Gose
Berliner Weisse
Saison (can trend more funky than sour)
and of course, Lambics.

I’d highly recommend seeking out New Belgium’s La Folie and Le Terroir, along with Rodenbach beer.

I drink a lot of local sour beer. I’m not up to speed at all on the craft beer scene in Nevada, this may help:

https://www.ratebeer.com/top/sour-wild-ale/us/nevada

I appreciate this post because I want to try good beer and I don't know this stuff.

Tonight I tried Terrapin Beer Co. Watermelon Gose (4.5% ABV, 7 IBU) on draft and really enjoyed it. This is tart, refreshing, and IMO an underrated beer. Maybe the criticism is that you can definitely taste the Watermelon.But not a criticism from me. It wasn't fruity and was a very nice, perfectly sour but not too sour refreshing summer beer. I rated it 4.0.

Then I got the Victory Sour Monkey on draft. I'm sorry, but I agree with Turk. I thought this was overrated for a sour, and just felt like I've had better. I'd rate it 3.25 and would pass if I saw it again. I agree - 9.5 % ABV with lemon taste and not tasting boozey, but not all that.

I'm in Outer Banks all week for first time ever. I'm done with living in NC all my life and never having seen these beaches. Any recommendations for beer or good places to drink beer out here?

Cheers!

[devildeac]

From 9/4/13:

Chimay Grande Reserve-Chimay Abbey Brewery/Monastery

A bit of history about Trappist brewing if anyone would care to read:

http://www.chimay.com/en/abbaye-trappiste.html?IDC=272

The ale:

Bottle/cork dated on 3/11, this poured a slightly cloudy, dark brown with a fair amount of Belgian lace coating the glasses. I shared this with my younger daughter and two sons-in-law as dessert drinks on Saturday night. Think of it as an imperial brown ale or dubbel style in the true Belgian tradition/style with lots of dark fruit, dark candi sugar and rummy flavors and scents. A bit thinner than a quad so a bit less sweet and syrup-y. I'd estimate IBUs about 30 and the ABV was 9% so a world classic ale to enjoy as an after dinner drink or dessert. I think I got this bottle about 2 years ago as a present from Ozzie so a tip of the mug to him for his choice.

From last PM:

Chimay Grande Reserve Ale (2017 on cork)-(Brewed at) Scourmont Abbey (and bottled at Bieres de Chimay)

This is AKA Chimay Blue. Six years later, all the above still applies with decadent aromas and even better tastes. I can't recall when I bought (maybe a year ago?) this but it was likely at World Market when they had one of their 25% off sales of large format bottles with my cost being about $10 for the 750 ml bottle. This was shared last PM from my small Gouden Carolus chalices with our younger daughter visiting from OOT. Beer is (almost) always better with family and/or friends.