Ymm, Beer!

[devildeac]

Last one for tonight:

Wookey Jack-Firestone Walker Brewing (Duvel Moortgat)

This was quite the surprise and find from Bob Green who bought a couple bombers on base and was kind enough not to drink both yesterday () and bring one to tailgate today. I rarely see their goods in our area. Thanks!

Black IPAs are not commonly brewed and this is a excellent example, as expected, from an outstanding brewery. Pour was a dark, dark brown with a small head. Nose was toasted/roasted grains, citrus and some coffee. Tastes were grilled/charred grapefruit, rind included, and dipped in milk chocolate with a coffee drizzle. Truth be told, it really is a black IIPA, especially considering the 80 IBUs and 8.3% ABV. Very good pairing with my second plate of food that included chips and spicy homemade guacamole (another thanks to richardjackson199 and his delightful bride), a large hunk of fried fish (trout maybe?) from our fine tent neighbors, the Omegas, and a generous portion of TNTDevil's spicy, but not fiery, specialty baked beans.

Yea, we were all over the place today with our IBUs, ABVs and colors/styles.

[Bostondevil]

I went to a baby shower a couple of weeks ago where the parents to be gave out little bottles of pumpkin infused vodka to be used to toast the new baby upon his arrival.

So - not beer - but I'm posting in as many threads as I can tonight.

Problem - hubby is out of town and I'm a lightweight. I suspect drinking even the small bottle of pumpkin infused vodka will put me on the wonky side of tipsy. I kinda want to wait till he gets back. Also - how does pumpkin infused vodka sound to the taste experts around here?

[devildeac]

I went to a baby shower a couple of weeks ago where the parents to be gave out little bottles of pumpkin infused vodka to be used to toast the new baby upon his arrival.

So - not beer - but I'm posting in as many threads as I can tonight.

Problem - hubby is out of town and I'm a lightweight. I suspect drinking even the small bottle of pumpkin infused vodka will put me on the wonky side of tipsy. I kinda want to wait till he gets back. Also - how does pumpkin infused vodka sound to the taste experts around here?

I don't think many of us are pumpkin (beer) fans and it sure wouldn't be a good combo with TNTDevil's spicy BMs.

[devildeac]

Battleground-Mantra Artisan Ales

This is about as I expected from reading the label before pouring and tasting, basically, farmhouse ale meets witbier. I poured my 12 ounce bottle into a 2011 Duke Hall of Fame goblet so I'm not really sure of the appearance except it looked kinda straw-colored while flowing. Big, foamy, lingering head. Unusual, but not spoiled smell-I thought butter, hay, orange and spice. My taste buds agree with the vanilla, caramel and butterscotch as above with a little pepper and spice and some citrus rind. Last half ounce was a bit sludgy. IBUs at 18 and ABV at 5.1%. I'm always happy to receive and taste new brews but fuse's last sentence sums it up for me, too. I'd probably give it about half a star more than fuse.

He apologized for the Mantra ales he brought back from TN. My response was something like "none needed-lose some, win lots more." Next play, err, beer.

[devildeac]

Amour Rouge-Mantra Artisan Ales

Reddish-brown pour with a thin, 10 second head. Sour cherry, vinegary nose. Sour patch kids cherry-berry soda flavor. I don't think it's "turned" but it is acidic and vinegary with a bit of a metallic finish. IBUs are 4.3 (yes, they really put a decimal point in their IBUs ) and ABV of 6.2% so it's not a low alcohol brew but fairly typical for the style. I guess it'd be good with a plate of mussels but I don't eat mussels and wouldn't search this out on our next visit to TN. Sounds like I'd give this a few points higher on ratings than fuse, but not many. Once again, I'm always happy to try new brews and greatly appreciate folks searching them out for me on their travels for trade or for cash.

[devildeac]

From 12/8/15:

2015 Narwhal-Sierra Nevada Brewing

Drink local/regional!


Poured a dark brownish-mahogany-ruby from a 12 ounce bottle into a pint glass with an almost latte-colored, foamy head. Aromas of baker's cocoa, dark chocolate and espresso with matching tastes, perhaps a touch too much coffee presence to make my top 10 RIS stout list but a really solid entry into the field. I think I got this for about $11 with my buck off coupon at Total Wine several weeks ago and wouldn't hesitate buying again. IBUs still listed at 60 and ABV at 10.2%. I've got 3 more for sharing/trading over the holiday season. Pairs with the usual suspects or wonderful alone. I'm really anxious to taste the BBA edition of this that ricks68 picked up earlier this fall and delivered at the Pitt tailgate. Here are the ingredients:

YEAST Ale yeast
BITTERING HOPS Magnum, Challenger
FINISHING HOPS Challenger
MALTS Two-row Pale, Caramel, Chocolate, Honey, Carafa, Roasted Barley

From last PM:

Narwhal (2015))-Sierra Nevada Brewing

Shared with our younger daughter. I don't think much has changed after a year in the bottle. Perhaps a bit smoother but still a ton of coffee and dark chocolate notes. Big, big beer. Sip slowly and enjoy.

[devildeac]

From earlier episodes, this one 6/15/16:

Solstice-Pisgah Brewing Company

Pisgah (Black Mountain, NC) might be one of the better breweries not many folks know about. Thanks to mattman for this trader! This is the ale fka Tripel. Poured a hazy, orange-yellow with lots of fluffy, Belgian lacing and aromas of bananas, orange and spice and tastes of the same with some clove, light brown sugar and a few grains of black pepper. It's a bit on the sweet side with ABV of 9.5% and I'll estimated IBUs of 20 from small amounts of Euro hops, perhaps from the Saaz, Hallertau, Perle and Tettnanger varieties. Pair with fruity seafood dishes.

Here's a review of Tripel from 3/28/15:

Tripel-Pisgah Brewing Company

Another tip of the pint glass to ricks68 for procuring this as he celebrates in Houston today. This was a capped 750 ml bottle divided over 2 nights earlier this week. Pour was a cloudy straw-yellow color with a frothy, Belgian lace head that had to dissipate a few minutes before I could enjoy. Nose of flowers, light brown sugar and a bit of spice. Tastes were as expected for the style with underripe banana, a bit of clove, a hint of orange and a grain or two of black pepper, once again, all that I'd expect from the name and style. The orange flavor I think comes from some wheat malt and the peppery-ness from the Belgian yeast. Frighteningly pleasant on the palate with estimated IBUs of 10-20 and dangerously drinkable at 9% ABV. I'd like to have a tasting of this with Golden Monkey, Allagash Tripel/Triple and any other US produced Belgian golden ales. I think this would rank favorably.

From last PM:

Solstice-Pisgah Brewing

Ricks68's leftover from Matthewgate. Thanks for allowing me to save/cellar and select as our "appetizer" beer yesterday. Quite the "palate-cleanser" at 9.5% ABV but dangerously sippable at 16.6 IBUs (from their website). 750 ml bottle divided 4-5 ways. I'd drink this again and again.

[devildeac]

Rum Barrel-Aged Pumking-Southern Tier Brewing Company

This would have been fun to taste side-by-side with the Pumking that richardjackson199 brought last week. Oh, well. However, 4 or 5 of us had little difficulty sipping our was through this bomber second in line last PM. Pour was a clear, pumking, err, pumpkin orange with very little head. They do not list any spices in the regular version, nor are any listed here so they must use a crapton of pumpkins in their brewing process. Actually, this really tasted like pumpkin-infused rum on the rocks. There was some light brown sugar, graham cracker and whole wheat on the palate, and some more pumpkin. Then a bit more yo-ho-ho rum. This became even boozier as it warmed, even only drinking 4-5 ounces each. I'll venture IBUs about 30 as it most resembled a light amber ale and the ABV was 9.5% compared to 8.6% from regular Pumpking. Good pairing with our burgers and pulled pig. I'd strongly consider pouring 2-3 ounces of this over a bowl of vanilla or butter pecan ice cream. Hell, it'd be good over cookies and cream or chocolate chip cookie dough frozen dairy dessert, too.

Thanks to August West for sharing this one.

[devildeac]

Fig and Raisin (draft)-Mother Earth Brewing

Drink (fairly) local!

I'm guessing this is a re-issue of their 2013 (?) 3rd member of their Windowpane Series. The base ale is a Belgian-style dubbel with the addition of NC-foraged figs and raisins. I chose this over the coffee-infused Southern Tier Pumpking and Epic's Big Bad Baptist and quite happy I did. Crafty Beer Shop was serving their brews last PM in orange plastic Halloween cups as there was a fall festival at Lafayette Village in north Raleigh so most beverages were consumed on the lawn. Pour was a medium brown with a small head. Nose was earthy with dark, dried fruits (no surprise there). Tastes were the expected Belgian dubbel with toffee, dark caramel, raisins and figs (D'oh!), with a warming, boozey, brandy finish from the 3 months this concoction spent in old brandy barrels. The local crepery (?) allowed me to bring my half-finished pint inside to accompany my Philly steak and cheese crepe with sauteed, carmelized onions, 'shrooms and provolone cheese with home-fried potatoes. I'll guess IBUs about 20 and the ABV was 9% on their electronic chalkboard but 10% on their corked and caged 750 ml bottle. Pleased to have spent $6 for the pint but wouldn't spend the $19 for the large format bottle.

Fig and Raisin (750 ml)-Mother Earth Brewing

Speaking of...

August West was kind/generous to bring one last evening. Many thanks again!

The draft was better-almost always is-but this bottle was excellent. Nice pairing with our fare at the tailgate. ABV was indeed 10% so we're now 3/5 through our high gravity tasting. Well worth another tasting.

[devildeac]

Sexual Chocolate BBA (May, 2016 bottling)-Foothills Brewing

Drink local! Again!

Another loud burst of applause for August West for this selection. I've never had the BBA version of this and missed any tastings of the regular 2016 release so it was a great pleasure and honor to have him share this bomber tonight.

Almost black pour, no head and seductive, dark chocolate and bourbon aromas escaped form the bottle upon uncapping. They were even more prominent from my 2010 national championship pint glass. Tastes? Whaddya think? Dark chocolate, fudge, dark caramel, molasses and a warming, bourbon finish. I think each of the 4-5 tasters had a coffee bean-topped espresso fudge cup to accompany our aliquot. I'd have never guessed 85 IBUs but that's what they claim here (http://www.foothillsbrewing.com/brews/sexual-chocolate/). This was silky smooth, oily and viscous. ABV was a scant 9.8% . Decadent. The only 2 things that could have beaten this would have been 1) if Tripping William had brought one of his older BBA Sexual chocolate bombers () and 2) the fifth and final bottle of the evening...

[devildeac]

The Rose-The Black Abbey Brewing Company

Fuse was kind and thoughtful enough to transport half of his 6er of these to me from his recent journey to Nashville and I am most appreciative of this and the other selections he made. He is forgiven for the Mantra stuff .

This is the first of the two blondes I mentioned earlier that I was planning on partaking of this evening. Well, as in Belgian-style blonde ales . Pour was a hazy, light bronze with a small, persistent head. No surprise on the aromas of orange, banana and clove. The same tastes followed with a few grains of black pepper and a bit of orange zest. It'd make a nice pairing with some Monterey Jack chicken or a pecan-crusted tilapia and some mango-pineapple salsa. IBUs of 14 and ABV is 5.4% so I'm almost ready for my second blonde of the night...

[devildeac]

Blonde #2 (don't tell Mrs. dd )

Lunatic-Wicked Weed Brewing

Part of my November beer club 4 pack from Bottle Revolution (C'mon Wicked Weed, 11.2 ounce bottles? Really?). This one was a bit different and unusual. The pour started as expected, perhaps with a bit more yellow than bronze, with a quickly disappearing head. Now, it became more interesting as the nose was much less orange, coriander and clover than anticipated and was almost herbal. Tasting yielded the same with cooking herbs like rosemary, basil and thyme were upfront and there was some orange zest in the finish. In fact, this was more of a hybrid to me, thinking the marriage of a saison (Saison du Buff?) and a blonde/single Belgian-style ale like a Leffe, Affligem or Allagash brew. Minimal bitterness, guessing IBUs of 20 and the ABV was a tad higher at 6.2% than The Rose, but still within "standards" for the style. I'd pair this with chicken soup/pot pie or lighter seafood fare. I'm also very curious to read what fuse might think about the barrel-aged version of this (that I think) he has.

[devildeac]

So Happens It's Tuesday-The Bruery

Stunning beer. It's not often I have that reaction to a hand-crafted ale but Thursday night was one of those times. First off, August West deserves an immense amount of credit for seeking this foil-wrapped/capped 750 ml bottle out (Sam's Quick Shop, IIRC) and shelling out $20 (I'm guessing) to purchase this and then deciding to share it with us. Foresight, knowledge, generosity and kindness. Many, many thanks. On to the beer (really difficult to just call this beer.)

Seductive and alluring immediately after opening with bourbon and dark chocolate. We divided this among of us. Pour was onyx and totally opaque as an imperial stout should be. AW or ricks68 held it up to our spotlight and no light was transmitted. Why? The SRM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Reference_Method) was 100 and imperial stouts are on this scale with a 40+ number. Pour was 10W30. No head. Mouthfeel was incredibly smooth and silky but also thick and chewy. Think Riesen candy and homemade bourbon balls. No nuts. Tastes were the expected dark chocolate, bourbon, some dark fruits and black molasses. And a bit more warming bourbon at the end. IBUs of 22 were surprisingly low given the style as most Russian imperial stouts are 50-60 or higher. ABV was a massive 14.7%, just shy of the NC limit for sale in the state. Flavors became even more pronounced and complex as it warmed a bit and we sipped over 15-20 minutes. Forget any pairings (but we just had to try it with some coffee bean-topped espresso fudge cups). Truly amazing concoction. The only other beverage that stands out to me in recent years is the BBA Old Stock Ale 2009 that I brought to the Duke-cheaters tailgate in 2014. August West noted that So Happens It's Tuesday (I'd like to abbreviate it or put it in acronym form but I'm not even gonna try with the board filters ( ) has a big brother called Black Tuesday which rolls in at 20% (or more) ABV, so, if someone would like to leave it under our Christmas tree this year, let me know and I'll leave the chimney open ;) .

We had some excellent beverages Thursday night but this was extraordinary.

I'm almost ready to abandon liquid contributions to our tastings and just bring some currency to each game and ask August West how much I owe him for a place at our tasting table.

[devildeac]

Bad Penny-Big Boss Brewing Company

Wedding beer!

From their website:

"BAD PENNY dark brown ale is slightly sweet with a caramel and dark fruit finish. A show case of fine English malts, floor-malted the old way. We use pale, chocolate and crystal malts to produce a complex but easy drinking dark ale. Very reminiscent of northern English ales. ABV 5.5% / IBU 25"

My thoughts:

Small head, nose of milk chocolate/caramel/toffee/coffee/nuts with matching tastes. Paired nicely with buffalo chicken dip on toasted baguette squares, hoop cheddar and gouda cheeses.

[devildeac]

Hoppyum-Foothills Brewing

From 6/23/13:


Hoppyum-Foothills Brewing

If you like hops, you will love this brew. Loaded with pungent, citrusy hops, mostly with grapefruit and grapefruit zest aromas and tastes from the Simcoe variety. Poured a clean, clear orange-yellow in a pint glass and sipped by itself last PM. Just about perfect blend of slightly sweet caramel malts with an ABV of 6.25% to balance the IBU of 78, the latter of which is a bit high for an IPA. I'll still take a Bell's Two Hearted Ale on draft but if you are in NC, this is an excellent offering.

From last PM:

(More) wedding beer!

Grapefruity goodness, olfactory and gustatory! A bit unbalanced with the stats above but juicy and tasty. Also sipped with the above appetizers and a couple mini-chicken and waffles drizzled with honey.

Not sure whether I like their Jade IPA or this one better. I'd probably lean slightly toward the Jade because it's a bit better balanced.

[devildeac]

I've searched for 15 min and can't find my post but a road trip to Kinston on November 19 for the 2016 Silent Night release party and 10 year vertical and (hopefully) a private art showing has been set on the calendar for the devildeacs. Interested parties please contact me via PM and/or cell later today for details. You know who is being addressed here . ;)

This may be from a month ago but some more details:

http://www.motherearthbrewing.com/events

[devildeac]

Maverick and Gose-Second Self Beer Company

Drink local! Or something that a wife's cousin brings you for a host/hostess gift when said cousin lives in a zip code near the brewery .

Pale straw color poured from a 12 ounce can into a pint glass with a half a finger head that was gone in 54 seconds. Pretty light on the salt and coriander up front and upon tasting. Actually, pretty bland overall except some pear and apple fruitiness from dry-hopping with (not too many) Wakatu hops. IBUs are 8 (no typo) and the ABV is 4.4%, both pretty standard for the style. I've had better examples of the style and my next one is one of fuse's favorites, IIRC...

[devildeac]

Blood Orange Gose-Anderson Valley Brewing Company

Now this is a excellent example of the the Gose style beer. I can certainly understand how/why fuse likes it. Poured from a 12 ounce can into a pint glass, it appeared with a rapidly disappearing one inch head and a pink-yellow-orange hue. Nose was salty and spicy with the same tastes and subtle orange notes. Mild to moderately tart/sour from lactobacillus fermentation with Pale Two Row and malted white wheat grains and Bravo hops for an ABV of 4.2% and estimated IBUs of 5-10. Good for porch-sipping or imbibing with a light seafood entree. This was one of my November beer club 4 pack.

[devildeac]

Road trip to Kinston shaping up nicely for Saturday.

Silent Night...

[CathyCA]

Haw River Farmhouse Ales: Newlin's Original Belgian Oatmeal Pale Ale

I had a glass of this ale at Hops Burger Bar restaurant in Greensboro a few weeks ago when we tookJon's 22 year old daughter out for her birthday. This ale was the perfect complement to my angus beef burger and homemade fries.

I ordered this ale because (1) the brewery is in Saxapahaw, NC, where my mom lived as a child; and (2) I once went out with a guy whose last name was Newlin, who also lived in Saxapahaw as a child. So, cheers to Saxapahaw!

This ale had an ABV of 5.2% and an IBU of 48. This was posted on the chalkboard above the bar, and it's also on Haw River Farmhouse Ale's website.

This was a very smooth drink with a fruity taste. "Grapefruit!" I exclaimed as I savored my first sip of this delightfully clear golden pour. And then, it just tasted like a very nice beer.

I would order this one again.