{"id":3486,"date":"2011-06-20T00:02:24","date_gmt":"2011-06-19T12:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2011-11-08T07:24:50","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T18:24:50","slug":"liberty-never-go-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/06\/20\/liberty-never-go-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty ‘Never Go Back’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Liberty<\/a>
Liberty 'Never Go Back'<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so here my notes complete a hat-trick1<\/sup> of ten-per-cent-plus black-and-glorious monster beers. It happened entirely by accident — presumably helped by the contemporaneous feeling that Winter Was Coming<\/a> — and now also occasions one of those nice coincidences that seem to happen (as I mentioned last time<\/a>) when I’m this far behind with my rambling-uploadings: as I sat down after work to start putting this post together, I had two other oatmeal stouts. The first was a glass of the absurdly-delicious Ballast Point ‘Sea Monster’ we have on tap at work at the moment, and the second, firmly in the the spirit of “bugger it, let’s give these guys (yet) another chance,” was Stoke’s new one. Given my prior history with their beers<\/a> (and no other real intervening changes on trying them several times since that almost-infamous\u00a0Diary<\/em> entry), I can relatively-cheerfully report that Stoke ‘Bomber’ was largely faultless, but it just wasn’t the sort of liquid luxury that I love in my oatmeal stouts — and I bloody loves oatmeal stout, I do<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But enough about those; they’ll get their own posts soon enough.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

<\/sup>I’ve been regularly praising the beers from Liberty in the podcasts<\/a> — I often forget to prepare a list in the few days before recording, and Joseph Wood’s beers float readily to the top of my brain when George asks for a suggestion. Up until right now<\/em>, the only one to appear on here was the Amarillo-hop version of his West Coast Blonde,<\/a> which I had at Hashigo way back in February, on their genius-and-generous Fundraiser Night. Since then, bottles — bloody-great-big lovely 750ml bottles with that cute newfangled re-sealable plastic enclosure-thing — have been popping up fairly regularly, although the batch sizes are still very small indeed. I had a way-too-enjoyable time, back in May, when I inherited the remains of a some-of-everything tasting session that included a few experimental beers and plenty that have since shown up as ‘proper’ releases. It was a broad range, with interestingness and goodness present in sufficient quantities that I was delighted to be in possession of what were basically just dregs<\/em>, and it featured some perilously-strong beers; I wound up very<\/em> cheerfully drunk.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

‘Never Go Back’ is a suitably-dramatic way for Liberty to return here, certainly, and I freakin’ adore<\/em> it. It’s got a peculiar Samuel L. Jackson quality about it — you know, like how Emerson’s Oatmeal Stout was all Barry White<\/a> —\u00a0that makes you just want to use the word motherfucker<\/em> in an endearing and complimentary way. A big-ass glass of pure blackness, it smells like some kind of overclocked, rocket-fueled Hershey’s chocolate syrup and is ridiculously smooth. The word “velvet” is not remotely<\/em> out of place, in the label blurb. Compared against something like 8 Wired’s ‘iStout’, I’d say it wasn’t as confrontingly bitter and punchy — by which I don’t mean anything inherently positive or negative, they’re just different<\/em>; that side of iStout is very well integrated into the whole and is probably a massive part of what makes the iStout Float such a delight<\/a>. And maybe that’s partly also down to all NGB’s gorgeous oatmeal smoothness, which makes such a big beer worryingly and brilliantly and perhaps-unexpectedly drinkable<\/em>. The image that came straight to my mind — a mind that supervenes on a brain that had had more than one beer in the >10% bracket, remember — was of wearing silk pyjamas and leaping into a bed adorned with silk sheets… then finding yourself in a heap on the floor on the far side of the room after skipping frictionlessly off the surface. Never Go Back does something like that; it’s so<\/em> velvety that it’s surprisingly easy<\/em>, given its massiveness. Well that, and<\/em> it could easily leave you in a heap on the floor, too.<\/p>\n

But you’d be a happy<\/em> heap. And that’s what counts.<\/p>\n

Verbatim:<\/strong> Liberty ‘Never Go Back’ Imperial Oat Stout 20\/6\/11 10.6% — what a plateau! 750ml \u00f7 3 with Tim & Amy. So big and lovely. Boozy, for sure. Fumey chocolate syrup. Powdery cocoa feel to it. Would make excellent stout floats. Definitely velvety, so much so that the body is oddly easy<\/span>; it’s the silk pjs \/ silk sheets problem.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Liberty<\/a>
Diary II entry #113, Liberty 'Never Go Back' Imperial Oat Stout<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Liberty<\/a>
Liberty 'Never Go Back', label text<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"Liberty<\/a>
My collection of Liberty Tasting Session Dregs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

1: Possessed, as I am, of little-to-no sporting ability, such metaphors are likely rarer-than-average in my ramblings. But I like that<\/em> one a lot — and used it for my three-peata<\/sup> of Hashigo Diary<\/em> Entries that concluded with Coronado’s ‘Islander’ IPA<\/a> — largely because, just as I hoped when I first heard it in my awkward teenage cricket-playing days, the original story involves an actual hat<\/a>.<\/span>
\n— a: Not wanting to overuse “hat-trick”, I went with “three-peat” there, instead, just vaguely remembering it from American sports commentary. But then I looked it up<\/a>. And it turns out that it’s trademarked for commercial uses by some former basketball coach. So, once again: fuck trademark abuse, really. That’s insane. It’s a totally natural and obvious way to bend our beloved English language. Even the many and mongrel authors of the Wikipedia managed to assembled a metric boatload of ‘prior art’. The law graduate in me (buried deep<\/em>, I assure you; don’t worry), just got a little bit angrier.<\/span>
\n2: Given a generous interpretation of “soon enough”, at least. Maybe one on Geological or Cosmological timescales.<\/span>
\n3: Just to be clear, the adverb “very” here modifies both the “cheerfully” and<\/em> the “drunk”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally posted: 7 November 2011<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And so here my notes complete a hat-trick1 of ten-per-cent-plus black-and-glorious monster beers. It happened entirely by accident — presumably helped by the contemporaneous feeling that Winter Was Coming — and now also occasions one of those nice coincidences that seem to happen (as I mentioned last time) when I’m this far behind with my … Continue reading Liberty ‘Never Go Back’<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,14,11],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diary","tag-pages","tag-nz","tag-stout"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":140,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/11\/04\/anchor-brewing-co-liberty-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":0},"title":"Anchor \u2018Liberty Ale\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"November 4, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember this one quite well, reaching for a legendary American ale after the re-election of GWB. It was a pretty freaking bleak day; I was in a genuine philosophical funk for days, even weeks. But I knew it wasn't the fault of the entire country, so I did consciously\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Anchor 'Liberty'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1015-Anchor-Liberty-300x276.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1848,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/02\/26\/liberty-brewing-west-coast-blonde-amarillo\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":1},"title":"Liberty Brewing ‘West Coast Blonde: Amarillo’","author":"Phil","date":"February 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 26th,1 Hashigo Zake hosted an amazing fundraising night, donating all of their takings between 6pm and midnight to raise money for a local mental health charity and the Red Cross effort in Christchurch. My plan was to stop by late shortly before midnight, after spending my Saturday night\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty 'West Coast Blonde'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-West-Coast-Blonde-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":152,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2004\/11\/06\/goose-island-honkers-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":2},"title":"Goose Island \u2018Honker\u2019s Ale\u2019","author":"Phil","date":"November 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Verbatim: Goose Island Honker's Ale. $?, 12oz, @home, Nov 6. More West Wing, so a Chicago ale with burgers. Darkish, but hints of orange again. Bubbles not so enduring, no haze. Lighter taste + smell, still flat, muted ale-ish. More an afternoon beer. Perfectly respectable + tasty. Great everyday stuff;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Goose Island 'Honker's Ale'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diary-1016-Goose-Island-Honkers-1-300x138.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3501,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/06\/25\/liberty-mikes-taranaki-pale-ale\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":3},"title":"Liberty \/ Mike’s ‘Taranaki Pale Ale’","author":"Phil","date":"June 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"If it weren't for that Firestone, we'd have just had ourselves a three-peat of Liberty beers here in my Diary. Unlike the others, though, this has Liberty's Joseph Wood in Collaboration Mode. It's an\u00a0emerging trend in the local scene, and Joe's one of the keenest participants, it seems -- he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty \/ Mike's 'Taranaki Pale Ale'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-Mikes-Taranaki-Pale-Ale-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3492,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2011\/06\/21\/liberty-taranaki-session-beer\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":4},"title":"Liberty ‘Taranaki Session Beer’","author":"Phil","date":"June 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Just like anything worth doing is worth doing well -- a hat-trick of great big black beers, all three of which are weird and wonderful in their own ways, just to pick an example entirely at random -- so too is any pattern worth keeping at all equally worth smashing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty 'Taranaki Session Beer'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-Taranaki-Session-Beer-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4739,"url":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/2012\/07\/22\/liberty-yakima-monster\/","url_meta":{"origin":3486,"position":5},"title":"Liberty \/ Galbraith’s ‘Yakima Monster’","author":"Phil","date":"July 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"That right there is a real contender to win the Outstanding Achievement of Awesomeness in Tap Badge Design award.1 It's fair to say the craft beer scene in our little nation punches well above its weight, but it's worth also pausing to celebrate the easily-arguable notion we're also rather spoiled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Actual Diary entries"","block_context":{"text":"Actual Diary entries","link":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/category\/diary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Liberty \/ Galbraith's 'Yakima Monster' handpull badge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-content\/uploads\/Liberty-Yakima-Monster-Galbraiths-edition-handpull-badge1-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":40,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3581,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/3581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philcook.net\/beerdiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}