New Beer Sunday (week 478)

Greetings, all,

Low 50s and partly sunny in John Stockton's hometown (thought I'd throw in a little NBA reference since it's playoff time, though I'm actually watching hockey right now - Go Redwings!) It was rainy earlier in the week, but it seems we're being spared the vertical agua for the holiday weekend, with a resumption of the wet stuff next week. So, as usual the weekend that is nicest is the one I have to work at least part of...

As an incurable Seahawks fan, I thought I'd go with the 12th Can:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26918/99545/?ba=woemad

Like every other Hilliard's beer I've tried, it was unimpressive without being awful. I'll probably be back with something else.

 

Oh, my God, ANDECHS! I stumbled across their dunkelweizen in a German supermarket in '99. That beer was AMAZING - my all-time "whale."

 

Shoot, now I REALLY wish I found that one. Oh well I'm sure I'll find one someday. And I'm excited to try the doppelbock in the meantime.

 

Actually, I looked it up (I did a half-assed review of it in 2003-when I still didn't really know shit about beer http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/911/2899/) and I guess it was the doppelbock, but it's called a "doppelbock dunkel," which makes me think it may have actually been a weizenbock. Certainly, no other beer has reminded me of it so much as Aventinus.
BTW, are you saying this beer is available in your neck of the woods? <cue sound of woemad involuntarily wetting himself>

 

Edit: your link was to the beer I bought.


I saw the helles, hefe, and doppelbock at a Wegmans 45 minutes from my house. All were 5 bucks. :-)

 

Happy NBS and happy Easter! 70 and sunny in Cleveland, couldn't ask for more.
When visiting England last fall, the beer I can still practically taste is The Kernel's Table Beer. One of the most flavorful beers I've ever had, yet only 3.2%. So naturally when at a local shop a week ago I saw this on the shelf I had to grab it. Also modest at 4.5% but extremely bitter, in an herbal way not a pine/hoppy way. My review netted today's a 3.7 vs a 4.15 for The Kernel's, but I definitely appreciate the fact that this also gets lots of flavor (even though I'm not as fond of it) in a low-alcohol beer.

 

Went to pick up a pair of Parabola the beer guy held for me and saw a sixer of this:
Great brewery, love the style and wasn't even aware this was coming out, so really a no-brainier

Excellent balance of fruit and hops and excellent aroma. As you guys all seem to say, in fact I says on the six pack, this is "quaffable"...very much so!

 

From the fresh local IPA on to this.
I've seen a lot of this from y'all on here so figured I'd give it a shot..,damn tasty.
Not sure if I like more than Aventinus but just as enjoyable.

Something reminds me of banana bread.
Tons of good favors going on here. Glad I caved to peer pressure. This is very, very good!

 

Uinta Oak Jacked Imperial Pumpkin (aged in oak barrels). Lots of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices. My 2nd favorite Pumpkin Ale, after Avery Rumpkin.

 

Good afternoon folks, tried Summits Frost Line Rye this afternoon. Its a good beer, solid addition to the ever expanding market of Rye beers. Though not my style but for those into Rye beers I could see this one being a real winner for them!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/467/111389/?ba=nickapalooza86

Hope everyone is having a good Sunday!

 

Newest brew from my local brewery in Lyons, IL
BuckleDown Brewing: Clencher IIPA
Their best offering yet. Hop bomb with strong similarities to brother benjamin and hopslam. Happy easter!

 

Greetings NBS! Been a few weeks since I posted here but I got an amazing new beer today, however my camera on my phone is on the fritz and don't have a way to upload right now on to the beer:

Firestone Walker 17th Anniversary Ale
Ohh man, what a nose. Sweet vanilla, hints of barrel but very little booze on the smell. Perhaps a bit of tobacco and a little more barrel.
Not completely black but a hugely deep red brown color with little lacing/retention.
An almost imperceptible bitterness shows through the taste first, followed by a sweet molasses, warmed by the alcohol. Grear beer, prefer the mouthfeel of bcbs over this but I dont know if it's a fair comparison. Both are great beers
Overall this is a special beer. I was lucky enough yo walk in somewhere almost 5 months after its release and it was still on the shelf. Worth every penny.
Hopefully will be back later with some pictures...
Cheers!

 

I've had the pleasure of trying three new to me beers this week:

This was a pleasant surprise in a local tavern. Small town, good craft beers can still be hard to find, being southwestern New York fortunately I can usually find Southern Tier, but this was a nice find! It's a good West coast IPA.



SA Rebel IPA is good. It's not great, it's not bad, just a good West coast IPA. I probably won't get another six pack only because I'd rather give my money to a smaller company that makes just as good and better IPAs (i.e. Southern Tier IPA or SN Torpedo) but I saw it and wanted to try it.



Lastly, I had to try this one despite it's $5 price tag for a single 12 oz bottle! ($20+ for a six pack!). It is very, very good, but I still can't see paying what they want for it regularly. It is balanced with aggressive hops yet sufficient malt to offset. The hop intensity is somewhere between 2XIPA and UnEarthly. I guess it's appeal is that it 9% but not boozy, very drinkable (which could be dangerous, I suppose!). Two local bottle stores fill growlers of it for about $15... I may indulge one more time


For what it's worth this is what I'm actually drinking today

 

Dark Lord & Dark Lord pubcakes

 

Greetings all and Happy Easter.

I'm having a California hefeweizen today. Mission St. I got this at a Trader Joe's in the Seattle are recently.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/562/59119/?ba=RJLarse

It's a pretty decent hefe with a curious blend of flavors from both the American and Bavarian styles.

Sunny and warm here in the Columbia Basin, with temps in the low 60's. Lawn mowed and fertilized, and the Easter ham is on the grill.

Happy Trails!

 

Back with another beer, one that was considerable more enjoyable than my last.
Had to add this one to the site - a single hop pale ale from Montana:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/7406/118832/?ba=woemad
Citrusy, dry hopped with enough Columbus hops to venture into IPA land, but not to the point of tasting like fermented fruit juice.

 

NEW SWEET STOUT SUNDAY

Back again at the end of a very nice Easter day. The little guy was a bit too young for egg hunting, but we had fun watching him try. Spending a quiet evening the wife reading and sipping on this.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/113/86189/?ba=DIM



Cheers again!

 

I think about you Sonics fans all the time ... what a crime, to take away a good, young team like that. Feel for you, man.

It's Two-A-Day Sundays:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/252/779/?ba=Premo88

Kept with the German theme and tried a doppelbock I've seen for years.



Ooops!

Perhaps a bit too excited with the pour, but I promise it wasn't like I threw the beer in there. This thing is well carbonated. I'm going to be a bit more gentle with the next one.



1040? No way!

I know Weihenstephan is an old brewery, but I'd swear I've heard or read that they've "only" been brewing on the current site since the 1700s -- hahahaha , I know ... ONLY.

love the bottle cap (Ayinger on top, Weihenstephan on bottom) ... and the label art:





Is that really a bear hauling ... what? Huge golden boulders? Or sacks of barley? Fantastic!

I hate raisins, so when the dark malt notes get into that arena, I tend to time out. This one is raisiny, but I still find it enjoyable -- perhaps I'm learning to appreciate it. Also, it's just sweet enough and roasty (oak wood) to hit notes I *DO* love.

Paulaner Salvator is my favorite doppelbock, and this one isn't all that similar -- bock and doppelbock are very wide-ranging styles, it seems. But I seem to enjoy all the German beers well enough to consider trying them again, and I'll drink this again from time to time.

Mavericks lost ... Rangers lost ... Astros lost (again) ... if the Rockets don't win tonight or the Stars tank at home tomorrow night, I might not make it to next New Beer Sunday

 

New (Imperial?) Hefeweizen Sunday!

First off, Happy Easter! It's been a gorgeous weekend, and the great weather continued into Easter Sunday. I unfortunately was not able to see my family this Easter (they're all up North), but I did learn I'll be moving back in August, which is exciting.

Anyway, when I was there a couple weeks back, this can (I really dig cans...) caught my attention. A special anniversary beer from Baxter Brewing up in Maine called On the Count of 3 Imperial Hefeweizen. On a warm Spring day, this was quite tasty, and it paired well with a spicy dinner. My review is here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23922/111267/?ba=Mikecap

Cheers!