New Beer Sunday (week 491)

It looks and sounds better than KBS to me. If you find it too difficult to drink, send 'em my way. I will make sure to drain pour them ISO!

 

Good call. Sucks is just a tiny, microscopic hair too much for me, but this beer is a perfect combo of it and my mistress, Little Sumpin' Sumpin'. Of course, I have been spending a lot of time with her big sister here recently.

 

Just about to ask the same question. Love a good scotch ale

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers,

Here in Spokane, its 75 degrees and "smoky" according to weather descriptions online (but it's actually the least-visually smoky day we've had for the better part of a week). My hat's off and my glass raised high to all the firefighters in eastern and central Washington (and everywhere else, really) and to all those having to start over whose homes have fallen victim to the relentless flames. Since this is the coolest day in some time around here, I'm hoping they're all getting some relief.

Friday night I paid a visit to Iron Goat for the first time in a while, and thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Greg & Heather (1/2 of the two couples that are the owners/brewers). I came away with a "grunt" (or mini-growler, howler, growlette, etc) of their Lawnmower ISA - a beer I've had before and rated but never formally reviewed. I'll be rectifying that later on today. I also had a new beer earlier in the week, a dark lager from a Turkish brewery that was noteworthy only in that it was the first Turkish beer and one of the few beers from an Islamic nation that I have had.

Today I'm starting off with a pale ale brewed in celebration of a certain NW sports team that won a certain significant game back in February:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1345/109253/?ba=woemad

I enjoyed it more than Hilliard's 12th Can, but like it, at heart this is a gimmick beer capitalizing on the Seahawks that was probably sitting on a shelf somewhere for some time (date yr. cans, Dick's!). Dick's is a brewery that makes serviceable beers, but I don't think I've ever had one from them that blew my socks off, so I wasn't too surprised at it's rather lackluster nature, but I do wish I'd been able to try one that I knew was fresh.

Cheers!

 

I was on the road for Friday and most of Saturday, doing college tours with my soon-to-be senior. The tours were great, and we had an awesome time together, but hopefully the traffic situation cooperates a lot better next week. Now it's time to relax and get caught up on my Friday puzzle (generally the Friday ones are the most fun, while the Saturday ones are the most challenging).

To go along with this beautiful Sunday I am enjoying a new Saison:


Crooked Stave Vielle. Lots of oak and funk in the nose, with spicy yeast and hay lying low underneath. I love how dry, crisp and tart this beer is. The palate gets a little leathery, and some fruits like dried apricots come on halfway through the glass. The oak and bitterness linger a long while after the zesty finish. Fantastic beer- I almost want to gulp it down, but I keep thinking about the price and slow it down a bit to appreciate the overall complexity . Would definitely buy again.

 

New Scotch Ale Sunday
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Greetings NBS faithful! Hope this message finds you doing well and enjoying a fine American Ale in your glass. Weather in Central OH has been overcast and chilly. I wouldn't normally think of trying a Scotch Ale in late July but given the weather, it was a perfect fit. A good but not great example. Needed to set it back for a few months.

Hope you all have an awesome NBS!

Peace, love, and malty-ness,

Matt



3.5/5 rDev -9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Aroma: Moderate burnt candied sugar notes up front. Low fruity esters of plum and raisin persist. Esters become more prominent as the beer warms with dark cherry notes and fig. No hop aroma. Clean fermentation character.

Appearance: Deep brick red pour with a low off white head. Moderate head retention. Appears still in the glass.

Flavor: Dark bready malt character up front. Firm earthy bitterness provides the counterpoint. Low peppery alcohol fusels help add to the sensation of dryness. Balance is nearly even with the dark bread malts, peppery fusels, and earthy hop bitterness forming a well-knit profile. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste lingers faintly of the peppery fusels.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation. No alcohol heat.

Overall impression: A sipping Scotch Ale that is firmly bitter. I was surprised at the bitterness due to prior reviews I read. Maybe I had a fresh sample. I would decrease the carbonation and decrease the fusels to allow the rich malt character to shine. Enjoyable but probably needs some age on it.

Serving type: bottle

Whoops! Guess it helps if I add the linked review, eh? Wow...violated one of the major NBS rules. Please kindly forgive and thanks @TongoRad for the catch!!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9969/50185/?ba=mattcrill

 

I also tried my first Kolsch from the brewer Gaffel. I really liked this beer style.

 

Wife mentioned that she wanted to go to a market in Berkeley that while I enjoy for the same reason as her (great produce, lots of great hard to find stuff in the bulk bins..) it also has a good beer selection.
Some broad took the last Unapologetic (I've wanted to try it but I have a bomber of Enjoy By 8/6 in the fridge, so it's cool) so what to grab? Bottled 7/9...

This'll work.
I'm not the most descriptive, spot on wordsmith when talking beer, but this ain't half bad. Nose at first pour gave me some faint weed smell. But as I drink it, if I closed my eyes and took a big inhale, I'd think this a Summerfest.
The lacing is incredible. Still about 1" of frothiness on the walls of the tulip.
Not as piney as their Pale Ale but still delicious.
$5 for 24oz of good beer? I'll opt for that deal all day.

 

That was epic and I'm stuffed!!!

NBS? Picked up my Beer Camp box yesterday at my local bottle shop...right after I picked up a mess of seafood at our local grocer...they were putting on a "seafood rodeo" and had a ton of salty critters at insane prices...so I did what any seafood lover would do and went nuts!

Had Stone's Unapologetic IPA all lined up for today's NBS but Cigar Cities Tropical Maibock was calling my salty brain all morning...and so it is...the first beer out of my box and a new beer to me.

If this is any indication of the other 11 them I am one happy "camper". Juicy, malt dripping with hints of sweetness...mango, papaya, kiwi and passion fruit. I thought it might be to sweet...nope...extremely well balance...if anything...under-sweet? Pretty in the glass...nice head with a Hawaiian luau dancing on the nose...very nice indeed. Paired well with my seafood and mango salad...life is good! Cheers!

 

Tired Hands newest bottle release Parageusia1, very well done.

4.6/5 rDev +2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

500 ml bottle poured into flute

A- A cloudy golden straw color with a two finger whtie head.

S- Sour, nice barnyard funk, white wine/grapes, oak, some peppercorns.

T- Sour lemons, grapes/white wine, oak, some earth funk, very nice balance.

M- Smooth, crisp, dry, light body.

O- Nose is funkier than the taste, awesome sour, very well made. Worth the wait in line, would love to see them brew this again.

Serving type: bottle

 

Evil Twin Double Barrel Jesus. This is better than Even More Jesus and any variant of Imperial Biscotti Break (including BBA). THE best beer from Evil Twin, hands down! Like Even More Jesus wasn't good enough. This beer has everything you'd want an Imperial Stout + so many more wonderful things/flavors. So thick and fudge-like. Chocolate, fudge, molasses, melted chocolate ice cream, soy sauce, wood, whiskey, cocoa/cacao, candi sugar, booze, charcoal, smoke, silky smooth. This is one of my favorite brews of 2014 for sure. I paid $26.50 and it's worth every penny!
CHEERS!!!

 

Howdy, Howdy, Howdy!

Straight from Aggieland, it's a New American-made Belgian Tripel Sunday!



frankly, tastes more like a dubbel and a LOT like candi-sugar, which is the Americanized version of the abbey ale, BUT ignore all my bitchin' and moanin' ... I had nary a problem getting this sucker down, all 25.4 oz. of it. good beer.



need to research the "Warimono" name ... what it means? don't know yet ...



that number up there: 9.2. pushing upwhards of 10% ABV, and you don't taste nor feel all that alcohol. sure, the candi sugar overload might be helping that, but the bottom line is New Republic took a shot at making a tripel and delivered a no-doubts abbey ale that's easy-drinking and tasty with little-to-no alcohol burn.

How 'bout them Aggies?!?

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27400/128827/?ba=Premo88

honesty's a bitch. couldn't give it much more in terms of numbers than what you'll find in that review, but that's the theme with every American-made abbey ale I've tried: good beer, NOT trappist monk/Belgian good. but good beer ... glad I tried it.

keep up the good Sunday work, BAs, and cheers!

 

Beer Camp Yonder Bock, the Sierra Nevada/Cigar City collaboration. I have never had anything the the name "Cigar City" attached even though this is brewed by Sierra Nevada. Odd overripe fruitiness combines with the sweetness of caramel and toffee.

 

I'm generally a fan of Dick's (met the guy a couple times, sometime I'll the story of the first time I met him. The WA beer scene is missing something since he passed.), and while I agree that they're probably not the greatest beers ever, I LOVE me some Danger Ale and Silk Lady!!! i drink the hell out of them whenever I can!

 

A local bar was celebrating Belgian Independence Day with a Belgian beer glass give-away. Had Chimay Red on tap for the first time ever and a can of Lucifer. So two new beer glasses in my collection, as well!

 

Not sure it can be better than the BBA Imperial Biscotti Break, but cheers.

 

I agree, the barrel adds more dimensions to this brew. It was a Wow beer for 2014.

 

It's bourbon and rye whiskey barrel blend. According to many it's not really a double barrel. Same with Huna. It's a blend from 2 different barrels.

 

New Beer Sunday indeed today. Had several in the fridge I'd been wanting to try, so I decided why wait any longer?

This was the first, while I grilled up song burgers and chicken sausages. Watermelon comes through a lot. I really liked this, it was very smooth and a lot of flavor.



The other pre-lunch eating beer was Flying Dog's Agave Cerveza. It went down very easily, but it was like drinking a Corona if Corona was actually a beer. It was a little better than flavorless, but not much to write home about.



This was a let down. For such an expensive beer I was expecting to be blown away. It lived up to the triple IPA traits with some abrasive hop action, but there wasn't enough balance and I didn't enjoy the boozy finish.



Last, and maybe least. Tangerine Dreamsicle. My brother brought this one along for everyone to share. I probably won't be in a rush to drink it again. Tasted like Cream Soda with a little bit of alcohol in it. I didn't really get any tangerine.




Happy New Beer Sunday!

 

***New Doppelbock Sunday!!!

A big Prost to all of the NBS crew! It's a rather humid 94F here in Casper with a heck of a lot of haze and smoke from the fires in ID and WA. And of course, that happens when there's very little wind in town.

I got me a new ^see above earlier in the week and it's a right nice example of the style from Deschutes that, I think, misses a certain thang that I enjoy in the German DBs:



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/128350/?ba=Bitterbill

Like the other folks have said...great to see ya back, cavedave! I'm ready for my closeup, Dave.