New Beer Sunday (week 493)

Greetings, all you growlers of gose and preferred porter partakers, it's been roughly a month worth of NBS reviews for me, with no sign of slowing down. Unfortunately, I cannot quite craft (see what I did there) the right poetic phrase as last week.

Moving on. This? My second favorite offering from Finch's of Chih-cah-go: Fascist Pig Ale

3.59/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Vigorous pour into a classic pilsner glass.

From the outset, I don't smell much except a light citrus and a hint of bread. When held to the light, this pig gives off a nice burnished orange, topped with a tan head... not too unlike a slow-roasted suidae. Head fades leaving a small, thin, but sustaining cap. Lacing varied between dots and a grid-like network of strands. Very cool. First sip provides a good malt presence which cedes to citrusy hops. Bit of dry sourness from rye? Mouthfeel is medium, not too thin. Finishes with more hops and a bit of carbonation, for a clean refreshing experience. Some reviews say its cloying, but I think it's just fine. I look forward to trying their Pig on Wood version.

Serving type: can

p.s.- I think this is only appropriate...

 

Hey, do they still brew Yellow-green? Great album, great beer.

 

AH, Sunday Funday.

Started the day sick and tired. But it only got better. well at least now. Managed to wash the car, bottle a Patersbier that was ready and relax to try out a BeerCamp selection:

Yonder Bock by Cigar City.

Sweet fruit and bready malt nose with a flavor that just screams mangos and oranges. The Malty sweetness backs the fruit nicely and the semi-dry finish leads to a pleasant hop bitterness that I cant nail down.

I went to the Philly early tasting and tried all 12, but really these shine when you have more than 4-6 onces to savor.

 

Grand Conjuration? Great song. Got me hooked on Opeth. Hear the new album leak yet? I miss the good ole jazz-death days of Opeth, with his signature death metal vocals and heaviness that could make a grown man groan.

 

You know I could not tell you as I must admit today is my first Tired Hands. But I will say this I would definitely like more tired hands. Baroness . . . well that too. (I had a dollar for the jukebox this time )

 

Happy New Beer Confused Description Sunday
Greetings to All,
And thanks for starting off cavedave. Nice to see some great contributions so far.
Well, things are downright balmy here in lovely (humid-currently 86 degrees with rain clouds hovering at the ready) southern California. But the little rain we got was glorious, and needed.

I tried St Arnold's Homefront IPA. A pretty good, albeit confusingly described) IPA that benefits a great organization: Operation Homefront that helps are returning service members.


3.56/5 rDev -3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks hophound for this one.

Well, I liked this one pretty well as a standard American IPA, but then I read that they are describing it as a West Coast IPA...Hmmm not quite.
From their website:

"The beer is a drinkable West Coast IPA. It pours a golden amber with a big white head. It has a big citrusy nose with a slight note of fresh oranges.

Malty and sweet up front. Lighter bodied than might be expected. The hop bitter, orange peel and hop flavor seem to all kick in at the finish. Remarkably easy to drink for an IPA with the orange notes more of a secret ingredient than a dominant flavor."

Poured golden amber as stated. I did get some orange on the nose. Some in the taste as well. Enough malt to let me know it was there, but...
Well the slightly bready malt is present along with orange and slightly grass-leaning hops that tease in the resin direction. The finish is a bit light, and yes it's pretty smooth.

Pretty good. But can this be BOTH a WEST COAST IPA AND A SESSION IPA? That's what they seem to be saying. Take the West Coast descriptor off and it's a pretty good IPA.

Serving type: bottle

 

Awesome album, I like the yellow side more, but as a double album? Very tight, with gems throughout. I'm going to do a March To The Sea, without throwing myself in and never returning.

 

Also a huge fan of how they did the feel of Twinkler. REALLY cool harmonies. You saw that in bits and pieces of the Blue album.

 

What's ups nbs, I'm drinks another new beer to me from central waters. Glacial trail ipa which I had to purchase in order to get the bb scotch ale.
Starts off pretty good with the pour and nose. The taste come off as light, airy, and hoppy. light sweetness on the finish and the mouth feel comes off light as well. Overall it just seems to be missing something and too damn light. I think the 81 ba score is spot on,

 

NEW BELGIAN PORTER SUNDAY



Anyone in southern Maryland probably knows about Nick's of Calvert, and how they finally opened up a new growler station. And if you're not from SOMD...well then, this grocery store in Prince Frederick, MD (!) now has a growler station loaded up with solid local brews - one of them being DC Brau/Stillwater NATAS, a Belgian-style porter.

The bad news, it isn't really very Belgian-y. The good news, everything else. It's a friggen' roast bomb in the best ways, and in spite of its bone dry-ness, it has a noticeable complexity to it. Coffee, dark chocolate, pumpernickel bread, roasted malts, smoke, apples, etc...despite its varying notes, it's still cohesive and well balanced.

On a side note, this is what playing Dynasty Warriors does to you:

 

Carton Hoppun - their debut APA - Must try!
4.46/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

I've enjoyed this 3x at the Brewery. In dress beta in late July, on 8/1/14 cold, on 8/2/14 on cask. Wow!
Augie Carton said he would wait to experiment with his talented team before brewing Carton's own APA, and wait until their anniversary they did. The team has nailed a national best beer. You must try it.

As the brewer wrote: "We push around experimental hops 06300 and HBC342 with Super Galena and Mosaic, soften the edges with a traditional pale malt bill and then tie it all together with the fruity esters of British yeast." and recorded:

My go-to beers are hoppy APAs (e.g. Dales, Stone, Sierra Nevada).
A: Darker than expected, a brooding apricot, dense looking, with ample retention and lacing.
S: A big nose packed full of complex berry, grass, hay, summer, and piney hops. Nuanced and wine-like.
The blueberry is easy to pick out.
T: Amply hoppy but well balanced, and this regard it maybe beats an IPA. Wine like long finish. Plenty of malt and sweet yeast make this almost a Euro-influenced beer. Complex like a Belgian.
MF: light to med bodied, fresh, and a long finish in the good way carton knows how to do it.

Overall. An APA ready for national stage.

Serving type: on-tap

08-03-2014 22:34:28 | More by Act25

 

****New WENT BACK FOR MORE Texas Pils Sunday!****

Facts:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30949/98547/?ba=Premo88

Photos:



(Hallertau Blanc? whaaaaa?)


(lot of alcohol for a pilsener, no?)

Bubbles!:


Not a standard German pilsener. For starters, no bread malt at all. But other than a slight medicinality -- from the higher ABV, I'm assuming -- it's a cool twist of big Noble hops with that Hallertau Blanc giving it something I've not tasted before, which is a pilsener that almost comes off as steak and onions. It's salty and meaty with some standard green/grass notes.

And finally, JUNEBUG VICTORY/POCONO SWEEP!!!:


More music thanks to Utopiajane and Ozzylizard ... for Baroness Yellow & Green and Sinatra's Coffee Song. Great stuff!

 

Time for some old-school suds- even older than me .


Straub's pre-prohibition revival beer. Golden in color (despite the lighting in that photo), with the slightest hint of amber, the nose features a healthy dose of hallertau hops and a bready/toasty malt base. Palate is smooth and very well put together with moderate bitterness that comes on late and lingers a bit. The more you drink this, the more the corn comes on, although it never overtakes the other qualities. If anything, this is better than I thought it would be- nothing fancy, mind you, but a pleasurable all-day drinker. Nice job, Straub!

 

As the weekend closes and the work week dawns upon us, I always look forward to Sunday in some form or another. Final round coverage of a great golf tournament, a really hard pounding bike ride, Niner football games...and NBS!
This week it's a new German doppelbock

When I think of the style, Aventinus is my go-to.
I knew this would be like it and even the first sip in confirms my thought.
Do you use liquid smoke for grilling, a cold one in hand, and a waft of the smoke mixes with the mouthful of beer?
That's this beer.
Honestly, the first whiff I took immediately took me back to making split pea soup from scratch, with liquid smoke as an ingredient. Once the smoke tapers off this nears what a "typical" beer of the style should be, albeit faintly.
I'll enjoy this while listening to and learning Pimsluer's Spanish.

 

Older than you? Wait... that's possible?

Keep up the good work moderating/leading NBS.

 

I think you're getting me confuzzled with cavedave, who does the fine work on this thread.

 

Hey what's going on?

What's new today for our hero?

Brewer's Art House (Birdhouse) Pale Ale - The Brewer's Art


The Brewer's Art - Birdhouse Pale Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/997/7095/?ba=smakawhat

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look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75 | Final score 3.71

Poured from the can into a tulip glass.

Copper to bronze red body, and quite clear with some ruby red highlights. Minimal carbonation with a two finger light head that settles to a soapy collar. Fairly decent looking appearance.

Small hints of sticky and sweet Belgian? yeast with a bit of toasty brown bread and faint caramel. Quite a decent balance and inviting.

Light palate provides some easy drinking and flavors. Slight caramel and crisp hop bitterness in the mid palate. Big roof top dryness with some almost saison pepper like quality. Small sweet caramel finish, with a light body, but full enough to let the flavors come out. Bit of an interesting take between toast, caramel, and Belgian dry quality.

Overall pretty decent and easy drinking pale ale from them.
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Good to always see some new things from the Brewer's Art these days. Nice looking can as well.