New Beer Sunday (week 495)

At the local brew pub, Maori IPA, named for the indigenous people where the hops were grown New Zealand. This brew has a small amount of kiwi purée added. Nice and a bit different

 

Good afternoon NBSers!

Its a warm 85 degrees here along the sunny southern California coast. The humidity has subsided, at least for the day, so I decided to get a few things done before trying a new beer. Dremeled the hound's No 2 pencil sized acrylic nails, did a little light housework and then headed up to the Home Depot for some flowers to fill a space in the garden that the dogs had been using as a dirt bed. Ended up with some large sunflowers and a pro-pack of snapdragons. Got those suckers in the ground and finally rejoiced in the glory that is, a new beer.

A few photos for your viewing pleasure:




My new beer was Stone Coffee Milk Stout. I had been anticipating this delight and with a $1.29 price tag per bottle at my Trader Joes, I snagged two last trip. First impression...it tasted like Alesmith Speedway Stout, less the booze. Not a bad thing, but maybe not what I expected or anticipated. Very coffee forward. At 4.2% abv and after working in the yard, this sucker went down like water. Very thin mouthfeel, carbed as expected for a stout. I guess I sort of expected it to be sweet based on it being a milk stout, it was not. Just tasted to me like a solid coffee stout. Not very exciting. As I sit here typing this I'm wishing I had a bottle of Stone's Vanilla Smoked Porter to blend with the remaining bottle, I think the smoked vanilla taste would take this to a new level.

At any rate, time to find something else to enjoy while watching this Denver V San Francisco game. It's about time to draft my winning fantasy team for the season Enjoy the rest of your day, one and all!

Something for your ears to feast on. Be like @cavedave and his recycling quest....make this a better place with your own two hands.

 

Not beer related (other than I'd just had one when I typed it), but it's been drawn to my attention that the plane I saw actually had a non original engine, a Wright Cyclone, whereas the original plane it was based on had a Pratt & Whitney Wasp. I stand corrected. Ahem.

In beer news, in the spirit of my “It’s been a long week” rant , I decided to follow-up with a big boy I’ve been sitting on for a while (and perhaps should have kept sitting on):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/429/91160/?ba=woemad

I’m still working on this, and may indeed end up sending it to that great sewage treatment plant in the sky. I like that despite Alaskan’s relatively large status, they still try different things, but geez! Way too sweet and boozy!

 

3.84 is on the status of its good, but wouldn't travel 12 miles to get it good.

 

New Irish Red Ale Sunday
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http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9797/23052/?ba=mattcrill

Good afternoon, all you remarkably rowdy Red Ale revelers and revoltingly rebellious Roegenbier regulars, Happy New Beer Sunday.

I thought I would mercilessly plagiarize @cavedave due to his wonderful alliteration on this fine New Beer Sunday.

Weather in Central OH is kind of cool, cloudy, and humid. Not sure why this Irish Red hasn't gotten more love but I'll tip my cap to it any day of the week and twice on NBS!

Hope you all have a fine American ale in your glass today.

Peace, love, and malty-ness,

Matt

 

Yesterday was the first anniversary for my favorite local bottle shop. To celebrate, he had all local brews on the tap list including a few rarities. I picked up two growlers to take home. Unfortunately, they got the labels backwards...

Unintentionally, today's new beer is Rocket Republic's Terrestri-Ale Tripel. A Belgian style Tripel. Nothing super outstanding here, but this is a very solid Tripel, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. There wasn't much head on the first pour, but maybe the seal on the growler wasn't very good. Looking forward to Rocket Republic moving into to their new facility later this year, and the opening of their taproom.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31547/115524/

Also picked up a nice shirt at the event yesterday...

 

Great Lager from Metropolitan- crisp but hoppy! Perfect for a summer day!



Listening to some James Maynard Tool!

 

New double IPA

Kind of muggy with gloomy skies in West MI. Our family is kind of in recovery mode after a lot of travel and hosting family over the past couple weeks. A lazy day was good for trying a new beer.

Unfortunately I won't have a linked review. I've gone back to solely jotting my own notes into the little black book until I wrap my head around the new scoring system.

In a nutshell, it was a beautiful beer with a ton of leafy and citrus hops in both the aroma and flavor. However, a significant malt bill keeps everything in check and really beefs up the body. A nice sipper that I wouldn't hesitate to buy again.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/10433/?ba=Roxie_B


A rainy Sunday afternoon here in the sultry SouthEast. I am rounding out a week of gentle porters with this one. I am enjoying some solitude and trying to let go of the notion that I have anything more than today a beer and a pocketful of hope. Feeling a bit silly for the belated epiphany to be honest.

This is a fine example of a porter though not my favorite to date. Would drink again. Does put me ever so vaguely in mind of saw dust but I can't put my finger on why that is. Happy New Beer Sunday to y'all!

 

Time to slay some more ....

Modern Times - Phalanx IPA


Modern Times - Phalanx IPA by imbibehour, on Flickr

Rating of works in progress for I don't know what so I am sort of winging but have a theory and solid working formula that I like so it goes something like this...

Rating 86 on a 100 point scale.

Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Deep crystal clear body. Rows of bright orange and yellow, to bronze golden glow all throughout. Head is a great even and pinhead filled three fingers. Big filled, with a foamy cap and a little bit of retention. Head slowly settles to a thick puck, but skips the clumpy classic IPA look, with no lacing or clinging. Still a great looking beer, classic in it's clarity to it's origins.

What a solid hop front nose. Orange pekoe tea, but with a fruity juicy quality that doesn't hint towards English. What an interesting hop blur angle, and juiced body. Partial tropics but herbal earthy quality and fruit just reminds me of a standout English IPA. Incredibly airy and aromatic. Not sweet, practically like a spice tea box, with perhaps some hinting sandal wood. Malt character not discernable but really don't care. Very nice.

First sip really describes a body thick like a double, with definitely much sugary sweetness and hinting syrup. Fruit angle slides along with orange and marmalade. Spicy finish with lots of citrus warmth and juice to match. Body has thickness and almost creamy texture, but gets a little syrupy as well. Very low carbonation, barely cutting through this thick malt, but like a true IPA lets the hops shine.

This brewery makes great beer what more can I say.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday, everybody!

My wife just made a blueberry crumb cake with all of the wild blueberries we picked at my parents' place in the Catskills yesterday, so it only seems fitting that I finally open up this coffee stout to go with it.-

Central Waters Brewhouse Coffee Stout

Overall, it's about as straightforward a beer as i was expecting. Not too much going on besides the coffee, a hint of blackstrap molases in the nose plus a mild tootsie roll quality in the finish, but hey, the coffee is supposed to be the star of the show after all. It definitely shines here. I'd say that getting the proportions right is the real key to a beer like this; and that has definitely been done. It's all in the 'goldilocks zone'- the coffee flavor, the residual sweetness, the bitterness, even the mouthfeel. Nothing is overdone or underdone, it's all just right. Nice beer- solid 4 out of 5.

 

Good Sunday all,
On the way home from the Festival of Farmhouse Ales, we stopped at Lost Nation in Morrisville VT
I thoroughly enjoyed the Vermont Pilsner, I am still working on the rating system changes on BA.

Overall a 4 for me

Had on tap at the brewery today,
A - Golden light pours through a very clean pilsner. A gentle dance of light carbonation bubbles train upward.
S - Floor malts, noble hops right at the start, tinges of lemon, and a hint of tart.
T - A crisp snap of light malt, carbonation is clean and delightful, The hop profile is up for the style.
lightly bitter with again a hint of lemon, no Styrian in this beer.
M - What a delight, the palate is coated gently, a crisp center and clean finish seal the deal.
O - This pils may be a little round to the style, but a wonderful lager and worth seeking out.
Cheers

 

96 degrees a bit ago, felt like 102 -- Texas August in full bloom. But my new bougainvillea loves it.

NEW Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. BEER SUNDAY!

Very excited to join you fine folks again, and very excited to open a new beer from Houston, Texas' Buffalo Bayou. Toured that brewery last weekend and couldn't believe how much I loved their cucumber wit.

But to the task at hand ...

Abrikoos, a Belgian IPA that's got Australian hops and apricots in it. It's also got carbonation:



OK, so now I believe over-carbonation can happen. This is my first encounter with it, and I got lucky -- didn't have a gusher, and my goblet/chalice helped save the day:



That's a pretty big head for a beer in a chalice, but it drank just fine. And it's a good! Tons of sweet fruity flavor mixed with a steady bitter bite, and the hops had to be from somewhere other than America, England or Germany because I'm still having a hell of time placing them -- kind of piney, kind of floral, kind of sweet even, but not like anything I've tasted before.

Part of that is due to the apricots in this brew, no doubt. The label helps a bit:



"Savory phenolics" and walls of hops bouncing off other hops, iindeed ... it's so packed with a sweet/bitter mix that I'm looking forward to trying it again.

Gave it a 4.25 in our new system:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28255/114890/?ba=Premo88

Republican? Democrat? Screw that. I'm with these guys:



@Roguer: That's EXACTLY what a 3.84 is.
@DIM: OMG ... "Sierra Nevada Ticker's Delight" ... bwaaahahahahahaha! And, of course, as I'm laughing I'm kicking myself for not buying my own. Hey, I like to tick. Let me play!

Thanks to @cavedave for starting us off this week, and thanks to all you music posters. Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac *and* some Marley Jamming ... plus more?!? Yes, please.

Cheers!

 

Hey NBS'ers

Just wrapped up another beautiful weekend in Bend: two of my best friends visited from Seattle, another successful Bend Brewfest is in the books, and I find myself the recipient of a trade with a new-to-me goodie.


Kulshan Bastard Kat IPA from Bellingham, WA has the common decency to list some details about its beer right on the can.

Malt: 2-Row, Munich, Honey
Hops: Apollo, Palisade, Cascade
IBU: 70
OG: 14.8 Plato
FG: 2.3 Plato
ABV 6.66%
SRM: 10
Ideal serving temp: 41 F
Please enjoy in proper glassware

Would that every brewery provide this much info. The beer itself has a great nose of Cascade, and the hops are in full force on the tongue, but I would have preferred the malts pull back a little. Still a strong IPA from the City of Subdued Excitement, 3.5/5.

 

Greetings All:

I had to spend a few minutes figuring out the new review/rating system. At first I thought I was too old/stupid/drunk to remember how to rate a beer... then I figured out the landscape had changed. I wonder how the new "optional" review protocol affects NBS? For those smarter than I figure out I guess?

So, today was Nice Rack IPA. Sweet and sessionable. I'd have it again.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17116/56432/?ba=RJLarse

The brewery seems to have a 'sex sells' approach to names. Only other brew I had from this brewer was 'Pinup Porter'.

Seasonal here in the Columbia Basin after a weird week. We had an epic dust/thunder storm roll through on Tuesday blowing down trees and sparking a couple of wild fires. It's all good at my place. A few broken tree branches and it blew a few Macintosh apples off the trees that won't make to the apple pie, but there are many left. Otherwise OK.

Happy Trails!

 

Man do I love my bottle shop for choosing not to mark up their incredible selection.

 

I am about to head upstairs to read an to contemplate this glorious new beer sunday but I do not want to forget @Brenden . He posted first this New Beer Sunday but in last weeks thread so I volunteered to see his post to today.

Here it is . he's new and let's all welcome him. =)


Another long-time listener, first-time caller. This always seems like a fun thread, but I haven't gotten in on it yet. Right now, I'm typing with a kitten sleeping on one arm, so it might take forever.
Anyway, nothing crazy today, and walezbro are usually only at organized tastings for me. There's too much good stuff on shelves unless I have disposable income to put into ludicrous shipping costs, which I currently don't.
But what's new in stock, at least from a few breweries, are pumpkin beers. Slowly but surely, they're popping up on shelves along with some Oktoberfests. This week, I picked up 2 that are new to me: Cisco's Pumple Drumkin and Wilhelm Scream from Magic Hat. I can't speak to those two yet (later today), but I did also pick up some O'Fallon pumpkin ale to share with friends. It was good, but I didn't remember it having so much of a tang to it as it did this time. I'm not sure what the date was. I would still get it, especially for $8.99 a sixer, it just had a little more tartness than I recalled. It still had plenty of pumpkin and spices that weren't too heavy or too subtle, though.
Yes, this took forever to write, and now the kitten jumps down. Cool.