New Beer Sunday (week 497)

Good evening NBS! Hope everyone is enjoying the middle of the holiday weekend. Got a few new beers today as always, I have been trying to open up a special bottle every week from now onward for this thread!


Very good oatmeal stout. Taste of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, roasted malt, dark bread, toasted oats, light char, and roasted earthiness. Good amount of roasted bitterness on the finish. Nice creamy and smooth mouthfeel, a touch chalky. Well balanced roasted bitterness/sweetness flavors. Very enjoyable. 86/100; 3.8


Outstanding BA Barleywine. Taste of big raisin, prune, fig, chocolate, caramel, molasses, toast, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, oak, bourbon, coconut, light tobacco, and toast/oak earthiness. A fair amount of earthy oak-like spice/bitterness on the finish. Very dense mouthfeel: very creamy, slick, and fairly syrupy. Zero cloying sweetness, very smooth for the ABV. No booze. Great balance of the malt and bourbon barrel flavors. Fantastic. 96/100; 4.33


This was a really great White IPA. Taste of big tangerine, grapefruit, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, coriander, clove, white pepper, wheat, cracker, herbal, grass, and herbal/yeast earthiness. Good amount of earthy yeast spice and herbal/grassy hop bitterness on the finish. Great balance of yeast and hop flavors. Very smooth, crisp, and lightly sticky mouthfeel. Definitely felt like a proper White IPA, They don't specify yeast anywhere I looked about the beer, but the witbier yeast character seems to be there as expected. Great stuff. 92/100; 4.1


Cheers, have a good rest of the night!

 

Keeping it local with Old Dominion Candi (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/402/104638/?ba=larryi86), awesome label, beer inside is pretty good too.

12 oz bottle, dated 7/17/14, poured into a tulip

A- A golden color with a three finger white head. 4

S- Pretty sweet, bananas, bread, hints of cloves, yeast, pretty standard for a tripel. 4

T- Sweet, bananas, hints of cloves, yeast, bread, hints of bubblegum, apples, and pears, touch of alcohol. 3.9

M- Smooth, medium body, carbonation is a little high. 3.8

O- A nice tripel, and pretty easy to drink. Like others in the Pin-UP seties it is good beer and fits the style pretty well, but not really a big stand out. Worth trying. 4
Overall 3.94

 

Time to switch seasons...

Firestone Walker - Oaktoberfest


Firestone Walker - Oaktoberfest Marzen by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2210/45148/?ba=smakawhat

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Poured from the bottle into a stemless wine glass.

A very light, almost ipa orange caramel looking body color, but heavily clear and crystal shimmering. Some cola sized bubbles in the carbonation. Fluffy white head with big swiss cheese like appearance. Slowly falls like a popping ballong, and clump lacing, but manages to still keep a big puck.

Good toasty malts, and mild caramel. A faint diacetyl ? Maybe an interesting buttery note but not distracting and certainly not overpowering. Toasty malts hint towards fresh baked bread almost.

Palate sings with a bit of grainy mouthfeel. Simple caramel but bigger on toasty and grainy brown bread rush in the mid palate. Big dry finish emphazing toast with a faint touch of wet finish. Some herbal and noticeable hop front, small enough to not distract but bigger on the typical marzen front it seems. Big crisp finish as well.

Overall a very light bodied marzen, maybe not what I look for but a solid enjoyable brew.

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Got this one in a trade a little back. Always a fan of good bourbon barrel stouts.

 

RE: What do you taste, smell, and think? Do you LOVE it? Why? What do you love about it?

New to me was Dogfish Head's "Theobroma"

As promised, it starts with an earthy smell and taste, finishing with the chili bite.

As I started drinking chocolate stouts, I wondered what might be available from the people who first started using chocolate, so when I learned this brew was based on the chemical analysis of the residues on ancient pre-columbian drinking vessels, I had to give it a go.

Even though I was expecting a lighter color than my usual Chocolate Stouts, Imperials, and American Doubles, I was still surprised by the light color as the first half of my bomber filled my Imperial Nonic, and the second half my dimpled Raven Head mug (the closest to the styles of pre-columbian drinking vessels I have in glass -- I also collect pre-columbian art and artifacts).

This one I regard as being a first date I am not yet certain about, but still intrigued enough to ask for a second date -- The historicity and ABV are just too compelling for me to rule out.

 

Forgot to add my thoughts:

Pours a deep black with a dark mocha colored head that doesn't linger.

Smells of vanilla and rich wood. Slight maple syrup, as well as bourbon caramel.

Taste is very rich and sweet vanilla and caramel upfront. Mellows into a creamy vanilla flavor that lingers a little. Booze warmth on the finish. Amazingly complex and deep beer. Adds a rich chocolate flavor more so than caramel as the beer warms up. I prefer the chocolate to the caramel. Nice rich chocolate and vanilla mixing on the palate.

Mouthfeel is rich and creamy. No other way to say it.

Excellent beer.

 

Well as Summer passes at the temps dip times change.. one marzen and as to a simple style I return, to now different destinations we go...

Bayou Teche Brewery - LA-31 Bière Pâle


Bayou Teche Brewery - LA-31 Bière Pâle by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here, or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22408/57551/?ba=smakawhat

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Poured from the bottle into a stemless wine glass. Best by Nov 16th 2014.

Lots of cola sticking bubbles on the sides of the glass. A white simple head of three fingers forms, but disappears quickly into a thick bubbly collar and thin puck. Body color is a cloudy orange amber, somewhat hazy as well.

An interesting perfume and floral sweetness, coupled with a mild sugar brown sweetness. Kind of minimal and not really that impressive, but a good decent malt backbone aroma. A little bit of sweet clove character as well. A bit subdued.

Palate hits interestingly. Aftertaste has a good thick caramel finish, with a hint of pine like hop and coating. Mild sense of treacle and molasses, with a tight and crispy like finish. An interesting balance and almost toffee crisp but fleeting, with a good thick and controlled coat in the palate, hitting every crevice of the palate.

Overall seems disappointing at first, but actually improves. Worth exploring, and a for a second drink someday.

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got one of their schwarzbiers in the fridge, maybe it will travel well, and hope to crack it in the future.

 

New Beer Sunday round two:
Sharing NBS with my husband is an excellent idea. I pik a beer for him and one for me and once again we need to swap (I get to review both!). Two sips in he detests his and I am enchanted with it. So reluctantly I part with mine which wasn't half bad. (But his is omg so much better anyway!)
Founders Rübæus:

One note sticky sweet raspberry. But not bad for what it was.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/23474/?ba=Roxie_B
I'd be tempted to put a little of this in a chocolate stout for a chocolate raspberry...er...thing?

And...

Wow. Just...wow.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37/129/?ba=Roxie_B

Now guess who started with what.

P.S. for those following the saga of the fish in the background of most of my beer pictures I went to clean around the moss today and surprise! Two fry about a cm each where hiding in there!)

 

= Justified Mercy Killing. (Hey they were given to me involuntarily, I had no choice) ...and hey-yyyyyy, you complainin' about FREE beer, Buck-o!

 

Heeellll Nooooo I ain't complaining!
With the way you hate and despise your liver I am surprised there are any left.

 

Oooh. Beware the pear and barnyard burps though. Eeek.

 

Good Evening NBS'ers!

New Amber Sunday

I got to add hop-picker to my resume today, and had a lot of fun doing it. A friend of mine has helped get a small hop farm started, and today was harvest for the 2 rows of Y1 Cascade and Centennial. The weather was 70ish and sunny, and we had enough hands to make the work go pretty quick. In the few hours we were there, we were visited by another local hop farmer, a local brewer who was taking some of the hops to put in a fresh hop beer tomorrow (and brought some of his beer to share), and a neighbor who seemed to be almost sold on starting to grow some hops on her own land. All in all, a perfect summary of what I love about where I live: 1) A "we're in this together" philosophy that treats other hop farmers, brewers, etc. as resources and colleagues more than competitors, 2) Lots of local beer.

Pizza Port ChronicAle



This was a thank you gift from my boss for the day, Miles from Smith Rock Hop Farm. Color is spot on, head was a little thinner than I remember for the style. Aroma has plenty of carmelly malt to ride alongside some fruity hop action. Taste follows suit, but I just can't get excited about it. A fine enough beer, just not my thing. 3.0/5

 

One last beer for NBS, Viking Gose (http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33121/117494/), smokier than I was looking for but still good.

500 ml bottle poured into a thin pint glass

A- A slightly hazy golden straw color with a small white head.4

S-Very smoky, smoked pork, slightly salty, nice smoked wood, hints of tart fruits/lemons. Not bad, but much smokier than I was hoping for in a Gose. 3.8

T- Tart lemons up front, smoked meat in the finish, much better balance than the nose, hints of salt. 4.1

M- Smooth, slightly chewy, medium body. 4

O-A nice beer, but a lot smokier than I excepted for a Gose. An enjoyable beer, but I just don't see myself buying this very often do to the fact I can buy other German Goses that I enjoy more for the same price. 4
Final score 4.01

 

Yesssss that whole album is amazing. Don't see many Kalnoky fans around these parts, but, just from that album, I've had If Only For Memories and With Any Sort of Certainty stuck in my head for the past week or two.
Beer sounds interesting, too.

 

It is truly an amazing album, I love every track, and the Toh Kay acoustic version is just as good!
The beer is interesting, if it was less smoky it would be up there with my favorite German Goses.

 

Well I am only about a day late but here is a NBS entry from @JMS1512

Listen up all you consumers of Cantillon and downers of Don de Dieu, it’s another installment of JMS1512's NBS reviews.


Poured hard into my Lucifer brandy-snifter style glass: Class of ’88 Barleywine Style Ale

Appearance: Lush opaque amber with an off-white head. Tiny, tiny bubbles from the bottom of the glass. Head recedes to a moderately thin rim, leaving behind sine-wave like lacing.

Smell: Bright citrus, perhaps oranges. Most likely from the hop choice. 75 IBUs? Check.

Taste: Lots of hops, citrusy, floral wave. 75 IBUs? Double Check. A touch of sweetness. I don’t taste any roasted notes, or caramel, nor did I smell them at the outset. I do get a sugary finish as it warms.

Mouthfeel: Somewhat coating, medium bodied. Not sure where people are getting “sticky” as a descriptor. I can however, feel the bubbles.

Overall: Enjoyable for an American, though I still prefer English. A tasty collaboration.

 

H

Hello NBSers.
As many of you know Matt has contributed greatly to this little corner of the interwebs. And while I am only an occasional contributor to NBS, i've been reading it for years. Under Matt's care NBS was a great positive place that I love popping in on. So I just wanted to pay the beer karma forward so to speak.

Thankfully, The tradition is continuing. cavedave, utopiajane, beertunes, as well as others who I may be forgetting are definitely taking the ball and running with it. And doing a great job at that.

Thanks to all of you can make New Beer Sunday a great spot!