New Beer Sunday (week 521)

Well whaddaya know- I got me one of those limited release thingees
(actually, it was just sitting on the store's shelf- right place at the right time and all that)
New NJ Stout Sunday
courtesy of Clown Shoes-



Garden State Rhapsody- blend of rye barrel stout and barleywine. The perfect beer for a night with wind chills below zero.

Very nice nose- balanced and rich, with hints of coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla, toasted coconut and a touch of spicy rye, although the overriding maltiness really smooths it all out. The palate is also rich and smooth; any stout components are present, but take a back seat to the rye and maltiness. Vanilla and creamy malt are the dominant flavors, but dark chocolate starts to show itself really late. The barrel qualities come back again for the mellow but lingering finish, ending with a pleasing hit of coconut. After a few ounces I am also starting to get some dried fruits (dates, fig) and mild smoke as well, so it is great to see that kind of complexity. There is also gentle heat from the alcohol, but it never rises to the point of being a problem.

Fantastic beer- it's powerful, but doesn't clobber you over the head, and packs enough surprises to keep you coming back for more. I think this works so well as a blend, showing off the best quality of each component. Solid A (4.5).

 

New Michigan Made English IPA

Man, it's cold in West MI. -8 with a windchill of -27 this morning and reaching low single digit readings in the afternoon. It felt warmer with plenty of sun and little wind.

It was a pretty lazy day. Did a treadmill run and grocery shopping before hosting a most gracious neighbor who came bearing Hop Slam.

I cracked a couple of these while making dinner for the family. Very drinkable...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9629/99424/?ba=GRPunk

 

Really enjoyed this one, cheers! Oh, forgot to mention in my review, the price and value ratio is pretty good, $4.99 for a bomber.
Abita Select Macchiato Espresso Milk Stout
Abita Brewing Co.
Milk / Sweet Stout / 6.00% ABV
4.19/5 rDev +4.8% | rAvg: 4
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

22 ounce bomber poured into a shaker pint

A: Black, when held up to the light turns ruby red around the edges, nice creamy off white head with lots of tiny bubbles, Pretty intense lacing for a coffee stout, looks good.

A: Fresh ground coffee right up front, nice roasted malt aromas, no alcohol on the nose, one of the beer's strengths.

T: Coffee bitterness up front, nice roasted bitter flavors in the middle, roasted malts, finishes dry, picking up the lactose sweetness, very nice flavors.

M: It's a little thin, but really creamy, definitely getting that sticky lactose sweetness mouthfeel throughout, finishes dry and bitter, as it should for a coffee stout, nice creamy head texture.

O: I am impressed, as a stout and coffee lover, this is really good. Not quite a big beer, reminds of Stone's Coffee Milk Stout, but this has a little more kick to it at 6% ABV, I would definitely drink this more often if available in six-packs. It's a little thin and not as smooth as I would like, but really good beer. Do you love stouts and coffee? Then this is definitely worth a try.

 

I had a bottle of that last weekend, I thought it was good. And yeah, for the price it's really worth picking up!

 

Got a sixer of Sierra Nevada Hoppy Lager for my new beer Sunday and the stuff is KILLER!! Another great beer from SN, big surprise right. Consistently rock soild, always available at a great price, take a bow SN you guys get it!!!

 

First time having Firestone Walkers Double DBA. This one is the 2014 and based on it I'll be seeking the 2015 when it comes out. Cheers everyone!

 

First time with this BA Narwhal. I really can't believe how much this beer changes after being in the barrel. Really smooth and complex. Great choice for NBS!

 

This beer was retired last year, so enjoy, it's really good and I will miss it.

 

This New Beer Sunday Review Comes Courtesy of @KBS
Founders Imperial Stout
Founders Brewing Company
Russian Imperial Stout / 10.50% ABV
4.6/5 rDev +5.5% | rAvg: 4.36
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

12 ounce bottle poured into a Belgian style tulip glass bottled 12/01/2014

A: Pitch black with a brown creamy head that dissipated after about 7-8 minutes, not a whole lot of lacing, very little carbonation, looks pretty viscous as I swish the beer around in the glass, very nice.

A: Big roasted malt, coffee like aromas, chocolate, picking up a slight hint of that soy sauce smell, very slight, picking up some slight alcohol aromas, very nice aroma.

T: Big chocolate, coffee, roasted malt aromas, right up front, slight soy sauce, some bitterness, slight alcohol on the finish as well as a dry finish. Very smooth drinking for 10.5% ABV.

M: Motor oil, dry, has that smooth creamy imperial stout mouthfeel, really nice, very thick.

O: Definitely world class, big chocolate coffee roasted malts, easy drinking and smooth, wonderful mouthfeel, has that slight Expedition Stout soy sauce like flavor, world class, can't until Founders is available in CA, really good.

 

D'oh....now wished I would've got a couple more when I had the chance!

 

Very sorry to report that 2014 was its last bottling It will be replaced with "Helldorado", a blonde barleywine.



This is my new one for today too. Nose similar to Torpedo just a little greener. Taste follows with a bright green, almost noble hop flavor before some citrus, spice, and a little bit of bready malt comes through on the finish. Very crisp and easy-drinking for 7%. Delicious. Hard to say whether I prefer this to Electric Ray, fortunately I don't have to Cheers NBS!

 

Happy New German Pilsner Sunday!



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/144200/?ba=MadCat

So, like most of the people here, my day has been dealing with the bitter cold that has hit, along with an unusual snow storm (unusual in that we usually don't get snow when it is this cold). Fierce winds too. Not too much snow, and a lot of what we got blew away, so clearing the driveway wasn't too bad. And I ate too much at dinner so I picked a nice light brew, Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner. The good thing about this is it makes me feel like I am in warmer weather. Sometimes you just need something light and crisp and easy drinking. Especially to get my mind off the fact that we probably have another month of this crap weather to put up with.

Cheers!

 

New Beer Sunday Round 2


Not a big fan of Sculpin but I was looking forward to trying this.
I guess I was expecting more. Don't see me grabbing this one again.

I have listened to this song a half dozen times today.

 

NEW BARREL AGED WEE HEAVY

Hi NBS, hope you are all somewhere warm. Bitterly cold today here in sunny south central PA with more of the same in the forecast. It was a low-key day with the family today. My wife and I are having a fantastic time watching our son learning to talk and developing his sweet little personality. It's funny how a void I didn't even know existed could be filled so wonderfully.

I met my oldest friend of 30+ years for a couple this evening and this was one of them. No pic, I just can't do it in public...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/146113/

I really wanted to try this offering from Victory, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend $21 on a bottle. Not with over half a case of inexpensive by comparison Backwoods Bastard at home. Glad I came across it on-tap! Good stuff, but 750ml would have been a lot to work through. Cheers everyone!

@rgordon your morning sounds awesome, definitely jealous!

 

Good evening NBS! Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday as well. Another nice week ahead of us I hope, except for weather here haha. Anyways here is today's new beers:

This was really tasty as far as sweet stouts go, the BA style label is incorrect. Appearance was all around spot on. Nice head retention, and soapy lacing down the glass. Really nice aromas with big milk chocolate, cocoa, fudge, vanilla, cream, toffee, caramel, and some light toast. Smells exactly like heavily frosted chocolate cake. Taste of milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, toffee, fudge, cream, light toast, and slight herbal hops. Minimal roast/herbal hop bitterness on the finish. Good balance of the malt and cocoa flavors; flavor robustness was a bit lacking, but at 5% mostly expected. No note on the label about lactose, but I'd be shocked if it wasn't in here. Zero cloying sweetness. Really smooth and fairly crisp finish; moderate creaminess. Not bad at all, and definitely enjoyable. Chocolate cake in a glass pretty much. It achieves what it promised. 3.8


Awesome RIS. Great head retention and lacing, spot on appearance. Aromas of dark chocolate/cocoa/coffee with balanced raisin/prune fruitiness with molasses and some slight charred notes. Really nice and prominent. Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, toast, molasses, raisin, plum, and light char with a light touch of earthy hops. A fair amount of roast malt/earthy hop bitterness on the finish. Well balanced bitterness/sweetness of roasted malt flavors; even with a 2014 batch this is hardly showing much hop character, which is surprising for the RIS style. Well balanced flavors with great malt complexity. Dark fruit notes in the nose were more prominent than in the taste; but still had a good presence in flavor. Very smooth sipping with an great creamy mouthfeel; not overly heavy or slick feeling. Alcohol warmth after the finish is moderate but not boozy. Lovely malt complexity and balance all around. 4.2


Another great Barrel aged Belgian Strong ale from Hof Ten Dormaal. Grappa is supposedly similar to Brandy, but more like vodka apparently. Appearance is good, head retention is lacking, but lacing and streaming carbonation are nice. Aromas of big raisin, plum, cherry, red grape, apple, white wine, oak, and light vanilla with a good balance of caramel/toasty malts with some peppery yeast notes. Balanced with nice complexity. Taste of big raisin, plum, cherry, red grape, apple, white wine, pepper, oak, caramel, toffee, toast, light vanilla, and some herbal/earthy hop/yeast notes. Slightly tannic tartness and peppery yeast spiciness on the finish. Well balanced yeast, malt, and grappa barrel notes. Well carbonated with a smooth and crisp finish. Alcohol warming is fairly moderate, but not boozy. More of a white wine type complexity coming from the Grappa barrel but works well with this BSDA. Really enjoyable stuff! No complaints at all. 4.1


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

so many great beers, but the music on here today!!! i can't keep track of it all.

errands are done, so it's time to climb back into the BIF box from @TongoRad and grab this:



Yards' Brawler, a beer I imagine many of you East Coasters have run across. It's new to me, and now I need a few kegs of this stuff.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/450/46504/?ba=Premo88

4.19 (+14.2% rDev)

Those numbers are high, but here's why -- I LOVE good, flavorful beers in the sub 5% ABV range. We throw around the word "session" to describe beers that aren't even close in terms of ABV, but Brawler *is* close. At 4.2%, it's among the lowest ABV beers I've reviewed, and it's fantastic, a true grain bomb with lots of sweet caramel malt. Having little experience with the English dark mild, it's impossible for me to place it correctly to style. In fact, it tastes a lot like the American amber ale many of our craft breweries put out in the 5% ABV range. But the thing that really makes Brawler work for me is how it avoids the creamed corn taste despite tasting like sweet corn. I don't know how it does it, but it's doing it, and the flavor here is much, much better than that mushy creamed corn note.

As I near the bottom of this glass, there's just a bit of fig or plum happening. Is that right? Hey, why not?

Cheers!

 

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news because I really enjoy Double DBA and feel it is a really well done beer that I would never pass over, but 2014 was the last batch....

 

Late to the NBS party as always, still working through the awesome Michigan beers that @superspak sent me as part of the NBS BIF and I was able to knock out two this evening.

First up is Short's Brewing Cup A Joe:


Damn good stuff here. Dark and thick, aroma is of strong coffee and taste is coffee with sweet chocolate undertones. Would drink this again for sure.

Then I moved on to Oddside Ales Sinister Vertigo:


This is a real solid Imperial Stout, enjoyed it but the only problem is I should have had it before the coffee bomb.

Cheers!