New Beer Sunday (week 526)

It was tied in with WBAYDN #882.

 

Blend 23, Bottled 7/30/2014

Pours slightly hazy, reddish brown with a small head that disappears quickly leaving only tiny bubbles around the perimeter of the glass.
Smell of oak, funk, leather, tart cherries and barnyard. Taste is similar. Oak, tart cherry, vanilla, initial softness followed by acidic bite. Lemon bitterness and caramel malts.

I tried to let this warm up to reveal more flavors but it's just so drinkable. Great sour on training wheels.

 

I guess I'll just have to let the anticipation gnaw at me, and then go nuts the weekend after next. Or maybe I'll grab one to take with and squeeze it in somehow between the numerous glasses of wine that tend to happen at my folks' house.

 

I'm about to relax with my Sunday crossword, but figured that I'd give another new beer a shot, considering my luck with the last one. Time to call in the big guns- this one is from Brasserie Dupont-

La Biere de Beloeil

First thing to note- the head on this is insane; it's been 5 minutes and it literally looks like meringue. So tightly knit with a silky sheen. It's got me hypnotized, to a certain extent, but onward I shall go. The aroma is soft and elegant, and intricately woven together. Wildflowers and citrus hit me first, bringing to mind a bright sunny day. Underneath are bread, caramel, hay, gentle spiciness (coriander, anise, vanilla). Whether there are any genuine spices in here or not I couldn't say, but those are the aromatic impressions I'm getting. The palate is moderately full, highlighting caramel most of all, but the spiciness is right up there with it. Lemon peel and straw come out on the long finish. It's a bit sugary while on the palate, but finishes pleasingly dry with just the slightest warming sensation from the alcohol. At the very end I'm also getting a slight hint of dried lavendar.

I can't wait to see how this develops. Very enjoyable, solid A (4.5)

 

Happy NBS fellow BA's! Started with this one. I have been on a Lagunitas kick lately and have not been disappointed. This one is no exception.



New Imperial Stout Sunday
Poured a very dark brown with a thin cream colored ring. Cocoa is dominant with coffee and chocolate not far behind.
First sip: A very nice combination of chocolate, coffee and very roasty malt. There is just enough sweetness and slight smokey on finish. The feel is creamy and whole as the flavors melt nicely when drinking. It's 9.9% ABV, but it's well masked. I actually would have enjoyed this if it did have a trace more of the booze, but overall, a very drinkable and enjoyable stout. Again, for the price, the quality, I seem to be picking Lagunitas anytime I go bottle shopping and am very happy this is an Unlimited Release, I will always try to have one on hand!



New American Quadruple Sunday
Picked this one up, haven't had a quad in a while and although I am not very familiar with, the Triticale sounded enticing.
Poured into a Duvel chalice. Looks very much the part of a quad with the white thick head that goes away quickly. It smells wonderful of dark fruit, brown sugar and the malt is where I think the Triticale graininess comes in. I enjoyed this quite a bit, by no means going to replace the Belgian versions for me, but it was a very interesting take on the style and one worth trying.

Happy Sunday, as always a lot of great beers here...Cheers!

Wife surprised me with X tickets and they are performing the entire Under Big Black Sun...pretty happy guy right now.

 

Wish I could like this more...

Drinking a Jolly Pumpkin Saison X, and some Bill Evans spinning on the old turntable



Edit...Doh, this is not the WBAUD thread. Sorry

 

Aha. Ok, thanks.

 

I think Boat is getting a lower grade because of comparisons. Boat is more of a session. When you compare it to All day, Go To and the like, Boat is head and shoulders above the competition. Just my 2 cents. Glad to see NJ beers traveling everywhere

 

Amen.

 

New Beer Sunday: A new Geuze from Old Beersel
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Good evening NBSers with special greetings of all you Gourmet Guzzlers of Geuze (and Gueuze as well.... )

After 6-7 inches of snow on Friday the temps here have been quite moderate and most all of both the snow from this last storm and what ever was left from the winter as pretty much gone in the two days of nice warm sun and temperatures well above freezing. Today was full of errands (e.g., grocery shopping) and taking care of some items from the "honey-do" list. Taking a break now from basketball and have lost a bit of enthusiasm for this years play offs with Villanova having fallen by the wayside last night. Glad I didn't have a bracket in place or any money riding on outcomes this year.

Tonight I'm enjoying the Oud Beersel Oude Geuze Vielle which is the mildest, most Champagne like tasting Gueuze I've sampled to date so I definitely have mixed feelings about it, having learned to appreciate the more strongly flavored beers from breweries, such as Cantillon, and Hanssens.

My review appears here (but as usual is subject to revision as I go along):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/828/2595/?ba=drtth

Since I can't act out my words (or do a live impression as requested by @SammyJaxxxx ) I've selected some music videos to illustrate my impressions.

First of all the beer is definitely not at like this:



but is much more like this:




While there is some barnyard funk to the beer it is a bit removed from a real barnyard and much more like this:



than it is like the smell of a real barnyard with real animals around.


None the less it is a Geueze with its own distinct character, that is captured well by this:




and on the whole it leaves an overall impression much like this:




I'm certainly willing to repeat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ziSLGVQOSg&spfreload=10


and to recommend to those why would like to begin exploring this style of beer.


Cheers all!

 

Happy New beer Sunday BA!!!

Busy week, busy weekend, sitting down now to enjoy a new brew. This has been sitting in the fridge for a few days waiting for today.

SN Hop Hunter.

A: Pours a rich gold golor, pretty clear. Active light colored two finger head that dissipates quickly.

S: The aroma is very pleasent, that of strong hops with a nice floral background.

T: Taste is very good, though maybe slightly underwhelming. The hops are very present, but I can't say the brewing process has added much in my opinion. There is a pleasant fruity citrus note, and it all finishes very clean. I'm not sure what I was expecting.

F: Slightly Light In body, Well carbonated. Would certainly be very refreshing on a hot day.

O: Again, I can't say I'm blown away by this one, but it is definitely a welcome addition to the local package store selection. It is priced right as well, so it's all good.



Cheers!

 

I agree with that statement completley. Overall comparisons probably hurt this more than help. It is impressive to get this kind of profile into a Coors Light range. This is a much better beer than All Day. I actually think it is much better than SNPA too.

 

Drinking a Heavy Seas Deep Six English-style porter. Cheers!

 

One last new brew for the day - Boulevard's Dark Truth Stout...

Roasted English malts, Belgian yeast, and German hops...

This was crazy good - one of those stouts that, without being barrel-aged, was as good as barrel-aged - if they barrel age this, your world-view will shift - it's got a boatload of complexity, as it uses barley, rye, oats, and wheat, in addition to whatever hops are being used - it's got the coffee, the chocolate, the char; dark fruits, spicy rye notes, yeasty flat notes; bittersweet with hints of wet oak; smooth and smoky softness... a real surprise as I had no expectations... Incredibly good drinking.



Peace out, NBS

 

Been traveling this weekend, so just a brief entry for NBS as the end of the day is sneaking up on me. This one comes to me thanks to @cjgiant.

I have heard really good things about OTWOA and have always wanted to try it for myself. All things considered, this is a solid DIPA and hits of lot of the hop notes that I like while providing enough malt sweetness to balance it some. This is something I would buy anytime I saw it.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25327/78517/?ba=richj1970

 

That review is alluring. I WANT to try that beer. Thanks!

 

Ninkasi Dawn of the Red for my new beer this Sunday. Decent, nothing mind blowing, drinkale for sure. 60 and Sunny in Idaho today, played 18 holes, not my best round but can't beat walking 18 holes on a beautiful day no matter how I play!

 

New IPA Sunday

Hey NBSers,

I observed my 40th birthday on Thursday with a 2015 Sucaba, and have been accumulating new goodies for future NBSes as birthday gifts ever since. Just this weekend, my new beers include the SN beer with Idaho 7 hops, a local (Oregon) Scottish Ale, a raspberry stout and amazing new-school IPA from an under-appreciated Bend brewery, and today's entry. It's beer a good birthday/ beer week.

Molotov Lite by Evil Twin brewed in Stratford, Connecticut



Evil Twin distribution is spotty at best in the High Desert. The upside(?) to this is that new offerings tend to stand out. Seeing this pop up recently alongside its bigger sibling gave me confidence it would be relatively fresh.

Molotov Lite pours a pale gold with a light white head, lacing reveals minimal residual sugars. The aroma was not bursting out of the glass, but present when I stuck my nose down deep in the glass: soft sweetness that struggles to get out underneath the alcohol, its not citrusy, not stone fruit, maybe apple blossom? The alcohol is not burning the nose, but it just sits thick over the beer. The flavor is a hit of pine before the bitterness spreads out and the alcohol slides down the back half of the tongue and throat. This beer makes no attempt to hide its 8.5% and i finally get the joke of having "lite" in the beer name. I had an idea what to expect from an 8.5% IIPA, so it's not that I was taken off guard, more like finding out the club bouncer's nickname is "Tiny". No subtlety, just a hop assault; while I gravitate towards a 4.5% pale with this much hop flavor and less bitterness/booziness, I also like the "more is more" approach sometimes too. 4/5

 

Happy New Brewery and New American Porter Sunday!



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34780/145223/?ba=MadCat

So in spite of not being able to sleep as much as I would like today due to my daughter waking up in the middle of the night and still getting up at her normal time, today has been a very good day. Nothing eventful or exciting, other than making a liquor store run, but it was nice family time. I'm glad the weather has warmed up a smidge from the 5 inches of snow on Friday (which was supposed to be a dusting). Today, I had one of my pickups from the liquor store. It is from a fairly new local brewery called Spellbound. I grabbed a baby growler of their Palo Santo Porter, a tap only offering from them. It is fairly interesting, it is very woody (ever want to know what Palo Santo tastes like?) but it has good flavor. I can only do one pint at a time due to the woodyness, but it is enjoyable. Afterwards, I decided to break my own tradition and open a recently carbonated bottle of my homebrewed Cherry Stout (first bottle for me so it is new as well). This is probably my best bottle of homebrew so far, though it really didn't turn out like I was intending. Not enough cherry flavor, and not too stouty, but I made the recipe myself so I learned quite a bit with it. So, next time around I need to come up with a better stout base, and a better way to impart cherry flavor. I think I'm going to ditch dark malt extract in favor of more steeping grains to dial in things more like I want them. Don't have any ideas on the cherries yet, other than more of them. But even with how this came out, I'd gladly brew it again as is.

Cheers!