New Beer Sunday (week 538)

edit- golf shirts, not gold shirts. Those would be heavy, expensive, and hot.

 

Greetings all,
Wow, what a few days we just spent in Asheville! We stayed at the beautiful old Haywood Park Hotel, a 1920s vintage building upfitted for this century, quiet, private, and in the middle of the carnival that Asheville is. We walked all over the place, ate wonderful food, tried beers everywhere, and slept like babies....a very nice break, anniversary, vacation, and eye-opening experience. Asheville is really FUN! My son stayed at the house and cared for our dogs and cats, and getting home is always the best part of a vacation.
We went to Wicked Weed several times for food and beer. WW is a first class operation that produces great beer, food and fun. I cannot say enough about how much we enjoyed WW.
We drove down to Mills River-about 30 minutes south of Asheville- to visit Sierra Nevada and have lunch. Holy shit, you cannot believe this place. It is like a park built into the back end of the Asheville airport. The road in is gorgeous, perfectly maintained, and is paced in a way that makes you wonder what's around the next bend. The brewery is stunning and a remarkable testament to Sierra Nevada's commitment to the area and the beauty of the place. The lunch was light and perfect, along with a Nooner and the necessary SNPA. It will be a beer shrine forever! Picked up a nice growler of Harvest Southern Hemisphere IPA....will crack it later.
Today's beer is Wicked Weed Golden Angel-Barrel-Aged American Sour with Apricots. 7% with OG 1.055...Bottled 4/25 /15.
This is a beautifully murky tart golden/orange beer, more still than most, but piquant and sip-savoringly satisfying.
The nose is pure apricot and white fruits, with a touch of red wine barrel, and a little note of funk that is ever so nice. The red wine oak toastiness is there, but subtle and well done.
The flavor profile follows the nose, but what I love is the tannic old baseball glove feature that grabs you from the get go. This is a very good sour beer.
It keeps a little cap of a white cream head that looks like a cream sickle, dead in the center of the glass like a bulls eye. Golden Angel is truly delicious and would be a great treat for those beginning to explore sours. Seek this one out!
This was long before Stevie Nicks. Cheers!

 

Seeing as how I'm drinking it, I don't think that would be a good idea. Thanks for the imagery, though.

 

Just noticed that when reviewing, "mouthfeel" has been changed to "feel" lol wonder how long ago that happened...

One more new today...

Since Boulevard's arrived in NY, I've tried 8 of their beers and passed on maybe 3.

Boulevard Sixth Glass Quadrupel Ale

Full of fat, sweet & juicy ripe fruits, orchard-style and pale...

Warm and fuzzy goodness...

This was a real nice quad. A luxurious drinking experience.

 

Looks like it's turning into new saison Sunday this weekend....

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Saison Dolores - Almanac Beer Co.


Almanac Beer Company - Saison Dolores by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

Deep bright crystal clear golden body. Fine and very aggressive middle column carbonation running right through the body. Bright as a brass rail. Head is soapy retention and shampoo clumpy with a classic white appearance. Big soapy look but also hanging with lots of thick chunks on the edges. Very impressive looking saison.

Interesting aroma. Hop forward with some hints of tropical but mostly floral like sweetness. Good herbality notes and hints of earth to match with it. Has some juicy character surprisingly. Doesn’t come off that much Belgian in character but somewhere in between wheat American and Saison. Quite interesting, but a little confusing too.

Palate comes out a little more basic. Lots of hop bitterness on the finish, that seems to be more pine oriented than anything. Light bodied but a hint of honey like thickness with out the sweetness for palate feel. Subdued fruity tones in the mid palate, slight juiced orange, muted farmhouse qualities, a bit of Christmas tangerine orange sugars manage to sneak in but just barely.

Kind of comes out as a bit of a dry hopped crush taking away much of the classic styles character. Surprisingly not getting the rye notes either, but as usual I am not a big fan of excessive rye brews with some exceptions. Hard to pin this one down to style, but overall as enjoyable it is but not really grabbing me either.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75 | BA Score: 3.78

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Anytime.

 

I dig that one too. Good price for a 4pack quad no less.

 

Very tasty quad. Goes down way too easy.

 

Lol, you seen me "Like" this post...that only means.. I liked and agreed with your post..

 

Welcome to the clan.

 

I know, right? High-quality ale.

 

I've yet to have a Boulevard I didn't like... but I know styles to avoid, simply because I don't like them... like brett.

 

Good afternoon all,

Got one courtesy of @clake

So getting a late start means I need to start in massive fashion, so here we go with

Other Half Everything Green



Looks just gorgeous as you can see. Nice thick, generous head that recedes to a thin almost white veil across the top of gold gone orange elixir.

Nose jumps out right away with it's pine presence. As a matter of fact, it was pungent with pine a good few feet away. Anything beyond pine is just a whimper of grassy.

Tastes like a punch in the face most immediately but tapers off to allow for a malt backed balancing act which creates a more manageable aggresiveness in the piney time fun before catching just a hint of a supporting layer of alcohol. Oddly, despite the initial violence, this turns fairly drinkable kinda quick!

Finish is just barely sweet but immediately dry.

Despite how massive this is, it really is dangerously drinkable!

 

I'll second that about WW. The missus and I love to get over to Asheville from Charlotte whenever we can, and we always make it a point to stop there for food and drinks. The first time I tried the steak tartare appetizer there, I almost cried at how good it was. Definitely a cool place in a city full of cool places. Cheers !

 

Sorry for long post, felt a little loquacious today:

Imagine this:
A ball is hit sharply on the ground between short and third. The faded recollection of the training that was drilled into the shortstop years ago takes over as he scoots to the hole to field the ball. He stays low and moves to get his body in front of the ball.

The ball is hit hard enough that he has to range into the outfield grass. He realizes he has made it an makes a final hop to place one foot on each side of the on-rushing ball. The move is made to stop his momentum so he can transfer his weight for the (likely futile) throw to first.

But the evening's lightly-dewed outfield grass has a surprise for him. Both feet fly up and his body comes crashing down on his side.
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I did stop the ball, and although I claimed I just had the wind knocked out of me, it felt worse. I played through the rest of two games, but am sure I bruised a rib or two. Having never done that before, I didn't know what to expect, but I experienced varying levels of discomfort with most movement this past week, and it didn't seem to be getting much better.


Today I woke up, however, feeling better, strangely enough. NBS has cured me (partially). Decided to celebrate by hitting the new local brewery that I got a chance to try earlier this week.

New BREWERY Sunday (Ocelot):


The menu shows some of the classic rock influences the brewery embraces (mentioned in an article in Virginia Craft Beer magazine).


Note: it wasn't at the time of the pic, but the musician did break a string a minute into his first song (and, you can't make this up, another as I typed that).

As for the beers, the black IPA impressed me before and continued to. Our Elaborate Plans citra hopped IPA was also impressive. Most of the rest were decent or better. I'll choose one for a full New BEER Sunday post soon.

 

Good afternoon NBS, as this is the anniversary of @utopiajane 2nd year. I offer a second new beer.
This gose seems to blend the best of the salinity and wheat, with a delightful orange and melon flavor.
I know sounds gimmicky, the use of some newer hop varieties is what I most admire. A wonderfully
crafted offering. Now for some time in that back yard with the Sunday Paper. If I was savvy enough
I would direct you all to Joe Jackson for a listen.
Cheers all

Super Going

Grimm Artisanal Ales
Gose / 4.80% ABV

4.21/5 rDev -4.5% | rAvg: 4.41
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a bottle dated June 2015, into an HFB goblet.
A - Murky, lemon drop, haze allows for light to dance through. Carbonation is gently feeding a quickly dissipating cap.
S - Ripe melon, tangerine and lemongrass, wheat, dry grain and a hint of salt.
T - Wow, what a treat, the additions of orange and the dry hopping with the new German variety are welcoming in so many ways. The orange and the salinity work quite well. The offering does not stray to far from Gose but clearly stretches into the citrus world.
F - Delicate and uniform feel. Dry finish, with just enough of the carbonation leaving a light citrus calling card.
O - What a treasure, this works so well. The use of the orange and the very melon forward hops balanced against the salinity are to be relished.
Worth seeking out.

 

I had to look and saw my review was just above a 4. I do seem to recall being torn on some of the individual aspects, but recalled it being enjoyable enough, but not one I've gotten again at Evil Twin prices. Love that there's enough options out there so we can have a difference of opinion and neither feel the worse for it.

 

New Barrel Aged Baltic Porter Sunday!

Work Day was fun, got to get off early due to New Black Topping The parking Facility...! Good because it's Hot out. Well enough of the Kibbits, time for the BEER!



Well this thing was a Gusher when I popped the top, as you can see. First off this pours a gorgeous shade of Dark Brown almost Cherry Wood body with some nice khaki lacing. Looks superb! Now for the Aroma! Straight Bourbon Aroma! Nice hits of Vanilla making sweet love to some Toasted Almonds. Mild licorice and a touch of Pipe Tobacco. This thing delivers if you want Bourbon in your Beer! Time for the flavor! First hits with booze on the sides of the palate with a bit of Menthol. After the swallow there's notes of Almonds with Roasted Malts and Oak, Vanilla coming in last. This a bit weak and a some booze. The feel is light and subtle carbonation.

Overall: This isn't bad, a bit rough around the edges but I'm enjoying it. It Delivers on the Bourbon if you like a non infected barrel aged Porter. It has its faults with the booze but not insanely offensive. The Aroma though is Stellar! It's a Bourbon Lover's dream! At the end of the day, I'd crush this again. This Brew is Worthy!

Grade: B

Cheers NBS Crew!

 

Saranac Disruption Nitro can. 7% ABV. From New York. OK this has been out since December so it is six months new. But I had not had it before now. The nitro explosion is expected with a huge but delicate, soft, and tickling tan head over a dark brown color. Sweet, malty, nutty and molasses notes on the nose and a very sweet taste. Medium and creamy body (thanks to the nitro widget I expect). Sweet and malty taste with a mild bitter finish. I could drink this often.