New Beer Sunday (week 539)

Happy Summer Solstice/Fathers Day edition of NBS! Playing catch up on reviewing a beer that kind of got lost in the past few crazy weeks. Cracking open a Greenbush Red Bud copper wheat ale. The bottle date is 4/22/15 and the abv. listed at 6.1%.

Pours a pale but very brilliant red color with a lively finger of white foam. Spectacular color on a gorgeous day! Score 4.25

Aroma is caramel malt with some fresh green melon. There is a faint hint of pine in the back. Score 3.50

The flavor is fruity in nature, almost floral, like munching on a flower. There is some caramel sweetness with just a kiss of hops in the form of pine. In fairness there may have been more of a hop presence when it was fresh, but it was refrigerated since purchasing around five weeks ago. Personally I don't feel like much was lost. Score 4.0

Mouthfeel is clean and crisp. Refreshing on a sunny warm day. Score 3.75

In closure, a different approach to the usual pale wheat ales. This drinks like a quality red ale all the way. A style I used to drink a lot, but not much anymore. It's nice to revisit your old loves. I'll have to keep this in mind next spring when it comes out fresh. My final score was a 3.82 / rDev +4.7%.

Enjoy your day, will probably return later with another.

 

What are some other brown ales you think get it right? Sadly, a lot of the brown ales I've had have been, as you say, dull and insipid, or at the very least pleasant but uninspiring. I kinda group them with the really malty amber ales in the "beers I'm least interested in" category. I've had some browns I've liked, but I'll be damned if I can remember any of them right now.

 

Whoa! When did BA become BDSMA?

 

This brew pours an opaque orange color with a crazy amount of sediment in the glass. There is a barely there .5 finger white head although some of it lasts as a collar. Medium lacing.

The smell is full of orange, grapefruit, pine and some lemon.

The taste follows the nose with dominant but not overpowering hops. The orange, grapefruit, lemon and pine tastes are all there. There is a light caramel malty backbone; kind of on the sweet side. The malts stay in the back ground. The feel is thick, bready and resiny. Pine oil is left on the tongue after swallowing.

Overall this is an interesting entry from Otter Creek. Lots of hops but not to bitter. The malt is there, but stays in the background. Otter Creek states this beer is built for lawn chairs, lawn games and lawn mowing; I tend to agree.

 

I see a couple people have had a new Smuttynose beer... I do miss that brewery...unfortunately, I can't find it here in Milwaukee... Having a new brew from Great Lakes - I'll be back shortly with the review...

 

I am sort of disappointed the market was out of the soda [pop]. I think that would've been a different and interesting side-by-side. Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there!

 

Alright, I can wait no longer, time to drink up or shut up. My NBS contribution for this Father’s Day Sunday will be Parkway Brewing Co. Magella Belgian Dark Abbey Ale. The GF has the camera for the day so unfortunately no pics (at least for the time being) so hopefully this will make do for now:

I kinda like the bottle artwork, honestly that was enough to entice me into trying it, although certainly not my only reason. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m on the tail-end of a local-brew weekend & this beer just seemed too appropriate. This is a style that I rarely tangle with, so I’m excited to crack it open.

First, from the bottle: Seasonally brewed, 11.1% ABV, 48 IBU. “Magella is brewed in the typical Belgian fashion, with candy sugar & Belgian malts, hops & yeast. It’s the clove, with hints of banana, that dominate the flavor & aroma of this rich, ruby brown beer.” Ok, that all sounds good, let’s go!

Second, some BA stuff:

A: 4.25, S: 3.75, T: 4.75, M: 4, O: 4.25. BA says: 4.31

22oz Bomber into a wine glass.

A: Holy moly, pours a beautiful, clear, ruby/copper. Almost looks like pinot noir with the right backlighting. 1/2" khaki head recedes pretty quickly but has decent retention. Lacing is quite nice. This is a stellar-looking brew.

S: As expected, the big two are clove & banana, with a dose of Belgian yeastiness & a hint of melon. Nice.

T: Very, very rich. Opens with cane-sugar sweetness that lingers somewhat over the whole palate. Clove comes into play on the mid-palate along with coffee & what I guess I'd call honeydew & cantaloupe. The finish has more of a hop-bitter quality & the banana really starts to show here. A touch of cinnamon & nutmeg coat the mouth after the swallow. The flavor evolution across the palate is both logical & beautiful - definitely the intersection of science & art.

M: Full, rich, velvety & creamy with moderate carbonation to balance it out perfectly. For lack of a better word, 'elegant' comes to mind.

O: Go ahead Parkway! What this brew lacks in flavor complexity, it more than makes up for in terms of balance & focus on the flavors that are there. This is the best offering I've had from Parkway by a mile.

Okay, this brew has far exceeded any expectations that I had going in. It's really turned out to be a treat today & I'm happy as hell to be able to share it with all you NBSers!

That'll probably do me on this thread today, beer-wise. Looking forward to all the other new beers yet to be posted today. Everyone, have a safe & happy Father's Day Sunday!

 

Good Morning to all of the regulars here at NBS, and also to all of the intermittent visitors like myself.
On deck this morning for dad's day coffee before they take me to brunch is the new barrel aged delight from our friends in Petaluma. I open the bottle and aromas of coffee, rye, or bourbon ( I'm not a spirits expert) anise , vanilla, and a little hop come through. It pours into the glass medium viscosity, a dark brown hue, with a slight khaki head. The taste is a lot like the smell, and it gets better and becomes smoother as I progress through the bottle. Coffee, vanilla, anise, shugga, with a nice serving of hops to provide some bitterness, but not too bitter, or out of place. The barrel presence and rye is there, but it mixes beautifully with the other ingredients. There is a little heat and astringency that pokes through here and there, but it is remarkably easy drinking for the abv. Medium mouthfeel for the style.

In closing , I think this is a beer that probably should be consumed fresh than not since it's just so pleasurable and balanced right out of the chute, but I'm going to put one away just for the sake of science to see what happens, and it gives me a better idea of how many to buy and what to do with them on the next go around. 8.99 for a bomber of a terrific barrel aged stout, lawdy, lawdy, this is a brewer for the masses, for sure!

LAGUNITAS SCARE CITY HIGH WEST-IFIED IMPERIAL COFFEE STOUT
4.375

 

New American Pale Wheat Ale Sunday

Hello all! Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! I can't believe that my little Angel turned twelve a few days ago. Time flies!! I know my avatar is old - I have to update it...She has grown so much - beautiful, tall, thin, smart and sweet.
Beautiful day here in Milwaukee - low 80's and sunny...
Also glad I FINALLY found good New York style pizza here in the Milwaukee area - a bit of a drive but worth it - miss the pizza from back home in North Jersey.
Today's brew was another winner from Great Lakes...Sharpshooter. A "session wheat IPA". I scored it a bit above the average - 3.96. It's very drinkable - nice choice for a creamy, refreshing, easy-drinking brew. Beats the hell out of many other pale wheat ales in my opinion.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/73/166728/

Cheers!

 

Good afternoon all,

Finally have a chance to sit down and enjoy some NB's. Had some shandys while mowing the lawn, but even though I love them, I need some higher octane participants.

So without further ado, I present my last tasty treat from @clake

Carton Regular Coffee Imperial Cream Ale



Looks very nice, frotherific head of stark white floating atop a fairly translucent golden ale. Nose has a problem discerning anything other than a Dunkin Donuts coffee scent. Taste begins exactly as advertised on the can, as they are looking to duplicate the apparently very NJ style of regular coffee. Sweet like as if your coffee has indeed been hit with sugar and maybe light cream. Upon exit, the sweetness is a touch cloying but allows the beverage to morph into a Kahlua type taste once the alcohol comes into play. Overall, I find great delight in the sensory deceptive fellow.

Thumbs up!!

 

Had to re-read my review of this beer as I thought I wasn't too impressed by it, but my review gave it a decent rating (and was from a time where I was tighter on my ratings). Definitely need to add to my "Try Again" list (if BA had one: hint, hint).

I was impressed by the nice, simple flavors of this brewer's Raven's Roost Baltic Porter, as one for you to maybe look to grab if you see it (I think it may be seasonal to us, as I don't see it year round in the DC area).

 

1) 'Try again' list is genius, my friend!
2) Thanks for the tip on that Raven's Roost. I love a good Baltic Porter, so I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for that one :-)

 

My awesome brother (also a great father) surprised me yesterday with a box full of summer beers from Modern Times in San Diego. What a guy. I'll need to reciprocate with some local whiskey! I've had many of MTs offerings but this is my first taste of Lomaland, their saison.


Pours a really bright hazy straw color, almost glowing here on the porch. Makes me want to drink it fast!
The initial aroma is lemony citrus, followed by some mild funk and then some peppery spice. Nicely understated.
Taste is definitely "bright and rustic" as advertised. Nice mix of lemon, citrus, grassiness followed by funky floral and then cracker and spice. The finish is the best part: a surprising dry acidic zing. Appropriately carbonated for style with a light-bodied dryness.
Overall very nice! Of course I'm biased as this reminds me of my brother today, but this is a perfect quaff on a hot-as-hell summer afternoon.
Cheers, and happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

 

I can't get it normally, but I've really enjoyed Moose Drool each time I've had it; I think they get the balance exactly right, and don't drift too far into porter territory. Smuttynose Old Brown Dog is also really good in that respect.

 

Greetings and Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there.

My father is over right now, so I don't have too much time to spare, but we both just shared a very nice Italian beer-


Baladin Super. Nicely malty, with a floral nose. Soon afterwards almonds, orange peel and spices come on, but not aggressively so. Overall this beer has fantastic balance and finesse. Very enjoyable, solid A (4.4), would definitely buy again.

 

I am taking a little Father's Day leeway since I technically started this yesterday and finishing it today.

The little bit of murkiness adds to the anticipation of what may be lurking. General citrusy aroma with orange candy.

Sweet with an alcohol burn and a stinging bitterness that lasts. Don't know if its the singularity of the simcoe hops that I have not experienced before or what but nice to have a beer that demands that it not be taken for granted.

Happy Father's Day? I think so.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Outside on just a beautiful day on Minneapolis , low humidity and warm sunshine BA Ruffian is a brew i just never bought or tried The brew has a rich copper look with a off white head, notes of vanilla and whiskey with a slight dark fruit, sweet caramel malts hide the base beer hoppiness but this BA BW is very good the BA is present and mellow

 

Ok, time to join the game I've been commenting on so far this day. Been a couple days off from beer as a cold has had me disinterested in the beverage for a bit. Because of it, I have been able to watch almost all of the coverage of the US Open. Bypassing the first part today, and will pick it up closer to when the leaders tee off - loving that it's a fairly tight match, and hoping there's a bit of good play rewarded rather than bad luck penalizing (like many US Opens can be).

Also watched the end of the CWS games last night to see UVa get back for a rematch of last year's finals vs Vanderbilt. Redemption? Cinderella story?? Even though I am surprised at UVa's run, the commentators do seem to forget the were ranked top five for the first few weeks of the season (while they do mention injuries hampered the not-too-deep team's season).

More couch-sitting today, hopefully helping to kick the last lingering effects from the cold (plus it's going to be very muggy out). At least today I am feeling like a beer. Fruit juice for a cold, right?


Ok, probably a bad choice for "juice", but not for a beer. An interestingly nice surprise on this one. I'm used to my raspberry sours being a cross of fruit beer and sour - the better ones adding enough sour to get to "balanced". The nose gave me very little to go on, the most obvious early note to me was the oak with maybe a light sour note at most.

Perhaps this is why this one shocked me (and the girlfriend who stated, "well, if I'd read the bottle"), in that it is actually a sour first. To my palate, I actually don't get a lot of raspberry, likely because it plays with the sourness rather than countering it, as in those aforementioned beers. The sour does have a little cheesy chewiness to it, and seems to me to come more from the lactic acid than from the added fruit. Nice amount of carbonation makes this a refreshing brew, even with the little puckering factor from the sour.

I would've liked to have gotten a little more from the raspberries on my palate, and other reviewers have it being a bit larger component in their tastes (but a lot also indicate it's a team player). However, I am glad this is a sour first and foremost, and would grab it again if availability and mood work together.

 

For my second act I have a pretty heavy hitter.

Alesmith Old Numbskull Barley Wine



Massive cream colored foamy head that recedes minimally beneath magnificent lacing and atop burgundy orange nearly opaque ale.

Nose immediately brings tobacco, fig and plums. Thick first swig brings with it a little hop spice before the dark fruit begins , escaping just before a hint of dark chocolate and astringency replaces the barley depth. Finishes dry, sweet and memorable in complexity.