New Beer Sunday (week 541)

Good afternoon NBS'ers! Thought about sitting on the NBS sidelines this week due to what I suspect is a cold coming on, but seeing @utopiajane great pictures of Prairie Bomb and @Greywulfken Cuivere images made me a bit thirsty! Don't have any Bombs on hand, but do have something in the fridge I've yet to try, so here goes(sorry for the blurry image, I think my camera phone is dying):



New Barely-Wine Style Ale Sunday
Solstice d'hiver Barley-Wine Style Ale 10.20 ABV
Brassiere Dieu du Ciel

Poured a dark brown that had a bit of an orange hue, very thin top. Smell is very much what I expected, dark fruits, malt and quite boozy. First sip, dark fruit bliss, mainly fig, but balanced nicely with a bit of caramel, with that said, it's not overly sweet as Barely-Wines sometimes are, due to a very pleasant bitter finish. Alcohol is masked enough, but you do get it on the way down...which isn't bad either. The feel is light carbonation and somewhat sticky. This a very good example of the style in my opinion. I am quite fond of Brassiere Dieu du Ciel's Stouts, and can now add Barley-Wines to the list.

Cheers!

 

Happy NBS everyone! Watching the USA/Japan Women's World Cup game right now, that 4th goal was amazing! The goalie was just a bit too far off her line that time.

For my new brews today, I stuck with stouts from a local brewery that I'm trying for the first time.

Zaftig Brewing BamBaLam Breakfast Stout: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34018/150319/?ba=bluejacket74



Zaftig Brewing Black Perle Stout: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34018/114333/?ba=bluejacket74



Both brews were good, but I really liked the Black Perle Stout. I will have to make sure to try more of their beers in the future, I was pleasantly surprised today! Hope everyone else has a good day/night, and I'll be back on here to see all the other new brews today were. Cheers!

 

Now on to my mystery growler courtesy of @UTvols05 in the 12 Days of Summer BIF:


Did a blind tasting since the sticker was covering the growler tag, my results can be seen here:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/nbo-12-days-of-summer-bif.283110/page-96#post-3839715

And the beer reveal:


Cherry Street Brewing Cooperative - Chief Sawnee's Stash Coconut Porter

Cheers!

 

Hope all NBS'ers enjoyed a long, safe, and eventful holiday weekend! I did...that's for sure. Quite late in joining this thread today, but it's by design. I wanted to hold off in opening my new beer in order to enjoy it while we watch the USA bring the World Cup back home (up an EARLY 2-0 as I type .....).

So, the beer?
-2015 Jaguar Shark from Pinthouse Pizza, Austin, TX. Bourbon Barrel Aged Imperial Stout.

The significance (for me)?
***Review/post update NOW UP 3-0!!! Un. Real.***
-Pinthouse Pizza's first bottled beer (I want this to be good SOOO bad).

***Seriously...Another post update?!??!?!? 4-0***




A: Poured thinner than expected. A deep brown, transparent pour. Much darker once poured and settled in glass. No light through. Foamy, airy, mocha two-finger head. Bubbles rest on top. Nice legs on the glass as it's moved about. Despite the thin pour, looks very nice in a glass. 4.25

S: Smelled bourbon immediately on the pour. Chocolate tries to assert itself but quickly fades to sweet vanilla and earthy oak. Nice barrel character that hits up front and throughout as chocolate and slight roast struggle to shine through. Also, there is a unique smell to it. Call me crazy, but it's an almost flat coke hint of sweetness in there. Its not unpleasant, though. 4.25

T: Holy ROASTED MALT. Where was this on the nose? Roast. Some chocolate. Barrel, unlike on the nose, doesn't really show itself until the middle-back of the palate. Not as much vanilla/sweetness on the taste - more bourbon. It's heavy, heavy roast. Along with that, a very bitter finish. Unfortunately...it's an astringent bitterness. Not particularly enjoyable for me personally. 3.25

M: Thinner than I care for, or is ideal for the style. The mouthfeel on this isn't anything I would have noticed one way or the other (good or bad) had I not been rating the beer. It's okay. 3.5.

O: I had much higher hopes for this BA Stout from Austin. It's not quite what I had built it up to be in my mind. This is a beer that looks good in a glass. It smells very inviting. For me, it stops there. Taste and mouthfeel bring this down from an A/A- beer to a B-/B. Oh well. A good effort.

GO USA and Cheers guys and gals!

I'll send you out on this 4th of July weekend with:

 

First beer for NBS this week is a Motorworks Brewing V-Twin Vienna-style lager. It's been miserably hot here in Florida so I am looking forward to a fridge featuring re-stocked with some lighter brews. Nice caramel malts, and a clean finish ensures that this one is surely a quaffable brew for the warm summer months. Cheers!

 

Good evening, my NBS brethren. This evening, on a SWELTERING (for Minnesota) Sunday evening, a couple of saisons from Prairie. First up .....



4.17/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Look: golden straw, cloudy, 2+ fingers of white head.

Smell: da funk, plus da hops (in da background). Very nice.

Taste: the Belgian funk hits first, nice and tangy, then the hops follow - light citrus, a little pungent. Exquisite.

Feel: lotsa carbonation going on, as I expect with a saison, and it's VERY dry.

Overall: I've been looking forward to this for a bit now, and it didn't disappoint at all. A great example of the style, with a bit more hop punch. Very well executed by Prairie.

 

Rarely if ever have I chimed in for second time on NBS. And with all honesty the beer was tasted yesterday. However a brewery that personally I've been underwhelmed with has put forth a brew that is right up my alley:

Newport Storms Rye of the Storm Double Rye IPA

Making this simple: a sweeter, hoppy, solid malt backbone IPA not for the faint of heart. The sip hits you with the sweet malt, than a hop note shows some bitterness with the spicey Rye kicking you in the face. I love Rye beers and this is no exception . A well crafted brew that punches you in the tastebuds and NOT the wallet. Give it a shot if you like Rye beers.
Sierra Nevada - bring back Ruthless Rye!!!

 

Now up the only Surly beer that @garymuchow in his box of mostly Minnesota beers, Surly Blakkr. Did not realize that this was 9.99% ABV until I was a good bit into the beer, cheers!

4.34/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you garymuchow for this!
16 oz can, dated 3/30/15, poured into a teku

A- Black with a four finger mocha head.

S- Some tropical fruits, pineapple, roasted malts, pine, faint coffee.

T- Tropical fruits, faint pineapple, some citrus, roasted malts, coffee, some sweet fruits, piney/dank finish.

M- Smooth, medium to full body, creamy.

O- When I opened the can I thought this this was 6.66% ABV until I looked down and saw it is 9.99%, but the alcohol is very well hidden. Really enjoy this, feel the malts really help balance out the El Dorado hops. Probably the best use of El Dorado that I have tried.

 

New Adjunct Lager: Presidente from the Dominican Republic

Evenin NBSers, with special acknowledgement for those who enjoy an occasional American Adjunct Lager style beer as a refreshing beverage.

The weather here has been really nice today. Yesterday, the 4th, was perfect for grilling burgers and having dinner, etc. with family since it was a comfortable temperature despite being mostly overcast. Today its been a bit warmer and quite sunny which has made running a variety of errands comfortable.

Tonight's new beer is an imported AAL. The brewery where this beer is brewed is in the Dominican Republic. The brewery was established in 1929 and their first major brand was Presidente, released in 1935. Today the brewery is part of the interwoven, complex international ownerships/relationships of mass market brewers. For example, their majority owner is a Brazilian company called ambev, which is a subsidary of a parent company currently known as ABInBev. So this beer now has an ownership family relationship to Budweiser.

This is the 4th imported AAL I've tried the last few weeks and my ongoing review (which is subject to change until I finish the beer) can be found here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/912/2910/?ba=drtth

Doing a bit of multi-tasking this evening because of the Women's Soccer finals game that has already had more goals scored than many games ever produce.

The imported AALs I've tried over the last few weeks include

Presidente from the Dominican Republic
Imperial from Costa Rica
Chang Beer from Thailand
Yanjing Beer from China

Basically I've been finding it hard to give any Adjunct Lager anything other than lots of 3s and didn't find I enjoyed any of them more than something brewed in the US, e.g., Rolling Rock (which was originally a PA beer back in the day). Its not that the aromas or tastes are unpleasant, its that there is so little aroma and flavor to talk about. So I guess I'm not good at rating these beers to style. So it seems their major role in life is to quench thirst on a hot summer's day and not challenge the drinker in the process. Given the world wide consumption of such beers (which all seem pretty much the same regardless of where brewed) it seems clear that that is what most people want and enjoy in a beer.

Since I'm paying at least some attention to the Soccer match I don't have any music on the player but a few days ago, while listening to some old vinyl, I came across a song by Peggy Lee that pretty much sums up my feelings about AALs (and many Euro Pale Lagers as well).



Cheers, all.

 

Tonight I'm out of the RV and in the Richmond kitchen of wife's friend, and trying one of the new beers obtained in Colorado a week or so ago... "Red Betty Imperial India Pale Ale" from Central City, Surry, BC:





Pale auburn/coppery pour with thick off white foam; great lacing (and I mean copious) to bottom of glass. Excellent clarity and just the right amount of carbonation. 4.75

Caramel malt and pine cone nose; there is a sweet fruit presence too (not citrus - more peach or maybe tropical). Nice. 4.0

Caramel, pine and I want to say peach but I really detect a smooth mango flavor; there is a bit of a tart lite citrus bite in the middle, with an earthy bitter hop finish. I'm liking. 4.25

Medium lite mouthfeel; earthy, resinous tongue coating; I like the little bite from the hop bitterness and a smooth fruit feeling. 4.25

Good balance between the semi sweet caramel malt foundation, the earthy pine hop presence, and how soft the fruit flavors sit on the tongue. And amazingly I haven't even mentioned the 9% ABV - completely hidden. This is very good. 4.25

 

Greetings All:

Enjoying the end of a long holiday weekend here in the Columbia Basin.

Today it is Treasure Valley Ale. A very average unfiltered pale ale in my opinion. I'd probably pass on this in the future.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14984/95691/

So I'm watching the FIFA Women's World Cup Final, purely from a sense of nationalism on this 4th of July weekend. I don't care for soccer, even though ESPN and now FOX are making huge investments in TV contracts. Let them sell the product in soccer playing countries that don't have TV. And the best athletes in the US do not play this game. If they did it would be no contest anywhere anytime. 4-1 at half and my understanding of the game is that is like a 40-3 lead in football. Not sure how much of the second half I will watch.

I would have some words for the US uniform designer however. Yellow socks? I'm a veteran, I fly the flag in my front yard, and there is no yellow on that flag. Nor should there be on any uniform of any US national team. The national colors are red, white and blue. Make the uniform from those colors. I'll conceded the pink shoes because it is a women's game. All IMO of course.

Until next time,

Happy Trails and God Bless the USA.

 

Another round of BIF from @Srkolodn thanks man!
Great beer from an unheard (to me!) brewery.
Upon a vigorous pour, I could tell this beer was right up my alley. Nose is full of tropical candy and sweetness. Similar taste. Citrus fruits, honey, floral notes, pine come through. Sweet malty finish.
Easy drinking for sure, cheers!

 

Going out (of reviewing) in style. Great Form, as always @JuicesFlowing I've enjoyed reading many of you reviews, but I totally understand. Look forward to hearing from you each NBS.

 

Up next for me on this NBS is a Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Kolsh. Pours a fizzy straw yellow color with a thin fizzy white head that quickly dissipates. The aroma is grain with grassy hops and a touch of citrus. The taste is sweet grain and citrus with a clean and refreshing finish.

Cheers and GO USA SOCCER!!!

 

Tried a refreshing Weyerbacher Tarte Nouveau this afternoon, will mostly likely pick more of those up, I like the low ABV but flavorable tartness

 

Was able to grab this during my short vacation in Massachusetts with the family. This was sitting on the shelf at a store for a very reasonable five bucks. I grabbed three, one for me and two for others. Low abv saisons are quickly becoming one of my favorite styles. Lots of flavor, good with most foods, and refreshing.

Look: slightly cloudy, nice head and lacing throughout 4.5
Smell: slight malt and lemon flavor, with esters being the most common smell 4
Taste: mild citrus, a little tart, slight malty flavor, and the most impactful flavor is the esters from the yeast 4.25
Feel: smooth 4.5
Overall: extremely easy to drink, a lot of flavor for the ABV, reasonable price 4.25 (calculated to 4.23)

Happy bday Dave.

I hope everyone had a good fourth.

 

Great Afternoon NBS!!!
Happy Birthday @cave dave (a 2nd wish). Looks like you and I (as well as my buddy in Germany) all share July birthdays.

Summer is here, and it's time to beer. Yes, beer can be a verb also. Well, I've only read through part of the first page, and there's a lot of stuff going on here, but i'll read along after I pipe in with this offering from @Prager62 . One of the MANY he hit me with in our NBS BIF#2:
I'm drinking Uranus Black DIPA (insert your own chuckle here) from Bell's.
Deep dark roast coffee brown with a tan frothy head.
Smell is slightly roasted malt with a hint of earthy hops. Taste begins with hops and roasted malt, and the mouthfeel comes through a liittle thick, in the direction of a milk stout, but really good. Maybe this is not typical of this (new) style, but still adds a nice dimension.
Pretty good stuff. First of the planets I've tried. Yes, I went straight for Uranus first. Hope to be back with another one.

But in case I don't...
May the Four Winds blow you safely home.