New Beer Sunday (week 554)

Cool!!! I've got original vinyl. Nice song from the teenage Genesis, but you gotta agree the magic truly started with the next release...

 

To be honest, I prefer that one to SoS. Probably easier to trade for too...

 

Greetings from Hilton Head, NBSers. After fending off this feisty gator on the 1st tee .....



my bro-in-law and I repaired to the condo balcony for the libation portion of today's festivities with this very nice West Coast IPA from Terrapin.



4/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Look: perfectly clear, golden/amber hues, 2 fingers of white head.

Smell: citrusy hops, some caramel malt, grassy aromas.

Taste: pineapple/orange citrus flavors dominate, the caramel malt fades to the background pretty quickly.

Feel: a little oily, some tanginess from the carb.

Overall: a West Coast IPA for sure, if just a smidge subdued. Still very refreshing after a day on the links and a nice effort by Terrapin.

 

Good afternoon, NBSers! Enjoying a nice fall Sunday at home. Got some homemade moo shu pork in the crock pot that is making the house smell great and plenty of football, futbol, and baseball to keep me occupied until it's ready.

I had an opportunity to visit a couple of local-ish breweries recently and today's new beer comes from one of them. Free Will Brewing in Perkasie, PA has their own taproom that opened in November 2014 at the brewery. No food is served on premises but they have different food trucks on Fridays and weekends. I had some delicious buffalo chicken "nachos" made with fried wontons in lieu of tortilla chips. They have a few picnic tables set up outside that you can hang out at and enjoy your brew with some food. Cool little space with a very laid back vibe. I walked out with a 6-pack that I'm finally diving into, their Community Kölsch.



Kölsch is such an intriguing style to me. I'm a huge fan of German bier, but I've yet to find a Kölsch that has really resonated with me. It's always seemed like one of those styles that you need the experience of drinking it fresh from the source in or around Köln, Germany to fully appreciate it.

Free Will's version pours a deep gold color with a tall white head. A shade darker than most others I've had before. Great clarity once I wiped away the chill haze on the glass.

Subtle aroma of light fruits (apple and pear) with an almost white wine quality to it. Some grainy malt as well.

The flavor is well-balanced. Neither the malt nor the hops really jump out at you. A touch of malt sweetness in the beginning that fades pretty quickly and gives way to some light sulfur.

Medium bodied and clean. Slight metallic finish, but nothing that affects its drinkability.

Overall, not as refreshing as I had hoped, but still a subtle, easy-drinking brew. Cheers!

look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | BA Score: 3.59/5.

 

Good afternoon NBS, hope everyone is having a great Sunday! Starting off with a local sour Mispillion Re-Tox. Really sour, kind of grainy, something interesting, kind of reminds me of Eric's Ale.

4.16/5rDev n/a
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

22 oz bottle poured into a teku

A- A clear amber with a nice two finger white head

S- Sour, mix of light stone fruits and some limes, faint cereal grains, some leather, no real funk in this, faint hints of tropical fruits.

T- Definitely sour, follows the nose, lemons/limes, some sour grapes, some light fruits, some cereal grains,!faint leather, fairly well balanced.

M- Smooth, dry, medium body.

O- Really sour, but no funk. Reminds me of a really sour Berliner or Gose without the salt kicked up to 9% ABV. Alcohol is not noticeable at all. I usually dislike tasting grains in sours, but it works here. Not sure exactly how this was soured but I feel using some brett for some funk and throwing into wine barrels could take this beer to the next level.

★764 characters

 

Back with my first genuinely new beer of the day – Prairie Standard.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/88169/?ba=woemad
Not bad for an Oklahoma contract brewed Belgian style beer. The bottled on(?) date is smudged, but seems to indicate it was bottled in February, which may be why it didn’t seem overhopped compared to some reviewers’ experiences. However, there’s an odd berryish sweetness about midway through that kind of clashes with what otherwise is an excellent stab at saison flavor. I’d drink this again, but not at the price I paid for it. I also picked up a bottle of Prairie Bomb, but I'm thinking of holding it in reserve until a cooler NBS later this fall.

 

You can buy the "Ohio Unidragon" though. It conveniently comes in at 12% even. Read the description on the label of that one. Gotta love Clown Shoes

 

Back with another one! This one is from Coppertail Brewing called Wheat Stroke. An American Wheat Ale.


Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Cuvee tulip; best by date of 11/25/15.
Pale golden yellow body with a quickly disappearing head; no lacing left in the glass.
Not getting much of anything on the nose from this one.
Taste has citrus, some pear, not much hop flavor, light and easy to drink.
Light mouth feel, crisp clean finish.
Overall, a decent beer not a great beer. Very easy to drink, perfect for those hot Florida days

 

Cooking chili and listening to the GB/SF game on the TV. My horrible fantasy team might win a game, but my Fan Duel entries will likely either be a push or a loss. Decided to pour this beer into a couple glasses for the GF and I as an appetizer:


Beer pours a deep amber, almost auburn. Head is a pinkish-hued tan, and ends up almost like a raspberry whipped cream atop the glass.

Nose has a classic amber malt in the background, but is trying to make me think this beer might have a sweet side to it. Maybe a little floral or very lightly herbal, it's just impressing much upon my nose, regardless.

Funny enough what little I got from the nose comes out in the taste, if not in the same way. The beer starts with a hint of malt, but grabs me with an herbal/earthy bitterness. The malt grows and ends up reminding me of a red lollipop of all things. Now obviously it's not that sweet, and the herbal bitter notes continue to pair with it as the two tastes do a little dance. I can't place the thing it tastes like, but there is something this combination reminds me of - something that is like a fruit you have for real after having the "fruit flavor" in foods and you find it's not nearly as sweet and maybe even a tad bitter.

The ending adds a little spice bite to my tongue that I don't believe is affected by my occasional tastes from the chili.

This beer has the components of a hoppy amber that I generally don't like. However, the perceived higher maltiness of the beer balances with the bitter notes and makes the beer intriguing. I'd still have to say it is a hoppy amber, but it's also not as straightforward as that.

 

Back again to check in another new beer. Packers are slowly building a lead and I hope it holds into the 4th. I really enjoy the Brett Saisons from JP, so I had to pick up Bam Noire when it arrived at the store.

A - Very dark burnt amber color with a 2 finger tan head. Retention is long and fades into a thick collar with some blobs of lacing on the glass.

S - A musty and tart aroma of fruit and wood. I pick up some dark plumb, light lemon zest, maybe a bit of apple. The funk is light and there is a touch of roasted malt along with the yeast.

T - Flavor is lightly tart with some earthy overtones. Roasty malts combine with the yeast and the tart plumb, lemon zest, and apple. A nice unique flavor that is enhanced by the Brett.

M - Lighter body with prickly carbonation that leaves the palate dry.

O - Another winner from JP.

 

Wow- that was a genuine collector's item. I only was able to get a knockoff version, but I didn't care- all I was interested in was the songs anyway . Magic or not, there's something about that album that really gets under your skin.

 

Hey All NBSers. Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday. Been checking out the posts and everything looks interesting as hell as usual. Mucho work today so I'll with sit this one out and save my new beers and of course New Old Vinyl Sunday for next week. I wish you all a pleasant and prosperous week! Bottoms Up!

 

trying some barrel aged Hibernation. Cheers all.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/158/54177/?ba=cindyjeffsmith

 

Next up today...

Autumn Maple from The Bruery


Pours a nice deep amber hue with a touch of deep ruby coloring. Nice slight off white head that hangs around for a decent bit.

Smell is of maple syrup, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, and a slight malt sweetness hanging around in the back.

Taste is of maple syrup coated malt. Slight roast to it as well. The cinnamon and nutmeg shine on the finish as the beer lingers on the palate. If what they were going for was a sweet potato with brown sugar, then they nailed it.

Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium. Enough body to be there, but lighter than I was expecting for a 10% fall beer.

Overall this will be a fall beer staple for me. This is my favorite time of year, and most of the time my favorite styles all begin to come into fashion about now. The heavier, malty beers. But even some of the more subtle styles like a nice well made brown ale are hard to find, except in fall. So if you get the chance and like a nice brown sugar and maple brown ale I can suggest this one.

 

Had some friends over to help me get through my MA/VT box and we cracked Hill Farmstead's Double Galaxy and this Pot & Kettle with cold brewed coffee from Trillium:



4.43/5 rDev +3.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 32 ounce growler into a nonic glass.

Love the frothy khaki head with a truly creamy, shake-like quality to it. Beneath could be coffee or just a pitch-black beer. Either/or. Lace forms a tulip like shape like a tulip. Very gorgeous to the eye. 4.75

Sure as hell smells like cold brewed coffee. Nutty, caramel, and granular bean aroma with some light sugar added. 4.25

As a coffee drinker and a cold brew fan, I really wish I could get these dimensions from a cold-brewed coffee. Caramel and toffee, nuttiness, brown sugar, woodiness and a finish with some dark stone fruit. Pretty goddamn delicious. 4.5

Thinner-bodied and cold brew coffee-like, but there's enough creaminess to not leave me wanting for richness. 4.25

Very tasty. Lots of rich flavors.

 

Interesting read! Glad to finally hear your thoughts on this one :-)

 

Well back for my second post this evening now here in central NH. The temperature is falling down to 44* here already. One of the new beers I picked up this afternoon was Oktoberfest from Smuttlabs in Hampton NH.

This beer poured a medium golden orange color into my tulip glass. A nice thick foamy white head on the top.
The aroma is of a nice sweet malt with a few floral overtones blended in.
The taste is a nice blend of the sweet malt with a little spice thrown in in the back end a nice smooth blend of spices.
Even with the nice foamy white head the carbonation disappears quickly in my glass. By the bottom of the glass the beer is well fairly flat.
This is a fairly good take on the Oktoberfest style of beer the quick loss of carbonation is strange to say the least as I'm not a slow drinker by any means. In closing I would buy another one of these but still Sierra Nevada would be my got to for this style beer.

 

Yes, it was quite an interesting beer - I just had trouble pinpointing the actual flavors I was getting, but the interplay of whatever they were was interesting .

 

I am the same way when it comes to German lagers. Just cant find a Kolsch that I love

 

Indeed I think 'interesting' may well be the most flattering assessment of this brew that is possible