New Beer Sunday (week 563)

New Beer Sunday: An American Dark Wheat Beer

Evenin' NBSers, with special salutations to those in search of many styles of suds to sample.

Well this weekend has had some chilly but dry sunny weather here that I've not gotten out much to enjoy since this is also bread baking weekend. My wife has organized a Christmas Open House for next Sunday and likes to have home baked bread to serve as part of the buffet. As the designated (assigned? ) baker my major chore this weekend has been to bake, carefully wrap and freeze multiple loaves of bread. There now about 10 loaves and two styles, my adaptation of a cheese bread that is done in the shape of baguettes and my version of a Dill Bread with lots of dill, minced onion and a few secret ingredients that is done as dome shaped round (sort of) loaves. Both go quite well with either wine or beer and some folks prefer them to things like cookies, cake, or brownies. (There will be more loaves before I've finished as some are destined to become holiday gifts for friends. )

This evening's new beer is the Anchor Winter Wheat and following the lead of @ONovoMexicano who had this beer last week, this is also a new style tick for me (and I suspect a much more enjoyable tick than finding and drinking a Shock Top Chocolate Wheat ).

As usual my review (subject to revision until I finish the beer) is to be found here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28/133488/?ba=drtth

On the whole this is a nicely drinkable beer which looks like a stout and has, for me, some of the flavor characteristics of both a wheat beer (e.g., spice) and some of the dark Belgian ales (dark orchard fruits). Since this was my first American Dark Wheat I wasn't sure at all what to expect, but certainly do intend to have more of this beer and hope to see it again next year. Definitely a keeper.

Also, in keeping with the activities of the weekend, both yesterday and today, when I've had a chance to have some music on the player I've been digging into some old vinyl loaned to me by a few friends who are collectors. In one of the stacks of records I found the opportunity today, while making bread, to also listen to Bread.

Cheers, all!

 

Saw this and am very interested to try it now.

 

On top of everything else, it's a hell of a bargain. Here's hoping you enjoy it. Cheers!

 

Good evening NBS'ers! Most likely my last beer of the night, but I saved it for NBS.

New Bourbon Barrel Stout Sunday
Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout 11.00 ABV %
New Holland Brewing Company



Pours a very dark brown with a thing tan head. I let it sit for about 15 minutes while taking in the aroma. As it warms, I am getting some chocolate, vanilla and as it settles, you get more of that bourbon oak. First sip: Chocolate, vanilla and a bit of licorice. The bourbon, is subtle, but there at the end for a nice warm and smooth finish. The 11% ABV is masked nicely but as I get toward the bottom, I am feeling it. This is not a heavy, muddy stout, but it is well put together and a very enjoyable sipper. I will definitely buy this again. Cheers!

 

Mmmmm, Cellarmaker...lucky! Orange County, cheers!

 

I've heard Brewery Vivant has one of the coolest, most pretentious taprooms around.

 

For those that haven't seen my barley wine thread, I'm drinking a barley wine (or two) every day for the month of December. I was planning on saving ones that were new to me for Sundays and this thread, but the unexpected appreciation in my own thread led me to start posting about individual beers there. I still plan on saving the new ones for Sundays.

Today's beer was a wheat wine (the only one in my grouping) - Boulevard's Harvest Dance



Here's my post:

A Barley Wine for Every Day

Cheers!

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @utopiajane for getting us rolling this week. I still have a lot of new beers from the last few out of state hauls, so I don't need to go shopping for a while still. Not much else going on here, I have some data reports due tomorrow at work, and I have a majority of the base work done, so I am not worried about being late on them.

Here are today's new beers:

Great American brown ale! Aromas and flavors of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted oats, nuttiness, chocolate, cocoa, and light coffee/vanilla; with some light-moderate herbal/floral hops. Light herbal/spicy hop and roast bitterness; with a very smooth and moderately creamy/silky mouthfeel with a touch of hop stickiness and roast malt chalkiness as well. Great bitter/sweet balance. Light-medium carbonation with a medium body. Very smooth and drinkable. All around excellent. Great well rounded malt complexity without feeling too roasty for the style; with a nice backbone of balancing hops that don't crowd the malt showcase. Reminds me of New Holland Cabin Fever a fair amount, very similar malt profile with both of them. 4.1


2013 vintage bottling. Damn good saison. Aromas and flavors of lightly tart lemon, lime, pineapple, green apple, pear, white grape, pepper, wheat, cracker, hay, straw, grass, musty funk, light leather/oak, and yeast earthiness. Light fruity/earthy tartness and yeast spice on the finish; with a very smooth, fairly crisp, and light acidic/salty balanced mouthfeel. Moderate dryness from the soft spice and acidity on the finish. Medium carbonation, light-medium bodied; very refreshing and drinkable. No complaints at all really. Great well rounded brett complexities; with a robust and flavorful profile for being only 4.2%. 4


Wow! This was incredible! Aromas and flavors of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, molasses, vanilla, gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, toasted oak, raisin, fig, apple; with light-moderate bourbon and coconut. Subtle bourbon/oak and spice bitterness; with an incredible balance on the finish with no cloying sweetness at all. Lightly carbonated with a fairly full bodied finish; very creamy/silky and slightly slick in the mouthfeel. Very smooth, zero booziness. This was just fucking crazy awesome all around. Insanely complex with malts and spice notes; with great balance of bourbon barrel complexity. I need to get more CW beer lol. The space Ghost I had 2 weeks ago was just as incredible as this one. 4.32


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

Good evening NBS and happy Hanukkah to all that are celebrating today. First beer of the day was not a new one but I have to say BCBS is awesome and complex as usual. Now up is a newish beer for me DFH Fort. I tried it when it was in 750 ml bottle and I was just getting into craft beer so now that I have a fresh bottle I figured I should put a full review in the system.

3.88/5 rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle dated 10/23/15 poured into a snifter

A- A nice amber color with red tint and a small off-white head.

S- Raspberries, mainly sweet but there is a faint tartness to them, some alcohol, faint malt backbone, noticeable Belgian influence with the yeast.

T- Raspberries, again they are more sweet than tart, spicey Belgian yeast, slight chalky/fruit tums taste, alcohol is present and not really hidden, but not really harsh.

M- Fairly smooth, medium body.

O- This is a better beer than I remember it being. Fresh it isn't as good as 120 or Raison D'Extra, but better than fresh WWS. Think I might pick up another bottle to age, curious to see how the raspberries would hold up with with a little age.

 

Hello NBS'ers. Please forgive me for missing out on last week. I have a truckload of beers I could have tapped today, but this one looked good. I am on a HOPS KICK! The piney notes from the hops remind me of the Christmas trees I've been setting up today, both at church and at home.

I'm also packing up 2 beer mails right now. It's mighty thirsty work!

It's NINJA VS UNICORN from Pipeworks. They JUUUUUUST started distributing more Pipeworks to Colorado (thanks Tivoli Distribution!) and these just hit distro on Thursday. Very freshhhhh.



Canned Date 11/10/2015. Poured into my trust New Belgium glass.

L: Pours a golden copper/orange color, with a slight haze. 2 fingers of white bubbles linger for a while, then lace the glass.
S: Smells fantastic, pineapple, orange, grass, slight maltiness
T: Tastes of tropical and citrus fruit, grass, a little grapefruit, slightly spicy.
F: Medium bodied and slightly sticky, coating the mouth with flavors.
O: This is a nice double IPA with outstanding aromatics, a solid body, and good flavor. While not the best DIPA I've had, it's good and flavorful. It's not particularly expensive, so it offers a decent value. I enjoy drinking this beer.

 

Nice and to the point review I pretty much completely agree with - sweet/tart raspberry with a decent alcohol influence. Nice pic, too !

 

Thanks!

 

New Irish Red Ale Sunday

Top o' the mornin' (er, evenin') to ya, BA's! My weekend to work, so I'm late to today's NBS party. I'd been looking for this one around here for some time now. Stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work and happened across one on the singles shelf. Smithwick's Premium Irish Ale, 4.5% ABV:


This is my first one of this style. From what I've read about the Irish Red Ale, this one seems to fit the benchmark of the style pretty well: a rather delicate balancing act between roasted barley, crystal/caramel malts, and Fuggles and Golding hops. Color without too much roasted malt character, bitterness without too much hop presence, body and head retention without too much sweetness. This one pours a clear, dark ruby color with a voluminous off-white head that leaves tons of sticky lacing. Aroma has notes of dark bread, with a hint of yeast. The flavor follows the aroma, with a bit of sweetness and a pleasantly bitter and dry finish.

Overall, I thought this was a solid beer and one I would not hesitate to drink again. Very good on its own, but also a nice complement to a nosh of pita chips and artisan cheeses (my go-to snack after a 10-hour shift).

3.51/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face; may the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand."
- Traditional Gaelic blessing

 

Well Hello NBS Friends. And a hearty thanks to @utopiajane for the excellent start today.
I was busy with a lot of beer yesterday at a Bruery blending competition so going to give my liver, brain, etc. a little break. I had a lot of fun but we were mixing with all BIG beers, Black Tuesday, Mash, White Oak, and Cuivre. So basically, my team didn't even place but we were all happy campers by the end. Actually a camper would have been a good idea.

But as always, I enjoy reading your posts infinitely more than I do writing mine. So keep up the good work. And hopefully I'll share something next week.

Cheers

 

Wow!!! I'm sold on this one. Thanks for being so thoughtful in your description. I'm craving this one now.

 

I'm baaaack.
Well, plans changed. My wife got to try a sample of what I was trying for at the competition. She was very complimentary. So I took a sip. It was spot on for what I was shooting for. A Black Tuesday/Cuivre Melange with peaches and cinammon trying to be an homage to peach cobbler. So, I will blend this one again over the holidays, and report back.

 

Your dog is really coming along in typing.

 

Hello NBS gang. I'm posting mighty late but I swear I got this one started before the clock struck Monday.

Terrapin Tiramisu-Hoo

I will admit that I was expecting to be disappointed. I figured it would be WnB lite or a sweet mess like ST Creme Brulee. Wow, was I wrong. This beer is a star. Coffee, caramel with some sweetness. Terrapin has a winner here.
Here's my review
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2372/185158/?ba=SammyJaxxxx

Kick'n it old school tonight
De la Soul

Tribe

Jungle Bros