New Beer Sunday (week 564)

A second new one tonight - Bam Biere from Jolly Pumpkin.

Lots of lemon and earthy funk. Fairly easy drinking and refreshing. I could easily see this being a nice summer time beer.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9897/28176/?ba=richj1970

 

Ballatine Burton Ale...(Pabst)



I don't give a flying fuck on who brews the beer. All I care is what the beer speaks! This brew was talking to me. She is a Talker. The appearance is great! Nice velvet and burgundy body. White soapy head crowned her majesty. Looks fantastic! The aroma is pretty basic. Caramel grabs the nostrils first. Then a slap of toasted Cereal Grains hit next. Nice sugar notes hit the backend. Smells fantastic!

The flavor? A melange of Caramel and peppermint slapping each other in an orgy on your tastebuds. Nice Resinous Hop oils touch the palate in a non-offensive format. Bringing dense cedar and pine oil to the front. Malt Sugars add a nice touch that I enjoy fully. This finishes dry with subtle bitterness..(hoppy or alcoholic...). The feel is Medium Bulit with soft smooth carbonation. This is banging for what it is...id grab a sixer with no problems or fucks given.

Overall: This is actually a really good brew. Not something demanding attention but if you see it, don't hesitate. This feels like an English Barleywine with a touch of aggressive hop resins to boarderline American Barleywine territory. The alcohol is mostly hidden but you can feel it. This brew is recommended! (Serving: On Tap)

Grade: A-

Cheers my fellow New Beer Sunday Crew!

 

Greetings all on a lazy late fall afternoon in the Columbia Basin.

Most of the holiday shopping is done, and we are just winding our way to the big event, and drinking some fine dark brews along they way.

Today it is Black Marlin Porter from Ballast Point Brewing, San Diego, CA. One of my favorite cities, although it has been many years since I visited.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/199/5703/

Early kickoff for the Seahawks today, and that game was over fast. Slow day after that, watching some bad football from Green Bay and roasting a ham in the oven.

So until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

Good evening NBSers! I am a little later than expected with my contribution....christmas present wrapping, cleaning and cat sitting all took the day from me somewhat. Today's new beer for me has been sat in my fridge a few months since Almanac entered the Chicago market, and i've been curious about this brewery for a while.



I like to try beers within styles I am not overly familiar with for my forays into NBS and this is no different, as I am a novice with sours. This is the 'Farmer's Reserve Citrus' - a sour with citron, blood orange and yuzu with wine barrel aging. I have to say that yuzu seems to be the fruit of choice for brewers for now. The yuzu flavor is pleasant, though I can't say i've had the fruit outside of its addition within beers.

Poured into my Ommegang glass (which seems to be my glassware of choice for NBS) with a short lasting white head that said goodbye as soon as it said hello. The smell is mostly citrus fruit with a little farmyard in there. After bracing for a puckering, sour hit of tartness I was surprised by how mellow this beer is in terms of the sour profile. If anything the aftertaste reveals more of the layers. This is really juicy, mouthwateringly so, and the blood orange comes out as one of the more dominant fruit flavors. Lively carbonation adds to the mouthfeel. I think this beer is accompanying me to my next byob breakfast in Chicago as the zing and zip would cut brilliantly through a nice hash or eggs benedict. A really fun beer to drink - not a mind blowing taste and sense experience but a really well made beer that I could go back to again. Hey, maybe I am getting a grasp on the sours after all!

Have a great week ahead all

 

Ok, done with bland, I hope.

Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Scotch Ale

Nice color, and a decent head. I get the great notes that come with a good Scotch Ale - malts, chocolate, and other good aromas.

Taste - Oh, yes, flavor is back. I get a strong, delicious burbon barrel flavor in this Scotch Ale. enticing, and it makes me want more.

 

Sorry to hear that. Outside of the Bourbon Street line, I don't really care much for Abita's offerings. I'd love for this to change, but I'm not sure that it will.

 

New Foxy Beer Sunday-
We entertained a group of old friends and new friends for the last day of Chanukah today. I couldn't have asked for a better day- fantastic weather, there was great chemistry amongst everyone, and it seemed like time either flew or stood still. Probably both .

Everything's all cleaned up and put away now, and I'm a bit bushed, but still have the energy for a nightcap-

DeProef Reinaert Flemish Wild Ale

As you'd expect, the tell-tale scent of funky brett hits the nose first. It's simultaneously floral, suggesting lilacs. Deeper down there is doughy malt, mushroomy earthiness, and a touch of phenolic spiciness. The palate is powdery dry, crisp and clean with a determined, yet restrained, double barrel attack of acidity and bitterness. It's almost like the beer just suddenly snaps and dissipates in the mouth. What a unique sensation. In order to pick up on any flavors I really do need to keep from swallowing- but it's just so earthy and bready. After I do swallow, I am left with a lingering ghost-like echo of the aroma that sticks around for quite a while. In the end the funk doesn't dominate nearly as much as I had anticipated, and that allows the malt to do its own singing. By mid glass, a touch of herbal hops joins in on beautiful harmony. This is really elegant, and almost champagne-like: A (4.4).

Here's a sentimental favorite I'm reminded of (I'm actually somewhere in the crowd on the album cover, although I've never really been able to find myself )-

 

Great looking fridge... and more importantly, I really like the variety of what you have in it.

 

Nope. I wish. (you tease)
But today, I happily tried this big beer:




Here's my post about it:

A Barley Wine for Every Day

 

New IPA Sunday

This spring weather is crazy!? Overcast and rainy with temps in the mid 60s. Nothing like I'd expect from the middle of December in West MI.

I'm taking a break from the Christmas beers to review one that caught my eye in my at my favorite bottle shop (Copper Vine). It had potential, but fell a little mediocre where it counts.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/187602/?ba=GRPunk

 

Late to the NBS party and I've been anxiously and eagerly awaiting the opportunity to sit down and drink today's beer, Imperial Coffee Brown, from Albuquerque's Bosque Brewing. This beer dropped this week, but Bosque did a cool event last week for a group of 50 die-hards who had shown up early to get bottles of their BA RIS, Jet Black Winter, were rewarded with access to an insider event. At that event, I got to sample this, so I supposed it's not entirely new, but being that I refuse to review based on samples (or worse, tick), I consider this new.













4.53/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bomber into an oversized cognac glass.

Pours chestnut brown but settles closer to black in the glass. Frothy oatmeal head forms like a mountain over the liquid and steals the eye's attention from the body. It's stunning. Gorgeous. And the lacing that follows is sexy too. The glass here helps, but damn if this doesn't look beautiful. 5

I'm loving this aroma too. Roasted coffee, hints of cinnamon or nutmeg, nuttiness, light acidity... these are clearly the coffee elements. But the base beer lends some oomph too as this has notes of vanilla and sweet malts and caramel that mingle with the coffee and hold their own. Marvelous. I'm surprised by the cinnamon notes, since I'm pretty sure none was added, but I'm definitely getting some and I love it. 4.5

Even having sampled this, I'm still surprised by that first sip. It's sweeter and fuller than I expected. Not a brown in feel, but not quite a stout either, meaning it doesn't quite hit that stout viscosity but has that level of thickness but still has some light prickly carbonation that feels more brown-like. Generally, I comment on flavor after describing the aroma, but that first sip demanded I discuss the feel.

Describing the flavor is actually a challenge, only in that there's a flavor here that recalls some lovely dessert bread or something of that sort. Yeah, this has some sweetbread qualities like marzipan maybe. Again, I attribute this to the base beer. The coffee is there all along offering its roastiness, toffee, vanilla and nuttiness, but I can't emphasize enough that this beer isn't just a showcase of some coffee roaster's work. The beer shines too. It's immensely flavorful and dessert-like. And just when I'd forgotten about it, I get a little cinnamon or nutmeg dusting the tongue on the finish. It kind of reminds me of Xocoveza sans spice.

T- 4.5 M- 4.5

I'm extremely pleased with everything I'm tasting here and will say, once again, that Bosque has knocked it out of the park. This is superb. The second bottle I have already feels like one too few.


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I'll add for my NBS brethren and sistren that I suppose I could be accused of being a Bosque Brewing fanboy. In many ways, I am. I think the brewer is one of the coolest in the biz (approachable, friendly, easy-going...the type you want to share a beer with) and he's pumping out some phenomenal beers. But I think my state could use that. Sadly, it seems the New Mexican BAs are reluctant to celebrate their own. Their seems to be more joy in giving high ratings to sought-out and hard-to-get beers and that's unfortunate.

Having said that, it's just one more reminder why New Beer Sunday is great, because here we have so many who clearly eschew the top beers, hype, etc. and will give any beer a fair shake. A "Salud!" and raising of the glass to all of yas.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @smakawhat for guest hosting and getting us rolling this week. Not much going on over here, I still have a ton of new beers in reserve, so I probably wont even need to make a haul until Christmas when I go back to Ohio. Another hopefully less stressful work week coming up, just need to get my Vehicle certification data finally cleaned up. I fixed half of it on Friday, just need to get clarification on something else before I am in the clear.

Here are today's new beers:

Very nice saison. Aromas and flavors of big pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pepper, pear, apple, red grape, honey, brown sugar, gingerbread, and toasted biscuit; with herbal/yeasty earthiness. Moderate balancing herbal spice and peppery yeast on the finish against sweetness; very smooth finish with some light bready malt creaminess and spice stickiness on the mouthfeel. Lightly drying from the spicy notes as well. Very well rounded complexity all around; with great balance of the fruity/peppery French saison yeast, spices, and bready malt flavors. Minimal warming alcohol. Really enjoyed this one. A very well executed cross between the two styles. 3.9


This was outstanding! Aromas and flavors of huge grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, pepper, and piney hops; with some light caramel/bready malts and super dank herbal/floral/grassy hop earthiness. Nice sized pine/citrus rind bitterness; with a very sticky/resinous mouthfeel with some slight creaminess as well. Nice and moderately dry stuff, not too heavy on malts. Medium-full bodied. Well balanced bitterness with no bitter hop astringency. Very well hidden ABV, with only a small lingering warming on the finish; zero booze. Very bright and dank flavors across the board. Loved this stuff! This was actually really similar to Evil Twin's Molotov Lite beer, the dank quality is nearly identical. This one is a bit more citrus rind/piney on the hops though. I will definitely pick up a 4 pack when I go back down to Ohio for Xmas to enjoy over the holidays. 4.2


We get plenty of Breckenridge year rounds up here in MI, but I have never seen any limited bomber stuff, so whenever I hit Ohio I always pick some up. I really liked the base beer, so here is the tequila barrel version. This was really damn good! The barrel seemed to slightly darken the overall character of malt and fruit notes from hops, and added some additional unique character of course. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, orange, apricot, citrus zest, white grape, honey, agave, vanilla, oak, tequila, wheat, and a touch of herbal/piney hop bitterness. Mild oak spice and hop bitterness; with a well balanced finish with no cloying sweetness. Surprisingly velvety and silky mouthfeel for 6.6%, from the barrel treatment and associated wheat malt creaminess. Really loved this one. Very unique, but also really complex and well balanced. Nose has more prominence of citrus and fruity notes from the hops; but the taste was more about the agave/vanilla/wheat notes with balanced oak spice. Really damn well done stuff here. 4


Cheers! have a good night NBS

New Lost Soul album is finally out after 6 years, and it completely slays. They are one of the fastest Tech Death bands I've heard. They are basically a more technical Behemoth. Both are from Poland lol.

 

I love big, bourbon barrel aged stouts, and Crux is probably my favorite brewery in the state, so it's a little bizarre that it took me so long to get this one.

The 12.7oz bottle comes in an extra thick wax coating that took me forever to get off. Finally, I pry the bottle cap from the bottle; I can at last drink this beer, right? Wrong. You know why? because there's a god damned cork jammed in the bottle too. This is the most inconvenient beer I've ever drank; this shit better be awesome or I'm gonna feel cheated.

It's awesome. Huge notes of chocolate, vanilla, and malt roastiness, with the bourbon taking the back seat. This is a rare case, though, where that fact isn't due to insufficient aging (it was in barrels for over a year), but because the base beer is so huge, the barrel character gets pushed to the sidelines. And don't get me wrong, there's a lot of barrel character in the flavor, and if the base were less bold, this would be a pure bourbon bomb. The fact that the bourbon can be considered a "background" flavor speaks to just how massive the beer is, and just how well it's been balanced. This is up there with Parabola and Imagine as one of my favorite BA stouts. This is an amazing winter beer; just one sip brings the feeling of sitting in a big, puffy chair in front of a fireplace. This was well worth the effort.

Apologies for the messy table; I haven't been home long enough to clean for some time.

 

Hackettstown, Wine Country on Rt. 517, across from the Quikcheck.

 

Craft Beer Cellar in Plymouth had some different ones in stock. I dont remember what, exactly. I picked up Rainbow Dome. Apricot, mild sour. I think I sat on it a bit too long, but still quite tasty. Worth a phone call to see what they hav

 

I've always heard great things about Marz Liquid Dreams, so when I saw it at the store, I had to buy a bottle.



Aroma was a lot of malts with caramel and bread being the dominant parts with some hop presence being more floral than anything else

Taste was HEAVY on the caramel/toffee, bready malts and for hop flavors I could pull some grapefruit and a bit of lemon with a slight, warm alcohol finish

Overall it was ok but perhaps I got an old bottle???

 

Your interpretation of how to appreciate these bad boys is right on. I lie to let them warm to experience how the flavor changes. They also age nicely...can be wicked hot initially but smooth out over time. At least i think so, YMMV.

 

Plymouth is a bit far from me, but I'll have to see what Mass has from them. I liked Rainbow Dome and Purple Prose was good. Double Negative and the Bourbon Barrel edition were awesome.

 

Yankee in Swansea had nothing from Grimm. Actually they didn't have much of anythng a couple weeks ago.I dont know about the Attleboro store. I was at High Spirits and Nikki's yesterday and didn't see Grimm.

 

Yeah, the price tag PER BOTTLE was just plain crazy for this one! And then to hear it wasn't that good for ya, man that's a pisser.