New Beer Sunday (week 572)

New Roggenbier Sunday

Hello all! Beautiful day here in Milwaukee, WI - 40's with almost no wind and very sunny. Today's brew is from Goose Island - Rasselbock. It has plenty of banana/clove with just a touch of rye. I enjoyed it. I scored it - A: 4.5 S: 4.25 and then 4.0's for the rest, resulting in 4.09 (above the current average of 3.87). I do recommend it! I bought a six-pack so will have two or three more while watching the Superbowl this evening. Have a good week everyone! Here's the link to the review:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1146/115028/?ba=jwc215

Cheers!

 

I'm on to another new one this holiday Sunday (hell, if St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day can be holidays, why can't SB Sunday?!?). Caps game, then golf, then the Super Bowl... nice sports weekend. With the Caps winning twice this weekend and UVa notching another win, I can only hope my luck continues and the Broncos win (just the team I want to win, I'm not a Broncos fan). Anyhow, on to a beer purchased for the GF, as she likes the Sculpin brews. (Sexist statement alert) Figures she'd like the beers that sell for $18 a six pack .

Her official review is not as good as Grapefruit, but she liked it. Figured I could jump in and take one for NBS (though I did get an ugly look ):


Keeping this one short, this beer does have that Sculpin taste to it overall, which should shock almost no one. The pineapple does act as an accent in the nose, some sniffs more prominent than others, but not overpowering.

Taste starts crackery and bitter dry and grass/grapefruit pithy from the start. IPA from the start, the pineapple also acts as an accent on the taste much like it does on the nose. I do see where people are saying the pineapple is more noticeable on the nose, but it's close to me.

Overall the beer is still pretty nice, but does have a bit in its nature that seems fake, although I cannot say exactly why because the pineapple isn't a big component. Either way, be glad to leave the rest for the GF.

 

Hello, NBSers. Your humble servant ovaltine submits this from Super Bowl 50, so no long-winded review. I I've the Enjoy By series, and this is excellent - super dank, waves of citrusy hoppy greatness. Happy Super Bowl 50, NBSers.

 

Hey NBS crew! I'm dropping in with Apple Brandy GBS today (that last I needed to try/review of that complete lineup). Full review below, but for the tl;dr crowd my GBS rankings are: KY Christmas Morning (4.71) > Apple Brandy GBS (4.09) > Bourbon Barrel GBS (4.07) > Christmas Morning (3.99) > GBS (3.78). Cheers!



4.09/5 rDev -8.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours a relatively typical pitch black with a frothy khaki head (pretty gorgeous actually) but fades to about nothing quickly. Lacing on a scale of 1-10 is about a 2. A bit standard, but that frothy head is nice.

Nose is a bit lacking - I get the same sweet ginger and molasses notes from regular GBS, but I can't for the life of me pull any brandy or apple. If I could do a side by side but this is no different in the nose from GBS as far as I can tell.

Flavor is nice. GBS for sure, but there are some subtle hints of the brandy and, knowing it's there, I get the apple note but it's muted. Closest cousin that comes to mind is Trickery and this is not Trickery. Aside from a different base this clearly spent far less time in the barrel than Trickery (3 months compared to 8-9 I believe). It adds a bit of depth and character that suits GBS well. I'm in the crowd that thinks the base is a bit overhyped and slightly un-deserving of the perfect 100 from the bros. However, this is a nice upgrade in my opinion. Not quite to the level of KY Christmas but it works very well and is a really nice treat.

The feel is in line with the others with no rough edges or dense viscosity to make this one a bit cloying - carbonation is spot on. But there is a bit of a chalk note here that brings this one down a notch for me from the others.

Overall, it's nice and I'm glad I tried it but I feel it could benefit from more time in the barrel. It is a nice variant and an improvement on GBS but it is not my favorite, still quite solidly KY Christmas Morning.

 

My second NBS beer is one of the more highly thought of Pilseners.



Prima Pils

Victory Brewing Company - Downingtown
German Pilsener / 5.30% ABV

4.03/5 rDev -0.7% | Avg: 4.06
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L- Pours a pale golden straw with a modest 1 cm white head. This fades quickly to a thin film.
S- the nose is biscuity, clean, and crisp. Appropriate for the style.
T- The taste is the classically clean pilsener malt breadiness. Bitterness is fairly light.
F- Carbonation is prickly and the mouthfeel is fairly light and dry.
O- An excellent stateside example of the style. Light, clean, and dry. It would be easy to sit down and drink a bunch of these while watching the game.

 

Back with my first, and almost certainly my only, officially new beer of the day. I picked up a grunt of Budge Bros. 13th Reindeer Eggnog Imperial Stout. I've had it before, so not a true new beer, though I gathered it's a newer version, with the eggnog toned down a bit. I'm taking a growler of Budge's Hoptrain (an underrated beer, IMHO) and a bottle of vino to the party my friend was foolish enough to invite me to, so I might not even be capable of drinking it when I get home, let alone reviewing it.

So, for NBS, I'm going with a a coffee porter from Colorado that's been sitting in my fridge for a couple months and needs to be consumed:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2681/196773/?ba=woemad

Decent, but I'm not hugely wild about it. The coffee was a little too restrained, and what there was, I didn't think melded well with what reminded me of milk chocolate. Also, I think I'd rather have had a 12oz serving than 19.2oz. More isn't always better. Maybe it would have been better a little fresher, but a lot of reviewers seem to think of this beer along similar lines.

May those interested in such things have a great Super Bowl, and may everyone have a great Week!

 

From last week (because I didn't write a review), I thought the apple part of the apple brandy came really out nice in the nose. I agree that if I didn't know what you were drinking, I might have missed the apple brandy in the taste. I think I liked the base beer more than this. The GF really liked this beer. She apparently saw something in it that we didn't (though I see we both rated it slightly over 4).

 

What's up NBS nation? A nice little super bowl Sunday going on here. Cool, but pleasant here on the island with fresh snow, from Friday, still covering the ground. Winter is in full effect and we have more coming this week. Just waiting around for the game, stuffing my face, and drinking beers.

My new beer today is Brewers Cut Helles, from Real Ale brewing co in Texas, which features the hallertau hop. The ale comes in at 4.5%, 26 ibu, and a best by date of 4/13/16.

A straw yellow pour with major clarity, moderate carbonation, and a soft white head. Pale malt on the nose with a slight herbal quality. The drinking starts light with lots of sweet pale malt upfront. More malt sweetness on the finish with definite bitter hops. Tones of bread and cracker with a subtle lemon/citrus fruit feel to it. The mouth feel is light, crisp, clean, and enjoyable.

Overall, a very solid beer and flavorful beer that is very sessionable and crushable. I give it a 4.

 

What's up NBS? Really nice day in the deep south. Plenty of sun, and some milder temps before plunging back into the cold next week.

The bottle shop I frequent started featuring one of the local breweries each month and keeping at least 4-5 of their
taps for the entire month, and including some special events and such.

This month's brewery is Avondale out of Birmingham.

For whatever reason, I've not tried much of their lineup, so today's new beer is Miss Fancy's Tripel.

Very nice American style tripel. I'm making it a point to try the rest of their lineup this month.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25916/80772/?ba=richj1970

 

On to the next!

Stillwater / Nomada Stoufft - Stillwater Artisanal Ales


Stillwater Artisanal Ales / Nomada - Stoufft Chocolate Truffle Stout by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a large snifter glass.

Pours a bit inky but not totally lifeless. Virtually no head and barely a thin pencil tall tan colored collar remains after the pour. Body color ends up looking even more darker without a head, some classic dark walnut brown nearly black but with a little bit of clarity towards the edges, not a total opaque brew. Slightly lifeless but still alright.

Right off the pour chocolate aromas hit. It does have that very strong cream and milky truffle smell, kudos to nailing that on the nose very impressed! More inspection shows classic and solid roast characters. Real nice arid dark grains, slightly dry but mixes well with the chocolate aroma, nearly giving off a cocoa powder but not quite. Really impressed they managed to bring the roast on this while still maintaining a unique chocolate presence. Real nice.

Palate manages some decency but some unexpected notes. Char aromas and flavors really do come out with excellent roast flavors all over the palate. For an imperial stout the body is noticeably wet and watery too much, and it's drastically effecting the quality. Mid palate still manages a little bit of dark chocolate but much of the creamy and richness on the nose isn't coming through on the palate. There's also a very noticeable cola sweetness and very soft drink like flatness and taste to this on the finish which comes off as cheap and far too sugary.

This is not bad, but it has way more potential to be better. It's flavor profile is not really doing it for me, but it's certainly drinkable.

look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75 | BA Generated Score: 3.87

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Happy NBS to all.

Getting in on the action today with a beer from TRVE out of Denver called 1000 Eyes. This beer wasn't in the BA database so I had to add it. Says it's a whiskey barrel aged mixed culture ale with orange peels and coriander. I called it a witbier though that wasn't exactly what I experienced drinking.

Here's the beer:




3.3/5rDev n/a
look: 5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

375mL bottle poured into a tulip glass.

Pours copper and golden with a fizzy white head. Carbonation is continuous and gives the beer a champagne-like appearance. Clarity is excellent. 5

Sweet Tart aroma with some cherry and yogurt in the mix. Get hints of some stiffer booze but it's faint. I like what I smell but it is faint. 3.75

Flavor continues to offer light tart fruit notes and yogurt-y notes, but they are faint and a good portion of each sip is completely devoid of any flavor at all. The finish then introduces gentle tequila notes that are a pleasant surprise, understated and enjoyable. 3

Refreshing and light for a 7.5 percenter, so no qualms there. But with the lightness also comes a somewhat flat, empty feel (and taste) that undercut the beer's appealing aspects. 3

Not bad by any means, as I'm somewhat enjoying sipping this, but I don't love the beer either.

 

Beer #2.

Schells Apparent Horizon is very rye forward aroma with some grain, light citrus and funk. Definitely has a lemony cider like smell to it. Starts off with the rye, it is very prominent, then moves into a lemon and cider flavor with some tartness. Kind of woody with hints of vinegar, grain, and funk. It has a lighter body and ample carbonation. Finishes dry and spicy. A different take on the style and fun beer to enjoy.

 

For NBS this super Sunday, it's Yards Chocolate Love Stout.
Poured from 12 Oz bottle to tulip glass. No head, dark brown in color.
Has pronounced dark chocolate flavors with the roasted malt flavor of a stout (I know, not a surprise)
Very smooth and easy to drink. Yards does it again!

 

Tony Levin is the shit. To paraphrase Christopher Walken, MORE CHAPMAN STICK!

 

Hi everyone. I've been meaning to try Old Stock Cellar Reserve for quite awhile and Super Bowl Sunday seemed like a great time. This is one beer that really deserves its hype!

4.47/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

2013 Vintage poured into tulip glass. It pours a cola brown with a one-finger, ecru-colored head and lacing. The smell is decadant: roasted malt, caramel, vanilla, oak, dark fruit, and, of course, the bourbon. The taste really follows the nose: caramel, toffee, oak, raisin, and bourbon. There is very little hop presence. For having an ABV of over 13%, this ale is smooth as silk but definitely a sipper. It's medium-bodied, creamy, with moderate carbonation. It really drinks like a Barleywine. Overall, it is truly an outstanding Old Ale that deserves its world-class rating. I've been meaning to try this for quite awhile and I am happy to have finally done so.

 

Next one up is Stone's Americano Stout. I'm a big fan of coffee forward beers, so I had high hopes with this one especially since Espresso IRS is a favorite of mine.

Nice aromas and flavors, but just not enough coffee punch for me. It's a very good beer, but there are so many other coffee stouts I would pick ahead of this.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/199849/?ba=richj1970

 

Be nice if you could see your way to joining back in with a new beer once in a while and maybe sharing a bit of information about both "the old days" and some of the changes you've seen over the years. I suspect several folks who spend time in this thread on lots of Sundays would be receptive to hearing about some of that.

Cheers!

 

Hey all you Super Sunday NBSers! Thanks @cavedave for kicking things off this morning- waxing poetic again!
Well its been quite an eventful couple of days here. I'm going to try not to ramble as I tend to do sometimes-
Friday brought us 12" of heavy white snow here which snapped limbs like toothpicks. You could actually walk outside and hear the echo of branches snapping all across this area. Which is fine until the power goes out- which happened 1pm Friday and lasted until 5pm yesterday. Lost everything in the fridge again but beers were kept cold outside. Kind of put a damper on activities this weekend. So time to share a new beer with you all from a brewery Ive just had the luck to be able to try recently: VON TRAPP VIENNA STYLE LAGER

Beer pours an amber/ golden straw color with beautiful clarity and a large cloud- like snow white head that hangs and leaves nice rings of lacing.

Aroma is of sweet corn/grain, sourdough bread and and grassiness touched by sweet malt.

Flavor follows style with clean sweet malt followed by toasted bread and a touch of grassy hops. A classic lager taste that is super easy to drink.

Feel is medium bodied- Has some more beef to it for the style. Carbonation is medium and the mouth is soft on the palette most likely due to the use of spring water from the grounds used in brewing. I get this similar feel from Stoneface NH.
Love the finish it gives these beers.

Overall a fantastic representation of the style for me. Along with their pilsner these guys know their Lagers. Have a Dunkel in the wait that I'm looking forward too. If you are a fan of classic lagers grab anything you can by these guys.

Have a Super Sunday ( back at you @DrStiffington )
And for NOVS I'm choosing an artist that crossed the boundries of musical styles back in the seventies and into the eighties. They went punk style which I dug on this record with a band of tight studio musicians:
Graham Parker and the Rumor-Track one side two- Saturday Nite is Dead.
Hey have a great week and as always thanks for listening!