New Beer Sunday (week 578)

Hello New Beer Sunday. I am recovered from my friend's wedding reception Friday at the Flat Earth Brewery. I over indulged big time, but it was worth it. I am so happy for her, and her husband has my seal of approval, and he loves beer (she doesn't, but she's still an awesome friend in spite of that). So today is a day to work on some bomber bottles in my fridge.
We will start with a little something I picked up on my Texas vacation.

Real Ale Brewing Co. Real Heavy Scotch Ale - 9.3% ABV. It is quite delicious, and I'm glad I opened it.

 

glad to hear that, I see plenty of miserable people and so nice to see or hear about happy ones! cheers

 

Happy Sunday indeed NBS players. Pretty god damn cold here on the island and expectations are 4-7 inches of snow tonight? Are you fucking kidding me? I just put up the god damn path markers, again, for the driveway. Anyway, I'm not going to let mother nature ruin my whole day. Hit the grocery store this morning where people seemed to be acting like the world is ending, and grabbed a deli sandwich on the way home. Spending the rest of the day drinking beers, eating, watching bbal and then cooking up some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

My new beer today is thanks to the NBS BIF #3 and the awesome ba known as @Prager62 . The beer is Zombie Dust, a pale ale, from 3 Floyds brewing co. The brew comes in at 6.2%, 60ibu, and a bottle date of 3/14/16. I like to consider myself pretty heavy into the craft scene. I've been able to get my hands on a number of the great beers in the country. Plenty, of heady, and even a few Pliny's. But this is just a major whale that I have yet to slay until now. On top of it, the guy sends not one but three whole bottles.

A beauty of a pour with an amber/gold color, perfect clarity, low carbonation, and a fast head. The nose is very floral with major hop and fruit notes. The drinking starts with lots of tangy and fruity hops that balance out with the dry sweet malts. The major fruit notes carry over from the nose with mango, peach, and lemon. The finish is rather dry and slightly bitter with bready sweet malts. The citra hops really give it a nice hoppy feel but the malt keeps it from being a hop bomb ipa. The mouth feel is pretty moderate body. Slightly sticky but also dry and clean.

Overall, this is pretty much a 5 for me. I think it lives up to the hype and more. The last beer to really blow my mind like this was all green everything from other half. Very, very impressed.

Matching glassware to boot,

The guy dropped the box on me 3/17,

 

Believe me, I know. It is the second time around for both of them, and they both massively upgraded. I have a strong feeling that this marriage will stand the test of time.

 

Hey NBS crew! I have more "new" beer in the fridge than I could hope to cover in a Sunday but hopefully I can pop by a couple times today. Starting out with a new beer from a new brewery - Single Hop Session Mosaic from Va Beer Co. I had a sample yesterday to decide what to get in the growler but not enough to review so still counts as "new" right? Cheers!


4.29/5rDev n/a
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 32 oz growler into an IPA glass. Nice, thick frothy white head forms with solid retention. Slightly hazy gold color with nice sticky lacing.

Obviously meant to showcase the character of the Mosaic hops, the nose is piney, slight onion note, with a hint of floral aspects.

Flavor is full and well rounded, though still sessionable at 5.4%. Big bright citrus fruit with big bitter but balanced hop flavor. I haven't met a Mosaic I didn't at least like but this one truly nails it. Definitely on the juicy and citrus side, more so than the nose lets on.

Feel is fantastic - light enough to be crushable but well rounded, a bit soft to offset the more bitter aspects of the hops. This does not fall into the "hop water" category of some session IPAs and the Mosaic traits are more than enough to carry this. Great brew - I hope they continue to showcase what they do with other single hop IPAs. This one is a fantastic start.

 

What up Sunday Funday friends!!! Missed the last couple weeks, but I made it to the party today. Received a LOT of beer in the mail last week so why not drink today?? First up

My second beer from other half courtesy of @SRBush1974 my first was a couple notes ago. Gotta say it lives up to the hype. Not really sure how to describe IPA's as its not my goto style, but I've enjoyed most of the same ones that I see all yous enjoy. So with that said I would search this one out, I find it hits all the rite notes of what I like in an ipa!! Hopefully see y'all in a bit!!!!

 

I picked this cigar City combed up while visiting Florida last week. It is labeled as an India style Porter, but that may be a tad deceptive. It pours a thick cocoa brown with a thick head that leaves a tin of lacing. Smells amazing. You get heavy malt, cocoa and roasted coffee, and it's surprisingly creamy. The beer does have a touch of hops that hit you on the first sips, and the roasted malts leave an aftertaste that hangs around for a while. I really am enjoying it while watching March madness. I am a cigar City fan and this one is harder to find so I'm glad I bought the bomber. If you can find it, I recommend trying it at least once.

 

Ok, decided to return to Aslin to see what they had to offer this week, as their website indicated a few new things. They had 2 IPAs and a stout new, although they had kicked a 3rd IPA and the beer I reviewed last week. The GF and I both tried the available IPAs and agreed we liked the regular one better. First, the pic:


On the left is Bringing Sexy Back, IPA; and on the right is Master of Karate.

Both beers are I the juicy category, generally tropical in nature. Both have nice noses, the Karate DIPA a bit stronger and huge on pineapple to me. The Bringing Sexy Back regular IPA is more generic in its tropic nose.

The DIPA looks a little more muddled in the NE style, though the IPA is far from clear. The head looks a little better on the Sexy, and also provides a little better lacing than the Karate. The DIPA has a softer feel, as the IPAs carbonation is actually a little strong.

Taste wise, Bringing Sexy Back is more citrus, with a tart bite midway through to cut the tropical notes. The Master of Karate stays tropical (mango mostly), with a little grapefruit in end. The IPA does show a little more bitterness in the end, showing a little pine note.

The GF and I both liked the IPA a little better, even though BA give my high rating on nose enough weight to kick the DIPA rating being higher. If you like your IPAs juicy, you'll like the Master of Karate. The Bringing Sexy Back is closer to a regular IPA, but is still a little light on classic bitterness - I could even go juicy APA.

Interesting note (to me): one of the owners we met last week was near us and the staff were tasting some glasses. They mentioned it was a Crowler of the Stellar Parallax we had last week. They were testing how the beer changed over weeks to determine how much rest they should give the beer before serving it. Specifically the soft mouthfeel I had rated highly in this beer had faded and there was more of a bitter bite (I didn't get to try it, but am repeating what I was told). Although I'd love to keep the feel, the beer did seem to lack a little bitterness last week.

 

I like that one. It holds beer well.

 

Xocovexa Charred. Honestly, I think the regular is better. The flavors were more intense with the regular.

 

Happy New Saison Sunday!

Pretty nice day here on the Western Slope, sunny, should hit 60 today. Having a tasty brew, have not had that many from them, but some tasty stuff, so far. Might have another later on.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24075/93105/?ba=Wasatch

Cheers!

 

Trying out Otra Vez from Sierra Nevada today.



Pours a champagne gold with some thin head on top.

Nose is funky. Peach, pear, Apple. Smells like fruit juice.

Tastes like fruit juice too. Grapefruit comes through first. A bit of light tartness and salinity, but I'm disappointed there isn't more going on here. Finish is very melony. Pretty sweet, bordering on cloying.

Light body, medium carbonation. Could be a good sun beer.

Can't see myself picking this one up again. Just too many good alternatives out there. Like most Sierra Nevada, the price is right on this one, but this is a lesser beer than average for them.

 

Greetings NBSers, it's another installment of NBS on-the-clock. Yes, I'm at work, and fortunate enough to post and drink this fine brew. God Bless New Jersey Craft Beer.

The link to the stellar brew: awesome beer here.

 

Whew, and now the opposite side of the spectrum, in many many ways: MAGnificent beer.

 

Bonus!!

Got to try a couple things from a "guest brewery" from Richmond, VA whose reps happened to be visiting NoVa. They brought along two dessert stouts. Plus we tried Aslin's Deceiver Imperial Stout.


The Deceiver is in the background of the left photo. It was a fairly straightforward-maybe a tad thin, but smooth and showcasing the roasted malts.

The foreground is a chocolate coconut macaroon beer by the "guest brewers" - coconut showed through, as did a little coffee (apparently some hazelnut is involved as well). Sweet and dessert-like, but on point for its intent it seems. The right side are both Reese's inspired beers. Again on point for the target, not quite as sweet as the macaroon beer, but malty for sure.

Fun times!

 

Hi everyone. My contribution to NBS is Evil Twin's I Love You With My Stout. I think I experienced taste sensory overload, there were so many discernible flavors. Overall, it was quite good. Here's my review:

4.18/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured into stout glass. It pours a dark cola color with ruby hues when held to the sun, not as black as many Imperial Stouts, and it has a foamy, two-finger khaki-colored head and extensive lacing. It smells of roasted malt, dark chocolate, licorice, and earthy peat. The mix of tastes is very interesting: baker's chocolate, burnt coffee grounds, espresso, raisin, licorice, black cherry, and nuts. There is also just a hint of caramel. I'm not sure I've ever had a stout with so many discernible tastes. It's quite dry and finishes with a lot of bitterness. This stout is medium-bodied with above-average (for a stout) carbonation. While there isn't a strong burn, the alcohol is noticeable and the 12% ABV catches up with you quickly. Overall, everything about this stout is unusual from its color to its taste to its carbonation. It's very good and it's grown on me.

 

Thanks for starting us off Dave. I too get to have a beer while working, at times. I can work on lesson plans, grades, reports, etc with a beer handy. (Somehow I think having a beer WHILE teaching wouldn't quite pass muster)

 

I'm back for another while the corned beef smokes away. A very odd sized bottle, (1 pint 0.9 oz.) from appropriately named Oddside Ales from Grand Haven Michigan. Popping the cap on Funk Soul Brother dry hopped sour ale. There's no abv. listed on the label and a bottle date of what appears to be 1/21/16. Pouring this beautiful looking bottle in my Weyerbacher tulip for the taste drive.

Pours a semi cloudy deep gold leaving a small finger of frothy white foam. The aroma is sour apple, band aid, pineapple and some mango. Flavor is tart/sour candied fruit consisting of lemon, pineapple, apple, and some mango. The feel is tart, but not over the top, with a dry finish.



I don't drink a lot of sours, but I've been trying the style a bit more the past couple of years and really liking what I've had. I'll add this one to the short list! It has a respectable level of tartness that is offset by the fruity/floral qualities of the dry hopping. Very tasty and quite drinkable for the style. I'll be looking for this again in the future. My score was 4.1 / rDev-1.4%.



Have a great week, link to review below. I hope my knee getting scoped on Friday doesn't keep me from joining in the fun next Sunday.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/201507/?ba=Prager62

Low hanging fruit of a song.....

 

Reinforcing porch!!!! <Grinning like a mad man>

 

Yeah, I remember this one to be quite enjoyable. The coconut was like you said, "takes a back seat." But, I found it to slowly become a constant companion-quite good.