New Beer Sunday (week 581)

One thing about Jackie O's is their beers spend plenty of time in the barrels so the bourbon presence is typically not subtle in aroma or flavor. The base beers are exceptional though. That one still has as much or more maple off anything I have tried outside of CBS.

 

Up next is one of the ninja brews from @beatjunkee , Foothills Jade IPA. A very enjoyable brew, certainly, but a 95 rating here? This why I don't check scores, this beer is listed as "World Class" (whatever that means), but to me wasn't particularly different than many of the hundreds of other IPAs I've had. Whatevs, strokes for folks. Just goes to show, once again, that there is great beer being made all over the country, and finding a truly "bad" beer is rare.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11036/65993/

 

More beer from @strohme2 awesome box. Blackrocks Grand Rabbits, cheers!
3.87/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thank you strohme2 for this
12 oz can poured into a pint glass

A- An almost clear golden straw color with a large fluffy white head

S- Citrus, fruity, hints of tea, sweet biscuty malts.

T- Sweet malts, grainy, citrus, lemons, hints of other light fruits, hints of tea and floral notes.

M- Smooth, light body.

O- Easy drink, very sessionable.

★346 characters

 

LOL, Grand Rabbits! Awesome! ISO sixer. My friend Kate has 7 pet bunnies, I need to get her a couple cans.

 

That's a lot of rabbits!

 

We've had tons of rain/snow lately. I just wish it would get above 40. So how about we trade...

 

She's already a Crazy Bunny Lady! Fortunately, her fiancee is OK with the bunny obsession.

 

You need to move this to the weather trading forum.

 

Moving onto my second one today from @jhavs box.

Von Trapp's Vienna Lager.


Crystal clear lager body. Sweet malt nose, with a slight herbal quality. The taste has a mild bitterness that flashes forward at first but is then slightly muted and balanced through the finish. Nice lingering sweetness. Great easy drinking body.

It's hard to go wrong with the basics. I love good old world styles that are complex in their simplicity. There is something to be said about keeping things simple and doing them well. Von Trapp has done splendidly with this one.

I was excited to hear that a local brewery was opening up about a year ago that focuses on German styles. They have a Helles Lager that is the perfect summer porch drinker. Plus I heard that the schwarzbier they just made is fantastic. Gonna have to go get a growler fill soon.

 

Round 2 for NBS is Forgotten Boardwalk Funnel Cake Boardwalk Ale. 5.5%ABV brewed with lactose and vanilla beans, best by 6/22/16
Poured cloudy yellow from 12 oz can to DFH Specially glass. Thin white head with some lacing.
Aroma is . . . hard to pinpoint. Has some chemical fusel notes. (Got that word from sensory scientist wife: German for 'bad liquor ')
Taste is also hard to describe. Not getting sweet or vanilla as advertised. More of a light bitterness and some fruity notes.
Feel is very light with a not overly pleasing aftertaste. Not a bad taste, but not great.
Overall I'm disappointed I bought six of these but not that I tried it. I tend to favor dark beers so maybe I'm a tough sell, but I won't buy another Funnel Cake.
Be that as it may. . . . Enjoy everyone.

 

NBS beer #2 for the day is a revisit to a brewery I've tried only once before. I enjoyed the last beer from Singlecut so much I figured I'd try something else from these guys.



Mo' Shuggie Soulbender IPA

SingleCut Beersmiths
American IPA / 7.40% ABV

3.99/5 rDev -8.1% | Avg: 4.34
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L-The beer pours a hazy pale gold. The head is white and fluffy standing 2 fingers high. Lacing is excellent.
S-The nose is a touch of citrus, but mostly weed and herbal hop aroma. It's different and I'm liking it.
T-The taste is dominated by the herbal hops. Malt is well balanced. Bitterness is fairly light.
F-Carbonation is pretty light. Mouthfeel is medium, but light enough to not be overly filling.
O-An enjoyable beer displaying a different hop profile than alot of the normal East Coast IPA's. Well executed.

 

NOT New Farmhouse Ale Sunday for me ... I opened this:

... thinking it was this:

What a dumbass!

So instead of regaling you fine folks about the new-for-me Autumnal Dichotmous from Jester King that I'm trying, I'll just use my stupidity as an object lesson to Always Read The Label.

To keep up appearances, here's my original review of the melon Estival Dichotomous:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24018/192834/?ba=Premo88#review
4.48 (+9.8% rDev)

It's aged in the bottle over four months, and I don't think I can detect much difference. The big punch of melon flavor *may* have subsided a little ... maybe. Otherwise, it's just as tasty as I remember it being at the brewery.

Anybody formulated any hard-and-fast rules on aging wild ales/farmhouse ales with fruit in them? I'm starting to think "fresh with fruit" may be the rule, but some of you know better than me, and I'm interested in your research.

Cheers!

 

Might be my last NB for today, so I hope I saved The best for last!

Great Lakes Chillwave



Frothy beige head on top a clear, orange-ish beer. Lacing is a decent fizzy drape after the head receded to a fizzy top layer.

Nose is immediately musky with a bit of grapefruit in amongst the big bitter bill.

Taste begins big bitter but gives way to mango and a candy like sweetness. Finishes a tad hot but not monstrously so.

Very good beer, glad I grabbed two four packs!

 

As penance for this egregious error, I sentence you to not only participate in BIF #4, but to recruit someone else to participate (preferably from Oklahoma, I need to tick OK ) as well!

 

Four packs?!? Didn't this come in six packs last year -- or am I remembering wrong?

 

I know, it's lonely seeing all the fun BIFfinating and not playing along! By the time I'm back in the NBS BIF game, we'll have The Veil Brewery on line and hopefully they will make for a damn good HF level treat!

 

You make me want to drink that- for sure

 

Hi NBS'ers and cheers to everyone enjoying their brews from the NBS BIF #3. My taste buds got kinda pounded yesterday, so not going to break into any of the big flavors that arrived in my shipment from @JDAWG71 a few days ago

I'll stick with some IPA's, etc. for the time being! Enjoying it in the nice new glass shipped along with the beers!



3.51/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

12oz. bottle poured into a snifter.

Look: Amber, perfectly clear, bubble actively rising into thick, large bubbled foamy head. The head stays frothy, and the bubble slowly pop and dissipate.

Smell: The most noticeable aroma is sweet malts, caramel, seems like a big crystal malt addition. Bit of herbal hops pushes its way through.

Taste: Malt forward, caramel, toasted grains, herbal hops with suitable bitterness, a bit of pine.

Feel: Moderate level of carbonation, fairly full bodied, coats the tongue a bit.

Overall: A suitable malt forward IPA, nice balance of bitterness and residual malt sweetness.


Thanks again @JDAWG71 and thanks to everyone in the NBS BIF #3 for making it a great time!

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A pretty nice cool day here on the island. Very sunny and if it were just 10 degrees warms it would be perfect. A pretty lazy Sunday here for myself. Took a nice walk down to the deli and grabbed a sandwich and I've been watching the Mets struggle to generate any offense against the lousy Phillies. Cespedes did just launch a 2 run shot so hopefully they can pull a come back win out.

My new beer today is Dystopia, ris, from Greenbush. This beers comes out of my never ending NBS BIF boxes from @Prager62 . 9% abv, with a bottle date of 1/28/16.

The pour is silky black with very little carbonation. A nose of cocoa powder, malts, and decently floral. Rich and sweet malts really hit my palate on the first few sips. The mouth feel is lovely, and noticeable right away. Silky, rich, and slightly sticky. A slightly bitter finish with more rich malts flowing. Lots of nice flavor tones come on as it warms with chocolate, molasses, smoke, and dark candied fruits. The alcohol is barely noticeable.

Overall, I'm really enjoying this one. It's nice and easy drinking but with full flavors that are balanced and do not overpower you in any one direction. I'm mostly in the low 4's so far,

 

And up next, also from @beatjunkee 's box, is a surprising (because I didn't read the description before drinking) PNW IPA from the OTHER Washington: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25327/69290/ . As I said in my review, this brew would fit right in on tap at brewery or bar here in the rainforest.