New Beer Sunday (week 597)

Agreed. Tempo is the way to go. My brain keeps getting in the way.
Thanks for the tip.

 

Well, the yard work is done, kids are napping, and it's time to relax. This was recommended to me by one of the cicerones at my favorite beer store. Its label says:

Tallgrass Brewery Explorer Series raspberry Weiss Raspberry Jam German-style sour wheat ale brewed with Raspberries.

It's 4.3% abv and $3.50 per can. At that price I won't buy it again. It's too bad, because I could crush six of these by the pool every weekend. Holy raspberry! Delicious. Review is below.



Poured from a 12 oz can dated 4/12/16. Pours light amber with a two inch white head that dissipates quickly with no lacing. The smell is wheat and malt with some small hint of raspberries underneath. The mouthfeel is high carbonation but light and easy to drink. The smell may have been light raspberries, but the taste explodes with raspberries. After the raspberry, the sour flavor comes in strong and lingers with the raspberry. This beer is not too complex but incredibly easy to drink, and at 4.3% abv, I could drink these all day all summer. The only problem is the $3.50 per can price. If it was a $10 six pack, I buy this all summer.

 

Agreed. YouTube and the Internet has saved me thousands. I have a few friends that know their stuff that have been able to give me tons of advice and bailed my ass out a few times. It's always scarier then it should be at the start and super rewarding at the end.

 

I really honestly can't believe I've never posted in a NBS thread. I live for reviews, in fact I rarely buy beer regularly (to have on hand) unless it's an insane deal. I'm always searching for onesies.

Anyways, here's today's pickins' :



Just posted :

4.04/5 rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Mountain Mama pours a delightful hazy pale blonde color, with a towering head of 3 fingers. It leaves toothpaste-like lace and has great retention.

Aromas of fresh baked bread for a moment, then the hay and straw come in as expected, with some grainy malts and a bit of corn as well.

Flavor is intense without being out of balance, striking it in fact with some great bready flavors and delicious Saaz influence. Light herbal qualities of lemongrass and rosemary. Cracker finishes the profile along with some nice pilsner-esque sharpness.

Feel is on point with taut carbonation and a nice, velvety creaminess. Crispy finish.

Another style nailed by Lone Tree. These guys really do not have a bad beer from what I can tell so far. Totally delicious, enjoyable, and assertive without overstepping any boundaries. A rare thing anymore, and these guys seem to have a knack for it. My favorite Munich Helles.

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For those who don't know, Lone Tree brewing is a FABULOUS brewing company, I'm glad to have found them. I seriously have not had a shabby beer from them yet. Not that I'm looking to.

 

Indeed. I did not know there was such a thing, but I am happy to celebrate...

Sunshine in the Sunshine!

 

Hey what's going on?

UGH... what a painful week. Sunday I got hit with what I thought was a severe seasonal allergy attack, practically left me bed ridden. By Tuesday I was done like dinner. I didn't mind it so much, the weather has sucked some serious ass with all the rain, but I could barely get out of bed. I was sort of getting my strength back, slowly getting back into work (I needed to get out of my house I was going batshit crazy), but also decided to check in with the doc. THey felt it was a virus and not seasonal.

During this time my cat has ironically been in the same boat as me. She got some sort of nasal problem, and I had to take her in. I think now she's doing better at least.

That said, I had all this beer I couldn't drink... oh man and I got BEER! But I was full of severe aches and pains and had no energy.

I am probably back to normally sans some cramping, but this weather seriously bites. It's normally a good hot May in these parts, but it is cold and wet. More importantly the sun has just not been seen. What is that thing? I have not the faintest clue. There's no end to this until maybe Wednesday.

Then to add more misery one of my fav drummers died inexplicably. Sigh it rains it pours.

Silver Lining, I went out to a great store and I brought home awesome brews, in fact I got a bottle of Alexander which I am ecstatic about. No I wont be drinking it tonight unfortunately it's not the right time..

But I have many others.

So let's get started, what is new for our hero today? Time to put a dent in that fridge.

Maniacal Double IPA | Port City Brewing


Port City Brewing - Maniacal IPA by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Bottled April 13th 2016.

Dark orange and a bit of muddy brown body appearance. Frozen rising carbonation, looks practically dying to get up to the top, it's like the bubbles are drowning which is a neat concept and kind of ironic statement it seems now. Head creation is particularly weak, barelay a finger is made with a good standard pour, but gives a creamy half finger top while settling.

Caramel sweetness and a bit of mild sensing hop angles are coming straight off the gate. Not a big sugar bomb, but light toasty and warm caramel sensations dominate. Mild sensing hop angles of faint citrus, and a bit of barleywine light crispness strangely.

Palate makes some interesting angles. Crackling toffee malt base which makes a good snap. Slightly grapefruity finish, but a more tea like leafy sensation in the middle. Light palate, but thick malt backbone and depth of flavor. Slight dank aromas seem to pick up in the mid palate, and particularly on the swallow. Nice light bitterness of tea and grapefruit oils really come out in the aftertaste.

This strangely reminds me of a simpler, lighter, and easier drinking version of Dogfish 90. Not a bad company to be keeping. But this is not a hop heads brew.

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75 | BA Generated Score: 3.7

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Well on to more beer!

Cheers!

 

That could be the subtitle to the biography of many NBS posters.

What a great song. Funny how they added an "S" to his name on the single. Label probably stole the letter from Keith Richard.

 

A four pack. There is no way I would pay 26 dollars for a 12 ounce single. I hate paying 26 dollars for a 750ml bottle never mind a 12 ounce. It was purchased in New Haven CT for reference. I haven't seen it in Vermont anywhere.

 

Yeah, brewing Pilsners can be challenging on a few fronts:

• There is not a HUGE amount of hops or dark malts to obfuscate potential brewing imperfections
• There are more steps involved in brewing a lager vs. an ale

Enjoy the homebrewing of Pilsner beers journey!!

Cheers!

 

Read The Boys in The Boat a little while back thought it was a great book!

 

Jean has brewed a number of different Pilsners and a few of those were hopped with hops not traditionally used to brew Pilsners. I have liked some of these 'different' Pilsners while not being a fan of others.

If you ever recall which particular Pilsner this is I would be interested in knowing that information. I am guessing that this was a growler that somebody sent you?

Cheers!

 

I think I recall that someone snapped up the movie rights but haven't heard any more. Probably stuck in development hell, not to mention it'd probably be hard to find people who could fake rowing a 1930s crew shell and also be good actors.

 

It's a beautiful 70 degrees in Ventura County CA today, and I picked up a growler of this beer from Casa Agria, one of our best local breweries, yesterday and am eagerly anticipating it. Their previous IPA, Mega Citronic, reminded me of the best New England style IPAs, and I had heard great things about Rough & Tumble.




The beer pours super hazy yellow-gold with a nice off-white head. The aromas immediately waft into the air, and I bring my nose closer to the glass to enjoy the plethora of New Zealand hops. There's pineapple, lemon, apricot, peach, grapefruit, orange zest, and hints of wheat. The flavors are the same, with a hint of sweet honey drizzled cracker underneath the plethora of fruit juice. The mouthfeel is fantastic: medium low carbonation with a medium body and a long dry finish, like a white wine. I gave this one high marks: 4.75 across the board, definitely a beer I could drink a lot of and not tire of it.

I'm pretty sure this is my first post in NBS, despite weekly readings of this great thread. Cheers to everybody who always makes it a pleasure to read!

 

That brain part thinks golf is easy and hard at the same time and it's always mostly in charge. Sometimes a few nice beers calms the rascal down! I still play well, but arthritis makes it tougher every year.

 

Happy New Belgian IPA Sunday!

Pretty nice day here on the Western Slope. Upper 60s, some sun, some clouds. Big Music/Ride fest going on here for 3 days (today was the last), many mountain bikers in this event. They were up where a do alot of hiking on those trails as well. Did a nice little hike, picked up some new brews (First time on a Sunday in a long long long long time). Listening to some tunes. Having a tasty brew, nice to see something new from this brewery at the store.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42/219443/?ba=Wasatch#review

 

Time for another brew! Totally stoked I found this, I never have ever seen it around until I saw it last week.

Lindemans Kriek Cuvée René | Brouwerij Lindemans


Brouwerij Lindemans - Lindemans Kriek Cuvée René by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

Deep dark purple body, oxygenated blood as the carbonation goes and barely pumps through its body veins. Head creation is a dark grape color, slightly garnet hue and thin bubbled with a solid two fingers. Dissolves to a very non existent collar, but circular no ringed puck taken from good carbonation. Real neat and dark looking kriek.

Aroma is a bit quiet. Minor sensing cough drop like cherry, but an almost peanut butter like malt sweetness hides in the bushes. Where did that come from? Mostly though a very closed nose, but certainly alright.

Palate gets unfortunately a bit more dumbed down. Very wet washing mouthfeel, but with minor cherry flavors and a light crisp palate. A bit of muted carbonation and very little funk or even sweetness that is discernible. Bit of a sticky teeth coating gives just a barely touch of classic earth and almost gueze flavors but doesn't quite get there.

Very subtle and quiet flavors for a lambic, but also lacks a lot of just defining character and interest. Sort of feels dumbed down but is at least drinkable.

look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | BA Generated Score: 3.55

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Still stoked I got to try this even though it didn't turn out that interesting.

 

That's a very different braggot to the ones I've had, which are all from one local brewery, Bellwether, who tend to concentrate on old world styles. I'd like to try some from another brewer, to get more of a feel for what can be done with the style but as far as I know, none are distributed around here.

 

Alright, got something made in my home state today. It's Public House's Thorn & Heat. It was picked up as a filler for a mix-six, and almost went into a trade until I found something I knew the trader would enjoy more. Before I review, let's take a look at it.



It's tough to deny that this is a good looking beer. Something about that strawberry blonde look makes me think of summer days spent on beaches. A good hearty head aides any beer's appearance, and this beer certainly isn't lacking here. As a "strawberry wheat ale", it better have a pink hue and some strawberry notes in the aroma and flavor profile, and it delivers. The aroma smells Belgian inspired, with notes of Belgian yeast spice, and cloves. There is a slight strawberry/fruit presence as well. The flavor profile is interesting, as it opens up very Belgian-like. Yeast spice and clove open things up, with a strawberry/fruit presence taking over the palate before falling back into yeast spice/biscuit malt base. It's very simplistic and easy to drink. The fruit notes are kept in balance. Mouth feel is harshly carbonated, a little sticky and mouth coating with a medium consistency overall. Overall, it's a very fun brew. As it warms the fruit shows up a bit more, but the mouth feel gets a little more bubbly/harsh. It feels at home drinking it on my screened-in porch.

I should mention, the photo makes it look more pale than it does in person. It really is a strawberry pink when held up against the light. Looking through it and onto my yellow table cloth it looks orange.

Ratings:
Look 4.25 | Smell 4 | Taste 3.75 | Mouth Feel 3.5 | Overall 3.75 | BA Score 3.82

Cheers!

 

Jack, it wasn't the hops that offended me, it was the yeastiness and generally filthy feel of the beer. I want a clean, drinkable pilsner and this one was not.

One of my locals, Bosque, brewed a pils with Simcoe not long ago and I fell in love with it. I thought it was cool to blend the old and the new and the result was stellar.

I just feel TH completely missed the mark.

And it was a tallboy can. Here's my review (beer was called Trendler):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28383/219989/?ba=ONovoMexicano#review

 

Good day NBS fans! It looks like the weather has finally stabilized along the southern shore of the Great Lake Michigan which means catching up on a mountain of yard work. Time for a beer break and a hidden surprise I found in the kegerator when swapping kegs yesterday. My last hoppy beer from @cavedave that I received in the last NBS/BIF. Popping the crown on a bomber of Billy Full-Stack IIPA from Singlecut. Let's pour this 8.2% mystery to me in the Weyerbacher tulip for our Sunday taste drive!

Pours a cloudy dark orange leaving a finger of white foam and some lacing as it settles. It smells of pineapple, orange zest, grapefruit and caramel malt. The flavor is pineapple/orange juice forward along with some grapefruit. Mild floral notes emerge in the finish along with a kiss of malt sweetness. The feel is slick, light and easy drinking for 8.2 percent.



Wow! Another winner from Singlecut that still drinks like a champ even after forgetting about it for weeks. A nice meld of tropical fruit flavor and a slightly sweet malt backbone to complement it. So easy drinking I had to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the experience. My score was 4.41 / rDev +1.6%. Thanks Dave for sharing all your Singlecut goodness! Miss Payton even had her eye on the prize.



Going to walk over to my bro's for a couple and maybe another review? Have a great Sunday!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30452/89202/?ba=Prager62#review