New Beer Sunday (week 590)

The spiciness comes across as mostly yeast-driven to me, but I also seemed to get more of a concentrated fruit quality than either of you did. After a few more, I still find that the sauternes quality is the dominant one to me.

As always, though, it's great to see other people reviewing the same beer. There's usually some things in common, and some things not so much.

 

I think I was seeing it a little more like you did on the second one - and that's why I started thinking it was actually a little more balanced than I originally thought, without trying to imply there was a lack of boldness with the various flavors that were in the beer.

 

Hello NBSers! This weekend has been quite awesome so far. Attended Novare Res' hosting of SmuttFest featuring a huge amount of Smuttynose Brewing on tap. My favorite of the day was a cask-conditioned version of Finestkind dry-hopped with the ever-polarizing Sorachi Ace hop varietal. Daaaamn, that was good. Perfect use of one of the most unique hops in the world. Ended up also getting some flights w/ friends at the newly-renovated Rising Tide brewery, picked up a four-pack of their re-branded gose (now called Pisces and bearing excellent label art to replace the nondescript one from the first few runs), and then went to a dive-y bar where they surprisingly had some excellence on tap... ended up with a glass of Bissell Lux to round out a great day and evening (despite the annoying bouts of rain).

Woke up today and once again realized I had nothing in my fridge that was new for this most-excellent of days, so I went out and put together a mixed four pack. Not sure I'll get through all of them in the next few hours, but we shall see.



What the hell is this? Seems like Flying Dog's been doing some more interesting and unique stuff lately (also picked up a single of Tropical Bitch which I may crack into), so why not... I guess. But... Old Bay in a beer? I'm all for local collaborations and whatnot, but this seems silly. Regardless, I very frequently find silly ideas pretty good when all's said and done, if only due to the immense audacity of some of them. This is definitely up there for me, though, let me tell you.

Pours a very clear, straw-golden beer with an everlasting, fluffy white head that laces surprisingly fantastically. This is actually really nice looking. Carbonation seems lively and expressive, and the head just seriously never goes away!

Nose instantly reminds me of some of the funkier, more savory witbiers I've had. Not just "coriander and orange peel" in the nose here; getting a bunch of black pepper, clove and estery goodness as well. In a sense this also has kind of a "tomato sauce" note due to the immense spiciness and slight vegetal qualities, but not really in a bad way. Might pair really well with pasta!

Flavor is pretty much in the realm of witbier or spiced APWA, though the yeast quality seems to lean towards the latter since it's definitely not bottle-conditioned and poured very clear. Instead, the strong and complex spiciness pushes the flavor profile into savory, piquant and weirdly-refreshing directions. The base beer here seems pretty damn well made, actually, but I can't see myself really wanting more than a couple of these. Definitely more something you drink for the novelty than for the quality, but it's not really a bad beer; in fact, it might be better than I anticipated given the concept.

Feel is rather nicely-carbonated with a fairly light body. This is one of those weird beers where the extravagant pour combined with the way it sits in the glass is way better then the rest of my experience with it, though I have to admit it's better than I assumed it'd be, as I honestly expected a clunky spiced ale with a poor base. Instead, I got a rather normal base beer with a reigned-in spice profile that, while sorta weird, didn't challenge me as much as I thought it would. Perhaps some of the ingredients in Old Bay are too subtle, in such minuscule amounts or are lost to the beer-making process, making them hard to truly detect. *shrug*

Now listening to a very well-written technical death metal album from this year, Vale of Pnath - II. Sort of reminds me of a combination of Beyond Creation, (older) Wretched and Necrophagist. Ordered a copy of the CD with an album-art print shirt from their Bandcamp earlier.

 

Good evening late NBSers and thank you @cavedave for the kickstart. Amid great reviews, stories and beers today of course we have the terrible tragedy. Just when you think it cant any worse than Colorado or Newtown Conn we have this. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because that would be giving in. Its just hard to fathom someone going out and never coming back due to the obsessions of a gun- toting fanatic. My heart goes to the families. I feel their pain because ive experienced personal tragedy in my life. That being said I'm dedicating this brew to them - time to get happy with beer! because you never know- life is unpredictable. Oh Trilllium how I love thee!!!

Trillium Sunshower Super Saison

The beer pours a hazy gold with a clean white head and some prevalent "world map" lacing. Looks a lot like many of Trilliums offerings.

Aroma is of saison yeast, crusty French bread (haha), grassiness, hay, juicy citrus and citrus blossoms with a touch of fresh herbs.

Taste follows with yeasty goodness- but not overpowering. Lost of grapefruit and orange with a touch of peel, clean grassy hops, spices like white pepper, herbs- like fresh thyme and a clean bitterness that is countered by a touch of sweet wheat.
This one is 8.5%- scary since there is no trace. Out of the box Super "Saison" it is!

Has that signature pillowy mouth feel with ample carbonation that dries out to a very pleasant bitterness. Very easy to drink this Frankenstein. Its just a combination of things that, as usual, Trillium can pull all together.
In the end what we have here is a very tasty, well balanced, hoppy, clean easy drinking brew that happens to be a saison due to the yeast used. Another special brew that most likely will get overlooked- like Free Rise and Pot and Kettle and Big Sprang to name a few. I understand why everyone is so focused on their IPAs- they are fantastic. Do yourself a favor next time you see these sitting on the shelf and the IPAs are nowhere to be found pull the trigger. I believe you wont regret it.
NewOldVinylSunday needs no explanation. Penned by Nick Lowe.
Enjoy your evening and week, and as always thanks for taking the time.

 

The funny thing about not "brewing to style," is that the designer of this recipe is just connecting existing dots rather than connecting new dots. He or she is going for something very regional - in this case France (even if the regions aren't the same). I just read your second post and I can really appreciate your observation that de Provence had more of a "classic" saison quality than du BUFF when had side by side. That approach is often illuminating. When reading your posts, I felt like I was reading observations about the same beer that I drank... just done with much more careful observation.

Yes. I never would have made any connections to wine with this beer... but I also don't have a good frame of reference for that. It's both intriguing and great to read such things.

 

New American Double/Imperial Stout Sunday

And for my 2nd and probably last new beer this Sunday, I had a bottle of Avery Tweak: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30/56199/?ba=bluejacket74#review





I liked Tweak a lot, I thought it was a really, really good barrel aged imperial coffee stout! It didn't seem like a 17.5% ABV brew, it drank pretty easy for something that strong. I think this will be my last new beer of the day, although I might drink something else in a little while. I'll try and check back on here later today or tomorrow morning to see what everyone else's new brews are!

 

I think you are very close to reading my mind on this beer. I expected the spice to dominate, and it doesn't. Due to this, on my first few sips of the beer I missed them. I have grown to appreciate this beer once in a while when it's out in the summer.

 

Happy NBS. Thoroughly enjoying another Avery Barrel Aged, Double D's. Cheers!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30/203127/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

Having picked up a couple bottles from Trillium during my recent trip to Boston, I figured Artaic would be a nice choice for NBS this week.

Let me say right off the bat that I'm a big fan of Trillium's IPAs which means that I have a little bias coming into a new beer from them, but at the same time I have pretty high expectations. This beer delivers in spades.

The addition of local raw honey adds just the right amount of sweetness to offset some of the hop bitterness and provides an unexpected soft fluffy mouthfeel. The use of Mosaic hops is evident but in perfect balance. This is a work of art for sure. Highly recommended.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30654/169611/?ba=richj1970#review

 

That was a great choice to compare it to Saison du Buff on your second post. There is a fundamental similarity with that beer that I got as well, and also to Matt's Burning Rosids- I guess that's primarily why I focused more on the 'yeast signature' aspect than the spices; it wouldn't surprise me if they all used the same yeast.

 

SweetWater Brewing Goin' Coastal
American IPA with pineapple - 6.1%



3.64/5 rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

12oz bottle with best before date of 8/21/16 printed on label. Poured into a pint glass. The aroma is immediately fresh citrusy hops with a really nice natural pineapple notes that are not too strong or artificial. The taste is sweet malts up front with a good dose of bitterness in the back end from the hops. Overall, a good IPA that I enjoyed because the pineapple does not overpower nor does it come across as being unnatural.

 

Good evening, NBSers. I have a couple of brews in mind on this steamy Minnesota evening. First up, this offering from an iconic brewery that is probably in my Top 3 (and my "Top 3" is actually probably 8 brewers, but still).



I really enjoy SN and their beers. SNPA is a ubiquitous beer in "our" world, Celebration helped define a genre, and they've literally got a raft of beers that will satisfy most any palate. I picked this up in their "High Altitude" box set last week in Wisconsin, and liked the Chocolate Chili Stout, so I was eager to try this.

It pours a golden copper, a little cloudy, with 2 fingers of slightly off-white head. The aromas feature a little hops and a LOT of toffee aromas. Ruh-roh, Raggie. The hops come forward a bit on the taste, but with a bottled on date of 3/30/16, I believe I may be dealing with a dated beer.

I'm glad I tried it, but I wish I tried it fresher. Rated 3.96.

 

Burlington Beer Co. "Future Glow" 3.9%
Dry Hopped American Table Beer.

First off, I'm not one for session beers.
That being said, here goes nuthin'!
Well, actually, it's something, er, rather, less than something?



Fairly vigorous pour yields a 1/2 inch head which dissipates rather quickly to a ring which, in turn, comes back with a swirl of the glass. Damn if this isn't one of those hazy "New England" (as the kids like to say) IPA/Pale Ales! I like the beer much more than that moniker.

Nose of slight tropical fruit, very fresh smell. Nice!

Taste slightly of grapefruit, easy drinking with a soft bitter finish.

Nice mouthfeel for such a low ABV.

Overall, this is in my top 5 session/table beers. Well done guys!

4.25/4.25/4.25/4.25/4.25

 

Very nice Cigar City Caffee Americano. Cheers all.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17981/98020/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

Seems like "another day, another gose" but I guess I can't really complain since the trend has generally produced better beers than worse ones in my opinion. Even though it's a fruited gose, let's try LT's attempt!



Pour is uneventful. Quarter-finger of head that lasts for all of a few seconds before fizzling out. Color is like cranberry ginger ale with a slightly copper-leaning hue if held to light. I know lacto can wreck head retention, but I've never seen it demolish foam quite as quickly as in this brew. Disappointing appearance, to be sure.

Nose is definitely cranberry juice with a slight wheat character and a touch of lactic, lemony acidity coming to the fore. Cranberry will probably play well with the tartness here, but we'll see.

Taste follows the nose with a hefty dose of wheat combining with a fairly-strong tang of acid and some juicy cranberry notes. I can also pick up a bit of Concord grape juice and some slight pit fruit notes. Overall, no real faults with this one; I can detect the twist of salt and coriander on the fruited wheat base if I try, and the kick from kettle-souring helps bring some tart qualities to the table but, overall, I can't say I'm really too blown-away by this. It's not bad for what it is, but it's not in the upper echelon. Feel is medium-heavy for the style with a punchy carbonation that admittedly does help back up the tart flavors of cranberry and lacto. Seems to retain its carbonation pretty well over time, which is nice. A bit too hefty for me though.

Glad I only got one. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled by Rising Tide's gose, which is better-built, has no extraneous additions and clocks in at only 3.8% where this is on the strong side at 5.2%, but this is a totally normative lightly-sour fruit-forward beer without much to it. I'm sure it'll do well in the market, but it's not a return drink for me, to be honest.

You know what I will return to (and have many times already this year), though? This shit.



Crushing funeral doom/death metal featuring members of the classic Australian band diSEMBOWELMENT. Torturingly oppressive music. Love it!

 

My 2nd offering tonight is from a very underrated (IMHO) Minnesota brewer.



Fulton does some really cool stuff (Insurrection and 300 are world-class, IMHO), but they fly under the radar vs Surly and Summit. Any chance I get to try their stuff, I take advantage, so when I picked this up in a mixed 6er, I was stoked.

It pours a golden copper, which is darker than most saisons, and due to the rye. The nose have all the saison attributes, and so does the taste - until the rye hits the back of your tongue, which elevates this another notch. I'm gonna have to pick up a 6er of this as a stand-alone for my lawnmower beer with a kick this summer.

Rated 3.98.

 

Next up from the Von Trapp 12-pack is the Helles Lager, following a coin toss that came up (h)heads for (h)helles.


The nose is faint, but a bit of swirling coaxes it forward. It hits all of the right notes and avoids all of the wrong ones- mostly rich bready malt, with the slightest accent of spicy noble hops as well as sweet creamed corn (DMS). The palate follows through for the most part, except the DMS is a little more prominent (a feature that I enjoy in this style as long as it's playing a supporting role). Mid palate brings a graham cracker richness, before it finishes dry with a gentle yet clean hit of bitterness. Everything's here, everything that makes these kind of beers so enjoyable, and I really should be loving it; but I'm not. The best words I can come up with at the moment are 'washed out', although that's not precisely the feeling I'm getting. Maybe 'semi-washed-out' is better . Like I said, it's all there, proportionally correct and everything; but it just needs to be turned up a few notches. I guess I'll just have to keep opening bottles and see where it takes me- I have a feeling this one might get better as you get deeper into a liter. For now, though, a very likeable A- (4.0).

 

Back with the aforementioned epic beer from @Ri0 – an “Imperial Black Wheat Coffee Ale – which I cracked open in the 9th inning of the Mariner’s game. At the midpoint of the 8th inning, Mariner fans were in a familiar place…




Some last minute heroics turned things into a 6-4 heartbreaker instead of a 6-1 debacle, still sadly familiar.

Fortunately I was able to console myself with this:


http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28879/215926/?ba=woemad#review

The only thing wrong with this beer is that it’s in a huge bottle for something so rich and boozy. Otherwise, it’s the perfect dessert beer. Hell, I may not eat dinner at all because of this bad boy. Insanely delicious, and a worthy way to close out my ill-gotten gains from NBS BIF # 3, most of the wreckage from which can be glimpsed below .




Thanks to @Ri0, and to @SammyJaxxx whose affiliated ninja box contributed to this field of bottle & can destruction. For those of you on the fence for this BIF, y’all might want to reconsider when the call for # 4 goes out.

 

Last one, top the evening off with a desert beer before I grill some brats.



Okay, this isn't a desert beer, it's a 2 x 4 between the eyes, but the cinnamon flavors make it taste a little bit like a desert beer. And, as it cools down on a glorious Minnesota summer evening, this really hits the spot.

Rated 4.21. Have a scintillating Sunday evening, NBSers.

 

Think this'll be the last one tonight; I'll get to Tropical Bitch another time, maybe later this week. Probably post a review on the site proper when I get 'round to it. For now, let's dig into a new-ish beer from a brewery I haven't had anything from in quite a while!



As with the others today, picked up a single of this guy at a local place. Not at all averse to the idea of seasonally-appropriate drinkable hoppy beers that nevertheless don't fit the "IPA" standard. Prost!

Pours a slightly cloudy/translucent ruddy golden-yellow color with a chunky, rocky head that laces pretty well. Mildly hazy surface once the head calms down. Pretty decent pour overall.

Nose is full of wide-ranging hop notes... from slight notes of cut grass, pine sap and mild green onion to lemongrass, passionfruit and (plain ol') bubblegum, this seems kind of all-over-the-place. Not bad though, to be sure. The grassy and herbal component seems to pop a bit more than any kind of "fruitiness" for me. Some husky wheat notes, some light rustic spice and a vague dusting of yeast also make courteous appearances. Seems to lean mostly on the aroma/dry-hop side of things, though, for sure.

Flavor seems solid with bright floral and citrusy hops on top of a decently-well-built wheat ale base. Doesn't taste like a 6% beer, though. Very little ethanol on the tongue; I get mostly resinous, balanced hoppiness and cereal grains. Nothing really jumps out to me here. The nose seemed pretty promising, but this under-delivers on the palate.

Feel is smooth, round and pillowy, as a good APWA should be. Hops don't distract from the course this sets out on at all, which is cool. At the same time, however, it also doesn't drink like a wheat IPA (had some Zero Gravity Conehead fairly recently, so that's fresh on my mind as a comparison I could possibly draw) but instead kind of ends up relegated to a weird place. Being so strong, it's not really "refreshing", nor does it really scream "Summer" like lots of seasonal beers for the June-August period do. It just kind of is. Which is fine, but I feel like beer should do a bit more than that. Still, this isn't bad at all; it's just not exciting by any means (and I didn't expect it to be, really).

So far today, I've seen an undercurrent running throughout my choices, as they have all been beers I've been a). happy to have, and b). able to comfortably live life never really having again. I love trying new things, though, so even if everything was just slightly-above-average, I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you, the ever-excellent NBSers! Thanks for making this another enjoyable week of beer-exploration and e-camaraderie. CHEERS!

I'll send you all off with some new Polish jazz-ish stuff, cuz why not.