New Beer Sunday (week 590)

Phenomenal first flittering, fine friend!!! Festive, funny, and flowing.

 

How's it going, everybody?! What was a muggy morning here in NJ has given way to a blustery but beautiful, cool evening. Feels like fall outside. I'm still going through the beer leftover in my fridge from Memorial Day Weekend and this looked like a good one to crack open while grilling some halibut for dinner.

Terrapin 14th Anniversary Ale



For Terrapin's 14th Anniversary, they brewed a Tart Belgian Red. It pours a beautiful ruby red color with a fizzy, off-white head that shows poor retention and dissipates immediately. No lacing on the glass at all. Fruity and vinous aroma made up of cherry, bubble gum, grapes, and light caramel. No trace of hops. Candy-like sweetness in the flavor gets balanced by a tart, acidic finish that doesn't linger very long. Medium-light bodied with a thin texture and basically zero carbonation.

Overall, this wasn't a bad effort but could have been improved with some carbonation and a little more body. Cheers!

Overall score: 3.51/5.

 

Sharks/Pens gm 6 of Stanley Final is on plus Game of Thrones tonight..so i figured..reach into the cellar and pull something new out..went with this little beauty...



first off..nice pour..opaque..medium tan head..aroma of chocolate,brandy,spices,alcohol soaked fruits..tastes of brandy,christmas cookies,chocolate,alcohol soaked pears & apples,nutmeg..little on the sweet side but very good nonetheless.

 

Hey NBS crew! I know I'm not exactly a regular but haven't been around much lately with so much going on, but more so because I haven't had anything new on a Sunday. Here to rectify that. Have a great week. Cheers!



4.51/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pour was a bit unimpressive - nice frothy white head forms but recedes quickly. No lacing. Hazy light orange in color.

Nose is big on grassy and onion notes. Definitely some big citrus, namely orange there too. Nice, but not a whole lot going on.

Flavor is unexpected - big onion and grassy notes, as expected. But big bitter start to finish. Bright ripe citrus of orange and a bit of grapefruit. But theres a nice spice here and some other pungent aspects.

Feel is nice - not overly juicy but not overly astringent or drying/bitter. Fully formed, no watery aspect.

Overall, this is a fantastic DIPA - different from what I typically go for, surprising, but all the better for it.

 

New Beer Sunday: A New Vienna Lager.

Evenin' NBSers with special greetings to all you versitile seakers of viable Vienna Lagers.

Well the weather here has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride with temps yesterday in the low 90s and today in the mid 80s. The humidity has been up and oppressive all day yesterday but then started down this afternoon, so it's actually fairly pleasant with the windows open and a nice breeze blowing. (But I'm still very glad that none of today's chores required yeard work, since it's not that comfortable yet ).

As promised earlier in the day this evening's new beer is a Vienna Lager from a new brewery over in Jersey. How new is this beer? Well its "I wound up being the first to review it" new. The brewery is called Double Nickel, which is reportedly derived from its proximity to one of the bridges over the river between Jersey and Philly where once upon a time the toll each way was a nickel. According to the brewery's story, back in the day, the truckers in their CB chats used to refer to it as the Double Nickel Bridge. It seems they prefered to use this particular bridge because the next bridge down the river (and closer to center city Philly) was owned by someone else who charged a higher toll.

As usual my review (subject to change until the beer is finished) can be found here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42881/197422/?ba=drtth#review

On the whole for a brand new Vienna Lager this is a quite respectable beer. It touches most of the right bases and doesn't get carried away with the sweetness that I personally don't care for in some Vienna Lagers. Lots of bready malt, some earthy grassy hop bitterness to finish off the beer. It does need a bit more work on the head since by half way through the beer there's not really much foam to speak of on the liquid. So all that said, it's not up there with the Great Lakes Eliott Ness, but it is drinkable and I'll be happy to have another.

As for music tonight, in keeping with the origin of the style, has been some old vinyl recordings of Strauss Waltzes. A few weeks ago, with a different Vienna Lager, I linked to a youtube video of Andre Rieu doing a concert in front of the Imperial Summer Palace. In video linked to below there is a waltz medley and the occasional background scenes you can sometimes see this time are of the Winter Palace (The Hofburg) rather than the summer palace. This palace is inside what was once the city walls of Vienna.

The city walls were torn down in the 1800s when they became pretty much useless as a defence against the then modern artillery. However, the cleared open space outside the walls was left open to create a circle of roads which surrounds the inner city or District 1 of Vienna. Some people have praised this as an example of city planning and design. However, what turns out to be the historical reality is that the Emperor's military advisors pointed out to him (in the mid-1800s) that the cavalary barracks for his troop of guards was on the other side of the city from the palace. In the event of civil disturbance in the inner city it would be faster and easier for them to reach the palace going around the outside of the inner city than it would be to try to go through the maze of inner city streets separating the barracks from the palace. So it was a desire for personal protection and military planning that led to the creation of Vienna's Ringstrasse.

Andre Rieu waltz medley: a concert encore.

Cheers, all!

 

Well, I was thiking of trying something from my Wisconsin haul, but I'll save those for another time.

Waconia Brewing Waconiator Doppelbock.

and my review of it.
3.85/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

This beer pours a reddish brown color. There is no head to it, and minimal carbonation. The nose is somewhat muted. It has a boozy smell to it. The taste of this beer is surprisingly mellow for the ABV of it. It has notes of chocolate. There's a slightly fruity feel to it. Some maltiness. There's some slight carbonation feel to it when drinking. Not bad. It doesn't drink like an 8.8 ABV beer, so if you're not careful, it might sneak up on you.

 

Greetings All:

Checking in from the great northwest with a Portland Oregon IPA. Breakside is a very nice brew for a warm late spring day with a real citrus flavor.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22843/67268/

Sunny and warn here in the Columbia Basin, with mowing being the order of the day.

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

New FREE Beer Sunday
My buddy at the beer store gave me this one this week. He was right. It is a very good beer.

4.1/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled 5/27. Poured into a tulip glass.

It is very cloudy, and a deep, glowing orange color. It has an egg shell white foam that disappears entirely, but leaves some lacing on the way down.

The first thing that jumps out at me is it smells very musty/earthy. Very melon like. Also some pink lemonade, grapefruit, and some florally hops. Any malts/grains are hidden.

That musty flavor is there front and center. Kind of rye like. Musk melon, red grapefruit, lemon, a touch of orange, and a Kool Aid mix sort of sugar sweetness. Finishes with some flower petal tasting hops with a significant bitterness that borders on aspirin and a piney and slightly grainy aftertaste. The first hint of any malts.

Medium bodied. Nice balance. A bit airy/fluffy. Easy to drink.

The advertised guava seems to really shine in this beer. Sweet and rustic flavor at the same time. Excellent ipa

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the weekend once again. Thanks to @cavedave for getting us rolling today. Not much going on here, just another week of work ahead of me. I need to track down some minivans to collect some data for work this week. International certification paperwork is due ASAP; and they already did an official measurement for the vehicle; but I want more than one reference point before I change my official numbers. Also hoping to get my mountain bike back this week. They sent my fork to Fox to get rebuilt and its been 2-3 weeks now.

New beers:

Very tasty session IPA. Lasting head retention and dense spotty lacing down the glass. Aromas and flavors of grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, mango, melon, passion fruit, berry, lemon/orange zest, and light pepper/pine hops; with some light caramel/toasted bready malts; and herbal/floral/grassy hop earthiness. Light-medium pine/herbal/spicy bitterness; light-medium bodied with balanced grainy creaminess and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Light-medium dryness, increases through the glass. Zero lingering hop astringency; really nice clean and fairly crisp finish. This has a good sized malt body for the abv vs other session IPAs I have had(Munich malt once again); and the hop bill has everything I love. Would pick up again. Refreshing stuff. 3.81


I think it's interesting that this says "Aged ON Brandy barrels"; I wonder if they only used barrel staves or something. Anyways, this was fantastic as expected. Aromas and flavors of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, molasses, fudge, toffee, toasted dark bread, raisin, prune, fig, date, leather, tobacco, oak, and light vanilla/smoke/charred grain. Light-moderate roast/char and herbal hop bitterness. Great bittersweet balanced finish; very full bodied creamy/silky/slick mouthfeel; fair amount of sticky/chalky roast in there too. Light increasing dryness. Warming finish, but not boozy. Very smooth sipper. Not sure how much actual Brandy influence is going on here; I am definitely getting nice oak presence, however the melange of supporting dark fruit notes I found are in the base beer already. Still incredible stuff either way. 4.32


Excellent sour! Aromas and flavors of brightly tart lemon, lime, grapefruit, peach, apricot, pineapple, mango, melon, papaya, guava, orange zest, and light pepper; light-medium wheat/cracker malt; with moderate hay/straw/grassy/briney funk character. Light-medium fruity/acidic tartness and oak/hop spice. Clean/crisp finish with zero lingering acidity. Light-medium body with balanced grainy wheat creaminess and acidity in the mouthfeel. Highly drinkable. I really liked that was not super sour, more of a refreshing level of acidity; a ton of awesome wild yeast and tropical hop fruity complexity going on. Really love this one. 4.12


Cheers, have a good night NBS

 

New Gose Sunday



To Øl Gose To Hollywood

Hazy pale bronze in color, effervescent, with a huge merengue-like, yellow-tinted white head that lasts a while before becoming quite sudsy as it slowly dissipates.

Light aroma of lemon, saltwater, soap and a little tartness. The taste is much less citrusy than I expected, with more of a watered-down peach or nectarine flavor, just the slightest tartness (like with a watered down peach or nectarine) and a good wallop of saltiness. Pretty light bodied over all, but maybe with a bit more heft than average for the style. The salt leaves behind a strong dryness and saltiness.

It's okay, but not my favorite gose.

 

Having some Pipeworks Ninja vs Unicorn with some grilled Spinach/Bacon/Artichoke pizza!
Thanks for the trade @Illini7997 !
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4 | total: 4.12

 

New beer for me, new beer for Beer Advocate's database.



Not bad at all...

3.98/5 rDev n/a
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Emoticon DHS Double Dry Hopped Sour pours a honey amber color with 70% transparency. The head is creamy and Guinness-like, and leaves polite lace behind. The head stays quite awhile and doesn't recede quickly.

Aromas of dry hop, cantaloupe and melon, pale malts, and some honey.

The label says that this is a clash between a Blonde Ale, a Red Ale, and a Sour. I'd say it's dead on in the flavor department and leans a bit more towards the Blonde side. It's got a nice milky sourness, but also some distinct dry hoppiness and a touch of toasted caramel malts. Quite a feat, quite odd, but executed superbly. Extra points for being original.

The feel sticks to the palate like a kind, rubbery cactus and gently scrapes the tongue as it glides all the way down. A nice dry finish wraps things up.

Overall, I wasn't expecting much - actually I was expecting a sour - and at first I was disappointed, but on closer examination I realize this beer does exactly what it sets out to do, and that's blending three styles into a quenchable, thirst-destroying summer slammer. I'd gladly have this again.

 

After having another, and getting more into the beer's groove, my thoughts on it haven't substantially changed but I'm now just seeing it as a delicate take on the style. Prost!

 

I guess it's another time, so I decided to pop open a beer from my haul today. It was a beer that I was surprised to find. I didn't think that Short's beers made it to Hudson, Wisconsin. I thought the distro was only in the eastern part of the state, and limited to a few stores. Well, as I'm often, I was wrong. So here's the beer.


Shorts Brew Soft Parade.

This beer is damn good. if I were going to hit up Wisconsin again before my Lake of the Woods, Northwest Angle trip, I'd pick up another 6er of this to take along. It drinks like a good boat beer. It is refreshing, and light. The problem is it clocks in at 7.5% ABV, so it could mess me up fast. I guess 4 or 5 of my 6er will make the trip.

4.13/5 rDev +14.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This beer pours a reddish color. The head was frothy, but dissipated quickly. The nose of this beer is fruity, and tart. The taste is light, fruity, slight tartness. It's a very easy drinking beer for the ABV.

★ 209 characters

 

The collection of brews you NBSers collect never ceases to amaze ... what a collection!

I got one many of you have tried already (or will be trying when it hits your locale):


Prairie Artisan Birthday BOMB!

The bottle says it's aged on "coffee, cocao nibs, vanilla beans and chili pepper", which I thought was the exact same roster for regular BOMB! I see mentions of "caramel" on other reviews, so I'm assuming that's the deal -- it's BOMB! with caramel added.

Whatever. Don't care. Just want to drink this and smell it and drink it and smell and drink it and smell it ... it's summer in Texas and this big-ass super sweet super thick stout is still an A+. Loads and loads of milk chocolate dominate all, nose and flavor, and the huge bitter hop bite on the finish really gives it that imperial stout kick that I've become addicted to.

The review:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/221289/?ba=Premo88#review
4.44 (+1.1% rDev)

I didn't mention in the review, but with the beer warmed up and halfway into the glass I can really taste the chili peppers ... it's like a few cayenne sprinkles on the back end. Sooooo good!!!

Dinner is calling ... and maybe more beer.

Cheers!

 

We just got Prairie beers here in Minnesota, and that was the first one I picked up here. I might save it for a fishing trip at the end of the month. I am looking forward to it.

 

If you like big sweet stouts, you'll love it. And good luck with the fishing!

I'm keeping my second bottle until this winter. And I might grab 2-3 more bottles. It's not cheap but it's so dang good.

 

Oh, I do. My fishing trip is a unique trip - it is in a place called Angle Inlet, Minnesota. To get there you actually have to go into Canada, then back to Minnesota. Because of this fact, you're limited on the alcohol you can bring. You can only bring 1L of the hard stuff, or 24, 12 oz beers per person.

At least there isn't an ABV limit on the beers, so My KBS, Bell's 30th, and Prairie Birthday Bomb will be part of my 24.

 

Another new beer for today: Flying Dog - Heat Series: Oaked Chipotle Ale



I knew so little about this beer that I didn't even know what color liquid would come out of the bottle. Was it going to be more of a pale ale or more of a porter? A "chile beer" isn't something I have every day... every month... or even every season. When they're bad, they are spectacularly regrettable. I grabbed this on a whim.

Turns out, the beer is an absolutely beautiful dark mahogany color. The body is conspicuously nonexistent. It's very thin. There is plenty of heat here, but its level is pure perfection. You always notice it, but it's drinkable, and it really lingers in the mouth long after a swallow. Beyond the pepper, there's a list of supporting players. Whatever hops are here are doing their job well. The chicory is also handled very well. It's there, but purely lending a hand in the back. The smoked malts aren't really noticeable in the mix... unless they are responsible for the faint ashy quality. I don't really know if this is from the malts, the "toasted" oak, or the peppers. Perhaps the smoked malt contribution is simply blending with the chipotle. Don't go into this expecting a Rauchbier. I wouldn't have known there was oak if the brewer didn't announce it. The beer hiding underneath the pepper feels like more of a brown ale than anything else. I could drink another bottle of this right now. A surprising delight and a great six pack representation of the "style."

I'm tempted to open another new beer but the heat in this one might make me keep those caps on.

 

Hey guys, busy day, but finally getting to enjoy this Plan Bee Bartlett:





And my thoughts:

4.23/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

750 mL bottle poured into a snifter.

In the glass, the liquid is a cloudy golden/straw color. It has a nice glow to it. Head is plentiful and frothy and pale white.

Smells is incredibly funky. Leaping from the bottle and the glass. White wine and unripened orchard fruit present themselves too. Maybe not as multi-faceted as I want, but I love the funk here.

Oooh, I like this flavor. Continues to be vinous. Feels and tastes white wine like with a crisp pear flavor. The funk is more fruity than earthy and I'm getting notes like peach and apple as well. A nice medley.

I'm quite happy with the body on this. This veers really light. It even hints at being too light, but enough flavor, feel, funk, and texture emerge to make this feel on point. The tartness is moderate and complements the vinous quality. All the while, the beer is clean and crisp.

Really tasty and highly drinkable. This is great.