New Beer Sunday (Week 599)

Now up Mispillion Spawn's Evil Brother. It is an Imperial Porter aged with bourbon barrels with brett, tasty and interesting to say the least.


look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle poured into a teku

A- Black with a two finger light tan head.

S- Brett definitely is working hard here. Sour cherries, hints of lemon, some funk, touch of bourbon, some nice hints of chocolate and coffee.

T- Porter base comes through really nice, tart cherries, some dark fruits, hints of bourbon, chocolate, roasted malts, touch of coffee, hints of funk.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A tasty sour porter. Body is a little light. Definitely a style pushing beer, kind of a mix of a bourbon barrel porter and a tart dark saison.

 

Lindemans Kriek, 4% ABV, 18 IBU, Lambic Fruit style. Pours thin to medium viscosity, red, with 3 finger light pink head, decent lacing. Nose is tart cherries, taste follows, some sweetness, moderate tartness. Good mouthfeel, carbonation is a bit heavy but works for this beer. Overall excellent, though nowhere as good as their own Framboise or Ommegang Rosetta (a different style cherry beer). Has the usual interesting Lindemans packaging - foil, bottle cap, cork, very heavy bottle.

 

new offering from ATG..London Balling..a BA Barleywine in a pint can..rusty pour..off-white head..aroma of caramel,toffee,bourbon,vanilla,brown sugar..tastes of all the previous..a little boozy but i'm diggin' it..well done.

 

Exactly! Agree on the can art, a little strange. And I can't say I noticed anything in particular that the ancient grain provided, as the beer had a similar taste profile to the other beers I had today (which as far as I know did not contain spelt). Although I wonder if maybe it led to just a little extra creaminess in the last beer, which I noticed but was countered on the feel side by a twinge of alcohol heat.

 

Hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday. It's hot here and I spent the the first 5 hours of my day helping my father in law with some bathroom remodeling. I then took my kids to the pool and am now enjoying a movie (Depicable Me) with the two little ones.

My sister and her husband took the trip to Canton yesterday to check out Trillium's new brewery and Castle Island Brewery. They brought me back a nice sampler pack from both breweries. I wanted to have something low ABV today so I figured I would start with the Pier since it is low ABV. I failed to realize until writing that last sentence (to verify ABV) that it is 6.7% ABV! Kind of high for an American wheat ale. I wish I chose one of the other low ABV beers that they brought me.

My new Beer today is Pier American Wheat Ale from Trillium


Look: Cloudy yellow, nice long lasting head, not much lacing 3
Smell: Tropical hops, pineapple, not much else 3.75
Taste: Tropical hops, maybe a touch of pine and resin, starts sweet and ends with a somewhat harsh bitterness until it warms a bit. Bitterness lingers on the finish. Definately improves as it warms. The sweetness and bitterness play off each other nicely 3.75
Feel: A little on the thin side especially considering the high ABV, nice prickly carbonation. 4
Overall: Taste and smells a lot like juice, which is good if that's what one is in the mood for, but lacks any level of complexity and balance of flavor. If you want a tropical hop flavored beer, this one might be for you. If you want something else, look elsewhere. I am currently enjoying it, but likely would not purchase again, especially considering the price. 3.75

I am hoping for better out of some of the other Trillium offerings. It also drives me crazy that I am trying hard to put some nice malt flavor int the low ABV beers that I have been brewing at home (3-3.5% ABV) and it's a real challenge at that low ABV. Here I have a 6.7% ABV beer that can really have some nice malt flavor, but it does not.

It's great reading everyone else's posts. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their night. Excited to watch some niner football tonight.

Edit: Changed taste to 3.5 due to a taste of alcohol in the finish as it continued to warm.
Calculated score 3.63

 

A little while ago I was reading Jeff Alworth's The Beer Bible, and I seem to recall him writing that spelt gives a spicier version of what wheat brings to a beer, but I could be wrong. Maybe I'll dig it out and look it up.

 

Makes sense. Plus, with taking musical comedy roles, usually on Broadway, she didn't have to regularly travel around to different opera companies like a lot do, but could stay at home with her husband and kids.

What I found funny was that while her real first name really was Patrice, which sounds like a stage name, her last name was changed from Munsil to Munsel. Is one vowel really that much more classy than another, especially when so close to one another, phonetically?

 

Plus she got staring roles in the musicals, etc. (much more challenging and satisfying when they go well).

 

It's been a long time since I've had anything new from DFH, but you've made a compelling argument as to why I need to track one of these down next time I go beer shopping.

 

Good Evening and Thanks again Maria. Just back from The Ocean Mist in Matunuck. What a beach bar- place was rolling and the view is second to none. Started with a pounder of Gansett' (when in Rome) and then realized they had Two Roads Lil Heaven one of my personal favorite "seesion IPAs". Any how it was still hot as heck there. This I believe is the hottest day I can remember around these parts.
Anyhow I'm back home and breaking out a new beer- Birthday Edition. You know you're getting old when you actually forget how old you really are. I was under the impression I was going to be 53 about 2 weeks ago and then it suddenly hit me I'm going to be 54.... Oh well, shit you cant stop time. The mind is still living a much younger age. To Beer!

Singlecuts Softly Spoken Magic Spells. DIPA Yippee!

Pours a sunset orange with some floaties and a tannish head that dies rather quickly leaving slightly spotty but fairly clean glass sides

Big aromas of ripe pineapples,mangoes passionfruit. Then there is the orange and tangerines with some red grapefruit and the pine rounds things out. There is some malt and certainly a touch of alcohol but not offensive. Blends quite well.

Taste is all those tropical fruits and citrus that dries out with piney bitterness. Onion and Garlic play a part also. 130 IBUs- wow. Definitely has some heating from the alcohol. The difference with this is that the Scottish Malt which they use adds that balance of nice sweetness that really ties the whole package together. With all this talk of Trillium and Treehouse etc. which seem to brew those hop juices with nary a sign of malt (trust me I can drink em no problem- time and a place) its nice for a change to see the brewers here went for something that provides support for all that hoppy goodness.

Finish is fine medium carb with a slickness that dries out with lingering flavors -

This beer drinks like a Triple IPA with its maltiness - which is nice since it clocks in @ 8.6%
A more balanced DIPA. I haven't had a beer I didn't enjoy from Singlecut yet but this may be one of the most complete doubles ive had in recent memory. Great stuff.
And for NewOldVinylSunday- not huge on covers but when its amazing I cant deny. Todd doing his rendition of Good Vibrations. crazy accurate. Enjoy your Sunday and as always thanks for taking the time.

 

Happy Sunday NBS! My day just got a whole lot better when I found a new beer that we didn't get any of on the first release.
Stone Brewing Enjoy By Unfiltered IPA clocking in at 9.4%

I'll start this off by saying that the regular version of Enjoy By is one of my favorite beers. Some batches do seem better than others but overall it is basically a perfect IPA to me. We didn't get any of the unfiltered version last time around so I'm very thankful to be able to finally try this one. Enough rambling, here's the review...

4.78/5 rDev +8.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

It looks absolutely amazing. A hazy mango color with lots of sediment from no filtration. Great head retention and lacing. Smell is superb. Grassy lemon, pine, mandarin orange, and that impossible to describe 'dank' smell. Taste is everything I'd ever want in a IPA / DIPA. Pine and mandarin orange and just citrus in general with a nice bitter finish at the end. It drinks incredibly easily for such a big beer and this version seems to have a more crisp and clean quality to it. Just an insane beer that I wish was available in six packs in my area. I'll definitely be going through multiple bombers of this.

Cheers all!

 

Terry, you're quickly proving excellent reviews are the norm for you.

I haven't yet seen the movie that features the quote that "I Am Gruit" is a takeoff of, but I suspect there's a lot of small breweries making homage to it. Bellwether, in Spokane, does one with that name. Their beer with the same name clocks in at 4.9%, or at least I think so. I'm having to look at the chalkboard in the background of the picture of Seawolf I posted on WBAYDN a week or so ago, and the resolution is not all it could be.

 

Ten Bends Beer
Hyde Park, VT
"First Bend"
6.8%
Hoppy Blonde Ale

This was filled last Sunday at the brewery by the brewer. I was supposed to give it to a potential client (bar owner) of theirs but he wouldn't go out of his way to pick it up! His loss, my gain!
So, let's get after it.

Amazing head after a week! Just look at it!

Smell at first is onions (in a good way!) that goes away very quickly and yields to a nose of tropical fruit (think orange pith) and a bit of what wine tasters call "flint" from grapes grown on very gravelly soil.

Taste is fruity, smooth and very well balanced. Not too bitter, in fact the bitterness is near perfect!

Mouthfeel is very nice especially for being poured after a week from a growler!

Overall, this is a fine job from Vermont's newest brewery. Well done, sirs!!!



4.23/5 rDev n/a
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Hello, NBSers, and than you to Marie for that most excellent start. I have a couple of new beers tonight. First up .....



Aggressive pour yields 2+ fingers of white head. Aromas of citrus and hemp battle for a front row seat (it's a dead heat), but the taste is heavy on the hemp. Delicious.

The feel is bright, but the hemp gives this 5.2% ABV IPL some body. This tastes like summer poured from a bottle. Well done by an underrated (IMHO) brewer that does a lot of styles REALLY well. Rated 3.94.

 

Hooray more beer and maybe some rain!!

Freigeist Ehrenfelder Alt | Braustelle


Friegeist Bierkultur - Ehrenfelder Alt by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a stange glass.

Deep copper brown. Clear body with a little bit of cola carbonation and a good shine to it. Head is an excellent easy three fingers. Light tan colored in appearance, settling down with pill lacing and a nice frothy top that clings. Very nice looking alt.

Delicious aroma. Slight dry grains but with excellent nutty flavors on the nose and a bit of faint milk chocolate. Rich aromas with a good nut and chocolate mix with dryness kept to a minimum. Real great smelling brew.

Palate seems to take a very unique angle. Slight fruity and spicy tones on first sip, but a noticeable amount of hop bitterness. Classic straight up dry malt and a bit of chocolate angles in the mid palate, but with a very noticeable sensing spicy hop finish. Lingering bitterness, with some real nice accenting sweet chocolate that contrasts nicely on the aftertaste.

A pretty different alt, but a good one none the less.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA Generated Score: 4.09

---------------

 

Last offering of the sampler pack

and I can't say it has changed my philosophy of only buying sampler packs when there is a group of others involved.

Good color with a white head sustained by ample carbonation. The pleasant grassy herbal notes beckoned with a siren's aromatic song. I followed and crashed into the inhospitable, citrus pith rocks.

Yes it is sessionable but ...

 

Good evening, everybody.

I am home after a short stint at work this afternoon and am excited to try a new beer. I feel for everyone writing about the horrible heat and humidity today (and the last few days). I even feel guilty to say that thanks to a hurricane-like storm last night, temps here on the island have dropped to a tolerable level for the first time in a few days. Not so for the humidity, though. Now you sweat just as much but are confused as to why since it feels nice otherwise.

Oh well, it'll be winter soon. Gotta get the sweat out before.

I took a trip a couple weeks back down to the states and ended up with a glut of IPAs. I have traded some to folks, given a couple to friends, and drank more than a few; but I still feel the need to race against time. However, I also am getting a little burnt out on having hops every day. The flavors don't pop as much as the should and as good as the “NE IPAs” are, a lot share similar characteristics. The plus side of this is that it is really making some of the malty stuff I have taste even better (although on the whole I think I might even prefer malty stuff in general. Hop fatigue I guess. I don't know).

So, my new beer this week is bottle of Elaborative Three from Hill Farmstead that I have thanks to the kindness of great BA and all-around good guy @kculrich. Cheers, man!!

I am excited to try it. This one is brewed with people from Jackie O's using some fancy-ass sugar and aged in various bourbon barrels. We'll see.


Sweaty bottle with my elongated thumbprint.


No doubt about it, Shaun Hill has a degree in Philosophy

Enough rambling, on to the beer.



It pours a used-motor-oil black with a half-finger of tan head that slowly disappears to a ring around the glass. The aroma is of oily roasted nuts, toffee, leather, wood and rubber hose (up yer nose). The flavor is WAY sweeter than I was expecting from the already sweet nose. Caramelized sugar, a touch of licorice, leather, cashews, coffee and cream descend into woodsy maple/bourbon flavors with a long, easy warming as it goes to my stomach. Like many of HF's beers I would say this one is both complex and simple in the best possible ways: well balanced, well made, complimentary flavors placed just so. An experience.

Well, I'll get back to looking through you guys' reviews. Have a great Sunday evening and a great week!



Here's my review.

 

Sunny Delight is an excellent color descriptor!

 

hope you have a great trip in Portland and rest of Maine. Feel free to msg me if you need any suggestions on places to eat/drink (if this is your first trip)