New Beer Sunday (week 602)

Poured slowly into a Chimay goblet not sure when it was bottled. Pours a very attractive deep amber with a half inch off white head, that leaves very nice lace. 4.25 Smell is biscuit, sweet rye, caramel, toffee, pine, bread, and grapefruit. 4

Taste follows biscuit, apricot, caramel, toffee, upfront with pine, rye, and grapefruit in the nice and balanced finish. 4.25
Mouthfeel is medium, mild amount of carbonation, maybe a little dry, and excellent drinkability for 8% ABV. 4

Overall this is a very good example of this style. Malty and hoppy, with some sweet rye mixed in. Very good stuff. 4

 

I thought it was mild and not even close to that strong a hop. I liked it. it's mild.

 

Isn't that something the fizz ! =)

 

Another beer I have had! And the first I actually still have at least one of. I looked at my review, and recalled this tasting note:

I mention grassy as you did, but also peppery (which I must say I do not get as much in the one I just poured - maybe some at the very back). I wonder if the relatively small amount of age (can from June, which is likely the same as the can I had in July when I reviewed it) might have mellowed the bite of the hops at all. This is coming across as a bit sweeter overall than I recalled, as well.


Also, I just recently had Uinta's "801 Small Batch Pilsner" which did specifically claim to be a Pilsner, and I can see the similarities, I think. That is more to say I think I am starting to get the differences than to attempt to confirm your thoughts, which I would generally trust in areas such as this.

Cheers!

 

My last contribution on NBS today. This is from a 3 beer six pack I picked up yesterday at a reasonable price. Two pils and one weizen. This is the best of the lot.

Wolters Weizen 5.3% ABV

I'm still cursing myself for not owning a weissen glass. I had one a few years ago, it broke.

The beer is a cloudy burnt Canteloupe color with a frothy white head that retains well. Light patchy lacing.

Aromas of hay, dried grass, clove, white pepper, green apple, banana, and yes, vinegar.

Tastes the same with dry hay, white pepper, clove, banana, apple, and subtle bubblegum coming out.

Mouthfeel is medium and slightly dry, creamy.

Overall: I get the sense that this is a cheap German beer, sure, but it truly does have a ton of different flavors to dissect for better or worse. It does have that horse feed aroma about it until you really concentrate LOL.

I guess I'll save my Sam Adams Fall pack for next week. Plenty to discover there. Thank God it's September, I love this time of year. See ya next weekend!

 

3.75/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Covington Rock & Roll Summer Farmhouse Ale has a thick, off-white head, a hazy, golden appearance, some bubbles, and minimal lacing. This beer really clouds up, after the "swish & pour" and takes on an orange, apricot look. Aroma is of caramel, faint brettanomyces, and apricot juice. Taste is of honey-topped white bread, apricots or pears, caramel, a shade of horse blanket, and no noticeable bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium, and Rock & Roll Summer finishes on the dry side.

RJT

 

Dang, 25 posts before 8am? Y'all are some eager beavers! I'll be having beer later, but first I'll reiterate what CaveDave said in the OP; today is your last chance to sign up for Monkeys with Knives, NBS BIF #4. Join in, it's fun! https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/nbs-bif-4-sign-up-and-questions-thread.444700/

Also, here's a couple beers I had earlier this week: http://www.taptrail.com/boundary-bay-brewerys-citraweiise/

http://www.taptrail.com/atwood-ales-kettle-one-blonde/

Be back later with an exciting first for me!

 

Attempting to be more helpful than picky, but if you have editorial access still:

should be "brewery's" in the first article (which I enjoyed quite a bit).

(and a mere typo in the first paragraph of the second ["a vessel"])

 

I'm trimming my knuckle hair and sharpening my blades. Oh yeah!

 

After I post this I'm going to mention this beer again over in the New WOW beer thread. Anything this good is worth mentioning twice.



Appearance is light golden and far from the amber tones usually associated with Oktoberfest type beers. If that's ground breaking so be it. Very good white cap and lacing.

Aroma is malt cake wrapped in spicy hop icing.

Flavor is a complex mixture of malt/hop in about equal proportions. Not a single malt flavor (punny, I know) rather a sum of the parts malt flavor that has depth. Exciting hop spiciness I haven't tasted before. Hope Sierra uses these hops again in something, a Helles perhaps, or whatever they want to call it I'll buy it. Dimensions of flavor develop more fully mid palate and actually open up at the finish which leaves a lingering aftertaste ending with a clean hop cutoff.

Texture is pleasantly medium that feels fuller due to the richness of the beer.

Overall it's a winner and proof the grain bill doesn't have to include darker malt (for color) to produce a richly flavored true to style beer. Well, not exactly to style, as the guidelines do mention darker color and a slightly lighter hop touch, but you know what I mean. Brewer says it's a one off and maybe that's a good thing because it gives me something to look forward to next year.

 

Thanks. It seems like I don't get any real editing on those things, so I've been trying to be very careful, and I reread at the end of every paragraph, and reread the finished thing twice, and still, every time something gets by me. I'm efforting though. And, I do write them sober, unlike some of NBS posts.

 

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't have mentioned it for a thread post - and I know I make enough mistakes myself.

 

I was pleased to find VonTrapp's IPL while on a brief New England trip for NBS..
It is crisp, smooth, lightly hopped and a bit flowery. It matches the present weather in Western Mass. I'll have another and write a full review.

 

I edit all the time and I never can finish.

 

Hello, happy NBS! And happy Labor Day weekend (for the people that live where that is a thing).

Close enough to afternoon, nice early Sunday lunch and I grabbed a nice new brew from a fairly new local brewery.

Holy Saturday from Brocklebank Craft Brewing in Tunbridge Vermont.
I think my pic makes it look a little hazier than it is, and a little less pink.


Its a Raspberry Pale Ale coming in at 5.2% ABV. I'll need to add it to the BA archive to make a review.

Poured on tap into a branded shaker pint glass. Not my favorite vessel, but I'll "labor" through it.

Appearance is slightly hazy, straw color with a pink hue. Really pretty, I wish my phone could do it justice in the sun. Foamy off white (slightly pink) head settles and rings the glass. A few floating islands. Minimal lacing.

The aroma is earthy grass, citrus lemon rind hops, and fresh tart raspberries. A pleasant aroma at this time of day in the sun.

Flavor is fresh raspberry. Not overpowering, hinted at with a tartness and flavor that plays well with a true to form American Pale Ale. The hops are not masked by the fruit and come through in the form of a moderate bitterness and citrus fruit and zest. Goes nicely with the berry.

Meets the upper side of light bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall a pleasant summer brew, crisp real fruit flavor is balanced with the base beer. No artificial fruit juice flavor. Fresh tart raspberries.

 

Thank you @cavedave for getting today's party underway. I am excited for BIF #4, always a fun time.

Today I am enjoying Mosaic Hero from Revolution Brewing. A clear dark orange color with a 2 finger white head. Lacing is spotty on my glass. The smell is very hoppy with tropical fruit and dank citrus. I pick up some herbal notes along with some caramel malt. It is tropical, yet biter. There is mango and grapefruit, with pine and a mint of spearmint. Feel is medium and oily, but finishes on the dryer side. Solid beer, but not quite what I expect from Mosaic.

 

Good morning NBS and thanks @cavedave for the kick off this Labor day weekend,
Beautiful here in WMass, hiking completed, some work at the cemetery is on the afternoon agenda. Today's offering is from Casita Cerveceria. I hesitated initially and glad to have experienced this fine beer. What a nice surprise indeed.
Cheers all

4.01/5 rDev -2.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle dated 7/14/2016 into a small tulip glass.
A - Honey, old straw colored, a touch of haze, Gentle carbonation slowly assembles into a thin
loose knit body of work. Lacing clings in small random clues.
S - Lemon, lime citrus zest match up well with honey and tropical notes from hop addition. The stand out for me is the ever so slight fresh chili pepper, not the heat but a fresh pepper slightly roasted. This attribute is so summer like and delightful. Tinge of tart hides in the nose as well.
T - Right out of the blocks is honey and citrus, sweet grain and a kiss of american oak, with a rise in temperature the roast chili (i assume some roast) flavor touches down. The every so slight tartness is omnipresent. Delightful bounty of flavors.
M - Medium in body, a hint of oils, soft water profile matched to low carbonation level, almost has a cask quality. The sweet start quickly rolls into a zesty roasted pepper flesh, with lime zest, the palate response is quick, sides of tongues react and the quickly exiting offering leaves that tart calling card.
O - This offering displays deftness on the brewers part. One might read chili on the label and think heat, not here. A well conceived and crafted offering that compels and delights.

 

Likewise, for me as well. Got the coffee brewing, formulating a breakfast plan that will probably involve a massive, celebratory breakfast burrito for the outstanding kickoff to my two college football teams' seasons, and then I'm hitting the ground hard with a beer of brobdingnagian proportions.

 

My first NBS beer of the day dives back into my Ohio beer haul.



Bottled 07/27/2016

Fat Head's Head Hunter IPA

4.28/5 rDev -1.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

L- The beer pours clear and golden in the light. The head is a solid 2 fingers of frothy white bubbles. Lacing is patchy but lasting.
S- The nose is strong upfront with grapefruit and hints of pine underlying. Pretty much what you would expect from a west coast style IPA.
T- Much the same as the nose. Lots of grapefruit pith right up front transitioning to light pine in the mid to late palate. Grapefruit overwhelms the pine pretty quickly for me ending in a solid pithy bitter finish. Alchohol is very well hidden for a single IPA of this abv.
F- The mouthfeel is medium overall with a slick oily texture. Even so the beer is light enough to drink in multiples. Top notch in this respect.
O- It's easy to see why this has won multiple awards. I tend to find many grapefruit dominant IPA's too blandly bitter. This one however has me grapefruit flavor that hasn't dulled my palate and finishes cleanly and enjoyable. The fact that the beer is able to completely hide the 7.5% abv so well only adds to the overall enjoyment. It's deceptively drinkable.

 

Ahh.... my favourite season of them all has announced it's impending appearance. While we've been blessed of late with bountiful days full of rays, the last couple of mornings have greeted me with grey skies and intermittent precipitation. I say that with the utmost of affection, as the gentle rain brings a cleansing serenity sorely lacking in the garishly bright light of summer. The seasons are still in transition, though as the sun has burned its way through by the end of the day each time. We've plenty of sunshine left to be sure, but the rain will start to edge in as well and that is a welcome site to me. Plus it sucks trying to sleep when it's 85 and sunny out.
That has nothing to do with my beer today, but walking my dog in the rain yesterday morning I had a hard time keeping a grin off my face.

Today I finally crack open a beer I probably picked up when the weather was transitioning the OTHER direction. Bourbon Barrel-Aged Salted Caramel Stout from Breakside has been sitting in my fridge for a couple of months waiting for just the right time. I have no idea if now is 'just the right time,' but now is when I'm drinking it, and I am enjoying what I'm drinking, so it must be!

The beer sits in the glass with the same silent sheen as the obelisk from 2001. Not quite fully black, it inhabits a shade that never truly steps into brownness, but you know that's really what's lurking. The head fulfills its duty of initial proliferation, then passes through a series of intermediate steps (some more satisfying than others) before settling into its complacent final phase as most of a ring with interspersed tan tufts and patches.

Nose starts off... different than I expected. My brain keeps telling me bourbon, but it's not the classic elements of bourbon that I normally think of. It's somehow fruitier at first, though I'm hard pressed to find any fruit it reminds me of. A vanilla lightening at the edge, and a ribbon of smouldering caramel bring a gallows humour lightness to this dark proceding. It is dark of character, but light of spirit and sweet.

Flavour helps this abstraction take better shape. Char and bourbon form the background while the frame is the sweetness of the bourbon. There are untraceable lines of burnt caramel running through the middle, and I could convince myself of a salty matte finish but I'm not sure I'd pick it up without the cue of the name. Finish is a distillation of these characteristics, and my one complaint is that there is that sour intrusion I sometimes get from BA beers. It always conjures the same memories.

Anyway, tasty stuff overall. I dig it. I've not had the non-BA version, but I would gladly try it.

Hope you've got a tasty brew in your glass as well, and give some thought to joining this here monkey knife fight. The three previous incarnations have been a hoot, and even as my consumption has sharply decreased and my budget has mildly tightened, the allure of the entire experience draws me back to it. It's fun. It's friendly. It has a third list item.