New Beer Sunday (week 608)

Getting a late start today. I got side tracked yesterday, and didn't get very far on household chores so I had to make up ground today. Better late than never, I guess.

Today's choice comes from @smanson56's MWK BIF box (a mighty excellent box, I might add) - Focal Banger from The Alchemist.

It's somewhat of an ugly beer - hazy with lots of floaters, but the aroma and flavor are off the charts. Lots of juicy citrus and plentiful dank hops.

For me, I like this better than Heady Topper, and is certainly one of my top favorite IPAs of all time.



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27039/111616/?ba=richj1970#review

 

Well, I liken it to women, and Beauty vs Sexy; there are a lot of beautiful women that don't have that something that makes you respond in a basic way. And, there are women who will never be the "prettiest" in a given room, but there's something about them that draws you in, and gets the motor revving. And, it's different for everyone, but we all know it when we see it.

 

#2, I loved the base beer, so I was excited to try this.



Unfortunately, I think the barrel detracted from this. The beauty of the base beer was the heap loads of bitter chocolate flavors in the aroma and taste that are missing in this iteration.

The barrel and oak characteristics are very present, and they overwhelm the chocolate flavors. This is a very good beer, but the base beer is significantly better, IMHO.

Rated 4.09.

 

Now up Hill Farmstead George, thanks @CanConPhilly for this! Hard to follow up Mexican Cake, need something with dark malts, cheers!
4.19/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for this
500 ml bottle poured into a teku

A- A clear dark brown with ruby red highlights and a three finger light tan head.

S- Roasted malts, slightly nutty, faint caramel malts, toasted bread, just enough earthy/piney hops and a touch of citrus.

T- Roasted malts, slightly nutty, some bakers chocolate, mild citrus hops, earthy finish with hints of pine, touch of caramel melts.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A tasty brown ale that's nice balanced. Definitely different than HF Saisons, but still worth trying if you like brown ales.

 

I have seen cloudy beers (including a bunch of those NE IPAs) that don't look good - and they are ones that seem to have a "dull" or "watered down" look. Then I see some that have more uniformity in their cloudiness and a certain "brightness" level, and I feel those beers look decent.

Others have pointed to the "floatie effect," and I must say floaties, to me, are ugly! Of obvious note is that they do not meet my uniformity clause . Do I think they affect my enjoyment of the beer? Maybe just a little, actually. But I think the weight of the look is about right here on BA.

Personally, I prefer a nice clear beer with a lasting head. I sort of view it (not that I am claiming this to be accurate) as the beer will be clean in its profile and have the essentials the brewer intended without anything else. Although truly, it's not the body alone, but the the head as well. One that lasts and provides some lacing that really gets me saying, "That's a sexy beer!" With a clear beer, you "know" it's the head and not the body doing it, too (haha - j/k)

 

Dammit! Even more competition for this beer !

 

Spring House Brewing Company BRAAAIINS! Pumpkin Ale for Zombies


12 oz. can into my Two Hearted Ale pint glass

L. Clear orange to light amber. Slightly off-white small head which hangs on as a ring and a slight film.

S. First whiff is a biscuity, buttery, graham crackery pie crust. Vanilla is in there as well. Not much aroma of pumpkin or typical pumpkin pie spices, but if this were a "Pie Crust Ale" I'd be like "They nailed it!" As it came to room temperature though the aroma of pumpkin and brown sugar came out.

T. Taste of pie crust, a rather delicious pie crust, and some caramelized pumpkin meat. It gets sweeter as it warms, like honey and butter on your pumpkin bread. I'm trying too hard to detect some fall spices, and there is some ginger, nutmeg, and maybe some other faint stuff in there in the aftertaste.

F. A bit thinner than medium bodied, felt just enough carbonation. Can't really taste or feel the 7.8% abv.

O. Buttery, biscuity, sweet crust aroma is really front and center. It's not Pumking, oh heck no, but it leans in that direction, and at darn near half the cost. For me, it could have used more spice. Not bad though. 3.9/5. Cheers!

 

It just might happen, that's a way's away, hopefully I remember.

Cheers!

 

Focal Banger is a hard act to follow, but up next is Uncanny Valley from Burlington Beer.

Thanks to again @smanson56 for sending it my way as part of the MWK BIF.

Mostly mango and melon aromas and flavors. Lightly bitter, and highly drinkable. I could see crushing these on a hot summer day...



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33136/251024/?ba=richj1970#review

 

Glad you enjoyed it. This year's batch was certainly less spicy than previous ones. I've heard folks that were both excited and disappointed about that fact...

The spicier the better in my book!

Cheers!

 

If it was spicier I would put it above Bomb!, I wouldn't say the leak of heat would make it disappointing.

 

New Beer Sunday: A New Flanders Red

Evenin' NBSers with special greetings to all you purchasers of prime potables.

Well it was a weird day weatherwise, with periods of clouds broken by periods of sun. But what stood out the most was that it is getting warmer. Latest forecast I saw has us hitting daytime temperatures in the 80s for the next three days. Good thing I haven't packed all my summer clothes away yet.

Between chores and grocery shopping I was able to pop in once in a while throughout the day to check the descriptions of beers folks were having and telling us about. Once again I've got some items on my mental list to try if I see them on the shelf. For sure one of the fringe benefits of reading through this thread is that on visits to one or more of our relatively new bottle shops here in SE PA I'm able to recognize names and whether they were liked or not for at least some new beers for my shopping list.

This evening's new beer is the Rodenbach Grand Cru, a Flanders Red that I'd not tried before despite the fact it was on my "must-try" list for quite a while (years in fact).

As usual, my review, subject to revision until the glass is empty, can by found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/216/673/?ba=drtth#review

I have to say I'm definitely enjoying this beer which gets very high marks here on BA. The various flavors and aromas (cherry tartness, light vanilla, an almost hidden touch of oak and some light sweetness) all play together well with each other. This is quite a complex, multi-layered set of flavors and aromas that make the beer well worth sipping the night away.

Here are two musical ways of dancing the night away. Hard to decide which works best.

Van Halen

Sam Cooke

Cheers, all!

 

Shuttle Bunny fro Kern River has a similar issue. Taste is pretty good. But seems to be a muddy roil at the time of the pour, and does't get any prettier from there.

 

Yeah, it wasn't mind blowing, but I thought it was pretty tasty. I think the mug had something to do with that.

 

Did you say "MAPLE?" Paging, Corey. @WesMantooth

 

Would love to have you aboard, but I gotta say...there were plenty o' mentions in a few NBS threads.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @cavedave for getting us rolling this week. As with last week, I will be doing all beers provided by @oline73 from the BIF box. I have been chipping away at them all week, and I still have a handful left. Not much else going on over here, I am running low-ish on new beers again; so it might be time for another haul next weekend. Got my car's first oil change and did the laundry earlier.

New Beer:

This was pretty nice, very unique. Awesome head retention and dense lacing. Aromas and flavors of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, carrot, raisin, vanilla, cream, toasted biscuit, cinnamon, nutmeg, and light toffee/roast malt. Moderate herbal/spice bitterness on the finish. Medium-full bodied with light-medium carbonation; very creamy Munich maltiness with some moderate spice stickiness in the mouthfeel. Some light dryness from bitter spice, that gets astringent through the end of the glass. There is a lot going on with all of the fruit/spice additions to this beer, but the base amber ale is nice and traditional feeling. If it wasn't astringent it would have scored a bit higher overall. Really enjoyable. 3.66


Excellent Gose! Aromas and flavors of big tart/sour lemon, lime, grapefruit, green apple, white grape, sea salt, and coriander; with some wheat/crackery malts; and hay, straw, light lacto funky yeast earthiness. Moderately tart and sour finish with a touch of peppery spice. Light-medium bodied; balanced acidity, salinity, and grainy wheat in the mouthfeel. Crisp with moderate acidic dryness; lightly puckering yet refreshing. Extremely flavorful. This is spot on stuff all around. Definitely in the upper tier on the sourness level for the style, but without getting astringent. 4.1


This was an outstanding oatmeal stout! Aromas and flavors of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toasted oats, caramel, dark bread, and toffee; lighter notes of nutty, smoke, charred grain and a smidge of dark fruit; with a fair amount of herbal, floral, light peppery noble hops. Bittersweet balanced finish of roast/char and herbal/spicy hops. Medium-full bodied; with an awesome creamy/silky mouthfeel; with lighter sticky/chalky notes from roast malt, coffee, and earthy hops. Increasingly drying through the glass, but never astringent. This was bottled 1/13/16, so the coffee is faded a bit; but this is a wonderful, complex, and well balanced beer all around. Spot on style example. 4.25


Cheers, have a good night NBS

 

New Horizon Sunday

Looks like 2022 will be the next time my birthday will fall on NBS. I will mark my calendar. I finally joined @jvgoor3786 in the 40 and older club. Is there some sort of secret handshake or codeword? I haven't received any packet yet. Anyway, I got plenty of celebrating in last night during and after the Buckeyes game, but I spent most of today watching my middle sons soccer tournament games in beautiful weather today. They won the semi 4-1, with him contributing a goal, and championship game 6-2 to complete an undefeated season. Outscored their opponents 101-7 in 15 games.

On to my BIF beer from @ovaltine




4.03/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 2015 corked bottle into a tulip glass.

It is a slightly cloudy, deep gold. It has a slightly fizzy, thin, white soapy head that vanishes very quickly.

It smells a little like a cross between a white wine and apple cider to me. It is slightly sour, and slightly funky/yeasty. Some green grapes, apples, vinegar, and a hint of spice.

It is tart up front with some yeast, apple cider vinegar, grapes, and lemon. Then it transitions to woody and grains. I get a lot more rye spice from the flavor, but it still isn't real strong even though the malt base itself is. A significant amount of wood flavor too. I saw it mentioned cedar. I would not be able to pin point that, but I do notice that it is a different, more unique taste. I love the lingering aftertaste. A very deep, rich rye malt.

It is a little prickly initially, and then it has pretty smooth and non carbonated feel overall with a crisp dry finish.

Cheers!

 

One more from the @smanson56 box tonight - Broken Spoke from The Alchemist.

This is a really nice showcase for an Amarillo single hop. Nice earthy notes, biscuit malts, and hints of garepfruit.

On a separate note, loving this glass. I need more snifter style glasses that hold 16 oz...



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27039/249550/?ba=richj1970#review