New Beer Sunday (week 610)

Young's very tasty! Glad to see it here in GJ.

Cheers!

 

That's a nice one.

Cheers!

 

So we pre gamed the Cubs game as best we could with Das Boot:

 

It's good to know I'm not the only one that thought that beer was an abomination. I struggled through my review. The can is cool though....

 

Cantillon Iris

This is a two year old bottle. I brought this beer back from Belgium - which wasn't a good move considering the cost I paid for my luggage being overweight. Oh well. I was saving it for an occasion and that occasion is today.

I made an earlier post in the thread talking about not rating to style. Coincidentally, this beer is a good example of one reason why it's tricky. It's listed here as a lambic. The brewer does not consider the beer to be a lambic. While it's an inappropriate match, it's probably the best one anyway. The beer does not contain wheat and it is designed to be far hoppier than a lambic. If one was rating it to style in the strict sense, they would have to rate it low. I think that a review that explains to the reader how a beer doesn't match the category that it's in is a great thing. That's one of the best uses for a review. I actually believe (or at least I think I do) that it's inappropriate to rate a beer against a style guideline if the beer or the brewer does not indicate that the beer belongs to a specific style. Such beers aren't exceptions in the landscape.

It doesn't make sense to rate Iris according to style. Jean van Roy has said that Iris and their Lambic are the only beers that they brew since Lambic is the base for everything else that they produce (I don't know if he is exaggerating here or discounting something).

I've never really clicked with Cantillon beers but I always wanted to try this one. I didn't really click with it either. A strong sour aroma is released with the uncorking. My wife commented that my beer smelled bad. The first sips are very sour. The sourness hides the malt, funk, hops. In time, the beer balances out with some drinker acclimation. The cheesy funk surfaces. Some hoppy bitterness does as well but far less than what I would have expected. Maybe the two years in the bottle had a lot to do with that (the brewer gives the beer a ten year shelf life). There's a little bit of wood.

While the quality here is very apparent, there's nothing that really makes me fall for it. No romance. I'm just blind to its charms... except that I will say that it probably is one of the classiest branded beers around.


Every night, I go out to chuck my empty bottles in the recycling bin, and on this rainy night I saw this wet spot on the stones. Being in the Halloween frame of mind, it looked like the ghost of all of the beer bottles I've disposed of through the years. I serious hope they do not haunt me.

 

What's disappointing is that it wouldn't have taken a lot of effort to make it a pretty good beer.

 

Didn't get a picture but had a nice Rye Porter at New Belgium this evening.

 

Sorry, I taught first grade for too many years.

 

Greetings All from the Pacific Northwest.

Checking a little late, having just pulled the travel trailer home for the last time this season. We spent the weekend on the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge down around Hood River. This evening we are home hoping the Cubs can extend the World Series and drinking some 20 Pounds of Pumpkin Ale.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/229621/

Not a bad brew. I'm not big on pumpkin, but this one is a nice seasonal brew. I might save a couple of bottles for Thanksgiving.

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

I've been under the weather so I have had to avoid the beers lately. And if my doctor asks, no one so me posting here tonight.ok?

Got this Troegs fresh hop (citra) from @gengle

This is a wonderful beer
Reminds me of Zombie Dust light.
Here is my review:

4.6/5 rDev +2.7% | Avg: 4.48
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Pours a golden yellow with some haze. Not used to seeing gaze in A Troegs product. A solid finger of white foam that leaves plenty of lacing.
S: Lemony some grass
T: Limoncello. Some bitterness. Herbal hints. The base is almost lagery
MF: clean no alcohol burn slightly resiny
O: Troegs has always done a great job with the fresh hopped beers and this is no exception. A wonderfully drinkable fresh hop offering.

I'm watching the World Series Eagles v. Cowgurlz and listening to Sturgil

 

Come on man. You know I grew up in Jersey. We do have a very cool beer scene too.

 

Happy New (e)Erie Brewing Sunday on the Eve of Hallowe'en!

I was actually pleasantly surprised at just how few of Erie B.C.'s beers that I have actually reviewed. I have known them since their inception, but I suppose that I simply took them for granted & did not take the time to review many of their beers.

I began with a relative newcomer to their lineup:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/754/179715/?ba=woodychandler#review

then I moved on to a couple of old standbys:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/754/53416/?ba=woodychandler#review

and

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/754/2302/?ba=woodychandler#review

before checking out another relative newcomer:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/754/150601/?ba=woodychandler#review

Now, it was back to an old friend:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/754/6477/?ba=woodychandler#review

before arriving at my Final Destination:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/754/223617/?ba=woodychandler#review

On a more serious note, I was dismissively referenced by a newbie xxxx-rated jackwagon & I really do not need that kind of thing in this forum. I sent him a BeerMail asking him to either amend his post by including a "Smilie" or deleting his referencing of my post. He has not done so & if this thread closes before he does so, I will be taking another extended break from NBS. I realize that I am a public personality, but if you are an unknown quantity to me, you should not be disparaging. I wonder how you might react if I were to dismiss you out of hand. I try to keep things light & include "Smilies" to better convey my message(s) and I always stand up if challenged. He has not done so & so I must leave yinz to your own devices. Good luck!

 

Evenin' late night NBS...alas but it was another Sunday for me in which I could not imbibe, as I just got home and have to get up uncomfortably early tomorrow, but hopefully I'll join in on the mid morning WBAYDN posts tomorrow. Can't wait to catch up here tonight, everything looks and sounds awesome. Cheers all!

 

New (Coffee) Beer Sunday

Pigeon Hill "Walter Gets Buzzed"


This is a 5.0% ABV blonde ale with "snickerdoodle coffee." I have had one other beer from this brewer, which was an oatmeal crème pie inspired brown ale, so they have a knack for this type of beer. I thought this one was very well done. The aroma is of light roasted coffee, that comes across as bright with a touch of cream ale type sweetness.. The flavor has the same light roast and blonde ale sweetness that is accompanied by the roast of the coffee and a finish that has this really nice baked cookie (snickerdoodle, perhaps?) note that really made the beer. It finished with a good coffee bitterness that was semi-dry. Overall, this was a good beer to start with today.

Alaskan "Heritage Coffee Brown"


This is a 7.0% ABV English brown ale brewed with Heritage coffee. Despite being darker, the coffee presence was noticeably lower than the lighter bee before it. The aroma was mostly toasty malts with a hint of coffee coming through. The flavor had even less coffee, but very good flavors of toasted malts with light cocoa and a touch of caramel. Don't get me wrong, this was a very good brown ale; easy drinking for the ABV and well priced (I paid $1.59 for a single, but saw it for $8/6pk on sale at Meijer) but it just did not deliver on the coffee front. Bell's Best Brown is my favorite brown ale and I buy it often in season, but I would not hesitate to grab this if I saw it for $8/6pk again. It scratches the itch for a brown ale, but a coffee beer not so much.

Epic "Big Bad Baptist" (batch #79)


This batch is 12.3% ABV imperial stout brewed with cocac nibs, Dark Horse coffee, and aged in whiskey barrels. I have had my eye on this beer for ~2yrs. In fact, I bought a bottle of batch #40 back in 2014 but I am yet to drink it. At that time, it was the most expensive beer I had purchased, and I wanted to save it for a worthy occasion that never seemed to come. Now that I have finally tried it, I am thoroughly impressed by this beer. Not only by the beer itself, but the availability and "relatively" reasonable price. The aroma is well balanced with the advertised flavors. The coffee leads the charge, but it definitely has a mocha note from the cocoa nibs. The roasted malts provided a good depth and richness, with the whiskey barrel notes of oak and vanilla coming in at the end to complete the experience. The flavor could be described just the same: well balanced. It has the looming presence of whiskey that gives it a ever so light boozy feel, but it is never hot in the flavor or aftertaste. The texture is not thick and as some expect every stout to be, but it is soft, smooth, and has spot-on carbonation that lets it linger appropriately but keeps it moving and never cloying. I almost didn't want to post about this beer, because I feel any effort to keep it the hidden gem of craft beer is worth while. While at ~$6 per serving it is still going to be a rare treat for me, and it may even be slightly inferior to similar beers of similar price/oz (e.g KBS, BCBCS), it is superior to some (e.g. SMS), but the not having to wait in line and not having bottle limits may make this the one I reach for over any others mentioned (gasp!).

 

Bell's Roundhouse is an absolutely fantastic amber ale with an excellent tasted caramel malt and citrusy tropical fruits. These flavors really mesh quite well together indeed! Quite happy I am finally drinking this one to end my Sunday night this week.

Eric

 

I should be asleep, but the World Series kept me awake and a Cubs win to keep hope alive for a couple of more days put me in the mood for another. My sister in law sent me some beer from Wisconsin recently and included this next one upon recommendation from the store she shopped at. Let's open this undated pint can of Gunpowder IPA with a 6.8% abv. from The Brewing Projekt of Eau Claire Wisconsin.

It pours a cloudy dark yellow with a generous finger of creamy white lingering foam. Heavy lacing is left behind as you drink. The smell is grapefruit, floral, herbal tea and sweet malt. Taste is floral, grapefruit and tea with a huge dose of malt in the finish. The feel is creamy smooth and slick.



A good beer that tastes like an old school IPA with a green tea addition in my opinion. While very drinkable, it's not memorable. It would probably benefit from a bigger hop profile. My score is 3.71 / rDev -8.4%.

Cheers gang, have yourself a great week!