New Beer Sunday (week 611)

Sorry to hear you weren't impressed. I love the WOJA even more than Jai Alai.
Perhaps you are correct and the lines were dirty where you had them?

 

What's up NBS player. Missed out on last week thanks to over-indulging on the day before but I'm not about to miss two in a row. A pretty brisk fall day here on island. Breezy, overcast, and borderline straight up cold. I've been watching football all afternoon and the Jets are in a battle with the god damn dolphins.

My new beer today has been atop of my whale list for a while. It comes out of the BIF #4 box, monkeys with knives, thanks to the great @newjack . The beer is the Dark Lord, ris, from Three Floyds brewing. It has the maroon wax which makes it a 2015. (I confirmed the color with the fiance and while not color blind I can be a bit of an idiot.) Anyway, the brew checks in at 15% and I will not be killing the bottle in one sitting. Capping it!

The pour gives a pitch black color with a subtle tan head. The nose is big with malts, chocolate, and booze. The drinking starts with big time chocolate fudge right upfront. Malty, sweet, and sticky as all hell. I just love the booze aspect on this brew with just a raw punch to the face and yet the brew remains so damn smooth. Big time flavor notes of smoke, vanilla, coffee, and lots of dark candied fruits. I get raisins, dates, figs, and sugar plums.
The mouth feel is full bodied and sticky.

Overall, just such a damn great beer. I thought bomb was great but this really gives it a run for its money. A borderline 5 for me. I think I need to move to Indiana, or at least convince the fiance to vacation there.

 

Good afternoon from high on this hill I call home here in central NH. This day started at about 4:30 am for me as this is the day of my of my annual fall Barbeque. I've got 20+ people coming here at about 5:00 this afternoon to enjoy a few items out of my smoker such as 30# of ribs and 10# of smoked chicken thighs and a slightly overgrown smoked meatloaf. Not to mention a few sides like smoked Mac and Cheese and some Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits and a little side of coleslaw to top it off. I did manage to snag a nice log of beer to go with it from a friend and have it all hooked up and well sampled at this time but not a NBS beer for me but I can never say no to a log of KBS.
This brings me to my NBS beer for today and it is a beer that was way more than I expected and am glad to see and it is Call it a Day DIPA from Moat MT Brewing in North Conway NH.
Sorry to say there will be no pictures at this time as Tinypic seems to be doing some sort of work on there site.
This beer poured a hazy golden color into my tulip glass. There was about a 1/2" thick white head on the top.
The nose is strong of citrus with some floral overtones. Perhaps the strongest is mango with the other fruits lagging behind this.
The taste is smooth lots of citrus and a nice blend of bitterness. I don't know if I would call this a so called juice bomb DIPA but it comes close.
The mouthfeel is great which at 8.2% makes this a way to easy to drink beer.
All in all this is a great DIPA one of the better ones I have had from my home state of NH. I hope they put this beer on there list of regularly brewed beers. If they do this will become a regular to my beer cooler for sure. I haven't had a chance to rate this beer yet but see it being around 4.25 for me.
If Tinypic gets back on line I may be able to post a few pictures of the food and beer as it is enjoyed this afternoon

 

Ok, onto another fall beer, one that I think should be interesting, Boulevard Funkier Pumpkin:


This beer showed off the pumpkin spice as I was pouring it. The pour is an orange-leaning golden, though I did get differing levels of clarity as shown in the photos, even though I only poured half the bottle (I did have to turn it upright to switch glasses.That head is quite pretty, though it didn't last forever, and the GF and I have thin rims on our glasses now.

The smell as I get my nose closer to the glass isn't as potent as I'd have thought given my pouring experience, though a swirl does help. The pumpkin pie is there, but it has to share the nose with a... you guessed it, funky note. I might argue it actually leans a little tart.

The taste brings the funky part first to my palate. There is actually a fairly earthy base to the beer, but the mildly muted tartness grabs my attention. It seems restrained a tad, though. The non-spice pumpkin note starts to gain some traction about middle of the experience, but a lemony note grows toward the end. In the end is when I finally get the spices, but they are mixed with the tartness to produce an interesting combined flavor. Feel is similar to my last beer, a spritz of carbonation but leaves an overall impression of being mildly flat.

An interesting beer, but one that falls into that great category of glad I tried it, but I won't be seeking it out in the future, unless I maybe find an aged bottle and want to see what develops.

 

Hi!
Something old and something new on NBS!

Earlier today on a Lost World expedition, I uncovered this nicely situated fossilized Dragon tooth. (Above right.) : )

I showed it to my wife.
"Honey! Look at this fossilized dragon tooth I found!"
"That's not a dragon tooth."
"What?! Look at it! Are you kidding?! THAT'S A DRAGON'S TOOTH! What else could it be?!"
"Look it up."

dammit

So now I'm told by that boring, unimaginative, stick-in-the-mud Professor Google that it is just a creature called "streptelasma divarican" that thrived on the Ordovician sea floor over 450,000,000 years ago. Which is still pretty cool.



This beer is not that old!

Fat Head's ~ Hop Stalker Fresh Hop IPA

This was bottled 10.17.2016. So it's only 20 days old. Not incredibly fresh, but still damn delicious on this beautiful warm November day. It is an absolutely perfect specimen of a modern era Ohio IPA. Hoppy, juicy, danky, fruity, crisp, sharp and biting. 7% ABV with 80 IBU's and, most importantly, there's one more in the fridge waiting to be studied and consumed.

Cheers NBS Gang!

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers! Entry #2 for today comes from the state of Washington by way of NBS BIF Monkeys With Knives @beertunes .

Everybody's Brewing Local Logger Lager


Not a huge fan of lagers, but this one is pretty damn tasty!

Poured from a 12 oz. can into a shaker style pint glass. Not dating on the can.

Appearance: Crystal clear straw golden colored body with barely a 1/2 a fingers worth of head.

Aroma: Grains, lemon and white grape juice.

Taste: Grains, crackers, lemon.

Mouthfeel: Light mouthfeel, with a crisp clean body and a dry finish.

Overall: This is a really well done lager. Surprised at the depth of flavor and the way this one is made. Thirst quenching, dry finish, great taste. Tasty beer to drink on a hot day.

Thanks again Terry for the beer and the glass!

Cheers!

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks, as always to our fearless mc, @utopiajane,

No new beers during the week for me, just some Iron Goat, Selkirk Abbey, 12 String and Bale Breaker familiars being consumed. Now that the all-time record for October rainfall (set in 1947) has been smashed, rain has mostly ceased, though there was apparently some overnight. Yesterday, after sleeping off a graveyard shift, I had the enjoyment of having both of my college teams overcome slow starts to cruise to fairly dominant wins, both of which occurred in California last evening. EWU beat Cal Poly and their bizarre triple option offence and the Huskies convincingly beat Cal in a lopsided game that really wasn't as close as the score indicated, due to a boneheaded play by an inexperienced db. No Seahawks until tomorrow night, which makes this beer being drunk today a little ironic:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28282/115735/?ba=woemad#review
A gimmick beer capitalizing on the regional popularity of the Seahawks, it's decent, maybe the best of it's ilk I have tried, but is both nothing special and reveals the buttery sweet taste of diacetyl as it warms, making a compelling case for being in a 12oz serving instead of a bomber.

That's it for new beer for me this week. Have a great week, folks!

 

Next stop...

Upper Marlboro MD. That's where I get my grass fed beef from a local farm (some of you might have seen the sirloin steak I had last night on WBAYDN but I digress)

By the way... loving the crab theme of late here... us Marylanders know crab and its the best crab ever dont you forget it!

Good Company Pale Ale | Calvert Brewing Company


Calvert Brewing Co. - Good Company Pale Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the can into a nonic pint glass. No obvious dating from what I can see.

Cloudy out of the can, an orange muted yellow and a very unfiltered looking like body. Fluffy topped white head, two fingers, with a level top and swiss cheese like fine bubbles. Excess pouring really muddies it up. Hits the body so fine it looks like there are whaffs of smoke from the excess trub. Go big or go home, or perhaps just go to New England (wink wink).

Man and with that big trub and excess there is definitely aroma to be had. Thick rich oils of citrus orange hop quality, hints at a real nice tangerine sweetness too. Really big dominant Christmas orange on this sucker, with a simple malt backbone. Boy this is delicious smelling but does hint towards IPA territory.

Palate takes much of that juiced up hop angle nicely. Big whaffing orange and light bodied, slightly hinting at wet and forgoing much malt distinction. Manages to be a supportive palate, but the hops shine on this one, particularly real well on the citrus angle. Oily finish which goes for hop flavors of citrus and zest, some of that brings out a good pine bitterness too.

So there you have it. A hop forward Pale Ale, but not quite New England (snicker Cough), but nearly hazy enough to be one? Is this the new Maryland style now? In the end it's just like another solid hoppy pale ale, so we will leave it at that.

look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75 | BA Generated Score: 3.86

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Greetings NBS afficianados! Where did the past week go? I'm happy to finally be sitting down and relaxing after a whirlwind which included watching the seemingly improbable comeback by the Cubs in the World Series. Today was a time to catch up on some chores around the homestead, mainly putting Halloween decorations away and pulling out the Christmas things. It's hard to believe the year is coming to a close! On to the beer.....

A long time want made possible by @Dragginballs76 in the MWK/BIF mayhem. Let's check out Westbrook Mexican Cake imperial stout with a bottle date of 5/20/16, abv. listed at 10.5% and pour this into the Prairie snifter that was part of the haul.

Pours a medium thick black used motor oil color with a trace amount of light brown foam. It settles to a thin ring around the glass leaving no lacing behind. The smell is chocolate cake batter, cinnamon, a hint of vanilla and earthy peppers. Taste is cinnamon forward followed by dark chocolate and some vanilla. The habaneros are quite sneaky and appear in the finish. Feel is semi thick and oily with a mild mouth tingling heat that builds as you sip more of it.



I'm a huge fan of these spicy stouts and this one did not disappoint! A fairly thick body with a wonderful mix of chocolate, cinnamon and solid heat from the peppers that didn't overwhelm. A liquid Mexican dessert! My score is 4.62 / rDev+5.7%. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to try this fine beer.

Off for the Sunday visit with my bro, enjoy your new beers! Here's the official scorecard......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24134/78011/?ba=Prager62#review

 

New Amer. Pale Ale Sunday (week 611)
Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Beauty day here, as crisp and cool as one could hope from this season. Desperate days at work lately. As I pointed out to customers who had to wait a bit longer than usual, we added more than 200 customers since last year but didn't add any more of me. Very tiring. Man, I am thirsty, the kind of thirst only one thing will quench, and we all know what that is. First, though.

Hopefully @utopiajane won't mind me stepping on her week a bit to make a comment or two about last week's thread.

Last Sunday there was a bit of a dustup with legend in his own time woodychandler, who gave a bit of a rude adieu to us in response to an insult he claims to have suffered and an unoffered apology he claims to be due. I would just like to give my opinion that things of that nature are best left out of this thread, and managed by use of personal message. This thread long has been a haven from that sort of thing.

Also last week, talking about overall impression of beer, @Ozzylizard said, "The physical characteristics of a beer certainly come into play, but how they meld into a cohesive oneness is important to my enjoyment of any brew. After our five senses are employed in analyzing (conscious or otherwise) the beer, the gestalt tells us if we like it or not. We look at the beer, smell the beer, taste the beer, feel the beer, and may eve(n) hear the beer (usually I don't consciously notice the sound). Since I only have five senses, they are summed up in the "Overall" category or beer rating." There were a lot of great comments and I think this really says well what all of us were trying to communicate with our thoughts.

Also it was observed that 'overall impression' replaced the category 'drinkability'. This characteristic, drinkability, is not really covered in the other categories (maybe mouthfeel?), and ought to be considered.

Now on to a new beer.

Love that opener from @2beerdogs

Ahhh, a hazy gold beauty of a beer with a nice topper of white foam that leaves lavish lacicles behind after a swirl.

Bright aroma full of tropical goodness and sweet citrus, with that Lagunitas trademark delicious bitter herb that adds great counterpoint to the sweet and fruit of the bouquet. I get grapefruit pith, mango, honeydew melon, pineapple, sweet lemon, even hints of peach. Delectable.

Sometimes an aroma can set you up for disappointment by being much more delicious than the taste, or have different flavors than the taste. This is NOT one of those times. The taste is as bright as, and has all the flavors of, the aroma, and has all the complexity of fruit goodness of the aroma, and finishes with the promised herbal bitter burn Lagunitas fans so love. Delicious.

Med/full body, very viscous yet drinks light, spritzy carb., clean linger that makes for a dynamite finish

Just a delicious beer that delivers on its promise. A refreshing and complex, easy drinking delight. Highly recommended.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

This one is a new beer that was released about two weeks ago. My choice for New Beer Sunday. It is a collaboration between two well-liked New England Breweries. This is the Jacks Abby-Stoneface Friend Request collaboration of a Biere de Garde. Jacks specializes in Lagers and Stoneface does a lot of IPAs. This one is a Lager because it was brewed at Jacks in Framingham, Mass. There is another Friend Request beer between these two that is a Saison brewed at Stoneface in Newington, NH.

So this one is medium amber, full of sweet malt characters, yeast, and herbal notes. Medium of better body. Smooth. Big sweetness in the taste and mild finish. Not for hopheads but malt heads should like it.

Oh, and this is me----

 

Always enjoyed their brew's.

Cheers!

 

Troegs makes some very nice brews!

Cheers!

 

Awesome Fuckn' Brew's from Hill Farmstead!

Cheers!

 

OH YEAH, Awesome Fuckn' Brew!

Cheers!

 

And just when I was getting thirsty. Thanks, now I'm starving!!!

 

Very Nice Brew.

Cheers!

 

Haven't been that way for a long time, but, yeah, the Columbia Gorge is something special.

Ditto.

 

Good evening NBS, thanks Maria for a wonderful kick off today. A full on autumn day here in the Pioneer Valley. The beech and oak still cling to the trees, the occasional Japanese maple stand out as fluorescent markers in the area.
I really appreciate how the use of materials can add to an already classic offering, in this case Saison Dupont, with Amarillo and Simcoe hops, added a nice tropical component to a fabulous saison.
Cheers all


The Lost Abbey/Brasserie Dupont Deux Amis

Brasserie Dupont sprl
Saison / Farmhouse Ale / 7.00% ABV

4.06/5 rDev -0.7% | Avg: 4.09
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 ml into the modified tulip glass.
A - Slightly hazy golden straw colored backdrop. Meringue white cap, supported by relentless carbonation stream.
S - The Dupont nose sets the stage for a sweeter, less dusty start. The floral elements include day lily, honey suckle, and
pear blossoms.
T - Sweet start, lemon drops, nice malt base delicately displayed. Fruits include apricot, tangerine, french honey hard candy.A bit of white pepper in the finish.
M - Medium in body, the carbonation keeps the experience lively, not as dry as I remember traditional Dupont. A bit oily on the palate, with a long lingering presence.
O - What a delightful offering, from this effort, The use of Amarillo and Simcoe adds tropical elements while not overshadowing the base.

 

Oskar Blues Bourbon Barrel Ten-Fidy, 12.9% ABV. Pours thick and black, with three fingers of brown head, left no lacing. Nose is bourbon, coffee, malt, and chocolate. Taste follows. Excellent mouthfeel and overall outstanding. Relieved that it is excellent since I got a number of them and they are still on the store shelves as of this morning. Would have preferred these be in 12oz cans due to the 12.9% ABV - and why wasn't this called Twelve-Ninty?