New Beer Sunday (week 612)

MyFitnessPal is a pretty decent app, I'd say. Too bad it's still on the user to follow a diet that makes sense . I've got to join you and @Im4jojo in doing calorie watching with more exercising, for sure.

 

Tier Haus Ale from a local the Trap Rock Restaurant Brewery in NJ. The brewer calls this a traditional ale but it seems to me it's an English Bitter and a good one. What makes it different is the hops. Chinook whole cluster hops are used. The hops are fresh from the Tier Haus farm in Sussex New Jersey. I didn't know that they grew hops is NJ. In any case it's a fine brew. It's a cloudy straw color with small white head, The aroma and taste are the same mild pine and grass. The finish is dry. A very enjoyable beer.

 

Good afternoon NBS, hope everyone is doing well! Time to watch the Eagles and enjoy a beer or two. Eagles are off to good start and so am I with a great beer thanks to @bstyle! I remember when it seemed like everyone was seeking out New Glarus fruit beer, now I feel like they don't pop up on threads much anymore but they are still great beers, so now up Serendipity, cheers!
4.58/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Thank you bstyle for this
750 ml bottle poured into a flute

A- A clear ruby red with a two finger tan head

S- Cranberries, apple cider, tart cherries, a very nice balance between the sweetness and tartness of the fruits, hints of cinnamon, oaky undertones.

T- Lots of cranberries, tart cherries, nice sweet/tart apple combo going on, hints of cinnamon and oak.

M- Smooth, light body.

O- Just as amazing as Raspberry Tart and Wisconsin Belgian Red, almost tastes like a Jolly Rancher. Very easy to drink. Fruits are well balanced and super tasty.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Finally nursing that post election hang over... phew... Gorgeous out here with beaming skies and fall colors. Not sure when the big cold is coming though? Feels weird...

So time to take in some tasty brews for NBS... let's just get this started shall we??

Lil Opal Batch No. 002 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co.


Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Lil Opal Batch No. 002 by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass. Bottled May 9th 2016.

Excellent clear and clean looking body. Beaming but not crystal shimmering tangerine orange, with a very noticeable roaring middle column of carbonation in the center. Head creation is bright white but minimal. A half tiny finger top is always left creamy and like a skating rink. Excellent looking brew.

The excellence continues in the nose, mostly because of barrel sensing aromas. Slight wood but almost hints of wood shavings and rich mix of florals and sweet malts. Oak and wood tones go almost into fresh cedar, then there are the soft esters that come off this almost like thick juice. Peach mild sweetness, more barrel notes than creamy making for a delectable sensing flavor.

Palate is just soothing. Soft bodied, just nearly creamy malt feeling that gives extra oomph to the palate. Juiced peaches and apricot from esters and herbal excellent earthy warmth. Mild sensing acids with thick rich almost chardonnay like wine body but without the large buttery or oak monster flavors. Peach and apricot mid palate with and excellent soft rounded finish, even has a bit of herbal mint and sage qualities to top it off.

Fantastic barrel aging mix going on here that has done wonders.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 | BA Generated Score: 4.42

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I'm sure I am not the only one that is happy NBS has arrived, given the insanity that is going on in the country right now. Time to sit back and just enjoy some beer.

I decided to give Uncle Jacobs a try after letting it rest awhile in my cellar knowing that it would be too boozy fresh. Fades to a thin collar and nice spotty lacing. Black silk with a 1.5 cocoa head. Aroma of dark chocolate and cocoa followed by notes of bourbon, vanilla, and wood. Hints of sweet caramel and molasses. Big chocolate and cocoa flavor with some sweet caramel. Bourbon and wood are subdued along with vanilla, caramel and molasses. Velvety and smooth, medium bodied. Good amount of carbonation with a boozy finish. Very, very good as long as it sits for a while.

 

Certainly many things were "lost" during the same period that Gose stopped being brewed. That tended to happen in Communist countries like the GDR. To imply that it was lost because it was "forgotten" by local brewers and/or drinkers is a very pat explanation and shows a pretty limited understanding.

 

Good Afternoon all, early morning chores done time to watch a little football and enjoy some new beers. The starter is called Double Dry Hopped Vine Shine by Magnify brewing I received this from @SammyJaxxxx along with several other great beers from the same brewery. This one does not disappoint, I love the great hop flavors.

Appearance 4.25 - Pours semi transparent yellowish color with nice 2 inch white head; great lacing all around the glass.

Aroma 4 - Mild hoppy notes, a bit of orange and mango citrus.

Taste 4.25 - The flavor packs much more hop flavor than the aroma let's on. While the hops are the main attraction there are also glimpses of pine, grapefruit, mango and orange.

Feel 4.25 - Medium body very well carbonated pretty dry finish.

Overall 4.19 - This is the third offering I have had from Magnify and they have all been great, excellent balance between the hops and mild fruit in the flavors and spot on feel. The only thing I will say is the aroma is a little weak but it is just disguising the great flavor.

 

Good afternoon all. Finally getting around to writing up this morning's beer - Central Water's Brewers Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Belgian Quadruple Ale (2016):






Pours a brown (20) with amber hues; quick beige head; slightly hazy; spotty lace at best. 4.0

Fruity esters, caramel malt, sugary plums nose, and spicy bourbon-boozy exhale. 4.25

Bourbon, sweet caramel candy up front; spicy alcohol; vanilla; dried fruits - cherries, plums, figs; bourbony caramel finish without being cloying or having any distracting oak flavors. 4.5

Medium full mouthfeel; dry pepperiness and oaky texture; moderate carbonation; warm afterglow in the mouth. 4.25

Everything one could want in a "quad" - strong fruit, sweet malt, and spice, alcohol plus bourbon and vanilla, with a touch of dryness from the oak barrel aging; complex and well balanced. Overall a 4.5

As you can tell, I really liked this beer. Bigger beers are in my wheelhouse, so admittedly I'm a fan of the style. Nevertheless, Central Waters has a great barrel aging program going on and the BBA beers I've had so far from CW have all been excellent. Lucky Wisconsin! Shout out to @Number1Framer for thinking of me. Cheers, and have a wonderful day!

 

Lagunitas iPA, 6.2% ABV, 45.6 IBU. Pours orange and thin with a snow white two finger head. Nose is pine and citrus, taste follows. Seemed more bitter than the IBU indicates. OK mouthfeel. Overall OK.

 

Alaskan Amber, 5.3% ABV, 18 IBU. Pours copper color and medium viscosity, with a two finger off-white heat. Nose is malt, taste follows. OK mouthfeel. Overall decent.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and as always, thanks to @cavedave for getting us underway once again,

Actually been some sun this last week in eastern Washington, but no new beers until today for this particular resident. Spent yesterday (after a few hours of sleep following getting off work at around 7am) watching my EWU Eagles beat Idaho St. and my avatar break the all-time D-1 reception record. Sadly, my Huskies couldn't follow suit, losing to USC at the moment they could have moved up perhaps as high as #2 in the nation. C'est la vie.

Today I'm hitting an Oktoberfest from a brewery I've never had a beer from before. I'm not impressed:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/360/12451/?ba=woemad#review

I'll be back later with a pale ale from a brewery on this continent.

 

That's a shit ton of Lagunitas IPA. One of the few IPA's I actually really enjoy. Awesome.

 

Enjoying one of the beers I brought back from a week in Wisconsin/Rockford. First up is Pipeworks Ninja v. Unicorn.



Nice enough looking with all this haziness and such under such a nice frothy and white head. Nose brings that dank, garlic, onion, earthy vegetable thing before a nose clearing slightly boozy grapefruit creeps in.

Taste mimics the nose to a tee, save for a peppery cracker thing before a pungent earthy finish. There's some touch of heat at first that goes away for the most part and only leaves behind an alcohol induced dryness that sets up only a slightly bitter aftertaste in this mostly medium bodied beer.

Pretty nice beer, plenty of complexity. Would have enjoyed a bit more malt depth but overall very good.

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A cloudy mid-day here in the Fourth Corner, after some rain earlier this morning, but the wind has let up some. Temps have been on the warm side lately, even hitting over 70 earlier in the week, but yes, we are definitely in November. About another month, and the days start getting longer again. So, we've got that going for us, which is nice.

Ya know what's not nice? Death. Leonard Cohen and Leon Russel have left us this week, which lessens all of our lives. And, more personally, one of my co-workers Mom tried to take her life this week. The paramedics brought her back, but the damage was done, and the family took her off support, and she passed away on Friday. I've had just about enough of this shit for one year.

Back to beer. As suspected in @cavedave 's OP, I'm reaching into the NBS BIF box I received from @superspak , and pulled out a brew from one of my favorite breweries from the East Coast, and in one of my favorite styles. It's a style that's seeing something of a resurgence the last couple years (also tying into the OP), and I'm happy for that: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/141/40674/

I'll be reaching into my BIF boxes again, certainly, I'll see ya again in a bit!

 

Sweet glass!

 

It's courtesy of@woemad . Goats rule.

 

Good afternoon NBS, Thanks Dave for the wonderful kick off today. Brewed an ESB today,
all cleaned up and now for a new beer. A real treat from Hill Farmstead, the work they do on the pilot system is challenging and delightful. This offering has a base brown ale, brewed with spring sumac and barrel aged on wild and house bacteria, yeast.
Cheers all



Leaves Of Grass: March 10, 2016

Hill Farmstead Brewery
American Brown Ale

4.15/5 rDev n/a | Avg: 4.15
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 375ml bottle into a Teku glass.
A - Mahogany colored backdrop, gives translucent cover for carbonation to work in. Cream cap rises from the body. Laced traces cling to the glass, a visual delight.
S - Dark sugars, meld seamlessly with Madeira notes, and warm leather. A wild and pushy sour aromatic rises and floats by. An earthy component may be what the Sumac contributes, a superb addition. Dark fig, and balsamic reduction all contribute to a unique experience.
T - Reminiscent of Flanders style in flavor, sharp dark berries, a touch acidic, wonderful minerality, the time in the wine barrel shows deftness on the brewers part. The refined tartness is balanced well with a strong base brown ale. Hints of cocoa and spicy pepper.
M - Starts out with a run down the palates center, then the tart tickle touches the tongues edges. Reaction is swift and pleasant. Carbonation hustles this along and leaves a slightly sweet calling card. The body is wispy but not thin.
O - A confounding offering that entices on nearly every front. The wonderful nose, compelling palate and delightful feel make this a special beer. I really enjoy the spiciness, mashed up against tart fruits.
Worth seeking out.

 

Back once again! You know I couldn't leave you all for long right?

Digging into some of my other local goodies...

what's next?

Honey Rye | Red Shedman Farm Brewery & Hop Yard


Red Shedman Farm Brewery & Hop Yard - Honey Rye by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the can into a nonic pint glass.

Clean and clear copper red body, nice and shiny almost polished looking if not quite clear. Head creation is minimal an off tan two finger head that dissolves quickly with no lacing. Simple thin collar and top is left to admire

Definitely a nice touch of sweetness on this. Fresh honeycomb, very noticeable but not overly sweet either. Gives to floral sweetness and a touch of caramel. It buries much of the rye character but that's a plus for me. Definitely getting into almost braggot like qualities here.

Very unexpected like qualities. Sweet tasting honey with little spicy tones in the mid palate. A bit of a wet body washes over throughout but still can support the ongoing flavors. Slight fruited clove notes as well with an almost cinnamon warm finish. Minimal carbonation but not totally flat either, and sweetness is noticeable but kept to a minimum.

Comes off as an interesting ambered honey brew. I usually steer away from rye brews cause of their dryness but here is one where the found an interesting compliment. There can be some improvement here but otherwise drinkable.

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | BA Generated Score: 3.71

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They're one of our "Hidden Treasure" breweries here in WA. They would be in my regular rotation if they distributed over here.