New Beer Sunday (Week 648)

Great start to what promises to be a great day, thanks for the thoughtful kickoff @lordofthewiens I have at least one new beer to share with y'all and will be back later to take the good advice to toast old friends on whom I can count. Cheers!

 

Good morning everyone . Thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us started today. I happen to be one happy camper today as I was able to turn my huge industrial size portable air conditioner OFF. Damn thing is really loud. My gardening saga continues in that in addition to killing my tomato plant by over pruning it, I may also be watering it way too much. I get up each am and see the thing drooping so I water it. Each day that I do that it rains. If I do not do that it does not rain.

On to my beer! Happy New How Many Names Does This Beer Have Sunday!

Lovecraft The Temple Sticke Altbier from Naragannsett



This beer features huell melon hops.




Pours clear amber with a bit of orange coppery fire. Generous cream colored head that lasts and clings. Nose is crisp malt. Breaddy with some sweet strawberry and caramel. Lively hop pepper and juicy melon. Wheat. Drinks with only a modest warmth and a few bubbles to finish it bitter from hops. Pale caramel on Munich malt. Sweet strawberries and melon. You know how bourbon lingers on your lips sweetly, sensationally. This does the same thing only with hop bitter. It lingers just sensationally on your lips with it's strawberry sweetness . I think that the brewer must have made this with us ladies in mind. The idea I often see is that for a beer to appeal to a woman it must be fruity or sweet. This was as sexy as possible and not really sweet. I would never have thought of the altbier as a summer beer but with those hops it was a real treat!

Cheers you all !

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one doing this. If only the weather was less weird this summer...

 

So something a bit different . . .





Score 3.65
look: 3.5 | aroma: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Hazy golden appearance with quickly disappearing cap.

Scent of apricots and a citrus tartness over mild sweet malt.

Taste starts tart then gets tarter. My palate had to adjust before I could get past the tartness to find other things. Malt is still present in the scent but is just so overwhelmed by the sour tartness as to remain hidden. Oddly enough the tart flavor is pleasant and rewarding in it's own right but it is dominant.

Texture is light medium with balancing carbonation.

Overall it's a well made, interesting brew that pulls no punches.

 

Mornin' NBSers,

@lordofthewiens that was a thoughful and thought provoking wake up call this morning.

For me was about how much we value good friends and should remember to let them know that once in a while. But, more importantly, it also provokes thoughts and images of old friends who are far enough away that I seldom get to see them. One of the downsides of modern life is that while mobility and travel can bring us into contact with new friends it can also bring physical separation from old ones.

The implications of this are something well worth thinking about once in a while and its nice that my first cup of coffee for the day also gives me time to reflect on memories of friendships with those who now live in distant places. I have a feeling that one day soon I'll be inking up one of my favorite fountain pens and pulling out some stationary--a much more personal and human form of contact than email and it also makes some things easier to say. (Indeed, the very act of writing and sending the old fashioned thing known as a letter can say much to others.)

Expecting a full day of chores today while getting caught up with outdoor tasks. The extreme heat warnings and air quality alerts we've had the last few days are now gone for today at least and it's time to attend to outdoor things delayed.

Cheers, all!

 

What is your favorite Summer (hot weather) beer?

We are going through our 4th heat wave in Southeastern PA so having refreshing beer on hand is helpful right now.

I do not carefully log my beer consumption but I would guess the beer style I drink the most during the hot times of the year are Pilsners (e.g., Classic American Pilsner, Bohemian Pilsner, 1896 Michelob, German Pilsner,…).

One of my other favorite hot weather beers is a Kolsch. I was thinking to myself: Self, what is better than a Kolsch on a scorcher like today? I responded with the answer: Two Kolsch Beers!!

So, luckily I have two Kolsch beers available for enjoyment plus a bit of a compare & contrast exercise.

One of the Kolsch beers is a gift beer of Burial Shallow Water.

First a bit of discussion on Burail Shallow Water from BA:

“Brewed in collaboration with Big Chief Shaka Zulu of the Yellow Pocahontas the abundance of Louisiana-grown rice in this creamy Kolsch presents a depiction of early American light beer while offering the zesty presence of a mild dose of Amarillo hops. Here lays the ultimate, easy-drinking, celebration beverage.”

On the beer can it lists:

· 4.5% ABV

· 20 IBUs

There is no description on BA for Jack’s Kolsch but some details are below:

• Malt: Weyermann German Pilsner malt
• Hops: Tettnang Hops for bittering
• Yeast: Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast 2565)

A few years ago a fellow homebrewer asked me for some advice on brewing a Kolsch. Below is an extract of that correspondence. The first paragraph below is from the book Brewing Classic Styles.

“Keys to Brewing Kolsch

Kolsch is a subtle beer, with a light grainy Pilsner malt aroma and flavor. It is subtle and soft with some grainy malt sweetness up front but with a crisp enough finish that the beer never really seems sweet. The other flavors often attributed to this beer, such as sulfur, hop flavor, hop aroma, and fruitiness, are usually very subtle in the examples or not present at all.”

Jack’s Requirements for a Kolsch

• Flavor: a combination of Pilsner malt flavor and subtle esters (white wine flavors) from the Kolsch yeast
• Low-moderate bitterness and zero hop flavor/aroma
• Very light in color: straw colored
• Mouthfeel: light – medium bodied with a crisp/dry finish

Enough jibber-jabber, it’s hot and I am thirsty!!

Served in my Spiegelau Lager Glasses:

Appearance:

Burial Kölsch: Light straw colored with a two finger white head.

Jack’s Kölsch: Light straw colored with a one finger white head.

Aroma:

Burial Kölsch: The dominant aroma is from hops: mostly citrus but some floral as well, There is just a bit of bready malt in the background.

Jack’s Kölsch: Aroma of bready Pilsner Malt accompanied by a white wine aroma (akin to a Sauvignon Blanc wine from the Pacific Northwest).

Taste:

Burial Kölsch: Flavors follows the nose with mostly the hop flavors of citrus/floral, Again just a bit of bready malt in the background.

Jack’s Kölsch: Flavor follows the nose with bready Pilsner Malt but nicely complemented by the subtle but very noticeable white wine flavor.

Mouthfeel

Burial Kölsch: Creamy mouthfeel, medium bodies with an off-dry finish.

Jack’s Kölsch: Medium bodied and enticingly (on a day like today) crisp with a dry finish.

Overall

Burial Kölsch: A refreshing beer to drink on a warm/hot summer day. This beer is too hoppy for the Kolsch style; it is more like an American Blonde Ale. I enjoyed drinking this beer!

Jack’s Kölsch: Also a very refreshing beer. This beer has drinkability, or as the Germans say: süffig!


I am very thankful that I have two hands to enjoy both of these tasty beers!

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @zid

 

Awesome start by the awesome @lordofthewiens to today's NBS!
I agree in totality, Sir, that with a true friend, one doesn't need to meet very often to keep "up" the friendship.
Real friends smoke the phony pals out so very simply.
Speaking of smoke, my new beer today is from Netherlands! Brouwerij Kees Peated RIS 11.2% rich treat brewed with Fuggles (perfect for us muggles) and Sorachi Ace hops.

This beer pours like the motor oil it promised me to be. Thick, dark and a nice mocha head.
Aromas of typical stout are there but I am not smelling much of smoke. My bottle did sit in my cellar a bit but it smells like an average RIS.

Making my lips meet with this, it's a totally different experience. It's loaded with flavors.
I get an intense roasty malty note upfront with some sweet edges (think Stillwater On Fleek- which I Love) and then tasting some bright spices and ending with faint smokey aftertaste.
Very pleasing!
Mouthfeel is rich, fudgy and decadent. It was a very good experience and I loved every sip!!
Cheers.
Here's to a new beer in your glass and old friend in your heart!!

 

Good Morning NBS
I've been saving this one for a couple weeks and wanted to try it here with the group.



16oz can bb 10/31/17 poured into an imperial pint with nucleation point at fridge temp 6.8% ABV 10 IBU. The beer is somewhat hazy and amber colored with short lived blush head. The head retention is better than the last addition and it keeps a cap as consumed. Aroma is slight saison yeast and perhaps a bit of chokecherry (as if I know what that is.) Taste is mildly sweet & malt, then berry, then slight tart/funk from the yeast. The sweetness is not cloying and the tart is very subtle. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and soft, with a dry finish. Carbonation is sharp. Overall, good plus. According to the can this beer is brewed with barley, rye, wheat & rolled oats plus chokecherry juice and chokecherries. It makes for an interesting take on the style. I am enjoying this more than the first quarterly addition with honey. Can't wait to get into one of my home brewed saisons soon and see how I did. Cheers NBS & enjoy your Sunday!

 

Thanks for the great start @lordofthewiens Should be back later on with a new brew.

Cheers!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks to @lordofthewiens for the thought-provoking (for me, at least) walk down friendship lane. It's easy for me - the closest friends I have are on BA and I can communicate with them every day, if we so choose. Today's New Breakfast Beer, as well as my NBS entry, was received from @jolson in NBS BIF #4:




Received from @jolson in NBS BIF #4 – Thanks Josh!
Vintage 2013 (?) if the barely visible mark on the timeline is really there. The neck is marked (smudged) 113. Stored at 42 degrees. Served at 50 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Aroma – Quite nice. Sweet and a bit of molasses, very mellow bourbon. This would be a great air freshener scent.
Head – Small (< 5 mm, aggressive pour), fizzy, gone almost instantly leaving no head, ring, layer, or lacing.
Lacing – none.
Body – Stygian black, totally opaque.
Flavor – Again, very mellow bourbon, sweet but not cloying. The oakiness comes peeking through. Allowing it to warm on my tongue produces an enhanced bourbon taste and a bit of alcohol. As I swallow, make that quite a bit of alcohol. No hops, no malt bitterness, no diacetyl.
Palate – medium, creamy approaching syrupy, soft carbonation.

This beer, alone, is enough to make one want to live in Wisconsin. Just one damn good beer that ages well.

Appearance 4, Aroma 5, Flavor 4.5, Palate 4.5, Overall 4.5. Rating 4.59, rDev +9.5%.

So to Josh who, come to think of it, I haven't seen on here in a while, Thanks Man! This is a great beer and I've still got two more from your awesome shipment to post!

 

Good morning NBS! Been awhile since I've participated but I've been reading your reviews and following along as usual. Today I'm up at an ungodly hour to watch some golf and drink what I thought would be a lovely new beer...

Barrel Aged Old Rasputin! I've been wanting to try this beer for quite some time and it was the $20 + price tag that kept steering me away. Since The Open is my favorite golf tournament of the year I decided to splurge and knock this one off the wants list. Onto the review!

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Poured from a bottle into a snifter.

Look is midnight black with a really nice creamy mocha colored head. The head is so creamy that it looks like this is a nitro beer! Some noticeable lacing around the glass also.

Not much going on with the nose. A hint of chocolate and lactose / vanilla is all I can pick up.

Taste is a let down. It has a noticeably sharp bitter and borderline sour flavor. Besides that there are big time chocolate notes, vanilla bean, coffee, molasses, and a ton of lactose. The bourbon isn't very noticeable at all.

Feel is very creamy and really reminds me of a nitro beer like I said earlier. Despite this nice creamy head this beer drinks way too thin for me. It isn't thick and robust like most bourbon aged beers and it has almost a watery feel to it. It really reminds me of the Stone Milk Stout from a couple years ago as far as the feel goes.

Overall this is a disappointment. It's an okay beer but the bourbon didn't enhance the base beer at all, and probably hurt it. In fact I think the base stout is much better than this beer. All that being said I'm still happy to have finally tried this beer.

4.1/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

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Cheers all!

 

In what might be the briefest post you'll ever see from me...

Enjoying a new to me Czech Pils on hole #10. This is from Denizens Brewing out of Silver Spring, MD. A dry, earthy to grassy bitter beer without to much of any Saaz bite. A little toasty malt, a nice golf beer.

Playing this round with my good friend since 6th grade. We get together for a round or two in summer. Playing better than expected so far, just parred #10.

 

Indeed it was. I had gotten comfortable reading. I hope you make a very good score.

 

Pro-level NBS on-the-go post! I'd say you deserve a few more pars for that effort.

 

Good morning, NBS! I don't always join the one Sunday each month I have to work but seeing as I don't head in for a bit and happen to have a 4.2% beer in my fridge here I am!



Overall I'm about halfway through this year's Beer Camp box and overall these have been some of the best collaborations out of the past couple of years IMO. I usually don't like to just copy/paste my reviews here (I try to be more conversational in the thread) but in this case it's hard to top

4/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle dated 4/18/16 poured into a pint glass
A: Translucent light orange with a one-finger head that quickly settles
S: Tart, tamarind, tropical fruit, stone fruit and a bit of sea breeze
T: Also quite tart, more tamarind, some citrus then a bit of grass/hops towards the finish
M: Light-bodied, mouthwateringly sour
O: This is light but boldly flavored and very refreshing

 

I'm just a bit confused. You are rating 4's for aspects of this beer that, to me, didn't seem to match your experience as I read it. Not being critical here, just wondering.

 

Rise and shine NBS faithful! Thank you to @lordofthewiens for another reflective start. It's a very oppressive muggy morning along the southern shore with a temperature of 83 and a dew point of 75. Got the little mutt out for a walk earlier while it was tolerable.

On the patio now for a quick review before heading out later to a surprise 50th birthday party for a good friend. I haven't known him long, but have come to respect and appreciate everything he does. A good husband that raised two great kids, volunteers for his church and is a licensed falconer in the state of Indiana where he's often called upon by the DNR to rescue and care for injured birds. He'd give you the shirt off his back! I'm going to show my appreciation to him with a nice box of beer and a few very special bottles to share by the pool. It's a gesture I know he'll appreciate. Let's get back on track with my beer!

A new release I picked up on Thursday from Windmill Brewing in Dyer Indiana called Memes & Dreams milkshake style IPA with mangoes. There's no date on the can, the abv. is 7% and IBU's are 30. Let's give it a pour in my 12oz. tulip and find out what awaits?

Pours a cloudy pale orange juice color leaving a small finger of creamy white foam that quickly settles. Some heavy lacing is left behind. It smells of fresh cut mangoes, passion fruit and some pineapple. The taste is juicy mangoes, passion fruit, orange zest and pineapple. There's a slight oatmeal-like taste in the finish. The feel is slick and slightly creamy to start, yielding to some bitterness and a slight acidity.

A tropical and juicy beer that is a beauty in appearance. There's a slightly acidic taste and feel that will probably keep me drinking them one at a time, but this is definitely the best of the few I've tried from Windmill. I'll be keeping an eye out for future releases of this to add to the rotation. My score is 4.24 / rDev-1.4%.

Time to finish a few chores here and clean up for the party later. Have yourselves a great Sunday of new beer adventures! Here's the official scorecard.....

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41990/280921/?ba=Prager62#review