New Beer Sunday (Week 651)

I'm not sure I can describe flavors accurately enough to adequately describe this beer but here goes. Its style is identified as an English Strong Ale, which I know nothing about. The appearance is a murky or hazy brown, a little reminiscent of unfiltered apple cider. At first sip there is a simultaneous sweet + sour + slightly bitter flavor. Mostly, though, it's sweet and malty. It has a vinous taste to it. It doesn't taste exactly ike Monk's Café Flemish Sour Ale, but there's something in that general territory to the flavor. It's easy drinking. The 11% alcohol content is not obvious by the taste, for better or for worse.

 

This will most likely be my last new beer of the day. Boulevard Rye on Rye on Rye. A whiskey barrel aged ale clocking in at 14%, it is this years release that a friend picked up for me. This one is right up my alley, in your face whisky balanced well with dark fruit, oak and brown sugar. I thought this was a great beer. the wife is asking for a pour and I will probably need some assistance if I am to have anymore today!!

Appearance 4 - Pours light plum color with light tan head. thick ring left around the glass. Lots of spotty lacing.

Aroma 4.25 - Dark fruit plum, brown sugar, lots of alcohol, oak, caramel. You can tell from the aroma this is a beast.

Taste 4.5 - Lots of plum/fig, brown sugar, oak, rye, a ton of whiskey. There is also a good amount of vanilla pretty sweet.

Feel 4.25 - Medium bodied nice alcohol bite slight burn but still easy drinking.

Overall 4.34 - This one is right up my ally if you like a in your face boozy beer this is it.

 

Back again with my second entry of the day! While grilling up my bourbon chicken (with brown sugar bourbon/Kentucky bourbon BBQ sauce/Knob Creek Single Barrel marinade) I drank a can of a new and amazing beer by Relic Brewing Co., Silent Shroud! I wrote a review of this one the other night after having had it for the first time and immediately went out the next day to get a six pack... what a fantastic beer. For those who don't want to read my review, it's an American Pale Ale brewed with Citra lupulin powder (aka Cryo Hops), and it's up there with some of the best juicy pale ales I've ever had! Incredible stuff with no hype... get on it if you see it.

Now switching gears since I've since finished grilling my chicken and am enjoying some beers in the mid-afternoon. Saw a four pack of this one when I was out and about today preparing to grill and figured it would be worth a shot. Moat is really good at European ale and lager styles (and, every now and then, they excel at some US styles like with their Call it a Day DIPA) and I expect this to be no exception.



What a great fuckin' can design! The other side of the can says "dry hopped for your pleasure," so I assume this has some kind of Saaz or similar hop going on in the dry-hop. The pour is very active with a rushing hit of carbonation from first brush with my glass. Pretty much was only able to get half the can in my tumbler before the head filled up to the brim, a white sheet of foam with slight retention. It's been a few minutes and several other small pours to get the whole can in here, and I'm happy with how this one looks. Active carbonation, clear golden body and medium-hazy surface. Good structure on this one. I expect great things!

The nose has a lot of floral hops, honeyed/bready malts and a light sulfury lager yeast component that nevertheless comes off as pretty clean and normal overall after a while. I get some herbal and spice components here... almost has a rye-like note. This is damn expressive.

On the palate, it comes across quite malty with some backing hop notes that lean towards the floral/herbal end of the spectrum. Some spiciness, perhaps from Saaz hops, shows up towards the transition to the finish. Bready, quenching and drinkable with a light body despite its hefty malt flavor. Carbonation is moderately-high, massaging the tongue as this beer goes down over the course of a session. A wonderful malty pilsner with surprising herbal and floral dry-hop character. One of the best US-made pilsner beers I've had in a long time... right up there with the brewery whose glass I decided to pour this one into, Von Trapp!

I was listening to the following album as I started drinking this one and finished my grilling ventures for the day... this one may be my favorite album released in 2017 thus far. Just an absolutely crushing, professional, epic assault of speed/power metal with soaring and powerful female vocals, incredible riffs and perfect songwriting.



Now I've moved on to a bizarre and interesting album of progressive death metal by a new German band called Sektor.



There are some unique melodies here with some really solid, narrative song structures that speak to the band operating on a level higher than most "meh" death metal these days, but it has yet to really hit me in any meaningful way. Nevertheless, I will continue listening to it as I think it may be a grower with potential to end up as at least an honorable mention on my end-of-year top album charts...

EDIT: Oh yeah, how did I forget about the pictures of the result of my grilling endeavors? This chicken came out amazing!

 

That chicken is droolworthy even from here. I really miss the uncommonly good music connections that were once more common around here.Thanks.

 

I prefered the Rye on Rye, but this isn't shabby either

 

Great Lakes Turntable Pils, survived the haul from Wisconsin. This is a very good/legit Pils


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/73/215299/?ba=russpowell#review

 

Never tried the rye on rye, making me wish I had!!

 

One of their best IMHO, ages fantastic as well

 

Greetings from Berlin, MD! Last day of vacation and the boy and I are hitting up Burley Oak Brewing. Very impressed with them and happy to be back! This is their Aboriginal Gangster, a NZ IPA hopped with Motueka and Pacific Jade:

4.28/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

On tap at the source. A fairly hazy but not turbid golden amber color with a modest white head. Huge tropical aroma with tangerine, mango, and some dank resin. The taste followed suit with a smooth fruity flavor and a very soft but present bitterness. Dry bready malt that balanced it well. Easy drinking and tasty! Cheers!

 

Based on your post, I had to look this one up. It's listed here as an English IPA. Sounds to me like it should be a "fruit beer" instead (even though the bottle says IPA).

Do you know the date that the beer was bottled?

 

Make sure to give Citralaxy a try!

 

You're among the masses. I can handle Houston because: 1.) I grew up in the Gulf Coast region of Texas, so the heat and humidity are in my DNA, and 2.) I've spent the last 7-8 years learning Houston sort of on the ground floor by the studs ... inside the loop (610) with a city guide to help me navigate from cool point A to cool point B. It's no Chicago/New York/San Francisco/New Orleans and never will be, but it's got its spots.

P.S. IMHO, the suburbs suck. All of them. Yes, you, too, The Woodlands.

And as he says that, he finds an oasis of beer just north of Houston near The Woodlands at Southern Star in Conroe. Finally made it:

OK, so it's no Picasso on the outside, but its size is a little impressive.

taproom

Southern Star's Humidity, an American pale ale

Murky goldish, not NEIPA turbid but 100% opaque, actually had a decent little head off the pour from the tap, Humidity shines from the first whiff of aroma to the last drop down the gullet. Pineapple, dried apricot, grapefruit, a pinch of orange are present in the nose with the flavors of green pine tree, grapefruit, another pinch of orange and some sweetness from just enough malt following, and it all comes off as super fresh and hoppy with only a slight residual bitterness growing in the background.

Glad I made it to this brewery to give one of their hoppy beers a chance to show off. I didn't ask the bartender when this specific keg was brewed, but I'm not sure it matters ... my pint of Humidity is either super fresh or beautifully brewed and maintained. Tastes like both. Southern Star squeezed the flavor out of the hops and found the right amount of malt to let those hops play nice without any roughhousing.

No official review yet, but it's a 4 look/4.5 smell/4 taste/4.25 feel/ 4 overall I think ... something around there.

Cheers!

 

I mind. You folks are too soft on the vets! Ban him!! At least ban him one week for each ounce of that taster... so two weeks total.

 

On deck!

 

Happy Sunday, fellow new beer commentators. And thank you, @cjgiant for another thoughtful intro. We made the arduous trek north on the Garden State Parkway today so I'm starting a little late today. I'm reviewing Rushing Duck's latest "R&D" APA, single-hopped on Galaxy. I had a pour of this last Thursday when it was released but I made the mistake of drinking it after the Anniversary-hopped War Elephant DIPA, which blew out my palate so I just had the general sense that I liked it. So I decided not to drink it again until NBS. Like it I do! Everything about it if fabulous but the mouth feel is extraordinary. I've never had an APA this creamy. @cavedave and I both rated it at 4.45 in the aggregate although our categorical ratings differed slightly. This APA is as good as it gets and it's right up there with Kane's Sneak Box, which is saying a lot. Here's my review:

4.45/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Canned 8/10/2017 so three days old when reviewed. Poured into Rushing Duck Belgian glass. It pours an opaque straw color with a finger of foamy, milk-white head and extensive lacing with excellent retention. The nose features grapefruit, lemon peel, and a whiff of vanilla. The first thing I taste is a creamy caramel, along with tart, bitter grapefruit and a hint of tropical fruit. There follows a blast of the Galaxy hops, bitter but somewhat delicate. I nibbles but doesn't bite. There is also a little pepper at the finish. The tastes blend really nicely. What really sets this ale apart, though, is its creamy, pillowy mouth feel. It seems to slide down the back of the throat. The carbonation is pleasant and despite its 7% ABV it drinks like a session ale. This is simply a sensational beer that satisfies all the senses: it's delicious and the feel is such that I could drink it all day. This is far away my favorite of the RDR&D series.

I hope you're all enjoying your new beer as much as I am!

 

I don't see that info anywhere on the bottle but I believe it is recent.

 

First new beer for this Sunday is Lone Pine Oh-J DIPA, thank you @jhavs for sending this my way.

4.17/5 rDev -4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you jhavs for this
16 oz can, dated 6/22/17, poured into teku

A- A slightly hazy golden copper with a two finger white head.

S- Tangerines, citrus, hints of tropical fruits, some pine, touch of malts.

T- Tangerines, citrus zest, some citrus rind, some pale malts, piney finish.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A solid DIPA, delivers on the OJ part.

I have to say Portland, ME is a great city for beer, lots of great breweries there, cheers!

 

Avery Nuttiest Professor Barrel Aged Imperial Peanut Stout, 15.2% ABV, 60 IBU. Pours medium viscosity and black, with no head. Nose is bourbon and "earthy" peanuts. Taste is bourbon up front and peanuts trailing. Some sweetness, and some bitterness, but doesn't seem like 60 IBU. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Comparable to Prairie Pe-kan, though this is nuttiest of the two.