New Beer Sunday (Week 658)

Happy NBS, my friends. I really appreciate @lordofthewiens' introduction today and I have to say I'm a bit envious. While I'm not ready to step away from my profession yet, at 57 I don't have the energy or motivation to continue much longer at the same level so I think about this issue a lot. On to beer! The official share date for NBS BIF VI isn't till next week but I'm not disciplined enough to wait. Due to @FFFjunkie's generosity and ginormous box, I won't have to purchase an NBS beer for a couple of months so I figured why not start today. Russian Imperial Stout is probably my favorite style and I've been hearing about Dark Lord for years now so I'm thrilled to review it. My two takeaways are that it has the sweetest fruit of any RIS I've had, and that the 15% ABV is deceptively well-hidden. If you don't sip this one slowly, you could find yourself babbling on the floor. Here's my complete review:

4.29/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Courtesy of @FFFjunkie's NBS BIF box. 2017 Vintage. Poured into 3 Floyd's Teku glass. It pours jet black. I held the glass to the sun and there were no hues. It has a full finger of creamy, khaki-colored head and extensive lacing. The nose features roasted malt, caramel, molasses, tobacco smoke, anise, and subtle dark fruit. Despite the subdued fruit on the nose, the first thing I taste is ripe cherry, along with freshly brewed coffee, vanilla, oak, and molasses. The cherry is very sweet. There is a smoky, slightly spicy, bitter finish that is difficult to describe. This stout is creamy, almost chewy, with moderate carbonation, and the massive 15% ABV is remarkably well hidden. But it's dangerously potent. Sip this one carefully. I'm a great fan of the RIS style and I like to taste some dark fruit. This is probably the sweetest RIS I've ever tried. It's truly a dessert sipper. I'm really glad to have finally enjoyed this legendary stout.

Dan, thank you so much for this amazing stout! I hope everyone's enjoying their new beer as much as I did mine.

 

Glad you enjoyed it! Coppertail really does have some of the coolest labels out there today.
Cheers!

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. Fall has really taken a grip here on the island with rather cool and brisk temperatures over the past three days. The tomato plants are on their way out and the acorns are being joined on the ground by the falling leaves. A pretty lazy Sunday for myself. Watched a bunch of mindless football and the Jets actually won another game. Leave it to them to not even get tanking a season correct.

My new beer today is a big old jug of imperial stout. It's Pothole Filler, from Howe Sound brewing in god damn Canada. It's brewed with blackstrap molasses and a whole mess of malt and hops. The brew checks in at 9% abv and their is a bottle date but it's really smudged out and I'm unable to make it out. I'm thinking its decently fresh since it just hit one of my locals but I could be wrong.

A thick black pour with moderate carbonation and a fast off-white head. Malt and syrup sugars fill the nose and carries rather floral. Strong and lush malts hit big on the first sip. A semi bitter flow and finish. Additional flavor notes build the more it warms with the syrupy molasses, smoke, char, vanilla, and brown sugar. Full bodied with a rather lush and roasted feel. Slightly sticky and the palate is coated on every sip with the flavors lingering nicely.

Overall, really a good straight forward stout. I was a bit worried that it was some sort of gimmick with the serving size and my resealable cork on the bottle doesn't seem to work. But I've got some back up stoppers for it. I think the ba score is very reflective and I too and right around a 4.

 

Today’s new beer comes to me courtesy of @Roguer ‘s BIF box - Cigar City’s Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin. I saw this once in a store, but failed to pick it up for some reason or another.

Pumpkin beers can be polarizing for me. I either love love or hate them. This particular one has a nice balance between spice and sweetness along with quality pumpkin flavor. Very well done indeed.

Looking forward to diving into the other excellent stouts in this box, and I hear there is another box coming...

My apologies to @TongoRad. I had hoped for him to be sipping a bunch of new southern beers today, but Fedex had other plans. Smaller box of reinforcements planned to depart tomorrow.



Poured from 22 oz bomber dated 8/22/2017.

A: Red tinted brown with 1-2 finger off white head. Lasting retention and moderate lacing.

S: All of the aromas you might expect. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and all spice. A bit of vanilla

T: Nice blend of sweet and spice with all of the memories of Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, all spice, and some brown sugar.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Alcohol is pretty well hidden.

O: Pumpkin beers can be hit or miss with me, but this is a good one.

 

We've definitely had rain. I'll start looking on my nature-trail walks (and in the trees when my golf ball goes in there ).

 

I'm so very sorry to hear your sad news. I always say that our dogs are a special gift from God who teach us about unconditional love. Take comfort in the love you shared!

 

Well I'm trying to get caught up here on this beautiful fall afternoon in central NH. Congratulations to @lordofthewiens on his impending retirement. I tried retirement for a while but didn't find that it suited me at all, I was only 60 at the time and ended up going back to the rat race. I found I could stay busy with my projects for a few weeks but in the end they ran out or my creative genius did and I got bored. I'm sure in a couple more years it will look much different.

To @Ri0 my deepest sympathy for the illness of your loved one. I raised Boxers for many years but their health problems took it's toll on me. I switched to English Mastiffs a few years ago knowing that the giant breeds do live a shorter life. My 2 Mastiffs are just over 5 and doing great but I know that in not too many years that things will change.

Now onto my beer for this NBS graciously sent to me in the NBS BIF by @y2kawakami and it is Simtra from Knee Deep Brewing Co. A Triple IPA

This beer poured a slightly hazy golden color into my tulip glass
The nose is tropical and perhaps lighter than I expected from a triple IPA.
The taste is smooth with some nice citrus overtones and a lot less boozy than I expected at 11.25% ABV
The mouthfeel was soft and smooth
This is a very well done beer that hides the 11.25 ABV well great flavors and very smooth. I very glad I got to enjoy this beer.
Thanks to @y2kawakami
Cheers to all!

 

Hello NBS crew:

This new beer is research for my NBS BIF target, and I think it makes the cut:


Look: Clear golden color with a small white head that stay awhile.
Smell: Good hop presence with some sort of grass or leaf smell. Also has some grapefruit smell and maybe garlic or onion.
Taste: Hops and I think a little garlic flavor hit first. This is followed by some tropical fruit flavors (which is a personal favorite). Definitely a little floral presence on the back end.
Feel: Clean, medium-bodied, hop forward beer. Finish has a hop oily feel to it.
Overall: Very solid hop forward tropical fruit IPA. Hops might be a little too much for some, but this is my type of beer.

 

New Beer Sunday: A new Brown Ale

Afternoon NBSers with a special call to drinkers of brown ales who want a bit of nice complexity of flavors in their Browns. Also a special thanks to @lordofthewiens for his thought provoking start for today.

The weather here today was slightly chilly and mostly sunny with a high of only 68. (How many weeks will it be before I start thinking of 68 as being warm. ) Spent the morning running errands so there’d be time for a football afternoon.

Today’s half time (Eagles vs. Chargers) new beer is a 16oz can of Bell’s Best Brown from Bell’s Brewing over there in Michigan.

As usual, my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/1924/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of Bell’s Best Brown include some cocoa and/or chocolate, some roasted nutty malt and a really nice balance between some malt sweetness and some solid, slightly spicy bitterness which keeps things complex and is part of the nicely dry ending. For me this is definitely a “keeper” to revisit and one I can recommend.

In the during a football halftime I’m not listening to a Musical original cast recording since the game would interfere with the music. But I did want to share something I found on YouTube a while back.

I thought this was a very nice combination of music (the work of @Roguer 's favorite composer) and photos from the Hubble Telescope where the music and photos in the video seem to just fit with each other. Kudos to the Editor who put things together.

Beethoven’s 7th and Images from the Hubble Telescope

Cheers, all!

 

This Can was given to me by a soccer buddy this morning after a hard fought lost....

Lawson’s Super Session # 8 - canned on Sept.17, 2017

Golden yellow, translucent carbonation, some carbonation, sticky, frothy one finger white foam cap. Poured into a teku glass, settles to white ring , some lacings

Got a lot of pine on the aroma

Pine hop taste

Bit of tart, dry finish, some pine taste linger, small bite, good sudsing in the mouth

Good beer

 

Well, it very well could be my desire for change of pace, but I'll be bold and say, "I don't think so."

Had two half pours at Triple Crossing of non-IPAs, and truly enjoyed both. First was a Czech pilsener called Czech Pils, that I thought smelled amazing, but didn't live up to the lofty scent. I wanted a little more distinct bite from the hops to take it to the next level. I still appreciated the level it was at. Hope people give this a shot.

Then I had their porter, Liberty or Death. I found this a straightforward, roasted malt-forward option that had citrus and honey blossom accents. Flavored coffee impressions, but the malt seemed to play lead here, in a nice way.

I was going to review the Rye Whiskey Ape Armageddon, here at Strangeways, but the GF indicates we had it before (though I posted no rating.


Which is fine, it's a beer that lets the barrel overpower it. Some vanilla and light molasses from nose and taste get a tad overwhelmed by the barrel wood. The alcohol gets infused at a nice level, but I'm missing the base beer's malt profile to stand up to it. It's way to passive.

The GF's Hibiscus Wake Me Up Before you Gose is better, actually, in flavor. However a near flat feel leaves me disappointed.

Time to sample some options to see what may be worthy here. Need a hit here with two outs.

 

Good afternoon NBS! First up day some Mantra Guru Gish which is inspired by the treat @Grizzarky sent me, so of course I had to try them together.

4.27/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Grizzarky for this
12 oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- Black with a small mocha head.

S- Caramel, peanuts, some chocolate, hints of vanilla, some sweet crackers.

T- Caramel, vanilla, chocolate, roasted peanuts, some roasted malts.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A great lower ABV stout, could be a little sweeter but very well done.

The beer did a pretty good job trying to replicate the Goo Goo Cluster. My first beer from Mantra and I am impressed.

Cheers!

 

NBS! As promised I'm back from a great trip to Wisconsin and here go some new Wisconsin beers.

First, this label is awesome. I love the NASA style lettering and the reflection of a launching rocket in the astronaut's helmet. How appropriate to name a red IPA 'Martian'.
Indeed this beer embodies everything I think of when I hear red IPA. Namely plenty of hops but backed by more malt than a typical IPA, and that's exactly what this delivers. The color has a reddish hue and while the hop/malt notes are fairly generic (other than some caramel & grapefruit in the mix) they are both there with an emphasis on the malt but balanved nicely between the two. Medium-bodied, crisp from the hops yet a bit sweet from the malt. Not blowing me away but a solid beer overall and one I'm glad I got the chance to try.
Cheers!

 

4 Hazy, abundant, fruity IPAs new this harvest month of September 2017. (in descending rank)

Soft Pack | Stillwater (MD)
4.3
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

You gotta let this fruit bomb warm or it's too soapy. Pleased to be the 2nd reviewer.
a) Cider like clouded body of yellow fuzz, that sports energetic head that laces and lasts in the snifter. Good looking.
s) Powerful, fruit bomb with sweet mandarin, clementine peel, lemon, lime, flower garden, nasturtium. (peppery tempering the sweet)
t) Follows the fruit and flower shop, as if you were in a slight wet section of a flower shop where delicate fruit - individually wrapped - were on damp display. Again, peppery nasturtium notes tempering the sweet. complex, flower water, honey, and minerals. More each time your lips return.
But - slightly marred (at first) by soap bubbles (let it sit, the soap goes away)
f) flower nectar, yes refreshing, mineral, and japanese or exotic twist makes it great with seafood or sushi.
o) Totally complex teasing beer.

Red, White & Boom | Bronx Brewery (NY)
4.2
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
This beer tips over into 4.25 zone because of its layers and originality.
a) Pours thick, sediment laden, floor river, hazy peach-gold body, sporting a cratering, long-lasting, white head that laces fog around the glass.
s) Aroma is fruit bomb, complex, mainly of orchard, plum and white grapes, fall leaves, grass, earthy rows
t) Taste is more complex, starting with bitter pine goodness layered with more orchard fruit and a peach and pineapple mid-palate, then drying into a tannic, white pepper bitterness that balances the ride.
f) Juicy feel, a bit creamy, that finishes clean, wine-like, white peppery, astringent (for such a fruit bomb), giving one's mouth a lovely see-saw of sweet and bitter.
o) Original DIPA bomb. Hard to find, I opened another and nursed it, shared it, talked about it. A good sign. Try 24. 8% abv is masked by the abundant fruit.

SS Hief | Carton (NJ)
4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Big boat at 8.4% ABV and double the ingredients. (and only 150% the price). Happy to be 3rd reviewer.

a) Completely hazed, fogged out, bright golden, body with a dense, white, sea foam head that retains and laces my large snifter. Looks big.

s)Dominant bright, sunny, citric hops: grass, hemp, coils of sun-baked rope on deck, grapefruit, on top of wheat malt and large yeast. ...a bigger Boat, reef, and a bigger bakery.

t) Follows smell with more and bigger still vibe, grassy, hempy, citric ascension, above a solid mount of wheat malt, and a juicy, but bitter finish.

F: More body, medium carbonation, crisp and refreshing. Supreme pirate, pot-like rendition.

Apocalypse IPA | 10 Barrel (Or)
4.0
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

If you like sweet, you'll love this beer. It's an ourlier. Bravo for new.
a) The head formed a lasting big pillow that cratered and lace as we descended. Over a big hazed light golden body.
s) Too faint, but solidly natural, unfussy: piney hops, fruity citrus and caramelized malts.
t) Starts with pine hops, west coast tinge, then sweetness arrives with candied marmalade, orange, and caramel.Malt balances bready, mid weight whole grain.
f) Crisp, smooth, medium body, carbonation, finish is clean. After-taste is hoppy and clean but sweet.
o) This is a rare sweet IPA that I'd recommend to finish the night with, or stock in cans,

 

Happy New Quad Sunday!

Pretty nice day here on the Western Slope, trailhead temp around 65, partly cloudy, windy, some sun. Having a tasty brew, was a pretty good price for the box set of these brews, this is the last one. Watching the Broncos game. MLB playoffs start Tues. Picked up some Asada tacos, been awhile.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/207538/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Aslin onslaught alert! Will try to review four new (to me) beers from Herndon, VA this evening. These have been in my fridge for close to 3 weeks. Starting out with a lime and ginger Gose.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42560/294237/



Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a very slightly hazy body with very little lacing. Nose of citrus and slight ginger. Very nice taste of tart lime and bite from the ginger. Good feel for the style and overall, a nice job.

4.1/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

@woemad and I were discussing this brewery recently, and, we're pretty whelmed. This beer is likely the best of their portfolio. The bottles make decent mini-growlers though.

 

I quite enjoyed this brew too.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us started off this morning. Congratulation on your upcoming retirement, I wish you good luck on getting everything sorted out. I still have a few decades to go before I can even entertain the thought lol.

Another pretty normal Sunday for me. Got the laundry done for the week, and did the bottle returns as usual. Packed up my NBS BIF box to be shipped out tomorrow. I hope my target enjoys what I have put together. Got a nice new beer haul yesterday to restock, so I am good to go on reviews for a couple weeks again.

New Beers:

Best before 2.5 years ago. This was awesome! Amazing head retention and lasting lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge lightly tart/tangy raspberry jam, fruit skin/seeds, peach, plum, strawberry, lemon, red apple, oak, hay, straw, grass, and light musty funk; with balanced candi sugar, lightly toasted bread malt sweetness. Some yeasty earthiness. Light fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body. Bready/grainy malts; with lightly slick, syrupy, acidic, tangy, and tannic balance in the mouthfeel. Slightly increasing tart/tangy fruit dryness. No cloying sweetness. Refreshingly drinkable. Really spot on sweetened fruit lambic. Super jammy fruit with great yeast complexity; balanced sweetness with nice oak presence. I just stockpiled a bunch of these sweet lambics from various breweries in the last couple weeks, because I have passed them up for years. New beer is hard to find now. 4.13


Delicious milk stout. Aromas and flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, cream, toasted oats, and dark bread; with light notes of nuttiness, molasses, smoke, dark fruit, herbal/grassy hops and yeasty earthiness. Light herbal hop/roast bitterness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and medium body; with an awesome bready, grainy, creamy, and silky mouthfeel; light sticky hops and chalky roast. Slight bitter/roasted dryness. No acrid roast. Super smooth, rich, and complex for 5%. Absolutely spot on for the English style. I really have no complaints. 3.95


Awesome IPA! Great head retention and lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, grapefruit, peach, apricot, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon/orange zest, and light pepper/pine hops; with moderate honey, lightly toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body. Balanced bready/grainy creaminess and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Slight resins/rinds and increasing dryness. No hop astringency. Refreshingly drinkable with the mellowed out bitterness. This tastes quite close to being a NEIPA to me. Super vibrant, dank, and juicy hops; balanced malts and no residual sweetness. I bought a 4 pack on random impulse this afternoon, and I am really damn glad I did. I love Citra and Mosaic hops. 4.15


This was insane! Amazing head retention and lasting thick lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, marshmallow, molasses, toffee, fudge, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and dark bread; with light notes of smoke, salt, and dark fruits. Light roasted bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and very full bodied; with a very creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel. Slight slickness, chalky roast, and oak tannins. Slightly drying bitter roast and oak tannins. Zero cloying sweetness. Minimal warming 11%, zero barrel booze. HOLY SHIT. This doesn't quite beat rye hipster, but definitely better than the regular one. Super rich and decadent malt complexity; perfectly integrated/balanced bourbon barrels and spices/maple. Got the Cap De Night in the cellar, which is a cinnamon/chocolate/vanilla spiced BBA stout. Will get to that super soon. 4.5


Cheers, have a good evening NBS!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers, and congratulations to @lordofthewiens upon his retirement.

It was a crisp and clear high 50s day in the land of the Spokandinistas, but now it's clouding up. Yesterday was a good football day for me, with my Eagles and Huskies winning. Time will tell if my Seahawks can follow suit.

Last week I declined to participate in NBS because, after attending the Inland Northwest Craft Beer Festival at Avista Stadium, I was utterly beered out! This week I won't have time, working this afternoon, then going to work again at midnight to work until tomorrow afternoon. It's kinda my last hurrah at my old job. Although I'm staying on for a few more months working 1-2 days a week, I start on Wednesday working for a mobile canning company that cans for some regional breweries and cider places. I'm excited, but the work will be harder than what I'm lately used to, involving standing up for as much as 10-12 hours per day. Still, I'll be working for people I greatly like and respect, will be getting away from a job with no future, and I'll be dipping my toe into the beer world. Don't be too surprised to see me posting some obscure Montana beers in the future.

Today's new beers were consumed yesterday and Friday because of my schedule madness.

On Friday I dispatched a beer from @jhavs that was long overdue for consumption that I'd set aside for a share that never happened :

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46317/111616/?ba=woemad#review

Then, yesterday, I had a big fella I'd been sitting on for a long while whose time finally came:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29335/105475/?ba=woemad#review

Finally, I learned the difference between wet hops and fresh hops:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47868/303741/?ba=woemad#review

No pics today. Postimage is throwing some sort of fit right now.

Have a great week! Back to the grind for me!