New Beer Sunday (Week 660)

Howdy ('Howden'*? ) , NBSers.

Step 1: Harvest the pumpkins (2 weeks ago today)


Step 2 (for me) : Drink the beer.
Mashing Pumpkins (5.8%), from the new brewery up the road. (Just open this afternoon. Not open for good 'til 10/21)

In front of the peppers that will go into the squash soup, later.

Pours hazy orangish-amber, with quickly-dissipating off-white head. Leaves a light ring of lacing.
Smells of nutmeg,allspice, and cinnamon, as you might expect.
To my surprise and delight, it doesn't taste like it smells, with just a light,balanced touch of spice on the finish. It starts with a lightly sweet(ish) combination of fruity and vegetal flavors (semi-sweet apple + pumpkin), followed by a hint of pie crust, then the aforementioned spice combo. Just a hint of bitterness on the finish, to balance it out.
Light-medium feel, with very fine carbonation, that lends a tiny tingle at the end.
Well done, guys!
Appearance : 4| Smell : 3.75:| Taste :4.5| Feel :4| Overall : 4.25

Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter?
A: Pumpkin pi.

*http://sustainableseedco.com/howden-pumpkin.html

 

Good Afternoon NBS,
I was in a great mood today when apple-picking, in the AM, drink a beer now etc. And then the NFL completely blew a call so bad, I can't get over it. Either way, my beer is befitting for the month it is a Marzen, otherwise known as Octoberfest.
Saranac 1888 Octoberfest

L- pours a rich red copper, with a small off-white head
S- sweet malty aroma, slight burnt caramel as well
T- rich roasted malt, toffee, with a doughy finish
F- crisp light-bodied, average carbonation
Overall this an above average Octoberfest, with nice color, and rich taste
Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBS, hope everyone is doing well! First up today I decided to hit up Bellefonte Brewery on my way home from grabbing some stuff for dinner. Enjoyed a poured on their new Saison du Hop, a Saison hopped with El Dorado.

4.06/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Draft, quick notes from the bar

A- A slightly hazy golden color with a small head

S- Some mild malt sweetness, little fruits, citrus, mild slightly earthy/yeasty, hint of tropical fruits, peppercorns

T- A Saison/IPA hybrid. Citrus, some stone fruits, some light fruits, slight malt sweetness, earthy, slight piney finish, touch of earthy yeast.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- El Dorado hops work well with the saison yeast. Enjoyable, easy to drink.

Now that I’m home it’s time to dig into the box @Grizzarky sent me. Now drinking some Yazoo Hop Perfect IPA.
3.96/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you Grizzarky for this!
12 oz bottle, dated 8/22/17, poured into a tulip

A- A clear golden amber with a two finger white head.

S- Caramel malts, citrus, piney, floral.

T- Citrus, faint tropical fruits, floral, piney, some sweet malts and wheat.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A retry much run of the mill classic IPA, and that is not really a bad thing, I just had higher hops for this being it is hops with two of my favorite hops.

Cheers!

 

Catching up on some schoolwork for now but plan on some beers later. Thought with Halloween coming up I'd throw out a little PSA to remind everyone to get milk and white chocolate to pass out to the trick or treaters. Why? So all the kids can go home with dirty faces!

 

UNC grad here, +like, still funny

 

Greetings all. I share LotW's need for humor these days but unfortunately the only joke I can think of is way too long to type out. How about a funny word: "Lickspittle".

The recent thread about the price of Pilsners had a lot of people referencing Bittburger, which I realized I'd never actually had. It may be that I just haven't been looking for it but I feel like it's not super common around here. Either way, it wasn't too tough to find one.



The can is welcomely dated with both a canned on and a best buy date (6/8/17 and 6/8/28). It doesn't list an ABV but it does prominently claim to be the #1 draft brew in Germany.

Opening the can I immediately get two first impressions. One, this smells almost exactly like what I remember my dad's beer smelling like when he'd give me a sip in the yard as a kid. He drank Lowenbrau so I don't know whether they're actually similar or if I'm just getting a bit of random nostalgia. Two, I get a little bit of a skunky smell that I don't usually associate with German pilsners. It's also got some pilsner malt and maybe grassy hay.

It pours an especially light straw color and has a loose head of very large bubbles. Taste is a bit milder than other German pilsners I've had and it has almost a bit of sweetness to it. I get a little of that skunkyness but not too much thankfully, as well as some lemon and grassiness. Finish is mostly clean without a lot of hop bitterness. Mouthfeel seems maybe a little less carbonated than average and is a little more soft and rounded rather than crisp. Not much of the crackeriness that I really love in a German pilsner either.

Overall the word that comes to mind for this is "mild". If you were someone who was mostly an AAL drinker I would think this would be a beer that would be more approachable than something like Rothaus or Ayinger. This would be a great summer drinker but wouldn't necessarily be something I'd reach for when I really wanted a lot of pilsner flavor.
I guess next I'll have to seek out Jever which I'm guessing is along these same lines given its popularity.

 

Och! MacMalt appruives!

 

Really great stuff! Now I wish I bought more. I have to save some for my daughter whose visiting later this week and who loves sours.

 

Say whaaaaaa!?!?

 

I've been a Carolina fan all my life and my daughter did her undergrad there and is now a PhD candidate. Still a funny story!

 

Kinda sounds like your New Yorker as well!! I've loved the cartoons since I was a kid. The magazine has been on a roll lately. I love it.

 

At one of my favorite local breweries with my son. This one is a milkshake IPA called Boys in the Yard. Really digging this one. Huge peach and tropical fruit aroma/flavor with a nice balancing dank quality. Cheers!
Also hard to see, but my son's caricature is in the background.

 

My brother's a UVA grad, UNC Medical grad, practiced in Durham for 40+ years and is now an Iron Duke with fantastic seats at Cameron Indoor. I'm just a silly old Spider.

 

My BA time (and tasting time) have been reduced by the demands of my teaching and coaching responsibilities this Fall. This is the extent of my social media experience and I do miss reading posts and sharing. I did try this today.

Blue Point BC's Drink the Bay Clean IPLager --very hazy can pour with 1.5 cm foam cap. The effervescence dissipates quickly, but rings mark each draw. The aroma is slight and sweet with tropical hop notes. The flavor is of bready malt with moderate fruit hops and a bit of pine. The mouthfeel is very smooth and there is malt-hop flavor equilibrium. I really like IPL's and have to travel an hour (one-way) and over a bridge to get and I hope this one remains available.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS imbibers and reviewers! And thank you, Dr. @lordofthewiens for a great start. The world is entirely too crazy and intense, which is why I look forward to spending my Sunday afternoons with my favorite group of Beer Advocates on NBS.

My wife's grandfather lived to be almost 101. Every time I saw him he would tell this story: A drunk woke up in the tank and asked the officer, "what am I in for this time?" "Drinking" says the officer. "Great, when do we start?" I know it's juvenile humor but I always loved to hear Pop Pop tell it.

My new beer today comes from @FFFjunkie's amazing BIF box that includes lots of treasures from 3 Floyds, including 2 glasses. I'm anxious to get at the stouts but want to finish the IPA's first. This gem is Dreadnaught, a 9.5% 100 IBU DIPA. When I smelled it I thought it would be mostly malty - like a southern IPA. I was totally wrong. This one is complex and thoroughly pleasing. Great label art, as well. Thanks, Dan! Here's my review:

4.44/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

From @FFFjunkie's BIF box. Poured from 22 oz. bottle into 3 Floyd's pint glass. It pours a cloudy, medium amber color with orange hues, and an enormous, foamy, ecru-colored head and tons of lacing that persisted through the pour. It's really attractive. The nose is malt-forward with subdued tangerine, pineapple, resinous pine, and floral hops. This is delicious! The first thing I taste is fairly sweet malt followed by tart grapefruit and lemon. There follows sweeter fruit: tangerine and pineapple. As if that's not enough the finish is a battle between creamy caramel and fairly biting hops. The overall taste is complex and pleasing; the flavors all blend really nicely. The mouth feel is pleasantly creamy with moderate carbonation and with its 9.5% ABV and 100 IBU, it's not for the faint of hearted. Overall, this DIPA has it all: it's attractive bold, complex flavors, and a pleasing mouth feel. I'm enjoying it immensely!

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Posting from the road, on the way to my nephew's 18th birthday party. This is my second stop, after Lazy Monk Brewing in Eau Claire. I've had their Oktoberfest before in cans, but it was good to have it on tap, at the source.

Now I'm back in Minnesota, and at one of my favorite stops - Wild Mind in Minneapolis.


Fresh Hop Coolship.

As I'm drinking this I'm saying "wow" over and over. So juicy, creamy, delicious. This beer is a grand slam. Wow!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46325/307367/

There will be new beers, but, probably not till I get home.

 

I went to Duke too (grad school again for a different discipline) and lived in Durham for six years. The joke works for certain based on my students who go to UVA compared to those who go to UNC, despite my UNC affiliation.
My UR students are competent and happy there too!

 

My wife and I got lost there once. It was a glorious day. You gotta love a city that can support a bookstore of that magnitude!!!

 

At 2:06/57, I once again dive into the world of Okie brews, courtesy @RedhawkPoke :

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31393/305302/

 

While my desire for pumpkin beers has, for the most part, been satiated this year, I couldn't pass up the chance at a Hardywood barrel-aged beer.

Hardywood Rum Pumpkin, a farmhouse style pumpkin ale aged in rum barrels.

Pours a clear, yellow orange color with minimal white head that fades away quickly.

Smell is strongly of rum, with a hint of pumpkin spice and malt.

Taste is dominated by rum. As it warms there is a better note of pumpkin pie spices, pumpkin, and a little bit of malt.

Medium body, lingering rum flavor.

Overall, I'll pass next year. It's not necessarily bad, but the rum ends up being too strong here. It washes out a lot of the nuances of the base beer. Ah well, can't hit em all.