New Beer Sunday (Week 677)

Very true.

 

After North Carolina passed the Pop the Cap initiative (2005), allowing beer above 6% to be sold, the market was eager for the Belgian classics previously not available. As a beer loving beer and wine wholesaler, I quickly assembled a very nice portfolio of Belgian and other beers from the world. At first there was some price resistance in some quarters, and I then likened these new beers to be more like wine than the beers commonly available. The wine people began to understand the new beer/food opportunities and the rest is history...

 

Coming at you this cold and rainy (yea!) February 11th with the latest one from Trillium...

Storrowed, DIPA featuring Vic Secret and Citra hops (8.4% abv)...

Trillium is expert at producing a particular take on NEIPAs that isn't the fruit juice smoothie type because they impart a bitter, green, tangy element that is so edgy and tight-tight-tight (Tuco Salamanca-style)...

Instant fave!

One of those juice-looking beers, murky medium gold, completely opaque, with a thick finger of foam on top... This one keeps the sugars to a minimum, while fruits suggestive of green mango and unripe melon with white grape must are matched with dry citric pith reminiscent of grapefruit and dull orange; gripping the tongue with a clingy bitterness... Underpinnings are more vinous, with a danker character of chewy pine-like impressions...

Overall, sharp and bitter, taut and lean, despite a fairly soft and moderately carbonated feel... Super-fresh with a canning date of 2/2/18; some of the "greenness" may subside with time, but I like it just the way it is...

Everything else I drink today will be familiar, so I'll add onto this post with another Storrowed (...when its a double, you have to go for two...) and some birthday bullshit over in WBAYDN, and that's where I'll be making camp for the rest of the day...

Here's to new beer in your glass, cheers...

 

Thanks @cjgiant for the great start to NBS this week. We'll see if the snow is hanging around today at the trailhead. Will be back with a new brew later on.

Cheers!

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! This thread has really made me look forward to Sundays, so thank you all for that. @cjgiant as I think you know, I always travel with beer. Besides a shipment to @vabeerguy that got, uh, redirected, I’ve never had an issue transporting or shipping beer to/from PA. <knock on wood>

My first new beer today is from Foreign Objects, who just started their distro to Philly on Friday. I was lucky enough to be at my shop when the truck pulled up, and I was the first person to buy some. I have 2 other Foreign Objects beers to review as well, but thinking of saving those for next weekend to give some space between them.

In The Gold Dust Rush - Foreign Objects
“Ale with Hops” - 6.7% abv
Canned 1/22/18 (20 days ago)
Purchased for $6.49 at Monde Market
Score: 4.38 (+8.4% rDev)



L - First off, the can is gorgeous. Like a work of art. 1-finger sparse off-white head recedes rapidly, revealing a vibrant orange body. It’s a looker. My picture doesn’t do it justice.



S - citrus, tropical fruit.

T - mildly bitter citrus at first. You can really taste the individual hops in this. Definitely Citra at least. Some pine and malt sweetness in the middle. Finishes dry, but very little detectable booze.

F - Super smooth. The body is wonderful, and the carb is still there, unlike others in this style.

O - A damn good DDH IPA. I paid a lot for this can, but now I’ll be on the look out for 4-packs.

 

Deadman's Double IPA from Iron Spike Brewing in Galesburg, Illinois. I did not see the beer or the brewery listed here on BA.
Pours a cloudy orange with very pale yellowish head, good retention and lacing. Aroma is hops, grapefruit and some sweet malts. Taste matched the aroma, nice body and carbonation. Overall I thought this was a pretty solid beer. This had an average scored on Untappd of 3.75, which is about where I would have graded it.. My year around go to DIPA is Lagunitas Maximus, I think it compares favorably with that.

 

New Am. Wild Ale Sunday (Week 677)
Goood morning to all my fellow fascinatedly fixated fans of free flowing fruits of the fermenter. Greetings from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Rain and warmish weather here is melting remnants of a serious snow and ice storm that would have been much worse if snow hadn't deeply covered things before ice fell. Horrible mess which I was unable to clear from my very long driveway, and had to walk to my car where I parked in a space at top I chipped/cleared and salted. Glad to say it is melting, but already deep puddles are forming and likely they will swell to small ponds by day's end. Lovely. Equilibrium Brewery, There And Back Again Blueberry. Stock photo-


Bit of a gush, but as you can see it's a luscious, if non-beer-like, beauty.

Aroma is all about fresh blueberries and the complex tart and sour notes of EQ's " honey badger" mixed ferm. Earthy and spicy hints come out more strongly as it warms.

Oh my!, First sip is a blast of blueberry in a torrent of bright tart goodness and earthy spice. Clean as a whistle, very full flavored, with a dry, fresh blueberry finish that is puckering and delicious. As palate adjusts this becomes a tart, fruity masterpiece, and the fruity notes just pop.

Med. bodied, highly viscous, low carbonation, refreshing, strong, killer finish.

Possibly my favorite of the TABA series, blueberry perfection in a glass.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

I think TSA @ PDX sees a lot of beer pass through their little fiefdom, and are jaded enough to let it through unless something exquisitely rare passes through!

 

That wouldn't work for me. There's plenty of excellent wine available from consistently great producers in my region that can be had for under $20. Granted, if I was as much of a wine fanatic as I am for beer that might change! As it stands, I have rarely breached the $25 barrier with beer, tax included.

 

A-A very dark opaque color with very little head and lacing.
A-Aroma had some blueberry hints.
T-The taste has a slight blueberry flavor, but very minimal.
M-A very light bodied yet very smooth stout.
O-A decent stout.

 

Is it okay to admire another man's can?

Seriously, that is a beautiful can. It looks like marble. Is the whole can blank, otherwise?

 

New beer #2. This will definitely make an appearance in my next trade box. Damn.

Rise and Grind - Manayunk Brew Co
Imperial Brunch Stout - 10.3% abv
Purchased for $3.99 at Monde Market
Score: 4.09 (+1.4% rDev)



L - 2-finger mocha head atop a pitch black body.

S - coffee, semisweet chocolate. No booze or hops detected.

T - huge coffee push at first. Bitter chocolate comes in next. Very little sweetness, and not at all boozy. Impressive for a 10% beer.

F - medium-full body with decent carb.

O - I’m not a huge fan of this brewery’s ipas, but this is a really good beer. And the price is right.

 

Fantastic picture!

 

This is the back:

 

Those guys gypsy brew right now, presently at Schmaltz, but happy to say they will be opening a blending and barreling facility in my nearest town, New Paltz.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @cjgiant for getting us underway.

Been a slow week for new beer consumption. I've mainly been hitting things I have in bulk, such as Bodhizafa, plus I decided to revisit Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout after nearly 20 years (seemed kinda mediocre, honestly, but I suspect it was suffering from age). I also had a can of Fort George's City of Dreams, a hazy pale ale that was quite delicious. I didn't review it, so I might squeeze it in here as a New Beer Review.

Last night, I kicked off NBS a little early, starting off with a Mosaic IIPA that had been lurking in my fridge for some time.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29415/95289/?ba=woemad#review
Maybe I let it sit too long, but with Crux, I never seem to walk away entirely satisfied, so it's possible it just isn't my thing.

After dinner, I hit my second ever distinct beer from Great Lakes (I've had numerous bottles of Edmund Fitzgerald through trades and BIFs), courtesy of @WesMantooth:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/73/1792/?ba=woemad#review
It seems I didn't read the label too closely. What I thought was a bottling date turned out to be a best-by date of 11/14/17. Still, I enjoyed it. It had a depth I don't normally find in amber ales (probably my least favorite style), and a hop bite that was both citrusy and subtle.

As usual, I've not yet figured out what today's NBS beer(s) will be. Once I drink some more coffee and eat some breakfast, I shall begin the beer culling!

 

I’m amazed that they are able to brew enough to distro all the way to Philly. This stuff is amazing!