New Beer Sunday (Week 679)

New Amer. IIPA Sunday (Week 679)
Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Beautiful day of rain and floods here today. Oh, you aren't mushroom pickers? Oops, let me start again. Horrible day of rain and floods here today, haha.. Rain has stopped for now, but hopefully we keep on the damp side right through April..

The music I listen to most often nowadays is practicing to the setlist of 33 songs the acoustic quartet I'm in covers. At beer tastings we mostly listen to metal, but almost every genre gets a chance too. When I relax my tastes run the gamut from Raga to Roots Reggae, depending on mood, and I especially like romantic period/modern period classical, and good jamband. Finally, I write lyrics as a hobby, and I enjoy to put lyrics to all kinds of music that supports them, even musical genres of which I am not a huge fan, just because it is fun to do. I even wrote lyrics for a country song, called Bad At Crime. And if you add in the stupid number of live music shows I've seen over the years, it would be fair to say that music is a great love that has been a significant part of my life.

Multiflora, by Decadent Ales. Stock photo-


Doughy sweet is the ringleader of this aroma, crisp grain is lightly present as well, with bright peach notes second in command. I get perfumey floral notes, lighter sweet tangerine, even lighter pear, hints of herbal bitter, as well as a general sweet fruitiness that defies my ability to name. Sweet is the theme here for sure. Best feature of this beer.

Peach and light herbal bitter are the opening salvo of this med./full flavored taste. All the other notes of the aroma also are here, balanced well, with doughy sweet much less of a player, and fruity sweet more dominant. Quite juicy, at times it tastes like "juicebeer". It finishes with little in the way of drying, but doesn't suffer greatly for it. Kinda tasty.

Highly viscous, very full bodied, low/med. carb., thick, sweet finish that leaves a bit too much resin and sweet behind that builds.

A bit too much juice for this old hippy, but full of flavor, and if you like sweet beers with peach flavor this is your jam.

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

 

I thoroughly love music, but I find that in order to enjoy beer, I have to multitask - clean up around house, cook, do work, etc., so while I'd love to play music, I am often left with whatever the family has on in the background. For instance, right now I am hearing the Fallout 4 soundtrack since my son has it going. If I had the house to myself, I would likely have one of these five musical disciplines going; metal (all except hair is included), blues, classical, jazz or Pink Floyd.

 

I have seen this in the bottle shops here, but for $7 a can I’ve passed on it. Based on your review I think I will continue to ignore it. I don’t like sweet ipas, and you used the word “sweet” 8 times in your review. All I want is to taste the hops they used!

 

Can you elaborate on this?

 

Ballast Point victory at sea porter.
Look.. pure solid black
Aroma..comes off boozy at first followed bytoasted malt,vanilla, and then a little coffee.
Feel... above average body, a bit thick ,creamy and heavy. Overall an excellent feel.
Taste...had a bit of hard alcohol, then malt coats the tongue. Vanilla with some coffee lingers in the aftertaste.
Overall.. I believe this lives up to the hype fairly well. A little bit bitter in the taste as well as aftertaste but a top notch beer

 

It is a sweet beer for sure. They went for a clean sweet and they almost succeeded, it could theoretically be a cloying mess with different handling of these ingredients. Tasty, but definitely too sweet for me, and likely only those who love sweet, extra juicy beers without soft mouthfeel will enjoy this. FYI, it was 18 a four pak here.

 

NBS beer #2- Skadoosh #15 w/Idaho 7



Skadoosh XV: Idaho 7

The Alchemist Brewery and Visitors Center
American IPA / 7.00% ABV

3.79/5 rDev -10.6% | Score: 4.24
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

L-The beer pours a dark gold with numerous particulates. The head is an tower of fluffy off white bubbles. The head recedes to a thick film leaving large swathes of lacing around the glass.
S- The nose is strange. It's earthy and resinous. I also pick out something that borders on catty and it's a little off putting. I get nothing tropical whatsoever in regards to this hop which is supposed one of it's descriptors.
T- The taste is also lacking in tropical notes. I'm getting the big earthy/spicy/cattiness that I got in the nose. Initially it's very jarring, but becomes more drinkable the further I get into the glass.
F- Mouthfeel is medium and slick. Carbonation is on the light side and the beer coats the tongue.
O- This is not the first time I've struggled with the Idaho 7 hop. I'm guessing it is due to some sensitivity to certain aspects of it's flavor profile which overwhelms the tropical notes that are supposed to be present. If you've had them and enjoyed them in other beers then you'll likely enjoy them here. For my personal perspective I'm gonna pass on them in the future.

 

That’s a much better price than we’re seeing here! But even for $5 a can I’d still hesitate on a sweet ipa. Especially when the amazing Foreign Objects ipas see distro at roughly the same price.

 

Agreed. I took a friend's recommendation for this, but it will be the last Decadent Ales beer I buy. Too expensive for sure. I tried their Double Toasted Marshmallow at a share and thank goodness I didn't make the mistake of buying it. Sadly, it really does taste like toasted marshmallows mixed with IPA and that is not a good thing.

 

Check this out:

http://www.strangerootsbeer.com

 

I think Revision has the largest footprint of NE-style brews right now that find their way to the shelf. Southern California to Seattle and a few spots in the East (but not sure if the hazy stuff is making it there yet).

 

They distro East? I’ve never seen them. But I loved their ipas when I visited CA over xmas.

 

Looks like one distributor each in GA, NC, NY, and VT.

 

Weird that they haven’t hit PA or VA. Usually we get everything first . But I’ll be on the lookout now in NC next month!

 

very nice review. I really enjoyed that beer and you made me feel like I was having it again! Cheers!

 

New Indiana beer #2
Bourbon Barrel Aged Beard Tax from Black Acre Brewing in Indianapolis, IN.

The review:
12oz undated bottle (from last fall) poured into a snifter at fridge temp 9.8% ABV 60 IBU 46 SRM. The beer pours dense black with an inch of mocha colored head. The head recedes to a paper thin cap and ring and leaves no lacing. The aroma is bourbon, oak, vanilla and chocolate in that order. The taste is rich roasted malt, coffee, chocolate etc. turning to an oaky vanilla and bourbon finish. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, adequately carbonated and dry in the finish despite the richness of the beer. No boozey alcohol in the taste or aroma. Overall, excellent.

I paid more than I usually ever risk on an unknown beer for this $7+/single. It's very similar in taste and balance to the Central Waters BBA Stout I had last week, but 2x the price. Nice to see another well made product from them. Makes me really wish the local breweries would stop constantly disappointing me.

In regards to @cjgiant's opening post, I embrace silence. I've spent my 20 year adult life in steel and aluminum mills at noise levels that will render you deaf in short order if you don't wear ear protection religiously and properly. My time in the car, or home reviewing beers is most enjoyable at low to no noise. I occasionally enjoy some 60s, 70s, 80s country but that's mostly nostagia. Cheers all!

 

Thanks! Good to know. To me, this = IPA.

I DO really like how their last Draai Laag bottle release is called Dance of Death.
With the music and Youtube talk today, I'm gonna post one of my favorite songs, since it perfectly relates to this news.