New Beer Sunday (Week 685)

Greetings from way-too-cold central Arkansas. I've enjoyed watching all the BIF posts recently, and it's encouraging me to participate again. Now let's talk disappointments. I'm not a huge fan of the west coast IPA. However, I haven't had Stone's class single and double versions lately. So I decided to grab the mix 12 pack knowing I like Ripper and wanting to try the Hop Revolver. Well, I can now say I have a new least favorite hop. Herkules is nasty. Or Stone has a serious issue with this beer. I thought maybe it was just me until I read the other reviews. Now I'm really disappointed in Stone for allowing this beer to make it to consumers. This beer is "uggg, this is disgusting you need to try it!" so I'm bringing you one, @jdell15.

Oh, I will give Stone tons of praise for the very clear and easy to read bottled on and best by dates.





Pours a clear, golden color with a thin white head that disappeared quickly leaving minimal lacing.

The smell is garlic, day old trash, maybe a little citrus underneath, and sweaty fear. You know, like if your 5-year old wakes up screaming from a nightmare and you imagined what that might smell like.

The taste is worse than the smell. Any hint of citrus is buried beneath garlic and death. Oh, and maybe a hint of pine on the finish. Seriously, who thought it was ok to put this in a bottle with the gargoyle on it? Wait, was this dry hopped with gargoyle? That might explain it.

The mouthfeel won't go away!!!! HELP ME!

Overall this beer was not very good. I've never rated a beer below a 2, because, well, it's beer, and that can't be all bad. So I've been proven wrong again.

 

I was talking to a Founder's rep while working a beer fest about a year ago, and expressed my disappointment about the draft-only availability. She told me that they quit bottling it because the bottles just weren't holding up and they didn't want to knowingly distribute a poor product. Truth or BS?

 

Poured into a 16 Alchemist IPA glass canned on 3/22/18. Pours a very dark slightly hazy orange with a massive 2 plus finger off white head that clings to the sides of that glass like a fat kid to a Snickers Bar, as it slowly settles into a thin layer soft bubbles. 4.75

Smell is Mellon, tangerine, dank marijuana, apricot, pine resin, grapefruit rind, and maybe hint of alcohol from the 10% ABV. 4.5 Taste follows a pretty darn dank TIPA, with apricot, mellon, tangerine, pine, and huge balanced shot of grapefruit lingers on the palate sip after sip, with a little alcohol presence. 4.75

Mouthfeel is as big as it gets for the style, enough life with a slightly soft feel, maybe a tad dry from the massive amount hops that sticks to your entire palate, and for its massive ABV crazy drinkable. 5

Overall I personally would love to bathe in this dankly deliscious TIPA, has some NEIPA influence, but more old school West Coast. Really love what this brewery has done and this is a great 2 Year Anniversary beer that I think you should brew every year around 4/20. A great beer to be my 8000 post. 4.75

 

Great day to be a BA! Reveal day and the Masters, man day for sure. Here is the destuction left for me from NBS BIF, I was lost in the hundred pages or so of hints and hauls and had no idea who my sender was, but see if you can spot him in the pic!! I'm into the mystery beer now, but its a pint of delicious chocolate, that will take some time to sip, so I'll enjoy and be back later to reveal!
Thanks Mike!

@TongoRad

 

Hahaha!

 

Happy Sunday, New Beer Samplers and commentators. It's like Christmas in April (the temperature here even feels like it). Time to unwrap my mystery beer from @swenny916!


Not knowing what it is or the proper temperature, I let it warm for about 25 minutes.



It pours a murky, opaque orange-brown with a foamy, khaki-colored head that initially dissipated quickly but then stabilized leaving a thin cap and sheen of lacing on the glass. It looks like a Barleywine. However, It smells like a sour with with some raisin, brown sugar, clove, and tobacco. It's really intriguing.

Wow, it's definitely sour! There's some tangy apple and underlying sweetness and Belgian yeast funk. Is it a Wild Ale?

And the Reveal:



No, it's a Flanders Oud Bruin! Burk from Side Project Brewing in St. Louis. I've only had a few examples of this style before and not for several years. It's really well made. As the glass warms I can taste more fruit and brown sugar but overall it's still very sour. I should have guessed that it's a Belgian style.

Jay, thank you! This is not what I expected (it sure looked like a Barleywine when I poured it) but I'm really enjoying it! I'll be back soon with another special beer from Jay's box!

@cavedave, I think you'd really like this!

 

Alright back from making lunch/early dinner (sauteed some maple sage porkchops w/ buttery herb rice... came out great!), playing some Far Cry 5 and finishing a bottle of Jack's Abby Mole Framinghammer. Now on to my second and final new beer of the day, Lefty's Maple Oatmeal Stout!

At 10% ABV (almost 3% stronger than the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout I had earlier), this imperial stout is likely to hit me hard, but I'm ready to feel the burn. Bring it on!



Pours a little darker than the previous Lefty's oatmeal stout I reviewed today, but it still tumbles out of the can as a dark brown brew and builds up with a slightly deeper toned head. Soda-like carbonation rising up for a minute or two with a thin ring of head measuring about a half-finger after a minute or so in my glass. It's alright looking... I think I'd prefer it look a little scarier. I want that "Evil Twin imperial stout" experience with the insanely dark, voluminous head... ah well, it is what it is.

The nose here is a little grainy and roasty with some light butteriness that I accept as an aspect the maple may have added. It kinda works with the breakfast stout concept here, so I'll treat it not as "diacetyl" or an "off-flavor" and more as something that fits the general idea presented... as long as it doesn't intrude on the palate too, too much. I can pick up some granola like I did with the Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, but there's a bit more heat here too, as well as some light vegetal and "wort-like" notes after a bit. Smells kind of like a short-stack of pancakes with Aunt Jemima's syrup on top. With some extra ethanol for... balance, I guess? Anyway, I can get down with that for the most part!

The flavor profile is mostly nice and smooth, with some woody syrup notes combining with chocolatey malts, stiff graininess and soft oats. I like the maple treatment here... I like it much more than I thought I would, actually! I tend to find maple to be mistreated in beers like this, as it can be added in a lot of ways (during the mash/early boil, flame-out, or for secondary fermentation purposes, for example, plus the potential of the beer being aged in barrels that previously held maple syrup and/or liquor) and tends to act differently depending on when and how it's used. This does a solid job of using the local syrup, though... it drinks pretty thick and chewy with a requisite residual sweetness that bespeaks a decent-enough recipe, in my opinion. The finish is long-lasting and pretty satisfying. Each sip gives me waves of biscuity malt with some honeyed overtones, light earthy hoppiness and some woody maple. I almost get some light flashes of yeasty esters here too; slightly fruity in a way? Some notes of orchard fruit and melon as it warms. Very subtle, though.

Still playing Far Cry 5... really digging it so far. I like that early on you have to climb a radio tower, and the tutorial questgiver guy makes reference to the constant tower-climbing from the third installment in the series by saying "don't worry, I won't make you run all over climbing radio towers for me..." Funny stuff. The main villain and his family seem like reeeeeal dickheads, but also potentially true-believers in their own cult shit. I can't decide whether that's better or worse than cult leaders who are intentionally deceiving their followers and only pretend to believe their own propaganda to put on a public face. Hmm... very intriguing stuff. I like it.



One of the absolute best progressive rock albums of the last decade. These guys are the real deal!

 

New Blind Beer Sunday (Week 685)
Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY once more, with my blind beer that I am glad to say I didn't embarrass myself too badly with my guess.

Hmmm, pours the color and look of a Flanders Brown. Not at all sour in the smell though, knda sweet malts and a brown ale or strong ale kinda thing going. Not a lot of hops going on in aroma, and not a lot of yeast character either. Another sniff. I get a touch of honey but it smells like a barley wine almost but less alcoholic and different hops. Nice toasty notes in the taste, and what feels like noble hops in the background, kind of a spicy earthy thing that crests in the finish. Not all that viscous for a BSDA but the taste is right for it. I want to say Altbier or BSDA, but the more I drink the less I think Alt. I am not really sure of this, but going with BSDA I guess. Now the reveal


Ahhh, it's a Belgian Dubbel. Alright, that is close enough I think to not be too embarrassed lol. and gotta say this is quite delicious, and I am enjoying it very much. Now to get to work on making that into a review.

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

 

All of their hoppy stuff is very tasty when fresh

 

I bet you're right. Any chance you could teleport a taster my way?

 

New beer from @RedhawkPoke #5.

Score: 4.35 (-3.8% rDev)



L - bottle absolutely explodes upon opening. Beer goes everywhere! Once persuaded into the glass, a 1-finger mocha head lies atop a pitch black body.

S - rum, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, coffee. Smells like a boozy, demanding mistress.

T - booze-forward. Rum first, then everything else in the nose follows. Rather boozy, moderate sweetness, low bitterness.

F - full bodied with medium-low carb after the initial explosion out of the bottle.

O - A potent monster of a stout.

 

Yesterday, I tried a few "NEIPAs" that were brewed by bigger and older breweries than what we typically associate with the style. First up was Schlafly's "Northeast" IPA. They just couldn't call it New England I guess. @JackHorzempa This beer was more copper than the usual NEIPA... and it wasn't opaque either. The darn thing even tasted like the house character of most Schlafly IPAs - sweet and woody.



Then came Sam Adams and New Belgium (no strangers to this thread these days). One was "Hazy & Juicy" and the other was "Juicy Haze." It's a good thing they distinguished them. We're running out of different juicy/hazy word combinations.



That brings me to today's NBS entry. This time, I'm going with one of my local breweries that is most associated with the style (and has an outstanding reputation with it). Sand City - Shut it Down. I suppose this is a collaboration with Civil Society. This one came via keg.



The appearance isn't far off from mango nectar. The feel doesn't strike me as unusual or particularly full (but if I had it alongside another beer I might say the opposite). Tastes strongly of orange and mango with some herbal bitterness in support. Regardless of style, did I like this any better than the three beers from yesterday? No. It was actually a tiring drink... and that's not how I like my beers. I suppose that the 4.44 rating here is a positive reflection of the very same things that I found tiring about it. Maybe I'd like it better on a different day.

 

The Masters doesn't begin until the back 9 on Sunday. Spieth is 7 under for the round and 2 behind the leader.

 

Damn kid! Get off my lawn!

 

Ok I probably should have opened this one with the last two but I was not sure i wanted to tackle all three of them today but I changed my mind. This one also from Piney River is the rye whiskey barrel aged Raise A Ruckus aged in 4 year Templeton Rye barrels, also clocking in at 9.7% I will say this one is my favorite of the three. The BBA version the bourbon was a great addition but really stole the show. The rye whiskey version for me was a little more balanced and while I still did not get any coffee added a nice spiciness I really enjoyed. The feel was on par with the BBA version but ths one was also a little sweeter much like the regular version. Thanks again to @Harrison8 for the opportunity to try these three great beers!!!






Appearance 4.25 - Pours black with nice tan head that settles to a rocky thick ring around the glass. Spotty lacing all around the glass.

Aroma 4.25 - Roasted malts, oak, light spice, rye, vanilla. Hint of caramel.

Taste 4.5 - Very nice bold chocolate, vanilla, spicy rye, oak, molasses. The rye version is not as strong as the bourbon version, the others flavors are allowed to shine a little more. I really like the added spiciness. I feel like teh barrel comes out a little more in this one as well.

Feel 4.5- Very smooth creamy feel, just a touch of heat and a very mild dry finish.

Overall 4.43 - Loving this one very smooth balanced flavors, the whiskey is not over powering and helps the other flavors shine.

 

Hello NBS friends, and thanks to @cjgiant for the start this morning and the reminder that this is the share day for NBS BIF #007, otherwise known as “as much fun as a beer nerd can have with their clothes on.” The entertainment value of the “Hints & Hauls” thread alone is worth its weight in Heady Topper.

I was the fortunate beneficiary of FIVE boxes of magnificent beers, from @Buck89, @JBowenGeorgia, @Ozzylizard (my primary sender), and @jhavs. Their generosity was truly astounding, and I had a plan to showcase beers from each of them today.

Then Mrs O’s sister and her husband made a surprise visit to see us today, which included a lunch trip to Fiddler’s Hearth, an excellent Irish pub with great food and a nice beer list. Since I got my bro-in-law started on his beer nerdery journey (with Arrogant Bastard on Christmas Eve 6 years ago - whuddathunkit?), I had to join him for a couple of beers.

So instead of drinking 6 beers today and getting jackhammered, I had a couple of new beers with him today that I’ll review here late this afternoon, then return a little later with my “Mystery Beer” (NBS BIF Registered Trademark, Patent Pending).

First up, Marshal Murat, a Pale Euro Lager (???!!!???) from Three Floyd’s.



3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Golden straw color with a light tan head, grassy hop notes on the nose, which is expected, and some citrus notes, which is not expected.

The citrus carries through to the taste and enhances what I’m taking as noble hops. A really nice American spin on a Euro staple, IMHO.

Next up, Mr Hyde, a milk stout with orange zest added from Greenbush.



3.92/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pour is black with a tan head. The nose has a significant char component, and LOADS of orange zest.

The orange zest dominates the taste, to the point that it distracts from the excellent char flavors. The mouthfeel is on point, though, and overall this is a nice stout, IMHO.

I’ll be back in a bit with the mystery beer.

Can. Not. Wait.

 

Howdy everybody! I'm taking a break from work today to enjoy a well-earned comfort- in this case one of the many lovely brews that @jdell15 sent from his neck of the woods in our latest BIF.

I'll put the Mystery Beer aside for later, when I can give it the focus and attention it deserves. Not that they all don't deserve such treatment, but maybe I'm just planning on getting maximum enjoyment from the thrill of the unknown . I truly love this aspect of the BIF the most, and it's been a real pleasure seeing all these posts so far today!

Beyond that, I don't know how many more beers I can manage today. My work schedule changes as of tomorrow, and I'll be heading to a new office. Gotts get some rest, and all that. It's all pretty standard stuff in the construction biz- I'm always working in satellite offices wherever the project is located. This time it'll be a nice long drive to Staten Island for me, although I'm strangely looking forward to it. In talking with my wife yesterday I finally realized that it's because I'm at least not having to deal with the George Washington Bridge traffic. Hopefully the true reality of the situation doesn't change that tune before too long .

Anyway, here are a few shots of what @jdell15 has sent:



And in my glass right now is:

Lost Forty Pale Ale, with a best by date of June 16, so I'm assuming it's pretty damn fresh.

It's a lovely beer- the aroma is vibrant and rich with an enticing blend of peach nectar and orange juice concentrate, balanced with a touch of juniper and orange peel. More evergreen comes out on the first sip, but it's still rocking that strong juiciness until the finish where the bitter citrus peel takes the wheel. Mouthfeel is moderately full, with an initial sweetness that turns dry on the finish.

As I get deeper into the glass that juniper is coming on stronger, but the peach is still there, this time backed by a more overt caramel flavor that was previously cloaked in fruitiness. And there's a crisp dryness that's making it all work well together. A real pleasure to drink; and instead of fading away it's starting to show another side by the end of the first glass. A very enjoyable A- (4.25).

 

Greetings all and thanks to Cjgiant for ushering us into this legitimately spring like day here Boston! The air is a little crisp but the sun is definitely warm and it's strange to think it was snowing just 3 days ago.

First off, you BIF folks DO NOT f*ck around, do you? Those are some sweet (and extensive) looking packages on display

For today's beer, I suspect I have something that might make purists shudder. It made me do a bit of a double take myself, though maybe this is something that's not as novel as I think. It's a nitro Quad from an actual Belgian brewery: Petrus's Nitro Quad clocking in at 11.5% ABV.

I'm sort of neutral about Nitro. I enjoy a good Guiness from time to time and Left Hand's version is tasty too, but I've yet to have a style other than a stout that I thought benefited from the addition. We'll see if a Quad is dark and hearty enough to make good use of it. This is the Left Hand sort of stout without the widget where you get the head by dumping it hard into the glass from a fully inverted position.

Opening the bottle it immediately unleashes wafts of raisins, cherries, brown bread, and sweet deep malt. Off to an impressive start. It doesn't have quite the level of nitro activity that a Left Hand stout does but it still offers up that classic nitro head with 'falling' bubbles and it lasts and lasts. This is a very dark beer - somewhere between pitch black and mahogany. Smell in the glass is more muted, but some dark chocolate notes might have joined the mellower party as well.





Taste is..... very nitro. Can you taste nitrogen? I can't quite put my finger on what the flavor is but I feel like I've tasted it before in nitro beers and, whatever it is, there's a lot of it here. Kind of vaguely metallic, especially in the back of the cheeks and lingering in the finish. Unfortunately it's kind of the prominent taste. There's also some of those familiar quad flavors that follow the nose, but it's also rather sweet, though that might just be from the muting effect that the nitro has on any present bitterness.

Mouthfeel is exactly that sort of creamy and drinkable thing that the Nitro is meant to provide, but I have to wonder why exactly you'd want an 11.5% ABV beverage to feel like you could drink it down in 3 sips. A quad is one of those beers that is begging for you to spend a leisurely 45 minutes with it (imo).

If you like Nitro and you like Quads I suspect you might really enjoy this, but for me the nitro was definitely a big minus. An interesting beer to try once but not something I will buy again.

Cheers!!

 

Onto more beer after getting some work done, a nap, and starting laundry. This bottle landed on my doorstep as apart of the NBS BIF, with the culprit being @ONUMello . I've enjoyed everything he has sent so far, especially the Ohio beef jerky he sent. I even sipped on some of the coffee he sent me this morning. Now it's time to visit this DIPA.



Columbus's Bodhi.

Pours a slightly foggy yellow with a finger and a half of white head. Head retention is fair with a few strands of lacing left behind. Aroma is delicate notes of orange, lemon zest, and papaya with slightly more dense notes of biscuit, pale, and bread malts. Flavor profile is lemon zest, papaya, orange, and mango. Biscuit, and pale malts hide behind, but provide a consistent base. Mouth feel is medium in terms of thickness, with a grainy, semi-harsh carbonation feel. Overall, a great DIPA. Lovely hop qualities that are far from overpowering. It's a well balanced beer with great flavor.

Score: 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.46 | rDev: -0.2%