New Beer Sunday (Week 685)

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone.

Sharing my thoughts on a beer I received from the wonderful @Blackop555 in the NBS BIF. If you are interested in having a great time while sharing phenomenal beers with a bunch of overly generous maniacs, you should consider getting into the next one.

So the the first new beer tonight is from New Holland. It is the S'mores version of Dragon's Milk. I haven't had a Dragon's Milk in years and my recollection is that I wasn't a huge fan. But this S'mores version is a homerun.

I paired it up with with a great side beer, Carton's This Town.

Here is my review.
4.4/5 rDev +3.5% | Score: 4.25
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 12 oz bottle.

A: Deep dark brown, no light passes through. A finger's worth of caramel colored head. A thin film remains throughout drinking the entire glass.
S: Smells like an adult smore-burnt marshmallow, dark chocolate and just a hint of alcohol to remind you this isn't a child's drink.
T: Marshmallow and vanilla up front. A solid taste of dark chocolate and a slight campfire char.
MF: A slight alcohol burn that should be there at 11%, thick and slightly slick.
O: I really enjoyed this. The only thing missing is a little bit of graham cracker but that would probably be overwhelmed by the other flavors. I wish the flavors melded a little better but it is still an excellent entry in the category.

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Part II of LNBA NBS. again, thanks to @2beerdogs for this beer.



16 ounce can dated 2/2018. Poured into a tulip. I don't have a traditional hefe glass.
Does not look like your typical color on the pour. Deep golden orange, hazy. I followed the directions to swirl the last 1/3 of the can to mix in the yeast. Small head with some lacing. Typical notes of a traditional Hefeweizen here. Banana, cloves wheat and yeasty phenolics. Some spiciness too. The taste matches the nose. Starts off with some banana, sweet citrus and honey. Clove and bubblegum finish off the beer. Some breadiness makes it In there too. The body lacks any fluff. Looking for a soft pillow feel which this beer does not have. Overall, a solid and flavorful hefe.
4.11

 

My next beer is Lagunitas Sumpin' Easy.



L: Clear gold with a big foamy white head. Long retention, and sheets of lacing.

S: Pineapple, sweet orange, apricot, biscuit, faint pine.

T: Lemon, orange, and pineapple upfront. Lightly biscuit, bread crust in the middle. The back end glides toward tantalizing peach, mango, and apricot. Softly piney on the finish, but without resin or much bitterness at all.

F: Light, but not watery. Well-carbonated and well-rounded. Gently dry. Very crushable.

O: A really nice fruity pale ale. An excellent flavorful crusher.

look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Really nice pale ale from Lagunitas. Lots of orange, lemon, peach and mango notes, while being crisp and crushable.

 

My second new beer tonight was courtesy of @colby600 who always sends me awesome boxes. I'm a campus recreation professional and while that usually means a relaxing job, tonight was intramural basketball championships, which is the most hectic night of the year. Add in a nice long drive from the in-laws through the April snow, and well, this might not be the last one I drink tonight...

Tree House Very Green

4.67/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75



Poured from a 16 ounce can that's right at two weeks old. Pours a hazy tangerine color with about two fingers of soft white head. Smell is very juicy. Hard to pick out any one fruit, but for this beer, that's not a bad thing. Taste matches the smell, as I get some tangerine and a bit of mango. Medium feel with just a touch of malt on the back. A very nice beer that I was glad to get to try.

 

So I am right into another new beer courtesy of @Blackop555

tripelroot- Pure Mackinac
(Mackinac is an Island in Lake Huron. I have never been, but the photos look incredible.)


Here is my review:
4.15/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a can dated 02/12/18

A: Pours a deep golden yellow, hazy, fluffy white head
S: Pure Citrus-tangerine, meyer lemon, grapefruit
T: The taste is sweeter that the nose, Lemon, orange, guava.
MF: A little bit on the sweet and sticky side. Good carbonation. You can taste the alcohol but there is no "burn"
O: This is a very good IPA. if it was local to me I would drink the hell out of it. It is lacking some bitterness to offset the sweetness and make this a little bit more complex.

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I never ever anticipated seeing a humble DIPA I sent from Ohio enjoyed by someone who on the same day was drinking Westy 12. Glad you enjoyed both - cheers!

 

More is coming, Justin. Sorry I didn't time the Mystery Beer for today. It's coming...

 

Here's my NBS Blind Beer submission thanks to the generous @jhavs Based on the bottle size and the other bottles he sent my way, I'm guessing its a Hill Farmstead beer.



A: After a quick pour, a 3-finger white foam head developed. It took its time to fade away and left behind minimal lacing on the glass

A: Picked up scents of what I think is a wine barrel aging of sorts and a citrus scent of lemon

T: It is a very smooth, easy to drink beer. The aromas that I picked up translate to the taste as well; a mild taste of wine barrel and citrus.

M: I pick up a really minimal amount of carbonation

O: This is a really smooth drinking beer. I like the subtle nuances of the wine notes and would find this as a beer I'd drink while fishing or cruising at the beach. Due to my very small experience with HF beers, I don't think I could guess.

The reveal...

Wunderkammer Bier - Fertility Statues and symbols

Enjoyable beer, new brewery I have never heard of. I got tricked with the bottle size and silver cap. I enjoy the blind beers because it removes all expectations from the name and focuses on just the beer itself. Thanks again Jon.

 

Next up is another beer from @Blackop555 as a result of NBS BIF

Odd Side Ales
Rye Hipster Brunch Stout


Here is my review:
4.46/5 rDev -0.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

from a 12 oz bottle dated 11/06/2017

A: Deep dark mahogany with a finger and a half of beige foam.
S: Coffee, pralines and smoke
T: There is a sweetness that runs through all of flavors. The coffee flavor is subtle. There is a slight smokiness. In the background is a spiciness from the rye.
Mf:The Mouthfeel is thick. Even though it is an 11% stout, there is no hint of alcohol burn.
O: I am not a fan of maple stouts because they tend to be too sweet for me. This one avoids the pitfall of being too sweet. It is a great amalgamation of flavors and the rye bite offsets the other flavors nicely. This is a really great beer. Odd Sides has masters the technique of blending these flavors.

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Hi there late night NBS. Very busy couple days for me, as a buddy was visiting for the weekend and there was some golfing and fishing to be done. We definitely put a small dent into the awesome box sent by @akatz821.

First up is the 2nd mystery beer he sent, I reviewed the first last weekend, this one is:

Went with the barrage glass since the other crowler was from them.

Look: Straight black with a really solid tan head with thick bubbles and some good lacing.
Smell: Very sweet smell on this one. Smell is of some chocolate and cherries and what I think is vanilla. Very appealing smell on this one.
Taste: Chocolate and cherries are very present and something else that is sweet, best guess is vanilla. This is delicious.
Feel: Super smooth, little on the thinner side, but with it being so smooth I am think a milk stout.
Overall: I really enjoyed this beer a lot.

As for the reveal I took the paper with the beer information to the golf course and lost it before finding out. After looking over my notes and going through some of barrage brewing's stouts my best guess is Who's a good boy, which is a chocolate raspberry imperial milk stout. I will have to wait for @akatz821 to let me know if I am right.

 

Next up from the great box @akatz821 sent is:



When golfing sometimes glassware is limited.

Look: Deep amber color with a small amount of foamy off-white head.
Smell: Toasted malts and some earthy hops, but there is something sweet underneath.
Taste: Clean malt flavor followed by a good bitter hop taste, also a hint of sweet caramel.
Feel: Super dry and bitter finish on a super clean feeling beer.
Overall this is not a style I sample a lot of, and I really enjoyed this. If they all taste this way, I need to start searching them out more.

 

This new beer is one I actually picked up myself.

Weights & Measures is a collaboration between Industrial Arts and counter Measures. I am not familiar with Counter Measures but if they brew beer anywhere as near as good as this one, you should get there ASAP. This is one of the best NEIPAs I have ever had



Here is my review :
4.73/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Poured from a 16 oz can released 3 days ago.

A: A Hazy deep yellow reminiscent of clogged up sink water. Perfect for the style
S: Grapefruit, orange, papaya. Citrus bomb.
T: This is fruity and juicy with tangerine, grapefruit, papaya . A great bitterness that offsets the fruit and an underlying dankness.
MF: Crisp and clean. no alcohol burn.
O: I am a huge fan of what Chief is doing at IA. This feels like it fits right in with the other beers they are brewing. I am not familiar with CounterWeight, but if they are brewing anything close to this they are doing great things. This beer just might be there best yet. I am wowed by how good this is.

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While drinking this I am listening to Paul's Boutique. I had an issue with the Beastie Boys for awhile and completely cut them out. That was a mistake. Listen to this album frequently and your life will have a little extra something.

 

This one is also courtesy of @akatz821 awesome NBS BIF box:



Look: Super dark beer with a light tan head and little retention.
Smell: Roasted dark malts, dark chocolate and huge roasted coffee.
Taste: Dark chocolate and huge amount of bitter coffee up front.
Feel: Thick and full-bodied stout with a good amount of bitterness.
Overall: For me this one was a little too much dark chocolate and bitter coffee, but still a enjoyable stout.

 

I love how you're always double fisting beers nowadays. One beer at a time isn't enough for you.

 

Next up is Unibroue La Fin Du Monde. I can't believe I've never had a Unibroue beer before this. My go-to Belgian-style breweries have always just been Allagash and Ommegang.



Wow. This is easily one of the best tripels I've ever had. Maybe the best. It beats some of the actually Belgian ones, imo.
It's extremely complex. I get some of the typical tripel flavors like apple, banana, pear, hay, and clove; but instead of coming across harsh like many of them do, this is graceful and delicate. It's extremely well balanced. Many tripels have syrupy malt, or are harshly bone dry. This is neither. It's tapered with this vanilla and sugar cookie tantalizing sweetness, along with hints of white wine, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. There is a definite citrus character of lemon and orange.
The mouthfeel is also wonderful. Highly carbonated, but not spritzy or zippy. It's pillow and creamy, but moves quickly across the palate and dries out fast.

Spectacular tripel. World-class, in my opinion.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

 

It's not double fisting. I have a side beer that helps center my palette.
OK, its double fisting, but that is how I justify it.

 

Great read Roger. Great hit, @strohme2

 

Hello Late Night NBS.
Damn me, I'm not going to pop one with you fine folks tonight.
And it's not for lack of beer. I even have a mystery beer courtesy of @Buck89 .
But sadly, @strohme2 does not have his mystery beer from me yet.
You should have it by Thursday, Justin.

Life has been tossing me curve balls. We've had 3 funerals in the last few days. One for family. One for a former student of my wife (and this student's grandmother is like family to my wife). And another former student from my wife's partner. We've also been dealing with my daughter's broken collarbone. All in all, I guess I can remind myself about "perspective." The beer is still cool and in the fridge waiting. But I feel bad that my target in the NBS BIF didn't get their mystery beer by today.

In the meantime, I'd like to give a shout out to a few of the fine fermented offerings I've had due to the generosity of our very own Buck89:

Look At These Sticks
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38954/328484/?ba=2beerdogs#review

Catalyst
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/39925/304972/?ba=2beerdogs#review

Electric Diddy Bag
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44180/333769/?ba=2beerdogs#review

Lieutenant Dank
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30581/201237/?ba=2beerdogs#review

 

Happy Birthday. Hey I made it to 50...It ain't so bad. It ain't so great either, but...

 

Howdy h owdy y'all and happy NBS indeed. Meant to join in this morning after work, but a coworkers birthday paired with the end of a stretch meant a group outing to get food and drink instead (sounds better than saying brunch and mimosas. Whatever, no shame.)
This paired with a tightish timeline to pick some stuff up from one of my other big hobbies meant I barely slept today. But I've got a stretch off, so I"m going to dig into a couple of brews sent along from @FlintB and his wonderful generosity and then try to get some sleep and flop back to a diurnal schedule for a few days.

EDIT: Where the hell did the time go??!? It seems like just an hour ago that I woke up, but it's been closer to eight! I guess this has turned into LNNBS!

I got impatient last week and jumped in on my mystery beer, so I don't have the mystery to unravel, but I do still have a fair amount of mitt goodness, so what to select...
Hmmm...

Well, I had several ideas, but ultimately writing this intro has shown me what the obvious choice is. I'm talking about brunch and that... gotta go with the Hipster Brunch and Rye Hipster Brunch side by side from Odd Side Ales!

Appearance:
Both beers poured a beautifully rich deep dark brown that borders on black, but is not. That same depth of field to the colour as well (in contrast to the onyx/glass black that I also love so much in a big stout, I would compare the difference to the difference between stone and wood, even if the colours are close enough). The base beer presented a smaller, tighter head with a deeper brown hue, while the rye version was more audacious, with a lighter colour, but a larger, fluffier character as well as greater retention. The base beer left lacing that came in crisp curtains, while the rye version was much more drapes and more ill defined and wild of nature.

Nose:
Starting with the base of the Hipster Brunch Stout, it's somehow both sweet and dry at various points. Almost ashy dry chocolate and a decent amount of booze. Sweet notes come in to follow and present more chocolate plus elements of maple and an almost spicy note that I initially described as cinnamon, but is probably more attributable to the barreling. The coffee is subtle/faint, and there is a light, but richly smoky character that comes out more as it warms which I attribute to the bacon (since it, in conjunction with the maple, reminds me of like maple smoked bacon cooking. Mmmmm...)
The rye version is richer and sweeter just about all around. Still elements of maple and chooclate up front, with some creamy coffee as an undercurrent. Alcohol feels that much more subdued, and the whole thing just feels rollier and more decadent.

Flavour (and the rest):
From the get-go in the base, there is something I can't quite pin down that is... odd, and elusive. Early I describe it as almost a nutty twang (particularly the shells), but taken with the context of the rest of it that doesn't feel quite right. It quickly corrects itself over to the more expected sweet early notes of maple and chocolate, but still with a hint of hazlenut. Finish brings more of the bitter side of things: coffee and dark chocolate, but also a rich umami smokiness that I attribute to the bacon listed, but am willing to entertain the thought that it could be a suggestion based on the listed ingredients. The middle third though. There's something to it where the levels kind of part and a creepy smile asserts itself before correcting back to the pleasant ending described above. I talk about sour mash, but that usually expresses in the finish. But that's the closest descriptor I can think of here, even if it is out of order from my previous experiences.
Again, the rye version just makes it all that much more decadent somehow. Sweet maple at the forefront joined by creamy rich drinking chocolate and an undeniable whiskey character. There's a coffee balance that sweeps through the undersides to support the rest of it, but coffee definitely takes a back seat in both of these bottles. The finish is more coating and more chocolate and a hint of coffee. While the smoky/umami bacon is still present, it's more subdued than in the base beer.

Feel:
The base beer is thin and hot. Carbonation is fine and plays its role quite well, and the bitter coffee finish is a nice balance to the sweeter notes earlier on.
With the rye version it feels thicker and more luxuriant. Medium+ body and just feels richer overall. Finish is richer and sweeter, and the alcohol is better folded in. It feels like the rye version polishes off some of the rougher edges of the original.



The basic Hipster Brunch was very good and one that I would consistently pick up if it were in my distro. The Rye Hipster Brunch was incredible and one that I would seek out.
Thank you to Brian for sending these along: they are both pretty damn incredible and I'm glad to have tried them! Thanks, and cheers to y'all.
Hope you're enjoying what at this point is probably the end of the night/beginning of Monday for most of y'all.
More from the same band as last week since they're still firmly stuck in my head.
Plus, if we're being brutally honest they probably play well to the theme I've established with these two brews...

Cheers!