New Beer Sunday (Week 697)

Ballast Point bobito blonde ale
..light amber color
..around a medium body with above average carbonation that seemed to dissipate fairlyquickly
..Aroma isn't overpowering,malt,citrus,a little grain and what I swear is peaches
..Taste is the same as well as not being very overwhelming
...I didn't give this a great review yet I thought it was a decent beer. If I had a get togethor I would buy this as it would appease craft and non craft beer drinkers

 

Wow! Cinque Terre...Monterosso, Vernazza, etc. One of my favorite places on Earth. I fondly remember meandering along the trail between the 2 towns, and being very grateful for gelato at the end.
Cheers to you and your family.

 

New beer #3. One of the few Other Half brews I would skip if offered it a second time.

Green Visions - Other Half
DIPA - 8.6% abv
Canned 6/14/18 (17 days ago)
Score: 3.87 (-6.3% rDev)



L - 1.5 finger dense bright white head atop a translucent orange body.

S - pine, herb, melon, indistinct citrus. Somewhat faint.

T - dank citrus backed by pine. Clean middle. Moderate bitterness. No sweetness. Moderate booziness.

F - medium body and carb.

O - another dank wonder.

 

Thank you sir. My wife will definitely be driving that day. I learned my lesson many years ago on getting behind the wheel after having a few. I won't drive here if I've had more than two.

 

HEY! CONGRATS!

 

I completely agree.

 

New Beer Sunday: A Fruit/Vegetable Beer

Afternoon NBSers with an alert for friendly fans of Fruit beers.

This afternoon’s new beer is Jam Band from Boulevard.

As usual, my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/297368/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors are both fruity and refreshing. The berries are raspberries, blueberries and tart cherries. There’s also some bready malt and a touch of citric, earthy bitterness. Overall an enjoyable summer refresher but just as I don’t have two bowls of mixed berries at breakfast so too this is a one at a time beer for me.

Cheers, all!

 

As do I!

 

@HoppingMadMonk
Yes, hold onto your money...that beer has probably gone sideways. I had some barrel-aged Chimay during Belgian Beer Weekend last September and it showed no signs of infection and was quite remarkable. Sorry to learn that your bottle (is that a 2015? It is hard to see in the photo) is not as delicious as I experienced.

 

A-Pours a very nice brilliant brownish color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has dates and blacberry hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a pleasant dates and blackberry sour flavor
M-A light bodied very well carbonated beer
O-A very nicely balanced sour beer

 

White Monkey 2017…this is my first bottle from this release. Before this, I had copious amounts when released in 205 when it ~$9 bottle. The price on this release jumped to ~$22 bottle and did not purchase because of the huge price increase. Since bottles have been sitting, my local liquor store recently reduced the price to $13 and decided to pick one up and see how it compared to the 2015 batch (of which I no longer have any bottles).




Poured from a 750ml corked and muzzled bottle (no freshness date) into a Teku 3.0 glass.

A - The first pour yielded a slightly hazy golden orange with a thin, soapy white head which disappeared quickly. For a bottle conditioned beer, the head should be a bit more prominent (3.25)

S - Those signature whole-leaf hops used by Victory imparting a floral nose. However, I also get Peach, Apricot, Melon, Green Grape and Pineapple. There is also a vanilla sweetness that lingers in the background. I get much less barrel character than the 2015 batch. (3.25)

T - Taste follows the nose with those hops and fruits along with this lingering, vanilla sweetness…much more so than I remember the 2015 batch. Honestly, I don’t even remember the base beer finishing this sweet. The only things I can conclude is 1) The beer that went into the barrels was under attenuated or 2) the barrels received from Wente Winery were of a different grape variety. (3.25)

M - Medium+ mouthfeel with conservative carbonation. Drinkability would be higher if it didn’t finish so sweet. By no means cloying, it just doesn’t finish with that same wine-like, tannic quality I always remembered with my 2015 bottles of White Monkey. (3.25)

O - Glad I only purchase a single bottle (and not at the original price!) of this vintage. Albeit enjoyable, it was a letdown as compared to 2015 since it is much more sweet and the barrel character is just about invisible. I do, however, enjoy how pungent those whole-leaf hops still are, imparting that unmistakable aroma/flavor that is so signature to the Victory Brewery. (3.25)

 

@threeviews thanks for the info. That it was ok when you had it. This seemed to be right on the edge of infection. Bottle date read 2018

 

Congrats on your wedding - you picked a great beer (IMHO) to celebrate with.

 

Good Morning (here on the Left Coast) NBS!
I'm sorry to hear about the weather many of you are experiencing. I know that some people don't believe that old adage, "At least it's a dry heat." But it's true. The majority of our heat waves out here tend to be fairly dry. When coupled with humidity, like many of you get more frequently, I'm miserable.
Here it's been in the 80's, but some nice breezes temper the heat. Just finished getting the pool up to snuff for summer. I know it's a bit late, but even though my summer "vacation" started 3 weeks ago, I've been to work 4 times, my wife's classroom once, and all in all trying to catch up on a ton of tasks I've been postponing.
Did get a chance to see the King Tut exhibit in LA. WOW! I remember seeing it when I was a child, but the way they designed the exhibit was very immersive and engaging.

On to beer. The whole house is sleeping in late, so I popped this for breakfast today sans the "judgey" eyes of my youngest daughter. Thanks to our very own @Buck89 for sending this my way in NBS BIF #7.

Barista Coffee Stout by Blackstone Brewing Company
3.75/5 rDev -3.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours a deep, dark brown. Tan head rises and inch or so, then settles to a thin, cohesive layer of tiny bubbles.
Smell is a smooth ride of dark coffee roast (only slightly bitter), a tad of chocolate.
Taste is coffee forward. It's a rich, dark coffee, with the roast coming through as a bit more bitter than the nose. The chocolate notes I picked up in the nose are faint, and blend in with a generally mild malt base. I'm wondering how this would be over ice cream.
Mouthfeel is medium and carbonation is on the low end.
Overall, this is a fine coffee stout. One must enjoy coffee to appreciate this beer.

Now I'm going to be planning some "pool beers" for later.

 

New Hair of the Dog (squared) Sunday

Today’s new brew was sent to me from Portlandier @Lingenbrau and is serving as my stool to get back up on the horse.






4.17/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Batch Number 100 courtesy of lingenbrau

The bottle seemed to be a little over carbed, but with the most delicate of pours in the history of beer pouring, it manged to produce some beer along with the frothiest crem colored head I have seen. It seriously looks like a milkshake and then a root beer float as it settles. It is pretty dark in color and completely opaque. I will call it a very brownish orange.

There is definitely some alcohol on the nose along with candied sugar. It also has a rye or baking spice, along with a hop and malt combo aroma that is reminiscent of a lot of “triple ipas”. Fairly sweet malts with a citrus and floral smell.

I like the flavor more than I would have guessed. A lot going on. It starts out like a sweet candied Belgian Quad with some ripe apple/pear and a hefty, spicy rye, but then some hoppy orange like citrus, dates/dark grapes, and molasses comes through with some floral notes and a significant resinous bitterness in the end.

The body is big and malty, but very soft and sort of creamy. A nice warming alcohol in the finish. Probably a little high testish for 10%, but it isn’t overwhelming.

A bit of a sipper, but most stong ales are. It’s a very tasty and fairly complex beer.

 

Good afternoon NBS! After sweating my ass at an outdoor wedding yesterday, I’m deciding to stay inside today since it is almost 100 degrees outside. Starting my Sunday with Other Half/Brewski Lingonpäron, thanks @CanConPhilly
4.19/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for this

16 oz can, dated 6/19/18, poured into a teku

A- A clear pinkish orange with a two finger light pink head.

S- Tart, pears, lingonberries, some strawberries, touch of lacto, some wheat.

T- Tart, pears, wheat, some lingonberries, some lacto in the finish.

M- Smooth, crisp, light body.

O- A very nice fruited Berliner, easy to drink. Much more along the lines of a traditional Berliner than some of the newer super fruit bomb kettle soured beers out there.

 

Good afternoon NBS
I'm in South Carolina on vacation and bought a six pack of this on a grocery run with the family after church this morning.

The review:
12oz canned 5/17/18 (45 days ago) poured into a straight sided glass at fridge temp 5.5% ABV. The beer pours hazy orange amber in color with off white head. The head recedes to a cap and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is faint with piney and citrusy hops. The taste is rye malt centered with a vague hoppy finish. I get some citrus and earthiness on the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, adequately carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. Overall, very good pale ale at the half way point of the brewers freshness window.

Thanks to @goingbrokeonbeer for the store recommendation & cheers to all. Enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

That is by far the most carbonation I've seen from Fred. Most of the bottles or draft I've had have been almost still. Weird. Guess they went big for Batch 100.

 

That first pick was after it settled a bit too. My initial pour was still fairly tame. Oddly it didn’t feel highly carbonated at all