New Beer Sunday (Week 702)

Feel free to post back as the time comes for more detailed tips. Also keep in mind that in NYC the Beermenus app is pretty reliable, and the bars frequently update their pages. So if you are interested in trying some Hill Farmstead, Suarez or other notable out-of-town beers, all you will have to do is use the app to find out where it's pouring.

 

New Beer Sunday: A Rye Beer

Evenin’ NBSers, with a report for fans of barrel aging who prefer their bourbon with lots of rye flavor.

This evening’s new beer is the Sixpoint Righteous Ale -- Barrel Aged, a rye beer that is aged in both rye and bourbon barrels.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10607/327737/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer include some wood from the oak, the rye whiskey and some bourbon backed up by some bready malt backbone, a bit of vanilla and some lightly earthy bitterness. This is an enjoyable, drinkable beer that should age very gracefully if cellared. My guess is that if you enjoy a rye whiskey or a bourbon with rye in the grain bill (e.g., Old Grand-Dad) you’ll enjoy this blending of flavors.

Tonight's music on the player is some Jazz guitar featuring a guy called Django Reinhardt. Listening to him perform it’s hard to believe that he only had three usable fingers on the right hand. The last two were unusable because of a burn he suffered as a young man.

Djangology

Cheers, all!

 

One more - big - beer. Matching glassware too! A rarity for me.



Evil Twin's Bozo Beer.

Pours black with a head that forms quick and dense. Head is khaki in color and retains well. Aroma is massive, nailing out notes of sugar, cinnamon, bourbon, char, roasted and toasted malts, and chocolate. There really isn't an order to it, just an absolute blast of notes. It's a dense curtain of dark notes. Flavor profile is remarkably more tame, despite still being heavy and dense. Notes of toffee and caramel open up with a sugary, sweet quality. Sugar melds into bourbon to form an 'Old Fashioned' mixed drink in the middle. Coffee and cinnamon round out the end, bringing the sugary notes down, but without a bittering quality. Roasted and toasted malts are heavy and present throughout, but become more-so apparent at the end when the adjuncts have worn away and the base stout pokes through. At a cold (~43F) serving temperature, the alcohol stays modest in terms of flavor impact. As the beer warms the alcohol still stays fairly well retained but is certainly more present. Mouth feel is thick and heavy with a velvety texture. Imagine drinking velvet room darkening curtains and you have an accurate descriptor of this beer. Make no mistake, the 17.2% ABV does poke holes even through this dense beer, although it is remarkably well hidden for being on its way to 18%. Overall, a remarkable beer for many reasons aside from flavor. It's an experience, although some may see it as a bad one. Personally, it's enjoyable - just sip slow - after all, a diluted Old Fashioned could have less alcohol than this beast. Warning tape - this beer is not for the faint of heart.

Score: 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.25 | BA Score: 4.38 | rDev: +3.5%

 

Great stuff! Those are all breweries I'd really love to try. I'll certainly post up before I head out there. I've already been chatting with one or two NYC residents.

 

Never heard of it, but Mrs. Lizard says it's in Shipshewana between the convention center and one of the hotels. While she's shopping, I spend most of my time in the car sleeping or reading. She likes to hit Essenhaus in Middlebury, IN, for food but I find the fare too greasy and too filling. My neck of the woods has some Amish and Mennonites, most about 15 miles from me in the Fryburg/Venus area and a few have migrated into the Shippenville area, but still, the highest concentration is in the Lancaster/Lancaster area, 'way down east.

 

Good evening BAs! Tonight's cellar dweller and movie:



The cellar is dwindling - down to about 3.5 cases of bombers and a few scattered 12 ozers.

 

He died in 1976 and had been plagued by malaria, likely PTSD, and emphysema, but we were still shocked. He was 58. I cherish the personal unit commendation letter to my Dad from George C. Marshall that I salvaged from my parent's attic after my Mom died. We received letters for years from guys in his unit and his superiors speaking to his ability to help people survive in the worst conditions imaginable. Once home,these men carried the war with them daily.

 

Magnify The Friend Zone IPA

Evening, BAs. Congrats to @lordofthewiens on the move.

I spent most of the day yesterday driving up to Connecticut, and stopped in at Magnify Brewing on the way back home. I love their beer, and it was a cute enough space, but it was standing-room-only and I was beat, so it was it was one beer there and some four-packs for the road.

I didn't grab this one initially, but while I was waiting in line, I saw on the board it was made with Kolsch yeast and Galaxy hops (among others) and thought it was worth a shot.

It pours a hazy light orange with a finger of creamy, off-white head that leaves sheets of lacing.

White peach, vanilla and a little musty yeast show in the nose. It has a bitter flavor with strong citrus pith and some soda water.

It's medium bodied and slightly creamy with strong carbonation. The aroma and flavors are pretty solid, but it's too fizzy for my taste.

 

Just about all packed up for vacation in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Now, relaxing on the couch with my last new beer of this Sunday.

Opened this one from @2beerdogs from the most recent NBS BIF. I haven’t forgotten about ya Derek and your generous BIF box. Saving the bigger stouts for cooler weather and special occasions coming up soon.


2017 Mash and French Toast. Poured into proper glassware.
Pours a chestnut brown with ruby highlights. Just about a finger of light tan head. Spotty lacing down the glass. The nose is decadent. Pecans, maple, cinnamon are the most prominent for me. And maybe it’s because I’m thinking of French toast but I get the white part of an egg too. It’s not a bad thing.
Starts out with with dates, strong cinnamon, maple and boozy heat. More of that white egg part. What is that called? Mellow but present bourbon and more maple goodness.
Medium bodied but expected more richness. This is very well executed beer that tastes like French toast without being too sweet.

Cheers all!

 

The word you were looking for is probably meringue. Sounds like a good one, too- enjoy!

 

Hey there NBS, and good evening to all of you.

Firstly, congratulations to @lordofthewiens on completing your cross-country journey! Did you happen to stop at any breweries on your way? I can think of at least five that I have visited/want to visit in cities you stayed in. Also, cheers to your slow journey to NM - I really enjoy those road trips where I'm not overly hurried and take plenty of stops to enjoy the scenery and what the locales have to offer. It makes for a very enjoyable pace and excellent road trips. Also, my ass and knees don't ache quite so badly that way.

Things are kind of slow but also busy here. It's that "adult" busy, where you don't feel like you've been terribly social and you certainly haven't had much fun, but you've still had all kinds of things to do. Tuesday is my birthday, so my dad and sisters came by to visit today. My youngest sister is spending the next three weeks in the field with her National Guard unit (she's active duty, but she still has to do those "two weeks" a year - it's apparently no longer just two weeks, btw), so we all wanted to spend some time with her before she left. So odd, knowing she's old enough to be doing things like that... and has been for two years now. I'm turning 37 on Tuesday, which isn't exactly old, but I'm stumbling across reminders occasionally now that I definitely am getting older.

One of those things, unfortunately, was a recent cancer scare. I won't get in to that, because it ended up being a cyst - but my life basically stopped there for about a week while I waited on my test results. As you might guess, I was drinking fairly heavily during that time... and then for a bit longer, out of relief, of course. But, these things weigh on me now. My mom died when she was 38 (cancer), so I spend a bit of time thinking about it occasionally. Life catches up to you sometimes, eh, and it's not always light and fun stuff.

Anyway. That's some heavy shit, and I apologize if that's TL;DR or too much personal detail.

Things are otherwise going well here. My dad drove in to town to take me out to dinner for my birthday (no small trek for him - that's seven hours round trip, so I was quite appreciative). He also gifted me with a very nice Makita circular saw that I'd been eyeballing for a bit. My youngest sister gave me Settlers of Catan, which is probably my go-to board game. I definitely need some more folks to play it with now!

I also went to a very fun 2 year anniversary bash at Wild Mind yesterday - I'd only intended to stay for an hour or two, and ended up being there for four and a half hours. Whoops. And drank a bit more than I'd intended, obviously. Still, great fun, and came home with some fantastic bottles - I'm looking forward to sending some of those on to friends and targets in various BIFs. Speaking of, I'll take a moment to plug the Rookies BIF - come and join us for round 2, coming up in September. And hey, when is the NBS BIF getting started up again? I'm missing some of you guys and the shenanigans in the Hints and Hauls thread!

I was tempted to stay dry today, because I've just felt shitty and achy and old and hungover as fuck today - but, @TongoRad tagged me, so I feel I owe NBS one beer! Today's beer is Shades of Cool, by The Rare Barrel.



Now, this is one of the very last bottles that I ever purchased from Craft Beer Kings. After reading up on some of their nefarious practices, and experiencing some firsthand, I haven't been back now for probably six months. I sure wish I had better access to California beers, much like this one, but I'm not going back [to CBK].

But, again, I wish I didn't have such ethical compunctions. I'm really enjoying this beer - it smells and pours quite a bit like a geueze. The body is rich and almost syrupy, but pours clean with nice, light carbonation. The head is generous and exhibits just a bit of rouge coloration though otherwise white. It doesn't have quite as much nose as I'd expected of a beer that so obviously has currant notes - given the coloration (particularly as it's a golden sour), I'd expected a bit more fruit to the nose. It's certainly there, but the funky lambic character is quite a bit more prominent. The beer is crisp on the palate and doesn't give up much to the tip of your tongue. The back of my tongue and mouth picked up quite a lot more sour fruit, while the initial taste is mostly just a light tartness. I really appreciate that the acidity isn't quite so powerfully pronounced as in many sours, as my acid reflux/heartburn aren't actually bothering me that much. I'm surprised.

It's quite warm here this evening, so this beer is very much hitting the spot for me. Rare Barrel gets plenty of accolades, but if you're on the fence, I very much recommend this specific beer.

That's it for me today, and probably too long a post already. Cheers, NBS - hope everyone has a great week ahead of them!

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Holy cow! This past week has been brutal at work. We had our county fair this past week, and we've got a booth there. The days were so long, even in spite of the bad weather Friday night, and Saturday morning. Just so damn much work, and I'm exhausted - even more so that I caught a cold Monday. I'm mostly over it, but still hurting a bit.

But now, on to the cold medicine.... I mean beer.


Dino Smores

Ok, this is a solid RIS! Really rich, boozy, delicious.

4.35/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This beer pours a thick pitch black. The head is minimal. What is there is tan, but wasn't long lasting at all.
The nose is boozy, with hints of chocolate and vanilla. There is also a sweet aroma that I can't quite place - maybe the marshmallows.
The taste is smooth. I get the chocolate for sure, along with what I think is the marshmallows. There's also vanilla mixed in with a boozy finish.
The body is quite decent, and full. There's a nice booze feel to it that does linger.
High quality RIS.

This will be it for tonight. I'll see you all next week.

 

Howdy old friends, it's been a spell because of 'life'. Pouring a 500ml bottle of barrel aged Mondo Birra RIS I purchased at 4 Noses Brewing in Broomfield CO back in April. It poured a thin brown color with little carbonation. The smell is vanilla forward followed by whiskey, burnt brown sugar and fresh cut wood. Taste is much like the smell along with some cocoa and molasses. The feel is thin, hot and dry. While a very good beer, the feel leaves me longing for something more full bodied. Still worth your time and something I'd be willing to try again.

Congrats to @lordofthewiens on your retirement/move. Here's the official score for that bottle.....

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35764/362374/?ba=Prager62#review

 

This is going to be in real time so excuse the length (and my fatness in some of these pictures). I just wanted to kind of try a new way to do this rather than give you a picture and go "good or bad". I thought it would be fun to take a more personal approach to this thread.

Tonight I am drinking a bottle of Founders Barrel Runner. I picked this up at my typical place that I buy craft beer for $4.99 for a single bottle. I could have bought a 4 pack, but I figured I would just do one.



I am disappointed honestly in how hard it was to acquire this beer. I haven't seen it anywhere in distro around here and the bottling date already has it at over 2 months old. I am expecting that it will hold up with the age tho due to the rum barrel aging.



3 thoughts before I pour this:

1. I am expecting a sickly sweet beer
2. I am expecting to taste quite a bit of alcohol due to it being a typical barrel aged IPA from Founders
3. The mosaic hops are not going to shine on this due to the age.

My expectations are that I'm going to get something similar to 120 minute in the glass.

I'm pouring this into a teku (my typical taster for double IPA's)



Look



Got a nice 2 finger head on the pour with a deep orange color. I did pour it a bit too aggressively so it ballooned out of the top of teku a bit.

Smell:



So this actually smells a lot better than I thought it would. I'm getting a ton of sweet tropical fruits and you can definitely smell the rum barrels and the sweetness of those. The main fruit that I'm really getting off of this is orange. I can't really pick out a typical grapefruit lemony IPA bitterness that you get from nose on a lot of beers in the style. The sugar is overwhelming deep in the nose.

Taste:



Whew this is a sweet beer right up front. You get a lot of syrupy sweetness immediately when it hits the tongue. The really good orange smell coming off the beer is very muted in the middle of the tongue. My assumption of the mosaic hops being faded due to the age are possibly true, because I cannot taste the earthy tropicalness that should be shining through. At the end of the tongue you definitely do taste the alcohol but it is not as prevalent as I thought it would be, it just has a slight burn right at the end that lets you know this is 11.1%. The rum is definitely there throughout.

As I'm drinking it more and its hitting my pallet a bit more the 1st impression of syrupy sweetness is starting to fade a bit and I can really pick out that orange flavor a lot more and it blends well with the rum flavor.

Final thoughts:

So this one actually exceeded my expectations going in. It's a one and done definitely for the night because of the sweetness, but I actually quite enjoyed it for what it was. I think that they easily could have made this some crazy 17% barrel aged beer like 120 minute, but I'm glad that they held off.

I probably would not try this again due to the sugary sweetness, but I'm glad that I got to try one bottle of it, and I'm really glad that the girl running the store decided to break up some 4 packs and put it in the singles cooler.

Founders Barrel Runner gets a 3.5/5 for me which is good but a solid good. It's not great, but it's a good beer. I can definitely see where some of you would hate it tho.

 

Thanks for sharing, Chris, and I'm really glad to hear that you got good news in the end. Enjoy the time with the family, and have a Happy Birthday when it comes!

Coincidentally I think I had that beer in mid-July. My older son surprised us with a visit for a few days, and since I know that he's a bigger Radiohead fan than I'll ever be I let him have my ticket to one of their shows at MSG. So that night my two sons went to the show while I waited it out in the city, and one of the places I went happened to have a Rare Barrel tap takeover going on.

So if I didn't have that exact beer, I had a very similar one. I really appreciated the judicious use of the currants, but then again just give me some funk and oaky barrel quality and I'm a happy boy . The star of the night for me, however, was a low alcohol Grisette, again with the oak and the funk, but also something you could drink all day long. If only it wasn't $11 a glass .

 

And that name. And that label. I love that one.

 

Good evening, NBS! Had a long day, but at least there's a new beer waiting for me at the end of it. I'm having Barrio Lager from Thorn Brewing.



My first from this San Diego brewery. Canned 5/16/18, 4.5% abv, a Baja-stype lager, whatever that means.

Pours light golden. Finger of fizz soon fades. No lacing.

Smells like a basic lager. Sweet, light, crackery malt. Not much hop aroma. Just a hint of corn.

Tastes a step up from your basic fizzy yellow lager. Good, clean malt flavor. Little bitterness or hoppiness, a slight spiciness. Not much corn flavor, mostly clean cracker malt. Light, refreshing, and very easy to drink.

One of the better versions of the light lager style I've had, and one of the few that I will be happy to buy again. Cheers!

 

Greetings from 'way dahn east! Actually, we're kinda south-central. Lemme know if you're ever inna area 'n' 'at!