New Beer Sunday (Week 712)

Man, it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do in this thread - five pages of reading ahead of me!

Hey there, NBS - hope everyone has been having a great day and week. It has been snowing here a bit; being Minnesota, that's not incredibly abnormal, but I'm really wishing we'd have some fall weather before winter sets in for the duration. I think I may be disappointed.

Thankfully, I'm well-supplied with beer for the next six months (or years...). I've had the incredibly good fortune of receiving some terrific boxes lately. Firstly, I need to send thanks (again) to @larryi86 who was my sender for NBS #8. I'm still shocked by the number of cans that Larry dropped on me - I've been working on a couple today, and shared a crowler with some friends as well.

I also received boxes in other BIFs (cheers to everyone from Rookies and Cans Cans) from amazing BAs @LloydDobler and @bl00 - as personalized as these boxes were, I was completely blown away. Both guys put a ton of effort in to their swag items and really catered to my likes and wants. I couldn't believe the generosity.

I just wanted to take another minute to thank these guys, all three of them - I really appreciate the generous, considerate boxes, and all of the effort they put forth in sending me some really fantastic packages. Cheers, guys - you're fantastic dudes.

I've been drinking a couple of things this evening, but I'll go back to earlier today when I shared a crowler with some friends. I wasn't entirely sure which beer this was, but I believe it's the Cherry Limeade sour from RAR - and it's terrific.



I shared this with some friends while we watched some sportsball. I have never been a very big fan of cherry, as it's often a syrupy cough medicine sort of experience - this beer certainly was not that. It reminded me a bit of New Glarus' Wisconsin Belgian Red; more fruit beer than sour, but with a complimentary bit of tartness. It had a full, rich mouthfeel, but wasn't too heavy, and finished very cleanly. This was what impressed me most - too many fruit beers and fruited sours tend to have a dirty finish and lingering, unpleasant aftertaste. This one definitely did not. Well done - thank you @larryi86 ! This was right up my alley, and my first from RAR. Very cool!

I experimented with some salsa yesterday, making good use of some of the fresh hot peppers from @bl00 's garden and included in his BIF package to me. This was such a tremendously awesome surprise; I love spicy food - bl00 really nailed it. So, yesterday I made a bit of salsa, and tonight I enjoyed it with some tacos. I'm sweating and dying a bit from the heat, so I've been working through some beers as well - next up was another sour from Larry; this time, it was a blackberry sour.



Very interesting. Firstly, Blackberry Jacuzzi is a lactose sour - I would have expected a bit more creaminess and body, but there wasn't actually so much of that. I can understand how some might be disappointed by this, but I actually prefer no lactose in my sours (or any other beers). It fucks with my gut, and the creaminess isn't generally what I want from the style - so I was pleased to find this tasting pretty clean and without that lactose creaminess. The blackberry finished a bit dry, and there was quite a bit more tartness than sour present. The fruit was toned down enough that it wasn't cloying or too sweet, which was to its benefit. Well-done - not a game-changer, but a very solid beer. Thank you again, Larry!

I'm probably finishing the night with my next beer, as it's already dark as hell and I have too many tacos in my belly to stay awake for much longer. My last beer of the evening is from @Blackop555 who bombed me with a hell of a nice package of Michigan goodies just recently. I was particularly impressed by how Henry hit me with so many beers that I haven't yet had, even a few new brewery ticks - my experience with Michigan beers is pretty deep, so Henry did very well to hit me new beers. Again - I'm impressed. Well done, Henry, and thank you again for this box!



New brewery, as well as new beer: Nordskye is an atypical session in that it actually has a fairly full taste and body. It doesn't feel like scaled-back version of a "real" beer. It still has nice hop presence to the taste and nose, and the mouth feel is pretty rich. It finishes a bit dry, which is fine because there's no lingering unpleasantness - nice a clean there. While the bitterness isn't overwhelming, I think that scaling it, and the dryness, back just a bit might be to the benefit of the beer. But generally speaking, it's pretty great for a session - I could see crushing many of these, any day. Thanks again, Henry!

I'll wrap out by sending out my thanks to everyone else who made this a really great BIF season for me - no tags, just first names. Thank you to Mike and Dan for being my buddies and my BA crew - I've got your back, and I know you've got mine. Thank you to Brian for being game, and being an incredibly generous guy and a good buddy. Thank you to Chris for being such a considerate friend with such a great memory for detail - you're a solid dude, and I owe you a box. Thank you to Josh for putting me in my place with that awesome box of California goodness - cheers man, and thank you again for encouraging me to join up with the Newbies. You're one of the best of them. Thank you to Greg for the super sneaky ninja box - I love trying new East Coast beers, and I've had some really fantastic ones in the package you sent over. Totally unnecessary and very much appreciated! Thank you to Derek for amazing box of Bruery, Bottle Logic, and other California beers. You're out of your mind, man, and I like your style. I look forward to returning the favor soon! Thank you to Dan for the seriously unexpected box of things that cater directly to my preferences - the book and the hot peppers were so unexpected, and the mead and the dark beers will be enjoyed very soon. Seriously, this box was surprising to me. Thank you again - it's a nice reminder of how you can make friends in the most unexpected of places! Cheers to everyone else I'm forgetting here - I'm sorry, but this is just getting too damn long.

Once again, TL;DR. I hope you all are enjoying warmer weather than we are in MN, and that you've all had a terrific week. Cheers to another amazing round of NBS drawing to a close.

See you next Sunday, guys!

 

Home now, had a fun time celebrating my mom’s birthday. Now up enjoying a bottle of Creatue Comforts Common Things, a saison made with local honey, thanks @JBowenGeorgia!

4.16/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thank you JBowenGeorgia for this
750 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- A slightly hazy golden straw with three finger white head.

S- Tart, lemons, honey, grapes, band-aids, some funk. Definitely has a mead like quality to it.

T- Tart, lemons, funky, a little earthy, peppercorns, some honey.

M- Smooth, light body, dry.

O- A good saison but the nose is a lot better than the taste.

Cheers!

 

The last of today's Taxman trilogy...


The review:
12oz canned 9/6/18 (38 days ago) poured into a Duvel glass at fridge temp 7% ABV 22 IBU. The beer pours mostly bright brownish amber with orange highlights. The head is light brown and recedes to a cap and ring leaving some lacing. The aroma is malty with cinnamon plus hints of vanilla and oak. The taste is more of the same with the initial taste being slightly sweet with oak, vanilla and malt shifting to cinnamon and gentle drying bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and gently carbonated with a mostly dry finish. Overall, good. I could do without the cinnamon in this one personally, but it's well made and enjoyable.

That's it for me today. I know I post a lot of Taxman on NBS, but they put ABV, IBU, can dates and clear descriptions on every can and most four packs are in the $8-10 range. Best zero hype brewery in Indiana. Cheers all & enjoy the new beer in your glass!

 

Back with another new beer. This is a "Helles Bock" from the the other end of the state from me, where Oly used to be brewed.
upload picture to url
Odd. Not particularly clean finishing, not particularly pale or clear like something labelled a Helles anything, and with a weird sweetness at the finish that totally overwhelmed the rest of the flavor. Drinkable, but I'm not a fan.

 

Cheers, my friend - and take care of that cold! Hope you're feeling better soon, man!

 

I’m pretty sure the RAR is Cherry Limeade, the store I got it at had just quickly filled the last few crowlers off the keg and it was probably some college kid writing the labels, the timing was right for it to be Cherry Limeade. The few RAR Out Of Orders I’ve tried have been really good. I’m glad your enjoying that beers I sent!

 

I've had plenty of success with dry yeast all the same. Don't know why it gets such a bad name. Cheers!

 

Good evening all, and Happy Grillin' In the Snow and New Grisette Sunday! I'd been looking for an example of the grisette style for quite some time. I finally found one during a a stop at Weiland's Market in Columbus last week: Jackie O's Scrip, a grisette-style ale aged in wine barrels. Before sampling this, I did a little research on the style. Searching on the definition of "grisette" first, I came up with an edible woodland mushroom with a grey cap and a young 17th-century working-class French woman who wore a cheap dress made of grey fabric ("grisette" derives from "gris," or "grey"). I ran across an article on draftmag.com that went into some detail on the origins and characteristics of the grisette style. Originally brewed for miners in the Hainaut province of Belgium, grisette gets is name from the grey color of the beer attributed to the long boil time and the amount of wheat used. Or maybe from the grey dresses worn by the beer servers. Or possibly from the grey dust covering the miners returning from the stone quarries. So much for what we don't know. What we do know is that grisettes are low in alcohol, they are brewed with a portion of malted wheat for body and texture, and they have noticeable hopping levels. Scrip, which honors southeastern Ohio's mining heritage and is named for the currency used in mining camps, is brewed with malted wheat and uses Jackie O's house saison yeast and brettanomyces clausenii, then aged in oak wine barrels (source: porchdrinking.com).

Scrip pours a pale greyish-yellow color, with a couple of fingers of white head that left some nice lacing as it settled. Lovely aromas and flavors of lemon, tart apple, and brett funk. I detect a note of minerality as well, much as you might find in a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc. Very refreshing, exquisitely dry finish. Served in a #proper Zwanze 2018 goblet.



I thought this would make a fine table beer, so I decided to test that hypothesis with these grilled-to-perfection (i.e. rare) lamb chops, marinated in a rub of minced fresh herbs and served with pita chips, hummus, nuts, and cheese. It worked surprisingly well.



Review pending.

 

I really liked that one - wanted a bit more of the lime, but it was terrific all the same. Being my first RAR beer, I was happy for the opportunity to try it. Appreciate you sending it along to me!

Every single thing you've sent has been new to me and amazing. Thanks again, Larry!

 

Good evening and happy New Beautiful Sunday, BAs. Been gone all day visiting some extended family in breathtaking Mt. Hood. Finally got to check off one of my long time brewery visit wants in Parkdale, Solera Brewing. Had a fantastic farmhouse style Belgian Dubbel, a Harvest Weisse (sour), and a Simcoe Fresh Hopped DIPA. Didn't bother with a review as I was too busy enjoying the scenery and company.








But now time for another new beer. @joe1510 must know that I'm mostly Swedish and Danish despite my stupid last name and obsession for German brews, otherwise why else would he send me something so unique. Oh, right, because I love this kind of stuff!

New Glarus Brewing Company
R&D Gotlandic





Brewed with Scandinavian Barley and foraged juniper...

A beautiful color. Deep garnet with a darkened core. It has great clarity and is capped with a foamy light tan head that looks as soft as a pillow above. As the shimmering bubbles pop one by one, the craters fall slowly back in leaving tree branches of lace from top to base.

Smoke is the first distinguished element, but it is not overbearing. Like the embers at the end of a late night campfire. A light sour apple comes next followed by an earthy tone and just a touch of pressed juniper berries.

A light smoke is once again the first thing to come to taste. Caramel is often used as a descriptor in some beers, but this one actually has a dark caramel flavor to it. Perhaps it is enhanced by the addition of juniper which is dually noted. Either way, it is not too rich and pairs with, even cuts down perhaps, the smokiness perfectly. Though the aroma led me to believe there would be some berry or apple like tartness, there is not. However, there still is a mild red apple skin linger in the end.

The feel is perfect for this beer. Rich and hearty to keep you warm on a cold autumn night or winter day, but still smooth enough to draw large sips at the edge of a roaring fire. It's sweet, but the added smoky character gives a perception of near perfect balance. It coats the mouth between each sip, and gives off a subtle and enjoyable alcohol warmth.

Gotlandic is awesome. Very unique, and I can only think of one other beer that was anything remotely similar. I enjoyed both immensely. This would be one hell of a beer to drink outside in the snow at night, but I think I'm quite content with my fall evening version of the story just the same.

Thanks again Joe. Sköl!

After my official review,I gave Gotlandic a rating of 4.42, with an rDev of +2.8%.

 

Anytime, this is what makes the BIF so much fun!!

 

Jack's Abby - Fire in the Ham Kellerbier

I'm wrapping up today's keller-fest with one more from the Jack's Abby Keller Series. I accidentally saved the best for last. This is a Rauchbier.

It's a nice deep golden color. Rauchbiers are pretty much the only beers that make me want to stick my nose in them the way that today's drinker sniffs an American IPA for hours. As far as my nose is concerned, rauch malt is my version of new world hops... and when I poured this sucker, my nose was happy. The initial smoke in the taste backed up the aroma. This one gives the impression of new ash in a fireplace (in a good way). I had my usual reaction to Rauchbier, in that the smoke hits with force in the beginning, and then blends into the beer (or takes a back seat) once I get deeper in. The malt here is warming, and the hops eventually shine in the third act. The drinkability is fantastic. Something about that good clean smoke getting integrated. This one just seems to hit all the right notes tonight. All in all, this is really the most enjoyable smoked American beer I've had in a very long time.

It's not unusual for me to change my mind about a brewery (for better or worse), and I gotta say, ever since Jack's Abby started canning, they've been gradually winning me over. I never disliked their beer, but I never felt satisfied by it all things considered (this was back when they were more of a BA fan favorite before the days of NEIPAs). Getting their non-IPL lagers in formats like this have been a big improvement for me.

@TongoRad , I'm tagging you on this despite all the clean-up you've got to do.

 

Happy Oh, Boy, It's JoBoy's New Beer Sunday (Week 712), continued!

I got in a full shift today so the early start really helps! We weren't overwhelmed, but it was steady. At any rate, I am back & looking forward to drinking the rest of my JoBoy's bottles, picking up with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22459/149744/?ba=woodychandler#review

but I was left really wanting to move on, so I revisited another of their beers, this time from a Bottle:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22459/57264/?ba=woodychandler#review

Things were looking up, so I continued with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22459/149747/?ba=woodychandler#review

but I was still unfulfilled, so I ended this foray with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22459/101334/?ba=woodychandler#review

I'd like to get in (at least) one more beer, but this is the last of my JoBoy's beers. I cringe at the thought of opening a third NBS post, so it may go into WBAYDN. I just dislike clogging this weekly thread. 8=(

BTW, @cavedave ,keep the kickback. It is flattering to know that "Crack! & Glug" has entered the vocabulary & further that it is being used correctly. It CAN only be applied to opening a CANned beer & was a response to @tickd717 who once accused me of simply being a "Ticker". I replied that such CANnot possibly be the case since CANned beers do NOT "Tick", they merely "Crack!" & "glug". He has not been heard from in a while, so clearly, I am the more CANmitted of the two of us.

If I do not return before this week's close, I'll do my best to be here on Su, 21 Oct 2018.

 

Cheers, BAs. Once upon a time, I was a much more active homebrewer. Now with kids at home, I don't get much time to do it anymore but I had a rare day to myself earlier this week and managed to get a batch in. Decided to do a Northern English Brown Ale with an ABV clocking in at 4.6%. Nice and light with some nutty and chocolatey malt flavor for the fall. I just finished cleaning some bottles ahead of what will be bottling day tomorrow. I switched from extract to all-grain brewing a few years ago and I feel it's really improved the quality of the beers. It also gives me more control over the ingredients and techniques, which I really enjoy.

My new beer for today is not a brown ale, but rather a Pilsner from Saranac. It was part of their German Roots mixed 12-pack which also contained a Schwarzbier, Vienna lager, and Oktoberfest. All of them were really solid, definitely recommended if you're a lager fan like myself.

Saranac 1888 Pils

Pale gold and bright, showing excellent clarity. Capped with a creamy white head that leaves patchy lacing behind on the glass and has great retention.

Nose is potent with apricot and freshly cut grass. The apricot fruitiness from the hops carries over into the flavor, and it's a little odd for a German-style pilsner, but it's not unpleasant. Sweetness from the malt combines with a firm hop bitterness in the finish. Medium-light bodied.

Not the most accurate representation of a German-style pilsner, but it's tasty enough in its own right. Clean, refreshing and unique.

3.82/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

Thanks to @CanConPhilly I was finally able to try some Other Half brews. I am a bit jealous of all excellent IPAs you guys have access to up there, I'm content with good weather and almost excellent beer here in GA. Digging back into my BIF bounty. My wife opened the bedroom beer fridge the other day and said,"Damn you have a lot of beer", I just smiled and said, "Isn't life grand." Thank you again Matt!


Pours a super hazy golden orange with two fingers of white head.
Smells of mango and peach primarily. Some light citrus notes as well.
Taste follows with big peach notes, mango is present as well. Lemony citrus lingers in the end. No bitterness to speak of though.
Medium body with ample carb levels.
Overall another great one! Well balanced, smooth, tasty.

 

Greetings, NBS nation. Long week dealing with cars, work, church music, and general whathaveyou.

We took the 22 month old grandson apple picking on Saturday. It was cold and drizzly, but he had a blast. I think he actually picked one apple and ate about four.

Interesting kickoff topic, @lordofthewiens and one I expect generated very different responses. My wife has some good family, but her parents don't make the list. No father in law, and she and here mother aren't exactly friendly. We'll leave it at that. My parents have not always been kind to her either, especially when we first got married. It's been 36 years, so we've done ok...

The beah:



Courtesy of the missus. She had a science ambassador meeting at Worcester Polytechnic and swung in to Wegman's who apparently got all of this that was shipped to MA. She got the last four pack.

I never had the previous incarnation of this beer, so no preconceptions. From the fridge, it pours a slightly cloudy reddish brown with the tight, short khaki head. A bit unremarkeable. As it warms, it clears and the red hues emerge and the look is fabulous, ruby-like with brown hues. The head falls to a ring and rafts, and this beer sheets off the glass like a brandy. So now that she's warmed up...

The smell is rich and boozy. Bourbon and vanilla, spicy, toffee, molasses, dark fruit, caramel, sweet, and maple syrup leaning towards the maple candies that are a favorite guilty pleasure of mine. A little leathery, a hint of tobacco. I don't think I am done unraveling this just yet.

The taste just jumps the dial to eleven. This stuff is ridiculous...taste buds have no chance. Everything in the smell just comes alive. This is a big boy beer, no doubt. I was worried it would be a sugar bomb, and it is sweet but not so sweet the deep, layered flavors are ruined. The maple does remind me of maple sugar candies, there is molasses, vanilla, oh you best believe there is bourbon, dark fruit in the form of cherries, figs, dates. A little hot on the alcohol at the moment, but nothing a few months won't cure.

Definitely a sipper, nothing about it is refreshing, but it isn't much more than medium bodied, and the carbonation is minimal. Now I have to debate hanging on to the remaining three as I am finding the alcohol warmth quite pleasant.

Am I diggin this? Obviously. Have I sorted it all out yet, hell no but I think I will be sippin' and contemplatin' for a while. Outstanding, delicious brew in my opinion. Well north of the 4.0 mark, threatening to be an all time favorite.

Cheers!

 

Hey all and Happy NBS. My first new one for the evening comes from Ex Novo in Portland, OR. It’s their take on a German Pilsner and it’s called Perle Haggard-



No bottling date on this one, but it was added to BA back in March and there’s been no reviews since. If it is 7 months old, it’s held up very well.

The beer is a cloudy pale golden color with a nice frothy head that settles slowly and leaves a ton of lacing.

The nose is nicely balanced light crackery malt with spicy and slightly floral hops.

The taste follows the nose, but it’s very hop forward with the spicy/floral/grassy hops drowning out the crackery malt. It’s noticeable, but it’s sort of buried under all the hops

Feel is light and pillowy soft. Finishes semi dry with lingering moderate bitterness.

I enjoy this one a lot and would drink it again, but I do wish the hops were dialed back a bit in the flavor.

 

My slow-sipper of the night. First time trying, and the label has me excited.
Pipeworks- S'more Money S'more Problems. An ale brewed with graham crackers, cacao nibs, vanilla, and natural flavors. 10%abv.


L: Pours pitch black. Very minimal head formation, but does retain a khaki-colored ring around perimeter of glass. Small bubbles continuously travel up adding additional width to the ring. As I drink the beer, a nice amount of lacing is left behind.
S: Chocolate and roasted malts are dominant aromas. Subtle hints of vanilla as it warms. Alcohol is subtly present on the nose. Does have a smoky presence that reminds me of a campfire. Odd but welcoming.
T: Chocolate and that smoky/roasted malt flavor is dominant. Vanilla is subtle on the finish. As it warms, I can detect some marshmallow flavors, which helps intensify the vanilla. Graham cracker is present in the after taste but wish it was more up front. Smoky flavors are present making me feel like I am at a campfire. Booze is more detectible as it warms, but isn't off-putting.
F: Full and thick but doesn't have that syrupy/oily consistency. Its smooth and easy to drink. Carbonation is mild for the style. Great full bodied mouthfeel.
O: The beer tastes as good as the bottle art leads on. As far as s'mores go, I can see where Pipeworks was going with this, and I think they did a great job. Just pump up the graham cracker presence and this thing is perfection. Despite bottle size, I'll have no problem enjoying this down to the last drop. Cheers NBS!
Scoring:
Final: 4.36/5 rDev +5.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Time for one of my favorite styles.
Yum!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/418/371824/



4.17/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Moderate pour yields a one inch tan head over a dark brown body with sticky lacing that stays put. Muted nose of dark roasted malt, slight chocolate, slighter coffee, and even slighter dark fruit. Taste of bitter chocolate, dark roast coffee, a bit of molasses, and slight burnt espresso on the finish. Nice feel and overall, a pretty tasty stout. Cheers!

 

My next new one is Great Lakes 30th Anniversary Imperial Oyster Stout-



Pours cola brown with a tan head that settles to a thin coat on top of the beer

Nose is bitter dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans and a little black licorice

Taste is similar to the nose, but there’s also a mellow briny saltiness that rides under everything from start to finish

Feel is medium bodied with a sweet finish and lingering saltiness and bitterness

Overall great imperial stout with a nice briny saltiness that works well with the bitter, toasty flavors.