New Beer Sunday (Week 716)

Checking out Other Half's Triple Broccoli...

Canned 11/7/18, this triple dry hopped 10% abv IIPA features Mosaic, Simcoe, Hallertau Blanc, and Cascade hops... Pours an opaque golden orange like so many NEIPAs these days, with a finger or so of white foam that leaves lace lines down the glass... As with the Broccoli line, a really nice profile - various fruit suggestions from grapefruit to pineapple to orange, with notes of kiwi, berry, white wine grape, and melon... Earthier, more herbal and dank underpinnings ground the beer and round it off nicely... The feel is soft and smooth, with a medium-weight feel and moderate carbonation... And by way of contrast to some other reviews, I like the way the abv represents... Recommended...

 

I can say I am glad I picked up 3 bottles.

 

New Beer Sunday: American Imperial IPA

Evenin’ NBSers, with a report on a beer that features lemondrop hops.

This evening’s new beer is Troeg’s Golden Thing DIPA which showcases locally grown lemondrop hops.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/374824/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors are an interesting and complex interplay of light lemon, a bit of floral earthiness, some pine resin and some spicy white pepper all backed up with the noticeable bready malt and it’s light sweetness. An interesting beer that is worth trying if you can find it.

There’ll be no music on the player this week since we plan on watching the Eagles-Cowboys game that will be starting in 15-20 min.

Cheers, all!

 

Ok, this is a major upgrade from the last beer, but I'm not surprised.

Imperial Grind from Mother's Brewing

This beer is from the NBS BIF #8 and thanks to @jdell15 for sending me it. Yet another one you've sent that knocks it out of the park. All the flavors are well balanced, and quite tasty. Great mouthfeel. Like I said - a huge upgrade from my first beer.

Review

4.28/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours pitch black. There's a minimal amount of head. What's there is brown that fades into a ring around the edge of the glass.
The nose has notes of coffee and chocolate on it. I also get a hint of vanilla.
Taste - first sip at 54 F - Chocolate, vanilla, and, of course, coffee. The coffee is on the backside, and it hits hard. The chocolate and vanilla are up front.
The body is quite good. The coffee feeling does linger in my throat, and feels good.
A great beer from Mother's Brewing. Really well put together all around.


I think I'll be able to get another in tonight. See you in a while.

 

I had mixed feelings on this one. I'm a rum lover but the beer felt out of sync. I think the lime didn't quite work for me. I've got another bottle though so I can either revisit or send to someone who is interested. Anyone ISO? Let me know.

 

I really did not get much lime in the taste, once it warmed I got more toffee rum and oak. I did get a good bit of lime in the nose.

 

Very nice American porter. Great head retention/foamy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big lightly tart/tangy black raspberries, fruit skin/seed, dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, nuts, and toasted dark bread; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, dark fruit, smoke, charcoal, wood, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, pine, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate pine, herbal, woody, grassy, peppery hop; roast/char bitterness; and slight fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; creamy/bready/grainy malts, some sticky/resinous hop, and chalky char/roast in the mouthfeel. Slight acid/tangy fruit. Light-moderate increasing bitter/tart dryness, minimal acrid/astringency. Very smooth, not overly aggressive, 6%. Just a little too bitter/drying than I'd prefer, but spot on American style. Great balance of rich black/roast/bready malts and earthy hops; nice raspberry presence, without being overly tart. Got smoother as it warmed up. 3.9


This is incredible. Solid head retention/lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge lightly tart raisins, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, peach, pear, apricot, red apple, red grape, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cinnamon, chili pepper, peppercorn, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, nuts, and brown bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, milk chocolate, cocoa, coffee, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Increasing booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overly whelming. Light-moderate peppery yeast, cinnamon, chili pepper, bourbon/oak tannin spiciness; and light herbal/grassy bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation and medium-full body; very creamy, silky, bready malts; some sticky spice, and bourbon/oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing spicy/tannic/carbonated dryness. No cloying/astringency. Dangerously smooth sipping. Mildly increasing warmth of 14%, minimal barrel booziness. Amazing for a huge ass quad. Perfectly balanced fruity/spicy yeast, spices, raisins, rich malts, and bourbon barrel integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Well worth the price. 4.3


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

The look of that beer freaked me out - after I looked at it, I went and prayed a rosary, whilst hoping my head didn't spin around as I puked split pea soup all over a priest.

#Shiver

 

Oakd Bourbon Barrel Aged Festbier

I apologize for not having photobucket or some other compatible image software because I don't feel like I'm doing enough compared to you guys.

3.94/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I was intrigued by this the first time I saw it. Poured from a pint can into a DFH tulip, it looks like an apple cider, the sweet non alc kind you find at fruit farms, with a nice light head and a cloudy yeasty thing going on at the bottom. Smell is what I associate with a sour with little barrel presence. The barrel comes forward more in the taste but not overpoweringly because it still retains a light demeanor which carries forward into the mouthfeel. But there's some light vanilla going on along with other pleasant complexity.

Maybe some festbier purists would consider this an abomination of the style but I think it works well in forming its own little niche of autumn pleasures. The craft beer ethos imo.

 

Good evening NBS and thank you to all the veterans at the bar tonight!

I picked this mug up a couple years ago at a thrift store and drink from it every Veteran's Day as a salute to the individual whose friends or family decided to part with it...

The review:
500mL can poured into a 400 mL siedel mug at fridge temp 4.7% ABV. The beer pours bright golden straw yellow with off white head. The head recedes to a few bubbles and a pencil thin ring.
No lacing. The aroma is fairly strong for a pils with honey, bread, flowers and grass all represented. The taste is similar throughout with medium grassy bitterness laid over pils malt. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied, adequately carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. There is a hint of diacetyl which is to be allowed per style. Overall, pretty good. I see an imported lager that's new to my local store, I buy it. Would pass on future purchases only because I can find no sign of a package date.

I sometimes peruse NBS at work on a Sunday just to find some joy between the petty adolescent behavior that can happen in a steel mill. Didn't work real well today. Let's all appreciate beer and each other. Life is hard enough. Cheers all!

 

Structures GOATUS

Evening, BAs. I used to read the funny pages growing up. I actually remember “reading” them in the paper at the barber shop before I could even read. The Far Side was the one I’d eventually get the books and desk calendars for.

It’s been a while since I had a paper calendar or paper newspaper. The last comic strip I read regularly was called “Get Your War On” and came out right after 9/11. It was super topical and carried by a number of city weeklies. Seems very dated now, but I thought it captured the moment perfectly.



Back to the beer — a Black IPA with cool can art, sent by @beertunes in the NBS BIF.

GOATUS pours a plum-tinted near-black color with a half-finger of dark khaki head. It has solid lacing at first, but the lacing isn’t that lasting.

Sickly-sweet overripe orange, chocolate and paint thinner stand out in the nose.

Big chocolate bitterness dominates the taste: cocoa powder, char, ash — and then some of the orange behind it. Just a hint of alcohol solvent is in there, too.

The feel is medium bodied and smooth with moderate carbonation.

The aroma and taste are mirror opposites, and I’m definitely happy that the taste is the darker of the two. I like orange-flavored chocolate, and this has some of that, but the orange is too sweet to my taste and the chocolate a little too ashy. Basically, the flavors aren’t melding for me.

I appreciate the opportunity to try it nonetheless.

 

Today i'm trying one of the last beers I have left from @Dwood1466 's box I got in the BIF

Spon I - Three Year Blend
Botted on January 25th, 2017, aka its almost 2 years old.
From a 12.7 oz bottle (375ml, Texans just don't want to subscribe to the metric system lol)

When I first popped the cap, I got a bit worried as there was some liquid trapped in there (anyone ever see this with a cork and cap bottle? I usually keep my corked bottle on their sides, which definitely didn't help in this case)

Nonetheless, it didn't seem to have really done anything, just leave the bottle with a slightly lower fill line. The cork was a bit wet the whole way through, but still popped. Carbonation was definitely not missing =)

Look: Pours a hazy orange, and settles the same into the glass. A good two fingers of head, they dissipate within a few minutes to a thin but solid layer.
Nose: Pretty classic lambic. Apple, hay, barnyard
Taste: a bit surprised on this one. as it has a much sweeter note than most belgian lambics. Apple, citrus, wood. Dry, funk, with a bitter ending. Does change quite quickly in the glass; after about 15 minutes the sweetness faded and a tannic bitterness took over; i do appreciate that more than the original sweetness. Also has a pillowy mouthfeel, which is a nice

I love lambics and other coolship brews because in the beer world they're by far the most emblematic of the tie and place of their brewing. With American lambics, I love how we can do that from state to state, I actually think my next major side by side tasting will be just that, if I can get my hands on some of the bottles.
So far I've had Allagash - Coolship Resurgam, New Glarus R&D 2015 Lambic, and Spon I three year blend. I won't rank them, as they are all seriously good and I would definitely love to try all of them again (and again and again).

Thanks again @Dwood1466 !!!

 

Maybe I'll give it another go then. My biggest beer weakness is not giving things enough time to warm up.

 

I felt like this was best at near room temp, right out of the fridge the lime was really strong I drank it over the period of maybe 30 or 40 minutes and the last little bit was the best. I put my others in my stout fridge and will drink closer to room temp.

 

Nah, Bowser isn't around anymore.

 

New Oddball Beer Sunday

This next beer up, from Firestone Walker, is a blend of 80% Helldorado (barleywine) and 20% Velvet Merkin (Oatmeal Stout) aged in rum barrels with ginger and lime. That sounds....interesting.

Let's see where it takes us, shall we?

Firestone Walker - Dark & Stormy



Dark & Stormy looks about as pretty as a big bruiser can look. The body is the deepest of reds, mahogany, with chestnut brown highlights through the near perfect clarity. This beer glows, warming. The foam has a beige cast to it and is full on velvet. A finger in height on the pour before lazily receding to a respectable crown. Near perfect drink lines are left after each sip. (4.25)

The nose on this guy is more reminiscent to a winter warmer than I would think of anything Caribbean. Gingersnaps kick start this one with soft baking spices in the background. It's got that spiced cookie note that pops up around Christmas time. Toffee brings about a sturdy backbone as well while candied lime peel adds a touch of candy-like sweetness. Nutmeg, cardamom, wood spice, and soothing vanilla make up the rum barrel presence. This stuff smells pretty special. (4.5)

The flavor follows the nose pretty closely. It's gingersnap and lime peel off the bat, neither of which are harsh or intrusive as they can be. That spiced cookie presence is just right when combined with the depth brought about by the rum barrels. Toffee, soda bread, fruitcake. This beer is loaded with malt complexities while every other aspect is complimentary. This beer has layer after layer of complexity with no hard edges. (4.25)

If I were forced to choose my least favorite aspect of this beer it would be the mouthfeel. With that said, it's still good. A few ticks over moderate in weight it has a slickness and a touch of stick on the finish. It could use a bit more chew but that's some serious nitpicking. The carbonation is soft and dialed in perfectly. This thing goes down dangerously easy. (4)

Dark & Stormy sounded like it could be a big mess to me, but then I figured "It's Firestone, barrel aged, and in a box. It can't be all bad." Luckily, it was excellent. Like I said upfront, it's very holiday season-esque with the spice, malt profile, and rum aging. Great depth of flavor and perfectly even handed. (4.25)

4.29/5 rDev +7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Next up is a new porter from Down the Road Beer Co. It's a collaboration between the brewery and the local brewery tour bus organization that takes people to a bunch of Boston and Greater Boston-area breweries. I've never done one of these tours, but I imagine it would be a fun way to spend a day, especially if you're kind of new to the area or don't know what you're in the mood for other than doing a beer-related day trip.

This is Folktour, a "hot cocoa porter." Hmm...



Love the label art here. Nikki Rossignol's art graces many of DTR's releases, but this one is especially great because it features a bunch of the mythological creatures that tend to inhabit the labels of other DTR brews, including Pukwudgie and Undine! Clever little illustration.

This pours an impenetrably-dark black color with an initially intense showing of deep brown/mocha head that builds up to a huge froth atop the depths of the liquid in my glass. Over time, however, it calms down to a very slight and thin, sparse collection of medium-brown bubbles. Almost reminds me of the foam on a cup of cold brew coffee.

The nose is, of course, heavy on the chocolate and cocoa elements right up front. I swear I even get a little bit of a marshmallow or vanilla element as well, but it could be the power of suggestion based on what's written on the can and how they describe it on the label ("a hot cocoa porter to warm your bones through the cold winter months"). There's a slight bit of caramel and a smidgen of roastiness here, too, but overall this is overwhelmingly chocolate-y. That said, I honestly don't think it will come across that sweet on the tongue. Let's hope I'm right and that it's a balanced and drinkable, enjoyable affair rather than a cloying one.

Happy to report that this is pretty satisfying on the tongue. Sure, it's slightly sweeter than most porters I've had recently, but it does have a slight leafy hop element and a mid-palate providing some solid roast. The finish is pure decadent cocoa, but the feel is lighter bodied with what I assume is a pretty high degree of attenuation... basically just like I expect a modern American porter to have. I've consistently held that, to me anyway, the biggest difference between a stout and a porter can be found in how it hits the tongue along with its follow-through on the palate. This is definitely much more in the porter realm, as advertised, with a bubbly and consistent carbonation, palate-coating flavor and quick finish without much thickness or density. I don't get much of the marshmallow-like note I picked up in the nose, so I don't think that translated to the palate well, although its appearance was likely mere trickery, as I mentioned. I enjoy this and will definitely finish my can, but I don't think it will be a go-to dark beer for me this winter season.

 

I was definitely surprised with this one.
Tasty indeed!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32783/112300/



16 oz. can.
As per label: 7.8% abv.
Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 1/2 inch tan head over a dark brown body with scant lacing. Nose of roasted malt, chocolate, and very slight maple. Taste follows nose with more maple flavor, chocolate, and molasses, brown sugar as it warms. Very tasty with a good feel. Let this baby warm a bit for a more enjoyable experience.
Cheers!

4.06/5 rDev +10.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

 

Tell me more about the TC box. Have an Encore?

 

I'm back for another new beer. This time, I'm drinking All Hops on Deck by Moonraker Brewing. It is a West Coast Double IPA brewed with a whole bunch of different hops, namely Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, Centennial, and CTZ. The canning date is 10/19/18. Let's get to it.



The beer comes in classic deep amber color and is completely clear. A semi-aggressive pour generates a finger of frothy off-white head. The head dissipates slowly and leaves beautiful strips of lacing all over the glass. Smell is first-of-all pine, which is surprising, given that Mosaic is the dominant hop. There are some citrusy notes as well. Taste is more citrusy upfront, though pine is also present. A solid malt backbone compliments the hop profile. Both the taste and the smell are Pliny-like, but Pliny has a tad more oomph, imo of course. The feel is traditional for West Coast DIPAs, with body slightly-above-average body (that isn't either too dry or too wet) and medium carbonation. Although this beer clocks in at 8.5% ABV, no alcohol is apparent on either the smell or the taste.

In my opinion, this is very solid. I usually say this about Pliny, but the comment applies here: this checks all of the boxes and performs admirably in all BeerAdvocate categories. I think this beer can hold its own with some of the best traditional IPAs out there. Rating in-style, relative to West Coast IPAs.

4.75 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.75 | 4.5
Overall Rating: 4.48 (rDev: +8.7%)