New Beer Sunday (Week 734)

Taking it easy today and just trying to prepare for the next week. Again, watching the B1G championship game with my Spartans vs that other team from Michigan. At least while both teams are playing well it creates a good rivalry.

NBS BIF hint: my target does not have a team from his current state in the B1G.

My first NBS for today is from @kemoarps ’s amazing LIF box. I love blueberries in beers. Not sure if that was coincidence from him or not, either way it was a nice beer!



12 ounce can, dated 1/16/19. Poured into a tulip.
Pours a deep copper, with purple highlights ( could be my subconscious because of blueberry). Orange tinted white head that left rather quickly.
Nose of citrus, particularly lemon peel and blueberry pancake. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very, very subtle.
The taste of this beer starts out similar to the nose. Citrus and resiny first, lemon peel, subtle but juicy blueberry. There is a fine graininess that evokes a pancake or muffin. Finishes dry and crisp with a lingering bite of underripe berry. Lighter body,
Interesting beer that keeps me coming back sip after sip.
3.87 rDev +.5%

 

New beer #6. Thanks @Jimmy_Kneecaps !

Astronaut Status - Wiseacre
BBA Stout - 12.2% abv
Vintage 2018
Score: 4.33 (-1.4% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32679/150545/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
A beautiful looking and smelling beer. A tad too much anise on the taste, but that’s a minor quibble. Tastes like cinnamon-vanilla-chocolate candies dipped in bourbon. Yum. Thanks again JT!

 

Forgive me for the inappropriate glassware, just didn’t want to fill the sink with style specific vessels....

So next up from Black Raven Brewing is this Trickster IPA courtesy of @kemoarps who has singlehandedly pulled me out of the NEIPA abyss



4.24/5 rDev +6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Nice amber colored beer with a decent beige head. Nose is well balanced with equal parts candy orange citrus and caramel malts. Taste is as equally balanced as the aroma as equal parts citrus, this time grapefruit, blends with pine and caramel. Finishes dry and crisp with a pine bitter lingering.

 

Today’s first and hopefully not last NBS beer came to me courtesy of @FFFjunkie

Thanks Danny Boy!

Three Floyds Grapes of Smash





Look: Murky and translucent amber / dried apricot color. One finger white head upon pouring vigorously, that disappears. A couple tiny bubbles here and there. The beer almost appears still.

Smell: Bright, acidic and fruity. Lemon citrus and white vinegar acidity. Apricot, peach, raisins, lemon, sweet tart candy. A faint note of nail polish remover. Some rotten fruit. As for funk, a slight must, with some powdery, lavender floral notes, but these qualities definitely take a backseat to the fruit and acidic aroma. Right before finishing my glass I start to get some Chardonnay like buttery notes.

Taste: On the tip of the tongue this beer has a mouth puckering sour acidity. Lemon juice. Mid palate brings many fruity notes including Granny Smith apple, apple cider, white grape, fresh apricot, juicy peach. Very tart fruit like one of the purple, hard, tart blueberries. The finish has a lacto acidity that nicely hits the jowels. Dry woody finish.

Mouthfeel: The beer has a lemon warhead feeling on the palate. If you’ve never had that candy before imagine how it would feel if your tongue started to crack open. Dry.

Overall: This is a very good beer. It’s very acidic. I rarely do not finish a bottle in one sitting, regardless of size or ABV, but for my stomach’s sake I’ve corked this puppy and will finish it later. If you like fruity and very acidic, with minimal funk, you will probably like this beer. The label says that this beer is a saison. It’s worth noting that there are no “spicy” saison like notes. If there are, the acidity covers them up.

3.75/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Note: There are now three ratings for this beer including mine and they range from 2.52 to 4.25.

 

Either you have a huge yard, or a dog who shits a lot! LOL

I get it. I have to do the same thing. Today would’ve been perfect since it’s so nice out but my yard is way too wet.

 

Beautiful Sunday here, Ham/ Cabbage/ taters on the menu and my favorite thread of the day.

Saranac Polar Haze, 6 abv. Unfiltered obviously brewed with Citra, Centennial, mosaic, simcoe. It’s hazy and it’s not overly sweet, the nose and taste are mild sweet fruit but a very nice bitterness here. The world won’t turn but this is still a very well done beer, simple and easy to drink, absolutely nothin to be critical of with this beer. I hate to use the word solid, but it is that plus, again I hate to rate but I’d say 3.75 - 3.80 or so. A comfortable beer to drink but it’s not really overly anything, not meant to be a left handed compliment. A beer to just drink and not get over analytical over.

I can’t get pictures to link from my phone to my pad.

 

I have shit shy dogs. They will never poop on a walk. They always wait until we get home. Really strange. Also, yes, they shit a LOT!

 

Good St. Patrick's Day/Selection Sunday, New Beer Samplers and commentators. And thank you, @lordofthewiens, for a hoops-themed intro. We're a big college basketball family. We follow Bucknell, UNC, and Seton Hall. Sadly, the Bison didn't make it this year but the Heels will and Pirates should. Friday's 1 point loss to Duke may have doomed Carolina to a second seed - not that it matters all that much.

On to beer. Each year for St. Patrick's Day Kane releases several variants of its Port Omna Milk Stout. This is Chocolate Mint conditioned on cocoa, peppermint, and chocolate mint. A lesser brewer might have produced something sweet and gimmicky - but not Kane. They know how to use adjuncts subtly but for maximum effect. This is a silky smooth chocolate milk stout with just enough peppermint to set it apart. I had the privilege of posting the first review:

4.37/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned on 3/5/2019. Poured into Port Omna commemorative pint glass. It pours an extremely dark cola color with two full fingers of foamy, khaki-colored head and lots of thick lacing. It's a great-looking pour. On the nose there is dark chocolate, roasted malt, char, and just a whiff of peppermint. I actually expected more of a mint aroma. The taste opens decidedly chocolately with rich cocoa and freshly-brewed coffee, as well as a nutty char. The peppermint finally appears at the end of the sip; subtle at first but becoming increasingly noticeable particularly as the glass warms. One thing I like is that it's not overly sweet. There is just a hint of bitterness at the finish. The flavors blend very well. It has a nice, full feel for a Milk Stout, with moderate carbonation, and I really like the 8.2% ABV which is substantive but doesn't distract. Overall, this Port Omna variant is really tasty and fun to drink, especially on St. Patrick's Day. Sláinte!

Another New Jersey brewed, St. Pat's-themed, beer awaits me as I'm feeling my 25% Irish heritage; and I hope you're all enjoying your new beer(s) on this festive day!

 

Dogs plural. That probably helps too!

 

Great review! And by the way, that's an excellent glass to drink from if you've had a few.

 

New post from me - been a while. Renegade Brewing's Depravity, a Chocolate Peanut Butter Imperial Stout, supposedly. Now, I did get a 4 pack so I have 3 more to work through but it didn't blow me away.
A - Looks the part; great rich brown/black foam, decent head retention
S - Here is where you get the first indication that it might be a let-down, more roast and coffee (?) than chocolate or peanut butter apparent, and
T - this confirms it - not much to enjoy on the palate, tastes thin for an apparently 10% imperial stout, almost no soul to this. Next time I'm letting it warm up for an hour before trying... could be just too cold.
M - good carbonation and mouthfeel, stays lively, but just no richness.
O - a pretty big disappointment. Not rating yet as I want to give this a more formal, 2nd try without food, but right now it would be about a 3.75/3.8 // 5 overall
CHEERS!

 

Interboro Mad Fat Fluid. A 7% IPA. My first Interboro beer.



Canned 3 weeks ago. Pours medium-dark hazy orange with a persistent white head (4.25)

The nose is peach, pineapple, strawberry, and resinous hops (4.5)

The taste follows, with orange, peach, berry, and a medium dose of crisp piney bitterness (4.25)

The mouthfeel is silky and medium with a lightly dry aftertaste (4.25)

Overall, very good. This reminds me of Captain's Daughter. Fruity Mosaic hops with a more traditional piney backbone (4.25) - 4.31 rDev +1.7%

 

Home from work and breaking into my first NBS beer



Foley's Irish Stout

Foley Brothers Brewing
Irish Dry Stout / 4.70% ABV

4.06/5 rDev -6% | Score: 4.32
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

L- The beer pours a deep glossy brown which appears lighter around the edges. The head is a solid two fingers of mocha froth. The head recedes to a thick mousse like film.
S-The nose is a nice mix of chocolate and roast. Slight edge to the chocolate.
T- The taste, unlike the nose, leans slightly roasty. Less sweet than a Guinness draught with more of a earthy hop presence.
F-Mouthfeel overall is medium. Carbonation is light. The earthy hops lend a drying quality which increase drinkability.
O- A well executed dry irish stout. Exactly what you would expect for the style. Recommended for Irish stout fans.

 

I'm a Bucknell alum. Mike Muscala is our crown jewel.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers on this St.Patrick's Sunday.

Right now it's a clear, 50° day outside. After a February and early March that featured temperatures significantly below normal, Spokane is now experiencing temperatures above normal that promise a messy next few weeks due to melting snow that is still freezing back up at night.

This year I did not partake in the revelry associated with this particular holiday, as green-dyed Bud Lite is not really my thing. Besides, I have to conserve my resources for NBS BIF #9.

Speaking of NBS BIFs, my first beer of the day comes to me from @Victory_Sabre1973 and his Secret Santa box to me that I've still got a couple more survivors from:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/48826/348101/?ba=woemad#review
He and I scored this one almost identically. It's a pleasant enough milk stout that is nevertheless not particularly memorable, except it's possibly the stout with the lightest abv percentage I've ever had.

I'll probably be back with another one.today, and there's a good chance it will be a stout, as I've a number of those that need to be cleared out due to the coming onslaught the newest NBS BIF promises to bring.

 

Happy NBS. Trying this Victory Java Cask Gold. 4.21 for me. Cheers all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/382615/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

You can’t talk about puppies and not post pics

 

NBS #2. Carton's Irish Coffee. I must be slipping. This is only my second beer of the afternoon yet I forgot to photograph the full glass. The thing about the Regular Coffee variants is that you have to like what Carton is seeking to emulate. It's a matter of personal taste. There's nothing wrong with this but I'm not into Irish coffee generally. I much prefer Cafe Y Churro, French, and St. Kitts. Regular Coffee, by definition, is quite sweet and the sweetness doesn't always work with the adjuncts. Again, it's a matter of personal preference and I commend Carton for this variant. Here's my review:

4.06/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The canning date stamp wasn't clear but it's reasonably fresh. Poured from 12 oz. can into a Carton pint glass. It pours an unusual orange-brown color with two fingers of fluffy, bright white head and a thick, creamy sheen of lacing. It's much darker in color than the base Regular Coffee. The predominate smell is mint, along with freshly brewed coffee. As the glass warms I can also smell nutmeg and toffee. When sipped, the first thing I taste is the Regular Coffee base; it's sweet as expected. At mid-sip there is a rush of mint that simulates creme de menthe, and nutmeg. It finishes with a vague spiciness. It is kind of like drinking two different beers. It has a creamy, pleasant mouth feel with moderate carbonation. I've always thought that 12% ABV is a little high for a Cream Ale and I've made that point in other reviews of the Regular Coffee variants. Overall, I get what Carton was trying to achieve and Irish Coffee is and interesting and well-made Ale. Like everyone else I have my favorite variants, e.g. Cafe y Churro, French, and St. Kitts. If you like real Irish coffee, then you will probably like this offering.

 

We had quite a good pizza night last night. My son drank all the new stout he purchased that I was saving for the St. P day NBS. At some point in the evening I had this Lawson's, but did not attempt to rate it.
Fresh day, done with the stouts for now. Here we are with a serious look at a fresh can of Chinookerd.

4.06/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16oz can dated 03/05/19 to a nonic.
Fairly transparent gold, but not clear. frothy large head fades slowly, leaves lacing. Barely visible rising bubble are truly tiny.
Smells of composted pine needles. Musty spruce, if I could coin that phrase.
PIney Chinook is obvious at the front, citrus rind mid mouth, malt damper finish.
Carbonation is unique, those bubbles are plentiful but really small compared to most beers.
Interesting beer, I would probably like it a little more with a different malt profile.