New Beer Sunday (Week 753)

Happy NBS. Really digging this Aslin Black Friday Green. Those folks know Stouts. Killer. A 4.61 for me. Cheers all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42560/382968/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

Bell's Official Hazy IPA.
Bought this because I've seen people on this site hype it up. Decided to give it a try.
Well, I'm not going to enter a real review in the database because A, I've been brush mowing dust all day and just not smelling things right and B, this can is dated 02/19/19!!!. I have to say for 5 months, it doesn't taste horrible. I kind of don't believe the date honestly, but maybe. It was entered into the BA database in January.

Nice NEIPA look- opaque orange, white head that fades about 3 minutes in to minimal lacing.
Again, I can't smell today, but the taste definitely has some pineapple and apricot with sharp bite at the end (age?). Minimal to no carbonation at the end of the session (age?). Some tongue coating though.

I guess I will have to try a fresher can some day. I don't have a marketing degree, but to me that font and name makes me think its something Bell's should have reserved for some future AAL of theirs. Looks baseballesque. Maybe that's why this can was such a shelf turd at the store.

 

Happy NBS from Tennessee! Today's offering is from Heaven & Ale down in Chattanooga:



This beer is a totally opaque bright yellow color with a thick and long-lasting white head. Great lacing in the glass. The aroma was tropical with pineapple > tangerine > vanilla. So far, so good! The taste was another story as the vanilla really dominated the drink. The tropical notes were there along with some piney and earthy flavors, but the vanilla really overshadowed things. The feel was definitely milkshake - thick, creamy, and sweet. I would love to taste one of these with 1/2 of the vanilla adjunct. Cheers!

 

Hey congrats! I know a guy named Nick who works at Revival as a brand ambassador (though he may do something else now?) and I think he likes it. Cheers!

Alright, my last new beer of July 28th, 2019 is this... a collaboration between two en-vogue breweries: Commonwealth and Finback.



This is an oak-aged imperial chocolate stout with toasted coconut and cinnamon, clocking in at 10%. I enjoy a lot of beer from both of these breweries (and, of course, I've had some misses from both of the involved collaborators as well, but I typically find them to be quite good and, at the very least, quite inspired), and have been excited for a few days to dig into this one. I tend to find coconut stouts hit-or-miss, as the "suntan lotion"-like element can really break an otherwise-good beer. Let's hope this finds a good balance and comes out good, shall we?

Pours a very scary looking deep brown that borders pure black... yikes. Also, with even a lesser pour, this one ended up all over my counter, so the contents are definitely under pressure. That said, great mocha-colored head of tight foam that leaves behind incredible lace for the style... awesome legs, too. Nice stuff. Just be careful when pouring!

The nose has a lot of fruit and tropical notes that took me a bit by surprise. I get, like... chocolate-covered mango and orange? It's weird. I'm not sure it's intentional. The coconut isn't really here, to be honest, but the spicy cinnamon does show up here and there. I suppose some tannins from the barrel play a role in shaping this one, as well, but this isn't what I expected. Hmm...

On the tongue, this is just soooo lush and chocolate-y. I almost notice nothing but how chocolate-forward and rich it is. It's like a piece of goddamn chocolate cake. Sure, there are some orange and spice elements as well, but... yeah. Slight woody bite toward the finish, but, again... no coconut whatsoever. I've long been of the mind that I would rather breweries skimp on a stated ingredient instead of biasing the beer heavily and ruining it with some one-note garbage, but I am concerned why I don't taste even a bit of coconut here. It's just so fruity and chocolate-y. This is like an actually-drinkable version of Southern Tier's Choklat Oranj from like five years ago, honestly. I don't think they came even remotely close to what they wanted to achieve (which kinda doesn't surprise me; like I said, these two breweries can be oddly inconsistent), but it's not bad. It's not really what I wanted going into it, but it's more refreshing and drinkable than what I had in mind so... uh... okay? I think barreling this might have been a poor choice. If this were just an adjunct-laden stout, it probably would've been more in line with expectations, but it almost feels as thought the barrel-aging thinned it out. Perhaps it got a little infected? Doesn't taste that way, but... hmm... one must wonder.

And with that, I'm done for the day. Maybe one more non-new beer as a shower beer soon. This year's Baxter Summer Swelter is tasting really good... or a Galaxy Dry-Hop Pseudo Sue from the four-pack I bought yesterday... hmm...

Cheers all, and have a great week!

 

NBS #2. Where the Buffalo Roam, a BBA American Barleywine from Cameron Brewing in Ontario. Why? First, because it's about as different a beer from the Carton Clam Ale I previously reviewed as I have in the fridge. Second, because I love Barleywines (particularly the English variant) and it's hard to find them in the summer. Third, because my wife's and my college mascot is a Bison. It's a big, bitter brew with abundant tobacco smoke and earthy char but enough toffee and raisin to identify it as a Barleywine. Very nicely done.

4.04/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from undated can into a tulip glass. It has a classic Barleywine appearance: opaque orange-brown with a thick, creamy eggnog-colored head and thick, soapy lacing. At first, there wasn't much of a smell but as the glass warmed it became more pronounced: caramel, raisin, brown sugar, leather, tobacco, earthy char, and bourbon notes. The taste opens with sweet malts, toffee, and hints of raisin and brown sugar. But the sweetness upfront is quickly overcome by burnt peat, char, resinous pine, and tobacco ash. As the glass warms, the bourbon and oak notes increase. And it's a bitter brew at 90 IBU. The Cascade hops do their job well. It has a fairly creamy mouth feel with moderate carbonation, and you can feel the warming 13% ABV from the first sip. Overall, Where the Buffalo Roam is a very nice example of an American Barleywine. While I generally prefer the less-bitter English variation, this was a pleasure to drink and I wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

 

Hope everyone had a good Sunday so far. Got most of what I needed to do today taken care of. No rhyme or reason to why I review what I do, it is all about finding the next new beer. Always has been. I have had so many different ones that most IPAs start tasting the same. I can roughly figure out hops, malts, yeast, spices etc. in the beers. It might seem like I always rate everything relatively highly all the time, but mostly I try and find something worthy about the beer, even if there is an infection or off flavor. Sometimes the style is flat out incorrect. Sometimes like the case with Micheladas, I learned to like a certain style more recently. Used to hate them only a year or two ago. It may seem like a chore to some people to do it 365 days a year, but I've been having fun with it. Sometimes I take a break for a few days.

Beer:

Another new MI brewery in cans. Awesome Belgian Blonde ale. Lasting fluffy head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, orange, peach, pear, apricot, banana, bubblegum, clove, coriander, peppercorn, melon, red apple, wheat, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, herbal, floral, wood, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, woody, grassy bitterness; peppery yeast spiciness; and light wheat tang/tartness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/bready/grainy wheat and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter/spicy/carbonated dryness; no cloying/astringency. Very flavorful/refreshing, not watery for 5.2%. Awesomely well rounded Belgian yeast complexity, with a nice sized pale/wheat malt backbone, and noble hop presence for the ABV. Light residual sweetness with crisp dryness. Will buy again. Spot on stuff. 4.13


Cheers

 

Absolutely agree on the can graphics. Looks like a throwback to baseball beers.

 

Great Divide Cherry Chocolate Yeti. I hoped for more, but no slouch, 3.91 overall

Pours an effervescent ebony with 2 fingers of fluffy mocha colored head. Good lacing and below average head retention

S: Roasty, a little vanilla and coffee

T: Follows the nose, a little cherry and leafy hops up front with much dryness ( woody & roasty ). Much roastyness and dryness, some dark cherry and woodyness. Finishes dry, roasty with leafy hops and maybe just a little vanilla & cherry

MF: Medium body, fairly firm carbonation, warming

I expected more, Yetis usually very much please/wow me. This is pretty good, just not in a league with most of the other itterations

 

Greeting NBS. The heat is building a bit with some humidity but a nice breeze is keeping things tolerable. Lawn mowed, dinner done. Kinda combined grilling and braising on some unsuspecting beef short ribs. Came out OK, so at least a draw for the first attempt. More texture than the typical pressure cooker straight braise method we use.

How I pick an NBS beer is pretty easy...I look around and pick something I have not had before. Y'all might remember that I stockpile and have a truly great supply of old beer, but I try to review fresher beers. Totally random, but I do try to buy new to me beers to have at the ready..reference - stockpile...

So what's in the glass?



Foundation Brewing Company's Briar - a 4.6% sour ale fermented with blackberries, raspberries, using Brettanomyces and aged in oak.

The picture doesn't capture the sparkling red appearance well at all. Very bright, very clear, kind of effervescent looking.

Smell is fruit and you can end the discussion there. I wouldn't immediately pick blackberry and raspberry, but certainly berry. Lightly sour.

This is not a complicated beer. The taste is fruit forward, there seems to be minimal intrusion from the Brett, there is some oak dryness, and some sour and a bit of phenolic sting on the back of the taste. The tea thing I typically find with berries, just a bit.

It seems a little thin, almost weisse-like light. Dry finish, not as effervescent on the tongue as it looks.

Overall, I like the beer. Nice and bright, mildly sour, fruit aplenty. I think to carry as much flavor as its attempting, it could be a bit more substantial to help deliver the big fruity flavors.

So I feel good, it is nice and refreshing after the sweat fest with the mower. Feeling this is a 3.8 on the landing zone. Not complicated, but delivers what it says it will, refreshing and tasty.

 

After looking at their website it seems possible that I was given this beer instead:
SPK Kölsch
5.1% ABV
Smoked Kolsch Style with Peaches
although if that's the case I didn't really pick up the peaches, or anything particularly fruity for that matter.

I guess I'll just have to ask the next time I'm down there.

 

OK, time to get down to business on the promised tasting.

Toppling Goliath Fire, Skulls & Money India Pale Ale
ABV: 7.2%
IBU: 50

Surly Brewing One Man Mosh Pit Hazy IPA
ABV: 7.2%
IBU: low

Fair State Co-op Mirror Universe Hazy IPA
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 33



This is NOT a blind tasting.

This is a rating to style, not an overall review of the beer based on whether or not I like it. And the "to style" is based on the BJCP Guidelines, not the style description here on BA, since that is too vague to actually be useful for a rating to style exercise (IMO).

Also, be aware this is based on my interpretation of the written style guidelines. I have had no training by BJCP or any other entity in beer judging. It is not based on comparing these beers to any of the "style standards" that are held up by BA members, since I have not had access to them at this point.

For calibration, in my numbers, 3.5 is considered hitting the main guidelines with no negatives & nothing particularly outstanding, either.

So I'll post the BJCP guidelines first, - so this post will get a little long. Sorry about that. There will be a much briefer summary at the end (after the TL;DR notation) for those who want to skip ahead.

When I post the actual reviews for these beers individually, they may be a bit different, since my personal "like / dislike" will perhaps play a bigger role.

Also, for the record, FS&M is not a new beer for me, but the other two are.

BJCP Style Guidelines
Aroma
Intense hop aroma, typically with fruity qualities (stone fruit, tropical fruit, and citrus are most commonly present) reflective of newer American and New World hop varieties without being grassy or herbaceous. Clean, neutral malt in the background, potentially with a light bready sweetness without caramel or toast. Absence of any malt character is a fault. Neutral to fruity fermentation character that is well-integrated with the hops. A creamy, buttery, or acidic aroma is inappropriate. Any perceived alcohol character should be restrained and never hot.

Appearance
Color ranges from straw to yellow, sometimes with an orange hue. Hazy, often opaque, clarity; should not be cloudy or murky. The opacity can add a ‘shine’ to the beer and make the color seem darker. Any visible floating particulates (hop matter, yeast clumps, etc.) are a fault. Medium to rocky meringue white head with high to very high retention.

Flavor
The hop flavor is high to very high, and reflects the same characteristics as the aroma (emphasis on fruit, with ripe tropical fruit, stone fruit, and citrus being most common). The perceived bitterness can be somewhat low to medium-high, often being masked by the body and finish of the beer. The hop character in the aftertaste should not be sharp or harsh. Low to medium malt flavor, generally neutral, sometimes having a bready, grainy, lightly sweet flavor. Noticeable toast or caramel flavors are a flaw. Fermentation character is neutral to fruity, but as with the aroma, supportive of the hops. Off-dry to medium finish. Creamy, starchy, or sugary-sweet flavors are inappropriate, although a high ester level and lower bitterness may give the impression of up to moderate sweetness. A moderate, supportive alcohol character is acceptable but should never be hot or dominating.

Mouthfeel
Medium to medium-full body with a smooth character. No harsh, hop-derived astringency. Alcohol warmth may be present in stronger versions, but should never be hot. Medium carbonation is standard. The beer should not have a creamy or viscous mouthfeel, an acidic twang, or a raw starch texture.

Overall Impression
An American IPA with intense fruit flavors and aromas, a soft body, and smooth mouthfeel, and often opaque with substantial haze. Less perceived bitterness than traditional IPAs but always massively hop forward. This emphasis on late hopping, especially dry hopping, with hops with tropical fruit qualities lends the specific ‘juicy’ character for which this style is known.

First up, Surly Brewing One Man Mosh Pit Hazy IPA
Aroma: 3.25
Citrus and tropical aroma. Pineapple is the predominant aroma, but a bit of grapefruit or orange as well. Deduction because the aroma is not intense; a bit weak, in fact, and is mostly one-dimensional.
Appearance: 3.0
Short slightly off-white head fades very quickly to a thin cap and ring with no lacing, eventually disappearing completely. Color is hazy orange-pineapple juice, no visible bubbles. Color is on-point, but the complete lack of carbonation bubbles and no head retention is a major negative.
Flavor: 3.25
Taste is mostly simple pineapple, perhaps a slight grapefruit, but that may come from the slight hop burn substituting for no bittering at all. Hop flavor definitely dominates, but it dominates an overall low flavor beer. Hits the mark for the hop flavors, but negative for the subdued and one-dimensional nature of them.
Mouthfeel: 3.5
Soft. A bit thin. No carbonation. Nothing distinctive. It is just a drink.
Overall Impression: 3.0
Overall finish is bland pineapple-ish, with an acidic taste left on the tongue. Considering the brewer, a disappointing and pretty boring take on a NEIPA. Very, very, very (I could go on) disappointing. I never expected this from Surly. Boring. Bland. Any other synonyms for below ordinary? It is not a drain pour, but it's not good beer by any stretch, either. The best thing I can say about this beer is that it is not offensive, and you can chug it easily (which might be a bad thing, given the ABV).

(I want to point out this tasting was side-by-side-by-side, even through I am listing them separately.)

Next,
Fair State Co-op Mirror Universe Hazy IPA
Aroma: 3.5
Smell is the strongest of the three. Pineapple, melon, strong multifaceted citrus / tropical fruit: pineapple, tangerine, orange, grapefruit.
Appearance: 4.25
White creamy head, nice lacing, bright orange, hazy, translucent, not turbid, no floaties. A little carbonation. Thick lacing as the head leisurely falls. Carbonation bubbles are faintly visible.
Flavor: 3.5
Juicy taste - fruit juices with pineapple, tangerine; but slightly dank. Somewhat sweet, but not overly so. Slightly bitter.
Mouthfeel: 3.5
Mouth feel is medium bodied and smooth, but not soft.
Overall Impression: 3.75
Finish relatively sweet, with mainly the pineapple flavor remaining on the tongue. Noticeable, but controlled, astringency in the finish. Overall nice, but mostly sweet pineapple juice. I enjoyed it, and am glad I have 3 more, but I won't be buying it again.

Finally, the beer that got this nonsense started:
Toppling Goliath Fire, Skulls & Money India Pale Ale
Aroma: 3.5
Smell pineapple & citrus, medium intensity.
Generic tropical. Too indistinct to say anything more.
Appearance: 4.25
Bright orange hazy color, visible, but tiny, floaties. The darkest of the three. Very nice looking beer. Thick, rocky , creamy head, with good retention, best of the three, some visible bubbles. Spotty lacing. Slight negative for the tiny floaties.
Flavor: 4.0
Taste is pineapple and citrus, bright, with very light bittering / hop burn in the middle with a touch of tingly tartness. Aftertaste is a bit piney and slightly bitter, moves toward dry. Best tasting of the three.
Mouthfeel: 3.75
Feel starts soft, medium body. This is counteracted by a slightly piney bitterness. Not overbearing, but just enough to break up the mouth feel a bit. Nails the mouthfeel.
Overall Impression: 3.75
The finish is semi-sweet, with a piney bitter aftertaste (again, not overbearing, but definitely the final act in your mouth is the bitterness).

Overall This is definitely not the same beer. TG is apparently chasing the NEIPA market with this reformulation.


OK: TL;DR Summary

Surly: Not a good beer. The ratings for this beer on this site must reflect the Surly +1 point (and more in this case) bias. But, how, then, did this beer come in at #6 in the MN blind tasting festival? The only explanation I can think of is the NEIPA-denigrating comment - which I don't agree with, but with a few more like this getting high ratings and I might change my mind - that it is beer style for people who don't like beer. That pretty much describes this beer. I can see the purpose as a tap room exclusive, a beer for your guest who is not into beer. But as a canned, supposedly year-round beer? O Surly, Surly! wherefore art thou Surly? (BTW, for the non-Shakespeare scholars out there, "wherefore" in this line from Romeo & Juliet means "why", not "where" - isn't English a wonderful language?.) BA calculation based on my to-style numbers: 3.21

Fair State: Respectable NEIPA. Hits the marks for all aspects, and is a nice looking beer, Much better than Surly. Enjoyable. BA calculation based on my to-style numbers: 3.60

Toppling Goliath: Not the same beer as the old bomber days. Best of the 3 as a NEIPA.
Overall This is definitely not the same beer. TG is apparently chasing the NEIPA market with this reformulation. It is not as bitter, but in all other ways, it is not as good. It IS closer to hitting the check-marks for a NEIPA than the previous incarnation. If this is a NEIPA, it is a thoroughly ordinary one. I suppose that is not what TG was going for. Too bad. BA calculation based on my to-style numbers: 3.82

An interesting exercise for me. I hope you enjoyed reading the results.

 

Well, what the heck would you know about berries anyway?

Sounds like a pretty tasty summer beer. Your description made me curious as to whether you've ever been approached by, or thought of approaching, a brewery to utilize your particular slice of the berry world?

 

I look forward to hearing from her. I reached out, months back, and a hiatus was already in the works. I hope she still channels her prose into her food. That lady can paint with words! I wish her well. Thanks for the head up, Dave.

 

The new Lagunitas Version. This was excellent! Fantastic lasting rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and brown bread dough/crust; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, smoke, raisin, plum, fig, pear, red apple, herbal, wood, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Similar/muted aromas, slight touch of diacetyl. Light herbal, woody, grassy, peppery, roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; very creamy, bready, grainy malts; some sticky hops and chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter dryness, no cloying/astringent. Very flavorful, pretty refreshing, not watery for 4.7%. This is substantially better than the Heineken brewed version. Awesomely clean/rich English malt complexity; with nice noble hop presence/balance, and restrained fruity yeast. Mild residual sweetness with lingering bitter dryness. Glad I got the pack! Will buy a second one. I don't have a go-to English brown ale, this is the one! 4.01


Cheers

 

Howdy, NBSites!
It is Sunday once again. Same old, same old for me. I worked a little this afternoon, got a couple chores done and hopefully I'm gonna be able to hang out and have a new beer or two while getting dinner going.

My first new beer today is a Bière de Garde from MaBrasserie here in Montreal. I love the style. I think it is underappreciated and under done and I think that these guys usually make great beers, but I admittedly bought this one solely because I was excited to see the label. Usually that is the last reason I'll get a beer, as per today's discussion, but here we are. As a born and bred Wyomingite, I am thrilled about almost any mention of or reference to my state. A Jackalope on a can of beer from Quebec is about as good as it gets! To make things even weirder, my wife bought a bottle of Irish gin a couple weeks back that also had a Jackalope on the label. Quite the coincidence.





She seemed very confused by my excitement over both labels. All of this made me wonder if the idea of this wily beast is universal or what. She knew what they were but had no idea why or from where. I always figured it was from Wyoming, but deep down I imagined it was just a general western thing that happened to be present in the state. Well, to my surprise, apparently (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope) the modern idea of a Jackalope is indeed a Wyoming invention from the '30s. It's always good to know that my hunch was more than that and I wasn't just being filled with blind pride for these western tourist-trap staples. Although that was definitely a factor, too. Obviously there are versions of hybrid rabbits going back a much longer time, longer even than the Pythons, but I was surprised nonetheless. Anyway, enough armchair cryptozoology. On to the beer.



It pours a crystal clear ruby-orange with a big off white head that sticks around well.
The aroma is all sweet doughy malt and molasses oats for horses. The flavor follows note for note, sweet almost-sticky malt sweetness,white chocolate, with some woodsy, medicinal hop bite to offset it. It is not very dry but not cloying either, with a nice bit light roast-toasty-sweet character that lingers in the finish. This is a nice, easy drinking beer that fits the style well. It is a little bit muddy for me in terms of the flavor, body and smell but the only really means that those parts being cleaned up for my tastes would bump it up from "very, very good" to "excellent."

I hope you all have some delicious new beers on tap today and I hope to be back later with another.

Santé!

 

Haven't had one since the label change. But IMHO, it's a classic.

 

Thanks for the super thorough write up!

That Surly beer sounds kind of tragic. Given how good their 'older school' IPAs were (I've only had a couple, but thought they lived up to their reputation) I can see why someone drinking that beer might shake their fist at the effect current trends are having on things

 

Sticking with Sand City for my next new beer of the day and it is a winner. Thanks to @EMH73 for this excellent IPA. III Little Birds from Sand City clocks in at 10.2% but if it wasn't on the label you would never no. The alcohol is perfectly hidden by the big tropical fruits and bitter dank hops. Thanks Evan this might be the best IPA over 10% I have had.




Appearance 4.75 - Pours opaque dull yellowish color with a huge white head, excellent retention. Spotty lacing all around the glass.

Aroma 4.5 - Lots of pineapple, mango, fresh hops, dank. Sweet topical nose.

Taste 4.5 - Taste perfectly matches the nose, big sweet tropical mango and pineapple, grapefruit mostly sweet flavors with a hint of bitterness.

Feel 4.75 - Really creamy chewy feel, nice dry finish i cannot believe this is 10.2%.

Overall 4.54 - Excellent all the way around nose is amazing the flavors ful of rich overly ripe tropical fruit with a hint of bitterness. Perfect feel.