New Beer Sunday (Week 755)

Jeez- what a coincidence, look what I picked up yesterday in NY:

It's that very Steinbier you were mentioning, from Leikeim- best before 02-02-20. And it's actually my first time with this one.

These types of beers generally feature a method of heating wort prior to when direct-fire kettles came into being; stones are heated in a robust fire, and then added to the vessel containing the wort. The release of this heat not only causes the wort to boil, but also caramelizes the sugars on and around the actual stones, which are then added back to the beer after everything's cooled so those tasty sugars don't go to waste.

So, if that sounds like you'll get a caramelly amber lager with a slight wisp of smokiness to it, you won't be disappointed here . This particular beer is well constructed even if you don't take the process into account- the palate is moderately full and rich, with a dry finish and a generous snap of hop bitterness. I'm really enjoying the honey-graham cracker like quality in the flavor profile, and long lingering bread crust finish at the end.

Any smoke here is incredibly subdued, really just playing a supporting roll at most. But there's such a great spicy pop from the hops that it really doesn't matter all that much. If this was as smoky as the classic Rauchenfels was I'd be in heaven right now; but as it is, it's still an extremely enjoyable amber lager that sits nicely somewhere between a Vienna and an O'fest, and a real pleasure to drink. Solid A- (4.35).

 

They only other JK beer I've had is Noble King. And, no, I'm not waiting for you to leave. Really. I'm not. Honestly.

 

Schilling Alexandr 10 Czech Pils. I like doing lagers because it's quick and easy to reach a verdict/write up. This was delicious. Lasting rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit malts; with some herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery hops. A bit too fruity/yeasty aromas, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Slight lingering resins through the glass. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very clean lager flavors, minimal fruity/yeasty. Very smooth, soft, flavorful, refreshing; not watery for 5%. Great clean pils malt showcase, and noble hop presence/balance for the style. Mild residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Spot on style. 3.91


Cheers

 

The funny (not so) thing is around our location in the summer its pretty dead. We are inland. Very challenging. Good to hear from you my friend.

 

Good evening New BSers! I just realized that I never posted to this thread today - mostly because I got sidetracked before the thread started. Anyway, today's entry:



Received from @jdell15 in NBS BIF #9. Reviewed 8/11/19. Thanks Jacob!
“16:54” built from dots on bottom of can; the rest is illegible. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Gold, clear.
Body – Gold, murky. When held to the light, translucent.
Head – Large (Maximum 5.5 cm, aggressive center pour), off-white, medium density, short duration leaving a three mm crown and a large center island for a cap.
Lacing – None – not unexpected at this level of alcohol.
Aroma – 4 – Sweet dark fruits, lasts.
Flavor – 4 - Begins sweet with a golden raisin/apricot sort of flavor which ends slightly sour. No hops. No alcohol flavor or aroma (10% ABV), no dimethylsulfide, no diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Full, bordering on syrupy, lively (approaching fizzy) carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 4 – This is actually quite tasty with the aroma/taste/palate all complementing one another and with the three exceeding expectations originating from the appearance. A decent brew which, IMHO, deserves a higher rating.
Rating 3.97, rDev +3.9%.

Obviously not a local brew for me.

 

From @AZBeerDude72. Fantastic Imperial milk stout from Tombstone. Great rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cream, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with light notes of molasses, dark fruit, smoke, char, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, spicy, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; very creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts; slight slickness, sticky hops, and chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Slightly increasing lingering bitter dryness; no cloying/acrid flavors; Dangerously smooth/soft, minimal warming 12.5%. Amazing super rich malt complexity and balanced lactose flavors; with mild earthy hops, and fruity English yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Spot on English style example. 4.25


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

Hi NBS. I’m way later to the party than usual, it’s been very busy for me today and this week altogether.

My first and only beer for today will be from @TheGent

Beer: Bourbon barrel aged Concrete Ship
Brewery: Cape May (Cape May, NJ)
ABV: 10.1%

From a 19.2 oz. can into a whiskey glass, this beer pours out with streams of brown highlights. It forms black in the glass with a ring of wood like highlights around the top. No crown formed; the caramel colored bubbles disappeared as fast as they could form.

The nose carries a definite RIS presence to it. And to be honest, the most true to style RIS presence that I’ve smelled in a long time. Bready notes with heavily toasted edges that tangle with bitter bakers chocolate, black coffee and a big punch from the hops to back up the malts. The barrel is evident and lingers throughout with aspects of dry oak, slightly burning bourbon and a touch of dark fruit. But the barrel by no means is going to outshine this beast of an RIS base.

I feel much the same way about the taste. There is loads of chocolate; slightly burnt bakers chocolate along with softer silky and velvety notes as well. Freshly baked, dark and heavily toasted bread lingers throughout with a remaining consistency as to not over shine other aspects at any time. Touches of black, almost burnt coffee shows itself in and out while notes of dark chocolate covered dark fruit show up at the end and linger into the finish.

While the mouthfeel might not be the fullest of stouts, it carries itself bigger than it is with confidence. Roasty, silky, velvety, bready dryness and enough warmth to let you know it’s made of something without crossing over into burning.

Overall, this held itself as a very respectable RIS. One that can be strong enough for a barrel to compliment, but not overpower. I very much respect the brewers on their mission here. It was accomplished in my eyes. They made an RIS that stood up to barrels, showed no flaws for style and gave me everything I want and expect from a true RIS. Therefore, my rating will be high.

Huge thanks to you Anthony for giving me the chance to try this, huge respect for the brewers who brewed this and cheers to you NBS!

And if I’ve not Craig’d this post by NOW, I never will. @cjgiant

 

Well shit, if I ever find myself in your neck of the woods, eating off of your menu is my first priority, you glorious bastard you.

 

@TheDoctor sends his regards and regrets. He is currently sequestered in a remote, wilderness location without access to WiFi. Here are his hairy forearms framing a pour of Abner (courtesy of @franktank18), a particularly tasty NEDIPA from Hill Farmstead which was, in fact, a new beer to him...

 

Rating # 3000.
I've had this in my cellar since before my hard drive crash of 2014 and not sure who I traded with for this, but I'm guessing there were a few Hill Farmstead bottles involved.
I brought it upstairs last night to chill in my fridge.
I'm excited, to say the least.




Nice pop from the cork exiting the bottle!



2009 Vintage.
750 ml. bottle.
Vigorous pour yields a 1/8 inch fleeting head over a garnet edged brown body with no lacing as head is long gone. Nose of dried dark fruit (mostly raisins, some strawberries, and some cherries), grapes, cherries, and slight bourbon. Taste nearly mirrors nose with the raisins taking over. Wonderfully tart finish with some red wine tannins, slight red wine vinegar and finally turning to just the tiniest bit of strawberries, cherries, and raisins at the end. Whoa! Nice feel for a wild ale of this age.
Overall, a wonderful experience to behold!
Cheers!!

 

Close on Craig-ing this one. Very, very close.

 

New Beer Sunday: German Marzen/Oktoberfest

Evening’ NBSers, with few thoughts for those yet to try a much anticipated collaborative beer.

Well, a day again full of many very different things has pretty much ended so it’s time for tonight’s new beer. This beer is the Oktoberfest beer that emerged from this years Sierra Nevada collaboration with Bitburger in Germany.

My review is mostly finished:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/411545/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer start off being mostly about the malt with some sweetness and caramel/toffee showing with the herbal, slightly earthy hops in the background. As the temperature warms the hops move forward until they become a bit more forward than I prefer. It’s reasonably drinkable and worth trying, but at the moment I’m personally not inclined to get another six pack. My major reservation about this beer is that effectively the malt backbone is there but the hops seem to become more prominent than expected. (If later bottles lead me to change my mind I'll update the review.)


Tonight on the player the music is partly triggered by some earlier posts in this thread and has been in the back of my mind most of the day. I decided to listen to my favorite Opera, Le Nozze de Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) from one of my favorite composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. @Roguer and I push and joke back and forth sometimes about which was better, Mozart or Beethoven. But at the end of the day he and I both agree that classical composers are a lot like great beers. They all have different characteristic strengths at which they exile but are so good at what they did that deciding which one is best boils down to a matter of personalpreference just as it does with two exceptional beers from the group of top tier beers found on this site. Effectively they are in the same equivalence class but different in some ways.

A bit of background: Mozart was a child prodigy and had lots of natural talent. His father was one of the finest music educators of that era so Wolfgang began his music studies at home under the tutelage of his father. He started learning piano at the age of three and by the time he was 10 he had composed 10 Symphonies and performed for the royalty. He composed his first Opera at age 12, but it was not particularly memorable. IIRC that first opera has been recorded only once and then it was by an obscure symphony somewhere with unknown singers and done solely out of interest in getting a relatively complete archive of recording for all his compositions. (This tell you something about his earlier composition. )

But, “Things Change.” Fast forward.

This Opera I’ve got on for tonight is one of the 10 most performed/liked in the world of Opera, Le Nozze de Figaro. IIRC my collection has about 3-4 different recordings. (If you saw the movie “Shawshank Redemption” you may recall hearing this particular aria from the opera and the reaction of the prison inmates in the prison courtyard upon first hearing it. That reaction is solidly based in reality and is the way many respond to this piece of music (including some who think they don’t like opera.)



Cheers, all!

 

On our way home from Albuquerque we stopped at Steel Bender for lunch (and a beer). I had Manana, a "laid back IPA."
Pretty orange juice color with a small white head that left some lace.
Very juicy aroma, both tropical and citrus.
And a very juicy taste. Mango, pineapple, orange, tangerine.
A juice bomb. And I mean that in a nice way.

 

(Un?)Happy New Jumping Off of the New Platform Beer Sunday (Week 755), CANtinued!
These hybrids were certainly different & while they were refreshing, I was really beginning to jones for a beer after:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36487/375613/?ba=woodychandler#review
&
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36487/360088/?ba=woodychandler#review
, but first:

Okay, I REALLY wanted a beer now so I turned to:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36487/232842/?ba=woodychandler#review

A beer! Something with discernible hops. What next?!?
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36487/193085/?ba=woodychandler#review
& then:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36487/376309/?ba=woodychandler#review

OKAY! What, am I in some Chuck Jones cartoon ala Daffy Duck ("Duck Amuck" https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...48F668B10931CC6A094648F668B10931&&FORM=VRDGAR), where they are just messing with me?!? Did I NOT specifically say "Hops"? I'll be back!

 

New Other Half Sunday

I’ve been sipping this on and off for a while now. As you can tell from the picture it was still light out when I opened this beer. I’ve got about 4 ounces left in the glass and might add some more to review, but my score will not change.



Look: Opaque, vivid, pale amber color. Two finger, off white head that eventually disappears, with a lot of lace. No visible carbonation. An extremely attractive NEIPA as is generally the case from Other Half.

Nose: Sweet, bready malts. There is a flash of very bright orange and lemon citrus that reminds me of Sweet Tart candies. I get that aroma in this type of IPA at times and I absolutely love it. Candy goodness. “Hop candy.” Overly ripened mango and pineapple. After warming for a few minutes and a vigorous swirl I do get a faint chalky/orange vitamin aroma. The green side of Mosaic graces me with its faint presence.

Taste: I’m getting a lot of natural berry flavor in this beer, including fresh blueberry and strawberry. Some dry white wine notes. Candied orange. Lemon and lime zest. Again, sweet mango and pineapple. As sweet as the beer is, there is a hint of alcohol and dryness on the finish that keeps the sweetness in check. Also a faint hint of, dare I say, bitter, citrus pith.

Mouthfeel: Typical Other Half. Low to medium carbonation and smooth/creamy as all hell. These high ABV IPA’s are particularly full bodied. This one actually dries out slightly on the finish, but never too much. Everything you want in the feel of an 11.3% New England style IPA with lactose and not too heavy.

Overall: I absolutely love everything under the Mylar label, and this new one is no exception. Highly drinkable for the ABV. Exceptional. Approaching if not as good as it can get for me.

4.57/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

 

One more time Monday Night Brewing Tears Of My Enemies, thanks @JBowenGeorgia!
4.3/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thank you JBowenGeorgia for this
500 ml bottle, vintage #2, poured into teku

A- Black with a two finger mocha head.

S- Milk chocolate, vanilla, caramel, oak, scotch, hints of coffee.

T- Milk chocolate, caramel, scotch, oak, some vanilla, nicely balanced.

M- Smooth, medium body, creamy.

O- A nice barrel aged milk stout, scotch barrels work very well with the base.

Cheers!

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

3 more Sundays to go till I no longer have to work on Sunday. I'm so looking forward to it.

So, can I tap out my local beer scene? I'd say it would be difficult, depending on how far out you draw the circle from where I live. Within a half hour of me, there's over 10 breweries, and throughout the state of Minnesota, there's around 150, or so.

That being said, I do like to travel when I have gotten a rare day off work, and visit breweries. I've visited breweries in all the surrounding states, except South Dakota. I hope over the next year to fix that.

Speaking of travel, I visited the land of cheese yesterday with a few friends. 2 of them had never been to the big city of Dallas, and Valkyrie Brewing. I told the one friend who had been there before that we were going to be bringing a case home each. The two who hadn't been there were just talking about getting a 6 pack on the way there.

We walked out with a case each of their beers, plus a few large bottles.

We also visited Dave's Brew Farm in Wilson, Wisconsin as well. None of us had been there before, and we weren't disappointed with the offerings of our very own @BeerBoy . It was a pleasure to meet him, and we will all be returning there again, also.

I've lived in this state of insanity... I mean Minnesota all my 46 years. I've lived in the same apartment for the last 20 years, come October. I am open to moving, and that includes out of state, when my time in the restaurant business is over, which will be sometime in the next year.

But, enough of the prelim, time for what we're here for - BEER!


Mjod from Valkyrie Brewing in Dallas, Wisconsin.

No idea the ABV. I should have asked Randy what it was when I was at the brewery.

So this is a very interesting beer. I'm, probably, not using the right glass for this. I wanted to use the brewery glassware for this beer.

It pours a nice, dark amber. Off white head, and said head LINGERS. I've been sitting here, typing, for quite a while, and there still is a skim layer of the head on top of the beer, and this is after drinking a bunch of it.

Rich honey notes, but there's a lot more in it than that, which I cover in my review.

The flavor is outstanding.

I'm so glad that they brewed this again for their big anniversary - their 25th.

There's only one problem taking my friends with - they want to all go back badly, as do I.

Hopefully I'll get another Saturday off again, and take the crew back to Valkyrie.

REVIEW:

4.42/5 rDev +16.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a fairly dark amber color. 1 finger slightly amber white head. The head retention is downright amazing, and it dissipates into a nice, creamy looking layer on top of the beer. No lacing on the glass, though, when I swirl it around. When i drink the beer, some of the left over head does cling to the glass.
The nose is really interesting. I get some nice sweet honey, but it isn't overpowering. I get a ton of malty, yeasty sweetness. Bread, biscuit smelling.
Taste - There's the honey, but then I get a dark fruit flavor - raisin, maybe some fig. Some bread, yeast flavors.
Creamy feel, with a nice pop from the carbonation. Decent body. The honey does linger, and cling to my throat.
So glad Valkyrie brought this back for their 25th anniversary. This is a great beer, and it's just hitting all the right spots with me.


I think this could be it for tonight, since I have no clue just how strong it is. If so, see you all next Sunday.

 

So I was eating a bowl of fresh peaches because harvest season is the best season (doubly so since fresh hop season is coming up as well!), and it struck me... hey I've got a bottle of Peach Virtue sitting in my fridge!
This helps to answer the question of the day as well: As much as possible I drink almost exclusively local to some degree. There's just such a bounty to be found nearby that I want to know my locale before reaching out beyond. Stuff from beyond the northwest is generally only by way of the various BIFs that Terry has put together here (there is likely a new round coming up in the next couple of months... I HIGHLY encourage anyone to join if you've got even the slightest interest! It's a ton of fun and you get to try a bunch of really cool beers from somewhere far away!), or from when I've been travelling (I generally bring a cardboard box/styrofoam wine shipper as my checked bag and plan to grab a couple of bottles from whatever locale I may be exploring).



Peach Virtue by Fremont

The pour is actually pretty appropriate. An opaque yellow/light orange that looks the shade of peach flesh itself. Nice soapy little white head that settles in before long.

The nose jumps in with heavy heavy barnyard and little else. Like the whole barnyard experience. Funky. As it warms and opens up and lends a little bit of fruitiness, but the mixed fermentation is what drives this thing from top to bottom.

Thankfully the flavour is not nearly so one note, nor is it so overwhelming. While the funk steps in first and gives a lightly sour tang, the middle is a rich ribbon of sweet fruity juice. While I wouldn't necessarily pick out peaches without the label, I can see it with knowledge, and irregardless it works really well to bring a balanced, mature feel to the whole proceedings.

I was a little worried upon first investigations using only my sniffer, but, unsurprisingly given the brewer that was unnecessary. I dig it quite a bit and will gladly try anything else in the virtue series as it comes out.


Cheers!!

 

Good evening NBS
Rough day in the mill today and I volunteered for 16 hour shifts the next two days when I was scheduled off. Everything I type in response to @cjgiant's opening question is coming out a little harsh. I'm not wild about where I live so I'll just talk about beer instead...

The review:
12oz undated can poured into a chalice at fridge temp 10.5% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright orange amber in color with very light brown head. The head recedes to a thin film and leaves some lacing. The aroma is sweet clove first with wisps of bubblegum & banana lying beneath. The taste is semisweet banana & candi sugar laden malt leading up to a clovey, white peppery, barely bitter and drying finish. The mouthfeel is full bodied with just less than medium carbonation. Overall good tripel & better Belgian Strong Pale Ale. A bit sweet and far less carbonated than most, but it all works for me. Thanks @russpowell!

That's it for me. Cheers all!