New Beer Sunday (Week 761)

Oh, wow, thank you so much! It sounds insanely good. I have something put aside that you'd really appreciate as well. Let's do something in a few weeks when the Traunsteiner O'fest is on tap.

 

Struise - Black Albert

This is from 2016. They call it a “royal stout.” 13% ABV. The big brown head disappears in little time. The smell is intense with malt, alcohol, oxidation, prunes. The taste isn’t as intense. It introduces a strong ashy bitter flavor. This almost seems to be creating a pattern after the Goose Island beer, but this one is way bigger and goes down way slower.

 

You mean in French?

 

Either I'm drunk or that wasn't English or perhaps both.

 

Oktoberfest? My Dad was stationed at Rhein Mainz AFB in Wiesbaden during the 1950’s . We picked up some German culture in our family and Oktoberfest was always a fun filled, family gathering filled with gemutlichkeit. The picture above is my folks celebrating Oktoberfest at the Rhein Mainz AFB officers club Oktoberfest. Prosit!!

My new beer is not an Oktoberfest brew but a white whale for me.

Very Hazy by Treehouse

4.78/5 rDev +0.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

My work schedule allowed that I was near Worcester and i finished many meeting at 10:30 and I could manage a visit to treeHouse. Pulled in to the lot at 11:15 and was out of there by plenty of variety including Very Hazy, a top 10 Beer Advocate beer.

The reviews state it is “a kicked up version of Haze-with even greater depth and potency. Pungent grapefruit notes greet your palate while an underlying current of soft tropical fruit dances in the background. Just the right amount of bitterness balances the sweet fruit flavors while a velvety soft mouthfeel make you easily (and dangerously!) forget this one clocks in at 8.6% ABV.”

Canned 9/11/19

“Never Forget”

Opened and poured into a Treehouse teku glass

Two finger off white foam cap , great lacings, recedes to a solid pencil thin layer after ten minutes residing over a classic New England IPA style hazy orange .

Very fragrant on the pour. My sitting next to me by the pool states, “ i can smell that beer.” I get grapefruit with a whiff of peach and some tropics.

Taste is tropical fruit hops

Mouthfeel is very smooth , no nibble, no bite, for a high abv, quaffably dangerous.

Excellent beer, repeatable , worth the long wait in line for one can of this beer. My new #2 all time beer

 

Hi everybody! were having a beautiful afternoon here in northern NJ. One great development beer-wise that has happened for me within the past year or so has been the steady increase in availability of beers that were previously outside of striking distance for me. Especially stuff from Carton and Kane.

Just yesterday I came across a couple of new ones and it was a no-brainer to pick them up immediately; I've certainly seen and heard enough about these beers on the forums over the past few years. Last night it was Kane's Overhead double IPA, fresh as a daisy and truly on the same level as anything I've had from, say, Hill Farmstead. Needless to say, I'll be making that one a regular part of the rotation from now on.

And today I'm going for the lower gravity option, their Pale Ale Sneak Box (canned 9-13-19):

The aroma is nicely pungent- dank with a big hit of citrus rind and undertones of tropical fruit. The palate is similar- resiny dankness dominates, while there is a simultaneous shot of grapefruit peel, and lingering whisps of pineapple, kiwifruit, mango and tangerine pass by. I really appreciate this makeup of flavors, especially in a session-type of beer, where anything overly fruity can tend to become overbearing over a few glasses. Also nice here is that the citrus peel flavor manages to make its statement without any concurrent overbearing and lingering bitterness; the snap of hops is just where it needs to be.

The feel is pretty satiny, although I'm also getting the feeling that the flavors are occluded and could be cleaner and clearer. Especially as I get further into the glass and my palate acclimates to the beer; the flavors become more distant while that kind of satiny/gauzy feel stays in the forefront. Imo, that just comes with the territory with these hazy styles, and it's part of the inherent tradeoff of how they are designed- big initial impression, but not much staying power.

In the end, though, it's a really nice beer for the style, and one that I can see taking up a change-of-pace role for me. So, even though it does fall down somewhat on what I'd consider the essential nature of a pale ale, there's enough luscious hop goodness through the first half of the glass to warrant a solid A- (4.15).

 

Yards Our Signature IPA. My review. I rated it a 3.94, just a tick below its average of 4.03.

look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 ounce bottle poured into a tulip glass.

L---Crystal clear rich amber color. One finger white head with not much retention, but very good lacing.

S---Nice balance of hops and sweet malts. Some floral notes.

T---A bunch of citrus, orange & grapefruit. Rich maltiness as well.

F---Medium to full bodied. Well carbonated. ABV is not apparent. An easy drinker.

O---A nice piece of work by Yards. I'd get this one again.

 

My first beer today was an Oktoberfest from Von Trapp.

My new beer is a Folksbier IPA, Recurring Dreams #32.
This very cloudy pale orange can pour hosts a 2 cm fluffy foam cap and a slight aroma of tangerine and strawberries. The flavor is rich with mango, guava and some grapefruit. The finish is dry. This is a flavorful brew.

 

I didn't know how crappy this picture was until too late.
It's Octoberfest Beer from Harpoon

3.6/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A light pour from a 12-oz. bottle yields a finger of light tan soapy foam with average retention and sliding blotches of lace. Clear reddish amber, orange-amber in sunlight.

Mild smell of caramel and toasted malt , floral hops and toasted wheat.

The taste features bready rich malt, semi-sweet and boldly bitter. Apple, apple cider and bitter/sour grape emerge with a mild drying alcohol astringency. Hop flavor builds at the quick clean finish, bitterness continues to rise during the long aftertaste.

Light-ish body, below average carbonation. Almost smooth, hindered by the astringency yet still session-able. Nice malt bill. barley shines through the wheat. PKG 7/29/19.

 

Haandbryggeriet - Norwegian Wood

I'm not 100% convinced I never had this before. Consider it "Probably New Beer Sunday." This is a Norwegian hometown take on the traditional Norwegian farmhouse beer made with juniper. It's a beautiful red/brown color. Smells of smoked malt. Tastes of smoked malt. Slightly medicinal, but I think this is just a knee-jerk reaction to the juniper. Tastes slightly oxidized even though my gut is telling me that it's relatively fresh. There's a nice malt character but the beer is light bodied and it finishes bitter. Nice.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. It's the last Summer Sunday and it's unusually muggy in North Jersey. My brother-in-law arrived from Michigan today for a couple of days and he and my wife are visiting their mother who is in a nearby nursing home. Since we're sure to drink some beers together later, I've picked something lite for today's review: A Rauchbier from Dru Bru Taproom and Brewery in Washington State, courtesy of @woemad. This was contained in one of the many boxes I received from him in NBS BIF #9. As you can see, it's a lovely orange-copper color. It's less smoky than I anticipated and features subtle sweetness from the caramel and pilsner malts and apple wood. And it's only 4.6% which will leave plenty of room for more beer later. Thanks, Fred. I really enjoyed it. Here's my full review:

3.86/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Received from @woemad in an NBS BIF. Poured from 22 oz. bottle into a pint glass. It pours a pretty, copper-orange color with an initially thick cap of creamy, ecru-colored head that dissipated slowly leaving a thick coating of soapy lacing. There's only lite smoke and mesquite on the nose, along with caramel malt, burnt nuts, and a whiff of apple wood. The taste opens with burnt malt flavors, tobacco ash, and dried nuts. However, as the glass warms and breathes, I'm beginning to taste sweetness from the caramel and pilsner malts, and a hint of apple wood. The flavors are delicate and nothing overpowers. It finishes dry with some subtle spicing. This beer has a super lite, crisp mouth feel with a pleasant level of carbonation, and at only 4.6% ABV it drinks easily. Overall, it's a bit sweeter and less smoky than some other examples of the style that I've had. It made for enjoyable drinking on a warm, late summer afternoon.

I hope you're all enjoying your new beers today. As always, the reviews are informative and entertaining. Cheers, NBS!

 

That friggin team and QB is why I am no longer drinking beer today. I have moved onto Makers neat and Jack and coke. Drinking away the pain if being a Jet fan.

 

Was that glass choice inspired by @JackHorzempa 's vacation photos?

 

NBS beer #2

Research Series- Stormin Norman



Research Series: Stormin' Norman

Frost Beer Works
New England IPA | 8% ABV

3.78/5 rDev -2.1% | Average: 3.86
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

canned 08/08/19

L-The beer pours a hazy dark amber, almost the color of apple cider. The head is a full 3 fingers of off white froth. The head recedes to a thick film with copious amounts of lacing ringing the glass.
S-The nose is slightly perfumy and floral with an underlying sweet fruitiness which I can't place. I want to say it's apple, but I think the color is influencing it. Pear may be more likely.
T- Hmmmm….that's very different. The palate is actually sweeter than the nose is. This is most definetly a malt forward IPA. The sweet fruitiness, I'll keep calling it pear, is strongest element. That said I don't find it cloying. There is that perfumy floral aspect, but its less strong here.
F-Mouthfeel overall is medium. Carbonation is light after the initial pour. The beer finishes wet.
O- This one is definitely unlike most the typical DIPA's out there. It's also very different from anything in Frost's current profile. That said I don't think this one is going to appeal to most IPA drinkers. I'd drink it again as a change of pace. I have to admit that I prefer Frost's West Coast IPA as a change of pace compared to this. Imbibers going in thinking they are getting a typical citrusy IPA are going to be disappointed here.

 

Light gold color with white cap and lacing.

Aroma of some sweet malt and floral, spicy hops.

Taste on entry is less malty than I'd hoped with a greater emphasis on the hops. Rather simple flavors that are working well together producing a clean taste of malt and hops that are rather middle of the pack at best. Noticeably better than our usual Southern AAL thirst quenchers it still lacks the presence to rise very far above those. I does drink and finish dry, which is a plus, but comes across as a red shirt in a championship field.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

A clean, competent brew, but this is a black and white copy of a colorful Pilsner.

 

Thanks @cjgiant for getting things going. A local charity in my small town has an Oktoberfest that last year had draft Oktoberfest beers from 4 different German breweries and literally home-made food. A customer of mine bought us tickets so I will probably post some beers from there this Friday night.

Today I have a variety of beers for NBS. My beer fridge is packed with styles I don't normally purchase (long story). Might as well check 'em out.

Starting out with a simply named beer, Hefeweizen from Counter Weight brewing.


3.89/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Poured from an undated 16 oz can to a pilz glass.
Pours clear gold with a great puffy head. I bumped my L score because of the head, knocked it back down because it faded rather quickly, then bumped the score back up because of the hypnotizing tiny carb bubbles rising through the entire session.
Aroma is banana, cloves maybe some white pepper.
Taste is pure Hef. except with an ever so slight bitter finish.
Despite the gorgeous bubbles, I think mouth could use slightly more carbonation.

Decent example of the style. No complaints.

 

It's a great glass, fits a 16oz can with room to spare, even concentrates the nose a bit. It sure looks like those Czechs know what they're doing.