New Beer Sunday (Week 764)

Assembling my first bike rack over a Revision Citra Slam. Got to get my 5yr old out today for a short ride before it gets too cold. Unfortunately the rack is going together easier than the brew is going down so far. It's a bit simplistic and bland. I can't help but wonder how much it decays in those first few weeks as I cannot imagine them canning this one. Drinkable but slams nothing.

 

Zero Gravity - Loral Lager

This dry-hopped lager is clear yellow. It’s very clean. The taste is dominated by a slight lemony tartness and a floral/orange/bitter/herbal quality from the hops. This beer seems like a big success for what I imagine the brewers were going for. Very nice.

 

Troy Division is an IPA that is an homage to a city and a band. -pale yellow can pour with a deep haze and a 1 cm foam cap. The aroma is light with lemon, malt notes and a touch of pepper. The flavor is citrusy with no prominent elements. The hop bitterness is low. The body is a bit thin. The finish is dry. This is refreshing, but I was hoping for more, but I have been to Troy, so...

 

I really loved that one- probably the best IPL I've ever had, even.

 

A-Pours a murky golden color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has slight hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a slight lemongrass flavor
M-A light bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good Pilsner

 

Great review. I had that beer a few months ago, and thought immediately of Natty Light or Keystone Light. Definitely not what I was expecting with the beer labeled pilsner. Piss was the first word I thought of after my first sip.

 

Next up is a heavy hitter. I had 2 options for a new heavy hitter, and I chose this one.


Gatherer 2018 from Tired Hands. 11.3% ABV.

@CanConPhilly sent this to me, and, holy cow! This is just really hitting the spot this morning. Just all the right elements are just right. In all honesty, I'm not worthy of this beer. This is so damn good. I'm blown away. First off for the whole package of this beer, and also for CCP's generosity for ninja hitting me with this. I truly don't know if I can repay you via ninja hit for all the beers you sent me, but this was the icing on the cake.

Review:

4.73/5 rDev +11%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

This is just a beautiful pour. Pitch black. Thick pouring. 1 finger brown head, and the retention is just amazing since it's an 11%+ beer. No lacing on the glass.
The nose I get a lot of coffee notes. I also get chocolate. I get some vanilla. There's a slight sweet element to the aroma.
Taste - Just like aroma. I get the coffee notes first. Then the chocolate kicks in with the vanilla. The sweetness comes in on the backside more, but it's also throughout.
Thick, full bodied. There really isn't a burn from the alcohol, but you know this is a heavy hitter. Just smooth.
Holy cow, this beer is just hitting everything right. I also like the size for a beer like this. A lot of places put their heavy hitters in 750ml bottles, and that's just too much. A 16oz format is really something I like for a beer of this style.

I do have a few more new beers, and I'll see if I pop into them today, after my pizza.

 

Bell’s - Leaves of Grass Series, II - The Prairie-Grass Dividing

This is a Gose brewed with plums. On paper, this isn’t the kind of beer I’d like. The beer is a surprisingly attractive copper, guava color. The smell is sour yogurt. The taste is very pleasant for a beer of this type. There’s a measured passionfruit sourness and a touch of salinity. It’s like a strange dessert.

 

Happy NBS everyone! For my first new brew of the day, I had Bluejacket Mars Hotel: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29008/444649/?ba=bluejacket74#review





I thought it was a pretty good sweet/horchata stout. I'll be back on here in a little while with another new beer or 2. Cheers!

 

I haven't had either of those particular beers but I brewed a saison with Loral this summer and it came out super lemony. I liked it a lot. I've yet to see it in a commercial beer in these parts, though.

 

I don't keep anything resembling a bucket list. For one thing, that comes too close to planning, and I get enough of that at work. For another, it requires me to think too much about the impending "bucket" that awaits us all...

So, on to happier thoughts...

I happened to come into possession of a number of beers from the deep south. They are probably more representative of classic southern craft brewers than the new wave, but I was happy to get them nonetheless.

First up:
Lazy Magnolia Sweet Potato Stout
IBU: 12
ABV: 4.5%



Tag line: "Mississippi's Oldest Brewery"

Color is opaque black with a 1/2 inch tan, thick, creamy head, receding moderately. No lacing from the head receding, but nice strings of lacing when you drink.

Aroma is roasty malts, coffee, hints of chocolate, hints of dark fruit.

Mouth feel is medium to thin, but creamy.

Taste is also roasty and coffee, as the aroma, but in addition there is a creaminess with a slight nuttiness. Initially there is a subtle sweetness, then a light bitterness, but the finish is dry and the aftertaste roasty and mildly bitter.

Overall, an easy drinking, roasty, creamy dry stout with a complex and slightly sweet flavor.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.25 | F: 3.5 | O: 4.0 | BA rating of: 4.05

(I'm probably slightly over-rating this beer; but I like it.)

Question @Todd , @Jason , everyone ... this beer has been around since at least 2009, and is a year-round beer in Lazy Magnolia's lineup. It has over 300 ratings on RB. Why was it just added to this site in 2018 and have only 8 ratings (3 reviews)? Are we (collectively, BA members) that bad in adding beers? Did something get lost in the data base along the way? Did no BA member ever have this beer in the first ~9 years since it was first brewed?

 

Hey what's going on?!

Great start today on this fabulous long weekend for most of us I hope! I've been busy with a lot of yard work, and work in general and just glad to be enjoying this much needed break.

Love the golf story. I can't play or hardly do, but the few times my putting game is good, and I like to hit with Irons, I can hit with a driver for the life of me... and I am not working on that anytime soon.

I've been getting my fill this weekend. If you are local DC area person and a baseball fan you are in seventh heaven right now, with the way the Nats have been playing it's a lot of gravy. Can't wait for Game 3 tomorrow here in D.C.

I got a good concert fix this weekend. Quite a contrast, last night I was seeing some Bob Ross paintings (happy cloud!), and saw John McEuen who was a Nitty Gritty Dirt band founder with a couple friends playing some ole tunes down in Purcelville VA. Mr. Bo Jangles, Will The Circle be Unbroken... you know that kind of stuff.

Also had some decent (not amazing) BBQ with an Adroit Theory brew... see image 2


Tonight I am going to flat out viking metal it and see Amon Amarth... whooeee... what a contrast.

Well right now though, I managed a good chunk of beer and @JackHorzempa had brought up Firestone lately, and felt it was time to get back into a visit with those guys.

What's new for our hero today? Let's see...

Cashmere XPA - Firestone Walker


Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Oop slightly "aged" canned on June 19th 2019.

Beaming looker of classic West coast clarity. Body color hints a classic pale bronze yellow color, with dark brass appearances, will give it an SRM-4. Nice reams of carbonation to a big bright white, but not too bright white head. Uniform bubbles and a big top with lots of cling. Great looking beer.

Even on an (ahem) "aged" brew as this, there's a nice soft hop presence. Whisps of light pine, mixing in with what seems to be stone fruit a real nice touch of peach like comes off on this. A small malt presence but even the hops still push and dominate, with an excellent perfume aromatic.

Palate goes for simplicity. A bit of a tinny twinge, but a light hop character of peach and somewhat melon like flavors. Malt depth hits more in the pale ale territory, almost session IPA like though in mouthfeel, and a hair wet finish. Slight touches of chew grain, but there's a bit of powdery context it seems also.

Pretty solid pale ale, I missed I think it's mark, but there's a lot to still enjoy. Wish I had this earlier.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Bell’s - Leaves of Grass Series, III - O Captain! My Captain!

I’m continuing this Bell’s series on NBS. The brewer calls this a “black India-style pale lager.” I guess that says it all. The head lingers wonderfully. This is more Schwarzbier than porter. Body is light. I was hoping for more from this one. It would have been better if it went bolder. As it is, it feels like an unsatisfying Schwarzbier. Perhaps I’ll change my mind as I get through the six pack. It’s light but a bit flabby. There’s a slight orange flavor in the background along with a thin coffee quality.

 

Thanks. That makes sense. I didn't notice the duplicate or I would have suggested an edit.

 

I golf but soccer is my passion. I thought after being injured last year that I had hAng up my cleats for good a year ago. Got a call from some old teammates asking for help and I accepted. It’s old guy soccer. My mind makes promises that my body can’t always keep.

This morning I show up at an away match. We have 4 players ten minutes before kickoff. We have a full team and 2 subs. Our opponent has a full squad and six subs. At center mid I gave a lot of running today.

I assist on a nice thru ball for our first goal . They score . I dribble and cut their central defender and score in the box with a right footed shot to the diving goalkeepers right. They score. We have a direct free kick to the gk left outside the penalty area. I get a cross and finish the pass with a one time right footed volley. Highlight film goal. The referee even says “ that’s a nice goal. “ I assist on one more goal and we win 5-3. I celebrate by heading to jacks Abby for some German style lagers . Those reviews next week.

My new beer is , I have promises to keep by treehouse

4.34/5 rDev -1.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Canned 9.18.19 , opened 10.6.19

“And miles to go”

Poured into a teku

Hazy orange neisoa style liquid, one finger off white fizzy foam cap. Quickly settles to a fizzy ring , good lacings

Aroma is citrus, orange, lemon lime, white grape,

Taste is Nelson Sauvign white grape hops

Medium sudsing, hop taste, no bite

Good beer