New Beer Sunday (Week 766)

New Beer and Brewery Sunday

Courtesy of @JayWhitson I am drinking KettleHouse Brewing, Cold Smoke. A 6.5% Scotch Ale. A lighter beer, but dark enough to hit the spot on a cold and rainy Fall day here in the Northern part of Central NJ.

Commercial Description from the brewery's website:

"Our flagship beer and biggest award winner, Cold Smoke® is a dark smooth ale with a slightly sweet coffee finish. Named after the light, bottomless powder that falls in Montana, cold smoke is the transcendent powder experience craved by skiers and boarders. “No friends on powder days!” If you have ridden cold smoke, you know what we mean. We also sometimes refer to it as the “gateway beer” – light macro beer drinkers find this an easy transition to craft beer because of its smooth and delicious flavor."



Look: The beer pours translucent dark brown color, with some light brown around the edges. A beige, two-finger head settles to a thin layer of foam across the top of the beer, leaving some streaks of lacing behind. Some visible carbonation.

Smell: This beer has a very nice aroma. Faint notes of sweet caramel, and some fresh hazelnut. Some dark bread. A touch of smoke.

Taste: On the tip of the tongue, a very mild sweet caramel flavor up front. Mid palate a bitter-free, nutty, cold brewed coffee flavor. This could be in my head due to the name of the beer and the style description on BA, but I am also getting a delicate smoke flavor. It is definitely roasty, and perhaps I am taking it a step further due to the previously noted bias. A dialed back raisin flavor.

Feel: Prickly carbonation a smooth feel. Medium bodied. It finishes rather dry.

Overall: I do not drink many Scotch Ales, but I enjoy them. You simply do not see many around. After a quick review of my Untappd check ins, this beer has a much lower ABV than prior examples of the style. It also falls on the low end of the BA ABV range for the style: 6.6% to 8.5%. I am enjoying this beer, but I do wish for some more malt sweetness and complexity.

Thanks, J!

 

sounds like any modern craft beer tasting

I'm on #40, The Doorbell Rang. It takes place in 1965, 31 years after Fer-De-Lance. Stout doesn't do much fudging with the time-line so I'm thinking Insp. Cramer should have retired long ago.

 

Happy to see you can come back and participate occasionally.

 

That's awesome that you dug up this quote from the series! I remember reading this the first time through the novels many years ago. I'm only through the first 6 of the 45 novels this time around.

 

Well, I'm on my 2nd beer since a bit after midnight. Just back from a 7.5 mile hike through the woods near my house and about to watch some football. Figured I'd start out easy with this new beer I got from my son-in-law, who often keeps me supplied with new beers from the great Northeast brewers.

Tree House - Peach Tart



Had this near Pittsburgh, PA from a 16oz canned on 2019-10-09. My overall rating = 4.21

A - Clear straw-straw gold with a 1-finger white head that drops quickly leaving no lace.

S - Ripe peaches, wheat cracker, hint of hay.

T - Fresh peaches with a tablespoon of yogurt and wheat germ. Grassy spice. Finishes dry and acidic but not sour.

M - Light medium and medium carbonation. Fizzy.

O - Very refreshing and awash in peachy goodness. Worth seeking out.

 

Tired Hands Quaggy

Happy Sunday, BAs. Quaggy is a dry-hopped multigrain saison with peaches aged in Vin Santo barrels.

It pours clear straw with strong effervescence and a finger of white head that leaves sheets of lacing. It’s nice to see a clear beer these days. That’s effervescence, not a dirty glass, in the photo.

Sour peach and a hint of barnyard show in the nose.

The taste follows closely. There’s a hint of vanilla and honey added to the peach flavors, and a nice tartness to go with the sour. A little apple, too. There’s a hint of funk and wood, but they’re restrained.

It has a lightly oily feel that’s cut by strong, soft fizz.

This offers a very nice, summery showcase for the peach. Not a ton of depth for a Tired Hands saison, but it’s very pleasant nonetheless.

 

Poured into a 13 oz tulip glass canned. Pours a slightly cloudy with a finger sticky white head that leaves plenty of waves of lace. 4.25

Smell is melon, peach, vanilla, sherbet, and some apricot. 4

Taste follows sherbet, melon, peach, apricot, and vanilla. 4

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, gentle carbonation, really not sticky or dry, and at 8.2% drinks easier on feel and flavor. 4

Overall very nice beer, not as hazy and big on feel as most in this newish style, but still a nice beer. 4

 

Happy New CAN You Believe That I Am Drinking ALL of These Beers of My Own Free Will This Sunday? (Week 766)!
A monetized podcast, eh, Doc? Hmm. You may have just inspired me!

What a week(end)! It all beCAN on Wednesday when the students were off the hizzy! I came home with one of the worst headaches in recent memory. Thursday was much better & my tight, three-member trivia team went wire-to-wire FTW! On Friday, the 8th grade Social Studies teachers brought in the local VietNam Veterans' group! 8=O I was assigned to CAF Duty, which gave me bags of time to sit in. One of them was a Bozo Mate (Bosun's Mate) & if the duty jarhead was rough-hewn, this cat needed to be bound & gagged! Qs were encouraged & so I thought that I would toss a softball by asking about a short-timer's calendar. Shee-whack if this knothead didn't jump up & pull one out to display! It was a flip-up with a squared-away grunt in greens that flipped up to show a 30-day countdown with him hugging up (ahem!) on a hippie chick on the seCANd page! 8=O The kids went berserk & everybody was looking at me like I had this planned! 8=O I followed that up with an out 'n' back trip to Haddonfield, NJ. 8=O Last night, I went to a great annual show at which each of ten (10) bands got to play three (3) songs & get the hell offa the stage. Fantastiche!

Today, I am starting with a head full of cotton (or so it seems). Last week ended in Perkasie, PA at Free Will B.C. & so I am picking up right where I left off, with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28091/93807/

Hmm. Imprecisely NEW, per se, but NEW to me in/from a CAN! No? 8=( Next up in Mr. Pine's Mixed-Up Signs ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/930614.Mr_Pine_s_Mixed_Up_Signs?ac=1&from_search=true ) was:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28091/87441/

Ooops! STILL not NEW, per se, but NEW inna CAN doesn't make it for yinz sticklers?!? 8=( Lemme try, try again, this time with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28091/390703/?ba=woodychandler#review

Finally!

 

Central Waters Strawberry Shoppe, 6.7% ABV. Pours dark hazy orange with a one finger white head that left no lacing. Nose is strawberry, pine, vanilla, and lactose. Taste is strawberry, lactose, and vanilla with a moderate bitter close. A bit over-carbonated, overall excellent.

3.83/5 rDev -5.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

We're having a cool fall day, just watching football, grilling, and having some brews.

 

Looks like the Eagles actually showed up to play football this week, hopefully they can keep it up for 4 quarts. Now up Short’s Big Bird Blood, a milkshake IPA with lactose, vanilla, banana and coconut, thanks @strohme2 for this. Not exactly what I was expecting, tons of coconut and the flavors work well together.

4.16/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you strohme2 for this
22 oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A- A slightly hazy golden copper with a two finger white head.

S- Coconut, some sweet bananas, citrus, some vanilla, fairly sweet, hints of earthiness.

T- Citrus, coconut, some tropical fruits, sweet bananas, some vanilla, more hops and less sweet than the nose.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- An interesting milkshake, coconut and bananas work well with with it. Really not getting any lactose in this and that’s a good thing.

Cheers NBS!

 

Well it's halftime at Anfield, and Captain Jordan Henderson must rally his team to a second half comeback to remain at minimum undefeated in the English Premier League. Brought back fish and chips and hope to enjoy a better second half for Liverpool.


Speaking of captain's, with the many great new beers available this fall I finally was able to pour the third of seven in Bell's Leaves of Grass Series, O Captain! My Captain!



Dark brown black pour, rich creamy tan head (4.25). Roast malt aroma backed by grape and grass (4.0). Nice fruity taste, citrus, grapes, plums, pine and grass, nice blend and balance (4.25). Slightly dry, medium to rich body, carbonation lingers throughout the pour, easy clean finish (4.25). Overall, very nice pour (4.25).

Channeling another comeback and great captain from years past, I present YNWA celebrating Liverpool's miraculous comeback from a 3-0 first half deficit to win the Champions League in 2005!

 

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My neighbor does a crime / murder podcast at our local library. My new beer is also a gift from those very same neighbors. I have very nice neighbors!


Triple Mylar Dayrdream
4.68/5 rDev +4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Canned 9/26/19 , opened 10/26/19

Poured intoa teku. Hazy honey amber orange liquid, dense , creamy off white two finger foam cap, good lacings, good retention

aroma is tangerine citrus, mango

taste is mango, orange, tangerine, pineapple, , slight sweetness

smooth hop last, gentle hop nibble at the end

delicious beer, repeatable

 

Interesting start, @lordofthewiens ... thanks. My wife also likes the true crime TV shows, but I can't imagine her doing a pod cast. She's pretty much a Luddite.

On to the first new beer for me today.

Bell's Special Double Cream Stout English Sweet / Milk Stout
ABV: 6.1%
IBU: 31



Aroma is roasted malts. Picking up slight sweetness. The brewer says this beer is "completely dairy-free", but the aroma suggests otherwise. Very nice.

Deep black appearance, topped with a tall, thick, dark tan head. The head has very good retention, taking its sweet time receding. As it does, it leaves tan rings of lacing and forms a thick domed top.

Taste is coffee, roasted malts, cocoa, a subtle lactose-like sweetness, with a balancing touch of bittering in the finish.

Mouth feel is creamy while also being on the thin side of moderate.

Finish is dryer than the initial taste would lead you to expect, with the roastiness lingering on the tongue.

This is a classic English stout at its heart, which has the creaminess and smoothness of a milk stout. Extremely well executed.

L: 4.25 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.25 | F: 4.0 | O: 4.0 | BA: 4.12

 

That is one good looking beer!

 

Breckenridge Christmas Ale, 7.1% ABV. Pours dark brown, with a one-finger off-white head that left decent lacing. Nose caramel and spices. Taste follows, plus chocolate, bready, with a slight bitter close. A bit under-carbonated. Overall good. Doesn't taste like Christmas.

3.79/5 rDev +7.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

Side Project Peche du fermier


Pours a clouded orange color with a medium, froth head.


Smells of riper peaches, old wood and bread dough among a lighter, stony pith quality. Got a lighter glue and blue cheese funkiness underneath, giving the fruit in this a nice little twist.


Drinks light, with an omnipresent acidity, balanced by a higher, refreshing carbonation.


Tastes of sun ripened peaches, not yet to the point of getting jammy though, due to a present acidic sourness, hitting the palate uncompromising. Turns a tad effervescent then, with a noteable mineralic note, wrapped up by older, oaken wood, adding a pleasant, funk accompanied complexity to the flavors. Finishes calmer, with maintaining sweet peaches, building a well working counterpart to the teeth numbing sourness in this, which the peaches manage to overcome during the aftertaste.


Very well rounded, fruited sour with a great balance to it, pushing successfully further than most other AWAs.

 

Alright, it's been a while since I've done an NBS face-off, but today I have two fruited beers that I want to compare and contrast. Both utilize multiple fruits, but other than that I'm honestly not sure how similar they'll be. This one is definitely a lactose-inflected kettle sour, and the other is a Brett-fermented dry-hopped wheat beer with tropical fruit. Any guesses as to what it is?



Fruit Punch Jam is the latest entry to the "Jam" series of fruited sours by Foundation Brewing out of Portland, ME. These guys tend to be pretty decent, but they've lately been doing too many lactose-focused beers for my taste (including IPAs). This is actually my entry to the "Jam" series, and it seems like a good way to get into it... four fruits at once. Guava, currants, pineapple, and cherry... sounds like a good time!

Pours a blush red color with just about 100% opacity. My first pour yields about a quarter-finger of quickly-dissipating bubbles. Yup, looks like a kettle sour for sure. Not special other than the nice color, which is definitely indicative of the fruit additions. Probably biased towards the cherry addition. Wish I knew which type of cherries (and currants, for that matter) were used here, but oh well.

The nose is hefty on the guava addition, with a slight hit of tartness and lemony acidity. A twang of tropical pineapple and strong cherry/strawberry-like orchard fruit notes come out after a little while. This is quite nice and vibrant, and actually has aspects of each of the fruits displayed in a surprisingly clear and delineated way. I'm surprised, considering the combination of traditionally "darker" fruit with the tropical stuff in the mix. Wow. Impressive.

Tartness is pretty prominent upfront, but the transition to the finish displays some nice wheatiness. The lactose smooths out the entire finish pretty well, though it also goes partially into the realm of making this seem a little dull compared to how it comes off on the palate upon first sip. I kind of wish it were a bit brighter throughout the whole palate, but the carbonation is pretty detailed and nice in its own way. If you like the idea of a guava-focused sour with a slight tart cherry note and good drinkability, you could do a lot worse than Fruit Punch Jam. A fun drink, for sure. I think my next entry will be far more complex, however...

 

Surly - Todd The Axe Man

This is a five month old can. Many folks here wouldn’t bother with this one but I’m not one of those folks.

This beer actually gushed a little. That didn’t give me a good first impression. It’s an extremely hazy apricot color. The can says “this bright IPA.” Jeeze. What brewer would call this beer “bright?” What the heck is going on here? Talk about a bad first impression... and this is the second highest rated “American IPA” on BeerAdvocate behind the now infamous Alpine Nelson.

Fortunately, the taste is great. Tastes heavily of tangerine (with pith), along with honeydew, and bitter greens. There’s malt sweetness. All these elements fit together rather snuggly though. The beer manages to balance heft with drinkability rather well too. Once I got past the opening, this one was great.