New Beer Sunday (Week 779)

Big thanks to @Sturgeon83 for this one!! Lestermann/Bottle Logic Scoring Discrepancies, a very well balanced PB&J Stout, really nailed the flavors in this.

4.38/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Sturgeon83 for this
12 oz bottle poured into a teku

A- Black with a massive mocha head. Bottle was a gusher, but got most of it in the glass.

S- Peanut butter, raspberry jam, chocolate, some roasted malts.

T- Raspberry jam, chocolate, roasted malts, peanut butter.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- With how it gushed when I opened it I thought I might be infected but it smells and tastes great. Really well put together PB & J stout.

Cheers!

 

Excellent point!

 

Abita Andygator

Today I’m featuring an Abita pale Bock twofer.

First up is Andygator. their “Helles Doppelbock.” Since it is classified here as a Maibock, people have claimed that it is false advertising for Abita to have given it an “-ator” name (something traditionally given to Doppelbocks), but this is unfair. This beer is a pale 8% ABV Doppelbock. This isn’t an issue of it necessarily being misclassified on BA, but more a case of style misunderstandings IMO. It would be better off in the Doppelbock category, but the BA categories weren’t previously set up to accommodate this (and it'll be unfairly maligned either way)

The beer is a gorgeous clear deep yellow. Great head. Taste is malty, smooth, butterscotch (and I don’t mean the D word), slightly doughy, and rich (but not sweet). It’s well rounded and warming while maintaining drinkability. This beer is really hitting the spot for me. I’m liking it way more than the average BA based on the beer’s score here (81… with some really harsh reviews).




Abita Mardi Gras Bock

This is the beer that Abita is actually calling a Maibock (well kinda… at least the label claims it’s “similar” to one). It’s 6.5% ABV. It’s more coppery in color than the blonder Andygator. Compared to that beer, it’s sweeter and fruitier. It’s also fuller in flavor (not body), but for me, this isn’t a plus. It’s slightly toasty. Personally, I like Andygator more - both in terms of general enjoyment and also in comparison to others of its type. (I actually see myself buying Andygator in the future).

Well, looking at the scores on BA (79 for the Maibock), it’s clear that these two beers aren’t exactly appreciated by the BA community. Both of these styles are also difficult to find in the US… either from US producers or German ones. Are brewers not brewing these types of beers because they are undervalued and won’t sell well… or are BeerAdvocate users giving these harsh scores because they are unfamiliar with such beers? Who can say what the ratio really is (chicken... egg), but this is a situation that won’t result in interest in beers like this. Trader Joe’s Josephsbrau line also has a Heller Bock and a Maibock… a rarity. In that case, I also liked the “Heller Bock” best, but I’d love to do a blind tasting of all four of these beers. I generally don't care for the Jpsephsbrau beers, but I like the Heller Bock... I'm just not sure if they still sell it by me though.

These two go out to @woodychandler , the woodiest of all the Chandlers.

 

Weird and cool idea here. Cacao nibs in a blueberry sour. Pours a pure purple-ish blue color with a pinkish head that builds up to about two fingers. It sinks down to a half-finger after about five minutes, though still retaining its uniquely-colored foamy collar. This is quite nice looking. The retention, especially, is good for a quick-sour.

The nose is mostly stemmy blueberry and black raspberry-like notes with some herbal qualities and a touch of milk chocolate. Huh, the way these ingredients work together seems pretty interesting, I must say! I mean, I knew this was going to be a weird beer, but it also feels like it'll be one I wouldn't mind having more than one of.

On the tongue, this is surprisingly decadent and balanced. It toes the line between a sour and a dessert beer with aplomb, kinda focusing on aggressive, anonymous sourness without much of the fruit flavor at first, then transitioning to a combination of blueberry and sweet milk chocolate for the mid-palate. The finish is quick, somewhat expediently highlighting the berry flavors, while the combination of acidic sourness and cocoa confuses and intrigues the palate. Wow, this is definitely a treat. I know that my review makes it sound a little like this doesn't work well, but it does... somehow, the bright, tart berry flavors and dessert-like chocolate elements come together well. Imagine Boulevard's Chocolate Ale cut with like 40% of an intense berry sour. That's sorta what this is going for, and it does a good job.

 

How do, everybody- I'm about to fire up the grill and start dinner, so it seemed like a perfect time to crack open what will probably be my last beer of the weekend. This one is also a little bittersweet for me because I got it at a local store that's unfortunately closing its doors permanently in a couple of weeks; trying to be too much of a small specialty shop than the area could support, I suppose...


Von Trapp/Wormtown collab Elevation 4393, or Von Trapp's "IPL take" on Wormtown's Be Hoppy

Right off the bat, I really like this. It's zippy and clean, fairly dry finish- pretty much what you'd expect with an IPL. And it really does seem like there's a pure hops and malt thing going on, laser focused almost. It's mostly citrusy, albeit in a few different ways- from fresh mandarin orange pulp, to grapefruit zest, to orange marmalade. Sub tones include a bit of apricot, and even a touch of mango and grilled pineapple. Very fruity, overall, with a cookie-dough base. There's a relatively high-gravity malt presence supporting it all, while the bitterness is high enough to keep thing interesting throughout.

I kinda wish there was also some herbal component to keep things from feeling too one-note; and also that the gravity was a tad lower/drier. Still, an enjoyable glass of beer overall in the A- (4.1) range. Cheers!

 

A bit late to the party on the 2019 BCBSs. My first is the Café de Olla.

Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Café de Olla Stout
ABV: 13.5%
IBU: 60



I can smell the bourbon from a foot or two away as I open the beer and pour, but oddly, not so much once I stick my nose down into the tulip glass. There the aroma is dark chocolate bar and coffee, with just hints of the barrel and bourbon. Quite a nice overall presentation of aromas.

Look is deep, impenetrable black from the front, and the same with a backlight with the exception of a tiny ruby edge at the stem of the glass. A short tan head forms from a not at all gentle pour, which very quickly fades to a thin cap before being gone completely. The look is as expected for a high ABV BA stout.

After less than a minute:

Taste is a unique experience. Big with the chocolate bar and coffee, with the barrel and alcohol coming along. In the middle, the spices and orange appear. The finish is first a bit gritty but then becomes smooth and a bit sticky with alcohol and chocolate. I get more chocolate from the malts (I assume... the brewer does not mention any chocolate added) than I do coffee-flavor from the coffee. In order of flavor intensity, roasted malts, dark chocolate bar, alcohol, coffee, spices, and then a hint of orange. The taste is quite delightful, interesting, unusual, and enjoyable.

Mouth feel is toward the thick side, smooth, and sticky.

Overall, an excellent result, to my taste, of the combination of flavors. I still have the "regular" 2019 BCBS yet to try, as well as the Mon Chéri version, so I can't compare this to those yet. However, on its own, excellent.

L: 3.75 | S: 4.5 | T: 4.5 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.5 | BA rating: 4.43

 

First off, have to start out with a good base for afternoon drinking...

Stanton City Bites is a Houston institution, that has been open since the 50's. Still the best burger in town


Second, is a stop off at Holler Brewing down the street.

This will be a battle of one beer, two different serving styles.

Stouty with a Chance of Peanuts..AKA a stout with peanut butter. Typically I avoid these types of stouts, as I have come to have an almost psychological allergic reaction (so to say) along the like of whenever I hear REO Spreadwagon on the radio (I grew up in the town they formed, and just can't listen to them anymore). SO...I almost never get these types of flavored stouts. More on that as you read...

Anyway..Stouty with a Chance of Peanuts, American Stout with peanut butter, 6.6 ABV. Got a half pint, another thing I almost never get, but you know read above

This beer pours basically opaque black. A tan head forms with good retention and leaves some lace as it recedes. Aroma and Taste as follows: Roasted malts for sure, coffee, chocolate up front. Then the dose of peanut butter comes. After a while it gets a little sugary. Certainly not as over the top as others I have had in this flavored stout "style" though I can't say I would be looking for this. It has a full body and moderate carbonation. This is were peanut butter flavoring really hurts for me though. As it is sticky, slick and oily and thick. Which makes this something I don't really care to come back to. Is it as bad as some other examples I have had with peanut butter? No, but that doesn't mean I really care to come back. When I finally put my review in the database, it should be less than 3.5.





And...here is the other "version" of this beer.

Just called Stout. It is the base beer from above, without any peanut butter. So just a plain American Stout at 6.6 ABV. This is also on CASK...oh now I'm interested.

This pours pretty much opaque black, with a dense tan head. With excellent retention and lacing for days all the way down the glass. Aroma, as most cask offerings isn't as aromatic but light roast, chocolate and espresso beans. Taste has all the malt flavors you can handle. The bitter sweet bakers chocolate stands out, but the espresso/coffee and roast make for an incredibly balanced and nuanced character. A medium to full body. Silky smooth and perfectly carbonated for something on cask. So enjoyable to drink, very moreish, and downed in big gulps. Yep, I love this one. Should easily be 4+ when I put my "official" review down.

What a difference not only with serving styles, but this is so different and so much more enjoyable for me than what I had above, its not even funny.



Last one at Holler for this visit...

This is called Malt Lite at 5.3% ABV. They are calling it the "worlds only Kveik Dunkel." They use that new Kveik yeast that has been making its rounds. Apparently, this bad boy yeast ferments at around 95 degrees.

Pours a dark black with just enough light passing through to give a bit of reddish around the edges. A two finger tan read forms and recedes after a minute with lace. Aroma is all malt, as should be expected. Toasted, light grains, light chocolate. Which carries over to the taste, and some darker fruit flavors that I can't put my finger on. Actually, kind of hard for me to accurately describe outside of some basic malt flavors. Even with the name, this is a bit lighter than I was expecting. Its not as clean as I would like, and a bit muddled. Good carbonation, for reference, as everything is that they do. Overall, interesting and I need to have this a few more times. If only to figure out the rest of what I'm tasting, and also to figure what the hell style this would go under. Not bad, and will be repeat purchase, though more out of curiosity than thinking this is a really good beer. Maybe my opinion will change on further tastings...

 

Evening NBS and Thanks Craig for the kickoff. All family things done for the day so now Im off and running with the first can (of course it has to be this) from the electrifying box from @SawDog505.
Foam Brewing Experimental Jetset
Pours a turbid yellow with a sea foam like head that settles to one ring with spotty lacing.
Aroma is lime, lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, guava, pineapple and grass.
Taste follows with lots of the citrus, tropical notes, pine, distinct rind like bitterness. White pepper spice on the end. As the beer warms maybe aome white grape?
Feel is medium/full, very tiny bubble carb that lasts throughout, drier finish but also some fresh hop oils lingering.
Extremely easy drinking 9.2%. Definitely bitter but not in a bad way.
I have to say Im not mind blown but a very good, easy drinking DIPA and my first from Foam Brewing.
No hops listed but I feel this is not typical NEIPA hops. Seems more of a southern hemisphere or new world hops. I thank you Tim for this opportunity and cant wait to dig into more of this awesome box. Cheers!

 

Fitting, in that: a) I am established in Nawlins; b) my cousin, Colby, is the VP at Ballast Point; c) I am the woodiest of us, having done deck crawlers on the last wood-planked ship in the Navy (USS Fulton (AS-11)) & d) I might just have to send you some beer after all, you magnificent bastid!

This should probably be a DM, but I'm drunk & lazy: Yer in NY, right? Where at? Me = coming up to Rangers, Mets, Yankees games = E-Z. Isles? Not so much. 2 years at Staten Island = me CAN get around. Let's meet at some point!

 

I haven't had super great experiences with 603 Brewing, but a co-worker of mine really digs their new location and talks about them all the time, so I picked up two cans of this, one for her to pay her back for something I owed her for, and one to drink now. This is a 7.5% stout called One S'more Time, and it is a stout brewed with crystal malt, chocolate malt, graham crackers, and toasted marshmallows.

The pour is an intensely dark brown bordering black quite closely, topped off with a messy but retentive head of mocha colored foam that leaves behind some spotty lace and has some really nice, surprising legs to it.

The nose is more than a little metallic, which was definitely a fear of mine. 603 is a small, "batchy" NH brewery that tends to try to reach beyond their grasp with most of their beer ideas. The scent here is definitely biased toward an extreme fermentation that likely squeezed out all residual sugars from the mash (which is not a good thing). I don't get any of the marshmallow or graham cracker additions at all. It smells almost sour in a way, maybe like sourdough bread. I get very little from the added ingredients here. It's just way too metallic and... I dunno. Something's off here. Let's hope the palate is better.

The flavor is actually slightly better, with a little roast and smoke contributing some element of "s'mores" to the proceedings, but, that is unfortunately where it ends. This is just a normal Export-style Stout at the end of the day. Nothing is actually wrong with that, but I can't help but feel disappointed considering what was sold here. The recipe is decent but nothing yells "s'mores," there are only suggestions, and, considering the tons of beers doing this kind of thing better, suggestions are not enough. I keep hoping for breweries like 603 to start transcending, but they usually fall in line with the "meh" feelings I tend to have for smaller NH ventures. Ah well.

 

Hi again, NBS!
I am coming back for another new hoppy beer from Quebec. This one is from Le Castor. They are a very solid brewery who puts out a range of good to very good beers in addition to the utter classic and long-time only-good-IPA-on the-shelves-in-the-whole-province candidate Yakima, a very nice west coast IPA. Well, even they have jumped onto the NEIPA wagon in the past six months or so. Unsurprisingly, though, especially when compared to other local breweries that have done this in the last year or so, their NEIPA was dynamite! This beer here is the double. I am fairly certain it is the second or third batch. It was canned on January 13th . Here goes.

It pours milky orange with a big rocky beige head. Decent retention; sticky lacing. Really nice looking. Aroma of pretty pronounced green hoppy resinousness and underripe mango. The flavor follows with a more sweetly tropical character, mango. orange and pez candies with some faint pale malt underneath. It is big-feeling with present, but subtle alcohol body and sweetness. This is a nice beer overall. It doesn't really pop like it could in my opinion and I feel like the aroma is a little harsh. Everything is there in proper proportion style-wise, however. I'd have it again and in the future I'll grab a couple to see what little and a lot of time do to it. For now, though, very good but not great. Could be worse!

I'll catch everybody later. Hope you all have a good week!
Santé!

 

Long Island at the moment, but I can get to anywhere in the NYC area for a drink. Sports is a language alien to me, but beer isn't. I will gladly meet you for the latter but I will not wear a religious habit while doing so. Cheers.

 

I would be open to trying a traditional Kvass in a restaurant setting, but my wife is not food adventurous in any way, so chances are slim.

I enjoy your reviews of the ridgeway beers. I never see them in Indiana anymore. I love English style beers and they are virtually nonexistent locally. Cheers

 

Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo

Look @woodychandler , a gosh darn can. I had TT before, but this is the new version, and that’s new to me. Because of the branding, I’m always tempted to think of this beer as a variant of Torpedo (and I bet a lot of others do too), but I feel like it’s the wrong approach and this is really its own beer. I recently did a blind side-by-side with Torpedo and the 40th Anniversary Ale, and it would have been great to include this beer too. I feel like it has more in common with the 40th beer than it does with Torpedo, but it’s not as pleasing as either one to me.

It’s a nicely clear, deep golden yellow with a good head and great lacing. Smells like the vegetal qualities of hops. The malt character is white bread. The hop character is orange citrus, a gentle bitterness, and cabbage. That sounds unappealing but this beer is far from that. Nonetheless, this doesn’t feel like a beer that your average BeerAdvocate user would love. It feels more like a solid purchase for someone who wants an inoffensive and drinkable “craft IPA” at a reasonable price. This beer is truly "inoffensive" in the IPA realm. That sounds like a backhanded complement, but I really don’t mean it that way (even if I don’t intend to buy more)... I just think it's a case of Sierra Nevada aiming for something specific and succeeding.

 

Really slim. The restaurant in NYC that had that homemade kvass is no longer there... and I doubt there are many restaurants doing the same. I once tried to take @TongoRad to this place and when we got there I discovered that they were gone. Unfortunately.

You are being too generous in even calling my posts "reviews," but thanks! I like your posts too. Cheers.

 

The CANQuest (tm) is infectious! You CAN't go wrong. I'll have to see about a meet-up.

 

And now, the one everybody here seems to be drinking...Sierra Nevada 40th Hoppy Anniversary.

Pours with a touch of traditional haze. A golden/orange color. A dense and rocky white foam sits on top with excellent retention and lacing all the way down. The aroma is bursting at the seems with pine spruce and citrus. Grapefruit fore sure, even some lemongrass. A wonderful peppery spice that works perfectly for me. The taste follows suit. With a touch of caramel malt noticeable, and a wonderful bitterness bringing everything together. A medium to full body with excellent effervescent carbonation. Crisp, super clean, and finishes dry. This is really easy to drink. The six pack will be gone in no time and I wouldn't be surprised if I upped some scores once I have finished that. Currently sitting at 4.19, review bellow:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/437054/?ba=champ103#review

And starting The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake. I remember trying this when I was a kid, but didn't get into as much as The Lord of the Rings. Peake was a contemporary of Tolkien and wrote this big fantasy world around the same time as the Hobbit and LOTR, but is much slower moving and more "literary fiction" so it was harder for me, and probably many other younger readers to get into right away. Though it is excellent in its own right. I have had some paper backs of these forever, but just recently came into these amazing 1967 reissues that Peake illustrated himself, and love them.

 

Nailed it!

I ran through a handful of Ridgeway Christmas beers last winter season, all bought at World Market, all arguably a bit overpriced, and the best of them struck me as beers that would be fantastic at about 3.5%.

No new beers for me this Sunday, but I'm enjoying seeing the parade of stuff in here. Good work, NBSers!