New Beer Sunday (Week 781)

Hello NBS!

I will be joining in this week with a beer I received from @jonbonfondle

Beer: BBA What Lies Beneath
Brewery: Drekker
ABV: 11%

This beer pours out a silky, midnight black. Caramel colored bubbles want to muster up enough strength to form a crown, but never really do, succumbing to the inky black appearance drawing you in further for what lies beneath. Was that too corny? Oh well, I had to.

The nose carries in a huge wave of thick chocolate fudge. Not like chocolate fudge you made at home lightly coating the air, more like walking into a fudge factory where the air and chocolate don’t exist without one another. Laying below is a bed of lingering vanilla cake batter for the chocolate to rest on.

The coffee brings itself to light on the palate; balanced yet roasty and dry. While the barrel makes itself known as well; with a dryness that doesn’t leave you guessing it sat in wood and touches of dark fruit that bounce in and out of the chocolate tones. Vanilla still lingers, not wanting to steal the show at any point but remain a constant factor. The carbonation is on the low end, being almost still actually. It brings no burn to the palate, but you will notice your chest gradually getting warmer.

Overall, a fun beer to dissect with the different characters, tones and the way they all interact.

Thank you for the chance to try this Jon & cheers NBS!

 

Back again with a beer my son got me for NBS. This is Onward, an NEIPA from Progression. Honestly did not know of this brewery until this beer. Looked them up, looks like a nice place, may visit some day, its only about an hour for me.

3.83/5 rDev -8.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Poured to a Nonic from a 16oz can stamped "10/15/2019 SO APPALLED". Yea, I was appalled at that date also.
Pours hazy orange mild white head. Smells musty in a good way.
Taste is mango, lemon in front, finishes hoppy.
Mouth is a little thin for the style.
Overall, not bad, but far from best in show in this crowded field.

 

Phat Phresh Phluid is a DDH IPA from Interboro (Brooklyn, NY) The densely cloudy yellow-orange can pour hosts a 1 cm foam cap, yeastie bits and a mild tangerine aroma. The flavor is rich with citrus and tropical fruits. Mango and orange are most prominent. The hop bitterness is low to moderate. This is a flavorful fruit bomb. Yes, there are a lot of those.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip not sure when it was canned. Pours a hazy orange with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace a all over the sides of the glass, with solid retention. 4.25

Smell tangerine, lime, mango, pineapple, and apricot. 4

Taste follows, tangerine, pineapple, mango upfront with a hint of lime and apricot in the rather balanced lip smacking finish. 4.25

Mouthfeel is about medium, a little dry and sticky, gentle life, and at 6.4% plenty of flavor and easy drinking. 4.25

Overall this is very tasty, kind of crisp, and really crushable. Well done. 4

 

Nope! Great write up

 

Thanks for the start today @cjgiant! Many of the beers I buy are new altogether or new to me. That’s always been the case though. I always thirst for something new, and admittedly, something better. Are there more breweries putting out more new beers today? Yes. But that hasn’t impacted the availability of new and good beers for me available locally. It’s those repeat buys that keep me grounded in what I love, and the constant availability of new beers that keep me
sharp and aware of what’s on the cusp of innovation today.

River Horse Craic

An Imperial, Dry Irish Style Stout Aged with Vanilla & Coffee Beans, Aged in Jameson Casks. 9.1%. Brewed and bottled in Ewing, NJ.



Look: Pours opaque and black. Light brown finger of head that eventually disappears with a thin ring of foam around the edge of the glass. No visible carbonation. No lacing.

Smell: This beer has a really wonderful nose. Sweet and smooth Jameson. The creamy vanilla comes through nicely. Coffee. Very oak forward. Brown sugar / caramel. They have done the Irish Coffee aroma justice.

Taste: On the tip of tongue you get some sweet, creamy and vanilla flavored coffee. In the middle some dark berry coffee notes finished with bitter, toasty, dark roast coffee. This beer is defined by the coffee flavors, which finish intensely. I’d describe the flavor as biting into and chewing on a roasted coffee bean. I really like it and I think they did a good job with it.

Feel: Smooth, medium bodied. Moderate carbonation. Dry.

Overall: This beer was meant for drinking. Other than the bold coffee aspect, there’s nothing too intense about this 9.1% whisky barrel aged stout. It’s very drinkable.

The star of the show is the coffee. The vanilla and Jameson barrel provide a nice backdrop and create a nice depth of flavor and sweetness taking this already nice style to a different, yet familiar place. This one’s a home run for me.

Side note: A very well designed label for a Jameson barrel aged Dry Irish Stout.

@HoppingMadMonk @AyatollahGold

 

Happy New American Strong Ale Sunday!

Mostly been raining/snowing here on the Western Slope this afternoon. Having a very tasty brew, always a joy to have one of these big beers. Watching some of the Breaking Bad reruns.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20680/149554/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

And to counter my above glowing review, here is one I was not so happy to have yesterday. No picture, as I was out and about. Added my review last night, from notes taken early that day.

This is Brash's Hurt. A chocolate, ghost pepper, and habanero Imperial Milk Stout. 8% ABV.

Pours an opaque black color, with a dark tan head. Good retention and lace. The aroma is milk chocolate, and sugary. Reminds me of granulated sugar. With roast and coffee. The peppers are pretty much a non factor in the nose.

Oh, but that is were it ends dear friends. Cause all you taste is a vegetal, green, hot pepper. It overwhelms and does indeed "hurt" to drink. Maybe a bit of chocolate and more typical malts try to peek through. Though I can't tell.

The pepper flavor is so overwhelming, that carries over to everything else. I can only tell that this has a full body, but other than that...just peppers. Nope, nope, nope. I"m just done with this one. Not coming back. The overall score I have is 3.09, which actually seems a bit high. Though the look and aroma were on par for their typical variation of a milk stout. Which is mostly the same for Brash, and just variations on different additives.

I can handle my heat, I'm at any taco truck or Asian Market in town and will take anybody there anytime. This has nothing to do with not liking "heat" and everything to do with liking an actual beverage that I enjoy drinking. Its like the hot sauce wars a while ago, they all sucked because it was vinegar and pepper extract, and no flavors that helped with anything. Though knowing Brash this was probably them just trolling (look up some of their antics if you want). As a beer this is not something I want to drink at all. Official review below:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29426/456287/?ba=champ103#review

 

Asbury Park Brewing New Beer #2. An Irish Dry Stout with the imaginative name, "Stout." Actually, this is quite good. It's bare bones with a nice flavor of bakers chocolate, burnt coffee, char, tobacco, and nuts. And for 4.9% it has a luxurious mouth feel. I'm going to buy some cans for St. Patrick's Day. Here's my full review:

3.97/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from undated 12 oz. can into a nonic pint glass. It pours virtually jet black with slight cola hues at the bottom of the glass. It sports a full finger of foamy, light khaki-colored head and a thick coating of lacing inside the glass. A rather subdued nose featuring bakers chocolate, burnt coffee, cigar ash, and earthy nuts. There is also a whiff of vanilla. The taste opens with bitter chocolate, earthy char, and burnt coffee grounds. There are notes of leather, tobacco, and burnt nuts. As the glass warms, I note hints of vanilla/caramel. For 4.9% it has a surprisingly rich and creamy mouthfeel with low/moderate carbonation. And it's a true pub stout with its low ABV. You could drink this all day on St. Patrick's Day. It would also pair well with a burger, cheese steak or even fish and chips. This is a nice rendition of an Irish Dry Stout and I'd be happy to drink it any time.

Enjoy your new beer(s) today, everyone. Cheers, NBS!

 

Thanks!

I'd love to hear your impressions when you do get around to it.

 

Alright, on to my last one. Kudos to those reviewing Von Trapp Keller... it seems like a divisive beer that is getting people to rag on the use of the new-school hops, and I understand that. Grüngeist is a polarizing hop to begin with, not sure why they wanted to utilize it in an old-school style like that... speaking of which (kinda?)...



Jack's Abby just put out a 5.5% hoppy lager with Galaxy hops, so, uh... transition? To that?

The pour is a totally clear golden lager of unequaled beauty. It's tough to overstate how goddamn nice this looks, though the pour could have had just a bit more foam to it. The head is about a finger-and-a-half at its highest point, though it settles down to a quarter-finger with good legs and decent lace pretty quickly. Nice retention, though. I am into it.

The nose is very dank and resinous with light notes of passion fruit and peach rings around the edges. It's less sulfuric than I expected; JA sometimes has issues with this aspect so I am happy with what's going on here. Dank tropical fruit and a decent hit of crackery malt. Jumping right in...

Light fruity anonymous ester flavors with the basic, clean pilsner backbone leading the way. Mid-palate starts to dip into guava, passion fruit, and overripe mango with some suggestions of grassiness and very slight white pepper. Peach and melon roundness meld with grapefruit and leafy green pine resin in the finish. The finish is very neutral; slightly bitter but also a little round with a concise "lager-ness" to it. Very drinkable, but not crushable. It has a bit too much soapy hoppiness to it, in my opinion, which does not facilitate easy-drinking. I enjoy it, though. I would have it again, and I hope they do more versions of this base beer with other hops.

 

I guess if you counted leap year February, it could be next week. As I never wrote it down, and the site doesn't go back to week #1, the best I can remember was mid-Feb. So yes, it's probably next week or the week after :-/

 

Evening all hope everyone is having a nice Sunday. Thanks @cjgiant for the startup. For me Im likely to pull the trigger if its something new and I like the style, which is honestly just about everything. However I will go back and drink what I like if its accessible. No FOMO here though. I dont like or have the patience for lines.
For today first up-
Industrial Arts Torque Wrench DIPA
Poura a hazy yellow/gold with a creamy white head of 1/2" leaving nice world map lacing.
Aroma is juicy tangerine, lemon, grapefruit, pineapple and guava with a touch of dank, honeydew and pine.
Taste follows with juicy citrus, grapefruit rind, tropical fruits and resinous pine, white pepper spice.
Medium body, creamy, not too soft, sticky but finishes dry- snap. crackle. pop.
I really nice IPA right in the wheelhouse of some of the big guys. Im still thinking I like Wrench a bit more.
Recommended if you can find it.
Cheers.

 

Howdy!
Back again with another new local beer. This is a new IIPA (at only 6.4%?) from a new brewer. I had not heard of these guys at the beginning of the week and here I am now. A few days ago I saw mention somewhere online about their making really excellent IPAs. I said "pish posh" and didn't think any more of it till I came across them at the beer store yesterday. I figured I might as well have a taste for myself and see what's what. It has citra and lotus.

Now right off the bat, I gotta gripe about a lack of date. I am *far* from the most date-crazy beer drinker out there, but if you print a warning to drink it fresh but don't include a date, fuck you! I'm not a mind reader. Through some internet research I can determine this is very fresh, but come on!
It pours muddy orange with some fine particulate. Bubbly, gassy, soap-looking head. The aroma is orange rinds and diacetyl, citrus, grass and Werther's. The flavor is similar. Buttery citrus and green hops with a minty, astringent, slightly alcoholic finish. It is very astringent. Probably the most of any beer I've ever had. It's crazy how I can feel the pucker of it. This is off. It is not infected or anything as far as I can tell, but it is not good. Unbalanced, clear hop creep issues, still green, undated...

Drainpoured.

Have a great rest of your day, NBSers!
Santé!

 

Seriously it says "drink fresh" and there is no date? Fuck them.

 

Picked up a 4pk yesterday and cracked one last night. I enjoyed it. Since the original JA ( no Springdale) was and still is an all Lager Brewery I will always tip my hat to these guys. I mean Hoponious Union will always be an original go to for me when fresh. I guess what Im saying is they kind of put IPLs to masses so I expect hoppy.
Thought the beer was good as well.
Cheers I really enjoyed the review.

 

Appearance: Pours pitch black with 3/4 finger of a dark mocha head that dissipates immediately. 4

Aroma: The barrel and adjuncted stout are not integrated very well, but still a good aroma. The barrel brings rye spice, bourbon, drying oak tannin, slight vanilla, and green apple (which I don't think is intended). The adjuncted stout delivers real toasted coconut, slight cinnamon (like Red Hots candy), melted milk chocolate, 70% dark chocolate, slight brownie, roasted malt, caramel, and brown sugar. 4

Taste: Much more integrated than the aroma would lead you to believe. The rye barrel and cinnamon spice, from what I'd imagine is the toasted coconut (I've picked this up in other coconut beers), balances out the sweeter notes of the beer nicely. The toasted coconut is authentic and not sun tan lotion at all. The chocolate comes in the form of milk chocolate bar, 70% dark chocolate, and brownie batter. Roasted malt, coffee grounds, brown sugar, slight caramel, slight vanilla, rye spice, smooth bourbon, and drying oak tannin round it all out. Also get that green apple character I detected in the aroma (especially as it warms)...doesn't ruin the beer at all, but I can't help but wonder if it's an off-flavor. 4.25

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Lightly carbonated, slick, sticky, oily, and silky. For such a big beer, it's pretty thin. Could use a lot more body and carbonation. 3.75

Overall: I enjoyed this one quite a bit despite the thin mouthfeel and possible green apple off-flavor. Absolutely love the adjuncts in this one and it does come off as a liquid Mounds bar like others have described. If this one can get dialed in, it will be an absolute joy to drink and one to watch out for. 4.08

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for another great start to NBS! My habits have shifted lately. Until recently, I was more of a ticker, driven mainly by curiosity about new styles (to me) and new breweries. I'm currently in somewhat of an equilibrium where I seek out my favorites but remain on the lookout for new offerings. This balance is clearly influenced by the trend (locally, at least) to release a high proportion of one-offs all the time. Today's beer is courtesy of @FlintB. I've been eyeing this one for quite some time and I'm excited to pop it open today:

Trimorphic, Speciation Artisan Ales, Comstock Park, MI


The color is striking. A pale pink-rose out of the bottle, forming a bright, slightly hazy dark pink/ruby red color in the glass. Carbonation was low - not sure if this was intentional - but a vigorous pour produced only a small head that quickly left. The first thing I noticed on the aroma was the barrel. Big oak notes that were musty and slightly sweet. The cherry was there but the barrel was front and center. The taste differed greatly, as the tart cherries were there immediately. The tartness gave way to a slight sweetness from the fruit, which played well with the sourness. The oak notes were there throughout, but in the background allowing the fruit to shine. Complex cherry notes reflecting the different additions. There was also a funky undercurrent which added to the complexity. Carbonation was low - halfway between still and medium - but this did not detract much from the beer. I found it hard to believe that this was an 8% beer. Overall an outstanding beer. Thanks again, Brian!