New Beer Sunday (Week 785)

Agreed, hope y'all are okay in that part of the country. I'm very thankful we don't get too many tornadoes in eastern Washington.

 

Ayinger Celebrator
ABV: 6.7%
IBU: 24



Aroma is sweet. Caramel, stone fruits, raisins, chocolate, hints of roasted malts.

Deep, dark brown color with ruby highlights, 1/2 inch tan head that recedes quickly to a bubbly cap and ring.

Mouth feel has a smooth texture with a moderate to full body and leaves a smooth coating. Some carbonation feel.

Taste fairly complex with stone fruits, peach, some bitterness (which seems to be from the roasted malts, like the bitterness from coffee), caramel, earthy and roasted in the background. The taste is dry, despite the sweet aroma. The middle has a moderate bitterness. The finish is fruit and caramel, roasted malts and mostly dry. The fruit aftertaste fades fairly quickly leaving the roasted malts and only a slight alcohol heat in the throat.

Overall, an excellent beer with an excellent flavor.

L: 3.75 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.5 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.32

 

I don't understand the logic behind this. While I'm all for breweries pushing boundaries and constantly trying new things, there is something to be said for dialing in a recipe and honing a beer to the point that it's close to perfect. There's a local brewery that does something similar, they generally don't remake a beer without making at least some change to the recipe. They make some good beers, but I can only imagine the kind of quality brews they could put out if they focused on at least a few "flagship" beers.

 

Always time for another New beer!

what's next?!

Been having a lot of beers from this brewery lately in Maryland.



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Packaged Jan 20 2020.

Slightly dull looking body, with a muted brownish lemon yellow color, and certainly opaque hazy, but not turbid. Big fluffy topped bright white head of an easy three fingers with some big bubbles, and also good staying power.

Aroma hits with a tropical faint sense, bending toward mango but also with and earthy muddy stinky quality. Very pungent aroma on the hop angle. Has even a bit of dill pickle like smell to this strangely also.

Palate stays a good course. Light bodied in feel at first, but there is a nice citrus sweetness and thickness of flavor the body that gives the beer some strength. Slightly juiced orange and a little bit of pith, particularly on the finish. Mid palate opens with a touch of pineapple like juicy flavors as well. There's some variety in here, but the hop angles all seem to be competing for attention. Very velvety mouthfeel after awhile as well.

Pretty solid IPA, with a touch of hazy goodness.

look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4 | Final Grade: 4.01/5

 

Moving on to my next beer, Tired Hands A Grand Assortment Of Beautiful Things. I was really excited for this beer given the hops combo (cascade, galaxy, ella and motueka) and the awesome art work at looks like me and my fiancée’s dream living room, but this beer falls way short.

3.46/5 rDev -11.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

16 oz can, dated 3/3/20, poured into a teku

A- A hazy orange with a two finger white head.

S- Chalky, yeast, earthy, some citrus.

T- Citrus, some limes, earthy, hints of peppercorns, some yeast, touch of malts.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- This does not have any balance of flavors. I will be able to finish a pint, but I feel this was a big swing and a miss from Tired Hands.

I hate to say it but beers like this are why I tend to stay from DIPA that Tired Hands brews or only buy a 4-pack which I will split up if given the chance. Yes, they have brewed DIPA I have really enjoyed, like the Cozy I had earlier, but they have brewed too many with issues that are $20+/4-pack and not nearly as good as Alien Church which is $18/4-pack. Cheers NBS!

 

Lupulin Imperial Raspberry Truffle Porter, 9% ABV. Pours black and moderately thick with a 2+ finger light brown head that left foamy lacing. Nose is light raspberry, taste follows, a bit sweet a bit tart, almost no bitterness. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Not tasting any truffles, but who would want mushrooms in a beer (other than Snörkel).

4.27/5 rDev +6.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

 

My wife and I spent the weekend in Santa Fe and we had an enjoyable time at Rowley Farms. I've had a few of their bottled beers and have enjoyed them. Now I get to have a few on tap.
This is an IPA, Agent Scully Season 3 Episode 4 (where Scully asks Clyde Bruckman for help).
It is a nice comfortable beer.
Gold color with a slight haze. Small white head, good deal of lace.
Aroma of citrus, pine, and sweet malt.
Taste of grapefruit, late pine, caramel.
Nicely hopped and fun to drink.

 

Lost Forty Brunch Muffin,a Tart fruit beer with Strawberries, lemon zest, vanilla & lactose, 4.5% ABV 3.53 over all.

Pours an effervescent amber with rapidly falling cream colored head. Traces of head retention, zero lacing

S: Tart lemon, some wet hay & strawberry late

T: Lemon, a little vanilla & strawberry, some dryness up front. Strawberry & lemon as this warms, plenty of tartness. Finishes dry & tart with plenty of lemon/lime & just a little vanilla

MF: Light/medium body, delicate carbonation

Easy to drink, more of a hot weather offering, not really wowing on flavor, no new ground broken here. Over $ 3.00 a can, this will make me reluctant to try their other sours/fruits

 

OK. Here's a new beer from a fairly new brewery just downtown, South End Brewing Company. Flying Hyena Pale Ale at 6.5% It is owned by the Kervorkian family..The place was Gibbs Brewing- which moved- and is a very cool little niche next to a distillery, bars, and the deep history of this old town. We love the place. Friday night we ran into my local English and South African friends that work locally at Syngenta and the Volvo and Mack Truck headquarters. It was fun.
Flying Hyena is a very dry and crisp pale ale that packs a ton of flavor on a lighter frame. It smells like fresh biscuits, has a gorgeous white cap, and just begs to be drunk. It has a rich deep yellow aspect that stays alive with a fine carbonation. I want more. I would recommend this pale ale as an every day beer or a special treat any time.
In the picture is a native American gaming stone and a tektite- fused lightening and sand- given to me by professor Barnes at The University of Texas when I was but a wee lad..Cheers all and listen up to a great old pop/rock classic.

 

Happy New English Barleywine Sunday!

Pretty nice day here on the Western Slope, cloudy, around 54, breezy at the trailhead. Having a very tasty brew, glad to see these showup every so often. Yesterday I was invited to do a local canyon, we got to name it. Made something to eat, one of my favorites.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18564/472449/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Good evening nice to see the sun out at this hour.
Todays brew is Tree House Curiosity 90.
Pours a very hazy orange gold with a large sea foamy like white head that leaves alot of sticky lacing.
Aroma is tangerine, grapefruit, overripe passionfruit, spruce tips, dank marijuana.
Taste follows with lots of grapefruit, tangerine juice and peel, mild tropical fruits and pine with a graham cracker like maltiness. Flavors linger with some hop oil.
Feel is medium, not too thick, soft as heck in the mouth, light carbonation finishing sticky on the lips but hoppy dryness at mid palate.
Another hop anthem thats a winner from Treehouse. I guess I picked the right brews on my trip because all have been delicious. Cheers have a great week.

 

Interesting day today. I could’ve sworn I made a couple of posts here earlier, but apparently not. I must be getting conveniently forgetful in my old age.

Huuuuuuuge shoutout to @TongoRad for sending this excellent beer my way, directly as a result of this thread. You are a rockstar, Michael.





4.25/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Beautiful translucent golden color with a slightly off-white head, the smoke is so subtle, it’s difficult to pick up at first, but becomes more prominent as the beer warms and is accompanied by noble hop aromas and a rich, bready malt note.

The smoke is just as subtle on the taste, which is welcome because too much smoke can be a distraction (to be kind). In this case, it is the toasty referenced on the can, and complements the noble hop and bready malt flavors perfectly.

An outstanding beer, something I’ve come to expect from Industrial Arts.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A beauty of a spring day, here on the island, with temps in the high 50's and lots of sunshine. Hopefully we are done with winter here. Not much at all going on today just lounging around.

I would prefer to see the set hosts stay in place and feel that it was part of the tradition. It also helped to further separate itself from wbaydn. There is also no correlation needed for participation on the thread. Would it be nice to see more? Of course, but it's not like it's a necessity. The thread can still just keep going as it has.

Anyway, my new beer today is Couch Locked, a stout w/ cacao nibs, vanilla, coffee, banana, almonds, & coconut, from Kills Boro brewing. It also happens to be my first offering from the said brewery or from Staten Island for that matter. The brew checks in at 12.6% abv and no canning date given.

A black pour with a fast and almost non-existent head of off-white bubbles. Chocolate malts on the nose with sugars. The nose carries right over to the drinking with a big hit of sweet chocolate. Nicely smooth on the flow with an equally smooth finish. The more I consume the more the sweetness seems to increase but it works and still remains rather drinkable. Full bodied with lots of nice stickie flavors that coat the palate and linger nicely after each sip. Very smooth drinking and the high abv is barely noticed. Good flavor notes of nuts, dry coconut, molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, and marshmallow. I'm not really picking up the banana flavor and it was really the aspect I was looking forward to the most.

Overall, pretty nice stuff. Its rather sweet but crazy smooth. I am going to score it in the low 4's and I will probably grab a few more cans to see if I taste the banana better on another day,

 

I haven’t been around since the beginning. I think #464 was my first posted review. The guy from Ohio (killed too many brain cells to remember) was kicking off the thread back then. But as a long time reader/contributor, I was intrigued to see @cjgiant mention some rules changes. Then, confused as to exactly what changed.
Technically, anyone could always start the thread. I actually recall Todd specifically reminding people of this about a year ago(??) when someone lost their shit over a user other than Craig or Dick starting it one day. As you referenced, people can still wait for a “host” to do it, but not necessary. But if that is a focal point, what is this about?:

“the goal here is to help keep the focus, bring the thread back to its early days”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that where the hosting/opener tradition came from? I thought it was that way from the beginning. Seems like mixed messages.
The only actual change I see is no videos or other pics, which we’ve gone back and forth on over the years. Used to be part of it, then they weren’t allowed for awhile, then they walked it back, no gone again.

I honestly really don’t care. Just pointing it out. May be why some people are irritated. Like you said, reviews have always been required. It’s the whole point. And the associated discussions.

Anyway, I’ve learned a lot from this group over the years. Including the value of blind tastings. I’ve also experienced the extreme generosity of many by participating in 9 of the 10 NBS BIFs and made some real life friends and trading partners. Whatever the masses think best serve this tradition going forward I support.

 

Mother's Imperial Grind- Santa Rita ( coffee ) Imp Stout, 10.0 ABV, 4.16 overall

Pours an effervescent ebony with 3 fingers of mocha colored head. nice lacing & average head retention

S: Tons of rich coffee,nothing else really getting through

T: Chocolate, dryness & plenty of that nose up front, some woody notes as well. Dryness mixes with plenty of coffee, and a little cocoa once warm. Finishes dry, roassty with loads of coffee & a kiss of woodyness & vanilla

MF: Medium body, firm carbonation, wanted more body

Well executed, room for improvement, but much to love here, ABV well disguised

 

Howdy NBSers,
I'm trying to be better about being present here and not just on the sheer lush-show that is WBAYDN. So let's put in a new beer, shall we? And forgive the "Dad" humor below.

Weldwerks A Many Splendored Thing DIPA. 8%. Fluffy as hell. Think Juicy Bits with more alcohol and slightly more dry-astringent characteristics (must be the Lotus and Strata in here).
Canned 2.13.20 - telling date.

A - Looks the murky part; as we expect from WW, cloudier than a Michigan day in January, with only a little pale gold at the rim. Good lacing, however.
Ar - Smells like a foxey citrus forest in full bloom, and I lived 6 years in Florida. Interesting. There is a mild 'cat pee' off-side whiff to this. But I can live with it (in fact, I do).
T - Doubles down on the bitter-astringent tropical fruit. And strange fruit. Ever seen one of those weird Buddha's hand fruits at the Asian Market. Ever wonder what the fuck it would taste like in a beer? But with mango and creamy pineapple slush-pops thrown in ? Yeah, it's like that.
M - great carbonation, stays lively, has that typical haze-bruh mouthfeel to it (not complaining) but on a day like today - I'm not gonna kick it out of the fridge.
O - A solid DIPA from WW - won't set the tropical murk-world on fire, but I like it. I'll give at 4/5 overall. I don't score the OCD particulars until the second tasting round, so... yeehaa!

 

#2, courtesy of @2beerdogs and an NBS BIF that is a derivative of this thread. Another true rockstar.





4.46/5 rDev +12.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

On the lighter side for the style, but still in line, it reminds me of the SN collab beer a couple of years ago with a golden colored body supporting a dense, light tan head. Beautiful beer.

The nose is filled with bready malt notes, and a subtle caramel note, too, and grassy notes from the hops. I’m literally salivating.

The bready malts ar REALLY forward on the taste, and that subtle caramel flavor provides a sweetness that works perfectly with the grassy hop flavors, and provides a slightly creamy mouthfeel that yields a world-class Marzen, IMHO.