New Beer Sunday (Week 788)

Good evening NBS. I didn´t have any decent new beer today, so I decided to push the boundaries of my particular (and surprisingly satisfactory) investigation on local adjuncts and macros during Coronavirus to the extreme, with a white-brand pils from the French supermarket chain Carrefour. This is easily the cheapest beer I´ve 'ever' bought at 0.4 USD the can, but yet the recent success with macros make me feel pretty excited about this one, almost in a creepy way.



First, the can claims Carrefour Pils is an adherent of Reinheitsgebot, and the beer holds a decent 5.5% in alcohol. Let´s see.



L- Pours dark gold with a white head which is more greyish than tanned, and manages to show decent retention and some lacing. Lots of carbonation, as in a sparkling cider.

A- Smells lightly of sweet, toasty malts and a hint of green apple turning bad, with just the slightest suggestion of hops. I am having it pretty cold though, as my compromise for science has some limits. Risk management and all that.

T- The taste follows the aroma more or less, but I am thinking it is even worst, and actually makes the former interesting. A mess of malts, artificial fruity sweetness in stereo, and some weird textures all around. I am not even trying with the aftertaste out of respect.

F- Yet the mouthfeel is the nail in the coffin here, as any possibly redeeming feature from the malts is killed by an impossibly flat feeling, without the slightest hint of a bite from the invisible hops, and not even that pompous carbonation coming back to save the day, as it has seemingly left the sinking ship like a rat.

O- TERRIBLE. I am ashamed of myself.

 

So I heard my sender for the still ongoing BIF will be a little delayed in getting stuff out as a result of the quarantine and some other factors. Not to worry! It was a beautiful day here the other day so the GF and I went on an extended beer run so we're stocked up for the time being!





Cheri is a saison from Fair Isle, a relatively new brewery out in Ballard, and represents the first offering of theirs that I have tried.

It pours a cloudy pale yellow with a big wet white head that fizzes down over time. Not much lacing.

Nose is initially bursting with big tropical hops, especially pineapple and maybe some lime. As it sits and warms, the hops make way for the yeasty funk to come forward.

Flavour never really jumps into the rich sweet tropical side opting more for what I always think of as a more 'green' flavour profile. Starfruit and lime oil and then transitions over to a pleasant yeasty funk.

An interesting one for sure, and I find myself enjoying it over all.



Cheers y'all!

 

Another addition to Bravo Brewing's line up. For the first time on BA, ladies and gentlemen, Black Bird Oatmeal Stout.
Cheers.



4.28/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A strong pour is needed to reach a half finger of short lived tan creamy foam that quickly drops to a thin cap and ring. Spots of lacing remain after swirling. Semi-opaque dark brown, almost black with ruby highlights in front of bright light.

Bakers chocolate leads the smell with coffee, toffee, roasted nuts, spiced apples & pears, milk chocolate, roasted grain and toasted pumpernickel. There are some clove and allspice lurking while candied apples sneak in.

Semi-sweet with low bitterness, chocolate continues to take charge during the taste. The roasted malt character is well pronounced with a slight astringency. Complex flavor without any item being to strong, almost balanced. Caramel malt flavor rises equally with bitterness towards the long finish as flavors slowly diminish. Roasted malt and spice linger a while.

Medium-full body with plenty of soft carbonation held conservatively in reserve. Smooth and session-able, big on the palate yet not overly filling. Alcohol is hidden, bitterness is low however spicy hops shine.

 

Greetings All:

Tumblweed IPA from Helena, Montana. Malty, with a sweetness and mild hop bitterness. A very good IPA indeed.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/914/5577/

The can has a lot of information on the brewery, the beer, the namesake and the packaging. A home school lesson in itself.

 

This was a weird week. This week the feeling of isolation started to set in a bit more than last. The parks here have been overrun with visitors to the point that they're almost as crowded as the grocery stores. Luckily my wife and I live quite close to the largest cemetery in Pittsburgh that is full of wildlife, serene views, and history. It's the final resting place of mayors, congressmen, industrialists, Stephen Foster, and Chef Brockett from Mr. Rogers. That's where we go when we want to get away and enjoy a walk. It's big enough that you can always find a new route that you've never taken, and it feels like you're no longer in the city even though you're in the middle of some of the most dense residential areas. As we walked this week we encountered an area with large green and brown pods all over the road. Inside the pods were large seeds that were very hard and roughly the size of marbles. My wife asked me what they were, and I replied without thought, "maybe they're from a Kentucky Coffee tree."

A slight bit of history now. Dancing Gnome does a series of monthly releases with a different theme each year. In 2018, they did a flower series which was a monthly DIPA release that experimented with different hop combinations that they'd never experimented with. Each release was named after a different flower. 2019 was their bird series which was again a monthly DIPA release named after a different bird. The bird series focused on experimentation with different processes(timings, temperatures, etc.) 2020 is going to be the tree series. This series will vary in style instead of always being a DIPA. With the tree series they've teamed up with non-profit Tree Pittsburgh to try to educate people on the importance of living in a green city with a varied landscape of tree species. These cans feature peel away labels that give facts inside about the named species of tree, and talks a bit about them.

That brings us to the reason for the initial story. On Friday Dancing Gnome canned Kentucky Coffee. It's a DIPA hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo and Chinook. I knew that this week's release was called Kentucky Coffee and that's the reason I blurted it out. Today I was running low on beer supplies after doing some damage during this week of isolation, so I did a curbside pick-up of a 4-pack each of Kentucky Coffee and Lustra. I can't explain my delight when I peeled away the label tonight to see the same pods depicted that my wife asked me about on our walk just a few days ago. Not only that, one of the facts given mentioned that an old grove of them can be found in the Allegheny Cemetery specifically. I included a picture of the label because the peel away feature is pretty neat if you've never seen one. Oh, and the pod in question is seen on the far right side. I realize it was a minor coincidence, but in these times of social distancing I'll take all the entertainment I can get. Thanks for indulging my little story.

Dancing Gnome - Kentucky Coffee



4.34/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned 3/27/20 and poured into a becher glass.
Look - Straw yellow haze topped with a thick creamy head that lingered until the end. Moderate lacing present.
Smell - Floral and fruity aromas with notes of honey and hops. Sticky and dank.
Taste - The taste lives up to the aromas. Big hits of citrus with just a touch of rich honey flavor. Bitter hop finish keeps me coming back for more.
Feel - Very soft and light on the palate for all of the intense flavors. It leaves with a slightly bitter cat tongue on the finish.
Overall - These are the kind of DIPA's that Dancing Gnome excels at. Big fresh flavor, complex layers of hops, and dangerously drinkable for the 8% abv.

 

A double version of their flagship maple red ale.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36100/471461/



16 oz. can.
Moderate pour yields a half inch light pinkish head over a slightly hazy, reddish brown body with a bit of lacing. Nose of smoked maple, wet leaves, malt, and slight hops. Taste of maple, wood, and earth. Nice feel and overall, surprisingly less sweet than expected.
Cheers!!!

 

That´s great. We´ve just entered into the next phase before full martial law here, and not only the parks are closed since last week but 'moving around' without justification is now unlawful. I´d give an arm for those walks around the cemetery, not to mention a sip in your DIPA.

 

All of my best to you and your friends and family over there. We're slowly moving that direction because people can't seem to comprehend sharing social spaces while also keeping their distance. Every few days it seems like there are more restrictions. We're still allowed to go outside for exercise, but aside from grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations there isn't really anywhere to go aside from parks. Luckily so far the local breweries are allowed to operate by offering to-go options only. Here's to hoping you're back to living and drinking freely and healthily very soon.

 

Had a long walk with my wife and a good friend out today, as it was very nice weather here. Finishing my night with the Brew Kettle's Big Wood Helles. A nice easy drinking beer.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2470/17806/?ba=neenerzig#review

Eric