New Beer Sunday (Week 789)

Good afternoon NBS, ready to get into a lot of the beers @beertunes sent me in the BIF. Starting with my first Fremont beer, Head Full Of Dynomite, a tasty NEIPA.

4.23/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you beertunes for this
16 oz can, dated 3/12/20, poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden with two finger white head.

S- Citrus, melons, mango, slightly floral, touch of sweet malts.

T- Citrus, some melons, touch of tropical fruits, some malt sweetness, floral, some peaches.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- An easy to drink NEIPA, like the balance of the hops.

Cheers!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. I hope everyone is well both health-wise and emotionally. It's overcast but a mild early Spring afternoon in North Jersey. We watched our Church service on Facebook, took the dog for a long walk, and I cut the lawn for the first time this season. I'm trying to maintain a sense of normalcy, which, of course, involves the drinking of good craft beer. While today is the "official" share date for the NBS BIF #11, I reviewed @woemad's mystery beer last Sunday because it was in a crowler. It was a peppermint stout more conducive to last Sunday's weather. Today, it's an APA: City of Dreams from Fort George Brewery in Oregon. Unlike most East Coast pales it has a muddy look that I find appealing. The nose is highly floral from the Huell Melon hops and there is lots of citrus and stone fruit from the Citra and Mosaic hops. I've never been good at discerning Azacca hops but note they're included in the hop bill. The barley and wheat malts produce a creamy, pleasing mouth feel. Overall, this is very tasty and a pleasure to drink. Thank you, Fred! Here's my full review:

4.14/5 rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Received from @woemad in a BIF. Poured from 16 oz. crowler into a Spiegelau IPA glass. It. pours a turbid, muddy gold color with a large, fluffy, eggshell colored cap and thick, soapy lacing. It has a floral, somewhat spicy nose with lemon, lime, tangerine, and grapefruit notes which I attribute to the Huell Melon hops. It's like walking through a greenhouse. The taste opens with lots of bright, tart citrus, including lemon and lime, along with notes of melon, wheat cracker, stone fruit, resinous pine, and bubblegum. The bill of Citra and Mosaic hops deliver a lot of fruit but only mild bitterness. I really like the mouth feel - the wheat and barley malts deliver a creamy, plush mouth feel. The level of carbonation is appropriate, as is the 5.5% ABV. It's a very easy drinker. Overall, City of Dreams delivers! There is lots of fruit with balancing hop bitterness and a first rate mouth feel. I enjoyed it outdoors on a mild early Spring afternoon with some sharp cheese. A delightful experience.

I'll be back soon with something local. Cheers, NBS!

 

I shared the same beer in post #2. Great minds and all that

 

Yup, reading your review helped me decide to have it first today!

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass, don’t have a clue when it was bottled. Pours a crystal clear bright yellow with a 2 finger head that settles really fast leaving maybe a thin streak of lace or 3. 4

Smell musty, champagne, peach, and coriander. 3.25

Taste follows must, champagne, and coriander. 3.25

Mouthfeel is thin, a ton of carbonation, dry as hell, and at 6.2% loaded with flavor but difficult to drink because the flavors are so not my thing hard to drink. 3

Overall my score is based on others in the style I have had and this one is not great for me. 3.25

 

Arkansas Beer; Rebel Kettle Berrily Bier American Wild Ale, 6.2% ABV & 3.92 overall ( Made with Arkansas Blackberries )

Pours an effervescent purply pink with rapidly falling beige head. Some traces of lacing, zero head retention

S: Berries & grassyness, some barnyard as this warms

T: Follows nose, tart blackberry & dryness, a hint of tart cherry also up front. Acidic blackberry as this warms, plus tart lemon & dryness. Finishes dry & tart with a lot of lemon, some cherry & blackberry

MF Light/medium boy, pretty subdued carbonation, enamel sucking stickyness prevalent in this style

A good take on the style, but not a medal winner by any means

 

Hello BA and NBS’ers!

I’m home today trying to enjoy life, and since I was in the mood for a beer, and a new beer, I figured I’d chime in here.

This one is a new release and a new barrel from Trillium. I had the original and I was lucky enough to get a bottle of the variant. I have a second bottle of the original release tucked away to age for a bit. I’m a big fan of this barrel and what it previously held. Today I’ll be drinking The Seven Isles port wine barrel aged imperial stout with Almonds!


Like the original release without almonds, the beer pours a near pitch black with a creamy brown foam head. This bottle though has some chunks of almonds floating around in it. Opaque and black so it doesn’t make a difference after pouring, just something I noticed, and think is actually pretty cool because it shows they’re using real ingredients and not just some essences or extracts.

Smell is immediately rich boozy port barrel, but the almonds add a huge layer of complexity on top of that, pairing with the already nutty-like port wine and it’s brown sugary fortified sweetness, the almonds get pretty dominant, smelling like pure toasty almonds after a while, with some brown bread and dried red fruity notes to meld with the chocolatey roasted malts.

The taste is imo extravagant, though I personally love port wine, almonds and imperial stouts, so I figured I would love this. The Seven Isles might have a little too much port character for those who don’t enjoy it, but for me it is harmoniously balanced between prominent port wine, oak barrel, and chocolatey roasted stout flavors. With the almond treatment, as you might expect from Trillium and my aroma description, it’s pretty intense. I actually like the flavor more than the aroma right now. I’ll see how it changes as it sits and I progress through the bottle. Flavor notes of sweet red port wine, intense nutty toasty almonds, oak barrel, dark roasted malts, chocolate, toasted brown bread, caramel, dark brown sugar, molasses, some dark fruits, red fruits and dried fruit, a touch of smoke, with some earthy herbal piney hops to balance.

Feels thick, fuller-medium bodied, creamy and smooth, almost viscous with moderate low carbonation, leaving lingering sweet tawny ruby port wine, oak barrel, almonds, brown sugary caramel and chocolate with hops.

Overall this is a real interesting brew from Trillium. I love the port barrel and almond was such a good ingredient to add to pair with the port wine and the stout. Well executed heavy thick big stout, 14.4%, enough Columbus hops to balance out the sweetness, though this beer is definitely leaning sweet, a bit sweeter than the original which was only sweet from the port wine barrel. I don’t think almonds are a sweet ingredient, but this beer definitely leans on the sweeter almost dessert side, though has some hop balance and definitely isn’t as sweet as a lot of the lactose brown sugar additions with chocolate and vanilla etc. I really hope they do a double barrel aged port and bourbon stout at some point, and I can somehow get to try it. More double barrel port and bourbon stouts please. Thank you. This is a real nice beer if you like sweeter stouts, red wine, dessert wine/port wine, and this variant in particular, if you love almonds. Cheers all, and happy Sunday!

 

Okay, it's time for my first New Beer of this Sunday. I suspect it will not be surprising at all that it's a beer from @Whyteboar and his box of beery delights. It's also delicious.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24678/106692/?ba=woemad#review
Most unusual Quadrupel Ale I've ever had. The nose reminded me of a Bourbon barrel aged English Barleywine, as it is quite sweet, but the taste is more complex than that. This would be fantastic after a big, rich meal. Thanks, @Whyteboar!

 

NBS #2. Sorry Not Sorry, a Triple IPA brewed by Magnify here in New Jersey. Magnify and Twin Elephant are my two local breweries and I bought cans at both of them yesterday. It's important so support our local breweries as they struggle in this difficult time. Magnify brews a lot of TIPAs; most of them are thick and luxurious and include lactose. Most of them are really good when fresh but don't age especially well. This one's different. It's fruity and surprisingly lite for 10.8% It's hopped with Enigma, Huell Melon, Vic Secret and Mosaic Cryo. It's tart and fruity without the lactose. While not exactly a lawn mower beer, it drinks more like 7%. Here's my full review:

4.18/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned on 3/24/2020. Poured into a Magnify tulip glass. It pours a bright orange-gold color with a half finger of foamy, milk-white had and a thin sheen of lacing inside the glass. I smell melon and tropical fruit which isn't surprising given the hop bill. There's also lemon, lime, and a whiff of onion. The taste opens with more tart citrus than I anticipated. There's lots of lemon and grapefruit and a hint of lime. The melon and tropical fruit comes later as the glass warms a bit, along with a touch of white wine grape. There is also a hint of cracker but not the lactose that Magnify often uses in its TIPAs. The mouth feel is less creamy and viscous and the alcohol is remarkably well-hidden. This drinks more like 7% than 10.8% It's an oxymoron but I think this is the most "sessionable" TIPA that Magnify's brewed. It's very good.

 

Next up this week is my second and final beer, Double Pillow by Common Roots. These guys have gone from essentially "hit-or-miss" brewers to a complete "must buy" brand just over a couple years' time, so I was excited to give this one a shot. I don't think I've had the original Pillow Gossip this is based off, but this is an 8% version of that beer, dry-hopped with Citra and El Dorado...



Pour is immense... a super gorgeous hazy deep orange color with a gigantic, retentive head of bone-white foam that just lasts and lasts. Man, I wish all IPAs could be this nice looking. Awesome lace once it finally starts to dissipate, and the legs and surface coverage are also just as spectacular. These guys kill the game recently, and they're so underrated. I am so pumped to drink this beer!

The nose is pure citrus juiciness with a backing of grassy hops and a light note of pine. They really seem to have nailed everything about this beer if the nose and appearance are any indication. I can definitely smell some light mango with grapefruit and tangerine picking up the slack... man, this smells fruity, bitter, and just plain awesome.

My first few sips are incredible... this is truly top-tier. Flavors of creamy mango, orange, tangerine, and light grassiness without much in the way of bitterness. Awesome structure; smooth and light upfront with a heavy (though well-balanced) finish. Light pineapple and berry with a bit of raw pine resin toward the finish (not enough to really make it anything other than a juice bomb, though, mind you)... guys, this is really good. I was a huge proponent of this brewery's Space DIPA (100% dry-hopped with Galaxy), and I'm gonna go ahead and say this is another superior achievement by Common Roots. I remember the days when I considered them second-tier and found their beers rather hit-or-miss... yeah, never again. They're a buy-or-die brewery to me now. This is the real deal!

 

My next new beer for today comes from a BIF box, but from the Rookies #4 BIF via @The_Game : Revolution Brewings Boss Jacket Barleywine. It's kind of a confusing brew that looks more like Stout than a BW: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22072/393145/

 

Taking down a crowler of a local IPA for a quarantined NBS. Boise Brewing - Juice is Loose.



A: Pours out with a darker body than expected, fairly triggering when I see it (I always assume it’s going to be a malt bomb when a local micro brewery makes a darker IPA). Sunset orange in color. Lots of off-white head and lace.

S: Starts our fairy juicy but the malt bill does push to the forefront; it’s a sweeter, bready maltiness bordering on caramel. Generic hop presence...ripe fruit flesh, apricot, overripe orange...banana? Piney hops underneath.

T: Follows the nose, impressions of a green, earthy hoppiness with a bready, creamy and almost toasty malt base. Impressions of tropical fruit, ripe papaya, pine, grapefruit pith...lower bitterness. Not much else to say.

MF: Creamy body, bordering on medium, good carbonation for a crowler.

O: Honestly; this tastes like most local IPA’s, which were sufficient cans tasty treats 10 years ago. This is a fine IPA. Not overly hoppy, with a touch more malt presence than I prefer. But not a ‘juice’ monster.

 

Hello NBS!
It’s my turn to represent the NBS BIF with the mystery beer from @JayORear.
So- fragrance was amazing- clean, crisp, almost citrus-y. Very promising.
Poured into a pub pint glass because that’s what I have for unknown beers.
Appearance is surprisingly like a lightly carbonated apple juice, almost no head at all. No lacing either, odd.
Taste- nothing like the aroma, this is chuck full of hops that I am having a tough time defining. But it’s quite good, just not something I could “crush”.
The mouth feel is darn close to viscous, and that with the taste makes me think imperial.
I can’t get around the disconnect between the light and clean aroma and the experience! It’s very tasty but I cannot define it.
Overall- very good, would gladly drink anytime I wasn’t planning on doing anything requiring finesse, a very solid IPA.
And the reveal.

Okay for future reference, please don’t mask a beer in such a way that encourages using a knife to extract it-

Simtra from Knee Deep Brewing, 19.2 ozs of triple IPA.
Woof, so much for my chainsaw plans!

Thanks Jay, this was really good.

 

Schlossbrauerei Herrngiersdorf Hallertauer Hopfen-Cuvee German Pilsner
ABV: 5.3%

Another from the 2019 Kalea/Costco Advent calendar box.



Aroma of bread, sweet honey and grass.

Clear golden with small bubbles rising to a 1/2 inch thick head. The head drops somewhat slowly, leaving sticky lacing behind.

Flavor is quite nice; bread, lightl honey, grassy and spicy. The initial taste is smooth, with a good level of bitterness appearing in the middle and finish. The bitterness is prominant, but not too strong for the style. The finish and aftertaste contains some herbal flavors as well. The hops bitterness and herbal flavor lingers well into the aftertaste.

Feel is medium and smooth, transitioning to a bit of an edge in the finish.

Overall, a well executed and enjoyable German pilsner.

L: 3.5 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75 | Rating: 3.71

 

Gah, you and your low ratings... sometimes you make me want to punch an infant in the neck....

 

How small is your fist? That’s not much of a target

 

Good evening NBS, time for a cocktail
I have had some big offerings in my days, this one may be one top tier, now enjoying Rumpkin from Avery.
Purchased on the mark down at a local bottle shop. What a complex offering. Like a mixed drink
Sweet, malty, I get the barrel straight like a punch in the palate.
All that and I quite like it.
Stay well all

Rumpkin

Avery Brewing Company
Pumpkin Beer | 16.3% ABV

4.2/5 rDev +1.7% | Average: 4.13
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 2018 dated bottle into the test glass
A - Still, deep mahogany color, thin ring clings to the glass wall. Carbonation struggles upward.
S - Alcohol, fusel wrapped spice sack, strong grain base, raisan, toffee, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, Alcohol.
T - Follows the nose well, deep, spice notes, strong malt base, spices dance by on waves of sweet malt. Caramel, toffee again, brown sugar, late harvest cigar wrap tobacco. Vanilla reduction served over pumpernickle toast.
M- Big and slick, oily, carbonation has no chance. Linger is rich , complex , compelling. Sweet but quick to dry, Luxardo Cheerie comes to mind
O - Wow, thats an experience. One worth experiencing, craft cocktail Or craft beer.

 

Right on the cusp of Spring and Summer here, 60 degrees in the morning, 80 degrees now. I better drink this spring bock today.

Old Mecklenburg Brewery Früh Bock
I had a good Bockbier from Bierkeller in March so I am curious to finally try this one.

I don't remember seeing this pull tab cap on their other beers.
OMB beers are widely distributed here. I got this one in my neighborhood wine store with a packaged on date of 3/10/20 clearly stamped on the neck.
Out of the bottle it is a clear amber with a healthy amount of carbonation. There is a strong grass and pear aroma with some caramel and floral notes.
Apple, grass, bread, and light floral flavors. Nothing off, medium bodied, nice fruit aftertaste.
I rated this a 4.14, slightly below the 4.25 I gave the Bierkeller bock. Both are very enjoyable and I am glad to be able to get them.