New Beer Sunday (week 796)

Hey, I just reviewed this one the other night and had a very similar experience to you! Always cool to feel vindicated by another BA's review. I noticed the menthol-like note as well. This was definitely a cool beer. Saw that you "liked" my post earlier of my review for another terpene-infused beer. I will definitely grab any other such beers I see... they have demonstrated that there certainly is something to adding these aromatic compounds directly to the brew... cheers!

On to the next one...



Outer Range's "The Future is Full of Parties" IPA featuring Nelson, Strata, and Galaxy hops. Clocking in at 7.1% ABV, this is I believe the fourth IPA I'm having from Outer Range. They're pretty good, I think, but the hop bill here definitely sold me. I can't deny myself a Nelson focused IPA, but haven't had too many Strata beers. I know it's a highly tropical and "cannabis"-like varietal, though.

Pours a solid looking, opaque medium yellow-orange with zero clarity whatsoever. Head is nice and retentive, measuring a few fingers at its highest point and settling down to about a half-finger. Great, sticky sheets of consistent lacing and awesome legs here... this looks superb, as long as you're into the haze.

The nose is herbal, grassy, and cannabis-laced, with some notes of passion fruit, white grape, and green onion, and (yuck) green pepper. Huh. Not really what I expected... the inclusion of Galaxy led me to believe that this would be way fruitier, but I guess the Strata took over the whole thing and really gets this into the "green" realm. If you like that element, you'll probably really dig this. Smells like weed, really. Dank as hell. Not really my favorite thing, especially considering it's pretty one-note once the volatile compounds escape from the immediacy of the first pour.

Flavor profile is thankfully a little less in that realm... I'm getting the full extent of fun Galaxy hops here; woo! Passion fruit and apricot with a ton of tangelo and mango, fading into a tinge of guava, soft wheat-like malt with a touch of nuttiness, and gooseberry from the Nelson. Thank fuck the Strata doesn't have a choke-hold on the palate here. I'm all for some cannabis in my hoppy beer (see above where I quote @tasterschoice62's review of a terpene-laced IPA, or my own review of one earlier today!), but that smell reminds me too much of Equinox/Ekuanot hops with all of their odd green pepper notes. Better flavors here than expected, for sure, but probably not a repeat buy for me. Don't involve beautiful hops like Nelson and Galaxy with your vegetal, peppery grossness! They don't deserve this treatment. I hope the future is full of parties, by the way. So far it seems mostly like it'll be full of people avoiding one another. I still have a couple in me... cheers!

 

I watched our son play tennis during a snow storm in New Prague back in 2007 or 2008.

And that wasn't the coldest match of his I watched - that "honor" goes to a match he played in Winona back in 2005. Literally 40 MPH winds that blew chairs away whenever you stood up, I'd guess it was 20 degrees or so with the wind chill. That was a LOOOOOOONG day.

 

Last new beer of the evening is New Belgium 1985 IPA. I have enjoyed this series and I love Mango and generally speaking in beer it just works, this is no exception. Nice balance between the hops and Mango and I would definitely drink this one again.

 

Poured into a 16 oz tulip glass canned on 5/18/2020. Pours a very slightly cloudy attractive amber orange with with a finger sticky white head that leaves a wall of lace with solid retention. 4.50

Smell is hard candy apple, clove, toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, and a little booze. 4

Taste follows apple, caramel, clove, brown sugar, vanilla, and brandy in the lingering finish. 4

Mouthfeel is medium, gentle carbonation, maybe a tad dry, and at 10%!a sipper that gets better as it warms and drinks slightly bigger. 4

Overall this is not a style I drink often, so I will grade it as one of the best in this style I have had. One of the brewers from Northwoods Brewing Co cuffed me a can at Smoke N Barley on Friday with a few other cans, really cool of him. 4 Cheers all.

 

Nice to be back in the NBS thread for another week, hope everyone is doing well. This week was a solid week of beer scores and great weather when the initial forecasts called for rain everyday. Tomorrow my wife and I are going to visit with my parents for the first time since February. It'll be nice to spend a little time socializing, and celebrating the Memorial Day weekend. Speaking of family and Memorial Day, I had to include some photos of my mine and my wife's grandfathers. Both have passed on and both served their country. I was very close with him growing up, and I learned so much from him. He was and MP that fought at the Battle of the Bulge. He built the house he raised his family in with his own two hands after WWII. He was the strongest and bravest person I've probably ever known. He was also one of the most gentle and compassionate. The photo on the left is of him holding his rifle in bootcamp. I was fortunate enough to inherit it when he passed away in 2010. I love that photo because it's such a stark contrast to the man I always knew as my always joking grandpap. The shells you see were brought home by him and also passed on to me. As far as we know they were made as practice rounds for training, but I can't help but keep them on display. To bring it back to the reason we're all here, my grandfather gave me my first taste of beer ever. I was probably about 10 and all he drank was Milwaukee's Best Light. That was a traumatic experience for my 10 year old palate, but I eventually came around.

This week's beer comes courtesy of @ATLien who hit me up with a ninja strike this week. I haven't had too many brews from the American southeast, and he took quick care of that. I see people posting beers from Creature Comforts all the time and they all look fantastic. This can of Duende DIPA lived up to my expectations completely. Vibrant color, fruity aroma, fantastic juice finish, and a pillowy feel makes this beer a very easy drinker for 8%.

4.38/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Look - poured into a craftmaster glass, Duende is a bright and vibrant yellow orange haze with translucency setting in around the edges of the glass. The head was ample with large fluffy CO2 clouds that settled into a thin and persistent foam cap.
Smell - Citrusy hops with a touch of alcohol astringency.
Taste - The flavor builds from a quick hit of bitterness and then fades into a juicy finish. Candied hops, orange, and nectarine provide a sweet balance to the initial bite.
Feel - The fluffy head was foreshadowing for a soft pillowy texture.
Overall - High quality haze with a very nice juicy finish. Easy drinking and satisfying.

 

Boulevard Vintage Stock Barrel-Aged Dark Saison Co-Fermented with Norton Grapes, 8.9% ABV. 3.59 Overall. Maybe the least impressive beer I've had from these guys in a while when it comes to their limited release stuff

Opens with a thunderous pop, maybe I needed safety glasses?

Pours mahogany with purple edges, the rapidly falling purplely pink head. This beer is kind of perculating, wild... Zero head retention & lacing

S: Red grape juice & a little barnyard

T: Tart red grapes with lemon tartness as well up front. Dryness, puckery grape & lemon tartness once warm. Finishes bone dry with some leafy hope, red grape & tartness, plus some acidity

MF: Medium body, fairly lively carbonation, some acidic layers as well

Decent for what is, but after awhile the dryness was tiresome for me, alcohol is well hidden. The little funkyness that presented up front went AWOL once warm

 

I agree! It was a surprisingly easy to drink brew with some unusual flavor characteristics.

 

A late entry into NBS this week... yeah, I have tomorrow off. Duh. This is my very first beer from Civil Society, and it's a DIPA called Space Bunnies. Okay

Pours a gorgeous orange-golden color in my glass, with a nice, sumptuous head of bone-white foam that reaches about three fingers in height before sinking to a retentive ring of half-three quarters of a finger, leaving behind superb lace. Should probably take this one seriously. I will say I know nothing about it and have looked up nothing about the hops involved, etc. before reviewing. Usually, I enjoy knowing what's happening but let's go blind here. Why not?

Nose is pretty piney and dank, with a light tropical fruit note and tangerine/grapefruit aspect that has me thinking Mosaic and Columbus or something. I'm doubling down on Mosaic after taking a second sniff... the wild blue/red berry note just has me going in that direction. Alright, guess I'll look it up. Columbus (nailed it, hell yeah!), Simcoe (sure), Cascade (I can see it, and if I'm being honest this was in my first guesses too, I just figured it'd be weird to use), Comet (okay, probably wouldn't have guessed this), and Mosaic (duh, I felt that was pretty damn obvious, but I'm still proud of myself). The Simcoe and Cascade additions are "lupulin pellets," which I assume is this brewery's way of saying they used the "Cryo" versions of these varietals. Sure, I get it. There's definitely a huge resin component here, and a ton of fun, sticky citrus. This is very "West Coast" for a hazy NEIPA, I must say.

Flavor is chewy and dense with huge flavors of grapefruit, pine resin, sticky grassy herbalness, orange pulp, and red berries. Stemmy blueberry, earthy funk, stone fruit, orchard fruit undertones, and a lively current of light tropical fruit running throughout but never really coming to the fore. This is definitely good shit... well-balanced, drinkable, enjoyable flavors, and I have to say I'm still proud of myself for nailing some of the hops on order here. Sure, it's on the chewier and bigger side, and I'm sure this'll hit me hard over the next few hours, but it is probably worth it. Hope to see more Civil Society hoppy beers (and others, I guess) around in my future...

 

Hello Getting toward Late Night NBS
Just a quick shout out to begin. Popped this one from my brother @hophound

Irish Red Ale from Red Door Brewing in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Pours a most profoundly dark amber hue. Fluffy sandy head bursts upward in a lively attempt to summit the glass. Great retention. Slight lacing.
Nose begins with a mix of what I expect for for style, a mild caramel malt with a ever so light dry bitterness. But then I notice a certain fruity note that reminds me of apple and date.
Flavor is much of the same, but the fruity nuances seem to deviate from style a tad too much. Still a pleasant sipper.
Body is medium. Carbonation lite. Fairly smooth finisher with a gentle drying out bitterness to finish.
Overall, a pretty tasty drink. Beautiful to behold. For those who love an Irish red that leans Belgian, this would be your jam.

3.59/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

 

I'm in the middle of moving a.t.t.
Nothing new to contribute so I'm gunna throw around some likes.



Leftovers from last week, Prost.

 

I've now had 4 beers from Bale Breaker - all received from @woemad - and I've enjoyed all of them.

 

Good catch. I'll report it.

 

Nice start. Love those pics.

 

Cool. Looks like I'm up to fifteen now. One onsite called Morning Breeze Hazy was my favorite, but a fresh can of bottomcutter still really hits the spot. Even my hop-head Cali in-laws couldn't take on that bitterness! Cheers!

 

I agree with you regarding breweries being upfront about hops. It helps me as a beer fan develop my knowledge and I guess it helps me avoid some beers that are highly focused on a single hop I avoid, like Nelson.

 

Phil!!! Good to see and hear you here. Hope you'll be back soon.

 

@Lingenbrau I was thinking the same thing. Teehee

 

Thanks for sharing about your grandpa. Greatest Generation indeed.

 

That's just crazy (even for Minnesota)!