New Beer Sunday (week 797)

Great Raft Life Itself Key Lime Pie Gose, 4.5% ABV. Had higher hopes for this, 3.38 overall

Pours a bright & effervescent gold with rapidly falling beige colored head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Lime & salt, but fades down the stretch

T: Dryness, limes, salt & a little lemon up front. Tart lime with little sweetness & salt, plus dryness. Finishes dry with tart lime & salt

MF: Medium body & restrained carbonation

Drinks easy, but nothing special, had higher hopes for this one

 

#2, For The Record from Transient.





4.02/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours black with a sudsy, voluminous tan head. Gorgeous beer. There’s a strong black licorice note, and some cocoa and char notes as well.

The can describes this as an Irish Oatmeal Stout, which isn’t a style on BA, so I added this as an Irish Dry Stout, because that’s what this is most like. The black licorice flavor is very forward, but as this warms, the cocoa and char flavors emerge.

The mouthfeel is surprisingly full and creamy. I’ll keep this in the beer fridge regularly if Transient makes it available.

 

Nice write up @MacMalt. I remember tasting that at the brewery. To your point, not a traditional Tripel but well executed.

Haven’t been over there yet since all the nonsense started. I’ll try to make a make trip soon.

 

Going from 3.5% to 11%!
I've been ignoring this fridge dweller since January and it is time; well past time!!!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/98/459300/



16 oz. can.
Canned 12/16/19.
May have waited too long on this; although it has been kept cold in the back of my fridge for over five months! Moderate pour yields a one inch off white head over a slightly hazy, copper body with sticky lacing. Nose of malt, tropical fruit, and citrus with a hint of candied orange and candied lemon. Taste mirrors nose with a definite malty, boozy sweetness throughout and finishing almost like a barleywine with a boozy dryness at the end. Tasty! Nice feel and overall, I hope they do this again so I can review a fresher one next January!
Cheers!!

 

What are your thoughts?

As a long-time Trek fan, mine are mostly negative.

 

Beer #2 (and last for today) is the companion of my previous one. Wild Mind chose to brew two variations on the All Together beer, one a NEIPA, and this one, labeled as a WCIPA.

Wild Mind Artisan Ales All Together West Coast IPA
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: NA



Appearance is hazy muddy orange, slightly more translucent than its companion, with a taller white head, thick, and creamy, with decent retention and leaving good-looking lacing. Head retention is better and lacing is thicker than the NEIPA, but otherwise, it has the same ugly color.

Aroma is citrus, grapefruit primarily.

Taste is citrus and grapefruit, and is quite bitter throughout, although not as puckering as many WCIPAs. The aftertaste is surprisingly mild for a WCIPA. Nothing much beyond that to really say; grapefruit and bitter.

Mouth feel is thin-ish, but smooth.

Overall, a decent IPA, but there are much better ones brewed locally.

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

I have to say, I was disappointed by both of the All Together beers from Wild Mind. Not that they were bad; indeed, they were good, it is just that I was expecting better.

Oh well, yet another two beers judged based on expectations!

 

Good evening NBS and thanks @superspak for the start today. Late to the group today as I went another step toward completing the New Engalnd trail from Ct to NH. So here we go.
Waking Insects from Wunderkammer, a complex and intriguing offering that comes across as a very rustic Flanders, if thats a thing. Piney, Earthy, a bit sharp, quite a delight.
Stay well all

Volume 19: Waking Insects

Wunderkammer Bier
Belgian Saison | 5.5% ABV

4.16/5 rDev -2.1% | Average: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 375 ml bottle, brewed in 6/7/2019 into the test glass
A - Hazy copper color, carbonation is small and steady, The cap is quick to exit, through the experience a series of islands form top side.
S - Cedar, spice, clove, cinamonn, a bit of Ode Bruin in there. A rustic Flanders. Earthy woods , touch of oak and a bit of cider vinegar
T - Complex and a challenge to unravel, Clearly cedar, cardomon, piney, roast pineapple, cider vinegar, earthy hops, toasted oak.
M - Sharp start, rounded edges, sweet then quick shift to acidic/tart balance.
O - A special offering from an intrepid brewer. Boards on a Flanders in deep discussion with nature. Exceptional offering

 

I'm starting ep.5, so far kinda stupid.

Cheers!

 

I like it a lot and am grateful for all the beers you've sent me.I still have 2 left.

 

It's easy to purchase cans there. Just watch their Facebook posts.

 

Long time no see, NBS crew. Glad to be back.

Sherman, set the wayback machine for whenever the heck I bought this beer...


Well, it is a terrible picture of Sierra Nevada Trip in the Woods Ginger Bigfoot. The pour is a cloudy brown liquid with a tight and tidy beige head. Tight and tidy falls to a ring and Pangea in the middle of the glass. Not the best visual appeal here, but far from the worst.

The smell is boozy, woody, whiskey which you have to search for thru the huge smell of ginger. As the beer warms, you can smell the ginger across the room, but there is more there. Brown sugar or caramel, kind of a dark bread, and the vanilla emerges from the shadows.

Taste follows the nose with the huge punch of earthy, spicy ginger. It takes some unraveling, but the barley wine is certainly underneath the ginger-pa-looza. Sweetness, definite whisky barrel, dark fruit towards fig, a little vanilla, oak. On alternating sips - weird, but every other sip gives me a harsh bitter maybe as the ginger accumulates...don't know...strange.

The beer is not as heavy textured as I expected. Medium body, mildly carbonated. A bit of a spice burn from the ginger, and the ABV doesn't bother to hide.

I have no idea how long I have had this bottle. I suspect a couple of years. While I enjoy the beer, I think it is pretty unbalanced. If it is that old and still carrying that much ginger and that much alcohol heat, glad I waited. I like it, but it will be in the 3.75 range on the old BA score-o-meter.

 

I made it through ep 4 before I quit.

Story is too weak, IMO, to carry a 10 episode arc; heck, it couldn't even carry the 4 episodes I made it through before it got boring with all of the filler. Way too many characters with absolutely nothing to do most of the time, so they just make up stuff to keep them in the story (that's how I see it, anyway).

Many of the "familiar" characters, especially Picard himself as well as 7 of 9, are nothing like what they were in TNG or Voyager. Total personality changes.

The Star Trek franchise may not survive CBS All Access.

 

Late to the party as usual, first review I've had a chance to do in while (moving sucks) but this is one I really enjoyed.

Ladies and Gentlemen, making its BA debut is a fine example of an American Brown Ale called Brown Cow Brown Ale from Bullspit Brewing Co. in scenic Lancaster Massachusetts.

Drank this one slow, had dinner in the middle of it all. The ABV is high (6.8%-a case for an Imperial style) yet well hidden, it creeps in slowly. Check out the highlights!!!






4.21/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

A moderate pour from a 16-oz. can releases a finger of coffee-milk colored creamy foam with long retention, spots and blotches of lace. Dark reddish chestnut brown color, semi-clear, darkened by roasted malt as apposed to being hazy or cloudy. Red-amber highlights dazzle the eye.

Fresh baked pumpernickel greats the nose, roasted coffee beans, bakers chocolate and faint floral hops and caramel malt follow. Raisin and baked pears give the appearance sweetness. Alcohol is barely detectable.

The taste is semi-sweet with very low bitterness. Items from the smell are now switched around a bit. Coffee leads the way followed by chocolate, caramel malt, the bread (now more like toasted rye), the fruits and the hops (bolder but still faint). The coffee taste is forward yet balanced by the caramel and roasted malts, not overly Porter-like to me.
The flavor profile is even throughout the drink leading to a clean, quick finish. Caramel malt and hops linger briefly.

Medium light body with lasting carbonation. Rich malty taste from a lighter body, alcohol creeps in and warms the chest.
A strong case for an Imperial Brown Ale category. No surprises, just a quality Brownie. Some chill haze at first, this Beer warms very well. This Beer and Brewery need to be checked out by members in Northern-central Mass., and Southern New Hampshire.

Canned on 02/17/2020.

Cheers.

 

Second and final New Beer pour today is Grodziskie brewed by the fine brewers at Dovetail. Grodziskie is a Polish beer style brewed with oak-smoked wheat malt. Who says an under 4% abv (3.8%) cannot pack a flavorful punch?



Canned 4/1/20, but refrigerated the entire time by the fine craft beer conveyors at the temple I go to, The Beer Temple. Put on your safety goggles to keep the smoke out of your eyes, and let's dive in.

Appearance: Straw, light yellow white murky pour, bright 1 1/2 inch white head leaves creamy lacing. 4.0

Aroma: Hard to type the appearance notes without being absorbed by the very pleasant smokey aroma. I isolated my Superdawg smoked sausage to ensure this was a ll beer and I am happy to report back that this was. If I go vegan, I will have this pour if I ever crave excellent smoked polish sausage. One note aroma, but a high note for certain. 4.75

Taste: Mirrors aroma, pleasant smoked wheat works very well, spices flow generously, excellent. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Very light wafer thin body, faint carbonation lingers, easy crisp finish, smokey aftertaste lingers. 4.25

Overall: I can see this being a very polarizing beer. If you appreciate a nice smokey complex flavor, by all means pick this up. I sure am glad I did. 4.5

Til next Sunday!

 

One more new beer, The Referend Krak! Cognac Casks, thanks @TheGent!
4.56/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Thank you TheGent for this
375 ml bottle, 2018, poured into a flute

A- A clear ruby red with a small pink head.

S- Sour cherries, cognac, oak, touch of funk, some sweet cherries. Very well balanced.

T- Sour cherries, cognac, cherry pie, oak, touch of funk.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- An absolutely fantastic cherry lambic, the cognac barrel plays with the base perfectly. Very easy to drink and beautifully balanced.

 

Cheers @larryi86! Glad you enjoyed!

 

Back with another All Together IPA. This one was brewed at Lumberbeard Brewing, in collaboration with five other local breweries, some of which are quite tiny. Presumably the can states it was brewed at Lumberbeard on account of their being the largest-sized of all 6 of the participating breweries. This one's distinctive portion of the label art features the logos of all the participating breweries (Lumberbeard, River City, Project Craft, For the Love of God, YaYa and Hello).


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/58538/487583/?ba=woemad#review
As you can see, this is a rather hazy looking version. Per UnTapped, it's 7% abv, so it's a little stronger than the version I had from Whistle Punk. It's also not a full-on NE hazy, but a "tweener" that is very fruit juicy but also quite bitter (in a non west coast, piney way) and acidic, with less softness than a stereotypical NE hazy would have. I like it, but it's one I'd really have to be in the mood for to have more than one in a sitting.

I suppose it's possible I might go for a 3-fer this NBS, but I'm not sure that will happen. If not, y'all have a great week, and stay safe!

 

Yeah, that's why I didn't finish the job today. I did about half and it was starting to eat into my beer-drinking time, so I'll finish next weekend. I did seriously consider cracking one while working, but my assistant would have objected.