New Beer Sunday (week 464)

Gooooood morning, dudes and dudettes enamored of new beer experiences!

Clouds and sun wage battle above as NFL teams will soon do below. Dug the wins by NE and Seattle yesterday. With my personal teams long out of the mix, I'm a Seattle fan (*hops on bandwagon*), and simply hoping that the Niners get knocked out (hopefully today, though I'm not counting on it). Actually, anything other than a Niners Superbowl win is a win for me (nothing personal, Niners fans).

Somehow stumbled upon a band called Kvelertak this past week or so, and even though I don't speak a word of Norwegian, I can't get 'em out of my head...


Picked up another gem from Maine Beer Company this week: Lil One

Bottling deets:

Far as I'm concerned, these guys are top-tier brewers. Love to get my hands on one o' their coolship brews...


This DIPA brought it on big: lots of chewy caramel malt and bitter pine resin hop.

If Lunch could be my go-to IPA, then this'd be my go-to DIPA - so fresh, so spot-on; yet both limited in distribution - but hey, I'm not complaining - I'm glad they get here at all !

Cheers!

 

Matt you are one helluva emcee. =)

This week found me at a loss for words as I watched a fire take my neighbors house away and as I watched the weather wreak havoc here in my fair city. The storm hercules dumped snow on us which then melted and created a flood from creeks spilling their banks into the street and into basements. That standing water in the valley and in people's basements froze and then melted again and started to move.

I have been on a lager kick and today after reading a thread from BA about whether or not a baltic porter is a lager or an ale I tried Victory's Red Thunder a Baltic Porter. I love Victory anyway and this beer was terrific. Cheers everyone!



and Happy New Beer Sunday!

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/87404/?ba=utopiajane

 

New American Double Stout Sunday

Greetings NBSers,

I hope this find you thawing in a warm and wonderful way. SCMN will rise above freezing for a day, but back to normal for the foreseeable future with more snow as well. This weather leads me to debate whether or not it is worth it to wash my disgustingly dirty car only to have it return to near that level of grime within hours. Well I broke down and for the few hours it sits in the garage is sure looks good.

Today I'm not going local with my new beer. A west coast American stout ("black ale") with heft, complexity, very attractive, solid aroma and and lots of good flavors. Well hopped and robust roast. Very nice drink and I recommend it.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2743/41626/?ba=garymuchow

Best to all this week.

 

@utopiajane I've been passing by Red Thunder since last year. I want to try it, but I don't want to pay for it.

Instead I pay for experimental beer (XHOP Blue) from Toppling Goliath. This one off, single hop, APA has plenty of papaya, melon, and pineapple notes in it. It tasting good in the heat wave we are having since the Polar Vortex left town. With temps in the mid 30's today, I am going to be grilling some burgers for my family. Make it a great day and happy NBS!

 

I was about to say "good morning" but it's already 12:30 here. It's cloudy but the sun is shining through which is nice after a rainy and very foggy day yesterday. Big win for the Patriots last night and I'm looking forward to today's games. But we've still got some time until kickoff and I have a new beer, Long Trail Culmination, described as an "ale brewed with cocoa nibs" on the label.

I like what Long Trail has done with the rebranding of their Imperial Series into the Brush & Barrel Series. The name is way cooler and the label art has been killer so far. But, ultimately, it's what's in the bottle that really matters. A center pour reveals a deep dark brew with a nice tan head that holds up very well for a couple of minutes, leaving some nice lacing behind. Chocolate and coffee dominate the nose. This beer is smooth and creamy on the first sip. It's roasty and bitter with a huge chocolate presence along with some coffee and licorice. I detect the hops on the tongue but not the alcohol. Overall this is an excellent imperial porter that comes highly recommended. With an abv of 9.3% it would seem to be a good candidate for some aging, but the alcohol is very well hidden and aging is unnecessary in my opinion. Drink up!

 

Yeah the aging in red wine barrels really adds a nice complexity to their base Baltic Porter. Definitely worth the price. Great review @utopiajane !

 

NEW BARLEYWINE SUNDAY

We've had a welcome reprieve from recent arctic conditions, but it has been rather wet and gloomy. Insomnia struck last night so I stayed up late enjoying a demonic brew and reading Terry Pratchett's Soul Music. I love the Discworld books. I'm feeling a bit sleep deprived but still enjoying a quiet day with the family. So much fun watching the little guy learning to walk and crawl!

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16295/51890/?ba=DIM



Cheers and have a great NBS!

 

First one. Not a huge triple or quad fan but very good. Not sure about the champagne taste/feel though.

 

IMHO this is the best Long Trail beer I have tried. Frankly, I was stunned, yesterday, at the quality of it and how delicious it was.

 

Happy New American Imperial Stout Sunday !

Greetings to the NBS group from a windy wintery day here at the New Jersey Shore. We've seen every winter weather offering that there is in the last two weeks. Today there's some sunshine with strong winds. Yesterday's heavy rains have taken a powder and the warm-up hasn't materialized, but temps in the 40s show improvement.

I picked up a few new brews on Friday and this Terrapin offering is today's selection:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2372/21950/?ba=NiceTaps
I've been sipping and "chewing" on it for a while, savoring every minute.



"Coffee Added" is an understatement, but it works well.

I could not help but think of the following tune while tasting and reviewing today's new beer.
I could not help but reference the song in my review.
I could not help but link the video.


Too much FUN!

All the best, everyone. Cheers!!!

 

New Coffee Stout/Milk Stout Sunday

Split Shot by Elysian Brewing Company

Got back to the midwest friday night, apparently just missing the serious cold and snow. Landlady said I brought good weather. I'll take it.
Good win for the Seahawks yesterday, even if there were some points of concern coming out of the game (passing offense, Percy Harvin, etc). Hopefully next week they'll remain like my drink: stout (I couldn't help it, sorry...).
It's always fun to come back to a list of all the things that you are apparently at fault for, as my apartment-mate is so fond of leaving on the fridge. Apparently the toaster (which I rarely used anyway) broke while I was away, and this is somehow my fault? The list went on. Fun! I can't wait until I'm done with this program and can move out. Moreso than weather or school, coming back to this apartment is the main reason I felt so much trepidation in coming back from break. Ughh. Whatever.

Split Shot is a very enjoyably silky milk stout. If you're into smoothe sweeter dark beers, it's definitely worth finding. I'm certainly glad I picked it up.

 

ETOUFFEE SUNDAY!!! at my house ... I got a pot so big going, you wouldn't believe ... so much good roux ...

but on to business:



a barrel-aged herbed/spiced beer by Texas' friendly brewer Karbach

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26762/88317/?ba=Premo88

FraGeeLay is pretty wild on the whiskey front. Honestly, I didn't expect much from this brew because I'm not a big winter warmer/herbed/spiced winter-Christmastime beer fan. Gingerbread lattes from Starbucks? Great. Ginger in my beer? Not so much. And Yule Shoot Your Eye Out, the baseline beer here, is OK but very much a one-off for me. Tried it, didn't hate it, would drink it if you handed me one, but it's not my bag.

Take that same Yule Shoot Your Eye Out, stuff it in a Maker's Mark barrel for a few months and *now* we got something. There's still some "spiced" notes, but whiskey -- that soft warm sweet sour mash smell -- pours out of the bottle with the brew. You can smell it, smell that vanilla and a hint of oak, taste it, and you never get hit with any alcohol burn.

Cheers!

 

Watching the playoffs, smoking some ribs, and enjoying some great beer. Not a bad day.

Got this beer in a trade with smchenry77. Very solid and worth trying for sure despite the price.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14879/47695/?ba=GetMeAnIPA

 

Guy Ritchie and his gangsta movies!

 

Snatch and lock stock are two of my favorite movies! My avatar kinda gives that away.

 

New Belgian IPA Sunday!
Ok I seen this a couple of weeks ago and figured I would try it. 8.5%, Belgian Style, why not.
So it has it's flaws but still an enjoyable beer. I probably won't buy again but it was fun trying it.



There is hints of tangerine citrus but it is short lived.
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/450/99542/?ba=Shroud0fdoom
Cheers NBSers!

 

I seen the avatar was like Snatch! Lock, Stock is my favorite. So gritty and comical. Who would've thought that Jason Statham's career would blow up like it did afterwords.

 

So, we got this guy keepin' an eye on this other guy...

Speakeasy's Payback Coffee Porter

Coffee specs:



I suspect, after having had a couple o' dozen different porters overs a span of a few years, that I'm not much of a porter fan, but I understand the style. This is a decent porter, light and thin in body, the coffee is definitely as expected, along with typical notes of dark roasted malt and maybe a bit of charred wood and oatmeal.
I further suspect that fans of coffee porters will dig on this, but folks like myself, who are fairly neutral to the porter aesthetic, are probably not missing out on much here. Decent, like I said, but nothing more.

Yawn. Games pretty meh today - SF put Carolina in their place, and Denver seems to be doing the same for SD so far. I'm concerned about SF, since they are definitely a threat to my adoptive Seahawks. Another Manning-Brady match-up next week'd be pretty grand. And..., that's all I got to say on those accounts.


(Offernatt = Sacrificial Night)

Cheers, folks!

 

New American Amber / Red Ale Sunday

Hello all!

I'm back in Wisconsin after an extended (due to weather) visit to my Native New Jersey. Back to trying more Wisconsin beers. Today's choice was lackluster (at best). Shine On by Central Waters. Oh, well, they can't all be good! (At least it wasn't terrible.)

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/652/51719/?ba=jwc215

Cheers!