New Beer Sunday (week 487)

I looooooooove Founders Imperial Stout. Although I have to say that personally, I think it blows Old Rasputin out of the damn water. Like, a lot a lot. And that's not to say that I don't enjoy Raspy.

Me, I had Fat Head's Head Hunter for the first time this evening, after a long, stressful day, and Day 28 of my Memorial Day to Independence Day running streak. It's going well! Here's my review: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19544/50564/?ba=fmccormi

Straight pour from a 12oz pry-off bottle to a fat tulip; there’s a bottling date of June 2, 2014 printed in yellow ink on the side of this bottle, making it just under three weeks old at 20 days (“BOTTLED ON 06/02/14 13 19”).

Appearance (3.5): Two fingers of ecru foam caps a glowing, rich golden body with orange highlights boasting a pretty steady stream of bubbles making their way to the top. The head sticks around for an average period of time, showing moderate retention. Not a ton of lacing, really at all actually, but some suds do stick around here and there in loose legs and scattered patches of thin foam.

Smell (4.25): Beautifully floral, slightly dank, and very fruity: papaya and sweet mango, hibiscus, dankly faint onion, caramelized pineapple, sugar cookies, a tiny bit of something nutty, and juuust a little sappy pine resin to cap it all off.

Taste (4.0): More or less following the nose, the palate bears a pretty solid but well-integrated bitterness that emerges from the dank character. Citrus zest bitterness leads off, followed by a shot of the smooth, sweet fruit (pineapple and a bit of mango), followed by a sliiightly oniony, spicy dank character that opens up to lead into a solidly bitter, pine/resin-y dank finish that carries for a good amount of time. There’s some malt character in here, too, but it’s subtle in comparison to the hops: a little bit of pineapple upside-down cake and a dry biscuit note lay low but still anchor the hops just a bit. No booze is particularly noticeable, and the yeast component is very neutral.

Mouthfeel (4.75): This has an outstanding feel! The carbonation comes in with a quick prickle before resolving, moving into a smooth, lasting, velvety feel before washing out. The hoppy bitterness dries out the body substantially, making the otherwise pretty medium-weighted body go down very easily. Increadily easy to drink—way, way too easy.

Overall (4.0): This is, on its face, a technically excellent IPA, I think. It doesn’t really blow me away, though, in any regard. That said, every part of it is enjoyable (thought the lacing was unexpectedly lackluster), and it’s a beer that I would recommend to any IPA lover—especially those that like spicier ones. I'd be willing to bet that this is stupidly good on cask.
​

A very good beer, but not my preferred type of IPA when I just need to scratch that itch.

 

If you're looking for St. Louis' hoppy beers, you want 2nd Shift or Alpha I also like 4 Hands and their centennial red IPA all right, but especially the first two.

If you're downtown, I'd recommend trying to check the store Randalls at I-44 and Jefferson. And glad you enjoyed the quad! Cheers

 

That's just pathetic play from Major Leaguers!

 

Although I am not joining the NBS thread this week, it is awesome to see it carried on and that there are many cool posts this week!
Cheers BA NBSers!

 

Heh, no worries—no apologies have been issued on my part :-)

 

With a Grand Slam as a base, the Bells beat the Elks 8-1 at Joe Martin Field here in Bellingham, although the Bendsters did take 2 out of the 3 game series. The first series we've lost this year. A couple more new ones here, starting with this: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9685/21502/?ba=beertunes .

 

Hey Roguer, this one is for you. Cheers

 

Good day y'all! Finally home from a long day at work where I was able to listen to the soccer game on the radio - wow what a match! Summer is here in sunny so cal (like if it ever left) anyhow I'm jumping right into it today



3.99/5 rDev -1.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours out a copper ipa color - a little darker on top and lighter yellow down low - out into my huge noble ale works glass - bigger than a pint

Smells very boozy! Even at 8+ abv no detection of hops, malts or any kinda really good brew - actually excuse me while I lower the rating on the smell - 6 minutes later , still fussin about this smell. Nothing here!

Taste is extremely different than the smell - like biting into a hoppy creamsicle. A small tinge of pineapple and citrus gelatin going on here - pure bliss

Mouthfeel is near perfect. Probably tongue creamiest IPA I've encountered so far - resiny and a thin body for a double IPA- this beer around a out in this category

Overall this brew is real good besides the aroma. I downed the first beer and ready to down the second .. I want this beer as fresh as possible ! Good stuff Noble ale works

 

This Bend brew was after the game: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16873/120660/?ba=beertunes

 

Hello again all you hooligans of hops. I have to admit that I am quite mellow after a great dinner featuring Allagash brews at Julian's in providence. I can't possibly review with justice , but I will share my impressions of eight new to me beers.

Allagash Saison with blueberry rhubarb with strawberry consommé. A well balanced beer, easy drinking, light and refreshing. The surprising thing is the dish had cucumber in it and that is the element that really paired well with the beer.

Next, Ginger Wit paired with warm, spiced plantain flan/pickled ginger/Thai coconut broth. This was absolutely outstanding.the flavors played off each other exquisitely. The beer was light and crisp, with a great balance of spice offset by the earthy ginger.

Curieux....where exactly have you been all my life? Simply outstanding beer with just enough of everything. Bourbon flavor just right with the hint of vanilla sweetness. Oh yeah...some duck breast thing accompanied, but the beer was the star beyond question. Instant must have in my cellar. I suspect it will age quite well.

Confluence...ummm, not feeling this one. It seemed confused about what it thinks it should be. Nice sourness, but some grape notes, malty, sweetness. It was muddled in my opinion.

Victor and Victoria paired with garam marsala crusted pork with red grapes and white grapes. I did not think the white grapes worked with the pork. Neither did Victoria. Victor fared much better, holding up well to the dish. On their own, prefer the Victor, but I don't need to rush out to find some.

2013 Interlude paired with a crab and quinoa salad. Outstanding beer. Sour, fruity, bready, dry and clean. It is a sibling to Confluence, but much better defined about what it is. No pretense, this one is a smack in the mouth. Brett character prevalent, but oaky, apricot, and grape/oak character from the wine barrels. Yum.

Odyssey. Dark wheat beer aged in oak. It was coffee with bubbles. Paired with a funky cheese ice cream with pickled beets and bacon fat. The dish and beer played off each other. Trading tartness vs. bitter coffee character. Unexpected, very tasty, interesting juxtaposition of flavors.

There is no way I am doing this justice. Wife, daughter, and I had a blast. Worth every penny and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was amazing to see the thought process involved in creating these pairings and how beer and food can compliment and enhance each other. Eight beers and really only one miss in my opinion. Wonderful experience.

 

Old chub nitro!

I've always been a big fan of old chub and I've never been lucky enough to try this version



Wow first thing I noticed is the sound this beer made when I cracked it open - crazy loud with some foam popping up out of there -






4.35/5 rDev +14.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.5

Appearance was amazing on this beer - as soon as I tipped the can to the glass my hand was posses with something just telling me to pour hard - just let er rip ! The result was that awesome nitro effect I've only seen while pouring out left hand nitro milk stout - that brown zebra over black brew - fizziness just fun to look at



Sooo cool that it finally settler to an awesome border of dark beer and a sweet color of foam on top espresso



Smell is smooth not too offensive. Malts, caramel, toffee , snickers bar, and a lil bit of coffee

Taste is a real treat. Malty with bittering hops to balance it out - toffee and a lil bit of Sumatra coffee -

Mouthfeel is a bit thin with the head of this beer meeting your lips to make this taste like a milkshake - I almost wanna use a straw!

Overall this was an upgrade of regular chub! Ima seek this one out whenever it hit - this beer is a homerun right over the short porch -

Serving type: can

I saw this guy on the way to work and aces high was stuck in my head all day since the @Roguer post early on -

 

Last NBS entry of the evening here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14503/126265/?ba=beertunes

Until next week, Cheers all!

 

Heard about it and cant wait for distro to hit. Thanks for the heads up as I knew this would be awesome. Cheers

 

I had New Glarus Yokel for the first time. Really, the only impression I get from it (other than it being another solid New Glarus Lager) is that taste-wise it reminds me a lot of Pilsner Urquell (which I am not a big fan of). I do like the flavor in this better than Urquell, but it's still a bit of a disappointment to me. I really love Totally Naked, the other seasonal lager New Glarus came out with recently, and feel like this beer is not only a step down from that, but a bit redundant. I wish they had released a beer of a different style since Totally Naked came out so recently. There are other excellent NG seasonals out now such as Dancing Man and Totally Naked, as well as the newly released IIPA Thumbprint, so I can't complain too much. All of this is not to say that Yokel is a bad beer, but I certainly won't be going out of my way to get any of it in the future.

 

Tried this today. Not what I was hoping for as a quad. Not bad but not great. Wouldn't get again but I managed to finish off the bottle.

 

Seek 'em out, cuz they're really good.

 

Hello NBS Nation!!!
Well, it's been a little hotter than I prefer, but hey summer is here. Happy Solstice!
Like Modernrickk, I popped Noble's El Dorado Showers. This is the latest in a line of single hopped DIPA's.
I have enjoyed trying these, and this one was pretty good, but not top of the line. Slightly citrusy on the nose. Taste comes through with the citrus (leaning towards orange meets grass) and bready malt. Finishes a little thinner than I prefer.

Overall, pretty good, but don't trade whalez for this one ...bro.