New Beer Sunday (week 490)

Happy NBS Jane and everyone else!

The New Glarus Brewery Wild Fruit Cave is in full operation this year, so we will see plenty of Wild Ales and sour style beers in WI. The first one, Oud Bruin is a classic style. Dan made a real winner that is both tart and layered with sweet malts. WI, British, and German malts first rested in the new Coolship and then were spontaneously fermented on on oak.

Flavors of sweet roasted malts, toffee, oak, give way to a tartness that is not any particular fruit. It finishes up with a lemony tartness and a touch of vinegar to make this a real treat. It will be hard not to consume an entire case as I want to let some rest for a year and see how they develop. Look forward to the other new beers shared today.

 

New (lower alcohol) APA Sunday
Greetings NBSer's,
and thanks to UtopiaJane for getting us started. Beautiful sunny day after a couple of days of cloudy, rainy and mugginess that wasn't that enjoyable. It is definitely mosquito season around here which lends some unpleasantness to it all, mostly annoyance, but we all will get through it. My major beer related activity this week is judging a norther IA beer contest, which is something I look forward to. For today the Mrs and I are taking a grandkid to an event at the local historical society. I think he is looking forward to seeing old tractors do their thing.
Summit has put out a couple of lower alc. beers lately and today I try one. I find I'm appreciating these beers more as I age as they disrupt my life less and allow for longer time with friends and less after effects. This one is fashioned after Australian sparking ales and uses malts from Australia and Chile and hops from New Zealand and South Africa. Summit continues with rather high bitterness this style as seems to be the want for this state. Nice and flavorful for a lower alcohol beer and good for the summer as well. Nicely done.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/467/124745/?ba=garymuchow
Best to all this week.

 

Thanks for reviewing this one. I keep going back and forth as to if I want to buy a six pack. I don't want it to be like a session IPA.

 

Less than 2 weeks we'll be in Ithaca. Ithaca Brewing Co. And Bandwagon on the list as we go there every year at this time. Glad to hear about the new beers from Ithaca. Bandwagons brews are usually pretty darn good as well as their appies for dinner. Two Goats around Seneca Lake and Rooster Fish in Watkins Glen also on the to do list.

 

Enjoying my next offering with crackers and roasted red pepper humus. Sierra Nevada Beer Camp IIPA. I would love to get the 12 pack box, but it will be very limited in WI.

This is labeled as a West Coast IIP, but reminds my of many WI style IPAs. It has a nice malt bill that has big caramel sweetness and earthy, floral notes. The hops kick in with grapefruit pith and some orange blossom. It finishes bitter, but remains fairly balance with the sweetness. I really enjoy it and for under $5 a 24oz bottle (odd size) it was a good buy for me.

 

Hey what's going on?!

It's the 150th anniversary here of the battle of Ft. Stevens and the surge on D.C. by confederate troops. There have been some activities and it's neat to know that just a few blocks away there are monuments, and history, and things such as Lincoln getting shot at, with confederate troops who probably camped in my backyard.

That being said, it's been a pretty good weekend, and lots to do. I've been going through a West coast shipment of goodies and it's been a lot of fun just getting around to it since Thursday. So what's hew for our hero today?

Hangar 24's - Double IPA


Hangar 24 - Double IPA by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here, or just read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16843/59006/?ba=smakawhat

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look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | Final score 4.1

Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Very light IPA, bright lemon yellow and almost like a banana with some light orange towards the top, with an opaque body and fine carbonation rising. Head is quite shocking and bright white to match, with four fingers of fluffy retention and soapy pin head bubbles. Classic ringed island puck while settling, spotty lacing. Pretty bright looking IPA, nearly like a white IPA.

Solid hop nose, and sense of honey sweetness. Slightly sticky sensing, with hints of tropical and grapefruit and a bit of lemon. Slightly spicy sensing, fairly controlled, not much sensing malt presence or distinction that stands out. Looking solid.

For a double IPA this is quite light and refreshing on the palate. Staying away from booming heavy qualities, there's very light malts and almost light wheat crispness to this. Hop angle continues the citrus character, and tropical bunch flavors. Very minimal bitterness and sugars as well, leaving for an interesting light and refreshing hop palate.

It comes off as a hoppy wheat ale without the chew, no doubt to minimal wheat content if any, and lighter malts. For a Double IPA it's very refreshing and almost like a solid hoppy wheat ale minus the wheat density. Very nice.

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It's nice once in awhile to try up some California brews I don't have access too, quite different how they make stuff down there sometimes.

Well it's World Cup final... I am suiting up for Deutschland. Heading over to a friends house in a few hours and bring a bottle of Firestone Walker Parabola. He's got a bottle of Hill Farmstead Civil Disobedience.... should be a good time regardless of the results...

Have a great beer Sunday all!

oh an of course before I forget there's the other hangar...

 

I so wish the SN beer camp box hits my area... but ... I dunno...

 

Hope everyone had a good week. Well it is Sunday which means the start of my work week. Here's to all of us vampires who work graveyard shifts and hate it.

This week's New Beer Sunday- Helles Schlenkerla Lagerbier
4.3% abv

Bamberg, Germany

Was reading some information on Schlenkerla that this brewery is from 1405 and is also a bar and restaurant. Who new. It's style is a Munich Helles Lager. I poured it into my Czech Pilsner glass and instantly produced a pronounced white head that quickly disappeared. An appearance of golden yellow with decent carbonation. I am getting a smokey/honey aroma but very faint. Taste of a spicy/citrusy hop character that is very pleasurable on a hot July day working outside. Not sure if this could be considered a session beer but I could easily drink multiple bottles. Maybe I will be brave enough to try their Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier next week.

 

All of their beers are excellent. If you can still find the Eiche (doppelbock), try that one next. It's more subtly smoked than the rest, and a good next step up.

 

That is easily one of my all time favorite beers ever...

 

I was pleasantly surprised to get my hands on a bottle yesterday, and it went great with grilled skirt steak. You can't beat that sort of beer when accompanying something off the grill.

 

New American IPA Sunday
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Greetings Sunday beer savants! Happy NBS.

Weather in Central OH is stormy and overcast. Had this one from North County Brewing in Slippery Rock, PA. Decidedly "East Coast" in nature but very enjoyable. Hope you all have a tasty American Ale in your flute, snifter, or goblet today.

Peace, love, and malty-ness,

Matt

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9797/22947/?ba=mattcrill

3.65/5 rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Aroma: Soft lemony and flowery hop aromas up front. Light caramel and biscuit notes in the background. Light yeasty character noted as the beer is agitated.

Appearance: Hazy dense amber pour with a moderate sudsy cream head that retains well.

Flavor: More lemony and slight evergreen notes assert themselves. There is a pleasant biscuit caramel base that supplies a firm counterpoint. Balance is to the earthy hop bitterness but the malt presence is definitive. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter and lingers.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation. Slight hop derived astringency. No alcohol heat.

Overall impression: A malty American IPA. I like the hop character but the malt presence is decidedly firm and “East Coast” in nature. It’s well-crafted and enjoyable.

Serving type: can

 

And what's next for our hero?

Saranac Wild Hop Pils - Matt Brewing Company

Saranac - Wild Hop Pils by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here, or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/93135/?ba=smakawhat

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look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3 | Final Rating: 3.2

Poured from the bottle into a Libbey style pilsner glass.

Crystal clear, and deep brass bodied yellow to bronze body color off the pour. Lots of fine carbonation, and a head that is fluffy white, thin, with about three fingers tall, and settles at a simple pace going down. Decent looking for a pils.

Aroma is very buried. Faint hints of herbality, hints toward classic spice, but not much else going on. There's a bit of simple doughy pils like malt backbone, and the bready sweetness that comes with it. But for the most part pretty quiet, if ok.

Palate comes a bit slammed down, and uneventful. Mild notes of herbal hops, but with a drying paper mache pasty quality. Body is slightly wet, but with virtually no classic pils or hop angle in the flavor department. Really not much going on here.

It's inoffensive, but doesn't give the pils angle justice. Looks and aroma brings some goods, but the package doesn't deliver.

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And on this weekend... is the anniversary... when the music world changed...

 

Greetings NBSers,

It's supposed to hit 100 today here in the city where the Marmots along the Centennial Trail have learned to beg for food the way a dog does. I had a new beer on Friday when I paid an overdue visit to Hopped Up Brewing out in the Valley. By visiting them with my Inland NW Ale Trail passport, I fulfilled my remaining requirement in order to get a 32oz mini-growler (or "howler" or my personal fave, "grunt") and had it filled with Hopped Up's Heavy Hoppa IIPA, which was a decent beer somewhere between a regular and Imperial IPA, with a strong citrusy hop flavor but dialed down to the point where it didn't seem like homemade pineapple pruno (unlike some tropical fruity IIPAs I've kinown). Nothing fantastic, but certainly worth the $5 I paid for it.

I foolishly agreed to go into work at noon to fill in for someone who wanted the day off, so by the time I get to crack open a new beer, many of you will be slumbering the sleep of the well-lubricated (now that I've typed that, I see that's creepier than it was in my head, but oh, well). I might go with Anderson Valley's Gose (a style I've never had), or perhaps Double Mountain's Vaporizer, which I don't think I've had before.

Cheers!

I

 

Femme Fatale Blanc
This fine lookin' ale from Evil Twin features Nelson Sauvin hops and brettanomyces in an IPA format. I really enjoy it, but I like brett beers and New Zealand hops. I had the Femme Fatale Brett a couple(?) of years ago, and I liked it, but I like this more. I was a big fan of the Femme Fatale Yuzu Pale - that had a bolder citrus fruitiness to accompany the brett. In the 'Blanc, there is less edge to the fruitiness, perhaps because its due to hops not actual fruit? The blanc presents an almost wine-like fruit character to pair with the brett funk. Of the three Femme Fatale ales that I've had, this is the most balanced between malt, hop, and brett (but I still like Yuzu Pale the best ). If this shows up in my usual stores, I'd buy more.

My latest crush: