New Beer Sunday (week 499)

Good day all. We're either licking our wounds, celebrating victories, or not giving two shits about yesterday's NCAA football scores. Anyway, it's a good time for great beer no matter your alma mater. My bro-in-law was in from out of town and thought I'd grill some burgers and crack some brews (for which he was very excited). I started him off with some Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut Down Ale which blew his mind and then popped some well-aging Prairie Noir to set him back in his seat a while. Then it was time for something lighter we'd not experienced. I had my reservations, but this Belgian Wit from Anthem Brewing Co. in Oklahoma City is one on-point brew.

Bringing that classic orange peel, coriander, banana, clove, and chamomile this wit tells you someone's doing things right. Heavy citrus fruits kept us from putting down our glasses even once before finishing them. This beer exhibits some good head retention and a nice murky golden color than screams Belgian wit. I've always loved this style and Anthem has done it right knocking it out of the park. One of the best examples of the style I've ever encountered. Cheers!

 

New California Common Sunday​

Greetings and Happy NBS all you fine BA brothers and sisters!

I'm assuming this beer is listed as "ok" b/c it represents a style that is often overlooked and nowhere near "extreme" by today's standards. Regardless, it's a well-crafted brew and I love the unique twist this brewery put on it by highlighting some of the "C" hops that I wouldn't expect in a Cal Common. Well done.

Cheers and Happy NBS one and all!

Matt

​

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23966/93622/?ba=mattcrill


4/5 rDev +19%

Aroma: Light caramel notes up front. Slight earthy and woody hop notes as the beer is agitated. Clean fermentation character. Bready malt notes persist as the beer warms.

Appearance: Hazy dark amber pour with golden edges. Low off white head that retains well.

Flavor: Caramel, bready, and slight bread crust notes carry through. There is a firm and earthy hop bitterness along with slightly citrus hop flavors. Balance is to the earthy bitterness. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is citrus and lingering with a definite American hop character.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium high carbonation. No astringency or alcohol heat.

Overall impression: Approachable and drinkable. Am "American-ized" California Common. Kind of funny to say that but I love the light "C" hop punch that distinguishes this from other classic examples. Well done!

 

Cracked open my Stone 18 Anniversary Ale earlier in WBAYDN...

Finishing and reviewing now...

I'd swear the Jets are up 21-3, but I've been drinking, so they're probably not...


Toasty-style IPA - hop action courtesy of El Dorado...



\m/\m/

 

well. thing is, chipotle is technically smoked & dried jalapenos if i'm not mistaken. so the smokiness in this (i believe) is derived from the peppers as well. to me the smoke aspect is a tad different than the other smoked iterations, which are fainter imho.

 

**TWO** New Beers Sunday

What follows a weizenbock well? The same thing that follows everything well: hops.



No Label's Pale Horse is an American pale ale. My review is here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24326/65134/?ba=Premo88

I gave it a 3.4 because it sucks -- but it has hops, not a lot by the IBU count (36) but enough that it has that standard APA hop bite, so it's got that going for it, which is nice ...

But it's an absolute mess. Looks like crap, debris everywhere, and it tastes like it -- malt comes in and out but never does anything specific, the hops are bitter and floral at times but taste kind of dead, and the grain note is nice but throw it in there and suddenly this brew sometimes tastes like an old blonde ale: kind of sweet but caramel, creamed corn, butter and other tastes that all add up to "old."

So maybe that's all it is. Old. I say in my review and I mean it: I'd love to try this brew fresh out of the vat. I bet it sparkles, dances, bites you with the bitterness but doesn't mush up with a bunch of other "off" flavors. No Label's on my 2015 list of breweries to visit, so we'll see soon.

Re-Cheers!

 

yes. these were 22oz bombers. i haven't seen anything from the series offered in 12oz for a couple of years at least now.

 

Again, I beg my fellow NBSers indlugence, since it's not truly a new beer to me, but it is the first time I've done a proper review of it, a local IPA from, for my money, the best overall brewers in Spokane:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29334/84613/?ba=woemad

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it, I wish I had a couple of fresher bottles!

 

Howdy NBSers!

My last trip to the bottle shop saw me spoil myself with a few bottles of expensive Belgian beers. Two of the bottles were filled with beer that I had never had before. Well, I decided to drink both of them today, and here's what I thought of them:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/223/699/?ba=offthelevel_bytheplumb

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3521/9630/?ba=offthelevel_bytheplumb

Tonight, I'll have a few buddies over to watch the Bears get embarrassed by the 49ers. I may need to have another new beer to get me through the debacle. If that's the case, I'll be back later.

Until then, I'll leave you with a tune...


Cheers!

 

The bottle you sent me was plenty fresh enough. However, I may wish you sent more because there was an otherwise totally uninformative PSA just a moment ago during the Seahawk game about a "hazardous materiels" spill on the Idaho/Washington border (about a half-hour east of me), so the local water may have just become a tad bit unreliable!

 

Well, you do have about 47.4 ounces to get you through the night....

 

Yup, that's what chipotle peppers are


Might have to crack the only new beer (4 Hands "Snake Oil" Red-I) in the fridge after dinner, and hang out with you guys Cheers!

 

Greetings BAs! For this week's NBS I submit a passable "pumpkin" ale - thank you Fat Head's! Since they tested and perfected their beers in PGH then set up shop in the 'burbs of Cleveland, I'd really like to say that they suck, but it just isn't true. Their beers in general (the ones I've tried) are pretty damn good and their brewpub is worth visiting.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19544/72172/?ba=Ozzylizard

 

At least! Hell, between you, BeerTunes, and my own damn self, there's more beer in my fridge than any other time I can recall!

 

New Beer Mail Stout Lager Sunday!

Work day was fun and cool...literally it got like 72 degrees here and no humidity. Well, back to what really matters, The New Beer! Drinking this one courtesy of @woemad



As pictured, this brew poured dark brown with ruby hues with a massive light khaki colored head. Well looks pretty! The aroma is very light with cocoa and roasted malts. Faint fruity esters with a hint of licorice. Smells good to me! The taste should show me what this brew is all about! First hits of roasted malt complexity. Coffee, cocoa mild hint of licorice. Right amount of residual sugar sweetness and some fruit notes toward the finish. This beer finishes Big!, dry and bitter, (picture coffee bitter and hop bitter to form a big yet balanced bitter). Lingering burnt sugar and coffee in the aftertaste. The feel on the brew is medium-light with cola like carbonation.

Overall: Time for me to nitpick....sorta. This brew is very good! The appearance, great! The aroma, on point! The flavor double check! I enjoy all this brew has to offer. The thing that sets it from being an everyday drinker is the cola like carbonation. I can dig Belgian brews..we all know what to expect in the carbonation department. Yet this one, I don't know, just seems forced or over carbonated. There's nothing really negative to say about this brew. I really dig the aftertaste. The burnt sugar reminds me of eating marshmallows that have been camp fire singed. You know what I mean? With a cup of coffee as a chaser. All in all this brew is worthy!

Grade: B+

Thank you @woemad

 

Happy New Beer Sunday!

First up is one from the Samuel Adams Adventures in Lager variety case- the chocolate chili bock they call The Vixen:

It's a nice looking beer, I'll give them that. But I may as well fess up to the fact that right off the bat I'm a little suspect of this one; it's the sort of concept that is either done extremely well, or not really worth doing. And it's not looking too good a few sips into it. My main problem is the base beer; it's not really bock-like at all, it's more like one of those extremely syrupy sweet 'Scotch Ales' you run into from time to time.

There are some interesting flavors to work with- the dark chocolate elements, naturally, but it's the chile pepper's contribution that I find the most intriguing. It's at the barely perceptible range, but there is enough in there to interact with the sweet caramel malts in surprising ways. It's coming across as more of a 'spiced beer' in the traditional sense than a spicy/hot beer- sometimes it recalls tamarind chutney, other times it's like got a dark rum/molasses thing happening.

I'm three-fourths of the way through it now, and thankfully the cloying qualities have calmed down instead of getting more annoying. Strangely it's finishing drier now. In the end, I suppose that's enough to get me through the next three bottles. I don't love it, but have found enough 'mystery' about it to make me look forward to the next one. C+

Something foxy-

 

Beautiful day in the Deep South. Been doing chores all day, so now it's time for a new beer.

Tonight's selection is Warlock from Southern Tier which is part of a seemingly endless search for a pumpkin beer that I truly enjoy. I love pumpkin flavors, but don't seem to enjoy many pumpkin beers. This one being a stout was intriguing since that is one of my favorite styles.

In the end, I was disappointed in Warlock. It reminded me of a darker colored Pumking, and but perhaps a touch more enjoyable.

On the other hand, I was able to try Elysian's Punkuccino last week which was a really nice coffee forward pumpkin brew. Makes me wish I had tried more of Elysian's pumpkin offerings while I was in Seattle.





http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/99558/