New Beer Sunday (week 501)

This Week's New Beer Sunday- Wychwood Scarecrow Organic Ale

Witney, Oxfordshire, England
Style- English Strong Ale
1 pint 0.9 oz
4.7% abv
$4.29 at Total Wine Kennesaw, GA

Good afternoon BAs.

Well as I write this beer review in the 4th quarter Georgia just can not seem to close the door against those Volunteers. Tennessee no matter their record always plays us tough and I am getting nervous. Final score Georgia 35 Tennessee 32 Whew!

I poured this beer in my stange glass with a very modest white head that had very little lasting power. Very little lacing on the edges of the glass and now a thin skin of foam on the surface. Cloudy gold appearance provides a subtle hoppy floral aroma which reminds me very much of the Fuller's London Pride. Honey citrus starts with a slight bitter after taste. Time is not on this beer's side providing a greater bitter taste that is just mildly average. Definitely not a beer I will go out of my way for a second try.

 

I get bitter chocolate, a perfect amount of peppery heat, and in the finish the cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg appear. -- that was fun picking out those ingredients. It leaves a very bitter aftertaste in my mouth of coffee and dark chocolate. The longer I drink it, the more vanilla notes come out to play. I wish I had more to say about this new beer, but perhaps I'll just sit back and enjoy. This is an excellent brew, and you can bet I'm going to give it high praise as I review it. I'm expecting positive rDev on this beauty.

 

following @JuicesFlowing, my first stab at Stone's Xocoveza Mocha stout.

pretty interesting cornucopia of flavors with no real beginning or end. maybe just me but the nutmeg & cinnamon gave it a holiday season vibe. not sure exactly what to make of this one. at the moment it's got everything working together pretty well. will be interesting to see if the bonanza of flavors meld any more or if they'll drift apart over time. picked up enough to hopefully participate in that experiment to come.





cheers!

 

New German Bier Sunday




Short and sweet today. Have work to do. Found a couple of flip top beers from this brewery for $4 each. No way I am not grabbing those. This is appears to be my first authentic Kellerbier. I did see Sam Adams Alpine Spring listed, but not sure it fits that category. I read a little more about the style to get some frame of reference. This one seems to fit the description for the most part. Maybe not as much hop presence as there should be. Pours a fairly cloudy, deep dark amber with a white foamy head. Aroma is mainly sweet with some yeast. Taste is very sweet. Like carmel and honey, with some toasted malt similar to a sweet, fresh baked dark bread. Also crisp like a pilsner, and a very faint hop bitterness. Finishes with a lingering candy sweetness, almost like some sort of sugar coated cereal. Nice lager. 3.75 overall.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/6143/25279/?ba=WesMantooth

 

Good morning BAs and welcome to NBS! A quiet Sunday so far, watching the highly censored-for-TV version of "Aliens" Today's excursion into the wilds of beerdom here in the wilds of western PA is this entry from De Proef - named here, no doubt, for the label. Got to love the 15th-16th century Netherlandish painters - got to wonder what Bosch would have thought of H. R. Giger. Anyway, this is a decent ale which could have been produced by Jester King.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3521/20678/?ba=Ozzylizard



Tends to very lively carbonation when poured - massive overflows onto coffee table. Other than that, I do like the wild ales!

 

Trout River Black Wing Belgian Quad from Vermont. This one is so new I had to add it to the BA database. 10% ABV. Gorgeous copper-red color with a tremendous but delicate cream colored head. Belgian malt and sugar sweetness greets the nose as does a snippet of pepper but almost no alcohol. Full body. The taste is the same but the boozy punch kicks in a bit more in the flavor. Drink this one slowly and enjoy it.

 

G ' day all! I have a couple of new to me beers to share with you all today. Since I can't share the pictures using my phone, I guess I will have to moasy on over to my laptop. See you in a few.

 

What's up NBS!
Last night I answered the call of duty to be the designated driver. Perhaps a part of BeerAdvocacy that's often overlooked.. With LA Beer Week comin to a close I decided to take my wife and a couple of my friends on somewhat of pub crawl.

As for today I will share my spoils with y'all

New Firestone Boxed Beer Sunday!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2210/46021/?ba=Modernrickk
4.08/5 rDev -4.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Got a couple bottles for driving around .. I also got gas money

Solid brew by firestone.. And a great sipper right now as I wait for all the football madness..
Thanks for getting us started @utopiajane.
Great performance by Tod Gurley @reaganrvltn ..!

 

I'm back. First up was this:

With my review: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/322/874/?ba=Bitterbill

2nd:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/825/3587/?ba=Bitterbill

Both are good but I wouldn't go to any lengths to drink them again.

Cheers! NBS crew!

 

Greetings All! Today I'm going Trappist and Pumpkin: I have an Engelszell Gregorius, an outlying Trappist brew from Austria. It's dark and smells vinious, like Achel Extra. Not heavy at all with rich fig and dark fruit flavors and truly wine like. This beer is brewed with honey, but is not overly sweet. It keeps a fine balance with sharp acidity and signature big fruit notes. It does not seem like a 9.7% brew at all, and now I think I'll go take my helicopter for a test ride, again. I would recommend trying this beer as an after dinner treat.

Show me, Mr, Truman! This Missouri Crown Valley Imperial Pumpkin Smash is not understated. This is a full blown Fall sub seasonal warmer. At 10.6% it has true brawn, but is weirdly drinkable. A real spice and coconut essence move around the glass, tempting me to let it get warmer. I'll get back to you later.

 

Good Sunday all, Enjoyed (Smuttynose) Smutlabs , Schmutzig (that's a tongue challenge) this morning.
Interesting twist on several styles, Billed as a German IPA, but a little confounding, and quite enjoyable
3.70
Cheers all


Poured from a bottle into a small goblet,
A - Hazy , honey golden colored. aggressive carbonation leads to a frothy white cap.
Laced the length of the experience.
S - Spicy, Belgian ale yeast? Wheat with some hints of tropical fruit, coriander a whiff of clove.
Pleasant nose but certainly a bit of a conundrum to nail down. Is it as billed a German IPA or an aggressively
hopped Heffeweizen? All in all very interesting.
T - Candied tropical fruit, lemon, papaya pancake fresh from the griddle, the wheat qualities are forward and
delightful. With some time the hop elements come forward, very little bitterness. Finish lingers in a good way,
with just enough oils to fight those tiny bubbles into submission.
F - The front is light bodied, moving across the palate the fruitiness settles in to the sides of the
tongue, just enough sweet and tart. Ending with that little bit of oily, in the best way. Lingers for a while
but doesn't stay to long.
O - I enjoy the Smutlabs model, trying to delve deeper into tastes not exclusively styles.
A pleasant challenge to the norm and certainly worth the time to explore.
Cheers all

 

New Pumpkin Porter Sunday

Hello all! It's been, and continues to be, a beautiful weekend here in the Milwaukee area. Come November I will have been living in Wisconsin a year...time flies. There are so many beers that don't leave Wisconsin that I'm still trying "new" beers from here and still have many more to go!

Today's first beer is from Milwaukee Brewing Company. It's a nice pumpkin porter. The porter aspect is solid and it has spices, but not too overpowering.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18680/80758/?ba=jwc215

I have an interesting beer for late this afternoon or in the evening - an IPA made made squid ink from Three Sheeps. I'll be back this evening or tonight to let you know what I think of it.

Cheers!

 

I had a bottle earlier in the week but I just now reviewed it: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30035/88279/?ba=Bitterbill



I forgot to mention in my review that it has some tartness to it. Anywho, I was hoping for a much bigger malt presence.

 

Good Morning! Its a chilly foggy morning in NW WA today. The fog is supposed to burn of this afternoon but we'll see. Since I could not participate in the 500th NBS, due to work last Sunday. I choose 2 for this NBS. I had been hold on these for a while and waiting for an appropriate time to have them and today was a good day to do it.
First up Lazy Magnolia's Jeff Stout
2nd time I have had a beer with Sweet Potato. I am not huge sweet potato fan but this wasn't bad. Although there are better sweet stouts out there, this one is gets the job done. Glad I was able to acquire it. Thanks to @67couple for including in a trade a month ago.

Next up Lazy Magnolia's Southern Pecan


After sampling a few browns last night I was really feeling in a brown mood again this morning. Glad I decided to have this on this cloudy/foggy morning. Definitely taste and smell the pecans used in making this. Makes me crave good pecan pie, unfortunately I live too far north for that. Lazy Magnolia produces great beers but this think this is the best I have had from them.

My team isn't playing today so here is something for your comic relief

 

One more: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14046/53452/?ba=Bitterbill

 

second up "new" to me, Eggengerg Urbock 23°, Austrian Pale? Double Bock. 9.6% abv.

o.k. again, out of my league in terms of familiarity & experience with style. never had, no never even heard of a "Pale" Double Bock. forgive the ignorance & keep in mind i'm a stout chaser. this definitely has that well defined "Euro" brew profile & feel to it. nice & crisp, reminiscent of many Belgian pales with greener fruit & champagne-like qualities.




if i had to take a guess, based on what little i have experienced with somewhat similar beers (flavor/region etc.) i think this was probably shelf *aged* a bit before i recently adopted it & it's twin. can't say for sure (not sure if there is a way to date the bottle). there was that slight golden raisin flavor lingering in the backdrop i have found common in some pale/lighter Belgian beers that have sat around. not a bad or strong presence of the particular flavor note mind you, but possibly a warning signal that may grow stronger with time. another clue was 9.6% is pretty decent heft. there was zero trace of it on the taste which again i've found similar to a few different Belgian strong pales i've personally held onto longer than, let's say, "advisable".

given i've never had one of these before (fresh or otherwise) that last paragraph might all be false ramble. the store clerk may have also planted a seed. in discussing he mentioned the shop tries to keep this and a few others in but that they don't have a lot of demand so the importer & local distributor(s) can be a bit wary about bringing em' in. no genius here but what i was hearing in my head (English translation) - these sit around on shelves a long time. curious though, why they were on the floor & NOT in the fridge. i suppose the shop doesn't want the window space/slot hogged up for long periods of time.




http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/285/2214/

p.s. even though mine may have had unwanted age on it, i'd still rate what i tasted somewhere between 84 - 86. the 81 rating here strikes me as at least slightly low, but i realize that's completely subjective. jmho.