New Beer Sunday (week 502)

The Moody Blues and Stevie Ray Vaughn touch a bunch of buttons. That's a kinetic combo! I have seen both but never together.

 

Round two for this NBS is from one Washingtons "underappreciated" breweries. All right, they're not our best brewery, and their name never comes up in the "visiting Seattle" threads, but I find their brews to be solid. This ImpIPA is a bit malty and subdued but, probably worth the $5 I spent on the HATED 22oz bottle: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1397/95715/

And, as mentioned above, another celebration of a musical life, the late Allen Woody:

 

I only saw SRV&DT once (the band distinction is important to me), spring '88, Rochester War Memorial Arena (AKA, the Downtown Hockey Barn. Saw tons of shows there over the years, (including my first concert, The Rockets opening for Marshall Tucker Band), opening for Robert Plant. It was the tour where Plant was doing Zep songs for the time, and he had a band of kids playing with him, and this show was the first time they had ever set foot on American soil. This tour:

 

Dude, your review left me speechless!

 

Happy NBS everyone!
Today I am trying to eliminate my rat problem in my backyard with out my neighbors getting too pissed.
For this edition I am trying my first ever beer from TN, thanks to @SPLITGRIN.

I haven't had many smoked beers before, but this one seems a lot less smoky than one I had a while back. The smoke on this one isn't overwhelming. Seems to me like this one would go good with BBQ, but maybe that's just because it's a smoked beer. It's ABV is at 9% so it hits pretty hard, so I'm gonna wait a bit after I finish this one to have more beer. Overall this one is pretty good and I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark beers.

Cheers!

 

Guess I didn't get the memo. Sorry.

 

I saw Robert Plant and the Band of Joy as the last act of a long Friday at the 2011 New Orleans Jazz Fest. It was a few years after Raising Sand, the Allison Krauss/Robert Plant landmark recording. It wasn't Allison Krauss, but the music was perfect. The last set was all Led Zeppelin. Beautifully rendered on a particularly cool New Orleans Spring evening. A hugely memorable event!

 

New Kristalweizen Sunday

Turns out I miscalculated, my hard work also entitled me to a kickass wheat beer. Thanks again@beertunes!

This is a style I have largely ignored. I ignorantly assumed kristalweizens were dumbed down hefes, a style I love. I had one from sixpoint that I liked but that has been it in my 8 years of enjoying good beer. I'm happy to admit I was wrong, I need to try more of these. I enjoyed the hell out of this in my freshly sealed sun room.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/701/135174/



Cheers again!

 

Love Neil.Killer song.

 

No worries, just kinda nudging you a bit. Take minute to tell us what ya think about it, doesn't have to be a full-on review. Several of our regulars have started just by posting 2-3 sentences. Cheers bud!

 

Beautiful day here so far. We had an early soccer game for #2 son, and I just took a nice bike ride around the neighborhood. The sunshine, cool air- it's addictive, especially if there's no work to do .

I'm enjoying the last beer that @beertunes was kind enough to send me- Kulshan Brewin IPA:


It's a pretty solid take, with its own personality to boot. It's dominated by citrus (kumquat) and fruits (apricot, peach), but there is also a hint of pine and flowers mixed in as well. The palate is on the rich side of medium bodied, and there is sufficient bitterness to keep it honest. My only issue is that very late into the glass it got a touch buttery, so I'm winding up with a solid B overall, 3.6.

 

After a long night of exciting baseball last night (gotta love The Panda!) woke up with an itch for a nice long or strenuous ride in the Headlands...
View of Stinson Beach

View out over the bay into San Fran

View of the beer I'm enjoying now

Not nearly as beautiful as the ride but still tasty!
Getting the spices and banana bread, albeit a bit less than I had hoped for.
The 10+% is not noticable, which is good, but the overall flavor is falling short of Vitus. I tough task for sure but that being said, it's still enjoyable.

 

New Milk Stout with everything but the kitchen sink in it Sunday



I wondered if Xocoveza was just going to be a silly gimmick that wasn't worthy of its high rating. Hoo boy, was I ever wrong! Here's a review:

4.34/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22 oz bottle into a wine glass.

Appearance: Pours a dark ruby color. The head is a finger high, and khaki in shade. While retention isn't the best (by any means), it leaves behind a nice ring of lacing on the glass. (3.5)

Smell: I actually pick every ingredient that's advertised on the bottle. Coffee? Check. Vanilla? Check. Chocolate? Check. Chilies? Check. Cinnamon and Nutmeg? Check. The coffee is nice and black, the chocolate and peppers are subtle, and the spicing is very well balanced. Only problem is that I wish a bit more of the base beer came to play - but I guess that would obstruct all the adjuncts used, wouldn't it? Really, this smells awesome, with every note hitting all the right spots. (4.5)

Taste: The very first flavor on the palate are the spices, and for about a second, it seems a bit harsh. Afterwards, though, this beer turns into pure bliss. Chocolate and vanilla flavors enter the fray around the middle; thanks to some black coffee notes appearing before it ends, the two elements coalesce to give it a fantastic mocha finish. Its milk stout base is perfect - the lactose cream flavor also on the finish is exactly what balances everything. It could have been totally chaotic and messy, and it just isn't. The only real flaw is that it's not quite as peppery as I would have really liked. (4.25)

Mouthfeel: Admittedly, it's pretty light and tinny-feeling, with a decent amount of fizz for the style. Despite its complexity and sweetness, the finish is wonderfully dry, too. I would personally prefer a richer and thicker feel, but it still does a good job of fitting the flavor profile - which is amazing, because it somehow shouldn't. (4.5)

Overall: This was nailed. Absolutely friggen' nailed. The spices are nearly perfect, the mocha flavors are nearly perfect, and the chili peppers...well, that could have been jazzed up a notch. I. DON'T. CARE. It's fairly complex, but more importantly, it shows cohesion and restraint (from a brewery not known for...oh wait, it was a homebrewer's recipe, nevermind ) This one is right up there as far my favorite beers of the year go. (4.5)

4.34/5: Who needs pumpkin ales for a fall-time sipper when you have this beauty?

Also, last night I was able to snag a growler of the very first commercially released beer from Calvert Brewing Company in MD.



The beer is called Good Company, a 6.2% pale ale with Cascade, Citra, and Nugget Hops. And this was pretty damn excellent, too. Here, have another review, guys:

4.1/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I have to tell you guys, this is probably the most excited I've been to try a beer all year. Not only is it a local brewery, but I know some of the guys working there quite well - ergo, the hope is there that this will be a great beer. 32 oz growler into a wine glass.

Appearance: Pours a clear copper color. The head is a two fingers high, with a shade slightly off-white. Its texture is very fluffy, almost like whipped cream. Retention is good but not great, with a little bit of lacing left on the glass. (3.75)

Smell: Oh yeah, this is the kind of pale ale I like. The hops here are nicely complex, bringing notes of mango, melon, grapefruit, spice, and pine. I also get just enough of the malt backbone to balance things out (but not too much!) While the hops aren't explosive by any means, they still have a nice presence - basically, it's not an IPA, but it's not some middle-of-the-road pale ale, either. (4)

Taste: The palate is a bit less fruity and a bit more spicy, but neither come across like shrinking violets. Its fruitiness opens it up (mango and melon, primarily), while the back end has a pleasant spiciness to it (but the more it opens up, the fruitier the hop notes become) Bitterness is damn near faint, and somehow the malts aren't an obstruction, either. Talking about the latter, they bring a mild breadiness and MAYBE a kiss of caramel too. Even with the building malt character, it still remains endlessly likable, and it even has a bit of depth to boot. (4.25)

Mouthfeel: This one is dry to the point of creating a cottonmouth sensation. Of course, I like that in a beer, so no complaints there. A tiny amount of malt sweetness does linger on the palate after a few sips. Carbonation...well, I don't really notice the fizz, good or bad - so that means it's doing a good job. (4)

Overall: I'm impressed. Calvert managed to make an excellent pale ale, but they also kept it firmly in pale ale territory. This means the malt flavors come through, without overpowering the hoppiness. The vice versa is true, also. This is a great pale ale, plain and simple. (4)

4.1/5: An impressive first showing from a brand-new local brewery

And here's some random DOOOOOOOOOOOM to close everything out:

 

While it may not be the stickie ickie that you've become accustomed to, I can assure you that this fresh is delicious. My local WF get's it old...two weeks old. But if I want fresher, the brewery is a short bike ride up the road. First time I had it the guy at WF talked it up and I wasn't impressed by the hype. But now, I love it. And at $5 a bomber...winning.

 

You have a toilet on your deck? Yowsa!

 

New Pumpkin/English Amber Ale Sunday! (Waiting for Sam Adams to get a lawsuit on this label. It's too similar to another brew from Bell's that will not be mentioned...)

I'm back folks with a new Pumpkin beer. I usually pass but, I've decided to give them a whirl. It was a disappointed loss for the Ravens, but it was a well deserved win for The Colts. Ok I'm done talking about sports. Time for the brew!




First off I'm not a SA fanboy by any means. So I will review this with an open mind. This brew pours very clean with a nice translucent Ruby Red Body, nice off white/khaki soapy head. Looks like it's up my alley. Time for a whiff. First hits the nostrils with nutmeg and ginger. Second hits of nice warm caramel slightly toasted bread in the backend. This has my attention now. Going in for the kill! This flavor is actually pretty good. All this caramel and toast with spices is just what the doctor ordered. Ginger is pronounced with all the other spices following through. Nutmeg making it earthy and slightly smoked malt to put in that fresh from the oven feel. This finishes slightly fruity and clean slightly bitter. Lingering pumpkin spices with a clean caramel flavor in the aftertaste. The feel is medium-light poppy carbonation.


Overall: Like I said before, I'm not a Samuel Adams fanboy at all. Yet this brew is balanced beyond belief! The reason why I might be enjoying this brew so much is that beneath the spices lays a nice Imperial English Style Amber Ale. I love me both American style and English Styles of the Amber Ales and Lagers. I think they nailed this one. This brew is recommended!

Grade: A-

Musical Narration:



Cheers New Beer Sunday Crew!