New Beer Sunday (week 503)

New Belgian Double IPA

It's a rare third entry tonight. And it's a winner. Definitely seems like an amped up version of Triomphe, Vivant's Belgian IPA. That's a good thing, because Triomphe is a staple order when it comes to Monk Club Night at at the brewery. A solid dose of hops and sweet malts combine with green apple and yeasty funk. The higher ABV comes off as sugary sweetness, rather than any harsh alcohol. However, the sweetness does wear a little, and the pint is probably enough for a single sitting.

 

Well, I don't know now much the taxes in IL are compared to OH. I know that the store that I bought the Dark Penance at, more often than not they don't charge more compared to the other stores in the area. But it's my fault for not really paying attention to the price, my buddy at the store said it was their 2nd delivery of it and I figured it wasn't going to stay around for too long since the first shipment sold out quickly.

 

A follow up for my evening tipple I will bring you an amazing tripel.
This is why my girlfriends say I always have the bestest beers:

Best Tripel I have ever had. Very banana on the nose and I swear I get a mild taste of pears and the leaves of fruit trees.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/39754/?ba=Roxie_B
Cheers!

 

New...wait no, I drank this Double IPA a few days ago



Big Punisher from Jailbreak Brewing Company in Laurel, Maryland. This sounds like it will be completely awesome - DIPA with Citra hops, six-pack cans, and only two weeks old. Unfortunately, it isn't.

While it's not a terrible DIPA by any means, it has way too little complexity and way too much crystal malt. I said this in my review, and I completely stand by it once again:

PS: it's even worse straight from the can.



There we go - much better.

 

New American Pale Lager Sunday

Hello all! I'm back again with my second beer. This one is from Guinness - Blonde American Lager. I was pleased with it. For what it is, I didn't find any real detractors. It has a pleasant, easy-drinking character to it with a balanced firm malt character. I had a couple if I bought two six-packs, and I'm glad I did. Solid choice for a beer if you're hanging out with friends who aren't into "craft". (I'm going to save a six-pack for one of those times.) I can think of examples of the style I've enjoyed more, but quite a few I've enjoyed much less.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/209/130301/?ba=jwc215

Have a good week! (I'm off to cook some kielbasa and sauerkraut and have a couple more of these!

Cheers!

 

Howdy folks, first time on NBS. My wife picked this one up at Trader Joe's the other day. I wasn't overly impressed with it. Pours a dark amber, very little carbonation, half inch head that faded quickly to nothing. The aroma was very faint, with some slight grassy hops and bready malt. The taste was similarly lacking, with a slight bitter hops flavor, mostly malty sweetness, not what I was expecting from an English IPA. This beer was medium bodied, with a pretty nice finish. Overall, this wasn't a bad beer, just thought it was not really true to the style.

Hope everyone is having a great evening- I'm sitting here watching the Eagles- Giants game while switching back and forth to the NLCS. Prost BAs!

 

Well day started off lazy, some french press coffee and a tasty pair of donuts. Some web surfing, house chores, and off to lunch then to watch the Cardinals game with friends. Good time was had by all and my Cards pulled out a win at home in Glendale vs Washington. 4 interceptions by the Cards defense! Sadly, my fantasy team is likely to lose today in spite of a phenomenal showing from Cam Newton and the Arizona defense. Back at home now, probably watch the game or maybe a mini-marathon of parks and rec...and enjoying my favorite character, Mr Ron Swanson.


Todays beers have been very nice. Shared two with friends at the game, Punkin Ale by Dogfish Head and Southern Tier's delightful Pumking. Both delicious, with Pumking winning that round with its delightful aromas and flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg, spices....pumpkin pie in a glass!





So because i had to share these, I've opened another just for me:



2014 Angel's Share.

A: dark ruby brown. No head. Some tiny bubbles upon swirling, but no head to speak of.

S: bourbon and booze right off the top. Chocolate, fig, plum, slight caramel.

T: alcohol, chocolate, dark fruit. Slight sweetness in the middle with some bright bourbon flavors in the middle and finish. Slight alcohol bite in the finish.

M: medium body with lower carbonation. Some alcohol astringency in the finish.

O: A good barrel aged strong ale. Very nice aromas, good flavors, a bit hot this early. Not getting the complexity i expected, but the second serving may be better as it warms.

4.25 / 5

Have a great week!

 

Happy Cleveland Beer Week!
I've had most of the local beers available in bottles/cans so I decided to head west along the North Coast to try something new yet local at least to Ohio.

(the background can is just because of the celebratory week)
Maumee Bay Amarillo Brillo DIPA
Lots of tropical fruits here. Noticeably sweet, not much bitter. Kind of reminds me of a barleywine from a mouthfeel standpoint but with IPA flavors. Interesting to try but I personally prefer dried and more bitter.

 

Damn beertunes. Sounds like a great adventure. And hearing about the old Rainier Ale bldg being used again is totally cool.

 

I wanted something to offset the evilness that is The Walking Dead season premiere! #beerandtvpairings

Two years on this. Sweet upfront but ends slightly smokey, medicinal and tart (like tart cherries). Cheers!

 

NEW RIS SUNDAY

Howdy NBSers, hope you all had a great day today. We enjoyed a prefect autumn day here in SEPA. The little guy has a cold, so we had a mellow day. Poor kid managed to have some fun outside, but he wasn't himself. I went out for a couple with a close friend of over thirty years. Great conversation and great beer. I was very pleasantly surprised to see Southampton's RIS on-tap tonight.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1628/6512/?ba=bros

Cheers!

 

Welcome!!! You did great. Thanks for sharing your take on Hop Hash. Making me think I gotta try it again.

 

Lol! I liked that about Maryland having Jack crap. Yet, I really liked some of Burley Oak's offerings. Yet, I feel you. Nothing earth shattering great comes out of Maryland except Dying Fetus and Misery Index.

 

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Hello all NBSer's. I'm from the far away land of Australia so today is Monday thou I did take my time to try a new beer yesterday which was Sunday . Yesterday it was a beautiful day in Sydney. Sunny, warm and loads of beautiful women about. Just perfect
The beer of choice was Struise Cuvée Delphine. An impressive label and an impressive pour. This bourbon barrel aged stout really wafts through the whole room. Even thou it's made up of the classic bourbon, vanilla and chocolate tones that such a style holds on to, it really surprised me with dominant tones of fig, red wine and sweet balsamic. Amazing stuff!
Not sure why my picture isn't working. Sorry. Here's a direct link for the curious. http://i1370.photobucket.com/albums...9-BF8A-45FD-BBCB-FC80E80B7DF9_zpslkqwpla2.jpg

 

Good evening NBS. Hope everyone had another good week. I get to go back to the office tomorrow now that I dont have a vacuum attached to my leg. Slept in today on accident so I will have to brew a Scottish ale next weekend. Oh well, I decanted and put my starter into a mason jar for later.

New Beers:

Very nice Czech pils! Taste of lemon, orange zest, cracker, biscuit, light honey, herbal, grass, pepper, and pine. Good amount of herbal/pine bitterness on the finish. Very crisp, clean, and well balanced flavors with no yeast presence. Very refreshing and smooth. 88; 3.9/5


Amazing old ale! Taste of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, vanilla, toast, dark bread, toffee, oak, whiskey, leather, light tobacco, light peat smoke, and roast/oak earthiness. Light roasted bitterness on the finish. Incredible balance of malt and scotch barrel flavors. Very smooth, creamy, and lightly slick mouthfeel. This blew me away, compared to all of the 8% versions in varying cask ages(which are all still excellent as well, I will add). The barrel/scotch expression in this beer is so much bigger than all of the other ones I had. Highly recommended. 96; 4.33/5


Very nice Belgian pale ale. Taste of lemon zest, orange peel, pear, apple, white grape, coriander, cracker, biscuit, light honey, herbal, grass, light pepper, and yeast earthiness. Moderate amount of earthy spice on the finish. Well carbonated and crisp drinking. Great malt and yeast flavor balance. Very enjoyable. 88; 3.9/5


Cheers, have a good night.

 

Great way to start NBS: Scott Joplin! Nice!
Ayinger Oktober Fest Marzan - Never had this one before and loved it:

Got all German with the beer, my son made a delicious Italian pesto pizza. So the combo was odd, and please forgive the glassware as I could not find my stein.


Tried to find something that was a little italian and a little german... but this came up and cracked me up some.
Good Night NBS

 

like the idea of creating separate entries for the nitro versions of beers ... Ole Speckled Hen in the bottle is not the same beer as Old Speckled Hen in the nitro cans -- two completely different experiences

on to my New Prairie Artisan Ale Sunday:


So excited to try this, and even though it let me down, I'm never sorry for giving Prairie Artisan a chance. This one definitely lived up to the "sour" and completely whiffed on the "cherry" -- but, hey, even the Seattle Seachickens can't win them all, yes?

The review:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/120407/?ba=Premo88

Gave it a low 3.35 (-12.8% rdev). I probably got a bit over-excited by the label's talk of "cherries", so the score's low. It's not terrible, though. In fact, it offered another lesson in my toddler steps among the land of sours -- that sour tart taste combined with whatever else is happening in the brew completely masks all alcohol taste, and that's ALWAYS a winner for me.

Cheers!

 

I also had Founders Dark Penance for my new beer today. Maybe it's something about the style, but black ales tend to grow on me over time: the first time I had SSR and Blkkr, I thought they were good but not great, and when I revisited them, I said Wow! It must be that black ales, when done right, have a bit too much going on to register fully on first tasting.

So it is, or may be, with FDP. Definitely enjoyable, but I'm not overwhelmed. Fortunately, I have three more left, so my impression may change.

The exception to all of the above is FW Wookey Jack, which for me was love at first sip.

Music selection: Modern Lovers.

 

Well, another week, another step in the right (?) direction. I had a big interview this week and I am cautiously optimistic about it. Won't hear back for another week or so, though, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up and continuing to put out applications elsewhere.
Weather has turned full autumn, SO MUCH FOG, some rain, and some sunshine, and some distressing days at work. Plus the Seahawks lost today. And to the Cowboys of all folk! D'ah well... I was too distracted with sorting out some troubling occurrences at work.
Also I picked up a new goober for the patrol:



Yup.

Today's brew is my first experience with the Bay Area's Almanac Brewing: Dogpatch Strawberry. I don't have a whole lot of experience with sours, and as a result have not yet (?) developed a strong affinity for them. Not opposed to them (side note: had my first gose last night [Kimmie/Yink/Holy Gose] and... I just don't get it. And I'm ok with that), and on occasion I get a little 'ooh a decent sour would hit the spot about now!' but that's about it. This one was pleasantly enjoyable: though I got more cherry than strawberry. The finish is where I got most of the strawberry as it ends up reminding me of dried strawberry (and for some reason in particular it evokes strawberry seeds... do strawberry seeds even have a distinctive flavour??). A solid and enjoyable sour, though not one that even sour aficionados I think would be beating down the door to acquire.

 

Can't believe this is my first Shakespearean adventure. Rogue's signature oatmeal stout. Incredibly smoothe, but a bit thin and reserved. Chocolate dominates throughout, sweet initially, but there's definitely some bitter in there, from both the bakers chocolate notes and a black coffee acridity (it's a real word! MW says so!) on the finish.
Bonus puppy picture:

Meeting for the first time. They're super best friends now. It's pretty damn adorable.