New Beer Sunday (week 512)

Happy new beer Sunday from Woodstock, Ontario, Canada!
My first new beer today...probably trying another in a bit...is Muskoka Breweries Detour IPA.
Pours beautifully, slightly cloudy, one finger head.
Smells, citrus and pine.
I didn't get the pineapple others mentioned. For me the predominant taste was pine...loved it.
The mouth feel was almost as good as the taste.
Great offering from Muskoka. A light beer (4.3 abv) with great flavour.

 

Taking a break from cleaning the kitchen, marking time while waiting for the 'hawks game.
What on earth has gotten into the Bills? Normally I like the Packers (that whole "inaccurate reception" unpleasantness notwithstanding), but it's great for my Seahawks if the Packers lose. Still, I really wasn't expecting the Bills to upset them. Yay, John Olerud raising the 12th Man Flag - totally bummed to find out the Rickey Henderson-John Olerud story isn't true!

Anyway, I decided to follow lunch with a porter from Israel (which BA calls a "Foreign/Import Stout," but it says porter right on the label). Apparently this was brewed in "Hefer Valley," which sounds like a cattle ranching locale:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30047/119152/?ba=woemad
Another meh beer for today. Porter, stout, the thin mouthfeel and sweet flavor makes this seems like a brown ale more than anything else.

 

Happy belated birthday!

 

I forget his name but remember his avatar and his near-constant Vitus cheerleading. And why wouldn't he? It's a great beer!

 

New Michigan BA Beer Sunday

Afternoon, NBS'ers. With all the Michigan BAs still drunk on BBPt5 or hung over from the 4elf party, I figured today was the perfect time for a cross-border raid into The Great Lake State to pick up some goodies that don't make it into Ohio. I found just what I was looking for -- a sixer of Short's Cup of Joe -- and a pleasant surprise: Odd Side Ale's Morningwood, a BA stout with coffee.

Meant to crack open the Short's, but accidentally grabbed the Morningwood and opened it before I realized what I was doing. Guess I better drink it:



This bottle is from November of this year and clocks in at 9.5% ABV. And it's a steal at $5/bottle.

Morningwood pours dark black with a thin, rusty brown, and barely there head. Looking like a mighty fine BA stout. The dominant aroma is Hershey's chocolate syrup, with some nice roasted coffee in the background and some very light notes of vanilla and whiskey. From the nose alone I'd probably be hard-pressed to identify this as a BA stout if I didn't know what I was drinking. Anyway, the flavors are mild, but very nice: milk chocolate holding hands with roasted coffee, followed by a good deal of bitterness and a whiskey sting on the finish. I'm a coffee nut, so I'd like a bit more coffee presence here, but this is still a tasty beer with a decent amount of coffee. The mouthfeel is the star, though: it's incredibly smooth and creamy, and the finish is a study in dry, bitter roastiness. Just delightful stuff here.

Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with this beer. It's a restrained beer that doesn't go for the huge flavor profiles you see in other BA stouts. And it's neither a chocolate bomb nor a coffee bomb, but a beer that blends both flavors pretty seamlessly. Not much to criticize about this beer; that I might like to see a bit more coffee and bourbon in the nose and the taste is just my own preference, rather than a problem with this beer.

Michigan made, Ohio consumed, and Bowie approved.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Great idea @beertunes ! I've always wanted to do a BIF but found them to be a bit intimidating with the rules. Plus as a closet ticker looking for new to me beers this will be a great (hopefully first!) BIF.


Third in the highly marketable Planet Series. So far each offering has been unimpressive. This one is much of the same.

Mercury pours a light golden color with nearly an inch of frothy off white head. Initial smell of grain and Belgian yeast. Taste is much of the same. Grainy, lemon, slight amount of pepper. Drinks like a crisp Belgian style pilsner. Decent but I'm satisfied with just one bottle.

 

Happy Sunday all my NBS friends!

A pretty good week for me. Work is going well, a few good jobs are chugging along nicely, and I just scored a boiler replacement job that will pay nicely. I'm even getting into the holiday spirit, I bought a wreath for the front of my truck.

My new beer for today is a Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout, a beer I really should have tried a long time ago.



It pours a nice deep black color with a caramel colored one finger head that dissipates slowly. The aroma is that of chocolate and fresh bread. Taste is that of chocolate and malt, a nice spicy note comes in strong. Not terribly complex, but a great example of a nicely rounded stout. Feel is thick and creamy, sticks to the mouth and leaves a pleasant chocolate note that lingers. This is a great beer, one that I will be coming back to in the future.

 

Happy Birthday a little late @smakawhat !

 

What's up NBS. Getting into it a bit late while watching some football. A nice winter day here on the island.

My new beer today is number 22 porter from big bend brewery, out of texas, which also makes it new brewery sunday too. Getting into a pretty good porter kick so why not.

The beer pours out typical black with a subtle nose of roasted malts. The roasted malt character continues on the initial sip. Decent sweet chocolate notes as well with some bitterness on the finish. The mouth feel is a little light and doesn't really deliver the richness that some of the better porters do. Decent drinking regardless but an overall average beer as reflected by it's 84 ba score.

 

i've posted here several times before, but thank you for the warm welcome. Both beers were absolutely phenomenal. Last year's was ridiculously complex yet very, very smooth and delicious. This year's was aged in rye whisky barrels so it had an extra kick that was warming and complimentary but just slightly overshadowing enough to make last year's version the winner IMO. having said that, with some age on it this year's could be the king of them all. hope to get another one. cheers!

 

Happy NBS everyone!

Today I'm enjoying a few things. Low key birthday today, but had a nice dinner and a few new beers last night! Came down from Memphis to Galveston to visit the girlfriend, and lo and behold, she got me a beer related present! (At least I am surprised) Not one, not two, but three bottles of Yellow Rose!


Not my new beer today since I had some last time I was in town, but figured I would brag on my girlfriend.

My new beer is Karbach's Weisse Versa! It's 72 here in Galveston, so I figure a nice wheat beer is in order.


The can is claiming a blend between a hefeweizen and a wit. Interestingly not a berliner weisse... go figure. But now into the review.

Pours a pale golden orange color with some nice haziness. Slight chalk colored head that doesn't linger too long. A small foam ring stays around the edge of the glass. 3.75

Smell is actually a nice mix between the two proclaimed beers. Nice coriander and some spice, lemon, orange, fruity esters, and banana. Nice wheaty, bready, almost sour, notes hidden deep. 3.75

Taste begins like a belgian wit. Coriander, orange peel and a little lemon. Follows the nose. Banana and more traditional hefeweizen characteristics take over. Nice sweetness links the two. Wheat characteristic is present throughout. Banana and other fruit lingers on the finish. Very good. 4.25

Mouthfeel Is hazy and creamy. 3.25

Overall a very good beer. Very sessionable on this lazy Sunday where Football is on and stress is off. 3.5

Looking forward to my impending move up to the new job in Indiana at the end of the month. I would love to get involved in the BIF as some Memphis breweries are cranking out some good stuff. Needs to happen fast, otherwise all I have trade are northern Indiana distro (and who wants that stuff...)

 

That would be Coloradobobs. John and I had a few beers together at Coopersmiths in Ft Collins several years ago.

 

Now some Finest Kind for the first time, great stuff, cheers!
4.13/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass

A- A hazy golden amber color with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, pine, floral notes, some sweet caramel malts, hint of wet grass.

T- Big piney finish with citrus and floral notes along a nice malt backbone and good balance.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A nice IPA that is fairly easy to drink and nicely balanced. I really enjoy this beer, worth picking up.

 

First time with this, thanks to @Vitacca ..never have seen a BA Amber ale

Oh, Gore with a TD!!
Anyhow, back to beer...
Me likey!
Bourbon is very noticeable (nose and flavor) and honestly, I don't get much of the amber ale at all, which isn't a bad thing.
Great mouthfeel (nice and light) and very east drinking. But at 10%, I've gotta watch how easy drinking this is.
All in all, a great beer and happy to be trying this.

 

That's kinda the thought process. I've sent and received beer from a few NBSers. And, in the back of my mind, I've long wanted a "group NBS", where a bunch of us all try the same new beer the same day. I did a little test drive a few months ago, and it was fun, but a bit of a hassle. So, until I figure that one out, if we do this, and all try to enter our gifts on the same day, that's sorta, kinda, a lil bit the same thing. Right?

 

Hoppy Beerthday!