New Beer Sunday (week 515)

True fact: the last time I chose to review a beer from Defiance Brewing for NBS, it had also snowed. Here we have Awesomeness, a DIPA coming in at 8% ABV.

I rated this 4.41 which is good for +.2% rDev (only 10 ratings though).

The aroma is loaded with cedar and a lot of wood and spiciness before giving way to sweet mango and grapefruit citrus. The taste is a mirror of the aroma, and I have to say this is how I love my DIPAs -- woody, spicy, fruity. Very well balanced, but leaning on the hoppy side. A nice medium bodied mouthfeel with a clean finish. As you might have guessed -- this is awesome! Enjoy your day BA, cheers!

 

I'll join later.......Some apropos music to help set the tone in the meantime.

 

Greetings, NBSers, & thanks to Utopiajane for starting us off

It's still breakfast time 300-odd miles from the left coast, so the brew in my mug is coffee. Spokane was dumped upon by snow last night and this morning, and is supposed to continue to be so blessed throughout the day (there was already a little south of an inch on the ground from Friday). I foolishly agreed to go to work today and help with clearing snow so I won't be able to indulge in a new beer until this evening. So, here's a couple of new(ish) beers from earlier in the week:

Last Monday I stopped by Ice Harbor on my way home from the weekend's late-Christmas observance at my parents' home, and had two beers I'd either not had or had once but didn't review: Fresh Hop Imperial Red and their Imperial Porter. Both were good without being something I'd need to rush back for, although I would like to try the Red when it's fresher (actually I did a couple of months ago, but the salsa I'd had with chips at the brewpub had little flavor but lots of heat, so the taste buds were too blunted to even scribble down some notes).

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/909/141077/?ba=woemad
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/909/152637/?ba=woemad

On deck for tonight? Either a Rye IPA from Green Flash or an IPA from Bellevue Brewing, which is a new brewery for me. I picked it up about a mile from my parent's house in Kennewick, WA, on Monday.

 

Does this mean you'll be posting at 5:15?

 

Greetings...Good Morning BA Nation...

Not unique or new to many/most of you...I imagine, but new to me is Coronado Brew Co-- Idiot IPA (have not been overwhelmed/impressed by selections from CBC in the past, but repeated references on BA posts redirected me to try)

For an IPA...not as hoppy as I prefer....initial piney taste was nice...a light bitterness in the aftertaste...I liked the hazy color....overall balanced (not too sweet)...but, again, not as hoppy as I prefer (gave it a 3.83 rating)

However, serviceable and appreciated....on a fine Sunday morning...

This idiot, and his Idiot IPA, appreciate the inspiration and opportunity provided by BA




Cheers to you all....

 

lol - yer too much...
Hey Grimm loves brewin' dem tripels, don't they!

I'll see y'all later when I pop the cap on Southern Tier's 2X Presso...

...a double milk stout brewed with coffee beans and lemon peel...

 

I wasn't going to, but now I feel a sense of community obligation.

 

I was finally able to purchase some of the new beer from Sierra Nevada; the Harvest Wild Hop IPA using Neomexicanus Hops.

The Neomexicanus Hop has an interesting story in that they were fairly recently ‘discovered’ in the American Southwest (New Mexico) with Todd Bates being instrumental in the utilization of this wild hop in making beer. A very interesting read on the saga of the Neomexicanus hops in the Smithsonian Magazine:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/search-great-american-beer-180951966/?no-ist

Below is how Sierra Nevada describes this beer on their website:

“A few years back, we caught wind of rogue hop heads in the Southwest who began collecting some of the wild hops they found while scrambling down hillsides near their home in New Mexico. These bizarre, multi-headed, native U.S. cones have a flavor like nothing we’ve tasted, and for the first time, we’re showcasing their unusual melon, apricot and citrus aromas and flavors in our beer. Neomexicanus is the literal wild card in our five-bottle Harvest series which features single hop, fresh hop, wet hop, and wild hop beers.”

So, how does this beer taste? Hmmm, that is a very tough question for me. I am ‘better’ at detailing what this beer is not for my palate. It is not citrusy to me, not fruity, not piney, not dank, …. So, what exactly is that unique aroma/flavor of this beer? The best word that I can come up with to describe this beer is ‘earthy’. I am not a big fan of using the descriptor of ‘earthy’ but unfortunately that is the best I have here.

I split my beer with my wife and she had zero hesitancy in describing this beer. She stated: “It smells and tastes like a pad of paper with hints of pepperoni. I like it!”

So, there you go. If you are interested in a beer that smells/tastes like a pad of paper along with some hints of pepperoni then maybe SN Harvest Wild Hop IPA is for you?

It is a pretty looking beer.

Cheers!

P.S. I want to give a shout out to the SN team (@sierranevadabill ) for brewing this interesting beer.

 

I gave up on Coronado after they went after Elysian over the use of the word "Idiot". Elysian had a beer named Idiot Sauvin, which used Nelson Sauvin hops. Screw Coronado.

 

Cheers all,
Dreary and cool rainy Sunday, which is good. On our walk this morning we encountered no one but ducks, squirrels, the whiff of skunk, mushrooms emerging, and a plethora of hungry birds. This is the weather that helps build humus and builds the health of the forest. I really do love these days.
My daughter and son in law are horticulturists and James has recently been smitten with mushrooms and we're finding them everywhere. Here's a pic of some Oysters that I found yesterday. He sells some to a few local restaurants, and we eat the rest.
Today's beer is Alesmith's Nut Brown English-Style Ale poured into my trusty old Young's Draught glass from the early 90s. This is a wonderfully smooth, rich, and, deliciously malty brown ale with pronounced aromatics of grain, deep fruity/nutty notes, and a fine earthy touch that works well. This is not a sweet beer nor is it hoppy. This is a beautiful brown ale just perfect for the weather and warming. I really like that is only 5%, drinks so easily, and is a very beautiful deep brown beckoning to be drunk! I highly recommend this beer as a great beer and change of pace.
So many have taken Joni Mitchell for granted, but the purity and poetry that is her style never gets old! Cheers all and happy Sunday!

 

Here are the oysters on a log.

 

Maria, you are indeed correct that a paper/cardboard flavor is typically associated with beer being oxidized. The best that I personally can state here is that I did not pick up any aromas or flavors that I would associate with the word “paper”.

I am not the best person in the world when it comes to associating flavor perceptions with words. As you can read in my prior post I used the word “earthy” to describe SN Wild Hop IPA. So, what does “earthy” mean to you? I am pretty sure that what you think of as being “earthy” and what I associate the word “earthy” with would be different. Because the word “earthy” can be ambiguous it is not my favorite descriptor to use.

My wife ordered a glass of Evil Twin Mosaic Single Hop Imperial India Pale American Wheat Lager last evening. The first descriptive words out of here mouth was: It tastes like roasted peanuts like you get at the ballpark! My reply was: WHAT!?! I took a sniff/sip of that beer and it was indeed an enigmatic beer; I personally did not pick up any peanut smell/flavor but to be honest just like with SN Wild Hop I really do not have any good words to describe this beer either.

Beer appreciation can be challenging at times.

Cheers!

 

They use a Connecticut lawyer to look beneath stones.

 

I like "earthy" as it can cover a few things. Did you see RGordon's pic with the mushrooms? I bet where he was standing when he took the pic smelled earthy. Ever walk through a farm field in the spring when the crops are just popping through the loam? Earthy. That same field on a hot day in midsummer? Different kind of Earthy. The aroma of the leaves dropping from trees in Autumn? Yet another type of earthy.

 

Good New Year New beer Sunday everyone, thanks Maria for getting us started.
The slushy mess is cleaned up. That tall green decorated tree is next on the agenda,
but first a quick trip to Taiwan.
A treat our son brought home on his last visit.
Cheers all

White Beer

North Taiwan Brewing
Hefeweizen / 5.00% ABV

3.59/5rDev n/a | rAvg: 3.56
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Bottle brought home by visiting son, poured into a modified tulip glass.
Interestingly the date code was "best by" format of 2015 - 08.
A - Deep honey color, clear as a bell, gentle carbonation leads to a white cap.
The cap dissipates leaving a ring of froth the clings to the glass.
S - Ripe fruit guava, banana, honey and warm orange rime. Beautiful aroma,
a mystery component that has a yeast of Abbey Ales quality to it.
T - Dark wheat, honey, hint of clove, and candied lemon skins. Warming brings out some fruity esters, light brown sugars. Amazing that this is there white beer, as it is sweet and has a honey thread that runs through all the flavors.
M - Medium bodied, starts out a little oily, the little carbonation can't clean the
palate. The coating clings to the edges of of the tongue, lingering quite some time. The coating leaves a honey drop candy like calling card for the next sip.
O - A very nice change, the White label is challenged in the best ways. The sweetness is not off putting, and indeed may well be the beers most compelling quality.
So glad to have tried this.

Cheers

 

“Well so I know it will sound strange but I believe your wife's palate.” Maria, there is no doubt in my mind that my wife’s palate is more sensitive than my palate. As a point of example, she can discern cherry flavors in budget priced Pinot Noir wines better than I can. So, she is most definitely ‘registering’ flavors well but her word association for those flavors that she ‘registers’ is unconventional.

“To me earthy with regard to hops can be herbal but with a "brown" quality. It can lean toward a tobacco like flavor and I have even heard folks use the descriptor blonde tobacco. So herbal and rich but not necessarily pungent. I have thought these were hops descriptors.” Well, it appears that I stand corrected; your association with the word “earthy” is very similar to me. The verbiage of “herbal and rich but not necessarily pungent” is pretty much how SN Wild Hop IPA tastes to me.

If you ever get a chance to drink SN Wild Hop IPA I would very much appreciate hearing your perceptions on this beer. I recognize that by discussing this beer already with you I may have introduced some ‘bias’ but I trust your palate and beer appreciation integrity in this matter.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Good afternoon NBS'ers..

This holiday weekend has been filled with rain, fog, misty and hazy days, and cold evenings. Today however, there's an odd ray of sunshine this morning peaking through the clouds, and the wind has died down a bit. Not the prettiest of days, but I'll take it. Enjoying a good weekends with my two little boys, and reminded this morning that life is so fragile, feeling a bit down that some of my childhood and teenage years passed away with Stuart Scott of ESPN this morning. Wiped a tear from my eye, and tried act "cooler than the otherside of the pillow" for my boys. But realize he personified hardwork, love and being yourself, RIP, Stu.

The new beer today, is a beer from a brewery not far from me, and over in "the other state", of Alabama. Straight to Ale.

Bourbon Barrel Aged Laika, which is a Russian Imperial Stout, and it's at 11.7% abv.


Pours a beautiful jet black with a mocha colored head with some decent staying power, and a nice thick ring of lacing and head left on the side of the glass.

Typical smell of a RIS, with burnt sugars, slight dark fruits, chocolates, ash, smoke. Add in some anise and oak, and this beer fills it out.

Taste is smooth, not very boozy, slightly warming feeling from the beer. Dark fruits and burnt caramel sugars, along with a subtle creme brulee sweetness and bitterness from the acrid burnt sugars and smoke. Bourbon barrel isn't overly noticeable, but does add a layer in the beer, which is welcomed to not be over done. It's noticeable in the finish, and the beer has a long finish on it.

Thick mouthfeel.. This is a very, very viscous beer. Near the top end of thick stouts I've had. Nice carbonation to it help lighten it up. Par for the style.

Overall is this a tasty beer, and an enjoyable one. I have a few other variants of this beer to work through, so looking forward to it..

If Stuart Scott had sipped on this beer, "It's like gravy on a biscuit... it's all good!"