New Beer Sunday (week 518)

yeeee-haw NBS BIF Sunday opener!

Got this herd in the mail Tuesday courtesy of @TongoRad and it's taken about all the willpower I can lasso to hold off on diving in until today:



11 beers, all new to me and in a cool mix of styles from hoppy to malty -- what a variety pack!

Batting leadoff, I'm using the "throw-in" of the group to whet my appetite for some of those hops on the left:



I believe @TongoRad says this one is well thought of in his neck of the woods, and how could there be any doubt? It's the most unique Oktoberfest I've tried -- very fruity and sweet but not that yucky (to me) dimethyl sulfide creamed corn mish-mash you run into in many a craft beer (usually blonde ales). This is peachy/apricot-like with just that right amount of Old World-style hops for some bitter earthiness. My BIF buddy tossed this one in as an extra, for it's up against it's best-by date, but there's not a thing wrong with it.

Man ... it's so sweet, I wonder if:

A.) Most of the Marzens I've tried are terrible facsimiles of the style, or if ...
B.) Sly Fox cheated and put some sugar or a pinch of Heisenberg's "blue" in this thing?

Great beer!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10397/30471/?ba=Premo88

rated it 3.98 (+10.2% rDev)

@cavedave -- Sympathy might be the beer that made a fortune. Houston's Karbach is expanding and growing like gangbusters, and while they make a lot of popular brews (Hopadillo, Weisse Versa, BBH), I'm told Sympathy is the one they have the hardest time keeping on the shelves/in the bars. It's my favorite Texan-made regular lineup brew ... of course, I have about five "favorites" but Sympathy is in there.

More BIF fun later. Cheers!

 

New DIPA BIF Sunday!



A huge ass thanks, again to @2beerdogs for sending this to me!

This one is less magical than expected, yet I'm gracious for the send! (Huge Ass Want)! Let's begin...go! This pours Dark Copper body, nice white head that turns to a lacing quick in the pour. Pretty yet not what I expected. She wants to talk, let me listen. Pick up huge malts with astringent pineapple fruitiness. On the backend smells of citrus fruits. Going forth with the flavor! It's a roundhouse kick of both Malts and Hops! It's an astringent assault of notes of pineapple and dense pine hops with malts coming from behind pushing the flavor to the top. (Is this single hopped with Simcoe?) citric oils in the background. This finishes dry with a subtle bitterness. The body on this brew is medium built boarder line syrup with huge biscuits malts and pineapple in the aftertaste.

Overall: The WestCoast has Avery's Maharaja! That's a good and bad thing. When I say good and bad thing, I don't usually like my DIPAs tasting like an American Strong Ale. That's what I pick up from this brew. That's what made me not a fan of Maharaja or Double Simcoe from Weyerbacher. Yet if you like that kind of beer, Knucle Sandwich is your cup of tea. I will say on the positive, this beer hides it's 10% ABV like a mofo. So I would rather drink this than Maharaja and Double Simcoe. So that makes this brew in the Worthy department!

Grade: B

Thank You again @2beerdogs for this chance!

 

I'm still really jealous that you got a Tired Hands bottle.

To those of you that aren't aware, that was a really special treat to be in that box; their bottle releases are generally in range of 200-800 bottles, and are highly sought after (do a quick search for "emptiness" or just "hands" in the ISO:FT forum if you're curious)

 

It is now time for NDBS!!

New Doppelbock Beer Sunday!

Ettaler Curator Doppelbock - Klosterbrauerei Ettal / Ettaler Klosterbetriebe GmbH


Ettaler - Curator Dunkler Doppelbock by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below to find out what I thought. http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2432/27792/?ba=smakawhat

----------------

Poured from the bottle into a Libbey style pilsner glass.

Practically perfection in a glass. Deep red chestnut brown, dark but crystal clear. Even lines of fine carbonation slowly rising to the top to meet a supper creamy three finger head. Light tan and soupy a bit with meringue like retention, minor details, but with a glowing piece of antique furniture the beer looks amazing, dark, mysterious, bloody almost, and just alluring as all get out.

Excellent interesting aroma. Dry and airy grain. Mild milk chocolate but very powdery. A real nice sense of hazelnut and nutty character to this too. Slightly creamy mild very tiny vanilla on the nose, but the dryness really brings out a grainy and clove lightness with a bit of nut. Very interesting.

Woah… who invited the sugar police? First palate sip brings classic toffee malt thickness that comes with a bit of caramel and then just takes over. Huge rushes of maple syrup and sugar. Thick coating malts which surprisingly aren't that bad, even hinting a little cream like texture, but boy do the sugars on this just go overboard. A boozy character really starts to develop just making the sugars emphasis this like crazy. Much of the diversity on the nose is completely gone in the taste.

It's one of the best looking German doppels I've ever seen but it's just far to sweet for my tastes. Still drinkable, but if you are into that thing you'll dig this one for sure.

look: 5.0 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 34.5 | feel: 4.0 | overall: 3.5 | Final Personal BA Score: 3.78

------------

 

Having a G'Knight red ipa from Oskar blues and loving it!! Not a huge fan of reds but if I find more as good as this one I might become a fan

 

Having a G'Knight red ipa from Oskar Blues and loving it! Not a huge fan of reds but I could become one if I find more like this one!

 

Hey somebody out there include me in this BIF program! Please!

 

A new brewery that just entered the Ohio market.... I'd say they are off to a good start. This is very good!

Cheers BAs!

 

Welcome aboard! This is a fun thread soenjoy.

 

To be honest I was lucky enough to have a friend how was not going to pay the price for bottles to go with me so I ended up with extras. I figured the whole point of this BIF and BA in general should be about being letting people find out about new beers and something different so I sent my extra out as a gift instead of just letting it go to the highest bidder. I would much rather send TH bottles to someone how would truly appreciate them instead of people hunting whalz

 

Southcoast love!

I'm in Fall River.

 

Dayum! Flavor is a 34.5 out of 5! That sounds like one tasty brew!

 

Hopefully we get a second round of it going soon!! I'm pretty sure I speak for the group when I say IT WAS A BLAST!!!

 

my finger... doth slipped..

Did you just say that???

...

yeah you just did

 

NEW BLACK RYE IPA SUNDAY

Three NB's on the same S? Is it the beer or the thread that's addictive?

When I signed up on Beer Advocate way back when, this caught my eye as a beer I really wanted to try. I'm glad they brought it back, this is damn good!



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/16115/?ba=DIM

Well that has to be it for me, enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone!

 

Just want to add that Boulevard has been around since '89 per their website. Cheers!

 

Founders Black Rye



Bottled 12/8/14 (or something like that) and poured into a shaker pint 1/25/15. $3.29 single.

Appearance: That's sexy. Whole beer barely fit into the pint. Huge, creamy, dark tan head on top that went down to about a finger and stayed. Loads of lacing. Basically pitch black, or maybe a super dark brown, color, with some ruby on the edges. What a great looking beer.

Smell: Smells like a quality stout or porter with the rich roastiness this beer has, but there's a touch of spicy rye, and also a subtle earthy/herbal hop character. Great balance on the nose.

Taste/feel: Actually surprisingly a bit light on the flavor. Some roast, light rye spice, a bit of earthy and herbal hoppiness... very well done regardless, though. The rye compliments very well and isn't at all overbearing. I was expecting something in my face and bitter, but this is a crazy drinkable 7.5% beer that goes down incredibly easy and just feels sessionable/4-5%. The feel is about middle of the road with a little heft, but it's still super easy drinking... there's a very light, slow hitting prickliness of carbonation that only makes this beer all-the-more easy to drink. The bitterness is surprisingly low, which, again, only makes this beer one you feel compelled to drink quickly.

Something about this beer... I don't know exactly what it is. It's somewhat light tasting (to me) but I guess that's part of what makes it so great. The best part about this beer is what some people may find to be the worst part -- the subtlety of the rye is excellent, and the feel is fantastic as well. For some reason I wasn't expecting a whole helluva lot from this beer, but it's a great one.

4.14/5

Cheers, BA!

 

I love Doppelbocks, this is one I will pick up though. That aroma detail is one for me!

 

Breakfast for supper! This local beer has been around awhile but never got around to trying it. Sadly it's pretty average. Prefer McAuslan's version of the style. Breakfast was good though

 

Alright I've seen your avatar around and have to ask, who is that picture OF? Your profile says you're 24 and no way either person in that photo is a 24 year old, and there's no way they can be your kids...