New Beer Sunday (week 522)

Happy official 10 years NBS! I had to work until 1 yesterday, but took the girls sledding since it was in the 20's for the first time in over a week. Today it is frigid again...

Thought I should give Beast Mode a try. Smells like a citrus bitter breakfast coffee, but with more orange/lemon than coffee aroma. Not much in the way of roasted malts or cola that I expect from a Porter.

It's all citrus flavored hops up front and it moves into a tart porter. There is some grass, grain, and roasted malts with hints of coffee. It kinda lacks that good Porter flavor.

If anyone was served this in a glass and was told it was a regular Porter they would probably say it was infected. It's just that the citrus flavored hops dominate over what should be a roasted chocolate malt base.

 

Baseball Beer – Spring Training

I am a Phillies fan (it is going to be a tough season this year) and I typically attend 10 games a season. At the Phillies Ball Park (Citizens Bank Park) they have a very nice selection of craft beer. Last year my craft beer of choice was Troegs Sunshine Pils but I also purchased a fair amount of beer from the Alley Brewing Company Biergarten where they sell draft Alley Brewing Lager. This beer is really the ‘new’ Victory Helles Lager.



Well the pitchers and catchers have reported for spring training and it got me started thinking about the two B’s: Baseball & Beer. Consequently I bought a 6-pack of the ‘new’ Victory Helles Lager beer to celebrate. While I have this beer several times on draft this is my first time drinking this beer bottled.

Without further ado:

Appearance:

A nice golden color with a thin white head which dissipates quickly.

Aroma:

A very noticeable Pilsner malt aroma. I really do not notice any hop aroma.

Taste:

The flavor follows the aroma with pleasant Pilsner malt flavor. There is just enough Noble hop flavor to provide some balance to the Pilsner malt flavor.

Mouthfeel

Light – medium body; finishes dry.

Overall

A nice drinkable (süffig) beer which is Pilsner malt focused with just the right amount of Noble hops for the Helles style.

I do not have high hopes for the Phillies this year but at least I will have some tasty Victory Helles Lager (Alley Brewing Lager) beer to drink as I eat my peanuts and watch the game.

Cheers to Baseball & Beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=04KQydlJ-qc#t=65

 

Thanks for jumping in and doing what needed to be done, @cavedave!

Since it seems a slow late morning back east, and undoubtedly like many of us further west, I'm still working on my morning coffee ration, here's a new beer I had a growler of on Thursday. Oh, and did I mention coffee?

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20173/158360/?ba=woemad

A stout lager brewed with coffee from a local roaster, saying the coffee flavor is dominant would be an understatement. The coffee tries to kill you in the opening taste. If you dig coffee, this is up your ally. If you don't, it's in your face.

 

Hey What's going on?

Well enough of that snow, now the rain is trying to wash it all away... man.

Went out there and scrapped that driveway of heavyyyyyy!!! snow... ugh.. yeah beer o'clock now!

What is new for our hero today? Running out of new beers again! OH NO! time for a beer run!

Daydreamer - Ithaca Beer Company


Ithaca Beer Co. - Daydreamer by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/651/155410/?ba=smakawhat

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

Poured from the bottle into a Gaffel stange glass.

Fluffy bright white almost three finger head that settles nicely, a bit soapy to fine bubbled appearance wise. Body color is a bit darker with a big brass and almost chestnut brown hue to it, slightly hazy a bit and cloudy, but with a good amount of nice carbonation as well. A pretty nearly solid looker in the appearance department.

Heavily ester forward on the nose, hints of fruit and white large grape. Sticky and pasty smelling, perhaps a little bit of florals dropping in but also a bit of bile creeping up as well. Definitely got some Kolsch yeasty ester action going on but it's going close to overboard, and there's not much chewy malt density coming off of this or much of anything else.

Palate derives very much from the nose. Fruit forward quite large surprisingly in the mid palate. Lots of washing blueberry and other fruit juiced like quality. Moderately carbonated wit a simple malt depth that stays out of the way but doesn't really come with a lot of chewy density, more of a neutral feel. Finishes with lots of white wine grape quality, and very clean, if a little steely fruit tasting but not totally metallic.

An interesting decent beer, but only has one part of the puzzle it seems. Really wishing for some classic malt character, but it's hardly even noticeable through such a large fruit forward brew. Drinkable though and easily refreshing.


look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5 | Final BA Score: 3.6

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

 

Sounds like a great summer beer. Not everything from Victory gets distributed here but I'll be watching for it.

 

lol - was in the process of shooting you and Maria a message inquiring as to the status of NBS today... realistically, malty had been off the site for well over a year until he reappeared two weeks ago (no disrespect intended @malty), so I wasn't sure if today's thread would go down as planned...

Regardless, I'm ready to go!

The locals been hanging out eating breakfast after a snowy night...

I had some maple/brown sugar oatmeal with OJ before reaching for this...

Don't drink a lot of lagers, but I really liked Ayinger's Celebrator...

This has elements of dark fruit (raisin), nut, molasses, and herbal/earthy hops...

Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock... good, but nothing that'll bring me back...

Then had some White Castle reheats , resetting the ole' palette for...

Sierra Nevada's Hop Hunter IPA, brewed with farm distilled hop oil...

Now this is more my speed - full of farm-fresh flavor! Great drinking

For all the hop oil hype, I got as much fresh chewy grain flavor as I did hop action...

Sun's attempting to peek out from behind the clouds...

...a rather temperate day - almost balmy - after the past week...

Hope yer new beers are good to ya today - and happy anniversary, NBS... \m/

 

Well I've been up and at em since sunrise breaking into some BIF beers that @SammyJaxxxx sent my way. Can't tell you how hard it has been to save some of these beers for sunday, but somehow I managed . Forgive the repeat pictures as I posted these first two beers in WBADYN as well.

Anyway, I started big with one of the whales that I never thought I'd have an opportunity to try

This amazing beer pours midnight black with great lacing and about a finger head. I smell mostly chocolate along with some cinnamon and malt. As far as taste I get tons of chocolate, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, and a hint of bourbon on the after taste. This thing is thick, smooth, and creamy as hell! Overall this is an incredible beer that has about the nicest feel for a stout that I have ever had. Can't describe how happy I am to get to try this beer! Edit: Well I had no idea this thing was 11%, the alcohol is completely hidden and now I'm goddamn buzzed…

4.88/5 rDev +5.6%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

And the next one has been another huge want of mine for a long time

This one pours a hazy golden color with a very small head. The head dissipates very quickly and the lacing is minimal. On the nose I get sour, salt, some coriander spice, along with a yeast or tart type of smell. The taste is pretty much the exact same as the smell to me; heavy on the salt, sour, and the coriander comes through in the after taste. I keep finding myself puckering my mouth after each sip (what a weird fucken word, but thats the only way to describe what I'm doing). The feel is an easy drinking, crisp, and refreshing beer. Overall a great beer and my favorite of the gose style thus far.

4.36/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Cheers everyone and happy 10th anniversary!

 

Well, once again I had a few options for new beers on this Sunday, but I decided not only on a new beer to me, but a new brewery: Uinta. I immediately jumped on the cans they sell, and a black lager sounded good enough.

Uinta Baba Black Lager is a schwarzbier coming in at 4% ABV -- I'm a huge fan of low ABV beers. This beer looks like cola in the glass (ruby and brown hues coming through in the light) with a cream colored head that leaves pretty nice lacing.

The aroma brings charred grains, toasted bread, and chocolate notes. Maybe a faint smokey quality as well.

As I sip on this, the immediate impressions are a tart, hoppy finish and that faint smokiness in the aroma. The rest of the body is composed of toasted bread, charred grains, malt, and semi-sweet chocolate. In other words, very tasty for 4% ABV. The mouthfeel is light.

My overall impression is that I like this beer a lot, and I am delighted to explore their other beers. I already have a sixer of Hop Nosh waiting for next weekend I rated this 3.92 which is good for a +4.3 rDev. I probably could have rated it higher in retrospect. In a bit of a Radiohead mood, here is one of my favorite videos:

 

A bit of sunshine to remind me of the warm summer days.

The lower score for this beer does not give it justice. Aromas of nice grainy and yeasty aroma with some straw and mild spicy hops. Cracker like malts are also present.

The flavors are cracker and sweet, bready malts with some straw and grain. The hops give it a bit of spice in the finish. A hint of lemon is detected to really bring it all together.

 

WTF???

the confusion...the math...the dual anniversary angle...the premature ejac-celebration weeks back...the MIA

compels me to post away....(even though the earlier "Ten"-iversary was duly noted and celebrated...aptly and appropriately)....

anal-nerds away...screw the math...drink the beer...celebrate twice...whatever

NBS....(double post from WBAYDN...backtracking on my comments...)



still flows oh so smooth....fantastic hop-profile, tasty/creamy pour, exceptionally balanced, performs on par with SN Bigfoot...a stellar rainy Sunday selection and a NBS winner for me

Going with the celebration "Ten" style (please, let this be accurate...no more math)




Cheers to all...BA's everywhere

 

Duck Rabbit's 10th Anniversary, Anarchy @ Duckworths Huntersville, NC.My fist time trying this one-off American Stronger ale - definitely get an initial dryness from the portion that was aged in red wine barrels, with bourbon and charred wood in the finish. Very enjoyable beer... and I didnt have to crack into my stash at home:

 

I haven't had that one yet, but from all of the descriptions I've seen I'm imagining it's kind of like a more roasty version of the 'original' Pete's Wicked Ale- in that case I'd describe it more as an American Brown Ale rather than a Porter. That's how I'd approach it in any event.

 

Nice Stange.

 

New Toppling Goliath Beers Sunday

Good afternoon, NBS'rs! I lucked into some bombers of Toppling Goliath APAs and an IPA last week and am hoping to try at least two of them today. Besides enjoying those beers, I'll be plowing through The Whites by Richard Price and revisiting some of Harris Wittels' (RIP) finer moments on Comedy Bang Bang. Anyway, onto the beer:




Toppling Goliath's PseudoSue

This is a fantastic take on the American Pale Ale that, nevertheless, I found a bit on the thin and "session ale" side for my liking.

PseudoSue is a great looking beer that pours a mostly clear, golden orange. The nose is a dream of tropical fruits, oranges, and white melons or peaches. It tastes like light orange juice with a dash of grapefruit juice, and there's little to no malt or bitterness. The mouthfeel seems spot-on for the style -- light, creamy, and actively carbed -- but it came across as a bit thin and watery.

Overall, it's a fantastic and well-made take on the American Pale Ale that I really appreciated. But I think I'm looking for a touch more bitterness, malt, and happiness (and thus I tend to prefer IPAs over APAs). Still, it'd be great to have a cooler full of this on a hot Ohio summer day.

Cheers,
Mike

R.I.P. Harris Wittels:

 

I like it too.. she is a little large though... but no complaints. .. fun glass to drink out of for Kölsch or Alt...

My the sun is out bright and the big melt is here... it feels like Spring (we all know it aint) mom boy I could dig a nice big Kölsch or German Pilsner right now..

 

Happy 10th and how bout that pinch-hit single from @cavedave, huh? (that's my kind of at-bat ... jump in the box, hit the first-pitch get-ahead fastball and settle in at first for a big inning )

It's New LAST BIF Beer Sunday for me ... knocked this one down after work from the late shift, officially opened, drank and reviewed on Sunday, so let's put it on the board:



That is beer No. 11 of 11 from the BIF box @TongoRad put together for me, and it did not disappoint.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/14359/43008/?ba=Premo88

3.94 (-0.5% rDev) -- I'm a little sorry for the minus rating because Defiant's tripel here deserves credit.

The small handful of American-made abbey ales (all of them -- dubbels, tripels and quads) I've tried generally miss the mark in one way or another. The big flaw I've run into is WAY too much candi sugar, which still makes for a tasty beverage for us sweet tooths but it's not authentic. Somehow those monastic brewers figured out how to use *just* the right amount of sugar to bottle-condition and add some sweetness to the beer without it overpowering the flavor.

Defiant does that. Really well. And while it's not my highest-rated tripel, I can't think of *any* beer at 8%-plus ABV that goes down so durn easy. Wow, did I suck that thing down! A little sour grape/wine, banana, some wheat and yeast flavor (not a ton of wheat, just a teeny little bit) ... a couple of times I noticed some witbier-like spice notes (clove/all-spice) but they just faded in and out very quickly, which only made me like the beer more. The big thing, though, is that light easy delivery in such a big ABV brew -- it's arguably the hallmark of the "dangerous" tripel, and Defiant's has it in spades.

A round of applause for @TongoRad and his good box of PA/East Coast brews shipped down here to Texas:

Hard to pick a favorite, but Trauger, the Oktoberfest, Exit 16 and Brawler take the top four spots. Thanks again, Michael!

Settling in now for some hardcore 500 watching ... here's hoping the 14 stays on the track for all 200 laps this year

Cheers!

 

Greetings all,
Sorry for the big photo of a big beer, but I was unable to edit. The ice-baked snow is finally drifting downstream, towards the great Cape Fear. It's been cold here, but we've survived and I truly feel for our more northern brethren and sisters.
Today's beer is 2014 Fremont Abominable BBA Winter Ale with coffee and cinnamon. Thanks again to kemoarps for his great BIF generosity.
The beer pours a lively and opaque black with a beautiful frothy head that persists as a nice tan cap above the dark elixir. The nose is coconut- American oak, I'll bet- cinnamon, chocolate, and really fresh roasty dark malts. The first sip is coconut and sharp roasted dark grain with a further spicy cinnamon edge to taste and aroma, at once. This is a great beer that is easy to drink, is very potent, and doesn't veer into overt malty sweetness. The coconut and cinnamon spiciness provide a drinkable piquancy that is what great balance in a complex dark beer can achieve. Very well done Fremont and thanks again kemoarps!


Waterloo Sunset speaks for itself. Another English entry, Public Service Broadcasting, is very different and smart. I love history and these guys get it! I grew up with Rig Dees, who later became Rick Dees when he attacked LA. Despite the following Rig was always enormously talented and bound for performance, one way or another!

 

Hello NBS! Cold and Sunny here in NWI. Figured it would be a good day to warm up with a nice stout. So here we go...

Went into Chicago for the first time yesterday. Got to try some Revolution, Great Lakes, and Chicago deep dish pizza.
Had some Anti-hero, Elliot Ness, and a nice trip to Binny's. Anyway onto the review.

Great Lakes Blackout Stout


Pours nice and black with a small head that doesn't stick around. Small foam ring around the edge of the glass.

Smell is of burnt chocolate and licorice. A bitterness is present as well. Sweet licorice dominates on the nose.

Taste follows the nose. Lots of licorice. Definitely sweet. Some sweet dark chocolate. Lots of licorice and chocolate. Almost overpowering. I'm not a huge fan of the anise flavor in stouts, but I love stouts. As the beer warms a smoked malt character comes forward and combats the sweet licorice. Interesting combination of the two. Sweet and smoky. I like it a bit more now.

Mouthfeel is rich and creamy. A sharpness is present as well.

Overall a good beer, but not my favorite. Loved the Great Lakes beer I've had so far. This one is good, but after this 4-pk I might seek out a different beer.

 

Wow, if you did the Westbrook Gose right after the KBS, your tongue must've done a U-turn in your mouth.