New Beer Sunday (week 523)

Drinking Mikkeller Wit Fit. 6.2% alcohol.

"
Mikkeller Wit Fit has a very thick, frothy, off-white head, an extremely hazy, bubbly appearance, filled with rather large tan chunks, and heavy lacing left behind. The aroma is of sweet, white bread, and odd citrus fruit. Taste is of harsh, abrasive bitterness, white bread, and over-ripe grapefruit. Mouthfeel is medium, and Mikkeller Wit Fit finishes harsh, bitter, dry, and unpleasant, although not to the point of being undrinkable. RJT"

Live, 1975. Maryland:

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! While it's still too early for me to be having a brew, I just wanted to stop in and say hi. HI!!! My old komputater died and I had to wait for the tax check for a new one. I was bummed to miss the NBS BIF reveal day, and the multi-week NBS anniversary, but I was following along on my phone. But, my phone is old and crappy, and it's too much hassle to try to comment on threads with it. I'll be back later with a legitimate entry, just letting y'all know you haven't gotten rid of me yet!

 

Okay second up today.

New to me, old hat to everyone else on this forum i expect.

3.96/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Appearance – Deep honey colour with an ample amount of head that is between rocky and shaving foam in consistency. The head is around a finger in height and there is loads of Co2 streaming in the glass the head dies and leaves a decent lace cover that lightly dust the glass as you drink.

Smell – A lot of sweet malt almost caramel like, but some great sour tones from the yeast very, very mild pine hop which leans towards something like the faint waft of a distant spruce forest.

Taste – Pretty hoppy up front more so that I had expected based on the aroma. Malty smells do eventually translate into the taste but it takes a while as the taste develops and the olfactory senses adjust to this interesting brew. The sourness of the yeast comes through well. This beer is a bit of a journey or even a trip in a haunted house at the fayre (In a good way). The hop kicks first then as your buds calm down the malt presents itself, there is a constant under current of yeast and finally the whole experience comes full circle to final hop flourish.

Mouth feel – Very smooth but oddly cloying at first it eventually subsides to something mild and neither dry or cloying but also sadly lacking real punchy linger.

Overall – Pretty dang good and a nice match up with a tasty salad dressed with white wine vinegar dressing this one is a real summer brew and has nice developing flavour that makes it interesting to drink.

So a very good beer IMO...
And as it marks my 5th US state I thought this tune may be appropriate...

 

Pleasure my friend! Not sure of the style or the ABV, have looked over Guinness' site but they are not keen to share too much as the beer is only a week or so old, well in general release terms. Have emailed the fine folks at St James' and will have more info soon

 

New Am. (Winter) IPA Sunday

Greetings NBSer's
It seems many are off to an early start this day. Who knew beer drinking would turn into a 24 hour per day activity? I guess I too am a willing participant.
With the continuing cold weather I'll stick with a winter ale. I may be back later today for something else, but for now...
From a Duluth brewery that seems to be making some pretty solid beers in cans.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31383/156104/?ba=garymuchow

Another one hit wonder that refutes Homer's mourned declaration.

Oh, the fantasies of the adolescents of the 70's

Best to all, and maybe a return later today.

 

Greetings All and hello friends,
That's my house Thursday morning with a fresh 6+ inch coat of snow. We get snow here, but February was cold and wintery more than usual. Today the freezing rain is on top of the snow, it's still below 32 degrees, and I've never seen anything quite so slippery! Cooking and Scrabble on tap for Sunday.
Today's beer is another from kemoarps and his great BIF generosity: Sound Brewing Monk's Indiscretion Belgian Style Specialty Ale, from Poulsbo, Washington. The pour is aggressive revealing a big Belgian-like frothy head, dissipating to a nice rim of white lace with furious little champagne-like beads keeping it all very lively. Dark straw to amber, fruity but dry, with the tropical notes and maltiness working in unison for a very nice hybrid Belgian IPA style. Weighing in at 10% this brew is sneaky and "charming". Another sip produces nice spicy yeasty, Belgian ale flavors, with a very pleasing and crisp dry finish.




I missed Emmylou here in Greensboro back in the 60s when she was studying music (on a drama scholarship) at UNCG. I wish that I had seen her perform at The Red Door on Tate St. back in the day. Oh well! The Turtles bit has always charged me up. Drummer John Barbata has been awesome for decades. Cheers and happy Sunday to everyone!

 

Holy shit good.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/179/160518/?ba=Bitterbill



With the C&Ps out of the way. .
Cheers! NBS crew!

A very cold week in Casper with some snow flurries. Sunny right now and a balmy 20 F so Spring is right around the corner, eh?

My beer today is yet another one off from Snake River. A fun brew to drink that has a nice Belgian side to it yet is a more than manageable 4.8% abv. I tell you, as long as Snake River puts out these one offs and Liquor Shed puts them on their Growler station. ..the thing is, most are enjoyable and quite a few I end up adding to BA.
Toodle loo and I hope you recover quickly, Maria.

 

Glad he enjoys it. My first snowstorm was at age four, and I had pneumonia at the time so I was kinda pissed I couldn't go out and play! Cool looking label, BTW.

 

Good morning all, Thanks Maria for getting us on task today.
Its Sunday so that means Snow in New England.
We have just spent some time on Skype with a son in Taiwan, a nice visit for sure.
Todays NBS is a Belgian stout from The Perfect Crime Brewery. The Smoking Gun.
Light in body, challenging in the nose, a delicate application of the brewers craft for sure.
Time to go do some snowshoeing.
Cheers all

The Perfect Crime Smoking Gun
Scheldebrouwerij
American Double / Imperial Stout / 10.00% ABV

3.46/5 rDev -9.7% | rAvg: 3.83
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the 11.2 oz bottle into a big old goblet.
A - Dark mahogany in color, extremely fine carbonation gently rising to create a mocha
colored frosting of a head. Islands of lacing hang on the goblets wall.
S - Cherry wood, light roasted malts, milk chocolate, and a crazy hint of mint that stays even as the pour warms. The aromas are surprisingly devoid of the smoked character that is advertised. Gently rise of the nearly 10% ABV alcohol is masked in the fruity esters, nice touch.
T - Lightly smoked maltiness, lead the way, some toffee, light brown sugar and a spicy bite start things off. A thread or earthiness stitch together a group of disparate flavors in need of some harmony. The total package does fall well into the Belgian stout style, certainly not "export" in richness, but with enough complexity to keep you thinking.
M - Light touches are the theme with this beer, Gentle in its palate coating, the esters treat the roof of the mouth, with a minty warming evaporation. A quick and semi dry finish keep things moving along.
O - Belgian stout in body and style for sure, lighter, or delicate depending on your perspective. The body and viscosity are more like an English Brown. That said, the flavor profile, and nose, are from across the channel straight out of Belgium.
A nice treat to be had.

 

Happy NBS and happy March! Winter is in the rear view mirror now. I'm enjoying this sour Berliner and pretending that it is summer time. Not much to do today other than watch WI pulverize MSU later this afternoon.

I pick up a good amount of sour stone fruit, green plum, lemon and unripe papaya on the nose. There is some Brett, lactic acid and woodiness from the Cyprus tanks this was aged in.

The flavor is quit tart, bordering sour. The stone fruit, green plum, and tart apricot make up the main flavors. There is some funkiness from the Brett and a hint of graininess.

This has been the most unique in the Star of North Berliner series and quite enjoyable. Can't wait to see what is next!

 

Snow starting to fall outside, trying out this beer...

From Astoria, Queens, right here on Long Island...

Billy Half-Stack IPA

Fresh and floral with bitter citric pith hoppage with tropical fruit and dank pine undercurrents... solid...

Played some catch-up on yesterday's action in my WBAYDN post...

...but forgot my nod to Anthony Mason, who died of heart failure at 48...

Knicks fan since the 90's... Pat Riley coached a line-up of Ewing, Rivers, Oakley, Starks, and Mason
That was some team. Damn Jordan-led Bulls always had our number though...

Still in Finland-mode metal-wise, listening to Amophis' Elegy album, based on the Kanteletar, a compilation of poetry considered the sister-piece to their national epic, the Kalevala...




Cheers, NBS

 

NEW LOCAL BEER SUNDAY
Greetings, fellow NBSers,

As usual for this time of the morning, I'm still enjoying the last of my coffee, which was accompanied by a homemade breakfast burrito with bacon as the star ingredient (silly to say that; bacon is always the star ingredient of whatever it's featured in). 25 degrees in Marmot City, things are partly sunny but rather hazy. There's talk of a dip in temperatures this week, and inevitably next time I go to work (5:30ish Tuesday morning) is being predicted as being down in the teens. Yet by the end of the week, 50+ degrees are said to be making their return. Spokane in March has always been a bit of a roller coaster, but this whole winter has just been odd here.

As I warm up to optimal beer consumption status, here's a new beer I had late yesterday afternoon at the Iron Goat tasting room:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29334/160562/?ba=woemad
Yep, that's a bourbon barrel aged wee heavy (Oola is a micro distillery located on Seattle's Capital Hill), and it was freakin' delicious. No, it's not available to take home. Talking to Greg, one of the Iron Goat owners/brewers, they're in the final stages of closing a deal to move into a space that will more than double their room, so I'm really hoping they'll be able to set aside more space for barrels so this can be something I can take home. The fact that the place they are moving to will be about a ten minute walk from where I live is rather nice as well.

On deck for today are two local beers I growlered up yesterday: a Flanders Red with Lacto and Brett, and an Oatmeal Stout.

 

Hello Fellow BAs. It's been a while since I posted here, but had to show off this one as I just got my hands on it after my BIL from Charlotte picked these up for me. I missed out on 'Hoppy Holidays', but this will make up for my loss. It had a nice head when first poured, but quickly dissipated, which I expected from this DIPA. The smell is pretty good, thought I believe the sweetness is likely from the maple. The color is also what I expected, a deep, burnt orange. The taste on this is big, bold, sweet, and definitely boozy. Overall, I'm glad to have tried this and will be sharing a few with friends and the wife. Cheers!

 

New Big Beer Sunday

Since I've mostly been trying lower ABV beers and technically it's still winter for another 20 days I thought I'd try a big beer. Here goes the Brouwerij 't IJ Struis English style barleywine at 9% ABV. Haven't had much experience with this Dutch brewery so I'm stoked to try this - it says on the bottle this is unfiltered and unpasteurized. Now I can't find any info on whether these are bottle-conditioned.




A - Pours a dark mahagony with a slightly tan ~2-3 finger head that dissipates to about 2-3mm somewhat quickly.

S - I can smell a really good amount of malt(y sweetness) in this. I think I can also detect a slight fruity tartness and something that actually hints a little of wine although I can't put my finger on what kind of wine it reminds me of.

T - Very similar to the smell. I get a good amount of malt first, then some light tartness followed by what I think is licorice - much lighter than in an Ayinger Celebrator, though (if you'll excuse the comparison, I just can't conjure another beer with a good amount of licorice in the taste). After a few sips you also get hints of what I'd describe as caramell taste.

M - Incredibly smooth mouthfeel, actually reminds me of certain porters. I'd say this is somewhere between medium and full body with a stronger tendency towards the latter.

O - Fascinating beer, so far my experiences with barleywine have been incredibly varied. From Anchor's Barleywine (which was great but definitely more hoppy) to Crew's (which tasted more like an Alt to me, oddball on that one) to this - which slightly reminds me of Fuller's 1845 - just a lot less breadiness. Also an incredibly deceptive beer at 9%, the alcohol is hidden extremely well. I definitely like this and would recommend to this anyone who likes English styles. I'll have to try more of this brewery.

 

That Connecticut Omelette is the 82nd Airborne's version of a French omelette!

 

Hey what's going on!!?

Man so ... mudda fffff sick of winter. OF course it could be much worse but I moved away to get away from this stuff... I am just tired of it, and also many of the people who just don't know how to deal with it either...

I will admit I am a bit anxious of late, but a new beer is just what I need. Got some goodies of late that I can't get from my area so that's always fun to partake.

Got the fire going, and burning up a lot of bad wood that needs to go. Perfect excuse. Not much to do but just stay inside and take it easy. Was at a birthday party yesterday, and had a good time. Someone brought a sixer of Corruption IPA so I was in good company.

So with all that what is new for our hero?

The Big Smoke - 8 Wired Brewing Co


8 Wired Brewing - The Big Smoke Smoked Porter by imbibehour, on Flickr

Review here or read below: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22618/63898/?ba=smakawhat

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Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

Deep and super creamy large billowing light tan head. Thick filling cream of a fistfull, getting a little out of control, settling to thick clumps, minimal retention and meringue like lacing. Body color is thick walnut brown nearly black and very opaque.

Nice hints of subtle smoke aroma on the nose. More hints of subtle sweetness and a bit of mild roast character. Hints slightly acrid but very small. Mild hints of carbon dioxide qualities as well. Just relatively ok.

Palate improves nicely. Good solid and nearly rich and creamy palate but not quite. Mild senses of milk chocolate washed away by a bit of tonic water like carbonation. Smoke and a bit ash in the mid palate, but not with much meaty flavor. Aftertaste brings some classic solid porter roast, a bit of leafy and green hop bitterness that is a bit towards pine, which compliments this smoke angle nicely, giving and almost smoked pine tree finish. Hints a little bit of bakers chocolate as well getting darker and less milky, and certainly more bitter.

It's labelled smoke, but it's very understated letting some of the other flavors bounce and play off of it a bit, and getting more forward. It seems the smoke character actually took a back seat, but it still made for an interesting take on the final product letting the other qualities shine through. Unique take on a smoked porter. Decent.

look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | Final BA score 3.93

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

Kind of wish there was more smoke character to this, but so it goes.