New Beer Sunday (Week 527)

I had a fairly local currently well-rated DIPA on tap that I think is similar. I thought that it might have an issue so much that I contacted the brewery, hedging myself as a single time drinker of said beer. They were happy to hear, but were unaware of anyone [else] having the same problem. Got to try a taste of the beer on a completely separate occasion, and it was about the same, not quite as bad. I was surprised that it seemed to be intentional; so it's just not a beer for me.

 

Picked up a couple of bottles of this at Total Wine Friday night. I believe I'll cellar the 2nd and see how it evolves over the next 12 months or so.



Look (4.5): aggressive pour into a big snifter yielded a couple of fingers of off-white head. Body is deep amber. Beautiful to behold.

Smell (4.25): toffee/caramel goodness, with hops and booze in the background.

Taste (4.5): caramel-ey goodness, with toffee overtones. But the hops - the hops take this up another level or two. Stone's website names them as Azacca, "a dwarf variety." Well, I'm now officially the Snow White of this varietal, because I love the fruity flavors it adds to this brawny beverage.

Feel (4.25): well-carbonated, with a warming, boozy finish (I will be the first to admit that, after a 1,000+ reviews, "Feel" is my least comfortable, um, feeling category).

Overall (4.5): barley wines sometimes confuse me because they have so much going on, I have no idea if I'm drinking an amped-up DIPA or a hoppy Imperial Amber (is such a beast even exists). But this ..... this is magnificent. This will always be in my beverage fridge.

Rating: 4.42

 

Thanks and I plan to do so. Cheers!

 

Hello folks of NBS! Missed out last Sunday...pre-gamed a little too hard the night before . However, I've come back with resilience and a new beer (to me) from 3 Floyds! Sometimes, I hate the notoriety surrounding this brewery. Seems like it doesn't take long for their newer beers to be sold only in singles or with a bottle limit . Oh well. Glad I got to buy a few.

It's a session pale ale called YumYum. Bottled on 03/10/15. Not too crazy about the font 3F has been using since '12 buts that's neither here or there. Pours a golden amber hue, a little hazy, with a thick white head that sticks around for a few minutes. Nose is a combo of hops and a subdued fruitiness. Flavor is different. I have to say I've never tasted anything like this. The most noticeable taste up front is split between the hops and this flavor that I can't quite pinpoint. It tastes like something in between a buttercream, a light caramel, and maybe even sorghum. Not really sure but I think it works for this beer. Slight fruitiness in the background but not nearly as upfront and center as the other reviews I've read. Very creamy mouthfeel. Surprised by how much flavor and mouthfeel is here for a session beer. Then again, I don't have a lot of experience with this style of beer. Not my go-to style but I wouldn't turn this down if it were more readily available around here.

Cheers!

 

Popped over to the Bruery tasting room. Wow! <spoiler alert> that Michigan game was stunning. Thank goodness for Izzo.
Just had a Bierbara at the Bruery. A Belgian dark with Alvarelhao grapes. Pretty good for a style I'm not big on. The grapes bring a subtle fruity taste to this style.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/153892/

 

Bought this a few weeks, saved it for today, beer review #251, hopefully with many more to come.

Trappistes Rochefort 10
Brasserie de Rochefort
Quadrupel (Quad) / 11.30% ABV
4.56/5 rDev +1.1% | rAvg: 4.51
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

330 ml bottle poured into a Belgian tulip

A: Dark brown, with an off white creamy head, lots of tiny bubbles in the head, some carbonation streaming off the bottom, some minor lacing.

A: Dark fruits, raisins, figs, yeasty aromas, it's a big Belgian yeast bomb, slight alcohol on the nose, malts definitely come through, smells really big.

T: Toffee sweetness, dark fruits, Belgian yeast, malts, nice slight caramel sweetness on the back end, very complex, some heat, but for 11.3% very drinkable, world class flavor.

M: Nice medium mouthfeel with a dry finish.

O: Very impressed, very complex, changes as it warms, very drinkable. I avoided imports especially Belgian beers because I think there are great beers made in America, but, there is something special about Belgian beers, and in my humility, I must admit that this is a world class beer, a must try if you want to taste something outside your comfort zone.

 

New Drugstore Anniversary Imperial IPA Sunday

Hey NBSers,

I try to avoid negativity in this thread all about new beer experiences, but just had one of the more frustrating days at work in recent memory. Just a lot of self-absorbed people who couldn't seem to hold up their end of the bargain in the "you communicate what you want, and I get it for you" world of retail for me today. That means it's time for a 10.5% beer in the afternoon to wash the residue off. Thank goodness @beertunes hooked me up with a surprise box this week, and it included the talk of the town in the Seattle beer community.

Bartell Drugs Spring Elixir by Fremont Brewing in Seattle, Washington



A WA drugstore chain (since 1890, the nation's oldest family owned drugstore chain per the beer label) commissioned an anniversary beer from Seattle's brewery darlings. Perhaps an unlikely matchup, but local businesses tend to have a pretty strong ethos regarding working together and setting aside the profit motive for a day. Bartell's apparently had some big aspirations when they approached Fremont, because not only does it clock in at 10.5%, but it uses Amarillo, Simcoe, Sorachi Ace, and Mosaic hops, not exactly the low-end from a price or scarcity perspective. The normal price was a steal at $5.49, but Bartell's went further and promoted it in their newspaper ads with a $3.99 sale price. As you can imagine, it did not last long, and a second batch is on the way. Reading between the lines from a post by the brewer, Bartell's sold this at a negative margin, which some interpreted as a mistake but where I saw a company set aside profits this one time in the name of promoting another local independent business.

Getting down to business, the beer pours and looks like an Imperial IPA: frothy white head, light amber color, and not quite crystal clarity. The legs reveal only moderate residual sugars, a bit of a surprise at that ABV. The aroma is pineapple, stone fruit, resin, and some booziness. Tropical and light fruit notes carry over to the taste as an intial burst before the darker, dank resiny flavors kick in. There's some alcohol warmth at the back end, but not 10.5% worth. The mouthfeel is more convincing that this is a higher gravity beer, but still well within the parameters for the style.

With the palette of hop varieties at brewers' disposal, learning how to effectively use hops on both the hot side and cold side is one skill. Learning how to match them up with the right grain bill is what separates the masters from the also-rans. Fremont has been demonstrating their mastery of both skills for some time, so they make it look easy to develop a recipe like this for a one-off beer project, which belies the skill involved in keeping a beer this big from going off the rails. I've reviewed enough Fremont beers here that if they're not already on your list of breweries to watch, I'm explicity telling you now to put them there. 4.5/5

I had been saving this song for a Dogfish Head beer due to its Rehoboth reference, but I heard it on the way to work the other day, but it stuck with me so I'm sharing it here. It's how I found zen amongst the rabble at work today.

 

It was nice meeting you and enjoying the tour and tasting together with our own better halves. I completely agree it was well worth the extra cost.

I too enjoyed a Cheef after the tour and was pleasantly surprised. My wife tried the Berry Barry that someone at our table had mentioned. Not quite as good as the Rubaeus, but definitely on the same playing field.

Overall both our trips to Founder's (on Friday and for yesterday's tour) were amazing. Crowded, but amazing.

 

Double dip for me this Sunday.Great Lakes Session IPA from Sockeye Brewing, real good like every beer is from this wonderful Idaho Brewery. Now a Summer Love Ale from Victory Brewing nice and crisp, light tasting, a great summer beer, can't belive I just typed that!!!!!

 

Wow, the tartness really smacks your tongue right off bat. I wasn't expecting that. I've had mostly traditional Goses so this is much different.

The nose and taste are similar. I get a lot of lemon, and salt water. This beer is mouth puckering sour to where it causes my mouth to water. I pick up the salt in the beginning but gets lost in the tartness. I didn't get much spice or coriander. The interesting thing about the beer is it comes across so tart but remains refreshing and very drinkable. I could see this as a great hot weather beer but curious if the tartness becomes too taxing after a few.

 

Nice!

 

Love that well-used Grolsch opener. Extra irony points considering the most common format for that beer (in the U.S. at least) is a swing-top.

 

My first New Beer Sunday post, so here goes. I got this as in extra in a trade a couple of months ago. The label says it is a chocolate coffee milk stout, but it is listed as an american stout on here. 11.5% abv, so that may have something to do with it.

It pours a dark black with very little to no head. There is a very thin khaki bubble ring around the sides. The smell is sweet chocolate with slight bitter coffee. I also get a hint of roasted malts. The taste if very similar to the nose, but more vibrant. It starts out with milk chocolate, followed by bitter coffee, and finishes with lactose sweetness. It tastes like what i would imagine the cup of coffee on the label would taste like. I rarely drink coffee, and when I do, it has to have plenty of sugar and creamer. This follows that theme very well. The body is a little thin for my preferences in a stout this strong. Overall, this was a very nice beer from a brewery of which I am unfamiliar. I would be more than happy to have this one again.

Cheers and good night everyone!

 

Just sat down for my fantasy baseball draft, bittersweet because I've been running it since I started it 12 years ago. Next year I'm stepping down as commish and just playing. No time anymore but I don't have to baby sit a bunch of 30-somethings who still act like they did back when we started. I do get to enjoy playing without the headaches for once though.

On to the beer:


Half Acre Senita: Got this as an extra in a simple 1:1 trade with @Ncpogs where we ending up sending each other around a dozen beers. Great dude, if you ever want to trade for some goodies from the Mid-West look Nick up.

This is a solid IPA, really strong malt backbone which stands out after the initial hop explosion on the finish. Good stuff, thanks agin Nick, glad I got to try it!

 

Third new beer for today and probably a closer, cheers! I have The Dissident in the cellar but it has an enjoy after date and I am really looking forward to trying it, but this appears to have tamed my desire for now.


La Folie in front of the tomatillos planted in February.

Lips Of Faith - La Folie
New Belgium Brewing
Flanders Oud Bruin / 7.00% ABV
4.46/5 rDev +4.7% | rAvg: 4.26
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

22 ounce bomber poured into a Belgian tulip glass

A: Dark brown with some light coming through on the edges, not much on the head, some lacing, head is an off white color, very little carbonation coming off the bottom.

A: Sour, tart, funk, vinegar, smells kind of a like coke, picking some slight bitter fruit aromas, no alcohol, little cherry funk in there, smells pretty good, some complex aromas, not picking up the wood.

T: Sour, tart, funk, a slight bitter flavor, picking up some of the wood, dark cherry, spice, plum, very complex, taste really good.

M: Not much here, medium mouthfeel with a strong dry finish.

O: Very impressed, very complex, nice sour balance, warms up really well, it's definitely world class, going to pick up a few more bottles, if this came in 12 ounce bottles I would probably buy more and it's got a really good price point for the quality, you like sours, this one is definitely worth a try.

 

Good evening NBS! Hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Not much going on here except super workloads at work; with cold wind and rain today. Still no good outlook for warm weather cycling any time soon.

Here are today's new beers:

Damn nice Export stout! Great dense head retention and lacing. Balanced aromas of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toast, dark bread, and light smoke; with raisin/plum fruitiness and light herbal hops. Taste comes in with nice intense notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, and molasses; with some light-moderate raisin/plum fruitiness with a touch of smoke/char notes. Moderate roast and herbal hop bitterness on the finish. Great bitter/sweet balance of roasted malt flavors, with moderate yeast fruits that are a bit more restrained than I expected initially. Very creamy and smooth mouthfeel; Reallly nice. Just all around well rounded and spot on to style, delicious. 4.1


Pretty good. Aromas and flavors of apple, cherry, plum, red grape, caramel, honey, candi sugar, toasted bread, light nuttiness, herbal hops, and pepper. Moderately spicy yeast finish with balanced malt sweetness. Very smooth and crisp finish with slight creaminess. I enjoyed it quite a bit actually. The integration of the grape juice was not overdone at all, and was balanced with the malt sweetness. The only issue I had was that the amount of complexity I was looking for just wasn't there at all(for malt or yeast flavors of either style). Tasty otherwise. Previous year versions have been more impressive with much more robust and complex flavors. 3.68


Cork was nearly impossible to hand pop off, good thing my bottle opener doubles as a wine key. WOW this is outstanding! Huge aromas of lemon, apple, pear, rose water, lavender, mint, flowers, herbal, grass, pepper, clove, honey, biscuit, and yeast earthiness. Taste follows along with the aromas with and incredible balance of yeast and flower spice flavors; with moderate bready/honey malt sweetness and a nice spicy yeast finish. Very well carbonated and crisp finish with a touch of bready malt creaminess. This really wowed me for sure; the balance of the flower spices was just so damn spot on and well integrated with the saison character, and it is so drinkable for being 8.2%. I absolutely love this. 4.32


Cheers, have a good night NBS!

 

One of my absolute favorite beers!! Great choice! Cheers!

 

Squeezed one more beer and review in, personally, I think there are better bourbon barrel aged stouts out there, this is good and the barrel is not as noticeable as the beer's other characteristics, but overall, this is still a really good beer.

Older Viscosity
Port Brewing
American Double / Imperial Stout / 12.00% ABV
4.5/5 rDev +3.4% | rAvg: 4.35
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

375 ml corked and caged bottle poured into The Lost Abbey Teku glass

A: Black, no light comes through, creamy mocha head with lots of tiny bubbles, some carbonation, some minor lacing, head stuck around for quite some time, looks really good.

A: Big chocolate and roasted coffee aromas up front, alcohol, malts, dark fruits, more on the roasted side than the sweet side, but the smell is really coming off the glass, I am picking up the aroma about 6 inches from the glass, big aroma.

T: Big chocolate, coffee, roasted and toasted malts, not getting much of the bourbon, it's slightly there, chocolate and coffee come through more than the bourbon, bitter on the back end with the alcohol noticeable.

M: Viscous, creamy smooth mouthfeel, slight dry finish, alcohol burn that lingers, slight carbonation on the palate, very nice.

O: Very impressed, I would like to have more bourbon character on the nose and flavor but this is really tasty, nice creamy mouthfeel and at 12% ABV, the alcohol is well hidden, not sure when this was bottled but it's very pleasant. Price is a little steep but this will not disappoint. Don't expect a lot of bourbon on the nose and flavor, it's not there, but overall, a pleasant beer.

 

Well, I was born on the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos/All Souls' Day, so I had to try this beer:



My first two beers of the day were not worthy of NBS, they were both from growlers that hadn't been treated the best during yesterday's bottleshare. Sorry Chicky went great with my pomegranate-ginger kombcuha, but the Kerberos will be cooked with. So, you didn't miss anything, @Shroud0fdoom.

Really interesting stuff here.

A (3.5): Clear straw body with almost no head and minimal lacing. Looks like your standard
S (3.5): It smells quite a lot like a cider. Apple notes and just a bit of that earthy funk that is there with a lot of ciders.
T (3): Kind of even tastes like a cider too. There is definitely some simply syrup or agave syrup in here. The "tequila" definitely dominates, but it doesn't seem like any tequila that I've ever had, but I've never had a nice sipping tequila, only shots (in the past). It's extremely drinkable and quite light, but there is this weird funk that kind of lingers throughout it.
M (3.5): Nice bit of carbonation that foams up lightly as you drink it.
O (3.25): I guess I'm supposed to hate this, but I really don't. That doesn't mean that I will be rushing out to buy this. I feel like my Angry Orchard cider drinking friends might actually like this though. The bottle design and raised labeling really drew me in, and any beer with tequila in it is quite rare. Different and definitely not what I was expecting going in. I thought this was gonna be like a Corona with a tequila twist of booze, but it is only 6%.

C-/C (3.25) It's definitely unique and being from AB hurts it a lot. Just an oddity, that should only be had through a mix-six. I foresee a lot of drain pours.

I can definitely see this appealing to a lot of people, especially those that already drink a lot of Corona and Landshark. These really would have benefited from being screen-printed (like those mentioned before), but instead they went with deceptive clear stickers that have a raised texture to them (very convincing).

The natural flavors in this are probably the almost hidden words of "blue agave infused" at the top of the bottle, but I think those words refer to the tequila barrel staves, since they are both the same color. Also, I'd never heard of Broken Barrel Brewing.

Despite it being tequila, I'd love to see what your take on it is. Also, I think @Shroud0fdoom might like the malt liquor aspect of it.

p.s. I love finally having my own teku.

 

Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the NBS. Today I had the pleasure of trying two new beers. The first was Cantillon Kriek lambic. Pours a fruity looking red. Think the color of Hawaiian Punch, and you get the picture. A tart nose, and the taste is a lovely and satisfying tart cherry. This, like the other Cantillon beers I've had, excels by being perfect for what it tries to be, without tying to do too much.

My other new beer for the day was Barrel Aged Old Rasputin. The taste is everything you'd want in a barrel aged imperial stout with the expected notes of coffee, chocolate, and bourbon. The mouthfeel is on the thin side when compared to, say, KBS, Bourbon County, Alesmith, Fyodor's Classic, and some of the other heavy hitters. But then, I've always thought the non-BA Old Raspy is a bit thin compared to my favs, FIS and expedition, which doesn't mean that it tastes any less delicious. I will say this: as much as I enjoyed the BA Old Raspy, it's one beer that I feel comfortable saying wasn't worth what I paid, which IIRC was around $24 for a 500 ml bottle. Won't be making that purchase again.

For music, really getting into The Suburbs by Arcade Fire. Feeling the angst of the sprawl.