New Beer Sunday (week 536)

Good morning BAs and welcome to NBS as started by @utopiajane! Thanks, Maria, for starting this early! The weather here in NW PA is wet as usual - just looked out the window to see what the gurgling sound was - water shooting up the spout. Sorry about that, let it all hang out. The trash men didn't pick up some stuff I put out for Friday pickup so it'll be kind of soggy when Tuesday rolls around - they pick up garbage twice weekly but trash only once a month. Last time they didn't pick it up I went to their office to complain. They pulled my trash file (Yes, they really maintain one, as Dog is my witness!) and showed me that they had already picked it up the first of the month. Now I'm setting up a spreadsheet for my trash donations to those simple SOBs. Hell, it isn't like I don't recycle everything possible around here - I'm responsible for starting both cardboard and battery recycling where I used to work as well as personally recycling plastic and glass from my former co-workers. Aaargh!

OK, rant over. Today I finally got to try a PA beer available in only part of PA but available in other states. If not for the generosity of @TurkeyFeathers, I still wouldn't have been able to try this:



This is one that needs to age a while in order to smooth off the rough edges.

Bottled 3/24/15 at 50 degrees into snifter
Aroma very heavy with chocolate which fades allowing some vanillin to come through
Head small (1 cm, aggressive pour), fizzy, light brown, rapidly diminishing to 2 mm ring and small partial layer
Lacing poor – few tiny islands of tiny bubbles
Body dark brown/black, opaque
Flavor – some bourbon coming through followed by a definite alcohol stomach burn; coffee comes through after, but none of the chocolate from the nose; no alcohol flavor or aroma, no diacetyl
Palate full, creamy, soft carbonation

Appearance 4, Aroma 4.25, Flavor 4, Palate 4.25, Overall 4.25 Rating 4.14, rdev - 4.8%

Appropriate Weyerbacher distribution feeling video on WBAYDN.

 

So I started rewatching Game of Thrones last night, season 1. So why not try Three-Eyed Raven by Brewery Ommegang??
This is a dark saison ale weighing in at 7.2% ABV. I picked up yet another new glass, I liked the rather medieval look about it, so it fits perfectly well with this beer. Let's drink.

The beer pours out dark brown and settles to a pool of dark chocolate/black. The head is amazingly foamy, thick, and basically does not recede. Ever. It leaves patchy random bands of lacing on the glass. Again -- great head retention.

The aroma is inviting with toasted breadiness decorated up in tart fruits. I get a lot of apple, pear, plum, and dark red cherry notes. Maybe a touch of boozy alcohol.

This tastes really good, much like the aroma. As it warms, the tartness from all of the fruity flavors really comes out. The main difference is in the finish where it gets a little bit spicy with the alcohol coming through. Has a bit of a white pepper kind of finish. I'm ready for a second pour and the head has still not receded. Amazing. Best head retention from any beer I've had (that's 961 and counting).

Overall, I really like this beer, and this style. I like dark Belgian style ales a lot. I picked up this beer for just under $10 and although I am split on whether to try movie/pop-culture themed beers or not, you can trust a brewery like Ommegang. I rated this 4.21 which is a +9.4 rDev.

Whereas last week I drank every single day, it's time to start off June tomorrow by hunkering down and get back to weekend drinking only. I have tried a lot of new beers this week, and I still have more in the fridge. I may come back with a second post today. Cheers!

 

Good morning, BAs !!!! It's a breezy but sunny 75 degrees outside here at 9:30 am in the outer rim of Charlotte, and as always, I'm delighted to be here for this week's New Beer Sunday. The birds are singing, the kudzu is climbing, and it's the time of the 'saison' for drinking...

My humble offering this week is Collaboration No. 4 Saison, a joint effort from Boulevard Brewing Company and Brewery Ommegang. This is actually a blend of two post-fermentation brews, so let's see how this unfolds, shall we ?








Appearance : Pours a fairly clear golden honey color, leaving a two-inch head of tiny white bubbles. There is a small amount of continuous carbonation, and average lacing retention in my trusty tulip glass. (4.25/5)

Smell : When I got done pouring the glass, I could easily smell the yeasty goodness from two feet away. After positioning my ample honker directly in the glass, the yeast multiplies exponentially, combined with a light fruity aroma. (4.5/5)

Taste : I get a nice initial orange-like juiciness with a drop of honey, and then a tempering of clove- and coriander-like spice, followed by a nice hop bitterness and phenolic alcohol from the 7.3% abv. The yeasts are complex, and are the thread that ties it all together. After swallowing, a pleasant and balanced honey-lemon flavor is left in the mouth. (4.25/5)

Feel : Light-to-medium body, which leaves little coating in the mouth. (3.75/5)

Overall : A fine offering from two breweries that know a thing or two (or three, or four...) about brewing Belgian styles. I was most impressed by the aroma, and if there's a downside, it might be that it was slightly too phenolic on the back end for my personal tastes, but a damn fine representation of the style, and would be a welcome quaff on a warm spring or summer day (like this one !). (4.25/5)

Total score : 4.26 (+9%)

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/423/137460/?ba=Hopportunistic

Cheers, and happy NBS !!!!!!!!

 

Thanks, @utopiajane. Our view here is pretty good for an apartment. Our unit is on the back of the building, and we have a huge cherry tree right outside our window (with spectacular pink flowers in spring), and the deck area (where I take my beer photos) looks out into the woods, with plenty of birds, squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional deer to keep us entertained and feel some distance between us and suburban sprawl.

 

Howdy NBSers! As UtopiaJane mentioned above, we have another NBS focused BIF in the works, and today, nay! this very post, is your last chance to get in on the fun. If you don't know what a BIF, or Beer It Forward, is, well basically it's a big, circular beer trade. But, you don't know who is sending you beer, and the person you're sending to doesn't know either. Being a NBS focused BIF, we're sending each other beers that will be eligible for entry on NBS. This is a perfect chance to help spread the word about some of your awesome local brews. If you have more questions, feel free to shoot me a message.

If you want to join, "Like" this post.

REPEAT!!! ONLY "LIKE" THIS POST IF YOU WANT TO JOIN THE NBS BIF!!!!!!

Right now, we've got about 25 NBSers on board. You should be too!

Cheers and happy NBS every one!

 

Happy NBS! Checking out a few brews from Metrpolitan out of Chicago. They only brew Lagers. First up is Arc Welder, a Dunkel Rye.

S - Roasted malts and bready, pumpernickel and dark rye. Some grains and earthy notes with a few spice aromas.

T - Very bready, as in a slice of pumpernickel on top of a slice of dark rye. The roasted malts keep it from becoming sweet, but there is grain flavor. Some earthy and wooded flavors that end with a bit of spice.

M - Smooth and creamy with a medium feel. Carbonation is soft.

O - A delicious Dunkel that you could drink anytime of the year.

 

BTW, thanks to @utopiajane , I was able to share a bottle of this beer at a cookout with friends last Monday. It was awesome! I suggest y'all grab a bottle. And, send me a couple more. Each. Thanks again Maria!

 

Greetings all,
Lovely Sunday, kind of hot and steamy early on in the season. I'm still sweating from a long hike, we saw some beautiful herons up close, and every dog had it's fool out today. We walked around the lake and saw new faces everywhere. We live in a park in the woods in the middle of a city. It is a great place!
Today's beer is Bacher German-Style Lager brewed at Martens in Reppelerweg/Bocholt Belgium. My wife and I shop at the fairly new "upscale" Aldi for cheese, bread, sausages, chocolate and other nice (German) products in a sparse retail environment. The German stuff is great, the cheese is from Wisconsin and is excellent, so I decided to pick up a sixer of Bacher for $5.99. This is a true Euro-Style lager, bright, fresh, and perking with carbonation. Light in color, bready aromatic, but still doesn't taste like my Munich favorites. It would be great at 95% on the golf course when the Sierra Nevadas gave out. It keeps a nice bead and is a pretty beer, has a BB date of January 2016 and I just wanted to give it a try. Not great, not bad!
The Superb Lyre Bird mesmerized my hound Otis when when he and I first watched this video. He knew a cool bird when he saw it. Otis is smarter than some folks that I know!

 

Warm and muggy on the island long, where the beer is strong and the a/c's on...

Heavy Seas Uncharted Waters series presents Phantom Ship

A Belgian-style tripel aged in bourbon barrels


I have passed on but a couple of entries in this series since 2014, and those I've had have been very rewarding. These are well-made beers, aged in barrels of some sort, and at really normal prices. for the beer you get, absolutely worth a buy and try.

Phantom Ship is no exception, calling to mind other barrel-aged tripels like Curieux and Rockmill's Cask-aged Tripel.

Lush and soft, full of orchard fruits soaked lightly in booze - full on the palate, mildly fuzzy, and sweet - a nice tripel complemented appropriately with some delicate barrel aging.

Quick birthday nods to the almighty Clint Eastwood, 86 today - one of the coolest actors and directors and dudes of my time; and to the departed John Bonham, rock god and hard drinker... props to Zeppelin, too, for having the class and humility to recognize that the band couldn't exist with him...

(image credit)

Cheers, NBS - here's to new beer in your glass

 

My son is a perfect cross between Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. The other good thing is that he is very cool to boot! We are all great friends and I cherish having my loving daughter and son!

 

This is a beer that was just recently released and rumored to be part of a mixed 6 pack this summer which would contain El Lupulo Libre DIPA. If so, I thought I better try a single of this to know how many I could justify throwing away if I had to in my quest to obtain 6-12 Libres. So...

A New Milk Stout Sunday it Is
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2470/78277/?ba=WesMantooth





4.14/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

A 12 oz bottle dumped into a pint glass.

Black with a thin, frothy, light tan head made up of almost microscopic sized bubbles. Looks like it will leave some lacing on the glass.

Smell is almost all coconut. There is chocolate there too, but it really drowns everything else out for the most part.

Initial taste is the same. It is like a spoon full of white, flaky coconut. Milk sugar follows and gives it a condensed milk sweetness and some cocoa powder chocolate flavor comes in behind it and gives it a touch of bitterness to balance out the sweetness. The aftertaste is coconut and slightly roasted malt grain.

The body has a nice full feel, but is still easy drinking. Pretty solid for a low ABV. Carbonation is average.

This is a really well done milk stout. Be warned though. If you are on the fence, or not a fan of coconut, you probably are not going to enjoy it. I am not a huge fan. More indifferent than anything. I would probably dial it back just a hair if it were up to me as it gets more difficult to drink towards the end, but I will likely drink it again. It makes for a very nice treat. Besides, I can always chase it with a White Rajah!

 

Oi what a week it's been.
The little bro gets his phone stolen (including credit card, debit card and drivers license) just a day or two before he's supposed to leave for Alaska for the summer fishing season. Craziness at work. ...other madnesses.

BUT!!
It's Sunday. This is a good, nay, a great thing. Due in no small part to you lovely folk
I've another lovely IPA from the upper right corner. This time it is SoMe Brewing Company's Apostrophe IPA (get to add another pic to BA!). It's a beautiful hazy amber orange, with a great head. The nose jumps at you as soon as you crack the top, bringing a bouquet of juicy fruits and citrus. I note primarily grapefruit, apricot and papaya, but that could just be me. Unfortunately the flavour doesn't live up to the aroma for me. Instead of embracing the juicy themes proposed by the aromatics, the tongue opts for a more blunt, almost muddy (at least in comparison) generalization. A strong grainy malt presence roams the centre of the profile, and even interjects itself as into the beginning of the end. A convincing head fake to the sweet side without ever committing and ultimately finishes decidedly bitter. Doesn't taste boozy per se, but definitely feels bigger than the 6% it lists. Enjoyable overall, but I feel the flavour doesn't live up to the promise put forth in the nose.

This goober.

 

Hello to NBS! My new beer for the day is Bottom Up, by Revolution. This Belgian style witbier pours a golden yellow with a slight haze. Not much head, and the nose is a bit of orange and Belgian yeast. Taste is light, refreshing, banana and coriander notes with a bit of bitter on the finish. Tastes a lot like a Hefe to me and I'd love to hear from anyone with brewing knowledge what's the difference in producing the two styles. The type of yeast, I imagine.

Song for the day: Dylan and Cash doing Girl from the North Country.

Cheers!

 

I almost forgot. I wasn't able to partake last Sunday, but I did have a few new ones that I thought were interesting. For your reading pleasure (boredom material) I also present:

Jackie O's Bourbon Barrel Wood Ya' Honey
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1432/171239/?ba=WesMantooth

Hinterland Whiteout Imperial IPA
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4426/60043/?ba=WesMantooth

AB Wild Blue
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/26049/?ba=WesMantooth

Trillium Night and Day
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30654/156780/?ba=WesMantooth

I think I may have a couple more today since I am 2 short of 700

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers,
It’s currently 65 in the city where the local wildlife looks like my avatar. Today looks to be sunny and is expected to reach 81. The last few days have been a bit unsettled, weather-wise, with the highest temperatures so far (mid 80s) and some thunderstorms and rain. Right now we’re in the springtime pause before Hoopfest at the end of June, and judging by the trends, it’ll be a hot weekend for playing basketball on asphalt.

Friday and Saturday I had a couple of bottled beers from Paradise Creek. As I mentioned somewhat late on last week’s NBS, my visit there wasn’t great, with some less memorable beers on tap and pretty indifferent service (plus my friend got sick from his food). Despite that, I’ve yet to have a bad experience with anything from them in a bottle, including the Sacred Cow Espresso Stout I had on Friday:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23312/107295/?ba=woemad
and the Huckleberry Pucker (a Berlinerweisse) that I drank after work yesterday:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23312/98722/?ba=woemad

Still drinking coffee right now, as is my tendency on lazy Sunday mornings, but I’ve got beers from Crux, Black Raven and Uinta at hand that are all new to me.

Current listening: Killing Joke – “Pssyche”, from The Peel Sessions.

 

I will admit to being a huge fan of coconut. If you absolutely have to throw them out from that mixed pack....there is this special box with a label provided to transport them to a special reclamation facility in Indiana. I'd be glad to send that special box to you.

 

Wild Blue might well be the most disgusting non-spoiled beer I've ever had. It seems tailor-made for serving to someone underage to get into their pants after they have passed out, and should be banned alongside 4-loco and powdered alcohol. The horror...