New Beer Sunday (week 540)

I've had Sour in the Rye before, but I don't remember it having "Terreux" on the label. Is this a new version, or just new labeling?

 

Man, I'm enjoying working through these Texas (so far none of the non-TX beers have found a glass here. Yet.) beers that Nick sent along. In addition to the two I mention in the H/H thread, I've got actual Sunday beers as well!! And they're from Texas!
I also promised I would share my thoughts on the beverages sent my way, and I figure I've put it off to this point anyway, so I may as well bring it out here. Maybe it will tempt some of those who were unable/chose not to join in this time to do so in the next NBS BIF (let's be honest... this is about to become a tradition)
@BullDoza sent along a ridiculous haul of Texas* beers.
-Community Brewing:
+Legion RIS/BA Legion: I love big stouts, I love barrels, I love doing comparisons. I'm excited to for these guys for those reasons!
+Mosaic IPA: I couldn't hold out, so this one was drank earlier in the week. Delicious. Man what a juicy nose.
-Deep Ellum IPA: Cracked it yesterday and loved it. Creamy juicy IPA.
-Jester King
+Coquetier: Hadn't heard of this one, but it sounds intriguing. I enjoy trying beers that push some boundaries, if for nothing else than to see how the professionals are able to combine things and make it work, and this one's got some interesting components for sure
+Funk Metal: Aside from having one of the best labels out there, this is one I've had my eye on ever since I lived in Austin some years ago. Excited to crack it!
-Lakewood: Temptress/Mole Temptress: See #1 above. The base was also a want ever since I read about it somewhere (don't remember the specifics of the where/when)
-Lone Pint Yellow Rose: A big want as I've heard great things, and then curiosity took another step after a Texan visited this fair city with some bottles and... well it devolved into chaos (as the PNW forums tend to do...). Besides: what a gorgeous label!
-Oasis Meta-Modern Session IPA: Looks like a flavourful and easy drinking excursion into an Austin-area brewery I didn't get to explore when I lived there. Perfect for this current heat wave.
-Peticolas Velvet Hammer: Read on (or just skip to the bottom)!
-Real Ale
+4-Squared: The only one I think I may have had before. I know I've had the base Fireman's 4, and don't remember if I took a 4-pack of this one floating the river in San Marcos or not. If I have had it: it was at a great (if hazy) memory and I look forward to trying it in a more controlled environment, and if I haven't had it: I look forward to another great hopper from Texas and the folk at Real!
+Gose: I don't know much about this one, and don't have a lot of experience with gose' (geese?), but Nick's description makes it sound pretty tasty, and I'm excited to compare it to my own experiences!
-St. Arnold's Boiler Room Berlinerweisse: another style I don't have extensive experience sampling, and another one that sounds perfect for this approaching-triple-digits weather. The few Berliners that I've had I've enjoyed!
*plus the following non-Texans:
-Clown Shoes Billionaire: I love BWs, and the only question now is whether I should drink it now or put it away for a bit and let it continue to evolve...
-Founders' KBS: NBD. A classic, and a mega-want. I am excited to finally have one of these at my disposal. For about a half a second I toyed with the same dilemma as the Billionaire(bot), but this one is going to get drunk (drank? I suppose the beer gets drank, and I get drunk...) soon.
-New Holland Dragon's Milk: see #1 re: my feelings on BA Stouts. A want for a while. I kept meaning to get this one when I lived in StL, and it just kept never happening, so it's awesome to finally get ahold of one.
-Prairie OK-Si: It looks like this is that Okie that everyone's been enjoying but aged in Tequila barrels instead? I'm all for that. See #s 1/3 re: barrels/unique approaches/flavours.

So, yeah. If you sign up for #3 whenever it comes around, this could be you. Start reinforcing your porches now. Sure, it's expensive, but holy hell is it fun (doing the research/shopping for your own target), and it's like getting an extra beer-specific Christmas. And then you get to open your box and, well...



OK. Sunday's first beer (time distinctions get confusing when you live on an opposite-clock) was Velvet Hammer by Penticolas. This is reportedly a DFW favourite, and I can see why. Billed as either an Imperial Red or an American Strong Ale, I can see the appropriateness of both descriptors. Whatever you want to call it though, it's delicious. Caramel and spicy rye-like malts start the aroma, and are dominant forces in the flavour. Joining those notes on both planes are piney hops, and the flavour adds some almost-old-ale-esque notes of tobacco and chocolatey raisins. The latter two are pretty subtle though. Finishes with a fiercely bitter pine. Ticks a lot of boxes I like and disappears altogether too quickly.



Cheers!

 

It's a rebranding (label change) of some of their rotating series or barrel-aged beers, I believe.

http://www.brueryterreux.com

 

Thanks. Looking forward to what you think of it. I'll be back later (hopefully) with my 500th new beer (since I started keeping track, that is!)

 

Good morning beer friends! @utopiajane always starts us off with a great intro (as does @cavedave!), and although I would prefer to be a little lazy on this Sunday morning, I have some chores to do outside starting around 8 a.m. so it will be an early start on the New Beer. I'm almost completely done building my new back fence. Lot's of work, but at half the cost if an actual fence company would have done it. Good life learning experience, I can't wait to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING next weekend and celebrate this great country with you.

Okay, so I'm taking on a style that I'm not too familiar with today - the Gose! You will notice my box of Tazo hibiscus herbal tea in the photo. I'm drinking Boulevard Hibiscus Gose this morning. There are similarities in the tea and the beer. Last week I was comparing beer to root beer. Now tea? Things are getting weird.

Look: Okay, the color is almost undescribable. It's a pinkish light copper color? The photo doesn't show the pink hue so much. The head it white and recedes to nothing, no lacing either.

Aroma: Hibiscus tart, very tart. And sea salt. I never thought I'd be able to smell or taste salt in a beer, but this has it, and it's oddly wonderful. This beer has a very weird, dry musty smell as it warms up. It is also brewed with coriander, but I'm not getting any of that.

Taste: Okay, this is where I say it tastes much like my Tazo hibiscus herbal tea. Very tart ... I would say there is a lot of lime citrus in this for comparison. Very limey, tart, sour. The sea salt is present as well, and I really like it. Again -- not much in the way of coriander ...

Mouthfeel: Dry, light bodied. I'm not much of a champagne or wine drinker, but this beer definitely has that kind of feel to it. But it goes down really easily. Very limey, tart finish.

Overall: I rated this 4.09 for a +5.1% rDev. I like it a lot, and I mean that I don't mind drinking through several. Sometimes one beer is good, but enough. This is one where I am glad I bought the sixer 4.2% ABV makes this pretty easy to consume. I do find beers like this hard to review, because I feel like I only taste two different things, not a lot of "complexity" if you know what I mean? But approachable, easy to drink, flavorful. Right up my alley. I'll be back later with another New Beer, and while I'm at it, here's one of my favorite acoustic pieces from Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins ... Bye Bye June!

 

3.25/5 rDev +8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Lech Premium has a thick, white, spongy head and a clear, bubbly, straw appearance. Lacing is heavy. The aroma is of light grains and a touch of grass. Taste is of mild, sweet grains and grassy, low-level hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is light and watery, and Lech Premium finishes crisp, clean, and refreshing.

RJT

I purchased this one June 11th at Libby's Liquors alongside U.S. Highway 1 in New Jersey. It is a very clean, neat, and well-organized beer outlet.

 

Good day to the NBS crowd! So happy to have an opportunity to try a beer I've seen and heard a lot about. Many thanks to @JNForsyth for sending this highly acclaimed beer in the awesome box of goodness he sent in the NBS/BIF #2.

On deck is Weyerbacher Sunday Morning Stout, stout aged in bourbon barrels with coffee. The bottle date is 03/24/15 and the abv. is listed at 11.3%. Buckle up......



Pours semi viscous and oily black leaving a thin layer of mocha colored foam. It has that wonderful classic coffee stout look. Score 4.75

Aroma is a bit sweet, almost toffee like, followed by some faint coffee roast and bourbon. Score 4.0

Flavor is a bit sweet at first sip, almost milk chocolate-like. After a few sips some coffee reveals itself along with some oak and bourbon. There is a wet cardboard flavor hiding in the back. Score 4.5

Mouthfeel is a tad thin but oily. Pleasant carbonation for this style of beer as some can be rather flat. Score 4.25

Overall I really like this beer and glad Jeremy was gracious enough to send one my way. It was on the slightly sweeter side of the barrel aged coffee stouts I've had, but didn't detract from my enjoyment. Just a different kind of animal that I would gladly drink again. All said my score was a 4.33 / rDev 0.7%.

Oh wait, we're not finished yet! There's been so much banter about this and KBS that I couldn't resist a little blind taste experiment which I rarely do. I'll give a condensed version to keep this rather long post shorter. KBS bottle date is 02/18/15.

I poured them in identical glass mugs marked on the bottom while looking away, then played switcheroo while eyes were closed.



Eyes closed I held each to my nose to sample the aroma. I immediately knew which was which. I guess I've had enough KBS over the years to recognize it without fail. They were completely different but both pleasing in their own way.

Taste was exactly like the flavor profile in that I'm certain I could pick KBS 10/10 times blindfolded. SMS is on the sweeter and slightly thinner side as opposed to KBS being a bit thicker with dark roast and chocolate. Both very good, but uniquely different.

I'll end it here saying I like them both, but KBS with the classic dark roast Founders profile is more in my wheelhouse. I'd gladly drink SMS, but unfortunately I haven't seen any over the border in Michigan where Weyerbacher is sold.

Thanks if you managed to make it through my long winded post, but when I received this beer, it seemed like a good idea. Cheers to your new beer endeavors, can't wait for other BIF reviews.

Edit: For the curious my KBS score was a 4.75

 

I would try lech

 

So I decided to take the plunge. Yellow Rose is one I've been interested in ever since I first saw the bottles, and the back and forth that resulted when it was introduced into the regional forums certainly helped pique the interest again. I like the concept behind SMaSH beers: I think they can be invaluable learning tools in the ongoing journey to better understand and (thus) appreciate beer. In addition to this aspect, most of the ones I've tried thusfar are also really well crafted, and really enjoyable to drink. Combine all of these components an Yellow Rose is a no-brainer. As an added bonus -- the icing on the cake if you will -- it also has one of the most beautiful labels I've seen in quite some time. Enough rambling and beating around the bush: I'm super excited to get to try this beer, and now that the bottle is ~halfway done, basically all of my expectations etc are affirmed. As soon as I saw that Nick had included it in his box, I knew what my NBS-reveal beer was going to be (ignore the above post [as if its length had not already inspired such response], this is the real star of the show)

(L to R: Mountain, beer, Lake Union, Space Needle)
Yellow Rose pours much lighter/paler than I expected, though in retrospect, it makes perfect sense, and I'm not sure why I would have expected it to be any different. The biggest problem I found with the appearance was that I had a hard time focusing on it as the awesome aroma kept distracting me and begging me to take our relationship to the next level. As it were. Popping with floral and juicy fruits and citrus, the aroma belies the single source and hits pretty much all of my favourite notes. There's an intriguing breakfast note lurking beneath as well with hints of apple and orange juice as well. On the second pour (after it has warmed a little) there's some berry juice as well. I'm not sure how much I would have noted it had it not been mentioned on the label, but it's definitely there now. While the nose was all about the juicy potential that our favourite flower offers, the flavour takes a moment to gather itself and step out of the limelight. With sweet notes supplied by the floral component and the juices committing to the citrus side of things (more orange than grapefruit, though it doesn't go all the way clockwork like some brews I've had [and also enjoyed: not intended as a slight, just trying to triangulate]), the malts take a stronger stand here as well, particularly across the third quartile leading up to the finish which heads back into realms of floral/citrus hops.
This is a beer with a great reputation. That's not an accident, nor is it a mistake (shoutout to my little brother!)


Much much thanks to @BullDoza for another amazing example of what Texas has to offer and a big want to boot! Cheers!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, Maria, for starting us off today. I'm a Bruery fan as well as a sour fan and am sure you'll like your selection. It's another typical day here in NW PA - rained last night, overcast and threatening to rain now.
Today's selection is from @Rich1970:



Sue is a pleasant porter, easy drinking and a good way to start the day after last night's MST3K WBAYDN. Every day you wake up and the crows aren't picking at your eyes is a good day!

Bomber bottled 4/1/15 at 41 degrees into tulip
Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, hint of smoke at 41 degrees, mostly gone as the glass warms to 48 degrees. The chocolate becomes more prominent at 48 degrees.
Head large (6 cm, aggressive pour), light brown, frothy/creamy, diminishing to 5 mm frothy ring and partial frothy layer
Lacing fair – some broken archipelagos of small to medium bubbles
Body dark brown/black, opaque
Flavor begins with roasted malt, a hint of chocolate, and more prominent smoke than evidenced in the nose but still much less than in a rauch beer. No hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl. Last pour is at 60 degrees, no quantifiable change.
Palate medium, initially creamy but seems to become more watery as it warms, lively carbonation

Appearance 4, Aroma 3.5, Flavor 4, Palate 3.5, Overall 3.75 Rating 3.78, rAvg 4.13, -8.5%.

I would definitely buy this. In fact, on my next drive to TX, I may need to schedule a stop in Nashville to visit the brewery.

 

Sounds great.

 

Straub Vienna

My second beer from the Straub Sunshine variety 12-pack is the Vienna Lager.

I am a fan of the Vienna Lager but there are not to many breweries making this style of beer. I have had the Devil’s Backbone Vienna Lager on draft a few times; I have always really liked that beer but I have not seen it near me in quite some time. I enjoyed the Sierra Nevada Vienna Lager that was in their 2014 Fall Variety Pack. Neshaminy Creek makes a nice Vienna Lager they call Churchville Lager. Great Lakes Eliot Ness is also an enjoyable Vienna Lager.

I am anxious to see how the Straub Vienna Lager tastes!

On the neck label it states: Reminiscent of our old copper brew kettle, this is a traditional amber beer with malty sweetness and a refreshing crisp flavor.

Some information from the box:

Color: Amber

Malt: 2-row Pale, Vienna, Caramel 60 and Black Malt

Hops: Perle, Tettnang and Sterling

Yeast: North American Lager

IBU: 22

ABV: 5.4%



Served in my 0.5 liter Willi Becher Glass

Appearance:

Amber colored with a big, fluffy off-white head.

Aroma:

A prominent bready/malty aroma.

Taste:

Flavor is dominated by the malt (rich bready malt flavor) with low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Medium bodied, moderate mouthfeel with a dry finish

Overall

What I most appreciated about this beer is its malt presence along with a dry finish. A very pleasant Vienna Lager beer.

Cheers to Straub for making a tasty Vienna beer!

 

I enjoyed every minute of yesterday since it was a picture perfect Saturday. Today will be more laid back as it will be raining in a few hours. Gives me time to sit and enjoy beer.

I'm going to enjoy one of my Jakie O's, Oil of Aphrodite, this morning. It went well with whole grain pancakes topped with fresh strawberries.

It has a pleasant, sweet and roasted aroma with dark chocolate and walnuts. Some dark fruits and molasses.

The flavor starts off semi sweet, but the hops add some bitterness. Roasted malts bring dark chocolate and there is a hint of caramel. Walnuts add a nutty component that ties it all together nicely.

 

Good morning NBS'ers! New beer for me is below the 1st picture, for those not interested in my weekend prior to today. For those interested, read on! (Admittedly, it's nothing super spectacular).

June is a month full of birthdays and anniversaries in both my immediate and extended family. The result? Every June we have a huge family get together this last weekend of June to celebrate it all. Well, that family gathering has brought me back down to Austin (what I still consider home). To make the trip even sweeter, one of Austin's best beer making brewpubs held it's inaugural bottle release event yesterday! You see, Pinthouse Pizza has been crafting some well crafted (and respected) beer for a while now; they had not bottled any of it until yesterday's release. So, Pinthouse bottle release? Yes. Jaguar Shark, a barrel aged stout? Yes. I'll randomly be in town? Yes. Was there a chance I was going to miss out? No, of course not!

Below, a picture the GF snapped of me with 1. One of our two beers (350 bottles, each one individually numbered, and signed by the brewer) 2. A HAZY Pilot IPA #6. If you've seen any of my posts lately regarding the slew of hazy IPAs we've been seeing...you know how excited I was to finally find one; one from TEXAS, no less.


Now, all that excitement behind me - My new beer this Sunday comes from New Jersey via @SammyJaxxxx and the most recent NBS.

The beer:
Carton Brunch, Dinner, Grub - a brown ale
A: Brown, soil. Deep amber, almost a burnt, burnt orange on the edges. Minimal carbonation, as expected. Still a small white ring of bubbles on outer edges. Rotating the glass produces fair amount of nice alcohol legs. Looks well made.
S: Dark roast. Bread - light biscuity. Hint of the hops, makes me think this will have more "bite" to it than a normal Brown Ale.
T: Follows the nose with roast and breadiness typical of a Brown. The faintest of a nutty character. The malt hits, then vanishes...overtaken by the hops. I wouldn't call this an IBA, but the hops are more than expected. They produce a lingering bitterness I've not enjoyed on a Brown Ale.
M: Medium bodied. A surprise, an almost creamy mouthfeel. This, out of a growler and 3 or 4 days old. Would love this fresh off the tap.
O: The bones of a standard, solid Brown Ale. Nothing is missing. The hops add a new enough dimension to make this a memorable Brown Ale. Good stuff. Without the hop bitterness I'd likely go an 88. The unique factor of the hops makes it a 90.

The Picture:


Cheers and a happy Sunday to you all!

 

That's my favorite of the pack, and I think they came damn close to hitting it out of the park. If they sold it on its own, I think they'd have a real hit on their hands (although I could understand their fears of cannibalizing sales of the Amber). In any event, in a beer scene where 'real' Vienna lagers are hard to come by, this one is a genuine treat.