New Beer Sunday (week 540)

Their label artwork is second to none in Ohio. Even Jackie O's

 

Actually I'm in a very progressive area, colleges and Quakers, and a great place to be. My perspective has been formed by the Quaker's underground railroad sending fugitive slaves north to Richmond Indiana through these deep woods that beavers still do daily. When I go back in those woods, behind my daughter's house, which I know well, sometimes my hair stands on end. The place is fraught with gravity. i
It is a sacred place and I've always known it. The last battle of the revolution before the surrender of the British at Yorktown was Guilford Court House, and the rag tag crew did ok and kicked the Brits out! It is the exact same ground!

 

Man that is awesome. My hair is standing (none on my head though) just reading that. I've been to places with history like that and the feeling is just other worldly. Great info. Thanks !

 

Well, I'm finally here. (Pacific Standard Time Zone.)
It's official, summer is here. It's hot and a bit muggy in SoCal.
Girls are outta school, and I have tons of stuff to do. Clearing out my mother's storage unit. Finding some emotional gems amidst tons of WTF's?
Thankfully, findind some good stuff to show my girls, and to send to my brother & sister. Oh, and I have beer to drink thanks to @Prager62 in our NBS BIF numero dos!

Hunter Double Milk Stout by 18th Street Brewery in Gary, Indiana.
4.29/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Maximum respect and gratitude to @Prager62 for sending me this gem in our esteemed NBS BIF #2

Pours a rich deep mahogany, almost black. Tightly packed frothy head of cafe-latte colored gossamer greatness brings forth a rich aroma of chocolate milk poured over sweet oatmeal, sitting next to a mug of dark roast coffee. Oooh, this is gonna be good.
Taste is is more coffee roast forward, yet very balanced out with a malt and chocolate presence that is held in place by the elaborate creaminess. The texture is paramount to this beers overall greatness, brining it all together like a stunning symphony.
Overall, I love this beer.

Be back soon. It's hot, so I have a few hoppy options from the porch defiling BIF BOX.

 

New Amber Ale Sunday

Before I start, I'd like to give a shout-out to @aViewFromTheHOP for not only hooking me up with a couple HF brews and Pliny, but (among others) this beauty as well:



Appearance: Pours a amber (duh) color. The head is a finger high and eggshell in shade. It's rather rough-looking, and retention isn't the best. However, some nice lacing sticks to the glass. (3.5)

Smell: When I saw on the can that this had Mosaic, my heart sank a bit. Then I smelled it, and quickly got over it. This really has a nice aroma of fresh orange and grapefruit, with touches of berry - no sweet onion to be found anywhere. An additional pine-laden dankness adds another interesting dimension. The maltiness creates an excellent canvas for the hop profile, too. I wish most amber ales smelled this good... (4)

Taste: I get the Mosaic on the taste buds. What I don't get, happily, is a bunch of sweet onion. Instead, the beer opens up with some nice grapefruit flavors (even light grapefruit juice), before trailing off into notes of pine, herbs, white grape, and caramel. I even get chocolaty touches. This is fairly complex for a hoppy amber, while the balance between the hops and malts are bang-on. (4)

Mouthfeel: This has the right amount of dryness, and the right amount of malt sweetness to give it body. Carbonation creates a nice prickle, as well. Drinkability is excellent - I wish I had another can... (4)

Overall: I had hopes this would be close to Nugget Nectar in terms of quality. I wasn't let down - if anything, it reminds me a lot of NN, albeit with more new-school hops. Props to Modern Times for making a Mosaic-hopped brew I can easily get down with. And double props for making a great amber ale (a style I'm not always fond of)! (4)

3.97/5: Another reason to be jealous of the California beer scene

 

Actually, the confusion was more due to me carrying out an act of DWR - dumbass while reading.

 

State Line can't hardly be beat. Also they have a web site they keep current and accurate so you can plan a shopping trip in advance.

Would your daughter's college be Washington College by chance? Know a couple of folks who graduated there.

 

I'm making my first ever 3rd appearance today on NBS ... as inspired by @WesMantooth ... Plus, I have a brain dump I need to extract in this post before Monday's reset.

1) Saturday Night's MST3K was awesome. I didn't think I would even do it, but I decided to join in with my shitty Corona and it was a blast. Let's do this again, and next time I'll bring better beer -- although I thought my shitty Corona half-way filled a thematic purpose for me at least. It was awesome, thanks to @TongoRad and @WineGuy3000 for the spectacular event.

2) I'm 4 beers away from 1,000 reviews after this. I am making some changes coming up. I'll still be contributing to WBAYDN on BA, but next Sunday will be the end and beginning of something different for me with beer.

3) I'm in a bit of a beer identity crisis. Over the past few years, I've totally lost sight of what I like, or what I want to like because I have been trying so many new beers, and usually the new beers I try are never my old favorite styles. I just don't know anymore. More on that later.

Let's get to this New Beer: Bridgeport Stumptown Tart (Belgian Style Ale brewed with raspberries) ABV 7.7%

This is my second bomber of 7% ABV today -- generally not something I cherish. Keep it low, and keep it coming. I don't like getting hammered on high octane, and yes 7% is high octane for me. But I'm inspired, so I'll keep going.

Look: Cherry Champagne -- let Crayola know that they need to start making a new color. The head is light cream colored, wisp of remains, patchy lacing.

Aroma: Boozy. Nail polish. Wow. Some raspberry, obviously, but not enough to chemically wash away what has already been destroyed.

Taste: Nail polish? Almost. It does taste harsh though, and that harshness is coming from a substitute sugar taste -- Sweet'N Low or whatever, it tastes like that. Remember Clearly Canadian? That spritzy clear sparkling water ... it tastes like Raspberry Clearly Canadian.

Mouthfeel: Carbonated, dry.

Overall: Rated it 3.11 for a -16.4 rDev. Well I am in rare form on this one. The first few sips were wonderful, and then dark sarcasm and declining beer taste got involved. I wanted to like this beer, but it seemed to really go downhill fast. I don't mind fruit beers, mostly wheat beers, but this one did not work. I can't stop thinking about how it feels and tastes like a malt liquor. Just boozy, metallic, dry ... cuts through the soul. Such a sad way to end a NBS. I had 2 awesome beers today, so I will not let this ruin my day.

Cheers All.

 

Then I recommend that one day you make a trip to the Philly area to see Independence Mall, Fort Mifflin, and Valley Forge, among other places. The old city area of Philly is great for walking and the downtown area has no shortage of good beer.

 

It's now good afternoon here in NH I had to step out for a couple of errands but I'm back with my 2nd NB from my BIF from @strohme2 and this time it's my second beer from Short's Brew there Hopstache an American IPA with grapefruit zest. I have to say I saw this bottle and was excitedly thinking Grapefruit Sculpin or like the new Electric Peel from Magic Hat.

I poured this gently into my tulip glass and as you can see it is a hazy darker orange color with a slightly lacey white head on top.
The nose was very similar to your normal IPA lots of citrusy overtones with a slight malt background. I couldn't really find any grapefruit in the nose.
The taste of this beer was a very tropical burst with lots of citrus overtones. Very enjoyable to say the least. I savored a second mouthful and aside from the citrus from the hops I just couldn't find the grapefruit at all.
The mouth feel is smooth and clean and very refreshing. I wish I had a couple of these at the end of the 100 mile charity bike ride I rode in yesterday.
All in all this is IMO a very good IPA but not sure where they put the grapefruit zest other than on the label. Would I like to enjoy joy this again of course. I'll have to look at other reviews and see if I just missed something. Thanks again to @strohme2 for another great MI beer.
I'm hoping to be back a little later with at least one of the great Founders beers that were included in BIF box.

 

What's up nbs players. It's been pretty wet and rainy here on the island. I'm wrapping up a 10 day vacation and getting ready to get back to full work mode.

My new beer today comes thanks to @rgordon via the bif trade. The beer is Noon Day ipa from Nathahala brewing co. In North Carolina.

The beer pours a golden amber color with no clarity. The nose is subtle with hops and tangy citrus fruits. The first sip yields a very dry start with a smooth and hoppy kick. Lots of sweet malts on the back end with a slightly bitter swallow. The dry hopping is very forward and it really dominates the palate. More flavor tones come on as I drink with dried fruits, citrus, and some slight pine. I really get an apricot flavor. The mouth feel is good and very fruity and flavorful for just 6%.

Overall I found the beer to be decent stuff. It has balance but it's still a little malt forward for me. I'm in the mid 3's to low 4's.

 

In all fairness I should show you a photo of an historical marker that describes indigenous Americans thriving and well adjusted to this place. I've found evidence that people were here close to 10,000 years ago.

 

Jeez. I guess Bill Murray wasn't bad in it, either.

 

Interesting idea. Maybe we should drink bad (to us) beers during the screenings. Seems more appropriate. Although my kids love Zombie Nightmare

 

I picked up a couple of bottles 2 weeks ago at the brewery was the first I had seen it myself sent one out in BIF package to @JNForsyth hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

 

Galaxy dry hopped Sunshower Super Saison from Trillium (Boston).

 

Glad to hear you had fun last night! It was our pleasure having you along for the ride :-)
Congrats on coming up on 1000!

 

Haha, that's why I went for Natty Boh

 

Thank you very much. I still find artifacts from many different generations of many groups of humans. To me, this is proof that this is a nice place.

 

You're not quitting us, are you @JuicesFlowing ?