New Beer Sunday (week 540)

The earlier batches I had were juicier, but this last batch just wasn't that juicy. It was canes on 5/12, maybe the next batch will be better.

 

I think you may have a representative beer there. My review mentioned some of the things you mentioned, as well.

I have decided I like Black IPAs that use citrus-flavor-producing hops. My first try was with Black Citra Not So Pale Ale (thanks, @strohme2). My review hints at this (and I wonder if I might up the rating on a retry), and I thought Uranus was in that category. Ocelot brewery's Soft Lies was another recent one (damn them for not repeating recipes... yet).

 

Mark Knophler- just a unbelievably talented guitar player !

 

Congrats Uncle!

 

First time visiting hangar 24 this week and I was really impressed. They had some one offs that were great. One of those is their 7th anniversary hoppy pilsner. My friend tried it at the brewery and really liked so I bought my first crowler.

The 7th anniversary is a hoppy German pilsner and on this 90 degree day is sure hitting the spot. I am actually really stoked on this beer and the fact that it's more German pils than hoppy. Some slight citrus hops but mostly clean, crisp with that grainy breast pilsner flavor (not sure how to explain but I am sure you know what I am taking about). I drink the growler in probably 10 mins it hit the spot so perfectly.

 

No doubt! I did actually start up Spotify, and they had "Live In Concert" (BBC??) at the top of the list (released '95 that I am sure is from a concert a bit older than that... wikipedia says '78). Nice collection of songs, even if only 46 minutes.

 

Thanks for the congrats (I love being an Uncle, it's like being a grandparent, but with fewer onerous responsibilities), but as I replied when someone replied to when I first mentioned the event in an earlier post, my contribution was minimal.

 

I love all of his farmstead ales. I'm 90% sure that they're all bottle conditioned with brett... leading to the tartness and "funk". He admitted on reddit himself that they would all develop the aroma & depth within 6 months. The newest iteration of Dorothy is actually 100% brett fermentation, making it more along the lines of Saun's collaboration with Mikkeller, or CS Vielle. Can't wait to get my hands on one.

 

Rod Hundley (Hot Rod) lived in my neighborhood when I was a boy, selling Converse shoes. He was a big time WVU guy, very crazy, like Pete Maravich, shooting from 40 feet, and we loved him for being so kind. We later learned who he really was! This place is basketball crazy. Just remember 1974 N.C. State and David Thompson. And we loved Bill Walton!

 

Agreed. I had to look at it for a while to see if the "message" was there for me. Eventually I found it was, but thought the artist could be a little less graphic in his depiction of the victimized girl.

 

I like this sentiment when people wish me happy birthday. I'm sure I likely did something, but I don't recall, and my mom did most of the work. But being an uncle is great, and you nailed why!

 

Finally getting to chime in this week.

So today (well alright, last night) I decided to break into @woemad's box of Washington awesome that hit my porch last week. I had the topcutter IPA from able breaker last night. Great balanced IPA from what I remember, easy drinking and good all around.

For today's review(s) though I'm starting off with another. Bale Breaker beer: Field 41 Pale Ale


Nice, slightly hazy golden, yellow pour. Slight chalk white head that didn't stick around for too long.

Smell has a nice pine aroma with a slight crackery malt backbone present. Not sure how accurate of a descriptor it is, but the beer has a very "clean" smell. Nice muted hops, not overpowering, but still there.

Taste is a great balance upfront with a slight edge to the clean hops. Finish switches between a lingering bitterness and unsalted cracker flavor.

Mouthfeel is lighter bodied, but enough oomph to make you want another sip. Sticks to the palatte.

Overall a good pale ale. I really enjoy the cracker flavors that I get mixed with the lingering bitter hops. This would be a great summertime lake beer.

Now I have the job of catching up on all the NBS posts today, but I'll be back later with a slightly more controversial beer among our PNW NBSers.

 

Good afternoon/evening NBSers - getting a late start to my sunday enjoyment today. Some fun reviews and postings here - thought I would join in the revelry. Thanks for getting us going @utopiajane

Had a nice walk in the neighborhood this morning to check out the 'Logan Square Arts Festival' in my area that was going on this weekend, and also to get a delicious bagel sandwich at our local bagel/pizza place. Salmon and avocado had me feeling in the mood for some tropical, exotic, summery drinking. Luckily my local bottle shop had a stack of this new offering from Pipeworks in - and having missed out on Crimson Snapper and Square Grouper I was not going to let this fish be "the one that got away"!



This is a citra hopped imperial IPA with honey, passion fruit and just got released a couple of weeks ago in the local market



What a beauty! Upon opening up this bottle a wave of the passion fruit and tropical notes really come bursting out in a waft of aroma. Took some willpower to knock out a couple photographs before partaking in this one. The citra hops are punchy and are given a smattering of honey to balance out the bitterness here. The 9.5% ABV is well hidden, as this beer goes down so smoothly that the high-ish alcohol content is barely noticeable. Feeling some mango and a hint of tangerine in here also. Exceptional stuff from a brewery that keeps getting better and better.

 

Oh, it's a blast! I get to be the guy who brings candy to my 5 year old niece, but when she grows fractious, I just keep drinking my beer while my brother (who she takes after in terms of spoiled outbursts) has to deal with it (though I feel sorry for my sister-in-law, who from all accounts was a much better mannered child at that age).

 

I love being an uncle, too. I've got two nieces and three nephews. I get to teach them all the naughty, bizarre, gross, and mischievous stuff their parents would rather I not (once they're old enough, of course) ! But I also treat them like equal (just younger) people, and have told them that I will answer any question about any topic which they ask without judgement or bullshit, because I believe there's more than enough bullshit in the world already, and they need to learn to recognize it and act accordingly. As a result, we all have a deep mutual respect, and I know they will all grow up to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem.

 

Alright NBS-ers! It's about quarter 'til 7 here in absolutely beautiful NOVA & I'm finally home & ready to share. My new beer for today is Southern Tier Gemini 'Super Hopped' Ale.


I like the bottle art, one of the more interesting-looking brews from SoT. I went into this with fairly high hopes.

First, some BA stuff:

A: 3.25 S: 4 T: 3.75 M:3.5 O: 3.75 BA says: 3.76

22oz bomber into my Ommegang chalice.

A: I'm not really impressed. Pours a clear gold with about 1/2" white head that sits down pretty quickly. Retention is OK, lacing is nonexistent.

S: Hoppy! Lots of piney, grassy notes with some citrus in the background. I get some caramel sweetness, too. Things are looking up :-)

T: DIPA-like sweetness right out of the gate. Lemon rind & crackery malt through the mid-palate. Oily, underwhelming hop bitterness is present throughout. There's sort of a musty grapish note in there somewhere. Lacks complexity & absolutely is not the hop-punch I was expecting.

M: Light & oily, a bit syrupy, low-ish carb. Odd characteristics given the flavor profile.

O: I don't know what to make of this quite yet. The mouthfeel is strange, the hop profile is strange. Just...strange.

& there you have it, my first, possibly last dance with Gemini. I'll say that the branding of this as a 'super-hopped ale' seems misleading to me. It's a DIPA...a weird one...but a DIPA. This is one of those times where I think my expectations might have biased me a bit going in, I really should probably it try again someday. Not anytime soon, though

So this is just an awesome NBS today, folks! You're all really bringing it & the mojo is flowing. Glad I could (finally) get in on the action!

Wishing you all good cheer & good beer!

 

Sadly, I still haven't made my way out to H24 either. On my to-do list this summer.

 

OK, You made me WANT this one.