New Beer Sunday (week 544)

@utopiajane - what an awesome start to the thread today!

I must beg for forgiveness...technically, this is New Beer Last Sunday for me consumed while we were off the grid. It took us several days to adjust - until you go cold turkey, it is hard to understand how embedded one becomes in the world of instant connectivity. It was good to decompress and not feel caught up in the maze for a while. If nothing else, I have learned that I can unplug and the world will not implode, so it will be easier to ignore work and focus on things I enjoy on my time.



This was my first beer from our friends at Ballast Point. The Habanero Sculpin. Bought on a whim and I thought it must be a gimmick, so my expectations were for a throat scorching, sweat-inducing overblown cauldron of fire.

I am happy to report to the contrary. I thoroughly enjoyed this beer. I do like habanero to begin with when used in moderation. I grow my own and make my own sauce, but I don't need to prove my manliness by chugging the stuff. I found this beer to be well-constructed and nicely balanced. The flavor evolves from what I assume is the straight Sculpin with some citrusy notes with a bit of sweetness, then a floral and fruity pop that is the precursor to the habanero heat. The heat arrives late in the taste and I did not find it overwhelming in the least. If I'd slammed the whole bottle, maybe that would be the case. The aroma goes with the taste. Because I grow the peppers, I know full well what lurks beneath that fruity aroma! I think this a very good beer and backed that up with my wallet...the true test to me is will I buy it again, so this beer is a winner for me. No gimmick, this is good stuff.

Lots of new beers were tried in the great state of Maine and a couple in New Hampshire. Got notes, will post a trip report that might end up in the New England forum.

Again, sorry to violate the rules but it was my first Ballast Point and it's a pretty cool picture (for me). It was consumed on a Sunday, just not this Sunday :-((

 

Good afternoon NBSers! I'm glad to see everyone up and about enjoying their respective new brews. I was lucky (or unlucky, depending on if you're a glass half full or glass half empty type'a person) enough to get to sleep in today, but only because I was up 'til 1 am working in the garage. Long story short, a brake change on the Jeep uncovered some larger problems, and now I'm looking at replacing a steering knuckle, spindle, and caliper. But, for now, I'm enjoying a late brunch and enjoying this one from Uinta. Cheers!

Uinta Brewing Sea Legs Baltic Porter



Review

Bottle dated 10/24/13. 750 mL.

Poured into a tulip. Pours a murky, muddy, and viscous brown, an settles absoloutely black in the glass. One of the darkest beers I've had, I think. 1.5 fingers of mocha-colored foam reside atop this container of spent oil. Surprisingly not a strong aroma, but very pleasant. Chocolate, roasted malt, raspberries and other dark fruit, cocoa, and cherries on the nose. Only a slight hint of bourbon initially, but became much more pronounced as the beer warmed. Heavy weight with a silky, creamy mouthfeel as you'd expect from a big beer such as this. The aroma was deceivng, though, as there are pretty strong notes of bourbon right away upon tasting. Accompanying are sweet cherries, raspberries, big bold chocolate, and delicious roasty malts. This is one of those beers that you can guess what it's going to taste like to a tee just by going off the aroma. Not a bad thing, by the way. Finishes smooth and leaves a choclatey bourbon aftertaste in its wake.

Overall, not bad at all. While there are notable bourbon flavors in this beer, there is absoloutely zero booziness. Not a trace of alcohol to be found, which was a nice change of pace for a BBA beer. I'm a fan of coffee and oatmeal stouts, and I feel like this beer would benefit from a little more coffee flavoring. As it is, it's incredibly sweet with dark fruit. For anyone who's had Founders Big Lushious, this beer is reminiscent of that. Almost like a BBA version - big chocolate, big dark fruit - only with bourbon added to the mix. A good beer, no doubt. I felt that it didn't quite reach its full potential, though.

Rating

Look: 4.5 | Smell: 4.25 | Taste: 4 | Feel: 4.25 | Overall: 4.25

Weighted score: 4.17/5 (1.5% rDev)

 

Here goes, Delirium Red with homemade oven fries with mayonnaise and spicy tomato dip.

Appearance: Pours a really dark red with an off white/red-ish head.
Smell: Very fruity, somewhat sweet and a hint of malt backbone.
Taste: Comes through with lots of cherry in the front, less sweetness than in the smell. Then comes some of the alcohol and the malt. And then it fades out into a red wine taste and tartness.
Body: I'd say medium carbonation but it has a very full mouthfeel.
Overall: I've been a big fan of cherry beers and while I prefer the Kasteel Rouge or an actual Kriek it's still a very solid cherry beer that also compliments the works suprisingly well with my spicy dip. 3.75/5.

Addendum: Unfortunately I don't have any Alt to pair with those fries. Something I've been meaning to try for a while.

 

Larry, ixnay on the oldyay eerbay talk.

Cheers!

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @utopiajane for getting us underway,

It’s 60 degrees and fairly sunny day in the city that used to share a sister-city relationship with Lübeck, Germany, but are now just friends.

Earlier in the week I bowed to BA peer pressure and joined the ranks of those who’ve tried NYFRB:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24798/86621/?ba=woemad
I think it works better as a root beer than a beer.

Yesterday I decided that after work and the gassing up of the woemadmobile, I’d stop on my way home at the new Bennedito’s Brewpub http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41582/ opened up by a longtime local pizzeria owner who also is a craft beer enthusiast, but the street they’re on was closed off for filming, either for a Macklemore video or possibly “Z Nation” (not sure which, but my money is on the former, as that’s been a thing for much of the week). So instead I went to the aforementioned pizzeria ( http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9659/?view=ratings), gambling they’d have one of their beers on there – and they did. The Checkerboard Pale Ale (named for a longtime watering hole near the new brewpub) could easily have been called an IPA, and was delicious. I’ll post it on BA as soon as I can find out more details about it.

Later on in the day I went to a local brewery’s Christmas In July celebration, which was fun, if a bit packed considering the size of their taproom. A bunch of malty winter beers were put on, including an absolute monster of an Eisbock (12.5% ABV) that might have been fantastic if not for a flavor not unlike gjetost (a Norwegian carmellized brown goat cheese) that dominated things rather unpleasantly. Now, I like gjetost when I’ve consciously made a decision to eat it (My Dad has maintained a lifelong friendship with a Norwegian exchange student, so I managed to acquire a taste for it), but it’s not what I look for in a beer. I had been bummed out not to make it to that beer’s debut last winter, so I’d been hoping to be able to try it. Maybe something happened to it while in storage, but I guess this could be filed under “Be Careful What You Wish For.”

First new beer of today, a “Product of Vietnam” made by a company that is apparently owned by Fosters, is not so great: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2147/5548/?ba=woemad

Grimly drinkable is how I’d characterize it.

Onwards & Upwards will be where I’ll be headed for my next beers.

 

Thanks. Just bear in mind that this beer will not slake your thirst, tasty as it may be .

 

"Stache, I have gotten friendly with a regular at a local beer bar (TJs Everyday) whose name is Joseph. Joseph is a HUGE fan of Kasteel Rouge! That is the only beer he will drink!! I will make mention to him of Delirium Red next time I see him. I very much doubt he would drink a beer other than Kasteel Rouge but you never know.

Have you ever blended Kasteel Rouge with another beer? A while back at a local beer bar, a bartender mixed Kasteel Rouge with Youngs Double Chocolate Stout and gave it to my wife free as a Birthday present (we where there on her Birthday). He called that beer a "Chocolate Covered Cherry". I only had a small sip of that beer but I liked it. I doubt that I could drink more than one glass of this blend (a bit too sweet for my personal palate) but it is a nice dessert beer.

Cheers!

 

New Am. IPA Sunday,

Greetings NBSer's,

I am in what is affectionately called "up north' in MN. More specifically the Brainard lakes area with my 3 sons and one grandson. A very male oriented few days on the lake. Absolutely gorgeous weather with mid 80's few clouds and limited breeze. Also the additional benefit of few bugs. Splendid.

So only 1 new beer today. Semi-local, from Duluth. Not too bad. A little indistinct but full of fruit flavors and an unusually big and sticky mouthfeel.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25567/178805/?ba=garymuchow
Here is the lake in focus.

And here is the beer in focus.

Life can be good.
Best to all.

 

Good afternoon NBS, thank you @utopiajane for the lead off this morning. We have been in full
family mode here in WMass. My dads 70th, big gathering, our sons home from afar. I had the pleasure
of bringing a home brewed saison (my Moms favorite) that was brewed on Fathers day to this party. All gone!
Need to brew more (6th version). Today we have Houlblon Chouffe , a wonderful beer that has jumps between, a
delicate Tripel and a juicy IPA. Wonderful in structure and flavor.
Cheers all.
Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel

Brasserie d'Achouffe
Belgian IPA / 9.00% ABV

3.96/5 rDev -5.7% | rAvg: 4.2
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750ml into a modified pilsner glass, no bottle date.
A - Gently poured creates a massive billowing 2 1/2" pile of mixed size spheres, building a froth, supported by busy worker bees of carbonation. Each draw leaves dry coral clinging to the sides of the glass. Colors of straw, honeycomb, and aged sunflowers reside in the glass.
S - That Belgian Tripel, cracker, honey, lead the way. Fruit rime, orange marmalade, mix with grassy notes weaves a complex fabric, ranges from Tripel to aged IPA seamlessly.
T - The initial Tripel aspects recede the IPA rises there is tension in this offering. The give and take never subsides. Belgian candied IPA? With a change in temperature, the hops are on display, aged fruits and grassy hop notes toggle between seamlessly. Neutral yeast stays to the side in grand fashion.
M - Thick feel, full coating of the palate. Oils lead the way with sugary mid feel. Bitters of lemon ride the center line of the palate, while active carbonation keeps the periphery clean. Finish is dry with lingering tropical notes as the calling card.
O - A fine offering that with time and temperature develops into a delight. The structure is solid, and delicate. The initial nose points in a direction that the palate wanders toward. I love that aspect. A complex body of work that is worth the time to experience.

 

Hey folks I have a new beer planned and a rare Sunday off. Just found out Proclamation Brewing is open today so I'm debating whether to drink a few at home or fight the traffic to get down there. Either way you'll hear from me sometime.
Enjoy!

 

Hah, he should try a good Kriek or Framboise.

Huh, I have not - although I have made cocktails/punch with beers like Kasteel Rouge and Delirium Red. I should probably check that combo out. I think trying it with the Delirum Red or blending them at a higher content of these may dial down on the sweetness (I haven't really had anything by Young's).

And since I forgot this above:

 

I don't think it has to be the Young's beer; any Stout that has a noticeable chocolate flavor should 'work'.

I am not sure of the blending amounts; maybe 2/3rds Delirium Red and 1/3rd Chocolate Stout?

Cheers!

 

Happy NBS gang! After a busy weekend I'm moving to the porch to escape the mosquitoes with this beer from @JNForsyth. Giving Sly Fox 360 IPA with an abv. of 6.2% a test drive on this muggy day.




Tasty brew with notes of lemon, pine, and bready malt. Love the open top can! I believe it's a first for me drinking from this type of container.




Curiosity in the name of science compelled me to pour some into a glass. I'm glad I did as the color is brilliant!



A very tasty beer that I would gladly drink again. Love the open top can! A solid IPA that can be enjoyed like it's from a glass outdoors. Full review below, enjoy your new beer exploits.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1853/127859/?ba=Prager62

 

I'll just post my full review of Wild Peach since I wrote it well.

poured 500ml into teku. Brewed 12/2011, bottled 8/2014, consumed 7/2015.

A - Cloudy and dirty orange with a dirty sand colored 2.5 finger head on a gentle pour. Excellent retention that fades into a frothy head and leaves clumps of lacing.

S - Aromas of very tart peaches with musty wood. It is very inviting and pleasant. I've not smelled a peach beer this good before.

T - Sharp and biting tartness of unripe peach. Oddly enough there is also a very juicy ripe peach flavor. I'm not sure what barrels were used, but I can almost detect hints of bourbon, oak, and musty funk. A pleasant sweetness is overcome by more tartness.

M - Excellent carbonation with a medium body that is thirst quenching and easy to drink.

O - Best peach beer I have ever had. I'll have to open my Fou some day soon and compare.

 

Good afternoon all. Getting ready to head out for a ride on my Harley but before I do I just thought I'd pass along some rates on 2 beers I tried this week. I've heard the hype but I tried Ten Fidy for the first time this week and was very impressed. Nice color and aroma. Amazing flavor, strong - burly but very drinkable. Home run. Also, Founders Double trouble. Another excellent brew from Founders. I am a huge Founders fan and this did not disappoint. Strong flavor throughout and very - very drinkable. Nice job. Now I'm off for that ride but tonight's gonna be good. I made a trek yesterday and scored both some Hopslam and well as a GI - BCBS. I've never had Hopslam so I'm looking forward to that but the GI is really what I'm looking forward to. I posted awhile back that I was disappointed by BCBS the first time I had it but I am thinking more n more that it was a bad keg. Now I'll know for sure. I'll post more after trying both. Cheers

 

Southampton's Burton IPA, from outta Southampton, LI...

New beer number two - technically classified an English IPA...

Medium gold beer with a big head. Not quite clear, some lace trailed down the glass. Citric and floral and relatively plush-feeling. Sweetness and bitterness in harmony. Nice balance between the warm malts and gentle hops - bitterness is mild as weighed against the fruitness.

 

Picked this one up from the local Food Lion last night. Only 50 cents more per six-pack than Yuengling, which makes it by far the cheapest beer in the store's craft/import section (Yuengling would be the cheapest, but it's sandwiched between the Bud and Miller beers rather than being over in the section where every other non-Bud/Miller/Coors/Pabst beer is.)


Waterfront Brewing Co. Blonde Ale. I suppose some of the low price is due to the brewery saving money on bottle caps -- as you can see there, it's just a generic gold cap with no logo. XD

Anyway, on to the beer itself. Color is a nice shiny gold -- doesn't catch the light quite as well as some of the nicer-looking pilsners, but still pretty nice. Mostly clear, with loads and loads of little bubbles rising up from the bottom non-stop. Not a lot of foam on top, but it seems pretty persistent, there's still a pretty solid ring around the edge and the thin layer left on top (it shrank, but didn't vanish entirely) is mostly intact. Out of the neck of the bottle, smelled of "generic beer smell" and not much else -- in a glass it's much nicer, a bit bready and maybe even some sweet caramel-ishness in there? All that's left now is to drink it.

Feels pretty light and very, very bubbly -- the feel of all those bubbles is the first thing that I notice even before the taste comes in. Very easy to drink big gulps of this one. The bubbliness calms down a bit after the first drink, but it's still there, just not as "whoa, that's super bubbly!" the moment you take a drink. Taste-wise, mostly dry and biscuity. Very biscuity. There's just a little bit of a weird, almost-bordering-on-bitter flavor mixed in with the biscuitiness (yeast weirdness? or maybe some kind of hops?) that I can't quite put my finger on, too. The biscuitiness is very nice but this other flavor, whatever it may be, isn't quite as pleasant. Thankfully, the biscuitiness lingers on after the other thing fades. A little leafy hop bitterness in the aftertaste starting to come in around the halfway point of the glass.

A little over halfway through and I think that other flavor in there that I initially wasn't a big fan of is starting to grow on me a bit -- or maybe some time to warm up in the glass has made it taste a bit nicer, I'm not sure which. Smell has shifted slightly and now has a grassy element to it, and the taste is sort of making me think "hay and biscuits, maybe a little leafy" rather than primarily biscuits. Sort of a "non-frosted shredded wheat" kind of thing going on. And just now I sniffed the glass and picked up something that kinda reminded me of butter, weirdly enough. Not an unpleasant thing considering how biscuity this beer is (butter and biscuits do go together after all!) but definitely a bit unexpected. Yeah, there is definitely a buttery smell to this beer now. Maybe coming through just a little bit in the taste, too, now that I'm approaching the end of the glass. Odd. Not bad, but odd.

Overall -- I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but overall I'd have to say it's pretty good, especially considering that I got it for the same price that a six-pack of something along the lines of Bud Light Platinum goes for. Nice to know that not every cheap beer is going to be a disappointment like Busch Signature was (then again, $8.99 for a 12-pack is a different level of "cheap" than $6.99 for a six-pack, so... maybe I'll just stick with "$7 six-pack/$10-11 twelve-pack" level cheap when I'm broke but still want beer from now on, rather than risking anything below that point again. XD)

 

ISO: this pizza