New Beer Sunday (week 545)

today is my birthday (53,i'm not scared)and i'm off early to twin lakes Wisconsin for some boating fun, so wanted to review this beer

pours thick orange with a large bubble head

every sip gets your nose a citrus dunking machine

I swear i'm drinking a sunday morning grapefruit-orange beer bomb! love it

I highly recommend this one to any and all that enjoys that citrus blast like me, otherwise stay away. enjoy your sunday.

 

Good morning @cavedave and thanks for getting us going today! I think that so far in my beer experience I have noticed some styles tend to favor time in a barrel. Big beers like the stout and the barleywine. Some lighter beers do too like the saison. Now as far as my experience with the tripel and the barrel I think that beer likes oak but not white wine.

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone! Today I have a Belgian style saison aged in chardonnay barrels from Heavy Seas.



Cheers!

 

So being nocturnal the delineation between days becomes a bit fuzzy. Technically I started Sunday off with a Greenwood Triple IPA (I was a fan) brewed by Sound Brewing in honour of Chuck's Hop Shop's (a local beer store with a well deserved reputation) 5th anniversary around 0100.
But I'm going to leave that one to the ether and consider my first NBS brew to be Transcend from Heathen Brewing down in The 'Couv as I put together this quiche in preparation for this coming heavy work week.

As much as I enjoyed the Greenwood, I found Transcend to be pretty underwhelming. If I'd read the label text a little more closely I may have been better prepared as they describe it as a gateway beer, and I could see it being effective at that. But at the risk of being snobbish, for me it just doesn't really do anything. Nose is primarily a sweet grainy melange with a some grassy and a faint ode to floral/incense-sweet hops. The body largely follows suit with grainy malts leading the way and the second wave of hops that feel compensationally concentrated never really inspire... much of anything really. Another grainy reminder of straw fields precedes the piney finish.
I hate bashing the finished product of someone's hard work, especially so when it's something from an even tangentially local source, but this one is a big miss for me. I've voiced my distaste for the various adjectives we've associated with the recent emphasis on smaller volume-drinking beers (sessionable, etc), but I almost feel like if they'd just toned the alcohol down by a percentage point or maybe two and just kind of taken a thin slice off the rest of it it could have found a solid niche within that burgeoning market. Not that it is 'small' necessarily, just that the flavours that it seems to embrace are ones I associate more closely with that substyle and feel can be better put to use as such. I seem to be in the minority, though, if this website's ratings are any indication (it especially stands out to me as this region is notoriously tough on grading local concoctions), so maybe I should just shut up and go back to sauteeing mushrooms and leeks. Here's to no more dead kids at least for a while and to good new beer in your cup!!

 

Good morning New BSers and thanks to @cavedave for getting the bottles rolling! I always enjoy this thread for the personal views and reviews on somebody's new beer, not to mention the jealousy for all the food fotos. Although I don't really care very much about what I eat and am too lazy to cook much, I still get a vicarious thrill from seeing the effort and ingenuity many of you display in your culinary displays. It's yet another beautiful fall day here in NW PA - the unripe apples are littering the ground, there are cracks in my garden area from lack of rain, and the ripe tomatoes are getting ready to rot, although the construction guys keep threatening to pick them - I tell them to go ahead - but the tomatoes are still there.

Today's brew is from one of my favorite Michigan breweries:



I nearly didn't buy this because of the name - all I could think of was bubble gum. But then, I'm a sucker for dubbels, so this one had to be tried!

Undated can at 40 degrees into tulip; allowed to warm to 50 degrees
$ 3.29/16 oz can at the Lager Mill
Aroma initially “dark fruit”, but weak and doesn’t last
Head – none. Initially a one cm light brown fizzy head which is gone by the end of the aggressive pour.
Lacing – none
Body dark reddish brown (Brewery describes as “mahogany”), clear, some effervescence
Flavor starts slightly sweet, nondescript, no particular flavors – just sweet and kind of hopeful that a distinguishable flavor will appear – maybe they’re just too subtle or too well blended for my gross taste buds.
Palate medium, creamy, lively carbonation

Appearance 4, Aroma 3, Flavor 3, Palate 4, Overall 3.5 Rating 3.26, rDev 0% (too few reviews) This is one and done.

 

Cheers everyone. My beer is heavy seas Red Sky At Morning. This beer is 10% abv and in my opinion is a good example of a brewery trying to use abv to do something they didn't really have to.

Happy Saison Aged In Chardonnay Barrel Sunday

OK , so if by reading the guidelines for saison I was to pick out any one thing that would make the white wine barrel suitable to the saison it's this -

A low to moderate tart sourness may be present, but should not overwhelm other flavors.

There is enough prickly acidity on the tongue to balance the very dry finish.

and this -

Sweetness decreases and spice, hop and sour character increases with strength High carbonation and extreme attenuation (85-95%) helps bring out the many flavors and to increase the perception of a dry finish.

Well that's 3 things and the overall impression of the beer reads -

Overall Impression: A refreshing, medium to strong fruity/spicy ale with a distinctive yellow-orange color, highly carbonated, well hopped, and dry with a quenching acidity.




3/5 rDev n/a
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3

Has a distinctive sunshine orange color. Fat head of lush foam that is slow to fall. Hazy. Nose is very subtle at first. Candy sugar and fruit peel. Craacker. Orange and mild spice. There's not a great woody scent ,nor a big grape scent either. A bit of must. It does have a tartness on the nose. taste is very sweet and there's plenty of alcohol presence. It is lost the orange to the sugar. The beer is heavy for a saison and has 10% abv. All that abv is coming right up to the acidity of the wine barrel. I suppose they are trying to compensate for the idea that the acidity of the chardonnay barrel is known to wash away malt. There is some acidity to be found and it cannot out last all that sugar . Really it's way too sweet and is syrupy in the finish. It's lost all the buoyance, the joie de vivre of the saison. There's no fruit on the palate and with a twinge from bitter alcohol it has lost the wine barrel too.


Be My Baby.

 

Cambridge Remain in Light - Pilsner

There is an interesting description of this beer on the Cambridge Brewing Company website:

“American light lagers and Pilsners are easy to drink and refreshing. They are not, however, easy for a craft brewer to make – but we are always up for a challenge. Pilsner malt and flaked rice provide sweet cereal grain notes while German and Czech hops add spiciness and a balanced bitterness to the finish. Cold fermented and aged with a German lager yeast, the palate is clean with a snappy finish.”

A little bit of German brewing history: In the 1800’s German brewers in Northern portions of Germany (i.e., not Bavaria) used to use rice in brewing their beers. They had to stop doing this when Germany reunified and the Bavarians insisted that the Reinheitsgebot (German beer purity law) be the law of the land for their agreement to be part of a reunified Germany.

Let’s put it to the taste test.

Served in my 17 ounce Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw colored with a BIG white head. It has a nice Belgian Lace as the beer is consumed.

Aroma:

First whiff is Pilsner malt but then the aroma of Noble hops is there (with a hint of lemon).

Taste:

The taste follows the nose with a combination of Pilsner Malt flavor along with Noble hop flavors. The balance of flavor is just a tad to the side of the Noble hop flavors.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a nice dry finish.

Overall:

This is my first beer from Cambridge Brewing and it is a gem! A very enjoyable summertime sipper.

@kozaka

Cheers to Cambridge Brewing for brewing this beer!

 

5.5% alcohol. Brewed in Germany.

4.25/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Hacker-Pschorr Weisse has a thick, foamy, off-white head, a highly charged, bubbly, turbid, orange-gold appearance, tan chunks, and splotchy lacing left on the glass. The aroma is of low-level banana, bubble gum, and coriander notes, bread, and some sort of bright fruit. Taste is of those elements, with low bitterness, and a spiced bread presentation. Mouthfeel is rather heavy, and Hacker-Pschorr Weisse finishes semi-dry and easily drinkable.

RJT

 

Good morning all,
I'm starting the morning off with this beer that I have overlooked many times.
I read some good things about it right here on BA, so thought I would give it a try.


Good molasses flavor to it. Also has a black coffee bitterness that is quite pleasant, especially for a morning brew. Full bodied and robust, I would recommend this one if it easily accessible to you. Cheers!

P.s. Goes well with honey nut cheerios

 

Wow, a bunch of misses to start NBS, at least relatively. May have to pick my beer carefully.

Edit: 3 new posts came in as I read/replied, so maybe things are looking up...

 

Good morning everyone and Happy Sunday to all.

I've spent a few months lurking every Sunday, enjoying the reviews and discussions that always ensue in this wonderful thread. I have added many a number of beers to my wants list thanks to the careful considerations of those who take the time to talk about their experiences here, including some widely known beers and others that are less often discussed. I felt it was time to join the festivities and add my contemplations to the mix, to hopefully help others new to this hobby as many of you already have helped me, whether you know it or not.

Today's new beer is also a new experience for me. Growing up, my mother had a strict rule: no candy, sweets, or sodas before noon. Unintentionally, it's become a rule for me as well, and the closest I ever come to any of those before lunch is a pastry of some variety. It's also included beer as I've gotten older -- another luxury item and something that seemed out of place in the morning. Spending time here on BA and NBS, I've seen plenty of early drinkers and never batted an eye at it, but never partook personally.

That changed this morning. I finally got my hands on something I felt like drinking right when I woke up. I always enjoy a cup of coffee first thing, so why not a coffee-infused beer?



I certainly picked a doozy to start out my NBS-ing with! Here are my thoughts:

4.93/5 rDev +12.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

It pours out a thick, dark black with a creamy mocha colored head that stays around for a while and leaves behind a fair amount of lacing. Strong, intense coffee aroma with slight bitter chocolate as well. The coffee flavor is magnificent, but unlike the bitter coffee aroma, it's tamed by a creamy sweetness that balances the beer to great effect, and reminds me of adding milk to coffee, which is how I take mine.

Letting it linger on the tongue, the coffee starts out bitter, smooths out a bit, and is joined by roasted malt and a very slight chocolate flavor towards the end. The mouthfeel will stick around and probably be the example I compare other stouts to, as it fits my (unfounded) notion of what a stout should be: rich, creamy, thick, chewy.

I'm not sure how this could be any better. This was the first morning, coffee-flavored beer I've ever had, so my opinion may be a bit weaker in terms of something to compare it to. Perhaps after I've had others, my ratings might change, but now for now, this deserves its spot near the top of my list of favorite beers.
----

Cheers to all!

 

Welcome to NBS. =)

 

Welcome to NBS!

 

Morning NBS denizens! Just a quick howdy, I'll be back later with an entry or two, most likely something from a surprise box I received last week from fellow NBSer @garymuchow . I'll be a bit busy for a while, as I'm volunteering to help out a couple of friends/co-workers. Anne and Pat have a 5 year old daughter who suffers from a very severe form of Epilepsy, and our work is hosting a fund-raiser to help them out. I've spent the last few days asking for, and receiving, donations for the silent auction and raffles. I want to say this: Bellingham WA is the best place on Earth, and I am humbled by the generosity of my fellow Hamsters. With 1 exception, every business I asked for a donation responded with a variation on the following: "is that enough? Do you want more? What else can we do?" A couple friends of mine run a graphic design firm, and they donated $500 worth of their time. We have so many gift certificates from local restaurants and food trucks that you would be able to eat out 3 meals a day for two weeks, and still not use them all.

I'm certain that if my NBS friends were in the area, y'all would come, donate, and bid. I am very humbled by all my friends, both the ones I can physically see here, and my Electronic friends that I only know through the intertubes, and because of beer. A deeply heartfelt CHEERS to you all! Happy NBS!

 

Hello, fellow NBS-ers! Today is one of those incredibly rare days that the GF & I are both free of the shackles of work. Needless to say, we plan to make the most of our day together :-)

Thus - I think I'll be getting a post in sometime later this afternoon, after lunch, shopping, movie, etc.
However, I thought I'd stop in & offer a small teaser of things to come:

The 2015 'expedition' :-) Looking forward to sharing my thoughts on this brew with all of you!

Sidebar:
Happy birthday @laketang !

Cheers!

 

Indeed you did. That is an absolutely great beer to be your first and a good write-up as well. You make me want to emerge from lurking in the shadows here

Sounds to me like you need to get ahold of a bottle of the barrel-aged Péché.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/634/154156/?ba=Bitterbill

Cheers NBS faithful!

My internet connection is a bit wonky today so...there's my pic, there's my review. Toodles!

 

This brew pours a dark purple, almost black color; like a dark plumb. There is a 1.5 finger mocha head which dissipates fairly quickly but some of the head does remain as a collar. There is a lot of brown sediment in the glass.

The smell is loaded with fruit, lots of licorice, fig , dates and maybe some apples. Deep and earthy malts dominate as well as heavy yeast, sugar and possibly molasses.

The taste follows the nose with a deep, earthy malty taste. The fruit and sugar come in next, along with the molasses. All of the smells mentioned above are present in the taste. The coriander mentioned on the bottle does come through in the taste. The alcohol is very well masked; just the tiniest bit seeps through which is great for an 11% ABV. beer. This beer is all sweet; there are no hops to speak of.

Overall, another winner from Weyerbacher. Weyerbacher picked a great beer to represent and celebrate their 20th anniversary. Happy anniversary Weyerbacher!