New Beer Sunday (week 546)

Loved your review. And love the beer also. TY Cheers !

 

New Flanders Oud Bruin Sunday: Petrus Aged Pale

Evenin NBSers with a special greetings to fans of Flanders Oud Bruin ales.

Well the weather here today was as nice as one could ask for in August, comfortably warm and sunny without being particularly humid. Naturally the day was filled with ticking off items from the "honey-do" list and taking care of some maintenance chores around the house and yard. We briefly had a visit from some family members with their kids who gladly helped us finish off setting up the newly acquired Craig's list swing and slide set, including helping test the swings to be sure they worked properly.

This evening's new beer is the Petrus Aged Pale which is classified as a Flanders Oud Bruin but only seems to be made for either export to this country or for use in blending for the Petrus Oud Bruin's that remain in Belgium or also get exported. Given its bright golden color it's hard to think of this beer as being Bruin, but that doesn't decrease the enjoyment of its tart, citric, oaky nature.

As usual my review (subject to revision until the beer is finished tomorrow night--this portion comes from a 750ml bottle which has been recorked and returned to the fridge) is in progress here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/718/2184/?ba=drtth

What's really difficult about reviewing this beer is putting its complexity of flavors into words. So my choice of music for this evening is actually something where a performance of the music is on the player but which also shows up elsewhere in a form where someone has created a visual accompanyment to the music that helps with both visualizing and hearing some of the complexity of the interplay of flavors in this beer.



Cheers, all!

 

I stopped by a local Craft Haunt of mine with a list and a purpose. I wanted to pick up some unique, interesting and “new to me” beers that I can share with the Ba Nation on New Beer Sunday(s). One such beer was a bomber of Uinta Sea Legs Baltic Porter from their Crooked Line Series. The only other Baltic Porters that I have tried are Flying Dogs Gonzo Imperial Porter (Baltic) and Seventh Son Ragana Yaga. The Gonzo was solid and the Ragana Yaga was very-very good to the point of picking up more bombers when I can find them. I truly Luv me some Porter especially Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald which is my go to porter and the BEST of ALL TIME is Ballast Point’s Victory at Sea (IMO). So what can I say about the Baltics? I dig ‘em I want more of them-will Sea Legs be the one! Wishing You the Best----CHEERS to all!!!!!!

Uinta Sea Legs (Crooked Line Series)

Baltic Porter
Beer poured into Nonic-Pint Glass
750ml bottle
8% ABV 60 IBU

Appearance -4 /5
This Porter is Opaque Black with a two inch thick foamy tan head made up of tiny small bubbles. The head dissipated very fast and left very little lacing behind.
Smell - 4/5
I detected a semi sweet chocolaty-roasted malt smell with just a smidge of bourbon.
Taste – 4.25/5
There are roasted malt flavors and chocolate tones which are accented by the bourbon barrel that it was stored in for 12 months. I detected a slight vanilla flavor as well as a hint of molasses.
Mouth Feel – 4.25/5
This medium-bodied brew has a mild bitterness, fused with complex roasted malts and of course a well hidden ABV. This Baltic Porter leaves a slightly bitter syrupy film on the tongue and lips.
Overall -4 /5
This is my third experience with a Baltic Porter. I enjoyed Seventh Son’s Ragana Yaga so much that I will buy it again whenever I find it. Flying Dog’s Baltic Porter was very good but not a beer I’d chase after. Uinta’s Sea Legs falls somewhere between these two other Baltics. While it is not as impressive as the Ragana Yaga the Sea Legs is very complex, flavorful and worthy of an attempt. In my opinion this Baltic Porter fell just short of its overall potential.

 

A-HA and eureka...this is what the Troublesome Gose reminded me of until the salt joined in the fun. Not this particular one, but in general and no fruit was harmed when it was brewed. It has that tart bite to it with the wheat smoothness plus some sweetness holding things up. It's not as potent as Jack's Abby Berliner Braun which I totally dig...maybe closer to their BeErliner Lager sour wheat (and yes I know Troublesome is not a lager). Just the flavors strike me as similar (salt aside).

OH...having missed the edit window by a couple miles...that hazy, golden color? Becomes totally, beautifully clear a few degrees up from fridge temp. I boned up on some reviews as well and the "complaint" I see about this beer is the "lack of salt" to paraphrase and put a few comments together. I have to respectfully disagree with that assessment - at least for my taste buds, I'm getting quite a significant salt taste that lingers. Very cool...if this is what the Gose style has to offer, I'm all over it.

 

Oh man.. we are on a roll now...

Weiss Trash Culture - New England Brewing Co.

New England Brewing Co. - Weiss Trash Culture by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the can, packaged August 3rd 2015, into a New England Brewing Co. tulip/goblet glass.

Light foamy head, with some snapping carbonation and control, dissolves to a thin puck, but a thicker collar. Body manages pale lemon, and straw like appearances. THe occasional cola carbonated bubble shows up from time to time.

Man is this aroma ever delicious. Huge bakery bread notes, thick and rich, dense, pairs fantastically with the lemon tartness giving off of fruit. Toasty bakery flour out of the oven, almost warm, fresh bread, just fantastic stuff.

Palate hits with huge surpsise. Big bright lemon tartness in the mid palate, juicy, mild sourness, no acid. Then the aftertaste kicks in and its like bread being backed in the over. Grist like flour and cake bread dough flavors creep off and linger for long time. Expected light body, but would hope for some more chew and wheat flavor.

This one is a real surprise, really sneaky and enjoyable. Almost as good as a berliner can get.

look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75 | BA final score 4.69

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Man I am going to have to remember to pick up more of this next time... if there is another next time... Really reminds me of classic German brewed beer too.

 

New IPA Sunday

Hello again,
Down to my 2nd to last beer from @beertunes. The last one will be saved for something special.
Last beer of the day and the first of the work week as I'm already in that mind set.
A pretty basic IPA.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/21567/166733/?ba=garymuchow

Kind of a messy pour. Oh well.
Best to all this week. I probably will miss next week with too many things going on. May check in on Monday.

 

Wow - wow - wow. One of my favorite surprises of the summer was Jacks Abby Berliner Weiss.(@LeRose ) . really wasn't familiar with the style. You guys are reminding me I want more.

 

After a great beer weekend, capping it off with my first time trying Proclamation (since I went to college not far from their brewery). Really impressed with their Derivative: Galaxy APA. You can taste different notes with each sip, each very distinct. Unfortunately there is no date on when this was brewed, but it definitely tastes very fresh. Definitely will have to purchase again next time I come across it, world class stuff!

Now, time for a walk down to Trillium tomorrow for the Green Street release, cheers!

 

Well, URI grad I assume. No worries about the freshness here. Was just there and they had zero bottles available at the brewery. They had about 10 cases ready to go out. Can't keep it on the shelves ....

 

Actually a Bryant grad, but unfortunately they arrived in Rhode Island about 6 years after I was gone. Actually picked this up in Downtown Boston on Friday at the new Hopster's Alley, was limited to one per person obviously. Odds are this is long gone but will have to keep an eye out when it's back that's for sure! Absolutely great stuff.

 

Good Evening NBS'ers! SO the wife has been away this weekend and it's been a busy one of catching up with other family and a good friend who was in town. Long story short, I'm just now getting to sit down and enjoy a beer that's been hanging out in my fridge for over a week!



I won't bore you with details but this brew is very decent. It's not Peche Mortel or FBS but it's good. The coffee flavor is straight forward and deep. However there is no other elements to add complexity which is why it belongs in the second level echelon of coffee stouts. Other than that, my only criticism is that the carbonation level is higher than I typically enjoy in the style. Overall I am still very pleased with this.

Cheers!

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest.

Today it's Summer Honey Wheat from, well Coors actually. Not a great beer but I'm a sucker for those seasonal sampler 12-packs.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/306/70089/

Mild here in the Columbia Basin as summer starts to wind down. "Starts" mind you, it ain't over until the first frost, which is a long way off. Temps today in the mid 80's. I did see some Oktoberfest beers appearing on my grocer's shelves this week, so the change of season is in the air.

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

Have you tried the Keraterra? It's really good. I freakin loved it. Way more than the Derivative - although I had the Mosaic hopped version Derivative and that was delicious

 

Onto my last NBS beverage for the evening...

I love me a hop bomb, but after a while you need to change the pace by enjoying those that also feature a solid malt backbone, and this is definitely one of the best I have enjoyed. It can be a bit tricky finding the right balance between hops and malts but when they are well balanced and compliment one another it is an awesome experience. This one does just that. Great caramel malty sweetness that enhances the juicy hop tangerine flavors and then changes course with a nice pine bitterness that begs you to take another sip. I'm very impressed Westbrook! Thanks again to @Shroud0fdoom for the generosity!

Cheers!

 

You're Welcome my Friend!

 

I wanted to get in my piece before Sunday came to an end. Released in July 2015 from Kelsen Brewing of Derry, New Hampshire is the J. Bartlett's Anniversary Wheat. It is brewed exclusively for Whole Foods Market in Nashua, New Hampshire and is only available there. It celebrates the first year of this store's operation. They tapped the keg today and I traveled about 35 minutes to Nashua for the sole purpose to try it out. So this is about as new as it gets.

Kelsen has won 4 beer medals in the last 18 months for their Paradigm Brown and their Battle Axe IPA. One thing they specialize in is taking traditional styles and hopping those up and this one is no different. You expect a kind of toasted bread and coriander character when you drink a wheat ale. That is there but it is far more muted than other well-known examples. In this case there is a vibrant pear, apple, and grapefruit character emerging as the main ingredients. It enhances the whole drinking experience which was quite enjoyable overall.

 

Better late to the party than never. Nice to see you guys again, got some old faces and a bunch of new ones since I was here over a month ago. Been a busy day an I'm having trouble getting my pic uploaded .
Anyway new beer for today is humboldt's black xantus. While I'm not much of a described in my reviews I hope this hits it..... Pours black(I mean pitch black) smells like ??burnt espresso?? But the bottle says imp. Stout. Well the case they came in says imp. Java stout. Just wish the taste was a little better. Not the best coffee stout I've had, at $13 a bottle I'm gonna have to say it's in my bottom 5 still a solid 3.5-4 idk haven't rated it yet. See everyone next week enjoy the rest of your Sunday's

 

3.93/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Received as a gift. Bottled 06/09/2015. I like the fact that the bottling date is clearly legible and on the front of the paper label so it won't rub off. Thank you, Schlafly! Poured a medium golden color into my Anchor shaker with a single finger of short lived snappy foam. Hardly any lace to speak of. Aromas of lemon/lime and grape, light bread, and grassy floral hops are all in there. Flavor backs that up with the addition of some mild snappy bittering hops. The light body and sparkling carbonation are just what I want in a beer of this style. Overall, this is winner. Perfect Summer beer for me. Probably the best of the style I've come across to date. There is a reason why they won a gold medal for the style in the World Beer Cup.

Be good people. Drink good beer.
DelMontiac

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @utopiajane for getting us started off today, and congratulations on your recent Poobah promotion! Not much going on here, just more work related projects, but the MI homebrew festival is this coming weekend. I didn't enter the competition this year, but I will definitely enter the barleywine I just bottled next year. I am going to be starting up some batches of melomel meads soon too, so I may be entering in those, if they turn out to my satisfaction. The hydromel I just kegged sure did. I also have another keg to brew to finally complete my kegerator to capacity. I'll throw a recipe together in the next week for that.

Here are today's new beers:

This is a collaboration with Victory. This was really damn nice! A slight touch on the roasted side for the style, but not out of line. Aromas and flavors of big chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, toast, dark bread, nuttiness, cherry, plum, and light herbal hops. A very minimal amount of herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish; with zero cloying sweetness at all. Medium-full bodied with a nice bready and creamy mouthfeel. A nice big amount of munich malt robustness going on as expected; with the cherry juice being more of a restrained addition to add the subtle dark fruit notes commonly present in most doppelbocks. Unbelievably clean lagering, I get absolutely zero suggestions of yeast notes in this. Victory used their house lager yeast and Vivant used MI cherry juice to make it. Just all around great stuff, no complaints. 4


Really great stuff overall. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, toffee, toast, brown sugar, brown bread, raisin, plum, fig, pear, vanilla, coconut, bourbon, oak, and light nutty/chocolate notes. Minimal whiskey/oak spice bitterness on the finish; with great balance between the dark malt and bourbon barrel flavors. Lightly carbonated with a medium-full body; with a nice creamy/silky and lightly slick mouthfeel. Smooth sipping for the ABV; warming finish but not boozy. Very impressive. Feels spot on to style for an (imperial) brown ale with great balanced barrel complexity. Delicious. My feeling between this and Palo Santo are pretty much the same; but this one seems more in line with my expectations for a brown ale flavor profile. Palo Santo is deeper/darker in malt flavors while still not being too roasty to fall out of line for a brown ale. 4.1


I had the other Van Steenberge Augustijn beers a while ago, but never seen the Donker until about 2 weeks ago randomly at my weekly go-to store. Maybe I was just blindly never looking for it haha. Really delicious dubbel all around. Head retention was solid, a bit lacking, but a thin cap sticks around with a nice amount streaming carbonation. Aromas and flavors of big bright raisin, plum, fig, pear, and apple yeast fruits; with balanced caramel, brown sugar, toast, and lightly nutty malt flavors. Nice peppery yeast spice on the finish. Great malt between malt and yeast flavors; medium-high carbonation with a crisp finish with a touch of slickness in the mouthfeel. Really delicious stuff. No bottle dating, but the reduced head retention vs the level of carbonation; AND the appearance of yeast hazing sticking on the bottle sides tells me this is at least 3 years old. Held up really damn well. 4


Cheers, have a good night NBS!

New BDM leaked today. A bit better than Everblack as a whole; still not as good as Ritual, Deflorate, or Nocturnal.