New Beer Sunday (week 548)

Haha that's my front yard.

 

What's happening NBS players? Grey and slightly wet here on the island today. No beach today and I really ended up not doing much at all which is just fine.

My new beer is my final offering from the nbs bif #2 thanks to of course @rgordon . I would say that my favorite was easily the Jade ipa from foothills but it was fun trying all the new stuff. Count me in for #3 if it happens. The beer is Amorous, a dry hopped sour, from Wicked Weed.

Bottled 2/13/15, the pour yields a golden amber hue with a steady head. The nose gives plenty of funky tones and fruit. I'm getting bananas and spice. A clean start on the drinking with just a bomb of sour and funk on the finish. Very dry but not as hoppy as I thought it would be. The fruity feel and flavors continue too although it seems to be more citrus on the palate. Tones of lemon and orange. But at last the sour is just too much for me. It really reminds me of spoiled lemon aid with just a sort of rancid feel to it.

Overall, I respect the 90 ba score but the style just isn't fit for me. I won't bother with a score as I'm doubtful of even finishing the beer.

 

Well Hello NBS Friends and (almost) Family (in some cases)...
Greetings from the bottom left corner of the United States.
Thanks to Maria for the start of our day. I am working right now, thus not imbibing yet. But I have a question for my NBS friends who live far from me: Is there any of you who would like to chat with me about sharing my Bruery Hoarder's Society membership? Details would have to be hashed out, but I can't keep it going, and I don't wanna lose my place for future years. I worked out a mutually beneficial arrangement for this year, sharing with a BA in NY. PM me if interested.

Sorry for interrupting the NBS talk for this, but this is the group of people who I like best on BA, and thought this would be a great place to start.

 

Wow! Pipeworks in a can. I heard it was coming...so beautiful.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @utopiajane for starting us off today,

Before I go any further I want to give a shout-out to all the men and women manning the fire lines and in the tankers fighting the wildfires here in Washington and elsewhere, and to the people supporting them. It’s truly been unreal this summer.

Right now it’s about 80 degrees and incredibly smoky, almost on par with Friday, when the smoke from all the damn wildfires was so choking the air quality was rated positively Unhealthy, to the point that the local minor league baseball game scheduled to take place was scrubbed about an hour before first pitch due to concerns about athletes having to run in that crap. As a history geek I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to live through the Industrial Revolution. I think I’m a little closer to knowing.

Got a late New Beer Start (or any beer for that matter) today, as I was called into work early this AM by a panicked supervisor. There wasn’t actually much to do, but if anything went wrong there was practically no one to deal with it so I spent most of my shift reading and wound up finishing off The Martian by Andy Weir. Great read, kind of like Apollo 13 meets Robinson Crusoe. The movie version will be coming out in about 2 months and I’m stoked to see what they do with it.

In new beer news from earlier in the week, I realized while beer shopping the other day I’d never had Tusker (I think I got it mixed up with Carlsborg’s Elephant Beer), so I knocked Kenya off the list of countries I hadn’t had a beer from, and put Tusker onto the list of beers I never need to have again: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/822/2563/?ba=woemad

I did manage to stop by Spokane Valley’s Twelve String Brewing Company and had a pretty good “experimental” IPA called Sound Check that was brewed with a fairly normal PNW IPA hop bill, but with added hop oils that made it a tad more aggressively hoppy than you’d otherwise expect. I didn’t do a review as I was just passing by while running errands, but I think I’ll get a growler of it sometime next week after work.

Today’s first new beer of the day is an IPA from a Seattle brewery I don’t drink beers from too often, not because I don’t like them but because there’s just too many other great beers to drink, and SE doesn't really have the same appeal to me as, say, Fremont or some of my more local options. Nevertheless, it’s a well-made, eminently drinkable “traditional” PNW IPA: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19764/67425/?ba=woemad

While it’s not something worth running over children and old ladies to obtain, it’s proving a good, solid 6-pk choice.

I might be back with another beer later, but I’m not sure, and I may be skipping next week’s NBS as I might be going out of town, so just in case, have a great week (or two)!

 

I think you'll want to try the Calvados next and I'd not suggest the Lagavulin, even if you may be a fan of single malts. Loved the first and could barely finish the second.

 

And.... time for another brew!

Jabby Brau - Jack's Abby Brewing


Jack's Abby Brewing - Jabby Brau Session Lager by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a pilsner style glass.

Deep orange amber, to pale golden yellow body color. Real dark and impressive for a classic lager, with some mild amounts of carbonation, and a good simple two finger creamy head. Bit of staying power there as well, as it slowly settles to one finger.

Real big caramel sweetness, but with a clean aroma. Mild grains and a bit of light brown sugar quality to go with it. Not big on the hop angle, if very indistinct. Some mild clean grapefruit perhaps kicking out.

Palate is quite nice and simple. Clean caramel, almost bock like but considerably lighter in flavor and feel. Almost chewy body, but with lighter abv seems to come much easier drinking, but not wet or washed out which is a good feeling. Muted hop quality, but definitely more going for the malt angle which is done real nicely.

Reminds me of a sessionable lighter version of a bock, real solid brew.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | Hamsters in the wheel score : 4.13

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Cheers!

 

Dave is quite the BA celebrity, but...Is that him in the label art?

 

CLASSIC POST!!! Thanks for making me laugh Jim.

 

This weekend was one of those that makes you realize what this is all about. Celebrated my husband's birthday yesterday with some great friends, great brisket, and some birthday surprise great beer that I was lucky enough to get to share a taste of.
Today's new beer is Green is for G by Other Half. My first reaction was literally holy God. The smell itself is honestly enough. It's, well intoxicating sounds ridiculous, but how about all encompassing? They should make candles that smell like this stuff. This is a huge delicious triple ipa that you could frighteningly drink all day. Massive resin taste. Fantastic. This is everything an ipa drinker looks for to the nth degree. Phenomenal. Hoping to be back with another today that I see has already been mentioned, Moon Reaper by Demented. For now savoring the rest of this and some leftovers. Picture attempt included.

 

New Doppelbock Sunday!

Today was the usual fun at the workplace..boring.. Yet today was enjoyable not as humid as it has been..thank you Weather! It was good enough weather to cut the grass today. Enough of that jazz, let's get down to the New Brew!



This is courtesy of @JayWhitson Dank You Jay!

Getting back to the brew! The pour is looking accordingly to Style. Nice dark Amber body pushing the lead toward deep Ruby hues. Small khaki Head crowned this gorgeous looking brew. The head dissolved rather quickly leaving a khaki ring around the glass. Looks pretty Good!

Smelling this treat will be an honor! The fumes from this is very pleasant, Caramel Sweetness that's wrapped with Wild Cherries. There's notes of Dried Figs and mild hints of English Toffee. Very warm and inviting.

What will the flavor tell us? First hits with a mix of English Toffeel and Chocolate...like a Heath Bar! Mid palate picks up some Licorice and Dried Fruits. Toasted Cereal grains makes this feel hearty. This finishes semi clean with a subtle bitterness that cuts some of the sweetness. Lingering flavored of Chocolate, Toffee and Toasted Cereal in the aftertaste. The feel is Medium light body carbonation isn't as lively as expected.

Overall: This is a Solid Doppelbock. A little on the sweeter side of the spectrum for the style, yet it isn't cloying. The beer's flavor has a rich chocolate note and I love Chocolate so that is to my liking. I'd wish for more of that toasted Cereal flavor that was just a touch to let you know it was there. The Carbonation seems unenthusiastic like it was just there to let you know it was a beer. I was expecting Lively Carb that would make the flavors Explode and help the palate to explore what the brew was talking about. Yet in the end I would Drink again. This brew is Worthy!

Grade: B+

Cheers my fellow New Beer Sunday Crew!

 

Good evening NBS crew, hope everyone has had a relaxing day. It's been a fairly busy day for me between grocery shopping and getting myself prepared for the trails that Monday morning will be bringing me. I turned 27 last week and I am going back to school tomorrow for the first time since graduation high school. Yes, 8.5 years in the Army put a hold on my education but I am finally done and ready to start college.

I've got a nice dinner simmering away right now (from scratch chili):




And I am finishing off a delicious pre-dinner beer right this minute. It's a new one to me as far as variants go, but I am very familiar with the base beer and have LOVED every single one.





4.63/5 rDev +4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

A: Pours a rich and dark shade of deep brown that appears virtually black in the glass. Leaves a full, voluminous, pillowy dark khaki head and stacks of thick creamy lacing.
S: Toasted coconut and charred oak dominate the aroma with hint of milk chocolate, Bourbon, and roasted barley.
T: Rich chocolate, vanilla, creamy coconut milk, toasted oak/char/Bourbon, leather, and molasses. Framinhammer shines as the base with just enough nuttiness and rich coconut to give it an extra bit of depth and complexity.
M: Creamy and smooth, carbonation is medium, body is full but not quiet chewy. It has some sweet viscosity that coats the palate.
O: Another shining example of what a BA Baltic Porter can be. JA has done it yet again, taking a fantastic base and making it even better without reinventing the wheel.

 

Hello all. Trying this BBA Arrogant Bastard. Cheers.

And here be the review:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/142974/?ba=cindyjeffsmith
Full disclosure and if I'm breaking NBS rules I throw myself on the mercy of the court and won't do it again. This is the my first 6'er but had a couple of bottles prior to this review.

 

Thank you for your service & good luck going back to school!

 

While I'm still working, (lesson plans seem to come together more smoothly when I can have a beer while making them), I decided I need to hydrate.

It's hot here in SoCal. Mercury says 86, but it feels hotter. A bit muggy too. But on to the hydration:

Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest
As many of you know, this is a collaboration with Brauhaus Riegele im Augsburg, Germany.

I'm liking this one. Pours a clean brassy hue with a lite white head that bubbles up an inch or so, but quickly fades to a thin white lace. Smells of slight caramel malt and a hint of bread. Liter on the sweet than many fest biers. Taste is slightly sweet caramel notes with a lite breadiness and nutty character that peeks through on the finish. As I wait after the swallow a nice aftertaste comes through, nutty, bready, and a hint earthy. Is that a slight banana bread note mixed with an ever so light...ever so slight hint of rye. I'm not sure. But it's quite good. My wife, being a fan of Marzens, likes this one a lot. Yes, she tried it before me. And now she wants to do a blind taste test between Spaten, Sam Adam's and this one. I'm sure it we'll be really scientific. But, if she tries all 3, at least her husband becomes more handsome.

 

I'm getting ready to slay some of these now Homie!

 

New Belgian Strong Ale

After a few weeks off, it's good to be back.

It's a weird weather day in West MI. Heavy showers have given way to slightly overcast skies and temps in the low 70s.

After a visit from friends, the family went to a movie to avoid the soggy conditions outside (and a sense of cabin fever that can set in). Now we're back and it's time for a new beer. Today's entry in a real winner.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/321/1836/?ba=GRPunk

33 cl bottle from Copper Vine ($4.39 Fathers' Day present) best by 12 2016. Poured into a Duvel tulip.

A- A liberal pour creates 1-1/2 fingers of pillowy, off-white head atop the clean, golden body. There's plenty of carbonation rushing from the nucleation site to the surface. The head settles to a fully covering foam that leaves nice rings on the glass. My wife liked the logo as it reminded her of a recent family trip to Disney World.

S- Bold and complex. Right off the bat I get a combination of Belgian funk in the form of bubblegum mixing with lemon and husky grains. Somewhat reminiscent of a Hefeweizen. Hints of black pepper later on.

T- Oh that's nice. More of the lemon and funk mentioned in the aroma. The malts are sweet and grainy, like a sweetened cereal or cream of wheat. Maybe even hints of creamed corn? The alcohol is well hidden and comes off as sweet more than anything else. The finish is relatively clean, especially given some of the sweeter qualities, with spicy hops finishing it all off.

M- Creamy and full bodied. A light, alcohol warmth is quite smooth on the way down. Hops in the finish provide a nice bite.

O- A really tasty Belgian ale. The sweetness and citrus is a bit of a departure from the flavor profile I'd expect from the style, but really good. I could definitely enjoy a second bottle in a sitting. Not the cheapest beer, but something I'd buy again.

 

Let the carnage begin..."Kill 'em all, and let God sort 'em out."