New Beer Sunday (week 551)

@Bitterbill and @lordofthewiens


Oh don't pay too much attention yet you two! . . . wait for the day

 

my wife and I will be in paris for the 2nd time , three weeks from now, and so, I thought some French toast was in order, and I paired it with a local beer that they brewewd again after a three year hiatus,the beer poured out like dark pure maple syrup with a burnt butter head, I cought some expresso scent , and this beer is not as sweet as I thought, expresso taste on the tongue for sure, liked the fact that it is not overly sweet tho,also got a licorice waft as well, finishes dry slight tang aftertaste, this will do pig! I would say to try this unless you are looking for a sweeter porter, be back later enjoy!

 

Nicely done! Look for a spike in Speedway Stout sales.

 

Hey pinkie , I do have a new beer for today. A 7.6%abv Schwarzbier from Grand Teton. Hold on to your seat belt...

 

Alright my friends I have returned, and here we go.
Today's new beer for me is from a local brewery here in CT. Stony Creek this is Crum their fall seasonal Apple cinnamon oatmeal amber ale , whew. Gotta say I've tried their 3 IPAs and they were decent so I figure I'd give this a shot
Look: for an amber ale the color is spot on(I know the pic looks dark) nice hue of orangey brown
Smell: like moms Apple pie. Get a lot of Apple up front but not in an infected wAy, followed up by slight cinnamon
Taste: not a hit, but not a miss either according to them they used Apple cider/ cinnamon for flavor and that's what I et. Not much in the way of beer here, but it's 6.2%. Taste like liquid pie in a bottle i won't grab another six but I will put all these down today (I'm feeling kinda fall like today). I'll try an get back after the game until then CHeeRs to all Happy Sunday

 

Good morning friends,
Wow, what a beautiful morning! After days of muggy raininess and sweatiness, it's 55 degrees, with no humidity to speak of. We're just back from our first walk and the woods are packed with good weather walkers...with dogs everywhere. On these days we take alternate, less traveled routes, and sometimes start new trails. This is perfect weather.
Yesterday, we went to the National Folk Festival in downtown Greensboro and saw Rhiannon Giddens playing old time African American fiddle and banjo tunes. It was awesome, with a huge crowd- she's from Greensboro- and everyone was truly mesmerized. We also saw The Dardenelles from Newfoundland playing a mix of English, Scottish, Irish, and French traditional songs. Go see these guys when you have a chance! Also, Mavis Staples, The Pine Leaf Boys, Los Tres Reyes, and many more. 300 artists and a downtown lit up with excitement. The festival will be here for 2 more years and I highly recommend coming and enjoying the beautiful set-up. Mark your calendar.
Today's beer is Maisel's Weisse Kristall. I've been wanting to try this one for years, so here goes. A beautiful yellow/gold clarity with a huge meringue/frothy head. Very active carbonation keeps this beer alive and fresh. It has a typical clove/banana nose and flavors and is very pretty in the glass. It drinks like a lager, tastes like a wheat beer, is thirst quenching, and I'll buy it again and recommend it to anyone and all.

The entire National Folk Festival here is amazing, but these guys had everyone moving and smiling, young and old, and they were really having a good time. Cheers all and have a great Sunday. Go Panthers!

 

4.23/5 rDev +20.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Bison Organic Chocolate Stout has a thick, beige head, a very dark brown (almost black) appearance, with heavy lacing left behind. The aroma is of dark coffee, cream, bitter chocolate, and rich, dark-roasted malt. Taste is of acidic, strong coffee, chicory, cream, bitter chocolate nibs, and dark malt. Mouthfeel is high medium, and Bison Organic Chocolate Stout finishes semi-wet and drinkable.

RJT

 

Hey what's going on?!

Well back for another NBS, and managed a good week off down at the beach in Rehoboth. Excellent times, good beers, Dogfish Head brewery tour as the rain came down and I could finally fit that in for once, lots of goodness.

I am back now and taking it easy, but also thinking of getting back to knocking some of the other home goodies.

I did have a NBS last week but had no time to talk about it as I was in beach mode...

However, I can talk about this one right now, as I settle in, take it easy.. and just lounge for the day.

So what's new for our hero today?

Mosaic Saison - Anchorage Brewing Company


Anchorage Brewing Company - Mosaic Saison with Brettanomyces by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass. Good solid pop off the cork nothing small or to big.

Solid and opaque, but still a good bit of clarity for the body color. Nice rising middle carbonation, just roaring up there through a green and yellow gold body, orb glowing like a soft light-bulb. Head manages only two fingers, but rocks with soapy retention, and clumps of thick bubbles and bath foam. Settles to a very large bowled creamy puck, off white, and thick bubbled fine collar. Great looking saison.

Wonderful nose. Classic pineapple mosaic aroma for me, and matching pepper like flavors of brett. Moderate heat, sweet tropical flavor all over. Hints with great bouncing characters to pick up on, earthiness, mild pine bitters, fruit tropics, dry spiced pepper, all melding with neither one of them dominating on the aroma. Could just nose this all day.

Palate packs a bunch though. While the aroma is complex the palate is more straightforward, and more in line with a speeding race car. Huge brett notes and big dryness. Finishes almost metallic slightly but luckily doesn't get out of complete control. Lively carbonation, fostered with some dense malt feeling, very supportive of the flavors. After some calming and time, more of the classic pineapple notes peak out, almost juicy but not quite. Even a bit of powdered sucrose sort of gets noticeable in a strange odd way.

Overall really good, but it's a classic Anchorage Brett forward brew, and taking some of the other properties of the beer for granted and leaving them in the dust.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA score: 4.21

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Nice to mix it up on styles for a change, but will be going back to basics fairly shortly!

Cheers!

 

I fixed the music. Dardenelles.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/413/78033/?ba=Bitterbill

C&Ps out of the way....G'day to the NBS faithful!!

I had a blast at the 1st annual Brewers' Cup yesterday in Casper. Lots of great beers poured, lots of friends to talk aboot beer, bet a few bucks on the ponies. I didn't win with the races but I certainly won drinking beer.

Enjoy your Sunday and I "may" be back with another new brew. A Petrus...Cheers!

 

New Beer #2 today ... Santa Fe Oktoberfest. I immediately love the can design, classic Okto-style and also very simple. Will the beer be the same?

This is my second can of this. The first one didn't go so well a few hours ago. I'm hoping my palate was just "off" or something. Let's see how this one goes:

I poured this into my Great Divide cervoise glass instead of a dimpled mug like the last can earlier this morning. The beer is a classic looking marzen -- a nice muted copper tone with a light cream colored head. The head recedes leaving a collar of foam and a light wisp on top. Very light spotty lacing. As I stick my nose in the glass, I get an aroma of lightly toasted bread, subtle spiciness from the hops, and a very strange tomato soup kind of aroma. It really does smell like Campbell's tomato soup to me. I was hoping I was delusional this morning. Perhaps I still am. The taste, unfortunately does not redeem my confidence. First of all, I hardly ever think about mouthfeel before the taste, but I cannot help but notice how sharp and carbonated this beer is. It goes down really harsh. Everything on the tongue is muted by an electric, astringent tomato soup sourness. I'm trying really hard to search for warm, sweet caramel maltiness and toasted grains but it's fleeting, if present at all. Needless to say, the finish is watery and somewhat sour.

Overall: I'm shocked at this one. I have a soft spot in my beer brain for Santa Fe, they make really good beer. I'm missing the point on this one though, and I refuse to believe there's anything wrong with the beer, there's no way it can be a freshness issue. As the beer warms, a lot more spiciness comes out -- and I'm actually optimistic about that, there are some really good Oktos out there with a spicy element (Left Hand's Oktoberfest comes to mind). I still have 4 cans left, so I'll see if this beer is just a great con artist, or if it truly is one of the most disappointing marzens I have tried. For what it's worth, my rating is 2.77 for a -22.8 rDev. Live and learn, as sadistic as this sounds, I still enjoy the journey and element of discovery in new beers even if it doesn't go as planned.

I take the good with the bad. I also disliked Boulevard's Funky Pumpkin. I'm having a bit of a confidence problem right now with my reviews. Maybe that month-long sabbatical into cheap Mexican lagers hurt me more than I realized ....

 

Good morning NBS, and thanks @cavedave for getting us focused today. The
fall season doorway has opened here in WMass, the apple trees are hung low,
burdened with bounty, the corn maze next to us opened to rave reviews, and Chilifest is this weekend.
All things hot on the menu, over there.
We are readying for some travel later this week, as we celebrate 25 years together. Going into the Bay area and Yosemite.
Today's offering is from Brasserie de Blaugies, I have had several of their fine beers and today's is just wonderful.
A wonderfully rich and full farmhouse ale, amber in color and well carbonated and what great water profile.
Cheers all
La Moneuse

Brasserie de Blaugies
Saison / Farmhouse Ale / 8.00% ABV

4.06/5 rDev -1% | Avg: 4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from (green) bottle with no date, into a modified tulip glass.
A - Caramel, and copper colored, explosive carbonation feeds relentlessly to a cumulus
sized cap, No lacing can escape that pile of froth.
S - Earthy nose, old grass clippings, melon rime, musky fruit dominate the nose. I find his part the best
aspect. As the beer warms, the richer aromatic experience.
T - A strong grain bill, maltiness, and farmhouse for sure, bits of orange peel, and sourdough all make for
quite a full palate.
F - Medium in body, the start is sweet, running over the palate, and rolling the tongues edges. The "sour"
parts are muted but pleasant. The carbonation keeps everything clean, leaving a wonderful coating of
slightly sour candied fruit favors.
O - A real pleasure here, the offering is rich in texture, well carbonated, runs that Belgian Farmhouse definition quite well. A wonderful offering.
Cheers

 

Hello, and Happy New Doppelbocks Sunday!

Today I'm trying Korbinian from the traditional beer geniuses at Weihenstephaner.

This pours a dark brown into a snifter, dark brown with a ruby-ish tint. Very pretty. One finger of cola-colored head. Malt and burnt sugar on the nose. Tastes of caramel, molasses, dark fruit - prunes, figs, raisins?

Like most people, my point of reference for a doppel is Ayinger Celebrator. Korbinian is different - a bit lighter mouthfeel than Celebrator, despite having a higher ABV, with more an emphasis on dark fruit. I think of Celebrator as almost interchangeable with a heavy stout, whereas Korbinian leans more in the direction of a quad, minus the tang of Belgian yeast. Different, but no less delicious in my view. Korbinian is an excellent beer, like everything from Weihenstephaner.

Cheers!

 

This is my first NBS post and my first review ever so take that into account. This beer is my first in this style as well.

3.94/5 rDev 0% | Avg: 3.94
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L- a beautiful clear light gold as it should be.
S- Muted, biscuity, and clean as it should be.
T- Crisp and clean. Very low bitterness. Like a Pilsener with less bitterness.
F- Light with medium high carbonation. The kind of beer you could drink and keep drinking.
O- This is my first experience with this style. I like it a lot and this beer is a excellent introduction.

I'd definitely recommend this beer if you haven't had this style previously. I wish I had more of it as I watch week 1.

 

Happy NBS! Nice to see so many posts on this young Sunday. I am on vacation for the next week while my parents are in town. I truly enjoy when I can just slow life down and relax. Spent some time yesterday at an old family friends house, "Tomato Fest" had great food, beer, and yes tomatoes. My summer has been dominated by the Saison style, and I am having another today.

This Boulevard Saison-Brett is a vintage 2014.

A - Pretty light cloudy golden straw yellow with a sea foam white 3 finger head created on a very gentle pour. Took me about 20 minutes and 3 pours to get half of my glass full. Retention is very nice and there is plenty of thick webbed lacing..

S - A nice tart funk with yeast, grass, and some floral hops and herbs. More citrusy scents and some spice mixed in as well. Brett has really added to the aroma.

T - A slight tartness along with sweetness. A nice citrus, lemon and floral hops with a wet straw/grass funk. Good amount of yeast, wheat, and some light spice to finish it off.

M - Light bodied with nice carbonation. Dry and clean with an easy drinking quality.

O - Enjoyed this Saison. Those who also like it should check out Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bier which is a favorite of mine.

 

Say what?

 

Wow a solid contingent of early morning imbibers this fine Sunday!
Autumn seems to have decided that it truly is September here in the Emerald City NOT founded by Baum. I leave for work last night and it's sunny and in the 80s, and I get home this morning and it's 63 and drizzling. As odd as it may sound, but I love it. This is home. Overcast, mildly socked in... it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Not quite as exciting as a good cleansing downpour, but akin to an old worn out blanket that's been in your living room as long as you can remember. Football starts back up this afternoon (blah blah blah the season kicked off on Thursday blah blah), the Mariners are irrelevant, and pumpkin beers are all over the shelves (and -- spoiler alert -- the myriad of fresh hop beers are currently being concocted... I await with slavering chops...)
I figured I would pay homage to this season by dipping into one of said gorgeous-gourd inspired brews.
Instead of the Life on Mars IPA (I love the label, and I am mildly obsessed with the associated tshirt. I bought one for my sister's long term boyfriend [who is actually the engineer who DRIVES Opportunity]. They are both big fans of better beer as well, and he's done some homebrewing as well. Suffice to say he's a cool dude, and I definitely approve of her choice in partners...)

Well, all that aside...
Did you know that Alaska is incredibly gorgeous? It is. Went up there for the first time in my life last weekend for a wedding. Homer. Cool spot. If only the weather had cooperated a little more we could have had some outstanding views. As it was we had to settle for good company and incredible food and a sense of camaraderie that linked the denizens of two towns thousands of miles apart with an incredibly similar sense of how to throw a good shindig. The Lopezian continent seemed to be of a consensus that it reminded them of a good old fashioned Lopez potluck party, while the Homer locals marveled at how all these Lopezians seemed to slide right into Homer celebrations like a foot into a reliable old pair of XtraTufs. Both were meant as remarkable compliments.

(can you spot the glacier just under the sun? It blends with the snowcaps and clouds...)

But the beer. I'm not reviewing any of the AK locals I picked up. I'm reviewing Reuben's Pumpkin Junction, because of the first paragraph above. Fall and that. Really less of a pumpkin beer as it is a really solid coffee porter that uses the creaminess pumpkin provides to mellow and smoothe the wrinkles out of an already solid beverage. Pumpkin doesn't really assert its flavour leaving that to smoothe roasty coffee bakers chocolate, and a slightly hoppy finish; rather satisfying itself to contribute to that smootheness and balace the bittering brought forth by the coffee and the hops and even the subtle baking chocolate. Augmenting the sweeter side, giving hints of spice and vanilla. That's my impression anyway.


Last but certainly not least, I want to give a shoutout to @musicman7070 who came all the way out from NJ with his brother on his sister's behalf, and with whom I met up on Friday night. Welcome to Seattle, man. Sorry Fremont didn't live up to the expectations (and, per my opinion, their potential), but glad the rest of it looks like it's offering enjoyable beverages and experiences and glad we were able to share a couple of beers and some good convo (and chicken and waffle...)!


Good god I really am incapable of being brief: this was supposed to be a short entry. My apologies to anyone who stuck it out this long...

 

Hello, fellow NBS-ers! It's nice to back here with ya'll after missing out last week due to technical difficulties. It's a brilliantly cool, windy day here in NOVA - the GF & I have been making the most of our morning by taking care of numerous errands while enjoying the fine weather. It really looks/feels like Autumn here today :-)
I'd hoped to get one brew posted here prior to watching my beloved 'Skins get murdered by Miami, so I'm glad to be successful in said task. Also, I've been greatly enjoying reading today's new brew reviews thus far - it's always a great pleasure to be here & to add my modest contributions. So, without further ado, I give you:

Three Notch'd 10* Farmers Harvest Pale Ale

First, from the label:
Our 2nd annual 10* Farmers Harvest Pale Ale holds a special place with Three Notch’d. It represents our commitment to Virginia hop farmers and celebrates our company’s first ever bottle release in 2014. Why the asterisk, you ask? As the number of hop farms increase in Virginia, we wanted our pale ale to grow with them, and this year we had 13 different growers take part in this special wet-hopped brew. Our farmers have really left their mark with this crisp, refreshing HPA, leaving you with a unique citrus and floral profile from the almost 400 lbs. of locally grown Virginia Cascade hops. Please enjoy this beer fresh and check back each year for 10* Farmers Pale Ale at harvest time. Our warmest thanks to the 13 contributors:

Mad Hops, Misty Trail Hop Yard, Whipple Creek Farms, Charlottesville Hops, LLC, Homegrown Hopyards, Maple Spring Farm, Huguenot Hops, Split Rail Hop Farms, Grassmere Farms, Fort Filep Hopyard, Green Diamond Hopyard, Running Cedar Farm, Oakland Graze Hop Farm

Second, some BA stuff:

A: 3.75, S: 3.75, T: 4.25, M: 4, O: 4, BA Says: 4.03

My official review:

22oz bomber into my Duvel tulip.

A: Pours a dull, clear gold/copper with 1" thick white head that dissipates somewhat quickly. Retention is above-average, lacing is rather poor. Nothing special, but something about it definitely says 'drink me!'

S: Bright citrus & lemongrass aromas seem to dominate the nose. I get a nice, mild, bready malt character underneath that brings just a touch of sweetness to counterbalance the strong lemon scents. It's quite simple, but really an enjoyable whiff.

T: A logical progression from the nose. Up front I'm getting lemon rind, lemon pepper, black pepper & a pleasant herbal grassiness. Mid palate provides an exceptional balance between an increasing bitter hop character & the more mild bread-dough malt character. They play very well against each other & provide a nice lead-in toward the much more hop-driven finish. This brew closes with a big burst of bittering hops & a lingering lemon peel quality. The flavors here evolve logically & balance each other out quite well. This is an impressive-tasting APA, especially given the modest ABV.

M: Moderate-to-just-slightly-highish carb married to a somewhat light, crisp, clean body. I'd have expected something more dense & slick, yet it manages to be very delicate. Finishes bright & dry.

O: This Pale was clearly brewed very thoughtfully & with a clear-cut idea as to what it was meant to be. I'm impressed by the level of focus that went into this brew - there's really nothing outside of 'box' here, the malt frames the citrusy hops very well & nothing is out of place. I'm also loving the fact that the impressive bitterness works WITH the flavors rather than against them. I like this quite a bit.

So, all-in-all this one has proven to be quite a success! The very concise flavors & impressive bitterness really help this brew to shine, I really hope that I'll be able to pick up a few more in the future. On a local note, I'd like to add that this is really one of the very best VA APAs that I've tasted.

Sidebar: @cjgiant - deepest apologies for hexing your Cavs yesterday

Anyhow, I hope to make it back here with at least one more new brew today at some point, so hopefully I'll see ya'll later.
'Til then - I wish you all good beer & good cheer!

 

Welcome to NBS! Great review!