New Beer Sunday (week 554)

Was wondering about this thread. Getting started a lot later than usual.

 

Happy Sunday NBS crew!

This Sunday’s new beer is Singlecut’s Bon Bon TNT 2xIPA. Unwieldy name which I assume is perhaps an AC/DC Bon Scott reference? To me it will just be Singlecut’s “other” DIPA. I have greatly enjoyed their Billy Full Stack so excited to try this one.

L: Bright bright orange with a minimal head. This beer just looks citrusy. One of the more appealing looking IPA’s in the glass I have encountered. Right up there with MBC Lunch as far as “look” goes.

S: Intense tropical fruit right off the bat. Peppery.

T/A: Citrus: lemon and grapefruit. Initial taste matches the aroma. Pine as well. There is a grapefruit peel aftertaste that is moderately bitter. That’s good. But there is also a dry bite at the tail end that isn’t altogether unpleasant but does take away from the taste as a whole. A hint of alcohol but doesn’t taste 8%. Taste just fizzles out in the tail end.

O: The look, smell and initial taste teased of a superlative beer but that aftertaste hit a bit hard and taste was slightly imbalanced. I like DIPA’s that aren’t syrupy and this fits the bill. This 16 oz’er follows the Maine Brewing Co pricing method so $7.99/$8.99 isn’t going to cut it on a regular basis. I’ll likely get suckered in on occasion like I do with Lunch.

Rating worked out to a 4.29, which is still pretty excellent in my book. I probably focused too much on the aftertaste/feel and this is a certainly an excellent beer and it’s slight flaw isn’t a real deterrent. I’ll grab this again.

 

New Pumpkin Coffee Beer Sunday!

Thank you @smakawhat for taking time out of his Sunday routine to get us started on this Overcast Sunday. It's unusual for me to have a Sunday off, but I'm going to try and make it to the Apple Festival. So the new brew for today is this tasty little beer.



Lil review:

Been wanting to try this brew out for a few years, so I'm excited to finally bang this beer. Let's give it a whirl! This brew pours dense dark brown body with a slightly off white head. Looks pretty and intriguing in my wine glass.

I'm going in for a Whiff! This is pretty outstanding on the aroma. Spices flourish while leaving a scrumptious chocolate malt richness hanging in the balance. Coffee molests the nostrils as well, adding another dimension of nutty greatness. This is a great Morning Time beverage....hey I'm not against morning beer drinking.

FLAVA FLAV! This hits the palate with nutmeg, but cinnamon is not too far behind. Chocolate and slight coffee flows with a rich undertow that doesn't leave you with just a spice bomb of a beer. There's nutty and fruity flavors in the background, just enough to make itself known. This finishes slightly chalky with a dryness that provokes another sip. Lingering chocolate and honey graham flavors in the aftertaste. The feel on this light with average carbonation.

Overall: This is a tasty beverage that if given the chance I'd bang it again. The Nose on this beer is so rich for a modest ale. This is balanced and enjoyable in the flavor department and it makes sense. The mouthfeel seems a bit boring for me. Light body with just hanging around carbonation doesn't really accent very well with what the brew has to offer. Other than that, this is an Outstanding beer. This Brew is Recommended!

Grade: A-

Cheers my fellow New Beer Sunday crew!

 

New silver medal winner at GABF 2014 Pumpkin beer Sunday

Greetings NBSer's,
And thanks to @smakawhat for getting us going and being a more than able leader for NBS. I'd disagree with @onovomexicano that this is a later start than usual. I'd say we've been starting unusually early the last few weeks. It wasn't too long ago this didn't get going until 11 CST. But those are bygone days.
Autumn is kicking in here in SCMN with cool temps but clear skies. Getting some wood burning done as I clear out some buckthorn from my little lot.
Since I found out a local beer did well at GABF I may spend a couple of weeks tracking down some local or semi-local winners to share on NBS. Today is a tasty little pumpkin lager from Mankato MN. I like the usage of a vienna lager base, which leads it to be a nice easy drinking beer. A little heavy on the spice but a pleasing little grittiness to the feel. Certainly a better than average pumpkin beer. Good for the season.

Busy with grandkid today. I'll check in when I can.
Best to all.

 

It is! It felt wonderful too!

 

Good morning friends,
The heaving skies and falling tree matter are curious indeed. My neighbor has a huge red oak laying across his lawn. This has been quite a spell of inclement weather, but we do need the rain. It is 52 degrees, slightly rainy, wind blowing up to 40 mph. My daughter is in Georgetown, S.C., just north of Charleston and the temp is over 70 degrees. It is raining like hell down there.
On our walk today, I kept a close eye on falling stuff.... we survived, but two more trees have come down and I just want a normal October day.
Today's beer is Samuel Smith Old Brewery Tadcaster Stout. I haven't had this beer in years. It's good, but not like the Young's Oatmeal Stout that I have long cherished. It is a well made beer, roasty, with a sharp acidic note bordering on sour. It's very pretty in the glass, not huge in flavor, but rich, hearty and nice for the day outside! I will drink this beer again, but not buy it often.

Here's some Sunday energy. Martha just starts dancing when she hears these songs. Cheers all.

 

Hello fellow NBS-ers! Big thanks to @smakawhat for doing a great job of getting things going today in the absence of our two usual NBS 'leaders'.
This marks an unusually early contribution from me today - the GF & I have been up for a while, I found myself unable to resist cracking open a new brew any longer. As always, it's a great pleasure to be here - I've enjoyed reading everyone's always-thoughtful reviews thus far & I'm happy to make my meager contribution (hopefully the first of several today ) I'd like to start with this:

Perennial Pineapple Kumquat Berliner Weisse

I'd like to mention - this is another great, semi-minimalist label from them

First, some BA stuff:

A: 4, S: 4, T: 4, M: 3.75, O: 4, BA says: 3.98

My official review:

750ml bottle into my Duvel tulip.

A: Pours an ever-so-slightly hazy straw/gold with about 1 1/2" very foamy white head that recedes slowly at first...& then disappears completely. Retention is above-average for the style, lacing is poor. The exceptional (to style) retention gives this brew something of a unique overall appearance.

S: Somewhat reminiscent of pineapple upside-down cake. I detect honey & brown sugar blending with a cake-like bread aroma. This is tempered by fairly distinct pineapple notes & somewhat more vague citrus qualities. There's a trace of salinity as well. This nose is pretty well-developed & once again: unique.

T: Comes on with a strong acidic citrus & pineapple punch to the palate. Both tartness & salinity increase leading into the mid palate which gradually tempers these notes with an apple/pear-like sweetness & some honey-like flavors. The finish is a bit broad & hollow - this brew fades away into nothing rather than providing a distinct punctuation of any kind. That being said, it's an excellent Berliner - very assertive up front & distinct until the finish.

M: Relatively high carb married to a light, slightly slick body. It's appropriate to style, but nothing special. About the only thing going on here that isn't notably unique.

O: Much like Suburban Beverage, this brew from Perennial is both a boundary-pushing re-definition of a sour beer style & at the same time a solid representation of the very best qualities of said style.

So, safe to say I'm enjoying this one. I used underline on the 'word of the day' for this brew, as it is a truly standout Berliner in many ways. From the look to the nose to the palate, I'm finding things that I wouldn't quite typically expect from this style...yet all these unusual components still fit seamlessly together, marking a brew that is undeniably a Berliner. I'm really rather impressed with this one.

Alright, I'm gonna boogie over to WBAYDN, but I'll catch up with ya'll a bit later!

Wishing you all good beer & good cheer!

 

Good morning New BSers! The partially sunny Sunday morning we started out with is now totally overcast - time to bring the outside turtles in for the winter - after I set up a new habitat for them. Yesterday Mrs Lizard and I attended a wedding and reception for a nephew by marriage - the rain stopped before we got to New Castle and basically held off the rest of the day (Maybe some drizzle). Between the wedding and the reception/dinner was adequate time so my wife insisted that I make a couple of beer stops - picked up some Hopping Frog I haven't had before at Giant Eagle and grabbed a case of Kostritzer at a nearby distributor (Gotta watch out dates there - they don't). At the reception the bar had Sam Adams lager and Miller lite so I drank cheap bar scotch. Oh well. Got to discuss beers with one of my travel agent's sons who works at Appalachian Brewing and Lou Reed with her other son. Overall, one of the more enjoyable weddings I've had to attend.

'Way past my New BS beer but here goes:



Bottle marked something I can’t read – my microfiche reader is down - at 42 degrees into snifter
Aroma of citrus and cedar
Head small (< two cm, aggressive pour), off white, frothy/fizzy, rapidly diminishing to a partial one mm ring and partial layer
Lacing none
Body dark brown, murky, effervescent
Flavor interesting combination of rye spiciness with cedar followed by a light alcohol after-burn; no malt, no hops, no diacetyl
Palate medium, watery, soft carbonation
Appearance 3, Aroma 4, Flavor 4.5, Palate 3.5, Overall 3.75. Rating 4.04, rDev 6.6%

Gotta say that cedar wouldn't be my first choice aging wood. Prior to this the only cedar-aged beer I've had was a first run of Jester King's El Cedro - possibly the oddest beer face I've ever made, although a later run was much toned down and didn't evoke the same dismay and facial contortions - in fact it was pretty good.

In spite of that, this "The Matador, Version 2.0 El Toro Bravo" is a pretty decent brew. Next time I see one, I'll pick it up.

 

You might oughtta see a doctor for that, he can probably give ya some ointment.

 

Hey everyone!

On this NBS, I'm having my 800th beer, and one that I've been eyeing to try for a pretty long time. Here's to 800 more, then 800 more, then 800 more, and so on... thanks to the Beer Advocate community for exposing me to so many of these unbelievable beers. Cheers!


$8.99 single poured into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint. Site says 14% ABV, but my batch is 13%. Looks like the bottle says this was bottled 2/16 -- having it 10/4.

Appearance: Pouring this straight out of the fridge down the middle into my glass, I expected something, but got nothing. Absolutely no head came up at all. At the very end there were a few bubbles that came up and ultimately left a ring around the glass though. The color is a predictable pitch black. It looks "whatever", but... whatever. (3.75/5)

Smell: My first thought is most definitely coffee beans: there is more coffee in the aroma of this beer than some of the self-proclaimed coffee beers out there. The cacao nibs added gives a mocha vibe to the overall smell too, with only a little bit of vanilla bean. I don't smell any chili peppers, but I didn't think I would over all of the coffee that's in this beer. The label says "...aged on coffee, cacao nibs, vanilla beans, and chili peppers", and I would say the potency of each ingredient is in that order. Despite the very high ABV, I don't smell any alcohol, amazingly enough. I get the feeling that it's a high ABV just because of the intensity of the aroma, but BOMB! certainly isn't a booze bomb. This is simply one of the best beers I've ever smelled. It's pretty much perfect. (5/5)

Taste/feel: Most definitely one of the most intense beers I've ever had. Coffee all the way through the sip on this one with the chocolate flavors underlying that. The finish is a very slight chili pepper burn on the tongue and in the back of the throat with a mellow vanilla flavor to contrast it. The slight chili pepper warmth may be mistaken as an alcohol heat by some, but the mild, lingering burn proves otherwise. Maybe I'm just becoming much too immune to the taste of alcohol, but I find that, even at 13%, the alcohol is subtle in the flavor of this beer. Obviously, I can feel it -- BOMB! dries up the tongue immediately after every sip, and my belly immediately feels warm. The feel of this beer is interesting in that I find it goes in thin, but becomes thicker on the tongue. The body could use a little bit of work to add a little "heft" just because I'm finding myself drinking this beer a little too fast for comfort, despite the mild after-burn at the end of each sip. (4.5/5, 4/5)

BOMB! is worth the hype without a doubt. I can see why some people may be turned off by it because of its huge presence of coffee, but I absolutely love it, especially with the accenting ingredients. What I find strange are those who think this beer is too spicy hot... I love spicy food, but I would still call the spice from BOMB! very mild, or mild at worst. BOMB! is a great, extremely rare example of a standard Imperial Stout (along with AleSmith's Speedway Stout) that I'm not so sure could actually be better when aged in a barrel. Other than the "blah" appearance and slightly disappointing mouthfeel (if I can even call the feel disappointing), BOMB! is one of the best Imperial Stouts I've had, and is one that is more than worth seeking out.

4.5/5

4.53/5 (+0.9% rDev)

 

Looks like another beer we agree on the big points - I definitely thought that, despite all the fruit added, there was a solid base beer there. I happened to really like the higher carbonation, I thought it worked with the tart/sour fruit additions quite well.

 

Well put - once you dig past the fruit components, there's definitely...exactly what you said - 'a solid base beer' :-)
I think my rating on the feel might have been influenced a bit by everything else going on. Since so many other components are so stunningly unusual, by the time I got around to really thinking about the feel, I guess it just didn't surprise me in the same way.

 

good afternoon from paris france, it is 5:00 here, and we just got back to the apartment from a jaunt to the Trocadero, where you have the best views of the Eiffel tower, and some lunch. now onto the unknown with this little beauty I found in my favorite wine shop last night. it is brewed in paris.

this ipa pours out murky orange with large tan head that sticks to the sides of the glass 4/5

big citrus smell of orange peel and some grapefruit and a slight funk 3.75/5

grapefruit dominates with a bitter tongue finish.better than I expected. 3.5/5

medium mouthfeel, foamy with a bitter aftertaste, some sweetness in there too 3.25/5

overall better than expected from a country known for wine and champagne. 3.62/5

back later with another unknown

 

This 9:30 AM start for the NY Jets is bad for my liver.
Clown Shoes Balecorn Unidragon Russian Imperial Stout. This brew is a little to hoppy for my taste but very enjoyable. It was bottled on 02/25/15 and the hops haven't died down yet. It's also 12.5 ABV so this bomber better last until the end of the game. That's a 50/50 shot because it is very drinkable.

 

It’s October – Pumpkin Season!

So, I flipped the calendar a few days ago and a lightbulb went off: Pumpkin beer season!!

Unfortunately I have not had a chance to buy any Pumpkin beers yet so what to do, what to do!?!

Then another lightbulb went off: I think I cellared a couple bottles of Pumpkin Porter from last year. Lo and behold: two bottles of Evil Genius Trick or Treat Chocolate Pumpkin Porter in the basement. The front label lists: “Ale brewed with Cocoa, Pumpkin and Spices”. Yeah baby, I am in business!!

A little backstory: Evil Genius is a small brewery with a corporate location of West Grove, PA but they do not have a brewery so their beers are contract brewed. Based upon BA reviews their most popular beer is Purple Monkey Dishwasher; what a name. To their credit they are open with their beer production; the label clearly states: “Brewed and Bottled by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company, Bloomfield Connecticut. I am a BIG non-fan of breweries that obfuscate where their beers are brewed so I highly respect the folks of Evil Genius being completely open and transparent in this matter.

So, will one year of cellaring be kind to this beer? Let’s be like the Wise Owl and just find out.

Served in my Spiegelau Stout/Porter Glass:

Appearance:

Black in color with a thick tan head. Provides nice lacing as the beer was consumed.

Aroma:

A BIG chocolate aroma on the first sniff. I was not sure if this would be here after one year of aging but it was! There is a bit of pumpkin pie spice aroma in the background.

Taste:

The first thing I taste is chocolate. On mid-palate there is some pumpkin pie spice flavors: nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon. I really am not picking up anything from the pumpkin that is part of the grist.

Mouthfeel

Medium bodied with a bit of chewy creaminess.

Overall

This is a chocolate forward porter with pumpkin pie spices playing second fiddle in this symphony. I enjoyed drinking this beer.


Now, were any pumpkins ‘killed’ in the production of this beer? The label clearly states: “yes”. My palate says “I don’t know” but in reality I don’t much care. I enjoyed drinking this beer and this is what is of prime importance to me.

Later today (after the Eagles football game) I have to do some food shopping. I will stop by the beer store that is located within my Wegmans Supermarket and buy some Pumpkin Ales; some Dogfish Head Punkin Ale I am thinking. Or maybe I will just call an ‘audible’ and buy something else.

Cheers to Evil Genius for a tasty and cellarable Pumpkin Porter!!

 

I enjoyed the sour for breakfast yesterday, I thought I'd do it again (plus I have no new coffee beers). The GF really enjoys raspberry beers, and I tend to like their sours fairly well, so I grabbed this Bruery offering - Beret.


Pour is yellow golden and I kept expecting to see a red or orange tinge from the berries, but it didn't come on as much as expected. The head billowed up nicely, and is actually sticking around fluffy at the edges with some lacing. The beer smells like a good sour first - a nice funky tartness, the barrel note coming out stronger than I sometimes get. Like many raspberry beers I have had, the fruit note is light to my olfactory senses - but I do get it, and it's an overall wonderful nose.


The tongue yields a response a bit below the opening senses, but it's a relative drop. The beer just doesn't have the pop behind the sour notes I was thinking it might from the nose. It's more of a lightly funky tart than full on sour, but the flavor is actually quite enjoyable, if I throw out my expectations. The raspberry taste eventually fights through the carbonation (and maybe some of the spices that I cannot pick out?) to add its sweet side to the mix (the tart side does appear mingled in the generic funk/tart opening).

For some odd reason, I always expect sweeter things from a raspberry beer - despite the plethora of evidence that this should not be the case. The bottle itself says "balanced - fruity - bright", and I can definitely agree with the bookends of that statement, and wouldn't disagree with the middle. From the nose, I expected a decent pucker from this beer. In the end, I got something right in between, and that worked quite well for me. Oh - and 9%, yeah right! I don't believe it (but I'm guessing they can't really lie about that too much) .

 

I'm in Georgetown too in murrells inlet it is insane about now hope shes not downtown!
cheers!