New Beer Sunday (week 566)

Probably my favorite offering from Tyranena. Glad you got to try it!

 

I see an awful lot of unfamiliar stuff here I'd like to try, but this one is an instant ISO. I loved DFH Sixty-One, and G/I/A/A sounds from your description like it has some similar characteristics.

 

If you can get it, it's worth trying. A really interesting and complex beer.

 

Good afternoon BAs! Here with a new offering from Founders: Azacca IPA


look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This was a great looking beer. Beautiful clear amber color with a large off-white foamy head. Great head retention and lacing. Aromas were mainly tropical fruit (like Juicy Fruit gum) with some caramel. Very fruity tastes reminiscent of mango and tangerine. Also a plain bitter aspirin-like sensation - not overwhelming, but there. The flavor grew on me as I sipped it and it warmed a bit, with more fruit. Not much citrus at all. A bit sweeter than most IPAs I've been drinking lately. Interesting beer. Cheers!

 

Good Sunday Afternoon All you MBS'DAYERS!!! Well, for those of you "Nor' Easters" that read my earlier post (@cavedave, @utopiajane), the snow has stopped falling (for now) here in El Paso, Texas! Most of it has melted, the sun shone for a bit, the storm clouds may be circlin' back 'round for another flurry or sumpin'!!! We'll see what Mother Nature decides?

Meanwhile, back @ the ranch, my NBS brew is Stone's Enjoy By 12.25.15 IPA. Sorry I'm a couple days late! I must confess, I consumed a St. Bernardus ABT12 & Tripel on Christmas Eve, then (of all things) a Lagunitas Imperial Pils on Christmas Day!

Here's my review of the Enjoy by 12.25.15:

Enjoy By 12.25.15. Bottled on 11/18/15. 9.4%ABV.

Bomber ($8.99) poured into a stem.

Look: Pour golden, clean, clear, champagne color. Half to 3/4' white head, that quickly subsides to 1/8" to 1/4" layer that hangs around for a while. A volcano of champagne size bubbles rising from the bottom of the stem. When swirled in the glass a bit, to wake up more of the buquet, it leaves really nice heavy lacing on the glass.

Nose: Upon initial pour the buquet is BIG citrus (grapefruit, orange peel) that quickly subsides and becomes very subtle. Swirl it a bit and those champagne bubbles wake up! Some floral notes, perhaps Magnolia, rich yet crisp and clean. Really opens up as it warms!

Taste: Bitter grapefruit, orange peel, perhaps a hint of green mango, vanilla. Very, very clean and crisp. The bitterness, for me, is by no means excessive or overpowering. Alcohol content very well hidden. Flavors become richer as it warms.
Feel: Very light on the tungue initially. The bitterness is very much in the fore and subsides to a slight sweetness. Very, very, clean, crisp.

Overall: Without out doubt a keeper! I hope I have another bottle amongst my stash. It'd be worth a side-by-side tasting with Arrogant Bastard, Double Arrogant Bastard, Tunderstruck and, the standard Stone IPA, to sus out the differing nuances of each. That's a lot of brew! Calls for a tasting, with lots of help!


Lookin' forward to more NBSs!!!

This craft brew journey is amazing!!!

CHEERS!!!

 

What's up nbs player nation? A pretty grey Sunday here on the island but pretty warm and decent considering the date. A hell of a Jets victory so everything is doing just fine.

My new beer today is Sugar Plum Porter, from Rocky Point Artisan Brewers. A nano brewery here in Rocky Point, ny. Checking in a 9.2% and very fresh.

The pour is a slick dark color with a very quick fizzing head. The nose is sugary, malty, with a slight lactose tone. Not terribly floral but decent enough. The drinking starts out light with tones of malt, sugar, and fruits. the sugar plum flavor is very dominate and seems to carry over through out the drinking. A pretty clean and smooth finish. The 9.2% seems to hide fairly well. Really get the plum flavor as well as tones of raisin and other dark citrus fruits.

Overall, this is very sweet and fruity. The plum really dominates the brew and the porter style is really lost in the mix. I'm in the 3.5/4 range.

 

Another new farm brewery this Sunday. This one from a familiar place in VA, down near Richmond, Lickinghole Creek. I was impressed by some of their initial offerings, but have found the more recent offerings I've tried to be fairly average (Virginia Black Bear being a solid standout). This is their Citra Fresh IPA:


"...meant to be consumed immediately... 1.5 pounds of Citra hops per barrel..."
Unfortunately, cannot tell how fresh this is, but was new to the shelves of my local last week.

Pours a little darker than I think an IPA should look, bordering on brown side of deep burnt orange. Head sustains nicely, looking foamy and sticky, the lacing mostly confirms the latter.

Nose is definitely the citrus and woody green pine of the featured hop. There is a little wet leave/cardboard note in there as well, however.

Taste bursts with a little tropical note, actually. The citrus orange, orange rind, grapefruit pith notes follow along pretty quickly. There is a tingle of alcohol - not a burn, so maybe it's not alcohol since it's only 6% - that accompanies the opening tastes. In the end there is a little dirty water taste I get occasionally that might or might not have been the source of the wet leaf smell. At times it seems a bit metallic.

Until that ending, the beer was seeming pretty good. The beer is definitely on the "green bitter" end, fresh green leaves, grapefruit pith, and what I might assume licking a hop come may be like. Back and forth I went on this. It is a fresh-like hoppy beer, with what I assume is a decently high IBU. I think if you like your IPAs popping with bitterness, you may like this. A cleaner version of this beer could be really good.

 

Enjoying this Allagash Tiarna. I'm still a big-ass Stout/Barleywine Neanderthal, but really enjoying some different types. Cheers all.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4/108535/?ba=cindyjeffsmith

 

I, too, love Boobies! Great Beer BTW. It's got that "Ohio Drinkability"

 

One more new beer for the night before food is ready!

Founders azacca IPA.


3.9/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L: Nice copper orange with about a finger of head on a light pour.

S: Super topical mango citrus some pine..a sweet bready smell also.

T: Bitter pine citrus up front with a nice malty backbone a bit subdued from the smell it seems.

F: Oily resin still goes does very smooth tho hides abv well also.

O: Great ipa love the hop profile. Could be better tho IMO

 

a collaboration

poured out like used motor oil. smooth head. some lacing on glass. 4/5

scents of burnt wood, tobacco and roast 4/5



dark chocolate, vanilla,coffee. not much bitterness. maybe some ripe plum. elegant. 4/5

medium mouthfeel. smooth. 4/5

interesting beer. good quality. wouldn't buy again tho. 4/5

 

Glad you enjoyed it! Several of the barrel-aged beers you have, I've never tried, so I'm interested to see what you think. @cjgiant is right - they are very hit-and-miss, but they put out some great stuff when they hit. All told, they're my favorite local brewery.

 

Wow, blown away by this Barrel aged Yeti. Freakin delicious. Cheers.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/158/45250/?ba=cindyjeffsmith

 

Good afternoon all fellow NBS followers. I'm a little later than usual with my post but it's been a busy day here in Central NH.
I will thank my sender in the 12 Days of Xmas BIF for this new beer as has been every beer I've had so far as this is day 3 of the 12 days so my many thanks to @Coldstorage for this great beer. My new beer this Sunday is Stone's Enjoy After 12/26/15 and since it's 12/27/15 I'm good to go.

This beer poured a light orangey yellow color into my tulip glass. The nose pretty much tells it all that this is a Brett fermented IPA. I don't find a lot else happening in the nose lots of funk from the yeast seems to rule it all. The taste seems to follow the nose with some other flavors from the hops finding there way through. The mouthfeel was a little over carbonated for my taste but you grow to expect that from some Brett beers. All in all a well done Brett IPA but nothing I'm going to be chasing after. I think we all should have the chance to enjoy this once.

 

New Imperial (yes, another imperialized style) Cream Stout Sunday

I have seen this one popping up on WBAYDN a lot lately. Thanks to @beergorrilla, here is my shot at it.




4.28/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured hard into a snifter for at leat the last half of this non dated bottle.

Outstanding. A oily viscous black with a huge khaki colored head that is milkshake frothy, and leaves almost a 1/4" film on top after it receeds.

The aroma is outstanding, even if fairly one dimensional. There is some chocolate there, but make no mistake. It is owned by whisky like the Wolverines are by the Buckeyes.

I think the flavor is a bit more balanced. Some whisky and spicey rye up front that is a little boozy, that offers some vanilla like sweetness. Instead of getting a heavy dose of chocolate or charred malt next, it continues to stay fairly sweet. Dark fruits are noticeable. To me there is decent amount of cherry. Then in the finish, the chocolate finally shows up (barely) along with some wood and definite bitterness and a little reminder kick that there was rye in case you forgot. I really cant tell if the bitterness is hop or coffee bean related because it just remains on the sweet side without any ashy/charred/roasted notes.

I love the feel. Fluffly and silky.

This was a hard one to be objective with. 1: I love whisky. 2: I love cream stouts. Obviously I was excited to see a barel aged cream stout. The body of any stout, even good ones, typically gets thinned out during aging. This is one of the reasons that Black Note stands out for me, and I would like to see more. All of that being said, I would not disagree with anyone who thought this is a little rough around the edges. I think the biggest reason is the lack of the malt presence other than feel. If you likethe idea of a rye whisky and a Bell's Double Cream stout you will want to check this one out.

 

Not to get too far off the subject of new beer, but this is the Men's Health article. Apparently kittens are healthy for men too. They really should include quality ale and puppies as well.

http://www.menshealth.com/health/health-tip-look-at-breasts

 

4 New DIPAs in December. All good. Dorado on top 4.3, closely followed by Raja and Road 2 Ruin.

Dorado Double IPA - Ballast Point
4.31/5 rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Try 24. I wish in cans.
Great brewer, up there with their best _ Sculpin.
A: Pours a clear amber with a two finger head; great retention and lace.
S: More balanced that Sculpin. Together bounty of floral and grapefruit hops balanced by the sweet malt base .
T: Great see saw of up front intense hops - floral, pith, citrus, pine - with sweet malt, a pleasant battle that finishes wonderfully. Hides alcohol well. Delicious.
F: Medium body with moderate, prickly, carbonation.
Awesome. Try 24.
Raja - Avery
4.19/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Buy the case.
A: Exceptionally light and clear in color. The ample head settles in with foamy inches on top of the whitish golden, liquid; offering dotty lacing connecting to webby.
S: Tropical fruit, with sugar cane, pineapple, lemongrass and papaya. A bit white wine like.
T: Tropical fruit and white wine followed by lots of bitterness, grassy, after the swallow, blend of bitterness and sweetness.
F: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation and perfect uplifting finish.
Amazing - best from Avery get the case.
Road 2 Ruin - Two Roads
4.12/5 rDev +4.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Try 24!
Surprisingly original and powerful hoppy DIPA from CT.
A: "A show dog of a beer" as a BA Carolingian wrote. On a hazy copper body it builds medium head, with nice retention and lacing that lasts.
S: Sticky caramel and pine. Resinous, sensuous. Better as it warms, a bit of earthy fall leaves and catty gardens.
T: Candy caramel forward, with the piney hops building in bitterness wave; underneath, the caramel flavors balance adding malt and candy body. Complex back flavors that are earthy and fecund.
F: Medium to full body with moderate carbonation; quite sticky if you like 'em that way.
Try 24. (my highest rating).
Lot #6 Double IPA - Evolution
3.9/5 rDev -5.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Fine beer. Buy the 6. Perhaps the water is too soft for great beer?
a - Pours a dark orange copper color with an inch of white head w moderate lace.
s - Smells of citrus hops, tropical fruits, citrus, fruity malts. Ample fresh hops and fruit.
t - Follows smell of citrus hops, grapefruit, pine hops, tropical fruits, fruity malts. Complex fruit punch. Too Fruity?
m - Medium body and moderate carbonation, with a bit of bitterness.
buy 6.

 

Evening friends! Hope everyone had a great holiday. And thank you Dave for the kickstart and for taking care of our mother. I am a major proponent of all trying to take the necessary steps to at least slow down and possibly bring to halt what is happening to our environment. That's right. I believe things are happening that are endangering our planet- I am not in a state of denial. Man, if we all just did a little bit.......But this is not a political forum ( nor do I believe that to be a political statement).
I have to say the thread today is simply aglow with new and interesting beers. I can only hope to have access to a few of them. It's been a pleasure being able to share with you all over the last year and a half! I've learned alot about beer. And much about meeting and communicating with people all over this great country.. And world for that matter. Today's beer:

CLOWN SHOES SPACECAKE DOUBLE IPA -VIC SECRET hop variety. ( TY my friend Jeff @ Richards!)

Pours a burnished gold color with biege 2 finger head with large bubbles atop and followed by some nice world map Lacing.
Right away I get a full fruity nose of peach, pineapple, passion fruit, grapefruit and some pine. A very fine smelling brew for sure. There is also dankness and some marijuana. Smell of fresh baked sweet bread seems to be the malt aroma

The taste follows with red grapefruit, pine and pineapple and other tropical fruits. Lots of resiny hops. The malt base perfectly balances this beer with a touch of sweetness that supports the wonderful Vic hops. A really tasty well balanced DIPA.

This finishes nicely Bitter with a touch of sweetness and medium to high carbonation. Resiny pine dryness

I was able to try the CS SPACECAKE with Lemon drop and I must say this is worlds better to me. The lemondrop was a little one dimensional. The Aussie Vic Secret is a hop I really can get down with. I love this fruity little gem and this beer shines a spotlight on it centerstage. A very nice effort that I hope I can find again. Try it if you can!

And for NOVS I have a beauty. While shopping for the kids I spotted a couple of pieces of Vinyl I couldn't resist. When it comes to Vinyl I'm a sucker for limited production or colored re releases on 180 gram Vinyl. So my track is from the Allman Brothers live at the Fillmore East. A classic reproduced on clear Vinyl at a limited 1000 copies. For some reason I always think of them as an environmentally friendly band. Why? Not sure maybe because the bro was killed by a peach truck. Anyhow one of the greatest musically talented jam bands of all time. Much to choose from here but I choose track 1:
Statesboro Blues. Love the PBRs they're drinking on back cover. Also you may notice Gregg is not in photo on back. But he's on the front cover! Anyhow ......Slide on brothers and sisters!!!!
And as always thanks for taking the time! TC.