New Beer Sunday (week 567)

Well, the Floyd never really did have much of a rhythm section. Waters was sufficiently deficient as a bass player that Gilmour had to play about half the studio stuff, and Mason has actually said that he was always in fear the drummer police would show up and tell him he couldn't play. Comparing Claypool & co. to the Floyd in that dept is kinda unfair, really.

 

Brooklyn black chocolate stout:



I've been ignoring this one for years in favor of other new/hyped beers next to it on the shelf. Nice thick mouthfeel, dark fruits leading into dominating dark/bitter chocolate. I've had plenty of stouts that say that they're brewed with chocolate, but this is definitely one with the most overt chocolate flavor out of them. Unfortunately I'm not a huge fan of dark chocolate so it wasn't all that enjoyable until my palate had adjusted a bit to the bitterness.

Saw in the release thread that the second run of this only had 3 months in the barrel. Blows my mind that stone had the gall to charge ~$18 a bottle for that.

 

Ok NBS, I don't know how to describe this beer. It's supposed to be an overhopped/dry hopped version of a hefe... Considering a hefe should only be mildly hopped this difference is quite major... It tastes and smells pretty much the same. A wheat zest followed by floral hops, lemon, bubble gum, Banana, and clove. the carbonation is sudsy like a soap sud feeling. and it goes down fairly smooth. the hops come out strong and very pronounced. None this less it is a decent beer. Cheers!

3.85/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Appearance - This beer pours a very cloudy pale yellow color with 2 fingers of foamy white head, the head seems to stick around fairly well. guessing the wheat is doing its job.

Aroma - There is a strong wheat zest on the for front, followed quickly by strong floral hops. Then some lemon, bubble gum, banana and clove.

Taste - follows the nose to a tee, finishes with some light banana sweetness and clove spiceyness.

Feel - medium-light body soap sudsy carbonation. goes down easy.

Overall - I still think their best beers are their ipa variants but this ins't a horrible offering. Obviously it cant be compared to a really hefe as it is very different, so I'm solely rating it on how I feel about it.

★712 characters

 

Well done Sir. Like to see so many solid BA's stepping up for NBS. @cavedave @utopiajane @smakawhat and now you @JMS1512 .. I love being part of this...albeit usually on the later side.

 

Evenin' NBSers,

Just popped in to check out some of the new beers folks have been sampling today and to thank @JMS1512 for getting things up and running.

I'd originally expected to have at least one new beer last Sunday and more today, but, as the old saying goes, "The best laid plans of mice and men...."

Last week we had some family visiting that we'd not expected to see this year during the Holidays. Naturally when they called and said they could visit for a couple of days we found them a bed to sleep in and some things for all of us to do and see together.... Then this week some unexpected dinner plans developed, so I don't have a new beer to talk about this week either.

However, as usual its worth looking through the beers that others are sampling and telling us about. A great source of ideas for beers to look for and try myself (and a few to avoid ).

Cheers, all!

 

Had to participate in the first NBS, and had to get to this one sooner or later. Went well with grilling/eating grilled hot dogs.

Avery Kaiser
Bottled Aug. 2014

Age has obviously flattened it a bit. Not much carb or lacing. Golden brown, reminds me of a boch for some reason. Not much of a nose on it. Much more malt than a usual lager. Don't have a ton of Oktoberfest/marzen experience, but I bet this would have been awesome September/October '14. I had to buy it because I'm an Avery fan and saw it on vacation.
L: 4 S: 3.5 T: 3.75 F: 3.75 O: 3.75 3.71/5

 

Okay, I'm back from watching the 'hawks with friends at one of my locals, and it was a fantastic win. I actually assumed the Cards would win this one at home, so to win in such a fashion that T-Jack was actually allowed on the field for longer than just a kneeldown demands a celebration beer. To mark the occaision, I'm drinking a Seattle beer that I might otherwise have sat on for a bit -a 2015 vintage Fremont Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star (AKA Kentucky Dark Star):
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20680/140119/?ba=woemad

I thought I'd actually had this before but it was actually the BBA Abominable I'd had last year. Regardless, this is simply awesome, and oh, so fucking smooooooove.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the extended holiday weekend (or in my case week and a half from work). Time to return to reality I guess. Thanks to @JMS1512 for guest hosting and getting us rolling today. Welcome to a new year of new beers. I know a few people in here already put up their beer goals in this thread, so here is my assessment: I wrote 1075 full reviews since the first of 2015. Now, this includes anything I revisited; but I really tapered off on the revisits last year right before the middle of the year(worst case I'd say I did 80 revisits). So there will be even less this year(already have some lined up anyways). That being said I hope to at least top 4700, so I'd say that is a good goal with some safe room in case I end up finding I want to revisit some things. I am glad I review everything I am drinking right on the boards too, so I can always do impulse reviews since I write all the notes down on the page. Same thing happened today, with the BBA Siberian Night that I drank this morning on WBAYDN. It blew my past experience out of the damn water, so I rewrote the whole review and re-posted it.

As far as Untappd is concerned, I am already going to blow right by 5000 by Christmas for sure since it counts all of the vintages I drink, random tapped beers I don't review, and mead/ciders which I do not formally review(even on ratebeer).

Anyways, here are today's new beers:

This is a damn good IPA, especially for being just over 5 months old. Great head retention and lacing down the glass. Aromas and flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple, peach, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, and pine hops; with some light honey/toasted bready malt balance and floral/grassy hop earthiness. Moderate pine/citrus rind bitterness; with a nice sticky and lightly creamy balanced mouthfeel. Moderate dryness. Zero complaints at all about this, still very hop forward with just enough malt backbone for balance; and it's not bone dry or astringent on hops. Delicious stuff. 4


This is outstanding! Huge flavors of dark roasted coffee, cocoa, vanilla, cream, honey, cracker, bread, and light herbal/grassy/peppery hops. Light herbal/spicy balancing bitterness; with a surprisingly creamy/silky mouthfeel with maybe a slight touch of hop stickiness. Medium body and carbonation. Super drinkable with minimal warming ABV. This is just as fantastic as how I feel about Odd Sides Bean Flicker(when fresh), but with the higher 5.5% the flavors are even more intense, and with a better mouthfeel. I am going to buy more for sure. 4.25


A damn good, straight forward gose. No complaints. Aromas and flavors of tart lemon, lime, green apple, pear, white grape, sea salt, wheat, cracker, bread dough, hay, straw, herbal, grass, light pepper/funk, and yeasty earthiness. Light-moderate tartness and peppery spice on the finish; with a very smooth and drinkable finish; with light-moderate wheat creaminess with balanced acidity in the mouthfeel. Very slight salinity in the mouthfeel, but the flavors of salt are still very noticeable. Delicious stuff. I have no idea what kelp and moss taste like in real life, but they blend well with a classic tasting gose character. 4


Really nice IPA. Aromas and flavors of big pineapple, peach, apricot, passion fruit, tangerine, grapefruit, mango, melon, lemon/lime zest, and pine hops; with moderate malt balance of light caramel and toasted biscuit with herbal/floral/grassy hop earthiness. Good amount of pine resin/herbal bitterness; with a balanced sticky and lightly creamy mouthfeel. Light-moderate dryness. Really enjoyable with plenty of juicy hop complexity. The malt presence is fairly significant but not overbearing to the hop profile. Minimal complaints. 3.9


Cheers! Have a good night NBS

 

Good evening NBSers! Long time-no see. Life has been a whirlwind of craziness lately and I haven't had a lot of time for reviews or posting, unfortunately. Tonight's an exception, though. Went to Sears so my wife could buy a new treadmill and wound up coming home with a new Craftsman rolling toolbox to keep the 'mill company in the back of the truck. So, I'm happy, she's happy, and we're sharing this beer before tackling what's bound to be a 2-hour long fitness apparatus assembly attempt. Without further ado.....

Da Beer

Founders Brewing Company Project PAM



Da Re...view

Bottle into a New Belgium snifter. Medium brown pour - reminded me of Jack Daniels a little bit by the color. Pretty damn opaque in the glass. Only slight reddish brown highlights when held to light. Very dark and menacing. About 1 finger of vanilla-colored foam on top initially, which is very dense and bubbly. This receded down to a thick lacing after a few minutes. Seems to have really good retention despite the high abv. Cool!

Not even sure where to start on describing the aroma of this thing. Incredibly complex to be frank. Moderate bourbon, caramel, maple syrup, figs, dark fruit, leather, peaches, mango, citrus, apricot, vanilla extract...it's tough to pinpoint each scent, as there is a lot going on here. Overall, this smells very sweet and malty with a touch of bourbon and ripened fruit.

Loads of sweet, caramelized sugar/syrup and bourbon up front on the taste with accompanying notes of mango, figs, grapes, oak, and molasses. As it warms, I'm picking up more fruity notes near the middle/back end. Plenty of grapes, mango, pineapple, grapefruit, and citra. Very complex, like the aroma. I will say that I much prefer the more bourbony side of this beer (the oak, vanilla, ect) to the fruity side. I realize it's a BBA BIPA, but it just seems to have held on tightly to those hoppy & tropical characteristics. Not a bad thing in the least.

In terms of the feel, this one is great. Plenty dense enough to carry all that alcohol and complexity while not being so chewy it's like syrup itself. I've had thicker, but if I had to compare, I'd say this beer reminds me most of Bigfoot in terms of the mouthfeel. You get all the bourbon flavor without the alcohol bite, which is a great thing to achieve.

Overall, a great meshing of ingredients that would've likely gotten f'ed up if attempted by just about anyone else. Founders never ceases to impress me. Great beer.

Da Scores

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Weighted score: 4.21/5 (+0.2% rDev)

So that's it! I enjoyed this one thoroughly. Might go without saying, but I'd say drink this one on the warmer side. I got much more caramel, maple syrup, and vanilla when it was about room temperature.
Alright, let's do this. Treadmill assembly: Begin!

 

Wow, this one has always been solid. I'm sorry that you didn't get to experience what I have historically. Maybe it was older bottle and the coffee dropped off.

 

"That's local flavor." This is the tagline for Louie's Resurrection, a bourbon barrel aged amber ale by MKE Brewing.

A-Has a very nice caramel brown with red-orange hues of light are passing through it and a finger of eggshell white head

S-Big load of apple, caramel, fig and dates with some vanilla, oak, and a bit of red wine

T-Follows the nose but the big players here are caramel, apple, and bourbon with a moderately thick and chewy toffee consistency

O-Really nice BA Amber that I would gladly have again and again. Big thanks for @BSiegs for his contribution of this beer to my fridge!

 

Thick and chewy. Excellent cocoa, roasted hazelnut, and vanilla flavors. Seek this one out.

 

Here's one of my final posts in my barley wine thread. It's been a wild couple of weeks and good fun making sure to coordinate a new beer for each Sunday.

A Barley Wine for Every Day

 

New Year, New Beer(s) Sunday

Fig Brewton - Oddside Ales

4.0% ABV - Bottled 09/30/15

The aroma has a jam component up front, accompanied by a slight amount of sweet malts and sweet, yet bitter, citrus. The taste, like the nose, comes first with the dried fig, jam-like flavor, but it is quite quickly followed with a hoppy,
slightly citric bitterness. The finish is very dry, and has just a touch too much dry bitterness to it. I like that they
leaned to the side of dry, as to keep the beer refreshing (which they did), but there is it just slightly off in the end
and I think I little more sweetness there would remedy that. This dissipates as it warms some, however. The body was
great for the style; it was light and refreshing, but had enough texture to allow for then flavors to be fully appreciated.
Overall, I liked it. I am a huge fan of figs, and while this was not what I would call fig-heavy, it had a great flavor and
kept me interested. This would make for a good session ale on a hot summer's day.
3.82/5

Pipeline Porter - Kona Brewing

5.3% ABV - Bottled 08/27/15

The aroma is of smooth roasted coffee; something about it just says "quality" coffee to me, but I'm not sure what it is. The taste is also coffee dominate. with not a lot of porter qualities coming through. It works, though, as the coffee is good enough to lead the show. The finish does not have much going on other than a little lingering coffee; this is where the lack of porter qualities hurts the beer. It is refreshing, which perhaps is exactly what a Hawaiian brewery was aiming for. The light-flavored finish makes this body feel lighter than it otherwise might, but again it works. Overall, this was enjoyable and refreshing, with enough coffee flavor to satisfy a craving. I cold definitely have more than one of these at a time, so it fits right where the 5.3 ABV suggests it should.
3.76/5

B.O.R.I.S The Crusher - Hoppin Frog Brewery


Unknown Bottling Date, Purchased 3/14/15

The aroma on this one is has the profile what I hope for in am imperial stout; roasted malts intertwined with dark berries. It reminded me a a dark chocolate bar with dried blueberries I had recently. The taste was similar, but not as rich as I was hoping for after sniffing it for an extended period of time. The bitterness was present, but it was not very strong and it was a nice compliment to the aforementioned flavors. The body was not what I would call thin by any means, but it seemed to lack the texture that allowed the flavors to linger. Overall, I thought this was a good brew that got better as I made my way through the 22oz. Due to the fact that it is a bomber release only, and not available in my state (picked this up on a trip to Ohio), I will not be picking this up again anytime soon. I am glad I got the chance to try it, though!
3.98/5

Cheers, BA!

 

I was so pleasantly surprised by this odd beer. I really liked it but I definitely need another taste.

I really liked the bitterness of this beer. Given the flavor and ABV, it was shockingly drinkable.

 

Merry Christmas Day 10, and Happy New Imperial Red Ale Sunday! I received this Sixpoint Global Warmer from @Strike00 recently, and I've been saving it for NBS. The BB date on this was 20NOV2016, so I'm guessing it was canned a little over a month ago. From the name, I guessed it to be a winter warmer. Upon opening the can, however, I caught the nice, piney aroma and figured a little more research was called for. It's actually classified on BA as an American Amber / Red Ale, a catch-all category. At 7.0%, it clocks in at the upper end of the ABV scale for the style. The beer pours a clear reddish dark amber, with a substantial fluffy white head that leaves lots of sticky lacing:


Both the aroma and the flavor are nicely balanced. There is quite a bit of resiny pine and citrus hop character, along with roasted malt, caramel, and notes of bread and dark fruit. It brought to mind (well, to my mind, anyway) a hoppy doppelbock. I poured this at fridge temp and found it to be delicious and quite complex even when cold. The malt sweetness and character begin to come through a little more as it warms, as does the alcohol warmth. Another awesome offering from Sixpoint that gets 4.25's across the board from this reviewer.

4.25/5 rDev +7.3%

Prost!

 

High Water Central Valley Breakfast Sour. It was really pretty good but pricey at $12 for a 12oz bottle.

 

Shake VS Cocoa. With Red Velvet Cupcakes.

 

Cheers everyone ! Thanks so much for filling in @JMS1512 . I can't wait to start scrolling and read what you all have been up to today. Happy New Year NBS!