New Beer Sunday (week 568)

Cheers everyone and thanks @cavedave for getting us started today. Winter arrived after all here in Ithaca and there was a bit of snow. Today is supposed to rain all day and that's fine too just not as good. I have a local beer that I would like to cross post with A Barleywine For Every Day. What a tremendous thread that was! I felt so chintzy about offering only one beer to it and not even a local, that I had to go out and find this beer here! Druid Fluid form Middle Ages in Syracuse. I tend to shy away from this style because it's not that easy to drink with abv's that usually top 10 percent. This one is just under at 9.5 and that makes a tremendous difference in the hop presence that you can offer to the palate.

Here is the beer-



Pours hazy at first then clearing. A sweet orange. Eye candy really with a fat head of creamy tan foam that lasted very well. Nose is light toffee and caramel with some crackery and breaddy scents as well. They used six different malts in this beer but they don't tell you which ones on their website. In fact I was surprised at how much beer they actually make there. In the store there are maybe 2 or 3 styles at any one time but they make many more than that. I have to say that while I was enjoying the nose on this beer I asked myself why haven't I bought any of their beer before? I think it's the labelling, no freshness dating and the shelf placement. Hops are herbal and citric but not terribly citric so I think beer has some age on it. There is a good amount of ticklish or tangy hop spice to greet the nose as well as a very firm herbal that does not outshine the malt even though it is quite prominent.

The taste really surprised me. The mouthfeel is a a creamy and smooth malt with layers of complexity that unfolds on the palate after an initial citric burst of flavor. These hops are integral to keeping the perception of lightness in the mouthfeel. The bitterness is firm but not prominent and that is just enough to give a slight flourish at the front palate while the silken malt slides gracefully to the finish. No alcohol on the palate and in the finish just a bit of warmth. As the beer warms the malt shows a bit of nuttiness. This drinks with only a bit of sweetness in the finish and plenty of hops to carry it through, nothing cloying or syrupy.

Outstanding and Excellent!

 

Mornin' @cavedave,

Nice start to the day.

Greetin's to all the other NBSers joining in today.

Lots of rain here but not expected to rise to flood proportions the way some other folks have had it the last week or so.

Was originally expecting to tick my 100th style here today but had to change that plan when a family member we've not seen in several months was able to stop off here for a few days visit on his way back home from a business trip. So we'll be taking him a few places today and I'm not at all sure I'll be back to report on a new beer.

Faced with that dilemma I compromised and went ahead and did my 100th tick earlier in the week. After looking at the short list of styles I have left to tick I realized that I still had one of the easiest of all to tick--malt liquor. So.... Then came the choice point and I had to decide which malt liquor. After scanning the list and after having listened to all the grousing, deriding and so forth about the Bud Light X-a-Ritas (which are listed here as Malt Liquors) I figured, can they really be that bad??? So I found a can of Bud Light Lime-a-Rita.

My review, done a few days back is here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/82948/?ba=drtth

As soon as I started the beverage I was in conflict since to review it as a beer is, in my view, a mistake. It's a beer cocktail made with Lime and Margarita mix. I actually thought the flavors were pretty close to about where they should be for a Margarita made with beer rather than Tequila (but must confess I've not had straight shots of Tequila in a good while). That said I didn't much enjoy the beverage since the almost overwhelming sweetness reminded me so strongly of why I gave up on drinking Soda Pop and sweetened carbonated beverages years ago. (That's the same reason I didn't enjoy Not Your Father's Root Beer, my taste for sugared beverages is in the past.)

Anywho, if possible I'll try to be back this evenin' with a new beer but if not, I'll definitely make a point of skimming through the thread after lock down to see what there is to seek or avoid that folks have told us about.

Cheers, all!

 

Looks like a good start to New Beer Sunday!
It's wet and rainy here. The forecast said maybe some wintry mix before changing over, but its been all rain. I was hoping to watch a couple football games, but was talked into a movie. We're going to see The Big Short late morning, so I can still watch one and one half games.
Speaking of football, I hope all the Bengals fans are proud of their team. They made a great fourth quarter comeback, only to implode in the final minute. Two consecutive personal fouls on Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones gave the Steelers a chip shot field goal to win the game. I know emotions were running high, but c'mon, you had the game pretty much won if you had played smarter.
Looking forward to the Chiefs in Foxboro next week, and hoping Roethlisberger and Brown can play against the Broncos.

Today's new beer is one from Unibroue, La Resolution. I'm not a big fan of Unibroue, other than Tres Pistoles. But I haven't had one of their beers in quite some time, so picked this up last time I stopped at Tully's.
It's a dark brown color with a nice-sized light tan head. The head lingered forever and left a little lace.
The aroma was caramel malt and spice.
Taste of toffee and gingerbread. Alcohol well-hidden
There was too much ginger up front, making the mouthfeel rather harsh. The harshness did mellow out in the finish.
People that like winter warmers will probably like this beer.

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks for starting us off @cavedave - try to stay dry - a good lead in as usual; of course you realize that using brand names has almost infinite possibilities for combinations: Harpoon harlots, (I'm sure someone starts with "I" but I'm drawing a blank), Jolly Pumpkin jockeys, Kuhnhenn konsumers, Lawson's lunatics, etc. And thanks Maria (@utopiajane) for pointing out the inadequacies of websites to provide basic information about beer styles, availability, content, % ABV, and any other basic information the consumer wants. This has been a pet peeve of mine since joining BA - maybe this should be part of the evaluation of a brewery.

Anyway, to today's New Breakfast Beer Sunday. I had some misgivings about this originally since I'm not a big honey or barleywine fanboy, but since it was held for me I felt obligated to purchase it. Thank Dog I did! This was/is an excellent beer!



$ 17.99/22 oz bottle ($ 0.817/oz) at Consumer’s Beverages, Lancaster, NY
Thanks Ryan!
Undated capped bottle (2015 vintage) at 42 degrees into hand washed and dried JK snifter, allowed to warm to 55 degrees
Aroma of oak and honey
Head average (Three cm, aggressive pour), off white, frothy/fizzy, diminishing rapidly to three mm ring and thin partial layer
Lacing poor – few tiny islands of tiny bubbles
Body medium orange, cloudy (NOT chill haze), effervescent
Flavor – instantly oak, followed by alcohol which then mellows some, no doubt because of the honey; no distinct malt or hops flavors, no diacetyl
Palate full, creamy, lively carbonation

Appearance 3.5, Aroma 4.5, Flavor 4.5, Palate 4.5, Overall 4.25. Rating 4.39, average 4.27, rDev +2.8%

Wish I had access to more of these - this isn't drinkable: it grabs your tongue, oozes past your hard and soft palates, and slides down your throat to grip your innards in a numbing, warming embrace.

 

New Euro Pale Lager Sunday

Greetings NBSers,
I am pretty confident I'll be making several visits today. My team plays at noon and the team of my spouse plays later and she doesn't like to watch alone, and I'll take one for the marriage . So I figure at least one new beer for each game. Yea me!
Starting off small and light. A nice mini can. I have things to do this morning, including exercise (which goes well with beer typically pre-ceding indulging).
This is what a cold morning looks like in SCMN and it's currently -11.

Starting today with something brought to me by my nephew who lives in Portugal, which appears to be an European country not caught up in the craft beer boom. That's fine. There is place for nice clean lagers.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/301/78449/?ba=garymuchow
See ya' all later.

 

I think you might have a better shot at getting fresh Middle Ages stuff than the rest of us. I like that they lean towards the English style of ales, but unfortunately the bottled product doesn't age that gracefully on the shelves so I pass them by now even if I do see them (which is rare).

Anyway- if you find it on draught in your neck of the woods I think they are worth exploring. And once upon a time Dragonslayer and Wailing Wench were 'it' beers- I wonder how they are doing these days...

 

One more Holiday beer – Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux

Last year my wife bought me this beer as a Christmas present. I have been cellaring this beer for a year. As I popped the cork I saw on the cork 2014 so this beer was produced sometime in 2014.

The term avec les bons voeux means: with good wishes which is a nice holiday greeting.

Below is a description of this beer from the Dupont website:

“Alcohol: 9,5 % vol.

The Bons Vœux is a blonde top fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle.

Since 1970, the brewery has been brewing a special beer to give as a new years present to their best clients. (the name of this beer “Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont » means « With the best wishes of the brewery Dupont » ).

Because of the increasing success, they started to commercialize this “cadeau” but kept the name. Although the demands were considerable, only a small quantity was brewed, so they had to make a reservation list, even months before new year.

This Bons Vœux is coppery blond, has very fine hop aromas and tastes bitter, fruity and mild.

Our selection of yeasts, in combination with a long during riping process, on a “dry hopping” base, are creating a typical and complex aroma and taste.

A real refermentation in the bottle, which will continue for a long time in your cellar, result in a harmonious and well-balanced beer, full of unexpected and complex aromas.”

The other term on the front label is “Non Filtrée” which indicates this beer is unfiltered.

Well everything reads great but let’s get down to brass tacks and do some drinking; that’s what I’m talking about!!

Served in my Triple Karmeliet Tulip glass:

Appearance:

A hazy straw color with a HUGE rocky white head.

Aroma:

A very pleasant fruity aroma with just a hint of citrus (lemon) and spice (phenols). There was even a bit of vinous character as well.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with the fruity flavors dominating but some citrus and spice in the background.

Mouthfeel:

Medium-thin body with a nice dry finish.

Overall:

I think this beer is absolutely delicious!!


Taking the lead from the name of this beer: good wishes everybody!!

Cheers!

 

Good morning all, this beer when I purchased it, I didn't realize it was the tart cherry version. I will judge it for what it is. Poured into a 16 oz snifter at close to room temperature bottled on 8/21/15 and the ABV is 11%. Pours completely black, with a massive 3 plus finger tan head that settles rather quickly into a thin film of bubbles, leaving minimal lace. 4.5

Smell is cherry, chocolate, smoke, leather, tobacco, anise, and hints of bourbon. 4

Taste follows sour cherries dominate up front with chocolate, leather, smoke, tobacco, and bourbon blending in the long lingering finish. 4

Mouthfeel is a touch bigger than medium, very slick, light carbonation as you would expect, a tad dry as I would expect, and much more drinkable than its ABV. 4.5

Overall this is much better than I was expecting. A little sour, but not over the top. Very well made and pretty as hell. Don't judge a book by its cover, never would have purchased had I seen the tart cherry on it. 4

 

Taking a hit for the team. But at least you gave it a fair shot.

 

HEY what's goin on!?!?

Oh wait a sec... excuse me... gotta check my powerball ticket....

(walks away for a bit...)

SHIT... guess I am going to work tomorrow...

Anyway with that out of the way, thanks to @cavedave for getting us started. It's been an insane week for me. I've put together my favorite beers of 2015 video YouTube channel, but I am having technical problems uploading it with my slow connection at home, it's rather large. I am working on a possible solution later today which "should" work... otherwise I have to splice it out out into several smaller vids... (sorry I am heady that way no pun intended).

First I have to get something off my chest ... as it has been a very trying weekend. This great little bugger here, who as per usual lies and wakes me up almost every morning. Or just decides to sit on me in bed like she did in this pic below.



This is Charlotte, one of 2 cats I have. Charlotte in late Summer was diagnosed with cancer. I am going to make a long story VERY short, she doesn't have much time as the vet told us. This has been extremely hard on us since she is very often her normal happy self.

Saturday morning, she was suddenly without warning in REAL bad shape. Long story short, my wife and I thought it was "the time" and we went to our great vet to unfortunately "make the decision". It was an intense rough morning as you can imagine, lots of tears, so much that it makes your face hurt.

The good news is that in the end, her "episode" passed, and she is perfectly fine now. I am not kidding how lucky this girl is and cats truly do have nine lives. I am not kidding as she was in the hospital literally on the gurney and "this close".

So please send some good cheer to her and well wishes. We are incredibly lucky to spend even more time with her and every day right now is a blessing. I see a lot of pics from people on here with their animals and I know it means a lot to them.

Thank you.. To Charlotte!

In other news once the chaos of the morning subsided I had a group meeting with some local homebrewers, and another DC area home club... I was busy!!


Imperial fun tasting...

Checking out lots of homebrew!

Sampling more wares and going over a discussion about the new style categories for BJCP in 2015

I headed to a fun brew up meeting and had some decent tasty stuff. One guy in the area made an excellent barrel aged Belgian almost Flanders Brune like brew that was the hit of the event. He also made an excellent Habanero smoked porter... just great stuff real impressive.

Today though I am slaving over some home cooked stew and using up some left over Great Lakes oatmeal stout. I will have to do a grocery run though but it's a perfect day for it, but rain is in and out... but it is pretty yucko out... so it's stew weather.

However, it's time for a new beer first. This is a good first start.. glad to see this school is back in session.

What's new for our hero today?

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Beer Camp - Tropical IPA - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co


Sierra Nevada - Beer Camp Tropical IPA by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Packaged December 9th 2015. Spring release? Guess it's early.

Crystal clear and golden orange body color with supper fine looking rising carbonation coming up right through the center. Beautiful body. Head creation is a little smaller than your average IPA bear, about two fingers, solid classic white, but with excellent ring like lacing at settles to a thin puck. Solid looker.

Interesting hop angle aroma as the tropic note seems a little less forward. Small and somewhat mushy tropical fruit, but there's a sort of rotten and earthy quality that comes off this first on the nose not horribly, but hard to nail down what it is exactly. Small almost tangerine oranges blast, but then gets more exotic with lots of mango and pineapple sneaking in. Slow hop aroma build on the tropics, but takes some digging.

The palate shows some basics and solid character with a surprising aftertaste. Mid palate has that classic juiced feel but not totally nailed or stratospheric in flavor-feel, a slightly grain like carbonation comes in. The tropical hop notes are certainly there, but have a bit of watery feel to them. Aftertaste is very different and interesting, seeming to accent a very unique malt bill that is almost doughy like a German pils. Bakery soft dough finish, almost a biscuit cookie like quality that lingers which is a surprise to find. Some pine hearth dryness hits after awhile too.

That biscuit angle is a fun one, and it's a straight up good hop brew, throw some macadamia nuts in this and it's a Hawaiian cookie beer (almost). Still it lacks a bit of depth and fuller body for me, even a touch wet just a hair, but still a decent solid brew.

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Good start to an easy fun and lazy day... glad to be a part of it see you all again soon!

 

That cat looks like a very determined and fierce feline. Ancient symbols of grace and poise they contribute to the household and they seem to me to exercise free will. Charlotte I wish you well!

Now smaka what kind of crappy internet do you have? let's get those videos rolling now!

 

Yes thanks! I had forgot to mention to you as well for the support too. Very nice looking barleywine you got there, I am a little jealous.

 

Hello NBS friends! A cold and windy start along the southern shore today, but at least the big snowstorm missed us. The weather experts are as accurate as me predicting Powerball numbers! At least I have another crack at my pipe dream on Wednesday. Pun intended! Ok, on to my beer choice. I'm starting with Wiseblood Wood Aged Baltic Porter from Three Floyd's. I picked this up at the brewery a couple of days ago. It has a bottle date of 1-7-16 with no listed abv. on the bottle. Pouring this scary looking bottle in my FFF signature, not quite a pint glass.

It pours a very thin looking light cola color with a generous amount of tan foam despite a careful side pour. A bit too lively. The aroma is musty wood and spice that is a bit reminiscent of Dr. Pepper. There's a hint of smoked malt in the background. It's flavor is once again dominated by the earthy wood presence and a bitter pepper-like spiciness. Perhaps the hops at work? There's caramel and musty wood in the finish as well. The feel is fizzy and bitter with a dry finish. There's a slightly acidic feel to this that is perhaps from the wood tannins?



Overall, decent enough for the style but nothing special. It's rather thin bodied and loaded with a pronounced spicy and acidic flavor. I'll take FFF Topless Wytch over this one. My score was 3.66/5 and I had the honor of being the first review. Now it's time for a chili cheese omelette.....



Have a great Sunday! I'm hoping for some exciting football later today. Here's the official skinny.....

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26/203431/?ba=Prager62

 

Greetings, folks.

I'm drinking one of these:

A Kuhnhenn Cherry Oud Bruin, and it's my 834th beer.

Picked up as part of Kuhnhenn's Winter Solstice mixed four-pack for $35, so this was $8.75 for a bottle. The chances this beer is worth the price is low, but that doesn't mean it won't be good.

Appearance: Copper brown in color with only a ring formed on top of the beer. Hard pour didn't form any head at all, and there's no lacing left on the glass. Only a bit of haze. Pretty decent looking. (3.75/5)

Smell: Prominent "funk" coupled with some tartness. Sour cherry juice is also in there, but it's underlying the funky wet trunk smell that many sour beers have. I'd say it smells like I would expect, but I actually expected some more cherry than what I'm getting in the aroma. Based on the smell alone though, I'm anticipating a very sour beer. (4/5)

Taste/feel: Strange, strange stuff -- it's worth mentioning that I haven't had this style before. The taste isn't nearly as sour as I was anticipating. This has a definite tart funkiness to it, but with the cherries, malt sweetness, and "brown" flavors, it's actually pretty balanced. Sour on the front, sweet pretty much the rest of the way. I'm pretty certain this isn't barrel aged, but I get barrel aged qualities out of it... an oak sort of flavor (partially from the Brett?) with some tannin vibes as well (the cherries?). The feel is really nice -- about moderate in body and carbonation, with a strangely slick but pleasant feel. (4/5, 4.25/5)

Very strange, very unique beer (for me, seeing as how it's my first from the style). The yeast flavors with the sweet and tart cherries with "brown" tasting malts... it comes together really well. The tartness is well-balanced by the sweetness, and I don't find that it ever becomes cloying. I think this beer is missing something, but I'm not quite sure what -- probably *more* sourness and *more* cherries. Still, as it is, this is a very pleasant tasting beer. Worth the price? In terms of buying it many times over again, no, but if you haven't had it before, absolutely.

(4/5)

4.01/5 (+2.0% rDev)

 

Damn, I'm sorry about your cat, though it sounds like she and you have a reprive. Nine lives, Indeed! It's always rough to lose a pet. I've lost three dogs myself over the years. One of my friends just lost the dog he got as a puppy right after his dad died when he was a kid, and I'm honestly worried about him.

 

bought a sampler case, a few I haven't tried, here goes first one

pours very bright and clear straw, head ? fuggettabout it 3.75/5

citrusy sweet malt notes. hops give a pleasant mild aroma 3.75/5

nice balance between noble hops and malt.both are clearly tasted imo.
really, a good drinking beer here. 4/5

good malt body feel, crisp, 4/5

good taste and easy drinker so I am happy with this one. 4/5

back with more ... cheers!

 

I'm always keen to hear of a Baltic Porter but what really got my attention was your food pic! Before I read your statement that it was a chili cheese omelette (which is still pretty badass) I thought I was actually looking at the first Pizza Omelette I've ever heard of, and it immediately set my mind working on the possibilities!

 

Hello from drippy (but warm) north Florida. I enjoyed our 2 week trip up to SC, TN and WV, over the Christmas holiday, and saw lots of family including my mom, and father in law (both in their mid 80's) but I'm glad to be home...

This morning I'm trying Lagunitas' Bitter Oats, an "ale" clicking in at 10%. I saw this in the refrigerated beer section at Earth Fare in Charleston, SC a couple of days ago, and given my perception that Lagunitas makes darn fine beer, and the price of $4.99 a bomber, I figured the least I should do was give this brew a try:



Bottled 12/14/15, this baby pours a deep gold (6+) with frothy off white three fingers of foam into SAPP (a Goodwill score this recent trip!); long lasting cap with thick lace; excellent clarity.

Grapefruit and a little weedy hops to start; continuing with a lemon sponge cake nose.

Flavors of grapefruit, semi sweet caramel malt, and bitter hops; weedy with semi sweet tropical fruit middle of papaya and mango as liquid continues to warm; smooth, lemon cake finish.

Resinous tongue coating; moderate carbonation; full minus, creamy like mouthfeel.

Overall, a zesty bitter bite with a tropical fruit linger. The alcohol was well hidden.

As DIPAs go, this was outstanding. I love big beers and the semi sweet tropical fruit with just a touch of dank, earthy weedy hop notes, compared well with similar big IPAs I had in New Zealand, a flavor profile I must admit I now love...The creamy oaty mouthfeel was a big plus; the rich semi sweet malt provided more than enough balance for the bitter citrus, letting the mango and papaya fruit flavors to shine. I need to find more of this outstanding "ale"...

Have a great Sunday, and Cheers!

 

Hows it going NBSers, Didn't feel like doing much today before work (10:30 pm eastern) so I'm gonna do a couple new beer reviews. This first one is an "Imperial Gruit" by Beau's all natural brewing company. This is a "hopped gruit" made with bog myrtle and organic simcoe hops. The nose and flavor profiles are quite similar, The nose gets raisin, cola, some spice, brown sugar and toast. and the flavor profile is the same but the toast is slightly burned. Anyways here it goes! cheers!

3.79/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Appearance - This beer pours a dark brown with a dark amber hue in the bottom, It poured with 3 fingers of offwhite head that faded to half a finger and stayed like that.

Aroma - I get raisin, cola, toast, brown sugar and some spice.

Taste - Cola is the first thing that hits the palate followed closely by raisin, fresh cut grass, earthy hops, a spicyness I'm guessing is coming from the bog myrtle and the strong taste of slighly burnt toast on the back end of the flavor.

Feel - This is a medium bodied beer with creamy carbonation, the alcohol is well masked.

Overall - This is stronger than other gruits I tried and its also hopped which is rare. I'm guessing that's were the "imperial gruit" label came from. The flavors are enjoyable but I feel if the toast flavor wasnt burned it would have been a 4. Not a bad beer though, especially for a gruit.

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