New Beer Sunday (week 576)

Thank you, @cavedave, for getting NBS off to an early start.
It's sunny and 30 this morning here in southern Maine. It should hit 40 and there's a warming trend predicted, with temperatures in the 60s midweek. Makes me start thinking of golf. Last year my course didn't open until May 1st. Should beat that easily this year.
My wife and I are going to my mother's house today for lunch. We will once again bring up the subject of her moving down here and living with us. She's adamant about staying put, but at age 91 she's getting frailer and more forgetful. A year ago she wouldn't even discuss the issue; now she's at least willing to talk about it.

Today's beer is Arctic Saison from Grassroots Brewing, a collaboration between Hill Farmstead and Anchorage Brewing. I picked this and Arctic Soiree up at Spruce Creek Provisions, a fairly new beer store in Kittery.
In a teku (I was feeling fancy) the beer is a pale gold/yellow color with a faint haze. There is a nice white head that leaves a bit of lace. A visually appealing beer.
Aroma is citrus, grass, and earthy hops.
Lots of lemon in the taste. Some peach. Earthy hops. A nice peppery finish.
Light-bodied, dry.
A nice change of pace from the heavier beers I had yesterday.

 

Good morning all and once again thank you @cavedave,
I'll be taking the day off. We have a house full of family. Let me tell you about the blueberry pancakes that Martha just made! Have fun and I'll see you soon. Cheers on a beautiful Sunday.

 

Good morning everyone and thanks for that fantastic introduction @cavedave ! Gosh. My house is Sunday central with NBS first on my mind. I am loving the Irish Red Ale this year and Flying Dog has one that I was happy to try. It's called Lucky SOB.

Cheers and Happy New American Gimme Two More Irish Red Ale Sunday!










Impeccable pour that really shows you the flair of the red ale. Burnished with color and glimmering with hues. Red, orange, golds, copper. Just tan head of creamy foam that lasts. Nose is biscuit & caramel. Floral and hop spice with a citric tang. Drink is smooth and malty. Creamy full malt made brisk by hops. Floral takes the middle of this beer and permeates it gently while biscuity malt glides to the finish. Clean soft carbonation. Modest bitterness that flourishes. Leaves with a light slightly nutty aftertaste and orange zest. They said it was brewed with four leaf clovers but I drank all mine and none fell out. =)

 

First ever BA post and first ever NBS post.

West Sixth India Pale Ale - West Sixth Brewing Company - Lexington, Kentucky
7.0% ABV - 80 IBUs
There is a code stamped but I can't figure it out. I have on good word it's fresh so I'm not too worried.

Appearance: Hazy, orange-amber. 1.5-2 finger of soapy white head, dissipates for the most part but still sticks around a bit. Very nice lacing throughout.

Aroma: It doesn't smell like 80 IBUs but it is still fairly hoppy. A fair amount of tropical fruits and bready malt backbone for a nice even-smelling ale.

Taste - A big smack of bitter hops which transition into a fairly smoother, fruitier palate. Significant mango, grapefruit, lemon, but not overpowering. A malt backbone that is present but doesn't get in the way of the hops at all. A very dry finish with a small but noticeable alcohol presence.

Mouthfeel - Medium and a bit oily but finishes dry in the end.

Overall - A nice IPA from a smaller brewery that is balanced and flavorful although when fresh you do get a twinge of that 7.0% ABV. A good brew that I would get again if priced at around $9 a sixer. 87/100.

Sorry for no picture but unfortunately I can't figure out how to get it on here. A quick google should give you a good picture.

 

Good morning dear NBSers!! Great start by cavedave! Am popping my NBS cherry today. Thankfully feel quite at home here since this is my favorite thread on BA (followed by WBAYDN). Still up in the county of Maine. Headed back to civilization today. Decided to bring something special for this trip (learnt bitterly my first trip that craft beer county this is NOT) and what better coincidence than to have another collaboration beer.
Siren craft brewing (England) and Cigar city came out with the Caribbean Chocolate Cake: 7.4% ABV Imperial stout (they used to call it a "tropical"stout earlier but have left out that adjective this time, rightfully so) Ale with cacao nibs, lactose and aged on Cypress wood!
Opened a 12 oz bottle with my faithful Swiss Army knife and poured into my only little Bissell snifter I dragged along.
Looks: jet obsidian black, viscous and gets a wonderful finger and a half tan head which lingers a tad. Average lacing on this.
Aromas: upfront I get this sweet sweet dark chocolate fudge notes. Very little hint of coffee. Brownie batter, dark malt milkshakes oh wow. Total desert beer.
Taste: bringing the first sip in, hits me with sweet and dark chocolate, feel the lactose loaded to hilt, again very faint coffee and very faint roasty notes. Did not get any spices. Cypress certainly leaves it's unique mark (it was surely nothing like what oak does) almost a faint smokey woodsy flavor.
Cake it is!! Wish it was less sweeter since I am a lover of dark chocolate.
Mouthfeel: Rich luscious and silky. No complaints here. No booze or heat thanks to the restrained ABV.
Overall: great imperial stout with unique feel thanks to cypress. I do feel that calling it dark chocolate cake for sweet toothed folks is more appropriate than Caribbean chocolate cake. As always, I love the European versions of RIS because they always end up feeling very different than a lot of the bourbon BA versions we have here in US. (I love those too and bourbon too)
And as always dear friends "Life is short, eat desert (drink craft beer) first"
Cheers!

 

Welcome, and you chose a good thread to start with. Nice review. Pictures involve a photo hosting site (photobucket and imgur are two examples). Its not too hard, and there is advice abound if you want to try. Most of us love good, honest pics from other BAs. Cheers!

 

Welcome to NBS. Figured you might fit right in here reading your WBAYDN posts. Back to back inaugural posts! I'm sorry I broke the streak.

 

Plenty of shenanigans this weekend, including a lot of Ballast Point. I drank Big Eye and The Commodore yesterday with great results. This morning I'm finally trying one of the beers I always see on WBAYDN and always wanted to try. I'll tell you right now that next Sunday I will be trying Watermelon Dorado for no other reason than everyone seems to hate it and I love watermelon beers, so it will be interesting how I feel about that one.

Yesterday's vinyl-inspired WBAYDN was awesome. It's the themed days that I love about this community and I can't wait for the next event Ok, this beer isn't going to describe itself so I better get started:

Look: Midnight black (dirty motor oil is jealous) with some brown hues on the edges when held up to a light source. The head is a very dark shade of cream, a milky tan that forgot to put on sunscreen. There is little or no lacing. I realize that a shaker pint may not be the best glass of choice but I couldn't resist using the Ballast Point shaker.

Aroma: Really really roasted and toasted malts and coffee beans. There is a perfect touch of vanilla and even some dark chocolate.

Taste: Just like the aroma, the beer starts out with plenty of charred ingredients. Vanilla once again is not overpowering, it's a perfect compliment to the rest of the beer. Coffee and dark chocolate come in before a tangy, sharp bitter hop finish.

Mouthfeel: For 10% ABV this is very smooth.

Overall: The finish is so tangy that I don't know what to make of it, it definitely leaves a sharp aftertaste. Otherwise, this is a strong, tasty porter that goes down the hatch pretty easily. Cheers!

 

I have been salivating for awhile over this one and my favorite store finally received it on Friday. Poured into my favorite long stim tulip glass bottled on 1/15/16 and 9.2% ABV. Poured slowly down the center at almost room temperature and got a beautiful 3 finger mocha head, that took 5 minutes to settle into a nice film of brown bubbles and covering the sides with lace. I have seen very few stouts more attractive, striking. 5

Smell is roasty dark chocolate and expresso, oats, vanilla, bailey's Irish Cream, vanilla bean, oak, and some faint booze. Good lord, wow! 5

Taste just assaults your taste buds with strong dark chocolate, roasty expresso, toffee, vanilla bean, oats, and it feels like the alcohol tastes like Bailey's Irish Cream. This is very tasty. 5

Mouthfeel is on the large side, creamy some how, moderate carbonation and I am not complaining it works perfectly, a little dry as I would expect from a beer like this, and the drinkability is insane! 5

Overall this beer literally blows me away, Expresso Yeti is the only beer it really reminds me of, so rich, roasty, bold, beautiful, thick, and, amazing drinkability! 5 I can't think of anything I would change.

 

The pic isn't showing. Which image hosting site are you using? I use my iPhone exclusively and find Tinypic the easiest as it's all done through your keyboards.

 

Try selecting the "image embed" icon atop the reply UI, it looks like a mountain with a sun or moon. Paste that image URL into the dialog that pops up, and see if that helps. If you are using the BA app on a phone/tablet, I am not sure if it's as obvious or possible.

Here it is when I did it:

 

11% alcohol. 81 IBU. Introduced in 2010. Brewed in Illinois by Destihl.

4.9/5 rDev +14%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Destihl Cerise Stout Imperiale has an extremely thick, beige head, a dark brown, almost black, appearance, and very heavy lacing left on the glass. The aroma is of sharp, tart, fruity cherry juice, dark-roasted malt, and a bit of coffee. Taste is of those elements, along with coffee, chocolate fudge, dark, slightly-charred brown bread toast, high, pleasant bitterness, Bourbon, wood, and peat. Mouthfeel is thick and velvety, and Destihl Cerise Stout Imperiale finishes dry and not boozy (but, you'll feel it!).

RJT

 

Alright, its sideways but I finally got it. Thank you all!

 

Thank you I'll make note of that. I'm using a laptop at the moment. I'll give it another shot next Sunday!

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Great first review. I am always jealous of people who can write well.

 

Do you like it in the can!?! Part Deaux

A few Sunday’s ago I discussed my first can of Tired Hands beer: HopHands.

This week I will discuss the second brand of Tired Hands beer that I acquired via trading some of my homebrewed beers and it is D2H3: Mosaic. How is that for a name? D2H3 sounds like it could be a robot in a Star Wars movie.

On the can label it lists: "D2H3: Mosaic is our double dry hopped house APA. This iteration features heavy amounts of Mosaic. Intense, pungent, and undeniably crushable. The beer in this can is hyper fresh, unfiltered and fragile. Enjoy the contents ASAP for a beautiful and befuddling organoleptic experience."

From the Tired Hands website they also provide a description:

“D2H3 Mosaic:

Our Double Dry Hopped American Pale Ale. 5.5%. The same HopHands we all know and love, just DOUBLE DRY HOPPED with heavy amounts of Mosaic. Dank.

-Notes of intense grassy stuff, grapefruit pulp, citrus peel, dewy pine, and pineapple.”

Both descriptions read tasty to me.

Served in my Lucifer goblet::

Appearance:

The color is straw/yellow color with a hazy appearance. It has a one finger head which dissipates rather quickly.

Aroma:

An intriguing combination of hop aromas: I pick up mostly tropical fruit but there is some non-tropical fruity as well. In the background there is a bit of dank as well.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with tropical fruit being the most dominant flavor for may palate but some fruity with a bit of dank. Nothing to remark about the malt other than to say it provides balance to the hops. Low-Moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a pleasant carbonation level.

Overall:

I think this beer is very good. It has a quality that some BAs would term as ‘juicy’.

Cheers to Tired Hands for a tasty part deaux!!

@rotsaruch