New Beer Sunday (week 576)

Ok, finally getting motivated for lunch, which means the GF has to get ready, which means I have time for a review .

This one has been in the fridge for probably close to a month, awaiting a proper Sunday for a review, and it's finally here. This will make the third in the line I have had (only having access or care since No. 4), and this is Boulevard's Love Child No 6.


The beer produces champagne-like bubbles, and the head tries to stick around for a little, but eventually leave. The bubbles rising through this at least initially hazy orange-ish beer do so slowly, like the Sunday drivers on the road I hope we avoid going to lunch.

The nose is awash in tart fruit notes, to no one in the room's surprise (wait, I am alone ). The bottle popped nicely, but I didn't notice the nose straight away, but when swiping the beer from the table to take to the GF, the notes were evident, even though the beer was not near my face. I'm getting sour/crab apple base (but this to me is something I get from most tart sours); in this one, the distinguishing notes are peach, nectarine, ad lemon. Truthfully, the nose reminds me of a crate of fleshy pitted fruits that are at just past the peak ripeness with a few well beyond.

The taste isn't as sour as the nose indicates to me. I think there is some barrel wood coming in early to mute the sour notes and add some funk. Looking at the gauges on the bottle, I'd say the taste is accurately depicted by the dials, though the nose flipped sour and funk and added a decent level of fruitiness. Back to the taste, there's a light fruit soda like note underneath a blanket of earthiness. The funk comes in more to the end as the beer warms a tad in my glass. The fruit notes that I can get similar to the nose counter the nose as well in that they seem a like less ripe version than the nose promised - with more muted strength. I also get a little sour watermelon-rind (the part near the white) like note.

Interesting as always, but to my personal preference, I wish the sour came in a little more, poked its head through the earthy layer more than breaking through it. Refreshing and light, though, perhaps moreso by not being drug down by more "extreme" notes.

 

Yes it is! It's very fluid and phone friendly for this technically inept caveman.

 

Thanks man! I'll try it soooooon... Cheers!

 

NBS - 4 light beers - in which Stillwater Yacht and Carton Sit Down Son - win the race.
Spring arrives this month.

Yacht - Stillwater
3.96/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Canned beer has made a serious return in the craft brewing world. Prior to this resurgence, the only beer found in cans were industrial lagers. So as a nod in both directions we present an elegantly crisp and hoppy new world lager. The light and refreshing pilsner malt body delivers an abundance of floral, spice, and grass driven hop flavors and aroma. Perfect for those luxurious cruises through the Caribbean.
Poured from a 16oz can into a curvy pint glass named Adams.
A: The beer is a straw yellow color with a large white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass. As good as lager/ pilsner gets.
S: Big for a lager: yeast, crackery malts, lemony citrus and a good amount of hops.Let her warm.
T: Big for a lager. It starts out sweet with citrus and caramel swirl. Then on top of the cracker malt base comes ample hops to provide a good balance. Finish is slightly sweet and crackery.
F: Crisp and very smooth, light-to-medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean. As good as lager gets, because of its added hop tingle and taste.
O: Tasty and flavorful, an all day lager - up there with "Sit Down Son" from Carton.

Sit Down Son - Carton
3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
While a Carton fan, I am not a lager fan.
A: I view a slight hazed pale straw body that mounts a 2 finger head with ok retention and lots of lacing. Not much carbonation bubbles.
S: Lemony lager, clean biscuits, white crackers, with surprisingly ample fresh pine and citrus. More ample than lagers.
T: Best lager I've enjoyed lately along with Yacht. Smacks of orange, lemon rind, and biscuit malts. Lager core but much more hoppy.
F: Light-medium body with medium carbonation so with good scrubbing and drying on finish. Well balanced. Bravo.
O: Low ABV makes this a session beer. Great with food. Needs a tall pilsner glass or a pint, not for tulip.

Evil Twin Low Life
3.68/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
I really dont get the pandering irony of the brewer's description. But I liked this better than I thought and worlds better than Bikini.
A- Tall boy delivers a hazy light golden pilsner brew into a wine glass. The head is white, frothy and retains well. Large sheet of lace glaze.
S- Pilsner profile, with more herbal and spicy hops lending a top to the the pale malt tones of white bread and cracker. A bit grassy and pale fruits.
T- The hops gain traction on the palate - grassy, herbal and spicy. Hints of pale fruit, like grape, cereal grains and bready cracker. Balanced. Good food beer - tonight with sushi.
F - Light bodied and crisp. Sprightly carbonation.
A solid pilsner, a notch below Sit Down Son or Yacht.

Evil Twin Bikini Beer
3.44/5 rDev -5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Love this brewer, but not this one. Even my Brooklyn girl friend said - "too soapy, too thin. What happened to your IPAs!"
A: Pours hazy pale, yellowish straw body with particulates. 1 Finger white frothy head which had decent retention and moderate amounts of lacing. But looks weak to start with.
S: Mild aromas of soap, balanced with pine and citrus hops.
T: Again too sudsy soapy, and mostly pine and citrus hops. No real bitterness and lacking a malt core.
M: On the lighter side of light. Thin. contributes to the soapy feel.
O: Craft beer's answer to the ultra mass produced beers? Why bother? Not really an IPA.

 

I hate that we missed running into each other. Maybe there will be a next time!

 

I had my first taste of Tree House and I am very impressed. This was a smooth but amazing IPA. Smells like heaven and has a hop profile that is unmatched in my opinion. I reviewed it and gave it 4.77 but this is a special beer none the less. Can't wait to try more of their offerings!

 

Happy New Beer Sunday; I hope everyone is doing well.

Door County Brewing brew master has a long list of Saison recipies and he has been releasing a new one for each season. Le Printemps is for Spring. It is a fine looking beer with an aroma that is quite herbal and yeasty. The flavor is a bit odd because there is some of the classic Saison, but it really is leafy and herbal dominant. There are notes of the yeast, bubblegum, and from what I can tell, mint. It's not off-putting, but all I could think of was minty bubblegum. Light feel with soft carbonation and a dry finish. Another interesting farmhouse.

 

Hello All,

It's a brisk Sunday afternoon, and beer is in the air, and in my mouth. I've got a great one for you, over at my beer blog.

I've never had a beer so fresh and unique, and for that matter, so mysterious.

Enjoy!

 

Good afternoon to all the NBS faithful and welcome to all the first time posters. I see that some of the newbies are coming in with some great reviews. That what we need to keep this thread as great as it is.
Basically like the rest of the winter we have no snow here on the ground in central NH. I guess I've really given up on getting in some of my normal outdoor activities this year. As temperatures are supposed to climb into the 50's and 60's here by mid week it looks like it may be time for a trip to Tuckermans Ravine for a couple of runs down the headwall. After skiing it for many years I switched to a snowboard about 3 years ago and what a different experience that has been for this 60+ year old guy.
My beef brisket has been in the brine for a week now and will turn them again today all in prep for my annual St. Patty's bash here on the 19th.
No on to the important things for the week and my beer for this NBS today comes from Firestone Walker Brewing and it is there new rotating hop series Luponic Distortion.

As you can see from the picture this beer poured a beautiful golden color with perhaps just a hint of orange in the mix. A nice half inch white head on top of this crystal clear beer.
The nose of those contains a lot of different citrusy overtones, I find mango, papaya, along with perhaps some grapefruit thrown into the mix.
The taste follows the nose I do find the mango and the grapefruit in the taste as well as I nice hoppy bitterness in the back. The malts are light and well hidden by the other elements of this beer. This is well put together what I would call an east coast type IPA.
The mouth feel is crisp and nicely carbonated. This beer drinks very smoothly to me.
To me this is the first FW IPA that I have found truly enjoyable and given that it got to me fairly fresh as this can was marked 2/10/16 I'm sure that helped a lot. I hope to be able to enjoy this for a while as long as it stays fresh.

I'm saddened not to be able to be in this round 3 of the NBS BIF as I just have to much on my plate already. But I will surely follow the thread and cheer you all on as it happens.

 

Ran by the local bottle shop yesterday, and they were doing a special on some counter pressure pre-filled growlers that included Avondale's Black Rye IPA. I got the 32 oz for $8 including the glass which is a steal.

Little details available on this one. Supposedly it is a taproom only beer, but my local shop got a sixtel for an event last week. Really nice looking black IPA. Pitch black with generous tan head. Roasty aromas and flavors come through in spades, but I was looking for it to be more hop forward.

Very drinkable and enjoyable, but not my favorite black IPA.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25916/218329/?ba=richj1970

 

That's a great way to get a fresh FW beer in NJ

 

I've been craving pilseners lately. So for my first NBS entry today I'm going with this much appreciated beer.



I got this beer a little over a week ago at the Craft Beer Cellar in Portsmouth NH. Previously I'd had a good experience there. This time was different. When we got there the place looked more like an impromptu 3 day old yard sale. There was a lot of empty space on the presumably picked over shelves. I went there looking for beers that were not distributed in VT. Firestone Walker and Clown shoes were represented. I picked up a sixpack of Pivo even though the cardboard looked a little worn. There was no date that I could find on the box. When I got home and opened the box the beers were canned on 09-30-15. I gambled and lost. Oh well. I'm not going to do a full review on this beer due to it's age.
While not particularly hoppy, the beer is still pretty tasty and refreshing without much oxidation. The beer is beautiful in the glass and the head was excellent. Despite being 4 months old, I'll still make my way through the sixpack and not feel like I wasted my money. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a fresher version in the future.

 

New Stone Sunday
I am dusting some pork chops that I am going to smoke with apple wood later. Check out the thickness of these bad boys. Almost 2 lbs. each.

While they season, I am trying out a new "local" beer (sadly, Stone almost became local). My wife grew up in Licking County, and she actually worked at an office in Pataskala for a couple years not too long ago. The resin behind this beer is a great story if you haven't heard it yet.
http://www.dispatch.com/content/sto...brewer-keeps-vow-to-help-his-high-school.html

I can't believe that @StoneGreg didn't mention the famous/infamous "Haunted Hoochie" on the bottle
Actually, I have not been to it since before I was married (at least 17 years), but it seems to have gone from a very graphic haunted attraction to a very controversial one
http://www.11alive.com/story/news/weird/2015/10/23/haunted-hoochie-sparks-controversy/74475794/
Anyway, back to the beer that the Watkins High Warriors should be proud of (even if it doesn't contain Warrior hops)


4.41/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured this one into a tulip. It is a beautiful deep ruby/crimson red. Semi transparent. A moderate light tan soapy head sits on top for awhile, then retracts to the sides of the glass and retains a ring all the way to the bottom.

Smells outstanding. There are definitely prominent toasted grains in there that is almost pilsner like they are so distinct. There is also some candied sweetness, citrus, and grassy, and/or piney hops.

The flavors really match up with the aromas. A very nice balance, even though it favors the hops. There is plenty of rich, clean malt flavor as a backdrop that stands out on the back end with some lingering, lip smacking carmel/toffee. There is a lot of orange, some grapefruit rind, and a touch of peach or apricot before a sprucey pine finish.

Body is smooth and clean like any Stone brew.

I think that this one should maybe be listed as an American IPA considering they put "IPA" on the bottle, but it really works either way.This beer is likely to impact my Nugget Nectar purchases in the future. I love the flavors and the balance. A world class beer for me.

 

Welcome to NBS! =)

 

It's been a while since I visited this forum, but am glad to partake once again. I got to try a lot of new beers this weekend, including some local BA stuff put out my a little brewery by me, Tradesman Brewing Company. They had their first ever bottle release and am glad to see how they have thrived over the last 2 years.
Anyways, I decided to save this popular one for today (SMS). I missed getting it last year and didn't really try to seek it out. Well, that will never happen again!! This is really good and I put it just below BCBCS. The appearance is dark when poured and the head (1"+) didn't form until the last few ounces. I got a lot of chocolate up front and only a little coffee on the nose. The first taste follows the nose and then the barrel burn shines smoothly on the back end. The mouthfeel is thick, but appropriate for this one. Overall, I have to give this a 4.5. Cheers!

 

As always people on here wont stop talking about IPAs and with Tired Hands that's no exception.

Much like JAck though they do make some other things I think that get forgotten, They made (or maybe still make) a Schwarzbier with Kafir Lime leaves called Kuro which I had last year that was ridiculously good. Very memorable brew for me.

 

Time to get back to some Asheville goodies.

Thank you Mark!

Oblivion Sour Red (Bourbon Barrel-Aged)


Wicked Weed Brewing - Bourbon Barrel Aged Oblivion by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass. Bottled Jan 24th 2016.

Real fascinating color. Deep darkened reddish brown, but upon closer look up through the head has an extreme clarity. Head creation is minimal but at a solid finger of light tan, and manages a small circle populated puck in the center and simple collar around. Even through this large dark body you can still pick out rising carbonation. Real interesting looker of a brew quite unique.

Wonderful excellent subtley aromas on the nose. Soft oak caramel sweetness and light tart raspberry fruit compound on the nose. Very caramel spirit forward, not excessive but dominant. Almost has a very small taffy quality of fruit to it as well. Very nice.

Very diverse palate. Slightly almost chewy but light bodied feel, yet still manages to mix wild light feel and oak depth richness. Chewy malt backbone with a quick soft taffy tartness filling with mild raspberry and red fruit berried flavors. Good coating finish with some oak aromas and mild tart qualities. Just hints at a bit of vanilla and fruit taffy like flavors, maybe even a bit of smoke strangely. Finish has a bit of small odd aftertaste, I want to say almost tin like in flavor but hardly noticeable. Really good if a bit bouncing around on the palate quite a bit.

Has excellent oude bruin, fruit, and whiskey aging, but the flavors seem to be competing for dominance, an almost slapped together combination, and at times seem like they are nullifying each other out. Still it comes out quite impressive and still real enjoyable as well.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 | BA Generated Score: 4.42

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Let us slay more beers...

 

Lovely day to finally try this one out. Solid stout, a good Sunday morning treat! Going to see this brilliant man tomorrow. Cheers all!

 

Hey NBS crew! I thought I'd drop by with this Coffee Peanut Butter Cup Porter.

Review is below but I love how this is something that should be had with dessert, and isn't so sweet it IS the dessert. They know how to fill a crowler too - right at a week old and perfectly carbonated. I definitely want to try the imperial version of this now. In the meantime, I think I've found a good pairing choice.

Cheers!

4.38/5 rDev +4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a crowler into a snifter. Pours jet black with a thin foamy tan head. Slight lacing but doesn't stick around.

Nose is clean and on point - coffee and peanut butter big with chocolate a bit more subdued. Just as advertised.

Flavor follows with the chocolate more prevalent - coffee big and peanut butter obviously there. What's nice is the coffee brings a nice bitterness so this isn't overly sweet. Its flavor is definitely aided by the substantial carbonation. It is still a relatively sweet porter, but not overly so. The balance is really great here.

The feel here is spot on. Nice big carbonation, full rounded body. Nice drying bitter presence. Light enough on the palate that this doesn't stick around or have any syrupy aspects.

This is a great beer to have with dessert, not just AS dessert like some others I've had similar to this. The coffee is the key component to making this all work so well in my opinion. Would gladly have again.

 

Ethan, I am not a Tired Hands expert but I have been to both of their locations (Cafe and Fermentaria) quite a number of times (15 times?) and now that the Fermentaria is rolling along Tired Hands is not making their beers available to local beer bars. I have had Tired Hands beers at other local beer bars a dozen times or so.

The only beers that I am aware of that are regular/year-round is HopHands (APA) and SaisonHands. In the past (over a year ago) the vast majority of the other beers they brewed were one-off beers. For example, maybe the Schwartbier with Kafir was only brewed that one time? It seems that now the Fermentaria is in full swing with a canning line they are re-producing more and more of their past beers on a rotating basis. For example one of the brands called Milkshake IPA creates quite a stir among the Tired Hands fans and it has been brewed more than once (to keep those fans happy?).

Cheers!