New Beer Sunday (week 577)

Love, love, love this. I've had the good fortune to live in an area with amazing, amazing hoppy beers, and this may well be my favorite of them all. Better than Green? Maybe... may well be. It's an absolute hoppy juice bomb.

 

Well greetings from paradise, NBS neighbors. Two fantastic days in a row here in the kingdom. I have to say it was a pretty unfocused weekend for us..My wife gave a talk at Framingham State yesterday. The GPS decided we needed an in-depth examination of every cart path between Castle LeRose and the college, but somehow it took the same time as a more direct route??? After the seminar, well, the college is only ten minutes from Jack's Abby so LUNCH me, baby! The least you can do for a tired chauffeur! The missus enjoyed the hibiscus blood orange Leisure Time...very nice, fresh blood orange flavor, perfume-like hibiscus laid over the Leisure Time. I had the Cuvee de Smorgasbord, which was a mildly soured raspberry laber that I found tasty. Wheaty biscuity, raspberry sweet, yay some sour goodness. The Smoke and Dagger goulash was very fine indeed. Oven fired chicken wings and a pizza with arugula, dates, and prosciutto, fresh mozz. Arugula...hmmm...piled high...balsamic drizzle. Not being a member of Argulua Advocate, I tried it by itself and had the WTF moment. Not a fan if this bitter grassy stuff... BUT...taken with the pizza as a whole, what a difference, It complimented every component of that pizza perfectly. So cant be too quick to judge, I guess. Delicuos lunch!

Which brings us to whats in the glass...
Seizoen Bretta - Logsdon Farmhouse Ales
The best by date on the bottle is 11/2019...so this could have waited a while, eh?

Thankfully I spotted the warning before pouring...mild gush of foam, and even with an atypically tame pour I got a glass totally full of froth...Snickers bar its gonna be a while...but dual-purpose. The super slow motion pour let the beer warm to the recommended fiftyish temperature. Obviously a thick, rocky, white head on this brew. When the beer shows up, it is a very slightly cloudy deep orange color. Good so far. Aroma - well, contrary to other reviews I get no citrus on the nose. I get tons of spice, significant esters, and a faint waft of the earthy funk. The flavor is layered and multi-faceted, but many reviews mention citrus and I dont get it in the initial taste. Spice, mild malt, mild funk. Slight bitterness, slight acidity, a bit of mineral.Lively carbonation, yet oddly medium in body. Quite astringent on the finish and hot damn here comes a distinct lime flavor. And pepper. The lime lingers as the peppery spice subsides.

This beer leaves me in a strange place...unsure of myself. I know what I tasted and how it rolled, but I have no idea what to make of it overall. It has farmhouse ale character, and a bit of brett funk, but I will look for another bottle of this beer. What I experienced doesn't seem in line with the majority of the reviews. I am not sure whether what I tasted is representative of what this beer...uhhhh...represents. Nothing wrong with it, but it was not a 95 range beer for me, and it bothers me that my perception of the flavor is missing, or at least not agreeing with, what the majority detected.

Thanks to @utopiajane for the kickoff, all the regular residents, and any new folks joining the Sunday fun.

 

FYI, an interesting bit of Trivia. In the US Daylight savings time first became fully institutionalized because of the war efforts in WWI and WWII. More recently it has been perpetuated because it supposedly saves engergy costs.

 

Sly Fox Ichor

Put this quad in the cellar in the summer of 2014, and decided it was time to pop it open.

It has a deep garnet color with a half finger of airy, off-white head. There's a sweet-smelling aroma with plum, dates, red wine, a little oak and a touch of vinegar. Pretty nice.

It's much thinner bodied than I expected, though. A lot of the aroma carries over to the taste, but in a much more muted form. It's also intensely sweet. It tastes like there's sugar added -- something you'd pour over pound cake.

In some respects, it's actually better than I thought it would be. It's got a great, complex aroma. But finishing 22oz of something this sweet quickly becomes a chore. It's something that'd be better to share with a couple friends over desert.

 

Did you pick this up as a result of our recent conversation or is it just a coincidence?

 

Was able to buy Double Negative and Bourbon Barrel Double Negative on the same day, why not drink them on the same day. Barrel adds great flavors, feel that this is thicker which was missing in the regular version. The dark fruits are toned down in the barrel aged version, but the barrel makes up for that. Either way both versions are great, cheers!

4.49/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

22 oz bottle poured into a teku

A- Black with a three finger tan head.

S- Bourbon, oak, dark fruits, some milk chocolate, some vanilla, hints of roasted malts.

T- Less bourbon forward than the nose, but that not a bad thing. Milk chocolate, some roasted malts, hints of dark fruits, bourbon, oak, hints of vanilla, caramel. Well balanced.

M- Smooth, creamy, full body.

O- A nice improvement over regular Double Negative. Bourbon adds a great touch and added more body to this.

★484 characters

 

My reactions to the beer were similar in that I could appreciate it as a well made beer, but there's no way I'd ever want more than one and that one only in the heat of a summer's day.

 

I did not know either of those tidbits. I always thought it had more to do with fields and such. I still maintain that it is an unnecessary complication, however. But I learned something today!

 

I've been meaning to pick this up, guess I should pick this up my next beer run.

 

I forgot it was Sunday! I did my review for the new beer (Ommegang's Chocolate Indulgence) and only posted it in the WBAYDN thread. I'm too lazy to get the image link again , but here's my review, which I think is one of my best yet. Cheers!
4.17/5 rDev +9.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

L: Dark brown with a creamy light brown head. Head retention is very strong, and lacing is abundant. A pleasure to look at.

S: Roasted grain, chocolate, fruity and slightly spicy yeast character, earthy/herbal hops

T: Fruity yeast is very apparent- apple, pear, and to a lesser extent, plum. A subdued coffee flavor rides shotgun to dark chocolate and its accompanying bitterness that lingers, intertwining with the herbal hops on the back-end

F: Excellent. Medium carbonation, medium bodied. exceptionally smooth and silky mouthfeel, with a dry, almost chalky finish. After well into the glass, it gets a bit sticky a s well

O: I think the name is a bit of a misnomer, as the chocolate is not exceptionally dominant. But I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in what is in the glass, and this beer is very finely constructed. Simply a pleasure to look at and drink. I would recommend this, but don't expect a chocolate bomb.

 

3 new beers today. Unfortunately I did not get to review any of them. The first was Trillium's Double Dry Hopped Congress St IPA which may have crept in as a top 3 IPA that I've ever had. I followed it with another Trillium brew. Double Dry Hopped Sleeper St. which is pretty incredible in itself. Lastly I'm onto a beer that didn't really mean much when I bought it. However, this past Thursday, my fiancee and I made an acquisition that is undoubtedly going to change our lives. This lil pup is 9 weeks old and I of course named him after the most underrated beer style out there. Welcome Porter to our home.

 

First NBS post here so I decided to start with this delicious hop juice from Trillium.



Trillium Galaxy Dry Hopped Fort Point

Pours bright orange with very little head. Could easily be mistaken for some tropical juice. Really fantastic color.

The smell continues to give the impression of a fruit juice. Mangos, citrus fruits, some citrusy hops. Mostly smells like a glass of mango juice.

Now that is delicious! That mango comes through strong in the taste. Lots of pineapple. Lots of citrusy hops. This is juice beer at its best.

Medium bodied and lighter carbonation. Those bright, light juicy favors and aromas were a bit deceptive in the mouthfeel as this is a fuller bodied pale ale than I was expecting. Sticky finish that leaves lingering flavors of pineapple and mango.

This is a fantastic dry hopped pale ale/juice bomb that leaves me wanting another bottle. I'm psyched Trillium distro is suddenly readily available to me. I opened a bottle of Citra Free Rise last night too, but this is the winner of the two. I'll be looking for another bottle later this week.

 

Tom, did you actually read my post that you replied to!?!

I posted: "As part of their overall 20th Anniversary they re-produced this beer and made it available on draft at the Downingtown, PA brewpub a month ago (February 2016). I had the pleasure of drinking a couple of pints of this beer at the brewpub."

Cheers!

 

Part of it, before posting. There was so much information packed into that one post. Then deleted comment seeing you'd had mentioned having it more recently.

 

As Ned Flanders would say: Okilley Dokilley!

Cheers!

 

I had this in a bourbon barrel beer tasting I held several weeks ago. Took a very strong second to FW's Velvet Merkin. It's a damned fine beer.

 

Good evening NBS, Thanks to Maria for the fine kickoff, that stout is a stunner, we have 2 left.
We are back from a short trip to Albany NY, to see Bonnie Raitt at the Palace Theater, spectacular show. We had no idea that this coincided with St Patricks in Albany. They do it up right!! Parade, and at CH Evans, Albany Pump Station for dinner, bagpipe, drum brigade in the house. The show was excellent, today went to Livingston NY to see our friends the Suarez family, and their brewery under construction. I expect many more trips once Dan is up and running. In NY we were able to get some Bells Brewing, here is the Porter review, And I have to say Two Hearted Ale is quite nice.
Cheers all

Bell's Porter

Bell's Brewery, Inc.
American Porter / 5.60% ABV

3.58/5 rDev -7.7% | Avg: 3.88
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle dated 1/06/2016 into the modified pint glass.
A - An aggressive pour yields , 2" mocha loose knit cap riding a very dark intriguing body.
Gentle carbonation relentlessly chasing the surface. Lacing clings creating a body of evidence.
S - Toasted malts, not roasted, a bit of cocoa powder, ash, oyster shell minus the salinity, and dried tobacco.
T - A nice blend of raisin, 50% chocolate, anise, cherry wood smoke and toasted sesame.
M - Body is English style, a bit dry, nice carbonation, with a quick clean up. Nothing robust here, just a tightly executed dry porter.
O - The aromatics are the high point, the body is welterweight, and the finish is quick. Easy drinking porter, mates well with food. A fine offering from a creative Brewery.

 

It definitely played a part, I believe. I was talking with the beer guy when I spied these cans out of the corner of my eye, so I grabbed the sixer on the spot because the name rang a bell. I can't say I was looking for it, but sometimes these things have a way of finding you .

Anyway- I'm glad you saw the post, because I was going to give my impressions in the convo soon enough .

 

Coastal Empire Midnight in the Garden Imperial Chocolate. Cheers.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26714/218216/?ba=cindyjeffsmith

 

Hey friends. Anyone else here from Florida? Because if you are, you need to check out Jacksonville's Aardwolf Brewing Co. if you haven't already. Definitely one of my favorite breweries around, not to mention in Florida. Here are some notes I just finished on their Hop Oddity (awesome name) IPA:


Aardwolf Hop Oddity (4.44/5.0)

Straight pour from a 1L flip-top, amber glass growler to a 10oz stemmed tasting glass (TH stemware). This was filled yesterday at the source, and promptly went into my fridge until tonight. Freshy-fresh.

Appearance (3.5): Two fingers of custard-colored, fluffy, fat-bubbled foam rise off the pour, capping a 24 ct. gold-colored body, which is basically crystal clear. The head doesn’t stick around all that long, just leaving a thin ring around the edge of the glass. Almost no lacing to speak of throughout the drink—surprising, and disappointing, but the body and head look great—but there are a few arcing splotches here and there that dissipate eventually.

Smell (4.5): Fresh-cut papaya, light caramel and sugar cookies, beautiful floral tones, and a little tangerine sweetness characterize the most up-front parts of the hops and malt. When you dig a little deeper, there’s an earthy note, fairly resinous, fruity pot, and a slightly spicy aroma, too, backed up by a modest, but rustic, bready component. Excellent hop character, and well-built.

Taste (4.75): This is out-bloody-standing. The hop character largely follows the nose, but with a much more pronounced, spicy, weedy, resinous aspect. The fruit comes out with the same papaya flesh, mixed with sweet and tart orange marmalade, transitioning to a pink grapefruit note (flesh and a little bit of acerbic zest). There’s some malt hanging around here, too—you can tell by its weight and thickness—but it’s largely masked by the hops. Yeast rolls with brown sugar icing, a soft, light caramel note, and a common cracker kind of dryness hang out in the background. No booze to speak of. That grapefruit zest comes back in the finish, with a little bit of tart lemon curd and marmalade. Deeeeelicious.

Mouthfeel (4.0): This feels just right, in terms of weight and feel, and extremely drinkable for its size (7.8% as of last night). It’s slightly on the full-side of medium-weight, and somewhat (but pleasingly) viscous. It dries out nicely by the finish, but retains enough body to still be satisfying.

Overall (4.25): This is an excellent IPA, with excellent flavor, body, and aroma, but with a disappointing lack of lacing. Even so, because everything else about this beer is great to outstanding, I’d happily recommend this beer to any lover of hops and IPAs. And who knows, maybe it was the glass that affected it, but this is still great either way.

Saude, galera!