New Beer Sunday (week 580)

Even if synthetic, it still sounds like you really enjoyed it for a great price. I'd call it at least a qualified success. Plus, if you ever go back, you can still perhaps experience the real deal for the first time.

 

Sorry @cavedave but I was working from the assumption that most knew about Stone Enjoy By. The balance of which I was speaking was the hops vs. malt sweetness. Hoppy like an IPA should but not overly agrssive. I rated it as a 4 so I would certainly recommend to anyone.
I'll be more descriptive in the future.
Enjoy.

 

OOH! OOH! @Ri0 hooked me up with one of those! Do I go there next? Hmm. I wasn't originally thinking it, but then again what I envisioned for next would probably be better as a nightcap anyway...

 

Had the Aztec Chocolate yesterday and enjoyed it. Give that one a run if you haven't.

 

NBS second round here players. Got back from hitting a few wineries on the north fork but I couldn't get into Greenport Harbor brewing. A god damn private party going on. I gave serious thought to chocking out the security guard and showing myself to the bar but I didn't act on it.

My next beer is Amber Smashed Face, a hopped out (imperial?) amber ale, from Three Floyds brewing. The beer was provided of course by @Prager62 , and comes in at 7.8% abv with a bottle date of 2/2016. I can't read day number.

A beauty of a pour with a gleaming amber/orange color and hazy clarity. A nose of hops, fruit, and malts. Not terribly floral but its there. The drinking starts by making you understand where they got the name from. A big time hop punch right to the dome and an equally hoppy and bitter finish. Tones of great citrus fruit notes leap out with lemon, orange, grapefruit, and mango. Some bready/biscuit malt notes come on as it warms to remind you of the amber base. The mouth feel is sticky with resin and moderate body.

Overall, just a flat out excellent beer. I'm in the low to mid 4's all around. Does three floyds make a bad beer?

 

Yeah, pale ales make perfect daytime brews!

 

Loving all the Belgian reviews. Keep them coming.

 

Okay, I'm downright intrigued by the notion of a Coffee IPA, something I don't think has ever come to my fair city except maybe as one of Iron Goat's Year of the Goat special batches last year, and not on any of the weeks I stopped by.
I'm also intrigued by a breakfast burger at a brunch. What does that entail? Or are you just using the term brunch to signify eating breakfast for lunch at a fast food place? (not judging; I've spent way too much of my stomach's lifespan eating a certain local Mexican chain's out-of-control gutbuster breakfast burritos).

 

P IS FOR PORTER
Awoke this AM to snow in N of Boston. No complaints, as was still hip deep in snow as of this time last year. Needless to say, at least the cold sun melted most of it away...aaand my snow blower remains in its original packaging! My new beer today is by Deciduous Brewing out of NH. I have recently started seeing these bottles in the store and have been intrigued. Today I am enjoying Dormancy-porter brewed with mission figs and maple syrup. Pours deep black and viscous with little to no head or signs of carbonation. Taste is what is in the name, besides the porter part. Mission fig? Yes. Maple syrup? Yes. Rich roasty toasty porter background? No! Smell is sweet with no other characteristic, and taste is def fig newton and good maple syrup. I like this beer, but to call it a porter is probably not right. Granted, they deserve to call a porter what they think a porter is, so who am I?
Enjoy the day!
Cheers!

 

May try to detox a bit after today, so might as well go overboard beforehand. Starting off with Melvin's 2x4 DIPA, which I picked up on Friday in Denver.







4.24/5 rDev -5.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12 ounce can into an oversized tulip. But you probably already knew that. Glass of choice for me.

Pours a light to medium copper color but settles a tad lighter in the glass. Glowing with clarity and color. No carbonation to note. Tons of frothy head and lace. 5

Mmmmm. More of that pungent tropical fruit that I love. Spicy and resinous hops on top of that. A bit of a solvent boozy nose. I think Asterisk or the IPA have this beat on aroma, but it's still pretty nice. Gotta love all that fruitiness, unless of course you're tired of the fruit-bombed IPAs. I'm not. 4

Unripened mango is prominent in the flavor. Earthy and resinous hops flavors follow. Light bread, caramel and vanilla notes play with the tropical fruit. 4.25

This is pretty damn bitter and resinous. Aggressive. Seems to capture the viciousness of the meanest west coast IPAs while still presenting some of the juiciness to smooth things out. But alongside the bitterness is that spicy, prickly dryness that I associate with pineapple (and it has that flavor too!). There's a dank feel in there too. Plenty of sensations and all the while pretty damn drinkable although this is on the heavier side for any IPA or DIPA that I can think of. 4.25

Peeped the ABV and it's 9.9%. ***** what? This is a beast. Given that and how fresh this is, I'm impressed how it's drinking. I've got a few more to get through and I think I'll revisit at various intervals as this could settle in some lovely ways. Right now it's drinking pretty freaking great.

 

I would say enjoy XHOPS and TODD sooner than later. That BBBW will just get better and better with age IMO.

 

I'd be curious to try Hopsomniac, Wake Up Call, Rogue's and Stone's version together with Mind PHOQ from my local, La Cumbre. Would be fun. I agree, they can be awesome. Been three years, but I remember enjoying that Hopsomniac. I had Wake Up Call at the brewery last year and enjoyed that too. Need to revisit them all for science.

 

This is one rock solid RIS! Full roast and chocolately goodness on the nose and taste. Mouthfeel there is no wrong to this brew. I liken it to a smoothed out Ten Fidy. A base stout that is perfect and I'll have to try and trade for the last 2 barrel versions since I stupidly ignored them. This just begs for a barrel character. One thing I have to say about Destihl is some of their beers, especially the St Dekkera line, are overpriced but insanely delicious. But this one was very reasonably priced at $9.99. Gonna have to search around Chicago in hopes it made it up here. The brewery was sold out when I was there but I found it right down the road at a local liquor store. I'm not a big advocate of a base RIS normally but Destihl has proved me wrong in this instance.

 

Frost Beer Works Double IPA Research Series...

Batch #77. From a 22oz. bottle, dated 03/30/16. Served in a tulip.

Pours a hazy, glowing pumpkin-orange color with a modest finger-and-a-half of pillowy crown. The lush foamy head doesn't last very long but sure is pretty while it does and it leaves a nice, tight ring of suds and some thin sheets of lacing down the sides. (3.75)

Instant assault of peaches and mango when uncapped before it's even poured. Nose is of tropical fruits, jungle flowers and, oddly enough, barbecue sauce. (4.0)

Tastes of sweet white bread and tropical fruit cocktail, hints of balsam, medicinal herbs and salt hay, a big bright mouthful of fizzy sweetness followed by a long, strong, satisfying, lingering bitterness. (4.25)

Mouthfeel is full-bodied and softly mouth-coating with ample carbonation. (4.5)

Overall, a big fat DIPA which, while hiding it's abv very, very well, is strangely filling. While I don't think I'd want to drink more than a bomber in any given day, I can certainly see myself not wanting to drink more than a bomber in any given day every single day, pretty much forever. Because it's really pretty terrific. (4.25)

 

I do love this beer!

 

Ok, home now. Stopped by my place as my friend has moved into her new place. Now I am going to let a couple other friends stay there for a couple months. I was able to grab something I have been storing at my place, though... ever since Beer & Vinyl Day (or Crate Night I believe was the official theme title).

The other thing to do today was to get into the IPAs from my BIF box. Kinda didn't want to sit on them this long, but circumstances and not wanting to get too through the box before official reveal day next week "prevented" me. Hopefully two weeks won't matter much .

This is Stoneface IPA - out of NH, from whence @RoninTK3 shipped my NBS BIF box.


This beer poured fairly clear until I got to the bottom, when the haze that gravitated to the bottom of the beer entered my glass. These SA glasses are nucleated, but that doesn't necessarily help the initial head you see in these photos - accumulated from a medium pour. Nice lacing from the thin cap that adorns the body.

Nose hit me, if indistinctly, as I was pouring. A closer inspection gives me a cirtus-like aroma, almost lemony without the acidic sour note. Maybe a little floral notes to back that up, but that is the main scent I get.

My first sip and I note first the nice soft mouthfeel. This is the second beer in a row from NH that has had this caressing, almost foamy mouthfeel. Maybe it's something in the water ? Anyhow, the taste opens with the lightest amount of malt sweetness, maybe a little honeysuckle. Then the citrus like hops hit along with a little spice bite. Okay, maybe the mouthfeel isn't enitiely as soft as I initially thought with that, but it's not killing my palate.

Really the beer is fairly straightforward to me, in a very good way. The citrusy notes - again hard to explain, not sour but the impression of a little lemony taste - give way to citrus rind and zest, and eventually give way to a light and generic grassy lingering bitterness.

To say I liked this beer is an understatement. As stated, I don't find this beer overly complex, but a straightforward and very enjoyable IPA. I have had stronger/bolder flavored IPAs for sure, as well as more bitter ones. But this one is as refreshing as it is tasty. Thanks, @RoninTK3.

Oh, and as I flipped through my vinyl selections (some of which I didn't remember owning), I knew immediately which album I would play first:


I will say I am a bit pissed at Crate Night purveyor @PatrickCT as I now like listening to vinyl, but I have to get up every 24 minutes or so to flip the damn things .

 

Back for another growler review from the back breaking amount of beer that @cavedave sent in the latest round of NBS/BIF. I've been truly blessed with the generosity from one of our finest members! I cracked the seal on another brown jug from Rushing Duck labeled Pay to Play IPA. The abv. is 6.5% if my memory is correct? Let's have a taste!

It pours a brilliant gold color with a finger of creamy white foam. This beer glows! The aroma is a bit tame with notes of orange, mango and some pineapple. A touch of malt hiding in the back. Flavor is a nicely balanced tropical fruit basket of blood orange, grapefruit, pineapple and some floral esters. There's a complementary dose of malt in the finish. The feel is slick and oily with a kiss of hop bitterness.



A super drinkable IPA with a nice mix of tropical hop flavors that don't compete with each other, all washed down by a slick malt backbone. I love my juice bombs, but these more 'balanced' IPA's that remind me of years past always have a place in my fridge. I would get a keg of this for my kegerator if I had access to it. My score was 4.06 /rDev -5.8%. I guess my low score for what I perceived was a weak smell was the difference in the negative? Still solid I'm my book!

Here's the official two cents, walking to my brothers to share a pour with him. Thanks again Dave!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29800/192055/?ba=Prager62#review