New Beer Sunday (week 580)

Hope your son has a great birthday!

 

But the Pepsi challenge will be forthcoming, a good buddy sent me a BA Ten Fidy stovepipe can recently so it remains to be seen or tasted what a barreled Oskar Blues has to offer.

 

I'm guessing your grandaughter thought it really odd that you were taking pics of your beer instead of her. Or were you the wise old owl that pretended to take a pic of her to cover up the beer shot?

 

Great to learn. While almost at 1000 ratings/reviews I've still not made a point of trying that beer yet, so the information helps motivate.

 

I wish the 'future' of the human race would be so simple. I'll do it for the future of BA!

 

Nice vinyl choice! On e of my Favorites

 

Haha. Totally understandable. I have often lobbied for a sarcasm font, but without success.

 

Let us TOAST!

To NBS!!

Dame Jeanne Brut D'Anvers | Huisbrouwerij Boelens

Oh look at that cool bottle, how could I cut that cord... it's just too dang beautiful... had to take a pic first before slaying that beast...


Huisbrouwerij Boelens - Dame Jeanne Brut D'Anvers by imbibehour, on Flickr

And now we drink!


Huisbrouwerij Boelens - Dame Jeanne Brut D'Anvers by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a champagne flute. Consume by August 1st 2017. Tied down cork, that's a first for me! Some cutting, and a pull on the cork and decent pop.

Real unique appearance for a brut. An absolute gorgeous buttery and bright eighteen karat cold body, brassy and shiny but with hardly any flury of carbonation just maybe a fine hard to see stream in the middle. The odd bubble pops up. However, the head is crazy classic bright white, and the perfect edged bubbles of slightly larger pinhead size. A good amount of dissolve though and settling, making a hint of lifelessness though. Very little edge, but I can't deny it's subtle charm.

This aroma is really nice. Soft florals and candy, but with more push on what seems a floral hop than more noticeable Belgian sweetness and sugars. Gets into perfumed honey a bit as well. Seems to be leaving more of the bubbly and effervescent elsewhere. Maybe some green herbs hinting in there as well.

With those hints of light carbonation, it's anything but. Sharp bubbles that accentuate what seems to be a real interesting emphasis on hop on first sip. Barley like soft malt with bready character at first but quickly left behind with no sugary character, and a pleasurable almost pine to woody hop angle. Honey slight sticky lip coating feel.

Real memorable and nice brut.

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

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Cheers!

 

So I'm starting in on @jhavs box of freshies today. And as tempting as the Treehouse was to start with....I decided to go with this:

Swish from Bissell Bros


Pours a very hazy orange juice. Reminds me of OJ with a large amount of pulp.

Smell is orange and mango with a background pith bitterness coming forward.

Taste is bursting with mango, pineapple, orange, peaches....the list goes on and on. This beer is super juicy and has a aggressive, yet toned back bitterness.

Mouthfeel is about a creamy as you would expect. A sharp quality comes through due to the bitterness.

Overall this beer is AMAZING! Potential Treehouse killer here.

 

I will save you a bottle or two.

 

New Belgium ~ Blackberry Barleywine!

I'm gonna get another one of these for autumnal consumption while they last.

This beer tastes like something a notorious witch who lives deep in a dark cold haunted forest
might give you after you accidentally stumble on her creepy cottage under an evil willow tree
by a murky pond.

Very sweet and very very berry..but not too berry. Enticing aroma. Very berry!
It is Black Berry Barleywine after all. Hoping for magical shades of purple to arrive
as the 10% ABV kicks in.

I like it! But it's very berry!

 

I love it when accidental typos (he said redundantly) make me chuckle. Or was this a Freudian slip savoring the meal to come??

Did I hear my avatar?!? Yes, DFH calls this a blend of an old ale with an IPA, aged in oak vat for about a month. I think it might say IPA on the bottle, but it's sort of a blend. Regardless, I agree that it is quite good .

Have you had a chance to try the regular "Classic Saison" by them yet?? I liked the Summer ok, but found the malt notes a tad heavy and that made it not quite as light as I'd hoped. I really enjoyed the Classic, though.

 

Back with a raving, possibly overstated review, but, damn it, I love this beer from @Ri0!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23222/206803/?ba=woemad#review
I know I raved about PseudoSue last week, but, dammit if I don't think this is even better. A beer that is simultaneously massively "juicyfruity" and eminently drinkable at the same time? And under 6%?! TG now has a moral obligation to distribute to Washington so I can do a proper, side-by-side of these ostensible style-mates.

 

You know, I'm still not sold on the superiority of LP sound, but then again I haven't had a proper listen to vinyl (I actually have a never-used turntable I picked up at an auction for the local NPR station, but it still awaits a proper amplifier and speakers) in a couple decades (and I was a kid then, hearing my Dad's classical LPs, for the most part). Having said that, I think album art reached a high point with the LP, being the perfect size for visual expression, certainly better than squinting at a CD sleeve. I'm actually a bit desperate to find a good condition copy of Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, solely for the artwork - the LP itself can be scratched all to hell.

 

New Old Ale Sunday

Greetings NBSer's,
No snow here in SCMN. Over 70 currently and windy (such is spring). Yesterday and tomorrow will be windy too but from the north instead of the south (as it is today) and therefore much colder too. (Did I say, such is spring?).
I am pleased to present an enjoyable old ale from @cjgiant via NBS BIF#3. Many thanks, I must say.
I liked this more than the mean and just about everybody else that has reviewed it, including two NBS regular participants. While the aroma was indistinct, the flavor was rich and complex with very enjoyable hopping that never overshadowed the interesting malt flavors. I like it quite a bit.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24791/213780/?ba=garymuchow#review

BTW - that cool glass is also courtesy of @cjgiant.
No early budding of trees in this part of the world. That's weeks away.
I wish everyone a good week.

 

Hello all! I am enjoying another beer sent to me by @Josholson666 as part of out BIF. This time around it's a very nice Imperial Stout by Fulton Brewing, on this blustery day-

Worthy Adversary, 2015
This one is really tight and well-knit. Initial aroma is a delicious blend of dark chocolate and medium roast coffee. There are hints of spiciness and dark fruits lingering underneath, but the opening salvo is pretty focused. My initial taste reveals more of the same, and the body is lean and muscular with fairly high bitterness that cracks that whip really hard, and leaves me with a long lingering dark cocoa sensation. More facets develop as I get further into the glass- not only do the raisins and molasses-like malt become more prominent, but the hops start taking on a light dry floral quality. Even further on I'm getting nuts and toffee. All the while, the dark chocolate and coffee stay clear and true. Alcohol is at the 'warming yet noticeable' level, and never goes beyond.

This is exactly my kind of beer, elegant and impressive with enough complexity to allow for a gentle progression of flavors; it's not trying to knock you out with one punch. Interestingly, the first thing I loved about this beer was written on the back label, before I even opened the bottle:

I guess that didn't show up too well, but it starts: " Complexity and approachability can and should coexist in beer." Thankfully, those words represent what's inside the bottle as well. Solid A (4.65) level stuff. Thanks for sending 2, Josh!

 

Hello all,

An abbreviated hello, as I'm doing my NBS from work (you should all be so lucky!). On the docket? Well, you'll just have to click to find out! Anyone in NWNJ have to deal with the wind this morning? Crazy, right?

You might just see its cousin on here shortly.

 

I will say the one thing I have noted - and it is far from earth-shattering - but the quality of the equipment used I think helps considerably. I had about the cheapest player I could buy back in high school and into college, and found the quality not that great and inconcsistent. My GF has a much better player and I was surprised by the nice sound we get from it.

Now I cannot say it's definitively better than other media (haven't done a side-by-side blind listening ). But there are often times I have fairly easily noted the difference between a regular CD and even a fairly high quality MP3.

Nice, glad you liked. I think I am two-for-two so far. I was actually a little surprised by this beer. The brewery (which I will mention again won Small Brewery of the Year at GABF this past year) generally makes solid, but not exciting or stellar beer. That said, one could do a lot worse only having to drink from them. In this beer I found a little more complexity than I have in most of their other offerings. I think I may share the bottle I have left as a quick revisit as I move to my next BIF beer. Cheers!!

 

Sounds like a great trip. My grandsons are 6 and 10 and they amaze me with their curiosity and pace of growth. Cheers.

 

KBS warming up at the moment... interested to see how it is. Update to follow.. Cheers!