New Beer Sunday (week 584)

Did the same thing about a year ago with different results. St. Bernardus was the winner followed closely by Westy. Rochefort 10 for me always starts great but ends with a weird and unpleasant aftertaste. It was a distant third.

 

I'll tell you what. If I was drinking a trio of quads on a Sunday morning. I wouldn't have much in the way of Sunday plans and possibly be contemplating calling in Monday. Haha.

 

Wow. Absolute juicy banger. Cost me 7 dollars for a 12 week old can but was still delicious. Great stuff.

 

Had this originally on tap, and enjoyed it enough that I bought a six pack to include in the BIF. I actually had one last night, and though I wasn't in review mode, recalled enjoying it quite well out of the bottle, too. Also, in reading your review, I think I agree with your assessment of how the styles weigh in to the makeup of the beer. Note also I bought and sent it before [I knew] it was an AB InBev beer (for those who care ).

 

My second new beer today, which is also an American Pale Ale. Or California Pale Ale

Firestone Walker Pale 31 -- 4.9% ABV

Look: A light copper body, almost golden in a sense. Great head retention as I'm 80% the way through this there is still a thick film on top. Large patches of sticky lacing remain.

Aroma: Spicy hops, white pepper, citrus zest, peppered crackers.

Taste: A soft and subtle bready malt bill lays a nice base for peppery spice and citrus notes to play around on. Bitter pine in the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and dry.

Overall: 4.14 rating. At 4.9% this goes down really fast and there's just enough of a malt precence to get some balance. I like it a lot, just as I've liked every Firestone Walker beer I've had so far.

That's it for me today. I still have FW Easy Jack but I'll not review that on NBS.

 

Happy NBS, chilly and rainy in my neck of the woods after beautiful day yesterday.
My first post will be two brews from the annual Make The Cut Homebrew competition run by 14th Star, Bev. Warehouse, and a distributor. Winner gets their brew canned and sold retail!

The pic has the glasses on opposite side of the descriptions.

My thoughts.
The Altbier is copper, clear, with a lasting foamy white head. Get a bit of caramel sweetness in the aroma. Sweetness is the first thing that I notice on the flavor too, followed by a but of toasty malts and bitterness. Mouthfeel is a bit effervescent, tingly, but crisp and dry. Overall a decent brew, not very complex, but not unpleasant.

The Baltic Porter has a near opaque color and creamy off-white head that settles into a frothy ring around the glass. Lots of roasted malts on the nose, with bitter chocolate. Flavors blend together well, at once bold, bitter, roasty, and crisp. Full bodied with low to moderate carbonation. Well made and balanced.

The Baltic Porter got my vote!

 

For my first NB for this S I have an Other Half Forever low abv IPA (trying to get away from "session") that came in my latest trade.



Far more murky in that OJ kind of way than I had expected, plus it has a very nice white head that's leaving behind plenty of sticky lacing.

Floral nose with a slight little dandelion inspired bitterness on the edges. After all else is exhausted, a mild sweetness wafts in.

Upon first "swig", and ever so slight tart that ushers in that previously mentioned dandelion bitterness. Not a ton of malt backbone, but just enough to provide a slight balancing sweetness.

Lingering on the tongue is a stubborn bitterness in an otherwise thin leaning beer.

 

New Quaker Sunday
There are very few low (sub 6%) abv beers that do much for me because I need my malts. Just not enough balance typically with these 4-5% range brews. This one caught my attention because of the inclusion of oats. From my experience it is usually hard to hide them in body and flavor. While still very skeptical, I remain open minded.


3.97/5 rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

4/6/16 bottle date. It is a foggy gold with an ample amount of off white foam that resulted in a constant film on top.

Aroma has citrus rind, and a lot of barley. Smells like a mash with cereal. Also a bit flowery, and kind of an earthy mustiness.

There is lemon, pale grainy cracker like malts, floraly hops, and papaya or stone fruit maybe? Something rustic that I am not real familiar with, but gives it a distinct flavor. There is some bitterness, but not real assertive. Like most "sessions" there is not a whole lot of depth to the flavors. However, the oats make a strong appearence at the last minute and offer a nice ligering taste.

The body is the best part. Fluffy, sort of chewy, but still very light and delicate. Finish is dry and crisp.

I am not a fan of super low ABV beers, but this one has just enough backbone to hold my interest. I would probably be more likely to grab more of these if they canned it.

 

Correct. I still havent tried that one myself.

 

Greetings from Tennessee my NBS friends! It's been a challenge finding worthy beer of any kind down here in Gatlinburg, so I jumped all over this beer when I found six packs for under eleven bucks at one of the local stores that boasted a walk in beer fridge. Reviewing Hop Perfect IPA by Yazoo Brewing out of Nashville Tennessee. A bottle date of 4:05:16 with no abv. listed on the label. Let's pour this road trip mystery beside the hotel pool!

Pours a transparent orange color leaving a generous two fingers plus of frothy white foam. Some lacing graces the glass as it settles. The smell is juicy passionfruit, mango, grapefruit and inner tube rubber. Some floral notes and cereal/malt emerge in the back. Flavor is passionfruit forward followed by pineapple, grapefruit and mango. There is a touch of floral and malt in the finish. The feel is thin and slick with a crisp dry finish.



I'm a huge fan! The best beer I've found in this craft beer dessert and pretty fresh to boot! It's tropical juicy, but not over the top with a kiss of malt that makes it flavorful yet very drinkable. I'll have to buy at least a six pack to take home. My score was 4.12 / rDev 0%. Going to down a couple by the pool and enjoy this now sunny and warm day.



I've broken a couple of rules today, don't tell hotel management! Enjoy your Sunday and new beer adventures. No plans here, just going with my instincts! Here's the 'official' psycho babble......

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9020/221619/?ba=Prager62#review

 

This brew pours a cloudy, hazy orange color with a two finger head which sticks around for a long time and good lacing.
The smell is full of melon, grapefruit and other citrus, tangerine and a little pine along with bready malts.

Unfortunately, the taste does not follow the nose; instead of being able to taste the hop flavors individually, everything blends together in a big hoppy mess; there is no subtlety; just palette shredding hops. The bready malts are also barely discernable. Overall, this is a disappointment.

 

space rock by short's brewing company. Nice flavor a little bitter but a typical American Pale ale almost a IPA in my opinion

 

What's goin on Sunday Funday friends ???
been a couple 3 weeks or so since I've been able to join the party. long story short, as some of you know I've been tryin to sell my house for something like 8 months now.. finally we got an offer, spent the last couple weeks running around, then last week was the inspection failed because of a cracked septic tank and the buyers backed out ??? needless to say I had no idea about it and now I have to dig up my front yard to replace it..... yea!!!! so today I get to spend a good part of my day at work, might as well have a beer.
first up lunchtime libations, something light

on to the nerdy goods:
looks: a really nice shade of pink/reddish color, huge fluffy light pink head

smell: too me it smells like roses, not sure what hibiscus is supposed to smell like but I like it, also get some farmhouse funk a little
taste: like the smell, to me it taste like roses, I pick up a slight hoppiness not sure which hop though, very faint, also the funk is very faint as well
overall: this is a great easy drinking beer, would be an exc ellent thirst quencher on a hot day, will be drinkin more of these

hopefully I get to see all yous next week, enjoy you weekend

 

And here I thought I was the only beer nerd that traveled, bought beer - and then had to buy a glass, too. You know you're a beer nerd .....

 

Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion

Happy Sunday, from wet and cloudy southeastern Pennsylvania. Picked up a six-pack of this at my local bottleshop today, only a couple weeks past the canning date, along with another four-pack of Chillwave, so I'm pretty happy with how the day is going thus far.

Luponic Distortion pours a lovely clear yellow with two fingers of bright white head that leave minimal lacing. There's a big aroma of grapefruit and mango right when you pop the top. Looks and smells amazing.

It has a much lighter flavor than the nose suggests, with lemon peel, honeydew, a touch of grapefruit and mango again, and a slight pepperiness throughout, along with a pretty watery backend and modest hop bitterness lingering in the aftertaste. It's light bodied with a mildly chalky mouthfeel.

This beer starts off amazing, but ends up just good. They say this one is brewed with wheat to allow the hop profile to shine more. Call me old-school, but I like a bit more malt profile in my IPAs. The difference between this and an APA completely eludes me. Still very decent, though, and I'm glad I have five more.

 

Next up on a dreary NBS (dirty secret - I prefer rainy, dismal days!) is another Other Half offering, this time it's All Citra Everything



Would you just look at that thing. I let the head relax a bit before the picture, but that floating sediment thing is still there, showing off it's suspended goodness in this dark yellow, otherwise clear beer.

Nose punches pretty well immediately with sweet and bitter grapefruit goodness

Taste is just busy as hell. Starts out a little thin but builds up pretty well while you travel through the grapefruit en route to a sweet maltiness with just a hint of heat on finish.

As I mentioned, there's a touch of a thing start, but it scales up to medium bodied once by the time the malt takes center stage. Not a significant amount of aftertaste, but what's there checks in with mostly sweetness.

 

Good mor...err, afternoon, NBSers!



This time, I'm not doing a beer I've never had before (something I'm bad about on NBS), instead I'm doing a New Gose Showdown Sunday. The two combatants are the heavily hyped Westbrook Gose and the under-the-rader Union Old Pro Gose. This will be a good gauge to see if a hyped beer that trades for Heady is really that much better than the local option that's easier to find (and can't land Heady).



Old Pro pours a cloudy straw color. The head seems to be a bit rough-looking here. Westbrook Gose surprisingly pours a clearish amber color, while its head has a more even texture to it. Both have poor retention, though Old Pro leaves behind some lacing on the glass. I'll give this round to Westbrook Gose - it looks like something that isn't a gose (an ugly style, by the by), while Old Pro pretty much does.

Old Pro has a fairly nuanced and subtle nose. There are some lacto qualities, but I mostly pick up lemon, lime, peach, and apricot. It has a very faint touch of coriander as well. The Westbrook Gose is mostly pummeling lacto, with hints of coriander and even caramel malt (!) peeking through. Old Pro wins this one, as it has a more complex blend than the nearly uni-dimensional Westbrook. In addition, I pick up a hint more salinity in Old Pro (though neither are salt bombs by any means).

Old Pro follows the nose well. I pick up lime and lemon notes to start, with a gentle tartness throughout. I find the tartness this year is a bit restrained compared to last year, but it works so well regardless. An ever-so-slight hint of salt finishes it off, alongside some cream. @Shroud0fdoom calls it Gatorade in a can, and he's dead-on correct. In comparison, Westbrook Gose shows off more in the way of lacto and coriander. It's not as tart as the can I had in Asheville, but more tart than Old Pro. In terms of the initial tartness, I'll call it a 5/10 sour (Old Pro is around 3/10). There's more coriander here, as well. The lactic sourness of Westbrook gose wears on me after a while, while Old Pro's citrusy goodness doesn't. Old Pro wins this round as well.

Old Pro feels thin and a bit coarse, while Westbrook Gose seems a little rounder. The latter wins, right? Well...no. While Westbrook's Gose doesn't taste ultra-sour at first, it seems to burn the esophagus a lot harder than Old Pro does. Both leave a lactic film on the palate. Come to think about it, thanks to the lacto presence of Westbrook Gose, it's Old Pro that ends up seeming softer at the end of the day. That means Old Pro wins its third round.

I like both of these beers, I really do. But the simple fact is, right here, I like Old Pro better. It's more balanced and more complex. Westbrook Gose is a more intense and tart beer, ergo is also more prone to causing acid reflux. I rated these two before, and I think I'll keep the two ratings the same.

The moral of the story is: you don't always have to chase a hyped beer, because you might just have something in your backyard that's every bit as good, or even better.

 

Lol....I just did a side by side yesterday and first time reviewing both. St. Bernardus 12 was better than Rochefort 10 by quite a bit IMO

 

I haven't been able to find this in Fairfield Co. Anyway, sorry to hear about the inspection. My girlfriend went through the headache of several inspections over the course of 2 1/2 years. Nothing was more painful than the realtors, though. I wish you luck finding a buyer.

 

My first NBS post in maybe four years. I'm not too active on BA these days but it's still my homepage and I saw the New Beer Sunday thread right at the top of the front page and couldn't resist.

My lovely wife grabbed this for me at the grocery store last night and I must say it was a pleasant surprise then and today when I drank one. The guys up the street at Rivertowne hit this one out of the park if you ask me...and you did didn't you?

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30791/117311/?ba=ZimZamZoom#review

I like my impy reds sticky with resiny hops. This was a delight from the pour to the last sip.

It can't decide if it's going to be sunny or cloudy today in NCWV, and there may be a T-storm in our near future...but I'm under roof on my patio already thinking about what I'm opening next.

Cheers to you all!

ZZZ