New Beer Sunday (week 599)

Well, I'm probably stupid for drinking such a strong beer, but what the hell. This is so new, that I had to add it to the site.

Lupulin Brewing Blissful Ignorance #3 DIPA infused with apricot. This is a very delicious DIPA, very refreshing, very strong, very good. Glad I bought it when I was there a week or so ago. Sadly, it's a limited release, so it will, probably, be the only time I enjoy this.

And to my posted review here
4.32/5 rDev n/a
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

This version is infused with apricot.
This beer pours a murky amber color, with almost no head when poured. There is carbonation in the beer. The nose is has got a nice hop smell, with a hint of the apricot. The taste is very interesting. It reminds me of the Magic Hat 9 that has apricot in it, which makes sense. It has apricot forward, then the bite of the hops hits you. This is a very delicious DIPA, and I'm glad I bought it.

 

I know it will sound crazy, but I hope someday I get the chance to visit that part of WV. My namesake settled in, what is now, Grafton in 1751. I'd love to walk the land he did over 2 centuries ago.

 

Happy birthday!! Hope you had a great one.

 

Hope you two had a nice birthday! I grabbed a single bottle of that Dogfish beer today, so I skipped over your review.

Today's first new beer was from a new-ish NYC brewery called LIC Beer Project. I've been very happy with their beer from the start, but it seems like not everyone shared my appreciation at first. They've been branching out of their Belgian roots and seem to be starting to win others over. It's amazing what an IPA can accomplish. I'll admit that I was disappointed to see them brew IPAs. I just wish the market was different, and that a new brewer could make waves without one. I had their IPA called Party Crasher a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised. It was so light and tasty. Today, I grabbed a 16oz ball jar of their IPA called SAMO. I'm a fan of places that fill pints to-go rather than just growlers... but you gotta bring a ball jar because most of the jars at places that do this simply leak. Here's a pic:



Both my son and my wife claimed that it looked like a jar of honey. This beer was clearly () inspired by the much-discussed opaque IPAs. I suspect that we'll see more and more beers like this from producers. I'll confess that when it comes to NY IPAs that people (erroneously or accurately) put in this category, I'm not usually a fan. I can't remember if @TongoRad once called such beers "one-dimensional" (forgive me if I invented that), but I tend to feel this way. I have no problems with one-dimensional beer, but it's a huge Achilles' Heel if the profile of the beer also happens to be something you just don't care for. Here's the beer in my glass:



The appearance of this beer is love it or hate it... or "I had a few years in the 2010s where I experimented with new things out of curiosity but I've since put all that behind me." (Yes, that is a genuine way to describe appearance.) I ended up liking this beer much more than similar NY IPAs. One reason for this is that the taste simply resembled other IPAs more. It made me think of DirtWolf but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't resemble each other and I'm inventing this too. The beer had a very nice and soft carbonation. It tasted of tangerine. The finish was strongly bitter. The malt character was very much buried underneath it all. The alcohol was really hidden as well. A very nice beer from a brewery that continues to impress.

If LIC Beer Project continues to put out IPAs this nice and winds up delivering on their America-meets-Belgium aspirations, they'll start to gain much more recognition.

 

The site crashed when I was trying to post this so let's muddle through as I'm tired and ready for some needed sleep after a long day. I'm clearing the books on new beers from @SammyJaxxxx with a pint can of Ron's Steam Bock Haircut from Carton. The date on the can is 4/28/16 and the abv. is 6.6 percent. Let's go!

Pours a copper color leaving a generous finger of white foam. The smell is caramel, some mild perfume, char and banana. Flavor is caramel malt forward, green apple, biscuit and pepper/spice. The feel is thick and chewy like a liquid bagel.



This is a style that I'll admit to not drinking much of anymore. With that said, I rather enjoyed it as a change of pace from all the high gravity/ hop monsters. It's crisp, clean and hearty with a sprinkling of flavor that makes it interesting. My score was 3.94 / rDev -5.7%.

Once again a great Sunday of new beers, many thanks to @JackHorzempa for being our conductor today. I hope to join everyone again next Sunday. Have a great week gang!

The official scorecard.....

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26817/224240/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Next new beer of the day was the accurately named Genesee Beer.



I'm a little surprised that I haven't had this one before.

The beer is dazzling clear and bright. The carbonation is a bit too prickly for my tastes. There's the typical sweetness of the style hanging over this. It feels undistinguished, but maybe I'd feel differently on another day. I enjoyed the Bud Light I had for this post better.

Last new beer of the day was Harpoon Sweet Spot.



When I saw this in the store, I figured "Golden Ale" meant an American Golden Ale (categorized as American Blonde here), as opposed to an English Golden Ale... but I crossed my fingers and grabbed one anyway. Unlike some others, I don't have problems with "American Blondes," but boy, it's been a while since I had a beer that bothered me like this one. The malt character was curious and a little unpleasant at first - warm and round... but this character hits you at the start and then totally disappears. Imagine a tasteless meringue with a sugary shell. The initial taste hits hard, but then vanishes. This was the beer equivalent. The only thing that challenged this analogy was some unpleasant astringency. Hoping that my impression had more to do with whatever I ate today rather than the character of the beer, I tried eating both sweet and salty foods while finishing the beer, but this beer was a big miss that I probably won't revisit.

The name "Genesee Beer" was truth in advertising.
The name "Harpoon Sweet Spot" was false advertising.

 

Happy Birthday...Tomorrow.

 

Two more for NBS!

Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye

Best By 10/28/16

I was pretty excited to see Bear Republic's distribution hit MI. This and Racer 5 and have been on my radar, and actually almost ordered them by mail, but because I have never done such a transaction I am always hesitant. This beer poured darker than I expected an IPA (per BA) to pour, but the aroma was every bit as resinous as the style can suggest, with some hints of a floral nature that peaked my interest. The flavor was no disappointment either. It had a good mix of that resinous hop mixed with rich rye and barley malt complimented by a citrus peel finish that rounded everything out. It brought good elements of both a rye beer and an IPA, which made it feel different than other Rye IPAs that seemed to be IPAs with some rye character (if that makes any sense). The Racer 5 was good, but this one is unique in this market, and for that reason see myself revisiting this again.

4.04/5


And for my last beer of this age, I go back to the last year I was in my 20's: 2013

Fuller's Vintage Ale

Best By 12/2023

I have been looking for a reason to put down the $11 for this bottle for a while. There have been a couple 2013s sitting at a shop near me, and I had passed them up every time due to price and a desire for something else. But, good old ales are limited, and it being my birthday tomorrow was a reason to splurge. Plus, I had taken back almost $5 worth of bottles to said shop, so the price tag didn't seems as steep. And, when I got there this was the last one left! Boy, am I glad I picked this up. I had a feeling it would be good because I really enjoyed their 1845. This beer somehow simultaneously drinks above and below its ABV. At times the flavors are so rich it seems like 10+%, but at other times it seems as smooth as a 6% brew. The dried fruit flavors are there, with rich caramel/toffee malts, and a great earthy and drying bitterness on the back end in the just the right amount to keep me coming back for another sip. There is differnet shop near me that has a few 2014s on the shelf, and after this week there will probably be one less.

4.22/5

Cheers again, NBS!

 

He cut his hair since last I saw him (in pictures, podcasts, YouTube videos) and looked lean, clean and mean Wednesday night. I'm not sure what I expected, but for that $8 cover charge, I felt like I was stealing something ... his voice and guitar playing seemed better live than anything I've seen on videos. It was my first time to see him in person and it won't be my last.



Real Ale Brewer's Cut No. 18 -- Cafe de Olla Porter

I buy a 6-pack of Real Ale's coffee porter every winter, and this is better ... much better. I'd break up with most of my winter seasonals and drink a case of this a winter. It's full of chocolate in the nose and flavor, and the coffee flavor is like the Mexico Chiapas beans I get at my local roaster -- almost salty, sweet, nothing sharp or big but simple and understated.

The review:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/458/216699/?ba=Premo88#review
4.32 (+0.9% rDev)

Cheers, LNNBSers!

 

I concur. There is not much especial about Modelo Especial.

 

Well, you now have tried one of my favorite Rye Ales. Glad you're getting distro from Bear Republic.

 

Well Good Evening NBS... I thought I'd be here earlier, but...Well, here goes Late Nite New Beer Sunday.

I've really been enjoyin' the reading thus far. Some great new contributions. I've been busy closing up my school year so I've been REALLY thirsty lately. 'Been hitting the new SN beer Camp box pretty hard. Really enjoyed the Moxee Moron Imperial Session IPA. That made me laugh out loud.But I liked that one. Also the Pat- Rye was pretty solid.
And I think I earned some points with the wife for the Imperial Brown Ale.

But on to more interesting things.
dog ate my homework from Brouwerij West, in San Perdo, CA.
This one is listed as a American Wild Ale in the data base, but the brewery lists it as a saison.
3.6/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Thanks to my buddy Danny for parting with one of his bottles.
Poured from the bottle into a Bruery tulip. Bottle was labelled "First Bottling" but it looks different than the stock image shown here on BA.
Color is a lavendar tinged amber. Somewhat hazy, then clears a bit. Solid, off white foam lunges northward. Wow, this head really wants to be part of the game. Stacked layers of lace ring my glass.
Nose introduces notes of blackberry, raspberry, a slight yeasty presence.
Flavor is a gentle melding of raspberry, slight crackery malt, and some floral berry flavors that finish with a hint of floral citrus. A delicate tartness finishes the drink.
Overall, a pretty good, refreshing take on a Saison.

 

another museum you may like not a super long ways from you is the evergreen air and space museum where the spruce goose is, many other awesome planes there as well! worth the trip.cheers.

 

Thanks for the birthday wishes, we had a fine day.

As to those newfangled IPAs, like Grimm or even Singlecut's SSMS, my thoughts are slightly different than one dimensional. Just this week I came upon the phrase 'all talk, no action ' because after such a strong aromatic intro, the flavor dissappates on the palate like it falls off a cliff. The whole construction just seems disjointed in these things.

Others, like Sip of Sunshine, do come across with lots of flavors and aromas at first, but by the second glass it's just grapefruit pith and pine bitterness; so in that case it's lacking any true complexity.

Thanks for the heads up on that LIC beer, though, I'm always game if I see it on tap somewhere.

 

Like the pics. Thanks.

If you'll ever be visiting the Hudson Valley region of NY, keep this place in mind.

http://www.oldrhinebeck.org

Lots of history, etc. to see and absorb and well worth the visit.

 

Nice take on that brew- One of my readily available favorites from Allagash

 

Thank you. I pick this one up when I find it and it is much less difficult than it used to be. I am looking forward to finding Little Brett - I think Nikki's has some, but haven't had a chance to get over there in a while.

 

I recently visited the Brewery and brought home 2 4 Pks of Lil Brett- I did just see the beer @ high spirits on north main down the street. If you cant find any let me know- we'll work something out.