New Beer Sunday (week 592)

Big Cranky not too shabby. Thin creamy head over a semi cloudy orange/ yellow beer. Smells tropical and pine like fairly smooth in the mouth and finished a bit dry and slightly alcohol.

 

I seemed to be inadvertently channeling @TongoRad with my beer choices while having lunch out today. This post is a tie-in with my saison thread, but it's more fitting here.

First up was Greenport Harbor's Maibock. (sorry, no pic) I've gone back and forth on feelings regarding this brewery. Recently, I did a blind tasting of some porters, and was shocked by how well their Black Duck did. I always liked Black Duck a lot, but I didn't expect it to shine so well against the other beers. That inspired me to grab their Maibock on draught. I feel like I'm coming around to this style of beer. This beer was delicious. Surprised by how clean it was. It was a beautiful amber beer with no head at all. Bready and floral, it went down fast despite the 7% ABV.

Sorry @JackHorzempa , but this isn't going to be a pilsner summer for me, it is a saison summer. After downing the Maibock, I felt the pull towards saison and got a pour of Kent Falls Equinox Saison.



You can see the lovely yellow hazy orb. This beer was quite lemony/citrusy, crisp, thin, and dry. It was quite nice. I thought the fruity aspect from the hopping was a tad too much for the body of the beer. Apologies for the brief reactions, I was having one of those lunches where my cranky kids stole more of my attention than the beers.

By the way @JackHorzempa , I really can't enjoy Pilsner Urquell on most days simply due to the diacetyl. Just a personal thing.

 

Wasn't sure I was going to have a new beer for this weekend, but after a quick Nashville trip yesterday, I found a few goodies.

This is Mecha from NOLA Brewing and my first from this brewery.

Can is dated 8/31/16 which I'm guessing is a best by date. I'm not sure how far out NOLA dates for best by, but given how the hops have faded, I'm guessing at least 6 months.

Color is a touch dark, and the aroma is fairly light, but flavors come through in spades. Very nice tangerine, orange, and grapefuit with biscuit malts and a touch of honey sweetneess.

I would love to revisit this at another time with a fresher batch since I think this could be an outstanding beer.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18854/85515/?ba=richj1970#review

 

Chris, I fully understand!! I am very 'sensitive' to diacetyl in a negative way most of the times. For some reason the level of diacetyl in Pilsner Urquell is not too offensive to me. I can't say that I find the diacetyl in PU to be a positive feature but it is not a 'deal breaker' for me for this particular beer. I do not drink PU a lot but I do buy a 4/6-pack at least once a year.

Cheers!

P.S. I do have to complement you on your stock of Saison. You sir know how to party!!

P.S.S. I bought my first Southampton Keller Pils of the 2016 season earlier today. How about you?

 

Ah, my favorite thread of the week. Thank you, Dave and Marie, for keeping the NBS torch burning bright every week. First up, this collaboration brew from Amager and Cellarmaker.



The pour yields a cloudy, copper beauty with a finger of off-white head. The smell is dank hops - and a spicy hint of rye. The taste is TOTALLY piney, citrusy hops at first, and then, as it warms, the rye comes forward. The wheat is picked up in the tangy feel. Simply delicious, and a joy to drink on a beautiful Minnesota summer evening.

Rated 4.19.

 

Greetings from the palace in SEMass where the kingdom's weather continues to be awesome for being outside, but man do we need a good, soaking rain. No humidity, mid 80 range, but if it would rain a couple hours overnight... Yesterday was spent ripping up ceramic floor tiles as we prepare for a minor (eyes rolling) update to the kitchen. If you havent done this job before, I recommend this as a perfect solution...hire somebody else! I got halfway thru before my shoulders and legs couldn't take it no more... Today was spent with the garden tying up tomato plants and mowing what grass there is. Sonny boy and girlfriend visited for a quick grill of sausages and burgers, but he brought me beer...yay!

The beer in question was Sixpoint Resin. It poured a beatiful deep golden color with a pretty dense, soapy head about an inch thick that fell to uneven clingy stuff on the side of the nonic. The air filled with hoppiness...you know what this is from a mile away. It is citrusy, some tropical, definitely resinous, but there is a nice level of malt holding it up. Enough sniffin, lets get to sippin. Yeah...this beer is smooth to me and well-balanced. As much hoppiness as you need with an excellent balance leaning toward bready. The mouthfeel seemed different...somewhere between creamy and oily, but very pleasing to my tongue. It is a little sticky, but not cloying which makes it easy to drink. You cant tell it is a high ABV brew so I suspect that ice cold on a hot day this beer could seriously drop the hammer on you. I am feeling this coming in around the low fours on the BA scoreboard.

The queen enjoyed a Ballast Point Calm Before The Storm, took a whiff or resin and passed on the always offered taste. She did take a sip of the next new beer today and said "hmmm"....and I dont dare to try and interpret that comment.

And now....after the last round with the lawnmowerit is out of gas and so am I. The rare second new beer for me this fine day. Sixpoint Jammer. I have stocked up a little on lower ABV tasty treats for the inevitable hot days. It pours yellow and clear, very thin pile of bubbles the vanish leaving nothing. Not a lot going on with the nose. Mild coriander, a little wheat. Hmmm...maybe I see where the lady of the manor is coming from. OK time to manage expectations and remember this is a gose. The taste is quite mild, very modest on the salt, and I dont find much in the way of sourness. It is light on the body, a bit bubbly. Refreshing, balanced enough, and a decent beer. Great for the post mowing cooldown. But...I can get that for less cash, you know? It is a good beer, thinking 3.5 or so, but for me the value is lacking on this one. Now that I sit here between sips, the salt is making itself known, but I am holding at decent, not great for Jammer.

Thanks to @cavedave for yet another splendid start to scintillating sudsy sonnets (feeble, I know). Skimming through I can see yet again there is outstanding content from the faithful. Likes will be forthcoming!

Cheers,

 

Great beer for while I am sweating by the grill. My pic makes it appear a bit more turbid than it truly is.



My review!
4.44/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Fresh can poured into flute.

Beer is hazy, golden hued, and has a foamy white head. The head is slow to fade, but leaves little lacing on the glass.

The aroma is bright with fresh hops. Citrus, tropical fruits, and a musty pine resinous background which many will describe as dank.

Big flavor for such a low ABV brew. Does not disappoint, layers of hops, mild graininess, bit toasty. Bright citrus, bitter zest.

Much more full-bodied then I expected, but still easy drinking. Moderate carbonation.

Great hot weather brew. Would be a go-to for summer days at the beach or on the boat if readily available. Super low ABV, but desirable flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel.

 

If by "party" you mean: spending too much money on beer that I will consume by myself while wondering why I can't fit into my bathing suits from last summer - then you are right, I do know how to party.

Thanks for the heads up on Keller. I will keep my eyes open.

 

#2, beastly beverage from BP.



I love Ballast Point. Sculpin was my first adventure with them, and I was hooked. I really liked The Commodore (their take on an American stout), and I absolutely LOVE oatmeal stouts, so an imperial oatmeal stout from them is in my sweet spot.

This did not disappoint. The pour yields a jet-black beer with a finger+ of tan head. The aromas are dark chocolate, coffee, toffee - and something floral (the currants?). The taste is exquisite - all the aromas transferred to your tongue, with the dark chocolate dominating. My only ding - I wish this was creamier. If it was, it would be in my "Top 10 that is actually 50 beers" list. Still, I really like this - a lot. Gonna have to secure more of it.

Rated 4.24.

 

You sorta say that as being a 'bad' thing. I am quite confused!

Cheers!

 

I think I'll try to do the best of both worlds, myself; the summer of the Pils and Saison! I just don't think any of my Pilsners will make it to NBS any longer because I'm starting to go back to old faves now. I recently spied some Prima with the new labels and jumped all over it, and holy cow, that's a great beer when it's super fresh like that! I'm about to pour my second of the evening...

Chris- I'll also be all over that Kent Falls beer if I see it on a taplist. It sounds like the kind of thing they do particularly well.

 

New Beer Sunday: American Wild Ale

Evenin' NBSers, with warm welcome to willing wanderers wanting wild ales.

Well as expected, today was about as nice a day as you could ask for weather wise (I'll not bring up some of the rest of what went on. ) Skies were sunny, humidity was low, breezes were gentle and temperatures almost but never quite got uncomfortable. On the whole a day to savor.

As planned earlier, this evening's new beer is the Allagash Little Brett, a wild ale fermented with the Allagash house strain of Brettanomyces. (Which I'd bet means it was originally collected from the night breezes blowing over the fields near the brewery and through the coolship room.)

As usual my review is in progress and subject to revision until the beer is finished. It can be found here:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4/205198/?ba=drtth#review

The Little Brett is a refreshing beer for the summer with lots of different flavors and aromas all playing nicely together. There's pineapple, some breadiness, a touch of sweetness to control the bitterness and even a light touch of tartness. (It's pretty easy to tell Mosaic hops fulfilled their ultimate destiny in this beer. ) The Brett character isn't particularly forward as it hangs around in the background adding a touch of earthy character to the complexity of the beer but not dominating the beer. This one is definitely on my list to repeat!

While sipping and reflecting on this beer I was reminding of hearing Rob Todd of Allagash give a talk, with slides and pictures, during one of the Philly beer weeks some years back. He was talking about the then newly constructed and installed Allagash coolship to support their exploration of brewing wild ales using Maine bugs and critters who would gradually inflitrate and take over that portion of the brew house. While I've heard many good things about the Allagash Wild Ales from the coolship, they don't seem to get to this area and I've not tried any them. But with this beer, having been fermented in stainless steel tanks, using their house strain of Brettanomyces, they are clearly expanding their reach both in distribution and in exploring the possiblities inherent in brewing with Brettanomyces.

There's isn't any music on the player tonight as I'm relaxing on the back porch listening to the sounds of nature as the day slowly completes its transition into night.

Cheers, all!

 

I do too! She always looked like so much pure unadulterated joy whenever we'd open the door and she'd just LEAP off the porch. I wanted to grab a pic of it, so I did the hole burst capture thing and have a whole series that I can do as stop motion as well, ha. I still wish I could have gotten a clearer shot of her mid air, but I'm not going to complain about what I was able to pull off just using my 2 year old phone camera!

I've heard really good things about that one as it's been on my radar since I used to live in the U District. Have not had the chance to sample it yet myself though. May need to rectify that soon...

It was not the old swing top, unfortunately (I have an unfounded love of them swing tops): just a standard 750ml. Harvest Dance was one of the first ones that kind of piqued my interest in the style, way back when, and while a quick search through the db suggests I was mostly plus or minus about it, it was also from many years ago in the infancy of my assessment-ing...

 

Love Prima and now in cans. I'll be buying some for the hot summer days very soon.

 

Greetings All from the Columbia Basin of Washington.

Postcard day here in Ritzville! Clear blue skies, temps in the low 80's. After a couple of weeks of unsettled weather, it appears summer has arrived.

Today we have Deschutes Indian Red Ale. Part of a Summer Sampler 12-pack. 3 bottles of 4 different beers, including the Black Butte Porter, which I do not consider a summer beer. Maybe on the inevitable rainy August afternoon?

India Red a decent red ale, along the line of Ninkasi Believer Red. I would have it again, especially in the fall.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/180820/

Until next time,

Happy Trails!

 

Final beer of this awesome weekend.

Revolution A Little Crazy pours a dark rose color with a 2 finger off white head. Good retention and lacing. Aroma is quite floral with hints of rose and orange blossom. Some yeast and clove are also present. Flavor is like drinking liquid rose petals with some citrus notes. The yeast comes through with some of the caramel malt and ends with a touch of clove. It is interesting and enjoyable sip after sip. It has a light feel and good carbonation. A different take on a Belgian IPA, one that is rather floral.



Cheers and good night!

 

Damn near non-alcoholic territory!

 

Happy NBS, everyone! Great discussions as always today. I had a different beer lined up for NBS, but with all the great pilsner talk today, I decided to call an audible and join the pilsner party. Plus, it gives me an excuse to break in my new Reissdorf Kölsch stange that I bought yesterday!

Genesee Brew House North German-Style Pilsner



I believe @utopiajane actually wrote an NBS post for this beer about a month or so ago, which is initially what caught my attention about it. It definitely is more of a traditional pilsner, as opposed to innovative, seeing as how it uses only Weyermann pilsner malt and noble hops.

Pours a pale gold color with a tall, creamy head. Clarity is excellent (the haze you see in the photo is chill haze on the glass). Aroma is a showcase for the pils malt. So much fresh bread and grain, but there is more than enough earth and spice from the hops to balance everything out. Flavor is dry, crisp, and bitter, yet it finishes soft. Medium-light bodied with lively carbonation and very clean.

Wow, this is an outstanding pilsner! Genesee absolutely nailed this one. A great beer for when you're craving something crisp, brisk, and refreshing.

4.25's across the board for a 4.25/5 rating. Cheers!

 

I thought the same of that beer. I hope you have a Bam Bière, as it is one of my favorites!

 

I'm very sorry for your loss. We are getting ready to adopt again (canine) after losing our last four-legged family member in April. My girls are relentless. I hope you find another feline friend soon. God knows, good homes for pets are in short supply.