New Beer Sunday (week 593)

Jever is pretty much my all-time favorite German pils. I was lucky enough to drink it very fresh in bars in northern Germany in the late-90s, and when I've found it here it's never been lightstruck.

 

Back for another and a Party In The Woods from Kulshan Brewing Co. I received it complements of @beertunes in a very generous box of beer and swag. The generosity of this community never ceases to amaze me and this NBS group is one of, if not the best. Let's pour this 12 oz. can with a best by date of 08/08/16, no listed abv. on the label in my 13oz. snifter and have us a party in the woods.

Pours a sparkling clear dark gold leaving behind a very generous finger of frothy off white foam. One of the better looking beers I've poured in recent memory. The smell is rather tame and malt forward with a hint of grapefruit. Flavor is very floral to begin followed by grapefruit and washed down by a hearty dose of malt. The feel begins slick and finishes with a slightly bitter hop bite.



A really easy drinker that leans more on the malty side and lacks any of the juicy hop presence I crave. After drinking it, I wish I would have taken it on the kayak yesterday. Or not as it may have met the same fate as Juicebox? The easy drinking more balanced profile does make it the perfect beer for a party in the woods or any outdoor activity. My score was 3.53 / rDev-2.5%. Thanks again Terry!

A cool story of the collaboration between the brewery and a local bicycle company that's worth a read.



And lastly the official scorecard.......

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28281/223346/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Nope, we're open and busy. Just that aside from early morning maintenance/setup stuff, there's not much for me to do. Plus, we finally got wifi in my little hiding spot where I tend to chillax (I don't have internet or TV at home) on Sundays. So, hopefully, I'll be able to get back towards my previous levels of NBS participation.

 

Beautiful picture!

 

Sorry, haven't had Foolery. Only reason I have Trickery is that the stars aligned on release day. Didn't even plan on buying four, but they were prepared in fours when we cattle called through the line. As for sharing before enjoying, well, I've just had so many damn tasty looking IPAs that needed dispatched first!

 

Interminable Opacity: Didn't Charlie Sheen star in that one? I think he played a drunk skydiver.

 

Hey NBS crew! Back with another new-to-me Veil beer. Cheers!




4.44/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from the 6/21 canning into IPA glass. Hazy, orange in color with a nice frothy white head, about 2" with solid retention. Fades down to a nice cap and leave some nice globs of lacing.

Nose is full of what I'm guessing is citra and mosaic - lots of big grassy notes mixed in the with juicy citrus.

Flavor follows but the hop punch is bigger than expected. Definitely big bitter here to accompany the sweeter and more nuanced flavors. Grapefruit, orange, mango and I honestly think I get a big dose of honeydew. The sweet notes offset by the grassy and earthy aspects. There's so much character here for this low of an ABV. Drinks with the complexity I'd find in a top shelf DIPA.

Feel is spot on. The wheat shines through in the body. Not heavy at all, I dare use the word "crushable" because I could put away a four pack of these in no time with no thought. But even though it's on the lighter side it's in no way thin or watery. Nice, smooth, juicy feel with a big drying bitter finish. Love it, definitely want to have this again.

 

Yeah, I drank one the other day as we were letting the brakes on my friends truck cool as we were coming down the mountain. It's a pleasant enough little beer, and I noticed we gave it similar scores, and while I don't go out of my way to get it, I sometimes grab a sixer as a "Drinkin' " beer.

 

And, for my next brew, I figured I would join the Kool Kids Klub, and have a Saison, as many fellow NBSers are doing. Thankfully, @smanson56 was kind enough to include this tart, funky example of the style in the LIF box he sent me. Spoiler alert, it's going onto my wants list, feel free to send me moar! http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/39318/193321/

 

New Krystalweizen Sunday



A-Bright golden body, very clear with a foamy white head that subsides.


S-Subdued pineapple, fruit’ish aroma


T-Starts off like wheat ale and finishes with an odd bitter finish. Faint hints of pineapple linger.


M- Moderately carbed, foams over the tongue


O- An interesting take on a weizen, it goes down easier the more you drink but the initial flavor is somewhat muddled.

3.05/5 rDev +0.7%

Haven't reviewed a beer in over a year..long time no see eh? This ones strange, it would have been better without the dehydrated pineapple juice.. I've heard of home brewers using dehydrated peanut butter but this is too much.

 

My second NBS beer is this one from Foley Brothers.



Blackheart

Foley Brothers Brewing
American Porter / 11.00% ABV

4.22/5 rDev -1.9% | Avg: 4.3
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottled 2016

L-Pours a thick black which allows no light to penetrate. The head is a fluffy one finger of small mocha bubbles. Lacing is minimal and the head recedes to a thin ring.
S-The nose is primarily bourbon booziness. There are flashes of maple roasted malt, but they are always brief and covered up by the bourbon.
T-The slightly less bourbon dominated. The maple makes it's presence known and is quickly balanced out by the bourbon before it can become too sweet. Neither too sweet or too boozy. Malts are there in the backround and really support the interplay between the booze and maple sweetness.
F- Carbonation is pretty light. Mouthfeel borders on full. If this were labeled as a stout instead of an imperial porter I wouldn't bat an eye.
O- Really impressed with this beer. One of the best maple beers I've ever had. Combined with the bourbon barrel aging and you have the makings of an outstanding product. Recommended highly.

 

New Schwarzbier Sunday

OK, technically it's a Dark Ale, but Land Grant's Boom is a "schwarzbier inspired ale". Tasted good to me no matter what you call it....

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37078/238756/?ba=bluejacket74#review



Not even a week old:





I think I'll have one more new brew today, be back in a little while!

 

Happy holiday weekend, everyone!
Mrs Wiens and I are doing a lot of travelling. We went up to Bar Harbor yesterday to visit our son on his birthday. We had a great visit, spent the night, returned home today. That's a 400 mile round trip. Tomorrow we'll drive to my mother's and take her to my sister's for her annual July 4 pool party. My mother is 91 and I don't want her driving herself, even though she insists she's capable of it. Mom will spend the night at my sister's, so we'll only have to get ourselves home. Only 250 miles of driving tomorrow.
On our way home from Bar Harbor we stopped at Whole Foods, They have a pretty good beer selection, and I was happy to find some Stone RuinTen.

In my snifter the beer was a dark amber color. There was a medium-sized off-white head that left some clumps of lace.
Aroma of pine, citrus, and tropical fruit. There was a sweet malt background.
Bitter orange and pine resin taste. Some tropical fruit, not as much as I thought from the aroma. Caramel.
Medium-bodied. Nicely done!

 

On the way home it was clear enough to see three peaks: Rainier (which you see in the pic), Adams, and St. Helens (on I-5 around Centralia/Chehalis was the clearest I've ever seen it outside of actually going to St. Helens National Monument back in the late-80s. Sadly, I was driving, so no pic).

 

Hey what's going on!?!

Weekend up at the beach, a bit wet, but no complaints. Digging some easy living here, and letting the beer flow.

Speaking of beer, time to grab me some stuff down the street.

Summer Saison 2016 | Dewey Beer Company


Dewey Beer Co. - Summer Saison 2016 by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the growler, shortly after fill into a tulip glass.

Creamy one finger topped head, bright and thick. Opaque lemon body, with a tiny bit of carbonation coming out through the body. Nice cling of lace that has a bit of ring in places as well.

Bright green herbs. Hints of lemon and grass, even … lemongrass punch on the nose. Moderate brett notes, quite a good funk tone of earth and heavy soil tones. Very solid.

Really nice palate. Chewy body, with a mix of lemon rind in the mid palate. Big lemongrass tones that I often find with Sorachi Ace hops throughout with a big punch of earth and green thick herbs. Light bodied, but highly supportive of the flavors and almost IPA hopped thick feel.

Real nice saison from these guys, look forward to it everytime I check out their brewery. Solid and punchy, with a simple body and a great take on the base hop.

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Cheers all hope everyone is having a good weekend!

 

This brew pours a clear golden color with a 1.5 finger head and lots of carbonation; some lacing

The smell is straw, hay and slightly bready with faint lemon

The taste is pretty plain with bready malts with some grain like grit in the finish. There is also a little hop resin in the finish.
Overall I am a little disappointed with this offering from Heavy Seas. This is nowhere near as good as their Small Craft Warning Pilsner. It is, however, very drinkable.

 

Hah! His silly mother named him that because he had not been fixed when she rescued him. He has since experienced the chop but six years later continues to forge ahead as the Huevos ...

(Midnight the Cat keeping watch over the puppy)

 

Hey again NBS crew. I'm checking in with my second and last new beer today with The Veil's Cat Boy. This one is plain old 100% Simcoe DIPA which I've actually never had before (that I know of) so it's interesting to me. Cheers!

4.27/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

Poured from can (6/21/16) into IPA glass. About 1" head forms, decent retention but does fade and less lacing than a lot of their brews. Color is nice, golden amber and fully hazy. Problem here is the chunks of yeast and/or hop remnants floating around. I see someone else noted this - not expecting this from a DIPA and I'm not a fan. It's more than a bit off putting.

Nose is big earthy hop from the 100% simcoe. Definitely pick up the "cat pee" and having that adjective is, for me, off putting. But the aroma itself is fine. It's not the gorgeous bouquet of some of their other brews but it's definitely nice and a cut above a lot of the DIPAs coming out of VA right now.

Flavor is actually fantastic. Definitely big on he juicy side with a lot of citrus and pine here. Then there's the cat pee. If it wasn't put out there in the notes ahead of it and referenced in the name, I'm not sure I'd put my finger on it as "litter box". I don't particularly like that. However in trying to shut that out of my mind as an identifier I really, truly love the flavor on the whole here. It's big, bitter, juicy, piney and incredibly earthy. With sip after sip it rolls over on itself and the bitter and citrus come back bigger each time with the other aspects fading a bit. What more could you ask for from a single hop DIPA?

Feel is fantastic and the star here - the grain bill kills it with whatever is going on. Juicy, luscious and full but incredibly well rounded with the booze almost entirely hidden save for some residual sweetness. I wouldn't stand in line for this one but I'd definitely be happy to have it again.

 

That is my favorite thing I've had from Hardywood and until recently was my #1 rated VA beer. Love that you pulled that one out for #1000! It's an amazing beer. Cheers!

 

Happy Independence Day weekend NBS people. Yes I believe we are pretty damn lucky to live here in the good old USA. There's lots we take for granted but compared to the rest of the world we have it pretty freaking good. Thank all our service men and women for that. And freedom to choose lots of different brews and when we are going to drink them which is now. Pretty fuking awesome if you ask me. Thank you @utopiajane for the fantastic kickoff again. Works done and its time to get started on some serious imbibing so without further adieu. I'm lucky enough to try my second can from this brewery:

Finback Brewery Visible Spectrum IPA brewed with Mango.

Pours a very turbid gold- with a 2 finger head of off white. There are streaks of nice lacing left behind as the liquid recedes.





to dry.

Really dug the IPA from them I tried for the first time the other night. Seems they are not following in anyone's footsteps. They are not scared which, for me, really comes thorough in the product. Its a shame ill probably have extremely limited access- but ill be looking. Really liked this one. Not your typical "fruit" beer highly recommended.

As for NewOldVinylSunday who is more American then Frank Zappa?
Check this video out with Jean Luc Ponty among others. "Watermelon in Easter Hay"
Enjoy your Independence Day- and don't be stupid and blow off any digits.
As always thanks for taking the time....


well half my review got wiped out for some reason and I'm not happy- but I'm not writing it again. It was a fantastic beer- sorry
Lots of Mango, peaches, pineapple pine and resin that finishes spicy black cracked pepper and dry. Like a fresh cut bowl of fruit topped with spice- in a nutshell