New Beer Sunday (week 595)

7.3% alcohol. Brewed in North Carolina.

3.23/5 rDev -17.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Hoppy-Bunny has a thin-to-medium beige head, a dark brown appearance, with regular brown showing up, as the light hits it, and some lacing left behind. The aroma is of a touch of bright citrus, brown bread crust, and Medium Master Chef Coffee. Taste is of brown bread, bitterness, bread crust, a touch of citrus, a ghost of chocolate, and no char. Mouthfeel is low medium, and Hoppy-Bunny finishes relatively mellow and medium dry. For a 7.3% ale, booze is not picked up.

RJT

 

You might consider checking out @zid's thread (which others, namely @utopiajane, have joined in on) The 750 Saison .

 

G'day Maria and to the rest of the NBS faithful! Upslope out of Boulder Colorado continues to impress me and I'm so grateful for them taking a chance on a sparsely populated state like Wyoming. Same goes for the other wonderful breweries who have done the same and a preemtive thanks to those who will do so in the future!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18564/238019/?ba=Bitterbill#review

19.2 ounce can with a clear stamped canning date of June 1, 2016.

A slightly hazy, honey coloured brew, there's quite a good head of foam sitting atop; could be that I'm serving it at near room temp. The foam subsides ever so slowly, leaving an abundance of lacing behind.

I do smell some of that fruity apricot and it imparts the mildest hints of tartness. But, this is a Pale Ale after all and that's what's most prevalent in the smell. It has a kind of dry hopped/ piney aroma that also suggests grapefruit.. Eureka hops are listed as an ingredient.

First word that I would use to describe the taste is dank. A fun word, eh? I did a bit of research about Eureka hops and they already are supposed to impart aromas and flavours of apricots and tangerines. Adding apricots to this Pale Ale thus seems redundant but what the hey. It works.

Piney, apricot flavour imparting no tartness, just adding a fruity aspect that you'll find more common in IPAs than APAs, I reckon that this is somewhat of a bold step to take but a step in the right direction.

Smooth as silk mouthfeel and has heaps of drinkability. More than well worth the +$8 that I paid for the can. Check it out.

 

Good morning NBS folks. It's been a long time since I've had a Sunday to myself, and nowhere to go!

I've waited all week to try this desert beer for breakfast, beer sweet tooth and all - Southern Tier's "Salted Caramel"



Pours black with a tight khaki head; the cap retreated quickly leaving a small slick behind; there was som spotty lace at first, but not much after the first few sips. 3.75



Smell just like an opened box of Cracker Jacks! Caramel corn nose. 4.0

Roast malt and caramel; some saltiness, but not too much; a little bitterness from the roast; semi sweet caramel candy finish; even more candy as it warms. 4.25

Medium almost smooth mouthfeel; moderate carbonation; very little warming from the alcohol. 3.75

Overall, I keep thinking this tastes like pulled salt water caramel candy/taffee; there is a drying effect from the salt and a slight afterburner on the tip of my tongue from the alcohol; still, the linger is caramel candy; definitely a desert beer for the fans of same. 4.0

Have enjoyed the posts so far, and appreciate participating. Cheers y'all!

 

Greetings friends,
Thanks to Maria for the nice kick-off and showing the lovely farmhouse ale. It's quiet today, following yesterday afternoon and evening thunderstorms and soaking rain. We watched the grandchildren yesterday while my daughter and son in law attended his moms mom's funeral. Today I will be attending a service for my best friends oldest brother (only 69). We all grew up together out here in the woods, playing golf, living idyllic childhoods, all spoiled by great happenstance. Well, until Grant was drafted and shipped off to Viet Nam. His great sense of humor remained, but it turned a touch darker and ever so slightly cynical. Time moves along...
Today's beer is Wicked Weed Napolean Complex. This "little" devil pours a lagerish clear yellow/gold, pushing a lively and eager large bead to a steady and firm pure bright white froth. An effusive pine and grapefruit nose is mouthwatering, just perfect from feet away. The taste mimics the nose, with pure pine and grapefruit flavors, roasty malt, and a nice sharp hoppy bone dry bite. Weighing in at 5.2%, this beer is perfect for "several". Napolean Complex stands tall on its own, not outshone by its bigger peers in the WW portfolio. I love this beer and recommend it for a group tossing down more than a few, and with pastrami and swiss on pumpernickel!

Les Paul continues to amaze me. The more I learn about his career, I am even more amazed.

 

Maria! How you doin?

 

Being much closer to where they brew, the general feeling that I pick up from sampling and talking to other locals is that their regular line up was fairly ordinary until they started doing the Exit series. They've hit several home runs with the Exit beers and some of the better ones are now availble in 12oz size. There's even a periodic release of a variety pack wth 4 of the Exit series beers in it (including a couple of my favorites). So if you haven't yet done so, other beers in the Exit series are generally worth giving a try.

 

Godd morning NBS, thankd Maria for the start, and as always thoughtful reviews.
Today we are in a remote location, Burlington VT, a wonderful series of events and friends
At the Vermont Brewers Fest. Have us away from WMass. Great time and wonderful offerings.
Todays NBS is from Athens Ohio, Little fish Brewing,s Saison du Poisson. Very nice in in body, carbonation and the
deft use of barrel aging.
Cheers all

4.09/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 ml bottle dated 4/1/2016, into a small tulip glass.
A - Deep golden color, a bit of haze conceals an active carbonation. A snow white cap stays through the entire experience.
S - Hint of funk, warm wood notes, lemon rine, and clover honey are the dominant features. The yeast contribution is not French farmhouse, but more Fantome, and Brett. A very nice floral piece from the dry hopping.
T - A solid grain componenet, the spelt adds an earthiness, wonderful honeysuckle, apricot , white pepper elements.
M - Initial start is a bit sweet, that lasts about 3 seconds then a bone dry wave runs across the palate. The finish is chalky and delightful.
O - Very happy to have purchased this on our recent trip. A very good domestic toake on the style. Reminiscent of Blauges in many ways.

 

Tom, I agree with you here. The Flying Fish beers that I most enjoy are the Exit series of beers.

Cheers!

 

Holy smokestacks! The Early Bird NBS crew gets after it.

I tried to hit the hay as early as I could after the late shift last night, so I could get up and watch The Open. Nailed the itinerary like a Henrik Stenson 3-wood, so it's New Texas-Brewed Saison Sunday time:


Texian Brewing's FM 359, a saison aged on raspberries and blackberries

Jester King, Prairie Artisan and Jolly Pumpkin have spoiled me to the point that I generally turn my nose at all other farmhouse and wild ales, but I kept seeing this bottle at my grocery store and finally had to ask "Who am I? Michael Jackson?!?"

Glad I wisened up. FM 359 is very solid. The clear gold look of the brew as it poured out and a big opening burst of musty barn aroma felt like a hearty handshake and friendly smile -- we got brett! The beer's color turns into a gorgeous hot pink/amber with gold/orange highlights as it fills up the glass, and it clears up from about 80% misty to 50/50 or clearer. The aroma begins sweetening, some raspberry showing up, and as it warms it's a good mix of hay, earthy yeast and the fruity sweetness.

The flavor is much more earthy than the nose, but there's a pinch of both the musty barn flavor (funk) and the raspberry (sweet). It's not very "sour" -- the tartness is lemon peel tops, no lemonade and certainly no raw lemon. It's also not bitter. The earthy flavor is yeast, not dirt.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33465/221873/?ba=Premo88#review

3.92 (+0.5% rDev)

I hadn't heard of this Houston-area brewery in Richmond, which I had to look up on Google maps ...

... turns out where FM 359 T-bones into the brewery's road is about a par-5 and some change away from the site of now-deceased Old Orchard Park, the golf course I played a U.S. Public Links qualifier at in 1998-99. Or was it 2000? Who knows ... or cares? As I'm geeking out on golf and beer, I couldn't help but feel the connection.

Phil Mickelson is going to need some magic to catch the big Swede. And I'm going to need time to nurse home this 750 ml while reading you boys and girls' good posts.

Enjoy your Sundays!
Cheers!

 

Ok, as the two competitors take their matchplay into the final hole on the outward 9, I am getting into my Gose tasting. I decided to add one that I have had before to see how it fares:


Here is the tail of the tape:
Stone glass:
Hazy white-yellow. Decent white head that looks like a skin across the top. Nice lacing.
Nose has the sea in the background, but a nice level of funk as well. This almost assuredly makes this the Gose Gone Wild. Note I hadn't thought that said beer would have this distinct smell/taste.
Taste is nice at tart up front, lime-like. Barnyard notes cut into this sourness but do not destroy it. Salinity is noticeable but acts more as seasoning.

Victory glass:
Chose this next as I "know" it is the Old Pro Gose, thanks to knowing the color of that beer.
Pours a little more cloudy than the previous beer, but also has a huge cap of white foam that dwarfs the decent head of that beer.
As much as the head dominates the Stone glass Gose, the latter's nose destroys this one. Light sour notes and a little higher level of salinity than the first.
Taste is a little more salty that sour. The salt hits early with a sour grapefruit to lemony tartness. The sour does build a little and actually carries into the end taste more than the first beer.


Ballast Point glass:
The clearest of the 4, this has a very light haze on a light golden body. Sparse gathering of bubbles at top and on rim.
Nose is lightly tart, almost leaning toward tangy. Not much salt.
Taste is a bit of a shock in its tart bite. Sour lemon yields to another note that actually seems a little watermelon-like. In fact, it reminds me a tad of the AV Briny Melon, which makes me think this taste is familiar, and therefore I am guessing this is the GT Gose. Note, I have yet to look up what the GT is an indication of, if anything.


Dogfish Head glass:
The darkest of the beers, probably about the same haze as the first beer (Stone glass). Probably the ugliest of the 4, though it has a tad more head than the BP glass beer.
A very strange smell - a light tang, but also some wood notes and something that comes to me as peaches.
Definitely a light funky wood note, but completely different than the funk from the presumed Gose Gone Wild. There is that peach or other stone fruit note from the nose as well. This is easily the least sour, and the salt comes through on this (in the end) more than any other than the presumed Old Pro. This has to be the Old Ox Funky Face.


So, how good are my deductive musings:


So I had figured out the beers, but which did I like?
For a regular Gose, which only one was it turns out, I have to go with the Old Pro by Union.

The most interesting was the Old Ox Funky Face, which is a blood orange gose (sorry, I still get peachy) - and also probably the least gose-like to me. Edit: after slowly sipping the rest of this with the GF, I did start getting the blood orange a little more obviously.

The Gose Gone Wild World Tour is the Phuket variety(?) which has mango, lemongrass, and Thai chiles. I must say I am not really getting any of those (maybe the lemongrass). But I do think this is perhaps the most well constructed, without any note being too dominant.

The Anderson Valley GT Gose may or may not have these ingredients, but it says it showcases "flavors and aromas of lemon peel, juniper, lemongrass and grains of paradise." I do notice a certain spice in the nose now that I look for it, likely the grains of paradise. I think that "tang" was the mix of this with the lemongrass. Funny how knowing what to look for makes it more obvious what I got as a general impression at first. These notes don't come put as clear in the taste, though the juniper might be there in the back of the taste.

Oh well, sorry for the barrage of GIFs and photos and small novella of words. This wasn't as much of a comparison as I had originally thought given the new beers were all "non-traditional" Goses (the actual "tradition" of Gose as I understand it has been lost to history). But it turned into something different and just as fun - seeing how a base beer can yield some interesting and fine examples of beer. Yay beer!

 

Opening Ninkasi's Bourbon Barrel-Aged Ground Control Imperial Stout

Brewed with Oregon hazelnuts, star anise, cocoa nibs, and...

Ale yeast sent into space... ?

Not sure what the value of that is, but this was a $19.99 bottle.

Had the regular version last year and was quite impressed (second pour pics, too lol)...

--> Note that last year's release was a $25 bottle

Box art...

This was an incredible barrel aging.

Not only did it lower the price , but it didn't take away from any of the core flavors. They just added bourbon...

The hazelnut and bourbon were first to the nose, with woodsy and roasty notes following. Sweet oak and chocolate flavors mixed with bourbony vanillas and a distinct hazelnut aspect. The anise was subdued, apparent toward the finish, accompanied by an earthy and herbal element, as the soft molasses-like sweetness began to fade as it dried. I think the body lightened somewhat with the barrel-aging, but it was not detracting at all - I actually think they hit the spot - and I am very particular about the feel I want in an imperial stout, barrel-aged or not. This was medium-full bodied, with a smooth, silky feel, a little tingle, and a muted char of bitterness after the drying.

A fantastic entry into the bourbon barrel stout lot...

Cheers, NBS - here's to new beer in your glass!

 

I wish you luck on that battle. My Mom was very timid about trying to coax her Mother into a similar arrangement until my Grandmother was doing laundry once a month or so to avoid walking down to her basement. Granted, she probably wound have fought like hell against moving out up to that point, but she would up really liking the retirement apartment in E. Washington and made a lot of friends there, with her only child 15 minutes away instead of over 2,000 miles away.

 

I was hoping you would know.
I've only had one so far this year and the hops felt very background to me. I definitely enjoyed it, but two or three summers ago this beer was rockin' - even if just in my mind. It would be great if the label had any info (including a date ).

 

I'm officially intrigued. Certainly, I'm no stranger to Ninkasi, but I don't think I've seen that one before. Did you pick it up in Oregon?

 

Hey, man... but no, Ninkasi's been distributed to Long Island since May of last year (I don't know about the rest of NY).

 

Reviewing one that I was sort of talked into buying. I was digging around a new shop when they kept complimenting this beer. Now I usually take suggestions and make up my mind afterwards, but this time I just went for the 6 pack without thinking, and I don't regret a thing. On a hot midwest day, where I have all fruity IPAs lined up, let's get into this:

Unita's Tangerine Hop Nosh.



(I'm so proud of this photo)

Look: As is captured above, the beer has a non-flashy, opaque burnt orange look to it. Really tasty for the eyes. Up top sits a khaki head that rises to about 1 centimeter for starting its quick decline. Not as strong of head retention as would be preferred in an IPA, but still decent. Lacing is sporadic and inconsistent, but otherwise good.

Aroma: Here is where things start getting better. Big notes of Tangerine right off the bat, with reinforcing notes of citrus, orange, and resin and pine hops. The whole aroma is supported by a biscuit malt foundation that keeps things rolling along nicely.

Taste: While the tangerine in the aroma is nice and well developed, the same is not so true of the flavor profile. Tangerine is still present and well done, but not as the level of the aroma. As in the aroma, the taste is supplemented by additional citrus and orange notes, and resin hops that keep the taste sticking around nicely.

Feel: Mouth feel is velvety and smooth, with a great medium consistency. While it is smooth and a pleasure to drink, the filling nature of it leans this beer as more of a sipper than a gulping beer, which may not be so bad at over 7% ABV.

Overall: It's a very fine IPA that is both tasty and fun to drink. The fruity characteristics are playful without being over bearing or too sweet. Great work.

Scores: 4 | 4 | 3.75 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 3.9 | Avg Score: 3.72 | rDev: +4.8%

 

Maybe I'll have to look for it on the other side of the state, or maybe it's one Ninkasi hasn't submitted to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board. To sell a beer in this state, you actually have to send them examples of every beer you intend to put on shelves in WA.
Clearly, I have the wrong job...

 

Well, on the neck label it provides a 'clue' that only a single hop variety was used to brew this beer. The mystery is: which hop variety? This beer has hop flavors/aromas that are reminiscent of noble hops for my palate. The challenge of identifying hop variety flavors/aromas is that hops have a terroir effect; hops of the same variety grown in different areas will have differing flavor profiles. When you factor in other factors like timing of the hop harvest (i.e., early harvest vs. late harvest), how the hops were using during the brewing process, how fresh the hops and how were they handled/stored,...

The best I can say is that the hops used to brew Southampton Keller Pils taste different to my palate than the Saaz hops I use to brew my Bohemian PIlsners and different from the Hallertauer Mittelfruh hops I use to brew my CAP beers. Using this specific process of elimination my guess is that Tettnanger hops were used to brew this batch of Southampton Keller Pils. My beer memory is not good enough to opine if this was also the same hop used to brew the 2015 version of Southampton Keller Pils. Needless to say but take all of this FWIW.

There is a bottle date on my bottle (black ink on a brown bottle) and the code is "11C16". Do you have a Little Orphan Annie decoder which cracks this code? Maybe the letter C = March and the number 11 = 11th day of the month? I am pretty sure that 16 = the year of 2016.

Cheers!