New Beer Sunday (week 596)

Good Evening NBS and Thank You @cavedave for the inspiration am. Its easy to determine that you write music and lyrics by your prose and poetry. Well summer is here across most of the country it seems with this massive heat wave. No exception here- I was looking forward to doing this outside but that's not happening- and I really like to be outside..... We lost power again Friday night into Saturday am. A total of 10 hours. One day I'll put down the $ for a generator. Not sure when that will happen though. We had a huge downpour Friday before the outage and like the little boy I am, or at least try to be, I went outside in my shorts and just let it soak me. It was a blast!! I couldn't get anyone else to do it- So I'm a little nuts huh?? Try it. Gets you right back to earth- trust me. I also want to give a shout to National Grid. After all that yesterday I notice there is a dead tree that Ive been asking the city to remove forever because its on the street side leaning on the wires to my house- nothing to do with the outage. Guys show up fairly quickly and completely exhausted- I wanted to give these guys a beer, really. But they say they will send a tree crew out tomorrow. Next thing I know I look out and there is one guy in the bucket grabbing the tree- covered with poison ivy mind you- and they laid this thing on the ground like a baby to bed- Bravo guys!! unbelievable work for two guys that just wanted to go home at that point.
Well hot weather deserves refreshing beer and I have a few to try but I'm starting with this I was lucky enough to find and named after my lovely wife:
Singlecuts Kim- HIBISCUS SOUR LAGRRR!

Pours a nice hazy rose color with a 3/4" pinkish large bubble foamy head that lasts a few then settles to almost nothing with very little lacing.

Aroma is yeasty sourdough bread with lovely rose like floral notes with some berries-strawberries and blueberries.

Taste is similar. More tart than sour, bitterness from hibiscus is present for sure with some berries- cranberries and red berry with a lemony finish. Not a lot of graininess but there is some hay or grass. Simple and very drinkable.

Body is lighter for sure and the flower/bitterness coats the tongue. Theres not a lot of explosive flavor going on which is fine but it is thirst quenching.

This beer is decent but not on par with some of their others - especially IPAs IMO. I'm missing a little bit more grain and some more sweetness from wheat malt. Its a simple Berliner Weisse that drinks fine I just don't know if I would flop down the larger $ amount again on this one. Maybe I'm spoiled since I've been drinking and enjoying the hell out of the Mikkeller fruit Berliners lately-they have way more flavor and balance on a 3.7% abv. Worth a try but not a repeat buy for me.
Anyhow for NewOldVinylSunday I'm keeping my theme for the week: The Stranglers- Tank from The Black and White album. Love the keys, love this band. Hey have a great week and as always thanks for taking the time to listen.

 

Tampa Bay area beaches (Madeira, Treasure Island, Clearwater, St Pete)

 

Okay, now I’ve got a truly new beer for NBS, and man, am I impressed!

Altbiers are a style of beer that doesn’t seem to lend itself to the fanaticism beer geeks generally feel for other styles of beer, and I find the style is mostly unknown in this country. I consider that a shame, as it’s a tremendously satisfying beer in my opinion. I feel there are fewer beers that combine drinkability and flavor half as well as a good Alt, so maybe that’s why I’m scoring this beer 15.9% higher than the average reviewer.

Chuckanut has duplicated this style so well they’ve even thrown in the minerally aspect of a true Alt, and can’t help note that some reviewers seem to actually be marking it down for that. Well, to me, that’s just a sign of authenticity, as that’s what happens when you brew a beer using Düsseldorf’s water, and for Chuckanut to account for that just underscores how authentic their German-style beers are:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18879/52516/?ba=woemad#review

That grunt may be from Aslan (Thanks again, @beertunes), but the contents and glass are all Chuckanut!

I love this beer. If I lived in Bellingham (and hopefully, that will somehow, someday come to pass), I’d be pestering the good folks at Chuckanut for it whenever it disappeared from their taps.

 

I need no convincing. But Mrs. MacMalt does!

 

Back with my south of the boarder (Michigan), with an Ohio DIPA, Great Lakes Brewing Lake Erie Monster a seasonal at 9% ABV.

Pours just like Oracle, small head, no lacing, a clear orange hue, side by side identical appearance. Aroma is on the fruit side but nothing jumping out, taste is sweet fruits, on the malty side for sure, much to malty, not what I'm into for a DIPA, prefer the hoppy side of things to a balanced side. I picked up a single of this and glad I did, at $4 the scale tips to The Oracle. The price point and hop forward beer is the winner.

I've found the same conclusion with Chillwave, not my style, but scores are high so I guess it's me. Cheers

 

Yowzers, It's a scorche here! I hope you're all doing well wherever you are.

I'm just watering the beds in the back and decided to harvest the last of the mustard greens before they bolt, and even that has me dripping with sweat. I just may have just what the doctor ordered handy and available-

Trinity Menacing Strawberry

Trinity's Menacing Kumquat may be my beer of the year so far, due to its harmonious blend of the title fruit, citra hops, and brett, plus a velvety mouthfeel to die for. So, does the strawberry version compare? Yes and no, but the dry fruity tartness is just what I need right now anyway .

The nose is fruity and floral, maybe a blend of melon and honeysuckle, with vague berries and spicy earthiness keeping it grounded. As I swirl I get more spice, but the title fruit is hardly evident. That does make sense, because strawberries are pretty delicately flavored when fermented, and most of what's happening here seems to come from hops and yeast. They come out a bit more at first swallow, but soon give way to a tart tidal wave of spicy phenols. The finish is crisp and dry, and the mouthfeel is nearly as velvety smooth as its citrus counterpart.

It's delicious. It's refreshing for sure. But ultimately it's not the masterpiece I was hoping for. 2 out of three ain't bad, as they say. Don't go into it expecting a ton of strawberries, and you'lll get a good ride. I'll let the fact that I'm wishing I had another bottle right now push this one over the line into A- territory (4.0).

Cheers, NBS!

 

They do the imperial ipa thing very well. That one is probably my fourth favorite just behind Konkey Dong, Roller Blabe, and Dragon Saddle. I am for a day where they get big enough to do some decent in state distro

 

Thank you both for the NBS welcome!

It has been a great, relaxing Sunday. I've been getting things done around the house, made a fantastic caesar salad for lunch, and watched the Canadian Open. I needed this as this week at work is going to be a monster - a massive project with a Friday deadline.

On to new beer #2 on this Sunday. This is Wunder Kammer from Off Color.



And a description...



The beer pours a dark ruby to brown in color. Aggressive, billowing off-white head with a rose hue. It recedes quickly and leaves no lacing.

On the nose, I get honey, cherry, earthiness, and tartness. Refreshing and enticing.

The taste is phenomenal and complex. So many flavors. Again, cherry, honey, and earthiness lead the way. There are also notes of molasses, spiciness, and a mild tartness. A faint hint of oak.

For mouthfeel, the body is medium-light with a moderate-high carbonation. An exceedingly dry finish does well to balance the tartness. The honey and molasses flavors really linger.

A really excellent beer. Off Color has been a bit hit or miss for me, but this is an absolute home run. I will absolutely seek it out in the future!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week BAs!

 

Good afternoon NBS! Hit up Tired Hands for lunch and a bottle release earlier today. First up was Senseless and Scentless Oat IPA, got a good amount of tropical fruits along with some grassy hops, mosaic hops work nice in this, another solid IPA from Tired Hands, I'd rate it around 4.25.

Second beer from Tired Hands was more interesting, Goodmorningjen, 3.2% Coffee Brett Dry Stout. Roasted coffee, cocoa powder, tart cherries, nice slight earthiness, very easy to drink, a nice unique stout, would rate it between a 4-4.25

Now up a growler of Bellefonte Kush IBA
4.16/5 rDev n/a
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

32 oz growler poured into a tulip
They are calling this a brown IPA

A- A dark brown with a small off white head.

S- Cocoa, piney, slightly dank, mild citrus hops, some roasted malts.

T- Piney, slightly dank, nice citrus kick, cocoa, some roasted coffee, hints of caramel malts.

M- Smooth, medium to full body.

O- A tasty brown IPA, nice balance of hops and malts.

★ 368 characters

Malts remind me some of DFH Indian Brown Ale

Cheers!

 

Maria, I wish I could

Happy Birthday, @Rago!

 

Congratulations, Dad! It sounds like your son is a fine young man and a credit to his parents! I don't know about you but sometimes I feel like mine grew up well in spite of me.

 

I have to say that, even in this age of intra-league play, your post touched me. Through much of my life, the Brewers were in the AL East. I know that the Braves were once in Milwaukee so it has a National League pedigree but it's still weird for me thinking of the Brewers in the NL, just as it is thinking of the Astros in the AL.

 

Hey, NBS! Late entry for me today, but one I have been looking forward to today. This one comes as a gift from @MUTINY. He had grabbed one for me previously but we didn't find time to meet, and he ended up putting it out of his misery. He found this the other week, and this time, we were able to meet up at Ocelot yesterday along with @Barracudas. It was a nice afternoon of beers, even if it was a little hot inside the non-air-conditioned and full-of-people tasting room.

This is Omnipollo's Fatamorgana and has one of the brewery's minimalist artwork for a label:


Even with the environmental "climate haze" on the outside of the glass, this beer is quite hazy. Yellow in color, with perhaps just a splash of orange to keep it from being the color of the reflection of the orb on the label art. Head is a couple fingers, and sits around for me to snap a few pictures. I think it even did a little turn to make sure I got its good side. Lacing is pretty amazing in my glass, the GF's not as much - oddly enough.

Nose to me is a little bit of lemony bitter hops. It's not a bright lemon zest note, but more of a smell from the lemon peels that have started to compost (that might sound bad, but is not meant to be if you focus purely on the lemon and not the compost ). With warmth these notes clean up a tad and I do get lemon and herbs as separate notes. I also get a light grassy white wine note with some deep whiffs.



Flavor opens with that lemon zing from the nose. There's a little heat in the opening I didn't expect, but it is replaced by an herbal bittering note. The lemon sticks around as a partner to the bitter hop notes, but let the fashionably late flavor take the lead. The two are joined presently by a crescendo of a malty sweetness - honeysuckle initially. I think it becomes sort of a sweet tree sap as it seems to turn the hops more piney.

There is an odd tingle that affects my tongue during each sip of this beer. It reminds me of a very muted type of fusel alcohol characteristic - but is too light to be said flaw. It's actually more interesting than off-putting, but I think I could do without it.

A very lovely beer - light and refreshing while still being a decently bitter IPA. Probably the most "lemon-forward" non-sour beer I have had - something I wouldn't think I would enjoy too much (even though I enjoy Sorachi hops, I don't get a straight lemon note from that). But it isn't a sour note that the lemon brings, it is just the flavor. And it is backed by a nice bitter hop profile quite nicely.

I am glad @MUTINY was able to make it happen and get this beer into my hands. I appreciate it greatly, my friend. Cheers, all!

 

This beer sounds like something I'd really like to try, but I'm also drawn to the fact that Tired Hands does a "Throbbing Grissette." Throbbing Gristle is not exactly my idea of a casual listen, but the music geek in me really digs that they would name a beer that!

 

Is that the rare Imperial Stout Turd? You have a rare one there.

 

Happy Birthday

 

The fix is in, I see.

 

It was definitely a cool beer, I'd offer to send a growler but they weren't filling growlers of it. Tired Hands definitely has fun with their beer names and love to make music references, always have good tunes playing from death metal to jazz.