New Beer Sunday (week 600)

Woody, you da man!!

Cheers!

 

Nice, I've made it in time for NBS' early phase this week! Hello all! Today, I'll be drinking a beer from a brewery that was, until yesterday, 100% unfamiliar to me.



Bentley Brewing out of Southbridge, MA brings us a saison brewed with rye, white wheat and 2-row barley, hopped with Chinook, Cascade and Nugget. I love when breweries put information about the grains and hops used on the labels of their beers, and I especially love when they do so in a nicely-designed way. This bottle looks really classy, and felt like a steal at about $12 for a 750. Hope it's good!

Pours a rustic looking deep-ish amber with some orange highlights and a sticky, retentive white head. Lace seems decent, but the legs on the foam in the glass are very nicely built-up. They leave a coating sheen around the edges if the glass is swirled. Quite a nice looking brew here.

Nose is definitely spicy and earthy, as any rye ale worth its salt should be in my opinion, but there's also some lemon rind, clove-like phenols, grapefruit, light pine and biscuity/doughy yeast. I'm almost picking up a "funk" but I can't tell if this attracted Brett yet. I don't think it's intended to have that note, but in a saison, I can forgive a bit of weirdness as long as the overall experience is solid.

Flavor is definitely on the earthy side with some bright citrus and rustic yeast notes. There's a slight tartness on the palate, meaning this could have picked up some wild yeast and/or bacteria. Apparently the brewery does make some sours and barrel aged stuff, so it's not out of the question... I wouldn't say it's "infected" or even bad, but I'm also not sure it's exactly the way it was intended by the brewer. Musty, phenolic and surprisingly bitter. The finish is dry and there's no real lingering flavor, though there are some wheat-like crackery malt notes on the middle of the palate that are satisfying. Not sure how I feel about this, overall, however. Seems decent enough but the presentation made me think it would be different than it ended up being, and the West Coast hops seemed to not fit squarely with the base beer. The spice notes are inviting and I can definitely pick up a decent amount of rye, but I probably won't reach for this one again. Maybe I'll try something else from the brewery, though... the store I bought this from had a pint bottle of their Nelson Sauvin pale ale from what I remember, so that seems like a good choice to revisit these guys with.

Last weekend I went to the West Coast for the first time to see a metal fest in Olympia, WA and picked up a lot of great records and a few CDs. A hole-in-the-wall record store led me to discover a copy of The Silver Mt. Zion's "This Is Our Punk Rock..." so I'm listening to that now.

Been a Godspeed You! Black Emperor fan for a while, but this is actually my first experience with TSMZ. It's definitely more "positive" sounding than the typically bleak GY!BE approach, but it also has that desperate sounding, emotionally-packed current running through it that Efrim and co. typically do very well.

 

Next up is a side-by-side of a different sort. These beers are two different styles, though both are sours. One is a "traditional Belgian 'Oude Geuze'" and the other is a "traditional Belgian 'Oude Kriek'" - both brewed by Brouwerij Boon - and both with the Mariage Parfait moniker.


The Geuze pours a lightly amber tinted medium golden color. In the Allagash glass, the head builds to about 30% of the volume of the pour with ease. The Kriek poured a ruby to burgundy, as aniticipated, though a little darker than I expected. Both pour fairly clear, and though I was a little careful, neither required the decanting I was attempting.

The Geuze has a nice bite to the sour note it gives off, but with some deeper whiffs, it would be more aptly described as a strong funky tartness, I think. Peach, musty to yeasty wood - fairly classic based on my limited experiences.
I am actually glad I am doing these together, because the Kriek's nose is a nice contrast. There's a more astringent acidic note that is reminiscent of alcohol (these beers have the same 8% ABV) - though I do not think that is what it is. It's also just a thing picked out from a deeper woody nose that also has a nice, fairly powerful presence of the cherries that are added to this beer.


Given the bubbly nature of the pour and the 1/2 cm or so of head still atop both beers (the glasses do have etchings on the bottom), I expected fairly bubbly beers to possibly attack my palate. The Geuze did not meet this expectation at all. A very relaxing roll of bubbles helped caress this beer over my tongue. Fairly light, but not quite as much as expected. The Kriek did have a little more prickliness to the carbonation.

The Geuze starts off with less funky and more tart than I expected from my deeper whiffs. Only a dull woodiness to the taste that is more passion fruit, tart nectarine, apricot. These tart notes are very nicely restrained versus being aggressive or tongue-ripping. I actually am really appreciating their strength of flavor without the strength of acidity.


The Kriek ends up with a similar overall feel on the tongue, as the carbonation in the beer adds a little bite that makes up for the sweeter flavors (less tart) in the beer. The wood notes are a little stronger in this beer's background, and the cherries shine with a rich, but not sweet, flavor. I do get vague impressions of the fruits I noticed in the Geuze, but I'd actually want to say the dulling of the tartness yields a little more peach and nectarine than the others.


Two wonderful beers that have a nice level of souring that is kept in check and plays with the base malt beverage instead of becoming the beer's flavor like some others I have had. In the past I might've thought this taming as lacking. But in these two beers, I find it really refreshing and mildly impressive.

 

Hey folks. I'm happy to join at this early hour since I usually only get to post here in the late evening.

I really enjoyed my saison today.



Fantome La Dalmatienne (Light)

You can read my thoughts here.

Cheers!

 

Greetings friends,
As Dave so nicely said, milestones are worthy of note if they really do matter. I've been around this conversation that Beer Advocate is for a long while. I began as an opinionated beer nut and there I remain; but leavened by the intellectual back and forth, genuine understanding, and absolute fun that this place has become. We are not all of like minds, but we try to reach each other weekly. I can honestly say that my life is better for the thinking that this place has instilled and inspired, for the repartee, and for the opportunity to be expressive amongst a group that I truly respect. And the word play, bad jokes, honesty, and the beer!
Martha is off watching the grandkids for a few days. I already miss her. They'll all be coming back from Chapel Hill on Wednesday, so I'll have two boys- 9 and 6- to wander around with me in the woods that I love and that have been my home since I was younger than them.
The first time that I had Duvel was on a train somewhere in Germany, having the great good fortune to be sitting next to a young (lady) writer from San Francisco. We were instant friends and the memories are as intoxicating as Duvel itself. This is a great beer, an absolute classic that is Belgian almost like nothing else. The pour is always perfect and so enticing that you forget that it's beer. This thing just speaks class. It is a golden ale, with the attendant yeasty/clovey nose and taste, and it "still" packs a punch. With this beer people make friends, conversation, and memories. Duvel is absolutely one of the best commercial products that I have ever had.
Joni Mitchell sings like a bird and is a treasure! Cheers to everyone! Oh, I think that's some kind of Neolithic game stone (in the beer photo) that Martha found yesterday.

 

Hey gang, I'm back for another before things get busy here. Going to have a small group over for some drinks and pizza on the grill. We know all too well around here that these beautiful days are shrinking in number! Let's move on.....

A bomber of Singlecut Beersmiths Is This The Real Life IPA dated 7/20 received from @guinness77 in a fine box of brews last week. Let's pop the crown on this 7.2% mystery and pour it in the trusty Weyerbacher tulip for the review.

Pours a hazy iridescent pale yellow with two fingers of creamy white foam that settles leaving behind ample lacing. The smell is grapefruit, passionfruit, mango, some onion and butyl in the back. Taste is juicy passionfruit, grapefruit, mango, floral and some pineapple. There is a touch of orange zest in the finish. The feel is resiny and oily with a slight bitter and dry finish.



Another stellar IPA from this brewery! It has a palate pleasing mix of tropical fruit, floral and a slick malt backbone. Our gracious host @cavedave sent me a nice mix of beers from this great brewery and I'm smiled upon once again by another generous BA. Thank you Chuck for another Singlecut fix! My score was 4.29 / rDev+0.2%.

Time to tend to a few things before the guests arrive. Have a fine day and as always the customary review link below.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30452/176446/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Harpoon Ale

I was very happy to see this beer in a store. This site lists it as an "American pale ale" but Harpoon's site lists it as an "amber." When you drink it, you immediately start to think of it as an English bitter. Which is right? They all are! This is a really nice little beer. (The label is great.) The malt character is sweet, caramel-ish, and very nice. It's fruity. It could use a touch more hop personality. I'd love to try this alongside a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

EDIT: I'd love to try this on cask. Earlier this year, I went to a bar that advertised that they had this on cask. When I got there, the cask beer was actually listed as Harpoon IPA on the menu. I ordered it anyway and the resulting beer was absolutely terrible. It seemed like the cask was so poorly kept at the bar, that I couldn't even tell you if it was in fact Harpoon Ale or Harpoon IPA.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. Another pretty humid day here on the island with the possibility of a passing shower. Could sure use a nice rain storm. Been mostly just recovering and getting back into the swing of things at home after a nice vacation in Maine. I was lucky enough to try so many great beers and the chance to visit a bunch of the great breweries up there. The fiancé and I have agreed that it is a trip that will be revisited in the future.

I think advocacy is more about just enjoying your life. I think the advocacy part is about stepping back and realizing there is much more to enjoying beer, than the thrill of the chase, or to simply wright a person off because they ordered a bud. It's about being humble, respecting other peoples opinions, and most importantly learning.

Anyway, enough with the romance shit and onto the important stuff. My new beer today is an IPA, from Oyster Bay brewing co here on the island. It's a new to canning offering and pretty cool to see. The brew comes in at 6.1% with a canning date of 8/4.

The beer pours a golden amber color with moderate carbonation, good clarity, and a frothy white head. The nose is subtle with spicy hop and sugars. Bitter pine and hops hit big on the very first sips. A good amount of citrus hops on the flow and a slightly bitter finish. Decent balance with the sweet caramel malts but they do not over power. The hops are decent too with pine, grapefruit, orange, and lemon. The mouth feel is pretty moderate.

Overall, its an ok offering. It's not going to change the world but I have no problem knocking these back. It really has a west coast/English style to it. I'm right around a 3.5 on it.

 

Great post @cavedave , very well stated on this most special 600th edition!

Back from missing NBS for a few weeks due to commitments and travel, I feel like I've got some catching up to do.

Starting my submissions off with Beard Brewing "Oh! The citranity!"



Looks more hazy than I expected, as this is solidly translucent and dark golden orange-ish. Head was a decent inch tall of foamy white at the pour but settled into just a spotty fizz film, but it does leave back some sticky lacing.

Nose is not too huge at all, as I barely get much at all. Maybe a little corny sweetness, faint grapefruit and the malts.

Taste is immediately bitter and while it has a bit of grapefruit perhaps the overwhelming taste is, in similar manner to the nose, the malty thing. Body is mostly thin, feels very watery and the finish is very bitter.

 

What's up BA? It's been a stressful week in my part of the world, and taking some time this afternoon to savor a new beer.

This one comes to me from a home brewing friend who works for the local bottle shop. He is working on recipe development, and planning on opening a brewery sometime next year. He is going for a concept involving a lot of locally grown ingredients and unique flavor combinations. I'm really excited to see this project take off since it's radically different than the other breweries in town.

Now for the beer... This is a Strawberry Mustard beer. Sounds like an odd combination but it really works.

Style wise, I'm putting this somewhere between a pale ale and a blond ale, but I guess it could also fall into the fruit beers.

I forgot to inquire the ABV, but it feels around 6-7%.

Overall, this is really well done. I wish him luck in his new adventure, and hope the brewery opens soon as planned.



Now for the review...

Strawberry Mustard Pale Ale

Poured from 12 oz bottle

A: Crisp sound when I popped the top, and a little bit of a gusher. Slightly hazy golden yellow with 2 finger soft white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin ring. Light lacing. - 3.75

S: Strawberry ice cream with a subtle floral and herbal note.- 4

T: Rich strawberry with a little bit of spice. Not sure it reads mustard, but it definitely complements the other flavors. Really enjoy the amount of strawberry that comes through without being sweet. - 4.25

M: Medium body with above average carbonation. Finish is fairly dry.- 3.75

O: Very unique beer. Refreshing and easy drinking. Looking forward to many more from this up and coming brewer. - 4

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A sunny (almost) afternoon here in the Fourth Corner, after what has been an unusually hot stretch for us here in the upper PNW. I'm happy that I get to share my Sundays with y'all, and look forward sharing 600 more of them with ya. My first new brew today, turns out to not be a new brew at all. I reviewed it almost 3 years ago: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/59921/?ba=beertunes#review . However, I'll do a Throwback Thursday-on-a-Sunday and give some notes:

12oz bottle, with a best by date of 9/29/16. Poured a clean, clear amber, with about an inch of off-white head that had good retention and lacing. Solid grainy malt base aroma, with some citrus hop highlights. Low grain flavor, with a sharp citrus hop tang. Smooth body with tangy and dry finish. Nice drinkability. Solid beer, and I would likely give it another 3.5 rating.

Be back in a while with some (hopefully) new brews. Cheers all!

 

Happy NBS! I'll continue last week's theme of a new Ohio beer. So much good stuff coming out of this state and I am finding fewer and fewer reasons to not drink local. Last week was Columbus, this week we're headed to Dayton.

I LOVE this label. If I'm ever in a space suit make sure my oxygen hose goes to a keg as well!
(edit: that didn't show so clearly in my picture; check out the picture on the beer's page https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33939/185282/)
Overall the beer is good but not great - just needs a bit more fruit to go with the drier notes.
A: Hazy light orange with a one-finger head
S: Earthy/herbal, subtle malts underneath and some pine
T: Matches the nose, not a lot of fruit but still clearly an IPA
M: Medium-bodied, a bit malty, a bit hoppy
O: Solid, I enjoyed it but little stood out
Cheers!

 

Lots of work done today, NBS time. Can't wait until next week's 600. I will try to get something really special.

I was seeking this when it came out but had no luck. Snatched it up without a thought when I saw it this week.

Poured from a bottle dated 6/22/16.
Nice light color, small but persistent head.
Aroma of pear, wheat, watermelon.
Mouth feel is light, I could really put these down if it wasn't for the price. I don't mind paying the premium for Lunch but this goes down too quick.

 

Next up is one that I've been waiting to crack open for a little while, a crowler of Hazel's Nuts that i picked up at Odd Side Brewery a few weeks back.



Pours like dirty, used motor oil. Just about as viscous as well with virtually no head, save for a slight mocha colored thing around the edge of the top.

Nose is overwhelmed by hazelnut until chocolate creeps in. Bourbon around the edges and sweet throughout.

Tastes simply phenomenal. Upon first splash across the tongue, coffee. Next up in equal parts is chocolate, bourbon and a touch of molasses, while upon the exit we honestly get a solid hazelnut finish. Like boozy Nutella wiped across the tongue.

Feels a little thinner than the pour suggested but still a big bold body. Finish is cloyingly sweet, dry and boozy.

Very nice beer, for realz, yo.

 

Milkshake by tired hands. 4th tired hands beer I've had this week and my last one. This one makes me wish I had more. I took a picture as soon as I poured it, then had to retake it a few minutes later as it became so thick and cloudy looking. Maybe like a shake?

It's fruity, juicy, thick AF, and nice. Strawberry notes are barely noticeable and incredibly great. If you can land this one, or other tired hands beers, do it.

Cheers

 

FTFY.

 

Cheers my nbs is this offering from Devils Purse on Cape Cod Ma.



It's tropical fruity as in mango or pinapple low ABV fairly refreshing and easy to drink. I'm not real sure about the taste though, it has an oilly resinous finish I reminded me a bit of Night Shift Whirlpool I'd have to try it again. I would definitely recommend trying it. I would rate it at least a 4 or better

 

And we're back with an actual new brew. One from what is probably my favorite of the Large microbreweries, Deschutes: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/67448/