New Beer Sunday (week 603)

Wow, your closeup pic!!! I wanna smell that foam.

 

I really like your photography today!

 

Thanks! "Photography" is a pretty fancy way to say "pointing my phone at my glass and poking the screen".

 

I think my phone just takes decent pictures on its own. I just noticed the weird sprakles in that picture. I have no idea what caused that. Maybe ghosts?

Oh, and FYI it smells like a chocolate and blackberry warehouse burned down.

 

The beer has an "aura."

 

Great to be on NBS after a 4-week hiatus due to travel and vacation. It is truly a spectacular day in Tennessee today: dry and in the low-80's with a clear blue sky. After working most of yesterday, I spent today brewing, watching football, reflecting on the day's significance, and enjoying the little things in life. Which brings me to new beer!

Wiseacre/Half Acre Psychedelic Pilgrim Oat Imperial IPA



look: 3 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Frankly, I thought that the beer was pretty ugly in appearance; a turbid butternut squash color with a thin off-white head that quickly settled into a wispy cap. The nose was nice. Piney resin, oranges, bread, and some caramel. The taste was much more citrus up front - bitter orange and grapefruit. Prominent tropical fruit (mango and pineapple) followed by a sturdy malt backbone with some sweetness that played well with the bitter notes. Much more fruity than earthy/piney, but certainly not one-dimensional. A big beer but with a somewhat slick feel, probably due to the oats. Some warming on the finish but it didn't seem overly boozy. I really enjoyed this. Don't judge a book by it's cover!



Cool artwork



Finally: @MacMalt I did copy and paste this from a review. I'm on my laptop using Chrome. Hope this helps.

 

Did you just drink a pumpkin brew? I guess I did...

The Gourd Standard


Flying Dog Brewery - The Gourd Standard Pumpkin IPA by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a Flying Dog goblet glass. Did you just drink a pumpkin brew? Uh oh.

Deep muddy brown body color, with a touch of orange to it. Nice creamy head with a frothy like top, only about two fingers and does settle to a very thick collar and small puck. Some faint hints of sheet lacing. Decent for a pumpkin ale.

Aroma is pretty solid as well. Nice mix of subdued pumpkin quality, and light nutmeg and sweet like spices. A mild sensing but at least noticeable hop presence that seems to be a bit of earth and possibly pine. Very nicely balanced.

Palate comes off a little bit skeltered. Slight pumpkin qualities with minimal vegetative flavors on first sip. Wet bodied for an IPA with a touch of actual peppery accenting like spices and hot clove. Negligible if any sweetness, with a good hop bitter finish. Lingers with more pepper than spicy nutmeg and clove, which makes an interesting accent on the hop flavor on the aftertaste.

My only issue is that I wish the beer had more body, and it also doesn't come across as much as an IPA either. But as a pumpkin brew I can get behind it at least, things could be worse.

look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5 | BA Generated Score: 3.64

Cheers!

 

Shorts Brewery, Bellaire MI
Dans Pink Skirt
7.6 ABV, 99 IBU
Dated 8/26/16, cool fresh IPA!
Pours a hazy golden hue with a nice one finger bubbly, creamy head that recedes to a cap and leaves sticky lacing as you enjoy sipping. Aroma is a bit floral, dank and citrus, taste is grapefruit, citrus, hops galore. A very dry finish, it was difficult to pull any malt from this although a solid enjoyable offering from Shorts!
Might throw one into the NBS BIF box headed three time zones west, HINT!

 

Hey gang, back for another after watching my Bears suck like I thought they would. Oh well, life goes on and so does the new beer conga line! Time to twist the cap on this growler fill of Cromulent pale ale from Transient Artisan Ales that I picked up in Bridgman Michigan yesterday. The abv. is 6.10% and I'm pouring it my newly purchased Transient stemmed glass for the occasion.

Pours a nearly transparent brilliant gold color with a couple fingers of creamy white lingering foam. It slowly settles to a thick ring and leaves behind some ample lacing. The smell is passionfruit, mango, pineapple and some fresh rubber. Taste is juicy tropical fruits of mango, passionfruit and pineapple. There are underlying notes of floral, some butyl and a dose of chewy slightly sweet malt to complement the hop juice. The feel is creamy slick and very smooth.



My experience yesterday at Transient was very positive and this beer continues the theme. A very well made pale that can run with the best of the Great Lakes region and beyond. It leans juicy and hoppy, but has just the right dose of malt to round things out. My score was 4.31 / rDev -0.9%. I'll definitely be going to Bridgman more often!

Off to my bro's for our Sunday taste. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and NFL action. Here's the official skinny.....

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34258/237735/?ba=Prager62#review

 

New Brett IPA Sunday (week 603)

Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val NY. Beauty day here, low humidity and 80ish, really brought out the recycling. Trailer loads came in and it was quite busy.

Had to stay a half hour late, and then visit a few friends to distribute produce from The Vegetable Guy. This wonderful man grows way more than he needs and loves to share. Years ago I shared morels, chanterelles, and I.D.'ed mushrooms for him (I still do of course) and he has never forgotten it and loads me up with the most delicious produce from his huge garden.

Drinking a beer that is a collab. between Holy Mountain and Other Half and is really delicious. It is a Brett IPA, although listed as a Wild Ale. Am loving it and highly recommend it. Here is my review which gives the finer points of its wonderful taste and smell.



Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

.

 

New beer and new glass Sunday

Grimm Maple Bourbon Double Negative, 2016 Vintage

I had read the reports on BA of "bad" bottles but this is definitely not one of them

Review follows:

2016 vintage into stemmed glass. Pours very dark brown with 1/2 finger tan head. Sorry to those with a bad bottle but this is not one of them. Smell is raisins, bourbon, vanilla, wood and brown sugar. Taste follows with additional notes of dark malts, raisins, fudge, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, coconut and maple syrup. Great mouthfeel with light carbonation
4.29/5

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Cheers and Never Forget!

 

Back with another VA IPA (one honoring someone I'm actually sorta related to, if you go back about 12 generations!), again courtesy of @gopens44. Unlike my last beer, the mysterious problem with posting a review did not occur. Also unlike that last beer, which was great, this was an unfortunate experience due to age. The brewery didn't date it, and (judging by what looks like a Total Wine sticker), Total Wine didn't pull it:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30284/88036/?ba=woemad#review
This might well be great when fresh, but that's just not what we've got here. Still, I appreciate the chance to try it.

 

Good afternoon NBS! First up for me is Tired Hands Double Watermelon Milkshake IPA and I have to give a big thank you to @CanConPhilly for picking up a 4-pack for me since I couldn't make the release. I wouldn't really call this a DIPA because it is way too sweet, but none of their Milkshakes really fall into a style.

4.4/5 Dev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for grabbing this for me!
16 oz can, dated 9/8/16, poured into a teku

A- A super hazy golden orange with a two finger white head.

S- This is sweet, watermelons, honey dew, hints of cotton candy, touch of vanilla and some dank hops. Kind of reminds me of watermelon bubble gum in a good way.

T- Watermelon, some cotton candy/bubblegum, some vanilla, resiny finish, hints of light fruit kind of a melon/tropical fruit combo.

M- Smooth, medium body, creamy.

O- A very tasty brew, watermelon actually is pretty tasty in this beer. Hops seem more mellow that in the other Milkshakes I've had. As far as being almost 10% ABV it is very well hidden. I would get this again, but there are a few other Milkshakes I would like to see before this is brewed again.


Side note the more I'm drinking this the hops start to linger on my tongue. Very happy I still have a few cans, and one might make it into my MWK box.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A mixed day of course. Very happy for the return of nfl football, but also very somber on the 15th anv. of 9/11. A mix day here on the island. Very summery, hot and humid, but fall has begun to creep up for sure. Spent most of the day watching mindless football and I will probably end it that way.

My new beer today is 25th anniversary ipl, from otter creek brewing co. The brew checks in at 8.5%, and an 8/9/16 bottle date.

A pure golden color pour with a slight amber hew. The nose is pretty much a mix of malt, hops, and sugars. Not very floral.

On the drinking, it is rather hoppy, upfront, but the malt really lets you know it is there. A good amount of sugar that just really seem to glue the hops/malts together. Flavor notes of peach, mango, and orange. The mouth feel is pretty full bodied. A pretty sticky feel that really coats the palate. Very drinkable with a slight alcohol burn.

Overall, this is pretty decent stuff. A bit over-rated, inmho, but still a nice offering. Trying to achieve to much of a balence. I'm right around a 4 on it,

 

Happy NBS everyone and happy opening day to those of you that are football fans.

I will never forget 15 years ago. Sitting in high school watching the live as the second plane crashed into the WTC and watching the towers collapse. Still gives me the chills to think about. Amazing to think about the fire fighters and police running into the buildings. One of the most impactful days of my life.

Look: Dark brown almost black, nice tan head, great lacing 5
Aroma: Light spice and earthiness, lots of coffee, bread, bread dough, roasted malt 4.25
Taste: Big roasted malt flavor, nice light sweetness in the middle finishes with a dark malty bitterness, dark fruit, light smokiness, coffe 4
Feel: Very smooth and drinkable, definately on the thin side for 7.2%. Drinks like a 5.5-6.5% ABV stout. Really an impressive beer. The fact that it ends so dry and bitter makes it s drinkable as well. 4.25
Overall: Really great beer. 4.25


On a side note, I had a nice fresh Stone IPA last night. It was the first time I had one in a long time. It was absolutely fantastic. What a great beer.

Enjoy your beers everyone.

 

I must have mistaken the 1 (January) for a 7 (July) which while not crazy fresh, would have made a difference. I'd like to think that it wouldn't make the shipping cut at that age! I really like that beer, so i may have to go to the source and get fresher one. Seriously, I made a major oversight on that one for shizzle!

 

Victory Moonglow Weizenbock, yet another fine example of what craft beer is all about.

 

Don't sweat it. It happens. Was I right about it coming from TW?

 

Excellent stein! And thank you for your appropriate commemoration of this day!