New Beer Sunday (week 604)

Samuel Adams 20 Pounds Of Pumpkin, 5.7% ABV, 14 IBU. Pours thin, reddish brown, with 3 fingers of tan head that left no lacing. Nose is vegetal pumpkin, sweetness, and slight pumpkin spice. Taste is malt, slight pumpkin taste, sweet and very slight bitter close. I thought it was a bit over-carbonated, so mouthfeel suffers. Overall OK, not the best or worst pumpkin beer I've had. I might buy it again accidentally, or would drink it if handed one.

 

Yea Ramstein is indeed good but I don't their stuff much by me.

 

You're going to buy it accidentally? How does that happen? Does it fall into your cart?

 

Like John Barleycorn with his nut brown bowl.

 

Good evening, all! I've been saving this Unibroue Don de Dieu for NBS. You are looking at the full bottle in this snifter, which I did not realize was this big. BA classifies this as a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, and the aroma and flavor profiles bear this out. Nice presence of banana, coriander, yeast, and a little clove. Lots of phenols on the aroma and quite a bit of alcohol warmth as it goes down. Substantial mouthfeel, with an exceptionally clean finish. Delicious, drinkable, dangerous.
Rating: 4.43/5 (rDev +7.3%)


Apropos of nothing, is anyone else sick of Carrie Underwood and that insufferably stupid SNF theme song? Anyway...
Go Vikes!

 

Damn, honey - you said 20 pounds of potatoes? I thought you said pumpkin!

 

Happy New Beer In A Stein Sunday! I've been working all day and after getting home been cooking, cleaning, and putting away laundry. Thank goodness it's finally Monday tomorrow.

This stein was purchased on a work trip to Munchen a few years ago. I would call my wife and tell her I was out with colleagues for beers but was only having one. One night I sent her a photo. She called me out. Good times.

My new beer today is a collaboration from Stone, Beachwood, and Heretic called Still Unapologetic IPA as part of their 20th anniversary encore series. I'm not sending this in my BIF box. As a matter of fact, I think my target closer to Stone then I do. Maybe...

This is very tasty with typical Stone IPA flavors. My review is below.



Poured from 1 pint 6 ounce bottle dated 8/7/16 into a giant Hofbrauhaus Munchen stein. Pours orangish/amber with two fingers of off white head. Smell is strong citrus (orange) and hops with some pine underneath. The taste is citrus, orange, lemon, and dank pine. There is a strong, lingering dank aftertaste. The mouthfeel is heavily carbonated and a little slick. Great Stone IPA I've come to expect.

 

Good early evening, NBS nation. What is up with this humidity sneaking back in after a couple of splendidly crisp days?

Not much going on here in the castle. Dog sat the daughter's puppy for a while, so that was my excuse for not getting much done. I did prep an area of plaster that needs some attention before we put the baseboard heat back in the kitchen. Made it easy for myself for once by making a nice, even cut from the damaged area back to solid.

Did get out and check the hot peppers. They can hang another week. Not a huge crop but more than enough scotch bonnets to make some Barbados style sauce. And about thirty ghost peppers on one bush...not quite sure about those, but have a recipe using three peppers plus a pound of pineapple and some other stuff. Hmmm...

Dinner was stuffed sweet peppers. We put a little Montreal steak seasoning in the mix, fresh onions, roasted tomatoes, rice, sauce. So basically it is meatloaf in a sweet pepper shell. Tasty, reasonably easy.

Ok...da beer. Jumping on the bandwagon, I guess, with Von Trapp Oktoberfest. I did go take a peek at the few reviews for this beer, because I am not really digging something I think I should like. Great color and clarity on the pour with a nice, thick white head atop a dark gold, slightly coppery body. The head falls to a thin ring with lots of cling. On the nose, some bready malt, and what I would say are floral hops, sweetness like caramel. The tongue isnt liking this beer. It is malty, but it strike me as a sourdough vibe going on. Not sour or soured...just reminds me of the bread. Sweetness underneath that, then I get a pretty hefty peppery note, and bitterness with some floral and grassy hay hops. The feel is tingly in the sense of peppery, very drying, and almost chalky like a dry cracker on the finish. Kind of an annoying mouthfeel, honestly. To me, it has a light body, low cabonation.

Not really super-experienced with this style, so open to being educated. I can describe what I am tasting, but not quite sure where to land the spaceship. If I lean on my liking, its gonna be really low scoring. I can see it has the elements of the style, but feeling they might be a bit out of balance? I also don't find it particularly rich or full-bodied, but it is exceedingly astringent, and quite sharply bitter. I am not going score this one officially yet, but I have good notes!

Thanks to our host @cavedave for the absolutely spectacular send off today, and all the great posts!

 

Thank you for the heads-up!

 

I agree. It seems that every weekend there's a new release at one of them I missed Magnify but hit Carton. I'm almost embarrassed going into my favorite bottle shop in Chatham. It used to be twice a week; now, it's every few weeks.

 

Going for the trifecta today with something I picked up at Binny's in Lincoln Park after my run in Chicago today. I'm a big fan of Half Acre beer and have had this one on my radar, so it was a no brainer purchase when I found it on the shelf. Let's pop the top on this pint can of Navaja DIPA dated 08/16/16 with no abv. printed on the can and pour it in my favorite Half Acre snifter/tulip glass for the review.

It pours a nearly transparent gold color with a small finger of white foam leaving minimal lacing as it settles. The smell is juicy passionfruit, pineapple and mango. A whiff of butyl appears next. Taste is spicy/floral heavy, along with grapefruit, pine and a slightly peppery finish. The feel starts resiny-slick and turns spicy with a slightly hot finish.



I find a lot of Half Acre hop forward beers share some similar flavor characteristics and feel. This one breaks that mold with it's spicy floral flavor and noticeable alcohol heat. I saw in the header it's listed at 10 percent. It drinks like a big DIPA should and is a nice change of pace in the portfolio of hoppy HA beers. My score is 4.27 / rDev +0.5%.

I'm stuffed after a good dinner and a few quality beverages. Going to chill in the cave and hopefully stay awake to watch the rest of the late football game. Have a great week!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18006/93660/?ba=Prager62#review

 

I'm with you one hundred percent about one of those things

 

Couldn't get a picture, but a SMASH pale ale from Three Four Beer Co. in Fort Collins, a taproom that recently began brewing its own beers. Cascade-2 row is a pretty basic combination for a SMASH, but it's their first batch in a series so I expect more interesting combinations in the future. A little grainy, but really showcased the Cascade hops well.

 

You clearly don't drink enough

 

That's a great looking glass of beer.

 

Welcome to another New Beer Sunday. I got to represent - again - my Brett Favre #4 Vikings shirt in Wisconsin today. Since I didn't go too far into enemy territory, there wasn't any blowback. I did get some beer there, and decided to have one to celebrate NBS

Bad choice, to be honest. I only got it because it was cheap, and a friend of mine is a big Old Style fan. The flavor is a very poor version of a Oktoberfest beer, funky - in a bad way. Oh, well, could be worse.


2.6/5 rDev -15.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.5

This beer pours a red color, with an insane, thick head. There is lacing the glass. The nose is similar to other Oktoberfest beers, but it also has something - Something kinda sweet smelling, and not in a good way. The taste is, well, nothing like an Oktoberfest I've ever had before, and in a bad way. Somewhat funky, in a not pleasing way. It's really hard to describe, beyond - not very good. The feel isn't too watery, but the taste overpowers the feel. Got it on a whim when in Hudson, WI today, sure as heck won't get it again.

★ 533 characters

See you all next week, unless I'm too hung over from my friend's birthday party next Saturday.

 

The air is still warm here, but the leaves are starting to change color on my lonely Sweet Gum tree on this cul de sac in Southern California. It's the turn towards my favorite season; Autumn, when Oktoberfest starts, the colors the smell, and air all around start to change, and the promise of some welcomed rain is in the near hopeful future. I'm here again late in the game, as the fields are being tended to after brutal weekly traditions have been displayed for our pleasure. I've had a stein in hand for the good part of the day, and for my NBS, I've decided to go with...Maui Brewing Coconut Porter!?

First of all, thank you to @cavedave for a very entertaining opener, and to the rest of you NBSers for wonderful stories (and beer reviews too). I'd also like to dedicate this review to @Prager62 for educating me on what I believe is a very respectful and honorable way to review a New Beer solely on this more than worthy "stand alone" thread.

Back story: My friend just got back from a well deserved and belated honeymoon from Maui, and if you have never had the pleasure of making it to the Hawaii'n Islands, please make plans to reward yourself in doing so. Anyhoo, he and his wife fell in love with this beer there, and though it is accessible here on the main land, he was nice enough to deliver some fresh from the source to me and some very fortunate friends, and I felt compelled to honor him in this New Coconut Porter Sunday!

Maui Brewing Company
Coconut Hiwa Porter
6.0% abv


A: It pours an opaque pitch black with a tan, creamy head that dissipates into a thin blanket of tiny brown bubbles covering the surface.

A: Mostly bitter dark chocolate, with subtle nuances of coffee, coconut, and toasted almonds. A faint hint of freshly toasted bread follows.

T: Semisweet chocolate and unexpected cashew like nuttiness blanket a roasted coconut afterthought. Not at all what was initially presumed by the aroma.

F: Smooth, silky, but follows with a bit more than desirable carbonation. Bitterness is only present from its roasted qualities as no hop presence is detectable.

O: I was expecting a desert like porter, and to be perfectly honest, was a bit underwhelmed. I understand the importance of being wrapped up in the moment, but tasting this in my stale, dark garage, after fighting three year olds with light sabers for over two hours, i fing myself wishing to defer to a classic porter such as Anchor or Deschutes. Don't get me wrong! It is good, but for the price tag and four pack foormat, I don't believe this will be in my regular porter rotation. Cheers NBS BA's, and I will see you all next week!

(The Island's coordinates. Right @aoampm ?)



(The goal

 

Nice to see you visit the other side! Thanks for a very insightful review. I see a lot of Maui beers have landed here lately, but I haven't purchased any yet. Walking into the store can be overwhelming at times with all the choices we have today. Cheers.....

 

Don't I know it! The San Diego and OC beer scene was/is already huge, and now with LA jumping in, the local section alone is craaaaaazy! Too many beers, not enough time.

 

It is still Sunday somewhere.

Thank you To @2beerdogs For this new one.
Deschutes Hopezeit Autumn IPA

Best description is a hoppy Octoberfest. Tasty malts with a hop bite. Would be a real nice beer for tailgating.