New Beer Sunday (week 606)

Have to second this. Love their hazy hoppy stuff, but they have brewed amazing saisons and great lagers. Very few beers I haven't enjoyed from them.

 

Good afternoon all. I fear I jumped ahead in the NB lineup by reaching for this DIPA first, but who cares, it smells terrific - Bale Breaker Bottom Cutter from @woemad . I've had Too Cutter, so i believe this completes my "cutter" journey?



As one can see, this is a mighty fine looker with a creamy creme head which leaves behind plenty of lacing on top of the mostly clear, orange beer.

As mentioned, great aroma. Sharp, pointy grapefruit that gets smoother around the edges thanks to sweet maltitudity.

Pretty thick body brings with it a slightly astringent initial bitter grapefruit attack that only slightly sweetens but stays true to the high ABV with a "put on your big boy pants" level of no nonsense, professional grade dryness.

Straight up old school mouth punishing DIPA. Not a sweet "could be a barley wine with age" specimen at all. Just a put up or shut up beer. Very nice.

 

It's that time of the week again. I hope that everyone is having a nice weekend. This past week I have been working on some trading. I put the finishing touches on a couple boxes and got some beermail as well. It definitely adds a nice tinge of excitement to an otherwise normal week, and gives me things to try that I never thought I'd get to. I can definitely see how addictive it could be...



Since the weather here skipped a whole temperature range between summer and winter and just got windy (for here), I'm going to Finally try this Westvleteren XII that I got thanks to the generosity of an awesome Canadian BA. A pretty good way to drink to the generosity of BAs and enjoy the brisk weather and some football.



It's a muddy mohagany in the glass with an enormous khaki head that is basically sturdy as a dollop of dirty-looking whipped cream (the pictures make it look WAY whiter than it is for some reason). It settles messily to a couple fingers, but it's a constant companion.



The aroma is of musty old barnwood and cherries with a slightly tart twang that is barely perceptible. It is definitely the least incredible 'part' for me. The flavor, on the other hand, is just amazing! Wow!! Waves of smooth earthy, rich, brown bread and workbench dirt dripping in dark fruit character with a touch of bubblegum and caramelized sugar in the finish with a luscious, pillowy feel that is like drinking a cloud in a way that only Trappist beers can be.



This is a very nice, very flavorful, very enjoyable beer. I am a big fan of Belgians and this is one that I've always wanted to get ahold of. I'm glad I did. I know that there is a lot of talk about which are “better” or “worse” but I don't really buy into that. For the price/headache of availability I am sure there are adequate alternatives. That said, this is absolutely a world-class beer.

A unified sensory experience that highlights the incredible nature of brewing, the very one which @cavedave so eloquently compared to alchemy.

To a delicious beer in your glass, everybody!

My review is here.

 

I agree. Definitely my least favorite beer from them, and if I had to pin it on one reason that reason would be "flavors."

 

Thought I had no NBS this week, opened the beer fridge and apparently my son brought this home late last night.

Now I'm not a malt head, but his is a pretty good seasonal. Clean caramel aroma, sweet charcoal taste (I mean that in a good way). Great fall-like color (its a little lighter than the picture represents).
Actually hope my son doesn't want all five that are left.

 

Good for you, man. Stuff like that can be incredibly hard, but the fact that you're honest with yourself and others speaks volumes about you as a person and a father. Good luck, and enjoy yourself. There's a big, bad, beautiful world out there (and coffee's fucking amazing!)

Life's too short!

 

Greetings friends,
We're back from a great vacation atop Elk Ridge Mountain, overlooking Valle Crucis, N.C. and points way beyond. We had great thunderstorms followed by a beautiful blast of real live genuine Fall weather. Saturday AM the temp was 44. I never left the top of the mountain, except for a few hikes down and around the ridge.. My son and son in law were foraging around for all sorts of mushrooms and botanicals- with great success. We came back with some very fine "chicken of the woods" mushrooms. Dogs and people were in heaven!
Last night we cracked a Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen Bretta (8%). My son's best friend in Portland sent this along for the vacation. My son's friend Ryan texted late last night that he and his wife had their first child earlier in the day! Welcome to the world Rory Stringfellow!
This beauty pours a deep orange with twinkly gold highlights. The head is thick, white, beading furiously and short-lived. It smells yeasty Belgian, a touch funky with some strong citric notes at the edges. This is one of the most beautifully aromatic beers that I can remember. It is a fairly rich saison, tart, with a sorta lemony essence all wrapped up in a lovely malt-rich texture. The brett is not overdone and provides a tartness that balances very well with the malts. The beer is soft and inviting. Honestly one of the softest completely lush beers in my experience. Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Seizoen Bretta is a great beer that I heartily recommend to everyone. We were outside under the stars sipping this one amongst others, and I just did not take any pictures (of beer)....Except for these over a few days.



This was the view from the deck on a couple of mornings.

 

Good for you. Do it. I wish you well. I know where you are and also know that the change is a damned good one. Good luck from a fellow warrior!

 

Good afternoon to all the NBS followers. Thanks to @cavedave for the great send off. And to all the ones of involved in NBS MWK's it looking like it going to be a great Sunday next week.
We spent the last 3 days camping in Northern Vermont. The weather wasn't great but no real rain just cloudy and overcast most of the weekend. It did allow for visits to many of the great breweries in the area and also some stops at the great farmers markets they have to offer. We enjoyed some great fresh food as always.
this brings me to my new beer for this Sunday and it is Broken Spoke from The Alchemist.

Poured from the can picked up at the brewery on 9/30/16 into my Teku glass. This beer poured a nice golden yellow color with just a very slight haze in the glass. A nice fluffy white head on the top.
The nose is soft with some earthy biscuit overtones with some hay/straw also coming to the nose.
The taste takes off with the single use of the Amarillo hops. Nice biscuit taste with great bitterness. Lots of flavor from the single hop.
The mouthfeel is smooth and soft with the great carbonation.
This is a great single hop APA not one of the huge hop bombs out there but pleasant to drink more than one at a sitting. I'd really like to see this become a regular on the menu at The Alchemist
4.17/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
I'll have to use this a haul hint for my target, this will be included in your box that will ship tomorrow. I found a bunch of great new beers in my weekend travels. That area of Vermont never leaves me wanting for great new beers.

 

What do you know?? The Lions lost. No big surprise here. Moving on...

The cooler weather & football beckons my next NBS beer--Fall Festivus Ale from Cricket Hill Brewing Co courtesy of @SammyJaxxxx

Chestnut brown with autumn highlights. Earthy and wood on the nose.
Caramel, tobacco, sweet malt, pine and slight citrus hop profile. Medium mouthfeel.
Listed as an IPA, feels more like an amber. Probably a decent raking leaves beer, which I am not looking forward to.

 

Happy New American Imperial IPA Sunday!

Did a nice little hike today, around 67, cloudy. Having a very tasty brew, definitely worth checking out. Last day of the regular season for MLB. Playoffs just might kinda start tomorrow The NHL has also started with pre-season games.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/241991/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Haha awesome angry looking cat photo bombing your first pic. cheers

 

Hey what's going on?!!?

Very nice weekend to lay low and take it easy which I've been doing.

It has been nothing but a week full of rain and clouds, very Seattle like, but it had been horribly muggy even up until the last few weeks so I welcome it. Sun is popping out quite a bit today so that's a nice change.

Been running around to a lot of shows lately, I feel like I have been living at some venues now practically. Always great that they have beer there too.

Homebrew "might" be ready next weekend which makes me a bit anxious. In between that I've actually had a bit of a creative spurt which has led to some good artistic creativity.

In the meantime tasty beer is at the ready, as the box from California has produced some nice results, particularly from The Bruery. That being said, on to a new beer!

What's new for our hero today?!? Just like every other day of course right?!

Benevolence | Wicked Weed Brewing

Wicked Weed Brewing - Benevolence by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a Wicked Weed globe glass. July 29th 2016. Batch #1199.

Mixing peach orange and lemon body color. A bit of glow but also slightly opaque as well. Very creamy forming head, but with little retention and solid white. Manages to land with a big collar though, and thin topped puck.

Very nice subtle aroma. Quite a mix in there. Creamy sensing caramel, a minor bit of funk, lots of floral like tones also. Mild sensing pepper, a bit of little sugary sweetness too. Not quite a lot of distinct flavors, but certainly interesting ones and fun examining.

Palate has a very light tartness and refreshing flavor. Mid palate hits slowly with a simple malt backbone and some mild sensing funk flavors. A sense of tangerine orange really seems to open up after awhile which is nice, particularly on the finish. Palate hints at a bit of creamy character but not quite. Mildy carbonated, and almost hop juiced up as well sensing.

Very unique tasting wild brew, but one that's hard to put my finger upon.

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA Generated Score: 4.06

------------------

 

New Wacky IIPA Sunday





Deschutes Sagefight Imperial IPA

Clear amber color with gushingly-massive and long-lasting tan head that leaves thick webs of lacing.

Big aroma of sage and sweet malt with a cherry, black bread and caramel character. There may be juniper in there, too, as there is a gin-like tinge to it.

Lighter tasting than the nose suggests, but still sage-heavy up front through the aftertaste. The juniper and some of the malt profile is in there (put much less pronounced), mid-palate, and it's got a nice, mild lingering bitterness. Medium bodied.

Definitely a fun one to try, but probably not one I'll be getting a six pack or case of any time soon. Maybe if I was cooking a leg of lamb or something.

 

Delicious looking meal, as always; great descriptive review, as always and that beer is pretty tasty too. It's on tap at Epcot Food & Wine right now. Had it last year wasn't blown away, myself, but I might have to give it another try this year at some point in time.

 

Next up, another @woemad contribution, Fremont Field to Ferment



Great big foamy beige head settled into a nice layer of fizzbubble and sticky lacing. Beer is hazy and translucent orange.

Nose is earthy overall with hints of asparagus, peanut shell and maybe a hint of beet until a little pine sneaks in.

Taste is incredibly earthy as the peanut shell / raw peanut taste slips hand in hand with a little pine. Midway through I get faint green olive but upon exit there's a beautiful bitterness that ends in dryness. Lots going on here in this very flavorful IPA.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. Spent most of the day watching the Jets get the shit kicked out of them. It's going to be a long season for them but at least they can move on from their current shit qb situation. Grey and overcast here on the island. The leaves are just starting to change here.

My new beer comes from the great @newjack and his nbs bif box #4 mokey's with knives. The beer is Todd the axe man, a double ipa, from Surly brew co. The brew comes in at 7.2% with an 8/23 canning date. I actually downed the first can during the jets shit show.

The pour is a pure and clean amber color. No clarity, and a low and fast white head.
The nose is hoppy and sugars. Pretty subtle.
A big hop burst, on the very first sip. A tangy flow into a surprisingly smooth finish. Big time fruit notes of mango, peach, grapefruit. So god damn hopped out and yet so damn smooth at the same time. Pure hop water.

Overall, just a great fucking beer. I thought the 99 ba rating was a bit overrated but now I think it might be very viable. I'm shy of a 5 but I'm in the 4.5+ plus region.

 

Home from work and trying out a new oktoberfest.



Oktoberfest Märzen Lager

Zero Gravity Craft Brewery / American Flatbread
Märzen / Oktoberfest / 5.40% ABV

4.03/5 rDev n/a | Avg: 3.99
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L-The beer pours dark gold and clear.The head is a modest 1 finger of off white foam.The head recedes to the thinnest of rings and no lacing is present.
S- Nose is all malt, toasty with hints of sweetness.
T-Well balanced malt and hops. Leans ever so slightly to sweet and finishes lightly dry.
F-The mouthfeel is a bit light. Carbonation is on the lower side of medium. Feels like you could drink the whole sixpack without issue.
O- Not the perfect Marzen by BJCP standards, but is almost perfect for my personal tastes. This is high on my list of favorite marzens this season.

 

New Gluten-Free Beer Sunday

Ahoy NBSers, I began my Sunday shortly after the clock struck 12 here at Chez Woody, but since our organizers were still visiting Dreamland, I decided to join them in repose & pick up where I had left off. On this note, the threat, I mean, idea of having me kick this weekly debacle, I mean, meeting of the minds had been postulated and I remain in standby/supernumerary status, awaiting the clarion call to action.

In the interim, I have been wanting to clear out my backlog of Gluten-Free (G-F) beers for a while & I decided that today was to be the day. I finished out last night with:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/296/139383/?ba=woodychandler#review

before taking my hiatus.

Upon rousing, The CANQuest (tm) took up in earnest! At this juncture, I would like to say just how heartening it is to see so many NBS beers appear in the form of CANs. I fought hard for CANceptance & it is a pleasure to see others following in my wake. The CANadians have a dedicated G-F brewery in Montreal and they are not only CANning, but they are distributing into the U.S.

I am not open to debating the veracity of celiac disease or its CANplaintents, but I CAN tell you that I have seasonal allergies as well as a pronounced one to the proprietary yeast in Budweiser. For me, drinking Budweiser is akin to putting Roto Rooter in your pipes - it cleans everything out in one quick hurry for me.

That is actually an unexpected benefit to today's foray. Four (4) pounder CANs later & I feel neither bloated nor exhausted.

I began with the worst, first:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26534/71605/?ba=woodychandler#review

then hit upon the best of the lot:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26534/82914/?ba=woodychandler#review

followed by:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26534/78523/?ba=woodychandler#review

and then I wrapped things up with:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26534/100697/

I know that we AmeriCANs like things ranked, so think of them this way: 1) La Rousse; 2) L'Americain; 2a) L'Americain IPA and a distant 3) La Blonde.

I still have two (2) G-F bombers in abeyance, but I am holding them in abeyance until (at least) next Sunday.