New Beer Sunday (week 608)

Week 2 of NBS MWK and this beer is compliments of @thebeers
Iron Abbey Bullfrog Edgar IPA 8%, a nice crowler that will be difficult to tackle but try I must! Beautiful looking beer, nice foamy head and opaque orange hue with aroma of pine, grassy, tropical fruit, nice hop punch, with primary dankness, slightly dry and bitter finish. Well done beer, cheers

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A partly cloudy, windy day here in the Fourth Corner, with temps in the mid 50's. A huge storm, the remnants of a typhoon, was supposed to wreak havoc across my little slice of the globe the last couple of days, but we were mostly spared. There are some folks who still don't have their power back on, including my friend Jen (an awesome chick, and excellent homebrewer) who was going to host a bottleshare at her place as a birthday celebration. We adapted, and moved the event to Justin's house. His place is a bit small, and a lot of folks showed up, so a bunch of stood out in the back yard experiencing the vagaries of the weather. Fellow BA @TheBungyo , brought 06-07-08 Abyss, there were several new brews, and some of Jens homebrew and cider. A smashing success all around.

It did come at a cost however, as our Octoberfest was cancelled, which let me attend the share, but it meant that I lost out on about a 9 hour work day, with some follow up hours today being lost as well. Such is life.

You may have noticed some folks drinking beers received via BIF. I'm going to continue with that theme, courtesy of @superspak . Finally getting to try a highly rated Porter, and see how it compares to my standard of the style, Black Butte. Spoiler, while this beer is very good, I still prefer Black Butte, mostly due to a fuller body. Here's my review of Eddy Fitz: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/73/226/

Gonna reach back into that box here in a few, and will report back then. Cheers all!

 

If I could polish off that Sweet Repute bomber on my own, two pints of Edgar should be a breeze. Hope you enjoy it. Your "thank you" box was amazing.

 

I find exactly the same thing.

 

Moving on to another beer sent by @jhavs, thought I would switch it up a bit and move from some of the great hoppy beers he sent to this Farm to Face from Allagash Brewing. I have to say I am a fan of tart and sour beers and this one does not disappoint. Lots of great peach and green apple flavors and the tart and sweet balance is spot on.

Appearance 4 - Pours semi transparent orange color with nice thick white head and great lacing.

Smell 4.75 - Tart green apple and peach smack you in face, little bit of yeast, good bit of funk as well.

Taste 4.75 - Big fan of tart beers and this one does not disappoint. Nice tart bite, green apple, peach provides some sweetness. A great balance between the tartness and sweetness. There is a little bit of saltiness as well.

Feel 4.5 - Medium body, well carbonated nice bite from the tartness.

Overall 4.63 - A great beer, the smell is like fresh peaches and green apples. The taste is a great tart fruit explosion.

 

Howdy all of you lupulin lovin' NBS-ers!

As usual, things seem to be off to a great start. Thanks, @cavedave, for bringing up what I consider to be a huge part of drinking beer: admiring/evaluating/caring about how it looks.

@drtth and my plural, undead counterpart @DoctorZombies have already pretty well covered the more scientific/psychological aspect of it so I will just speak to how I (strongly) feel about it. I frankly have no idea how a person can say that appearance doesn't matter. What about food or other drinks? What about people, what about books' covers? What about farmers who turn out to be lovers?

Visual stimuli are a huge part of what it means to be human and they color (pardon the pun) how we perceive the world around us. I feel that the people that are against appearance mattering fall into two camps (I doubt there are many look-deniers in this thread, but who knows?): Those who don't use glasses to drink their beautiful beers and those who either don't review or are under the impression that look is far more important in the score weighting here than it actually is. Anyway, I Love how a beer looks! It's super important to me and additionally it can give you information about the beer (infection, to style, age, alcohol, etc.). Can the beers still be good or bad independently of the look? Of course! But to say that it doesn't matter is crazy in my oh-so-humble opinion.

Anyway, today it looks cold and dreary and rainy. In fact, it is! I was able to ascertain that without leaving my house. Through the miracle of appearance! So, I will be drinking this new-to-me Imperial Stout from California by way of Mexico City.




I am easily impressed by the things that most people stateside take for granted and the last time I was down in mi México lindo y querido I came across this bottle and since I have never had it and have wanted to for some time; and since we get practically nothing “normal” for the states here in Quebec, I packed it in my luggage and brought it back. It's this year's.



It looks lovely in the glass. Fluffy brown head, opaque squid ink liquid. The aroma is rich and melded together into a single roasty aroma. Lots of coffee and bitter chocolate. The first drink surprises me at how smooth and soft and incredibly rich it can be. Layers of caramelized roast, brown sugar, cocoa powder, coffee grounds. It is almost fluffy in the mouth with medium carbonation. Verges on sticky-sweet but never crosses the line on either account.



This was a really enjoyable stout. Solid and tasty, big but not unfinishable. I would have it again. Glad I picked it up. The crazy part is that when I figure the mark-up for it being imported into Mexico to begin with and my checked luggage fee, I still probably paid less than I would if the corrupt Quebec liquor monopoly decided to get with the times and let a beer like this into the province.

But I digress....

Cheers!


My full review is here.

 

Good afternoon, BAs! Today's new beer is a local offering from Tennessee Brew Works, a Belgian-style honey blonde ale, called Wildwood Flower. It is a seasonal beer, brewed in collaboration with Southern Living Magazine to celebrate their 50th anniversary. More interesting to me is the fact that they used locally sourced honeys in the brew:



look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

It poured a hazy amber-orange color with a frothy white head that lingered for a while. Really nice, bright, and interesting nose: lots of orange, floral notes, dough, cracker, and honey. The taste certainly backed up the great aromas, with a big Belgian estery presence up front, surrounded by lavender, citrus, honey, and light bready flavors. Dry and clean finish. It's more hopped than most Belgian pale ales, but not over the top like a white IPA. Very nice!

 

Happy New DIPA Sunday!

Did the usual Sunday hike, low 70s, little windy, sunny. Always a joy to have something from this brewery. I usually do not see these Enjoy By around here. This one is a very nice brew, check it out, if it is in your area. Watching the Dallas/Green Bay game, their is fuckn' nothin Green about the Packers today, WTF!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/194628/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

After that Eagles game I need something big...Thank you @richj1970 for Mexican Cake, right up there with Bomb!

4.56/5 rDev +4.1%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

Big thanks to richj1970 for this
22 oz bottle, dated 5/20/16, poured into a teku

A- Pitch black with a two finger deep mocha head.

S- Fudge, cocoa nibs, vanilla, cinnamon, hints of peppers, some roasted coffee.

T- Cocoa nibs, lots of vanilla and cinnamon, dark chocolate, some spicy peppers, hints of roasted coffee.

M- Smooth, thick, full body.

O- A great stout, vanilla and cinnamon taste great. My only "issue" with this is that the peppers aren't as spicy as I hoped they would be. Truly worth seeking out!

Cheers!

 

Howdy again Amigas and Amigos! Rolled back into @superspak 's box o' Michigan treats, and rolled out with this dude: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25045/106446/ . Solid and enjoyable. I suspect at least uno mas is on the horizon.

 

Well I touch down for a second time today. My sauce is done and my hand made cavatelli is ready for cooking and dinner will be served in about 30 minutes.


And the beer that I'm drinking now is from my NBS BIF box from @Aguirre and it is Crane Brewing Beet Weiss. Yes that's what is says made with beets.

This beer pours a beautiful reddish hue with a minimal head on top.
The nose has that earthy aroma that you get from beets.
The taste is tart and earthy but the taste of the beets do take center stage here.
The mouthfeel is clean and crisp with good carbonation.
If you like beets you will like this beer. I may be one of the few that likes beets. This beer is certainly different but a well done brew. I would probably rate this beer somewhere in the 3.5 range. A very different take on a Weiss beer but a solid beer.

 

Good evening ,all! My driving duties are done on this crisp and clear fall day, so it seems to be the perfect time for a beer. Well, actually, the perfect time would have been earlier with a seat out on the deck , but this will do just fine.

I still have a number of brews left from that great box @jhartley sent, and the time just feels right for this one-

Tomoka Brewing Hazy Sunrise- a wheat ale with orange

Aroma is a pretty balanced bland of yeasty bread dough, light orange peel and that fermented cider quality from when you leave your apple cider in the fridge too long. Taste is about the same in the sense that the Wheat Ale character is dominant and the orange plays a supporting role. Mostly it comes out in the finish, with a strong citrus peel bitterness. and lingering citrus oil. It's a nice twist on the style, and certainly not done to the point of being obnoxious. Still, it's a fairly mellow beer overall that could probably benefit from a little more 'something'. An easy drinking B+ (3.75)

It sure would have been nice to have this one at sunrise, though, but my days usually don't allow that . Gratuitous morning glory shot from when the blooms were out and I seriously considered popping the can:


Maybe next week...

 

Been wanting to do this side by side out of curiosity. Coincidentally, it's exactly what Anchor suggests with this clever bottle hanger accessory that comes with the 6 pack of Dry Hopped.



Not much to add here. The literature from Anchor is pretty spot on regarding aromatics, bitterness, and maltiness.




Although this picture may seem to indicate otherwise, there is nothing noticeably different about the color of the two beers (that's just the angle of the sun).
Oddly enough the most striking difference was the head. On Dry Hopped it's more frothy, thick, and off white than on the common stream beer. The common steam beer is dated June 8 and the Dry Hopped August 4 - perhaps that has something to do with the heads.

I'm digging the army green bottle cap for Dry Hopped. Haven't seen army green caps on the Anchor varieties I've purchased - Liberty Ale, Cali Lager, Go West IPA, Saison, and Porter.


I'm usually in the mood for something on the more bitter side, so Dry Hopped is right up my alley. Most reviewers I've read prefer the classic common steam beer in a side by side, but I'm contrary to that. I hope this one sticks and Anchor makes it year round.
Regardless, both beers are great options any time. Cheers!

 

And, for entry #3 from @superspak , we have a Bourbon Barrel Aged Baltic porter, with the aging done in abandoned mines at a consistent 45 degree temp: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/454/65809/

 

Ok, I just couldn't go the whole day without a new beer. Even though I wasn't really feeling like a bitter beer, this was the only one that spoke to me from the fridge, so, I'll be reviewing Deschutes' Hopzeit Autumn IPA.

The bottle mentions that this is some type of mix between a Marzen and an IPA - two styles which seem a tad strange as bedfellows. The Deschutes website has good information on the beer:

So this thing comes in at 7%, and uses Munich, Vienna, and Pilsner malts with Herkules, Sterling, and Hull Melon hops to produce 60 IBUs. Let's look at this thing:


Ok, do I rate this as an IPA (as it's categorized on this site) or a Marzen? Obviously it's dark for an IPA. Given the malts used and "start" as a Marzen, I'd say it's easily within range, though might lean a tad to the darker end. The creamy light tan head you see in the photos is still waiting for me to take my first sip minutes after I poured it.

For nose, I would hope to get a nice aroma as a signal from the IPA side that it is a part of this beer as well. This beer has a best by date of December, and I am purchasing it near the end of the release season Deschutes mentions. Of course, if I am mentioning this, it's probably a precursor to me saying the nose isn't "up to snuff."

And that is what I was going to say. I get more of grain and tea. There is a lemony note to the tea, but the lemon tea is the basic impression. A few more whiffs don't reveal much more - earthy notes in general are accented with light herbal notes.

The initial taste has me thinking a nice balanced APA. It seems a little light, even a tad watery. But then I quickly take another sip. And I get a light spice accenting a mildly sweet honey caramel while a piney to maybe grassy bitterness fights for some attention. I get a bit of that tea impression in the taste, but the flavor is really more than that.

I get a little bit of caramel sweetness, then some pine, then a little spiced honey, then a floral/herbal note. The two styles seem to be waging a light battle on my tongue. The force of the 60 IBUs is noticed, but so is the strength of the malt base. I think it ends up close enough that both sides can claim not losing. I think the malt/bitter balance leans slightly towards the bitter, maybe falling into the hoppy APA category.

I think this would be a good beer to have with food (though I am not very good at figuring out which foods). I also think this is a fine fall beer, one to have on the porch when you are in jeans and a light sweater - or a bit cooler than it is here now.

 

Hi everyone. We had a gorgeous indian summer (not pc but descriptive) day at the Jersey Shore so I returned home a little later than usual. I wanted to stop at Kane for bottles of its Fall Ale and 1825 Quad. I barely made it; they were locking the door at 5:00 pm just as I rolled in. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for pumpkin-style ales but this one, brewed with squash and sweet potatoes, and spiced to perfection, is just outstanding. I should have bought another bottle. Here's my review:

4.34/5 rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Fresh bottle purchased on release weekend. Poured into Kane pub glass. It pours a deep cola color with one finger of beige head and lacing with excellent retention. The smell is superb: roasted malt, squash, maple, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices. The taste is even better: lots of Fall "pumpkin" ales claim to taste like pumpkin pie; this one delivers big time. The squash and sweet potato perfectly substitutes for pumpkin and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove provides ideal spicing. The maple syrup is prevalent throughout. There is very little hop presence but the spicing creates a nice finish. This ale is medium-bodied, pleasantly carbonated, and while the 9.2% ABV is pretty well masked, it is nonetheless potent. Overall, Fall Saints is very well crafted, delicious, and fun to drink.

 

I've had a few from them before, pretty tasty shit.

Cheers!

 

Up next on the docket is Ommegang's new Game of Thrones beer, a Belgian-style tripel called Valar Dohaeris. The light-colored sister beer to their Valar Morghulis dubbel, this beauty weighs in at 9% ABV.



Pours a deep golden color with some deeper honeyed tones and a very thick, retentive cap of bone-white foam. Lace is very consistent throughout and there is mild clarity and consistent carbonation in the body. Little bubbles build up constantly around the edges of the glass. A very nice looking beer, as expected from Ommegang at this point.

Nose is bready, wheaty and lightly spicy with a somewhat peppery aroma and some vanilla meringue notes. Pretty yeast-forward with a fair bit of clove. Not overly sweet smelling or rich; seems like a drier tripel, and doesn't have the intense musty/yeasty of something like La Fin du Monde. In other words, this seems very safe. I prefer my tripels to be more intense but still well-balanced, so your mileage may vary here, however.

Some of the other GoT beers have randomly taken weird risks... remember Take The Black, the licorice-flavored Belgian imperial stout? Or Fire & Blood which utilized rye, spelt and Ancho chilies? This makes me kind of long for that sort of experimentation. I mean, it's definitely solid enough on the palate, with a light sweetness, an incredibly effervescent, tongue-tickling carbonation rushing forth into a fairly dry, champagne-like finish with notes of bakery-fresh bread and white pepper. The ABV is admirably well-hidden, as is consistent with the general MO of a tripel... but this just feels super conservative to me.

I don't know... I think I was really impressed by Valar Morghulis because it was an example of a rich, classic dubbel that most breweries just don't even bother making. Tripels are much more prominently-brewed, in my eyes, and this just doesn't stand out from the crowd too much by comparison. Definitely a good drink in and of itself, but not exciting me too much. Then again, I guess not every new beer has to blow minds or excite in overt ways. I'm very glad to have it and glad to be splitting it with my roommate, who is currently playing a great album in the living room via YouTube. Allow me to share a great track from it:



Cheers! I may have one or two more in me yet...!

 

NBS offering #2 is another offering from Burlington Beer Company.



canned 09/29/2016

Uncanny Valley

Burlington Beer Co.
American IPA / 7.00% ABV

3.98/5 rDev -3.4% | Avg: 4.12
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L-The beer pours a hazy golden yellow with a fluffy 2+inch off white head. Lacing is excellent as the head recedes to ring with large central island.
S- On the nose the Azacca hops dominate with mango up front and in your face. On the back end there is a slightly sweeter watermelon presence but it can only be detected when I swirl the glass.
T-The initial rush on the palate is Mango tempered with a moderate lingering bitterness. Alcohol is not detectable. The nose is more complex than what is a pretty one note flavor profile.
F- Carbonation is medium and prickly. Overall mouthfeel is light for an IPA of this abv.
O- This is one of the better IPA's I've had from BBC. I wish some of the watermelon from the nose made its way onto the palate to add a bit more interest to the beer. At 7% the beer is pretty easy drinking if you can handle the moderate level of bitterness. I'd drink this again, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get it.