New Beer Sunday (week 608)

Good evening, NBS and thank you kindly to our host for the early mornin' Sunday-go-to-meetin' kickoff.

I guess this would qualify, in a less PC era, as Indian summer around here. We got a decent frost Friday night, but the weekend has been largely glorious. Cant beat the blue of the autumn sky, and even the stressed trees around here are flashing colors, albeit briefly, in a final blaze of glory.

So...took a few days off this week. We extended our remodelling to two more rooms, but just the floors for the moment. One room is actually completed except I need some moldings custom made to match the originals, but plaster and paint are complete. Was nana's sitting room, but we dont know quite what to do with it. The second room still needs plaster work and it is above my skill level. But damn the floors look great and holy shit they are the same throughout, mostly...first floor bed room is original wide pine and narrow maple that I restored. But the Eucalyptus we used actually looks like it belongs.

The missus opened up a bottle of Captain Lawrence Autumn Blaze. She enjoyed it, saying the spices were nice and there was some sweetness to it. My brief sip concurs...hmmm...two punkin beers I can pretty well tolerate with this one and Wormtown's.

I fear she got the better of the beers this evening. I am sitting here trying to figure out Dogfish Sea Quench Ale, which I take it is a play in sequential referring to the three beers blended into this sort of odd brew. It is sligtly hazt yellow, pale. Fizzy for a few seconds, then just looks sorta flat and, well, uninteresting. Lime citrus up front on the nose, kinda oddly mineral to metallic. Ok...I like lime, so forge on. Definitely lime, slightly sour. Far less sour than expected. But that seems like all there is in terms of flavor. Not getting much malt, but maybe some mouthfeel characteristics of the blended beers. Cant find the salt, and I dont know what a black lime tastes like so I cant say if it is there as claimed or not. But it does have plenty of lime. Maybe been better to have been less adventurous and do this as a lime gose. This is going to land around a 3.2 for me.

I may have to try something else to add to the thread here...past couple weeks have been beers I have not particularly enjoyed.

 

Good afternoon, all, and Happy New Rye Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout Sunday! Late to the party today, but I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout-out to @cavedave for the great opening to today's festivities. And now... on to the beer!

I lucked into this 2014 Darkness this afternoon, courtesy of some friends who invited me to lunch. This was the closer, and a very nice dessert. Despite the limitations of the Craft Beer Club sampling glass, I managed to get a decent-looking pour with a bit of tan head that left some pretty lacing. The aroma was heavy on the whiskey barrel character, with notes of chocolate and dark fruit. There is a lot of complexity to the flavor, which seems to come alive as the beer reaches cellar temperature. In addition to the whiskey, roasted malt, cocoa, and raisin, notes of licorice begin to come through. It is quite sweet and a little boozy, but finishes crisply without any lingering sweetness or oakiness. Mouthfeel is just right, silky but not too heavy. Overall, a world-class BA stout that is incredibly smooth after two years in the cellar.


Prost!

 

One real quick reminder for those of you who are interested that the purported antithesis of Monkeys with Knives, Throwback Friday, is this Friday, the 21st. So hit your beer stores this week to find those beers you have been bypassing for what is honestly, just too gosh darn long.

 

Whoooo doggies! I may not have tasted the 12% while I was drinking that, but it's certainly there. This is a very impressive brew, I might have to go bump the score up. But, that might just be the beer talking! Again, big thanks to @superspak for this one.

BTW, Wasatch, what's it gonna take to get you into the next fine BIF we're having? I can make ya deal, you can drive that sweet BIF home today. We need some Mountain representation in these things!

 

My wife and I are in Arizona this weekend for a family wedding. We haven't been in the desert for a few years, and have never been in the Phoenix area. I think I like the desert, and I really like the architecture.
The wedding was lovely. I always like to see a happy couple. And it was great to meet some other family members on my wife's side.
Today we got to sleep in a little, then had breakfast at a little vegan restaurant called Nami in downtown (I think) Phoenix. Then an open house at the bride's parents. We picked up some beers on our way back to the hotel.
First up was Gold Road Kolsch from Mother Road Brewing in Flagstaff.
It is a pretty gold color with a small white head.
Sweet fruit and grassy aroma.
Pear and grassy taste.
Sweeter and not as crisp as I expected,

 

Maybe one of these days. I need to think about it some more.

Cheers!

 

Hello, NBS Party Crew. To paraphrase another Minnesotan, "Sooo, 2,000 Zero Zero, box is over, OOOOPS, outta beer" - the magnificent BIF box from @beerloserLI has finally expired with the consumption of this beer .....



This murky, straw-colored gem has the appearance of some of the other "East Coast" IPA's Brian sent my way, but this has a different aroma/flavor profile - a sweeter, fruitier aroma and flavor, vs the heavy citrus/dank characteristics of the Singlecut and LIC offerings. Just a pleasure to drink.

Rated 4.27.

 

Love the @cjgiant signature side-by-side review!

And again, NBS'ers...not creeping! As usual, I will be very late to the party. Loved all the reviews so far. Cheers!

 

Greetings yet again New BSers! Mrs. Lizard and I have returned from our brief weekend down in SE PA (A whole different climate than in NW PA) and I'm reporting that rare (for me) Second NBS Beer (SNBSB). After my first entry today I felt I owed it to myself and @Josholson666 to do another new beer, this time one he sent me for NBS BIF #4, Primates with Sharpened Implements of Destruction. Damn, this is a good brew!



Received from @Josholson666 in NBS BIF #4
Undated bottle at 42 degrees into a hand washed and dried JK snifter
Aroma – bourbon and dates (?)
Head – small (Maximum < two cm, aggressive pour), light brown, fizzy/frothy, gone in sixty seconds, leaves neither ring nor layer of bubbles
Lacing - none
Body – dark brown, cloudy, slight effervescence
Flavor – sweet but NOT cloying, dark fruit, some vinous hints, some caramel, a hint of diacetyl; not picking up any hops; alcohol comes in for a noticeable after burn.
Palate – medium to full, creamy, soft carbonation

Wow! What an excellent BBA English barley wine! I could drink several but I probably shouldn’t – something about gravity being a bitch. Besides, I only had the one Josh sent. This is one of the best barley wines I’ve ever had – not that I’m a connoisseur of the style or anything, but I know what I like! Massive thanks and good karma to @Josholson666!


Appearance 4, Aroma 4.5, Flavor 4.75, Palate 4.5, Overall 4.75. Rating 4.54, rDev+7.6%

Crap - I can be in Detroit or over half way to Chicago before I can get to Jackie O's! Looks like road trip time again!

 

Back again NBS-ers...with the trifecta, the hat trick, the....oh Hell it's my third entry for the day.

So of course this one is AGAIN thanks to @beertunes and that killer box that destroyed my front porch yesterday.

Wander Brewing Googly Eyes DIPA


Poured from a 16 oz. can into a Chuckanut Brewery Octoberfest mug.
No date on the can just "Bellingham Brewed" on the bottom.

Appearance: Light amber body, 1/2 fingers worth of head. Plenty of lacing left in the mug.

Aroma: Plenty of citrus, mainly grapefruit along with some pine.

Taste: Follows suit with the nose: Grapefruit and pine, spicy on the end.

Mouthfeel: Medium, decent amount of carbonation; a little hint of that alcohol as it warms

Overall: A tasty DIPA. Easy to drink while cold as it warms that alcohol is a little more pronounced. But this is a nice hop bomb for sure!

Cheers!

 

It is (again) with some trepidation, especially in light of all the fine beers and reviews today, that I offer my new Sunday beer. First, I like shandys, and I would drink more but for the fact that I really like much higher gravity beers, leaving little room for low alcohol beers, where "Twist Shandy - Cranberry" falls; a shandy brewed and canned here in Barbados by Banks Breweries Ltd.




I learned during the brewery tour that AB InBev, through its major Brazilian subsidiary AmBev purchased Banks earlier this year. Plans are to distribute more in the Caribean, and in the US.



Pink to light cherry coloured pour with fizzy pink foam that vanished quickly; no lace; very good clarity. 3.5

Aroma of a freshly opened can of fruit cocktail, with cherries. 3.25

Sweet cranberry cocktail juice, but not cloying; Sprite like more so than beer like. 3.5

Zippy mouthfeel and highly carbonated; lite body; short lived fruity linger. 3.5

Although my review is sparse, I liked this beer. The carbonation makes you think you are drinking a cranberry soda pop, the sweetness is just right, and it is thirst quenching. At .9% a pounder for someone who perhaps likes wine spritzers and doesn't like the taste of beer. Overall, a very tasty low alcohol "beer" I can easily see sitting on grocery store shelves in Florida and other hot weather States. 3.5

Cheers from Barbados!

 

Thanks for the shout-out and I too enjoyed the side-by-side, and thoroughly encourage more of it, but I cannot take credit for the concept - too many others do it and do it well (@JackHorzempa and @TongoRad being two on this thread that come to mind). That said, I do like to have fun providing hopefully useful comparisons, and will continue to do so in the future .

 

Well, next one is March-ish (Feb sign up, early Apr share date). The minimums are going back to the low end (66-72oz of NBS eligible beer for your target, and a piece of swag). It'd be nice to have some folks from your area to help break up the clusters we have on both coasts, and I suspect folks would be happy to see some CO beers on their porches. Invite some friends!!!!!

 

I'm really over the hop pun beer names, but this made me laugh. Consider me ISO.

 

I got one of those in a Ninja box from @WesMantooth , and almost pulled the trigger on it this afternoon. But that Baltic Porter from Arcadia made its presence known, and I throttled back to some thing lighter. Perhaps next week!

 

Jack I can't tell you how many times I've seen Al at Wurstfest in New Braunfels - the first time I thought he was going to set his accordion on fire a la Hendrix. Not a polka fan but I could watch and listen to Al all day. Actually, we timed our Wurstfest visits around Al and Die Bayrische 7 - one of the girls (the keyboardist, I think) always challenges someone in the audience to a liter beer drinking contest - I've never seen her lose!

 

All well and good giving credit where credit is due, but you do them quite well and memorable for me at least. Especially when you leave the damn bottle caps crooked !

 

First ImpIPA they've ever made, and first canned brew they've released. I liked it, but it didn't blow me away. I think Wander is making the best beers in my town, but their strengths lie in other places than IPAs, IMHO.

That mug was fro Cnuts fest this year during BBW, I wasn't going to buy the mug, just drink pints, but, that's when this BIF got rolling, and I knew I needed swag to go into the box, so......