New Beer Sunday (week 628)

Hidey ho, NBSers.
I hope everybody is having a nice relaxing weekend so far. Lately I have been drinking down some of the bigger beers that I have had for chilling in my fridge for a while and between that and the bitter cold we've had for the last couple days, it seemed like today would be a perfect day to bust out this BBA Scotch Ale from MacAuslan.





These guys are among the original breweries that were opened up here at the end of the '80s/early '90s. Their beers are solid and easily available everywhere, but a little tame by today's standards. A lot like Sam Adams or something. They have always put out good special/seasonal beer though. Plus they are right down the street from me so in the summer I can ride my bike over and have a cream ale on their patio. Soon...
They first made this in 2015 and I passed it over until a friend said how much he had liked it. So I made sure to get some of this last batch to try.



This is a very tasty beer.
It is exceptionally big and sweet but not too much so in any one way. The aroma is a little peaty with a lot of sweet malt roast flavor coming through. The flavor is a lot brighter and has a cleaner sweetness. The cherry-like fruitiness kind of reminds me a quad or a dubbel. To my tastes the barrel plays an excellent role in that neither the wood nor the booze takes center-stage at any one point, but both are there in every aspect of it. The mellow barrel creep in the finish is probably the most enjoyable part of this beer to me.

Here is my full review if you're curious.

Have a great week everybody!

 

I would be shocked and appalled if there weren't at least 10 beers in existence called "I am Gruit". You know brewers and their puns.

 

I'm in the same boat! Now Clapton on the other hand...

 

Good evening NBS and thanks @cavedave for the great opening roll call again. Aways cool. Strange weather continues her after the recent 60s the Jotul is burning full time currently with a low of 18 this morning. Looking forward to grabbing a few more beers and shipping out a big box of beer that hopefully puts a big smile on someone's face and a nice warm feeling in their stomach...
Every once in awhile a real stinker comes along and I feel it's my duty to inform you even though it was a mistake ....
I present to you this Italian Classic:
Collesi Triple Malt Imper Ale.
Pours a cider color. No head. No lacing.
Aroma is sweet. Really sweet with rotten peaches and pears and grain alcohol.
Taste super sweet brown sugary, off tasting, medicine like .....I'm pouring down the drain.
Feel is ....makes me want to have no feelings.
Had some Italian brews and they weren't bad. This is a bad bottle or just a plainly horrible brew. Check ingredients...
Sorry to waste anyone's time but I feel if I spent the money and opened it its my duty to inform you. Maybe I'll dig something else up. And no my target is getting nothing like this.....

 

Perrin Triangulation, a collab with Cigar City and Oskar Blues, an imperial oatmeal stout clocking in at 9%, pours a deep black with a difficult head generation, smells very coffee like, taste is initially coffee but where this beer excels is the sweet malt backup which balances the bitterness balancing very well. This is an outstanding beer I highly recommend, I'm right around 4.5 on this one (that is a hint BIFers #5)

 

So here it goes. I bought 2 12 packs of Landshark Lager from my favorite ghetto store that sells outdated beer cheap for 6.99 a 12 pack. As best I can tell it was a year old based on the serial number on the 12 pack. I expected total WTF based on the reviews. I purchased it Saturday morning and put it in the garage and it went down to 9 degrees last night so I can say that it was well chilled when I tried it. The first thing I noticed was that it was a twist off. The next was that it appeared that it was a lighter beer. At 4.6 ABV I was mildly surprised at the taste. The best way to describe it would be to compare it to a light Boston Lager. Going into it without high expectations I was pleasantly surprised. It was good. I gave a 12 pack to my brother for his birthday without telling him it cost 6.99 and he was telling his friends how good it was. Would I seek it out - No. For 6.99 a 12 pack - yes.

 

Which brewery?

 

Xingu isn't really a Schwarzbier, but I guess it is a black lager so that category was just the best fit. It was supposedly inspired by a black beer produced in the Amazon rainforest in the 1500s that was made with corn and manioc and fermented naturally. But while Xingu is unique, it still probably resembles a Schwarzbier more than it resembles the beer that inspired it.

BTW, are pink garage doors par for the course in your neighborhood (pun intended)?

 

Greetings BAs! It's been a great few days: I saw the Tedeschi Trucks band at the Ryman with a buddy on Thursday - Derek Trucks is hands down the best guitarist I've even seen. If you get a chance, see this band. Unreal! We had a beautiful spring-like weekend here with temps in the 60s. I spent yesterday outside brewing an Idaho 7 pale ale with my dad and my son (3 generations, a real treat). So cool to see both of them working together.

Today's new brew comes courtesy of @Nicholasdoria, and is an interesting take on an IPA:
Strawberry Cream Pop IPA, Bolero Snort Brewery, Ridgefield Park, NJ:



look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

An interesting color - light orange with a nice pinkish hue on the pour.

A hazy pink-orange color in the glass with a nice and large foamy white head. Great retention in the glass and the foam left nice tracks. Sure enough, this smelled like strawberry cream. Not over the top, but a nice mix of fresh strawberries, vanilla, cream, and oranges. The taste followed closely and this tasted like a fruit salad: oranges, limes, and tangy strawberries. The vanilla was there and helped meld the flavors. A soft bitterness from the hops was there but was understated along with the malt. The beer had a clean finish but was a bit sticky and sweet. I get it - more of a dessert type beer, and they got that. Overall, a pleasant surprise and very interesting. Cheers!

 

Hello my fellow New Beer Sunday participants, and followers.

It's good to be back after the sad events of last week. I just got back home a bit ago from my parents house, well, my mom's house now. I also am doing a week long test drive of my dad's car, which will I'll likely buy from my mom. It would be a big upgrade from my 98' Cavalier. The 2004 Grand Marquis is a bit bigger, but it will work well for me, and should last a long time.

But enough about my life, we're here for the beer, and, of course new beer in this thread. So here goes.

Surly Damien

I must admit, I do like it, and am glad I was able to get a second bottle to enjoy down the road (I did have a 3rd, but sent it to a friend in Key West to enjoy). It feels good, and at 8% it's making me feel warm and fuzzy.

3.89/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

This beer pours quite dark, nice black color. The head was off white - 1 1/2 finger, and frothy. The taste is fairly mellow. There's some maltiness to it. Maybe some of the wooden barrel. There's some burnt notes in it. Maybe even a hint off sweetness. Very interesting beer. Not as thick as Darkness, it's parent, but not a thin feeling beer either.

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So, see you all on the next beer, and, there will be more tonight.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Ooo... BEER! look at all this beer being drunk without me!

I've been running around on errands, but boy did I get a lot done so very pleased with that, now it's time for reward. Got a little too complacent with the weather, you knew those 70-80 degree days in Feb weren't gonna last but hey... gotta dig that!

So what's new for our hero? Let's see mon amis!

Extra | Brasserie Thiriez


Brasserie Thiriez - Extra Dry-Hopped French Farmhouse Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass. Green bottle.. Skunk monster hiding?

Opaque and slightly muddy looking, but a good brown gold like body color, with lots of ample carbonation on the sides. White bubbles cut along, reaching to a creamy topped two finger solid white head. Frothy looking, and very pinhead even and always getting repopulated, solid looking saison.

Real fascinating aroma. Very large floral like hop aromatics, with real interesting estery quality. Moderate funk, with big sweet green herbs on the nose, that get more towards thyme and sage than mint. Hints of cut hay a bit as well, and some almost citrus lemon kicking in too. Very different smelling saison and unique. Excellent stuff. And luckily, no skunking.

Palate has a real unique feel and flavor. Excellent light body, but with good champagne like effervescent feel. Bubbly crisp mid palate with hints of honey and florals. Minimal gaseousness, but also a nice hop flavor to match. Slightly hints citrus, but finishes with mid earthy bitterness and peppery sensing light funk tones. Flirts with metallic qualities and hot phenols but never gets there, letting the hop angle give the sharp cut instead.

Real impressed by this brew, very tasty, and for 4.5% drinks full, flavorful and easy compared to most other beers in that range.

look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 | BA Generated Score: 4.35

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Cheers!

 

Thoughts and prayers with your family. Cheers to you.

 

New Portuguese Beer Sunday?

Went to a Portuguese restaurant this afternoon - ordered "radizio" - which is a course where they bring you out different pieces of barbecued meat on a skewer, one after another, continuously throughout the meal, ranging from short ribs, bacon-wrapped turkey, skirt steak, chicken legs, etc... Other than picking at some fries on the table, that was the whole deal...

I took the opportunity to order a Portuguese beer, Sagres Bohemia, a Euro dark lager. I had expected to be ordering a Euro pale lager, Sagres Cerveja, but the waitress informed me it was no longer being shipped to the US. Instead they had this, which was an amber-colored ale, and a bit stronger (6.2% vs. 5.0% abv). She said that the brewers traveled to Ireland and Belgium to get brewing ideas, and this is what they came up with... I am fairly confident this is the superior beer of the two, so it worked out well...

Scored that Portuguese beer tick and enjoyed this nice dark lager...


Went for two...

Mild aromas of soft pine and sweet brown bread... soft dark citrus and sweet toffee-like impressions... light-bodied and easy to drink - pleasantly surprised and not nearly what I'd feared. Drank nicely on its own and paired well with the meal. Really not bad at all.

Cheers, NBS...

 

Time to wipe out that swill with a brewery that never lets me down.
Proclamation The Ender
Sour Blonde Ale twice fermented in Oak Barrels with Apricots and White Peaches
Pours a very hazy straw yellow color with a small head that disappears quickly
with no lacing, true to style.
Lots of peach and dried apricot with a good dose of wood and vanillin from oak with herbal/grass and possibly passion fruit.
Taste follows with lots of apricot and peach, wood, and some white grape/ vinous notes. The beer opens up as it warms adding funk, fresh grass and hay.
Starts with a sourness but quickly falls to a simple tartness and finishes dry with a medium with a light effervescence.
What can I say? Proclo, among other styles makes fantastic barrel aged sours.
Top Brewery IMHO.
Thanks for taking the time and have a great evening.

 

Oh the next one makes up for that big time.
.!!

 

Ok, beer #2, and it might be the last tonight. It's also a beer I had to add to the system.

Pheasant Hill Imperial Brown Ale from Montgomery Brewing. 7.4% ABV + Barrel.

Yeah, it's a lot added from the barrel. I really get the barrel in this beer, and it adds to the base. Really rich and strong. A good closer.

4.23/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

According to the bottle it is 7.4% + the ABV from the barrel ageing.

This beer pours a very dark brown color. The head was minimal, but there's nice carbonation in the glass. The nose is very rich with notes of the barrel it was aged in. The taste is very barrel forward. There's also hints of caramel, after the barrel hits. Maybe a bit watery feeling, but it has also a nice warmth going down. There's also a good feel of carbonation going down. Overall, a good BA beer from Montgomery Brewing.

 

Currently finishing off another new beer, Other Half's Dancing Green Diamonds...

Featuring Galaxy and Amarillo hops, it comes in at 9.1% abv with a canning date of 2/10/17. Super lean and tight, very clean with elements of fruity fresh citrus and passion fruit and lots of grassiness. Medium-light feel, mild sugars, modest carbonation and moderate bitterness. Drinks like an IPA, the abv being completely discreet...

Cheers...

 

Good evening, NBS. Exceptionally clear skies today, but the cold is back with a vengeance. Of course we had turned the heat way down in the castle, so playing catch up just made it seem worse. We went to see The Lion King on Friday,and I was slightly dissappointed. Very uneven and lacking energy. Some of the music was digitaland during ine of the big numbers the digital stuff certainly wasnt matching the live performers...couldn't really figure out which was off, but there's no correcting a computer. But in general, it almost seems like it has gotten to going thru the motions stage.

So what graces the glass?



Zeke's Pale Ale from O'Fallon, a 5.1% APA that claims Galaxy hops. The actual is lighter color than the picture. Slightly hazy darm yellow, I would call it. Nice, comact head that lasted a bit and stretched very well down the glass. Looks good. The smell does have some nice citrus grapefruit, a little resinous pine. Taste...hmmmm...OK on the grapefruity and resin bit, but there is a soapy note that is out of place. Very mild contribution from the malt, mainly a little sweetness. It seems a little out of balance. Certainly hop forward but with nothing holding it up. Feel is medium, cabonation is good. Decent beer, needs some tweaking. Feeling a 3.25 coming on this one.

Hoping I can do one more new brew tonight...maybe a VLNNBS contribution...or I will fall asleep... Thanks to @cavedave for the great kickoff to the thread.