New Beer Sunday (week 629)

Brew #2 for me.

Alpine Beer Company

Windows Up IPA
Bottle poured into IPA glass. Best by 8/17/17

L: crystal clear orange color with a good sized foamy white head.
S: different smell for an IPA. Citrus and pine hops with something spicy or maybe garlic.
T: pine hops and a hint of orange. Differently west coast style.
F: heavier than expected which was nice. Dry too which I personally like.
O: Super solid IPA from alpine. I know people are down on them since they were bought by Green Flash, but I find they make a solid beer.

 

This being New Beer Sunday, take a minute and describe what you like or thought of this beer for us.
Cheers

 

What's the cost on those growlers? Love the look of 'em, and they do make some awesome beers there.

 

#2, this excellent barleywine from another iconic Minnesota brewer .....



4.35/5 rDev +14.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

After reading the reviews, I approached this with some trepidation. I should not have worried.

It looks VERY similar to their flagship beer (Summit EPA), a slightly murky copper color, but all similarities end there. The aromas are earthy hops and caramel/toffee malts.

The taste follows the aromas, with the earthy hops really shining, and, at 11.5% ABV beer, it is maybe the smoothest high-alcohol beer I've had. As in ever. I could literally sip this for hours.

 

Tree House Sap canned 2/28/17

Hopped solely with Chinook, this is Tree House's example of a "Piney" IPA. Definitely a little more west coast in nature compared to their other juice bombs. The Chinook hops are offering a great deal of complexity in the nose. Tropical fruits, dankness, pine and fresh herbs. But the aroma is not a punch in your face. it's elegant and uniform. But as with most Tree House IPAs, there are tons of fruity esters coming from their Yeast Strain that some may think are being contributed from the hops but in fact are not. Proudly I have drank enough Belgium Ales and Hefewizens in my time to be familiar with those "fruity yeasty esters". Body is med and creamy and the finish lingers with some bitterness and dryness.
Overall this is an excellent IPA!

So It's a Tree House Beer! Did it blow my hair back and make me want to try and trade what ever I can to try and get more? No. Did it live up to the hype? Well Yes and no. Tree house IPAs are not palate reckers and are not designed to intimidate you. They are design to be elegant, soft, and yet still very hop forward. And this beer does that, cheers!

 

Most of my friends disliked that one, but I thought it was so well done, spot on review!

 

They are $10. I wasn't planning on buying one, but it is very well worth it. The only problem is they run out of them a lot. So getting one might be hit or miss.

 

Good to know. Have to make my way back over there soon.

 

Jane i cant tell your proud of this unbelievable beer that u made. Sounds like it came out perfect and to rate it was truly a sign beer expertise. I have learned a lot from u and hope you continue to provide interesting posts. Cheers, ching ching.

 

I know the official reveal dates are not until next weekend, but I couldn't resist breaking into my BIF box from @cavedave. A box with a ton of new goodies for me to try!

Decided to start with Divide by Zero from Rushing Duck. Both a new beer and new brewery for me.

Right off the bat, the computer/math nerd in me is immediately captivated by the can art. Very unique and fitting.

Extremely well executed IPA showcasing the Citra and Galaxy hops. Getting lots of tropical fruit aromas and flavors with that East coast hazy appearance.

Definately a winner in my book.



Poured from 16 oz can dated 1/31/2017 and the notation - Citra/Galaxy. Thanks to @cavedave for the chance to try this one.

A: Hazy pale yellow with 2 finger soapy white head. Lasting retention and leaving some chunky lacing.

S: Mango, peaches, apricots, and pineapple. Aroma is a little subtle, but very nice.

T: Citrus and tropical fruits with mango, apricot, passionfruit giving way to bitter hop notes and some pale malts hanging around in the background.

M: Medium body with fairly light carbonation and a soft pillowy feel.

O: Excellent IPA with some unique can art that I can relate to. If this was a local brewery to me, this would be a regular purchase.

 

They also fill other growlers, which is a very good thing, since they are often out of their own.

 

I made an amateur mistake today, BA. I have three small shelves in the fridge I usually keep loaded with beer. Well, one of them ran dry, and I didn't refill it. It's grocery day, and my wife came home from the store and loaded my shelf with her diet Coke. Blast!

I'm going for another beer from my brother. This one is Perrin 's Poop Your Pants chocolate bock. Their description:

The first time Gary tried this beer he got so excited, he pooped his pants on the spot. This lager is malt forward, full bodied, and finishes smooth and creamy. Rich and complex, our traditional Munich style Bock features seven types of chocolate and cocoa nibs added to both the boil and the fermentor.



Poured from a 12 ounce can with a very smudged date that appears to end in a 17. The color is deep but clear brown with a thin, tan head that quickly dissipated leaving a small ring and almost no lacing.

The smell is mostly light roasted malts. There is chocolate on there also, but not enough to make me think about pooping my pants.

The taste is sweeter than I expected from the smell. It's very nice with a good balance of light malt and milk chocolate. The chocolate comes through very nicely.

The mouthfeel is a little thin with light carbonation that seems appropriate for the ABV.

Overall, this is a very nice, easy to drink beer. I expected way more chocolate based on what we written on the can, but it's still very nice.

Edit: As this warms toward room temperature the chocolate gets much more pronounced. Very nice.

 

havent seen this one, is that a new one? I keep seeing space dust.

 

New Beer Sunday: A Wild Monkey

Evenin' NBSers, with special greetings to wistful wanderers wondering when and where wildness will wind up next.

Well, errands are run, groceries have been bought, most preparations for the impending Nor'Easter have been completed. Time for a second new beer on NBS.

This evening's new beer is the Sour Monkey from Victory. This American Wild Ale is a variant on their Golden Monkey Tripel.

As usualy my review, in progress until the beer is finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/160104/?ba=drtth#review


This is an interesting variant on the Golden Monkey base beer. In addition to the expected green orchard fruits, which are almost hidden, this beer introduces some definite up-front lemon-lime tartness with a bit of woody, earthy funk in the background to provide a counter to the malt sweetness. Worth a try as a variant of the Victory Golden Monkey. While I wouldn’t give up a Belgian Tripel such as Westmalle to drink this one, it does have its good points. But that all said my favorite of the 3 Monkeys that I've tried was the White Monkey, which sadly is no longer being made.

A bit of music to go with one or more of the Monkeys.

Golden Monkey by Freeman

Cheers, all!

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the ed of the weekend once again. Thanks to @utopiajane for getting us started off this morning. Not much going on here, did some overtime work this afternoon and got my bottle returns in this morning. Review 5200 will be early next week. Still have plenty of new beers to review. Running low on bombers though, so will have to get that sorted out soon.

New Beers:

Really nice. Nice head retention and lacing down the glass. Aromas and flavors of cracker, biscuit, bread dough, and light honey; with herbal, floral, grassy, light peppery hops. A bit of yeasty earthiness in the aromas, minimal in the flavors. Muted aromas. Light-moderate herbal/spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied; bready/grainy creaminess and light hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness. Fairly crisp, clean, and very refreshing. Well balanced. Very well done German Pilsner. 3.88


Really good hoppy Witbier. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, pear, ginger, coriander, peppercorn, and clove; with some light wheat/crackery malts; herbal, floral, grassy and yeast earthiness. Really strong on the spices in the aromas, more balanced in the flavors. Light-moderate herbal bitterness and yeast spiciness on the finish; touch of wheat tangy/tartness. Light-medium bodied and medium-high carbonation. Very crisp/dry finish with some light grainy wheat creaminess and spice stickiness in the mouthfeel. Extremely refreshing. The Citra hops add nice citrusy complexity, and it goes really well with the spices and fruity yeast notes. Really enjoyable. 3.78


Really nice NEIPA! Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, berry, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper, and pine hops; with moderate honey, toasted bread, light caramel malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine/citrus peel/grassy/spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied; balanced bready wheat creaminess and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Light resins with increasing bitter dryness, never astringent. Really juicy and dank with balancing malts. More bitter/drying than "hyped" ones I've had. Didn't blow me away, but this is certainly worth another grab(or 3)! Mosaic/Citra, great hop combo. Love the profile. Looking forward to more of these kind of IPA to surface, seems to be the new thing now. 3.9


Liquorice Confidence imperial stout. Insane lasting head retention and lacing on the glass! This was amazing!. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, fudge, cream, licorice, and toasted dark bread; with lighter notes of nuttiness, smoke, chile peppers, molasses, leather, and tobacco. Mild roast bitterness and slight chile spice on the finish. Full bodied with an insanely rich and creamy/silky/velvetly mouthfeel. Minimal chalky roast or dryness. Zero cloying sweetness. Minimal warming 14% ABV; slight creep in of pepper heat on the palate through the glass. Insanely drinkable, balanced, and complex. As usual To Øl continues to nail it out of the park on these massive beers. I need to find more of them. 4.28


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

I cross posted this by mistake
It pours hazy yellow gold unfiltered
Defiantly hop forward citrus aroma
Thin dissipating head laced the glass
Fruity dry mouth feel
Medium bitter grapefruit finish
Very easy to drink a few

 

Weihenstephaner Origional. Nice beer, I would say a tad better than Hummingbird Helles from Red Oak. A bit deeper flavor profile. As far as I ca tell this beer was bottled in Aug 16, and I'd say it was better than a 2 week old Red Oak, makes me wonder what a fresh Helles would taste like.

 

Good evening NBSers, busy day today as my little man turned one and we had a little birthday bash for him. Finally sitting down to enjoy a beer. Had to go to Portland for work last week and figured I'd make it worth my while and stopped at Foundation. Grabbed a bottle of Mortimer Stock Ale, bottled February 7, 2016 and bottle conditioned.



Pours a very deep brown, stout like, with a two finger tan head with big bubbles, reduces to a halo, minimal lacing.

Aroma.... Mmmmm. Smells delicious. Oak, almond, caramel, pecan, toffee, raisin, cherry, cocoa, pure decadence.

Taste is similar to the nose, that rich oak barrel character blending with dark malts. The almond and pecan flavors come across great, big dark fruit more date like than the nose, lots of roasty caramel and toffee, chocolate and tart cherry. That little tart cherry bite is wonderful, really bringing this big beer back to the ground. It's lightly sweet with a low long bitterness.

Surprisingly lighter bodied than you might expect, exceptionally smooth, a great biting carbonation, little bit of the 12.5% ABV, and slightly drying.

Fans of barrel aged goodies, stouts, barleywines, and stock ales should seek this out. I'm definitely a Foundation fan boy but this beer may be their masterpiece. It's incredibly rich and tasty but it's grounded by that tart cherry and great carbonation that makes it feel crisp and refreshing as you drink. I do believe another trip to Foundation is in order to drop several bucks on a few more bottles.

Cheers!
Marc

 

Good evening, all. I'm spending the night in a hotel for work, and I brought this new beer with me just for NBS. It's a wild Ale by Draai Laag called Haviken.


Here's my review-
Look- opaque dark amber, almost brown; 1 finger head recedes to 1 cm ring around the edge of the glass. No lacing.

Smell- some mustiness first, then sour cherry

Taste- starts with a an earthy funk, then a quick blast of roasty bitterness, sort of like a porter, then into mildly sour fruit, finishes slightly bitter and sour which both linger for a bit.

Mouthfeel- pretty thin and easy drinking. Goes down like water

Overall- I really enjoyed drinking this and would by it again. A very reasonably priced wild Ale that had a lot going on other than sourness.

Cheers and have a good night everyone!

 

My first homebrew ever. Caribou Slobber brown ale, extract brew, one gallon batch.

Appearance: Cloudy brown, I can't see my fingers through the other side. About a finger of head that disappeared quickly. I poured slowly and left the sediment behind.
Smell: A light sweet smell. A hint of coffee. Not picking up much else.
Taste: Similar to smells, sweet with hints of chocolate and coffee. Mouth feel is medium with a bit of a yeasty coating of the tongue.

Overall I am very pleased with my first brew. I thought it was not going to turn out great because I couldn't get the auto siphon to work properly cause lots of oxygen to come in contact with the beer. Gonna let the rest sit for another week and pop another bottle.