New Beer Sunday (week 631)

She did work in the restaurant industry when she was younger, and I hear they do some crazy stuff sometimes...

Overall, she is a bigger fan of the more balanced and sweeter offerings. Her first non-IPA love was Imperial Biscotti Break, for instance. However, she does also like Ten FIDY, so I'm not sure there's a definite pattern with big roasted notes or even bitter stouts (I personally am not a huge fan of highly hopped bitter stouts). I can't explain the coffee side any better... she'll tolerate them and likes some, just not to the point of ordering one herself.

 

Happy New "Is It Still Year of the Pils? No? Well Shit, I'm Having a Pils Anyway" Beer Sunday



Lost Forty Bare Bones Pilsner

Happy Sunday, BAs. Wow, what an amazing thread already, and it's not even 10:30 Eastern.

So, I chose this German pils sent to me by @jdell15, because it fits both the New "I Read About It in a Thread" theme that Maria referenced, and today's NBS BIF reveal day 2 theme. This is a beer that I read about on NBS God only knows how long ago, added to my "wants" never really expecting to find, and that was sent to me by a very generous BA from Arkansas.

Bare Bones pours a clear, golden color with slight effervescence and a fat finger of dense white head that leaves strong lacing. I love the can art, too, gotta say.

It has a clean aroma of crackery malts, floral hops, with a little sweetness and a nice crisp edge.

It's great tasting, with a kiss of sweetness from some almost-bready malts at this point -- like the soft crust of a white bread. Mild bitterness appropriate for the style, that's a somewhat peppery, a little grassy and very slightly metallic. Not quite as crisp as the nose, but still with more of the pepperiness from the hops lingering in the aftertaste than any malt character.

Just a tad thicker bodied and more syrupy than I expect from a pils, with a strongly prickly feel to it as well.

I really enjoyed this one. Bare Bones is the perfect name for it, and is exactly what I look for in a German Pils. Don't get clever -- just brew a perfect, clean, crisp beer. Thanks, Jake, for sending such a superb brew.

Let me also join all the others in sending my huge appreciation to @utopiajane and @cavedave for making this thread such a thing of beauty week after week. It's the thread I most look forward to and that, I think, is the heart and soul of the entire site. Thanks, too, for picking such capable BAs to carry the torch for this next leg of the thread. Cheers!

 

What a momentous NBS it is!! Feels like the day I randomly tuned in on the NPR while driving and it was Diane Rehm's farewell show. Didn't see it coming.
I will be raising my glass to the pillars of this thread @cavedave and @utopiajane !!
And looking forward to the new hosts put their spin on things, @cjgiant and @lordofthewiens
Cheers folks.

 

This Sunday I've got another beer from Fantome, their Sante 18. According to the bottle the ingredients are: Water, malt, hops, yeast and candied sugar.



The beer pours an amber red/brown color with a very small head. Even when trying to aggressively pour the beer, the head remains small.

It's very difficult to get any distinct smells out of the beer (maybe because of the low carbonation?) but the main smells are vinegar/acidity, sugar, raspberries and alcohol.

The taste is extremely interesting. It is a mix of sour/vinegar, raspberry, dark fruits, caramel and funk. All the flavors are well balanced and the finish makes me want to take another sip.

The mouthfeel is very light and the carbonation very low. The beer almost has the same mouthfeel as a fruit juice.

Overall I'm quite happy with the beer and I think it might have been the oldest beer I've ever had (as it's from 2014). Definitely another unique beer from one of my favorite breweries.

Thanks to @utopiajane and @cavedave for starting this thread for so long. I am a "late comer" to this thread but I have always enjoyed reading it and think the idea behind having a new beer and thoroughly reviewing it once a week is great. Hopefully everyone is enjoying their Sunday!

 

Thanks Dave for all your openings! I am fortunate to be able to try my first east coast hazy, juicy IPA thanks to @tasterschoice62 and NBS BIF. This beer was probably the most pungent beautiful aroma I've experienced, tons of pine, pineapple, sweetness, pours a completely hazy orange and a nice one finger head. Taste is very fruity, pineapple, orange, with a bitter drying finish. Thanks Larry!

 

Ok, as is a pattern I've seen numerous times over on WBAYDN, I decided to grab some juice after my coffee. Granted, that coffee was a bit heavy on the sweet, so I had to go the other way on the juice.

Brief backstory:
We used to frequent the Aslin taproom, when it existed. When they blew up, lines for take home beer became what many refer to as a "shitshow." Maybe hyperbole, but we never really took beer home from there. Unfortunately, zoning and fire marshal (as I am to understand) made the taproom untenable. We have not enjoyed many Aslin beers since.

So, this past week, a co-worker is leaving the team, and I was headed to the HH on Friday. It was scheduled for 4, and I left work at 2:30, and the location of the HH was quite near Aslin. So I figured I had an hour to wait in line if I wanted to get to the HH at its start.

I wasn't sure what to expect, though I did notice the release this week didn't include an of the top-rated offerings. Anyhow, 30 minutes in line and I got out with just over half a case of cans and a howler. One of the four packs I got was Hazy Orange Tears:


Billed as a dry-hopped sour, listed as an American wild ale here, this beer looks like most Alsin beers, cloudy. I was a tad surprised, given the name of the beer, that it poured so pale yellow. Like my review states, this had a lot of white grapefruit juice aspect to it.

Okay, the beer is more pale than the photo indicates, and I think this is the first time I have used spongy to describe head - even though it's been appropriate in the past. Nose, look, and initial taste all keep the grapefruit juice story going. Then, like the truck that smashes into the driver on those car insurance commercials, bitter hops T-bone the grapefruit in the intersection of my palate.

Pith, grass, grapefruit, and a little lemon are jumbled atop my tongue. The fast moving hop truck seems to have come out the least damaged, but the occupants of the truck are helping the sour notes to a safe place out of the intersection.

A sour beer that turns bitter bomb that ends up with a lingering tartness atop a bitter aftertaste. Different and better than expected, the mix of sour and bitter did have a "toothpaste and OJ" like point did grace my palate. However, I have been enjoying hoppy sours more and more, and that aspect of the beer was fleeting. Turns out this was a nice counter to today's opening beer.

 

Congrats! Onwards to 2K!

 

Thanks for all you have done for this thread.
Also a big thank you to @utopiajane

 

Thanks for the opening, @cavedave . While I don't often read the opening post, since I come here strictly to write a full review and read other full reviews, I found your post inspiring. You're one of the few people I look to on this forum when I want an answer, so thanks for helping lead this tradition on. When I first joined BA, I didn't come into the NBS thread because I thought it was beers completely new to the BA system and only involved writing full reviews, and not new-to-you beers with room for discussion and open to first-time reviewers. I'm glad I was wrong, because this thread is now my favorite part of being a member of BA. In fact, so much so that my co-workers and friends always ask me what I tried for New Beer Sunday.

With that said, I have a special DIPA lined up for today. I've been fortunate enough to be drinking single IPAs and double dry-hopped single IPAs from this brewery all week, so I'm excited and anxious to see how they handle producing a Double IPA. Shall we? I don't know that I can wait any longer.



Trillium's Dialed-In w/ Blanc Grape Juice.

Pours a peachy foggy, haze without much opaque-whiteness to it - just a bright hue of peach. Head formation is slim, only foaming up to a finger in height, and recedes into the beer almost as quickly as it forms. No lacing left behind. Aroma is loaded with citrus notes - orange, tangerine, and mango - right from the start. There is an underlying note of grapes as well. Flavor profile is teeming with citrus notes: orange, tangerine, mango, lemon zest, and papaya. Biscuit malts and raw grain provide a tether for the hops to balance them out. Grapes mingle around the citrus and malts to add another layer to the flavor dynamics. Mouth feel is very much juice-like, with a consistency something like a regular grape juice. That is to say: smooth, and medium-thin with just a touch of grain. Overall, a flavorful DIPA that has quite a lot going on. The hops are plentiful and flavorful, and refrain from any bitterness.

Score: 3.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.75 | BA Score: 4.48 | rDev: -0.4%

Personal notes: I believe an IPA or DIPA should have a large, frothy, well-retaining head. That's where this beer missed the mark in my opinion. Perhaps this one is just a tad older then it "should" be, but the rest of the notes are all well put together, so I hesitate to believe that.

 

New Citra IPA Sunday

Other Half's Citra IPA, 7% abv...

Deep muddied gold, opaque, topped with an ivory head of foam. Aromas and flavors of dank orange citrus pith, has earthy and musky undertones with brighter points of tangy juice. Medium-light weight and feel, smooth with a slowly gripping bitterness. Moderate sweetness and soft carbonation. Spot-on for a Citra IPA. 3/10/17 canning.

Cheers to our former hosts and new hosts here on NBS...

 

My wife and I are visiting family in Lancaster, California. My daughter and grandsons live there, and our other daughter flew out to spend time with us. So we're having a mini family reunion. The east coasters were all wide awake at 4am PDT and ready for the day!
The local beer store I frequent here is closed Sundays, so I went to a Vons where I found a fairly decent selection.
My New Beer for today is Wreck Alley Imperial Stout from Karl Strauss Brewing in San Diego.
It is brewed with cocoa nibs and coffee beans from Bird Rock Roasters, with an ABV of 9%.
There is a shortage (actually a dearth) of beer glasses at my daughter's house, so I used one of her planet glasses. The beer was a very dark brown color with a thick tan head. The head retained well.
Chocolate and coffee aroma. Rather tame.
The taste improved on the aroma. Cocoa, sweet chocolate, and coffee. The chocolate was at the forefront.
Medium-bodied, a little on the thin side

 

(Un)Happy New Beer Sunday (Week 631)!

A fond farewell to CaveDave & UtopiaJane on this unexpected occasion. Welcome aboard to CJGiant & LordoftheWeins! May I take this opportunity to offer my services as a stand-in whenever yinz might be unavailable? I am a writer of some note & I promise (truly) to keep things on the up & up & not get any of us blackballed during my stint(s).

My first entry for the day is one that deserves attention. For a while, perhaps even now, RISs were the sought-after walez, but a good Baltic Porter can put you right. I used to swear by Baltika #9, but I think that I have found a suitable substitute:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/5504/17055/?ba=woodychandler#review

 

A huge THANK YOU to both @cavedave and @utopiajane for carrying the torch of this thread and keeping it fresh and going every Sunday! You're both great BA's and even better people!

Welcome to @cjgiant and @lordofthewiens who I am sure, both will do excellent jobs carrying that torch.

I'll be back later with something from the NBS: BIF#5.

 

Greetings friends,
On this momentous Sunday, I would like to thank Dave and Maria for their diligence, humor, great writing, knowledge, service to sheer beer advocacy, alliteration, mouth-watering photos, and for being major contributors to and perpetrators of notable intelligent discourse. Guilty on all charges!!
I asked Martha to pick up some liquor the other day. She was going to go by the ABC store, but found this at Aldi. I said it would do just fine.

Just kidding ya'll. I saw this German Wheat beer at Aldi and at $5.99 I couldn't resist. This is also the only Trillium available around here!
Today's beer is Licher Weizen from Lich, Germany (Hesse in Giessen District). The weather's nice and warm, edging right into wheat beer season morning beer drinking perfection. It's an 11.2 oz bottle, so I select other than my favorite wheat beer glasses, but no matter. Licher pours a beautiful shimmering deep gold, pushing its classic pillowy billowing meringue to the very top and beyond, alluring and pretty. This lovely beer is very fresh, smells of new grain and bread, spicy like only German wheat beer is; cloves and tropical and banana and more bread and ready to drink. The flavors follow exactly, but are light and dryish, very crisp and refreshing. This beer is alive and is a real pleasure- especially at $5.99 a sixer! This beer is very flavorful, lighter in body than many wheats, but the utter drinkability and crazy value are what matters most. I'll buy these as long as they are available and recommend that you do the same. Cheers to Aldi for the great values!

I've been thinking about Nickel Creek all week and listening to many favorites. But I found this piece on the marvel of YouTube and wanted to share. Prodigies all! Chris Thile was made for the stage and his stewardship of the beloved A Prairie Home Companion has been perfect. Just like @cjgiant and @lordsofwein will be! Cheers all!

 

Thanks for keeping NBS going Dave & Maria. I would like to add a shout-out to @mattcrill who piloted the S.S. NBS after @malty went ashore. Without those two we would collectively be clinging to driftwood instead safely asea. I'm certain that @cjgiant and @lordofthewiens will guide us securely through the next passage of our cruise.

 

So I've gone roughly two months without drinking beer at home. I still enjoyed a beverage while out of the house though... not that it was a frequent occurrence. Getting a teensy growler of Bell's Third Coast Old Ale has put me back on track, but everything sure is tasting a little different to me. Doesn't help that I have a terribly stuffy nose too.

Burial is new to my area. I think they suffered from German style confusion at the brewery because Billows would be a good name for a Rauchbier. The label "hoppy Kolsch" doesn't inspire me with confidence even though I can really like a hoppy Kolsch. I'm pleasantly surprised by this beer. The malt bill is pilsner and wheat. It has a wonderful clarity to it's golden color. There's a bit of corn sweetness. The beer is dry-hopped and features Centennial and Mandarina Bavaria. The hopping is very measured here and it works. This isn't a full on hoppy Kolsch. The fruitiness of the beer is present but very restrained. While perhaps lacking the character of better Kolsch beers, I appreciate that this one is dialed back from other American examples.

I definitely put this in the "let's revisit" pile to get a better take on it. Unfortunately, I fully expect to not find fresh examples of this beer down the road... a situation I'm getting sick of. If I can't get it again, then what's the point? Trying it and moving on just isn't the end goal. Burial appears to make a few different Kolsch beers. Let's thank the beer gods that they canned this one instead of the coffee Kolsch

Another Thank You to @cavedave and @utopiajane - two members I have a fondness for. Both of these people have always shown me so much kindness and ENTHUSIASM. Cheers.

 

Happy NBS, although I am feeling a bit somber with the news from @cavedave, It seems like only the last week that he and @utopiajane took over for @mattcrill who took over for @malty. Glad that this will continue to live on for the enthusiasts. I know they are not leaving and will continue to post their excellent reviews, changes just seems to be so constant these days.

It is rather gloomy today in WI and with the Badgers losing to Florida on Friday in one of the best games of the tournament, I look to NBS for some good reviews and fun.

Bock season is upon us, so my beer is fitting for the occasion. Bock's O-Chocolates is from a very small local brewery that has been around for many years, the Vintage.

A very dark brown appearance with a 1 finger tan head and no lacing on glass. Aroma is a dark fruit and chocolate with light notes of vanilla. Flavor has a bock flavor, with some chocolate covered dark cherry that has a slight tart flavor. Some cocoa and chocolate malts, with hints of vanilla beans. Feel is lighter and nicely carbonated, has a smooth finish. This was solid, but I think the bourbon soaked vanilla beans gave it a hint of tartness which was a little distracting from the overall flavor.

 

Received a nice beer box from a great beer friend @OhPhoSho another box from a new beer friend @Bum4ever and a nice trade with @Esoutter for some Texas only bells. With my fridge full of new beers i tallied them up. Over 185 different beers i have never tried. With two boxes still coming one from @beerloserLI and one from a beer club. I'll be North of 200. Anyways i have roughly 15 to 20 new a week but i still try to make it a point to post in here. Even tho i work most Sundays i try to have a few and post on here. Even with new beers every day there's something special about new beer Sunday. So thank you all for keeping up with this interesting thread. Now without further any further delays

image upload

4.17/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours black with a thick, medium, Brown head and last a while with good lacing.

Smells roasted malts, coffee, hints of piney hops and hints of chocolate.

Tastes rich roasted malts and coffee followed immediately with bitter piney hops. Finish is dry with a piney linger and hints of dark chocolate. Lighter side of full body and smooth lower medium carbonation. This is a very rich black ipa

 

Wow. I'm truly sorry to hear this. Dave, you have really stepped up to the proverbial plate here. And I'll miss reading your openings. If you must step back, I understand. Hope to still see you here in perpetuity.

Cheers Brother.