New Beer Sunday (week 631)

Sharing more North East haze for you all. This one has only one other review on here, and was sent to me by the man who wrote the original review. I haven't read his review to try and refrain from any potential bias. Just a new beer from a brewery that I've never even heard of.



2SP Brewing Companie's Solarbaby.

Pours a foggy, hazy orange with light penetrating through the foggy edge of the beer. Not wholesomely opaque, but refreshingly dense. Head foams up to two fingers in height and stark white in color. Head retention is good with great lacing left behind. Peach and apricot punch through an otherwise straw, wheat, and piney aroma. Flavor profile opens up to fresh peaches and apricots. Straw, and pine finish the flavor profile steering this beer from a somewhat sugary, citrus opening, to an earthy, bitter finish. Mouth feel is fizzy with a medium thickness. It starts to smooth out as the beer warms. Overall, this beer has plenty of flavor, with an interesting mash-up of notes and qualities. While it isn't delectably smooth and bitter free, it certainly presents a flavorful array of notes that keeps each sip interesting. Drinks more like a pale ale than a pale ale hopped up like an IPA.

Score: 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.25 | BA Score: 4.05 | rDev: +1.5%

 

Wow. I'm really appreciative of the load you and Dave have carried for quite a speck now. I always looked forward to a literary awakening out here on the left coast delivered via this flickering screen. I will truly miss your openings. I understand it's a lot of work to commit to on Sunday mornings. But if you must, please take heart that you have indelibly stamped your spirit here. I will still look forward to your reviews.

 

Well, as Dave stated, it's not about the person hosting. But they Maria and Dave really did a admirable job. I know we are in good hands with @lordofthewiens and @cjgiant . I guess we're "building capacity" in this - our beloved NBS community.

 

I really enjoyed that one back in Feb- a deft touch with the hops to bring just a touch of freshness for sure, but more than anything else, it just felt like a Kolsch style ale. I hope you get well enough to enjoy it soon.

 

Greetings from TN! It's my first day home in a while and I'm catching up on some work-related stuff, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy a few new beers along the way. @jhavs recently sent me some incredible NE beers as part of NBS BIF#5, and I'm sipping on this beauty, a red ale from The Alchemist:


Nice looking beer; to me it's a "NE-style" red ale in appearance. Moderately hazy, deep reddish-copper color with a thick and foamy light-tan head. A few floaties danced around in the center of the glass, reminding me of its hoppier siblings. The foam only reluctantly settled into a thin cap, leaving sheets on bubbles on the glass. The aroma was a mix of malty and hoppy, with the hoppy elements in front: tangerines, limes, caramel, and brown bread. The first taste was fairly bitter, featuring the citrus and earthy hop notes. The malt showed up quickly, providing a bready backbone along with cherries, caramel, and coffee. The body was on the fuller side of medium, but light on the palate and not at all sweet. A great way to kick of the afternoon. Hope to be back soon. Cheers!

 

Cheers NBSers! I'm still a BA newbie and have only followed this thread for a little over a month but have thoroughly enjoyed it every week, thanks @cavedave and @utopiajane for getting us started. I think both of you are very well versed not only in beer talk but writing in general, I wasn't blessed with the gifts of poetry or prose so I look forward to starting my Sunday with you all.

 

I honestly wasn't planning on having a beer today, much less a new one, but I just have to lift a glass in thanks to all of the outstanding hosting duties by @cavedave and @utopiajane , as well as to toast the incoming ones @cjgiant and @lordofthewiens ! All of your efforts here are much appreciated, and have made this one of the best features of the BA forums!

Coincidentally, I'm just getting started on a batch of Buster Holmes' famous red beans and rice, and I hope that ol' Buster wouldn't have minded if I added some Porter to the pot while I'm at it-


Spellbound Porter, from down in Mount Holly, NJ.

These guys aren't available near me, and I don't get to enjoy them enough, so I make sure to pick something up whenever I'm down that way. As it turns out, this porter has me wishing I could get there more often, because it's so well made and addictive. The dominant quality is a vibrant dark cocoa, but it's backed up with sufficient figs, caramel and almond paste, maybe even a touch of espresso and lavender for complexity. The palate is moderately full and satiny, but the finish is dry and bitter. And, honestly, it's really walking a tightrope in that respect, but that dryness is how I prefer my porters that I plan on enjoying a few at a time.

Like Buster Holmes' famous recipe, beers like this are remarkable for their simplicity, a perfect amalgam of flavors and balance. If you get that right, then there's no need for 'secret ingredients'; and this beer definitely gets it right. I look forward to enjoying the remaining 5 next week when my March beer hiatus is truly over . Until then, it's an A- (4.25).

Cheers, BA!

 

Good afternoon all. My selections today are mostly going to be courtesy of @SRBush1974 , starting with this fantastic Singlecut offering, Jenny Said DIPA





This hazy, dirty yellow DIPA provided a quite nice white foamy head that left behind a bit of sticky lacing. Nose is spicy tropical with just the faintest of a sweet, green onion exit. Taste pops very well with the tropical before a slightly salty backbone rides in. Taste exits out with a slightly earthy character, leaving the feeling on the tongue of having enjoyed pepper in this medium to slightly heavy bodied beer. Not the highest ABV DIPA on Earth, but there is some discernible heat for sure, which helps it depart from the typical fluffy mouthfeel NE style IPA (not sure if that was the brewer's intention - to make a NE beer, just saying). Terrific beer!

 

G' afternoon fellow NBS-ers on this day of 2, yes TWO monumental occasions. The "retirement" of Dave aka @cavedave and Maria aka @utopiajane and the second reveal day of the 5th installment, and my second participation, of the NBS BIF: We're Gonna Need A Bigger Porch edition. Last round @beertunes made me pull several muscles in my back with his boxes and this round? Well, @SammyJaxxxx DESTROYED my porch with 3 boxes.

So today I tip my hat and bow down to Greg the porch bomber extraordinaire with my entry:

Industrial Arts Brewing Company: Tools Of The Trade


Poured from a 16 oz. can into a Funk Brewing Teku glass. No date found on the can.

Appearance: An opaque straw colored body with a bright white head full of foamy soap like bubbles.

Aroma: Citrus, grapefruit and lemon. Biscuit malt.

Taste: A little subdued from the aroma, but plenty of lemon and grapefruit with some melon, but definitely a dry malt finish.

Mouthfeel: Light and easy to drink, sessionable to the end.

Overall: A sessionable beer that drinks easy and tastes great to the end. Several of these can easily be put down at a time with a group of friend or on your own.

Cheers!

 

Good afternoon all thanks for that wonderful as usual opening, I will miss @cavedave and @utopiajane wonderful and thoughtful openings and thank them for the words of wisdom. i am getting started today with a beer I received from from @Ozzylizard from NBS BIF #5. It is from Lavery Brewing Belfast Black a smoked porter clocking in at 7.5% ABV. Let me begin by saying I have had good and bad experiences with smoked beers (one tasted just like liquid smoke) so I approach these with a bit of caution, probably more than I should. This one is really well done, perfectly balanced the smoke does not overpower and works with the other flavors. Thanks @Ozzylizard for helping restore my faith in smoked beers!!!

Appearance 3.75 - Pours a fairly thick black color with a nice tan head, spotty lacing around the glass.

Aroma 3.75 - Lots of bitter chocolate and roasted malts. There just seems to be a hint of smoke if any I am picking up in the aroma along with a touch of vanilla.

Taste 4.25 - The taste is similar to the aroma bitter chocolate and roasted malts lead with the smoke being a little more pronounced in the taste. I love how balanced the smoke is with the other flavors. There also seems to be a slight coffee taste I am picking up.

Feel 4 - Full bodied very creamy and smooth pretty dry finish

Overall 4.03 - I find smoked beers to be hit or miss and this one is a hit. Great flavors very balanced nice mouthfeel.

 

This one came courtesy of the BIF #5 from @ovaltine, it says a ton about him and the beer community in general when during a move he takes the time to participate, even packing a heck of a box (2 actually) in a hotel to send my way.
I raise this glass to him, it's the one that started my glassware collection years ago. On a visit to my first mother in law in Texas I took a side trip to see an old friend that was the food and beverage manager for Omni in Ft.Worth(Bob's Steak and Chop House there was excellent). We ended up in a little pub where I think I started with a Texas Red in this glass, it moved on to multiple Irish car bombs and a stumbling walk/crawl back to my hotel room but I somehow managed to bring this glass back from Texas.
Anyway, the review is for Surly Furious. The pour is dark orange/red with a finger of loosely formed off white head that dissipates quickly leaving a thin film and splotches of lace. Aroma is citrusy, grapefruit, pine, and a bit malty. Taste follows, heavy grapefruit pith bitterness with a touch of sweet toasty malt. Thanks again to ovaltine and wish you well in The Lone Star State.

 

Since one version of his red beans and rice called for marinating the beans overnight in a marinade that includes white cooking wine and then adding the marinade to the pot while cooking the beans, I think he might have raised his eyebrows quizzically at first and then have been very interested to have a taste of the result.

 

The changing of the guard so to speak. Dave and Maria I have enjoy your openings for quite a while now and am sorry to say good bye but in time all things change. I look forward to the openings from our new hosts and am sure they will only continue the great tradition here at NBS.
With that said I am here today with another new beer from my NBS BIF #5 box from @Bum4ever and that beer is from Track Seven Brewing and is Left Eye Right Eye Dipa.

Poured from a bomber dated 2/23/27 so just over a month old. It pours a nice golden orange color into my tulip glass, slightly cloudy. The nose hits you hard as soon as you start the pour. Dank aromas combined with tropical fruit are very strong. The taste is strong towards the tropical fruit with the hoppy flavor pulling through the more you drink. The mouthfeel is good with nice carbonation. This is a really great DIPA in my book. Coming in at 9.5% ABV it doesn't drink like it is that strong. In that line I'm glad I don't have a second one because as good as this one is I would to drink it now.

4.21/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
I hope to be able to have time to share another beer this afternoon but also have a batch of cheddar jalapeno biscuits to make for dinner tonight.

 

Ah, yes, that's true. I haven't made that one in a while because I just prefer the 'standard' one. In this case I figured that only drinking a half-can was a minor transgression of a promise I made to myself for March ( ), so I may as well do something productive with the other half. This batch doesn't really smell all that different, though, so who knows...

ETA: I found the recipes on line, in case anyone's interested:
http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2010/12/post_56.html

 

Good afternoon everybody and a big thanks to the departing cap'ns of the good ship NBS!

It is weird when you think about it, how we all come here online, most of us not knowing each other in real life, and share our thoughts and jokes and questions and stories and weather musings here every week. We may live in a strange new era that not long ago would be been considered science fiction, but damned if it isn't something I look forward to every week!

It is great that you two were willing to take on the responsibility of getting the thread off on the right foot every week. Your ale-aligned alliterations and pilsners paired plate pictures will be missed first thing with my coffee. But I look forward to seeing them a little later nonetheless

Today I am having this new IIPA from Les Trois Mousquetaires. It is a double version of a "Bavarian IPA" they made for an Oktoberfest up here last year. It is/was "bavarian" due to its being hopped with fancy new German hops (Huell Melon, Hallertau Blanc, Polaris and Mandarina Bavaria).



I liked the single version better than some based on my review of it so this one should be nice to try. What I liked was that it was obviously a well-made IPA with a very unique character. The brewers say that this and the single actually improve with age and that they got a bum wrap from people being close-minded to different IPAs. Let's see.



This is a pretty interesting take. It looks nice and inviting, with an ample white head that settles down eventually and a bright yellow-straw kind of color. The beer itself has a nice feel to it and a noticeable malt middle. The hops give it a bright funky floral aroma and the flavor follows suit. There is some white wine/pseudo-funk character as well which goes well with the rest but is a little different. As it warms a little a there is a little hint of flower-wine warmth that comes out. It is not the best or worst I have ever had. It is a well-made, to-style IPA with novel hops that are not what you'd expect.

Anyway, here is my review.

See you folks next week. Cheers!

 

Will be back with another new beer later this evening, but first one that I enjoyed this week @cavedave's BIF box.

My second from Suarez Family Brewery - A Call to Mind. A farmhouse als brewed with chamomile, lemon balm, and lemon thyme.

Some notes below, but needless to say these guys know their way around this style for sure!



Poured from 750 ml bottle dated 12/16. Thanks to @cavedave for sending it my way!

A: Clear straw yellow with 1-2 finger frothy white head settling fairly quickly to a thin cap. Nice lacing.

S: Lemon zest, fresh herbs, and white tea leaves. A little earthy funk and fresh cut hay.

T: Tart lemon, fresh thyme, herbal white tea, and a little grassy note at the end. Not sure how to describe it, but there is a freshness here like that from quality ingredients.

M: Medium body with prickly carbonation and a soft creamy feel. Very refreshing and easy drinking.

O: Excellent farmhouse ale. My second from Suarez and both thoroughly enjoyed!

 

Well actually it's not a transgression at all if one looks at it as having been done as an experiment to determine the appropriate amount to add to the mix without wasting any or putting it in storage to lose its flavors. It actually shows unswerving dedication to the idea of seeking to enhance the version of the recipe you like best. After all, what would life be with out striving to be better than we have been in the past.