New Beer Sunday (Week 633)

Good morning @cjgiant . All I have to say is that was ferocious! I think the thread is in good hands. I have a an American lager made by Guinness! Cheers and see you after my pizza dough rises.

 

I am in awe!
What a great start to this week's NBS!

 

If I had the slightest bit of worry (I didn't) that this thread was not gonna be even better for having you and @lordofthewiens at the helm, it is set to rest right here. Excellent opener, thanks so much for accepting the "job". Cheers!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks @cjgiant for today's opening volley. I'm sure yinz will do just fine. Maria, I NEED to see your food ****!

Today's new beer is one from NBS BIF #5, courtesy @THSdrummer:



Received from @THSdrummer in NBS BIF #5.
Undated 16 oz can at 42 degrees. Allowed to warm to 45 – 54 degrees and served in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Aroma – Initially very strong hazelnut aroma which fades to some lighter hazelnut with coffee.
Head – small (Maximum two cm, aggressive pour), tan, dense, slowly diminishing to an irregular two to six mm creamy ring constantly being renewed by the effervescence and a thin partial layer.
Lacing – good. Wide partial rings of very tiny bubbles.
Body – dark brown/black, opaque, effervescent.
Flavor – Very much hazelnut, less coffee, no vanilla. Ends with a bitter coffee after taste. No malt, no hops, no alcohol (9.2% ABV !), no diacetyl.
Palate – full bodied, creamy, lively carbonation.

A tour de force in hazelnut appreciation. I don’t think I’ve eaten hazel nuts that tasted this much like hazel nuts. Good thing I like them.

Appearance 4, Aroma 4.25, Flavor 4, Palate 4, Overall 4. Rating 4.06, rDev -2.9 %.

The can itself is interesting and may be the fifth can in my collection:





The story of Owen Coffin was supposedly part of Herman Melville's inspiration for Moby Dick.
Since we're not supposed to post music on this thread, I'll put it on WBAYDN.

Also:

 

Nice!!!!

 

The NCAA basketball tournament selection committees could learn a thing or two from Dave & Maria, whose selection process for new NBS caretakers clearly is a winner.

"I will not attempt an alliterative account admiring amassed adjectives ascribed to ales like @cavedave might do ..."

Hahahahahahaha ... of course you wouldn't, @cjgiant.

The weather here in the Brazos Valley is bursting spring, 80-plus highs, 50/60-something (or 40-something) lows, thunderstorms never more than a few days away in the forecast and wind coming at us strong from one direction Monday then the opposite direction Friday. My preparations for an April 19 Texas Amateur qualifier are back on track after a bout with allergies, so I'm checking the weather forecast at least 6-8 times a day (it's part of the golf sickness), and it's amazing how the metaphorical compass needle of our weather this time of year flits and flirts, twists and turns like Captain Jack Sparrow's compass.

I'd tell you the stupid joke about how if you don't like the weather in Texas, wait 10 minutes ... it'll change. But I won't tell that joke. And I bet you tell that joke in your state, too. And I bet you're right.

My new beer is from our friends in Michigan, and stop me if you've heard this one:


love the collar ... some serious neck ruff on this one


Didn't even plan on buying this one, but a tip alerted me to its presence in my town, so I jumped in the car on my dinner break Tuesday and hustled down Highway 6 to an H-E-B ... who'd have thought big chain grocery stores would stock all this great beer in our lifetimes?

KBS is fantastic, of course, and for me it tastes like a Prairie Artisan BOMB! with a shot of bourbon in it. The amount of chocolate is decadent at times, both in the nose and the flavor. In fact, the nose at one point turns into one of those thick chocolate ice cream/coffee/cafe mocha/milkshake treats in which they try to pack in as many different types of chocolate into one cup as possible ... a 2,000-calorie dessert with the piece or two of actual chocolate stuck on top as garnish? Super sweet. And at room temperature, the final 1/3 of the beer smells exactly like bourbon/vanilla/dark-malt stout (coffee, cafe mocha, espresso, oak wood).

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/19960/?ba=Premo88#review
4.46 (-2.2% rDev)

Two quick notes:
1. There's a "let's bash KBS because it's too expensive" thread going on BA.com ... if *you* hate KBS, too, you can add to the noise at:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...l-go-crazy-for-kbs.502766/page-4#post-5382533

2. Founders is batting 1.000 with me. I've not fallen in love with everything I've tried, but even the Founders beers I liked the least were obviously well-made brews, showing plenty of life pouring out the can/bottle with tons of aroma and taste. I absolutely MUST try their porter and RIS. Must, must, must. Can't put it off any longer. And the vision of a 12-pack of All Day cans in my cooler this summer is coming into focus ...

Like I will sometimes do, I did this NBS review even earlier this fine Sunday morning after the late shift ended for me Saturday night. When this happens, *always* my Beer is New and technically consumed and reviewed on Sunday, but I do jump the gun. Look what it got me this week:

Woops!

How'd that happen? It's not like I SMaSHed it with an IPA or anything ...

OK, kids, it's Masters Sunday, and my golf pants are going about as crazy as they go annually. I'll join y'all on the back nine with another new offering for me. Until then, here's hoping you get a good one in your glass today and double hoping you have a smashing seven days this coming week ... no pun intended.

Cheers!

 

Guinness has been strutting their stuff lately and today I have a beer I bought thinking it was a different style. When I saw the word blonde I was thinking of Victory's Summer Love. I was pleasantly surprised to see the word lager on the label and grabbed a sixer.

Cheers and Happy New It's a Lager Sunday!




Pours perfect amber. Clear and gold. Fat head of just off white foam that lasts well. Bubbles are constantly active but not effervescing. Nose is biscuity malt and a spicy hop. It's like grasses that have been sweetened for a bit in the sun. Dried hay and sweet grass. The floral is soft enough so that you don't notice it but there is the scent of green apple. It's not too prominent. Drinks well with lots of hop spice and pepper in the flavor. Not too much hops in the mouthfeel though . That is all malt. Biscuity flavor and a firm bitterness to bring all that spice to the finish. How do I describe the judicious use of hops. They were on display. From the crunch of that flower petal to the tickle of the spice. The green apple was not unwelcome. It added a depth. It's presence is low. The hops presence is approaching moderate. Good crisp bubble with a little tingle. I could not decide if this beer was dry when I first tasted it. It is dry enough. Wonderful beer that you could drink all day.

This beer is modeled after a prohibition era lager from the United States. It uses Mosaic, Willamette and Mt. Hood. I do not taste any orange form the mosaic . . . just saying. The date on this beer is 001 0315.

Cheers BA's . =)

 

Good New Beer Sunday to all! I can't wait to read about everyone's New Beer Adventure. Mine is Thick Mint from Southern Tier's Blackwater Series. It is an imperial stout brewed with chocolate and mint. The label says it was bottled at 3:05pm 03/01/17, and it is 10.0% ABV. The label also says it is a dessert beer, which it certainly is. One might ask why I am drinking such a beer in the early morning (besides because I can). Here's how my OCD brain works: I got up, fed and walked the dogs. Then I thought about how my day was shaping up. I have seitan to make, groceries to buy, dinner to make, and, let's not forget, the final round of The Masters. So I figured this would be a good time to drink and review my beer.
Speaking of The Masters, when I worked in South Carolina in the late 70s-early 80s, I had a friend with season tickets and I was privileged to attend a round each year with him. First, let me tell you I've never seen a more beautiful golf course. Second, TV just doesn't do justice to the changes in elevation. It is an incredibly hilly course. The times I went to the final round I got to see Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer win. Truly, a special place.

Anyway, on to the beer. I am titling this Thin Mints With Thick Mint.
The beer is a very dark brown. It has a thin tan head that recedes to a halo.
The aroma is mint, mint, and chocolate. And more mint.
The taste is mint, sweet and dark chocolate.
Creamy, sweet in the mouth.
This beer is exactly as advertised. It is a dessert beer, and a pretty darn good one.

 

Fraoch Heather Ale by Williams Brothers (Scotland)

I've wanted to try this beer ever since I saw it in one of Michael Jackson's books. It's an ancient Scottish recipe that uses local herbs for the gruit, such as heather (Fraoch means heather in Gaelic) and bog-myrtle. Hops were not available to the ancient Scots and Picts so they had to turn to these wild plants to flavor their beer.

In order to acquire this beer I had to blackmail one of my good friends who was planning on visiting me from the UK. I told him that unless he brought me a bottle of Fraoch I'll make him sleep in my garage. The poor guy tried hard to find me a bottle but apparently none of his local shops sold any (he lives in England and not Scotland where this beer is native and perhaps easier to find). Eventually he had to simply order it online and then bring it to me.

I have no idea how heather smells or tastes like, so I cannot comment on how much of this beer's nose and taste offer. Initially I thought that the gjnger-like notes were the heather but then I realized that ginger was also one of the ingredients.

 

Glad you enjoyed that one. That's one of my personal favorites being cranked out of Missouri right now. That particular can came to me via a 2 hour one-way drive to pick up a four pack. Fortunately, the drama in the three tier system has ended and we get it in Kansas City now. In fact, we even get it on draft too! It doesn't taste like 9.2% at all, which makes it one of the most dangerous beers around IMHO (perhaps right behind Boulevard's Tank 7).

Cheers!

 

You hit the mark with this one, I picked up a growler and wish I was able to get more. I thought this was very well done amazing chocolate and mint flavors.

 

Spring of the so called ‘NE’ style IPA (continued)

In the past couple of weeks I discussed to two BIG BOYS of Trillium and Tree House (both located in Massachusetts). Today I will be ‘traveling’ to the nearby state of Maine to ‘visit’ Bissel Brothers Brewing which is located in Portland, ME.

I have fond personal memories of Maine since my grandmother used to live in Winthrop, ME (just south of the capital of Augusta) and we would visit every summer for our summer vacation. On the Maine license plates they have the motto of “Vacationland” and it certainly was for me in the past.

Bissel Brothers brewing is a relatively new brewery (just as is Trillium and Tree House) with an opening year of 2013. Over the past few years they relocated to a larger facility so business must be good.

The beer I will be drinking today is Bissell Brothers Swish. This is my first beer from Bissell Brothers Brewing.

Served in my Gulden Draak tulip glass:

Appearance:

Yellow/orange colored with a turbid/murky appearance. A BIG fluffy white head.

Aroma:

The aroma has BIG tropical fruits smells.

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with tropical fruit flavors dominating but there is also some citrus flavors as well. It has a rounded bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

The mouthfeel of this beer is soft and luscious.

Overall:

I think this beer is very, very good! Since this beer is named “Swish” and March Madness just recently came to an end permit me to summarize with: Nothin’ but net!!

@RobH @rotsaruch @chipawayboy @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @mythaeus

 

If you liked the beer enough to want to have more, it may be something you can get here in PA. My first bottle was purchased from a fairly local bar that had it on the menu. Not too long after that I was able to order through my local distributor a mixed case of the Williams Brothers Gruits that had at least a couple different beers, including the Fraoch. (However, not sure if it is still registered for distribution into PA.)

 

A very special beer day for me, 7 years ago I came up with SawDog505 and how many amazing beers have touched these lips, wow! I will be honest the community is much friendlier than it was 7 years ago, back then we had several bullies, but it is all about great pictures, beers, and many belly laughs. Back to business.

Poured vintage 2017 into my new KBS Snulip glass, weighs in at 12% ABV poured near room temperature it leaves behind very little lace as it quickly settles into motor oil. 4 Smell is roasty expresso, dark chocolate, vanilla, molasses, leather, pipe tobacco, hints of smoke,and a hint of warming alcohol. 4.25

Taste follows big dry coffee, vanilla, dark chocolate, molasses, leather, tobacco, smoke, and some warming alcohol tickles the tongue sip after sip.4.25

Mouthfeel is chewy, mild carbonation, definitely on the dry side as you would expect, and it drinks much easier than its 12% ABV but this thing is very well rounded and you pick up a different flavor each sip. 4.5

Overall this is a very complex and tasty RIS, reminds me a little of the Imperial Stout that got me into Stouts 7 years ago, Smuttynose was the one. Bold, thick, and so utterly delicious! Cheers and I am really looking forward to watching some golf later, as I sip on some awesome IPA'S that arrived yesterday from @TheIPAHunter ! 4

 

Happy New Odds & Sods Beer Sunday (Week 633)!

No need to encourage me to write a review. I have been on this site for so long that I CAN remember when the ONLY way to keep track of your beers was to write a review. Once I got started, it became easier & easier + I found my voice (or numerous voices) & at times, it has been an exercise in creative writing for me.

If you have been following my antics, I mean, endeavors for the past seven months or so, you know that I have committed myself to eradicating the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody. It was largely due to my drinking away from home but buying (especially bottled) beers to bring home. It was out of control & when I got laid off by the state, I dedicated myself to diving in and redding up.

From the Law of Unintended Consequences comes the opportunity to conduct a whole buncha horizontals. For the uninitiated, Vertical = same beer, different vintages, usually working backwards from freshest to oldest; Horizontal = same style, different breweries OR in my case, same brewery, many different beers. I just completed a New Belgium horizontal which generated great interest with my local rep when he did an Etch-A-Glass event on Thursday night. This is the finish line:



How can I follow up something like that, you might ask. Answer: I CAN't. I do have a buncha loosey-goosey rummage sale odds 'n' sods that cry out from the depths & so they will be today's focus. I got up in the wee hours this Sunday and got a head start on the day with:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24355/133570/?ba=woodychandler#review



I shall return at some point with more links & pics, at a time TBD, but when I feel that I have run out of steam for the day. See yinz then!