New Beer Sunday (Week 635)

Greetings to the NBS faithful and a big shoutout to @cjgiant for another stellar kickoff. A beautiful spring day along the southern shore that began with perfect conditions for the 10k I ran this morning. It was my first competitive race at this distance in well over 20 years and I didn't take the challenge lightly finishing first in my age group and inside the top 20 overall. I refuse to get old gracefully! Enough tooting my horn, let's switch gears to what we're here for. New beer!

Starting off with something that sounds perfect for the occasion today. It's a 500ml undated bottle of Transient Electric Bluegaloo oak aged wheat saison with Michigan blueberries and honey. Let's give it a pour in my Transient Teku style glass for the Sunday drive.

It pours a light pinkish/red that looks dark red in the glass leaving a generous two fingers of light pink lingering foam. A trace amount of lacing is left in it's wake. The smell is tart berries, but I'm not solely detecting the blueberries. They start to pop a little more with each sip. There's mild band aid and assorted funk along with earthy wood. Taste is a tart mix of raspberry and blueberry. Once again the blueberries pop a little more with time yielding to an earthy and woody finish with a hint of honey. The feel is light and fluffy with a pleasant effervescence on the tongue and moderately tart, dry finish.



A great choice for a warm spring day! This is a moderately tart refreshing liquid fruit salad that drinks lighter than the 7%abv. My only minor 'complaint' was the lack of a more prominent blueberry profile. I'm slightly miffed as to why it tasted more raspberry-like? Perhaps the funk, oak and honey at work? That aside this was another winner from Transient who specializes in wild ales, but gets more attention from the haze craze which leaves these sitting around the shelves longer. I'll take advantage of that and buy more! My score is 4.07 / rDev-0.5%.

The couch never felt so good as it does now even while watching the Cubs lose today. I'm going to finish this beer and meander over to my bro's for a Sunday session. Perhaps another new beer later if I don't fall asleep? Enjoy your Sunday and new beer adventures! I leave you with the official scorecard and a photo of the finish line inside of a barn that was remodeled to host events.



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34258/270363/?ba=Prager62#review

 

4.02/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Did i open a can of beer or coffee?

Pours brown. Foamy, short, off white head that fades fast to a ring.

Smells roasted coffee, cream and hints of malt.

Tastes strong coffee, some creamy sweetness and hints of earthy bitterness. Finish is Semi sweet with a long coffee linger. Lighter body and fizzy medium carbonation

 

Daaaaang! That's awesome man, congratulations!

 

Poured into a 13 oz Weyerbacher tulip glass canned on 3/10. Pours an attractive orange with some floaties with a two inch sticky white head that leaves behind plenty of webby lace behind. 4.25

Smell is loads of tangerine, herbal hops, pinapple concentrate, pine resin, and grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows juicy tangerine, pinapple, mango, pine, herbal hops, and a healthy dose of grapefruit. 4.25

Mouthfeel is a solid medium with a little stickyness, juicy not dry, fairly carbonated, and so darn crushable. 4

Overall this is a very tasty and thirst quenching IPA, that I will be drinking any time I see fresh this summer. 4

 

Happy NBS, NBSers!
I missed hanging out here last weekend but tons of good food helped ease the pain. Now I am back, lamenting over the Canadiens' milk toast offense, enjoying some beautiful weather, doing some spring cleaning, prepping for the week and, of course, trying a new beer with you fine folks.

My beer this week is a brown ale from Lagabière. This is a relatively new brewery here in Quebec and I've heard pretty good things about their beers but this is the first one I've tried. As a general rule I love brown ales and I even have a crackpot theory that a brewer that can make a good brown is competent enough to make a quality version of just about anything. It obviously isn't always the case but I find that having the plain brown at a brewery is a good indicator of how well I'll like the rest of their beers. So let's see what my crackpot theory has to say about the folks at Lagabière.

It pours a clearish dark brown with hints of ruby that is dark enough to confuse you as to how opaque it actually is. It sports a 2+ finger cap of eggshell foam that is compact and also slowly compacts to a few islands of warm whipped cream and a film with majestic streaks of lacing.

The aroma is toasty, lightly nutty malts with some sweetness as well. The flavor is less sweet with more of the brown flavors coming through from the malt with a dash of earthy hop bitterness at the finish. It is fairly fluffy from the carbonation in the mouthfeel department and thin enough and light enough to be pretty drinkable. All in all this was a tasty beer in many ways. I could do with the malt flavors being a little richer and layered (if that makes sense) but this was definitely an enjoyable, well-made take on the style. I'll pick this one up if I run into it again.
Here's my review.
Cheers!

 

So sorry for your loss and most of all I hope your wife is okay. Aggression is never a good sign and the final straw. My neighbor wrestled with that issue a year ago and worse yet it was a 10 month old Golden Retriever. They tried every avenue to no avail and the final straw was his wife also getting attacked. Sometimes the right decisions hurt and have no explanation we as humans can understand. May you find peace in your decision.

 

NBS #2 of the day. As I mentioned earlier, "2" packages showed up this weekend at the Lingenbrau Biergarage, and this next one comes from my brother from the next county up from me @JayORear . Thanks again man, and I can't wait to see what I can get you back with!

Creature Comforts
Cosmik Debris- DIPA





A: Let me start by saying that I enjoy the "Haze Craze" as much as the next guy or gal, but my heart still belongs to these beautiful golden clear masterpieces. Along with that white foam cap and sticky icky lacing. Yes please!

A: Mango and papaya goodness at its best with just enough sweet candied maltiness to keep the grin stuck on my face.

T: Follows seemlessly with tropical fruit taking center stage, orange citrus coming in from the left, and sweet malt coming from the right. An attack on the tongue for sure.

F: Smooth and unexpectedly creamy considering it's appearance. Nice and bitter, but just enough sweetness to bring you back down from the high. Good carbonation and hides its 8.3% heft quite well.

O: Yup. I'm a fan. Always wanted to try something from Athens, GA's finest, and this does not disappoint.

Cheers everyone, and I will see you all soon!

EDIT: After official review, I scored this a 4.48. Surprised to find that an rDev of -1.1%

 

First long run since my half marathon a couple weeks back. My legs are just toast right now. Since I squeezed in a nap, it's time to sip on a brew and put my legs up. Way up.



Firestone Walker's Lil Opal.

Pours a frosted yellow-orange with a finger of white head on top. Moderate head retention, with barely any lacing left behind. There is a off-white, foamy ring that sits around the top of the glass for a long while. Aroma is pears, green apple, lemon, and spicy Belgian yeast easters. The aroma is dry, and kept short. Flavor profile is green apple, lemon, pears, apricot, with just a sprinkle of Belgian yeast spice behind. It's incredibly well balanced, with the natural tart and sour qualities coming out of the green apple, and lemon. Mouth feel is thick with a creamy, smooth texture. It doesn't feel fizzy, or overly carbonated, just a nice crispness to it. Overall, a sour that provides hints of sour and tart notes, but doesn't batter the tongue with sour qualities. Very well balanced, and extremely delightful.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4.75 | 4.5 | 4.5
| BA Score: 4.51 | rDev: +3.2%

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A rather busy day for myself getting a bunch of crap done around the house. Shed cleaned out and set up for mowing season, mower tuned and running, and the grill is all cleaned up and ready to roll. Probably fire it up next weekend. A pretty nice spring day here on the island. A touch on the cooler side but nice and sunny.

My new beer today is Good Humans Ale, a dry hopped double brown ale, from Short's brewing. My third to last brew out of the nbs bif #5 box thanks of course to @foundersasap . It checks in with a 9.15% abv, according to this site, and a 12/13/16 bottle date.

A tan-ish dirt brown pour with moderate carbonation and a fast white head. The nose is sweet with earthy malt tones and decently floral. Very sweet on the initial sip with some really rich earthy malts. A pretty smooth flow with some pronounced hop bite and bitterness on the finish. The flavor notes really are a blend between the roasted malts and hoppy flavors. I get lots of caramel, burnt toast, nuts, and slight vanilla but also plenty of fruity hop tones such as lemon, orange, and grapefruit. The mouth feel is on the moderate side and really has a dry feel to it. The abv is barely noticeable.

Overall, a very interesting brew and unlike any brown ale that I have had. I'm not in love with it but it's a pretty decent drinker. I'm in the high 3's to a solid 4.

 

Good afternoon NBS!

Thanks to @cjgiant for the entertaining opening this morning and for recognizing that I am a BA who is not an ax murderer. Although with my long hair and beard he may have at first thought me at least a Viking marauder or an extra from Duck Dynasty.

I was and am very sorry to read about @lordofthewiens situation and glad to hear his wife is at least physically well. Years ago my Father went through a similar situation with a long time family pet who was misdiagnosed by the Vet and in a great deal of pain when she lashed out. Unfortunately for my Dad, Maude was a 180 pound English Mastiff and he needed a couple of hand surgeries after the ordeal.

On to my new beer which somewhat ironically is an Old Ale.

2016 vintage.

Best by July 2032? Are they serious?

I poured it straight into the snifter for almost one finger of off white head that fast faded into a crown with sticky lacing. The elixir below is a murky, deep reddish amber. I find the nose a bit subdued with molasses and dark fruit that I'm not sophisticated enough to identify along with only a slight whiff of alcohol. The taste is malt forward and sweet but not cloying. Same as the nose, molasses, dark fruit and caramel. I am surprised by the lack of booziness. I can't really taste the alcohol but do feel the heat as it goes down the hatch. It's to the high side of medium bodied, smooth and a little creamy. I am forcing myself to sip as this goes down easy.

This is a nice treat.

Enjoy your evenings NBSers!

Almost forgot. Congrats to @cjgiant on 2000 reviews. (assuming you wrote it by now)

 

Wassup NBS?!
I just got back from a brief trip through the midwest. Unfortunately the reason for heading out was a funeral but the majority of the trip was spent visiting family that I haven't seen in a few years and that's the best part. Oh yeah, I also got to bring home a few beers not seen in these parts.

This one is a bit odd from others I've had from Surly. I guess given the 4.5% they're trying to make a sessionable IPA from a single hop. That being the case this beer features the citra hop with mango, tangerine and grass showing on both the aromas and initial flavors. Nice start and true to the hop based on other beers I've had featuring Citra. Then just like those free fall rides, the bottom drops out. An initial burst of flavor and just that quick, nothing. Zero midpalate. Other Surly beers I've had have been there for the long haul. Pleasant tropical fruit/bitter creeps back in for the finish but the middle is definitely empty. Flavorful overall and I wouldn't mind giving it a whirl for a session with its relatively low abv, I just didn't expect its empty middle given the flavorful smell/attack/finish.

I was able to stop in Munster on the way home so four day old Zombie Dust is chilling in the fridge for a night cap.
Cheers!

 

Love that beer and think your review is spot on! Batch 2 was much better than batch 1 in my opinion. Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBS! Missed last week due to company over for Easter and will most likely miss next as I'll be visiting an old military buddy of mine and probably won't want to look at a beer on Sunday, particularly once we get through raiding my cellar. Anyways...chilly day here with the rain system in the area, though thankfully not raining yet. Calls for something dark and warming, Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS).

I think this is one of those times were I feel a bit of a conundrum with a beer. Don't get me wrong, it's solid, but I don't find this to be as good as it's touted to be. Having spent a winter of trying many barrel aged beers, I find this to be a solid yet not mind-blowing beer. Or maybe I'm just spoiled having several breweries with very solid barrel aging programs nearby (Hardywood, Lickinghole, and Blue Mountain). Either way, I'm not disappointed perhaps more surprised, and I think that's a good thing, means lots of brewers are doing a solid job. Would I buy this again? Eh I wouldn't mind a bottle or two a year if my local store had it in stock when I visited.

4.31/5 rDev -4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a deep black color with an off-white to tan head about a finger thick. Strong smells of bourbon as soon as the bottle was opened, also notes of chocolate and vanilla. Tastes of bourbon, roasted malts, chocolate, a hint of coffee, and finishes with vanilla. Primary flavor is bourbon with a slight alcohol burn to it, not unpleasant and certainly not as strong as some BA beers, but noticeable. Feel is creamy and flavor lingers a while on the palette.

 

I had to add my next beer to the database. Hinterland Blackberry Weisse pours a nice shade of light purple with a fluffy 2 finger white head. Head fades slowly and leaves behind thick collar and bits of lacing. Mild blackberry notes, some wheat with hints of lemon and other citrus. Light and tart berry, citrus, apple, and lemon zest. Some good wheat and yeast round out the flavor. Very light body and nice carbonation. Crisp, yet smooth and wet. Great summer day brew. Pretty straight forward Berliner that reminds me of Bell's Oarsman with light berry notes.

 

Hey NBS been a extremely busy week. Dad was in town for a few - hadn't seen him for at least a year. Brought along a bunch of family pics, many brought some tears with mom and baby brother gone. Then had to hit NY for a play my daughter was directing. So proud. She has a great future in acting or directing. Had a few from Maine from my bro - including a single Swish. What a great brew. Lost of stories but I'll drop this quick because I'm chilling for the remainder of the evening.
Recently this brewery has really put me on notice. A couple super DIPAs and then I spotted this sixer for 7.99! I thought it may have been a mistake. Than I tried.....
Fort Hill Brewery Farmers Fresh
Pours a burnished hazy gold with a beautiful white fluffy head that lasts with lots a lacing rings.
Smell is spicy, citrusy hops, floral notes and some grass and corn/grain. I swear I get bready pilsner notes. Does smell clean and like a lager though they claim it to be a Kolsch with lagering techniques and enough hops to make it a session IPA. Either way a super smelling (and looking) brew.
Taste follows with a pilsner like malt base with a bit less sweetness, lots of lemony and orange pith hops, corn/grain, nice bitterness. Solid
Finishes clean crisp and dry with just a bit more body than a lager. Last pour was full of hop resin floaters. Delicious brew. I'd buy this by the case. Fort Hill is doing great things. Session IPA?, Hoppy Lager?, Kolsch style with hops?.......yes, yes, yes. It's damn good that's all I know.
My old man 19, Magic chillin on the deck. Sorry to hear about all the dogs - really breaks my heart. Love animals.
Have a great week and thanks for taking the time.

 

Happy New American IPA Sunday!

Pretty nice day on the Western Slope, partly cloudy, around 72, breezy. Did a nice hike, not many people again this week. Having a very tasty brew from @thebeers via NBS BIF$5. Very nice take on a NE style IPA. Watching some NHL and the Rockies/Giants game. Will be back with another new brew from NBS BIF#5.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30452/231916/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Howdy everybody. straight from the heart of "You're No Fun Anymore". I just can't seem to get my BA mojo back, it seems. First I take a month long beer break, and then work kicks in with crazy deadlines and late nights, and priorities being what they are I'm usually too wiped to WBAYDN. And then, naturally, a long time freelance client calls from out of the blue with a new project which needs to be submitted right away (!!!). So that's why I'm stuck inside doing drawings on this beautiful Sunday instead of outside enjoying the sunny warm weather. Ugh.

Thankfully @Dragginballs76 has come to my rescue with a massive box of SC delicacies that will not be ignored , as part of the Can Can BIF. The first one to tempt me is this Abbey Ale. In a can!

River Rat Moncks Corner. At 7.2%, I'm guessing it's inspired by the classic Dubbels.

Now that's a beautiful looking beer, isn't it? You gotta love that mahogany color. The rest of it's really nice as well. The nose is potent yet restrained, featuring cherries, orange peel, spiciness (mostly clove and peppercorn), some caramel toffee and dark fruits. On the palate it's more malty and spicy than fruity, but that really works in its favor due to the residual brown-sugar sweetness it hits you with. It's not cloyingly sweet, and the finish is thankfully on the dry side, but it leans in that direction. The finish is more caramel and spice, with white wine and raisins coming on extremely late. Mouthfeel is moderately full, and bitterness is just where it needs to be. By the end of this glass that sweetness has become very much under control, and it's an extremely pleasant last few ounces.

I really enjoyed the finesse of this beer, especially in regards to the esters and phenols, but would have enjoyed a version with less upfront sweetness. Then again, that could just be my own personal issue with the style. It's certainly very enjoyable and drinkable, with no hint of all that alcohol whatsoever. And it's in a can! This could be a very dangerous accompaniment to any outdoor activity . A- (4.1), and thanks again @Dragginballs76 !

A few more quick notes from yesterday. After work I stopped of for a bite to eat and few beers on my way home and here's what I had-
Moonlight Death and Taxes- very much deserves that accolades it's received, and is an outstanding Black Lager. It comes across as heftier than the 5% would suggest, with a solid roast malt presence. No rough edges at all, though, and smooth as silk. I wish we could get this one all the time.

Cuvee des Jacobins Prestige- dry with a substantial tartness, hinting of raspberries and spice, rose wine, and a ton of toasty oak on the eternal finish. Major step up from the Rouge, and highly recommended!

Hope to see you all later!

 

I'm drinking MA beer because the Bruins are on and are playing the biggest game of the year (they lose=season over). Glad I still have some Trillium left from last weeks trip back home to Boston. Probably the 2nd best thing I brought back home with me, the first being my now-fiancée, who I proposed to on the way to the Red Sox game last week (we met in college when I was still living in Boston). It was a weekend I'll never forget.

Anyway, this one I hadn't tried until now. I was a bit skeptical given the "controversial" rating the Bros gave it but I never really listen to what other people tell me (ADD is a beautiful thing) so here we go...



It's a beautiful beer (and let's be honest, most of trilliums are) but the flavor is on point too. Delicious tropical fruit, a bit of lemon/lemon rind bitterness, soft mouthfeel, slightly dry finish. Excellent DIPA, never would've guessed 8% ABV. I don't know how anyone could say this beer was "not finished". I'm very happy with it

Now if you'll excuse me, Patrice Bergeron just tied the fucking game!!!!