New Beer Sunday (Week 644)

We're having a hot muggy weekend, but there's still outdoor work that needs to be done. Thankfully this is in a shady spot at least, and I also have a suitable beer handy-

My few pots of Sweet William Dianthus are at the point where they need pruning and deadheading, and it's the kind of day where I can just relax and take my time anyway. I don't get nearly enough time for this stuff lately, it seems, getting home around 8pm most nights, so I am actually enjoying the opportunity.

I think I saved the Sierra Nevada/Surly Beer Camp Ginger Lager for just the right time.

It's delicious and refreshing in it's own particular way. The ginger has a clean vivid feel to it, while the body of the beer is crisp and smooth. There's some residual sugars going on, but just enough to lend the suggestion of a nice ginger ale. Where that all differs, though, is in the finish, where the cayenne and oak make their presence known. I really like what the wood does, adding a nicely seasoned and almost vinous quality, but the cayenne is keeping me at arm's length. I know that 'hot' ginger ale is a thing, and have a friend who loves the stuff, but it usually just sends me in search of something else to drink after I've drunk it . In this case, it's at an appropriate level and well-incorporated into the overall package. It's a tasty and enjoyable B+ (3.85) from me, then, but it could have been higher.

 

Here is another new beer I picked up this weekend Burial/Threes Brewing Both Ways. An IPL brewed with Saphir and Citra hops. Nice clean IPL good flavors and very easy drinking.

Appearance 3.75 - Pours semi transparent yellow with very thin white head that quickly dissipates. No lacing just a ring around the top.

Aroma 4 - Very light citrus lemon, grass, light hop aroma.

Taste 3.75 - Light lemon, straw, some mild grapefruit. There is a very nice balance of light hoppiness and bitter citrus.

Feel 4 - Light bodied refreshing with a touch of bitterness.

Overall 3.84 - A pretty decent IPL nice flavors easy drinking.

 

Good afternoon, all, and Happy New Saison Sunday! Thanks to @lordofthewiens for baring his soul regarding the travails and disappointments of golf. I always wanted to play this game respectably and even took lessons a few (read: many) years ago. My problem is that whenever I could afford to play I didn't have time, and whenever I had time I couldn't afford to play. I still have my old Wilson Staff blades, and I've picked up a few TaylorMade and Callaway metal "woods" along the way. However, it's been years since I've hit a ball. (I can also empathize with @woodychandler on the loss of visual acuity, which I'm hoping my upcoming cataract surgery will ameliorate.) Now on to the beer.

Lomaland is another great beer from the Modern Times variety pack I picked up in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. This has aroma and flavor profiles typical of many of the saisons I've tried, only with a depth and complexity that others lack. The malt bill includes Pilsner malt, flaked wheat, flaked corn, and two row, making it seem, at least to me, to be a rather full-bodied example for the style. Nice spicy bitterness from the Czech Saaz hops on the finish. So far, I've tried four beers from the MT variety pack and thought they were all excellent. I also love the can designs: classically beautiful graphically, with a clean and uncluttered look. Based on the Seek-A-Brew distro map, I think I was lucky to find this beer.

3.95/5 (rDev +3.1%)
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Review here.


I found this hand-painted glass in a thrift store. It is from Madiggan in Australia. I think it might have been part of a set. Whatever it is, it is not a candle holder.

 

I love ginger and intend to find that beer. I'm out today messing around the gardens, aiding some beautiful volunteer tomatoes, planting some shasta daisies, and marveling at the also volunteer butternut squash plants (from compost) that are snaking around the beans and tomatoes. Take it for what it's worth, but I've been getting tomatoes for 3 weeks now. Not so long ago, getting big ripe sandwich tomatoes before the Fourth of July was unheard of.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A nice hot and sunny summer day here on the island. On vacation this past week so its going to be tough getting back to the grind tomorrow. Spent half of the week in the boston/northern ma area on a short vacation with the fiance. Got to see a really good friend from high school who lives in the area with his wife and three kids. Spent most of the day catching up around the house. Did some major grocery shopping and have been outside fighting the never ending weeding battle. Thanks to my trip I managed a nice little haul of brews and actually have a ton of new beers.

My first new beer today is Truth, ipa, from Rhinegeist brewery in ohio. My first every brew from Rhinegeist too as I've seen it on this site a lot only. Found a bunch of it at a store up in the north chelsmford/tyngsboro area. It checks in at 7.2% abv and a 5/8/17 canning.

An amber pour with good clarity and a frothy white head. The nose is a mix of hops and pale malt and not overly floral. Tangy and bitter hops hit upfront with a nice smooth flow and bitter finish. Lots of that raw hop feel with citrus tones of lemon, orange, and grapefruit. Some herbal and spicier hops tones as well with slight pine and resin. The malt does not hide but it also does not overpower the brew either. It really seems to mellow out the bitterness and add some sweetness to it. The mouth feel is light/moderate with decent lingering flavors.

Overall, pretty decent stuff that really falls right in the middle for me. I wouldn't call it great but it delivers and I would drink it again. One of the better balanced ipa's that I've had. I'm in the 3.5 to 4 range.

 

Alright, time for my second entry to this thread. After this, I'm definitely making some late lunch...



Henniker Brewing Co... I feel like I talked about them just last week...

Anyway, back with another new beer of theirs, this time from their seasonal lineup. Sour Flower is a dry-hopped sour weighing in at 5%. The label claims it has "notes of juicy tropical fruit to balance the sour, tart, lemony zing."

Pours a slighly-hazy orange color with a thin ring of foam sticking around on top. Super-spotty lacing, made up of miniscule flecks of foam, appears as the head fades down to nearly-nothing. Nice, bright hue to this one but the rather inactive head doesn't sell it much to me.

The nose has some starfruit, sweet orange peel and lemony tartness, along with some sweetness that seems a bit blood orange-esque. Light biscuity malt note among the tangy acidity. Kind of sweaty and musky in a sense, too... there's a slight bit of funk here which I don't think I really expected. Somewhat rustic and barnyard-like. I don't think this has any Brett influence, but it kind of seems like it does to these nares.

Similar on the tongue with a bit of funk, strong lemon peel, hay, biscuit malt, kiwi and guava. Definitely has some tropical and citrus flavors but I'm interested in that off-key funky element. It's not bad, honestly, I just did not expect it. There's a slight, gose-like mineral-esque aspect here. Hmm... this is a confusing one. I like it and would definitely drink more of it but it does indeed have some... err... unique things going on. A quick bit of research reveals that this was dry-hopped with Chinook, Mosaic and Simcoe. Seems that, with that combination, they were focused on pine-y and spicy notes with some minor focus on citrus. I don't get most of those notes, even though that combination of hops would likely yield such flavors and aromas. Seems strange to me, but whatever.

Feel is very solid for a 5% beer. It sits about where I expect for a sour-focused ale with extra hoppiness... moderate body, slightly chewy grain profile with tart acidity and some satellite citrus and tropical aspects. Doesn't really stand out from the crowd, and I would prefer if it featured some real fruit purée or something to differentiate itself, but I'd never pass it up.

I've gone from vaportrap to gothic/industrial rock and now to epic melodic death/black metal today. Here's a new track from a band who just released their second full-length album. For fans of Amon Amarth, Insomnium, old Ensiferum, Sacramentum and Necrophobic. Really nice, expansive stuff. Seems they dialed down the folksy elements a bit this time while consequently upping the epic, riff-based, measured black metal aspect of their sound.

 

I hate playing golf. I love the idea of it though-driving basically a go kart, you can drink while playing, BS with your friends, smoke cigars. The list of fun goes on and on. Anyway, I play a round about once every 2 years, I am bad at it, I swear a lot.

Beer! I try to get every Short's release, for ticking reasons.

This is Michigantuan, a cherry DIPA. Heard good things.



Pours like a fruited beer. Smell is very orange, citrus, honey and slightly tart cherry.
It tastes more like a DIPA with some tart cherries. Not much flavor of a cherry, more tart than actually cherry. Some grain, citrus and pine, dank when it warms. It's a good beer but nothing I would get excited about.

 

Wow- I'm just happy to be seeing flowers on my tomatoes lately.

I'm sure you're familiar with Blenheim Ginger Ale. This beer is not as hot as that stuff, but definitely has some zip in it's step. Here's hoping you come across it soon. Cheers!

 

Good afternoon, NBS crew!

My 1st choice today is from a brewery I only recently got a chance to try. As @drtth said earlier, Philly got a delivery of Modern Times for Philly Beer Week, and I also picked up singles of the ones I could find. @cjgiant and I got to try a bunch of them on draft during Beer Week, but I believe this one was not present (correct me if I'm wrong, Craig).


Modern Times - Black House Stout
6% abv - 5/25/17 (30 days old)
Purchased for $3.50 at Monde Market

A - opaque black body with a 2-finger brown head that lingers. 5 minutes after pouring it's still there.

S - faint coffee, some chocolate. A bit underwhelming to the nose.

T - more coffee here. Very low bitterness though. The chocolate takes over at the end, but it never gets into treacle-sweet territory.

M - medium. Lower that I expected from the appearance.

O - A decent brew, but underwhelming. Probably the least impressive Modern Times beer I've yet tried. If they had been more aggressive with either the coffee or the hopping this would have stood out more.

 

Feeling inspired by the awesome post by @dee4maine I am having Dogfish Head's Sea Quench Ale next.

Heaven wouldn't be as sweet without our time spent on earth after all.

The sour lime juice and sea salt in this brew really make it shine. Pours a hazy amber brown. Little to no head. Nose is of lemon peel and slight bready malt. Wow, taste does not disappoint. Dogfish Head brews some truly unique beers. This brew is no exception. Lemon and sea salt are quick to awaken the tounge. I would pair this with sea food definitely. I think I've discovered a summer staple. Cheers everyone.

 

Happy NBS, gang! We're off to a great start on this early summer Sunday, thanks to another thoughtful intro from @lordofthewiens. I don't often seek out Pale Lagers but when Industrial Arts and Other Half collaborate, I take notice. These are two of the finest brewers in the metro area. Hello, Sailor is a 5% hoppy lager. It has the feel of an Industrial Arts beer, lite and crisp, with a dose of hoppy goodness from the hopmeisters at Other Half. It's a great summertime brew. Here's my review:

4.04/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Canned 6/21/2017. Poured into Industrial Arts pint glass. It pours a hazy gold with orange hues, and a finger of foamy, bright white head and soapy lacing with lots of ascending bubbles. The nose features cracker, lemon peel, tangerine, and a whiff of onion. It has a crisp taste of cracker and tart, slightly sour citrus. It finishes with a blast of moderately bitter hops. It's light and crisp with lively carbonation. With an ABV of 5% you can easily drink several, which is really nice on a hot summer's day. Hello, Sailor has all the hallmarks of an Industrial Arts beer: lite and crisp and nicely carbonated. Other Half contributes is mastery of hops. Overall, this is one terrific lager.

Enjoy your new beers, my friends! As always, I appreciate your reviews.

 

Hello gang! It's hard to believe another week has gone by. A nod to @lordofthewiens for getting things started. I can relate to him lamenting the loss of a skill as we age. I played hockey and baseball in competitive leagues for years and gave it up some time ago because my hand eye coordination was diminishing. I also ran a lot back in the day and gave that up as well. Age and my love of food and beer had me packing on the pounds because I started to become quite sedentary. With the encouragement of some close friends I started running a few years ago and have returned to form. As much as an older guy can! I now place relatively high overall and win my age group often competing in 5K's. I've found I may have to work a little harder, but can still achieve satisfactory results that often draws odd looks from the much younger competitors. Never give up! Enough banter, let's get going with a new beer.

A bomber of the rebooted Wooden Hell barrel aged barleywine that I purchased at the Flossmoor Station release in May. It heralded the return of the original brewer Matt Van Wyk to aid the current brewer Ryan Czaja in producing this batch. Let's give this 9.1% 2017 batch a pour in my 13oz. tulip for the unveiling.

Pours a cloudy liquid caramel color producing a few centimeters of creamy light tan foam. There's quite a bit of tiny carbonation bubbles that give it a nitro looking appearance. Some thin lacing is left behind. The smell is smokey and spicy like a Slim Jim meat stick. There's some toffee, bourbon and vanilla that follow. The taste is toffee, caramel and vanilla like a Werther's candy. Smooth bourbon follows next along with oak and a hint of dark cherry. The feel is slick and creamy smooth, but there is some noticeable alcohol heat that creeps in the back.

I had the original and remember it being really good. Too bad I didn't review back then. Note to others, please review even if it's a brief description! This 2017 version is nothing short of spectacular. Slightly sweet and creamy smooth like a Werther's Original dipped in bourbon. There's a sneaky easy drinking quality to this because it tastes much bigger than the 9.1% abv. printed on the label. Flossmoor used to be the shit years ago, then just disappeared in the crowd of Chicago area breweries. This is the best beer they have produced in years in my opinion. My score is 4.45 / rDev-1.5%.

With that said I'm walking over to my bro's for our customary Sunday share. Have yourselves a fine Sunday of new beer. Here's the official scorecard.....

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/612/36567/?ba=Prager62#review

 

I do not recall that beer - I think we mainly tried IPAs and sours from Modern Times, though I'm not sure I could pick exactly which ones out of a lineup - was simply enjoying the moment .

But funny you should mention Modern Times, as they just hit NOVA as well. I saw my local bottle shop throwing them on late Friday for Saturday sales. Went and grabbed some, including a coffee beer (but it is not the can you reviewed), figuring we could have some as a night cap or early NBS from the hotel in Baltimore. Didn't anticipate staying out so late, so those plans fell by the wayside. Since we got growlers of these beers, looks like I have some work ahead of me, so let's get started:


I didn't get nearly as much fruitiness as some of the others who had reviewed this beer. To me, it came across as a fairly typical Citra hop IPA with some aspects of citrus but a decently herbal to vegetal bitterness, especially in the end. There seems to be a nice malt presence to give this beer a moderate heft, but this maltiness acts as a vehicle for the hop notes in the beer. There is a citrus note by mid-taste that has a shroud of bitterness around it, and it eventually becomes mildly resinous in the aftertaste.

I ended up enjoying this beer decently well but do wonder where the more juicy notes others perceived in this beer got off to in my pours.

 

Tomato sandwhiches are our beach staple, nothing better on a hot day chasing it with a beer.

 

Thanks for your review. You're reviewing like a veteran!

 

You and I ought to play sometime. We'd be perfect partners!

 

Hello NBS,

Finally got my hands on this beer. For some reason it sells out right away as soon as it drops.

Two Roads Two Juicy - canned 6/12

From the brewer:
Two Juicy is an unfiltered, cloudy “New England style Double IPA” that uses generous amounts of Hallertauer Blanc, Citra & Mandarina Bavaria hops. The result is a “juicy”, fully-charged DIPA with notes of grapefruit, pine, lychee, orange & tangerine against a soft malt backdrop.

Damn worth hunting this one down. It's an excellent double IPA that has a definite nod to the New England style without fully embracing it. It manegaes to touch on the style while still be unique and not just another NE spin off. Hop profile is also impressively distinct.

I dig it!

Cheers!

 

Ah, Beer Camp, NBS go-to when you drink your new beers during the week because you can't wait.

Atlantic Style Vintage Ale, colab with Fullers Brewery.

Nice pour, good head and its got that English Ale deep gold.
Aroma is malt and musty fruit.
Taste is nice if your in the mood for it. Great ale example with that plum back drop.
Mouth feel is kind of syrupy, but okay.
I don't know that I would buy this in store if available, but I might drink it in a fancy gastropub with deconstructed bangers and mash. That's not going to happen though.

 

Number three! This is Two Roads' Persian Lime Gose, a 4.5% gose (kettle-soured ale brewed w/ coriander and salt) with lime and flaked rye. It is also the beer that bridges the gap between my first two NBS entries and my last two. That's right... FIVE NBS entries this week! Luckily most of them are lower ABV



This pours a very pale yellow color with a thin ring of retentive white head. Pretty much no clarity to speak of with this one. Surface of my glass contains some wispy vestiges of bubbling foam, mostly centered and formed by the quickly-rising carbonation of this light-colored brew.

Nose is bright and citrusy with sharp, tangy lime and cereal grain. I remember noting this from the last NBS write-up I did of a beer in this series, but there's a sliiiiight plastic-y note here that kinda turns me off. However, it's not as bad as I remember from the Passion Fruit Gose (likely exacerbated due to the fruit itself, though, since it was also noticeable in the other passion fruit-infused gose I reviewed the same day). Yogurt tanginess, some florals and spice notes. Maybe the flaked rye is actually bringing out some unique notes here?

Superb flavor with bright and juicy lime taking up the majority of the palate. Reminds me of an improved version of Kent Falls' Lime Zest Gose (previously known as Shower Beer, for those following the brewery). Obviously, I can quite easily liken this to a margarita with some extra lime juice and/or sour mix, but there's a refreshing character to this that would cheapen that comparison. The taut acidity stays quite intense until the very end of the palate, and the mineral notes from the gose base beer help balance everything out quite nicely. In other words, this is really crushable. Probably one of the very best fruited goses I've ever had. I don't get much malt complexity here, but I like the flaked rye inclusion regardless, as I think it adds a bit of crispness to the proceedings.

Feel on this one is vibrant and light, with spry carbonation and a nice follow-through from the malt once it warms a little bit. Though the acidity and citrus flavor is pretty puckering here, I feel like this is more drinkable than my past two sour entries from today due to the lower ABV and lack of hoppiness. This is just a wonderfully-done little beer with a really dedicated approach (Persian lime? I mean, sure). Great recipe, great results. Two Roads is quickly becoming an excellent fruited quick-sour producer... Anderson Valley had better watch out!

Just finishing up listening to an album that has been intriguing me but still hasn't quite caught on to these ears. I really want to love it but it just isn't memorable enough. Nevertheless, I find the passion and inspiration evident on this full-length debut by young Swedish black metal band (with psychedelic rock influences), Jordablod.

I'm glad this got a release on one of the best modern labels for extreme black/death metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, but it feels a bit like a love letter to the late Morbus Chron with some influence from USBM bands like Negative Plane and Nachtmystium. Somewhat awkward with less hooks than it probably wants to have. Still, as I mentioned, the pure, raw enthusiasm seems to be present and I would encourage all fans of experimental extreme metal to give this a shot. Even if I can't get super into it, that doesn't mean it lacks an audience, after all!