New Beer Sunday (Week 644)

I think they are comparable. I can't say as I remember Limbo but my scores are very close on both.

Citrus limbo - 3.81/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Limbo - 3.77/5 rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Citrus limbo reminded me of lagunitas tuberfest when I first sipped it. I think it was the toasty malt. I can say for sure that I am a fan of fruit peel in beer so long as it does not take over the whole beer. Also though, I am not one to remember an IPA unless there was something really extra special about it. I think IPA's are the one style that can just change in increments ad infinitum. Especially with different hops. The malt made citrus limbo for me.

 

The marvels of the yard are endless........

 

Many thanks to @thebeers for the opportunity at this new to me beer. I should also mention it's been on my want list for a while. Thanks again!

 

Funny never saw those reviews when I put mine in. Yes, very funny/different opinion.

Cheers!

 

As to the OP's question: What do worse now? Throw a baseball or football. A side effect of blowing my left shoulder out lifting weight about 18 years ago

Stillwater Shoegaze Saison, 3.65 overall

Pours a hazed honey color with a thumb of beige colored head. Head drops off rapidly, zero head retention & lacing

S: Bready, a lit bit of pear,

T: Follows the nose, some white grape & green melon, plus dryness up front. a little pomelo. Dryness, a little pink grapefruit, & pears as this warms, a little bit of mushroom/dirt too. Finishes dry with a little pomelo, & faint yeast bite

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation

Drinks easy, a decent Americanized take on the style

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us started off this morning. Another normal weekend over here, not much else going on. Was a pretty busy work week, but this week is likely be much less so. A lot of people are taking vacation time for the holiday coming up next week. Made a nice haul yesterday morning to keep my new beers stocked up. A nice amount of things I was wanting to find too, which was nice. Also other things I didn't know existed, but glad they do (Estonian Baltic Porter in Cognac Barrels?). Going to make a quick short trip back home next weekend, but will be back on Sunday so I can work the following Monday. Planning on making another haul of whatever I can find in Ohio. Just finished up laundry and did a bit of catch up work for tomorrow. Review 5500 was on Friday night, and I keep rolling on forward.

New Beer:

Very nice witbier. Great head retention and lacing. Aromas and flavors of juicy/lightly tart elderberry, lemon, pear, apple, white grape, coriander, orange peel, peppercorn, and light banana yeast; moderate wheat, cracker, biscuity malts; herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast spice and light fruit tartness on the finish. Medium bodied and medium-high carbonation. Moderately crisp; balanced bready/grainy wheat and spice stickiness in the mouthfeel. Touch of berry tannin. Lightly increasing dryness from carbonation/spicy yeast. Very flavorful and refreshing. Great balance of fruit, spices, and yeast; with a nice malt backbone. I have always been a big fan of this series. I've had all of the ones that landed state-side. 3.9


Delicious APA! Aromas and flavors of big apricot, peach, pineapple, papaya, guava, grapefruit, mango, melon, berry, pear, red apple, lemon zest, orange peel, black tea, pepper, and pine hops; with some cracker, lightly toasted bread malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Light-medium bodied and moderately crisp; balanced bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light resins and increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very refreshing and well executed style example. Not overly aggressive, but still very hoppy; nice malt balance without any sweetness. Very dank hop profile with great vibrancy, some juiciness. This has Mosaic, Azacca, Idaho 7, and Centennial hops; so the apricot/stone fruit presence was off the chart. Definitely would buy a 6 pack. Pretty unique hop profile. 3.9


Really good American Brown/Rye ale. Aromas and flavors of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, spicy rye, nutty, and light chocolate malts; with some herbal, floral, grassy, light peppery hops. Light-moderate herbal/grassy hop and light roast bitterness/rye spice on the finish. Medium bodied; nice bready/grainy creaminess and light hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Lightly drying from hop oils/rye. Very easy drinking. Impressive malt complexity and nice rye presence, without going overboard. Just enough earthy hops to balance the sweetness and let the malt bill shine. Very enjoyable. 3.78


New brewery for me; just started getting these last week through Shelton Bros. Wild ale brewery from Tulsa, OK. This was awesome! Aromas and flavors of huge sour apricots, peach, lemon, lime, pineapple, pear, green apple, melon, white wine, fruit skin, almond, oak, hay, straw, and musty funk; with moderate wheat/crackery malts; and lighter notes of leather, white wine vinegar, and pepper. Moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness and light yeast/tannic oak spice on the finish. Medium bodied; balanced lactic acid, grainy malt, and fruit/oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Increasing lactic dryness; lightly puckering, but not astringent. Very easy drinker for the level of sourness. This is absolutely spot on for a fruit sour! Huge fruit presence with great Lacto, Brett, and oak complexity/balance; with a nice malt backing to keep the acidity in check. Just a really awesome well rounded offering. Looking forward to more from them. I have a cognac BA Barleywine and blackberry sour right now, but will seek out others. 4.1


Cheers, have a good night NBS!

 

Evening all and thank you to @lordofthewiens for the thought provoking opening.
Back from his neck of the woods- New Harbor Maine, where I helped in the kitchen at my brothers place doing a wedding for 150. Sounds simple enough- especially when you spent 17 years in a kitchen developing menus, creating specials, and doing all the things a Cook does. (I do not say Chef because the term is used so loosely. And you have to be a very good cook before youre anything else). Anyhow menu consisted of 10 passed apps and the entree was- get ready- de-constructed lobster bakes. Lobster meat atop a Maine corn meal cake with a split tail, red potatoes, corn on the cob, bag of steamers, a bit of slaw and "drawn" butter. Salad was baby romaine with a cherry tomato vinaigrette. I could go on about the apps but it would be boring to most. Point is lots of components that have to be plated on record time to tables of 15 or more. Than the oven went, the hot box didnt heat up, 13 decided to have chicken, and there were 7 vegetarians, all without notice. And the temp was probably 80 or more and humid. That 13 hour day was one of the hardest of ever worked in a kictchen. Point is a we pulled it off but like the golf it seems alot harder at 55 yrs. Didnt feel top of my game for sure. I did stop in Portland on the drive up though. Knowing about the Epiphany release I stopped into Whole Foods. What a selection! Wish we had beers in RI Whole Foods. One of the ones I picked up is-
Banded Horn Smokey and the Banded IPA with Amarillo and Chinook.
Pours a slightly hazy golden yellow with a 1/2" white head that settles and leaves a "world map" style lacing.
Upon sticking my nose into opening of freshly cracked can I get red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon and some peach notes with a bready background of pilsner malts. Some of those fruit notes die down but the malt always remains.
Taste follows with soft palette of pilsner, grapefruit/citrus notes, some pine and a very pleasing bitterness.
Feel is lighter bodied with crisp carbonation and bitterness with a nice dry finish. Highly quaffable.
A very well made, not highly complex but easy drinking 5.8% IPA. There is beauty in simplicity and this fits the bill. I would buy alot more of this but alas I have a feeling it will be the only four pack I will get to try. Looking for a tasty summer IPA. Grab it.
Take care and again Thanks for taking the time to listen.
Bride and Grooms special appetizer plate: lollipop lamb chops, baby veg crudite with hummus, NE clam chowder "shots" meatballs with soy/honey glaze and sesame, lobster mac n cheese, pastrami salmon with dill creme fraiche, Pemmaquid oysters.

 

Alright folks! Last (of 5!) new beers this NBS... this one is a really dumb idea that I expect to have strong criticisms for. Alltech's Kentucky Peach Barrel Wheat Ale!



I have a history of being hard on this brewery's barrel-aged beers, mostly because their shtick is to make strong, over(t)ly-flavored beers and they do so to an extent that toes the line dangerously close to mass-market bullshit beer, in some ways. Nevertheless, this fits the Summer beer theme I have going here, and (as explained in my first post in this thread today) completes my transition to fruit beers for the evening. A bourbon-barrel aged peach wheat beer clocking in at 8%... let's waste no more time and jump right into this silly thing, shall we? It's totally okay if you don't want to follow me down this path. I'll forgive you come next NBS!

Pours a completely clear pale golden/blonde color with a foamy, consistent head of bone-white bubbles. Spotty patches of carbonated fuzz adorn the surface of the beer, but they're easily shaken up by a quick swirl of my glass. Lace seems surprisingly adequate here, and the carbonation itself seems pushy and vibrant. The clarity of this one helps it a good bit, actually, given that it allows me to see the consistent fizz rising to the top of my glass. I went into this one with a chip on my shoulder from the outset (cuz honestly what the fuck even with this?), but this looks superb.

Nose is a 50/50 split between peach candy and creamy vanilla from the barrel aging, with very little nuance about or in between. That said, I'm very impressed by the balance of barrel character and peach flavor with the subtle nuance of nutty wheat punching through here and there. This concept is more than a little bit audacious, and I remember seeing it a couple years ago and totally going "nah, I'm good," but something about seeing it in the store today made me do a double-take. Perhaps it was just my brain going "wow, they made this again? Maybe they actually sold some of this dumb ass idea last year... I should try it," but... overall, seems pretty solid. You have to like peach, though. Whereas, the Victory beer I reviewed today could, foreseeably, be enjoyed by someone who likes Belgian beers but does not quite like peach/stone fruit in general, this is only for people who like peach. I can already sense that from the nose.

I'm left feeling quite vindicated by the flavor, upon my first few sips. The barrel character comes across a bit stronger than I expected, with a surprising tannic depth, but the majority of this is wheat, peach and vanilla cream. If you like the sound of that combined with a brutal and fairly-unnecessary 8% ABV, this is your new favorite beer. I like this way more than I should, honestly; the peach flavor is authentic, the way it works with the barrel feels legitimately organic, and it's not so overly sweet and cloying that I feel gross drinking it. Mileage will probably vary heavily here, though. For those here who follow my reviews, you may know that my taste in beer is also kinda all-over-the-place (I think I split four different pounder cans of IPAs with my buddy before a show yesterday, so this could be my body thanking me for something different... *shrug*), so I tend to be able to find the best aspects of almost anything I drink. This is certainly one of those cases.

Feel is smooth and sweet-leaning with a light boozy aspect and some warmth from the barrel and strong-leaning ABV. Pretty slick stuff... no hop bitterness to speak of, of course, and the base beer is pretty boring. This is all about the adjuncts, and the treatment of them is pretty classy here. Sure, this is a goofy and off-kilter idea for a beer, but... I'd honestly probably destroy a four-pack of this without even realizing what I had done. That has to count for something, right?

THUS CONCLUDES my NBS entries for this glorious day of June the 25th, 2017. Thanks for following along with me on my journey into new and exciting avenues of beer! I leave you with a great album of poppy industrial metal from one of my favorite bands of all time, the excellently-named Raunchy!

 

Decided to open my bottle of 2SP Bourbon Barrel Aged S.I.P., an imperial porter aged 10 months in Jack Danials and Jim Beam barrels. I've had this before on draft and it was much better because sadly it seems like the bottles have a minor infection issue, sorry about that @Ri0.
3.71/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

750 ml bottle poured into a snifter

A- Black with a large little tan head

S- Chocolate, roasted malts, dark fruits, sour cherries, vanilla and bourbon. Unfortunately it smells like it might be infected.

T- Chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, tart dark fruits, some coffee.

M- Fairly smooth, carbonation is a little high.

O- Even though I believe it is infected, it's still pretty good. I remember it being better on-draft. I would still pick it up again, just hope future batchs don't have issues.

Edit: As this sits a little and I drink a little more the infection/tartness dies down some it becomes a little better.

I've had a most of 2SP's barrel aged beers and they have been good, sadly this one is having issues, cheers!

 

Is the salt in addition to the sugar or instead of the sugar. Salt and lemon made me think of all the delicious "Rusos" I've drank in Mexico (lime juice, seltzer water, salt and chili). Salty and sour are about as complimentary as they get.

A "Lawn" definition worthy of Webster.

 

The trade off was fantastic beers- The Juice and Another One on tap. Had a log of Super Juice but we couldnt get to it.

 

Greetings and salutations, NBSers. I got back to Texas this afternoon after spending the weekend in MSP with Little O. Whilst I was there, we visited Fulton, which is essentially downtown MSP, and Lupulin Brewing, which is essentially in the middle of nowhere (Big Lake, MN) in a strip mall. 45 minutes from MSP, Lupulin is worth the trip, IMHO. Try the Hooey and the Blissful Ignorance. They are worthy.

After the Lupulin visit Saturday afternoon, we went to the beer store across the street and picked up a bunch of their stuff to mule home. This fruit beer was one of those.



4/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hazy burnt orange color, tan head, the can says this beer is "Summer In A Can," and it does indeed look summery.

The aroma is obviously drenched in apricot (and I love apricot), but the blonde ale characteristics are also present with a vanilla scent also very present, especially as it warms, which is why I don't care for flights - you don't get the warming effect, at least to the degree you do in a full pour/pint can.

The taste is tart apricots, very refreshing, and the vanilla adds some sweetness so it isn't too cloying. A great beer to drink after mowing the grass on a hot summer day, which is exactly what I'm doing.

The feels captures the essence of the tart apricots, but also allows the vanilla to come forward. Well executed by Lupulin.

 

Why do you think that "strong dark" is a better fit than dubbel?

 

One and done tonight as I'm going out for dinner and a show!!!




Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a clear bright yellow body with no lacing. Nose of lime. Taste of citrus. Very thin feel and overall an unremarkable beer with a somewhat refreshing quality.

3.58/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

 

When a kid is drinking, they mix in both salt and sugar. Eventually one is encouraged to "graduate" upto salt only. We will add either a pinch of black pepper or ground roasted cumin in the lemonade too.

 

Got to agree - for several years this was my go to beer!