New Beer Sunday (Week 646)

Fred, try PostImage. It's free and (of great importance to me) easy to use!

 

Good afternoon, NBS!
When a) a popular local brewery comes out with a third anniversary ale in collaboration with a respected regional brewery, b) your beer loving friends say it's great and c) it appears to be flying off the shelves it's one that deserves a spot for a NBS entry



I must say this one's worth the hype. Platform releases beers at a pace that's nearly impossible to keep up with but I do try to catch as many as I can. In their three short years in Cleveland they certainly have become a local favorite. I've had the traditional fruit/yogurt mango lassi many times but this is my first time trying a brew inspired by the drink

Platform has been doing a sour release monthly over the past year. At first glance this reminded me of any of those- good but not super complex. The longer I spent with this beer the more I appreciated it. The head disappeared in a flash but at the end of the day I could care less how a beer looks. There's a certain distinct monoform slightly sour aroma the whole series has had and this is no exception. Kudos to Platform they list all of the beer's additives, abv, ibu and plato on the label. This, like most in the program, smells like what's listed (I try to not let that influence what I write but will be honest it usually does). Where this beer excels however is everything once it hits your mouth. All of the fruity/spicy notes the typical mango lassi has hits your mouth with intensity. The mouthfeel is light but packed with flavor and structure with only 4% abv. The only thing potentially missing is the creaminess of the yogurt, but overall the hype for this beer is worthy as it's delicious and I'm glad I have five more cans of a six pack to enjoy. Platform, here's to many more!
Cheers!

 

I was surprised that the Surprise Surprise cans didn't sell out on release day. I would have thought that the collab with Civil Society would have assured it. I'm more of a fan of the Mosaic Dr. 'Saic but I thought Surprise Surprise was superb!

 

I'm going to try to get up to the 96 tap room this week. Of course, I don't think I can say no to a burger!

 

One bike ride later, now it's time for riding reward!

let's start off simple..

Voodoo Ranger 8 Hop Pale Ale | New Belgium Brewing


New Belgium Brewing - 8 Hop Pale Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

Pale copper body color, slightly brass deep yellow, with very good clarity. Nice and fluffy snow white topped head, little more than two finger height, with some minor retention. Real nice slow descent for a good solid puck, minimal rising carbonation. Very nice looking pale ale.

Very nice hop aroma. Comes off a bit floral primarily, faint touches of citrus and a hint of juicy tones. Faint hint of biscuit like malt as well, which makes for a mouth watering sensation. Sweetness is kept to a minimum. Liking very much how this is going so far.

Palate sort of goes a little missing. Decent malt body, a little neutral with a possible touch of dryness to it. Neutral mid palate, faint hints of herbal tea but extremely light tasting. Finish is nearly non existent, some mild hop herbality and tea like flavors seem to creep in. Not a lot of diversity going on here, or distinct hop flavors either.

This is a perfectly drinkable beer, but comes across as being very dumbed down. Too bad, seemed like it was going to be really good at first.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Cheers!

 

New Ever Expanding Beer Universe Sunday

Thanks to @SomethingClever for this can of tastiness


4.07/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

From a 16oz can

It is a cloudy yellow/straw gold, with some fine particles floating around. You can see through it just a tiny bit. It has a bright white fluffy cap. Average retention.

The nose is fairly subdued, but there is mostly crisp, light grains with some berry and zesty tropical fruit.

The flavor is another story. It is bursting with a fruity raspberry-strawberry-boysenberry combo right off the bat. Then there is some pear, and prickly melon/cantelope and pineapple before some flaked biscuits and a solid, building bitterness sneaks in at the end leaving a lingering grassy taste.

It is a little pithy, and it has a definite bite to it. Just a little too sharp/crisp and carbonated overall. Pretty dry finish. The soft malts balance it a bit though.

A great combination of fruity and hoppy. Could use a few tweaks, but I really enjoyed it overall.

 

You won't be disappointed. And the burgers are great too!

 

Hey whats up NBSers? Absolutely a perfect day here. Thanks for the Doc stories @lordofthewiens! Funny stuff. I'm sure you tell those all day. Bought a bike (bicycle- i also have one of those things with a motor) this week. I used to be like a fanatic. Customized and did all the repairs. Not sure what happened but I am back in the saddle. We have an awesome bikeway here that basically goes from one end of the state to the other. All scenic too. Ive logged 75 miles this week in three days. So I am definetly thirsty. Thjs one seemed appropriate.
Finback Spill The Tea IPL with green tea and watermelon.
Pours a slightly hazy yellow with a bleached white head that settles to one ring leaving minimal spotty lacing.
Aroma is watermelon, some floral, but mostly dank hops! Has almost a mosaic like quality to it. Not much in the way of tea yet.
Taste is snappy crisp hops, watermelon in the middle and tannins from tea to finish. Really tasty and different. The melon is perfect and is fresh- not artificial tasting at all. I do still taste some dankness though.
Finishes crispy and dry with carbonation like a lager. Body is very lager like also.
Boy if easily available I would buy more. A lttle pricey but wow waht a different take on a summer brew. They also did a collab with Jack Abby that is a green tea IPL. May be back witb that one later. If not keep the stories and beers coming! Dig it. And thanks for taking the time. The master of the 12 string. Mr Leo Kottke.

 

Great opening from @lordofthewiens today! Working in healthcare, I always enjoy these stories. Most of my own stories are either too long for this thread or too gross in the context of beer tasting. I have seen more than one person refer to their phenobarbital as "peanut butter pills." It took me a while to figure this out the first time...

Onto the beer, courtesy of @vabeerguy. I know about The Veil, but Richmond appears to have many outstanding breweries and I'm excited to try my first beer from Triple Crossing Brewing:


Great graphics on the can! This was a nice-looking NEIPA-style beer with a very hazy golden color and a thick and rocky white head. Great splotches of foam lingered in the glass. The aromas popped right out of the can on the pour: oranges and grapefruit were dominant but accompanied by balancing earthy notes. I didn't get much dankness in the nose. The taste was a very different story - an even mix of citrus and dank, herbal notes with some pine in there as well. Some floral esters which I'm guessing were from their house yeast. A bready malt presence as well. Medium-bodied with a smooth feel. To me, a hybrid between NEIPA and traditional, as the bitterness was old-school but with a softer feel. Outstanding!

 

Nothing special, but not bad.




3.56/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a hazy orange-gold, with quickly-dissipating white head.

Aroma (from the glass) is bread dough with a slight bit of (estery) fruit & spice.
Aroma from the can leans more to freshly-made fruit salad, with a little bready yeast/malt. I can smell this from 8', as I take a photo for NBS.

Flavor is a mild, even mix of malt and fruit, very slightly sweet, with a touch of drying hop bitterness on the finish. This needs to warm a bit, to get much flavor.

Feel is a bit thin & watery at first, but that fades, and feels more oily & substantial as it warms.

After having other of Good Nature's (hoppy) offerings, I was disappointed, at first. As it warmed , the experience improved. Not great, but still good, especially in warm summer weather. I would recommend trying it.

Point of disclosure : I got this on a whim, at a grocery store, after continually passing at the last minute, at the bottle shop. I've gotten just-arrived beer there (grocery store), that turned out to be quite old/old-ish. No dating (C'mon, brewers!), so no telling. Will have again when I know to be fresh, & re-evaluate.

 

Did not remember that I had this. I think it was part of my daughter's pre-Euro-relo ballast shedding. I assume I could have saved it for a good long while based on the 05/05/21 date stamp on the cap but when you assume...

Sports a rather ruddy complexion with an ample, coarse head that allowed no aroma to escape. After it broke and the beer warmed, a faint candy sweetness emerged. Not flavorful enough to mask the alcohol which barely takes notice as it snaps the malt backbone and burns thru some spiciness to the bitter finish. Maybe aging would improve it.

 

Beer number 2 today is Intergalactic Acid - a Berliner Weisse from the Tap Brewing Company in Haverill, Mass. The Tap is a brewpub that's been around for quite a long time making solid beers that weren't necessarily on the beer geek radar, but they changed all that last year when they started canning and released a fantastic DIPA and Imperial Stout. Seriously, if you like NE Style IPAs but wish they retained a bit more of a nod to the bitterness of old then you should check out their Solar Plexus DIPA if you can. They've started adding some variety to their offerings with this and a corn adjunct lager. This one clocks in at a mega sessionable 3% ABV.

I like Berliner Weisse's a lot but I have to admit that I find them sort of one dimensional. Whether that's because I haven't had a "real" one or whether that's simply how they're supposed to be or whether I've just got a shitty palate I cannot say. But all I really expect out of them is a clean, slightly wheaty taste with a moderate degree of tartness that isn't overpowering (I'm not at all a fan of the Sour Patch Kids approach that some breweries seem to take).





This pours a slightly hazy, straw color with a loosely fluffy head that dissipates completely rather quickly. The nose is tart with a hint of a berry like fruitiness, and a little yeasty wheat. It just occurred to me now for the first time that it's perhaps strange to smell "tartness" but there you go. The taste is very mild and clean with a little sweetness followed by a moderate amount of tartness that is just about perfect for me. I don't think I pick up any of that berry from the nose but there is a pleasant light wheatiness that lingers on the palate. Carbonation is low but present.

I just realized that I've almost finished the damn thing while writing this. This is extremely refreshing and drinkable and delivers pretty much exactly what I like in a Berliner. Another fantastic beer from the Tap!

I've switched from using Photobucket this week so if my pictures aren't showing up right please drop me a BM. Have a great week all

 

Modestly takes a bow. I would still like some Green for the next time.

 

I would really like to try that beer. I have an old affinity for Cape May! I rather like your reference to "conversationalists" here at this place. It is a truth often unrecognized and yet very powerful. It's as close to speaking with like-minded and/or interesting people in person that the ether allows. And thanks.

 

Thamks for that review. Ive been passing that one by even though i dig Solar Plexus. Ill be picking some up

 

Lush IPA from Fremont Brewing in Seattle for me on this New Beer Sunday. Canned on 6-7-17. Just killer! Everything anyone would want in an IPA. Deep hazy gold color, nice hop smell,great hop on the taste, hints of some fruits, nice bitter. Well done Fremont! Pick this one up if you haven't had it. Cheers!!

 

Happy New Wee Heavy Sunday!

Pretty nice sunny day here on the Western Slope, went out for a hike, around 95, sunny, with some nice big clouds coming in from the south, heard some thunder a few times, slight breeze. Watching some Rockies baseball. Having a really tasty brew today, had this brew back in Feb 2006, about 11.5 years ago, WOW never thought it was that long ago. Still very tasty, I like AleSmith's take on the style. Picked up a couple of asada tacos on the way home.

AleSmith Wee Heavy | AleSmith Brewing Company

Revisit: 9 Jul 17
Bought On-Line

750 ml
Silver Foil/Capped
Bottled On: 10/15/13

Over 3.5 years on this bottle.

Been almost 11.5 years since last time.

4.74/5 rDev +13.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Poured into a goblet a pretty nice dark brown color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice creamy/small/quick tan head, which leaves a really nice medium size creamy island, and then some sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, with some really nice chocolate/toffee notes, slight roast, with a nice touch of cherries, figs, raisins, plums. The taste is really nice, malty, slight hop, slight roast, with a very nice touch of dark fruits (cherries, figs, plums, raisins), with a nice touch of chocolate/toffee. Full Body, ABV hidden very well, a really nice complex brew. Overall, still a very tasty brew, it was missed. Glad I could find some on-line. Definitely holding up very well. Definitely like AleSmith's take on the style.

A - Pours a dark brown color, some carbonation, a nice foamy head which lasts a long time, well it never really disappeared for me, tons of lacing throught out the drink.

S - Scents of sweet malts, caramel, plums.

T - The taste is great of sweet malts, caramel, and bit of smokyness. Also, a nice warm feeling going down, but the alcohol content is hidden well.

M - Medium body with a slight carbonation.

D - Very drinkable. Another great/tasty brew from AleSmith, would definitely buy again.

Cheers!