New Beer Sunday (Week 646)

That's a funny story, @lordofthewiens! Thanks for kicking off. I have been on vacation for the week, spent time on the Manistee River, camping, fishing, kayaking and of course drinking. Can't wait to return to work tomorrow!
Drekker, Fargo NODAK, Coconut Killer IPA, pours a cloudy straw color with nice creamy foam head, excellent head retention, smells piney very pleasant, taste is very different from the aroma, no bitterness but smooth creamy mouthfeel with just a slight vanilla backend, hard to discern any coconut. This is not a typical beer I'd buy but was gifted from a colleague who beercationed through the Midwest, but I really enjoyed this. LOVE IMGUR!

 

I hear quite a few at work, often to (unintentional) comedic effect .
Me :"Hi"
Customer "Hi. I'm looking for a certain Chlamydia. *turning to include nearby [female] co-worker* Do you have Chlamydia?"
Me : *Walking away, trying not to laugh.*
Finally, my co-worker couldn't hold it in, burst out laughing, and explained to the woman what she was actually looking for.
Customer : "Oh my.........I've been asking for Chlamydia all over town!
"

The "Chlamydia" she was hunting :

Clematis vitacella 'Etoile Violette'

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. Just a perfect summer day here on the island. Sunny and warm with a nice relief from the humidity. Spent most of the day lounging at the beach and now I'm just settling in at home for the evening.

My nine year old nephew is really starting to understand/follow sports as well as play them competitively. Last football season he asks me "If the Jets never win, why do you keep rooting for them?" He's a god damn patriots fan.

I was a decent high school qb and I have a good arm. Had interest from division 2/3 schools but never played in college. A couple of months ago I was throwing the football around with him and he asks me "how many professional teams were interested in you? Did you ever talk to the patriots?"

My new beer today is Process of Elimination, an ipa, from Greenport Harbor brewing. Looks like /they too have jumped on the tall boy canning craze. The brew checks in at 6.2% abv with a 7/7/17 canning date.

A flat out hazed and murky pour with a yellow/off amber color. The nose is hops and citrus but not very floral. Tangy and citrus hops hit on a soft and subtle nature upfront. A creamy and smooth flow with a clean and smooth finish. Very subtle and plush citrus notes of orange, lemon, and grape. The creamy mouth feel adds a sort of vanilla cream flavor to it. A bit reminiscent of an orange creamsicle but it's not overpowering. A light malt flow on the back end but there is very little bittering going on here at all.

Overall, I find it to just be a really nice easy drinking beer. If you're into the neipa you'll enjoy it for sure. It doesn't over do any aspect and the abv is almost sessionable. I'm in the 4/4.3 range here.

 

First things first: Thanks to @lordofthewiens for another great start to today's festivities and secondly I'm glad to be back after an extended absence.

Pops is back visiting for the next 3 weeks and he's enjoying a new beer himself tonight while I enjoy one myself.


He's really enjoying the Hyper Predator!



I am having this beauty from Weyerbacher, Finally Legal.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Snorkel glass, packaged on 03/31/17.

Appearance: Deep dark brown to black body with no head forming on top, only the thinnest amount of bubbles around the outer edge.

Aroma: Bourbon, vanilla, smoky malts.

Taste/Mouthfeel: First sip is like sipping on a glass of chocolate milk. However this one has more to it than that! Plenty of sweetness up front with that vanilla, but it has a ton of barrel and smokiness that levels it out. The body is thick and coats the tongue with a viscous-ness that leaves plenty of that smoky and barrel behind. You know this is a big beer!

Overall: This is a tasty beer with plenty going on and it's only downside is the heat, this one will probably level out with some age on it.

Cheers!

 

I hear ya!

There still seems to be plenty of Eye of Newt available, so that's working in your favor. And maybe bring a 64oz growler to take home some Nightshine Black Lager- it's just that kind of beer, where a glass isn't nearly enough.

 

gianduja chocolate hemp ale. Pot brownie beer enough said

 

New Beer Sunday: A New (local) Summer IPA

Evenin’ NBSers with special greetings to those who like a good solid IPA while drinking with friends and who don’t feel any need to go for only the best with every beer they drink. Also a special thanks to @lordoftheweins for helping us to remember some of the joys of having kids around.

Today’s weather here was warm, sunny and very pleasant without a lot of humidity to spoil it. A few errands, several chores and some items ticked off the “honey do” list mean it’s now time to relax with a new beer.

This evening’s new beer is from a small brewery called Saint Benjamin Brewing (mentioned earlier by @JackHorzempa) which started pouring their beers at the 2014 Philly beer week and was in full operation by June of that year. They now also have some new brewing equipment, a tap room and a restaurant with a reasonable menu. The brewery was set up in what was once the carriage house and stable for a much larger brewery back in the day. The name obviously honors Benjamin Franklin who was an avid home brewer way way back in the day.

The beer is an IPA called Parley Summer IPA and is a summer offering that is freshly canned (15 Jun).

As usual my review, subject to revision until the beer is finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34779/235551/?ba=drtth#review

This is an enjoyable and drinkable beer with aromas and flavors that are mostly citric up front (e.g, grapefruit zest) and have some tropical fruits in the background. The solid bitterness is moderated a bit by a touch of bready sweetness. A sip leads to a well controlled, bitter, dry ending that first moves to the back of the palate and then just fades away. This is one I’ll be looking to have again, especially if I get a chance to visit the Brewery Tap Room in Philly. Indeed they seem to me to be poised to have a big presence in the beer scene in a city already known as a great place to find lots of good beer.

This evening’s back-to-back music (or bach-to-bach, if you prefer ) that is on the player is the third of Bach’s Brandenburg concertos.

Bach Brandenburg Concerto #3

Cheers, all!

 

Another new beer to me today courtesy of @Beer_Economicus . Thank you !

 

Thanks to Ryan from Collective Arts for this one.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/32763/287334/



Gentle to moderate pour yields a one (plus) inch white head over a slightly hazy light golden body with nice lacing. Nose of cracker and citrus. Sour taste with the guava coming through nicely. Very refreshing, good feel, and overall a nice job on a Gose from up north in Hamilton, Ontario. Cheers!

4.17/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us started off this morning. Back to a normal week of business tomorrow, as everyone should be back from vacation. Stayed home today as I did not need to return my bottle empties, because I did that yesterday. Picked up a new fluid bike trainer my mom got me for my 30th birthday(which is today), so I got that all set up and ready to use this week. I made an absolutely insane haul of new beers yesterday, while I was out and about. Lots of random Belgian imports I've never heard of, and other things I was actually seeking out. A good mix of stuff to get me past 5600 reviews. Hitting the midway mark today, so 5600 will be in about 2 weeks from now. Still have plenty left from my Ohio trip last weekend to get through as well. Other than that, pretty relaxing Sunday and got my laundry taken care of for the week.

New beers:

Great session IPA! Great head retention and lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, peach, pineapple, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, citrus rind, light pepper, and pine hops; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bread malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus rind, grassy, spicy bitterness; and slight tart/tangy grapefruit on the finish. Light-medium bodied; balanced bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Slight resins and increasing dryness, no hop astringency. Very crisp, flavorful, and insanely refreshing. It has just the right amount of bitterness for the 4.7%. Awesome vibrant/dank Citra hop showcase, with perfectly balanced juicy grapefruit flavors. Nice malt backbone for the ABV, definitely some wheat helping that out. Huge fan. 4.05


Great Vienna lager. Crystal clear with great head retention and lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, and light nutty/chocolate malts; with light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy, light peppery noble hops. Light-moderate herbal, grassy, spicy hop and slight roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied bready/grainy creaminess, and slight hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Moderately crisp, with increasing bitter dryness. Very refreshing. Perfectly clean lagering, zero yeast esters. This is a textbook example of a Vienna lager, the ratings don't make much sense to me. Rich Vienna/Munich malt flavors, with balancing noble hops on the finish. This is delicious. 4


Great IPA. Amazing lasting head retention and thick lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, peach, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, lemon zest, orange peel, light pepper, and piney hops; with moderate honey, toasted bread malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied; balanced bready creaminess and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel, Slight resins and increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Super drinkable for 7.5%, never aggressive. A really balanced IPA coming from the west coast. Juicy/vibrant hops and balanced malts, without being overly sweet. Hop profile was great. Chinook, Citra, and Amarillo. 4.03


As a general rule, I buy new Blackberry Farm beers as I see them. This is fantastic! Aromas and flavors of big raisin, plum, cherry, fig, melon, pear, apple, date, orange zest, peppercorn, and light banana/clove yeast; with balanced caramel, brown sugar, toffee, brown bread, toasted biscuit, and light nutty malt sweetness; with some herbal, floral, grassy hops; and yeasty earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast spiciness, and light herbal/grassy hop bitterness on the finish. High carbonation and medium bodied; great bready/grainy creaminess in the mouthfeel; touch of yeast/hop stickiness. Moderately crisp/drying from carbonation, but never overly prickly/foamy. Insanely refreshing drinkability. Perfectly balanced yeast/malt flavors all around. Big on complexity. This brewery just keeps hitting home runs for me. 4.25


Cheers, have a good night NBS!

 

Zero willpower, but it is NBS after all. One more outstanding RVA beer before dinner:
Quiet Storm RMX - Triple Crossing Brewing and Final Gravity Brewing Company

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

This looks to be a new beer resulting from a collaboration between two great RVA breweries, canned 6/29. Looks like a typical NEIPA with a very hazy, bright golden color. A modest white head settled slowly but left impressive tracks - quality over quantity. The nose was also modest with floral notes, berries, tangerines, and some earthy resin. The taste was much brighter and popped: juicy tropical fruit, blueberries, floral notes, and dry bready malt. Only modest earthy notes. The bitterness was soft at first but built up to a big clean finish. Slightly sweet, it felt a little less dry than most DIPAs. Soft feel, and well-balanced with the malt base. Overall another outstanding beer.
Thanks to @vabeerguy for this one.

 

Triple Digits Triple IPA by 14th Star Brewing in St. Alban's VT.




A Triple IPA brewed with all American ingredients including; Warrior, Bravo, Simcoe, and Mosaic hops to congratulate our founder Steve Gagner to on his final 999 days in the Army.


Triple Digits

14th Star Brewing Co.
American Double / Imperial IPA / 9.99% ABV

3.88/5 rDev 0% | Avg: 3.88
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

L- The beer pours a lightly hazy amber with a large 3 finger off white head. Retention is good and large islands of lace are left behind.
S- There is a modest aroma of resin followed by some fruity sweetness reminding me of peaches. A bit of alcohol hides beneath these coming to the surface every so often.
T- Well as you would expect with a triple IPA the malt bill here is huge. There is that sweet fruitiness that I pick up in the nose and which I associate with other beers I've had with Warrior hops. I think a lot of IPA drinkers are going to find this beer too sweet. I have a huge sweet tooth, and even I find myself wanting a touch more bitterness in the finish. Resin from the nose is evidenced mostly in the aftertaste.
F- Mouthfeel is a solid medium and sticky. The brew coats your tongue and the resiny aftertaste lasts a good long while.
O- This is a good beer that could be a great beer with a little more added bitterness. I love the individual hop flavor profiles, but feel like it's still finishing sweeter than I'd like it to.

 

Good Evening NBS
It's been a long day and I'm thirsty. I haven't seen anyone have this one here in the last month so I'm going in.

22oz bottled 5/8/17 poured into a one liter mug at fridge temp 7.9% ABV 42 IBU. The beer pours bright reddish amber with copious tan head. It leaves a little lacing as we go. The aroma is IPA-like with woody and earthy elements. There may be a trace of citrus as well. The taste follows the smell with a combination of malt and woody & earthy hops. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, fairly well carbonated and the finish is semidry with a good malt/hop balance. Overall, good, but not a doppelbock. I never pass up sub $5 bombers, so I'll give these weird mashups a shot every time. Cheers

 

Howdy do, everyone! The sun's going down and I'm taking the time to enjoy a biggie tonight-

This is from a killer box sent by @Dragginballs76 back in the spring, as part of a BIF. I've been sitting on some of these high gravity beers for while, so what the hell let's dig into one.

This is Westbrook 6th Anniversary Hazelnut Chocolate Imperial Stout. The first sip was a bit harsher than I expected, but now that I'm acclimating a bit and the glass has warmed up I can start to appreciate the overall direction- which is more of a stately beer, dry, bitter and sturdy. Pretty much 180 degrees from syrupy and dessert-like, and right in my wheelhouse. I really enjoyed this quality in their Black Magic Panther, as well as the velvety texture and low alcohol presence, so this one seems to be more of the same with the added flavorings.

Another thing I'm really appreciating here is the deft touch with those flavorings. The cocoa nibs, vanilla and hazelnut all make themselves known (in that order), but they also allow the base beer to shine through with a substantial dose of espresso beans, dark chocolate bar and malted milk balls. As it warms, it even gets fudgier, too. Very solid and enjoyable beer here, really digging it! A- (4.3). Thanks again, Michael!

 

Happy Sunday, everybody!

Everybody has some excellent looking beers so far and I enjoyed @lordofthewiens ' kid anecdotes as well. Like they say, you'll only ever hear the straight truth from children and drunks.

Usually I rant about the weather to open up my post, but the pattern has been so crazily consistent that I feel bad writing about how hot, then rainy, then hot and muggy, then rainy it's been being every single week. Although now it's nice, so maybe it'll last.
Shit, I just did it anyway...

Initially I had planned on having a new kölsch but following an awesome dinner, I had one of my trademark changes of heart and decided to go with this can of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast. I love oatmeal stouts and this one also has coffee and brown sugar so it seemed like a better dessert than a pale thirst-quencher.



It pours a thick, motor oil black with a nice ample head. The smell is exactly as advertised: strong black coffee, oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon. The flavor is along similar lines but the roastiness comes through way more. The taste is fairly bitter, rich, full and slightly astringent. It is a nice-drinking beer. Big without being huge. I'd have it again.


My full review is here.

Cheers everybody!

 

Dogfish Head World Wide Stout, 18% ABV. Pours thick and black with a slight tan head - was more when initially poured, but dissipated quickly. Nose is alcohol, coffee, and chocolate. Taste follows, quite sweet, quite hot, slight bitter close. Excellent mouthfeel considering the alcohol burn, but still smooth Overall outstanding.

 

I'm the same way when it comes to some beers and I have come to realize that it is because of all of the above.