New Beer Sunday (Week 649)

Ah, such a light touch in your opening today, Mr. Giant!, well done! I am beaming as I type, despite this cup of horrible coffee I'm tryng to drink. Were it a beer, this acrid potion would receive a 1.9, the .9 being for its containing 50% more caffeine. And this isn't just a filament of my illumination either.

Enough, time to drain pour this and put into fridge a beer I have been anticipating cracking and enjoying all week. See y'all in a bit.

 

So here we go . . .




Score 3.84
look: 3.5 | aroma: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Clear light gold color with white cap and lacing.

Aroma of piney hops with hints of pineapple, papaya and passionfruit.

Taste is hop forward with light, fresh touches of the tropical fruits riding on a mildly sweet malt base. Not a complex brew but the flavors are distinct and work well with each other. Consistent flavors remain to the finish with lingering hops in the aftertaste that take on a lighter floral note.

Light medium texture with balancing carbonation.

I get a lighter, brighter flavor with diminished bitterness here than most IPAs. Overall it's a very pleasing effort that drinks easily with enough going on to hold the interest of those who seek more varied flavors in their beer.

 

WooHOO! @cjgiant I have two beers today. A great style, very popular in our enlightened debates a kolsch. And saranc's new haus lager. I also have a witier for that other thread is there orange flavor in the wtibeir? Let's find something out.

 

Cheers you all and Happy New Hoppy Kolsch Sunday. The kolsh style is a regional style. I think that everything about this beer says brewing. It's this kind of yeast done this way with hops and even that guy will say it's a lager.

Billows Hoppy Kolsch (style should say style ) Burial Beer Co.



Mandarina bavaria is a traditional hop. It is showing up in more pilsners and other beers too.

It poured like that so the appearance is slow because of over carbonation. That's already hazy too but it is dry hopped. Now here's a theory in beer. To style it's not wrong if it's dry hopped and there is haze.




Excessive bubbles slow to fall. slight haze. Pale straw gold body with a fat white head that clings.

Nose is lemony citrusy spicy with some hop pepper. Malt is crackery. No way to perceive the fruity ester from yeast that defines the kolsch because it's too hoppy. And the hops are not too much more than modest. No bite from bubbles. Soft fruity lemony. A light twinge from bitterness. Drinks like a blonde. Lemon pepper and white bread.

This was good and I think that centennial and mandarina bavaria are nice together. It's how delicate they are that says forget your preconceived idea and say this fruitiness is that fruitiness? I say this beer tempted the original guidelines when it said often mistaken for a blonde, so can we say a regional hop and it's flavors? Cheers!

Let's bump

 

July's 3.9x Beers - 10 that try harder

MegaBoss IPA | Newburgh
3.99/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Ample!
A: Cloudy yellow body, pours an unaggressive head, but lotsa lace and stick.
S: The winner. But you must like fruit salad and flower shops, almost too floral, perfumey, but powerful and complex, with dank undercurrents.
T: Follows smell, with more malt, biscuit undercurrent and lots of yeast, definitely a complex salad of fruit, and veg.
Herbal notes along with pithy bitterness in the dry finish
F: A bit thin, but but drying and aspirin like.
Just short of 4, great complex fruit flower bomb.

Brew Free or Die Blood Orange IPA | 21st Amendment
3.98/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Nice variant that works, not over-fruited.

A: Hazy, light apricot colored. Lovely, head dense and fades slowly, with much lacing in a tulip.

S: Hop Aroma, specifically blood orange, that dark and pungent sour, slightly catty, herbs, flowers and a little complexity. Plentiful. Fresh, juicy, sculpin like.

T: Great taste, with lovely arc. Great with food (Shrimp, Sushi roll, mashers and ratatouille. (Thanks whole Foods).
Smooth, solid hop bitterness yielding to complex multi-flavors of blood orange, pith, rind, citrus, herbs, tobacco, california soil. A nice finish with biscuits and esters, fruits, backbone. Definitely want another.

F: Nice tingle, bubbles, medium body, great feel. Great with food. Lots of richness and strength.

A solid IPA, almost an EIPA, big, bold and very drinkable. Hop heads gotta try this!|

Ballantine India Pale Ale | Pabst
3.97/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Fantastic re-surrection.

A: Big golden amber w large foamy off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace.

S: The aroma was faint in one, abundant in a fresher bottle. It's caramel malts, floral hops and citrus.

T: Follows smell, starts out sweet with flavors of caramel, flowers, and citrus. Earthy hops bitterness is next in a nice see-saw balance.

M: Very creamy and smooth, medium to fuller body, sticky. Nice

O: Fantastic re-make. Would buy this regularly. Bring on the cans. My Dad's go-to beer, formerly brewed in Newark NJ.
The Kragle IPA | Free Will
3.96/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

First rate. Original and thoughtfully paired with foods like steaks and burgers.
A: Pours a cloudy straw, surprising light yellow body with a short white head that fades slowly and leaves dotty lace.
S: The aroma is ultra fruity citrus, floral hops and caramelized malts. Pungent, appetizing, kind of a sauvignon blanc style.
T: The taste begins candied and sweet with a citrus marmalade sweetness followed by a floral hops and then a white pepper bitterness. Perfectly balanced clean finish.
M: Crisp and smooth, light-to-medium body, slightly sticky.
O: Tasty, for sure a food IPA, and I'd buy this regularly in 6s if it came in cans. Try 24.

Shape Of Hops To Come | Neshaminy
3.95/5 rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

While nothing is too hopped for me, I find this Good, but too undifferentiated a DIPA.

a) Nice dark tea like body, clear, with thick pillow, but lacks lacing.
S) Nicely dank, with wet pine floor, earth dominant over the tropical fruit notes also present. Fecund.
T) Follows dank nose, with more tea, and grand-marnier/brandy like notes of wet grass, wet forest floor, waterfall with mineral water spray, all these rocky/piney/earthy notes dominating both a bit of peach orchard fruit and biscuit base.
F) Medium to full body with moderate ticklish carbonation. Solid mouth feel like tea and brandy.
O) Fine big DIPA, as I like them piney, but less original or ground breaking (except for the wet-earth released notes) than I would like in a 4+.
No Hero | Evil Twin
3.94/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Like brewer, their water, style, copy.

A: Pours an opaque jet black body with visible carbonation and scant cola highlights. Foamy dark tan head that laces and caps it.
S: Roasted and charred malts with aromas of chocolate, coffee, and a hint of mint and hops.
T: Up first is roasted and charred malts. Followed by pleasing chocolate and cocoa malt notes. Landing finally in a bittering and yet floral hop finale.
M: Right weight, smooth, creamy, tickling, and finally dry.
O: As good as any oatmeal stout including Poet and Founders.

Evil Twin Modern IPA | Evil Twin

3.93/5 rDev 0%

look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4


Some great reviewers like this beer, and I've liked all the brewer's offerings which have our hard Adirondack water as the core.

A) Casual light golden with foggy haze, short head, medium lace and carbonation.

S) nose is mainly fresh tropical and herbal florals in front of honey white bread and caramel malts. Clean. Think Moma.

T) Hops bolder on the tongue, like a fizzy they come forward with colors: mango, passionfruit and kiwi. Which are moderated by grassy, floral, hempy and grapefruit hops, that land your palate in a clean space. Think Moma party.

F) Cleansing, mineral feel. Leaves you refreshed, a citric cleanser tinged with grassy green hoppiness.


Amsterdam Boneshaker IPA
3.92/5 rDev +1.8%

look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4


Liked this. Generally, I like Canadian craft. Served with pride at Ritz Carlton Toronto.


A: The beer is a deep golden color, with a creamy, dense off-white half-finger head that fades slowly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma offers earthy hops, citrus, pine, and sweet and inviting caramelized malts.

T: Upfront a juicy and earthy hops bitterness. Next caramel and citrus. then really nice see-saw battle of hops bitter and malt sweet, finishing clean.

M: Crisp and smooth, medium body and carbonation. Finish is sticky.

O: Loved it, ordered a second.


Mirror Pond Pale Ale | Deschutes
3.91/5 rDev -0.3%

look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4


Love this brewer. But in this category prefer Dales Pale Ale.


a: 3.5 flattish, white head, a bit of lace, tarnished gold body.


s: 3.75 Cascade hopes, with fruit, nutty grain, malt sweetness.


t: follows smell, very smooth, nice bready, semi dry class APA. 4


f: as good as any, smooth, long finish, great with food, in this case, brats. 4


o: OK - as good as NW pale ale gets. 4


Whole Lotta Lupulin Double IPA | Smuttynose
3.9/5 rDev +4.3%

look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75


Hoppy to be 10th review of this sweet DIPA.

Poured from a silver can into a Belgian tulip glass. Canned 6/19/2017.


A: Pours a copper, super hazy orange body. Develops little head but delivers ample, delicate lace.

S: As all reviews report, it smells orangey over an English malt bill.

T: As with smutties, there's a fruity and malt earthiness that carries the orange dominant hops and its dank resin. But a bit too sweet and alcoholic?

F: Robust, thick, chewy, and full-bodied.

O: I'd like to taste off other Dank DIPAs, but it's more earthy and orangey sweet - more so than I'd like.

 

Thank you, @cjgiant, for the sunny start to New Beer Sunday.
Earlier this week I interviewed a pediatrician (we have one leaving) who is interested in moving to this part of Maine. One of the perks of living in a desirable area. Close to Boston and Portland, on the coast, good schools. A very well-trained, impressive doctor. Hoping she will accept the job. Then in the next month or two we'll start interviewing for my replacement, since I'll be retiring in 335 days (but who's counting?).

My new beer for today is Dark Swan Sour Ale from Lagunitas Brewing Company. It is part of their 2017 One Hitter series and clocks in at 8.5% ABV.
In my teku, the beer was the color of a Concord grape. There was a small pink head.
Grape and cherry aroma. A little sour.
The taste was ever so slightly tart grape.
Dry, softly sour.
Not too impressed with this one.

Good Sunday to all

 

Good Morning NBS
I have worked all night for the 12th time in 14 days and have 5 - 10 more work nights ahead before a day/night off. This can not and will not diminish my enthusiasm for a new beer. I never see a Schwarzbier on the shelves here, and have only obtained Monchshof once to grace my lonely mug. I did, however, stumble across this the other day and pick it up.


500mL canned 6/2/17 poured into a half liter mug at fridge temp 5% ABV. The beer pours a dark brown with ruby highlights if held to the light. The head is a chocolate tan in color and falls from 2" to a coating leaving behind a good bit of lacing. The aroma is a fairly straightforward lager smell with a little hint of chocolate mixed in. The taste starts as a typical lager with light malt and then transitions to chocolate and very subtle roast. There is little sweetness or bitterness as they seemingly cancel each other perfectly. Mouthfeel is light bodied, fairly well carbonated and neither soft or sharp. The beer finishes dry with no aftertaste except a minimal roasty chocolate one. Overall, good. Nobody goes crazy over a schwarzbier, but this is extremely solid for $6/4 500mL cans @ Aldi. It is seasonal and they only get it once a year, so if you're interested and you see it, don't pass on it.

I will add that my score of 3.77 was within .3% of average without peeking. Needs more reviews to get a solid rating.

 

I bought a 4-pack last week and am going to buy it again. A nice beer for a great price.

 

It’s a floor wax and a dessert topping!!

Do you remember that very old skit from Saturday Night Live?

Well, today’s beer is sorta like that skit in that the beer is a Gose, Berliner Weisse and a Kolsch: Dogfish Head SeaQuench Ale.

As Dogfish Head details this beer on their website:

“SeaQuench Ale is a session sour mash-up of a crisp Kolsch, a salty Gose, and a tart Berliner Weiss brewed in sequence with black limes, sour lime juice and sea salt to make this the most thirst-quenching beer Dogfish Head has ever brewed.”

I remember a few years ago when I saw a number of new Gose beers on the market. For example Sixpoint Jammer 1.0 was first introduced a couple of years ago. I also recall when I first saw Berliner Weisse beers a number of years ago but for me they were mostly local brewpub offerings. I don’t recall Kolsch beers getting the same level of ‘buzz’ as the Gose and Berliner Weisse styles. Maybe because Kolsch is not a sour beer?

Well, what does a combination of Gose, Berliner Weisse and a Kolsch taste like?

Served in my Sixpoint Jammer can shaped glass:

Appearance:

Straw colored, a slight haze with a BIG white head on the initial pour (which fizzles down fairly quickly).

Aroma:

A moderate sour, wheaty aroma on the first sniff but there is also a slight hint of citrus.

Taste:

Tart, a trace of lime, and a bit of salty taste.

Mouthfeel:

Light bodied with a bit of tart prickliness.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer! It is a pleasant summer sipper with subtle but notable flavors which are very well balanced.

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

New Barleywine Sunday







Revolution Straight Jacket Barley Wine Ale

Morning, BAs! Got up early today, decided to mow the lawn while my head was still in a bit of a fog. Ran over the power cord of my electric mower while I was only a third a way through the job. It was too early to borrow an extension cord from the neighbors, and the hardware store wasn't open yet, so I came inside, messed on my phone, and eventually decided it was time to crack one open for NBS.

This barleywine was one I saw reviewed on NBS a while back, added to my wants list and was sent to me by the generous @FFFjunkie as part of the WGNABP NBS BIF. I had tried saving it until winter, or at least until fall, but there was a bit of chill in the air this morning, so close enough!

It pours a brown-hued garner color with a thin, light tan head that quickly dissipates into a crown.

Delightful aroma of vanilla, wood, earthy hops, creamy whiskey and some light pepper.

Refined taste up front with a lot more toffee showing than in the nose, then a repeat of the vanilla, wood and earthy bitterness, followed by some strong alcohol burn on the backend. Could use a touch of leather or tobacco, but otherwise, a really excellent mix of flavors.

Relatively thin bodied, with just some slight syrupy texture, and some pretty strong, bubbly carbonation in the feel (although hardly any in the appearance). Maybe a bit on the "light" side for the style, but I'm digging it today.

This is absolutely the treat I was expecting it to be. Not too sweet; not too bitter; not too heavy. This porridge is just right.

 

Good to hear. I've been sitting on 2 bottles. I'm shooting for cooler weather to crack mine also. But alas, "cooler" weather for me is November at the earliest.

 

I didn't really count the days until the last month or so when I started wishing it was yesterday.

 

New Beer Sunday: An Urban Brewed Farmhouse Ale

Mornin’ NBSers with special salutations to seekers of Farmhouse Ales to drink every now and then and special thanks to @cjgiant of the morning start gang of two.

After an incredibly busy day yesterday, everyone is basically sleeping in this morning so it falls to me to be fixing breakfast this lazy Sunday morning. So I'm doing a Quiche Lorraine which is fairly simple and easy to fix, calling only for cooking and chopping some bacon, chopping a bit of onion and then whisking the eggs, cream, shredded swiss cheese and seasonings into a mix that all gets poured into a 9” pie crust that is already prepped and waiting inside the glass pie plate. After the quiche gets popped into the oven and then there’s a 40-50 min. wait for it to be done, so….

Now, the wait time has to be filled somehow, and what better way to do so than a a new morning beer from a relatively young Philly brewery?

As usual my review, subject to change until the Quiche has finished it’s bake, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34779/242794/?ba=drtth#review

This farmhouse ale is a bit different than some I’ve had in that the while the flavors and aromas show the yeast and a bit of sweetness, the bitterness seems a bit more herbal than many and there’s a definite hint of salt in the background. On the whole it’s a nicely drinkable beer that I’d be fine with having again, especially in the summer. But that said I’ll probably not go out of my way to buy more since there are a few other Saison/Farmhouse Ales that already occupy my "repeat reguarly list" and this one doesn't quite knock any of them off that list. So having another will be more about whether I see it on the shelf and I'm in the mood to re-vist Bayside.

For background music this a.m., I've got some music on the player from what these days is widely regarded as being the first great American Opera, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. One of the songs/arias from this opera exemplifies nicely the day we are expecting here.

Summertime

Good chance I'll be back this evening with another of Saint Benjamin's beers.

Cheers, all!

 

??

You drank all those just this morning?

Wow! A lot more capacity than I'll ever have.

 

Thanks goes out to @cjgiant for the start of NBS. Should be back later on with a new brew.

Cheers!

 

In my world they do!

Sounds right up my alley- thanks for the heads-up

 

The Ashburn Wine Shop specializes in (wait for it....) wine! They have a small beer selection, mostly bombers. The owner is nice enough, but the beer tends to be slightly overpriced and the selection is small. I found myself just going to Total Wine instead. It's not worth going out of your way for. Well, there is a decent BBQ joint on one side of it and a Dairy Queen on the other. So there's that....