New Beer Sunday (Week 651)

Howdie, NBSers. Sticking with @cjgiant and his birthday theme, I inadvertently sat on this beer from @beertunes for 5 months. It was canned on 11/28/16, so it's nearly a year old. When I found it in my beer fridge, I felt like Scoobie Doo: "Ruh roh, Raggie."



3.48/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

But fear not, your intrepid beer nerd will soldier on, and he is rewarded, because this is not bad. There's no sign of age in the pour, with a mostly clear golden colored beer propping up a light tan head.

The aromas are a bit muted, which is a clear sign of the beer's age, IMHO. There are some light citrus hop aromas, but the malt is really forward. Diacetyl maybe?

Nope, just a healthy malt backbone that is predominant because I'm an idiot and sat on this so long that the hops faded - but they are still present with some citrus flavors and a tangy berry flavor.

This morphed from an IPA to a sorta hoppy amber. I just wish I had tried this fresher, because I think it would've been a really nice IPA.

 

New Beer Sunday: New Belgian Pale Ale with lots of Peach

Evenin’ NBSers with special greetings to pursuers of Peach flavors.

Well the weather here today was every bit as nice as expected so a good time was had by all. (BTW: If you want some really nice Crab Cakes for lunch, the areas around the Chesapeake are the places to go.)

This evening’s new beer is from the Victory Blackboard Series and is their Peach Belgian Blonde with Coriander.

As usual my review, in progress until the beer is finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/282140/?ba=drtth#review

Victory has been coming out with a lot of new beers lately so they are an easy candidate for finding something new to report on. In this beer the aromas and flavors are really all about the peach, with some very light Belgian yeast character. The coriander remains way in the background but is there to the end without any hops showing. However the beer's not a winner for me so when I finish this bottle I’ll not be disappointed by never finding it again. The flavors, for my tastes, are too much dominated by peach and sweetness that may fade some by the ending but are both noticeably there pretty much there to the end. I'm not picking up a lot of complexity in the aroma/flavor profile.

Continuing with my goal of listening to lots of original cast recordings of musicals the music on the player this evening is from South Pacific, with Mary Martin and Etzio Pinza (who began his career in Opera).

Some Enchanted Evening

Cheers, all!

 

Really interesting post! It's always interesting to see the diversity of beer styles there are.

 

Spent most of the day trying to catch up with yard work. Even though it wasn't as hot as normal for this time of year, the hummidity was unrelenting. I'm worn out and ready for a new beer.

This is Element 79 from Mad Malts. Full disclosure, I had a pour of this one earlier in the week. Since I was the one to add it to the database, I felt obligated to revisit and do a proper review.

Element 79 in the periodic table is gold, and this beer certainly looks the part. The resemblence to the metal is a little uncanny. I am really enjoying the balance of the rye, sweetness, and hops. Easy drinking and solid the beer.

Additional notes below.



Poured from a 64 oz growler.

A: Rich golden honey brown with one finger white head. Decent retention and light lacing. With element 79 being gold, this one certainly looks the part.

S: Fresh baked rye bread, honey, and citrus and earthy hops mixed with a nice spicy note.

T: Toasted lightly sweet malts with a good rye bite. A little honey and citrus. Nice balance.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Easy drinking and refreshing.

O: Solid rye ale. One of my favorites from these guys.

 

My third and final beer for NBS this week is Key Lime Tau, a collaborative effort between Crooked Stave and Hawkshead Brewing. Many BA users are likely familiar with the former brewery of this collab, but many others (including myself) are unfamiliar with the latter. Apparently this was originally brewed as part of the same challenge that included the highly-lauded Yellow Belly (Omnipollo/Buxton), the Trans-Atlantic Rainbow Project. The breweries involved created this beer as an embodiment of the color green, and it was thusly brewed with lime peel, lemongrass and lactose. It clocks in at 7% ABV.



Pours a surprisingly dark amber color with an immense opacity and a towering head of off-white foam which leaves behind a surprisingly consistent sheet of lace. Retention is very solid, too... even after 10-15 minutes this has a finger of head chilling atop the deep golden beer.

Nose is rife with caramel malts, lime, lemon, grapefruit and rye-like spice. The combination between bright citrus and complex grain qualities makes this an instant winner in my book. Hopefully the flavor follows the same thread!

Intense tartness from the lime and lemongrass combined with a deft blend of crystal malt and baking spice give this an awesome complexity that definitely makes it suggestive of key lime pie. I really enjoy how surprisingly malty and rounded this is, considering I expected a thinner beer (even taking into account the 7% ABV) with less complexity on the malt side of things. The lactose helps keep things on the sweet end too, unlike a certain other beer I reviewed earlier... Feel here is a bit heavier than expected with a lower carbonation and slightly sweet, thick finish. Maybe I'd prefer this to be a little more crisp, but it's quite good considering what they were going for. Cheers! See you NBSers next week, hopefully.

 

Trek Domane, Gary Fisher MTB, Suzuki V-strom - from Ann Arbor, ride bikes so I can drink good beer

 

New Imperial Stout Sunday (Week 651)
Greetings once again fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. My hands are so beat up from playing it is hard to hold this glass, but the liquid inside it is helping immensely. Really enjoying this beer that is called an Imperial Stout in the database, but which reminds me more of a Sweet Stout with a high ABV. I know Imp. Milk Stout isn't an official thing, but that is what this is IMHO. My other opinion is it is quite delicious. A collab. between J. Wakefield and Burial, it is named, The Cosmic And Divine.

4.06
Pours a thick looking black with a thin tan head that falls pretty quickly to a thin skim and thick ring.

On the full side of medium strength aroma that features caramel and milk chocolate floating in creamy sweetness. Behind it all is a nuttiness and hints of roastier dark malts. Alluring.

Just shy of full flavored for style. Creamy chocolate, both milk and dark, start this sip that quickly develops bitter roast that lasts. Caramel seems to melt in the mouth, and the bitter malt and hops ride it like a thick wave of goodness. Not really a dry end of sip, much lingering sweet, but a bit of drying alcohol and the other elements keep it from being too sweet. As it warms and opens pecan flavor comes on and this gets even better.

Quite viscous, low carb., med. body for style, and a sweetish finish that is more like a strong milk stout than an Impy.

I would have labeled this an Imp. milk stout, but whatever style you decide this is I am guessing you will like it as much as I do. Very tasty, recommended.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

Comin' atcha live with my second new beer of the day...

Clown Shoes 2017 version of Crasher in the Rye...

An imperial oatmeal milk stout aged in rye whiskey barrels (previous incarnation was aged in both rye and bourbon barrels) - got classified as an oatmeal stout here on BA, but could just as easily be considered a milk stout or just a plain ole' American double stout...

I do like rye whiskey, so I'm not surprised that I like what the barrel's imparting to this here stout. The pour was unremarkable; cold into the center of a goblet, it produced very little head. After a sip, some lace motes trailed behind, but that's about it. Aforementioned head persisted as naught but a thin collar the rest of the way...

Aromas were suggestive of vanilla and rye, followed by more chocolaty and molasses-like impressions... I found the flavors to be similar, with the rye whiskey barrels appropriately represented. Sweet, but with some drying as a bit of oakiness crept in; very little bitterness or char... Smooth and soft, relatively light-bodied for an imperial stout but not at all as off-putting as I have sometimes found such a characteristic to be. Probably because I am enjoying the hell out of this beer.

I feel like they kept it simple and the beer delivers exactly what I hoped: strong but smooth, with ample rye whiskey influences, while avoiding being over-the-top or cloying.

Alright, heading over to WBAYDN for my final pre-Game of Thrones post - hope your new beers are good to ya, cheers...

 

Erie brewing company. Slippers stout. Dark,almost completely black,heavy,and I mean heavy malt and coffee aroma to the point it almost smelled like candy if it wasn't for the alcohol. Taste was exactly the same but the abv isn't high but had a bit of alcohol burn. Interesting,maybe not great but worth a try as a novelty

 

Deschutes Scotch Barrel The Abyss, 12.3% ABV, 42 IBU. Pours thick and black with a middle finger of brown head. Nose is fruit, peat/earthy, and a complex array of odors certain to change upon warming as does regular Abyss. Taste follows, very complex; scotch, fruit, licorice, chocolate, maple, etc, etc. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Truly a kitchen-sink of smells and flavors - everyone will pick out something slightly different.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @cjgiant for getting us started off this week. Not much going on here. Just another normal Sunday. Had a pretty busy work week, so I have been relaxing. Finished up the laundry earlier and took back my bottle returns. Had a nice new beer haul yesterday and some even today as well, which was nice. I am stocked up with plenty to get to #5700. Less than 2 weeks away.

New Beers:

Wow!!! Awesome head retention and lasting lacing for the style. Aromas and flavors of huge strawberry jam, rhubarb, and red grape fruitiness; with balanced wheat, cracker, brown sugar, brown bread malt sweetness; and a touch of herbal hops. Light herbal bitterness and fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium-full bodied; bready/grainy creaminess and a fair amount of fruit tang/acidity/tannins in the mouthfeel. Slightly drying from fruit tartness, no cloying sweetness. This is just crazy insane. Open a jar of Smucker's jam and imagine it as a beer. This is that. Fruit presence is off the chart, with great malt balance to keep it drinkable. Completely refreshing. 4.4


Delicious English IPA! Flavors big of lemon zest, orange peel, pear, apple, melon, berry, peppercorn, and pine hops/yeast; with moderate cracker, biscuity malt balance; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Similar, but muted aromas. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; balanced bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Fairly crisp and very clean finishing. Really impressive, refreshingly drinkable. You get a nice showcase of German noble hops with restrained Kolsch yeast character; and a nice bready malt backbone to balance things out. Bottled in December, tastes perfectly fine to me. SN stuff always holds up well. Absolutely spot on stuff for the style. Hope I can snag the other 2 IPAs from the mix pack as singles. 3.88


Excellent Hefeweizen! Insane head retention and dense lacing that lasts the entire glass. Aromas and flavors of big lemon, orange, pear, apple, melon, banana, bubblegum, clove, and peppery yeast; with balanced wheat, cracker, white bread dough malts; herbal, floral, grassy hops and yeasty earthiness. Light herbal/grassy hop bitterness and yeast spiciness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, light-medium body, and moderately crisp; some bready/grainy wheat creaminess and light hop stickiness on the mouthfeel. Slightly increasing bitter/spicy dryness. Very refreshing and flavorful for the 4.6%. Unique flavors, but spot on for the style. Probably from the dry hopping that is mentioned on the label. Perfectly balanced yeast/malts, with nice hop presence and minimal bitterness. 4.06


Awesome DIPA! Aromas and flavors of huge tangerine, grapefruit, peach, apricot, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon/orange zest, and light pepper/pine hops; with moderate honey, lightly toasted bread malts; with herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium-full bodied; balanced creamy/bready malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Touch of resins and increasing dryness, never astringent. Absolutely delicious. Very juicy and fairly dank hops; with a nice malty backbone, without being overly sweet/heavy feeling. This is way less aggressive than I expected for Stone. More balanced, but still super hoppy. 4.1


Cheers, have a good night NBS!

 

Now up some Cigar City Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, thanks @CanConPhilly!
4.11/5 rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for this
12 oz can poured into a snifter

A- A dark brown, almost black, with a small mocha head

S- Roasted malts, coffee, caramel malts, cinnamon, some vanilla, raisins.

T- Roasted and caramel malts, some oats, rasins, touch of vanilla and cinnamon .

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A nice brown ale that does remind me of an oatmeal raisin cookie.

Cheers!

 

#2, I sat on this (Deschutes Pinot Suave), but this time, it was by design.



4.06/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

This is like a quad sorta rolled up with a cab. And oak. And some toffee. Or caramel.

In other words, a lot going on.

The pour looks like a quad, with a rich brown, murky colored beer lifting a quickly dissipating light tan head. But, if you look at this from a few feet away with light directly hitting it, you get reddish-purple hues all OVER the edges. GRAPES!!!

The nose is some toffee, grapes, fruit, and oak. Like I said, a lot going on. The taste is toffee, then grapes (tangy), then oak, then a pretty significant booze component, which isn't surprising given the 11.8% ABV.

I wish I'd purchased a second bomber of this to age for 4 or 5 years, because I think the evolution of this beer would be pretty incredible.

 

Cigar City Hard Sauce
Barrel-Aged Ale with Pecans - 11.9% ABV



4.22/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

750ml bottle poured into a snifter. Bottling date of 12/21/16 etched on the neck of the bottle. Pours a very dark murky brown color that doesn't let much light in when held up to the light. The head is light tan with good lacing around the glass. The nose is everything you would expect in a pecan pie inspired beer complemented by bourbon notes. The taste is sweet up front as you would expect with a smoother than expected finish despite the high ABV. The mouthfeel is medium bodied. Overall, Cigar City does a fantastic job with the smell of this beer. The taste is solid but nothing that blows me away.

 

Good evening fellow NBSrs...... I spent the majority of the day at the Dunes today with the family so my apologies to not being on sooner as reception was shitty at best. I threw a handful of beer in the cooler only to discover that none of them were new to me. So, upon arrival back home and unpacking I finally get to contribute to this weeks thread.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Prairie Bomb and most of the variants. I was super excited when I saw this one hit distro but alas the excitement had let me down a bit. To me, this beer is not in the same league as bomb. It's still very good I just had higher expectations.

The beer:



The review:




Cheers all and hope your Sunday was as good as mine!

 

I'm surprised that they are able to call it Lean.

 

Good evening, NBSers! I'm settling in for the relaxing end to a busy weekend. My mom recently had a knee replacement, so we all went up to visit her in rehab. And, naturally, dear old dad has been going a bit stir crazy from being all alone in the house, so we spent the night and hopefully livened up his mood just a bit .

I happen to have a raisin cookie beer in the glass as well, this one courtesy of @Dragginballs76

Wicked Weed Milk and Cookies.

It certainly delivers on the premise, raisin cookies come immediately to mind. Not only are the raisin and cinnamon present in the perfect proportions, but I'm actually getting a good amount of cookie dough to back it up; no straining of the imagination required. The feel is smooth and milky (whole milk, too ) and there's a good deal of dessert like sweetness. Thankfully it's light and airy overall, and doesn't stray into overbearing territory.

And yet, it's also a milk stout. This really comes into play on the finish, where a gentle hit of dark chocolate lingers, along with a clean snap of bitterness.

It's a tasty and well executed beer. A- (4.0)

Thanks again, Michael! It turned out to be the perfect beer for the perfect time.

 

I think previous cannings of the "double dry hopped version" used the standard label instead of what you now have.

 

Artisanal Brewing is the theme of this NBS!

Today's choice is a beer collaboration between Magnify and Sole called Keep It Mello

Brewers Notes:
Keep It Mello is an 8% Imperial IPA brewed with our friends @sole_ales. This Imperial IPA is hopped with significant amounts of Galaxy and Motueka and also contains marshmallow fluff, vanilla and lactose. We added marshmallow fluff to the boil as well as a large amounts of oats and lactose for a creamy, smooth and full mouthfeel. We then conditioned this beer post dry hop with vanilla beans.


My Notes:
So I guess this is Magnify's attempt at a milkshake style IPA. Either way it's extremely unique and very interesting take on the IPA style. Pour a very deep hazy murky brown color with a head that dissipates very quickly. The use of Galaxy and Motueka provide a very pleasant tropical for-front layer that is backed vannelia beans and sweet bready malt.
Taste follows the nose with a pop of bitterness up front leading into tropical fruits but finishing off with a distinct gram cracker finish thats rounded out by notes of vanilla. The marshmallow fluff does come through on in the taste and helps to add a creamy body. Lactose is there but is overrided by everything else.

Excellent and very different IPA. My only gripe is a slight yeast burn.