New Beer Sunday (Week 654)

Back at it here NBS players. Sure is nice with Monday off to be able to imbibe without the worry of waking up on time, early, or at all for that matter. Been watching a pretty meaningless mets/stros ball game and I too am not sure why. Otherwise the temperature is really warming up here and it should be a nice evening.

My second new beer is again from one of my local brewers known as Moustache brewing. This beer is called Wanderlust, a hoppy amber ale. It's listed on the site as an esb and that very well may have been what they styled it as when they first brewed it. Well, now its hoppy amber. The brew checks in at 6.3% abv, 50 ibus, and has a canning date of 8/16/17.

A robust dark amber color on the pour with a frothy, lingering white head. The nose is all dark malt with slight spice. The drinking starts with a rush of smooth and rich malt right over from the nose. A smooth flow with a nicely bitter and sweet finish. Plenty of flavor notes come on with the rich malt the more I consume it. Notes of oats, toast, grass, rye, sugar, caramel, and earthy spices. The mouth feel is on the lighter side but very pleasant. It's hoppy but it's much more of a balance between the malt. The bitter flavor is spot on and really gives great contrast to the malt. The mouth feel is on the lighter side but offers a rather pleasant crisp and refreshing feel to it.

Overall, nothing game changing here but a good solidtake on the style. It really is more of an esb in my opinion. I'm right around a 3.5 here players.

 

You aren't alone. I can't deal with the very champagney yeast. In fact, @Roguer included that beer in a killer box of Hill Farmstead goodies and I couldn't finish the first pour of it.

 

A Super hot woman of course that everyone wants to fuck...unfortunately only the fucking is real and I'm not on the giving end.

 

Good history lesson. Some people need to remember that regardless of where you stand on unions, if it wasn't for the organized labor movement we wouldn't have many of the things that we now take for granted- 5 day work week, sick pay, 8 hour work day, overtime, many privacy rights, etc...

 

Tailgate Beer - That Roller Coaster Thing

Newest release from a brewery that's been releasing some great IPAs lately, seems they keep tweaking their NE style, and finally have it dialed in.

Full Review:
4.39/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

No canned date, but release was 8/28/17. Poured into a 16 oz tulip glass.

A: Pours a murky hazy bronze, with no head despite a fairly aggressive pour, just a thin white ring.

S: very juicy, mango, pineapple, and kiwi come to mind here

T: The mosaic hops seem to dominate here, following the nose with tropical fruit, with a slight warming from the alcohol on the finish.

F: smooth and soft, not quite as pillowy as others, but definitely fits the NE style criteria.

O: A very solid offering, seems they've got their haze game dialed in now with this one. Abv is a bit high at 8.9, but it hides it well.

 

I'll deftly ignore that softball toss since he did send me beer that I haven't repaid yet.

Decided to dig into the Blended Black Coffee IPA from The Farm Brewery at Broad Run...


Man, despite having a wide open area to frolic and enjoy the day, this sign ruins all my possible fun

Ok, this beer was not in barrels, however it seems part of it spent some time in a coffee roaster. It looks similar to their Schwartzbier (May the Schwartz Be with You), maybe a bit darker judging from the edges. This has a nicer head, with 75% coverage and a bit of lacing from the beige bubbles.

The nose isn't too strong, but the roasted coffee sticks out slightly from the malts. There's a waft of floral hops, but it is similarly faint.

I initially thought this was more like a porter, but init Al sips of this full pour are showing a bit more raw, green hop bitterness than I got in the taster. In fact, this is overpowering the coffee, which thankfully has the staying power to come out in the end.

This one seems to have a lot of rough edges from the mildly aggressive carbonation to the raw hop bitterness. The lingering coffee note after these subside is nice. It'd be nicer if this ending was more representative of the whole beer.

 

I've always liked that song, thanks for the link.

 

The sad part is, you know they had to put that sign up because somebody was. They obviously weren't anticipating that

 

Great good fortune with the new relationship! Companionship and sharing lives is as good as it gets. I have found love, and I hope you do as well.

 

Happy Travels!

 

Wow. You work for the marketing division? I just added this one to my WANTS based on your scribing!

 

Yeah, it's a very family friendly place/farm... I'd assume it's there for the [parents of the] kids, but still seems like it should go without saying. Probably more of a legal "better safe than sorry" thing

 

He's a trooper!!!

 

Happy Trails!

 

Great name!

 

Ok, last one here. I gave a brief writeup on this one, officially, and will be as brief here as I'd be happily surprised if any of you get a chance at these beers. This was the weirdest of the day so "deserved" a second look:


Basil Farmhouse Ale - which might include watermelon. This takes a base beer fromthe brewery and adds basil - and boy is it strong at this point. The ticket says "Basil Watermelon" though the menus exclude the latter fruit.

This has a strong herb smell, and the combination of the strong basil and watermelon-like flavors yield a slightly minty note (little bite of carbonation helps).

It's extremely herbal cold, the watermelon note is more present with warmth. There's a nod to some appetizers I've had in the past, I think. If they took the salt from the Vienna I had first and sprinkled some in here, I think melon w/prosciutto and basil wouldn't be a stretch.

 

Hello, NBS friends, and thank you to @lordofthewiens for the excellent launch. I'm a little early today because Mrs O "asked" me if I'd like to take her to dinner and a movie this evening.

Because I have been properly trained, and because I outkicked my coverage by 40 yards .....



..... as you all can see in this pic from 1998, I wisely said, "I would LOVE to take you to dinner and a movie (Dunkirk is our flick tonight)!!!"

So instead of the pair of new beers I was going to offer, I have just a single, this excellent Marzen from Rahr (#DrinkLocal) .....



You know you're in Texas when this is on your Oktoberfest can .....



I absolutely LOVE that, and the beer is a treat, too.

4.12/5 rDev +24.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

The pour is a slightly cloudy burnt copper (I'm partial to crystal clear Marzens), and a tan head. The aroma is rich, roasty malts, with caramel aromas dominant.

The taste is full-on malty goodness, with the soft caramel flavors making me not want to put my glass down. I could pound this into oblivion.

The feel is a smidge spritzy for the style, but I can't deny that I really am enjoying the shiznit out of this beer.

 

Happy New English Barleywine Sunday!

Really nice sunny hot day on the Western Slope, around 93 at the trailhead. Not a new brew, but I wanted to try it again. It's a tasty brew, but back when I reviewed it (Aug 2011) I reviewed as a traditionalist. Today, for what the brew is. Picked up some marinated pork tacos on the way home. Watching some MASH marathon.

§ucaba 2013 Vintage | Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

4.24/5 rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bought On-Line

Revisit: 3 Sep 17
22 oz. Bomber/Box
Black Foil/Capped
2013 Vintage
Reserve Series No. 003
Cases: 3500 produced

Over 4 years on this bottle!

Poured into a tulip a pretty nice dark brown color, pretty nice carbonation, with a pretty nice quick/small/fizzy tan head, which leaves some minimal sticky lacing behind. The nose is malty, with some dark fruits (cherries, figs, raisins, plums), chocolate/toffee, vanilla, oak, bourbon. The taste is pretty nice, malty, with some dark fruits (cherries, figs, raisins, plums), vanilla, chocolate/toffee, big bourbon note, oaky. Full Body, ABV hidden fairly well, a pretty complex brew. Overall, this is a big beer, pretty tasty.

Thanks goes out to Mess for this brew. 3.09/5 rDev -30.9% (Aug 2011)

22oz. Bomber

Pours a nice dark brown color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy light tan head, with sticky lacing left behind. The nose is malty, bourbon, slight chocolate/toffee. The taste is malty, slightly sweet, lots of bourbon, chocolate/toffee. Medium Body. OK, this is not an English Barleywine, since when do barleywines have bourbon in it.

Cheers!

 

Happy LDWNBS everybody!

Thanks for the history lesson, @lordofthewiens . I wonder why it is the same day in Canada. I doubt it's sheer coincidence but you never know...

It is an extremely rainy day here after a week of mostly brisk, fall-like weather. Hopefully it gets a little nicer tomorrow. It has been beyond bizarre here all summer weather-wise. It makes me dread how bizarre winter is gearing up to be... Well, in the interest of appeasing the sun gods I'm going to have a summery beer that just came out from a pretty new brewery. It's new enough that I had to add it to BA, but that's how I like 'em.

Bièrerie Shelton is fairly new and is confusing to me in a way that a few different breweries up here are. In Quebec co-ops are really big for various historical reasons and they have even overflowed into beer (pun!). This brewery in particular is not a co-op as such (AFAIK) but is a strange combo of packaging and contact brewing run at a distillery that also is a brewery that has a separate address and a TV personality prominently an investor. One thing's for sure, these guys have a crack marketing team (Shelton, that is, but maybe both, I have no idea). So far they have come out with a tall, brightly colored can that features the 5 magic letters (I'll let you guess what they are). Despite not really resembling those 5 letters, it has sold out pretty quickly everywhere. Though I am sure the colorful can had nothing to do with it... It was fairly good but nothing to write home about.

Now they have canned a couple takes on a saison as well, we'll see how the hoppy one is today (t'other is a sour).



There is no date (it's definitely fresh though), and no indication of the hops or malts used.



Damn. It's bad. It looks like it should, but the rest is very hollow-seeming to me. Little to no aroma (some medicinal smell but definitely nothing to back up calling it hoppy). The flavor is similar. That peppery dough flavor that some saisons have too much of. As it warms it improves ever-so-slightly but not enough. It is not infected, it is not off, but it sure ain't good.



That's her disappointed face.

Here is my review for the curious.

Have a great Monday off, all!

 

Alright, laundry's done and food is in progress. Making some rice to go with the leftover marinaded chicken and chipotle pork loin I grilled up Friday night. Gotta put that laundry away, but first I'm gonna drink a new beer!



Lamplighter Brewing Co. is a newish brewery out of Cambridge, MA (which is where I happen to homebrew with my buddy every few weeks). They've been making a lot of hazy, NE-style IPAs lately, some of which are great and some of which have left something to be desired. This, however, is my first brush with their fruited kettle-sour series, Sound & Vision. Love the label here, and the fact that it changes color depending on the fruit added in the particular batch. This one features tart cherries and clocks in at 4.7%.

Pours a very deep amber color with a thin head that fizzles away to literally nothing after several minutes in my glass. The color is at least 10 SRM more than I thought it'd be, so that initially took me by surprise, but I wasn't surprised at all by the quickly receding and, eventually, fully disappearing foam capping off this brew. I assume the kettle-souring process, which involves lactic acid bacteria, wrecked the head retention here as it does in many other examples of beers that utilize the same process for souring.

The nose presents with light caramel-like malt, Bing and Montmorency cherries, blackberry and grainy wheat with some tart lemon notes from the bacteria. Pretty satisfying, and I actually appreciate the slightly-darker malt approach as it lets the beer open up into a different direction than most fruited kettle-sours (which are usually either pale in color or take on the color of whatever fruit was added).

On the tongue, this reminds me big time of cherry pie, with some lemon/lime elements as well along with other citrus notes in smaller amounts. There's some additional darker fruit and berry aspects as well, along with caramel and breadiness. I like the malt support here but apparently it's not for everyone, as the two reviews currently available on BA indicate that both reviewers specifically called out the maltiness.

Feel is, as expected, mildly heavier than a lot of sub-5% fruited sours I've had, but it also doesn't depend on something like lactose to retain its body. This would probably be a very interesting series to do a dry-hopped (instead of fruited) variation of, as the base seems to support the lactobacillus inclusion surprisingly well. This was a bit better than I expected it to be, to be honest, and kind of reminds me of an oud bruin or Flemish brown ale with cherries added. I'm sure if the fruit were different, I'd feel different, though, as cherry (and other dark/red fruit) is a common flavor descriptor even in oud bruins and sour reds without fruit additions.