New Beer Sunday (Week 654)

You're welcome.

Haha!

 

I've never seen that can before, but I noted in your pic that they are calling it an "American Pale" now. It's been listed here as an "English pale." After checking up on this, I see that Great Divide changed their recipe for it last year. (a different site has created a new listing in their database for this new version) This must have been tied in to their production decline and refocus last year. Denver Pale Ale used to be one of their top sellers. Homogenization in action.

 

I just don't understand why brewers call a beer like that "amber." Even though amber can look like that, in my mind it's like a brewer making a purple beer and calling it a "blue ale." My pet peeve probably makes me look like an idiot. I give you credit for calling it dark. Maybe I'm not totally alone.

 

Spent most of the afternoon doing work around the house and drinking Coors. This is my nightcap. Been sitting on this one for a month or so. Picked it up from a fellow BA'er in a trade.

4.38/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Pours a dark black body with lots of quick disapearing tan head. Small rim of head lingers about but not lacing.

S: Mainly smelling cocount from the pour.

T: Big coconut flavors up front and a bit of coffee lingers around also.

M: Light bodied easy drinker. Smooth drinker.

O: Coconut is my favorite adjunct for stouts/porters and this is spot on. Will be on the lookout for more in the future.

 

Interesting... I've always related amber ales with red ales or more closely that of a color more similar to a Vienna lager, because in my early limited experience that was the name/perception. I agree (mainly after following up a @utopiajane post many months back) that amber and red are different. That said, I don't see @beerloserLI's beer being outside my original "amber beer" impression, right or wrong. I think there's an interesting gray area here that I am curious about how we reached a... is it a disconnect or difference of "opinion" or "perception" or ???

 

Fantome Brise-BonBons!

Fantome has become a producer of treat beers for me. I occasionally splurge on them and I'm usually very happy that I did (although there was a period when things weren't so great). This one was fantastic. Here's the great description from the label:

"With joy, and a little bit of mischief, Fantôme brewer Dany Prignon dedicates this very bitter beer to all of the many varieties of brise-bonbons - literally, ball-breakers - in the world. Specifically, this beer is meant for wise-guys, braggarts, pains-in-the-ass, muck-rakers, troublemakers, know-it-alls, stuffed-shirts, blow-hards and bores, as well as nut-cracking, wind-bag, prattling-on, self-appointed experts on everything, and nose-in-the-air snobs, convinced they can do anything better than you. Dany intended to make a beer too bitter for a normal person to enjoy. The problem is, everyone loves it! Guess we’re all just a bunch of brise-bonbons sometimes..."

Personally, I like that copy better than Stone's more famous examples.

There's a nice slightly funky aroma with the pop of the cork. I cross my fingers with Fantome carbonation and this one was fine. Phew. Carbonation is pleasantly soft. Actually, it feels more "pillowy" to me than most NEIPAs. Taste is of subtle peach and a very gentle herbal bitterness. Finish is oily and dry. I use the words subtle and gentle for good reason - this beer is full of character but everything is so wonderfully balanced (a winning combination for me). The description calls it "too bitter for a normal person to enjoy" but it really isn't. This isn't just my beer palate talking... I gave my wife a taste and if this beer was overly bitter she would have made it instantly known to me. Does this live up to the brewer's intent? Who cares when it tastes this good. At 8% this one is dangerous.

 

Gorgeous pic. And I really dig that glass. Where's it from?

 

Happy New Imported/Foreign Beer Sunday (Week 654), CANtinued!

I am now home from 2nd shift with only a week to go at that job. I was in JaCAN when I left yinz, but now, we travel to another part of the world with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9775/241067/?ba=woodychandler#review

And on that Francophone note, I bid yinz adieu until next Sunday!

 

A NBSaturday review for ya

Always mildly disconcerting asking for this beer from a female bartender

 

I would think that colors are like beer styles in that they have a range, but if I distort your quote above to be a color discussion rather than a beer one; yes, amber and red are different. Amber is more or less a yellow/orange color. I get that it's a little silly to apply color definitions to style definitions, but it's more silly not to. If I was a brewer, I could never call the beer in that post "amber" as a defining/differentiating term even if it's hitting an extreme end of that color. I kinda wonder if brewers are on this slippery distortion slope... creating some fantasy idea due to snowballing... attempting to differentiate "amber" from "pale" even if it defies logic. Of course I'm also open to the idea that I'm being a total idiot (or perhaps I just don't "get it").

 

Speaking of better halves, my wife loves Marzens that go in the direction you described, "Caramel!" I'm going to get me some, and earn some points with the boss. Thanks for putting this one on my radar.
PS. Great pic of you 2.

 

BWWWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

How'd I miss that?

 

Since the thread hasn't been shut down yet, I'll sneak in a last-minute contribution. I like reviewing weird beers for NBS because I do a train of thought reaction and review.

The beer I'm drinking is Sierra Nevada Thai-Style Iced Tea, an ale brewed with lactose, orange peel, black tea, tamarind, and star anise; in collaboration with Mikkeller.



Look: The beer comes in a hazy deep orange color. Very little head was produced even with a semi-aggressive pour, so the beer is either lightly carbonated or the weird ingredients mess with head retention--as I know this glass was properly cleaned. What little head there is is a thin beige film. A thin ring remains, and only spots of lacing cling to the sides of the glass.

Smell: Wow. What the hell? What a strange aroma. What it immediately reminds me of those chocolates that are filled with orange-flavored cream. It's very sweet and comes across as both chocolaty and orangy to me. A few more sniffs discern the spice character of the star anise and black tea, as well as a rich biscuit/caramel malt backbone, but I'm not getting much else.

Taste: It tastes lighter and less pronounced than the aroma indicated, but still sweet and interesting. The malt is the first thing I notice. It's biscuity and slightly caramelly, but not really bready or grainy. The sweetness from the lactose stands out more. A gooey, vanilla-like sweetness that blends with the citrus character of the orange peel and tamarind, (which come in immediately after the malt) to create an orange marmalade and orange candy flavor. The black tea and star anise come in more on the back end, but from the mid-palate to the finish they provide a prickly spiciness reminiscent of clove and black pepper. It's not hot or intense, but it is a pepperiness that balances out the rich candied sweetness and provides that new dimension. Finishes slightly sweet, but not as sweet as the aroma and the taste upfront would indicate, with no real lingering flavors to speak of.

Feel: Slightly creamy and silky from the lactose, but not super chewy or thick. A little lighter than I thought it would be, honestly. There isn't much carbonation, either, so the stickiness does weigh on the palate a bit.

O: An interesting novelty, but not that great, to be brutally honest. Fun to try once, but it's nothing I personally would ever buy again.

 

Well hello, Late Night NBS.
As is common, I really don't get to chime in 'til the later end of this warm gathering. Again, I'm really busy. Labor Day weekend simply gives me one more day to get a few things done around the house and one more day for lesson plans, paperwork, etc. for school. Oh well. At least I snuck over to Green Cheek Beer Co. in Orange.
Green Cheek is the new baby of famed local brewer that finally got to start his own brewery. He put in some respectable years at Taps in Brea, CA. Then became known for upping the game at Noble Ale Works. When local brewery Valiant sadly closed, Evan jumped at the chance at acquiring this turnkey brewery. So now he's up and running, and putting out some very respectable beers.
Here's a few from today:
Member IPA?
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49404/296522/

Harrumph! A hazy DIPA
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49404/300693/

Really liked the place. I will do a better job getting there than I did when it was Valiant.

Oh, and they have a really interesting collab with San Diego's Mikkeller that's like a beer version of an Arnold Palmer. Some of you in the NBS BIF #6 may be getting some soon.

 

Mikkeller / Omnipollo - Prince & Pauper

The brewers call this a "dry-hopped grisette." It's 3.9% and it's brewed with rye. Surprised to see rye (as opposed to wheat) in a grisette (even if they are the same family). This one is very nice. There's a little tropical fruit in the aroma, but thankfully this isn't a dominating element. Body is very light. Goes down fast. Striking clarity... I'm so used to seeing hazy saisons lately. I got the sense of a very slight spice in this before I knew it had rye. I'm thinking I might just be tasting the rye there. Herbal finish. If this was available as a well-priced domestic six-pack, it would be a great summer beer. Can't have it all I guess.

 

I recall finding this one weird, but oddly not that far out of line with its supposed intended mark of a Thai iced tea, given it is a beer. I am on the high side of ratings (as I check) and rated it two months ago, but recall thinking it was weird but in bounds of goals, IMHO.

 

Managing to get one more in after the drive from Philly to Plymouth, figured we would stop here tonight, see the rock and then to Boston tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/WaeCLn8.jpg

Pours a hazy yellow orange with a finger of dense head, lots of fine lacing all the way down the glass.
Smells more citrusy than anything, lemon and orange dominate, maybe a little pine in the background.
Taste follows the lemon orange nose, a little bitter bite on the end.
Lighter body with low to medium carbonation.
Overall very tasty APA.

 

I've never had Thai iced tea before, so I admit to being ignorant in that regard. I just reviewed the beer on its own merits. It's well made for what it is, but it didn't appeal to me a whole lot.

 

Lovely cooking there! Cheers!

 

I remember my first bottle of this beer. I am happily counting all it's flaws as my accent became more French each minoot! As much as mine was flat or whatever was wrong with it was darn delicious! =)