New Beer Sunday (Week 655)

New beer #2. A few years ago, during the height of the pumpkin beer craze, I tried 142 unique pumpkin beers between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Nowadays, I only buy the new ones to try, plus a select few favorites (Whole Hog, Alewerks, Schlafly, etc). This one had a steep price tag, but I had to try it.


Fat Heads - Spooky Tooth Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Bottled 8/23/17 (18 days ago)
Score: 4.19 (rDev +10%)

L - 2 finger eggshell head recedes slowly, leaving some spotty lacing. Dark red translucent body seems fitting for a Halloween-focused brew.

S - cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, cloves. Very inviting.

T - follows the nose. Some pie crust taste on top of the spices.

F - medium body, medium carbonation.

O - I personally like pumpkin beers that taste like pumpkin pie. This one has the pie crust thing going for it, on top of the spices, so it's a keeper in my book.

 

Earlier before lunch for a special occasion (lunch sucked by the way):

Westvleterevxn 12 (XII)



Pours a rich dark amber color with little head and lacing.

Aroma is of fruits specifically raisins and figs, with toffee, brown sugar, and honey notes.

Taste is a thick rich complex character with moderate carbonation with fruit flavors.

A very unique beer which I had always wanted to try, and which lived up to it's reputation.

 

Greetings NBS afficianados from the southern shore. There's a football game going on across the lake on this gorgeous day and kickoff to another NFL season. While football is currently the biggest sport in America mostly due to the gambling element, one has to ponder the future of the game in light of the concern and research regarding CTE. Youth leagues that once flourished around the Chicago area are seeing a precipitous drop in participation because parents are concerned about what the studies are revealing. Time will tell soon enough about how this may affect the future talent pool?

It's looking more like autumn around here as some leaves begin to change. The mornings are getting cooler and the lack of significant precipitation has many leaves dropping already as the trees shut down. I'm not a big pumpkin beer guy, but I'll drink a few to toast the season. I found rather pricey singles of Cold Press Coffee Pumking at my local store for $6.99. I bought two out of curiosity and my love for coffee. The twelve ounce bottle reads Vintage 2017 and the abv. is 8.6%. Let's give it a pour in my Pumking glass for the kickoff today!

Pours a dark transparent sparkling orange producing a few centimeters of creamy off white foam that quickly settles leaving no lacing behind. The smell is butter, nutmeg, allspice, pumpkin flesh and faint coffee. Taste is buttery biscuit, nutmeg, allspice, pumpkin flesh and slightly bitter dark roast coffee that balances the spices. The feel is slick and creamy smooth with a slightly bitter dry finish.

It smells and tastes mostly like regular Pumking, but the subtle addition of cold press coffee adds a slight dark roast and bitterness that balances the spices making it very drinkable for 8.6%. I like it and I'd buy more except for the seemingly high single price around here. My score is 4.18 / rDev+2.5%.

I'll be sitting around down in the cave jumping between games and probably go see my bro later. My thoughts are also with those in the path of the hurricane and I'm hoping the best for you. I picked up quite a few new beers this weekend so I'm certain to return later. Enjoy your new beer and games today. I'll leave the official scorecard for halftime entertainment......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/249893/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Cheers to NBS. Excellent foreword by @cjgiant as usual
I have enthusiasm for the new football season but Mrs Gee had to hear a rather " enthusiastic " rant about how I have to suffer through 2 1:00 clock games that do not feature my favorite team, thank goodness for fantasy football
I have a new beer and a new brewery to me this week
Karma Emulsion from Hill Farmstead
Brewery

I had great expectations for this one, I have heard so much about how great their beer is.
Smell
Earthy grapefruit maybe mango notes
Appearance
Cloudy yellow almost looked like a glass of grapefruit juice, thin head no lacing
Taste
Grapefruit up front maybe a bit musky. Definitely a citrus type of brew
Mouthfeel
Slight fizz on the tongue similar to a glass of grapefruit juice or orange juice that's old. Taste dissipated fairly fast leave a slight bite on the tongue.
Overall
I got the feeling this was like a good session beer, it was kind of thin tasting. The citrus is the only taste that really stood out for me. I was a bit underwhelmed giving the reputation of the brewery. I wouldn't pass it up again it was very drinkable

 

Earlier before lunch for a special occasion (lunch sucked by the way):

Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze Cuvee Armand & Gaston



The beer pours a very nice light copper color.

Aroma is a complexity of floral freshness that is wonderful, with a herbal and faint citrus mixture.

Taste is great with a complex fruity character and a decent amount of carbonation

A superb gueuze which is definitely worth trying.

 

Skip the Formalities a 5.8% American Pale Ale from Twin Elephant Brewing. Twin Elephant does a fine job with any style they brew. The best beers they brew however are APA's and IPA's that clock in at about 6/7% ABV. The brewery hit a home run with this beer. It's brewed with Pilsner and Pale Munich malts and some oats. It's hops used are Mosaic and Idaho 7. Poured from a 32 oz growler Skip the Formalities pours a light peach color with a thick but small white head. The aroma is of citrus and tropical fruits with a hint of pine. The taste is very complex with hint of every thing from bready malts to the fruits in the aroma. The mouth feel is full but soft. The finish is hoppy and bit bitter. This was a WOW beer for me. From the first taste it was good and kept getting better. I'm not the only one who thinks so. They sold it out yesterday afternoon.

 

Howdy NBS! Had an excellent time yesterday at an Oktoberfest event at the German club (Boylston Schul-Verein) in Walpole, MA. Drank my fair share of Hacker-Pschorr Märzen and even got to sip on Riegele's Augustus weizenbock before the keg kicked! The schnitzel was excellent, the weather was perfect and overall I had a great time! Now for today's new beer...

Stone's Fruitallica, a collaboration with Beavertown and Garage Project. It's a double IPA clocking in at 8% with additions of yuzu, kiwi and habanero peppers. I don't know anything about the two co-conspirator breweries here, but it seems like they influenced Stone to make a cloudier, NEIPA style beer here... observe:



I couldn't believe my eyes when this gorgeous, turbid orange beer tumbled out of this bottle and into my glass. It is topped off with a sudsy and retentive head which builds up very modestly to about a finger-and-a-half. There's some sticky lace that forms as I sip at this one and the collar of foam has pretty solid legs and obscures the surface of the brew quite handily. Great looking stuff, and very unusually-unfiltered for Stone.

Nose is fairly similar to Enjoy By from my recollection, though it's been more than a few months since my last EB. There's heady pine, tropical fruit and citrus pith with strong juiciness and light notes of green pepper and cut grass. Very dank and interesting smell. I don't think the yuzu or kiwi jumps out of the glass, but there are suggestions of those fruits here and there, for sure. This has a dusty, yeast element that reminds me of Tree House and Trillium beers. Guess I chose incidentally-appropriate glassware here, eh?

Flavor is fantastically-detailed with bright tropical fruit and surprisingly firm bitterness rounding out the palate. I taste notes of pineapple, grapefruit and, indeed, a bit of yuzu here. Slight piney-ness and more resin, citrus pith and citrus peel. Very rindlike and fruity. The habanero heat is, thankfully, very much dialed back here, and it presents only towards the finish as a modest, minor and effective heat that works with the 8% ABV to give some heft to the proceedings. It's a surprisingly good balance; I was a little worried how they'd be able to pull off all those elements combined, but it seems like they opted to mostly let the beer speak for itself. The feel is soft, chewy and rounded with decent ethanol presence and detailed carbonation. Rather "pillowy" in a sense, which is apropos of the style on order here. This is an excellent, fun drink and probably my favorite Stone collaboration in a long while. Most of them have been average at best (I think the last one I liked a lot was Megawheat) recently.

Have some terrifying, harrowing death metal! Gonna watch some football with my roommate and grill up some stuff in a while.



Until next time, friends! Cheers!

 

Pours a very dark night color with a little head and no lacing.

Aroma is malty.

Taste is very bitter maltyness (compared to their coffee stout which I tried yesterday, this is a let down).

Somewhat disappointing as I enjoyed their coffee stout much more.

 

Good Afternoon everyone thanks to @cjgiant for getting us started. This afternoon and I getting started with a beer I picked up last weekend, it is a collaboration between Burial and Jackie O's called Blackfalls. It is a Baltic Porter brewed with Appalachian Spicebush, I had no idea what spicebush was or what it might add so I had to look it up.

"In the fall, collect the red berries and dry them to use as a spice that has both sweet and savory uses. Sometimes sold as “Appalachian allspice,” spicebush can be used like allspice and makes a scrumptious ice cream and spice cake. The berries have a peppery note that makes them an excellent addition to meat rubs and marinades, as well.:

Well the spicebush does add some spiciness as well as some heat but it turns an ordinary Baltic Porter into something else, nice flavors and just the right amount of spice.

Appearance 3.75 - Pours thin black with thin tan head that is similar to what you would see on a soda and lasts abut as long. No lacing

Aroma 4 - Roasted malts, chocolate, slight undertone of spice but you really have to look for it. There is also a light coffee ground aroma

Taste 4.25 - Taste is similar to the nose mainly roasted malts and dark chocolate. I am getting the spicebush, it comes through in a spicy peppery flavor similar to a very mild jalapeno. It adds a nice depth to an otherwise basic baltic porter. the coffee comes out just a bit more in the taste than the nose but is still very faint.

Feel 4 - Medium bodied slightly creamy feel at first with a little warmth from the spicebush.

Overall 4.09 - A pretty basic baltic porter but a good one, the addition of the spicebush is a nice addition.

 

I will have to keep an eye out for this one, I picked up the rum barrel aged version last year though it was good but I think I liked the regular version better.

 

I lucked out, this has been my third time trying to get this one!

ps-I still think you get all the good beers!

 

Picked one up today for $5.29, which I guess is a steal compared to your bottle! Saving it for next week's NBS...will be comparing my (less-accurate) notes with your impressions from today. I am quite fond of Pumking, so guessing I will dig the coffee version too.

 

I bought a rum barrel as well, but not sure I'll get to it today.

 

I will keep an eye out and see what you think about it. Thanks.

 

Nice to hear. I just grabbeda beer from them yesterday. Looking foward to trying it.

 

Thanks for the start @cjgiant on this NBS. Just sitting here watching some football, keeping up with the Roadrunner vs. Coyote BIF thread, oh and waiting on Irma to come to town. All while sipping on this tasty sour from Upland courtesy of the last round from @SammyJaxxxx . God help his target this round! He's a super generous BA.

September 2016 bottling.
Appearance: Beautiful slightly punk hued body with a decent amount of carbonation constantly bubbling up.
Aroma: Tart and acidic plums and cardamon.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Plums, sweet and tart with a loively cardamon spice that lingers. Such a light body with a little carbonation.
Overall: This one is a real treat! Sour, without being vinegar; tart and sweet plums and a helluva great spice to add to it! Just really well balanced. Superb.

Cheers!

 

Things have gotten a bit better in Landover, but still not inspired with confidence that this year will be any better than any other Keystone Cop year.

One organization that is not currently letting me down is Modern Times, from whom I enjoy this Roots of Coincidence



Pale yellow murky body with a quickly rendered null head. Nose is mighty sweet mango and papaya, possibly melon as well. Taste has every bit of a fruity presence, but it's skittering between the aforementioned mango, tangerine and grapefruit. Just enough earthy to bind down all the tropical before it leans out of balance. Finish is fine enough, but oddly, there's a bit more heat in the throat than what you'd expect from a 5.5% beer.

 

Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesn

Thanks @cjgiant for the start, and all the best to those recovering from Harvey and dealing with Irma.

Football and Oktoberfests are one of my favorite combinations in this world. Wish the NFL wasn't so damned racist, but I haven't made the switch to college ball or soccer just yet.

This wiesn-style festbier pours a clear, straw yellow with slow-rising effervescence and a finger-and-a-half of creamy, white head that leaves fat rings of lacing.

There's a mix of bready and crackery malt in the nose that provides a touch of sweetness with some floral hops far behind.

It's clean tasting with sweet, lightly bready malt up front, a hint of all spice and a semi-dry earthy bitterness in the finish. The light side of medium bodied, with a slightly creamy feel.

This is a great, easy-drinking take on the style. I still like Hofbrau better, though. Go birds.