New Beer Sunday (Week 659)

I took part of the NBS BIF this go around. @jhavs sent me a phenominal box of beer with basically 30 new beers plus Focal Banger and Heady Topper. Here is my review of his mystery beer.



4.03/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Dark black body with two finger's worth of caramel colored head. No lacing on this beer but a higher than normal carbonation keeps the head strong while drinking.

S: Beer smells as a sour at first pour. Getting a strong smell of grapes and wine. After the beer warms I began to pick up chocolate and barrel smells.

T: First tastes are that of a sour. Grapes to start. The barrel and stout flavors came out later. The barrel flavors are there but not overpowering.

M: More carbonation that I imagined. The beer has a lighter feel. The boozy tastes have some lingering tastes too.

O: Beer starts out mimicking a sour with grapes and then turns to a stout. More carbonation than I have had in similar beers. Good interesting beer. Enjoyed the stout end more than the sour beginning.

So the beer ended up being Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Matter (https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36073/206070/). Really nice beer but I emjoyed the beer more as it warmed up.



Thanks @jhavs for this beer and an amazing box overall. And sign me up for the next round of this NBS BIF.

 

Lost Souls, batch 1 from Evil Twin.
Pours a cloudy orange with a half inch well retained white head that left lots of lacing. Smells and tastes of mango, peach, tangerine, a.bit of pi e and a very nice sweet malt presence. Light bodied with a slightly watery mouth feel. Light to moderate carbonation and a slightly dry finish with minimal bitterness.

 

Another NB thanks to @smanson56

Split 3 ways again with my beer nerd friends.

Short review, cloudy pale yellow head with small head. The nose is all Citra-big citrus, tropical fruits. Really delightful. Taste starts out with citrus, soft tropical fruits, mango, then finishes with that light funk. Crackers in there too. Highly drinkable. As an ipa guy this fits in perfectly. Cheers!

 

Carton in in North Jersey I think, a bit to far to wander, I need a Trenton/lawrenceville area place that's in my radius for the few days I'm at home.

 

Tim, thanks so much for taking time out of your working, coaching, family man schedule to meet us crazy Floridians! My wife is great, she's all about the journey, the destination is a side benefit. We may hit a brewery where she not a fan of any of the beers but she'll always find something. We're planning a little trip next year for her, Napa Valley with the wine train and vineyards. Oh, and I hear there's is this little brewery in the Napa area, Russian River. We may just have to swing by there......:-)

 

You can get Carton in South NJ. My son goes to school in Glassboro, and I've seen both cans and draught in the area. Also have gotten draught Kane beers down there.

 

Excellent opening from @cjgiant, which made me think about this: Beer Advocate is an extremely popular site amongst craft beer drinkers, but how is it that I'm the only person from Kansas that posts here? Am I missing something? Do other Kansas BAs only post in the regional thread? It's confusing. I guess I find it strange that only one, maybe two craft drinkers from an entire state post on WBAYDN. Know what I mean? I'll ponder this and be back later with a NEW BEER (or two)!

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @cjgiant for getting us going this morning, which is reveal day for NBS BIF #6 and New Avatar Day (For me, anyway. Today Cooper Kupp suits up against the Seahawks, so, at least for today, he had to go).

41° in my city at the moment, where it is a clear and cold fall morning. Yesterday, we canned over 60 barrels worth at No-Li, so my ass was kicked, and still is today. (I am in truly dire need of rubber boots. My hiking/snow boots were unequal to the standing water and beer issues of No-Li's sloping floor. My socks smelled like an amber/imperial stout hybrid.)

Went to Hamilton, Montana on Thursday to can beers for Higherground Brewing, a tiny little brewery I heartily recommend (However, jhe journey was not without incident.
This was a few miles from the summit of Lolo Pass on the Idaho side. If we'd been on the Montana side, there'd likely been no phone reception, and we might still be there).
Super nice people and great beers.

Not a bad view for a parking lot pic.
This was their MT Haze IPA, and it was delicious.

We took some short pour cans home with us. This is their Base Camp Irish Red.

I'm not an amber/red ale guy in general, but this had a nice flavor to it. Not my personal cup of tea for more than one of, but for someone who likes the style, I'd encourage them to try it.

I was told in advance their Hula Hopped IPA was outstanding, and I was not disappointed. Great stuff! Next time we can there, I'm buying a 4-pk and bringing it for other folks to try.


Today will be devoted to my boxes from @WesMantooth, who has utterly decimated UPS and USPS personnel, along with space in my fridge. I'm posting pics of what I've received so far (there's also a 25LB box - - currently in UPS delivery limbo), but here's the first of two mystery beers I'm getting. @WesMantooth has warned me that it sucks, but I'll give it a shot, anyway. If nothing else, it'll be a case of onwards and upwards, right?

I shall be reporting back shortly.

 

As usual an interesting start today by @cjgiant, and, as usual some interesting beers showing up.

Turns out I'll not be joining in today since we have just finalized the arrangements for today's family birthday party for a really enthusiastic and bubbly 8 year old who is the apple of her father's eye. (Apparently she has several surprises in store for her today.)

See y'all next week.

 

If you can point me to a location I'd appreciate that, I checked Joe Canals site and they do carry some Carton, but nothing I want to drive for.

 

My teaching and coaching responsibilities are allowing only 5 or 6 hours sleep each night so not so many beers and the welcome company of BA's. I'll get ahead of it soon I hope.

I found Melvin's IPA (WY) a couple of counties away from me in NY and now understand its appeal. -clear amber can pour with 2 cm of fine foam. Rings mark each draw. The aroma is of resinous hops. The flavor is very full with biscuit malts and piney hops. There is a caramel sweetness. The mouthfeel is full. This would be a daily drinker if available.

 

New beer #2. The 3rd (or 4th?) time I met @cjgiant was in Philly this summer for beer week. That night, we went to a Modern Times event where we tried a bunch of their brews. This one was on the menu, but I don't seem to have checked into it, and don't recall trying it, so picked up a 4-pack from Whole Foods last night to try ($11.99...not bad for MT.)


Modern Times - Fruitlands
Gose with Passion Fruit and Guava - 4.8% abv
Canned 9/28/17 (10 days ago)
Score: 4.06 (+0.2% rDev)

L - 3-finger off-white head recedes rapidly, leaving no lacing. Body is a translucent yellow.

S - tropical fruits galore! Guava all over the place.

T - Guava and passionfruit, as advertised. No hop presence at all. Quite salty, only mildly tart.

F - light body, highly carbed.

O - pretty typical fruited gose. Wish it was a bit more sour. Good for a humid day, though.

 

Hitting the NBS hard today! This beer is actually from NBS BIF #5, Monkeys with Knives I believe. Thanks to @Wasatch for this one.



Split 4 ways.
2017 vintage 750ml, split into 4 tulips. Looks like cherry cola, hints of red. Fine bubbled head leaves quickly but leaves small ring around inside of glass. The nose is vinegar and oak wood. Ripe dark cherry, oak, vanilla. As a sour beginner this beer is delicious but glad to have split.

 

New imperial Stout Sunday

Happy NBS everyone! Just finished my first new brew of the day, Jackie O's Black Mask: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1432/301855/?ba=bluejacket74#review





I thought it was good overall. I'll be back on here in a while with my next new brew!

 

So a bit of a quandary, the mystery beers style in unknown, so.... To make it ice cold as it's the way I drink all beers except porters and stouts, or lightly chill in case it's a darker beer? I'm opting to popping it info the freezer for 15 minutes, if it a stout I'll let it warm up a bit. But first an Alpha King.

 

Happy NBS. I'm in a better place than I was a week ago. Grilling up some ribs for dinner and just trying to clean up around the house.

@2beerdogs sent me a surprise (ninja) box on Monday which really helped in taking my mind off of Dakota passing away on 10/1. It contained a bunch of cool beers and I can't thank him enough. I'm easily half way though the box.

Check out Stealth Mode from Bottle Logic. A blueberry Berliner that was the most blueberry flavored beer I have ever had and I rated it accordingly!

It is a deep purple color with a 1.5 finger light magenta colored head that fades quickly. As others note, not complex and you know what you are getting up front. It is pure blueberry juice/jam and the aroma is amazing. Cut into a fresh baked blueberry pie amazing. Flavor is very berry forward with a nice tart finish. Light bodied with prickly carbonation and juicy finish. I'd buy this repeatedly as a I really like blueberries!

 

Time to go blind into my beer the last BIF!!!!! Thank you @Grizzarky for this!
Blind tasting
Based off of the nose and looks I am thinking it is a porter over 8%, initial rating are based on that style in mind

A- Black with a two finger mocha head. 4.25

S- Bakers chocolate, some smoked malts, roasted coffee, touch of pale malts, some piney hops. 4.25

T- Smoked malts, hints of wood, an almost meat like quality to to the smokiness, touch of sweet malts and dark fruits, some dark chocolate, roasted coffee. 4.5

M- Smooth, full body, chewy. 4.5

O- A very well done smoked porter/stout. Big flavors without be overly smoky. Would definitely pick this up if I had the chance, seems like a good beer to age. 4.25

Time to take a guess before I unwrap the bottle. Given the size of the bottle and what else was in the box I’m guessing it is from either Prairie or Yazoo, leaning towards Yazoo because I think I saw a little bit of red on the cap as I opened it. Since that is the brewery I’m going with I will say based off of the brewery’s descriptions of beers that my beer is Sue.

Got the brewery right!!!! Let’s see about the beer!

And it is Sue! Great beer, easy to drink, definitely on my Wants list if it wasn’t already!
Your Rating: 4.38 rDev +6.3%

 

Okay, here goes mystery beer #1

While shrouded paper and tape, the bottom of the can indicates it was canned on August 28, 2017.

Poured into a shaker pint glass, this was a hazy, lemony shade of gold (looks darker here), with a big, pillowy white head. Lots of lace.

Thinking this might be a Saison. The amplitude of the aroma is low, at least fresh out of the can, but I'm picking up some faint spicy notes not unlike a Belgian beer. No sign of any alcohol notes or of heavy hopping. As it warms, there's also a sweetness that seems unusual, but I can't put my finger on it.

Although I thought I detected some Belgian yeast notes in the aroma, that doesn't translate to the taste, which is mostly devoid of flavor, apart from some fruity notes that suggest apples. Finish is a little dry when compared with the beginning of the taste, but is otherwise unremarkable. As it warms, there's a faint citrusy note in the finish, and some sort of really vague sweetness that defies identification.

Body is somewhere between light and medium, with a slightly watery mouthfeel. Carbonation seems low.

Not offensive, but that's about all I can say that's positive. This is virtually flavorless, apart from the distant fruitiness noted above. I'd say it tastes like a blonde ale, but I won't be surprised if something else was intended that didn't work out.

Okay, I'm now removing it's shroud...

Madtree Dreamsickle.

I would not have guessed this was a beer meant to evoke the popular orange and vanilla ice cream combination. It's awfully bland for something described as an "ale with vanilla beans orange peel and oranges juice added."
I'll be back with a rundown and photos of the overall beer mayhem sent my way by
@WesMantooth thus far. Might hit an IPA from him as well.