New Beer Sunday (Week 665)

Man, it sounds great but probably not Wednesday. I'll have family in town and have to work for a couple of hours that day, but I'll get there as soon as I can. I'm down to my last can of dHop2.

 

New Red Ale Sunday (Week 665)
Really enjoying the incredible mix of beer brought to the table today. For this next new beer big thanks go out to Ken, South Mountain Brewmaster and Keeper of the Doom Saloon, for this take on a red ale by Kings County Brewers Collective. He told me it was right up my alley. And he was right.

Earthy and herbal hops greet the nose in a med. strength aroma, joined by a general breadiness, some crackery notes, bitter orange, grapefruit pith, and caramel. Almost smells like a bit of mint in there too. Nice.

All the flavors of the aroma are present in a full taste, with the earthy character toned down and the bitter orange turned up. End of sip the herbal bitter character takes over and dries things out. Very well balanced cast of flavors, with some bright, and others muted, in a medley that pleases.

Mouthfeel is the key to this beer's success as a refreshing and delicious beverage. It is soft on palate while being fairly viscous for style, with medium carb, and a killer finish of exceptionally clean and deep nature.

I love this different take on a red ale, It is extremely refreshing despite having lots of the malt character you'd expect, and a killer finish that just seals the deal. Recommended.

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

 

With NBS 666 looming I had a very big beer lined up for 665...until my wife texted me from the grocery a few hours ago...



She actually insists that I drink this beer and review it for NBS. So...



BREWERY: Rivertown Brewery & Barrel House
BEER: Roebling Vanilla Espresso Porter
ABV: 7.80%
EXCITNG HISTORICAL FACT: Named to celebrate the 145th Birthday of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge linking Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY.
Tip: this info will definitely be on the final exam.

Looks: ...pretty nice. Fairly black.

Smells: ...pretty good and I'm picking up on the flavors in the name. Maybe even a little Ohio river muck, but in a good way.

Tastes: ...pretty tasty. It's sweet, thus highly drinkable for me. Vanilla is there and nicely balanced. No muck in taste. I don’t mind that I have five of these left. A little more roastiness might be helpful but God knows I'm not a brewer. I would certainly enjoy these better with a nice big piece of chocolate cake or some pecan pie with butter pecan ice cream. Also, at 7.8% ABV this doesn't taste at all like an imperial beer. "Imperial" was the word that caught my attention on the packaging. Needs more “imperialization”!! Put “IMPERIAL” in front of any beer and you’ll get my attention. No indication of ABV anywhere on the bottle, but the beer is pretty fresh with a 10/30/2017 bottling. Dammit Jim, it’s a good beer!

Mouthfeel: ...is decent, but I was expecting something a little thicker.

Overall: ...at $9.99 for the six-pack, there is no way I can complain about the quality for the value. Not to beat a dead horse, but sure I'll wack it again. Any beer that has 7.8% ABV does not qualify as "Imperial" in my universe. (Same for those 7.8% DIPA’s out there!) Dammit Jim!

I digress.

Now, I guess I need open another for my wife to see or she’ll stop BUYING ME BEER EVERY WEEK!!

Cheers gang!

 

If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

 

Another fun fact. At the south end of that bridge is one of the best beer/liquor stores in the country in the Party Source. My wife actually just crossed the next bridge over not too long ago. She is picking up a new puppy in Florence. Cheers to not sleeping for 3 months!

 

So true! I don't get to Party Source much these days but I've put in a lot of mileage over the years and pretty sure I contributed mega $$$ to their new addition.

 

Puppy pics ???

 

Probably my last new beer before switching to Dallas Sucks like @thebeers. Enjoying a 3 month old can of Cigar City Guayabera. Still really solid 3 months old but seems like the Citra hops are fading more than I hoped given how old it is.

4.12/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you Grizzarky for this
12 oz can, dated 8/21/17, poured into a snifter

A- A somewhat hazy golden straw color with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, herbal tea, hints of tropical fruits, touch of wet grass, some pale malts.

T- Citrus, pale malts/sweet biscuits, slightly piney finish with a touch of floral hops, some herbal tea.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A solid APA, just wish I had opened this when it was fresher. Balance with hops and malts is nice, but the hops seem a little more faded than I hoped out of a 3 month old APA.

Cheers!

 

Von Trapp Hoppy Marzen

I’ve had a few really good IPA-experiences that weren’t sold as IPAs lately. This is the latest. If one goes into this expecting an American Oktoberfest, they’ll be disappointed. If one ignores the idea that a Marzen is an indicator of strength, and instead concentrates on what the term signals to a craft consumer, this beer falls short... even with the “hoppy” disclaimer.

For me, style is also about a drinking experience as well as everything else, and this is an IPA drinking experience. It’s aggressively hopped and this contributes melon flavors and strong bitterness. These are the overriding sensations. The clean lager qualities aren’t lost here though. This was a nice beer.

The last few similar experiences were with a “kolsch” and an American blonde. They all drank like IPAs, but they were all really nice too. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I liked them all as if they were IPAs. The beers were more deft than your average IPA. I bet the claimed style allowed the brewer to make something a little more agile than one of their IPAs... but there are repercussions with playing loose like this.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. Overcast, rather cold, and windy as all hell here on the island today. Stayed inside and watched football all afternoon. Very much looking forward to turkey day which is by far the single greatest holiday ever. A paid holiday where I get to eat, drink beer, and watch football all day. Xmas aint got shit on that.

My fiance and I will just be having dinner at home. Her brother and and sister have 7 kids between them and we really prefer to just stop in and get out of there. That scene can get rather crazy. Both of our parents are Florida snow birds and my bro resides in CA. I usually go to a turkey fry/drunk party that one of our local fire departments hosts each year in the morning, then lunch/dinner at home followed by a quick visit to the in-laws There always seems to be a friend or two who stops over during the course of the day as well.

I haven't really converted any family to craft beers. Both of our pops drink that standard bmc although my father in-law does get a kick out of watching me photograph my beers. There are two beers that the fiance will drink- southampton pumpkin ale, and bluepoint blueberry ale. The rest of the time it's wine. I'm kind of glad because I'm not sure how I would handle her drinking up all my good stuff.

My new beer today is Well Rested, a bba imperial stout, from Greenport Harbor brewing. The beer is a blend of three of their regular stouts and was aged for 6 1/2 months in Heaven Hill whiskey barrels. The brew checks in at 11.5% abv, and no apparent bottle date but since they released it yesterday I'm assuming it was bottled last week.

A jet black pour with a fast off-white head. The nose is rather missing and I'm somewhat surprised. I get malt but not much barrel. Rich malts hit on the initial sips and a smooth and slightly boozy flow and finish. The barrel exhibits more of a subtle presence and I don't get all that much bourbon. It's more of a straight whiskey character with oak. Moderate/full bodied with booze but not terribly sticky. Additional flavor notes of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and smoke.

Overall, good but not great. It has good balance but the flavor notes just seem a tad weak all around. I was pretty excited when the brewery announced it's release but now I'm a bit disappointed. Maybe I was just expecting too much? I'm in the 3.5/4 range here,

 

Just ask the missus to be quiet when she gets up in the middle of the night to let the pup out !!

Problem solved.

 

In answer to the NBS question, I haven't converted any family memebers. The closest I've came is my Brother down in Florida, who will drink good beer when I am in town. Otherwise, he's a Miller Lite guy First up, a Sierra Nevada Holiday Haze IPA. Pretty good, 3.75 overall. Hoped for more

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/291724/?ba=russpowell#review

 

Good Evening NBS
To answer @cjgiant's question for the day, no one in my family drinks...alcohol...in any form. You all wonder why I hang out here on Sundays. My wife's family, however, are beer drinkers of German heritage so I fit right in. Most are game for at least a taster of whatever I show up with. Today I'm drinking this one all by myself. It represents my 67th style and 25th state. Traded to me by a coworker from his vacation haul from South Dakota.


12oz bottle bb 12/14/17 poured into a tulip pint glass at fridge temp 7% ABV. The beer pours bright light brown with minimal khaki head. The head recedes to a thin ring and cap leaving little lacing. The aroma is coffee first but not overpowering. The flavor is a nice mix of chocolate malt and coffee with a pleasant bitter end. There is a touch of alcohol in the finish that is minimal, but noticeable. Mouthfeel is medium to thin bodied, adequately carbonated and dry in the finish. Overall, very good. Just enough coffee to be present while remaining an easy drinking English brown ale.

 

New Beer Sunday: Imperial APA with spruce tips

Evenin’ NBSers with special salutations to seekers of spruce flavored beers and another special thanks to @cjgiant for today’s thoughtful start.

The weather here today has been mostly sunny and windy all day with a high in the low 50s which has been relatively pleasant despite the breezes. The chores and errands for the day have all been completed and my wife is pleased with the progress on the “honey-do” list. So it’s time for a new beer.

This evening’s new beer seems an appropriate one for someone living in PA during the colder months of the year. Dogfish Head has done an Imperial strength APA called Pennsylvania Tuxedo that seems to fit well with the Woolrich flannel shirts made and often worn in the upper tier of counties in PA where most of the State Forests are located.

What a lot of folks don’t realize is that outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA is one of the most rural states in the US and there are some really excellent areas for outdoor activities such as hiking and biking, and including some hunting and fishing, depending on the season of the year. For example, Pennsylvania is home to one of the largest free-ranging Elk herds in the US. (I bet if you put your mind to it you could guess the name of the PA County where this herd is most easily seen and the road side signs warn about Elk crossings rather than Deer crossings?) This same PA county is also home to Straub’s Brewing, which has been continuously owned and operated by the same family since 1872. Within the last few years they have begun to expand their range of offerings beyond the AALs that kept them in business for many years to include some nicely crafted beers that are within the range of what many of us call “craft” beers (e.g. a respectable Hefeweizen and a very well done Kolsch-style beer which I know @jackhorzema also enjoys quite a bit).

As usual my review of the Dogfish Head beer, subject to revision until the beer is completed, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/64/126246/?ba=drtth#review


I found the complexity of this beer to be fairly interesting. The aromas and flavors include the slightly resinous spruce tips and some toasted bready caramel from the malt. There are notes of citrus along with some fruity, floral and grassy notes. The malt sweetness and hop bitterness are very well balanced thoughout and everything closes with a light dry bitterness that still has a touch of that resinous green spruce noticeable to the very end. While I suspect this beer will not be for everyone, I personally thought the spruce, the hops and the malt formed an enjoyable combination. I definitely recommend sipping this beer since the spruce can begin to dominate the flavor profile completely if the beer is consumed too rapidly.

Tonight, before the Eagles game, I’ve got an original cast recording of an American Musical is Gypsy, starring Ethel Merman.

Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Cheers, all!

 

The question posed by @cjgiant about family is great, I have all my siblings and parents within 25 miles, we still get along, even as we age. As for beers we do explore and I do bust out the basement for this holiday. My parents are always game,and my mom is especially excited for home brewed saison.
We are back from our visit to Suarez Brewing, we love those guys so much, and today's offering is Duly Note.
A Pale Ale with only Vienna Malts, I really like the depth of flavor that is extracted from that malt, matched with a delightful hop choice this Pale Ale is worth seeking out
Duly Noted

Suarez Family Brewery
American Pale Ale (APA) / 4.80% ABV

4.09/5 rDev -1.2% | Score: 4.14
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a fresh growler into the test glass, served at 48 degrees.
A - Opaque straw color, gently carbonated, a white kit cap resides on top
S - Some semi sweet malt, a bit of pepper spice, then come the fruity hops. Papaya, and Pineapple.
T - Nice malt flavor, steers away from straight sweet, rustic, and full flavor, in that area, I can see why the love of Vienna lately, a more complex base, a bit of spice and less sweet. The hops add the sweet in the form of orange candy and dried pineapple slices.
M - Medium in body, nice heft to it, the palate is quick to respond to the sweet, then a quick shift to some distant dryness, and a final push back toward center, the water and body are so soft and delicate.
O -Exceptional body, the texture is delightful, flavors are as noted, but the execution is the real showstopper. Yes a Pale Ale that is worth the exploration. Wonderful flavors, blend seamlessly, a treat to be enjoyed.

 

Here's to a full win against Lyme.
Cheers

 

A quick drop with one I'm sharing with my bro down in his cave. Cellared in the fridge since purchase, I feel it held up very well with wonderful barrel notes. Price aside, it's a pretty solid beer.

Pardon my brevity as we shoot the shit. Heres a shot of the review.....

 

Happy New Flanders Red Ale Sunday!

Last 2 days on the Western Slope has been colder, at the trailhead today it was 40, sunny. Having a pretty tasty brew thanks to @Buck89, he also sent some nice glassware along. Picked up some chicken tacos on the way home. Watching Denver get their ass kicked.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9020/121162/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Back now with the tangerine variant of Uinta’s Hop Nosh. I had the grapefruit one recently on draft, and enjoyed it quite a bit. This prompted me to pick this one up today while shopping.

Now, I’m wishing I had picked up more grapefruit instead. It’s still good, but the tangerine borders on overpowering things.



Poured from 12 oz can dated best by 12/22/2017 so it might be a touch on the older side.

A: Crystal clear golden yellow with 1-2 finger fluffy white head. Nice retention and moderate lacing.

S: Tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, and fresh pine. A bit of baked bread and caramel.

T: Bright citrus with a blend of tangerine and grapefruit. Maybe a touch of lemon zest. The tangerine almost overpowers everything else but there is some pine and a subtle sweetness hanging around in the back.

M: Medium body with average carbonation.

O: Well executed IPA but I think I prefer the grapefruit variant a little more.