New Beer Sunday (Week 666)

New beer #4.

French Toast Crunch - Manayunk Brew Co
Porter - 6% abv
Score: 3.79 (0% rDev)



L - 2-finger dirty white head atop a dark brown body.

S - syrup, vanilla. Smells hella sweet.

T - more syrup. Not as sweet as I had feared, but still very sweet. Vanilla and cinnamon. No bitterness.

F - medium body and carb.

O - Quite one-dimensional, but decent for an inexpensive dessert beer.

 

Round two today, not new but incredibly good. It can't get much better, or can it? Still have a few NE heavyweights in the fridge. I feel like a druggie getting his hop fix on.

 

-by a bit of devilish luck a local venue has this on tap today !



Freestyle 666, -a Belgian strong golden ale, from Oxbow in Newcastle, ME

-this golden-yellow tap pour with a thin foam ring and a deep haze has a honey-clove aroma. The flavor is rich, sweet Belgian yeast up front, with banana and other tropical esters. The malt-base is sturdy. This finish is relatively clean for a sweet and strong pour. The 9% abv is not detectable. This is enjoyable, not devilish!

 

And a good post it is adding to this interesting ongoing thread which can also be rather entertaining considering we're lifting caps before breakfast.

 

I've brought forth a fairly ominous, possibly demonic looking label for #2 on this 666. From Adroit Theory, EBK NE Style DIPA (warning shot edition)



4.23/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Smokey gold colored with a head that leaves a ring of fog like lacing, a little sporadic and dense at times. Nose is the crescendo you like to experience in these, with equally bombastic elements of citrus, earthy vegetal presence and a sandy bitter. Taste carries primarily the orange family of citrus, with maybe hints of garlic around the edges. Feel is right thick for the style, with a nice dryness about the finish. Overall a good beer.

 

Nice, we seem to have a general consensus. I noted briefly in my review that I did notice a little more sweetness after the beer warmed up quite a bit.

Watching my fantasy teams score like they are fearful antichrists might be hiding in the end zone. Will have another new beer shortly, I think.

 

New New England Style DIPA Sunday!

What you guys thought I was gonna duck out of the 666 episode of NBS? I was going to, but this beer caught my eye!



Two Road’s Two Juicy DIPA.

As we can see, this Muv pours accordingly to the “NEIPA” style. Nice shade of blonde and orange trying to find sovereignty. Very opaque with a brilliant white frothy Head. Looks very good!

The Aroma? Starts off with a huge Citrus nose! Tangerines and Lemons all over the place! Slight stone fruit character in there as well, maybe Grapes? On the backend there’s notes of Hop Resins and Spice. Very outstanding!

Da Flavah? This hits first with an Orange Citrus that fades to a Resinous Hop vibe. Some Passion Fruit flavor comes out in the Background. Lemon peel acidity with a Pineapple crisp. Very clean Hop finish with slight Spice. The malts are barely there but enough to hold the Acids together. The feel is light bodied with harsh Carbonation.

Overall: This is an Outstanding DIPA! This isn’t just a Juice bomb, it also holds together a nice Spicy character that actually works well with the Citrus overtones. The carbonation is too cola-esque for my liking but there’s enough going on in the beer that makes up for it. This one stands it’s ground against the other New England (D)IPA powerhouses. All in All this brew is Recommended!

Grade: A -

Cheers my Fellow NBS Crew!

 

New beer #6. Last one from the fresh hop pack.

Sierra Nevada - Fresh Hop DIPA
8% abv
Canned 10/13/17 (44 days ago)
Score: 3.78 (-2.8% rDev)



L - frothy 3-finger head atop a crimson body.

S - spicy hops. Smells very much like Celebration.

T - spicy hops, booze. Much boozier than anything else in the fresh hop pack. Quite sweet. Low bitterness.

F - medium body and carb.

O - Strikes me as a sweeter, higher abv Celebration. It definitely looks the part. I prefer the less-sweet Celebration to this dipa version though.

 

Round barn brewery



Poured out a deep , dense orange with a nice thick off white head that is sustaining itself nicely 3.75

Think of the aroma you get while you are peeling a plump ripe orange, that is what i got with this , citrusy for sure. 3.75

Hop bitterness is nice, leans towards hops over malt and grapefruit is also present in the taste. 3.5

Chewy mouthfeel is what i get. I feel like even tho the taste was more towards bitter, the finish was clean. 3.75

Overall even tho i like a more balanced ipa this is not a bad take on it. Just a tad more on the bitterness side. 3.5

Cheers and happy NBS!

 

Happy New Beer Satan, err, I mean Sunday, everyone!

It is cold and a little icy-as-hell day here, I have done most everything that needs done, put some music on, got the house warm and am looking forward to hanging out and trying some new beers this evening. I don't usually review more than one beer on Sundays, but to hell with it, I will give it a shot. I even have a couple that are vaguely supernatural (though I am stretching a little). I'll make it fit come hell or high water.

The first today is a new Cyclope IPA from the folks at Dunham. These started as single hop IPAs (hence cyclops) but have begun to be dual-hop beers using mainly “experimental”/new-fangled hops. They are mostly pretty good (definitely better with two hops IMO). Even the mediocre ones are great ways to try different flavors and kind of isolate hop flavors. This one is made with Enigma and Cashmere. Let's see if it's any good.



It pours a nice light color with a decent head. The aroma and flavor are complimentary but aren't a mirror image of each other. There is a really funky BO twang in the nose. If it wasn't for some light peach-like sweetness it'd border on too much. The flavor features those same notes but they are the least strong part. It has a very earthy-bitter flat kind of bitterness that has some fruitiness and stank on the finish. It is a pretty tasty beer. Here's what I found about the hops on the interwebs:

Enigma: rock melon and light tropical fruit

Cashmere: lemon, lime and melon, exhibits a smooth bitterness and is mildly aromatic with a subtle herbal bouquet

Sounds about right.

Admittedly, I wish they would make these newer two-hopped versions “Biclops” and give the cyclops a monocle. But I am far from a master marketer They are tasty beers nonetheless.


Cheers everybody!

 

I had a feeling this was going to be the last big new beer in the house for discussion here on the penultimate NBS Week #666...

A gift from my Wife. She The Enabler...



Beer name: 70K

Brewery: Against the Grain ~ Operated by four dudes, and when it comes to beer names and descriptions these guys step up to the line...stomp on it...then sprint past it.

http://www.atgbrewery.com/people.html

Style: Double Mega Imperial Milk Stout

Brewery Description: Double roasty, double chocolatey, double creamy, double delicious. Then we decided to make it 2.5X awesome by aging it in Angel’s Envy barrels for a really, really long time. The bourbon and oak flavors perfectly compliment the massive flavors in the double mega imperial milk stout. You don’t swim in this beer, it swims in you!

ABV 13% 48 IBU's

The 666 Connection: None that I know of...but that will probably change by the time I get to the 6th pour.

AROMA: I’m getting a distinct bourbon and coke vibe. A flashback to my pre-beer days. I do NOT see this as a bad omen.

APPEARANCE: Quite oily with hints of brown highlights swirling in viscous black.

TASTE: There’s the bourbon! There’s the coke! Mix in some roasty notes, chocolate, sweet milkiness and, because I like to say it, dark fruits. Getting a little wood too.

MOUTHFEEL: Pretty thick and coats my mouth. There’s heat in the lingering aftertaste. I think this beer just gave me a couple cavities.

OVERALL: Tastes like what you would expect a Double Mega Imperial Milk Stout to taste. Very intense and sweet, but not excessively. Could be the bourbon and wood that pull it away from being a full on dessert beer.

The 666 connection: Yes, it turns out there is a connection. It's the HEAT!!

Despite the burning, I will of course continue sipping this beer until it is gone because it tastes good...and it's what my wife, She the Enabler, and the Duvel both want.

Cheers. Hail Duvel. Long live NBS!

The following is a repost of @cavedave 's earlier very worthy prose and is presented here with his permission...

 

Enjoying this Prairie/Evil Twin Bible Belt. I guess it's a reach but hey 666 came from the Bible right? Great stout anyway. Cheers!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/115939/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

Happy Sort-of-NBS BAs!

To be honest I have had this one before but it's been so damn long that I thought I would revisit it today!

Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale canned 10/03/17


Brown Ales are such an amazing and underrated style of beer. And it's beers like this one that really help remind of how great the style is. This brown ale gives me everything I want in a brown ale. Notes of Espresso, chocolate, caramel, toffee and roasted barley malt. The hops keep the beer from being to sweet and provides a nice amount of bitterness.

Overall a world class brown ale. More people need to drink it!

Cheers!

 

Your wife got you a bible?

 

Happy NBS, fellow new beer enthusiasts and commentators. I usually enjoy participating in special events such as NBS 666 but the last few days have been a little heavy in terms of eating and drinking even for me. So I'm going super lite: yesterday, Carton re-released its 4.9% Helles Lager which it hasn't brewed for several years. While this is not my favorite style, This Town is a really good showing with a lot of flavor for such a light beer. Here's my review:

3.93/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Canned 11/24/2017. Reviewed two days after canning. Poured into pint glass. It pours a crystal clear, golden-straw color with a finger of foamy, bright white head and generous lacing. The nose is perfect for a lager: cracker, grass, and a whiff of sweet corn. The taste features lots of cracker and toast with just a hint of corn. It's dry, clean, and crisp, and it finishes with a touch of pepper and spice but no bitterness to speak of. It's moderately carbonated and at only 4.9% it's as easy a drinker as you'll find. Overall, this is a really nice, easy drinking lager. While Carton regularly brews more interesting and ambitious beers, this serves its purpose well. For someone who doesn't like hops, this is a good alternative to Boat.

I hope everyone is recovering from a great Thanksgiving and enjoying your new beer!

 

It's good to see a lot of people sticking with the theme by drinking some AB/InBev

 

My only complaint would be if there was only one bottle . Great job, and glad you enjoyed it. It's a great beer, and just the right time of year to be getting into it.

 

Well, gotta admit, I missed this thread last week and in my travels to see my parents I kept on thinking what I was going to come up with for NBS 666. Lo and behold, somehow the name of this beer caught me.

Purchased at Westmere Bevy in Albany, New York, I got to add this to the BA database which is also pretty cool.



The aroma blended sweet milk chocolate/cocoa powdery substance to a finely roasty to sweet coffee bean. Subtle touch of sweet oats round out the edges.
The flavor was a superbly blended sweet to roasty quality covering the milk chocolate/cocoa powder substance to a refined coffee bean sweetness. Just like in the aroma, the oats seem to just speckle a light touch near the end. Aftertaste was milk chocolate, sweet oats and some coffee bean.
The mouthfeel was between light and medium bodied with a fine in between sort of quality of sessionable to sipping. I did notice carbonation seemed a bit higher than normal than in most oatmeal stouts but I wasn't too bothered by that as those oats did a good job smoothing the rest of it out in a nice silky fashion.
Overall, absolutely wonderful qualities in the aroma and flavor. I would think this could be an exceptional oatmeal stout if they brought down the carbonation level just a hair. My first Artisanal Brew Works and I'm looking forward to trying more stuff of theirs.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46685/314268/