New Beer Sunday (Week 667)

NBS! Joining today with a selection from an off the beaten path Columbus brewery.

The beer is decent, but just that so unfortunately I don't have a lot to say about it. Plenty of wheat, some herbs and lemongrass. Dry, a touch bitter. Easy drinking, easy to polish off the bottle at 5.3%, definitely saison in style just not a ton going on to write more about. Whether new or not I'll search the cellar for another to enjoy and post either here or WBAYDN depending on what I find.
Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks for the thought provoking introduction today @cjgiant, We have had a few occasions were a brewer has stepped back from an offering that we enjoyed. To be replaced with an IPA usually. The pattern of dropping a style, ESB, Keller, Dry Porter, Amber Ale. is the one I feel hits the hardest.
Today's offering is from a brewer who seems to want to try a bit of boundry pushing with each release. I continue to be impressed with the talent displayed. You read "brewed with Sumac" or another batch that was "brewed with sticks and other fermentables" and take pause for sure, equally for sure the content in the bottle is really outstanding. So here's to the
Scientific Method!

Cheers all

Volume Seven: The Scientific Method

Wunderkammer Bier
American Wild Ale

4.06/5 rDev 0% | Score: 4.19
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a recently released bottle into the test glass.
A - Peach pulp color, the tiniest spheres meander toward the surface. Collecting in a thin ring.
S - Citrus element, orange rime, some green grape skin as well, followed by a really interesting earthy band, including a bit of pepper.With some warmth the sumac begins to shine.
T - Very much follows the aromatics, lovely mix of sweet and slightly tart tropical flavors, pineapple, orange reduction, the grapefruit addition is in the mix without being dominant. A bit of spearmint and light oak as well.
M - Soft on the palate, initial response is to the tart side, then a quick change of gears and fruity sweetness takes over, only to be kicked to the side by a delightful dry finish.
O - Another wonderful offering from a talented brewer, this wheat based beer allows for the very creative additions to be showcased. A real delight

 

Upon gearing up to hit the lawn this morning, I hear from the bed an erie, screeching whisper of,"Babe, help me!" Turns out my wife woke up sick. So, I did what any good husband would do.....
I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for homemade chicken soup and a gallon of OJ. That soup took up most of my morning that I had set aside for raking leaves. Well now the leaves are finally done and I come inside to see my Bears up on the 9ers 7-6. She is fed, medicated, and back to sleep. Time for another beer.

This one was actually cracked late last night and corked. I had a few sips before putting it away for the evening realizing that I had work to do in the morning. Let's try it again for the first time.

Transient Artisan Ales - Foeder 2: Electric Boogaloo w/ black currants


Beautiful red raspberry colored pour with a fizzy, bright pink head. The nose is woody and there is almost a funkiness paired with the sharp, tart fruit. This is for sure oaked to the gills. Red wine grape skins, cranberry, and currants(which I'm not incredibly familiar with). Very dry and crisp. The wood mellows it out to make this an outstanding brew. Now, on to something a little "bigger".

 

Happy New Beer Sunday, all. Here's a Baltic Porter from Night Shift Brewing, "Second Breakfast"

I know that it's a baltic porter, and that it's 11%, but it's still REALLY boozy even for 11%. Good creamy mouthfeel, dark chocolate and raisin flavors. I'm glad it's in 16oz cans now and not 750ml bottles.

 

It's All Love Tho an American Session Ale from Twin Elephant Brewing. This beer is brewed with Pilsner Malt, rice, Magnum, Motueka, Wahatu Hops and English Ale yeast. It clocks in at an unsession like 5.4 ABV. TE has brewed many beers with oats but this is the first one brewed with rice that I know of. Pretty nice beer, Pale yellow color, Lemon aroma and taste light body dry finish. This would be a much more enjoyable brew in June, July and August. I hope they brew it again then.

 

Still working on the review, but HOLY CRAP! This is insanely good!

Beer courtesy of @WesMantooth. Snifter courtesy of @MacMalt. Flavor courtesy of the baby Jesus, I'm guessing. Wow! Coffee is actually rather restrained, but it gives the walnuts some room to emerge. I also get notes of molasses, chocolate, pipe tobacco (used to smoke it, so it's not a lazy descriptor for me!). Mouthfeel a little thin, but nowhere near to a deal-breaking extent. Just...wow.

Currently listening to an "illegitimate" recording from this show.

 

New beer #4. Picked this up as an afterthought (just to finish a mixed-6), but damn, this shit is awesome sauce.

Eroica - Lagunitas
7.4% abv
Purchased for $2.99 at Monde Market
Score: 4.22 (+7.9% rDev)



L - minimal head atop a dark orange body.

S - vinegar, wine. Never smelled a Lagunitas like this before!

T - quite tart. Sour berries. Red-wine vinegar. Dirty/earthy middle. Some bitterness on the end but only a glimpse of hops.

F - Medium-light body with heavy carb.

O - If I tasted this blind I would never have guessed Lagunitas. This is a legit Flanders-style sour. I dig it and will be buying more if I see it again...especially at that price point.

 

Happy Sunday NBS crew. Power is out yet again so posting from my phone today. This excellent beer is courtesy of @SammyJaxxxx. Thanks Greg!


22oz bottle poured into a snifter. Not sure the bottle date.

Pours dark black with a light brown head that is about a finger high. Head slowly disappears leaving some nice lacing.

Aromas of chocolate, maple, coffee, and what I can only assume is bacon. Really interesting nose. Tough to describe properly.

Wow is this rich! Roasted malt, chocolate, salty bacon, maple syrup, and coffee notes. The description on the bottle mentions a smokey flavor and I'm picking that up also.

Medium body. A little on the thinner side compared to some stouts in this ABV range.

Overall a really intriguing and excellent beer! Was fun to review. The bacon makes your tastebuds do a double take after the first few sips. This thing is incredibly rich so be warned.

4.52/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

Whoa, seriously?! I will definitely have to grab me some of that, then. Thanks!

 

Ah, it's a football Sunday and two new beers, fresh this weekend in Asheville. Both are not in distro , brewery only.

The first is a double IPA from Buriel, its Eternal Life Is On My Trail. Made with HBC522 and Bru-1 hops, and experimental lupulin powder, 8.5% abv.

Into my kbs glass, but it's really a beautiful pour, hopefully the color comes thru in the picture, and , it's been holding this head forever. Let me add it's completely hazy and turbid as hell. Just tons of fruit on the nose very aromatic. I'm getting lots of bitter fruit but it's definitely not grapefruit. For lack of a better description perhaps like a spiked Apricot maybe a Peach, but the bitter pit part if that makes sense. Enough malt to make it drinkable, but not enough to kill the hops with too much sweet. Really nicely bitter. I love all the Buriel Beers , but this one is really stellar imo, this easily competes with the top dipas I've tried. They pump out the experimental beers, but this one should stay and it's far better than Surf Wax.
Later another Buriel beer, one at a time.

 

I recieved this next beer in a box sent to me from @sirhc3034 . A sour stout is a style I feel is way under appreciated, and I tend to enjoy. The glass is from a brewery I hit weekly because it's close to home and they keep churning out jems.

Professor Black sour cherry stout

Straight from my review:

12oz can poured into large snifter - no can date

Pours a very dark brown with Amber hues caught in the light as it leaves the bottle. The foam is coco powder brown and fizzles away to nothing fairly quick. Sweet cherry and milk chocolate on the nose. My first sip is sour as hell! My nose has deceived me. Tongue drying sour leaves me smacking my lips. The malt is covered up completely by the cherry juice taste. Thin and flat feel. I was excited about this one, but it just didn't deliver.

 

Your review is spot on, IMHO. I loved that beer.

 

Sounds like a beer I'd dig. Lifting the last of my Oil of Aphrodite to you getting your power back soon.

 

Holy shit this is good.
Pours jet black with large fluffy mocha colored head that sustains for longer than I've ever seen out of a 11% BA stout.
The aroma is dark roasted coffee, chocolate, maple. The bourbon notes are there, but are very muted and play in the background. Most of the bourbon aroma is vanilla oakiness.
The flavor follows the nose coffee hits big up front before giving way to a big chocolatey sweetness. The sticky maple sweetness begins mid palate and continues through the finish. The barrel note is present, but this isn't a boozy BA beer. The bourbon isn't overpowering whatsoever, it's only throwing a bit of oakiness, some pipe tobacco and vanilla.
The mouthfeel is the only thing I'm knocking this beer for, it's still amazing, but I would've preferred it to be chewier.
Overall this is a crazy amazing beer, I just wish it was in 12 oz and affordable and I'd buy cases of it. It's an insane beer.
4.98/5, I gave the mouthfeel a 4.75. It was a little thin but otherwise perfect.

 

Never thought about a bock having coffee ... sounds delicious actually.

 

5th (and final) new beer of the day. Coming after that stellar Lagunitas, this is a letdown.

Liquid Truth Serum - Dogfish Head
IPA - 6.8% abv
Purchased for $3.29 at Monde Market
Bottled 10/6/17 (58 days ago)
Score: 3.67 (-9.2% rDev)



L - 3-finger head atop a translucent yellow body.

S - honey, spicy/grassy hops, a little citrus.

T - very sweet. Dirt/grass hops in the middle. Very low bitterness.

F - Highly carbed, light body.

O - This strikes me as DFH's attempt to mimic a Tired Hand's sweet ipa. It doesn't really work. The body is lacking, and it's just too sweet to hold its own.

 

FINALLY got my hands on an SN Fresh Hop Pack at Whole Foods of all places. I think they have different distribution than standard Connecticut liquor stores.
I'm starting with the session because.. well you know, proper progression. (Have some cooking to do this afternoon to).

This is my first experience with Strata Hops. If this beer is good example of their use they have a bright future.

4.01/5 rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

From a can dated 10/13/17 to a tulip.
Pours to a light gold, subtle haze, borders on clear but not quite. Significant head, but it does fade to lacing and surface head after a few minutes.
Aroma is wet old grass. This is dank, but with a mild bite that I can't describe.
Taste is pretty awesome for a session, starts mild, hop "bite" comes on full at the back end.
Mouth feel is light but acceptable for a session. Carbonation seems appropriate.
Overall -what great 4.8% beer.

 

BKS might be the hottest brewery in KC right now. To set things up, KC's NE IPA market has been seriously lagging well behind the national market. Not a single brewery in town produces a NE IPA with any regularity, let alone in a to-go format. So when a couple came along and started brewing good beer, offering minimal to-go options, and only serving one day out of the week, they nailed the recipe for exclusivity in an untapped local market. The release for this beer saw a line long enough to sell out their to-go stock in an hour, and their release yesterday went even quicker. In fact, they were so full, there was a line to even get into the brewery even after to-go cans sold out. I'm still not sure if I'm proud, or disappointed. Regardless, let's see how BKS is doing, and sample their holiday special IPA.



BKS's Pine Tree IPA.

Pine Tree V1.0 pours a cloudy bright orange with a finger of white head. Head retention is fair, with little to no lacing left behind. Aroma is delightful. It smells like a bowl crammed full of pine needles, spruce tips, and nettles. It's a whirlwind of evergreen notes. Flavor profile is a dash of orange zest before soaring into notes of pine needles, pine cones, and spruce tips. The initial flash of flavor is reminiscent of typical citrus bomb NE IPAs, but the quick refocus on pine and resin leaves the taste somewhere in the middle coast. The pine notes carry a hint of bitterness. Mouth feel is medium in thickness, with a minute graininess to it. Overall, a unique "NE IPA", most notably since the bulk of its aroma and flavor profile carry notes typically brought about by West Coast style IPAs. Still, the masked bitterness, look, and feel are something more akin to a NE IPA. Interesting.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.29 | rDev: N/A (first review/rating)

Personal notes: Definitely an interesting beer. I wish BKS the best. I haven't had a bad beer from them yet. I just hope they can figure out a way to get their beer out more. I suppose it's a good problem when your weekend job as a brewer results in sold out lines, and over capacity crowds. Regardless, I'll do my best to continue reviewing their beer for those curious as long as I can get it....

Cheers!

 

This next brew was generously sent to my from @Summer78 . I took the advice of @TongoRad from a previous thread. After finishing my last beverage, I rinsed my glass and shook it out well before filling it with this new tasty beverage. I have been really "takin' it home" here on today's NBS. I hope all my friends at WBYDN can forgive me for today's neglect. I don't get to post as much as I would like, but today I wanted to try some new brews sent to my by awesome BA's.

Half Acre Orin old ale

Straight from my review:

22oz bottle poured into large snifter

Murky brown color, like gross water from a rusty faucet. Tan head bubbles like a pot of heavy cream and slowly lowers to nothing. Nose is brown sugar sweet with raisins. Taste is follows the nose with muddles prunes and molasses. This reminds me a lot of the first time I had BCBBW, but the flavors are more muted. Alcohol is very present as this warms up. Slick feel with good carbonation.

Between this and my chicken soup(I add white pepper and cayenne pepper when either of us are sick to help raise body temp) I'm starting to sweat. This would be really nice on a cold winter evening in Montana sitting by the fire.

I almost forgot to answer the question posed by @cjgiant . I've not had a beer that I wished would individually come back, but more so a whole brewery. When I first turned 21 there was a local brewery in town that had gone out of business. It was my first hang-out where I learned how to shoot pool and play darts. Kind of a coming of age location for me. My town couldn't support a local brewery because craft beer didn't really make a wave here until about 6-7 years ago. Sadly, I won't have any of those beers again. I don't make it out into the world as much as I used to, but that would still be a regular stop for me.