New Beer Sunday (Week 667)

New beer number #2 of the day. Proclamation Ale Company's Derivative: Mosaic Pale Ale. A friend grabbed me a couple of cans of this from Proclamation's soft-open earlier this week. This is a seriously delicious pale ale. Literally (figuratively) bursting with flavors of lemon, dank weed, pine, and a bit of stone fruit on the end.

I hope with Proclamation's new brewery that they're able to expand their distribution a bit, because this would definitely be a regular buy for me if so.

 

2nd beer for NBS. Picked this one up on my visit to NJ, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. Seems this is my year to work through their lineup.



Pours a lovely, almost clear orange color with a white head that retains well and clings nicely to the side of the glass. Smell is a little citrus, leather, orange liquor. Taste is thick, notable alcohol presence, orange liquor, white grapes, dark fruit, whiskey. Thick, creamy, full body meant for sipping, yet somehow does a good job of hiding the 18% ABV. Very interesting beer, tasty, great sipper. I'd buy again without a doubt.

 

I had that over Thanksgiving and really enjoyed it. They hit upon a great balance with the spices and base beer, and you could have a few in a row without it becoming tiresome.

 

I had it in growler this weekend and gave it the same score. Reading your review makes me want to open one of the bottles I got! I may have to get another growler fill tomorrow...

 

Thanks! I really enjoyed it also. Was a strange one to review. One of the most unique beers I've had.

It's definitely worth a try for sure. Power should be on in a few hours according to the electric company. We shall see...

 

Good Afternoon NBSers I took the morning off since I made the mistake of drinking a growler of CBS last night, with that being said it is time to get to a new beer. This afternoon the new beer I have is from Pohjala which appears to be a micro brewery in Estonia, the beer is Cocobanger. It is a 12.5% imperial stout brewed with coconut and a Caturra coffee from Costa Rica. I saw this beer and three others beers from this brewery at a beer shop in NC and decided to give them a whirl based on what the guys in the shop said. I am very glad I did, this is an amazing stout great natural flavors very balanced and smooth easy drinking.







Appearance 4 - Pours solid black with nice thick mocha colored head that lasts several minute before settling to a thick ring around the glass.

Aroma 4.25- The first thing I am picking up is some mild sweet chocolate, there is also a fresh shaved coconut aroma but it is sort of light and hard to detect until it gets almost room temp. the coffee is more of coffee beans and the alcohol burns my nose just a little at the end.

Taste 4.75 - Great fresh coffee bean flavor along with some light coconut up front. bakers chocolate more than sweet chocolate in the taste makes me wonder if the sweetness I picked up in the nose may have been something else. The alcohol is well hidden and adds nothing more than a slight warmth in the mouth.

Feel 4.75- Full bodied smooth creamy soft, just a light heat from the alcohol on the finish very easy drinking.

Overall 4.54- I was very impressed with this beer, very balanced aromas and flavors. the flavors are also very fresh tasting nothing artificial.

 

Happy Sunday, new beer samplers and commentators. And thanks for the intro, @cjgiant. I'm on to my favorite sport, college hoops. Yesterday, Mrs. Mac and I drove out to Central Pennsylvania to watch our alma mater play, and win, a really close and exciting game between top mid major teams. So we made the obligatory stop at Old Forge Brewing in Danville, PA for lunch and pours. Old Forge celebrated its 9th anniversary on Friday, and released Taming the Rebellion, an American Strong Ale aged for two years in bourbon barrels. It's an ambitious ale and I think some time in the bottle will mellow it. Here's my review:

3.91/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Reviewed two days after its release. Poured from cork and cage bottle into Old Forge pint glass. It pours a murky cola color with orange hues and an enormous, ecru colored head that resembles gelato. The nose features strong oak and bourbon, along with roasted malt, caramel, and smoky peat. The first taste sensation is caramel and sweet malt followed by peat and char and pervasive bourbon. Throughout, there is also discernible oak. What surprised me its its fairly bitter, hoppy finish. While it's smooth, the various tastes are distinct and not always complimentary. The bourbon really kicks at the finish. This ale is medium-bodied and moderately carbonated and it because the bourbon taste is strong, it feels stronger than its 9.3% ABV. Overall, this is an ambitious Ale and not for the faint-hearted. The flavors are bold and I'm thinking that it will mellow as it ages and settles.

Old Forge brews some good beers and serves some tasty food in the brew pub. I'd recommend a visit.


I hope everyone's enjoying their new beers today. Cheers!

 

4.12/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

A: Beer poured a dark black body with a solid two fingers' worth of head. Not much lacing going on with the beer but a nice ring of head lingered while drinking.

S: First smell was of a robust coffee. As the beer warmed I began to pick up more chocolate and barrel aging. The oak and bourbon smells were faint but present.

T: Sweet mix of chocolate and coffee. The chocolate tastes seemed more up front than the smells. Very smooth double digit ABV. However, the bourbon aging seems almost no existent.

M: Very smooth easy drinker. Sixpoint hid the alcohol well with the sweetness of the cocoa and chocolate. Nice amount of carbonation here as well.

O: Solid beer. Feels and drinks like a lighter ABV. Didn't get much from the barrel aging. Could pick up slight oak and burbon smells but almost no taste. A few will be cellared to see what age does.

 

My coworkers gave me this cool Advent calendar on Friday. This is my kind of gift, providing me with a 0.5L can of new German beer every day!


Door #3 revealed a Dunkelweizen called Holzknecht, from Privatbrauerei H. Egerer:


So how was it? I liked the look in the Weizen glass: a hazy hazel brown color with a thick and long-lasting white head. A big whiff brought mainly overripe banana mixed with caramel, toffee, and faint clove. So far, so good. However, the taste was disappointing. The banana was there but it was somewhat muddled and more restrained, allowing the wheat and malt to show up. Unfortunately the other components remained elusive and the flavor just came across as muddled and lacking - I'm not sure how to better describe it. The feel was nice - light and silky on the palate with medium carbonation.

Prost BAs! Hopefully I'll be back soon.

 

Here's an interesting one sent to me by @Premo88 , a smoked chile ale. Texas, represent! Robert knows I love smoked beers, but I'm also fond of chiles as well, and actually used to mail-order my 'green' from Hatch every year, so I'm also pretty well versed in those flavors too.

This is from No Label Brewing- What the Hatch, pale ale with smoked hatch chiles.

The nose is faint but distinctive. I'm definitely getting the tell tale deep green pepper aroma of the hatch chiles, along with a touch of smoke. Underneath that is a lively bready/caramel pale ale base with its own touch of spicy/citrus hops. These aromas go nicely hand in hand, and it's a much better choice on the brewery's part than to use a pale lager that would get overtaken by the peppers.

On the palate, it's a pale ale going down, while the smoke and chiles show up on the finish. It's quite an easy drinker, but gives you something to think about for a while after the swallow . There's a little heat that builds up, too. After a few sips, I'm really enjoying the crisp taste, clean slap of bitterness, and more and more citrus coming out on each one. The smoke is subtle, but definitely there, and it also builds as I get deeper into the glass.

The real success of this beer is in its base- I'm really digging that nimble and bright ale, and could keep going for that alone. The smoke and chiles are well woven and complementary and also invite more than just a passing glance. A very enjoyable A- (4.0), would probably be better alongside some carnitas. Thanks again, Robert!

ETA: Oh, yeah, as to the question in the OP, I keep wishing that Weyerbacher would bring back Fireside, their smoked dark ale that was 'just right' on every front.

 

Good afternoon from the sunny and unseasonably warm southern shore. I'm finally finished with the outdoor Christmas decorations and ready for a beer. Another big release weekend has passed leaving empty wallets in it's wake. Truth be told, I've had this beer several times dating back to 2011, but only ticked it in 2015 when I had it on tap at the brewery. That's the year I stalked @WesMantooth at KBS Day. It's time to give it a formal review. By now you've figured out what beer I'm talking about.

Like many I'm cracking a 2017 release CBS from the Founders Barrel Aged series. The abv. is 11.7% and I'm pouring it in my freshly washed CBS snifter that has collected dust for years. Let's see what all the fuss is about?

It pours a dark brown generating a bubbly finger of light brown foam that hangs around and eventually settles to a thin cap with a thick ring around the glass. No lacing is present, but there is a oily film clinging to the sides. The smell is dark chocolate, coffee, char, oak, alcohol, a hint of vanilla and faint bourbon. Taste is semi sweet dark chocolate, black coffee, fresh cut oak, vanilla, a hint of bourbon and a lesser dash of maple that finally emerges from the darkness. The feel is creamy smooth oil, but not chewy thick.

This is about as good as I remember from past batches. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it shares the same bold chocolate and coffee that fresh KBS had on tap at the brewery this year. The well integrated barrel is another commonality, but I'm tasting a bigger fresh oak profile in the CBS. While they're different beers, there's no mistaking they're related. This is so smooth and drinkable that I think it would be a huge mistake to cellar too many of these. I have one squirreled away in the fridge from 2011 that I'm going to do a comparison with soon. My score came down slightly from my ticked score of 4.99 to 4.85 / rDev+3.6%. It was worth the wait and a nice finale to a year of barrel aged beers that I enjoyed from Founders. Let the clamoring begin for Curmudgeon's Better Half and Black Biscuit to return next year!

Have a great day of new beer, I leave you with this.....

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1199/47658/?ba=Prager62#review

 

G' afternoon fellow NBS-ers! I had planned to review a different beer today, but since I was at Brew Hub yesterday, and I made a little pick up...

My plans have changed, slightly.


So let's get to it...

Poured from a 16 oz can into a Brew Hub Belgian-style snifter. Canned on 11/28/2017. 6 days old!

Appearance: Pale golden, hazy orange body with a full fingers worth of head. Tiny islands of lacing left within the glass.

Aroma: Dank pine, citrus and melon.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Dank pine comes through with a tart grapefruit bitterness. This has a real juiciness to it and yet it finishes dry and bitter.

Overall: Really tasty and easy drinking beer, will be drinking the rest of these cans fairly quickly.

Cheers!

 

Super bock,gold clear color. Aroma is grain and malt and a bit sour. Taste is identical , if ice cold it is ok but as it warms it becomes sour,butter in an unpleasant way. Not a beer i could recommend it want to try again

 

Still waiting for CBS to hit the bottle shop I usual go to, already e-mailed them about bottles so I should be good. Deciding to give Founders Sumatra Mountain Brown a try, I’ve been meaning to drink it sooner but had too many fresh IPAs and kept pushing this back.

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

12 oz bottle, dated 4/5/17, poured into a tulip

A- A dark brown with a three finger light tan head.

S- Roasted coffee, toasted malts, toffee, some chocolate

T- Toffee, roasted coffee, a little earthy, toasted malts, hints of chocolate.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A great brown ale with coffee, worth picking up, definitely will be drinking they fresher next time I find it!

 

Another fine beer from Founders and one that should be a candidate for next years Barrel Aged series. I had the barrel aged version on tap several years ago and thought it was very worthy. We can dream!

 

NBS beer #2 non vacation edition.



Tree Tapper Maple Brown

North High Brewing Company
American Brown Ale / 6.20% ABV

3.84/5 rDev +0.3% | Score: 3.83
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

L-The beer pours a dark brown, almost black. The head is fluffy 2 fingers of mocha. The head recedes to a thin film leaving light lacing.
S-The nose is malt heavy with a slight smokiness. Maple is light but noticeable.
T- On the palate this is a very typical brown ale. Malt sweetness up front finishing lightly smoky. The maple here is fighting to be noticed over the roasted malts and loses in the end.
F- Mouthfeel is pretty light. I feel like the beer is slightly overcarbonated which only highlights the thin mouthfeel.
O- A solid brown ale. The maple may have faded a bit from when it was originally canned. I would drink it again.

 

I had to add this one to BA. Octopi is a contract brewery, but had a previous label 3rd Sign, that had to be eliminated due to a distribution merger (long story). This is their new IPA under Octopi Brewing and it is a winner.

WI brewers have been reluctant to make this style of IPA, but some have decided to make them and are being rewarded with great sales.

HopRocket pours a cloudy orange yellow with a 2 finger white head and a bit of lacing. The double dry hopped Citra and Mosaic are noticeable with massive citrus and tropical notes. A good amount of tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and some sweet pineapple. Flavor is spot on with the nose and very juicy. Malt is light and blends well with tropical and citrus hop flavors. Feel is medium with some spritzy carbonation and a mild dry finish. Simply tremendous and a great price of under $11 for a 6 pack.

 

Heck, yeah! I knew at worst and even with that bit of age (maybe 8-10 months?) that brew could hold up for someone who gets it. Glad you liked it!

Two racks of ribs on the pit and dodging rain clouds here in the Brazos Valley, but the crusade to keep up temperature has some help:



Jester King's 2017 Spon 1, a spontaneously-fermented ale

Call it a gueze, lambic or what you like, it's pure funk and yeast candy combined into a light, fluffy, easy to drink vessel whatever else you want to call it. Makes me all giddy that I started fooling around with "sours" because the journey was worth it to reach here. As I poured it you could smell wet hay fields and old barns and Daniel Boone's coonskin cap after a long rain followed by an even longer stretch of hot summer sun ... Funkadelic and Parliament liquified. Frankly, a lot of skunk and damn near a salty skunk if you can dig. Salty here is likely an earthy note to most (coming off like salt to me). As it warms and you sip and get into it, a little lemon peel/lemon start showing up and even an iota of lemon sweetness (if such a thing exists) and then some tart apricot/peach or sweet grapefruit (not hoppy bitter grapefruit). And as it warms more and I'm at the quarter pole or so, "fruity" keeps coming to mind ... hard to say what fruit exactly ... cantaloupe, peach ... man, it's super light, but I had a bottle of 2016 Spon 4, and this 2017 Spon 1 is fruitier by a bit. Call fruitier less dry (less tart/sour).

The beer is not entered properly into the BA.com database, so I'll work on that part later today, but for now the first numbers from me look like 4 look/5 aroma/4.5 taste/5 feel/??? 4.5 or 4.75 or freaking 5 overall? I mean, if it's truly a 100% spontaneously-fermented beer, I can't imagine such a thing being a whole lot better. It's like the average Jester King beer with the funk factor cranked to 11. That's a 5 as far as I can figure.

There's enough going on in this post-apocalyptic NBS thread to fill two books ... too much to comment on adequately, so I'll sip, watch my ribs and keep reading your fine work.

Cheers!