New Beer Sunday (Week 667)

This is a beer I had yesterday at Burial, it's a Brandy Barrel aged Braggot. Ok it's new to me, it's a form of Mead , and it's made with honey and supposedly heavily malted with barley. I think it was 9% Abv. Let me say up front the barrel presence was pronounced, I was told one year in the barrel. This beer was not sweet despite the style. I took this completely blind and completely ignorant I would have assumed this to be perhaps a Porter. It lacked any roasty toasty notes. I've never heard of Braggot before yesterday, but I just took it to be a mild Porter with a ton of Brandy influence.

 

Stillwater Wavvy DIPA Batch #003. Not bad at all, 3.76 overall

Pours an effervescent & slightly hazed gold with a pinky of cream colored head. Some lacing & head retention

S: Grapefruit, & a little tangerine

T: Follows the nose, plus mango & a little bready dryness up front. More bready dryness as this warms, a little grapefruit , plus a little grassyness & mango. Finishes dry with grapefruit & tangerine

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, nice balance

Drinks easy, a solid DIPA, not a life-changing beer by any means

 

Greetings, NBS friends and family, on a gorgeous Sunday in North Texas that I spent in shorts and a t-shirt.

In December.

As a resident of Minnesota for 18 years before moving to Texas, I’m scared to say anything else.

Thanks to @cjgiant for the magnificent launch and the excellent question. My answer is germane to this thread and a thread on the main board that references August Schell Brewing Company, a brewery Mrs O and I toured 3 times (because it was 25 miles from our home in Minnesota), and that I hold near and dear to my heart (I’ve had 57 beers they’ve brewed).

Schell’s is noted for brewing German-style beers, and they’re outstanding at it, but a few years back, they used to brew what they called a London stout, which I absolutely LOVED - lots of chocolate and espresso flavors in a relatively low ABV beer.

So imagine my surprise when, 3 or 4 years ago, I asked about it at my Mankato beer store, and my beer store buddy told me it was out of Schell’s rotation. WHAT???!!!??? I wasn’t consulted about this!!! This is a traveshamockery!!!

I’m sure I recovered quickly and purchased other beverages that day (because it’s wot I dew), but that surprised me a bit.

On to today’s new beer, this is a seasonal included in a mix pack from one of my favorite breweries .....



4.19/5 rDev +9.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pour is a rich, copper-tinged mahogany, nearly clear, with a tight, tan head. Beautiful. Nose has heaping helpings of roasty caramel and notes of the cinnamon and ginger noted on the label.

The taste has the caramel notes of course, but the key is to let this warm a bit and let the cinnamon, ginger, and especially the nutmeg gain some traction.

The feel adds to the experience, with a slightly creamy touch that was very welcome. If SN adds this to their regular seasonal lineup, I will buy it every year, because it really scratches my winter warmer itch.

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Wow! I totally love being done with work at 6pm on Sunday in the wintertime - I get to enjoy NBS sooner.

I'll be honest, it was tough choosing what to enjoy tonight, but I think I picked a real winner with this one.

Winter's Edge from Wild Mind Artisan Ales in Minneapolis.
I've had to submit a change here, because the can and their website list it at 10.2% ABV.

So, how is it? Pretty damn good. This barleywine just has such good flavors - caramel, raisin, and a touch of heat on the backside. Just another damn good beer from them. I picked this up after work Black Friday. They had their Christmas set for sale, and I picked this up when I got that. Part of it is the glass I'm drinking this beer in. It may be over an hour away, but it is always a high priority choice on the rare occasions I have time off work, or free time.

Review


4.04/5 rDev -0.2% | Score: 4.05
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

This beer pours a lighter brown color. Head was minimal, but what was there was white.
The nose is very light. I do get a slight funky, earthy aroma from this beer.
Taste - is mellow for a fraction of a second, then a bunch of flavors hit me. I get a caramel flavor. I get a vanilla flavor. A bit of like raisins. There's also some heat from the alcohol, but it isn't strong.
Feel - Fairly full bodied. A creamy mouthfeel before a bit of the alcohol heat kicks in.
Damn delicious beer. Another hit from Wild Mind. They are fast becoming my favorite place to hit up, too bad it's so far from me.

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EDIT

Will there be another beer? I'm not sure yet, if not, see you all next Sunday (if all goes well from Baudette, MN on Lake of the Woods) for New Beer Sunday!!!

 

WARPIGS/FFF Foggy Geezer Double IPA
4.26/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Nothing too hazy here.
Smells great, onion, citrus, cut grass
Tastes hoppy and right in line with FFF ales
Feel was fantastic, the highlight for me, so overall quite solid.
More narrative:
Great collaboration DIPA here....and it leans strongly to the FFF brewing style. Think Zombie on steroids and a little livelier mouth feel and this is it. Good carbonation but only a little hazy....not really one of the turbid NEIPA brews for those who care. Like it a lot...

 

Yup, an Old Fashioned.
I wonder if my Mom would have enjoyed this.
She liked an Old Fashioned once in a while.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/430/170712/#navigation



Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch off-white head over a light ruby colored body with some lacing. Nose of cherry, orange, slight malt, and even slighter booze. Taste mirrors nose somewhat with the bitters (yes, bitters) coming through on the finish. An Old Fashioned, indeed! Feel is thin, but so is the cocktail. Overall, a surprise for me as they actually made an "Old Fashioned" beer. Cheers!

3.74/5 rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

 

Beer #2 is from @MacMalt and the recently completed NBS BIF.

Phantom Crew from Cape May Brewing, a Flanders ale aged 19 months in red wine barrels.



Nose is all Flanders: earthy funk, juicy red berries. The Flanders juiciness works really well with the dryness it has gained from the wine barrel. Nice long finish.

Fantastic brew.

 

Spencer Holiday Ale. Not as dark as the picture shows, cloudy, mahogany color. The head lives briefly, but a foam ring surrounding Pangea lasts forever. Lots of datk fruit, nicely balanced by spicy ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and other things you would find in a mulled wine...or a really good fruitcake. Still quite sweet, brown sugary. It certainly hits the marks for a BSDA, the 9% is warming but not biting. Just a bit sticky on the lips, but the body is a bit thin, pretty drying.

It is going to land around a 4.0 for me, maybe a tad under. Good beer, very good, but will not replace St. Bernardus at my holiday table.

 

Happy NBS everyone! I had planned on spending the day at home trying a few new brews, but then decided to hang out at my local Combustion Brewing instead! I did have one of their new brews today, their Naughty Strong Ale:






Since I was hanging out with friends while drinking this I didn't really give this a proper review, but I thought it was a good brew with caramel/bready malt and pine/earthy hop flavors. Coating and easy to drink, it was a good stronger ale with a good amount of hops and malt character! But I had a great afternoon at Combustion listening to some bluegrass and drinking a lot of good brews. Hopefully next Sunday I'll be back with some other new brews with better reviews. Cheers everyone!

 

Long Root Ale for me on new beer Sunday. From Portland brewed by HUB. I was a little skeptical on the price, $10 for a 16 oz. 4 pack,and the fact that it was an ale, but I bit. Glad I did I was expecting a lighter ale it surprised me. Nice pale ale was in that can! Great smell, taste and finish. Would drink this one again.

 

Happy Post-Apocalyptic New LeinSmutStarr Coup de Boule Sunday (Week 667)!

I headed into the Northwoods for my next one: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/710/2470/?ba=woodychandler#review


but that was the extent of my visit to the Leinie Lodge for the day. I then realized that my New Belgians were not new, so I changed the call at the line of scrimmage to:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/141/61326/?ba=woodychandler#review


as well as: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/141/184/?ba=woodychandler#review


and now for the new Starr Hill Stouts:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13667/313427/?ba=woodychandler#review

followed closely by:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13667/313426/?ba=woodychandler#review


On that spicy note, I am wrapping up for the day. I have one more in this series + a couple of Boulevards that I will be drinking during the week. See you then!

 

Am I the only one who has never heard of Kernza, or perennial "wheat"? Just did a bit of reading, very interesting. Even found out it is grown in NY's Hudson Valley.

 

Roll tide....

Turtle Swamp Brewing, smal, new brewery in JP area of Boston

Nik’s Bitter (But Never Angry)

3.64/5
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Fresh Crowler poured into a snifter

Translucent , brewed tea appearance, pencil thin one finger foam cap quickly settles to a ring

Fresh beer aroma , apple wine aroma , yeasty

Malty , whiff of yeast flavor, whiff of apple fruit

Good sudsing, bit of tartness , slight lingering bitterness , dry finish

Nice beer

 

Manayunk king crunch ,totally black,medium carbonation and a thick feel.aroma is greasy peanut butter,malt,and a. Little chocolate. Peanuts come through first and dominate then a little malt and chocolate. This does better as it warms up,flavors mellow and blend better. Having one as a dessert beer works really well,not one to have several in a row

 

#3 NBS review. Blue Mountain Bittersweet Oatel.

Hope you all have a good night and plenty of delicious beer in your glass!



Pours a deep black color with an off-white head that leaves a little lacing and clings nicely to the glass. Smells of dark chocolate, oatmeal, and malts. Taste is a little chocolate, a little bit of hop bitterness, touch of citrus, Felt thin at first but seemed to get a little creamier as it got warmer. Nice little porter, chocolatey, oat creaminess.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday! I'm not huge into cellaring beers but I have a few bottles tucked away for special occasions. Last night a buddy of mine came over and we shared two "vintage" beers, one that he aged and one that I aged. 2013 Anchor Christmas Ale and a 2003 Thomas Hardy's Ale. Both beers were noticably past their prime, but still fun to crack open. I don't think the Anchor Christmas' hold up well over time. They're too low in ABV (5.5%) without the proper yeast or bottle conditioning to help them age well. The Hardy's wasn't bad, but probably would have benefitted from being opened years earlier.

Today's new beer is fresh and it's a style I love from a brewery that I really love. If you're hungry, I recommend you ignore the gigantic strip steaks in the background that went on the grill soon after I took this pic.

Ommegang Smoked Porter



Very dark brown, basically black in color and opaque. Large tan head that shows great retention, as so many of Ommegang's beers do. No surprise that this looks awesome in the glass.

Roasted malt aroma with chocolate and dark fruits to round it out. Very slight hint of smoke at the end that you really have to search for. Strong roasted malt flavor with a bit of earthy and spicy hops for balance. Again, the chocolate and fruit is there but the smoke is really hidden. Medium-full bodied with a smooth finish.

This is my 3rd beer from the 4-pack and I'm enjoying it more as I go. At first, I was disappointed by the lack of smoked malt, but it's a solid beer with little to find fault with. I hope Ommegang makes this a year round offering. Cheers, BAs!

 

I'm back for a nightcap while I chill and watch the Eagles-Seattle game. I am having a new beer to me from a style that I historically haven't loved. An old ale. However, I'm always open to trying stuff regardless and thanks to a BA up in these parts I have been trying some new beers lately out of my comfort zone and realizing that usually I developed a dislike based on trying one off beer and just not trying that style in the future. We'll see if the same is true for this one.



It pours a mahogany color with a tan soda pop head that pretty much evaporates, leaving some patches, no lacing. The aroma is grainy, vaguely sweet, boozy, dried fruits, pine nuts. The flavor made me audibly gasp, so that's a good sign! Smooth, rich malty sweetness. Most of what's in the nose is here save for any graininess, harshness or booze. Toffee, roasted nuts, pine nut fattiness, a little spice, wanting and smooth, soft and rich. Quite a beer. Especially as it warms it blooms into something special the closer it gets to room temp. I certainly won't be shying away from old ales in the future. Thanks Jacob!

Cheers!

 

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm having a new beer while I watch the Eagles Seahawks game, Go Eagles!

Aslin's Doubel Dry Hopped Orange Starfish.

16 oz can poured into a teku glass.
L: Murky orange color with about a finger of white head. 4/5
S: Mango, orange, peach, and grapefruit. 4.25/5
T: Grapefruit and orange with little biterness and a clean finish. 4.25/5
F: Light mouthfeel and light to medium carbonation. 4.25/5
O: A good beer but I'd enjoy a bit more hop bite on the finish. Great tasting considering the low abv, very easy to drink multiple of. Resulted in a BA generated rating of 4.24/5

 

Hello Late Night NBS!!!

Thanks to @cjgiant for the opining encouragement...
Here's mine:
@r0rschach is an awesome BA!
Perhaps this is not a controversial statement for those of us who have parlayed with him, but nonetheless, a solid BA.
He hit me with this "Saison" that I thought sounded interesting.
Note: I'm not much of a Saison guy, but I like trying new things...and I LOVE lime...
Saison de Citron Vert by New Braunfels Brewing Co.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34963/315458/
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Although the bottle carries the name Saison, the info on the label says, "...we zested and peeled the limes before fermentation with our farmhouse sour Hefeweizen, Blondine. The beer was pressed off thrice to extract the puckeringly citrus flavor of the fruit before adding back the zest and a handful of fleur de Sel French salt."
All the others in this Saison series are listed as a "Saison, Farmhouse Ale", so I did so as well.
Blend #1 bottled in April 2017, popped on 12/3/17
Pours from the 500 ml bottle with a frothy white foam leaping from a golden, slightly cloudy swirl. Clears quickly. Aromas of bright kaffir lime, almost perfumey in the way it bursts from the foam.
Taste luscious, bright lime. But lime with depth. This goes in a key lime direction, floral and full, not pithy at all. Also, a slight yeasty funk peaks through.
Mouthfeel is medium carbonation, lite in the mouth.

As you can see, I really liked this one.
Thanks John!

 

Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout

Sup, BAs? Anybody heard of this one?

CBS pours a red wine-tinted black with three fingers of lasting mocha head. Leaves clumpy lacing.

Rich coffee and chocolate dominate the nose, with hints of maple, vanilla, bourbon and oak behind.

Big chocolate flavors up front in the taste, almost like a chocolatey milk stout, with coffee bitterness preventing the vanilla-maple sweetness that's also in there from coming on too strong. There's some oak and some light alcohol burn on the backend. Coffee rind bitterness lingers in the aftertaste.

It's got an oily, medium-bodied feel with modest carbonation.

This is a really well-balanced beer for something with so many things going on in it. Among all the additives, chocolate stands out most for me.

Is this overrated? Definitely. But it's still very good. Go Eagles.