New Beer Sunday (Week 668)

Great posts so far, everybody, and happy birthday to @imbibehour !

Sadly, I'll not be partaking today. It seems that I overdid it last night at a concert and its aftermath, so I'll be off to bed soon. I'll make sure to pull double duty next time, though . Cheers!

 

#2, this offering from Omnipollo .....





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

The name of this beer is perfect. After you get past the pour that is Absolute Black (with a tan head), you get so much maple on the nose, you think you’re immersed in a vat of maple syrup.

And when you take a drink of this magnificent beer, you get the maple, but you also get the creaminess from the ice cream, and you also get the maltiness from the waffle.

This is my second beer from Omnipollo. They’ve both been world-class. If they establish a brewing presence in the States and their stuff is more accessible, I’m going to need a small business loan.

 

Saranac caramel porter. Brown/red color,a little thin and below average carbonation. Aroma is all caramel,like candy sweet caramel and the taste is identical. There's malt and maybe some hops affecting the taste but hard to tell as the caramel dominates. The base beer seems weak and not too -porter-like. An okay dessert beer perhaps but not great any other time of the day

 

It's the effort that counts and yours is a good one.

 

New Beer Sunday: A new Belgian-style Dubbel

Evenin’ NBSers with a special call to drinkers of Belgian-Style beers who want to “dubbel” down on finding US brewed beers rather than pay import prices for the Belgian versions. Also special thanks to @lordofthewiens for today’s start up and for the picture that is similar to what our backyard looked like this morning.

The weather today was relatively nice, with highs near 40 but without any of the day long snow job that we got yesterday. (This snow storm illustrates nicely the difficulties of weather forecasting where things can change within a few hours. What was first forecast as a “dusting on the grassy areas) turned into 4-5” of snow in later forecasts and reality. Also there were some places within easy driving distance of here got as much as 8 inches. ) Today, with a bit of warming and some driving habits first honed in the ski areas of the western US, I got most of the errands run and some chores done. Finally, more importantly, we had a chance to watch the Eagles-Rams game. Now with that match up settled it’s time report on a new beer.

This evening’s new beer is a Belgian-style Dubbel called Jovial from Troeg’s Brewing over in Hershey PA. Troegs provides an excellent place for parents to take a break from Hersheypark, where the kids get to have most of the fun. In addition to the tours, there’s also an opportunity to have some food and a beer. In addition there’s a gift shop where you can buy some brewery-only beers from their Scratch series to take home and share with beer buddies.

As usual, my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/135762/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas and flavors of Jovial include lots of dark fruits (e.g. raisins, figs, and plums) all backed up by some moderate molasses sweetness, some chocolate and a bit of spiciness. While I’d not say it’s the best US Brewed Dubbel I’ve ever had, it will make a nice change of pace beer to have every little once in a while.

Just starting on the player is this evening’s American Musical, Camelot with Richard Burton as part of the original cast.

Camelot

Cheers, all!

 

Those are turkey, he gets deer and the occasional bear in the yard too.

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

A great new beer tonight is in order. I had some business in southeast Minnesota/ La Crosse, WI yesterday, and took a friend along to help. The business part sucked, but we stopped in La Crosse for some beer, and, even though we can get it in MN, my friend picked up a 4 pack of the Founders Baby (he tried it after we got home and told me he LOVED the baby). I also picked up several beers I've never had before, and will be putting them into the next few NBS.

We also stopped in Rochester on our way back to central MN at LTS brewery. LTS stands for Life's Too Short. That is so true. I picked up a growler to take home, plus had my 400th beer reviewed on here there last night.

So, with the background out of the way, on to the new beer, and it's from the previously mentioned LTS Brewery.

Baldwin Barrel Aged Scottish Ale with Coffee.

My friend had it last night in his flight, and told me it was amazing. It is damn good. A Scottish Ale barrel aged with coffee really works well together, and at 10.5% it has a nice kick to it.

Review:

4.23/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

This is a BA Scotch Ale with coffee.

This beer pours a nice dark brown color. The head is off white, but minimal when poured from the growler I bought last night. Some lacing on the glass
The nose is rich with coffee flavors, mixed in with the barrel ageing aromas. The aromas are a bit mellow, but smell great.
Taste - The coffee is up front, but it's also mixed in on the backside with the flavors of the barrel - vanilla, caramel.
Feel is a a bit lighter than I'd expect with a 10.5% beer. I also get a nice alcohol burn on the way down, though.
Overall a delicious combination of a Scotch Ale, barrel aged, with coffee. The flavors work well together. Maybe the only weak point is it probably could have a fuller body.

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So, will there be another? I really don't know yet. If not, I will see you all next Sunday, and it will, for sure, be from Lake of the Woods after a (hopefully) great day of ice fishing.

Though, a bad day of ice fishing is better than a good day at work.

 

G' evening NBS-ers! Back atcha with one more. This one I picked up today as part of a X-mas gift purchase.



Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a JK Snörkel glass. BBD 1 Oct 17.

Appearance: Slightly hazy yellow/gold colored body with a fizzy bubble head.

Aroma: All tart and sour, you know what you're getting into!

Taste/Mouthfeel: Bright tartness on the tongue followed by, and ending with, a dry and clean finish.

Overall: Tart, sour and tasty! This one is really done well and you can put down plenty of these at ease.

Cheers!

 

Santa Fe 7K India Pale Ale
7% ABV

I refuse to not set a personal NBS record today of a fourth new beer! Congrats! It would be 5, but I’m dismissing my Sam Adams amber bock because — egh.

This beer is fantastic but you realize I’ve been drinking dark chocolatey beers all day, however I think I’m coherent enough to be true to my review. This is a juice bomb with low bitterness and the 7% ABV feels like nothing.

Poured into a balloon glass.

Look: Opaque burnt straw yellow haze, bright white head that recedes to a wisp and white collar with decent world map lacing.

Aroma: Juicy hops — orange zest, light grapefruit, mango, subtle piny wood.

Taste: Juicy like the aroma with massive orange juice, orange rind, touches of grapefruit, peach sweetness. Little to no bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium to light, drinks like a 4% beer.

Overall: Wow, loads of Juice and low bitterness for 7% ABV.

4.17/5 rDev +5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Celebrating the Eagles playoff birth with some Birthdays Bomb!, thanks @Grizzarky!
4.49/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thank you Grizzarky for this
12 oz bottle poured into a tulip

A- Black with a small mocha head the fades quickly

S- Peppers, coffee, chocolate, hints of vanilla, undertones of caramel.

T- Peppers, caramel, coffee, some chocolate, vanilla. Nice kick from the peppers without being too hot.

M- Smooth, full body.

O- Another solid version of Bomb!, worth picking up.

Fly Eagles Fly!

 

Good Evening NBS
13 hour shift behind me today and happy for no snow. Snow, cold and ice are an industrial maintenance manager's nemesis. Having a talk with Dad now and feeling better.



12oz canned 10/17/17 poured into a can glass at fridge temp 6% ABV 48 IBU. The beer pours bright reddish amber with abundant light khaki head. The head recedes to a ring and thick island leaving lacing down the glass. The aroma is a little citrus & pine over caramel malt. The taste is caramel malt first with a good dose of bitter pine tar on the back end. There is a slight herbal undertone in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied, well carbonated, and dry except for some hoppy stickiness. There is no sweetness from the malt at any point. Overall, good. They list this as a hoppy holiday ale. I was hoping for something malty with a little heat, but that's my bias. Still a pretty good and would be easy to drink 6.

Happy Birthday @imbibehour
Good to see you're doing well @Lingenbrau
Cheers to all & enjoy the new beer in your glass!

 

Thanks for the review. Saw it here for $32 and passed. Based on your notes and the similarities in our views, it was the right choice.

Cheers!

 

Been getting snow since October, but nothing but a few short squalls this time. In that sweet spot, on the cold,dry side of Benji, and far enough east to miss most of that lake-effect stuff. (Did you see the Bills game?) Your turn. I don't mind

Walked up the road, to get some of their latest : Sugar Shack (Maple Porter)
Pours deep chestnut-brown ,moderately hazy, with medium tan head. (I.e. the color of maple sugar.) At first, I get a molasses-like smell. Is there such a thing as molasses liqueur? If so, that. As it warms I get some of the typical porter aroma of nutty roasted malt & mocha.

The flavor starts with a molasses/coffee blend, and finishes with nutty roast malt. In between, dancing around the other flavors, is a bitter/sweet maple flavor, as you might get from searing maple-soaked ham, plus a little tang, as from rye bread crust.

As with everything else I've had from them, it's very smooth, with very fine, moderate carbonation.

Overall, a very nice rendition.




If I were to rate it :
Look : 3.75|Smell : 4|Taste: 4.25|Feel 4.25|Overall : 4.25

 

Empire black magic stout. Jet black,medium body and carbonation. Aroma is roasted malt and roasted coffee with some cocoa. Taste is same,dry,cocoa isnt strong but adds to the dry finish.it has a bit of a medicinal taste and aroma but overall its an okay stoutgy

 

Happy CANtinuing New CAN I Cut a Single in Minneapolis, MN Beer Sunday (Week 668)!

This has been one of my best Sundays in a while! Nary a clinker/clunker thus far & with any luck, the trend will CANtinue. I CANtinued with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22167/59015/?ba=woodychandler#review


and then: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22167/278967/?ba=woodychandler#review

followed by: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22167/56259/?ba=woodychandler#review


It just seemed appropriate to end on that one. It has been another great day here in NBSLand & I look forward to our next (virtual) get-together. See yinz then!

 

Well, things went surprisingly well. We did cut one number, but there was no amount of doctoring that was gonna fix it tonight. Sometimes the wheels just come off on a number and there is absolutely nothing that will help. Few minor mistakes but no train wrecks, otherwise. Singing with my family is always special and the vocal numbers were very good.

So I picked this here beer out the fridge. Deciduous Sylph that I have been sitting on for about six months for no apparent reason.



Pours a slightly hazy deep gold, and do ya think it has a head? That lasts about two minutes and falls to a snowy white foam about a quarter inch thick.

This saison is 100% fermented with Brettanomyces. I dont find it paticularly strong in the funk department. It is present, but it seems to me it is blended in with other nice things, a surprise included and that is quite a decent aroma of lime. Yep. Lime. Orange, a little grapefruit and an acid note, maybe from the wheat. A little grassiness, a bit of pepper, but not strong. A pleasant, drink me smell. The taste opens mildly sour, but the word that comes to mind is bright...bright citrus highlighted by that lime. The brett asserts itself more in the middle of the taste. Apple comes in which i missed in the smell, and it is quite strong. Sweetness - just a little bit. Hay, grassy, but man...the citrus shines and the funk is just enough to make it a monotone. The sour level...hmmm...not lip puckering, but certainly adds a layer of interest.

Diggin' this beer. Light, bright, enjoyable. Drying in the finish, light on the palate, thinking very white wine character here. Good stuff, going to land around a four, I think. Still mulling it over a bit. I could drink some more of these and to me that is a metric that matters.

 

I specifically saved this for NBS. It's a collaboration between Mother's Brewing and Rebel Kettle Brewing. Rebel Kettle is my favorite brewery in Arkansas. They don't can or bottle, so I was excited to get this. It's your typical kettle soured NEIPA with paw paw fruit. For the record, I have no idea what paw paw is, but I'm told it tastes like a cross between a banana and a mango. This beer was pretty good. Rebel Kettle lots to do sours, saisons, and some unusual beer, so this seems to fit with them well. I think I liked it better than @russpowell.

Mother's Brewing/Rebel Kettle Brewing
Hipster Banana
Kettle soured NEIPA with paw paw



It pours with the look of pineapple juice and very hazy. It has a small, fizzy head with no retention.

The smell is like pineapple, banana, mango flavored baby food. There is some lacto tartness underneath also.

The taste is first tart with a flat, strange finish. There is some banana, pineapple, and a little citrus also.

The mouthfeel is effervescent and shortly thick.

Overall this is interesting. I expected more complex flavors, but it's still good. I think it fits in Rebel Kettle's wheelhouse very well.

 

Good evening, all! My new beer this week is another one I brought back from Quebec, Hickson Porter Baltique by Brasserie Les 2 Frères-



Here’s my review. Cheers!

3.79/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Look- pours pitch black with a 2 finger creamy head and moderate lacing

Smell- Black licorice, chicory, vanilla, chocolate, almost cola like

Taste- starts with vanilla sweetness, followed by a quick blast of intense roast that's gone as fast as it appears. Finishes with the vanilla and chocolate, and a lingering hop bitterness that becomes a bit too much. However, that unpleasantness did fade as the beer warmed

Feel- medium bodied and creamy

overall- Interesting beer wherein the nose is quite different than the the taste as it gave no indication of the enjoyable roastiness. However, the finish of the beer took a bit away from my overall enjoyment of it at first. As it warmed though, all of the pleasant flavors became more enjoyable and that bitter finish became less intense. I'd recommend drinking this one closer to cellar temp.

 

Didn't travel well to NWA. I thought was respectable, but wanted way more....

 

Coop Ale Works Rye Barrel Aged DNR; Pricey, but lovely 4.4 overall

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/19456/316574/?ba=russpowell#review