New Beer Sunday (Week 673)

Wow! Thanks Dave - it's been a while. But then, we're all bozos on this bus!

 

No dating, but they are small-volume, and I got it a few hours after arrival, Friday afternoon.
This is the 3rd one I've had from Equilibrium, & the first canned one. All top-notch. They don't disappoint!
"Juicy", "Pillowy" , but with some evident malt backbone and bitterness, to balance the sweet & fruity elements. Think fresh-squeezed pink grapefruit juice, with a few things added.


4.68/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Hazy, opaque orange-gold. Imagine apricot nectar + pineapple juice.
Creamy, fine-textured , off-white head, and persistent lacing .

Aroma is freshly-squeezed pink grapefruit juice(not grapefruit pith - sweeter than that), a light, faint hint of bread dough ( malt + yeast), and kiss of tangerine as it warms.

Taste is grapefruit juice,pineapple juice, tangerine , dried mango, hibiscus flowers, honey/mead (which I'm guessing is partly a touch of sweetness from the malt ) , finishing with a light, lingering, grapefruit pith bitterness.

Feel is light creaminess , with a micro-tingle of ultra-fine carbonation, over most of the tongue ,most of the time. In essence, a fine example of "pillowy".

Overall, a fantastic DIPA. Has all the "juiciness " , you might want, plus some balance from the malt, and enough bitterness to keep it from seeming sweet.

ED: Additional note : while they mention pine, I didn't notice any. Now that I'm on the last 20% or so of it, & it has warmed a bit, I get a little pine on the finish.

 

Good evening NBSers. I'm pretty sure I'm done with resolutions. The last one I made was 3 years ago, when I resolved to do 100 push ups a day. Fast forward to April and some serious shoulder issues. I should definitely eat better and exercise... or I could try to post in this thread more. Yeah, that.

Went out to Speciation yesterday, my favorite new brewery of 2017. In addition to their January release, they also ran a cellar raid on all previous releases. I successfully relocated a large amount of their cellar to mine. 2018 is going to be a good year.

Tonight I'm having one of Speciation's January releases, Phenotype.



Dark sour with cocoa nibs and vanilla. To my knowledge this is the first dark beer they have done, all saisons and fruited golden sours to this point, with the occasional wild IPA, grissette, berliner, or kvass.

Pours nearly black, with a thin tan head that dissipates quickly. Nose is light funk and powdered hot chocolate. Wonderful sour on the tongue, nice weight. Malt and cocoa come back late in the finish. Dry, and a good amount of barrel character. Not a lot of vanilla, which is fine. Maybe a touch from the wood.

Overall, another excellent offering from these folks. Cheers!

 

Good evening, NBS. I'm a bit late to the party, but better late than never. Writing more is a resolution of mine, and beer reviews grant a great opportunity for that.

Tonight's new-to-me brew is Great Divide's Yeti Imperial Stout.



I tried Oaked several years ago, but that's been my lone experience with the line.

This one clocks in at 9.5%, so not the heaviest of imperials. Bottled 10/24/17.

Pours the blackest of blacks. Completely opaque without a hint of another color even in highlight. Two-fingers of brown rocky head linger, as impenetrable as the body. Big bands of lacing stick to the glass as the liquid's level recedes.

Smells of dark roasted coffee, brown bread, vanilla and a touch of alcohol vapor.

Strong coffee taste. Sweet dark malts galore. Quite bitter (75 IBUs) without tasting particularly hoppy. The bitterness really lingers. The sweetness is right in line with the roastiness, and neither overpowers.

Mouthfeel is oh so creamy and smooth. Tiny bubbles of carbonation make this one easy to hold in the mouth. Sticky and resinous.

This one's a good one. Love the ABV. It's somewhere between a regular and the bigger imperials, and I think it'll be finding its way into my fridge again.

 

Broken glasses, but as a RedSox fan I can relate to that too

 

And whatnot.

 

Yeah my bottle shop friend would hook me up with 2 if I want. So far, I took one. I remember when I finally scored a bottle of the first batch. I sat on it too long, and was a little underwhelmed. That ain't happening this time.

 

DANG MARIA!!! ISO: Maria's Wings.

 

Ballast point - high West victory at sea.
A- black with tan head
S- bourbon, caramel, chocolate
T- bourbon, caramel, coffee, vanilla
F- medium to medium heavy
O- fantastic. Getting coffee that doesn’t come through in the base beer and less chocolate. Amazing

 

A good friend from Montreal traded this can from Foam for a can of Double Shush from Frost. He may have gotten the better part of the deal. It's all good as we do this sort of thing every time he comes south of the border.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45496/277460/



Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 1/4 inch off white head over an extremely cloudy, murky body with lacing gone in a few minutes. Nose of pine and citrus. Juice flavor with a dry bitter finish. Here we go again. Yet another juice/cloud bomb with a feel of particulate and carbonation that is lacking. Good nose and flavor, but, that's it. I need bubbles! So many IPAs out there like this and it's gettin' old.

...Like clockwork indeed.

Cheers?

 

Well Hello Late Night NBS!!!
Thanks to @cjgiant for the opener. I too am not big on resolutions. I guess that's one thing I'm resolute about.

As for new beers, there were a few imbibed yesterday (ahem) at the Briery's Society kickoff. But due to my taking it a bit easy today, I'm dialing it back with Sierra Nevada's Hop Bullet.

I think I enjoyed it slightly more than @lordofthewiens though.
Maybe because it really does follow that what we now would say "old school" hop profile of northern California and the PNW. Here's my thoughts:

Crystal clear at first look. Second, closer look reveals a slight particulate swirl. Amber tinged gold in color. Fluffy white head pumps two fingers high, then retreats to a consistent, pillowy, fluid layer. It's quite pretty.
Smell is bold and old, as in old school. Sierra Nevada was one of the founders of this profile. The citrus notes are a bit tangy, but they are outpaced by the pine notes.
Taste begins on the bolder side of earthy, piney bitter. Then the citrus notes come through a bit. But it's definitely pine forward. To me, it's an homage to my old days of PNW beers.
Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium. Carbonation is lite but consistent.
Overall, a pretty good "older school" PNW DIPA. Maybe a little more melding of the citrus notes into the pine, but I'm not disappointed.

3.83/5 rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Hey we're just glad to have you back...and earlier than in the old days.

 

I remember it very much as you described it...minus the vomit. But it was a funky smell, to put it nicely. "Interesting" is probably the most diplomatic way of speaking of this one.
Hey, on a sidetone, I loved your Plugz pull on WBAYDN the other day. That's from a ways back, and HERE in MY backyard.

 

Zero Gravity Madonna.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9784/224262/



Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a bright golden body with some lacing. Nose of pine and tropical fruit. Taste mirrors nose with a very nice, ever so slightly sweet finish. Nice feel and overall, an enjoyable DIPA from Burlington, VT. Cheers!

 

Great read, and greater pics.

 

I have a close friend who is a Boy Scout leader and he recently attended the ceremony of the first scout of his to attain Eagle Scout status. Even removed from the ceremony he was overwhelmed and tearful about how proud and humbled he was. I didn't proceed past Cub scouts myself but his relating of his story makes me feel as if I at least minimally understand what you're saying.

Cheers to you and your nephew!

 

Thanks. I can get carried away at times with my novels, but hey...it's NBS!

 

Greetings late nighters, finally getting around to a new brew since my sons are asleep.
As for New Year's resolutions the only one I made this year was to spend more time with them. Work has been super busy the last year and working in manufacturing the only way to make up lost time is to work more hours, unfortunately that means working Saturdays. My first wife has primary custody so I only get my boys every other weekend. The way I see it in ten years SKF will not remember the extra days I was there but my boys will remember the times I wasn't. Felt good sticking to my guns and telling my boss I couldn't work this weekend.
Anyway, on to the beer.

Looks like I'll jump on the Hop Bullet train this week too.
Pours a mostly clear golden orange with a thin white head.
Smells of piney hops, some citrus notes too.
Taste follows the nose, piney, citrus, a little bitter bite.
Feels light to medium bodied with no trace of an 8%ABV.
Overall a tasty beer, a nice change of pace from the juicy ones I've had lately.

 

As a Seahawk fan let me say "GO VIKES!" And I sincerely hope the Pats are not in Minne when the Super Bowl is played. I still get sick thinking about the intercepted slant on the goal line.

 

Absolutely!

Next time I might test the limits of how much is TOO much basil. In my cajun kitchen, there's no such thing as too much garlic. Surely there's a line for basil.