New Beer Sunday (Week 676)

Cheers you all and thank you Doc for a great start to today's festivities. In my younger days I was a big football fan and used to enjoy many sporting events on television as a social outlet. The neighbors would assemble in the living room and nosh all day long. Nowadays I don't watch sports on tv at all. Maybe the odd basketball game if Syracuse is playing. I will tell you that ROKU player is streaming the game for free.Today I am going to sit this one out. I feel like I might be coming down with a cold. I can count on two hands the times I have missed New Beer Sunday since I joined the thread. Frankly I remember a few years ago being struck down for a good month with the flu. I do not want to lose that much time again so I am taking today off. I will be here on the sidelines though and I wish you all cheers! Philly. Did I say Philly?

Happy New Beer Sunday!

 

Sorry to hear that. I hope you feel better soon.

 

Serendipity!!

Today’s New Beer Sunday tasting has a backstory:

My wife has a good friend Marilyn who is a hop head. Whenever I homebrew hoppy beers (e.g., IPAs) I send some of my beers Marilyn’s way. My most recent IPA was my version of Alchemist Focal Banger which was based upon a clone recipe in Brew Your Own (BYO) magazine. I have never tasted Focal Banger before so this was very much uncharted waters for me.

So, my wife gave Marilyn my homebrewed IPA and the next day when I saw Marilyn I emphasized to her that it was my attempt to brew a Focal Banger but I had no idea how close I came since I never had this beer. Ironically she was in Vermont a few weeks prior and she bought a can of Focal Banger for me. How is that for serendipity!?!

Below is a short write-up on Focal Banger:

The Alchemist co-owner Jen Kimmich on Focal Banger, the brewery’s other knockout American IPA:

“Focal Banger is more hop-forward than Heady [Topper]. While Heady has a more complex hop profile and a stronger malt backbone, Focal is all about the Citra and Mosaic hops. At 7% and with all pale malt, it is much easier to drink two of these than it is with Heady Topper. The tropical fruit in the Focal is delicious. We currently brew 15 barrels of Focal Banger one time per week. It’s all distributed to local bars and restaurants; no retail sales. It was first brewed at our brewpub in 2007, draft only. It was first canned in January 2013.”

http://draftmag.com/ratebeer-best-the-alchemist-focal-banger/

When I brewed my version of Alchemist Focal Banger I decided to make a few tweaks:

· Grain bill: Focal Banger base malt is Thomas Fawcett Pearl Malt. Since I had some Pilsner Malt that I wanted to use up I decided to use a 50/50 split of Pilsner Malt and Thomas Fawcett Pearl Malt.

· Yeast: The Alchemist house yeast strain is euphemistically called the ‘Conan’ yeast strain by us homebrewers. For my batch I decided to use a yeast blend of the ‘Conan’ yeast and Sacch Trois yeast.

I decided to call my batch of beer Jack’s Focal Point IPA.

So, let’s see how close Jack’s Focal Point IPA is to Alchemist Focal Banger; my wife will be joining me in today’s tasting.

Beers served in small tulip glasses:

Appearance

Alchemist Focal Banger: Yellow colored with floaties. A firm white head.

Jack’s Focal Point: Light golden colored with a fluffy white head. This beer has excellent head retention as the beer is consumed.

Aroma

Alchemist Focal Banger: There is mostly a fruity (tropical fruit) nose but in the background there is some dank.

Jack’s Focal Point: The nose is predominantly fruity (tropical fruit) but I am picking up a hint of citrus as well.

Taste:

Alchemist Focal Banger: The flavor is predominantly fruity but the dank aspect is more notable here. It has a firm bitterness.

Jack’s Focal Point: The flavor follows the nose with fruity. It has a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Alchemist Focal Banger: Medium bodied with an aspect of crispness.

Jack’s Focal Point: Medium bodied with a soft-ish mouthfeel.

Overall

Alchemist Focal Banger: This beer is very good. A combination of mostly fruity but a notable aspect of dank on the flavor profile as well. I am personally not a fan of floaties in my beer but…

Jack’s Focal Point: This beer is very good too! A good friend described this beer using the terminology of “fruit bomb”; I agree with that. I personally enjoyed the soft-ish mouthfeel of this beer.


My wife expressed a preference for Jack’s Focal Point. When she was drinking the Alchemist Focal Banger she made mention of the beer having a “harsh” aspect to it; I personally did not perceive this aspect.

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH @telejunkie @SFACRKnight



P.S. As I am sure that everybody knows there will be a football game later today. I bought another growler of Sly Fox Tettnang Keller Pils to drink while watching the big game.

GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Aslin's Master of Oranges

A-A murky hazy dirty opaque orange, with a slight head and lacing.
A-Aroma has orange and citrus hints.
T-The taste follows the nose with an abundance of orange flavor.
M-A medium bodied juice bomb with some carbonation. The alcohol is very well hidden.
O-Another good beer from a brewery that is known for their juice bombs.

 

Yes, you did indeed say Philly!!

Fly Eagles Fly!!

Cheers!

P.S. I hope you get better real soon!

 

Happy New Southern Samuel Springhouse Shipyard, But NO Super Bowl, Sunday (Week 676)!

Did anyone else see/hear about the debacle on an episode of this week's "Jeopardy!" in which none of the contestants neither rang in nor seemed to know anything about an entire category devoted to football?!? That might have been me, except that in 1974, at the tender age of 9 y/o, our block suddenly discovered baseball & my best friend & I latched onto the Pittsburgh Pirates since they were/are a PA team & how cool are pirates, even to adults? The postseason ended when they lost in the NLCS to the Dodgers, but football had started up, so we stuck with Pixburgh, just in time to see them win their first Super Bowl (IX) in January 1975. Now, we were not only hooked, but off & running. After a while, it became all things Pixburgh, including the Pens and much to my mother's side of the family's chagrin, Pitt. It took me a 15+-year detour through the Navy, but I am the first in three generations NOT to make the mistake of going to Penn State, garnering a B.A. in English Literature (Magna Cum Laude, Departmental Honors, Film Studies Certificate, Related Studies in Psychology) in 2002 with my mother & her brother & sister (all PSU alums) at my graduation. Heehee. I stayed an additional year to earn a Masters of Arts in Teaching (of English) - M.A.T. in 2003. I may be, as my mother has referred to me, "a drunken reprobate", but I ain't no dummy.

The NFL has disgusted me this year. My NFC team is the CHI Bears because I realized early on that CHI has the same gritty, urban, blue collar mentality as PGH. Also, I graduated from J.P. McCaskey High School here in Lancaster, PA & the McCaskey family are the founders of the team. I was SO excited for th' Stillers/Da Bears game Week 3, only to be deflated when th' Stillers staged that poorly-executed tunnel protest, leaving veteran Alejandro Villanueva swinging in the breeze at Soldier Field. Wrong team, wrong venue, wrong message! I switched it off and joined the boycott. I am further disgusted by Commissioner Goodell's refusal to run an AmVets ad tonight because he feels that the NFL has "done enough for the military & veterans". Okay, I've had enough. Hockey, anyone?

My goal for today: drink, rate & review some beers & go off to the movies. I am on a mission to see all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars this year. Yesterday was "Lady Bird" & Phantom Thread" while today will be "The Post" & "Three Billboards ...". I haven't been this immersed in 25 years, with the last time a marathon with my then-girlfriend, Linda Lou in 1993. She was an even bigger movie buff than me!

Onward! My first of the day is something relatively light from the cellar, er, keller (which is Pixburghese for "color"):
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/304491/?ba=woodychandler#review


And so, with my opening salvo away, let the rest of the day commence, bringing what it may! I'll return later with updates. Don't drink anything that Bro. Woody wouldn't drink! Yer pretty much wide open at that point. 8=)

 

New Beer Sunday: A New Fruit/Vegetable Beer

Mornin’ NBSers with an alert to fans of Ephemeral beers and a special thanks to @lordofthewiens for his history reminder to start off the day.

The weather here today is supposed to get pretty rainy but temps will be in the 40s. Seems like a fine evening for a football game that is expected to break at least one record--i.e., the coldest city temperature for any Super Bowl. (Good thing they have a dome there, Minneapolis in the cold is no place to be outdoors much!)

I expect there won’t be any new beer this evening since I’m expecting to be watching the Eagles and how they perform against those Patriots. Any beer consumed during the game will be from a local Philadelphia brewery called Yards who make a really nice English Dark Mild called “Brawler Pugilist Style Ale.”

However, since this is one of my morning’s to make the breakfast and I have found a new (to us) recipe for a breakfast Fritatta, I thought I’d also have my new beer while waiting for the bake to finish. This morning’s new beer is from Unibroue and is an interesting example of their Ephémère series, the Ephémère Sureau (Elderberry) brewed with Elderberries and Flowers.

As usual my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer (or until breakfast is ready), can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/275192/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas and flavors of this beer show off the Elderberries and their flowers very nicely. (Having never tasted Elderberries in real life, the best analogy I can think of is a nice berry mix with some blueberries playing a critical role.) In the flavor profile there’s a carefully balanced light tartness softened by bit of sweetness and just enough dry bitterness to eventually conceal the fading sweetness and combine with the light berry tartness to close out the show. Worth trying if you’d like a change of pace to freshen the palate or just refresh yourself.

Also, while waiting for the bake to finish, I'm listening to an Original Cast recording of an American Musical that is actually a scattered, re-assembled multi-source collection of most of a musical called Knickerbocker Holiday with music by Kurt Weil (so far as I can tell there’s no single complete recording from the 30s).

A member of the original cast of Knickerbocker Holiday was Walter Houston who had a somewhat limited vocal range, so the composer, Kurt Weil, wrote this song specifically for Houston and the character he was playing in the original show. This musical shares some things in common with a particular song from last week’s music from the Fantasticks. The most obvious commonality is the month of September, but this song also captures some of the reason Eagles fan’s want so passionately to win this evening—i.e. about 50 years and no Super Bowl ring yet. (A bit of history critical to Eagles fans that @lordofthewiens didn't include in his overview.)

September Song

Cheers, all!

 

Hmmm, your wife expressed a preference for Jack's Focal Point? If she's like my wife, good for you, that's an honest appraisal!!

 

Colds are no fun. Take care of yourself and get better.

 

Aslin's Sensei

A-A murky hazy opaque orange, with a slight head and lacing.
A-Aroma has an resounding of citrus hints.
T-The taste follows the nose with an abundance of citrus flavor.
M-A medium bodied juice bomb with some carbonation. The alcohol is very well hidden, but it does sneak up on you.
O-Another good beer from a brewery that is known for their juice bombs.

 

Regardless , or as they say in the Boston vernacular, "irregardless", of your affinity for any particular football team, I know I have a winning lineup for " The Big Game" with these New England All Stars from Trillium and Treehouse.



Trillium introduced Storrowed this week to commemorate one of their delivery trucks being scalped by a low bridge on Storrow Drive near the Charles River.

16 oz Can of Storrowed dated 2.218

“Not enough headroom “ printed on the can bottom

Two finger off white bubbly foam cap, quickly settles to a thin clingy layer, some lacings

Hazy, yellow/orange in color

Aromas of dank, pine, pineapple and a whiff of grapefruit

Tatse of pineapple, citrus orange, grapefruit, and yeah, a little bit of mangosteen

Low bitterness, hop taste , hop nibble not a bite , flaked oats provide a nice smoothness

Good beer

 

Did you save any to be drunk from the CAN (as requested)??

Side note: I actually did like it a little better in the can, and while I’ve only had it one time (not enough times to determine the follow-on batches “don’t live up”), it is my most enjoyed IPA, ever. I felt it had a near perfect balance of fruitiness and dank, as you described.

Suuure... “I like your beer better, honey. Can you take out the trash?”

I recall getting aspects of both DoH and MoK, but I got the more bitter back of Master of Karate more than the juiciness of Double Orange Starfish in the mash-up-inspired beer.

 

Jack I am sure that the accents that conan strain of yeast gives to the malt is very important as to the overall perception of the beer. I have not had too many of those type beers but I can say that each time I have had it, I have thought "this beer makes me want to drink more beer." It's also a characteristic of a strain called ringwood? Seems to make the malt a little bit more delectable! Wonderful side by side. I am glad you got a chance to see the beer for which yours is named. Cheers!

 

The furry children were especially unruly this morning being excited about guests in the house and disappointed that none of them wanted to get up and play. All is settled down now and I can get to the real business of the day. This is a new to me mystery beer, but, who am I kidding, everybody knows who brews beer in New Ulm, Minnesota . . .



Clear light gold color with white cap.

Clean scent of sweet malt and slightly spicy hops.

Taste on entry is light yet pleasantly malty without the harsher edges of some AALs, rather a somewhat smoother sensation with a bit of spicy hops thrown in.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

This beer reminds me of Falstaff the way it was brewed back in the 60s, which was somewhat lighter and more flowery than the other mainstays of the day like Schlitz, Miller or Bud. The brand has been around since 1864, under different ownerships, and I don't know if this present version is close to the original or a modern interpretation, whichever it's a good take on those older styles.

 

A-A hazy opaque pleasant orange color, with a slight head and lacing.
A-Aroma has an resounding of citrus hints.
T-The taste follows the nose with an abundance of citrus flavor.
M-A medium bodied juice bomb with some carbonation.
O-Another good beer from a brewery that is known for their juice bombs.

 

To be honest with you, my recollection is as hazy as their beers!

I am finding, not unlike a while back, that all their beers are juice bombs, some tasting better than others, but nevertheless they all seem very similar to one another.

I guess my taste, and beer experience, is moving on.

Don't get me wrong, when I first tried their beers they were so unique and I loved them, but I don't seem to enjoy them as much as before. They are not bad beers, overall they are good beers, but they don't capture my attention as much anymore, if that makes any sense.

 

Good Morning NBS
I work tonight and, therefore, will not be watching any football tonight. I will be "cheerleading" my crew to do what has to be done to keep the wheels turning while the game offers distraction.
Moving on to new beers...

The review:
12oz bottled 11/21/17 poured into a teku glass at fridge temp 6.2% ABV 25 IBU. The beer pours dense black with mocha brown head. The head recedes to a thin cap and ring with no lacing. The aroma is sweet chocolate, cinnamon and a bit of pepper. The taste is dark chocolate, cinnamon and faint pepper. There is no perceived bitterness, as the hops only work to balance the sweetness of the lactose. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, lightly carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. Overall, excellent. This has only been released in the stout bout pack, but it could give that other Mexican hot chocolate style stout a run for its money if released in six packs.

I would buy this by the case if it were in 6 packs. It's not as flavorful or as alcoholic as Xocoveza, but it's still really nice (and would be 2/3 the price). Cheers all & enjoy the new beer in your glass!