New Beer Sunday (Week 679)

Greetings NBS! Rainy Sunday here... did my grocery shopping, hit the gym and now sitting down for a beer or two in the virtual tavern! To answer the original question from the first post, I love music and beer... probably the two most important things in the world to me. I follow metal very closely, but also like various forms of outsider electronic music as well as some plain ol' rock'n'roll at times. I usually post what I'm listening to via a YouTube link in this thread, as many of you have probably noticed from my past posts. I like reading back through my old WBAYDN and NBS posts to check out what music I was jamming with whatever beer I was drinking, so it's mostly for my own benefit but I've talked quickly here and there with some of the other BAs here who share similar taste in music with me. Always cool to see some beer-loving metal fans in the wild!

Today I have a couple new beers in the fridge. The first one is by a small brewery on the outskirts of Portland, ME called Bunker Brewing Co. I've covered them before on NBS, I believe, and this is a newly-released IPA called "Blanc!" The label art is almost-definitely influenced by the (decidedly-not-metal) band NEU!, so I think I'll listen to their first album while I sip this! How's that for a music tie-in?



Pours a very, very hazy orange/yellowish color with a modest head of bone-white foam. Some drippy lacing as it dissipates to about a finger-and-a-half. Cloudy, crowded surface with some suggestions of rocky, dense foam and solid-enough legs forming on the rim. Nice-looking stuff.

This was hopped with Hallertau Blanc late in the kettle, then dry-hopped with more Blanc plus Mosaic/Citra. Those hops definitely come across upon first sniff, as the nose presents with complex grassiness/underripe stone fruit and light citrus melding with passion fruit and papaya. A little bit of neutral yeast and slight, wavering note of minerality here as well. Very cool.

On the tongue, this hits pretty straightforward with soft, tropical hop flavors, tangerine/nectarine, lemon biscuit notes and lingering grassy bitterness in the finish. Would like it to be slightly cleaner in the finish, but I think it's kind of supposed to straddle the "NEIPA" line. I'd be surprised, for instance, to hear that there weren't any flaked grains used in the grist here. Anonymous citrus fruit and yeasty chew toward the backend. Very long-lasting bitter, aspirin-like swallow.

Feel is soft, pillowy and comforting, with a "juicy" temperament and very even-tempered carbonation. I'd grab this again, even though I think it could probably use just a bit of dialing-in. Recommended... I need to get back up to Portland soon to see these guys' new space... looks nice from the photos I've seen!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers, many thanks to @cjgiant for setting the stage and drawing open the curtain today! Normally I'm a metal guy, especially while snowboarding. However, I think my favorite music experience is listening to Pink Floyd while in the outdoors. Meteor showers, eclipses, or even just in camp in the backcountry, I feel the music just fits my mood and the environment perfectly. Perhaps no more perfectly than this past summer, listening to Dark Side of the Moon during the solar eclipse. Couldn't have timed it better if I'd tried, but Eclipse ended right when totality hit.

First beer today came as a gift, War and Peace from Fulton, and I became even more intrigued by the beer following @cavedave post of this beer in NBS Week 671. Gorgeous pour, jet black with over a finger of tan head with good retention but non-existent lacing. Nose is very roast heavy, coffee and barley, subtle chocolate as the beer warms. Follows the nose well, but with greater contribution from the chocolate for my palate. Finishes with plenty of bitterness, just a bit of burnt caramel, and has a drying effect. Good body, but perhaps a wee bit thin for an RIS, carbonation higher than expected leading to a slightly lively feeling on the tongue. Tiny bit of burn, likely from carbonation but possibly also contribution from the ABV. A very good coffee stout that I'd happily have again, but will admit that I've been more impressed by the hoppy offerings that I've had from Fulton versus this brew. Overall rating link, BA score = 4.14, rdev -1.4%

 

Here is the second beer, from Tyranena, which I think is a good bit better than CWs.

Pours a dark coffee brown with a 2.5 finger dense tan head. Excellent retention that leaves a fat collar and good amounts of lacing on my glass. Aroma is heavy on dark chocolate with some rum soaked coconut cake blending with roasted malt. It starts off semi sweet with a coconut chocolate cake that has been soaking in rum. It is a porter with cola and roasted malt flavors. It is quite delicious, subtle rum and coconut, and one of Tyranena's better flavor combinations. Great carbonation for the style, smooth and very silky mouthfeel that is medium in body.

 

Left Hand Saison au Miel

I know people hate the idea of adding styles to the BeerAdvocate list, but I wouldn't be opposed to a "honey beer" style. We could put all of the "Biere de Miels" in there. This is such a beer, but it's clearly sold as a "saison." I'm not at all sold on the idea that a Biere de Miel is a saison, but here we are. Left Hand is hit-or-miss for me. Their seasonal saison concept feels more like a fantastic idea than a fantastic drinking experience.

This beer is strikingly clear. I couldn't definitely say if this is because I expect a non-Brett saison to be less clear, or if it's because every beer I had today has been cloudy. Maybe both. It's amber-orange.

Taste is too sweet for my idea of an enjoyable saison. It tastes of honey even though I hate saying that a beer with honey in it tastes like honey. It shouldn't really be the case that honey beers taste like honey... but it is what it is.

Unfortunately, there's really not much else going on here for me. There's a slight tartness and a bready aspect, but they just can't compete. A miss.

 

I'd recommend the album that you might call Neu! 75. It's the white font on black background cover. Cheers.

 

It was worth it!

The place was rocking and they were doing a very efficient job, very impressed!

I was very impressed with their beers on tap! Seven Russian River beers! If I had known I would have stayed overnight, maybe next year!

 

A-Pours a very dark opaque color
A-Aroma has nice honey hints
T-Taste follows the nose with nice honey hints as well as a very nice wood character.
M-A medium bodied well balanced beer.
O-A very good very well balanced beer.

 

Howdy, NBS brethren!
Thanks for doing the math for all of us, @cjgiant. I love that the thread is that old and I particularly love the idea that a thread like this exists in the first place. It is so immensely cool to me that all sorts of different people, of many ages and levels of expertise, with different backgrounds, varying loves, lives, tastes and (of course) distribution areas are able to (and want to) come together once a week to chat online about beer. Letting out their inner-Michael Jackson or Ansel Adams (even though we often start out with our inner-Don Day). On that note, I'll ramble about the weather.

It is suddenly cold and snowy here after a week of premature spring and now that I've typed that it appears to have turned to little ice diamonds. This has been and continues to be the strangest winter I've ever seen.
Today I'm happy to try a beer I thought I had missed but came across in the store by accident. An Old Ale aged ten months in brandy barrels with Brettanomyces. I really dig the label. Reminds me of an old label.

I recently had an Old Ale Revelation© and realized I didn't actually dislike them. I had just tried bad ones a few times and given up. So I am far from well-versed in the style. But, even though the beer sounds kind of "busy" it seems like it has the potential to be a well-planned set of "extra steps" to brewing the beer. Only one way to find out...

It pours a little hazy with a glowing copper color and a skiff of head. Both the aroma and flavor have some Brett funk and a hint of tartness. The aroma is fairly fruity while the flavor showcases the malt and barrel character more. Alcohol is well-hidden and just present enough to warm you as you drink it.
The brandy and booze bloom a little as it warms and it ends up being pretty interesting tasting, but good. I feel like brandy has a really particular flavor that comes through with barrel aging (and in general). Here, with the fruitiness of the yeast and funkiness of the Brett it really works, but still and all I'd love to try this aged in a simple oak barrel. Regardless, though, this is a very nice beer that I'd gladly have again.
As for music, I stick to a quote I've heard attributed to Duke Ellington, "There are only two kinds of music: good music and bad music." (I'm sure I'm misquoting that but I can't be bothered to look it up).

Here's my official review.

Cheers!

 

Poured into ice cold into this fine hotel room glass wear. Pours a very dark amber with a big 2 plus inch sticky white head that leaves excellent webby lace even on a plastic cup. 4.25

Smell is tangerine, caramel, pineapple, toffee, and a healthy dose of grapefruit rind. 4

Taste follows plenty of malt to go with the boat load of hops, caramel, toffee, tangerine, pineapple, apricot, and grapefruit. 4

Mouthfeel is big for the style, plenty of life, maybe a tad dry, and extremely approachable for 8.6% ABV. 4

Overall this is a nice old school DIPA, plenty of malt to balance out the hops. Really tasty, thanks @Ocalafox for this can. 4

 

Back with another - Mantra’s Citreamsicle.

A nice idea but this just didn’t work very well for me.



Poured from undated 16 oz can.

A: Slightly hazy golden yellow with 2-3 finger white head. Moderate retention and lacing.

S: Orange zest, sweet cream, vanilla, and fresh pine. Biscuit malts.

T: Mix of resinous pine, sweet milk sugars, vanilla, and oranges. Bitterness is a little up front to sell the theme of a creamsicle, and the lactose is a little off putting for an IPA.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Finish is sweet and bitter at the same time.

O: Interesting idea and glad I tried it but this is a miss for me.

 

Just got back from Holler, a great little brewery in Houston. They had some new beers on tap...

First off, and this is a great name:
Margaret Thatcher Naked on a Cold Day...4.7% ABV Best Bitter.

All Est Kent Goldings hops and mostly Maris Otter malts. A great hoppy bitter, and I can't wait for this to be on cask in about a week. I am sure my review will be much more enthusiastic then. As is, perfectly balanced and really enjoyable as is...

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45647/330032/?ba=champ103#review



Also new today was their Atchagirl IPA, at 7.4% ABV. This is a traditional supper clear west coast style IPA. I enjoyed it, but though the alcohol was a bit high for me to keep coming back for more. I don't think Holler really makes a bad beer, and this is well made for sure. Just think they make better IPA's and am more interested in their traditional European styles anyway.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45647/330035/?ba=champ103#review

 

I have returned....

...

Well, after a much long absence, I am back to drinking some brews. I was on medication that was really not intended to be consumed with alcohol so I was dry for a month+. Oh boy.. that was different. But our hero always perseveres!

There were some good things, but I really missed a solid brew coming home from a day at work, or from a just an excellent start to my weekend.

Strangely also I missed you all as well.

I am doing I guess ok, but it's hard to tell. When you have been on meds that long, it suddenly feels strange going off them.

As for other news, some of you might have known in the past about my YouTube channel, but I have been absent on that for a LONG time, probably about a good solid year+. I really don't have the time , and have focused on other efforts, including spending more time here with you all on tasty brews, and the staff at BA who provide a great resource for us beer... ahem... "geeks?"

The bourbon and cocktails will always be around, but I am going to be closing the bar/channel in the coming days.

If any of you enjoyed the beer reviews in the past then I will just take this opportunity now to say thanks for watching. I will consider a relaunch in the future, but for now I am afraid... the bar is closed.

Well with that done it's time for some NBS focus!

With much sitting around, I was able to work on a pretty good stash to build while I was waiting to finish my medication. I am taking it slowly, and it's going well.

The Bruery has been a prominent presence in the DC area, so it was nice to grab few of there goods. Some other nice treats popped up as well.

So what's new for our hero after a lengthy absence from NBS??!?

Let us see!!




Poured from the bottle into a tulip/snifter glass.

Creamy two finger tall topped head, that does settle down quite softly and somewhat quickly. Faint tan color on top settling to a good 3mm collar, it marks an opaque body of deep walnut red, to a sort of dark rusty color.

Real nice aroma. Borderline exquisite but not getting there entirely but makes for a good ride. Chewy sensing dark fruits of dates, with a good oaky mix. Has a very wine like aroma strangely with a good mixing amount of caramel and sticky toffee like flavors. Very large date and raisin quality with a slight touch of oaky cinnamon. Quite impressive.

Very delicious and expressive palate. Oaky mid palate with light touches of barrel character. More sensing milk chocolate and touches of raisin to raspberry quality, somewhere in the middle kind of flavors if one could say. Creamy to touches of playful fizz like tight hinting mouthfeel,with a warm caramel that drapes nicely over the tongue. Hints of purple grape sweetness, with a rich oaky caramel in the mix too.

Quite and unexpected mix going on, but very enjoyable. Dangerously addictive.

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25 | BA Generated Score 4.24

Cheers! see you soon!

 

I had been doing a Whole 30 day ( no beer) cleanse and was into week three . My son informed me that they were heading to the hospital to induce his wife. After a hard labor, my first grandchild Hixon was born. Love at first sight. A raise a toast to my new grandson and celebrate with a new beer. From Tree House brewing I submit a new German lager, Trail Magic . I share my happiness and celebration with all of you!

Printed on the bottom of the can is

“Happiness is only real when shared”

Can poured into teku, pale yellow translucent, one finger puffy white foam cap

Malty, grains, grass, good aroma

Good malt, grain taste

Good rendition of a German style lager beer from a classic New England ipa brewer

Prosit Hixon!

 

Next beer today is Evil Twin's new fruited lactose IPA, The Saus Baus. This beer clocks in at 7.8% ABV. I am not typically a big lactose fan when it comes to beer, other than in milk stouts. Most lactose IPAs I've had seem like cool ideas on the outset, but just suck in practice. Hope this one succeeds at the idea... I'm going in with an open mind!

Pours a hazy light-orange color with a pretty thin head. Nice legs, but the lace is spotty and the surface is only slightly-obscured. Doesn't seem like much is going on here.

The nose is pretty much as-expected... like a tangerine smoothie with vanilla and citrus combining pretty interestingly. Almost creamsicle like in a sense, but there are some bitter and leafy hops here too. The vanilla feels a lot more prominent than others I've had in this niche style, and it surprisingly works solidly. I don't get a lot of the yuzu element here; this definitely seems more tangerine-forward. Let's see if it comes across on the flavor profile.

Tastes almost exactly the way the smell led me to believe it would; big fleshy fruit flavors with pungent and almost tropical citrus. The yuzu is a bit more prominent here; I pick up some rindlike grapefruit that works with the hops... there's a slight tangy acidity here that's curbed by a creamy vanilla/lactose one-two-punch toward the finish. This is still plenty bitter, even with the sweetening/mouthfeel-softening ingredients. I still think it'd probably be better without them, but that's personal taste. I just don't like the increased body from lactose in the context of the IPA style. Maybe if this just had vanilla, I'd appreciate it more. As it stands, not bad at all especially compared to some other entries into the "milkshake IPA" trend-style that I've had lately.

 

Congrats to you and your family, all the best.

 

Welcome back, hope the medication did the trick and you are again in good health. Really can't beat Melange 3 as a beer to get you back in the swing. Cheers!

 

Upper Hand Brewing (Bells U.P.), Escanaba Black Beer, a black session ale at 4.5%, pours a dark brown with a nice one finger head, smells a bit coffee, malts, nuts, taste follows, a little porter like, a tad thin but expected at this ABV, overall a nice beer that I could knock back all afternoon!

 

Many congratulations! Hope everyone is doing well!

These recipes are very challenging for me. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so many come off as cloyingly sweet. However, the few that I've had that were done well, for my palate and preferences, were outstanding. Looking at you Great Notion for Orange Creamsicle!

 

I've had all the bars and dealt with a very, very slow WBAYDN before. It's no big deal for me, but it does make me think the Bros. probably had no choice but to shut down the tunes here in NBS.

I've been in extreme money-saving mode with a trip to London booked for this April, but a ticker's gotta tick, right?

You laugh, but joke's on you. I've nothing but love for the good AAL, and this one is worthy of jumping into my AAL rotation of Old Milwaukee, Lone Star, Schlitz, Miller High Life, Hamm's, Coors and Pabst. It's yeasty, sweet, has a touch of lemon peel and at times the sweetness comes off like a light pear note. And that yeasty "house paint" thing AALs get isn't that bad, so Busch's a winner for me.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/670/?ba=Premo88#review
3.76 (+86.1% rDev)

That +86.1 rDev only ranks second for me. Old Milwaukee's tops at 90.1 followed by 10 more AALs or their "light" versions. And No. 12 is Meta Premium, which probably is as much an AAL as a "Euro pale lager", which is what exactly? When I got back into beer in 2012 and jumped into the craft beer world, I figured I'd never drink a macro beer again, but AALs honestly are among my favorite 10-20 styles, so now the joke's on ME!

Is it raining at your place. It's been raining at mine for two months. And I want to barbecue tomorrow, so I've been stockpiling dry wood in the house with this little pile of semi-dry at least staying out of today's rain:

Bougainvilleas are loving it, though ...

Cheers!

 

Welcome back Ethan. You'll always be Smaka to me. We missed you too!