New Beer Sunday (Week 681)

I'm not a good one to ask for advice, but if you look on Craigslist you'll occasionally see Brooklyn kits. That'll get you the smaller fermenter et al. and considerably cheaper than a new kit. It's especially nice if you live in an apartment. Everything I need fits in a Rubbermaid bin that can also be used to sanitize and as a fermentation chamber. Not a bad set-up if you just want to play around and have fun. I doubt I could win any competitions, but that's okay as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, lots of fun, lots of learning, hope you give it another shot. Cheers!

 

That's an awesome glass!

 

4.05/5 rDev -6.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A: Beer pours a dark black body with a slight expresso like head. Head quickly faded giving way to a small ring of head and fair amount of lacing.

S: Upon pouring getting lots of rum and a slight amount of oakiness. Along with the rum barrel smells also noticing dark fruits as the beer warms.. Figs and plums seem to have a large presence. Mix of oak and dark fruit aromas give the beer a strong wine like feeling.

T: Taste resembles the smells. Big amounts of rum give way to more wine like flavors later. Along with dark fruits and rum this one also has some faint chocolate tastes.

M: Beer feels a little thin for a double digit ABV. The finish is dry and wine like. Beer is smooth and easy to drink, but not quite what I want in a barrel aged stout.

O: Fairly solid beer. Rum seemed to fade away more than I would prefer. The dark fruit/wine presence was a bit much for me. Beer was smooth but would have liked to have seen it have a thicker mouthfeel overall.

 

Happy NBS everyone, starting out with founders Sumatra imperial brown ale.
Color..pours a very dark almost solid brown
Body..slightly above average carbonation, really nice thick somewhat creamy feel which leads to a great body
Aroma.. freshly made black coffee minus any bitter or acidic smell. Secondly raisins,dried fruit and some brown sugar
Taste.. very similar to aroma,coffee then raisins dominates followed by malt and sugar.
Overall.. totally lives up to the hype,only small negative is it was sweeter than expected. The coffee is so smooth,not bitter or acidic coupled with an excellent body this was a great beer

 

Good morning NBS and thanks @cjgiant for the kick off, I like the "wrapping your head around it" suggestion. That fits well with today's offering from Hitachino this Saison is lush the mouth feel is a bit full, the carbonation not prickly, the flavors are tropical, after spend the time "wrapping my head around all this" I can recommend this as a very good offering.
Cheers all

Hitachino Nest Saison Du Japon

Kiuchi Brewery
Saison / Farmhouse Ale / 5.00% ABV

3.96/5 rDev +2.3% | Score: 3.87
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from an 11.2 oz bottle into the test glass
A - Deep glow from a dark golden color, active carbonation feeds a towering white pillow. A slight haze offers some intrigue.
S - Lots of honey, Amarillo hops maybe, orange jam , a touch of apricot as well. The graininess is welcome in that sweet base, a dusty quality that adds some depth.
T - See aromatics, add the slightest bit of white pepper, and kumquat.
M - Soft on the palate, surprisingly lush for the style, a bit of oiliness that the carbonation can not clean up. The linger is sweet and avoids being obnoxious.
O - A full body on this add to its many intriguing characteristics, Saison that's a bit oily, flavors that are rich but in a narrow band, tropical but lacking some of the esters from a more traditional example. All in all I really like it. worth the experience for certain

 

New beer #2. Still working through my Brooklyn cans.

DDH Resin - Sixpoint
DIPA - 9.1% abv
Canned 2/22/18 (17 days ago)
Score: 4.14 (-3.9% rDev)



L - 1-finger dense offwhite head atop a translucent copper body.

S - citrus, caramel malt sweetness, some pine, a little booze.

T - orange-heavy citrus at first. Some other tropical citrus too but mostly orange. A lot of biscuity malt follows, along with the pine and resin from the nose. Rather sweet and boozy.

F - medium body and carb.

O - This is my least favorite of the Resin variants released a few weeks ago, but it’s still quite enjoyable. Fresh Pixel Dust was the clear winner, though.

 

A-A very dark opaque color with slight head and lacing.
A-Very muted hazelnut and chocolate aroma.
T-The taste follows the nose, albeit the chocolate is slightly more pronounced.
M-A very light bodied stout, to my surprise.
O-Somewhat disappointing as hazelnut and chocolate are two of my favorite things (besides hops that is!).

 

New beer #3. From the land of @JamFuel .

Noa - Omnipollo
Imperial Stout - 11% abv
Purchased for $5.99 at Whole Foods
Score: 4.02 (-8% rDev)



L - 1-finger dense mocha head atop a deep dark brown body.

S - jesus. Hazelnut, pecan, chocolate, peanut butter, faint coffee, caramel. What a nose!

T - sweet pecan and hazelnut to start. All the other flavors from the nose are present in waves. The overall impression reminds me of Wawa artificial coffee creamer. Pleasing at first, but the artificial/chemical taste distracts after a few sips. Very little booze in the taste at least.

F - medium-full body with low carbonation.

O - outstanding nose, but the taste does not measure up. Can’t get past the artificial flavorings, which stand out like a sore thumb.

 

Good afternoon NBS! Going to spend some time trying to firgure up this round of the BIF, just need some thinking juice. Starting with Sixpoint DDH Resin thanks to @CanConPhilly!
4.33/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for this
16 oz can, dated 2/22/18, poured into a teku

A- A clear golden copper with a two fringed whit head.

S- Citrus, orange rind, tangerines, some citrus zest, some caramel malts, touch of resin.

T- Citrus, slightly sweet tangerines, some citrus zest, some caramel malts, big bitter pine/resin hop finish.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A great classic DIPA, nice and bitter with good citrus flavors and a touch of malts.

Cheers!

 

2SP Deathwish Oak Aged English Barleywine

Happy Sunday, BAs. Today's new beer comes to me courtesy of @larryi86 as the result of a LIF on the tail end of the last NBS BIF. Go Birds!

Deathwish opened with a solid pffft and wisp of smoke. It pours a very dark, ruddy brown with a finger of light tan head made up of tight, small bubbles. The head settles into a nice, long-lasting cap, but leaves no lacing.

Big apple is the first impression in the aroma. That gives way to caramel and vanilla bread pudding, with hints of fig and banana behind and some even lighter oak.

It's sweet tasting up front, again like bread pudding with strong vanilla, caramel and banana notes. There's less apple and fig than the nose, although the apple at least still does make a presence. The wood is definitely present in the aftertaste, and a nice addition. The sweetness up front is somewhat cut by fairly strong alcohol burn, some earthy bitterness, the oak and a pretty fizzy mouthfeel.

It's medium to heavy bodied and a little chewy, again, with a more well-carbonated feel than most barleywines.

To my personal taste, I'd love to see some leather and tobacco, or maybe a slightly more Americanized hop profile, to cut the sweetness and fruitiness even more -- but the flavor profile is still plenty complex and enjoyable. This beer's a pleasure to spend some time with. Thanks, Larry.

 

A-A very nice amber color with a very slight head and lacing.
A-Aroma had very little hop presence.
T-The taste follows the nose, with a more malty flavor.
M-A medium bodied DIPA with decent carbonation.
O-Somewhat disappointing as DIPA is my favorite beer style.

 

Whenever I see that label I always think they must have been referencing Metropolis:

 

Big shout out to @woemad for a terrific box last week, unfortunately I was having technical difficulties last week and wasn't able to share his generosity, so we'll give it a whirl again this week.

And what does a goat and mongoose have in common? Both came from the same dude across different packages!

Hale's Super Goose IPA



4.08/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Just a hint of hazy in an otherwise brilliant orange beer. Head was a lot like latte foam, about three fingers high before setting into thin layer of foam and a full curtain of lacing. Nose is candy orange sweet with a biting spicy bitterness whose combination is reminiscent of that old timey hard ribbon Christmas candy. Taste pops a big bitter that shares nearly equal parts orange and pine with maybe a dash of lemon zest on exit before a remarkable dryness kicks put everything but a sandy bitterness in the after taste.

 

A-A very nice light golden color with a very slight head and lacing.
A-Aroma had nice fruity malty hints.
T-The taste follows the nose with nice fruity malty flavors.
M-A light bodied well carbonated lager.
O-A well balanced nicely made lager.

 

I'm with you there (in regards to the marketing, I haven't had the beer).

Fermentation issues? The soapiest beer I ever had was at a local brewpub. I actually liked the soapy quality of that beer (I also like sucking on Violet candies though)... but it did make my opinion of their QC go down a few notches.

 

I'm assuming it's a reference to the Ringling Bros. circus attraction from the 80s. See below:

 

I have no way of knowing for certain but I suspect this beer did not have fermentation issues. My guess is that the hops presented an aroma/flavor that was 'off' for my palate. According to the hop vendor Hopsteiner Lemondrop hops should have a lemon-like flavor profile but I did not pick this up in this beer. This could be for a variety of reasons:

• The specific hopping schedule that Founders chose to brew this beer
• The batch of hops used to brew the beer I drank
• My personal palate

You could very well drink the exact same beer I drank and say: I picked up a subtle, pleasant aspect of lemon in the aroma/flavor of this beer.

Unfortunately for me the flavor profile of Solid Gold was more akin to "fool's gold" vs. "solid gold" for my palate.

Maybe someday you will drink this beer and you could let me know what aroma/flavor you perceived in this beer.

Cheers!

 

OK, Come on! I just shoveled out a foot of snow on Thursday and coming this Tuesday might be another half-foot. It's March in New Hampshire. I guess since it is still winter, it's OK for me to still drink stouts.

And this is a brand new one from Wachusett of Massachusetts released in February called 1794-The Furgal Project. 4.5% ABV. Why call it the "Furgal Project?" Well, because it was brewed in collaboration with the former Guinness Brewmaster Furgal Murray who visited Massachusetts some time last year, popped by the Wachusett Brewery, and gave them some advice.

Well, maybe it was not as simple as that.

Still, this has Guinness all over it. Dark brown to black pour under a tan head. A nice sweet, dark roasted malt, and char sensation with a slight citrus zing. Thin to light body though. Same char and burnt malt sensations in the flavor with a dryer yet zesty finale.