New Beer Sunday (Week 683)

Good morning Craig and thanks for getting us up and underway today! I am excited about my beer today but not quite ready to try it yet. I am seasonal drinker. I think it's one of the reasons I like a good case. Saranac usually does my favorite seasonal cases. I am big fan of fall and spring. Winter and summer are hit or miss. Right now seasonally I would expect to be drinking Irish red ales and dry stouts. In the summer I look forward to blondes the kolsch and the hefeweizen. My regional ellicottville makes a blood orange hefe that is good and one of my favorite oktoberfests.

I have a bit of a spring beer today. Well . . . you'll see. I need to shell some pistachio nuts first.

 

New Beer Sunday: A New IPA

Mornin’ NBSers, with a special alert for fans of unfiltered IPAs. Also, both compliments to @cjgiant for his start up today and my delayed condolences on the new NCAA record set this year by UVA. (That game was a real bracket buster and for a week, until they lost their next game, the UMBC website said that UMBC is the “University of a Million Brackets Crushed." )

As for seasonal beer drinking, for me that's pretty much dictated by the quarterly production schedules of the breweries and what's out there on the shelf to buy that's fresh when I'm shopping. I'm pretty much of a practical drinker (i.e., I'll drink practically anything during practically any season ). One of the wonders (or evils) of modern technology is that brewers are no longer constrained by the weather as they once were when what many like to think of as "seasonals" could only be brewed during certain times of the year, depending on the weather.

Despite the fact that it's officially Spring, the weather here today is expected to be mixed with cloudy skies, temperatures in the low 40s and some possibility of light snowfall. (But at least nobody has mentioned the word "Nor-Easter.")

This morning’s new beer is Hazy Little Thing from Sierra Nevada. This is a brand new entry into the BA database (Dec of ’17) and one that, in some ways, represents what some folks think of as displaying the changes in interpretation of what an IPA might be compared to back in the day when last week’s Deschutes Inversion (a West Coast IPA) was a new beer in the marketplace.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/317146/?ba=drtth#review


The aroma/flavor profiles of this beer are interestingly complex and have some pine resin and lots of citric zest and fruitiness from oranges and tangerines. There’s a nice almost honey-like sweetness from the malt backbone that smooths out and balances the bitterness from the hops and the citric zest to the point that they are almost equally noticeable in the flavor profile. The mouthfeel is relatively smooth and the finish is semi-dry, lightly bitter and shows traces of the citric fruitiness. I’ll definitely be looking to find a few more of this beer.

Cheers all!

 

Another ‘new/old’ beer

Last month I discussed a beer from Straubs of 1872 Pre-Prohibition Lager which tasted like an ‘updated’ beer to me.

I have another new/old beers to discuss today of Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner. I previously discussed this beer last year in a New Beer Sunday thread but this year’s version seems different to me.

For the interested reader I would encourage you to read my past post about Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner since it has some interesting stuff about the history of Stroh Brewing Company. Well, I think beer history is interesting.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-620.480991/#post-5210609

For the less than interested reader I will provide the below snippet:

In August 2016, a brewery in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood called Brew Detroit began brewing batches of Stroh's Bohemian-Style Pilsner beer. And this brings us to today’s beer: Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner.

On the back label of the bottle is the following story:

“Established in 1850, the Stroh Brewing Co. is proud to honor our brewing heritage by reintroducing Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner. Our Master Brewer has crafted an exceptional European-style pilsner in the heart of Detroit, using Saaz and Magnum hops with Vienna Malt. The result is a crisp, balanced pilsner with a floral aroma, subtle hop spice, and a rich, bready maltiness. Brewed for everyday enjoyment, this is a Bohemian-Style Pilsner worthy of the Stroh’s name.”

To add some new/value added content to this post I will conduct a side-by-side tasting of the Strohs Bohemian-Style Pilsner with my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsner.

Served in Firestone Walker Pivo Pils glasses:

Appearance:

Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner: A light golden color with a BIG rocky white head. Nice Belgian Lace as the beer is consumed.

Jack’s Bohemian Pilsner: A deep golden color with a BIG rocky white head. Nice Belgian Lace as the beer is consumed.

Aroma:

Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner: The first smell that I perceive is sweet-ish Pilsner Malt aroma and in the background is a bit of herbal/spicy hop aromas.

Jack’s Bohemian Pilsner: A combination of bready (a little bit of toasty) Pilsner Malt aroma with notable herbal/spicy/floral hop aromas.

Taste:

Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner: There is mostly sweet-ish Pilsner Malt flavor but there is also some herbal/spicy hop flavor. There is a firm bitterness.

Jack’s Bohemian Pilsner: The flavor for the most part follows the nose. The Pilsner Malt flavors are there but there is more here from a malt flavor perspective; there is a depth of malt flavor. The hop flavors of herbal/spicy/floral is more prominent resulting is a pleasing balance of the malt and hop flavors. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner: Medium bodied with a pleasant dry-ish finish.

Jack’s Bohemian Pilsner: Medium bodied with a pleasant dry-ish finish.

Overall:

Stroh’s Bohemian-Style Pilsner: This is a nice Bohemian Pilsner. It is a bit one dimensional with the sweet-ish Pilsner Malt very much front and center but there are some hop flavors too.

Jack’s Bohemian Pilsner: This beer has a very tasty combination of bready Pilsner Malt (with depth) and herbal/spicy/floral hop flavors. The malt and hops are in excellent balance.


I enjoyed drinking the 2018 version of Stroh’s Bohemian Pilsner but I have a preference for how this beer was brewed last year (2017). I thought that version had a more notable malty flavor which provided an improved balance to the beer. I am guessing that the brewers decided to tweak the grain bill?

So, as I am conducting my side-by-side tasting (and writing down notes) my wife asks: Whatcha doing? As if she doesn’t know!

I asked here: would you like to taste the two beers (she is drinking them blind). After taking the requisite two sips she proclaims “I like this one” and walks away with the glass. She finished what remained of my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsner.

Cheers!

@Crusader @Seacoastbrewer @Sixpoint @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @premierpro



For reference, below is the photograph of the 2017 Stroh’s Bohemian-style Pilsner. Do you notice a difference?



Last evening I took my wife to the Sly Fox Brewpub for dinner/beer (she loves that place). To my great joy they had their rotating beer of Charles Bridge Pilsner (a Bohemian Pilsner) on tap (see description from the website below). I rarely buy growlers but I just had to get my growler filled of this wonderful beer. I will be drinking this later today as I watch Villanova beat Texas Tech! @cjgiant

“Charles Bridge Pilsner

Bohemian Pilsner

12.6 OG40 IBUs5.2% ABV

Brewed with special malt acquired from the Czech Republic and hopped exclusively with Czech grown Saaz hops. It is named for the Charles Bridge in Prague, "the most beautiful place to drink a pilsner in the world," says brewer Brian O'Reilly.

DRAFT AVAILABILITY:

Occasional”

 

Seasonal drinker? Yes, on occasion i drink heavier stouts and porters in the winter. I am also an opportunistic drinker. Was in Tampa for convention and one of the evening entertainments was a craft beer tasting. Perfect for me and nicer weather than coastal Massachusetts ( 40 degree's warmer). Had to leave sunny Florida and found Cigar City Brewing in my path to the airport. Whilst standing at the bar I discovered a newly released beer. Shared below are my tasting notes for Cigar City's I Have Enough friends DIPA w/ lactose

4.18/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

On tap at Cigar City poured into a glass

Double IPA brewed with El Dorado, Loral, Mosaic, Galaxy and Magnum hops with a smattering of lactose.

Clear amber, thin off white foam layer, some lacings

Citrus hop aroma

Sweet, bit of citrus taste

Most interesting feature on this beer is the feel. Very smooth and creamy , hop nibble not a bite

Good beer

 

Nice Jack...thanks for another great lager review

 

I feel like our wives are similar. That is exactly something my wife would do.

 

Yeah, I can't really go off and leave my beer unattended (e.g., to go off and do something). I have even got to the point that when I do something (e.g., walk out to get the mail) I will even bring my beer with me.

You do what you gotta do!

Cheers!

 

Cheers everyone. As we speak I am toasting nuts for my homemade whole wheat and pistachio toasts. Looking back on the past and saying I see it all so clearly now. That's 20/20 hindsight. This is a farmhouse wheat with brett, mosaic, galaxy, nelson sauvin and citra hops. Plum, black currant and passion fruit purees and brett.


Ithaca Beer's 20th Anniversary beer 20/20 Hindsight

Pours like a bombshell. Hazy golden orange with a substantial head of bone white foam that lasted well. Courteous bubbles to continue to rise. Drinks dry, firm wheat cracker and softly fruity from hops. Spice is prominent. Lemon a touch of funky barnyard. The fruitiness is punch like and unique. It's a combination of different fruit purees. The nelson sauvin hops are potent. They give an almost sweet white grape skin.n Light sweet herbs from hops overall and fresh orange. Moderate hop bitterness. Champagne like bubbles. Plum and passion fruit are lighter in flavor than I expected. Sweet on the nose. Powdery floral and floral pepper.



Cheers NBS!

 

For me the appeal of Seasonals is they are usually fresher. Otherwise I'll drink whatever I like anytime of the year. With that I present this new to me beer . . .



Beautiful rose gold color with white cap and lacing.

Grapefruit grows on trees so it's a flowering fruit and I don't know what grapefruit flowers smell like but that's what I'm reminded of here. An aroma of bright, flowery citrus hops with a definite grapefruit hit.

Flavor is well defined among the hops in a way that is less sharp yet richer than the regular Sculpin. There is more of a malt presence than the regular Sculpin as well though not enough to compete with the hops, just support them.

Medium full texture with balancing carbonation.

Overall it seems a bigger yet more refined version of the regular Sculpin. I can't say this is just the regular with grapefruit added, it's something more, rounder, smoother (that word again) with a bigger room presence. Stream fishermen are familiar with stream bed stones that have tumbled around for years becoming rounded down and worn smooth. That's what I mean by smooth, an absence of jagged edges. This is a round stone beer that's strong enough (7%) to be pushy but isn't and hoppy enough to be brash yet it's not. A beer of substance and manners that simply sits down and joins the conversation like a genial, good humored friend.

 

A-A very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has coffee and cocoa hints
T-The taste follows the nose with coffee and cocoa flavors
M-A medium bodied robust stout
O-Another solid stout from Stone

 

Wow that sounds great, hopefully I can find that around here. That beer too.

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for the great start to NBS this week. Will be back later on today with a new brew.

Cheers!

 

This was apart of the BIF box I got from @ONUMello .



The BottleHouse Brewing Company's Rising Star Coffee Milk Stout.

Pours black with two fingers of khaki foam that retains reasonably well. Aroma is medium roast coffee with dark and milk chocolate, light milk and lactose, and toasted malts. It smells welcoming like a warm cup of coffee with a splash of milk. Flavor profile is a very pleasant blend of medium roast coffee, milk chocolate, and lactose. Roasted and toasted malts show up, with roasted being the brunt of the mix; however, both just play a supporting role for the coffee and milk. It's splendidly smooth save for an acidic bite towards the finish of the beer. Mouth feel is smooth and creamy with a medium thickness. Overall, the bottle advertises this as being a coffee milk stout and that's exactly what it is, and a wonderful one at that. Coffee is smooth and comes across as if it were in its own mug.

Score: 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.46 | rDev: +5.2%

 

A-A very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has peppery, salty and oyster hints
T-The taste follows the nose with peppery, salty and oyster flavors
M-A light bodied stout
O-A decent beer

 

A-A very dark opaque color with a very slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has resounding coffee, dark chocolate and mint hints
T-The taste follows the nose with abundant coffee, dark chocolate and mint flavors
M-A medium bodied robust stout with a complex character
O-Another solid stout from Southern Tier

 

Possibly, but then they’d have not set a record that can never be broken.

 

Cheers @Harrison8 and glad you enjoyed! I'm opening another of my NBS BIF brews from @Bum4ever



Even as I'm taking the picture fresh hops just burst into my nose. Dated 2/26. Light orange, hazy, a 1/2-finger head that quickly settles. Smelling it closer the initial hit is earthy/dank. A majority of the aromas are grapefruit rind/pith. With a deeper inhalation some pine and malt comes through. The flavors match the aromas, adding tangerine to the grapefruit. Looking at the brewery's website they use El Dorado, Eureka and Mandarina Bavaria hops. I'm pretty sure that last one is new to me. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied (clocks in at 5.5%) but plenty bitter. I love the amount of flavors that can be packed into a beer with a modest abv. This drinks more like an IPA with its earthyness/bitterness; as many pale ales/IPAs as I've had this one stands out, I think largely due to its unique blend of hops. Overall my score ends up 4.24.

This is my first BIF... this may be a slippery slope as I've really been enjoying learning about breweries I've never heard of and out of three beers have already tried two new hops.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone! I wouldn't say that I am a season drinker, but I definitely think that certain styles of beers pair better with certain weather. Today I am drinking a beer from my favorite style on one of the warmer, really "spring" feeling days in March here in Cologne. Today I am drinking a Weizenbock from Ayinger:



The apperance is quite similar, although slightly darker than the Weizenbock from Weihenstephaner. It's a beautiful dark golden orange / light brown with a foamy, slightly off-white head.

The aroma was apparent as soon as I opened the bottle. Huge notes of bananas, cloves, over-ripened fruit, citrus fruits and a bit of yeast.

The taste is much sweeter than the aroma and the most noticeable flavors are bananas, over ripened fruits, cloves and citrus fruits. There is also some creaminess from the yeast and a slight herbaceous taste.

The mouthfeel is thick, creamy and perfect for a Weizenbock.

Overall it is one of the best Weizenbocks I have had. I have had the other offerings from Ayinger and was always satisfied but never blown away by them. This Weizenbock is insanely drinkable, fruity and in my opinion, on par with the Weizenbock from Weihenstephaner. I haven't seen this beer available in many stores before but if I see it again, I will definitely be picking more up. Hopefully everyone else is able to enjoy a nice beer and some nice weather on this fine Sunday!