New Beer Sunday (Week 685)

Cheers, dude! Glad you got to try all three in one day and enjoyed them! They are great alone, but I really loved comparing them.

 

The CW Brewer's Reserve beers sit on shelves here, but I have yet to see a single of the variants. All indications are that they are excellent. Bummer.

 

Sound like today you are seeking a beer that fits within the 'refreshment' category? Maybe a beer like Sam '76 that @drtth discussed today? Maybe you would enjoy the new beer from Yuengling of Golden Pilsner? I won't bring up Night Shift Nite Lite, whoops, I already did.

Cheers!

 

New Beer From A Very Old Brewery Sunday Part 2-German Porter

It's snowing now, and I've moved on to a German porter--whatever that is--from August Schell Brewing Company. A brewery that withstood prohibition by selling near beer, soft drinks, and candy.

Their new German porter is brewed with cocoa nibs so I proceed with caution as too many beers these days are ruined by flavoring adjuncts. I find it drinkable nonetheless even though I think it would be better without the cocoa. Here's my review, and a picture of it half drunk (life gets in the way of full beer photos sometimes).

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/417/325778/?ba=KarlHungus#review

 

Agreed, it is really great to taste and experience the difference in a base beer across several variations. Thanks again for the opportunity.

 

Happy Birthday! 40 isn't so bad.

That's the story I heard as well. Founder's was unhappy with the beer at just a few weeks on the shelf if not kept cold. I picked my growler up at a Founder's tap takeover and the bartender said Red's Rye was going to blow before KBS.

 

I rarely make a point of going to bottle releases but there was one in the next city over today I got tickets for... a bottle of the beer in the background will likely make it to whoever my next BIF target is!

Second 007 BIF blind beer from @Bum4ever


The blind beer pours pitch black with a one-finger lingering tan head (4)
The aromas are coffee, hints of oak/vanilla, chocolate malt/cocoa and something a bit yeasty (4.25)
Flavors are quite unique. Definitely somethign I can't place my finger on. Coffee, milky, malty, but... the majority is a unique spice or flavoring I can't place (4)
Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, smooth, a touch bitter (4)
Overall: Very unique. Looking forward to seeing what this is... porter/stout in style but with an addition I can't place (4)


2016 Stone Xocoveza Charred
I think the unique note is the Pasilla peppers. Also two new to me hops: Challenger & East Kent Golding. I'm not getting much from the bourbon barrels; overall this tastes lighter than 9.6%. Definitely pleasant to try and I'm sure the aging has mellowed it out a bit.

Between the two BIF blinds and a few Nut Smasher variants (which I didn't post on due to just taster pours), today has been a GREAT day for new beers in Cleveland. Cheers!

 

Poured into a 16 oz IPA glass not sure when it was canned but definetly is fresh. Pours a very attractive orange maybe a little cloudy with a 2 inch sticky white head that leaves loads of thin webby lace behind. 4

Smell is peach, mango, herbal, papaya, and some mild grapefruit. 4

Taste follows tropical front to back, peach, mango, papaya, herbal maybe honeysuckle, and mild grapefruit bitterness. 4

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, moderate life, juicy not dry, and extremely drinkable at 7.0% ABV. 4

Overall this is a nice IPA, too clean to be New England, but juicy enough and a tad different than most. 4

 

Love the Masters, loving some beer! Its reveal day and this beer initially was pouring a bit flat but with just a little help, woke up to provide a beautiful khaki head atop of a dark black backdrop. Appearance very stout like. Aroma of chocolate, coffee with a taste that follows, very decadent - SPEITH!, sorry bout that, this beer is all chocolate, coffee, charred malts, not too sweet or bitter but all blending into a complex well brewed beer. Its warming, a bit boozy to let you know this is a big beer. RIS, I'm guessing. Thanks mike for this amazing Rushing Duck Imperial Stout, its a winner! @TongoRad

 

I know it's not quite the subject of this thread, but what did you think about these two beers? I had some fairly fresh (<3 weeks) SA NEIPA and found it to be much better than I thought it'd be. Yesterday, though, I had some 4-5 week old NB Juicy Haze and I was sick of it after a few sips. I thought the idea of using a hefe yeast with the NE style was pretty novel, but the side of the can also says "with spices" and I'm not sure what's going on with that, but I did taste a weird, anonymous spice note alongside some slight phenols and esters from the yeast. Didn't really think it fit the style super well... I regularly get Tree House stuff so perhaps I'm a bit jaded, but I still think the SA NEIPA is really good for the price. It's not the best stuff out there, but it's pretty solid and well-made.

 

I wish I could but even for a sour ale it went down way too easy!

 

Happy NBS. Full disclosure...not my 1st time with an Avery Callipygian, but it is my 1st review and certainly my 1st almost 2 year old. Review linked below. Summary: Holy shit this is good!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30/212837/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

I agree. My first two NBS beers went down much easier and I clicked with them better as a result. My next one will be a step in the right direction I think. BTW, I didn't like Sam '76, but I wish I knew why they called it a lager/ale hybrid. I haven't had the Yuengling Pilsner nor Nite Lite... but I will try them both if I stumble upon a single. I did like Founders Solid Gold (better than you did I think), but I need to revisit it for a better take. Cheers.

 

How about one more for late afternoon. The Brewing Projekt Almynd Joyz pours a very dark brown that looks like Hershey's chocolate syrup with a 1 finger thin tan head that fades into thin ring. Active micro bubbles keep the beer swirling and dancing on the surface. Aroma is chocolate syrup, chocolate covered almonds and caramel, some coconut with vanilla with even more chocolate. The taste is dessert like, with heavy chocolate syrup, hot fudge sundae with almonds, caramel and coconut sprinkles. Medium feel with soft carbonation and some booziness. This is about as sweet as Breuery Black Tuesday and many will find it challenging to finish with the cloying sweetness. May be better suited in a 12oz can.

 

From the Sam Adams web site:

"By experimenting with both lager and ale yeast strains, our brewers developed a unique brewing process that takes two active fermentations and blends them together to create a deliciously harmonious result."

 

NBS #2 and I'm really excited. Mosaic is one of my favorite hops and Sosus has been on my whale list for quite awhile; my first beer from Toppling Goliath. I'm grateful that @swenny916 included a bomber in his box. All I can say is, "Wow"! This is an old fashioned, straight forward, well-balanced DIPA without any gimmicks. Here's my review:

4.53/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I received this in a BIF box from @swenny916. Poured from 22 oz. bottle (no evident bottling date) into Spiegelau IPA glass. It pours a hazy, almost opaque, golden-honey color with a huge, fluffy, milk-white head and lacing that resembles gelato. Huge smell of Mosaic hops with lemon, grapefruit, and lots of pine needles. This is a classic bitter, hoppy, DIPA smell. Wow, just superb! It opens with a blast of Mosaic (one of my favorite hops) that bites from the start. There follows a dose of tart grapefruit and lemon, along with bitter pine. Then, at the finish, there just a hint of tropical fruit and vanilla/caramel that takes the edge off the bitterness. Until, that is, the after taste, which is a Mosaic-lover's delight. It's off the IBU scale. This ale is crisp, dry, with lively carbonation, and at 8% ABV it's dangerously drinkable. Overall, Sosus is one of the best single hopped DIPAs I've had the pleasure of drinking. In a world of gimmicky, adjunct-laden IPA's, it's nearly perfect. It absolutely deserves its World Class rating!

Great reviews today!

 

I liked the Sam Adams better than the New Belgium, but I also had it first out of the two. Beyond that, I can't really add anything specific since I was plowing through them without much thought towards a review. Neither were anything that I'm likely to put back in my cart, but that's just because I don't tend to revisit beers in that style. Honestly, it's been a while since I had a NEIPA that even clicked with me. There's probably a dozen posts about each of them in the past few weeks here... and authored by more intelligent and better looking people than me. Cheers.

 

Happy Birthday, Player!

 

More PNW hops courtesy of @beertunes:

Field 41 Pale Ale, Bale Breaker Brewing Co., Moxee, WA


With the brewery in the middle of a hop field, I'm guessing that they know a few things about brewing pales and IPAs. This one is low ABV at 4.5% which normally turns me off for this style, but there is enough flavor to make this beer deserving of its praise. It was moderately hazy with a bright golden color. Medium off-white head with good retention and excellent lacing in the glass. Hints of citrus and earthiness in the nose. The aroma is somewhat muted but not bad for a two month-old beer. Big piney/earthy/grapefruit flavor, I'm guessing from Cascade hops. Bitterness would put it in the IPA category in my book. It's 4.5% but tastes bigger. As expected, malt is there but restrained and in the back. The body is there, giving it a good feel and avoiding the hop-water effect for many lower ABV hoppy beers. Very nice!