New Beer Sunday (Week 690)

Good afternoon and happy New Blanco Sunday. What can I say about mom? I've known her all my life, for one. Haha. My mom is awesome. She played the role of my mom and my dad growing up, and ultimately tought me to be strong and work my ass off. I'm happy and proud to say that this summer I will be having her and my "dad" move up with us and enjoy their retirements comfortabley and happily around their kids and grandkids.

Cool. Where was I? Oh yeah, finally... back to hiking. Did a couple little loops with the wife and kiddos in Government Camp just below Mt. Hood with some amazing views:





Even found some cool mushrooms! ( @cavedave ):



And now, time for my new beer. Honestly, I have no idea if I've had this one or not, but I certainly haven't in a long time if so. Good warm weather mountain beer I suppose.

Alaskan
White- Wit Style ale brewed with spices.



The beautiful bright golden body is clouded slightly by some streams of what look like smoke, slowly slithering around in the liquid. The white foam above is unimpressive, and puts up no effort to remain.

Full of fresh wheat and a little pop of lemongrass, this smells very refreshing. A bit of a tart, or an acidic aroma follows with a lovely orange blossom finish.

There's no shortage of classic Wit flavors here. Coriander, lemon, orange peel. A hefty wheat punch comes in right before a long lasting white pepper finish.

I had forgotten how this style truly is one of the top in the thirst quenching family tree. It's nothing fancy, yet it's flavors say otherwise. It's light, and crisp, and though it shows no overwhelming signs of bitter or sweet, it's perfectly balanced. The slightest tart push just makes it all too easy to take one refreshing sip after the next.

Overall, a good Wit. An easy drinker especially on a warm day like today. One that most mom's might even enjoy, but not mine because this beer has what she likes to call, "That 'beer' taste."

Overall, I gave Alaskan White a rating of 3.78 with an rDev of +9.2%.

Cheers everyone and I will see you all soon.

 

Gyromitra esculenta is the mushroom, easy ID due to time of year. Actually the subject of a vigorous debate on some of my mushroom pages, as some folks say vigorous cooking destroys a toxin, called gyromitrin, and others say not all Gyromitra sp. have gyromitrin (but the one in pic, esculenta, does), and others say it is a cumulative poison that can kill liver and kidneys. It is called a "false morel" by some folks, but to me looks nothing like a morel. Nice find, very cool looking shroom I enjoy to find.

 

So...don't eat it.

Oops.

 

On to new beer #2 for the day!

Aslin



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Pale bodied a bit, cloudy, not totally hazy and staying away from turbid soup, but with an almost dark hefeweizen like orange and mixing hints of lemon and brown body colors. Fluffy and thick white top three finger head, slightly soapy, touches a bit of creamy looking though, and faint bit of pill lacing. Solid looking IPA.

Aroma is quite nice. Soft leafy hop hints slightly mint, but goes into more tropical qualities. Just a hint of creamy vanilla kicks in as well which accents a little bit of the malt sweetness nicely. Tinges to mango and pineapple juicy qualities without the wetness. Very nice.

This is a neat tasting beer. Sweet addition of vanilla gives a great flavor of this white chocolate and cocoa butter that dominates the palate. Nice hop angles of earth and tropics make a good cut through of flavor. Simple mouthfeel, unfortunately not malt rich but at least supportive. Excellent vanilla flavor particularly on the swallow, which is a perfect contrast for this hop angle of light tropical juice if slightly indistinct, and spicy earth. Faint taste of chalk also unfortunately.

I find a lot of brewers through vanilla in as a gimmick, especially in IPAs, this one actually comes out like they came up with a recipe that would give it justice. It seems like they thought hard on this one and got it right. Solid IPA brew and very memorable and tasty.

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25 | BA Generated: 4.21

Cheers!

 

Well, hello kitty-

But actually this is called "Some Cat From Japan". Its a lower ABV version of their "Weird and Gilly" which is a great beer. You wouldn't know the name from the can, the name is all in Kanji. The Kanji only continues on Single Cut's website and even the web address when you are on the page is written that way.

3.73/5 rDev -6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a can dated 4.24.18 to a nonic.
Hazy translucent creamsicle color with mild head of multi-size bubbles.
Smell and taste have strong apricot notes. This thing fools, sweet front, super dry hop finish. The can says 66 IBU.
Mouthfeel is creamy in the front, with almost too much carbonation during that dry finish.
I'm on the fence on this one. Its got some good qualities and its pretty good to get decent IPA that is only 4.2 ABV .
Even so, I think I like Weird and Gilly better.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us underway.

Talked to my folks this a.m. and wished my Mom a happy Mother's Day. In their early 70s, both my parents are still extremely active and in pretty good health. We didn't stay on the phone too long because they were anxious to drive up to Bumping Lake (about 2 1/2 hours drive in my old man's' vette-probably less, knowing him) and check out nearby camp grounds for possible camping later this summer.

Had several new beers this week, including a couple outstanding IPAs from Georgetown and Ecliptic. Today's New Beer is a hazy IPA from @beerloserLI's NBS BIF box that might well be my favorite of that sub-style:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20766/334558/?ba=woemad#review
Plenty of mango-like fruit flavor, but balanced with a more old school, grapefruity bitterness. Some hazy IPAs have seemed a little insipid (and a few more than a little) to me. Well, not this. For this old school PNW hop head, this is about the perfect ratio of sweetness and bitterness. I could drink this all day, and because there's little sign of the relatively high abv, I'd b thoroughly drunk at the end of that day!

Great stuff!

 

Do not eat. I know you were kidding, but in fact, never eat a mushroom you find if you haven't had it checked by an expert. There are four that supposedly are fool proof, but I wouldn't trust any mushroom I wasn't sure about.

 

Alien Drawl a 7.5% Double Cream IPA from Twin Elephant Brewing. I not sure what they mean by double cream but it's a nice beer in any case .DCIPA is brewed with malts, oats and milk sugar. It's hopped with Belma. Vic Secret & El Dorado hops The beer is very hazy with a thin white head, The aroma is grapefruit and pineapple. the flavor is the same plus mango, Mouthfeel is full but soft.The finish is off dry, Overall an excellent beer.

 

Beautiful pictures. Last summer, for the eclipse, I camped with my family at Ft. Stevens. First time I'd been in western Oregon for about 20 years. Gonna try not to make my next visit nearly as long,

 

This is a bottle I scooped up at Transient. It’s a sour golden ale aged in Missouri oak with Michigan Balaton cherries.
Transient Balaton


Pours a beautiful rosy red. Smell is funky and sour. Taste is very tart and mildly acidic. Cherries are really nice, but that oak barrel really shines through here. Light and fizzy. Perfect beer for this warming day.

 

New beer #5.

The Little Brother - Brewmaster Jack
DIPA - 8.5% abv
Canned 4/16/18 (27 days ago)
Purchased for $5 at Threes’ Bottle Shop
Score: 4.00 (-2.4% rDev)



L - 1.5 finger sparse head atop a vibrant orange body.

S - citrus, pine, dank, candy.

T - dank orange. Pine is very prominent in the middle. A little biscuit. Mildly bitter. Mildly sweet. Mildly boozy.

F - medium body and carb.

O - a dank juicy brew. Slightly out of balance towards dank, but still enjoyable.

 

Lemme know if you're ever in Portland!

 

Happy Mother’s Day NBS players. Another rather rainy, grey, and cool spring day on the island. Not doing much at all today. Just relaxing, watching baseball, and knocking back some new brews.

My first new beer today is Battling withBears, dipa, from Wildcard Brewing. Thanks once again to @colts9016 for this offering. The brew checks in at 9.5% abv, 100 ibu, and features el dorado, centennial, mosaic, & Simcoe hops.

A pure amber color on the pour. Major clarity with a big foamy white head. The nose is full of sweet hops and pine. These notes carry right over to the first few sips. Tangy and piney hops hit upfront with a nice bitter flow and finish. Really has more of that bitter pine and resin character to the hop notes. Been drinking so many hazy/nes ipas that I seem to forget how much I enjoy that pure bitter flavor. Fruit notes are really on the subtle side with orange, and lemon. The mouth feel is rather full bodied. A solid malt presence adds a sort of honey sweetness to it. Very/dangerously drinkable despite its high abv.

Overall, just a nice beer. Nothing game changing but I would drink this on the reg with distro access. Right around a 4 here players.

 

My lilacs are in bloom and it is a beautiful Sunday in New Hampshire. My mother passed away five years ago but I still like to look at the flowers, which she loved so much.

This one is a new beer. So new that I had to add it to the BA database. It is Neighborhood Beer Co., Mow Money from New Hampshire. It is an IPA at 6.0% ABV. Murky looking New England IPA yellow pour with a huge foamy white head. Big aromas of citrus, fruit, and orange with lesser notes of white bread and graininess. Smooth, medium body. The vibrant aromas do not translate to the taste as I had hoped but it is still a delightfully hoppy and easy drinking beer. Cheers all and Happy Mother's Day!

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks to @lordofthewiens for the kick off today, to all those moms out there good job and enjoy your day. We visited My mother, and paid a visit with spring plants to Janets parents gravesite. Tonight Skype with #1 from overseas, that will keep my sweetheart happy. Todays offering is from Oxbow Brewing in Maine. A rice based saison aged in stainless tanks, Very clean, narrow flavor band, but quite enjoyable.
Cheers all

Sasuga Saison

Oxbow Brewing Company
Saison / Farmhouse Ale / 5.50% ABV

4.04/5 rDev 0% | Score: 4.04
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 500 ml bottle dated 2016 into the test glass
A - Superb clarity, very active carbonation rockets top side. Color of light straw, a quick to recede white cap covers it all
S - Chalk, a bit of lemon drop, some botanical threads, include apple blossom, and lily.
T - The offering is a bit single dimensional in this aspect, if the intent of stainless was to display refined elements then yes.
These include white grape, a touch of Brett, the slightest hint of lemon.
M - Light on the palate, chalky element is very nice, carbonation is prickly and delightful
O - A very clean saison, the rice base keeps this very light in every aspect. With some time spent I really appreciate the efforts of the brewer to create this offering

 

Happy NBS and Mother's Day, everybody!

Yesterday I spent the day in S NJ helping my older son move from one apartment to another for a summer research internship that he'll be doing this year. The original plan was to have him back home for a week, which would have included Mother's Day today, but my wife graciously didn't make a deal of it when he was able to stay put, and it does make better sense all around. There was even a point yesterday where my son and I discovered that she had taken the time to solve an issue that we didn't even see coming; "Mom's amazing, how she always thinks of everything", he said. All I had to do was to remind him to call home today and tell her exactly that .

The next time I'll see my own mom will be at the end of the month, when the whole family will get together at their house for a crawfish boil that I'm hoping will be just like the one @imbibehour posted. My #1 Son will even be along for the ride. Those crawdaddys won't even know what hit 'em .

My first beer of the day comes to me thanks to the generous @bret717 , who recently sent me this one along with a few other extras and some very much appreciated Troegs Cultivar cans:

Pizza Bay Olden Times Cream Ale

Aroma is doughy, with a good hit of corn, pear, straw and a touch of lime peel. Initial sips are even more dominated by the corn, but it's got a pleasant character reflecting the real thing more than anything else like DMS. The taste is moderately sweet, which tends to accentuate the fruity aspects, which is coming off even more strongly of pear juice to me. Maybe even a touch unfermented. Body is milky full, and bitterness is moderate but noticeable.

It's a nice little beer, in a style I'd like to see more of, but in the end I wish it was crisper and drier. A solid B+ (3.75). Thanks again, Bret!

 

Summer is here in the midlands of South Carolina. I did a little work outside this afternoon, but when it hits 95 degrees I head indoors. Sure I could have gotten up early and beat the heat, but it was the last day of the English Premier League, with wall to wall fútbol. Some things seem preordained. A player named Jesus scored the goal for Man City giving them a win and 100 points for the season.

Charleston SC was quite pleasant last weekend. I had a great time drinking Mexican Cake at the release on Saturday. That beer always hits distribution just as the temperatures reach the nineties here. While in Charleston I also picked up a crowler of my NBS beer, Edmunds Oast Brewing Co. Sour Cherry Pineapple, which they call a blonde ale.


4.18/5 rDev +19.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

"Minimal head, no matter how vigorous the pour. Sparse lacing. After warming, clear golden blonde.
Strong sour pineapple and yeasty aromas, with tropical and citrus notes in the background.
Cherry flavor comes through distinctly and is well integrated with the pineapple, tropical fruits, and citrus.
Lively carbonation despite the lack of head."
I rated this beer considerably higher than the other reviewers, fwiw.
I haven't had a bad beer from Edmunds Oast yet, but their fruited IPA's and blondes are my favorites for this time of year. Looking forward to six months of sours and kolsch style beers until Oktoberfest.

 

I'm enjoying a beautiful day with the family. @cavedave, without going into detail, I know sometimes you can try your best to help but mental illness will still win, especially as moms get older. Don't let regret ruin your present and future. Mental illness is powerful even with treatment.



Pours a deep, cloudy orange with a huge, foamy white head and thick lacing. A beautiful beer.

The smell is very bright, tons of sourdough bread and bananas. There's a small amount of clove.

The taste is big. There's lots of wheat, some clove, toasty bread, and a little fruitiness. There's a lingering spice and hop bitterness on the finish that detracts slightly.

The mouthfeel is thick, low carbonation, and smooth.

This beer looks and smells amazing. The taste falls a little short based mostly on the finish. Overall, I really enjoyed this and would have no problem drinking through several of these.

 

Lets have some more beer!

As always, I LUUUVVVVBBBB the can art from these guys!

Collective Arts Brewing - Mash Up The Jam



Poured from the can into a tulip glass. Feb 13th 2018.

Pale and muted orb like appearance. Glowing green yellow lime lemon citrus colored body, with classic middle column of roaring carbonation. Eggshell white head, slightly bright, good soapy appearance and more staying power than expected. Dissolves slowly into a good astronmical puck and clingy collar.

This is one heck of a yeast profile which dominates the nose. While a bit of herbal hop notes get into the mix, the aroma goes into large amounts of dry funky hay. Flirts with a bit of tropical, but gets blown with this bitter pepper like quality that as quite large. The effect is impressive, but slightly not so much real pleasing. Otherwise pretty solid.

Palate makes a big splash. First sip provides a breadth of great fruit flavors. Mixes with a fabulous mix of tropical hop and estery fruity funky qualities. Juicy touches of pinapple, lemon, and earthy funk. Giant cracked black pepper finish, mixing with tangy light acid, more saison sensabilities than actual sourness on the palate. Excellent supportive mouthfeel, and flavors that really bounce, even with a touch of playful carbonation and light but supportive body.

Really great take on a funky brew.

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 | BA Generated: 4.39

Cheers!

 

Weihenstaphaner / Sierra Nevada Braupakt collaboration.

Just ordered this on draught at my local Yard House. Freshly cleaned beer line and sanitized/scrubbed faucet.

Appearance: Turbid and dark...roughly 16 on the SRM scale capped with a tightly knit collar of Navajo white foam.

Aroma: Banana and clove on the forefront with reluctant fresh hops singing backup. Fruity in a very refreshing way.

Taste: Entry provides lower carbonation than typical German examples...most likely due to the fact that this keg is coupled to an American system dialed in to serve beers carbed to 2.5 volumes of CO2. I’d love to see this beer at 4.0 and may have to buy a bottle to properly evaluate.

Midtaste sports a beautiful, tongue-enveloping mouthfeel ripe with clove-spiked bananas in perfect harmony.

Finish is a continuation of midtaste with a well coordinatedgospel of hops as the perfect accoutrement. Not bitter like andIPA, but enough to bolster the flavor all the way through.

It’s been quite some time since a Hefeweizen got my motor running like this!


I’m definitely going to pick up a bottle (or six) for a more thorough evaluation, but this is a wonderful fusion of German traditionalism and American influence. More collaborations need to have an outcome such as this!