New Beer Sunday (Week 691)

Schlafly - From The Ibex Cellar - Gooseberry Gose

I’ll try anything from Schlafly, but I don’t typically like American Gose. This is no exception for either notion. Ibex is their premium product.

The beer is a murky green-tinged pale amber. It makes a quick audible fizz like soda.The salt is very noticeable. It’s sour in a way that burns your insides a little. It does taste like gooseberries, but I wouldn’t jump to that association due to the pow of the salty sourness. It’s like key lime pie with zero sweetness. This beer leaves the taste of lemon on my lips. One and done, but definitely good for someone out there into this sort of thing.

PS - I let the Ridgeway beer warm up, which helped it. The alcohol burn was reduced and the fruitiness became amped up… but too little too late.

PPS - I think it was 2 weeks ago that I featured Night Shift Matisse and I mentioned that it was one of my favorite canned saisons. After having it again, I still think it’s great, but I’ll still put Cambridge Brewing Company Working Class Hero above it according to my tastes.

Cheers.

 

New Beer Sunday: A NEIPA

Afternoon NBSers, with an alert for folks outside of New England looking for an example of the NEIPA.

Taking a break for lunch and before eating I thiought I'd start this review so as to have a relatively fresh palate.

This afternoon’s new beer is called Hazy Jane from Brewdog (one of the breweries that some folks love to hate ).

As usually, my review, in progress until the beer is finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16315/288089/?ba=drtth#review


This seems to me to be a reasonable example of the NEIPA with its heavily hazed golden straw color and a nice thick off-white head. The aromas/flavors are filled with citrus, pineapple, tropical fruits, some sweetness and some resin all supported by a light bready malt background. While there seems to be more sweetness than bitterness, the nicely dry fairly long finish has that bit of bitterness that invites another sip.

Cheers, all!

 

Made some dope buttermilk pancakes this morning, and since I currently have two BBA maple syrups, i decided to do a side by side. One the Trader Joe's Reserve the other the BLiS bottle I received from @totalbangover

The BLiS bottle gives TONS of barrel and bourbon-y spice/heat that maple syrup doesn't have. It's seriously delicious and I'm so so happy I was able to try this. Thank you Tristan!! Can't wait to try it with CBS to see how to carried over.
The Trader Joe's one was good...but just a standard dark syrup. deeper and more complex in flavor than most, but nothing like the BLiS.

Drank with a bottle of Plan Bee - Reincarnation, a sour brewed on sour cherries in red wine barrels. a bit overaged, so the carb was almost nonexistent and the funk was really upped on this bottle, but nonetheless gorgeous.

The beginning of the bottle poured a translucent red with a bit of a brown tinge, with no head at all. At the midway point, the brew turned opaque, as a completely wild and unfiltered ale would do

The smell is really just cherries and funk. no other way to really describe it.

Taste is something else. Definitely have a good amount of funk there, and a tart beginning that goes to a dry as bone finish, as if this were a natural wine. You get the cherries forsure, and (thankfully) the tartness of the added cherry juice has been tamed by barrel and time

This one has tons of tannins in it, so the mouthfeel is surprisingly dry and heavier then was expected.

Overall, super happy I still had this and decided to open it up. Unfortunately down to my last PB brew (Beets, a recent release)...hoping I can make it to the farm when they open up again in the summer to pick up some more.

Wasn't able to take a pic, sorry!

 

New beer #3. Thanks @vabeerguy !

Hornswoggler - The Veil
Chocolate Milk Stout - 7% abv
Score: 4.27 (+4.7% rDev)



L - trace mocha head atop a black body.

S - chocolate, vanilla, roast, molasses.

T - sweet milk chocolate, vanilla, a little coffee, lactose, marshmallow, graham cracker. Low bitterness, medium sweetness, low booziness.

F - medium body with barely any carb.

O - love the taste of this one. Seems wrong to call it a Milk Stout, since it’s got so much more going on than that.

 

As always, Jack, thank you for your extensive knowledge. I haven't brewed in 2 years, but just remembered buying what I thought was called unmodified malts and always used multi step mashes. Mostly because I liked to as well.

Cheers.

 

Below is from a BYO article:

“If you have purchased an undermodified malt — or have made your own malt at home, which usually yields unevenly modified kernels — a step mash (or decoction mash) may be your best option.”

In the above is another example of undermodified malt: if you malt at home.

At the risk of being repetitive: I am unaware of any malt from malting companies that are available for sale in the US that are undermodified.

Cheers!

 

Dragons and yumyums
..pours a very clear light orange/red color(hard to describe the color)
..slightly thin body, just above average carbonation
..Aroma is fruit juice,fruit gum,a hop/grassland smell
...taste is very similar to aroma,mildly sweet but is almost like a sour with a tart sour taste to it
..it's interesting,could see some people liking it but for me dragons and yumyums wasn't overly yummy

 

Matt Levy at Three's was the assistant brewer at Peekskill Brewery when Chief was the brewmaster.there. Later he took over PB when Chief opened Industrial Arts. Then Matt Levy left PB and took over at Three's. So that is the connection between Industrial Arts and Three's. Now Peekskill has Amit Ram as head brewer, who was assistant to Chris at Newburgh Brewing before taking over at PB. Just some FYI (that likely only a few of us care about)

 

NBS beer #1



I'm not sure how I haven't ticked this previously, but I'll remedy that now.

IPA

Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall
English India Pale Ale (IPA) / 5.90% ABV

3.79/5 rDev +4.7% | Score: 3.62
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Enjoy by 08/15/2018

L- The beer pours clear with a color somewhere between gold and copper. The head is a fine two fingers of off white foam. The head recedes to a thin film leaving legs of lacing in its wake.

S- The nose starts out slightly floral. There is also a slightly stone fruity presence around the middle.

T- On the palate the beer starts out as it does in the nose. Floral, but not overpoweringly so, hops transition mid palate to dry crackery malt backbone. Bitterness is light to moderate.

F- The overall mouthfeel is light, but slick. Carbonation is also on the light side. Drinkability is excellent if you enjoy the floral hop profile.

O- This beer does exactly what it sets out to do. Hoppy enough to know it's an IPA, but possessing a excellent drinkability. It's won't excite today's craft beer geek, but it still has a place. I might not buy it on it's own, but I'm not disappointed to have it in a mixed pack either. I'm pleasantly surprised by this beer.

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers! This is the first Sunday in a while where I haven't been busy doing family stuff...so here we go with today's entry by way of @foundersasap and the last NBS BIF.



Poured from a 16 oz. can into a Snorkel glass. Canned on date 01/12/18.

Appearance: Dark brown to black body; light khaki tan head which dissipates quickly to a thin cap.

Aroma: Roasted malt, coffee, cocoa nibs.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Coffe with milk upfront and a nice roasty bitterness on the end. Smooth and drinkable.

Overall: A delicious beer that is too easy to drink and is almost too easy to drink. Nothing wrong with this beer at all and I would really love to down this one again.

Cherers!

 

Continuing my journey of classics this New Beer Sunday. I'm all packed up for work and personal travel for the next week or so. Time to kick back, watch some streaming services, and drink some new beer.



Anchor's Liberty IPA.

Pours a foggy copper-orange with a finger of off-white foamy head that retains rather well. Aroma is old school, classic IPA, hitting notes of resin, pine, herbal, and dank hops. It has a slight bitterness at the edge. Flavor profile is a syrupy display of hops - herbal, resin, pine, dank, and light floral to be more precise. While hops are the name of the game here, biscuit and bread malts form a firm, but light, foundation for the hops. Mouth feel carries this beer well, delivering a velvety texture that nears on crisp, either way - it's refreshing. It has a medium consistency. Overall, old school, legacy hops are abundant in this flavorful, focused IPA.

Score: 4 | 4 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4 | BA Score: 4.13 | rDev: +6.4%

At this point, I'm just wondering if I should watch Workaholics, Friends, or Always Sunny. Any preference?

 

Just a FYI in case I'm not misinterpreting you, the Liberty IPA is a new beer... plain ol' Liberty is the "classic." Blame it on new beer marketing.

 

New beer #4.

Shared Brewing IPA - Tired Hands feat. Side Project
IPA - 6.7% abv
Canned 5/2/18 (18 days ago)
Purchased for $18/4 at Tired Hands
Score: 3.94 (-7.9% rDev)



L - 3-finger bright white head atop a translucent yellow body.

S - cotton candy, dank, citrus, cheese.

T - cheesy dank citrus. Meaty notes. Low bitterness. Low sweetness. Low booziness.

F - medium body and carb.

O - very cheesy, so very much an acquired taste.

 

Hello NBS! I'm starting my Sunday with Share This Mole by The Bruery.
Let's start with some images.

Note: This is an imperial stout, brewed with ancho chilies, chipotle peppers, cinnamon, vanilla, and cacao.
Bottled 11/30/2016
Look: 4.00
Pours dark brown, near black in color. 2 fingers worth of sparkly tan head which dissipated rapidly, leaving generous amounts of residual lacing on the glass.
Smell: 4.00
Pepper spice upfront, with some natural vanilla aromas. As it warms, the cinnamon comes out a little more, as does the chocolate. The smell reminds me of a really muted churro aroma, with a pepper addition.
Taste: 4.00
Follows the nose for the majority. The pepper and vanilla is upfront, with a sweet cacao finish. I can't fully make out the cinnamon, since it seems to blend with the pepper flavor. Nice vanilla aftertaste, giving a lingering sweetness. The peppers are presented forward, but not overpowering.
Feel: 3.50
Light in body and weight, with moderate to high carbonation. The feel is somewhat lacking, but still enjoyable.
Overall: 4.00
This is an easy drinking stout. For 11.1abv, I can't detect the alcohol. I do wish I tried fresher, but it seemed to hold up well. I appreciate that for every bottle produced, the Free Wheelchair mission received a dollar.
My Final BA Score: 3.97
Cheers!

 

From Twin Elephant Brewing Lil' Shimmy Ye Variant a 5.8 %ABV APA. Myself and others consider Lil' Shimmy Ye to be their best beer and saw no reason to tinker with. To mark their 2ond birthday they brewed a variant. Everything is the same except they added pineapple. mango and vanilla bean to the beer. It's much more of a whole new beer then a variant IMO. It pours very hazy with a white head. The aroma is no surprise pineapple,, mango and vanilla. The taste is the same except the vanilla is stronger. The mouthfeel is full. I found the finish to be sweet. A lot of drinkers at the brewery were raving about this brew but it's just not my cup of tea. Twin Elephant is good at coming up with cute/ clever names for beers. I think if they had done that in this case. I might have like the beer more if I weren't comparing it to the original Lil' Shimmy Ye. Anyway the original is in the tanks as I type and should be out this week or next.

 

I pruned a couple of trees today, one was a peach tree. I stashed a few logs away to dry. I’m betting smoking chicken with peach chips might be delish.

Not a bad beer, lemon notes and hop forward, has a weird finish though, the word astringent comes to mind. It goes from not bad to in a hurry.

 

Having BBA nutter your business stout by grand armory in a flight, 2 of the 4 glasses is this. This stuff is great.

Black appearance with a tan head. Smells like a reeses peanut butter cup. Flavor isn't far off. Some booze, but the peanut butter and chocolate are out front. Nice and creamy mouthfeel. I dig this beer a lot, wish I could get it in a bottle.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. It’s actually warm and sunny on the island today. A big relief from all the dreary rain and hopefully the start of a long summer. Not doing jack shit today as always. Watching mindless mets baseball, going to fire up the grill for the first time with some grilled chicken for dinner, and of course some new brews.

My first new beer today is Juice (which is an akronym for Join us in creating excellence) iipa, from Narrow Gauge brewing. Thanks to @bstyle for sending me two beers from these guys. The first was ddh fallen flags which, I consumed on Friday, and it was just outstanding. This beer here checks in at 8.1% abv.

The pour shows a turbid/murky beer with a straw blonde/cream color to it. The nose is rather pungent with the hops and alcohol. An impressively smooth start with tangy, soft, and plush hops upfront. A smooth flow and the finish is ever so slightly bitter with subtle pine notes. Nice fruit tone from the hops with grapefruit, orange, lime, melon, and grape. The mouth feel is really impressive. It’s a combo of juicy and creamy but it flows so damn smoothly. I can literally just gulp this stuff down.

Overall, not exactly as good as fallen flags but this is still a rather impressive showing from this brewery. I would be in the 4.3 range here players.