New Beer Sunday (Week 698)

New beer #2, Guayabera Citra Pale Ale from Cigar City. Pours a slightly hazy orange with a two inch white head that settled quickly to a half inch and left ample lacing. Smells of tropical and citrus fruits with a hint of sweet malt. Tastes of grapefruit, tangerine, mango, guava, orange zest, floral notes and sweet malts to balance it all out. Light to medium bodied, well carbonated, mild bitterness and a very slightly dry finish. Pairs excellently with Steel Head trout and fried rice.

 

Excellent Belgian pale ale. Nice head retention/spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big juicy/light tart/tangy passion fruit, peach, fruit skin, orange, apricot, pear, red apple, melon, peppercorn, and light banana/clove yeast; with moderate wheat, white bread dough malts; some herbal, floral, grassy hop and yeasty earthiness. Light-moderate peppery yeast spiciness, herbal/floral/grassy bitterness; and light fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, medium body, and moderately crisp finishing. Bready/grainy malts, some sticky hops, and light fruit tang/acids in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing tart/bitter/spicy/carbonated dryness. Fairly clean finishing. Very flavorful/refreshing, 5.6%. Awesome balance of juicy fruits, yeast, and pale/wheat malts. Minimal residual sweetness. This is seriously impressive, spot on style. Might grab more singles at Kroger. 4


Thanks @spelingchampeon, new brewery to me. Three 3's from NJ. This was amazing! Great head retention and soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge tangerine, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, strawberry, grapefruit, citrus zest, and light pepper/pine hops; with moderate wheat, biscuit dough, light honeyed malt sweetness; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Very minimal pine, zesty, herbal, grassy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy/silky/grainy wheat/oat mouthfeel that was fantastic. Slight sticky hops and increasing lingering dryness. No cloying. Perfectly soft mouthfeel. Refreshingly smooth, zero warming 7.8%. Galaxy, Citra, Mosaic and Simcoe hops; just wonderful as I expected. Super juicy hops; perfect wheat/oat/malt balance, not overly sweet/heavy. This is top tier NE DIPA. 4.37


Cheers, be back later NBS. Got some laundry to grab.

 

Happy Birthday in advance, cheers!

 

Black with one I hoped would be light, refreshing and flavorful.

Instead it was pretty meh. A little too heavy for something only slightly above 4% alcohol, not particularly refreshing and pretty bland, flavorwise.

 

New beer #5. Don’t think I’ll be paying the steep asking price for this one again. Fool me once, Tired Hands...

Way Out - Tired Hands
DIPA - 8.3% abv
Purchased for $23/4 at Tired Hands
Canned 6/20/18 (18 days ago)
Score: 3.98 (-6.1% rDev)



L - 1.5 finger bright white head atop a shimmering orange body.

S - oranges, pine, bubble gum. Smells quite traditional.

T - intense orange. Grapefruit rind. Pine. Grandma’s hard candies. Booze. Not tasting the “cacao juice”. Tastes like a west-coast ipa from latter days. Moderate bitterness. Low sweetness. Moderate booziness.

F - medium-full body with lower than usual carb.

O - Apart from the cloudy look and thicker mouthfeel, this presents as a classic west coast style ipa. Smells like one. Tastes like one. I still enjoy the style, but for $6 a can, I expect more.

 

Getting rid of stuff prevents your kids having to do it. Four years ago I cleaned out my Mom's house of sixty years and found amazing things everywhere. I would advise anyone to de-clutter regularly. I did find a personal letter from George C.Marshall crediting my Dad with great leadership on Kilay Ridge above Leyte Bay and I cherish that missive. It could have easily been lost forever.

 

Arguably the best locally brewed IPA/DIPA in our State and yes the NEIPA comparison is not a coincidence. For something a little less strong and still closer to the NEIPA style they make a Breakfast IPA.

 

Back for new beer #2 - an imperial chocolate stout from Pasteur Street Brewing Co in Vietnam. I was expecting a pastry stout and broke out the proper glassware with @mattflippin.



This was a dark opaque brown color with a medium sized tan head. Nice lacing in the glass. Cinnamon, roasted malt, vanilla, and a fairly subtle chocolate aroma. On the first sip, I was struck by the relatively thin feel of this beer, and it distracted me from the taste as I was expecting a pastry beer. This was a relief! Not overly boozy though. The cinnamon was there - not overdone but certainly dominant. The vanilla and chocolate were understated relative to the spice, but there. The chocolate was somewhat dark and bitter - a good thing to me. Not overly dry but this was a refreshing departure from the overly sweet pastry stouts. Overall recommended. This is a unique beer that grew on me with every sip. Cheers!

 

I have mixed feelings about that for the same reason. My Dad left organized mess when he passed. He fought cancer for over a year. In these boxes I found some great treasures of my childhood ( credit to my Mom for saving them real time ), but also some cool things from Da's 27 year Military Career. My sis in Hickory had to deal with 99% of the hassle of getting rid of all of it, so I am not sure she might feel the same...

 

After walking the sights of Paris yesterday I the option of this or Heineken at a little cafe we stopped at for dinner. I don't usually opt for a tripel so my review of this will be mediocre at best.

Grimbergen Tripel
Poured a clear golden orange with a nice thick two fingers of white head.
Smell is very reminiscent of a spiced bread.
Taste follows, definitely spiced some ripe banana.
Medium bodied, smooth.
Overall a great thirst quencher on a hot day.
Obligatory pic of myself and my better half in front of the Eiffel Tower.

 

NBS beer #2



Lucky You

Ocelot Brewing Company
American Double / Imperial IPA / 8.20% ABV

3.92/5 rDev -3.7% | Score: 4.07
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Canned 05/31/18

L-The beer pours a pale cloudy yellow with a 2 finger white head. The head recedes to a thin ring with central island leaving excellent lacing.
S-The nose is a bit dank with some citrus notes flowing over the top. The overall intensity of the nose is modest, but the age of the can my have come into play here.
T-The taste is mostly citrus. Not tart enough to be lemon, but not sweet enough to be orange. It falls somewhere in between. The beer finshes slightly dank, but not catty as with some Citra beers. Bitterness is low and may be too sweet for some at 5 weeks of age.
F-Mouthfeel overall is medium and carbonation is on the lighter side. I think it could use slightly more carb but YMMV.
O- A good, but not great example of a single hop citra beer. Ocelot has much better to offer on the IPA front, but it's worth a go if you want to bring home some cans.

 

Hello, NBS friends, and thank you to @lordofthewiens for the introductory post. As someone that moved twice in one year (from Minnesota to Texas to Indiana), I feel your pain (in my best Bill Clinton rasp).

The strategy you and your better half have adopted is very similar to the strategy Mrs O and I employed - after 3 moves where literally dozens of boxes were relocated without being unpacked, we committed to “thinning the herd” of boxes when we moved from Minnesota to Texas.

That decision made the move from Texas to Indiana much easier - so if you and Mrs Lors decide to move from New Mexico in a year, U R golden!!!

On to tonight’s first beer - when I saw this mix pack at the grocery store whilst on a mission to pick up hamburger buns, I grabbed it so quickly I singed my fingers. As a long-time SN fanboy, I am officially giddy with anticipation.



4/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The pour is a slightly (very slightly) hazy straw color with a soapy white head that lingers. The nose is bright tropical fruits, with oranges an lemons most notable.

The mandarin orange flavors dominate the taste, which is as crisp as advertised, and there’s also significant lemon flavors, and a subtle grassy flavor as well. A perfect example of a great lawnmower beer, IMHO. SN rocks.

 

Always stressful in the beginning but without challenges life becomes boring. And I am due for a challenge.
Thank you

 

Also without challenges personal growth stops. Hope the return is both successful and gives you further enjoyable new challenges and opportunities.

 

I was shooting with our Nikon DSLR, and my wife was shooting with her Samsung Note 8 phone - and she got that one, the best picture of the day. I tipped her off to using the leaves to block the sun but it worked better for her. Phones have really gotten good...

 

A gift from a customer on Friday.
No date on can, but he had gone to Trillium on Thursday.



Unreadable date on bottom of can...
Moderate pour yields an almost one inch, slightly off-white head over a very cloudy, almost murky, body with some sticky lacing. Nose of tropical fruit (mango, pineapple), dankness (pine, slight onion), and sweet citrus (orange, tangerine, grapefruit.) Taste mirrors nose pretty well with an orange pith flavor taking over the middle and finishing nicely bitter and dry. Very nice feel and overall, a fine IPA from Trillium, probably my favorite from them. Cheers!

4.46/5 rDev -3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

 

#2, can’t believe I’ve never tried this before.



3.86/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pour is black with some rich, dark mahogany colors on the edges, and a luxurious tan head. The nose is all roasted malts, with a subtle cocoa component (that may be wishful thinking on my part).

Nope - cocoa on the taste, along with the roasted malt flavors. Dare I say it, I like this better than Guinness Draught - but this owes a thank you to that beer for leading the way nearly 260 years ago.

 

I have recently experienced the same thing except my father now 82 shipped me 5 boxes of pictures because he wanted to pass on the difficulty of having to get rid of it all. Honestly I love the memories of my Mom who passed too early and my youngest brother who was killed at 45, 4 years ago. That being said I have the pictures I loved the most saved and now a garage full of boxes that sit ther because I feel guilty. De- clutter and dont leave it to your family its painful. Total agreement there.