New Beer Sunday (Week 698)

This is why I will always be here (hopefully). People miles apart, living different lives, yet we all respect and appreciate the trials and tribulations...

 

Greetings all! And best of luck to our host with his move. Moving sucks, but a big retirement move to an interesting new locale like Las Cruces should soften that blow a bit

Weather is finally nice here again after a brutal heat wave, and for the first time in my life, I am excitedly looking forward to the finals of the World Cup! I have a buddy who got into it last time around, and he spent the last 4 years planning a big trip to Vegas for the tail end of this year's group round. I wasn't sure whether I'd really get swept up in the games vs. just having a good time in Vegas, but I definitely returned home a convert. I love how the games play out uninterrupted with no clocks stops or commercials, and I love how the surface level impression that "not much is happening" actually hides a constant feeling of dread that everything is going to go to hell any moment now. For a game with so little scoring, it's amazing how sure it feels that your team is going to give up a goal every time the other team gets down into their zone.
All my favorite teams are out at this point, so I guess I'm rooting for a Chunnel final.

This week I've got a beer that I know nothing about. And frankly the can info is sort of confusing so I'm still not entirely sure what i'm drinking though it's coming into focus a bit. I believe this is a landbier called Grevensteiner which is brewed by C & A Veltin's brewery. The can proclaims it is "naturally cloudy" and clocks in at 5.2% ABV. Where things get, ahem, hazy is that on the back it says that this beer was originally brewed in the 1800s by the Veltin brothers (Carl and Anton) to much acclaim and popularity. It then says that:

"With Gravensteiner, Brauerei C & A Veltin has now continued the story where the brothers left off".

That reads to me like this is an old recipe that this brewery just sort of latched onto and hopes to glean some credibility/history/adcopy out of it. Maybe like a German version of the Budweiser George Washington beer. Or maybe I'm being too cynical.

Interestingly it comes in a 4 pack of 16 ounce cans which, at least to my eye, seem to be getting somewhat more common with the German imports. Hell, cloudy beer in a 16 ounce can? Kind of a no brainer I suppose.





Anywho, it pours a handsome amber color with a fair degree of cloudiness. The smell is bread and dough with maybe some nuttiness and a bit of bready yeast. The taste is more bread and somewhat less dough. This is most definitely a bread-in-a-glass type of beer! I'm not getting a lot of complexity past that myself but what is there is very enjoyable. It's not too sweet and for such a bready drinking beer it finishes fairly clean with a lighter than expected mouthfeel. There's nothing really to speak of for bitterness or hops on the back end. As it warms I'm getting just a hint of a coppery flavor that I don't love, but it's minor.

Overall a tasty beer that I'm not going to run out and snatch again immediately but that I'll keep in mind when I want something good and bready in a good package at a good price (4 packs were under $12).

Cheers all, and sorry for the freaking novel!

 

I don't want to be evangelical and mantratic (sic); but I am a natural archivist, abounding with "treasures", but please throw shit away or take anything possibly useful to Goodwill....No one will ever know or remember. I found a treasured arrowhead near my house recently that makes me ponder thousands of years and who those people were and if they ever looked for it afterwards.

 

Gotta agree, man, my favorite from them too.

 

Here's a link to the Brewery Website that talks about the history of the Brewery, etc. Gravenstein is the place where the brewery was founded.

http://www.veltins.com/brewery/history/

While I didn't get to the brewery for a tour I stayed for a few days in Meschede, the town "next door" and could see the brewery from where I was staying.

Pretty sure I had some of their beer on that visit to Germany but that would have been before I started on this site.

 

Live from the Back Porch in Kilgore, TX:

True Vines Mermaids and Unicorns, a blonde ale with cascade and jarrylo hops

Jarrylo? What are those?

The beer is definitely full of malt, biscuity and a pinch sweet. The hops are very subtle but have a nice mix of green and citrus flavors, grass, cilantro, orange and pineapple. There’s also a cool bitter earthy bite midswallow each sip — almost woody at times but generally like orange or grapefruit peel.

No official review for now but it’s in the ballpark of 4 look/3.75 the rest of the way. Maybe 4+ on the mouthfeel for its both crispy and soft and quite lovely. A solid little blonde I’m glad I tried.


The drive on 21 into East Texas is always fun in a claustrophobic kinda way

King John on deck here at the Texas Shakespeare Festival so I’m off. Hope your Sundays have gone well and hope your weeks are even better!

Cheers!

 

New Beer Sunday: An IPA

Evenin’ NBSers

Well, today has been a Two Roads day. This evening’s new beer is a sort of hybrid, called Typecast. The beer is labeled as being a Farmhouse IPA and results from a collaboration between Two Roads and Lawson’s Finest Liquids. It seems to me that the beer is called a Farmhouse IPA because it is sort of like a Saison and sort of like an IPA. (One of the collaborating brewers literally wrote the book on Farmhouse Ales while the other is best known for some highly praised DIPAs and IPAs.) In the mix of ingredients there are also a couple of unusual ingredients, i.e., some spruce tips and some white cedar which I’d guess is part of where the Farmhouse influence comes in. It sounded interesting so I bought one to try.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30437/350683/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors have some citrus, some tropical fruit, some pine and resin all backed up with some floral, herbal hops. The woodiness becomes becomes most noticeable for me in the finish, along with some herbal bitterness. An interesting beer, but that said, for me it’s a one and done that I don’t expect to be buying again. Still it’s worth giving a try if you are in the mood to explore something different from a collaborative effort between two good breweries.

For this evening’s music I’ve about run through by my collection (and a good friend’s collection) of the music by Art Tatum, so this evening’s recording will be the last for a while. As always, listening to some of his performances I’m amazed that Tatum did all that with only two hands.

Art Tatum - Yesterdays

Cheers, all!

 

New beer #5 is Tired Hands Dualism. Tired Hands has been pushing their canned IPAs for over two years, but I feel they should focus more on their saisons. They brew these great light and tart saisons the age well and they are far more consistent in quality than their IPAs.
Anyways, here is my review:
4.4/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

750 ml bottle poured into an Ourison glass

A- A clear light golden color with a two finger white head

S- Tart, peach skins, some wine, some fruit sweetness (a combination of pears and peaches), oak, peppercorns, touch of vinager and some funk.

T- Tart, some peach skins, touch of wheat, sweet wine, oak, light fruits, some funks.

M- Smooth, soft, dry, light body.

O- Another great saison from Tired Hands.

Cheers!

 

Delicious DIPA. Fantastic head retention and lasting thick lacing on the glass. Flavors of big grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, melon, citrus peel/rind, light pepper, and pine hops; with moderate honey, caramel, toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Similar/muted aromas. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; balanced creamy/bready malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Some resins/rinds, increasing dryness, no hop astringency. Very drinkable, not overly aggressive, minimal warming 9.5%. Great Amarillo showcase as expected. Very juicy, dank, and earthy balanced hop complexity; nice sized bready malt backbone, with minimal residual sweetness from lingering bitter dryness. Did not like it as much as the base APA, but was still very impressive for a DIPA. 3.91


This was amazing! Decent head retention and minimal glass lacing as expected. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, fudge, marshmallow, cake batter, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and dark/brown bread; with light notes of licorice, smoke, char, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, leather, and tobacco. Increasing booze in the aromas as it warmed, but not too overwhelming. Very minimal roast/char bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel that is amazing. Slight sticky hop, chalky roast, oak tannin, and increasing dryness. No cloying sweetnjess. Mildly increasing warmth of 11%, minimal booze. Dangerously smooth. Super rich and complex malts, with perfect barrel integration. I had high expectations. There are 4 BBA Prairie stouts in my top 50, with Vanilla Noir/BBA Bomb being the top 2. This was not one of them, but still super impressive. Well worth getting again as with a majority of their stouts anyways. Got plenty of Birthday bomb last week. 4.35


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

Industrial Arts People Power

A refreshing and citrus forward proper American Pale Ale that never stops short of understanding exactly what it is!

Cheers!

 

Thankfully the humidity has left the kingdom for a while. Not a super busy weekend. Mostly yard puttering.

Thanks to @lordofthewiens for taking the time to get the Sunday party started.

Tonight's victim is Dank Wood from Founders.



Most of the reviews say it pours clear. This is just a little cloudy, but a nice golden brown color. AND YEAH...CLEAR. Condensation.... The head falls to a ring and rafts, but hangs on to the glass pretty well.

The smell is bready dough, caramel, toffee sweetness, oh yeah there sure is bourbon and oaky barrel. Then the IPA part arrives with resin, citrus, green grass, maybe a bit floral.

Taste comes in immense waves. The barrel shows up first then everybody in the pool...sweet, toffee, fruity citrus rind, herbal and resin hops. Heavy hitter on flavor...a lot going on, but nicely executed.

The feel is creamy and lucious, yet not overly thick. A little lip smacking sweetness. A little heat from the alcohol, but it ends on the dry side. Was amazed to learn that it is 12%.

It shouldn't work, but it does. Huge flavors with intense character. Barrel...check. IPA - check. Fruit -check. Malty - oh yeah. Diggin' it? Oh yeah...this is restrained chaos in a glass, going to be in the 4.25 range unless the wheels come off as I finish it.

 

You are welcome!

Great review, and good luck on your new job, chef!!

 

Y'all look good! Thanks for sharing!

 

Good evening - got a nice thick DIPA from Bolero Snort called Crooked Labulls



4.24/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Murky, orange, foamy white head is pleasant enough. Big sweet mango morphs into apricot on the nose until it exits with this smell that reminds me of fruit flavored Lipton green tea. Taste starts out pretty sweet, like sugary sweer until mango and apricot appear on the tongue as well. Finishes with some bitterness and saccharine sweetness. Body is actually pretty thick. No heat whatsoever. Nice beer!

 

Poured into a 13 oz teku glass canned on 7/5/18. Pours a very hazy yellow orange with a massive 2 finger sticky white head that leaves plenty of thick rings of lace behind. 4.75

Smell guava, passionfruit, apricot, pear, tangerine, and grapefruit rind. 4.75

Taste follows just a tropical bomb, front to back guava, passionfruit especially just explode on your entire palate, with some grapefruit bitterness and tangerine. 4.75

Mouthfeel is bigger than most, moderate carbonation and a soft mouthfeel, a stickyness from the insane amount of fresh hops, and really drinkable at 8.2% ABV. 4.75

Overall this is just an amazing NEDIPA and when you are from Tree House the expectations get higher and this one lives up to those huge expectations. 4.75

 

No moving for me yet but it is on the horizon at some point and certainly close enough for me to give the resounding answer of, 'Noooooooo,' when asked if I want some relatives piece of furniture. So for now my Sunday rounds consist of moving from the garden to refrigerator to computer.

This is only one from of a pick-a-six that made it to Sunday. For some reason a full six pack of these or the non-dry hopped version was too much of a commitment for me as I walked past hundreds of times without trying.

Poured radiant, clear burnt orange with a reluctant finger and a half of head that settled back to a thin layer easily replenished by plenty of carbonation. The foam clung to the side of the pint glass easily through the middle section before drying shrinking back to an near leopard spot like pattern.

Faint toasted sugar blended well with the even fainter citrus. Although I would have expected a little more from this dry hopped version.

The depth of color continued to belie as the sweetness lacked richness. The bitterness was subtle and reasonable weighted.

Viscosity was in character slightly greater than medium.

Overall a pretty good, solid beer. Does make me wonder how different the not dry hopped version is.

 

Okay, two things for @Buck89 - apparently I don't know what I am talking about (I know that's not news), as I do have a mesquite influenced beer by Jester King, but it's not the same one you reviewed earlier (though I think they had that one on the shelf). Also, I know you only moved because I actually found your house last trip, so I was just joking about crashing your place. Maybe.

Anyhow, since I can't compare reviews, here's my review of Cerveza de Mezquite, all by itself.

A little hazy pour that ends up a heavily burnt-orange darker amber with a couple finger just off white head. There's a little lacing that shows up, but not too much.

The scent coming from the beer has a slightly funky sour apple impression to it. There is a vibrance to the nose, as well - as if on the orchard farm where the fruits are being gathered and processed. I can sense a light influence of the mesquite - but I think I would be saying something like an odd spice/tea note if I didn't know what the key ingredient was.

Taste starts with a fleeting hit of earthy funk that gives way quickly to a tart pop or lime and sour apple. The flavor that got pushed aside starts to come back as the tartness and lightly prickly carbonation fade. Warmth brings out an ever so light singed wood note out a little more. Early on it's relegated to the late taste. This is a mildly complex beer with a little bit of muddled edges but overall a nice sour/earthy offering with an odd note that has a smoky aspect to it.

Last note: I see that @Buck89 also reviewed this one. He seemed to have gottern the mesquite a little more prominently than I did, but otherwise we seem in the same ballpark on impressions.

 

Well I make this post via text only because something has been wrong with Imgur and being able to post pictures lately. I'm drinking a Treehouse Super Typhoon out of my spankin new Treehouse Teku. It's awesome. Keep up the good work gentlemen.

 

On to my final new beer of the night.


Bruery Terreux Rueuze

I do like a good sour/tart beer and this is one of them. The taste is nice and tart, that kicks in on the backside. The feel is really where it kills. I am still working on it, but haven't had a sip in a few minutes, and still feel the tartness on my palate.

Damn solid.

4.19/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bottle says 2015 on it.

Pours a fairly clear golden color. There was really no head, but a bit of white carbonation bubbles on top . No lacing on the glass.
The nose is tart, and funky. Slight lemon aroma, and also cherries.
Taste - a bit mellow up front. The tart and funk kick in hard on the backside. Tart cherries, and other pleasing tart flavors.
The body is a bit lighter, but the tartness lingers and lingers. It really sticks to the back of my throat, and doesn't let go. Up front, when I take a sip, carbonation goes up and seems to go into my sinuses. Quite pleasing in a way.
Solid well built tart beer that does seem to age well. I'd love to try a fresh one sometime to see how different it is fresh.

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See you all next Sunday for the next edition of New Beer Sunday.

 

The PastryArchy Barrel Aged Vietnamese Coffee Stout from DuClaw...

This is the 4th edition in a limited release series, an Imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with coffee, canned 6/20/18...

Dark brown-black pour looks perfectly black in an over-sized snifter; center-pour kicked up a thin dark foam head that slimmed into a thin collar very quickly... Rather unremarkable for a "bourbon barrel Vietnamese coffee stout," which sounds like something that should be amazing... There are flavors and aromas of chocolate roasty notes, vanilla edged, and sweet, milky coffee... Additional deeper fruit flavors and nutty aromas are apparent as well, with a tannic/woody element, too... The body is relatively thin... Overall, mildly bitter, fairly smooth, moderately sweet, faintly carbonated...

There's nothing wrong with the stout, but there's just nothing exceptional about it, which, considering the number of bourbon barrel stouts, coffee and other, is disappointing. I prefer something thicker in body for sure, and I also want richer flavors - both from the bourbon and the coffee - but this is a rather mild brew, with a moderate abv... Worth a try, but not worth questing after...

Cheers...