New Beer Sunday (Week 704)

Good morning Doc and thanks for getting us going today!

Happy New Oktoberfest Beer Sunday





This oktoberfest is very much like what I think of when I see the word festbier. Pours handsome and deeply amber. Clear and bright. The bubbles seem to exchange their lightness for air and top this beer with a cream colored head of thick graceful foam that falls slowly. Nose is a sumptuously floral hop with plenty of earthy spice. A sweet kiss from malt that adds a rich elegance to the nose. Cracker and biscuit. The malt combines with the Spalter to give the taste of toasty sweet hay. Drinks with a touch of fullness and a bit of breaddy sweetness with floral notes and not too much bitterness. Crisp bubbles. Steffi malt, pilsner malt, Munich malt and two row.

The beer is festive and food friendly so soft pretzels with mustard. I made orange chicken. Next week some sandwiches with this. At 6% it is still within sessionable range and with it's light sweet hints it will also take you to dessert in a great big mug or two. The Sterling are a clean and moderate bitterness. Clean meaning not imparting any hoppy mouthfeel to the finish. This beer is mild.

 

Getting started with something interesting . . .



Deep copper gold color with white cap and lacing.

Distinctly citrus hop aroma that's fresh and bright.

Hop forward flavor on entry with enough rich malt to serve as support. I get a melange of citrus notes (brewer mentions candied orange peel and tangerine) that are so well blended together no single one stands out but the mix is quite pleasant. I do get a hint of orange in the finish but that may be the power of suggestion working on me.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

This is a very good IPA that certainly leans toward the citrus side of things and it's so well made I neither scent nor taste any of the listed 7.5% alcohol.

 

3 Floyds Moloko Milk Stout


A-Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has malt and lactose hints
T-The taste follows the nose with lactose and malt flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A nice milk stout

 

New Beer Sunday: An American Wild Ale

Mornin’ NBSers, with an alert for people with a passion for the wild and purple. Also special thanks to @lordofthewiens for his start this morning. Thinking one beer scene may better suit your tastes than another is just fine and does not make one a snob. The term you want is "realist." Snobs think they are better than other people, not just different, but better. That certainly doesn't apply to the folks who inhabit this weekly thread.

Today’s weather here is expected be cooler than it has been for a while with temps in the upper 70s and a chance of possible showers, mostly in the a.m. In fact it’s currently cloudy and sprinkling in the area.

For today’s new beers at home I’m relying on some offerings from Prairie Brewing.

This morning’s beer home companion is the Prairie Blueberry Boyfriend.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/344942/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer include some blueberry and some lacto tartness, but also playing a noticeable role in the mix is some grainy, crackery malt. In the background there’s some malt sweetness, just a bit of citrus and a bit of earthy character. Overall a fairly well made beer that is easy to drink and refreshing, but not one I think I’ll be seeking out again.

Cheers, all!

 

That's a nice review. In local parlance, I'm gonna go get me some!

 

Do you have any trouble getting it reasonably fresh? Impossible here, if I find it under 6 months I'd call that as fresh as you'll see it.

 

Good morning New BSers! Well, it's another cool, overcast day here in NW PA. Mrs. Lizard and I are preping for next week's drive to TX - we made a run to PGH Thursday to pick up biscotti and other supplies for the migration. We were looking for my brother's favorite local beer (Church Brew Work's Pious Monk Dunkle) when I stumbled across today's NBS entry.



$ 5.34 (Including tax)/bomber ($ 0.243/oz) from Save-on Beer, Wexford, PA. Reviewed 8/19/18.
Undated bottle, stored on shelf in the coolest corner of the store. Served at 42 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Dark reddish-brown, translucent, effervescent. Sediment in bottle but not in glass.
Head – Small (Maximum 2.5 cm, controlled center pour), tan, fizzy, rapidly receding to an irregular four to ten mm ring fed by aggressive effervescence and a thin, scummy, partial layer.
Lacing – None.
First pour – Dark brown, clear.
Aroma – 4 – Weak clove and banana.
Flavor – 4 - Begins slightly sweet with clove, banana, and chocolate malt. The middle is primarily chocolate malt and banana. It ends with chocolate and banana. Later belches (lively carbonation!) tend toward clove. No alcohol, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, silky, lively carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 4.25 – Maybe a bit too carbonated and chocolatey, but otherwise very good! The price point is about perfect. My early excursions into the world of good beer centered around Bocks, Doppelbocks, and Weizenbocks, so how did I not have this previously? Now it’s on my radar and I’ll be targeting it next fall.
Rating 4, rDev +0.8%.

 

It's available reasonably fresh over in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham but we don't get it at all locally.

 

Here in NJ we get it days old.

 

Legend of El Dorado!

For you lovers of history the first thing that El Dorado likely conjures up are thoughts of a mysterious place in South America which was rumored to be full of gold!

Well, I am a brewer so for me El Dorado makes me think of a new hop variety and this hop has a mysterious history as well (albeit of a more recent timeline):

“El Dorado was created at CLS Farms in the Moxee Valley, Washington. Most sources say it was developed in 2008, and released in 2010. Was it actually developed in only two years? Now that would be mythic by hop breeding standards; where it usually takes 10 to 14 years for a new hop to come to commercial use. So, was it? We’ll have to wait for more breeding information to be released by CLS Farms to know any of the specifics.

However, there are some hints as to El Dorado’s parentage and how it was created. According to this short piece from Purity Brewing, Eric Demarais, owner of CLS farms and fourth generation hop grower, told Purity brewing, the great grandfather to El Dorado was a native wild hop found in Colorado.

Further hints come on page 74 of Stan Hieronymus’s book For the Love of Hops. Demarais has always collected open pollinated hop varieties. He hired someone to cross some of these open pollinated plants and, ultimately, came away with El Dorado. In the book, Demarais hints at giving full pedigree details at some point, but ends merely piquing the curiosity by saying, “It’s completely different.”

So, does this hop bare any resemblance to the myth it’s named for? Maybe some; it is mysterious and for many brewers, it is a king among hops. But, what of the gold? You need only look inside. Just as the streets of the imagined mythic city ran with the yellow stuff, lupulin within the cone pulses a deep golden.”

https://learn.kegerator.com/el-dorado-hops/

In the Stan Hieronymus book (referenced above) on page 145 he writes:

“El Dorado

Bred on a single Yakima Valley farm (pg. 74), available on a larger scale for the first time after 2012 harvest. Fits the dual purpose/special mold perfectly. Intense aromas: stone fruits (pear, cherries), candy (Lifesavers).”

Well, that is one of the more ‘interesting’ flavor descriptions I have read for a hop variety.

So, I have been thinking about brewing with El Dorado for a few years but my ‘plan’ was to first taste a commercially brewed beer that featured El Dorado hops before doing so. Well, I had no luck in this department. Then I noted that an online hop vendor was having a promotion (i.e., deep price discounts) and one of the hops for sale was El Dorado. I figured now would be the appropriate time to put on my Conquistador helmet for my search of the mysterious El Dorado (hops).

I figured that an El Dorado IPA where I solely (and generously) used El Dorado Hops for flavor and aroma (including dry hopping) additions was the ticket here.

What does this mysterious El Dorado hop taste like in a beer like an IPA?

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance

Golden colored with a BIG fluffy white head.

Aroma

Lot’s going on here. A complex combination of fruity flavors: tropical fruits, stone fruits (mostly peach) and a hint of watermelon. Moderately bitter.

Taste

The flavors follow the nose with that complex combo of fruity flavors.

Mouthfeel

Medium bodied with a dry-ish finish,

Overall

Very Good! This beer is mysterious in that it is complex yet simple at the same time; the simplicity is that all of the flavors are in the same category of fruity. Based upon the flavor profile of this beer it seems to me that El Dorado would be a good hop choice for a ‘NEIPA’ beer.



If any of y’all have tasted a commercially brewed beer that featured El Dorado hops I am very much interested in hearing about it. What was the brand name of the beer(s)? What did you think of the beer?

Cheers!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH @SFACRKnight @Sixpoint @honkey @JValm @brianhink @nc41 @honkey

 

Makes no sense at all, it's a turd here and it's a shame, when it's fresh it's a nice soft fruit forward brew. But I'll keep checking.

 

Samuel S. Organic apricot ale
..cloudy orange gold
..medium body, about medium carbonation as well. Overall a really nice feel and just a very easy to drink beer
..aroma is sweet apricot jam, juice, and dried apricots as well as a sweet perfume smell
...taste is very similar, sweet but not to the point of sickening sugary sweetness. No tartness but a slight dry bitter finish
...Overall I was taken back by how much I enjoyed this. Would have it again
...paired it with some homemade apricot rugala. Nothing as fancy as anything @utopiajane would make though

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Spent yesterday in Brooklyn with @thisischuck01 , and brought back a ton of NYC beers, mostly from Other Half. I’m hoping Charles joins us in the next BIF, because his target would get absolutely demolished with OH goodness. Look at this insanity!

18 unique beers, 16 of which are new to me. This’ll last me a few Sundays at least

Starting with one of those OH beers from Charles. I’ve been wanting to try this since OH announced it a few weeks ago. Glad to see a brewery focusing on Nelson hops!

Small Nelson Everything - Other Half
IPA - 6.5% abv
Canned 8/7/18 (12 days ago)
Score: 4.14 (+ 0.7% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/362459/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Would never have guessed Nelson as the hop used here, but it is an unusual taste. This beer looks and feels like a NE IPA, but taste and smell are less juicy citrus and more earthy and floral. This beer would definitely stand out in a blind. I’m enjoying the break from the cookie-cutter ipa taste we have going these days, but I’m guessing many OH fanboys will bash this for being different. Only 3 ratings so far, and all are mixed.

 

What I have is 4 new beers available from yesterday visiting my daughter in Wilmington. All are new to me, both the beers and the Breweries. Being it's a Crowler I'll probably start with the Wiseman NEIPA, but that's for later, if I start drinking now I'll sleep all afternoon. Making a beer stew for dinner, it's still hot out obviously, so it's not a typical stew/chili day but it's crock potable so I won't have to time anything or hover.

Wiseman Brewing Blissed Out Mango Passionfruit Milkshake IPA. 6.2 Abv. But I hate when they add Milkshake to the name, a bit trendy I suppose.

Trophy Brewing Sounds of Science 6.5 ABV NEIPA.

New Grass Brewing out of Shelby 8.8 abv Dipa, Mindkiller.

Ass Clown Brewing 7%abv IPA All That Juice.

 

Hoppy New Full Pint Sunday (Week 704)!

@lordoftheweins opening reminds me that I need to put him in touch with a Navy buddy & his wife who retired back to her home state of New Mexico & are (I believe) in proximity to our OP. If anyone knows how to find beer, it is my buddy. I'm good, but he is like one of those pigs that they send out to root for hidden truffles! It may have something to do with his upbringing in MKE …

This week's theme is in response to a user in another thread who seemed to feel that I ONLY ever drink/review/rate CANned beers on here & that somehow diminished my standing in his estimation. Those who know me on here & IRL know that I am a sensitive guy who is in touch with his feelings & those words hurt! I was reduced to a Roy Lichtenstein-esque panel from a romance comic book with tears streaming down my face & a thought balloon that read: "Why don't people understand my love of CANned beers?" 8=(



Since then, I have taken his hurtful remarks to heart & I am working diligently to eradicate The Bottle Backlog at Chez Woody, which is actually a doable, finite proposition since I am buying far fewer bottles than ever. In fact, bottles seem to be becoming an anachronism anyway so the choice may be taken away from all of us.

Now, about today's choice of brewery. Buy local, drink local, Pennsylvania for Pennsylvanians! North Versailles (pronounced colloquially as "Nort' Versaylez") is due just east of Pixburgh on U.S. 30 & that is the home of the brewery while they have a satellite taproom inna up & coming Lawrenceville (formerly "Lawlessville") area of Da 'Burgh, 'n' 'at.
My Pixburghese accent drives people nuts, but I am proud to have mastered it despite growing up nearly 300 miles away in Lancaster. It marks me as a "Yinzer" & we are a dying breed as people now wanna "talk real good".

Well, enough geography & diction! My first beer was:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22854/235677/?ba=woodychandler#review

As Chuck Barris would say, "I'll be back with more … stuff!"

 

This was a great post. I enjoyed hearing about the eldorado hops. Cheers!

 

Great start to this weeks NBS @lordofthewiens. Should be back later on today with a new brew.

Cheers!