New Beer Sunday (Week 705)

Ok so a little back story on this next beer, I actually tasted it a week or so ago at a tap takeover at a local craft store. It is La Rose Beer Soda from Freehouse Brewing in Charleston, SC. It is listed as a table beer by the brewery (and the rep I met at the tap takeover), after some research it appears there is no "tabel beer" style any longer see below.

"According to BeerAdvocate, the Table Beer classification disappeared in 1830, when taxes shifted from the finished beer to malt and hops used. But for a while low ABV beers continued to be brewed under the name of Table Beer (especially in Scotland), until they gradually dwindled away towards the end of the 19th century.

What a table beer is today is fairly amorphous…but it’s safe to say that it’s basically a session beer with a more ‘Pottery Barn’ name."

So I listed this under Low Alcohol Beer since none of the other names I found (tafelbiers) could be found. The first time I had this I was like wow this is bad, I am a believer that every beer has it's time and place. I am trying this today after a long day of yard chores and it is much better when I am tired and a little hot. I am not a big fan of this beer but if you want a light tasty beer on a hot day or something to drink all day on this would be a nice candidate and is surprisingly flavorful.


Appearance 3.25 - Pours slightly cloudy with a pink tint. I would not say it had much of a head, with a super hard pour it was almost gone before I got the picture made. No lacing.

Aroma 3 - Some light citrus orange and grapefruit little bit of light malt and cereal. Not much else.

Taste 3.25 - Grain, malt, very mild orange and grapefruit. Surprised it is pretty flavorful for such a light beer.

Feel 3.75 - Light bodied prickly carbonation super easy drinking.

Overall 3.24 -Surprisingly tasty for what it is, nice flavors and on a hot day it would be gone quickly.

 

My first new beer this Sunday is People Power by Alvarado St. It’s light Japanese lager brewed with limes. Priced at $3.50 per can, it was packaged on 08/20/18. ABV is listed at 4.8%.



Look: Pours bright golden yellow with a couple fingers of head in this relatively skinny glass. The bubbles are fairly large, and dissipate quite quickly, though a thing ring of them remains around the edge. There is no lacing left on the glass. Some bubbles are floating up throughout the glass. (3.5)

Smell: Typical lagery smell, noble hops. Lime is also prominent, as expected. Overall, fairly subdued, even in style. (3.5)

Taste: Pleasant. Light, clean and crisp. I’m not sure I’m versed enough in lagers to really notice the rice in the taste, but the limes are definitely here. Lime taste is natural, not artificial. It’s a bit grainy, but in a good way. Some lingering bitterness. (4)

Feel: Body is very light, with relatively little carbonation for the style. Actually, I think that more carbonation wouldn’t hurt. No alcohol in the taste, as expected for a low ABV lager. (3.5)

Overall: Quite happy with this for what it is. It’s an extremely drinkable, quality-made lager. Limes add a nice touch. Would buy again. (3.75)

Final Rating: 3.65 (no rDev because I’m the first person to rate this on BA).

Cheers!

 

Next up, Death to Ego IPA (6.1% abv) from Alewife...

Medium-gold pour with amber tones is a little bit hazy with a coupla fingers of ivory foam on top... Has a woody pine character with a softer citrus fruit edge... Mild sweetness suggests some fruits, dries out a bit on the finish, but never completely loses something akin to a cedar-kinda element... Bitterness is moderate, leaves a light shellac behind, though the beer is not resinous per se... Mild carbonation, medium-light weight... Reminded me a bit of Two Hearted that's gone a bit past its prime, though it has a little more heft to the feel... Not quite my thing, but a good beer regardless...

Cheers...

 

Neshaminy creek fruhstuck breakfast stout
... Solid black color
...Above average body with low carbonation, overall a very good feel
...aroma is malt, roasted malt, coffee grinds, espresso, some dark cocoa
...taste is roasted malt with some roasted espresso beans forward. Followed by malt, black coffee and bitter dark chocolate.
....Overall it has a mild sweetness and a fairly strong coffee bitterness. It has a nice feel and it makes for a nice breakfast stout . The bitterness seems to come from coffee rather than hops but it is a very good bitter breakfast stoutfree photo upload

 

The Bruery - Terreux / The Collective Brewing Project -- Minor Miner

I'm following up my last Bruery saison and my 750 Belgian saison with this - a 750 from the Bruery... but they call this saison a grisette.

The 3 color block print looking label is fantastic. Great job. I wonder if they really thought of the implications of a canary in a coal mine though. Is this a bad sign of things to come?

With that in mind, this beer is (for me) a step below the two before it. I like the art better than the beer. This is a collaboration with The Collective Brewing Project. It's made with pilsner malt, orange blossoms, and calendula flowers. It was aged in... (you guessed it!) oak foeders.

It's a hazy dull yellow. Carbonation is a bit too prickly. This beer is tart. It's like an underripe gooseberry. There's a nice earthy foundation underneath it all, but the overall theme is prickly. Unlike the other beers, it doesn't make me want to take sip after sip.

There's nothing that distinguishes this 5% ABV "grisette" from a 5% US saison. To go any further in that thought is to get bogged down in repetition. As such, it's OK, but nothing that grabs me.

I will take a minute to complain about something different with regard to approach though. This beer was supposedly "inspired by the traditional beers industrial miners drank after long days of working." When brewers think of such beers, do they really get thoughts of orange blossoms and calendula flowers? I'm kinda sick of this spin. Just say the truth: "inspired by something we read on a blog and the big bottled beers that beer geeks rave about after long days of driving to out of the way breweries."

 

Hello NBS folks. First thanks to @cjgiant for getting this started, and an apology to him- Yes, I am going to review an NEIPA, but I have a good excuse...
My really great friend that I rarely see was due to visit from Montana this week. He is an avid and very scientific home brewer belonging to a large club there. The club follows trends and tries (successfully mostly) to produce the new "hit", NEIPAs. Trouble is that Montana distribution of any reasonable commercial versions to compare to are few and far between.
I have often said that I would never wait in line for beer. But I heard that Treehouse is now open on Tuesdays and after talking to some Treehouse Masters (beer mules not associated with the TV show), I realized that most people in the know don't know this yet (keep it quiet). Well my wife and I went up this past Tuesday and bought 48 cans of variety (after all how are we going to do this, having jobs and all?).
Fast forward to my friend visiting yesterday. Boy was he excited. Everyone had a good time and no one was hurt (or waited in line).

Long story to say why I am now sitting here with this Haze.

4.35/5 rDev -5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a can dated 8/18/18 to a nonic.
Very hazy, reminds me of apricot juice (in appearance).
Mild fruit aroma, pineapple, orange, mango.
Really a nice taste of the same fruits, finish is effervescent and mildly bitter. And thats the kicker, it changes at the end and not in an unpleasant way. Mouth feel is good also, really coats your tongue until that carbonation starts cleaning house.
This is probably my favorite Tree House NEIPA and certainly one of my favorite overall NEIPAs.

 

Hey, everybody! I hope you're all having a nice a day as I am. For whatever reason, I've got that happy spirit flowing through my veins today, and I'm taking advantage of it by just doing what I enjoy and going with the flow. And that usually means a lot of time in the kitchen, which I haven't had the time to do in a long while. My tomatoes are starting to ripen up nicely, so I made a fresh batch of pico de gallo for later, I picked up some great kirbys for refrigerator pickles which will be ready this afternoon, and my son even tried his hand a baking bread for the first time:

I gotta tell ya, nothing beats the smell of home baked bread going through the house on a Sunday. This particular loaf was a no-knead recipe, and it came out pretty damn tasty for a beginner recipe. I can see making this a regular weekend activity.

Right now I'm enjoying the pleasant weather and some good tunes out back. And I suppose the homemade bread and pickles got me in the mood for a little something like this ( ):


Plan Bee Barn Beer

In a word, it's stunning- seasoned wisdom delivered with an impish twinkle in the eye. Just a superb beer, vibrant and full of life on one hand, and deep, earthy and grounded on the other. But it's personality resides squarely on the lively side. It's tart, no doubt about that, but there's no harshness about it, even at this high level. And it's balanced by a rather rich feel- like light cream, almost. Yet even that's not enough to interrupt that snappy, crisp finish. So, yeah, even though there are pretty pleasing and potent balancing elements, it's still a wonderful scrappy bastard overall.

It leads with a bright lemony tartness coupled with some sweet spice and dried wildflowers, but by mid-palate dirty hay and musk are coming on strong. Wood dominates after that crisp dry finish, with enough tannins to cause a pleasing counterpunch to the acidity but not so much that the astringency takes over. This is not a goldilocks zone beer by any means, but it is a perfect example of using contrast to achieve balance. A true joy to drink, and a high A (4.65). Let's hope it stays on the shelf, because this is a steal!

Here's hoping that the water spirit is keeping you all in as groovy a mood as I'm in today. Cheers!

 

The bread is great and that is a beautiful review! Cheers!

 

My second NBS post today. I just had to review this thing. #margtime by Alvarado St. X Noble Ale Works. It’s a Margarita-inspired nose w/ limes and sea salt. This baby clocks in at 5.5% ABV.



Look: Pours hazy bright yellow, with a large 1.5 fingers of head in this fairly wide glass. Bubbles dissipate fairly quickly, though a small ring remains around the edge. There is not lacing left on the glass, as is expected. (4)

Smell: Quite strong. There is sooooo much lime in the smell. Not picking up a lot of tangerines or agave, though this is probably because lime is just too dominant, and my sense of smell is fairly weak. (4.25)

Taste: F**k!!! I’m not a big gose drinker, and I won’t say that this is the best gose I’ve tasted. But this has got to be the most palate-wrecking sour I’ve ever tried, for sure. At first it follows the nose — the lime is honestly too much. Then it’s salty, in a typical gose way. Salt becomes ever more noticeable as it warms. There is a pleasant lime aftertaste. Not getting much agave, but honestly I don’t really I think I know what agave tastes like. (4.25)

Feel: Fairly full-bodied for the style, typically strongly carbonated. No alcohol is apparent. (4)

Overall: I’m conflicted here. On the one hand, goes aren’t my thing, and this one is a gose taken to eleven. I think that even many gose-lovers will find this too overpowering. On the other, I’m just glad that this thing exists, because of how crazy powerful is its taste. (4)

Final Rating: 4.16 (no rDev)

Cheers!

 

Tired Hands Sustained Transient Self DIPA

Happy Sunday, BAs. I was going to crack this amazing-looking Nelson beer somebody gave me for NBS today, but @CanConPhilly requested I review this beer he apparently hated. How can I resist that?

Picked up at the brewpub this past Wednesday and stored cold since, Sustained Transient Self pours a hazy, semi-murky / semi-vibrant orangey color with two fingers of antique white head that leave messy rings of soapy lacing. There's a slow-rising effervescence trying to cut through from the bottom of the glass.

Nectarine, melon and a little white pepper all show at first in the nose. (There's also a faint nutty, butterscotch character when I really stick my snout in there and inhale. It isn't my favorite -- but it's so distant, I'm not going to worry about it.)

A sweet apple-and-peach-juice medley dominates the taste. There's honey and some tea-cake malt beneath that. And there's a creamy element binding it altogether, like vanilla pudding with a tiniest bit of butterscotch mixed in. Fruit juice cut by a little white wine and bitter herb lingers in the aftertaste.

It's medium-to-heavy bodied with just a little oily slickness to the feel and good carbonation.

This is not my favorite TIred Hands DIPA by a long shot, but it is by no means a drain pour either.

The only soapy element I'm getting out of the beer is the soapy lacing. To me, it's a little too much on the sweet and fruity side, even for a contemporary NEIPA. Maybe Matt uses fruity soaps? Honestly, I don't want to know.

@larryi86, I've got a can with your name on it if you want to solve the soapniess question definitively.

 

3.36/5 rDev +4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours clear golden color, small white head that's gone in a flash, no lacing at all.
Nose gets some pine and citrus, flavor follows, with some malt sweetness. Medium bodied, nicely carbonated.
This is one of those generic IPA's that everyone makes, there's nothing particularly good or bad about this beer.

 

Happy Sunday, New Beer Swiggers and commentators! It's been a really nice weekend so far. Yesterday was my wife's and my wedding anniversary (if I say how many years, she may poison my dinner). She's wonderful about accommodating my beer hobby, or "this thing of ours" as we say in New Jersey. Yesterday, she encouraged me to attend Rushing Duck's 6th anniversary by myself so I could (in her words) "talk beer with your new friends." Then, she made dinner reservations at The Brick Farm Tavern where she joined me in having a couple of Troon's offerings. It was like college days when we drank a lot of beer together.

So for most of today we went on an outing.


We explored the ruins of a Church in Hunterdon County, NJ, where the graves are slowly being repaired.


I doubt that the Rev. Swackhammer would appreciate my posting this on Beer Advocate but then again, we Lutherans have mellowed a lot. Trust me, there's lots of good beer at our Church Council retreats!

I'm one lucky guy! Now on to beer.


One of yesterday's special releases at Rushing Duck was RD R&D Sixth Anniversary - Citra. This is a huge, 9.4% DIPA with bitter citrus, sweet pineapple and tangerine, vanilla, and Citra hops that bite hard. I tried it yesterday but wanted to save my review for this august audience. This is just great! Here's my full review:

4.49/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Reviewed one day after release. Poured from crowler into Rushing Duck tulip glass. It pours an opaque, muddy golden yellow with brownish hues, and a creamy, bright-white cap and thin coating of creamy lacing inside the glass. What a nose! Pineapple, tangerine, lemon, lime, onion, pine needles, and a strong aroma of Citra hops. You can smell it across the room when poured. The first taste I notice is tart lemon and grapefruit; it's almost puckering. But at mid-sip, particularly as the glass warms, there far more sweet fruit: lots of pineapple and tangerine. The taste of the Citra hops is unmistakable and there is a touch of vanilla at the finish. The after taste is quite bitter with pepper and a strong hop bite. This ale is nicely creamy, thick, and viscous with lively carbonation. And you can feel the 9.4% ABV, which leaves a distinct burn. Overall, this special anniversary version of R&D is simply superb. If you like Citra hops, you'd be hard pressed to find a better DIPA. In my opinion, this is in the same conversation with Hill Farmstead Double Citra, Tree House Bright, and OH All Citra Everything.

Enjoy your new beers, everyone! I'll be back with a darker beer from yesterday's Rushing Duck festivities.

 

Nice head! It looks like gelato on the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore!

 

Greetings all! Thanks to our host for the thought provoking start. I hope I'm remembering correctly that new versions of beers available only once each year count enough as "new" for our purposes here. If not, feel free to drainpour this post with prejudice.

For a very long time I simply wasn't interested in Oktoberfest beers. I never liked the Sam Adams version, which was amongst the only options way back when, and I generally avoided imports due to some bad experiences during that same way back when period. Thankfully, due to reading how excited some of you folks here get about them, and to more and more breweries seeming to make them, they're now something I can look forward to every year!

I know I've had Jack's Abby's Copper Legend before, but for whatever reason I don't remember the previous years very clearly. What I do remember is that I actually specifically avoided it for a while, because the name made me assume it was some sort of generic amber ale, which was always my least favorite offering back when every brewpub seemed contractually obligated to have one on tap. They often tasted of pennies to me, so "Copper" wasn't exactly an enticing name to my eyes/palate. So let's see what this year's version holds.



It pours a deep golden color that changes quite a bit depending on the light, ranging from almost a medium straw to a, well, coppery color. Big largely bubbled puffy white head. It looks too dark to be an average festbier but also too light to be an average marzen, but it leans much closer to the latter than the former. The smell has a bit of raw doughy sweetness, as well as some honey and something almost like a mild vermouth smell hiding in there somewhere. Taste is mildly sweet doughy and bready malt, but not heavy in the slightest. It finishes amazingly clean with neither much of a hop punch nor any lingering sweetness. I do get a hint of that vaguely vermouthy note in the aftertaste (and to be clear, i love vermouth). This feels oddly chuggable for a beer that is so predominantly malty!

I only bought a single of this but I'll definitely be grabbing a full 6'er next time I'm out. This might be my favorite non-festbier styled Oktoberfest I can remember having. Cheers to Jack's Abby and the rest of you knuckleheads!

 

I'm generally not a fan of sours but this one was fabulous! I agree. I'll drink it as long as I can find it.

 

Afternoon NBS and what a beautiful day here in RI. Thanks to @cjgiant for the intro. Hopefully I can meet the expectations for this thread. I do want to mention I cant live without lagers. I really cant comprehend how some actually hate them. The skill involved and the classic malts make them an enjoyable brew for sure. My 2 cents.
Lets get to todays collab between Industrial Arts and Two Roads.
Bloomerang NEIPA brewed with hibiscus.
Pours a brownish red, with quite a bit of haze. Looks alot like the flesh of a plum.
The head is almost a pinkish-white that rises up quickly than just as quickly disappears leaving almost nothing with zero lacing. Begins to look flat.
Aroma is well, strange. There is floral qualities like the middle of a rose, but than somewhere is some citrus and maybe grapefruit, possibly some plum and stone fruits. Its hard to really single alot out. A little muddled.
Taste is tart like not quite ripe plums. As the beer warms a few more IPA characteristics come through, the citrus mainly. There is a floral bitterness like chewing on a flower and the beer has a very herbal tea like quality.
Feel is on the low carb side, thinnish in body with a super dry and floral bitter finish.
Im trying to like this one. Really trying. The resemblance to a NEIPA stops at the haze IMHO. This is a very tea like, herbal brew that drinks rather flat and doesnt have a wow factor as you would expect from these two fine breweries. Its identity is somewhere in beer space because its surely not a fine example of what weve come to expect from a NEIPA. Sure its unique, but I purchased a 4 pack and honestly wish I would have purchased a single. Cant win em all!

 

Your description is so much better than mine. It wasn’t exactly a soap taste I was getting, but that’s the best word I could come up with to describe it. Maybe apple-honey tea tastes like soap to me? Wouldn’t surprise me

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks @cjgiant for the start up today. I appreciate the point about a perceived or maybe actual narrowing of the beer styles that are reviewed. Lots of haze chasing and hops galore for sure. We spent the day at the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown MA. A site we visit a few times a year. The building and grounds are a close second to the amazing collection and programs this world class institute provides.
Home now with a Cream Ale (my first Cream Ale review) from our dear friends at Brick and Feather. Malted corn, rice, Rye, 2 and 6 row barley are all in this 4% delight. The brewer used clean ale yeast then lagered for 4 weeks according to the description. The result is clean, enough heft in the body and delightful on this summer day

Cheers all

Ode To The Afternoon Crew

Brick & Feather Brewery
Cream Ale / 4.90% ABV

4.21/5 rDev 0% | Score: 4.21
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a fresh growler into the test glass
A - Wonderful clarity allows for the full display of determined carbonation. Golden colored canvas with a bright white cap.
S - Touches of the adjuncts, some corn, a bit of rice as well, the malted grains are in the mix with a hint of earthy hops
T - Nice complexity, malted corn is up front the rye adds just a bit of spice, the malted barley both 2 and 6 row keep the sweet and earthy in wonderful balance.
M - Delicate on the palate, carbonation is spot on, almost prickly. Start is a bit dusty with the rye, rice, malted corn all adding some heft to this 4% offering. The feel is fantastic, finish is crisp and dry.
O - A true Ode to summer here, feel is medium bodied, with a full quiver of flavors. The right down the middle hop touch is wonderful. A very well constructed offering from talented brewers. Perfect on this summer day

 

I will be more than happy to help solve the soap I was question!