New Beer Sunday (Week 705)

Greetings from Nashville! It was a typically warm and humid summer day until a few minutes ago, when a brisk afternoon shower arrived and cooled things off significantly. Sammy and I are enjoying this immensely from our screened-in porch, in celebration of National Dog Day.

Trust me, she's enjoying it; she's just getting tired of all the pictures.

Today's new beer is courtesy of @Wasatch, who sent me a killer box of hoppy Rocky Mountain goodness this week. Despite Melvin's non beer-related recent misadventures, I have always enjoyed their brews, especially their big IPAs. I'm also a Chuck Norris fan (who isn't?), so I was naturally excited to crack this one open:



A great old-school look, with a hazy amber-slightly orange color and a thick off-white head. The aroma was somewhat muted. Mainly citrus - orange and grapefruit - with a slight herbal presence along with bready malt. The taste followed. Mainly citrus and some pine, balanced with a prominent bready malt and slight sweetness from the ABV. Bitterness is there throughout and increasing through the finish, which was clean and dry. Overall an excellent old-school DIPA. Cheers!

 

Good afternoon and happy New Bier Sunday. First things first, hike day. Nothing crazy today, just a quick mile loop with the kiddos through Washington Park. Getting the 18 month old doing his own walking now, so pretty excited to get him out of the hiking backpack. The treasure here in this park is the variety of trees. Everything from Cedars, to Spruces, Firs, Pines, Hemlocks, Oaks, an Redwoods. But the true gems are the Giant Sequoias and the Bristlecone Pines (the latter being the longest living organisms on the planet dating up to 6,000 years old!).







And now for the Bier. Some people complain or argue about Oktoberfest beers arriving “too early”, but in my opinion, there is no such thing. Takes away from it's specialness? Maybe, but it's a style I would gladly drink year round so I don't care to agree with this either. On that note:

Mazama Brewing
Oktoberfest



(Haha. Moose in Lederhosen.)


Mazama Oktoberfest looks festive enough. Brilliantly clear burnt orange, lazy bubbles constantly surfacing. Unfortunately they are a little too lazy as the nearly bone white head disappears completely other than a light island and thin ring around the rim.

Smells right too. Very bready, German yeast aromas and just a drop of caramel. Only faintest dried wild flower hoppiness comes through after some serious investigation.

Flavor falls a bit short. The same quad of aromas play into the taste, but all subdued. It ends up being a bit spicier as well, almost like a pinch of mulling spices were thrown in at the last second.

It's pretty dry and more highly carbonated than the picture would suggest. Well balanced too. It starts sweet and transitions immediatly into a spicy floral finish.

I'd say Mazama did an ok job here. It's no where near the likes of the traditional Oktoberfests, but it is a decent representation and an easy beer to drink.

Overall, I gave Mazama Oktoberfest a rating of 3.73, with an rDev of +4.8%.

Prost everyone, and I will see you all soon!

 

First up today is a tasty treat from The Veil thanks to @CanConPhilly. It is a Hawaiian Punch inspired Gose call Never Never Aloha Aloha.

4.39/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Thank you CanConPhilly for this
16 oz can, dated 8/7/18, poured into a teku

A- A hazy lighter red with a two finger pink head

S- Sour, guava, passion fruit, oranges, tropical fruits, some salt.

T- Sour, kind of tastes like Hawaiian Punch, guava, oranges, some passion fruit, hint of wheat, some salt.

M- Smooth, crisp, light to medium body.

O- A tasty sour and well put together.

Cheers!

 

Avery Raspberry Truffale, 14% ABV. Pours black, with a one finger brown head. Nose is chocolate and sweet raspberry. Taste is quite sweet raspberry - though not cloying, chocolate, roasty malt with a slight bitterness, and bourbon. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. I'll have to try to find more of this.

 

Cheers to you and Sammy! I'm looking forward to being back in the dog business soon!. A year and a half is too long!

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @cjgiant for this weeks introduction. Nothing special going on here, another normal weekend of reviews, laundry, and new beer hauls. Got my 7200th last week with plenty more to go.

From @The-Adjunct-Hippie. This was amazing! Amazing lasting head retention and thick soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, cream, raisin, toasted oats, biscuit dough, and brown bread/crust; with light notes of chocolate, cocoa, coffee, toffee, molasses, herbal/grassy hop, and yeast earthiness. Very mild herbal/grassy bitterness and cinnamon spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very creamy, silky, velvety mouthfeel. Slight sticky hops, chalky roast. Slightly increasing lingering bitter/spicy dryness, no cloying. Insanely smooth, 5.5%. This was wonderful. Spot on English style. Very rich/well rounded malt complexity and balanced raisin/spice/lactose flavors; with restrained fruity English yeast and mild earthy hops against sweetness. Need more. 4.28


I like when breweries put the hops on the label, because it tells me exactly what it will taste like before I open it. I have the flavor profiles memorized for pretty much every common variety. I am almost up to 800 American IPA reviews right now.

Anyways, this was awesome. Great head retention and thick soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big orange, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, papaya, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate caramel, toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. 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; light lingering resins/rinds after the finish. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very smooth, not overly aggressive, minimal warming 8%. Azacca/El Dorado on point. Tons of stone/tropical fruits. Very juicy, dank, and earthy balanced hop complexity; sizable malt backbone, but not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Really Midwest style stuff. 4.1


Cheers, be back later.

 

Happy NBS. Trying this very fine and aptly titled Pudding State (Central State/Untitled Art). Cheers all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47802/357525/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

New beer #3 is this Ewil Twin with a name that's too long to include. It's a DDH NEIPA with Galaxy, Citra and Mosaic that clocks in at 7% ABV. There is a date on the can, but it got smudged; from what I can pick out, it was canned sometime in July.



Pours hazy yellow, with nice 1.5 fingers of head on relatively non-agressive pour. Great head retention and fantastic lacing left on the glass. Fairly pungent smell is completely dominated by citrus, but also with lots of passion fruit. Taste follows the nose completely. There is a bit of the metallic notes on the front end; not sure if it’s the oats, the hop combo, the age of the can or something else. Overall, both taste and smell are predictable for a DDH Galaxy + Citra IPA. The body is great, world-class for a NEIPA in terms of both the pillowy base and not apparent alcohol. Pretty happy with buying this, though with so many great NEIPAs around, not sure if getting it again is necessary.

Final Rating: 4.14 (+2.5% rDev.) [Note that the score is dominated by a 4.5 on the smell]

Cheers!

 

NB #2 today. Another brew picked up in Conn last week.
Thimble Island Misty IPA brewed with Mosaic and Amarillo.
Pours a golden orange body with a a slght haze and a nice white 1" head that becomes a thin ring with world map lacing.
Aroma is pineapple, passionfruit, sweet citrus and dankly cannabis with a touch of pine.
Taste follows with sweet pineapple and tropical notes, peach/apricot, piney guava and orange with a slight rind bitterness. Really nice.
Feel is medium/light body with a crisp carbonation and a nice pleasant bitterness and dry side finish. Nice sweetness but balanced and right on for the style.
Nice brew. Thimble Island flies under the radar. Nice beer here. Not too hazy and the hop combo is one I really enjoy. Should have purchased a 4 pk.
Oh well. Cheers. Great posts today!

 

Thanks to your glass choice and photo, the discrepancy between that thick gravity defying head on the can label and the lack of one in your glass seems like a letdown.

 

#2 today. I added this to the BA database and because it is a blend of a BA Stout and an Imperial Porter I identified it as an American Strong Ale. If Rushing Duck thinks I'm wrong, then they can change the style designation. Whatever it is, it's unbelievably good! There's roasted malt, chocolate, fruit, and anything else you could possibly want in a dark ale. It's the best beer I've had this year. I'll leave it to smarter, and more sober, minds to chategorize it. All I can say is that it's awesome! Here's my review:

4.66/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75

Reviewed the day after bottle release. Poured into Rushing Duck tulip glass. It pours virtually ink black with some dark walnut at the stem and top of the glass. It has a thin, light mocha-colored head and a creamy sheen of lacing. Man, what an aroma! roasted malt, cocoa, brown sugar, molasses, plum, raisin, and cherry. Normally, I can't detect so many individual smells. I'm not sure how but the taste is even better: milk chocolate, roasted malt, burnt coffee, brown sugar, plum, raisin, cherry, pumpernickel bread, light bourbon. It just goes on and on. This is so good that I feel like I should also be tasting a Reueben sandwich from Hobbies in Newark! It's unbelievably good! This beer is rich and creamy and the 9.1% ABV seems appropriate. I bought 4 bottles of this without tasting it because I trust Rushing Duck's ability to blend high ABV, high gravity beers. Now I wish I had bought the full 6 bottle allotment. This is stunning! One of the very best beers I've ever had!

 

Good afternoon, NBS. Another hot day. I, for one, am ready for cooler weather. But while it's hot, may as well have a refreshing beer.



Lutari by Modern Times is a fruited Berliner loaded with guavas, apricots and mangos. 6.5%, 10 IBUs.

Pours a hazy golden orange with a lasting white cap.

Smells of tart tropical fruits, juicy ripe apricots, white bread.

Tastes of guava, ripe mango, nectar, saltine crackers. The crisp pilsner and whie wheat malt backbone pushes its refreshing qualities, but at 6.5%, it's heavy for the style.

Zesty mouthfeel, quite tart, and hops go unnoticed by me. 20oz is a bit much and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd had less.

Cheers!

 

You young people and your artisanal soaps

 

Brouwerij Verhaeghe - Duchesse Cherry

Damn. Today has been a seriously decadent NBS for me. I'm going full circle and finishing with this beer - brought in from the same importer as my first beer of the day.

I've had the regular version a few times. Price and availability usually make it a rare treat rather than anything more common in my home.

This beautiful red beer has much more in common with the "regular version" than a miscellaneous cherry beer. It's a full on assault of layered syrupy balsamic vinegar goodness. There's just nothing else on the market like it. Yeah, there's some cherry slushy in the mix, but not too much. Sweet and sour. I'd be curious to try this alongside the regular, but that probably ain't gonna happen. This is an acidic dessert in a glass. An absolute indulgent treat.

Cheers.

@Squire

 

Indeed. Probably straight from the can from now on. Oh wait, I forgot how much I love my steins! Everything looks wonderful in a Stein.

 

It truly is a steal at the price I see down here. You never see spon stuff, let alone this good of a spon beer, this cheap,

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A beautiful summer day here on the island. Warm, sunny, and a nice steady cool breeze. Feels of the fall are starting to creep in with cooler evenings and all the acorns starting to fall. Got a bunch of stuff done round the house and watched the Mets get killed once again. Really looking forward to football season starting. At least I can have some hope with the Jets.

My new beer today is Icing On The Cake, imperial milk stout w/ cacao & vanilla, from Grimm. The brew checks in at 10% abv and has a June ‘18 bottling notice. Hoping to hit their new location next Saturday.

A black pour with a thin head of brown bubbles. On the nose I get malts with slight smoke. Not as floral as I thought it would be. A bum very smooth start to the drinking with lots of nice chocolate malt upfront. A nice smooth flow that finishes ever so slightly bitter. Nice notes of chocolate, smoke, caramel, lactose, vanilla, and burnt toast. The flavors take on a nice subtle background touch to the base. Nothing really seems to dominate or overpower. The mouth feel is moderate with a light fluffy feel to it and not much stick or to sweet. Has more of a robust flavor with sweet highlights rather than the sweet decadent flavor that the bottle label seems to allude to. I have yet to notice the abv.

Overall, very good stuff. Feeling dumb for having passed it by all this time. I’m in the low 4’s here players and maybe slightly higher on the taste.

 

Awesome gose! Fantastic head retention and thick soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big sour/tart/tangy rhubarb, red/green apple, fruit skin, lemon, lime, orange, peach, pear, melon, berries, white wine, sea salt, hay, straw, and grass; with some wheat, cracker malts; light pepper, lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and light spiciness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, light-medium body, and moderately crisp/clean finishing. Balanced bready/grainy malt, lactic acid, fruit tang/tannins, and light salinity in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy/carbonated dryness, no pucker. Very flavorful/refreshing, 4.5%. Not overly lactic or salty. Great balance of jammy rhubarb, apples, and Lacto complexity; with a nice pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity for the ABV. Will get again. Spot on style. 4.13


Delicious APA. Awesome lasting head retention and soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of mandarin orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, red apple, citrus peel/zest, mint, wood, and light peppercorn/pine hops; with moderate cracker, white bread, lightly toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. A bit muted aromas. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, medium body, and moderately crisp/clean finishing. Bready grainy malts and some sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very flavorful/refreshing, 5.6%. All Cascade and Nugget hops. Nice balanced mix of juicy/vibrant citrus and earthy hop complexity; nice pale malt backbone, minimal residual sweetness. Spot on APA all the way through. Nice hop showcase. 3.91


Cheers, be back later.

 

My last NBS today. This one is a Summer Summer Summer collab between Alvarado St. (Monterey, CA) and Moksa Brewing (Rocklin, CA). The beers is a 8.1% ABV NE DIPA brewed with Simcoe & Citra, and English yeast strain. Canned on 08/13.18. The "special" message by the date reads "Knockout b4 You Flocc Out".



Pours completely murky yellow, with about 1/3 finger of head on an aggressive pour. Head dissipates fairly quickly (already pointing to low carbonation), and minimal lacing left on the glass. Small ring of bubbles remains around the edge. Smell is first of all tropical, but citrusy notes are there as well. Taste follows the nose. Overall, the smell is fairly pungent. Sweet hoppy notes, undoubtedly coming from the Simcoe hops, dominated both front and middle of the taste. Citrusy notes start in the middle, and become more apparent toward the end. Aftertaste is hoppy sweet. Great overall pillowy mouthfeel. I'd say that there's a tad too little carbonation. I'm quite happy wit this beer. It's a great NEIPA. It's far from my NEIPA of the year, but if I'm honest, this is because Simcoe are not my palate's favorite hops. Cheers!

 

I want that...it's about a 13 hour drive , and I'd bet worth it.