New Beer Sunday (Week 706)

Happy Labor Day Sunday, New Beer Sippers and commentators. And thank you,@lordofthewiens, for hosting today. I'm glad you're settling into your new home and establishing a routine so quickly. My wife and I moved in May. The distance between the houses is only 3.3 miles but it's been anything but smooth. We're doing what amounts to a whole house remodel and after 3+ months the construction finally starts in earnest this week. Should be interesting to say the least.

My new beer today comes courtesy of @bstyle. Central Waters' BBA Vanilla Bean Stout. While Central Waters distros to New Jersey, I haven't seen this stout and have been anxious to try it. In a word, it's delightful! It has everything I want: chocolate, coffee, vanilla, nuts, and dark fruit, and the bourbon compliments the other flavors. I wish it were a little more chewy but I'm now splitting hairs. It's very good! Here's my full review:

4.35/5 rDev +2.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Received in trade with @bstyle. Poured from undated, 22 oz. bottle into a tulip glass. It has a classic stout appearance: rich, dark walnut in color with a thin cap of khaki head that dissipated slowly leaving a thin film of creamy lacing inside the glass. The aromatic nose features roasted malt, milk chocolate, coffee, nuts, vanilla, and just a whiff of bourbon. It tastes even better than it smells. The chocolate is more evident and, in addition to vanilla beans and nuts, there are welcome notes of black cherry/dark fruit, which add to the complexity. The bourbon appears throughout and is pleasingly subtle - its taste comes through clearly but doesn't overpower the other flavors, each of which is distinct but which blend superbly and produce a delicious stout. For a "big" stout the feel is average in viscosity and creaminess. I wouldn't describe it as chewy. The carbonation is light to moderate and the 9.5% ABV, while warming, doesn't distract. Overall, Central Waters has done a great job with this stout. The barrel aging compliments the other flavors as well as any stout I've had recently. It's simply a pleasure to drink.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend in general, and his/her new beer(s) in particular. As always, your reviews are informative and fun to read!

 

A nice relaxing mid holiday weekend Sunday for me. Time for more reviews.

Thanks @GreenBayBA. Ya sent me a beer no one even added yet? This was a pretty good Helles. Great fluffy head retention and foamy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, and light nutty malts; with herbal, grassy, light peppery noble hops. Noticeable buttery diacetyl in aromas and flavors, but not too overwhelming. Bit of yeasty fruitiness. Light herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; creamy/silky/bready/grainy malt and light sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter dryness, no cloying/astringency. Fairly clean lagering, not too fruity/yeasty. Smooth, pretty refreshing, 5%. The diacetyl was quite a bad mark on this, and it carried over to the mouthfeel as silky notes. I enjoyed it otherwise, and a good attempt at the style. Nicely rich pils/munich malts with balancing earthy hops against sweetness. They just need to clean up their process, and it would be a much better beer. Try a D-rest? 3.63


This was great stuff! Nice head retention/lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge peach, pineapple, apricot, lemon, orange, grapefruit, pear, passion fruit, papaya, mango, watermelon, berries, citrus peel/zest, light peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate toasted bread, light caramel malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; balanced creamy/bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light resins/rinds, light-moderate increasing bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very drinkable, not aggressive, 6.8%. Big surprise here, enormous stone fruit flavors. Feels like Azacca/El Dorado a lot. Super juicy and lightly dank/earthy hop complexity; with a nice bready malt backbone, mild residual sweetness. Really big fan. 4


Cheers, be back in a bit NBS.

 

Ok...paging @cavedave ... I hear he's a fun guy. I know one of these is a wiffleball for scale...there are two of these monsters about three feet apart.


Will be back with a beah after a bit. Battled the lawn today, got lots more to do, but spent a half hour in the spa with the grandsprout...grass might be a foot taller by tomorrow.

 

Dipping into the box that @mj0126 sent me, which was quite honestly like having Trillium drive down here and punch me with lots of beer (labored way of saying “crap ton” of beer from Trillium.....).

First up is Little Rooster



4.24/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Dirty, hazy yellow colored beer with just a small bit of stark white head provide a full nose of mango with just edges of garlic. Taste starts off with just a hint of that mango before it takes an earthy, slightly grassy turn before a nice bitterness is left behind. Feels a little gritty, maybe chalky and is drinkably “wet” and dry on finish. Very well crafted beer.

Next up is Launch Beer



4.22/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Virtually no head, save for an erratic bubble bath looking eruption that runs off pretty quick, leaving a murky yellow beer behind. Nose gushes green onion, garlic, pine needles and ripe vegetables, with a heavy lean on onion. Taste, for the most part, follows suit but immediately imparts this great tingly thing - like as close to pop rocks one can get without the actual popping. So, anyway, green onion fades off, leaving grass wrapped garlicky tangerine on a fairly dry tongue. So much happening with this beer, quite quick a great tasting adventure.

Now we’ve got Double Seesaw, which is a Gose - one of few styles I’ve never tried. I had to review the style before I reviewed, just to make sure I did it justice!



4.35/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Fluffy bubblegum colored head sits atop a beer, so mimicking beet juice that it would fool Dwight Schrute. Nose is nearly flavorful with sweet raspberry jam, tamed just so slightly with a hint of salt. Taste begins tart, and carries with it a taste best described as “raspberry sweet tart flavored water” which isn’t intended as a slam, rather a testimony to how it can maintain plenty of flavor without becoming cloying or contrived. Finishes just a touch dry with a sweet tartness left on the tongue.

 

Ok, NBS folks. We made our way to this little town in Michigan called Grand Rapids. Just happened into the little brewpub that seems to be popular with the locals:


I think the locals pronounce it Fō•ün’•dèrz or something. This will be my first ever beer from them, and it’s a barrel-aged beer

I hop I like this Curmudgeon’s Better Half:


Pours about like you see, chestnut with a deep garnet hue. Had to find a seat, so the initial modest head lost itself back into the beer, but left enough to look at as an island on the surface and a creamy medium-width collar. Some of this collar sticks to the glass on a sip, but does try to find its way back to the rest of the beer.

The nose has an air of sweetness to it - the old lady isn’t seeming nearly as irascible as her mate. Light brown sugar, caramel, toffee, a hint of Twizzler red licorice form this sweet barrier. Breaking through that you get some classic bourbon booze and light char, and a holiday spice blend.

Taste brings the holiday cheer right up front, look the missus baked ginger snaps! Ok, that’s not really quite it... there’s a bite like cinnamon with some sweetness, but not really a strong ginger note. Throw in the bourbon and mayb it’s more like bourbon balls. Breaking up this impression, though is a wooden earthiness that keeps the beer grounded. It is a very warming beer, and there’s a lingering of the spirit that was in the barrels before this beer. During a sip, the bite is soft, more like a gentle nip from a kitten. But don’t be quick with her, or she’ll hit you with a burning stare.

Tell you what, the ol’ gal knows how to put together a shindig. There is a wonderful smell emanating from the house, and cheery people that are attending the party. The old man has had some influence on her, but she shows some independence, as well. I don’t see the old guy, though - he must’ve retired from the party early. I’ll drink his beer!

 

Originally only had one new beer for today, but upon stopping in at my local butcher shop to look at new marinades for the pork I'm planning on grilling in a while, I found two more that I was interested in. This is going to be a very adjunct heavy edition of NBS for me, but luckily, the beers are all incredibly different styles and have a wide range of different flavor additions. Without further ado, let's jump in to one of the two most newly-acquired beers...

Four Quarters' Little Umbrellas

I assume this one is supposed to mimic a baby version of a piña colada, since it clocks in at a diminutive 3.5%. I picked up a four pack of this, which is kind of a gamble as 4Q has tended to be very intriguing though slightly-inconsistent with their offerings and, well, the shop is not one that allows the purchase of single cans/bottles from bulk packaging. I'll play roulette with craft beer here and there, I suppose...



Pour is pretty much a deep golden color, yet this is a very still beer with only a slight cap of quickly-dissipating, effervescent bubbles. Disappointing looking beer, but most of their quick sours have looked like this to me. It has a nearly-opaque body and no real carbonation activity is visible. Meh.

The smell of this straight out of the can was kind of gross; very milky and sour-like with an almost "rotten" quality to it. I think I had experienced something like this with another of this brewery's sours, but it was something I got past as the beer was poured and opened up. I know this is a sour beer, but something about it seemed off-putting. Once I decanted it and let it sit for a bit to open up, it started taking on a more appropriate scent. Vanilla, coconut, mango and pineapple crossed with a nutty, wheaty malt backbone and a light hint of Berliner weisse-esque tartness. Kind of cool, and makes sense given the piña colada connection. Don't think I can really give it great marks, but it's certainly at least mostly successful at what it sets out to do if given some time to come into its own.

The flavor is also quite interesting. I get strong wheat-forward malty notes followed by a flash of lemony, twangy acidity. Then, the toasted coconut really comes forward in the mid-palate, providing a unique tropical underscore to the proceedings. Finally, flavors of mango and pineapple give off a juicy finishing note that highlights the light-to-moderate sour aspect going on here.

I think this beer could stand to be a little lighter bodied with less sweetness and more carbonation, however. It starts to drink much higher than its weight class after about half the can, which is a significant problem for a 3.5% ABV beer. Once again, Four Quarters has delivered a unique but ultimately somewhat-unsatisfying "cocktail-gone-beer" experiment with Little Umbrellas. I might have to forego their next idea in this style, because, though this seems to have very good ratings, it comes across slightly amateurish, which kind of sours me on the overall approach.



Discovered this album while hanging out and drinking with a buddy yesterday. We were looking for another album on Youtube with a similar title but found this cool enough to jam when we decided to give it a shot. Only cost $4 on Bandcamp, too!

I would describe it as somewhat dark (contrary to the menacing title implying extreme darkness ) ambient techno with good variation and some unique atmospheres. Reminds me a bit of a combination between Dorisburg (huh, even a similar name...), early Aphex Twin and Diamondstein.

 

Ok, I was going to post a Backwoods Bastard and talk about my first go with it, but I figured 2 or 3 of you would see through that ruse. I did have Founders Kölsch, well half of it so far, which came across more as a plain pale lager with nods towards some of the things I look for in the style. I’ll adjust if things change in this fairly straightforward beer.

I did want to say that while in Cleveland, I quite enjoyed Butcher and the Brewer‘s beers (Kölsch and SMaSH APA). Fat Head’s offerings were as good as expected, and Masthead‘s Oktoberfest offering was damn tasty, and while their NE IPAs were solid enough, only one stood out above the others. I’d say Butcher and the Brewer was the standout with limited (and initial) exposure.

 

Prairie Blueberry Boyfriend goes down easy; 3.79 overall
Pours effervescent plum color with a thumb of rapidly falling pink head. Zero head retention & lacing

S: Sweet tarts, faint blueberry

T: Tart blueberry, a little lemon sweetart & dryness up front. Almost tastes like a blueberry lemonade as this warms. Finishes lemony tart with plenty of blueberry, pretty dry

MF: Light bodied firm carbonation. can feel the enamel getting pulled of my teety, puckery!

Pretty drinkable, great hot weather beer

 

Very nice fruit saison. Great fluffy head retention and soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of lightly tart/tangy peaches, fruit skin/pits, lemon, orange zest, pear, red apple, melon, and peppercorn yeast; with moderate wheat, cracker, and white bread malts; with lighter notes of almond, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Pretty muted aromas. Light-moderate peppery yeast spiciness, and herbal/floral/grassy hop bitternesss on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced bready/grainy malts and sticky hops in the mouthfeel; slight fruit tang. Light-moderate increasing bitter/spicy dryness. Very flavorful/refreshing, 4.3%. Not watery. Great classic saison yeast complexity with balanced peaches; nice pale/wheat malt backbone, minimal residual sweetness. Spot on style. 3.88


Thanks @GreenBayBA. This was very good. Opaquely murky green color. Poor head retention and minimal lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, melon, guava, berries, white grape/wine, citrus/peel rind, peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate white, cracker, biscuit dough malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Pretty muted aromas. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; balanced creamy/grainy malts and sticky/resinous/rindy hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing resin dryness; some lingering hop astringency, but not too overwhelming. Smooth drinking despite aggressiveness, minimal warming 7.2%. Was this a bad can? Super dank and earthy hop complexity, with some juiciness; balanced bready malt backbone, with no residual sweetness from the aggressive lingering dryness. The hop profile matches expectations, but the dank and peppery resins are just way too strong for what I expected. I'd give it another shot. 3.8


Cheers, be back in a bit NBS.

 

NBS Beer #2 Septoberfest edition



Shiner Märzen-Style Oktoberfest

Spoetzl Brewery / Shiner
German Märzen / Oktoberfest / 5.80% ABV

3.71/5 rDev +10.4% | Score: 3.36
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

L- The beer pours a clear amber with a 3 finger off white head. The head recedes to a thin film leaving a decent amount of lacing behind.
S- The nose is malty with little hop presence. The malt gives a lightly toasty impression with subtle sweetness.
T- The beer is less sweet than the nose would imply. There is a light to moderate bitterness in the late to mid palate which finishes the beer a touch dry.
F- Mouthfeel is on the lighter side of medium. Carbonation is also on the lighter side of medium. The bitterness dries out the finish which keeps it drinkable in multiples.
O- This one is kind of the yin to Sam Adams yang in that it finishes slightly bitter. This might be a good option who dislike the sweetness of a typical Marzen.

 

Good afternoon NBS crew while I used to enjoy playing some golf I now only get a chance to play about once a year and my goal is to not lose more than 3 balls!! Getting started today with this 7.8% IPA from Edmond's Oast Plasma Gun. Pretty middle of the road IPA I think I liked some of their other one's a little better but not bad.


Appearance 4.25 - Pours clear golden color with dense white head. Spotty lacing all around the glass.

Aroma 3.75 - Lemon, light hops, orange, grapefruit, grain slight bitter aroma.

Taste 3.5- Lots of lemon and mild hops up front along with a little grapefruit. light sweet grain no mind blowing flavors but solid.

Feel 3.75- Medium bodied slightly bitter dry finish.

Overall 3.68- A solid offering nothing mind blowing a hint more sweetness than I would like.

 

Alright, on to my second offering for today. This is a borderline double IPA with some unique adjunct ingredients. Lactose and vanilla are pretty common in IPAs these days for whatever reason (I think it's to help along the "creamy" texture that oats are often found to lend to a juicier IPA recipe), but this also features pineapple and gooseberry purée. The only beer I've had with actual gooseberries in it has been Mikkeller's Hallo Ich Bin Berliner Weisse - Gooseberry. Funny that this is by Mikkeller's brother, eh?



The pour here is a strictly-defined golden-yellow beer with a nice looking, foamy head that settles down to a quarter-finger after about 5-10 minutes in my glass. It's not bad looking, just somewhat uninspired and, well... normal. I don't really expect much from NEIPAs these days, but some lace and/or legs would've been nice. This doesn't really seem to have much of either.

The nose is pretty heavy on the gooseberry side of things. I know what these smell like mostly due to their heavy-handed association with Nelson Sauvin hops, which I have experienced in many beers, as well as having used them in a homebrewed IPA of my own before. It's somewhat tart and grassy with an element of tropical fruit. The pineapple, therefore, is a perfect addition as well, in theory... it just doesn't come across very much in this beer. Instead, I get a lot of guava-like notes, light raspberry and some herbal qualities that are certainly interesting. The vanilla seems rather judiciously applied, which is good because I've had some of these lactose/vanilla IPAs that are just grossly-sweet. Hopefully it stays in the background on the palate, as well!

Flavor profile is very chalky, with that typical dusty yeast Evil Twin makes use of. A subtle malt bill gives the hops and the flavors of the gooseberry addition some time to shine. That said, this just doesn't really hit the tongue with any kind of excitement. The palate is a little muted and plain, but I do still get some interesting tropical fruit notes and grassiness toward the end of each sip. I wish this were a bit cleaner so it could let the flavors shine through a bit more, but people really want the haze these days so I can't blame Jeppe for going down that path with most of his recent pale ale recipes.

The feel is medium-heavy for the style, but I don't taste much of the 7.8% ABV. Though this beer resides on what I would consider to be the "lower end" of alcohol content for a DIPA, it should still be approached as such, and I find the mouthfeel aspect rather good for what's going on here, overall. It has a nice helping of initial carbonation that settles down to a more dull simplicity toward the finish. Probably the lactose doing its job. I think I would like to try this beer as a <7% version without the vanilla or lactose additions, though. It would probably allow more of the fruit additions to shine.

 

Now up La Cabra Citra Shatter, thanks @CanConPhilly! I would say I feel pretty similar to @thebeers with this one.

4.1/5 rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thanks CanConPhilly for this
16 oz can, dated 8/20/18, poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden straw with two finger white head

S- Citrus, mango, pineapple, peach, slightly herbal/earthy.

T- Citrus, peach, some sweet oats, pineapple, herbal, slightly earthy.

M- Smooth, medium body, creamy.

O- A tasty and enjoyable NEIPA.

Cheers!

 

Happy NBS! I figured I'd just keep my new brews to one post today:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/341/345569/?ba=bluejacket74#review



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34018/368185/?ba=bluejacket74#review



https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31724/357830/?ba=bluejacket74#review



All good enough brews, but somewhat disappointed in the Cowboy Bernie since I don't think it really compares with Columbus Brewing's other hoppy beers. Can't complain though, it's been a good day with good brews and I have tomorrow off of work. Cheers everyone!

 

Happy New German Maibock Sunday!

Pretty nice day on the Western Slope, around 83 at the trailhead, sunny, a few clouds. Having a pretty tasty brew, kinda surprised me. a different take on the style, been awhile since I've had something new/really good from this brewery. Picked up some chicken tacos. Watching some The Practice reruns, pretty good series.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/132/302012/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Howdy, NBS friends. I just finished assembling a Weber kettle grill (yippee!!!) and I’m about to grill ribeyes, but before I do that, I want to offer this very nice quencher for your perusal.



I say quencher because I enjoyed this after assembling said grill, and I was drenched from that task on this muggy evening in Northern Indiana. As you can see from the pic, this is a gorgeous lager, a bright golden-tinged yellow color, crystal clear, with a white head that looks like it came from a bar of Dial soap.

The nose is full of earthy, bready malts, and I detect some grassy notes and the slightest bit of lemongrass in this Helles-style lager. The taste is full-bodied and robust for a 4.5% ABV beer, with the malt flavors carrying the day, but the noble hops providing a perfect balance.

I had high expectations for this beer, and it exceeded them. Rated 4.17.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting our train out of the station.

Last week I missed NBS because I was camping with the parental units, my brother's family, and his in-laws outside of Port Angeles. I can report that the BBQ place we ate at in PA last Sunday had craft beer on tap (including a rye IPA brewed in town by Barhop Brewing), and that I will never again willingly participate in driving 366 miles each way while hauling an RV trailer. Friday and Monday were ridiculously long days!

Anyway, while the days leading up to my going out of town were (literally) sickeningly smoky from wildfires, most of this past week since getting back into town Tuesday night have been, on the whole, fairly breathable. Right now it's a pleasant, mostly clear 79° outside.

Today I'm drinking a Belgian Golden Ale from Block 15 that could easily pass for a dry, restrained example of a saison:
post a pic
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16846/71258/?ba=woemad#review

I'll shortly be strolling over to a new bar/growler fill place that's opened up in the former River City taproom. A friend I haven't seen in a while is pouring there, so I thought I'd drop in on her and have a couple beers. You may see another NBS post from there. If not, have a great week!

 

New beer number 2 is a collaboration between Jackie O's and Untitled Art Barley Shake. A Barleywine clocking in at 12%, good amount of cherry in the taste and super easy drinking.

Appearance 4 - pours reddish copper color with nice off white head that settles to a thick ring. small dots of lacing.

Aroma 3.75 - Nice amount of hops and big malt showcase the nose with undertones of mild sweet fruit. Bread, toffee follow.

Taste 4.25 - First flavors I get are sweet cherry, some pear big malt not getting any hops like I did in the nose. The nose hopwise reminded me of Bigfoot but the taste is no where near it. Great toffee again great balanced sweetness.

Feel 4.25 - Medium bodied slightly creamy, no sign of the alcohol but still warming.

Overall 4.12 - A really well done Barleywine, nice flavors interested to see what some time does with this one.