New Beer Sunday (Week 708)

Pumpkin beers aren't normally my thing, but a trusted friend recommended this one. Figured I'd give it a whirl due to the coffee edition. I have a steaming mug of El Salvador Santos Bourbon coffee ready for me once I complete this review, of which I'm typing on a keycap set called "coffee", so lets dig into this one!



Southern Tier's Cold Press Coffee Pumking.

Pours a pumpkin orange with a nearly complete transparency. Head formation is fizzy, and reluctant, eventually fizzing up to a finger in height. This fizzy, khaki foam retains okay forming large bubbles on top of the still orange liquid. Aroma is a strong hit of pumpkin and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger. Shortly behind the strong pumpkin presence, is a smooth, bold-bodied cold brewed coffee. It's of a medium roast, with a subtle chocolateness. It does serve up a heaping of sugary sweetness in the aroma, reminiscent of that one aunt sipping coffee after Thanksgiving dinner, who always seemed to load up her pumpkin pie with a heap of whipped cream. Flavor profile is just as complex, but much more of a blur. There is a barrage of pumpkin, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, creamer, and cold brewed coffee. Coffee and pumpkin presence are nice, with the spices driving the flavor profile straight off a sugary ledge. It's incredibly sweet, with the bitterness from the coffee doing very little to tame it. Mouth feel is still, with a medium-thick consistency. Overall, lots and lots going on here, but the biting sweetness is a bit much. Its an extremely flavorful dessert beer that is a little harsh on the palate.

Score: 4 | 4.5 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 4 | BA Score: 4.0 | rDev: -1.2%

Personal notes: I normally have an affection for sweet things, but this one is a bit over the top, at least to me right here and right now. I did buy a 4 pack, which is hopefully not for the worst. The fortunate side there is that I have 3 other occasions to visit this beer and amend my review and scores. To me right here, right now, this is my review of this beer. Coffee portion is excellent.

Cheers.

 

Thanks to @lordofthewiens for this weeks great start to NBS. Hopefully I can find a new brew for today.

Cheers!

 

"Aroma:

The first thought that crossed my mind upon the first sniff is ‘juicy’! But what does ‘juicy’ smell like? Perhaps a less ambiguous description would be a combination of tropical fruit aromas but with just a hint of citrus."

By Jove! I think he's got it! =)

 

Can't find a new brew in Colorado? Say it ain't so.

 

Good morning, NBS crew. I'm really looking forward to delving into my new beer today. I had a little bit of it on Friday, and enjoyed it pretty much, but figured I'd give it a full review today. The beer is from von Trapp and is the first beer I have seen from them around here. Based on other postings on this site, I quickly snapped up a six-pack of this beer, their Dunkel, and am hoping we see more in the future.

Per the label: "German for 'dark,' our Dunkel is deep, rich, and smooth with a surprisingly crisp finish." I have always tended to enjoy Dunkels when I run across them, which isn't too often, let's verify my Friday sips and/or the label's claims, shall we?



Pours a medium brown with unsurprising clarity. A fairly aggressive initial pour drove the beige head to about three fingers of medium-sized bubbles, with a more careful completion of getting 12oz into the glass, the head settled into about a finger and a half. As I spent a few minutes typing up this intro, the more creamy remnants still capped the mahogany body.

I actually dove right in with a big gulp to see if any lacing would be produced. The answer is yes - near curtain-like, but my upsetting of the still liquid also brought forth a thick ring. Also, that first sip was very enjoyable.

Stepping back, I went to check out the nose. What I smelled was a dark toast to maybe even a darkly browned soft pretzel note. I wouldn't go so far as pumpernickel - but something similar to that scent was present. There was not much sweetness to the nose, so I presumed a more neutral hop or one that plays into the darker malts well, maybe earthen to wooden to reedy - but it wasn't distinct.

Back for another swallow (with the head presently a near perfectly circular island), and I got mostly that pumpernickel bread note - at least as the main/base flavor for this beer. The flavor was closer to the bread than the nose. There was also a little bit of caramel malt sweetness coming out early. The bitterness was also more discernible in the taste. I think in and of themselves, when I try to focus on the bitter flavors, the hops (which I presume are noble German hops given the bottle's claim of "crafted with the finest traditional ingredients") might be somewhat grassy. But in the beer, they came across as more pine-woody (not resinous), perhaps from the combination with the nutty highly toasted malts and the hops themselves.

Body would probably be considered lighter than it "felt" due to the decent boldness of the malt flavors. I would go with an overall impression of nearing medium for this lager. Carbonation was light, but sufficient, and there was a little lingering tingle... like a spice-induced note that could be considered a lingering flavor, perhaps.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this beer. I seem to be in the minority of people who like brown ales (although even I am somewhat particular about them), and the malt profile of this beer reminded me a little of the brown ales I do enjoy. The lagering might actually be the key here, as this Dunkel doesn't have the somewhat tart to tangy note that I think comes out in some ales. The beer is somewhat dry, which adds to the quality that I learned from a few people on this thread: süffig. In fact, I am going to open another after hitting "Post Reply." Prost!

 

A-Pours a nice clear dark amber color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has molasses, maple and abundant Bourbon barrel hints
T-The taste follows the aroma with well balanced molasses, maple and Bourbon flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A very well balanced Bourbon aged beer

 

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest
..amber color
..around a medium body with just above average carbonation
..aroma is very mild but a pleasing mix of different malts, molasses, brown sugar
..taste is similar to aroma, lots of malt and brown sugar. They must blend different malts because on hand it seemed simple but then there seemed to be a mix of subtle flavors
.. overall it's an Oktoberfest that's definitely worth a try

 

A-Pours a very dark opaque color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has roasty malts, mocha and espresso hints
T-The taste follows the aroma with roasty malts, mocha and espresso flavors
M-A medium bodied moderately carbonated beer
O-A nice creamy stout

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! This was supposed to be my first new brew today:

Clearly oxidized, so did not review. Down the drain it went. Thankfully my second new beer isn’t wrecked by oxygen!

There You Are - Threes
IPA - 6% abv
Canned 8/22/18 (25 days ago)
Purchased for $17/4 at Threes’ Bottle Shop
Score: 4.09 (+3.8% rDev)


Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37460/229182/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
This one features Waimea, Motueka, and Wakatu hops, so it definitely has a different flavor profile than the norm. In particular, this one has a funky cheese taste mid-palate, which might turn off some but I’m enjoying it since it doesn’t trample the other, more tropical flavors. Also, hey NBS BIF target, you’re getting one of these to try!

 

Really want to try this, but the bottle shops here are charging $7/bottle! Not sure I can pull the trigger at that price.

 

Lol, love that joke, if guys could do that ....well you know.

In between raindrops the wifey and I was out and about, and I found these. Total price $6. What going into the GI glass at kickoff is a brand new Tired Hands brew @beertunes. What I'm doing is wearing off a wee bit of a Mint Julep hangover, and I'm guessing that first beer will be a real pick me up.

 

Fun new addition to Industrial Way. One stop brewery crawl!

 

Not really out of my comfort zone, but the detour was off my beaten path when I visited the Other Half brewery this week in Brooklyn. I'll revise as the brewery offers several highly rated beers on BA. My new beer this week is

Double Nelson Daydream

4.5/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

canned 9.5.18, opened 9.15.18, poured into a teku glass

" Ha ha , I touched your heart"

Hazy golden amber liquid, pencil thin off white foam cap quick settles to a ring

Fragrant aroma on the our of fruit, white grapes

Taste is tropical fruit, green grapes, lychee

SMOOOOTH....hop taste without the bite, the flavor nicely lingers, semi-dry finish

Really good beer, repeatable

AND

Double Simcoe Daydream

Growler from beer boutique

One finger frothy white foam cap over hazy golden yellow liquid

Aroma of mango, tropical fruits, whif of pine

Taste is mango, tropical fruits

VERY SMOOTH, almost creamy, no hop bitterness, flavor only

Delicious beer

I am still having trouble posting BA worthy images. If you have read this review to the end, I would welcome any suggestions towards posting images, PROSIT!!

 

Allagash Two Lights

Today I will be featuring two pairs of beers. The first pair are from Allagash.

Two Lights is a beer brewed with sauvignon blanc grape must, champagne yeast and lager yeast.

It's pale yellow and a little hazy. It tastes of lemon and underripe "white" grape. It has an angular hop finish that doesn't feel well-suited to it. Carbonation is average.

My first impression of this beer fell short of my expectations. I was expecting something a bit more distinctive but hopefully not a caricature. This certainly isn't a caricature, but it's not very distinctive either. I'll reserve judgement until I'm done with the 4 pack.

 

Getting ready to watch the Eagles and grad, first up 2SP Crab!, an APA with blue crabs added to its boil.

4.12/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

32 oz crowler poured into a pint glass

A- A fairly clear golden amber with a two finger white head

S- Citrus, pine, some caramel malts, a little salty/briny

T- Citrus, briny, some malt sweetness, piney.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A fun twist on an APA adding crabs, adds a nice brininess/saltiness that works very well with the hops.

Cheers!

 

Mast Landing Brewery's Green to Green with Simcoe and El Dorado is on of a series of IPAs with rotating hops.
- this hazy amber can pour has a thin foam cap that dissipates quickly and a whiff of "where's that cat?" Simcoe aroma. The flavor is full with pineapple, grapefruit and a resin note. The mouthfeel is a bit tingly and hop bitterness is moderate. I like this IPA.

 

A-Pours a nice clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has caramel, fresh-baked bread and hop hints
T-The taste follows the aroma with caramel, fresh-baked bread and hop flavors
M-A light bodied well carbonated beer
O-A nice crisp lager

 

Really good, but I agree just too steep a price.

I purchased a 4-pk at Total Wine in Va for $18.99.

You may just want to head to the Total Wine in Delaware and stock up, it's worth it.

 

Just the other day I was thinking to myself that it’s odd that Troegs doesn’t put out an Oktoberfest.

 

Speak for yourself, Dale. I wouldn’t lick dog balls even if it was legal.

Enjoy the beer. Go Birds!