New Beer Sunday (Week 708)

I have a new beer style to try courtesy of @TongoRad ... a new American Brut IPA:


Industrial Arts Brewing Company's Week 104, a Brut IPA, 7% ABV

Popped open this one after the late shift earlier this morning and enjoyed an introduction to the brut IPA style. In fact, this one so fits the style perfectly that my inner cynic struggled trying to criticize this new style and its need for existing. While Week 104 is a very typical American IPA with its citrus (grapefruit) notes and biscuity malt backbone, it's dryness, bubbly effervescence and overall scaled-back flavor is exactly to the brut IPA specifications. In fact, it's neither overly sweet nor extremely bitter and at times does this perfect tight-rope walk between those things like no other American IPA I've had.

It's hard for me to call this one a "grapefruit bomb" or even precisely describe the flavor profile. It's as if a grapefruit has had all of its sweetness, earthiness (from the peel/rind) and bitterness sucked out but somehow still tastes like grapefruit — if such a thing can happen, it's doing so in Week 104.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42049/366774/?ba=Premo88#review
4.35 (+6.4% rDev)

It's a great beer and one I'd drink again and again. Thanks for including it in this latest box, Michael! I swear, you either live in American IPA heaven or awfully close.

Enjoy your Sundays, NBSers!
Cheers!

 

The bar manager of the only craft beer bar in town recommended this English DIPA, “What Are The Odds?” by Verdant Brewing Company, as I understand it, brewed at Magic Rock Brewing, Huddersfield, UK:

Sludgy deep gold w/thinnest of clarity under tight white head; fairly quick cap leaves solid ring; moderate minus lace on swirl. Grapefruit/pineapple nose.Lite Bitter grapefruit taste, citrus rind, oniony finish. Citra, Simcoe, Nelson Sauvin & Sabrina hops in the boil. Dry hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Mosaic. Juicy full body; heavy pillowy fluffy feel;moderate carbonation. Overall, an NEDIPA (8.3%) style that tics certain look and feel boxes (like many I tried this past summer), and it will be a chore for me to finish this overweight overbearing palate scrubbing 16 oz can; ...to each their own...

Cheers from merry ol’ England!

 

Nice, sounds good!!

 

This was a Jekyll and Hyde beer for us. We both had it on draft at the brewery and it was an oh yeah gotta get some beer. When we peed two bottles at home, we looked at each other asking if it was the same beer. Not terrible, but seemed to lack the bright pop and integration of flavor it had on tap.

 

Hey all. Played another soccer game this morning, as per usual, and somehow with a depleted line-up we beat the best team in the league 5-0. Cleaned up our apartment, and am now watching the Bills go down 14 in the first quarter while trying to do work and my wife takes our 3 year old to the doctor as she's burning up today. I got to go to Buffalo for work earlier this week and picked up a four pack of Pils Mafia by Thin Man.



Pours a deep golden color. Can't really get any smell off it, but I've been fighting off a cold for the past week, so my nose is pretty stuffed up still. Taste is pretty bitter for a pilsner, but crisp. Overall, it's decent, but I'm not sure I would grab it again.

 

Today's hangover cure is from Tired Hands and it's Sustained Transient Self. 8.1 abv, with Citra/Moasic/ Simcoe hops, they also use wheat and oats. Nose is all sweet fruit, and I have no idea what a fresh papaya tastes like, but mango, pineapple works for me, so sweet tropical fruit it is. Incredible nose, but I really expect that with this type of beer from TH. It's not sweet per say, but it leans towards sweetish, but not enough to put the beer off. I'd prefer a bit more bitter to go with the fruit, but it's obviously why they used the type of hops they did and the oats and wheat to soften the mouthfeel a bit. I'd say it's really a prototypical hazy turbulent beer that's high on fruit, low on bitter, and pleasant enough to drink.
@thebeers appreciate the beer.

 

This delicious treat was gifted to me by @Dragginballs76 . Thanks, buddy!
Sandica from Wicked Weed is a gin barrel aged sour ale fermented with watermelon and basil.

Pour is a fairly clear gold almost bordering on faded orange. The nose is like a watermelon candy, like a jolly rancher. Acidic sour notes. The taste is lightly puckering. All the watermelon goodness from the nose is the base flavor as well. Overall light and refreshing on a beautiful day.

 

Good afternoon, NBS! I'm trying to get an early start on the day as I seem to... well, fall asleep when I drink in the evening. Maybe that's just how it works? The jury's out as yet. This may also have something to do with the recent heat wave rolling through the midwest. Yesterday was in the mid-90s, and today promises more of the same. You southerners may scoff, but the humidity up here is a different sort of beast. And then there are the winters... speaking of, I'm ready for some of that cooler weather.

Anyway...

No new styles for me today, but definitely some new adjuncts. More on that in a moment. I wanted to send a thank you note to a regular trading partner and a really fantastic guy in @Ryannotbryan - he has been helping me with Jester King bottles for a few months now, and while I was going to wait to share these with friends, I don't want the adjuncts to fade, and this weather is perfect for fruited sours. I opened my very first Fen Tao (blend five) last night.



I've been a very big fan of Atrial Rubicite for some time now... but Fen Tao has dethroned it as my favorite Jester King sour. I haven't quite decided just yet whether it is my all-time favorite sour (strong Side Project competition) - but it's a very strong contender. I will say that I prefer it to Fuzzy, and I absolutely loved Fuzzy. The lightly effervescent carbonation, fantastic peach nose, understated sour, tart taste, and delicious peach and complementary barrel notes make this one of the most amazing beers I've ever tried - in any specific style. My first taste was just a sip that turned rapidly in to a guzzle - just couldn't help myself.

I'd drink this beer daily, happily, for the rest of my life. Thank you again, Ryan - I really appreciate this bottle!

I'm starting today with something a little different though - I don't remember having too many beers with tea as an adjunct, but my curiosity is now piqued. This beer may or may not be making it in to my NBS BIF box!



I've been a big fan of the Brewing Projekt since making a stop in Eau Claire a couple of years back - they were a no-hype unknown back then, and I distinctly recall being far more in to their dark beers. I don't have much recollection of any IPAs or pales, so I suspect I wasn't a fan, or wasn't interested as the time.

My how things have changed. The Brewing Projekt is now one of those "truck-chaser" beers, and I've reluctantly joined that truck-chasing crew for a while now. Today's beer, Pandemonium, appears to be the first in an experimental series - it's a pale ale with mango, passion fruit, and lemon tea. Quite a unique combination - and very well suited to this weather. I've always liked a good iced tea on a warm day, and this beer does the tea quite well - not overpowering, like many herbal and black iced teas can be. The passion fruit and mango provide a nice backbone to the beer. There's a fair amount of malt to the beer, but it's still light and low in ABV enough that it could be sessionable. As it warms, that malt becomes a bit more present.

I like this beer - it's not one of my favorites from The Brewing Projekt, but I think I'll include one for my NBS target anyway.

Other things, and a bonus hint for NBS:

I went to a couple of beer releases this weekend - Barrel Theory released a barrel-aged marshmallow stout called What the Fluff, and I stood in line and enjoyed some shares with friends for a few hours. Sadly, they did not offer the beer on tap at the bottle release, and I had to leave for a second release, so I haven't tried it as yet. It's probably just as well - who wants to drink a marshmallow adjunct stout in mid-90 degree weather? (okay, so maybe I still do...)

I also made it to a second release to pick up a couple of new sours from my favorite MN brewery, Wild Mind. Those bottles likely will not make it in to my NBS boxes as sours don't appear to be a favorite style of my target - but they may make it in to a ninja box. We shall see - watch your porches, NBS friends!

 

Holy Stoli!!!
And on food aspect: Ive cooked for 18 years- a few Italian style restaurants. I never could figure the appeal of Penne Alla Vodka..

 

Sixpoint brewery the crisp pilz
..golden , orange color
.. Just below average body with a decent amount of lasting carbonation
..aroma is cracker,cereal, grain, followed by some floral hop
..taste was similar to nose, crisp, clean, very easy going down type of beer. Walked a fine line between mild bitterness and some malt.
Overall this was a very decent take on the style. Perfect post lawn beer, I'm currently cleaning the garage and it's working really well

 

Lunch time and Pilsner time . . .




Clear light golden color with white cap and lacing.

Aroma of solid malt and citrus hops.

Taste is malty and citusy in about equal measure. Very good flavors and well blended. The citrus elements work so well together I really can't find one sticking out but I do get a sense of something I can only call orange. Flavors are consistent and finish on a mild, refreshing hop note.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

Well, a Pilsner it ain't, as least as I understand the style. It isn't richly malty or bracingly hoppy but it is darn good stuff irrespective of what the brewer calls it.

 

I am pushing 60 years old. I can't believe it. The magic date is still several months away but I'm already planning my retirement. I was 28 when I had my first craft beer back in the late 1980's.

And I am also an avid New England Patriots fan and this season they have five (5) night games. Six if they make the Super Bowl! That's far too many for an old guy like me. I have a hard enough time staying up much past 9:00 pm Those night games can go until 11:00 pm or later.

Today's New Beer Sunday beer is from 603 of New Hampshire. This Scenic Session IPA was released for the first time about a month ago so it is brand new. It's 4.5% ABV. Light, slightly cloudy yellow pour. A quick head. Good citrus and herbal characters all around. Easy drinking.

 

Been hanging around someone who really enjoys brown ales, and thus find myself splitting 6 packs and seeking out new versions of the style. This local option just hit shelves recently for the fall season, so I figured it'd be a great time to pay it a visit.



Martin City's Fallback.

Pours a dark brown that only lets light filter around the thing edges of the glass. Head formation is a finger in height, khaki in color, and has modest retention with a dense, foamy ring lingering for a while. Aroma is toasted, nutted, biscuit, and bread malts. There is a kiss of caramel, but otherwise it's smooth, semi-bitter malts. Flavor profile is dense malts, which form a much more smooth dynamic than the aroma lets off. Toasted, nutted, biscuit, breaded, and caramel malts all meld together to form a splendid, smooth malty display. It's approachable, and rewards each sip. Mouth feel is a slight velvetiness that only gets broken up by a light fizz on the front of the tongue. It has a medium-thick consistency, lending itself to being a great sipper on a cool fall evening in the Midwest. Overall, a solid brown ale that does well to create a flavorful, malt dynamic.

Score: 4 | 3.75 | 4 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 3.94 | rDev: +3.1%

Personal notes: Pretty good! I'll have to recommend this to my friend.

 

Hey NBS! This is my first of two new beers for this Sunday... Decadent's Blackberry Cream Pop DIPA.



I've had mixed reactions to Decadent's beers, but I generally find them fun and enjoyable enough to try at least a can of each weird, whimsical recipe idea.

This pours a turbid medium-amber color with orange-honey highlights and a nice looking, shimmering head of white foam. Spotty lace show sticks around for a time, while the surface remains mostly covered by creamy suds. Solid looking for sure.

Seems like this is sort of a riff on the "smoothie IPA" trend, but instead of a smoothie, it attempts to blend in ice cream confection-like flavors to the world of big, boozy, hoppy beers. A very strange idea, but not necessarily one doomed to failure from the outset. This is an all-Mosaic dry-hopped IPA featuring blackberries, Madagascar vanilla beans and a "proprietary blend of sugars." The nose does have a whiff of blackberry ice cream along with some bright highlights of vanilla, pine, earthy subtle notes and raspberry. The Mosaic hops are certainly doing some heavy-lifting here, though I also kind of appreciate the way the vanilla seamlessly blends in with the whole. It's not over-the-top, but it is definitely there. This is super intriguing!

The flavor profile seems biased towards the semi-sweet and vanilla-laden side of things, with black raspberry, blackberry and mango flavors coalescing nicely with each sip. Surprisingly, this all comes together much better than I expected. There's nary a hint of the stated 8.6% ABV, either, as it's rather masked by the smooth and clean finish. Chewy feel with a heavy body, but there's still some oily hoppiness present to keep it in the IPA realm. This is easily one of the more well-realized Decadent beers I've had (and I've had plenty recently). I'm impressed by how it comes together. Perhaps I could learn to love this heretofore-unenjoyable (imo anyway) "smoothie" trend in IPAs. Diggin' it!

One more coming up in a bit. A more normal IPA, or so it seems...

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! A gray, damp, lightly rainy day here in the Fourth Corner. The latest iteration of the NBS BIF is in full swing,and I hope all participants are chiming in with their new brews today.

I'm starting with a brew that came courtesy of NW forum regular @vurt , a tasty Chocolate-Cherry Stout: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16846/370600/

Only approves:

 

Good afternoon and happy New Blunder Sunday. Been a big week. Few of us (I believe) have the opportunity to take care of our parents as they near retirement. I'm reluctantly happy to inform that I was able to have my mom move in with us this week and quit her ridiculous excuse of a career for the “good life”. She's adapting well to Portland, and so far there have been no big issues. Luckily, I have Forest Park right across the river to give me some time to escape it all...





Time for a beer! Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) was the first brewery I ever went to when we first started visiting Portland, and has now become kind of a staple for the Braus since moving here. This beer here is a collaboration with Goschie Farms, a well respected and environmentally conscience grower of hops in the nearby city of Silverton.

Hopworks Urban Brewery-
Goschie Farms Fresh Hop Pilsner (Brewed for the Mount Angel Oktoberfest)



Sorry @drtth , I didn't get to go to Mount Angel this weekend, so no pics. But since this was brewed for the event, hopefully it will not disappoint.

As a Pilsner, this looks absolutely beautiful. A gleaming brass like a freshly polished trumpet, crystal clear to the point of reading today's headlines through it. The golden glow wears a crown of dense white foam that leaves a puffy cloud and and layer after layer of spackled fog plastered to the glass as each sip is drawn. (4.75)

And in an instant, a turn for the worse. Cornmeal and cabbage, and even turning at that. A minimal presence of white bread and honey followed by a light dried flower. (3.0)

Damn it. Cabbage and broccoli. I think some people look forward to this in the flavor, but I am not one of them. Hold on, let me take another sip… yup. Friggin broccoli. Lemon? Guava? Freezer burn too? No thanks. Honestly, I can't even detect anything else as it is so distracting. (2.5)

A plus side to this is that it feels nice. It's light, crisp, and balanced. Overall, it might even straddle towards the sweet side. (3.75)

This may be the worst beer I've had from HUB, who I'm a bit disappointed in admitting as I have always been a big fan and supporter of. We can't win them all I guess, which in this case seems extra depressing as some fresh hops from a well respected grower seems to have gone down the drain. (3.0)

After my official review, I gave Goschie Farms Fresh Hop Pilsner a rating of 2.98, with no rDev (first review).

Cheers everyone and I will see you all soon.

 

Good to see you back!

Well, I think I see the issue with the second set of beers.

Or is that some vernacular I'm just completely unaware of?

 

I had this one on tap this past week and then picked up an individual can for further review. The following is a combo of those two experiences with this beer.



O'Dell's Cloud Catcher.

Pours an opaque orange that is bright and lively. Atop is one finger of white foam, both from the can and from the draft. Head retention is okay, with bubbles consuming each other and generating a handful of large bubbles on top of the liquid after a short span of time. Aroma is orange, tangerine, lactose, and mango. Both the draft and can version contain a lively aromatic hop display that starts, ends, and centers on citrus. Flavor profile is a smooth induction of tropical and domestic fruits - orange, mango, tangerine, and papaya. It has an artificial mango sluree/puree finish that some Northeast and Milkshake IPAs deliver, which always seems off. Lactose gives the beer a little extra thickness, both in terms of flavor and feel. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a velvety smoothness. The thicker than average feeling combined with the velvety texture keep this beer drinking smooth, and give it a solid presence. Overall, flavorful no doubt, but maybe not all in the best of ways. The artifical mango puree finish is seeming to become a trademark of hype-chasing Northeast and Milkshake IPAs, with this beer - both draft and canned - is writing the textbook page on it. Still well worth a visit for those seeking a distro'd Milkshake IPA especially at this price point, but there are better options out there.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 3.75 | 4.25 | 4 | BA Score: 3.99 | rDev: +3.9%

 

Glad you're back too! Thanks for making those sandwich deliveries this time around.