New Beer Sunday (Week 711)

Looks like a tasty morning for everyone so far, I’ll be back later with a bunch of new beers I received during the current round of the NBS BIF. I’ll show a peek at how crazy the BIF is. Here is what showed up from the honorable @r0rschach


Hard to fit them all in one shot!

I’ll start with the blank mystery can this afternoon.
Thanks @beertunes for running another great round of the BIF!

 

This brew comes to me from @Chambo316, however @FlintB sent me one as well. I know this one is from the former as it is sans electrical tape. I’ve seen this beer on here for a while and have been excited to try it.

Beer has been stored in the fridge since unpacking it and sat out for 20 minutes before pouring. It pours pitch black and viscous. In the glass it appears the same, with possibly some dark brown around the edges. There is half a finger of mocha colored head which dissapates almost immediately. The aroma is roasted malts and bourbon with a hint of coffee grounds playing in the background. The taste follows suit with a nice bourbon burn all the way through. I really like the barrel integration here as it is present but blends well and is not overpowering. Honestly I was expecting more coffee especially since there is a cup of joe on the label and I LOVE coffee beers. The mouthfeel is excellent and exactly what you would expect from a big beer such as this; on the fuller side of medium but not exactly chewy and slick with a drying finish. Overall this is an excellent beer, but left me wishing for more coffee, 4.5

 

Then my guess is we’ll have a bunch of NBSers purchasing a Sierra Nevada or Sam Adams mix-pack of some sort.

 

I have some things to do today but thought I'd have one while getting ready to head out. I was quite excited when @CanConPhilly revealed himself as my sender in this round of the BIF. I'm a huge Tired Hands fan and knew there would be several coming my way.
Here's a pic of the damage inflicted upon my porch. That's 37 new beers and I believe 11 new breweries. Thank you again Matt!

The first mystery beer was given with instructions to "Drink Outside In The Sun". I was hoping this implied this was a lower ABV offering as I'm not yet ready to commit to my Sunday to just enjoying beers(I'm ready, I just have some things to do first)

Upon cracking the top I was hit with a tart citrus. The pour reveals a slightly hazed yellow orange with two fingers of white head.
The citrus hits hard, orange, lemon, lime. Then comes a spiciness that to me is pepper and coriander. A tart lacto sour aspect is there too.
The taste follows pretty well with the citrus leading the way. The tartness is there as well along with the spices.
Medium bodied with a creamier feel than I associate with most sour beers, goold carbonation levels.
Overall a tasty beer that is quite enjoyable in the sunshine and 82° of this late morning in GA.
Now to guess the beer, my initial thought was a Forest & Main saison with the pepper and spiciness then the sour kicked in that has me thinking it's a kettle sour of some sort, the creaminess has me wondering if Tired Hands did a milkshake sour but I'm not seeing one. Definitely a sour with lactose added in my opinion. The reveal:

The Veil Mai Tai Tastee
Wasn't expecting this brewery at all but it's described as a smoothie style sour ale w/almond milk, lime, orange, lactose, & spices. I didn't pick up the almond but I think the rest came through quite nicely. Fun doing this mystery beer.

 

James Bean from Allagash. Poured at fridge temp and allowed to warm about 5 minutes. Pours a clear copper color with an extremely well retained one inch fluffy white head that leaves ample lacing that is reminiscent of a map of Caribbean Islands. Smells of coffee, bourbon, caramel and vanilla. Tastes of coffee, bourbon, vanilla, oak, caramel, sweet malts, Belgian yeast, bananas and a hint of lemon. Medium bodied and carbonated with a dry finish.

 

Hmm, how about a "Holiday Haze IPA?"

https://sierranevada.com/beer/specialty/snowpack


Edit: I just realized this is going on my shopping list now since there are, for me, three new beers.

 

Well, there's a new beer in the Winter Pack from Sierra Nevada.

https://sierranevada.com/beer/specialty/snowpack

 

Already had that one, alas. Hard to find a brand new SN beer these days.

 

Wow you were really close besides the brewery! I really love Veil’s sours, so thought I’d throw you a curveball.

Now if you guess the other mystery beer, I’ll be really impressed. It is not at all low abv, fyi.

 

Does anyone know which bcbs variants are being nationally distributed this year? There was some confusuon/misinformation on the bcbs release thread, so I’m unclear which variants are actually going to be available outside of Chicago. Hopefully one of the new ones hits distro, because that would be perfect for this.

 

Joyous NBS to one and all!
It's cloudy here despite a forecast of supposed sunshine and I'm studying some French grammar (huzzah!) and hanging out. It's a long weekend here which doesn't mean much for me as I survive through a variety of pretty random jobs but I'm gonna do my best to chill and just work a tiny bit in the morning tomorrow to at least get a semblance of a holiday.
This week is (at least as far as I know) the unveiling day for the NBS BIF that just happened. I had never participated before this round and it was a ton of fun! So much so that I hope to participate in the future.


Until last week I had had today off and was gonna really dive into the absolutely outstanding box @Ozzylizard so kindly sent me after encouraging me to participate this time around. Thanks for everything, man! Unfortunately, since it's a holiday weekend and my weekend job involves tourists, I have to go into work in a while here. All that to say that I'm not going to start off with my mystery beer like I wanted to. Judging by the rest of the box it could potentially be a huge, amazing stout or something along those lines so I'm gonna save it for after work tonight pour next Sunday. With all that I'm mind I'm going to start off one of the beers I was most excited about in the box I received. My first beer from Jester King.

I'm not a hardcore sour fan or anything but when they're done well they really are something else and from what I've seen, heard and read, JK does indeed have a way with them. The whole box (well, boxes really) was insane, but the little guy on the cap of this one immediately got me excited. I don't know if there's a story behind it, but it reminds me of the cover of "In the Court of the Crimson King," which now that I mention it, is going to accompany my drinking of this beer. It is a bottle of Nocturn Chrysalis from June 2016, a barrel-aged sour with blackberries. I really dig the label art in general!

It is hard for me to review sours because I find them to be so much more a sensation thing that a flavor thing like with other styles. This one is no exception. It is complex while still being firmly a blackberry beer. Really great.

It pours a kind of dark raspberry color with a little pinkish head. The aroma is immediately that of ripe blackberries and the flavor follows suit. Within this, though there are layers of rich earthiness and a rising, sharp tingle that really makes it a rollercoaster of flavor and feeling. I can see why these guys' beers are so well-regarded and I look forward to maybe getting some again in the future at some point.

Here's my official review.

Thanks for the opportunity to try this one, Bob!

Santé!

 

New Missouri Oktoberfest #2

The review:
12oz bottle bb 12/19/18 poured into a dimpled mug at fridge temp 5.5% ABV. The beer pours bright light honey in color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin film and leaves a few spots of lacing. The aroma is bready Munich malt and a little yeast. The taste is more yeast driven that anything else with just a touch of the Munich listed on the label. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied, adequately carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. There is a little buttery finish here that I find unpleasant. It's slight, but it's there. Overall, ok. Too low on flavor and not clean enough to be more than average.

That's the last of the new Oktoberfests, but not the last of my St. Louis haul. Be back later. Cheers!

 

I wasn't expecting Veil and that was my first sour from them. A side story about Veil, on my anniversary trip that my wife specified wasn't a brewery trip I accidentally took the wrong exit and ended up in their parking lot on the first stop of the trip. I had told her they had some BA honey bottles for sale so we went in. When I mentioned the to go options they had mentioned on FB I was busted as it being a preplanned stop. Almost ended our trip right there....then there was Trillium, a couple other stops, and a meet up with my VT trader. She's a keeper!

 

Finishing up eviltwin banana stout
...solid black appearance
...medium light carbonation with an above average body
...aroma real banana, dark chocolate, milk chocolate ,coffee and malt
...taste is dark bitter chocolate, mild coffee, and the taste of real bananas. Slight bitter coffee and dark chocolate show up in the finish and linger.
...overall it was a good beer that was a little complex but not overwhelming. The most impressive part is how real the banana smell and taste was

 

Good morning NBSers! I’m beginning my Sunday with said mystery beer from NBS BIF #8. This one courtesy of @Roguer. On the blank label he states “it’s a want” of mine so I decided to get into it first.


Pours jet black, rocky mocha head of just about an inch.
Nose is maple cookies (my stepmom makes these maple cookies, they don’t taste good but they smell amazing), vanilla, hazelnut? Or nuts in general?
Upon first sip, maple for sure, like a lot of maple, maybe more maple, sweetness, strawberry (could be from sweetness) vanilla, lactose sweetness, smoke, pancakes (malts) mild roast, mild coffee. Me trying to breakdown the maple syrup-caramel and/or brown sugar.
As it warms, strawberry and nuttiness disappears, smoke and slight char become more present.
The body is medium but smooth with a lingering maple sweetness at the finish.
From the pour, I let this warm up for 45 minutes or so. I’ve decided that it’s some sort of adjunct (maple bomb) imperial stout/porter, maybe from Funky Buddha(?). I don’t know enough about the breweries in the southern GA or FL area.
Great way to start out my Sunday. The reveal!

So, I probably had an unfair advantage. Last night I was at a charity event serving beers that were rare or not usually available in Michigan. I had a taster of Morning Wood and as I am drinking this beer now, similarities were striking on just about every category. So Wide Awake It’s Morning is the unbarreled version of Morning Wood.

This one is just as tasty, I think the barrel treatment cuts some of the maple and overall sweetness. I’m glad to have had a full bottle of this. Thanks again Andrew! I’ll be back after my nap