New Beer Sunday (Week 712)

New beer #4. Thanks @thisischuck01 !

DDH Stacks on Stacks - Other Half
IIPA - 8.5%abv
Canned 10/2/18 (12 days ago)
Score: 3.93 (-10.3% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/261446/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
My review should be flagged for destruction since I do not agree with any of the other reviews on this. Others say citrus and tropical...I get none of that. I taste mostly vegetal hops, with some earthy and medicinal tastes following the veggies. I scored it higher than I actually felt it deserved since I attribute the “cabbage taste” to me and not the beer itself. I really wish I liked the taste of veggies. I eat them for health-promoting reasons, but I don’t enjoy their consumption. Especially not in a beer. Cabbage in particular.

 

I have only been married a short while, 7 months or so, but I have had a rocky relationship with half my in laws for the past two years. My wife’s father and I don’t see eye to eye on many issues. He and his wife are non drinkers and reign high and mighty over those that do. Her mother on the other hand is much more my speed and will even seek out beers and hold them for me until we meet again. Anyway on to the beer.



This one is Killa Vanilla from Hoppin Frog. We just started getting some hoppin frog in my area and I’ve liked what I’ve had, aside from the price.

The beer pours a clear, dark orange with off white huge head. In the glass it’s not exactly clear, but not intentionally hazy.

The aroma is vanilla. All the vanilla and nothing but vanilla. Some grapefruit, sugar, and pine very faintly underneath as it warms.

Taste follows with HUGE vanilla at first with grapefruit and pine which follow. Nice dry piney finish.

Mouthfeel is a little bit fuller than medium and slick. Kinda creamy from the vanilla

Overall I like this and it’s not as one dimensional as I originally thought. It becomes really balanced as it warms and I think I will sit the rest of the crowler out for now.

As an aside I hate pouring out of crowlers as I can’t do it without spillage.

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks @lordofthewiens for the intro today. My in laws are both passed, we got along splashingly, both depression era, Mother in law French Canadian, Father in law Italian born in Memphis. Each was first generation in the US, Way to many stories, the best element is that our sons got to know them both. That's the priceless part.
We took of this morning at 5 and headed up to Mt Monadnock, in Jaffrey NH for a fall hike.
Stunning as always. Today's offering is from Allagash its the Two Lights offering. I love the thought and effort that went into this. Delicious and one I hope they make again next year.
Cheers all
Two Lights

Allagash Brewing Company
American Wild Ale / 6.70% ABV

4.13/5 rDev +4.6% | Score: 3.95
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle dated 6/21/18 into the test glass.
A - Forsythia in bloom color, a touch of haze, thin white cap offers real contrast. Carbonation is in full marathon mode, determined and driven.
S - Clean yeast in the nose, champagne for sure, A bit of bread rising, some of the fruit from Sauvignon Blanc must is interesting ,adding a layer of brightness to the offering. Lemongrass, and wheat add more.
T - Sweet malts, the slightest hint of tropical element, lemon peel shaved, garden thread runs through this, Verbana, a hint of white pepper, all stand around the sidelines.
M - Crisp, popping across the palate, start is semi sweet then runs the yeast train with carbonation forcing the offering to a dry white wine finish.
O - Well this is a complex effort, yielding a wonderful experience, bright, crisp, dry, and loaded with twists along the way.
Thanks Allagash for the fine offering

 

Ahh, but suppose there’s that dark roasted malt that can also bring just a bit of burnt character to the show....

 

Perrin Brewing Company

New England IPA Series (Milkshake)

Caribbean Nights

4.15/5 rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Appearance: Hazy, golden-amber color. Fluffy bone white head that settles down and leaves some lacing. No visible carbonation. I’ve poured this into my sangria / frozen cocktail glass, which seems to fit the theme for this beer.



Smell: Tropical fruit juice on the nose. Definitely getting all of the fruit including tangerine, mango and pineapple. Lightly dank and green hop qualities, including some green onion, which I love. As the beer warms up all the ingredients come together with a hint of Starburst. A bit meaty as well.

Taste: This is a 5.6% ABV IPA. I don’t really drink many IPA’s with such “low” ABV. The tangerine, mango, pineapple and lactose additions seem to be light handed. The IPA is light enough though that it still allows the fruit to shine through. A very natural fruit flavor that even adds a touch of acidity and tartness to the beer. There is some bitterness on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Moderately carbonated. Smooth feel. Dryness on the finish.

Overall: This beer is excellent. It’s nice to drink such a low ABV beer of this style. Some can be heavy, and hard to get through. This one is not. A real tasty crusher. Great amount of fruit flavor that complements the similarly flavored hops, minimally perceived sweetness from the lactose.

Thank you @Smokesnotes !

 

NBS beer # 1





Mexicana #1 Dark Lager

Zebulon Artisan Ales
German Bock / 7.20% ABV

4.24/5 rDev -5.8% | Score: 4.5
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

L- The beer pours black with cola brown edges. The head is off white and stands a fluffy 2 fingers in height. Head retention is excellent as it slowly recedes to a thin film. Lacing is prominent.
S-The nose is a light sweet chocolate mixed with spiciness of the chilies.
T-Like the nose the taste starts out with a bit of chocolate, a little dark fruit, and a bit of heat from the chilies. The heat from the chilies lingers nicely into the after taste.
F-Mouthfeel overall is on the lighter side of medium. Carbonation after the initial pour is light.
O- I've never had a mole sauce of any kind so I can't tell if they hit that mark or not. What I can tell you is that is nicely drinkable dark lager with a nice chili pepper finish. Definitely worth a shot if your looking for something a little different.

 

Alright, here's my second one of the day. A new double dry-hopped pale ale (5.1% ABV) by local father-and-son brewing operation BareWolf out of Amesbury, MA. These guys are a little "batchy" (to borrow a term from a BA I forgot the name of; genius term for those newer, small breweries that pretty much never re-brew stuff and have yet to establish a regular brewing schedule, as well as those that can be a little inconsistent at times), but they generally do pretty good work. I've had some awesome hoppy beers from them, buuuut, also a couple that I would never really care to return to. Hope this one falls into the former category!



Pours a strangely-peachy looking amber color with some blush overtones to it. Soapy lace and slight head retention atop the opaque body of the beer. Decent legs. Not much to say about this one, really... very much in the "New England" style but a bit lower in ABV, so I guess an NEAPA?

This was DDH with Vic Secret and El Dorado, two hops that I have a decent amount of experience with. I tend to prefer beers with Vic over beers with El Dorado, usually, but I also tend to prefer dankness/green/passion fruit hop elements than the more subtle melon/apricot notes El Dorado can sometimes push. I think this strikes an appreciable balance between the two, however. Strong grassy and green onion smell right off the bat, with a lot of yeastiness pushing through. Once it opens up a bit, I get pine, tangelo and passion fruit with some peach candy in there. Still leafy and a biiiit more chive-forward than I'd prefer but it's pretty nice overall.

The flavor profile is yet more grassiness and herbal hops, pine resin and chalky yeast with a light maltiness in the mid-palate. Transition to finish shows off some dank passion fruit along with melon, mango and guava. Very juicy and fruity with good balance. Finish is a bit muted with a short zip of bitter hop residue, but it gets better toward the end of the can for some reason. Pretty good stuff. I would pick it up again, though probably not before anything I've had from their Fear of Commitment series, which is one of the best single-hop IPA series I've had beer from to date.

 

A beer from @ovaltine. Bare Hands Mango Peach That's My Jam. And it's exactly that, it's all sweet fruit, a bit tart, but really no bitter, also a wheat base and a real big boy at 9% abv, but you cannot taste that. They don't call it anything but a fruity beer, so they're not calling it a NEIPA. Taken blind I'd guess it a Sweet Radler kinda beer, easy drinking, the fruit is the star and it is. Almost wine like, a bit of a rose give or take. Not sure how I'd rate it to be honest, it tastes very nice, but I couldn't put it into any beer category I've ever had except a Radler, without the soda like carbonation. A 3.75 perhaps.

 

Greetings from the snowy front range that saw a morning low of 21 with a few inches of fresh powder. I ran yesterday but decided to do a few easy ones today as it has been a tradition to run in the first snow. I opened a CBS to sip with breakfast but corked the rest for later. After all, it's NBS time!

A day of shopping yesterday lead to a stop at Total Beverage across town where there is a much better selection. I've been looking for wet hop ales and finally scored some! I also grabbed some 'premium' singles including this $5.99 can of La Cumbre Project Dank. There's no abv. on the can, the date is 09/27/18 and the label states 'An Experimental IPA Autumn Edition. A search revealed it's the second of the canned Dank Series. I've had Project Dank in a bomber in the past, so I'm not sure what the story is here. It seems like this might be something different after searching untappd? I decided to add it here and do a review. Maybe someone more familiar can chime in? Here goes anyway.....

Poured in my trusty Storm Peak glass revealing a sparkling clean translucent gold with a small finger of creamy white foam. A little lacing is present. The smell is dank and weedy like the name! There's some floral, spice, a little onion and malt too. The taste is dank weed, heavy floral, pine, pepper and a kiss of malt in the finish. A crisp clean feel with a bitter dry finish.



I love me some hazebro's and this one takes me back before that trend when the buzz was dank and bitter. I'm not sure what's experimental here? Perhaps the hops? I'm also not sure if this a wet hop ale, but the smell and taste certainly suggest that. This is a great beer worth the six bucks! My score is 4.6 / 5.

Not much planned here today except maybe another new beer later and some football. The sun is beginning to show itself through the flurries, so maybe a dog walk as well. Enjoy your new beer adventures, here's the official scorecard for mine......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24659/375632/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone. Going to crack a new one from the very generous @WesMantooth. He was my sender for NBS BIF #8 and he absolutely crushed me, here is the damage:




Now time for a new one for me:


This is one of those styles I don't visit very often, but always enjoy when I do.

L: Nice light gold color with a small amount of white head that fades quick. Bubbles move up the side of the glass for a little while after the pour. No lacing.
S: Getting a nice bread scent off of this and like a light earthy smell.
T: Also starts with a bready flavor followed by some light floral hops.
F: Light and clean and crisp.
O: Nice easy drinking light abv beer. During a hot summer BBQ these would be great.

Thanks Corey!

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers. I've been away for a while and figured I should stop in after a brief hiatus. Today's entry comes from a brewery in Tampa, FL.
Hidden Springs Ale Works OFF

Canned on 09/27/18
Appearance: Hazy golden orange body with a ton of lovely lacing in the glass.
Aroma: Plenty of grapefruit and orange.some headliners and a slight pepper like aroma as well.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Lemon, orange and something akin to white grape juice. Nice light mouthful that makes this 5.5% abv crushable.
Overall: A decent pale ale that is tasty and easy to drnk.

 

I was waiting for someone to get on my case about that!

So, originally on my 64 system, I had all the stars. I’m currently replaying the game as downloaded onto my Wii, from scratch. It’s been many years. Might need to hit you up for some pointers. I’ve died about 20 times trying to get 100 coins in Hazy Mazy Cave!

 

Welcome back metal god!

 

I’m technically a millennial. Bit I’m one of the older ones. Got NES in the 80’s. Went from that to 64 when it came out. I will never forget how much my mind was blown by the difference between the two. Good times!