New Beer Sunday (Week 713)

It's only been a year? I swear I've been seeing their stuff around long before that. But, maybe that's my imagination. Then again I often go shopping for beer in IL just to expand on the availability a bit.

 

Bit of a beast to ward off the chill . . .





Clear deep gold color with white cap and lacing.

Very rich aroma of grain with a definite rye spice with floral, citrusy hops.

Taste is hop forward with a bright zesty hop presence. Hops do overshadow the malt/rye but grain also plays it's part adding a depth of support to the hops. I do pick out the rye spiciness by mid palate that lasts into the finish.

Texture is full with matching carbonation.

The hop presence here is so large that it's easy to overlook the grain at first but grain presence slowly builds and becomes almost equal to hops by the end adding a noticeable grain nutty spiciness in the aftertaste. This is Rye Beer writ large.

 

Starting stout with this 10.5% abv Russian imperial from Jackie O's...

Dark brown-black pour turns to pure obsidian in the glass, with a slim finger of dark tan foam on top... Aromas of chocolate, espresso, and molasses are substantiated on the sip, with additional hints of dark fruit and a slight edge of wet char... Light translucency during the pour is followed by a rounded, velvety mouthfeel and a smooth medium-full-bodied weight... A little more sweet than bitter, a little more wet than dry, with a little stick on the finish... A nice representative of the style... 2018 bottling...

Here's to new beer in your glass, cheers...

 

A-Pours a very dark opaque color with a generous head and lacing
A-Aroma has chocolate, coffee, cherries and raising hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nicely balanced chocolate, coffee, cherries and raisin flavors. The chocolate flavor stands out more as the beer warms to room temperature
M-A medium bodied moderately carbonated beer
O-A very well balanced stout with a strong kick

 

@cjgiant - I got an apple character in Die Deutscher Haltung. You're putting weight on your rDev with a beer with 6 ratings?

Interesting theory @drtth . I tried two of those beers in past NBS threads. Links here and here. And here’s one from cjgiant. There’s a color difference in my pics (which could be lighting, etc... but cjgiant’s post seems to show the same). This led me to wonder if different hops can change a beer’s color to the extent that it’s clearly noticable to the naked eye. Doing a very quick search provides conflicting info on this but seems to support that it is possible. Note that the two beers have different ABVs though... so there is more going on than just a hop change... but the brewer might still be approaching it the way you are suggesting.

Reading Jack's post today, and getting to this part:

...made me think of how Foreign Objects is marketing these as "ungespundet lagerbiers." I wonder if the brewer understands this and it's truth in advertising... or if they are just using the word in a cut and paste manner.

 

I really enjoyed this beer. I had fallen out of love with Lazy Magnolia for a pretty good while because I felt they had gotten bland but they've had several releases recently that have me interested in them again. I'll probably swing by The Porch sometime soon. Cheers!

 

To follow up to the above with a clarification, I quickly noted some people talking about a beer's color changing with a hop addition... but I wasn't digging deep enough to get to anything about how the type of hop might specifically be a factor. As I noted that there's an ABV difference between the beers, thinking about how hops could alter color is probably a waste of time with regard to these two specific beers... but I was intrigued with the concept anyway so I included it in my post as just food for thought.

 

New beer #2. Thanks @thisischuck01 !

OK BK - Other Half feat. American Solera
IIPA - 8% abv
Canned 9/28/18 (23 days ago)
Score: 4.02 (-0.7% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/373104/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
A very sweet ipa. Candied orange slices are the most prominent thing I taste. Does not taste at all like a typical OH IPA, so it has that going for it. Definitely a different yeast and malt profile as well. I would never guess this as OH if tasted blind. The abv is hidden well, and it’s tasty. I just wish my teeth weren’t rotting away with every sugary sip.

 

The last hoppy beer from the BIF box from @ovaltine. I still have a ton of great Stouts to look forward to this winter. Bare Hands Milkshake Thai Double IPA. Dipa brewed with milk sugar, Thai spices, mango, raspberry, vanilla bean. Big boy considering the above ingredients at 8.1 abv.

Looks like Lindemans Framboise at the pour, it's most definately look like raspberry, very light nose though. Holds a nice head to the end. You'd think this one would be sweet fruit, but it's not really all that sweet and surprisingly tart. The fruit sounds like the star here, buts it's the Thai spices that drive this beer. Not so sure the spices work that well the fruit though, I'd say it's fairly spicy for the style. If there's any hops here they don't mention it, there's no definitive hops detected at all. Hard for me to rate beers like this and do it fairly, maybe a 3.5 overall, well worth the try but I wouldn't buy a 4pk. That was a terriffic box o hops, first rate beers from Transient and Bare Hands, I'd highly recommend both.

 

Matchless Match Bock

Happy Sunday, BAs. Today’s first new beer comes to me courtesy of @beertunes in the NBS BIF, the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks, Terry!

Match Bock pours a hazed copper color with a finger-and-a-half of dense, off-white head. The head leaves lovely, thick lacing.

It has a creamy, doughy aroma that’s soft around the edges and has a hint of lemon and some strong cake-like sweetness.

The taste follows the nose with a more intense malty sweetness. It approaches, but falls a little short of, a medicinal cherry flavor. There’s a kiss of hop bitterness, but it doesn’t really hold up against the malt.

It’s on the heavy side of medium bodied with decent carbonation cutting through.

This is really tasty. This much sweet malt is a great change of pace.

 

Firestone Walker XX Anniversary

4.39/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

My son’ s wedding

Bottle in box with tasting notes

Poured into a glass , deep bark brown. Liquid, one finger taupe foam cap, settles rather quickly to a taupe ring

Aroma is bourbon, molasses , dark fruits, raisins

Taste is dark fruits, raisins, charred barrel, bourbon, complex flavors

Smooth but I get some alcohol , not a burn , but I get some on the taste low sudsing

Good beer

 

Chris,

Since you made mention of "ungespundet” you might be interested in a video from Shelton Brothers which has some discussion about bunging & unbunging beer in casks; this specific discussion starts around the 5:30 mark.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for getting us rolling today.
In terms of sports, this transplanted New Englander is happy. The Red Sox are returning to the World Series, the Patriots seem to have turned things around (although they could have a tough game in Chicago today), and the Celtics and Bruins are off to good starts.
In terms of beer, I am having Black Butte 30th anniversary beer. About three weeks ago I had the 29th anniversary, and enjoyed it very much. This bottle was bottled 06/14/18, and was aged in "eight different types of oak barrels, with notes of salted chocolate, whiskey, and dried fruit.
In my teku the beer was black with a small, quickly disappearing head.
Strong chocolate and oak aroma, with a hint of alcohol.
Oak and chocolate taste up front, slight whiskey.
Medium-bodied, great beer to sip and savor.

 

A-Pours a very dark opaque color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has abundant coffee hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nice coffee flavors.
M-A medium bodied moderately carbonated beer
O-A nice coffee flavored beer

 

Nice beer for a wedding!
Congrats!

 

Beer #3. First of 2 mystery beers from @FlintB ! Brian, it was very generous of you to replace the ones that Fedex stole. I’m sure I’ll be way off on my guess but love the chance to try to figure out this beer’s identity!

“Lo Octane” mystery beer
Appears to be a 16oz bottle
Can’t see the color of the liquid. Assuming this is a sour given the lo octane label.



I smell sour rotting fruit as soon as I start to pour!

L - 2-finger dense white head is lopsided, and really only clings to one side of the glass. What kind of alien beer is this? Body is a gorgeous deep orange. 4.5.

S - Passion fruit? Mango? Some sweet orange in there too I’m thinking. Definitely some sort of fruited sour. Not smelling much barrel so perhaps a kettle sour a la Burley Oak or Veil? 4.25

T - oh my. Quite tart tropical fruits. I’m sticking with passion fruit and mango. There’s a weird fruit here too that I can’t put my finger on. Familiar but it escapes me. Quite a lot of sourness too. I get rotting fruit in the middle, with a little funk. Maybe this is wood-aged after all? A bit of tannin, a hint of grape or red wine. Whatever it is, it’s a tasty fucker. 4.5

F - medium bodied (heavier than a typical sour) with aggressive carb. Still very easy to drink. 4.5

O - Solid in all areas, and right in my wheelhouse. I’m guessing this is a Transient sour based on the size of the bottle. It reminds me a bit of the Transient pineapple gose that Brian sent me earlier. 4.5

The reveal:



Well shit I was way off. It is a sour, but I didn’t pick out strawberry or rhubarb. And a miss on the brewery. Going back now I do get the strawberry taste. Not sure how I missed that. At least I was right on the barrel aging.



Loving it nonetheless! Thanks again Brian. Will be opening your hi-octane mystery beer a bit later today. These mystery beers are one of my favorite parts of the NBS BIF.

 

Getting ready to head to my wife's grandson's birthday party so it will be later this evening before I have some beers. Technically he's my grandchild too and I claim him but I'm not ready to call myself a granddad yet. My youngest son turned 6 this past week and my oldest is 10, they are both from my previous marriage. Her daughters were grown when we married.
Shared a couple with my neighbor after I got in from work last night(after midnight)
@r0rschach sent me a box of Texas goodies as well, Oh hadn't heard of Turning Point before this BIF but they are definitely on my radar now, they should be on yours as well IMO.


Regular Old Plumbus
Pours an opaque orange with two fingers of dense white head.
Smell is grapefruit with pineapple and mango highlights.
Taste follows, pineapple, mango, grapefruit. Well balanced with a bit of a pithy finish that I enjoy.
Full bodied and smooth with a good carbonation level.
Overall as tasty one from a brewery that is definitely on my radar now.
Had this one as well

Fro Yo Pulp
Opaque golden orange pour with two finger of thick white head.
Definitely sweeter citrus on the nose, as advertised I'm getting orange and tangerine. Hints of grapefruit and vanilla as well.
Taste follows pretty closely. Sweet citrus, maybe aided by the vanilla. Balanced with the grapefruit notes.
Full body with good carbonation.
Overall another winner!
Thanks John for the chance to try these.
I had a couple from @CanConPhilly last night as well but will post those after the party as my wife just called to inform me that I should already be on the way.

 

A-Pours a nice clear light golden color with a generous head and lacing
A-Aroma had pleasant citrus and piney notes
T-The taste follows the nose with a well balanced citrus and hoppy flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A well balanced Imperial IPA