New Beer Sunday (Week 717)

Someone was drinking that beer yesterday in WBAYDN and it looked exactly the same way. I thought the same thing. I believe it was @VABA

Perhaps he can comment on his experience with that beer.

 

Good afternoon NBS, @cjgiant thanks for the thoughtful start to the thread.
WMass is preparing for another winter dose Monday into Tuesday. Gladly the outside project list is completed.
Todays offering is from Mystic Brewery in Chelsea MA. The offering is billed as farmhouse ale with cranberries. I struggled a bit with the texture of this one. Beyond that an interesting offering from talented brewers.
Cheers all

3.93/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 ml cage and cork bottle, purchased at the brewery. 2018 release
A - Strawberry milkshake in color and cloudiness, 1" whipped cream on top. Froth last throughout the experience
S - Yeasty, hints of cranberry, white pepper, rising sourdough, sweet fresh puree of peach.
T - This stays in a narrow lane, yeast driven, soft fruit flesh, hint of malt base, tinge funky.
M - Creamsicle, in texture, I am a bit turned off by it, flabby, sweet start and finish, which is surprising , the very end a hint cranberry tartness.
O - Interesting offering, One I will try another year

 

I’ve always associated oxidized beers as more of a cardboard hit, a bit stale and lifeless. That ipa I had in Mt Airey was just
Horrible, definitely sweat socks and moldy jock straps. It looked like what the op didn’t want to call it.

 

Schell's Sahti, 5.99% ABV. Pours golden, with a one finger white head that mostly dissipated by the time I got a decent picture. Nose is malt and pine, taste is malty and unidentified spice, almost no bitterness. Decent mouthfeel, overall excellent.

This is style #109 out of 111 for me. I had to buy a 12-beer variety pack to get it. Only Happoshu and American Brett to go. Happoshu will be the more difficult. I've gotten this far without trading, but may need to in order to get that one.

 

Sierra Nevada Single Hop El Dorado Session IPA

Like other modern American session IPAs, this beer is plagued by the impression of being too watery for its own good and lacking in any malt heft. Despite that, there is nonetheless an odd mucousy aspect to it too (particularly on the finish). This beer is visually in sync with the previous two beers in the pack. The taste has a peach and lychee character to it. The mucous is actually the best thing about it and provides it with some good character.

 

New beer #5. Thanks @JBowenGeorgia !

Heizenbrewg - Creature Comforts
IPA - 6.5% abv
Score: 4.21 (+1.2% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34456/379992/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
This is what a single-hop Citra beer is supposed to taste like. All about that citrus. A bit of a light body, but that just makes this an even better crusher. Count me in for seconds John! (Peach is still my favorite CC though.)

 

Having a Berliner Weiss from Red Cypress in FL.

This one was, well...interesting.





3.57/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

"Berliner Weiss style ale brewed with Blackberries, Cherries, Limes, Vanilla, and Lactose"

12 oz can dated 9/18/18. Poured into Crane Snifter.

Beet red/maroon color with a bubble gum pink head of 1/2 finger.

Aroma is far more complex than most Berliners. Blackberries wrapped in soft warm vanilla sugar, slight black cherry, and whole milk.

The beer drinks like a bad communion wine. Flavor is earthy, musty, and raw, to the point of being outright odious. Dirty blackberries, cherry pits, lime peels left in the sweltering Mexican sun, sweat socks, lemon/lime mineral water, dirt, and must. After a few sips it starts to set up camp on the palate, and it's not quite as offensive as the outset. Still a bit of a hurdle to overcome though.

Feel is pleasantly creamy but for those who actually like Berliners it would be a distraction. The carbonation is buzzing which helps the beer fall in line with the style more, and the back half performs more like a Berliner should.

Overall this is a unique thing and only recommended if you're really looking for something to defy style guidelines.

1,100 characters

 

Sunday Paper...

Exhibit 'A' Brewing's 9.9% abv imperial coffee stout collab with Barrington Roasting...

Pours a nice black color and presents likewise in the glass, with a finger of dark tan foam on top... Pretty straight-forward coffee stout - kicks up solid roasted coffee and chocolate malt char aromas, and the flavors are in line with that - roasty char of cocoa and coffee, bittersweet, but leaning more toward the bitter, producing a little drying on the finish... Full-feeling and smooth, a little bit of sticky molasses sweetness on the finish... Coffee stout fans will be pleased, but I found it fairly standard for the style...

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

 

First new beer today, thanks to @Roguer


4.18/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

12 ounce can, I’m not sure of the date but there are numbers printed on bottom. Poured into a tulip.
Pours a pink/orange, like the flesh of ruby red grapefruit, fine bubbled soft pink head. A really beautiful presentation.
The nose is raspberries, a bit of lemon/lime, hints of oak. Raspberry is the dominant aroma for me.
Much of the same in the taste. Sweet raspberry candy, citrus, lemon juice, underripe strawberries. Lightly tart, medium body and carbonated just enough to wash it all away. Good beer for this sour lightweight.

 

Now THAT is how you do a ninja strike! Holy shit!!!

 

There are many things I miss about Minnesota, but having easy access to Schell's beers is in the Top 5 (seeing Little O on a monthly basis is at the top of that list). I've had 59 of their beers, took the tour with Mrs O 3 or 4 times (they were 25 minutes away), and generally just enjoyed everything about them - their beers, their vibe, their "plan." The 2nd oldest family-owned brewery in the US (Yuengling is #1), they're magnificent, IMHO.

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A grey overcast and rather cold fall day here on the island. We had our first snow fall this past week and it looks like winter is starting to show its teeth. Spending my day inside watching football all day. I'm looking at another nice week of vacation time with the upcoming holiday week. As such I have a few new beers today so we'll see how many I actually get to.

My first new beer today is Double Pull, imperial stout brewed w/ milk sugar, espresso, and flaked oats, from Captain Lawrence brewing. The brew checks in at 10.5% abv and no canning date. Since it just hit shelves it's pretty safe to assume fairly fresh but it would be nice to know for sure.

A black pour with a subtle mocha head that goes away quickly. The nose is on the subtle side as well with chocolate malt and hints of coffee grinds. The drinking starts with rich and lush chocolate malts mixed with sweet and robust coffee grinds. A bitter flow that finishes nicely smooth. I just love how coffee forward the beer is. The mouth feel is rather full bodied. There is a really nice mix of subtle stickiness, the bitter and dry coffee grinds, and the sweet lactose flavors. Good lingering flavors on the palate as well. I've barely stopped to even notice the abv.

Overall, wow I'm really impressed with how good this is. I'm in the low 4's to possible 4.5 on the taste.

 

Afternoon, NBS!

New Country Beer Sunday for me with Pime ÖÖ PX from Põhjala Brewery in Tallinn, Estonia.

4.24/5 rDev -2.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I have been drinking this beer for the past hour and in real time have this much left:



Appearance: This beer pours black with highlights of dark brown around the edges. It appears viscous and opaque. A flash of dark brown, loosely packed bubbles form as I pour the beer aggressively, but quickly disappear. Zero head whatsoever and no visible carbonation. I’ve got a spec of red wax in my glass that fell into the bottle when pulling off the cap.







Smell: This beer smells sugary sweet. Like a booze soaked fruit cake. Dark fruits including raisin, figs, dates, espresso coffee, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, panettone, dark bread, dark bread dough, meaty, hints of smoke and roast. Getting some cinnamon stick. Noticeable alcohol presence as the beer warms up, and upon taking a deep whiff.

Taste: Up front on the tip of the tongue this beer reminds me of port / sherry for sure. I don’t know in what type of the wood the sherry ages, but this beer has a definitive woody character. Sweet dark fruit including raisins. Burnt sugar sweetness and bitterness. Caramel and toffee. Again, suggestions of meat and smoke. This beer evokes feelings of Glögg at Christmas time with raisins and almonds soaking in the bottom. Roasty.

Mouthfeel: Thick, slick mouthfeel with no carbonation. There’s also a phenomenon that I’ll describe as “lip feel.” It’s happens to me usually with big, sweet barrel aged stouts and big Belgian Dark Strong Ales. It’s the sticky sweetness on the lips. It’ll still be there in the morning after closing the night with a beer like this reminding you of the beastly beer you had the night before.

Overall: I’m really enjoying this beer. It’s very sweet, but that perfectly hits the spot on a cold winter day, with snow on the ground, while watching the New York Football Giants. For 13.9% I find it very drinkable. It’s neither too boozy nor too sweet. If the idea of a wood forward, thick and sweet stout is unappealing then you may not like this beer. I suspect fans of the Belgian Strong Dark Ale style would also enjoy this beer. I’d love to try the base beer and other barrel variations of this beer.

Warning: You might feel like this after this beer!

 

So sorry, I've been running around getting things ready for company so I didn't take the time to set the stage properly for my presentation. But it definitely wasn't oxidized.

As @cjgiant noted, it is, in fact, an imperial red IPA if, in fact, there really is such a thing and, apparently, it's supposed to look like that, not that anybody would know if it wasn't.

It was delicious like everything else Hill Farmstead brews.

 

Okay, if it's an imperial red IPA, that makes much more sense. I just assumed it was a NEIPA, in which case, a cloudy brown-ish color would not be a welcome sight. Haha.

 

I’m very much looking forward to your thoughts on the scotch version to see how that beer turned out. I haven’t had many if any others at all, but recently tasted a sample of Scotch Parabola. It was not for me. And I love Islay Scotch and Parabola. The beer smelled like a glass of Lagavulin and tasted the same. I could’ve drunk it as a substitute for scotch, but would not have enjoyed it as a glass of Parabola.

 

I made it from Bryan to Taylor, TX, to watch the Cowboys game with mom. She had hip surgery about three weeks ago and is doing really well.

Now that lunch is over, it's time for a New Brown Ale Sunday:

Cigar City Brewing's Maduro Brown Ale ... 10/29/18 canned-on date printed on bottom of can

Many of you have had this one, but it's taken me some time to get to it. It's loaded full of wood notes, both in the nose and flavor but especially in the flavor. It's very dark wood, roasted and earthy and much like tobacco. There's also some sweeter chocolate notes in it, mainly dark chocolate but also some milk chocolate.

It's labelled here as an English brown ale, which is an anomaly of sorts, but if you're like me and think of English browns as the lighter bready-malt browns, then Maduro is American through and through. It's darker, earthier, more bitter and nothing like Samuel Smith's Nut Brown Ale. In fact, it reminds me a ton of Bell's Best Brown with the intensity dialed up a notch or two. That might be disrespecting Bell's version, because I like it a ton, but this Maduro seems more of everything.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/17981/47731/?ba=Premo88#review
4.07 (+3.6% rDev)

Hope your Sundays are going well!

Cheers!

 

Can't tell this is 11% at all. I didn't think I was going to enjoy it based on my first sip then it warmed up. Chili flavor is very subtle otherwise it's just a very easy drinking high abv stout. I want another immediately but, just wish it didn't have alcohol in it. Apparently they used vanilla extract. Must be what smoothed it out