New Beer Sunday (Week 717)

By the time @AyatollahGold gets to bottle number four he may not remember the last three...

 

Hah. Definitely not going to do all 4 in a day! If I had friends who enjoyed beer like me, maybe! But I just thought it would be fun to do for today since I had the four and have not had any of them.

 

Thanks for the review and the introduction to a style Ive never heard of. Recently had the Live Oak Hefe and was stellar- beer courtesy of BIF #8.

 

Good afternoon NBS!
The reason why I like this thread so much, is that I feel it's more about your beer experience, as opposed to the beer you are drinking.
On that note here is my review of Sam Adams Coffee Pale Ale which I deemed a crossover brew.

12oz bottle into perfect pint
Bb 1/2019
Pours a clear light brown with an off-white head
Predominant coffee, cream, floral hoppy notes
Coffee with caramel cream, followed by floral pine notes
Light bodied, easy drinking
Overall a unique crossover beer that is quite quaffable.
Cheers

 

Gotta be honest, straight up “Beers of Fame” tick right here - Trappistes Rochefort 10



4.29/5 rDev -4.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Huge foamy light tan head over a dark brown beer that seems like it wants to be burgundy around the edges, nearest light. Smell starts out with fig, morphs into a corn kinda thing with a little heat. Taste is more raisin than fig with a massive bread quality with lingering heat. This is an extremely lively beer, leaving a little alcohol bitterness behind.

 

I'm kind of surprised that brewers are reaching for Islay barrels, it's most definately a polarizing scotch. I love it's seaweed, salt and smoke, but most would prefer a lighter whiskey. I'd think a highland barrel would hold more promise across the board. Something like Macallen or Dalwhinnie, more subtle scotches.

 

Hello Sunday beer folks!
I am having a relaxed Sunday (almost too relaxed) here in Montreal today. It's a sunny day and there's finally some snow on the ground. My whole world was turned upside down last weekend to find out that some people here aren't actually drinking and reviewing the beers they post here on Sunday, on Sunday. Well, anyway, I am and I plan to keep it that way.
This week I feel a little like what I imagine a proud father feels like (if his kid was actually a beer). Brasserie Dunham is one of my favorite Quebec breweries and they have put out a rotating line of single hop IPAs over the past few years. These beers have been consistently between decent and very good in my book and at the bare minimum have given me a great opportunity to familiarize myself with new hops. They started as single hop then moved to dual hops (this improved them) and now they have finally started canning. I am very happy for them and happy to entry this one. I also think that they've done a great job on the label.

This one is brewed with Galaxy and Ella. And I got to add it to the database.

It pours ugly enough to make me get why some complain about how NEIPAs look. That is, it doesn't look like your standard hazebomb. It might even be a touch oxidized (although I don't get that in the smell or flavor). The smell is nice. Lots of tropical fruits and cantaloupe. The flavor is a thin bite of bitterness that doesn't duo much more. It is fairly drinkable and by b No means bad. However, I feel like the look is awful compared with other versions of this beer that I've had. And the flavor doesn't really pop. Either way, a nice beer to drink while watching football and I'm thrilled to see this beer show up in cans.

Here is my review if you're curious.

Santé!

 

New beer #6. Picked these up at Sixpoint yesterday, along with the glass.

Peanut Butter Bean - Sixpoint
Imperial Porter - 8.2% abv
Canned 11/16/18 (2 days ago)
Score: 4.23 (0% rDev - first review)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10607/382095/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synospis:
Hyper-focused on peanut butter taste, which I’m all about. Almost tastes like a liquified Reeses PB cup. Wish the body was a bit heftier, but otherwise this is a tasty treat.

 

More new local beer for me today. After this, I'll probably move onto distro stuff.



Crane's Trill.

Pours a very dark burgundy-brown with a finger of khaki foam that doesn't retain long. Aroma is a blast of a mash-up of notes, hitting yeast esters, toasty, nutty, bready malts, clove, plum, and a sharp lactic bite. Char and a little heat seep through at the finale. Flavor profile is plum and brandy, and then fades into toasty, nutty, bready malts with a big yeast ester quality. The base quadruple is discernible, but is mashed and mangled by brandy, a lactic sour bite, and a touch of heat. Very complex. Mouth feel is medium-thick, but nearly still as far as effervescence goes. Overall, a big, complex beer hitting in at 10.2% ABV. Unique, and quite enjoyable. The sweetness helps balance out the heat, creating an easy to sip, complexity. Maybe a little too easy.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.26 | rDev: N/A (first review/rating)

Personal notes: Crane is the king of sour ales in Kansas City, although there are some new players challenging them. Crane's creation here is top notch, and reaffirms their spot at the top. For now. Only wish I had bought more.

 

Doesn't sound appetizing at all, I don't like beers that finish badly, it's tough when the last word doesn't quite make it. Mucous beer? I've been spitting a ton for the last month I'll pass on that.

 

I don't think it's a diss to Bell's to praise Maduro. I love Bell's Best Brown Ale and will never stop buying it every fall, but Maduro is fantastic and one of the best brown ales I've ever had.

 

Beer share? I got a can in a beer trade!

Le Jus from Alarmist

4.48/5 rDev +3.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Hazy yellow liquid, visible carbonation, thick, frothy , creamy, off white foam crown, sticky lacings

aroma is tropical fruit, mango, pineapple, guava, orange citrus

taste follows the aroma, tropical fruit hops

medium sudsing, hop taste lingers, no bite

Good beer

 

Good afternoon NBS BAs! Still working off my haul from last weeks Maine trip.
Here we have Mason's Hipster Apocalypse. The can shows a hipster caricature with a "Stephen King Rules" tee on. Reading on I got a chuckle that Mason's Brewer is located in.. wait for it... Brewer, Maine. I know, its not that funny and they are probably sick of it, but it hit me just right today.


3.63/5 rDev -6.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Poured from an undated 16oz. can to a Nonic.
Hazy yellow/gold body, medium plus frothy head that takes about 8 minutes but never goes to less than 1mm full coverage.
Grapefruit aroma turns to grapefruit rind taste. Not sure that's a good thing. Finish is lip puckering.
Mouthfeel is kind of light.
I sound harsh above, but I would definitely drink this (depending on other choices).

 

Lawson's Triple Sunshine IPA

Many pardons, but I had this yesterday instead of today. My son-in-law procured a fresh can for me. He thought about waiting until Christmas to give it to me, but in the spirit of freshness, he gave it to me right away. In that same spirit; I drank it right away. It was canned on 2018-10-18.

Here's what I thought about it.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

A - Beautiful hazy-but-not-murky orange with a 3/4-finger white head and mild lace.

S - Very ripe pineapple, guava, biscuit, gooey hop buds, orange candy, herbal spice.

T - Wow. What a bastion of layered flavors. There's tropical sweetness of orange candy, pineapple, grapefruit flesh and lychee followed quickly by a swirling, changing medley of hop flavors from dank to herbal spice to pepper. The 10.3% alcohol is barely noticeable. A hint of light/nutty malt peaks through briefly and finally morphs to a lovely pine bitterness.

M - Full body and light-medium carbonation. Thick, resinous, prickly, clinging. Almost the consistency of the liquid in canned peaches! Love it.

O - Wonderful stuff. Makes me want to get in the car and drive 8 hours to Vermont; or take the train. One of these days!

I rated Triple Sunshine 7th (4.64) out of my 2,162 reviews. It didn't quite beat out Lawson's Double Sunshine, which is 2nd (4.74) in my ratings. It's been awhile since I've had Double Sunshine though so I'll be curious to try it again. Who knows? Maybe there'll be a fresh can in my Christmas stocking.

 

Alright, second and final new beer for this thread... a new strong dark beer by Finback in collaboration with Exhibit 'A' Brewing.



XYZ Corp is a Baltic porter brewed with marshmallow and cacao nibs, clocking in at a rather intense 9.6%. An interesting idea for a beer, for sure. I haven't had many Baltic porters with adjunct ingredients, never mind one with adjuncts typically reserved for American stouts and porters (which are ales, not lagers like this beer, mind you!). I have typically enjoyed Finback's stouts, but Exhibit 'A' is overall very hit-or-miss for me. Luckily, they are pretty dang good at darker beer styles and the more unusual stuff they attempt, though, so I'm looking forward to this one.

The pour is pretty deep and intense, with a pretty solid dark-brown colored beer topped with a light mocha head that can be pretty easily re-roused. When I do so, it builds up with a much darker color for a bit before settling back down... cool stuff. Pretty decent lace, too, and around the edges of the surface I can see a hint of clarity to this brew. A pretty nice looking Baltic porter, for sure!

I'd expected the marshmallow here to be rather minimal... my first sniff leads me to believe I'm probably right about that expectation, though if I really pay attention as it warms up I do get a distinct whiff of marshmallow in the form of marshmallow creme (Fluff, in other words). Pretty cool! I get a solid roast profile and some heady dark chocolate elements along with some light ethanol and candied dark fruit. Strong caramelized/brown sugar notes are thrown out here, too.

On the tongue, this is dangerously drinkable with a light-ish medium body for the style and a nice combination of the traditional Baltic porter fruitiness with nearly-acrid malts and the solid inclusion of cacao nibs. Marshmallow again falls into the background to my tastebuds. A bit spicy in the finish with a suggestion of ethanol. Doesn't feel close to 10%, but it is a tiny bit warming after each sip. Wish the marshmallow was pushed more, but it could easily become overbearing so I understand why they wouldn't want to go nuts with it. Pretty solid stuff, but I likely wouldn't return to it.

 

Another Good Afternoon, BA and NBS

Maine Beer Company - Post Ride Snack



This is the first for me of what I would consider “new” beers from MBC. Outside of their core line up, I’ve not had any beers over the past few years. So I figured I’d grab a bottle and see how they do a session IPA.

Appearance: Pours a translucent, slightly hazy, golden straw color. Barely noticeable carbonation. A bone white head that settles to a quarter finger and leaves strands of lacings across the edge of my glass.



Smell: A bright combination of grassy, tropical fruit, citrus fruit and crisp, grainy, crackery malt. Hint of dankness and pine.

Taste: This beer has the same clean and crisp flavor profile I expect from MBC. This beer tastes the way fresh cut grass smells. Lemon rind and sweeter orange citrus notes. Some dry and grapefruit pithy bitterness with some pine.

Mouthfeel: Nicely carbonated. Prickly. Dry finish.

Overall: This beer embodies the clean and crisp profile, and the high quality Ive come to expect from Maine Beer pale ales. Nicely done.

4.07/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Sierra Nevada Single Hop Mosaic Double IPA

This one is delivering as expected. It shares a similar appearance as the others. Being the biggest of the bunch, it clearly has the biggest malt heft. This gives it a nice decadent and warming quality. Hop wise, it also feels the most layered as opposed to having singular clarity. There’s a lime quality, a slight floral aspect, and a very pleasant bitterness.

Just going with first impressions (and having these four at various parts of the day), my favorite to least favorite was the IPL, DIPA, IPA, session IPA. Fortunately, I have two more of each to get further impressions. The best thing across this set was the uniform soft carbonation with great heads. Sierra really knows what they’re doing in this regard.

As a “single hop” set, this group was very satisfying but also a bit of a poorly executed concept… but that’s only when I impose my own desires on it instead of the brewer’s intentions. The set is a nice collection of four beers that were a pleasure to drink... and man were they drinkable. Mission accomplished in that regard. However, it would be even nicer to come away from it feeling like the main variables between the four beers were the hops. The different stylistic approaches (IPL, DIPA, IPA, session IPA) proved to create a far bigger distinction from one beer to the next rather than the hops. This felt more like an exercise in process, malt and strength difference instead of hop difference.

 

Wander The American Scream Raspberry IPA

Afternoon, BAs. I just read @beertunes tell someone else to drink this beer fresh on the NBS BIF thread. That was my cue to crack it open.

It pours a hazed, pale, berry-colored Kool Aid color with two-and-a-half fingers of airy raspberry-tinted head that leave plenty of soapy lacing.

Clear raspberry shows up front in the nose, with hints of pine and maybe even lavender behind.

Raspberry is the dominate flavor up front in the taste as well. Imagine that? There’s also a hint of toasted malt and a light earthy hop bitterness, with a ghost of citrus, too. There’s a certain crispness and lager-like floral quality to it.

It’s light to medium bodied with a great soft fizz in the carbonation.

This is very easy-drinking. The flavors in this are a bit on the thin side, which is what lets the fruit shine, while still maintaining a more-traditional “beer” character. It was canned on 10/17/18.

Thanks, Terry, for sharing this one. It’s no Raspberry Mille, but still fun to drink.

 

Czig meister tiramisu porter
...murky cola ruby brown
...slightly thin,little oily, very low,almost nonexistatant carbonation
..aro.a is vanilla,mocha, milk chocolate, sugary
..taste is almost identical to aroma with a heavy cream taste also
...a weak body was a turn off ,delivered on taste but somehow just seemed a little weak. Good novelty beer but glad u picked up just a single