New Beer Sunday (Week 721)

New beer #3.

V7 Fresh IIPA - Hubbard’s Cave
IIPA - 8.5% abv
Canned 11/7/18 (39 days ago)
Purchased for $5.69 at Monde Market
Score: 3.75 (-2.8% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42755/358752/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Guessing I would like the other versions more than this one. Not a huge fan of Idaho 7 or El Dorado. This comes off as super-sweet and floral, neither of which are my thing. Still curious to try other versions with different hops though!

 

Goose island wheatwine
...a really nice ruby/amber color
...body felt very thin and without much carbonation,came off a little watery to me
...aroma was scotch which I know some feel is similar to bourbon but I find it distinctly different. That and the heavy malt with the high abv made the aroma boozy and a little sickly sweet
....taste unfortunately for me followed the aroma, just couldn't get past the overly sweet scotch taste
...obviously this wasn't a winner for me but I can objectively see how this could be amazing to some. My ba review will be based on quality and not my preference

 

Thanks @cjgiant for getting the ball rolling.
It's a cloudy day here, but without precipitation. The morning temperatures have been dipping into the 20s, which means we have later tee times. It's been years since I've played golf in December, and I'm looking forward to some winter golf.
My wife and I were in Albuquerque last week and had a wonderful time. I brought back a good number of beers, today's new beer being one of them.
I am drinking Ned's Sour Pale from Steel Bender Brewyard. It is a "sour ale that spent one year aging in oak barrels with some Brettanomyces and other bugs." ABV is 8%.
The beer is a dark amber color with a good deal of carbonation. The small head retains well.
The aroma is sweet fruit, some vanilla, and a bit of funk.
Peaches, vanilla. Some degree of tartness.
Crisp and dry. Not overly tart.

 

Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stouts used to be few and far between, now it seems there is a new one to try every week. This one is brewed at Wyndridge Farm Brewing in Dallastown PA, It is simply called Borubon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout. There are no added flavors just malts, hops, yeast and H2O, just the way I like them. It pours black with a thick brown head. The Aroma os powerful full of roasted malt and Bourbon. The taste is about the same but there are \hints of toffee and coffee. The mouthfeel is very full. The finish is dry and long lasting. This Stout is 13,9 ABV and hides it very well. A very drinkable beer. This is one of the best BBA Imperial Stout I have ever tasted very well done.

 

Good afternoon BA
I reported to work as scheduled this morning, but things were under control and I was able to leave another supervisor in charge after four hours. I'm still in a dark mood after last night's shenanigans so I should probably church up...

The review:
11.2oz bottle bb 9/27/19 poured into a Spencer signature chalice at just above fridge temp 9% ABV. The beer pours light to medium brown with dark red highlights. The head is very light brown and settles to a thin ring and island. No lacing. The aroma is rich malt with hints of brown sugar and clove. The taste is semisweet amber/caramel malt and clovey spiciness up front with a drying, burnt sugar caramel flavor on the finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with above average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, very good. This is a drier, less fruity example of the style with a little more bitterness thrown in. Nicely done, but not my preference for the style.

I have several more Belgian Strong Dark Ales in the que for later. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass!

 

Howdy, NBSers! Little going on here in the Brazos Valley, where work has slowed down enough to afford me time to crawl down a how-to-smoke-a-turkey wormhole the last couple days. Compared to the chicken and ribs I've been cutting my teeth on as a novice pitmaster, turkeys look like a ton of work — thawing, brining, tying up legs, pinching back skins, rubbing down inside and out, injecting, basting ... none of it looks necessarily hard but put together it is an undertaking.

But I digress ... here's a new beer:


Another Ridgeway beer for me, and this one's much like Reindeer Revolt: fantastic! In fact, it's arguably too much like Reindeer Revolt (an English strong ale) than a stout, and I'm sure that accounts for it's relatively low 3.45 rating. Stout fans and hardcore reviewers would not be happy about this miscommunication, but an English pale ale lover like me is in beer heaven sipping on this one. Bread malt notes of fruitcake, toasted fruitcake, donuts and milk chocolate dominate the nose, while the flavor is earthier but still sweetened by toasted fruitcake and plum notes. There is a pinch of alcohol heat to it. At times it's hard to tell what's an earthy hop bite and what's medicinal alcohol flavor, but it never detracts from the overall presentation.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/7944/20905/?ba=Premo88#review
4.22 (+22.3% rDev)

Normally I dock brewerys for mislabelling their beers, but hopefully the review-by-style police will let me off with a warning on this one, because while not a stout, Lump of Coal is awfully good.

Cheers!

 

I'm thinking today will be dedicated to coffee brews, at least for the first few rounds. This is a perennial favorite release of mine, using a different single origin coffee each time.



Tree House's Double Shot - Ethiopia Misty Valley.

Pours black with nearing two fingers of caramel foam. Head retention is good, with a dense ring of foam lingering a long while. Aroma is roasty, toasty, nutty, earthy malts with medium-bodied coffee. Dark chocolate, molasses, and coffee fruit add a little extra depth and complexity layered over the decadent base stout. Flavor profile is chocolate milk followed me a sip of medium-bodied, fruity and fleshy coffee. In between the morning beverages is caramel, molasses, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and roasty, toasty, nutty malts. Really good depth that showcases the base stout first, and then delivers the coffee goods. Mouth feel is velvety and creamy, like a glass of whole milk with a few tablespoons of ovaltine stirred in. It has a medium-thick consistency. Overall, big base stout notes with lovely and lively coffee. Coffee isn't on the forefront here, instead adding a pleasant subtly to the back-end of both the aroma and flavor profile.

Score: 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.75 | BA Score: 4.55 | rDev: +1.3%

 

Hey what's going on?!

Time for new beer! Man when does the rain ever stop... sigh... I have a moat around my house currently.

With that, things could be a heck of a lot colder, so no complaints.

Tasty beer definitely on the radar, so what's new our hero today?



Poured from the bottle into a Flying Dog tulip sure why not. Enjoy by Feb 23rd 2019.

Solid opaque body, nearly black with a creamy perfectly tan colored hand. Stands about a finger with a nice slowly thin puck and collar, whispy on the top with a perfect formed creamy ring.

Tea like aromas and a touch of mild char hit the nose. Oolong black herbal slightly with hints of light coffee and cream. Has actually a little touch of dark cocoa powder as well. Flavors on the nose are a bit subtle though, not obvious, but make for good exploring.

Palate seems to take a different road. Very light bodied but also far wet a bit even for a basic stout mouthfeel. Slightly grainy in flavor but with a very almost tannic tartness somewhat on the mid palate of bitter tea, and some interesting florals. Finish is a little better, more touches of light char and coffee roast. Subsequent sips actually provide more flavor and less bitterness, almost a rosehip like quality going on.

The beer is a bit odd, but drinkable. Somewhat memorable, but a unique one that's not pushing me into greater need.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75 | BA Generated Score: 3.8

Cheers!

 

I'm going to go for beer #2 before I'm off to this cookie decorating.

I'm going with "Rum Barrel Aged King" from Indeed Brewing.
It will be my first from the brewery, and I've got to say I love the artwork on the can.


Pouring this from a 12 oz. can into a snifter this beer pours out as black as motor oil with no highlights and forms a delicious looking one finger width dense caramel colored crown. (4.5)

The smell comes in with a strong rum presence warming the nostrils. Tropical notes mixing with chocolate backed by a dry wood smell. (4.25)

The taste brings dark fruit galore. Raisins and figs tangling with a dark bitter baker chocolate element. Molasses, toffee, slight vanilla bring in the balanced sweetness before fading into wood and alcohol presence. (4.25)

The mouthfeel is thick and chewy with the alcohol providing a warming effect that is amazing for cold days and the wood making sure the finish is dry. (4.25)

Overall, this is a very pleasant brew that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love how the wood brings the dryness and the rum brings a warming alcohol while the elements of dark fruit, bitter chocolate, toffee, molasses and vanilla all tangle together to make a really complex brew. (4.25)

And I want to finish this post off by thanking people from Minnesota! They have been some of the kindest I have dealt with on here and when it comes to the trading world. Always so friendly and generous. I've never been to the state but I believe there is such a thing as "Minnesota Nice"
Cheers!!!

 

Poured into a 16 oz can shaped pint glass not sure when it was bottled. Pours a very dark near pitch black with a 2 plus finger light brown head that leaves some attractive thin wisps of lace behind, as it slowly settles. 4

Smell is big vanilla, some coffee, molasses, and peanut butter and chocolate.3.75

Taste follows vanilla, coffee, cocoa, molasses, and some peanut butter and some hints of boozyness come in the bold finish. 3.75

Mouthfeel is a big medium, gentle carbonation, a tad dry, and at 10% ABV goes down pretty darn easy. 4

Overall this is a solid brew, not earth shattering by any stretch and not close to my favorite of the many variants they have, but pretty nice. 3.75

 

New beer #4. Thanks @FlintB !

Cherry Angelina - Brewery Vivant
Barrel-Aged Sour - 8.8% abv
Score: 4.34 (+0.7% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24678/361180/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Super-tart cherry ambrosia. Rather one-dimensional, but what it does, it does well. Lots of acid, very little sweetness. My type of sour beer. Thanks again Brian!

 

Humans have done a lot of bafflingly awful stuff to each other over the years but I'll be damned if this might not just be the pinnacle. It's both awesome and horrifying that the honey actually makes the name relevant to the beer itself.

I shudder to think what kind of other flavors someone like Dogfish Head might have chosen to borrow from the experience.

 

stocked up at Trillium this week, here is my new one from them...this week

4.55/5 rDev -2.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Canned 12.6.18, opened 12.13.18

“ Double your ganger double your fun!”

Poured into a teku, hazy orange, one finger off white soapy foam cap, settles to a solid layer, some lacings

Very fragrant peach, mango, guava, whiff of peppery spice

Taste is mango, tropical fruits, slight dank finish

Dankness lingers, doesn’t bite

Good beer

 

Tired Hands - Oblivex

This beer was generously shared with me by my internet buddy @JackHorzempa
This beer is special to me because the can features an artist's photo-like representation of me sleeping. I "posed" for him for 8 hours a night for 3 straight nights. Sleeping with the lights on sucks.

The beer is an opaque dull grapefruit/apricot color. The head is fantastic. Rocky and lacing a plenty. This is a very well done NEIPA. The feel is nice and full. This is a salad of bitter greens along with orange pith and slices. This feels like a perfect bitter NEIPA with bonus Tang burps.

 

So our food store has a beer and wine bar inside, which is nice. This weekend is a Lagunitis tap take over, among others is Hop Stoopid and Born Yesterday. Yesterday I had a sample size so I'm not considering a 4 oz tasting cheating on drinking a beer on Saturday for this thread. But it was enough to make me come back to it, so I took out a 32 oz Growler this morning of Born Yesterday to fairly offer up an opinion. I love fresh hopped beers so here goes.

In my HF Balloon glass, pouring this it's an explosion of fruit, mostly pineapples, and you can smell this 5 ft away. Beautiful pour, but the head quickly dissappates to foam around the rim fairly quickly, still nicely lacing the sides. The taste follows, an explosion of pineapple, but hard pineapples definately suggests it should be sweet but it's certinly not. Nicely bitter, prickly carbonation that I absolutely love in an IPA, now sadly missing in many beers as the quest for a velvety mouthfeel seems all consuming. I'd say a medium mouthfeel, there's not anything here to make this one viscous or chewy. The prickly carbonation with the sharp hop character and the hard fruit makes this one incredibly enjoyable to drink. There's no tricks here, this is straight up a great IPA, sadly Lagunitis in bottles are slow movers here so I steer clear of them. But beers like this and Hop Stoopid are way to good to die of old age on the shelf. I'm not much of a numbers guy, but I like this beer a lot, I'd easily say 4.3 to 4.4, perhaps with a plus. And the finish on this one lasts forever and is very strong here, nothing I hate worse than a poor finishing beer, but as you fully swallow this bad boy you get that bitter hard fruit explosion that lasts for minutes after its gone. If I could get this beer on tap I'd easily buy Crowlers or Growlers of this, I'd highly recommend it. Nice to see a no tricks, no frills IPA that showcases many hops and the Brewers skills.

 

Great lakes holy moses
..around a medium body with just a love average carbonation. Lots of particles floating around
.. aroma is yeasty, doughy, bread with a decent amount of spice. Chamomile is very noticeable and odd at first but fits somehow
...taste is very similar with it being just a bit sweet. Its medium bodied but all the spice and bread flavor makes it a feel like a very flavor packed mouthful.
...overall I would never think of chamomile and beer together but it added a very flavorful touch

 

Next up for me is Schnee Boot from Heavy Seas, a particularly hot BA’d Eisbock.



3.94/5 rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark, opaque brown beer that produced a modest beige head. Nose is nearly equal parts currant and biting alcohol. Even as it warms up, just not much else. Taste tells a slightly different story as dark cherry, raisin and sweetness offset the massive heat. Despite being really hot, there is a little more body than I expected from as high an ABV. Aftertaste is primarily that alcohol bitterness.

 

I do use that Prisma app occasionally (which I think is the same or similar to what he is) but that one didn’t have any altering. I noticed it looked that way too. Must be the lights from the tree.

 

New Beer Sunday: American IBA

Afternoon NBSers with another alert for IPA fans. (Looks as though this is turning into new IPA Sunday for me.)

This afternoon’s new beer is the Double Nickel India Pale Ale. (The Double Nickel brewery is located in Jersey near the base of one of the bridges across the river to Philly. Back in the day the truckers talking on their CB Radios used to refer to it as the Double Nickel bridge because the tolls were 5 cents each way.)

As usual, my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42881/197420/?ba=drtth#review


The aroma/flavor profile on this beer is light but full of orange and orange zest with a hint of pine and some herbal, earthy character. The caramel malt sweetness and the earthy/herbal/piney bitterness are mostly spot on for an IPA, but I did find a bit of unpleasant character in the bitterness. (Hmmm, could this be an after effect of having been on that medication?) I’d say this was drinkable and worth giving a try for the hop combination, but next time I see it I’ll pass in favor of their Vienna Lager.

Cheers, all!