New Beer Sunday (Week 721)

I visited GN twice during my trip to PDX last year and... didn't really find them interesting.

That being said, momo was my favorite IPA from them. And since I was there during Fresh Hop season, they also released a Fresh Hop momo, which was even better!

 

It seems like I've been striking out on anything pale lately. So I am going to see if I can get back on base and try my first Monkish beer for the 3rd beer of the day.

Beer: Space cookie
Brewery: Monkish/Omnipollo
ABV: 8.3%
Description: double IPA with cookies, milk sugar, vanilla beans

Pouring this 16 oz. can into a Willi Becher glass this beer pours out completely hazed, vanilla shade of orange. It formed a loose one finger white crown. (3.75)

The smell brings a sweet smell to the nose, but one that I've found in NEipas before. Some smooth citrus, with no tang. No detectable cookies or vanilla really and maybe just slight lactose. Rather underwhelming for me though. (3.25)

The taste follows suit with the nose. A soft citrus with little to no tang except for the start. Still no cookies detectable and very little vanilla. The sweetness is mainly being portrayed to me through what I recognize as lactose. But once again, rather underwhelming. (3.25)

The mouthfeel is about the best part of this to me. It's soft, pillowy, smooth and even creamy. (4.25)

Overall, while this is better than the pales I've been having, it still didn't do it for me. It really seemed rather boring, underwhelming and one dimensional. The mouthfeel being the best part. Really was hoping for more cookie presence and that is something I wasn't able to detect throughout. (3.5)

It's back to stouts for me! Not today, but another.
Cheers NBSers!

 

Brew Detroit is on a roll this year. Awesome oatmeal stout. Great fluffy head retention/foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, toasted oats, biscuit, nuts, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of vanilla, molasses, licorice, smoke, charcoal, dark fruit, herbal, floral, grassy, peppery hops, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, floral, grassy, peppery hop; and roast/char/coffee bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; creamy/silky/bready/grainy malts; some sticky hops and chalky char/roast in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing hop/char bitter dryness; no acrid/astringency. Very smooth, 6%. Awesome balanced rich malts and fruity/nutty coffee complexity; with nice earthy hop presence/balance for the style. Loved it. 4.1


Cheers

 

FTFY.

 

My next new brew comes from the city that gave us both Kindergarten Cop and The Goonies, Astoria Oregon, at the mouth of the Mighty Columbia River. Fort George's City of Dreams, is yet another typical Murkbomb Pale: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16077/282192/

 

Happy NBS. Enjoying this Decadent Strawberry French Toast. Cheers all.

Pretty amazing mix of crazy stuff that works just fine.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46611/376007/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

I've had regular French Toast and loved it. Didn't think I would. Decadent takes things that make me think "no, not in a beer" and then I try it and think "yes, I want more"
They do great with those aspects.
I would love to try this.

 

River Horse Brewing, in Ewing, NJ, doesn't generate much buzz locally. I've tried several of its beers - mostly on draught in restaurants - and have never been overly impressed. I received this pint bottle of Hippo's Hand, a 9% DIPA, from a friend so I thought I'd give it a try on NBS. It's very malty but with lots of sweet tangerine and pineapple. The flavors don't really blend. It's like drinking two distinct beers - a Southern malt bomb followed by a fruit bomb. It could use more hop bite. It's the type of beer that you can enjoy in a pub with a burger or cheese steak but in New Jersey it cannot be compared to Over Head or any of the O'Dubs. Here's my review:

3.81/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from undated pint bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass. It pours a hazy, honey-amber color with an enormous, thick, fluffy, egg white head that lasted through the pour. The nose is primarily caramel with lemon and tangerine notes. The taste opens with a lot of sweetness - initially from the heavy malt base but increasingly from the burst of tangerine and pineapple. In fact, it becomes very fruity. The Mosaic, Citra, and Lemondrop hops are flavorful and provide moderate bitterness. It's full-bodied with moderate carbonation, and the 9% ABV gives it a lot of substance. It's more of a sipping IPA than a session drinker. Overall, Hippo's Hand is an enjoyable DIPA but without any quality that makes it special.

 

Alright, last one. A new chocolate peanut butter stout by my favorite hyper-local brewery, Merrimack Ales! These guys are only a few minute drive (15-20 min walk) from my house... I somehow have yet to go there, but I usually grab at least one of every new beer they distribute. They don't do much that blows my mind, but they tend to make stuff that's at least worth a shot, and sometimes they knock beers out of the park. This is a collaboration with the Alpine Butcher Shop, the absolute best butcher shop around. Never had a single bad product from them. Let's hope this keeps the trend going...



Well, that label is fucking atrocious (like, this actually hurts me to look at, as someone who has a graphic design degree), but this 7% beer presents quite nicely. It has a deep, rich black pour with a medium head of khaki suds. Spotty lace and great retention here. Digging it right off the bat!

Nose is authentic peanut butter cup; roasted peanuts with a slight baker's chocolate element. It's a bit more metallic than I expected, considering the can my cousin opened earlier didn't have that going on at all... A bit of cola and slight herbal hops with a distinct roasted malty note. Not much else here. Pretty plain, but effective for the most part.

On the tongue, this is a little thin bodied, with a strong bitter/dark chocolate element up front. Dry-roasted peanuts and a little bit of a brown sugar note that fades out with the inclusion of more herbal and earthy hops going toward the finish. A bit too "soda-like" with that astringent cola element lasting throughout my can. Fruity finish, probably from the yeast. Not superb, but alright overall. I could stand to see this a little less-strong (it's 7%, could be 6 or 6.5% and still be effective)... perhaps the recipe could use some lactose to keep it creamy and smooth? Then it might be a little too close to my current favorite peanut butter stout, Gunner's Daughter by Mast Landing out of Maine, but it would certainly be cool to have an even-more-local option. Worth a drink, though, for sure. Won't replace the best-of-the-best, but I dig it well enough at the end of the day.

That's all for me today. Got to go back and read some posts I missed plus play a bit more Smash Bros. and eat dinner. Cheers all!

 

Yet another ET IPA with too many words. Excellent session NEIPA as expected. Great fluffy head retention, foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big mandarin orange, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, mango, watermelon, berries, citrus peel/zest, mint, wood, and light pepper/pine hops; with moderate wheat, white bread dough, light honeyed malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, woody, floral, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and light-medium body; creamy/bready/grainy malts, light sticky hops, and slight resins/rinds in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter dryness, no hop astringency. Very flavorful, pretty refreshing, 4.5%. Not watery at all. Feels like El Dorado, Mosaic, Simcoe. Very vibrant, juicy, and fairly dank/earthy hops; nice wheat/oat/malt backbone. Mild residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Would purchase again. 4


Cheers

Definitely a top favorite album

 

Happy New New England IPA Sunday!

Pretty nice day on the Western Slope, around 43 at the trailhead, sunny, still some snow up there. Having a pretty tasty brew from @Buck89 for the chance. BI makes some pretty tasty brews, always a joy to have one. Watching some Sopranos, half way thru Season 2. Should be back with another later on.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/39925/383108/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Likely my last NBS entry for the day is a beer that, seemingly, is the breweries take on Celebration. I have some Celebrations on deck. I know what I'm having next. This beer is no Celebration.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/47868/381703/

 

Good stuff. My second-highest rated beer!

 

Today I got to swing by Other Half and Grimm. We had a great time, and while I had a lot of new beers this is the one I wanted to post for NBS.



Rubus Rebus by Grimm Artisanal Ales is a super smooth, very berry forward sour ale. I enjoyed the subtle wild flavor, crisp mouthfeel, and beautiful color.

Sorry I can't post a long review about it because of ongoing vacation, but I just wanted to post this is a great beer!

 

From earlier.
This is Founder’s version of Resilience Butte County Proud IPA. It’s not in the database and I’m not going to add it.
Quick review-pours a copper red, half finger of beige tinted head. Incredible lacing down the glass.
Grainy, sweet, caramel, muted hops, grapefruit, slight lemon peel. It’s just a classic tasting IPA that got me into craft beers.

I love a good lace.
More to come!

 

Just out of curiosity, why are you not going to add it?
(and I agree about the lacing... love it when you can measure your sips along the glasses edge at the end like that!)

 

Another new brewery to my neck of the woods. Awesome DIPA. Great rocky head retention/thick soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, blueberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate cracker, white bread dough malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/bready/grainy malt and sticky/resinous/rindy hops in the mouthfeel. Moderate increasing resin dryness, no hop astringency. Very smooth, not overly aggressive, minimal warming 8%. Great Cascade, Citra, Columbus, Ella, Mosaic profile. Great mix of juicy, vibrant, dank, and earthy hop complexity; nice oat/malt backbone, minimal residual sweetness from crisp resin dryness. Very well attenuated for the ABV. Nothing flashy, just a really well made west coast DIPA. 4.1


Cheers

 

Top ‘o the evening to you, NBS friends, and thanks to @cjgiant for the launch through the darkness. May your engines burn bright.

Mrs O and I attended the 18th Street Brewery 5th Anniversary party yesterday. They had a couple of big BA stouts (you’ll see them here soon enough) that I wanted to grab, and Mrs O was a mule hedge (yes, I typed that) on any bottle limits that would cramp my beer nerd style.

#MissionAccomplished



On the ends, you’ll notice a couple of 500ML “rounders” from Three Floyd’s, which is where Mrs O and I went for dinner (because it was a bit ..... loud at 18th Street). The look on her face when I told her I was purchasing more beer (BA Behemoth!!!) to take home ..... priceless.

And, if you’re a participant in a secret BIF, I left my target a significant clue 21 words ago.

On to beer #1.

From Three Floyd’s.

#sob



4.35/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

First off, love the bottle format. More, please. The pour yields a beer the color of ripe mango, very hazy,but not a milkshake, under a frothy, dense light tan head. The nose is dank citrus and mango.

Those aromas translate to the taste, which is dank, fruity, and juicy all at the same time, but there’s an herbal component that spices things up nicely in this fairly bitter for the current times (62 IBU’s) IPA that has a nice bite on the mouthfeel.

I’d love to see more of this, and definitely prefer it to the Floydivision series. Excellent stuff from a brewery the entire ovaltine family enjoys.