New Beer Sunday (Week 723)

It was fun to open up and drink but once I started reviewing it I felt I had to be honest about what it was.

 

Amazing saison! Fantastic lasting fluffy head retention/thick lacing. Aromas and flavors of big lightly tart/tangy cranberry, cherry, strawberry, hibiscus, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, melon, red apple, white grape/wine, fruit skin, oak, coriander, peppercorn, clove, and light banana/bubblegum yeast; with moderate wheat, cracker, candi sugar, biscuit dough, light honeyed malts; herbal, floral, grassy hop and yeast earthiness. Moderate peppery yeast spiciness; herbal, floral, grassy bitterness; and light grape/hibiscus tang/tartness on the finish. High carbonation, medium body, and moderately crisp/clean finishing. Balanced creamy/bready/grainy malts, sticky hops/spice; light tang, acidity, and oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Moderate increasing bitter, spicy, carbonated dryness. No astringency. Refreshingly drinkable, minimal warming 7.7%. Perfectly balanced hibiscus, grape juice, Belgian yeast, earthy hops, and pale/wheat malts; with solid oak presence. Very similar to Hennepin as expected, they know how to make amazing saisons. 4.38


Cheers

 

New Beer Sunday: American Imperial IPA

Evenin’ NBSers with a recommendation for fans of recently released IIPAs.

To complete todays sub-theme of new Imperial IPAs, this evening’s new beer is Bell’s Lampshade Party Ale.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/361341/?ba=drtth#review


This is a double dry hopped IIPA and the aromas show up first when opening the beer. The aroma/flavor profile has some tropical fruit along with some citrus and citric zest. There’s also some peach and a bit of resin in here and the bready malt has some light caramel sweetness. Definitely drinkable and enjoyable. I expect to be looking for a sixer of this one. Also hoping that Bell’s will brew this one again next year.

With the Eagles game now won, it’s time for a bit more music. On the player tonight is some Bach. Been a while since I listened to the Brandenburg Concertos. First up...


Cheers, all!

 

I had hoped to run across a smoked beer review thus far, but haven.t spied one as yet. I wanted to tag this bit along.. I have always been curious about my affinity for real smoked beers from Germany and have always suspected the truth. I've been doing more genealogical research lately and discovered that my great great grandad going back to the 1500s, Hans Bruno Von Poellnitz of Swarzbach and Wetzdorf, Princely Councillor of Bamberg and the electorate of Saxony (1535-1592) was a staunch Bavarian patriot. They were great farmers, machinery inventors, agronomists,.brewers, and soldiers. The beer part and loving to grow things has been safely passed through succeeding generations!

 

Cheers man. Glad you enjoyed. My favorite annually released beer!

 

Okay...so that didn't take too long . Here's what was in the glass:

Laughing Sun Brewing's Sinister, what they are calling a Belgian Style Ale. So on that part I did pretty OK; I never would've guessed the beer or brewery, however - so, with that in mind, extra thanks, James, for sending me my first beer from North Dakota! Nice! I really love getting to experience what's going on in the various beer communities throughout the country, and that is truly the beauty of our continuing BIF.

As to the beer itself, the last sip or two weren't quite as pleasant, and the alcohol heat started to really show itself. I'd still keep it in the B+ range, but bring the numerical score down just a bit. Very happy to have tried it, overall.

 

Bourbon Barrel Aged Ten Fidy
16.9 oz can dated 11/22/2017 (so over a year old) poured into a beacher glass.

L: Pours a pitch black color with a half finger of tan colored head. 4.2/5
S: Dark, chocolate malts along with strong notes of bourbon, vanilla, and some cherry from the barrel. 4.25/5
T: Tons of bourbon and has underlying notes of chocolate and roastyness from dark malts with light bitterness on the finish. 4.5/5
F: Full-bodied with moderate amount of carbonarion. 4.25/5
O: Enjoyable stout with tons of barrel flavor. Nice and smooth considering the alcohol. 4.5/5
BA Generated 4.47/5

 

Poured into a 13 oz snifter canned on 12/18/18 and 7.7% ABV. Pours a very dark brown with a 2 finger light brown head with plenty of thin lace left behind.4.25

Smell is cocoa, coffee, vanilla, biscuit, and some toffee. 3.75

Taste follows cocoa, coffee, biscuit, toffee, and vanilla. 3.75

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, plenty of life for the style, a tad dry, and easy drinking at its ABV. 3.75

Overall this is solid, not dazzled but not sad I need to finish this 4 pack. 3.75

 

Laughing Sun recently moved to a new location, from their old small downtown Bismarck home, and they were able to massively increase production. They are now able to produce enough to distribute throughout North Dakota. I didn't know that they had made it to Fargo before my trip right before Christmas, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw it in the liquor store.

Glad you enjoyed it.

 

Another New American Impy IPA Sunday!

My 2nd new brew for the day. This is a very tasty brew from @tzieser for the chance. Carton makes some fuckn' awesome brews for sure, very tasty shit! Watching some The Practice reruns.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26817/248941/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

New Gi-lado Fruit in this Beer Sunday.

I have had some good times this year. Especially with @SomethingClever. Also got to try some Hawaii beers on our anniversary trip, and even share a couple in person with @aoampm I’ve really enjoyed the NBS BIF as usual, and consumed a lot of stuff I would not have otherwise if it weren’t for some good Beer Advocates. Thanks to Todd for creating a place to meet good people.

That being said, I am beyond ready for this year to be over. Dave and Alex will know what I am talking about for sure. Which includes an unanticipated move home from college today. And the BIF brothers have heard about some of it the rest, but I’m not here to bring everyone down. Rather to reiterate how generous and thoughtful most of this group is. I could go on forever, but long story short/most recent example is a care package from @bl00
One of our dogs was in the ICU for 4 days. She stared death in the face and decided she wanted to hang around a little longer. She is seemingly back to normal and barking at the neighbors like usual again. And getting into some of the goodies from Dan.

So am I.



A 16oz can with a 12/7/18 stamp

It is a purple fruit puree/melted slushie looking combination of cranberry juice and grape juice.

It smells like berries. Just about every imaginable kind other than raspberry. Sweet and slightly sour. Obviously I read the can and can agree with the boysenberry based on a few I’ve had. It’s kind of like a sweeter raspberry. Otherwise I would have picked out the blueberry and the tart cranberry. There is a little bit of citrus too. Like lemon-lime.

It pretty much tastes the same, except sweeter. There is an added sugar for sure. Personally, I would have let the natural fruit sweetness stand alone. There is no sign of any hops whatsoever. Maybe just in feel with a little bit of prickliness. Otherwise it is a fuller drink mix like substance.

These are tough to score. It is only a beer in technique, and it is nowhere close to being an Imperial IPA to style, which is how I try to rate. I didn’t want to throw a bunch of 2s up there though to skew the score. Also, it is actually quite enjoyable. Hence my overall score.

3.28/5 rDev -17.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

In other new news, my wife was driving my truck yesterday morning because the lights went out on her car. I’m glad I hadn’t washed it this week.
Here’s what an Ohio fed buck will do for your lighting system on your vehicle.


Cheers to 2019!

 

Whoooooa. Hope that your wife is okay, Corey! Sorry about the truck!

 

Damn. Hope your wife is okay.

 

Welcome to the best thread on this site, IMHO. A couple of things to note:

First, do what you did here, which is drink a beer new to you and tell us what you think about it, especially as it pertains to the beer's look, smell, taste, feel, and overall experience. You can get verbose, or you can limit your verbiage, but if you cover those bases, you are gold.

Second, there's a bunch of people that hang out here that also like to do this thing called "Beer It Forward" (or BIF for your convenience - that's what I'm here for). Of that group of vagrants, make sure you listen to me to provide you with guidance, especially as it pertains to beers you may or may not ship (to me), and how often you should ship (to me) those beers.

The rest of the miscreants that participate in the BIF's will try to lead you astray, so remember: listen to me.

Welcome to the fun.

 

Ditto that, Corey, hope she's OK. And here's to better things in 2019!

 

Fantastic imperial stout. Amazing head retention/lacing for the ABV. Aromas and flavors of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, roasted nuts, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of licorice, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Some increasing booze in the aromas as it warms, but not too overwhelming. Light herbal, roast, charred bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body. Very creamy, silky, bready, velvety malts; some sticky hops, chalky roast, oak tannins, and light slickness in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter/tannic dryness, no acrid/astringency. Smooth sipping. Lightly increasing warmth of 12.7%, mild lingering booze. Fantastic balance of rich English malt complexity, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel presence/integration; with solid earthy hops against sweetness. Did not really prefer it over the base beer. 4.23


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

Good luck. Pour that Gelato over good vanilla ice cream.....

 

Echoing others hoping your wife is OK. I can relate to your post - cheers to a better 19!

 

Looks pretty much like what a Minnesota fed buck can do to a Buick, like the one I was driving back in October.

Glad your wife is ok.

 

Moment of clarity treehouse

Pours dark deep brown almost no head
Smells dark roasty with maple kick
Drinks medium bodied big chocolate roast upfront maple really shined through as it warmed
Not overly sweet more of a natural maple than syrupy

Solid 4.25/5