New Beer Sunday (Week 724)

Happy new year NBS!
I’m partying like it’s 2015 because that’s when this was released. I figured this would be a good candidate for aging a bit.



Everything about this beer screams rum. Even the color is molasses. Rum on the nose along with molasses, dark sweet malt and Belgian yeast. The palate adds cherries, at no point did I get the bourbon also used to age it. The flavors are a bit lighter and less sugar-driven than the nose. The mouthfeel is surprising light for 10.9% and the alcohol almost completely hidden. Overall age has treated this well, but I almost wish I would have gotten two and tried one younger to compare. Overall my score was 3.7, a bit higher than its 3.5 average.

Here’s to joining this thread every week in 2019 (I missed a few last year) yet trying more than 52 new beers this year!

 

Transient Mind to Devour DIPA

Happy Wildcard Sunday, BAs. Today’s new beer comes to me courtesy of @LloydDobler as part of NBS BIF 8.5. As you can see, it pours a vibrant hazy golden-orange with two fingers of creamy off-white head. The head leaves very solid lacing.

Candied orange, orange and lemon zest, mango, pineapple and white pepper stand out most in the nose.

Creamy-tasting fruits mix with dull earthy bitterness in the taste. Ripe pineapple and candied orange flavors are the most prevalent with a distant peppery herb quality beneath.

It’s medium bodied and slightly syrupy in the feel with slow-building carbonation just cutting through.

Mind to Devour is a great all-around bee. To be honest, a lot of Transient IPAs give me a hard-candy impression that I don’t always love, but it’s very muted in this one. The peppery element here mixes very nicely with the tropical flavors. This and the other Transient beer LD sent me (None Hotter) were both a pleasure to drink. Much appreciated.

 

Clown shoes very angry beast
..solid black
..medium light carbonation, just above average body. Has a slight thick oily feel
..aroma is sweet bourbon, coffee, malt and a little chocolate
..taste is mildly sweet but not as much as the aroma suggests. Bourbon and alcohol followed by black coffee and roasted malts
...overall I thought it was excellent, bourbon was subdued,not sweet,but very flavorful. I suspect it would have been a delicious stout even without barrel aging

 

New Beer Sunday: Belgian Saison

Afternoon NBSers with another suggestion for fans of beers that use Brett yeast in one way or another.

This afternoon’s new Beer is the Colorado Wild Sage Brett Saison from Crooked Stave. While this beer is listed as a Belgian Saison, as with the the use of Brett in the St. Bretta Citrus Saison, Brett fermentation would seem to make it eligible to be listed in another category.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25191/204325/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer seem both similar to and different from the earlier Crooked Stave Saison. Not surprisingly (given the name) there’s some sage upfront in a nice combination with some lemongrass. The beer is crisp, lightly tart and seems to have a floral herbal character. No sign of the Brett showing yet but I do wonder what this one would show off with some age on it. Definitely enjoyed the aroma/flavor profile of this beer and will probably go get another. (Full disclosure: I grew up in one of the Western states and so in some ways Sage was once both a natural part of my out of doors time and a seasoning in certain meals. So this beer evokes a bit of nostalgia.)

Cheers, all!

 

Excellent why to make that point.

 

Going gose to start my day, with Nightmare's torture-inspired...

Windlass of Erasmus... (<-- link to excerpt on history of the saint and his death )

Gose-style beer featuring blackberries, black currants, and black sea salt; 6.5% abv; brewed and canned by Great South Bay; from Nightmare's 12/15/18 can release...

Has a dark magenta color - like sangria - essentially opaque - gave it a side pour into a pilsener-type glass and got just a sliver of pink-tinged white foam that reduced to a slight collar instantly, but persisted to the end... Aromas are suggestive of tart dark fruits like those used in the brewing, as well as notes of cranberry, giving the nose wine-like attributes... On the sip, saltier gose-like elements support the currant and blackberry - moderately tart with a very mild sweetness and a pinch of salt... Body is fairly light-weight, slightly prickly and tangy, and very refreshing... I'm not a big sour beer-drinker, but the flavor elements here and the appearance were very inviting and enjoyable...

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

 

New Year's Resolutions? read more, go to the gym more ( I am in a gym challenge) which leads to me to a Dry January...Here is the beer I had on New year's eve

Macaroon which is a Trillium & The Veil collaboration

4.45/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Bomber poured into a snifter

Black motor oil liquid, dense pencil thin brown foam cap, quickly dissipates to some islands of foam

Aroma of milk chocolate, coffee, almonds, coconut, pastry

Taste is sweet macaroon, almonds, coconut, chocolate, cinnamon

Good sudsing , sweet, good gravity with our being syrupy

Good beer

 

Mikkeller NYC - Mikkellerita
&
Anheuser-Busch - Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita

Both new to me. I had these blind in opaque glasses - so I can't comment on appearance. This is a craft darling's take on an AB-InBev success. Turns out (unsurprisingly) that I didn't need to do these blind, 'cause once outside of their similar packaging, it was obvious which was which at first sip.

First off, the Bud beer is confusingly branded "Bud Light Lime Lime-A-Rita." More confusingly, their other -Rita products are no different. You can get a "Bud Light Lime Peach-A-Rita." At 8% ABV, I don't even understand the connection to "Bud Light" on a common sense level. Sure enough, there was a lawsuit against them claiming that the beer was marketed as a low-calorie beverage. It's made with malted barley, cereal grains, yeast, hops, caramel color, flavors and high fructose corn syrup. It tastes just like a typical cheap sugary American margarita. It is super sweet. Tastes of lime, sugar and salt. It's tangy, prickly, lacking head, full-bodied, and sweeeet.

The Mikkeller NYC beer is described as a "sour imperial IPA with salt and lime." ABV is the same as the Bud beer. Whereas that beer was very sweet, this beer is very sour. Each beverage is lacking balance. The Mikkeller beer is lacking in anything beyond being sour. It tastes of un-doctored lime juice (unlike the Bud's lime-aide) and there's a very slight saltiness, but less than what's present in the Bud. It's not remotely IPA-like by any definition or incarnation of that concept. This is perhaps the most ridiculous stretching of the IPA term that I can think of. This product is more recognizable as a "beer" than the Bud beer... which is very margarita-like.

Overall, I wouldn't buy either for myself again under normal circumstances. The Bud beer strikes me as a very smart product, designed to easily get people in a happy zone while avoiding the strong beer / malt liquor connotations. It seems very successfully executed at what it's going for. The Mikkeller beer is lacking in concept and execution by comparison. The difference in craft drinker acceptance is a bit of a joke, with the Bud beer rated "poor" here. You can bet that it would be totally different if reviewers were told that it was a Mikkeller beer instead... especially since it perfectly succeeds at what many craft drinkers seem to want: "Well done - this tastes like a straight up liquid Almond Joy," "Well done - this beer tastes just like an Irish Coffee."

 

As it was many times last year this brew is from Twin Elephant Brewing. It is named The Bayonne Bleeder after NJ boxing legend Chuck Wepner. It's a Red Ale kicked up to 8.4% ABV. It pours dark but not blood red with a thin head. The aroma is caramel malt The flavor is mostly malt but with hint of citrus. The mouthfeel is full. The finish is dry and long lasting. The high ABV is well hidden making this a drinkable brew.
For those who don't know who Chuck Wepner is. He is a journeyman heavyweight from Bayonne NJ. He is best known for his ability to absorb punishment and bleed. Nicknamed The Bayonne Bleeder his claim to fame was lasting 15 rounds with Ali. He did get credit for a knockdown in the 10th round. Ali says he was tripped and was up before the count started. He beat on Wepner until the ref call a TKO with about 30 seconds to go in the 15th round.

 

Bronx brewery well earned pilsner
..yellow gold hazy color
..medium carbonation with a slightly thin feel
.. aroma is citrus, citrus peel, bitter grapefruit and seed
...taste is sharp and bitter, mostly all citrus
Peel, grapefruit, bitter, and almost astringent.
..can't say it was a favorite. Like it was a pilsner with no grain

 

Belching Beaver — Mosaic DIPA
Canned on 12/13/18



Look: Bright amber color. My semi-aggressive pour yields 1.5 fingers of frothy white head. Head retention and lacing are pretty typical for the WC style.

Smell: The smell is bright and tropical, with lots of grapefruit and papaya, just like you would expect from a single-hop Mosaic IPA. Quite pungent for a WC-style beer, and definitely pleasant in terms of aroma.

Taste: Doesn't taste nearly as good as it smells. All your typical Mosaic notes are present, but something is off. I'm not sure if it's the malt-hop interplay or something else, but the taste somehow feels disjointed. Sweetness is apparent.
Those were my initial notes, but as this beer warms, much more of the Mosaic flavor comes out, in a good way. It's still far from perfect, but moves up to 4, rather than the 3.5 I wanted to give it initially.

Feel: This one is a pretty typical WC DIPA in this category, but perhaps a bit under-carbonated. Alcohol is well hidden, which is always a plus.

Overall: This starts as a very mediocre WC IPA, but gets better as it warms. Mosaic notes are pretty heavy in this beer, so if you're not a big fan of this hop (though who doesn't like Mosaic?), you won't want it. Still, it's far from the best beers in this category. I don't regret buying this beer, especially at a very reasonable price of $3.00/can, but I'm not sure if I will be getting it again any time soon. Too many even better beers around.

4.25 | 4.25 | 4 | 3.75 | 3.75
Overall: 4.0 (rDev: -1.7%)

 

Was this a dry hopped take on a pils? Curious with the appearance. Because even hoppy pils that I’ve had seem to be more clear than this.

 

Many thanks @lordofthewiens for getting things rolling today. Not necessarily a new year resolution, but after 2018 was mostly spent on a home purchase and renovation projects I want to get back to multiple outings in the mountains each month. That will definitely necessitate more consistent time at the gym to make those outings more enjoyable.

Today I offer a new beer to both BA and myself. Moksa, a new Sacramento darling, brings Oceania Punch.



Can is one day shy of 3 weeks from canning.

L: Pours murky dirty brown golden with a thin ring of white low density head that had nearly fully dissipated before the pour had finished left no lacing.

S: Pleasant nose, floral with white grapes. Hints of citrus, mostly lemon.

T: More lemon prominence than the nose, still heavy on white grapes. Finishes with moderate bitterness, some astringency and slight acidity, lingers on the palate.

F: Low bodied with low-moderate carbonation, tingles on the tongue from the acidity and astringency, slick on the swallow, drys out the palate.

O: It's an interesting recipe, grabbed as soon as I saw Nelson in the hop bill. There's definitely some enjoyable elements of Nelson in there, you need to like lemon, and wasn't crazy about the beer visually. Would drink again, but nothing I'd seek out.

BA score = 4.0, rdev = 0.0%

 

Interesting take and idea. I don’t think this is the first or last time that something from Mikkeller will be “stretching” on labeling a style.

 

I love that beer. It is truly amazeballs, IMHO.

Note: I don't break out "amazeballs" very often.

 

Great, very interesting review. Really enjoyed reading about your impressions of these two "beers"

 

Abstraction Coffee from Tree House.Pours a very dark brown with a small tan head that settles to a ring quickly and leaves very little lacing. Smells of coffee, dark chocolate and roasted malts. Tastes of medium roast coffee with minimal bitterness, dark chocolate, roasted malts, molasses and some nuttiness. Odd, slightly metallic quality to the mouth feel and finish, medium bodied and carbonated. I wish it was a little more full bodied. The slightly metallic quality of this beer reminds me of the old days when I would never buy a canned beer.

 

New beer #4. Thanks @thisischuck01 !

Bazed Ziti - Other Half
IPA - 7.5% abv
Canned 11/29/18 (39 days ago)
Score: 3.92 (-4.4% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/383783/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Another overly-sweet ipa. Was hoping for some savory meatiness, given the name, but there is none here. It’s a drinkable ipa, but not one I’ll ever come back to.

 

My holiday break ended with good friends. Lots of fun times stuffed into a little over a week. My first day back on the clock involved a travel day for a bit of site work. I returned late in the evening Saturday. Today is about resting up, getting some chores done, and reviewing a few new beers. This one landed via @drunkenmess



Ellison's Tiramisu Stout.

Pours black with a finger and a half of khaki foam after a very conservative pour. Head retention is modest, but good. A few strands of lacing left behind. Aroma is roasty, toasty, nutty, earthy malts with vanilla bean, chili powder, cocoa powder and caramel add hints of sweet and spice, developing balance. Flavor profile leans towards sweet, with notes of roasty, toasty, nutty, caramel malts forming a somewhat firm stout base. Vanilla bean, caramel, molasses, burnt sugar, and cocoa powder adding a little dry, sweetness. While it's not decidedly sweet like so many dessert stouts, it does have a little sweetness, making for a delightful post-dinner beer or just an enjoyable beer for the afternoon. Mouth feel is velvety with the softness falling apart due to a bit of extra carbonation on the tongue. It has a medium thickness. Soft, silty graininess adds a little additional texture that plays in well. Overall, the name implies it would be a dessert stout, and while it is, it's not overly sweet - a huge plus. The silty texture feels like a creamy mousse on a fresh tiramisu. A delightful brew.

Score: 4.25 | 4.25 | 4 | 4 | 4 | BA Score: 4.08 | rDev: +2%