New Beer Sunday (Week 726)

Good afternoon from my slightly snowy mtn here is central NH. About 6" of snow the first trip cleaning out this morning about 8:30 am and about 2" of sleet about 3:00pm I think it's pretty close to done so time to enjoy mystery beer #3 from @2beerdogs compliments of NBS BIF 8.5

This beer poured a dark black into my snifter little to no head from a soft pour. Not over thick from appearance.
The nose is sweet fruit with a nice bourbon overtone. Perhaps some chocolate here also.
The taste is sweet, there are berries here perhaps raspberries? Not raspberries the taste is kind of similar to BC Northwoods so perhaps blueberries but not as sweet or thick as Northwoods.
In the end this is a solid beer, a little sweet, nice barrel aging and smooth. Time to unveil the beer. I think thanks to Derek's hints and the fact I'm pretty sure the cap even though taped has the black and silver flutes that Bottle Logic uses. I'm going to say this is Paisley Cave Complex from Bottle Logic.

Really nice beer to be sipping here on this shut in NBS here in NH. Thanks again to @2beerdogs for sharing this with me.

 

Schlafly coffee stout
..solid black
...very low carbonation with about a medium body
..aroma is heavy with fresh roasted black coffee, roasted malt,espresso, and coffee candy
..taste is black coffee, mild sweetness, espresso and roasted malts
..this is a coffee lovers beer, I enjoyed it as a dessert beer with some homemade cherry cheesecake

 

Here's to Dick on this cold but sunny afternoon. First up, this lovely from @FBarber; Pipeworks Speed of Sound New England Style IPA. 4.52 overall

Pours an effervescent & very hazed gold with 2 fingers of tight ivory colored head. Sheets of lacing, great head retention

S: Lots of orange & tangerine

T: Follows the nose, grapefruit & oatty dryness as well up front. Pomelo & dryness once this warms. Finishes juicy with plenty of citrus & just a little dryness

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, lovely balance

Superb take on the style that fills all the squares nicely. What an easy drinker

 

Yeah - I love that stuff. Thanks for taking the time to include your thoughts!

 

Moving onto some hops, with the rest of my night looking dark.



Oskar Blue's Can-O-Bliss.

Pours a foggy opaque yellow-orange with two fingers of white foam. Head retention is good with good lacing. Aroma is tangerine, papaya and mango forming a ripe, zesty tropical fruit punch. Yeast, barley, and a little biscuity malt round out the aroma. Flavor profile is papaya, mango and tangerine, with orange and lemon zest. Zest balances out the sweet citrus well. Biscuity, barley malts add a little bit of smoothness and additional balance to the front loaded hops. Mouth feel is fuzzy and velvety, with light chalky, graininess showing through. It has a medium thickness. Overall, a pleasant, tropical fruit forward IPA that isn't aggressively shoveling tropical fruits and 'juicy' notes into the face.

Score: 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.25 | BA Score: 4.05 | rDev: +1.8%

 

Enjoyed some new beers at Wilmington Brew Works earlier, I will review the cherry vanilla lime sour later. Now up Untitled Art/Lupulin Brewing NEIPA thanks to @Vidblain!

3.89/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you Vidblain for this
16 oz can poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden copper with a two finger white head

S- Stone fruits, some rye, some caramel malts, citrus

T- Citrus, some stone fruit, rye, some caramel malts

M- Smooth, medium body

O- A decent NEIPA, pretty easy to drink

Cheers NBS!!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. I'm raising my first new beer of the day to Dick and sending my best wishes to him and his family.

Backward Flag is a recently-opened South Jersey brewery located in Forked River, NJ (we pronounce it "For-ked River"). The brewery is owned and operated by military veterans. It's also women-owned. I've been meaning to stop there but haven't had the chance yet. Fortunately, my (non-BA but I'm trying) beer buddy visited this week and brought me some cans. He knows I love Black IPAs and that, for me, Carton's Epitome is the gold standard. This is Blackhop Black IPA. I was prepared to be unimpressed. Au contraire, this is great! It has everything I want in a black ale: caramel malt, chocolate, earthy burnt peat, and tasty Ekuanot hops. A portion of the proceeds go to U.S. war veterans. Forget Kane and Carton. The next time I go down the Shore I'm visiting Backward Flag! Here's my full review:

4.19/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned in early December 2018. Poured from 16 oz. can into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Pours a color between dark cola and black with a large, fluffy, ecru-colored head and copious lacing. On the nose there is roasted, earthy malt, char, tobacco, chocolate, and light hops. The taste opens with sweetness from the caramel malt and chocolate. The chocolate increases as the glass warms. There also notes of burnt peat, tobacco, and even some tropical fruit. The Ekuanot hops are flavorful but not overly bitter. It finishes with light pepper and spice. The flavors blend very nicely and it lacks the extremes of malt and hoppy bitterness that often characterizes a Black Ale. It has a nice full mouth feel and a pleasant level of carbonation. The 6.8% ABV gives it character but it's still easily drinkable. A second pour is not an issue. Overall, I'm very impressed. While Blackhop Black isn't quite at the level of Carton's Epitome or Dark Penance, it's not quite good. It has lots of character and would pair well with any meal including meat. It's also perfect for casual drinking. This is a very fine offering from a new-to-the-scene craft brewer. And I want to mention that a portion of the profits of this beer benefit U.S. war veterans.

I'll be back shortly with a Stout from California. I hope you're all enjoying your new beer(s) today. As always, the reviews are informative and fun. Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBSers. I'm popping open a bottle sent to me by my buddy @CanConPhilly:



Guillemot Prunum from Tired Hands. Two asides: one, I have an unhealthy obsession with Tired Hands' corks. I just think they're just the coolest damn thing ever. Two, Matt sent me that super swaggy Tired Hands corkscrew to remove said corks. Swagasm.

Anywho, this is a dark saison that was refermented on blueberries and plums and then conditioned on vanilla beans. It pours extremely dark, a deep brown that shows just a bit of purple. A thin fluffy beige head forms and demonstrates incredible retention.

The nose is fruity and slightly funky: barnyard, blueberry, currant, and a big earthy chocolate note that comes last. There's a whole lot going on, on the palate, and I really wish it was @kemoarps or @TongoRad reviewing this because they would capture it much better than I. It starts tart, before quickly moving to berries and finishing with a strong malt backbone. It's definitely earthy, but not all the way to a Flanders. There's a full mouthfeel and a finish that lingers and moves between fruit, chocolate malt, and a mouthwatering pucker.

This is a lovely, highly complex beer where all of the pieces work together beautifully. Thank you Matt!

 

I'm raising my glass to Dick, my cousin, a college teammate, and everyone else out there battling cancer. Thanks @lordofthewiens for the great start to NBS.
This is another fantastic beer (in my opinion) from Southern Grist, released yesterday. It's a NE DIPA hopped with Galaxy and Motueka:



This one was very hazy as expected, but lighter than most NEIPAs with a pale yellow-straw color. A normal pour produced a medium sized fluffy white head that left rather quickly, but left nice tracks. Great aroma: bright tropical fruit and pineapple, mixed with a dank resinous presence. The taste followed with really nice tropical notes all the way through. Less dank tasting than on the nose, but the resin was there keeping it interesting. The bitterness was there but it wasn't noticeable until the finish, lingering after the fruity notes fell away, reminding me that this was an IPA. Medium bodied with a very soft feel. Overall an outstanding beer and one of my favorite SG IPAs. Cheers!

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. I get tomorrow off, though. Thanks @lordofthewiens for today's introduction. Sorry to hear about your BIL's diagnosis, but glad that he is doing betterrr. My grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer 23 months ago, but is still doing well; which I am very thankful about. Has had to start using a rolling walker occasionally, but still very mobile and able to drive etc.

Another usual week with a few new beer hauls. Been busy with the site editing and keeping the queue clear constantly during the week. There will never be a 2 day lag ever again now that I am on board.

Beer:

Excellent IPA. Great rocky head retention/soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/rind, wood, mint, peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate cracker, toasted biscuit, light honeyed malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, woody, floral, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; balanced creamy/bready malts, and sticky/resinous/rindy hops in the mouthfeel. Moderate increasing resin dryness, minimal lingering hop astringency. Very smooth, not too aggressive, minimal warming 6.2%. Feels like Columbus, Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe. Very juicy, dank, and earthy balanced hop complexity; with a nice sized bready pale/Munich malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness from lingering resin dryness. Very well made, classic hopped IPA. 4


Cheers

 

Christmas Bomb, bought this to enjoy during the Holidays but never got around to it, so today with football, I get bombed.
A very well brewed stout with spice, pepper which increases as the beer warms, thick and chewy, some cinnamon, chocolate and all playing well. A treat, at $10, expensive but glad I grabbed one. Go Rams, go Chiefs!

 

Stout time! This will be one of my last check-ins. I happen to have a lot of... AAL's in the fridge from a friend, and will most likely be sticking to those during the game. After all, I need to start hydrating for tomorrow

Cheers to @drunkenmess for landing this on my doorstep.



Griffin Claw's Flying Buffalo - Bourbon Barrel Aged with Hazelnuts and Coffee.

Pours black with two fingers of khaki foam that is thick and bubbly. Head retention is good. Aroma is roasty and toasty malts, which are quickly followed by roasted hazelnut, toffee and medium-roast and bodied coffee. Bourbon and char add a little bitterness and heat, with an emphasis on the former. Hazelnut adds a driving earthy quality that smooths out the bitterness a touch. Flavor profile is a subtle complex maze of roasty hazelnuts, toffee, caramel, chocolate and medium-roast coffee with roasty, toasty, earthy malts. Bourbon is present throughout adding just a kiss of heat, without disrupting or distracting from the balance. All together, there is a charred, semi-burnt quality here. Mouth feel is medium-thick with a smoothness that thins out just a touch below creamy. Like comparing 1% milk to 2% milk. Overall, very nice complexities and balances here. It certainly 'works', folding hazelnuts in with coffee and bourbon.

Score: 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | BA Score: 4.09 | rDev: -4.7%

 

The lingering effects of a cold make a tasting today a waste of good beer, so just wanted to chime in and give a non-alcoholic cheers to our hosts' brother-in-law as well as anyone else affected here on BA. Just had a close friend diagnosed recently as well, though she is lucky enough to have a more optimistic sounding prognosis.

May cancer forever have to drink skunked, flat, warm, beer with a cigarette butt in it.

 

NBS #2. I feel like a dissipate when I post twice on the same page. @Bum4ever sent me this can in the BIF8.5. Mikkeller San Diego's Beer Geek Cocoa Shake. Man, this is a dense, viscous, delicious, BA Imperial Stout. Right up my alley! Caramel/toffee, chocolate, coffee, burnt peat, nuts, dark fruit. It has everything I want in a big stout, and the mouth feel is thick and chewy. Lots of bourbon and if anything it drinks above 13%. This is so good that I'm going to pour the rest into a growler and drink it after dinner so I can savor it. Thanks, Josh! Here's my full review:

4.41/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I received a 16 oz. can from @Bum4ever in the NBS BIF 8.5. Poured into a pint glass. It pours ink black with a small cap of medium khaki-colored head and a thin coating of creamy lacing. The delightfully aromatic nose features strong bourbon, caramel/toffee, anise, chocolate, coffee, burnt peat, and tobacco smoke. This is just delicious! It opens with lots of caramel/toffee, rich cocoa, freshly-brewed coffee, nuts, and even a hint of dark fruit. I can also really taste the bourbon. There is virtually no bitterness. The cocoa shake moniker is apt. The tastes are all bold and pleasing but they blend seamlessly. The feel is super thick, viscous, and chewy; perfect for a big stout. You can really taste the bourbon and feel the 13% ABV. This is a sipper for sure! Overall, this is just superb! A terrifically crafted BA Imperial Stout.

 

New beer #5. Thanks @thisischuck01 !

The Daydreamiest - Other Half
IIPA - 10.5% abv
Canned 12/28/18 (23 days ago)
Score: 4.07 (-6.9% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33510/388833/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Tons of varied hop flavors here. Citrus, earthy, cotton candy, dank. But like most Daydream beers, it’s just too sweet to fully enjoy. I wish they’d allow these beers to ferment longer to remove more of the sugar. Granted the alcohol is well hidden...but it’s basically a dessert beer with this level of sweetness.

 

Cheers to Dick and all of those battling this horrible disease.

Many thanks to @TongoRad for providing this wonderful treat.
This was supposed to shared with friends over the holiday break but obviously that didn’t happen. Pleased to have this all to myself.
2018 bottle produced by Meantime. Poured into tulip.
Pours a murky amber, with what I’d call red highlights. (This picture was taken under a bar light and doesn’t appear as red under normal circumstances). No carbonation, just a thin crown around inside glass. Aromas of dark bread, raisin and fig, caramel and toffee.
Similar tastes. Rich caramel, toffee, sweet bread, hints of raisins or figs, cocoa powder.
Zero carbonation while drinking, slick mouthfeel, zero heat.
A real treat that I’m glad to have tasted. It would be cool to stash a few of these away for a decade or two.
Cheers!

 

I saw that at my local store yesterday and although I love black IPAs I didn’t buy it. I might have to reconsider.

 

First review as usual. Fantastic gose. Great fluffy head retention/foamy lacing for the style. Aromas and flavors of big tart lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, melon, guava, citrus peel/zest, sea salt, red/green apple, white grape/wine, hay, straw, herbal, floral, and grass; with some wheat, cracker, white bready malts; lighter notes of peppercorn, leathery/musty/lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate lactic tartness; light Brett tang, herbal/floral/grassy bitterness, and yeast spiciness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, light body, and very crisp/clean finishing. Balanced grainy wheat, lactic acid, Brrett tang, sticky hops, and light salinity in the mouthfeel. Moderate increasing acidic/tangy/carbonated dryness, zero puckering. Very flavorful/refreshing, not watery for 4.2%. Not overly lactic or salty. Amazing balance of juicy/vibrant Galaxy hops and Brett/Lacto complexity; with a solid pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity. Amazing style example. 4.25


Cheers