New Beer Sunday (Week 727)

Poured into a 16 oz snulip glass best before 8/29/19. Pours a very slick near pitch black with a 2 plus finger sticky khaki head that leaves a few thin streaks of lace and that settles a tad quickly. 4


Smell is vanilla, toffee, coffee grounds, cocoa nibs, and a hint of peppery spice. 4


Taste follows vanilla, coffee, and cocoa stand out, some toffee and a little hint of spice and I mean tiny. 4


Mouthfeel is a little bigger than medium, gentle carbonation, a tad dry, and at 9.5% ABV extremely drinkable. 4


Overall this is very nice, I will be honest I wanted more but I appreciate what they did with this one. A little thicker would have have been even better. 4 Heading out to the slopes now. Cheers all.

 

Dark deep ruby color when held to the light but appears almost black in the hand. Very consistent color from edge to edge with large lasting tan cap and lacing.

A rich yet slightly subdued aroma of dark caramel, roasted malt, lightly spicy as if it were just touched with allspice and dark ripe figs.

Taste is surprising for such a big aroma and appearance. Oh there's plenty of it, make no mistake, yet the restraint with which the different flavors come forth is rather like chamber music from the larger stringed instruments. Resounding but not aggressive. I was pleased to find on entry the flavor of well roasted malt without the bitter edge that such malt often carries. Right behind that followed deep but bright flavors of spiced dark fruit. I don't get clove in the spices, something milder like allspice. Nor banana though there is something that offsets the dark fruits. Hops are in there for all I know but keep a low profile. There is, from beginning to end, a sort of sweetness that doesn't intrude but contributes to the overall complexity.

Full texture with balancing carbonation.

This one shows what I admire in a well crafted brew, a beautiful balance of elements where every voice is heard yet all blend together harmoniously.

 

New Beer Sunday: American Pale Ale

Mornin’ NBSers, with an alert for folks in SE PA who are fond of APAs. Also a thanks to @cjgiant for his start up today. There has, indeed, been no noticable dearth around here of new beers to try.

The weather here today is supposed to be sunny with a few clouds and a high in the upper 40’s. This will be nice since about mid week the forecast has an Arctic Blast dropping the temps over Wed night down to single digits with the “feels like” temp below zero.

This morning’s new beer is from a brewery called St. Boniface that is located over in Ephrata, PA. Ephrata is in northern Lancaster County, which is the heart of PA's Amish country so when driving around you have to pay attention to the horse drawn carriages (and sometimes what the horses leave behind as well ).

The name of the beer is Paideia and the brewery says of this beer:

“Paideia for the Greeks meant the development of the perfectly well-rounded citizen. This single-hopped pale ale uses Citra hops and a blend of malts to create a bright aroma and flavor with little bitterness. We think you’ll find our Paideia to be a perfectly well-rounded beer capturing the essence of the Greek ideal.”

I’d originally purchased a six pack of this beer for next week’s Superbowl game, but then decided to try one out today (the store does have another six pack ). So let’s see if the brewers hit their target.

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

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24787/84457/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors contain both lots of caramel and bready malt and lots of fruit flavors from the hops. The fruits from the hops includes some lime, orange, mango and lychee. To my tastes this is indeed an exceptionally well balanced and a very enjoyable beer. All of the flavors/aromas are well integrated and complementary. I’m enjoying this beer, find it drinkable and am forward to having more. If I can regularly find it fresh it could well become part of my regular rotation.

Cheers, all!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, @cjgiant, for starting today's thread. Nothing new to report today - Mrs. Lizard and I have begun discussions about this year's upcoming trip destinations - the UP is a top contender again as well as the Columbia River Gorge, Germany (for me), Panama, New England, and maybe New Mexico or California. Decisions, decisions! It goes without saying that we'll hit Texas at least once and probably twice Germany is pretty much a done deal for me - I partake of beer tours with four to seven other people - small, friendly, good conversation, good food, and good beer. In fact beer is part of every vacation now - we hit quilting stuff for Mrs. Lizard and beer destinations for me. I get a lot of sleeping and reading done while Mrs. Lizard is buying quilting stuff - in Texas one time people actually came to the car window and asked me if I was OK and offered me water when I was baking in the car while Mrs. Lizard was shopping. Good people, good times!

Today's New Breakfast beer:



$ 25.49 (Including tax and discount)/22 oz capped and waxed bottle ($ 1.158/oz) from Spec’s # 100, DeZavala, San Antonio, TX. Reviewed 1/27/19.
“Bottled on 09/14/17” barely visible on the label. On shelf at Spec’s. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 57 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Dark brown/black, opaque. When held to the light, still opaque.
Head – Large (Maximum 5.7 cm, controlled center pour), brown, medium density, good retention, diminishing to an irregular three to ten mm lacy ring and a rocky partial layer.
Lacing – Good – Thick, wide bands of tiny to small bubbles with short, stubby stalactites.
First pour – Brown, opaque.
Aroma – 4.5 – Strong aroma of cocoa, weakens but survives.
Flavor – 4.5 – Begins with a rich cocoa and ends with a very slight bitterness. At the end, a woody vanillin ghost appears. No alcohol (11.9% ABV), no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, creamy, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 4.5 – While the cost is greater than I’d normally accept, I’m glad I sprang for this bottle. In fact, I wish I’d picked up a couple more. Normally I drink mescal rather than tequila, so the more delicate, non-smoky notes of the tequila cruise beneath my mescal radar. Still, they are contributing to the deliciousness of this brew, mulling the cocoa into a more enticing essence. This is really good.
Rating 4.37, rDev +1.2%.

Going back through my data base, I found I'd never had the base beer, The Abyss - very odd since I knew what the label looked like. Well, it should be pretty easy to find.

 

I finally found one?

I am referring to a tasty Brut IPA here but I won’t know for sure until the tasting session is completed.

I have had a handful of beers that are labeled as being Brut IPAs but they just tasted like ‘regular’ IPAs to me and frankly they weren’t all that great. Does this mean I do not like the Brut IPA ‘style’? Or maybe these beers I have tried so far are just mediocre attempts at the burgeoning ‘style’?

One might ask: what exactly defines the Brut IPA ‘style’ anyway? This is tough topic to address since none of the beer competition authorities (e.g., Brewers Association, BJCP,…) have formally added Brut IPA to their style guideline documents. BeerAdvocate has added Brut IPA to their beer style list:

“American Brut IPA

One of the newest styles to excite brewers and drinkers alike, Brut IPA first appeared in California in late 2017 and is notable for its effervescence and extreme dryness. Pale straw to pale gold, this style is intended to be lighter in color and body than a typical American IPA. For that reason, the mash is often some combination of Pilsner malt, wheat, corn, and/or rice. The addition of an amylase enzyme reduces the final gravity even further. Bitterness is also kept to a minimum. Fruit-forward flavors and aromas are achieved by late hopping, dry hopping, and the use of neutral ale yeast strains. In short, these beers are highly attenuated, late hopped IPAs inspired by the appearance and mouthfeel of Champagne.

ABV: 6.0–7.5% | IBU: 20–40 | Glassware: Tulip”

From the above it seems to me that the distinguishing features of the Brut IPA ‘style’ are:

· “Extreme dryness”

· “lighter in color and body then a typical American IPA”

· Low/moderate bitterness

· Effervescence? Does this just mean ‘extra’ carbonated?

I will approach my evaluation of today’s beer of Ommegang Brut IPA with these aspects in mind.

How does the brewery describe this beer:

“With Brut IPA, we’ve created a distinctively Ommegang expression of this hop-driven style, using high attenuation and bottle conditioning to achieve a bright, dry, champagne-like character,” remarked Ommegang Brewmaster Phil Leinhart.

Ommegang Brut IPA is brewed with pilsner malt and flaked corn and hopped and dry-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria, Calypso, and Citra varietals, followed by a two-week bottle conditioning process to achieve exceptional levels of carbonation. It pours a light straw color with crystalline clarity. Aromas of dank, resinous pine, grapefruit, and pineapple precede a lively effervescence and a crisp, dry finish.

Shimmering CO2 means Ommegang Brut IPA will only be available in four-packs of 12-ounce bottles. With 6.3% ABV and 49 IBUs, it offers a welcome addition to every table, pairing best with sharp cheeses, hearty meats, and spiced desserts.”

http://ommegang.com/blog/meet-ommegang-brut-ipa-a-different-breed-of-bubbly/

Well this beer sure reads consistently with the BA description of a Brut IPA but I will let my palate be the final arbiter here.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

Extremely pale in appearance with a BIG white head which dissipates fairly quickly

Aroma:

A pleasing combination of citrus and fruity (stone fruits).

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with a combination of citrus and fruity but I am picking up a bit of herbal flavor as well. There is just the tiniest bit of cracker-like malt flavor. There is a moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

This beer is well carbonated but I personally would not use the term “effervescence’ here; not a big deal IMO. The beer does indeed have a crispness quality and a dry finish – reminiscent of a Brut wine IMO.

Overall:

I really enjoyed drinking this beer (which I cannot say about the other beers labeled as Brut IPA that I have had). I would say this beer is very good – excellent. When I was finished I desired to drink another.

I am very, very glad that I found this beer. If this specific beer is representative of what a Brut IPA should be I am a fan of the Brut IPA beer ‘style’. Hopefully other breweries can learn to produce their Brut IPAs to be similar to the qualities of Ommegang Brut IPA.

Cheers to Ommegang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @SierraTerence @BillManley @SixpointMikey @brianhink @nc41

 

A-Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has nice coffee, chocolate and caramel hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nice coffee, chocolate and caramel flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A good coffee Stout

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Made it out to Tired Hands for the first time this year, and came away with 5 different ipas...3 of them brand new. I’ll be reviewing all 3 today, and looks like I’ll be the second review on each, since @TheIPAHunter beat me to the punch and already has these beers added to the db and rated. I’ll settle for second though.

Starting with the collab, and I suppose the only hyped beer of this release, given the breweries involved.

Metamorphosis: PUPA - Tired Hands feat. Half Acre and Troon
Rye IPA - 6.7% abv
Purchased at Tired Hands for $18/4
Canned 1/16/19 (11 days ago)
Score: 4.06 (+0.2% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28383/394242/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
This doesn’t read to me as a “Rye IPA”. A bit doughy and bready in the middle, reminiscent of sourdough actually...but no spice that I could detect. Quite citrus-forward, with restrained bitterness and hardly any sweetness. This must be Troon’s influence, since TH loves residual and added sugar. I would choose this over the sugary stuff TH usually puts out, but I suspect most will be disappointed that this isn’t a lactose-sugar-candy-sparkles concoction.

 

I slept most of yesterday after 12 hours of drinking and no sleep Friday night, and feel refreshed and ready for a new beer. It is Gasparilla weekend in Tampa, so pirate parades, ship floats and of course rum... in keeping with that theme - Founders’ “Barrel Runner”:

Poured at 56 degrees, big white head of mixed bubbles; clear but with dusty black particles suspended from top to bottom; moderate plus to heavy lacing; long cap retention; heavy ring; thin legs. 4.75



Booze and hops nose; tropical fruit and rum. 4.5

Guava, mango and kiwi; pineapple and rum; sweet malt base; some bitter hops in the middle;boozy rum and black pepper finish. 4.5



Medium body, moderate carbonation; slight alcohol burn on tongue; warming face flush. 4.25

This ale smells and tastes like a rum runner; bottled June 5, 2018, the hops/tropical fruit are assertive in the nose and the bitterness while mild keeps the sweet malt and booze from running away with the show; the linger is rum and pineapple, which is spot on for a rum runner cocktail. 4.5

I was hesitant to buy a full 4 pack (still plenty around town) because of price and advertised flavor profile, so I just got this single. I will grab a 4pk next beer run...I liked everything about this beer (except for the suspended particles, or else I would have given the appearance score a 5)...fruity nose, rum and boozy (which I personally like) in just the right amount. Founders makes some darn fine beers...

Have a great Sunday and Cheers!

 

Mikkeller NYC - Echt Keem

The can claims this is a “soda-style milk stout” and it has an image of a soda jerk on the can. What’s soda-style mean? I’d like to think that it means that this beer was made by mixing carbonated water with syrup and malt powder. That’s not their intended communication though. Going to the brewer’s website, I see that this beer was inspired by NY egg cream. Why not put that on the can instead? Perhaps they needed to avoid using the word “egg” on the label.

So then one would assume that “echt keem” is egg cream in Danish. Well, according to internet translation services, it translates to “really cool.” Huh? One theory about why egg cream got to be called “egg cream” is that egg might be a corruption of the German word “echt” which means “real” and an egg cream was real (or good) cream. Not that any of this really adds up, but at least now some connections are drawn. It makes sense for Mikkeller NYC to gravitate to an egg cream beer.

Whew. Now having gone through all that, let me say that I didn’t know any of this when drinking the beer. I dig after I drink. I knew it was a milk stout. Turns out, the beer was made with lactose and cocoa nibs.

The body of this beer is somewhere between medium and thin. Carbonation is a little prickly. It’s sweet but not overly so. It tastes of chocolate but is firmly in the chocolaty porter realm as opposed to some sort of chocolate dessert beer (or in hindsight, an egg cream).

I feel like the brewer set out to put a toe in the flavored stout waters while referencing the entire “milkshake” beer thing... but wanted something thinner and lighter in body - hence “soda-style” egg cream as opposed to milkshake. The beer is 5% ABV. I bought it because it was a 5% stout porter (an increasingly rare and delightful thing). It’s an enjoyable but unexceptional beverage.



@rgordon

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for the great start to this weeks NBS. Will be back with a new brew later on today.

Cheers!

 

Checking out Zaftig's 10% abv Bourbon Barrel Aged Wee Heavy...

Pours a dark brown and looks like black glass in a tulip, with a thin pinkie-finger of tan foam that slips into a flimsy collar... Leaves brief lace motes down the glass after each sip... Aged for 12 months in a single cask of 12-year-old Four Roses bourbon barrels, this produced a delicious dose of sweet bourbon and molasses on the nose... Taste brought suggestions of ripe, dark fruits and chewy black molasses bread, with suggestions of vanilla and booze... Medium-bodied, smooth, with a touch of cleaning tannins and sharp earthy spices... A real killer drink - easily beats out my previous favorite, Wulver... Don't pass on it...

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

 

Did you get that on the island?

 

I had that one last night and really enjoyed it. Then I had another . I agree, it's quite a nice delicate beer. I also got a floral/herbal quality that I couldn't quite place as to whether it was from the hops or the yeast, but in any event all of the flavors flowed together so seamlessly that it probably doesn't matter. Good stuff!

__________________________
I'll be back later on this afternoon. My major task for the day is to change out the lighting in my garage, and hopefully it'll be warm enough to keep the doors open for an hour or two- it'll probably be best to have my wits about me as well. So, it'll be something celebratory then, as long as I don't electrocute myself . See y'all then!

 

Happy New Sierra Nevada (& Maybe Some Others) Beer Sunday (Week 727)!

How interesting, at least to me, that many of the early respondents are fellow Pennsylvanians! My birthday is next month & a friend has a monthly bottle share at his place in Gulph Mills, near KofP & Conshohocken, at which we will be celebrating my 54th on Sa, 16 Febrewary, starting at 1100. BeerMail me if yinz CAN make it.

@JackHorzempa is kinda my inspiration for today. Well, I already had this planned, but he provided a nice segue, so … I have been on a Brut IPA kick since they began hitting the market. I still chuckle at SeanO's Blah, Blah, Blah IPA in which EVERYTHING is currently an IPA, including Lagers! Hahaha. What hath man wrought?!?

Lemme be frank & NOT like Margaret Houlihan was shocked when someone suggested that to her. I am a self-described, self-avowed hophead & have been since my first visit to Victory BC in Downingtown, PA. It was there that I had Hop Devil both on-tap & from a cask, sending me down a road from which I have yet to return! One wag wrote of me, "If cask beer is being pulled anywhere in his vicinity, you CAN be assured that @woodychandler will be on hand for a glass!" 8=)

I also fell in love with the bitterness imparted by hops. I came to the realization that the Hop Devil is female & my review was an ode to her in poetic format! She & I have danced many times, but I no longer find her as appealing as in those initial trysts. It was especially problematic when they released Wild Devil & asked for my opinion for publication. I said that it seemed like my G/F had contracted a yeast infection. :=O

I disliked Cascadian/Black IPAs because the dark malts got in the way of the hops. I am not a big fan of Tropical IPAs since they lack bitterness. Sameysame for NEIPAs. I have always liked White IPAs since the spices enhance the bitterness & I like the new Brut IPAs since they are both hoppy & dry, a winning CANbination from where I sit. I have yet to try Ommegang's version, but my opening salvo for today is:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/388283/?ba=woodychandler#review

Say, what is that noise? Oh, it's my lips, smacking! 8=) See yinz in a while. Inna meantime, how CAN you easily tell the difference between an alligator & a crocodile?


One you'll see later, the other you'll see in a while! ;=)

 

No, I got it through Tavour...

 

My ex-Old Lady was not Zaftig, but she CANstantly rocked a micro-mini kilt & for her, it was Januhairy all year-round + she was NOT shy about flashing the beav! Man, this label is memory-evoking!

 

A-Pours a nice light straw color with a slight head and lacing.
A-Aroma has lemongrass and wheat hints
T-The taste follows the nose with lemongrass and wheat flavors.
M- A light bodied well balanced beer.
O-A nice refreshing wheat beer

 

Good morning NBS
A (semi)local RIS to start the day...



The review:
12oz undated can poured into a Spiegelau stout glass at fridge temp 9.8% ABV 60 IBU 46 SRM per can label. The beer pours dense thick black evocative of motor oil with minimal mocha brown head. The head recedes to a fat ring of big bubbles. There are a few spots of lacing. The aroma is faint with roasted malt, bittersweet chocolate and coffee. The taste is semisweet chocolate and caramel initially rolling into an ashy & hefty roasted malt driven bitterness. As it warms there is a smokey element. The mouthfeel is very full bodied with minimal carbonation and a semi dry finish. There is a lot of residual sugar here but it's balanced by the substantial roasty bitterness. Overall, very good. Having had this beer and the barrel aged version, I believe this beer is brewed with the intent to barrel age. Enjoyable, but not very complex.

We are hosting my mother-in-law's 70th birthday party this afternoon. Coors Light is not a new beer to me, but I might make it back before closing time with my last RIS on hand. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass today!