New Beer Sunday (week 729)

Счастливого Нового Русского Каменного Пивного Воскресенья (Неделя 729)!

That's "Happy New Russian Stone Beer Sunday (Week 729)!" for all of you non-Cyrillics out there. This week, I have been reading "The Greatest Russian Stories of Crime and Suspense" as edited by Otto Penzler & yesterday, during my neighborhood church's Attic Treasures monthly rummage sale, I scored two (2) souvenir glasses from St. Petersburg. Additionally, St. Amandus had his birthday on Saturday so it seems as though the Beer Gods want today to happen.

A little background. I am a frequent flier at the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS) here in Lancaster, PA & while I may not be able to buy everything at once or to cart it all home on the bus in my backpack, they have created the "Box o' Fun" for me. When Stone's 2018 Small Batch Series hit the shelves, I knew that I wanted them, but at $17/BT, I took them one a visit until I had procured all three (3) with an eye to an upcoming NBS. Don't like my idea? As they say in Moscow, "Toughski shitski, comrade!"

The day begins with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/52752/?ba=woodychandler#review

 

New Beer Sunday: Belgian Strong Pale Ale

Mornin’ NBSers with a report for those who like to explore the use of American hops in Belgian style beers. Also a welcome back to @cavedave who is filling in for @cjgiant to do the kick off this morning.

Today’s weather is starting off sunny but is then expected to become fairly cloudy with a high temp in the upper 30s. That will feel warmer than yesterday since we won't see the winds that kept yesterday’s “feels like” temperature in the low 20s-upper teens. However, this is all the prelude to a snow storm expected to leave 2-4” of snow overnight and into Monday. (Nothing near as big/bad as what our friends in the PNW and other parts of the US are looking at though.)

This morning’s new beer is from The Bruery out in CA and is called Mischief.

My review of this beer, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/53134/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer are both Belgian and American. There’s some pear, a bit of melon and some light grapefruit. The finish ends dry, peppery and slightly resinous. An interesting hybrid that is worth giving a try and I’ll enjoy having it again once in a while.

Cheers, all!

 

Jeez, Woody, that's one helluva review!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, @cavedave, for today's kickoff! For anybody not following links, check out @woodychandler 's review - a fun read.

After @JackHorzempa 's review last week of both Sierra Nevada and Ommegang's attempts at brewing Brut IPAs, I was inspired to try that for myself. I had no luck finding Ommegang's entry in my area, but Sierra Nevada's Spring release was available.



$ 10.00 (Including tax)/6-pack of 12 oz bottles ($ 0.139/oz) from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. Reviewed 2/10/19.
“PKGD 12/06/18” on top of rear label. From unopened case on shelf at distributor. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 42 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Light yellow, clear.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.5 cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density, average retention, diminishing to a one to two mm ring and a spotty partial layer.
Lacing – Poor. One short (2.8 cm) piece of lacing, like a lonely albatross flying over a yellow ocean.
First pour – Very light yellow (almost colorless), clear.
Aroma – 3 – Grass and dimethylsulfide.
Flavor – 3 – Grass and dimethylsulfide. Lightly bitter and crisp. No alcohol (6.2% ABV) flavor. No diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Light, watery, dry carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3 - “Spring Seasonal” that comes out in the previous fall – we now have a two-season push. The appearance is good, despite the paucity of lacing. The aroma and flavor are more reminiscent of an AAL than any IPA I’ve ever had – most like a Straub’s greenie. No advertised citrus found. The only distinguishing feature is the champagne-like dryness which also fades if you drink slowly. Overall, a disappointing brew from usually good to great Sierra Nevada.
Rating 3.11, rDev -15.7%.

Needless to say, we were not amused.

 

In the spirit of the @cavedave start, good morning purveyors of packaged products and purchasers and pourers of pints.

There is a local brewery here in my county called Wet Ticket. A seemingly odd name, but 100% in the spirit of the topic discussed in the @cavedave opening. I do not have a beer, or even a glass on hand, but I do have a sticker and thought I would share the logo in the spirit of today’s start. The name relates to politicians running on the “Wet Ticket,” or those in favor of repealing prohibition.



Onto the beer…

Red Cypress Brewery Imperial Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Death Roll

An Imperial Milk Stout coming in at 9.8%

Given to me in person by @FrankenMiller when we met in Orlando earlier this week for some beers. Thank you, Gene!

Appearance: The beers looks viscous as it pours from the can. You know when the beer is still and you get these huge, thin bubbles that attempt to from a cohesive head? Burnt sienna, large, thin and loosely packed bubbles. As I continue pouring, a beige, foamy head forms. It eventually settles to just a thin layer across the top of the glass, finally to the point where the beer looks still. The color of the beer is black. Opaque. As I drink the beer there are some thin streaks of lacing.



Smell: This beer smells like peanut butter and chocolate. I would not call is Reese’s which has an artificial aroma to it. This actually smells like peanuts and real peanut butter. The chocolate is milky. There is overly ripe banana aroma. It’s bready. Banana bread with chocolate chips. No indications of the ABV on the nose

Taste: Up front this beer is sweet, although far from cloying. The peanut butter definitely comes through and carries on throughout the entire beer. Peanuts, peanut butter and peanut skins. Milk chocolatey. However I am not getting any banana on the palate. I suspect it contributes to the overall sweetness of the beer, without standing out. A nice surprise not always present with these desserts stouts is some roasted malt bitterness that helps to dry out the beer on the finish and complements the overall sweetness.

Mouthfeel: The brewery has created a super creamy mouthfeel that mimics peanut butter. It’s a bit heavy on the palate but works with the flavors. Zero carbonation. The finish is actually semi-dry.

Overall: This beer is a good dessert stout. I think it hits on all advertised aspects and does it well, without being cloying and while retaining some stout qualities without being overshadowed by the “dessert” as aspect of this beer.

Could you imagine explaining a beer like this to the “Dry Tickets?” I imagine it would’ve not only made them upset bbut that it would’ve also raised some eyebrows. Perhaps it would’ve gone like this...

 

Thanks to @cavedave for getting us started today. Hate for anyone to have to work on Sunday, but you’ll be all the more deserving of a new beer after!

Today I am starting out with coffee, and beer. Coffee in my beer. A coffee beer.


This is Coffee Nephilim from Central State Brewing (Indianapolis, IN) and it is their 11% imperial stout, Nephilim, with the addition of Unicorn Blood espresso from Dark Matter Coffee.


Pouring from a 16 oz. can into a whiskey tumbler glass, this beer pours out very dark, slick and oily. It forms a pinky width of tightly packed caramel colored bubbles to form a crown. 3.75

The nose brings a freshly roasted coffee mixing with a dark chocolate presence. Like smelling in a bag of beans. Not much complexity, but a beautiful dimension of the coffee and chocolate. 3.75

The taste comes in with a huge wave of that roasty coffee before it turns into a silky dark chocolate and finishes with a slight saltiness, teriyaki/soy sauce. (This aspect is slight, but detectable to me) 3.5

It’s medium bodied with good depth for a coffee stout. Silky, slightly bitter, balanced acidity. Alcohol present, but hidden better than 11%. It doesn’t finish very cleanly, maybe because of that salty feeling it leaves behind. 3.5

Overall, it has some good aspects. The coffee seems freshly roasted, I like the silky chocolate notes, it’s got a balanced astringency (but so does Unicorn Blood) but it just lacked something that made it pop for me and it could’ve finished more cleanly. 3.5

Cheers NBS family! Can’t wait to see what you bring to the share!

 

Thanks, Dave, for giving me a brief respite this week. Nice to see the thread rolling along as I enjoy another vacation morning with sun and a gentle cooling breeze.

I haven’t rated or reviewed many beers here in the Ft Lauderdale area since we’ve been enjoying company and smaller pours from flights of various brewers’ offerings. We’ll see if any Floridians with fuller experiences disagree, but my general experience so far is as follows:

• Funky Buddha - we get a few of their flagships in DC, and have even started getting a couple rarer releases. Brewery selections stood up to our at-home experience with ok IPAs and interesting flavored/BA stouts. Their Märzen was pretty good, and their Sticky Nuts was the most oddly enjoyable offering I’ve had
• Copperpoint Brewing Company - we oddly noted that they serve their beers very cold - but once allowed to “come to temp,” I found the cleanliness of the offerings quite enjoyable, notably their coffee bock and imperial stout (which do not seem to be flagships, though the coffee bock was available in 6-packs). The A-10 Red IPA was a surprise for a guy that’s usually not keen on hoppy ambers, but their Daz Pils seemed to lack the classic German aspects and seemed more of a decent American lager.
• Due South and LauderAle has somewhat similar lineups, a good dose of IPAs with a mix of other styles. We tried a larger variety at LauderAle, many of which were good or showed promise. Due South made some decent unfiltered IPAs with a nice bitterness, and I especially enjoyed the level of heat they brought to a couple of (habanero) spiced offerings.
• Barrel of Monks is an all-Belgian beer brewery, but that still affords them the ability to make a surprising range of beers. What I got there were clean, subtle beers but they seemed a little muted on the distinct Belgian yeast notes I expected to be more of a signature of the offerings. I wouldn’t mind giving this place another go with a little more time to focus on the beer.
• Tarpon River and Saltwater were smaller places that didn’t win us over with the limited tastes we chose. I’d be willing to give them each a second chance, but only if I were already nearby, though.

Cheers, all! Maybe I’ll find a second to get in a good review today. If not, there’s always time when we get back to the colder weather back home.

 

A-Pours a very clear golden color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has tropical citrus hints
T-The taste follows the nose with nice tropical citrus flavors
M-A light bodied very well carbonated beer that is very crisp
O-A good Helles

 

A-Pours a very hazy amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has malt hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a strong malt flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A nice IIPA

 

I've been to Wet Ticket a number of times. It's well worth a visit. I would go there more often except that while Wet Ticket is only 13 miles from home it takes 40 min. to get there.

 

Agreed. They’re very good and do their styles well. Fortunately I’m only 6 miles and 15 minutes away.

 

Good morning NBS! I’ve been trying to work through some bottles that have been sitting around longer than they should. Fortunately most are beers made to age. This morning’s comes from BottleHouse, a small but fantastic local brewery/meadery. Ironically they were open several years before they actually started bottling their beers. This beer utilizes two other Cleveland beverage products: coffee from Rising Star and aged in bourbon barrels from Tom’s Foolery (which btw if you like bourbon and ever see a bottle it rivals anything coming from Kentucky at a similar price point).



It’s not very often to see a brown ale given the barrel aged treatment, but this proves it can work just as well as a porter or stout. While not mentioned on the label as another reviewer pointed out there’s a unique coconut smell & flavor in addition to the stated coffee, cacao & vanilla. Certainly some bourbon flavor as well. At 8% the body is a bit thinner than I expected but that’s certainly nothing to complain about. Overall the quality of both the brewery and the individual ingredients shows and this is quite enjoyable to sip on a cold Cleveland morning.
Cheers!

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! I was hit this week with generous BIF boxes from both @Bum4ever and @woemad , plus a Virginia hop box from @vabeerguy , so will be drinking through several beers from those boxes today. Starting with this one from @Bum4ever .

Papillon - Moonraker
IIPA - 8.5% abv
Canned 1/18/19 (23 days ago)
Score: 4.22 (-2.1% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45975/395191/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Unlike the Moonraker brew from Josh that I drank yesterday, this is very much in the style of NE IPAs being produced over here. This one looks like a stone-cold stunner, and smells like a tropical beach. Taste is a bit more dank than I would like, and the tropical hops from the nose get a bit lost in a fog of smoke, dirt, and alcohol. Still, this is a great beer, and puts Moonraker in the conversation for best ipa producers out there right now. Thanks again Josh!

 

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

Cheers!

 

One of my favorite beer styles (but they can be hard to find)

Last December is discussed two beers from a ‘new’ brewery to the US: Hofbrauhaus Freising. Now, this brewery is not exactly new since it was founded in 1160 but it is new to the US:

“Hofbrauhaus Freising to Begin US Distribution - Jul. 8, 2018”

I have not heard about this brewery before so here is a snippet from the press release:

“Founded in 1160, the Hofbrauhaus Freising brewery is among the world’s oldest breweries. Located in the “Cathedral City” of Freising, Germany, the brewery sits in the heart of Bavaria.

Hofbrauhaus Freising beers are superbly brewed according to Bavarian Purity Laws, using only premium ingredients (no preservatives) from the surrounding Alps and Hallertau regions. Hofbrauhaus Freising is one of only a select few breweries to be designated as a “Slow Brewer”, which guarantees a quality brewing process that ensures maximum flavor and freshness.”

https://www.brewbound.com/news/hofbrauhaus-freising-begin-us-distribution

I can only guess at what “slow brewer” means – maybe they lager for a long(er) time?

Today I will be discussing Hofbrauhaus Freising Dunkel. While I am a fan of the Dunkel beer style it would seem that others aren’t since there are not a lot of these beers available. Sly Fox in the past had a year-round beer which was a Dunkel (Sly Fox Dunkel) but they stopped producing it due to slow sales. I will occasionally see this beer on draft at the Sly Fox brewpub and I will get a pint (or two) when I see it.

Let’s learn more about the Hofbrauhaus Freising Dunkel from their website:

“Dunkel Export

Truly Bavarian. Our Dunkel Premium has an irresistibly malty flavour and light tones of caramel. Very tasty, very refreshing.

• Type: bottom-fermented
• Alcohol: 5.2 % vol.
• Original wort: 12°”

My personal preference of the Dunkel (Munich Dunkel) beer style is that it has a depth of malt flavor from the use of Munich Malt and just a tiny hint of flavor from dehusked specialty malt. Some breweries choose to use some crystal malt in these beers which is not a preferred aspect for me.

Let’s see how Hofbrauhaus Freising chose to brew their Dunkel.

Served in my Spiegelau Lager Glasses:

Appearance:

A deep mahogany color with a garnet hue. There is a two finger tan head.

Aroma:

Mostly dark bread crust but there is some caramel as well.

Taste:

The flavor to large measure follows the nose. There is a notable dark bready flavor and some caramel. There are subtle hop flavors of herbal/spicy in the background. This beer has a low-medium bitterness.

Mouthfeel

A light/medium body, a aubtle aspect of softness and an off-dry finish.

Overall

I really enjoyed drinking this beer! The flavor is predominantly malty: mostly bready (dark bread) but some caramel as well. The hop flavors of herbal/spicy is very subdued.. This beer is very good – excellent.

Cheers to Hofbrauhaus Freising for brewing this Dunkel!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @Ranbot @Crusader

P.S. A domestically brewed Dunkel that I am a BIG fan of is Von Trapp Dunkel.

 

Rich gold color with lasting cap and lacing.

Deep aroma of sweet malt and some ripe tropical fruits such as pineapple and mango, bit of tangerine and herbs as well. Very complex and enticing scent.

Taste on entry is a delightful melange of sweet malt and vibrant hops. Beautifully balanced and complex. Malt has the depth of a slice of Death by Chocolate cake yet remains almost restrained, as if it's so confident it doesn't have any need to show off. Hops are there in abundance with brightness and vibrancy equal to the intensity of the malt. Ripe fruit hop elements emerge more fully yet stay within bounds. By mid palate I'm getting some of the herbal influence in the hops which acts as seasoning rather than a flavor. Everything just works so well together.

Full texture with a bit more carbonation than needed.

This is a big bold, brassy brew by any standards.

 

I had a sixer of that last month- really outstanding stuff at a very reasonable price! These guys are a very welcome addition to my area (their O'fest was also excellent).

 

That's me!

Cheers!

 

I enjoyed their Festbier. I discussed it last December in NBS:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-722.600217/#post-6318816

Cheers!