New Beer Sunday (week 729)

We don't generally get much snow here in Seattle. Maaaaybe once a year there will be a light dusting and if we're lucky a half inch might stick. So when we got ~6 inches friday night the city basically shut down yesterday. I had fun wandering around in it, and look forward to more of the same tomorrow, but today the sky is clear (but cold [again... at least for us. It got down into the low teens last night which is the first time I remember it getting that low out here in many years... today is in the low to mid 20s]).
Anyway, so I woke up at the ass end of dawn for no reason other than my body hates me and doesn't want me to get decent rest. So I figured coffee was in order. And why must that coffee be restrained to the traditional format? So I reached into the fridge for another can from @Dragginballs76 in the NBS BIF#8.
Someone else recently reviewed this same beer, via the same source, on these same pages (EDIT: one out of three ain't... well it would seem better if this were baseball or something. It was @Roguer , but it was from a different BA and only shared on the BIF thread not here on NBS. Oops!).

Griddle, from Burial is an espresso milk stout.



The pour yields a uniform stout body that is that dark dark brown that's not black, but is definitely dark. In the corners you see a good coffee facsimile. A tight head adorns the top, and while it's never really prodigious (the pic makes it look headier than it seemed in person), it is dense and a thin variation sticks around decently well. Little to no lacing.

The nose is the star of the show for this one for me (and it seems I'm not alone in that assessment). Smoothe and creamy it embodies the various elements nicely with creamy chocolate and smoothe roasted espresso and a little shot of cream in the form of the lactose. Really enjoyable.

The coffee and creamy chocolate notes though are practically tossed to the wayside in service of the sweet lactose once you start sipping. Condensed milk and honey talk over the bitter coffee and thick chocolate. As it warms this dominance becomes less one sided, but it's still first and foremost sweet lactose, with the coffee emerging more but still playing second fiddle on this griddle.

Could do with a little more heft to the body, but with the alcohol and the lactose it's not really surprising. The 10% ABV is expressed primarily in a little bit of bitter alcohol aftertaste (what I always [erroneously, most likely] describe as a sour mash flavour), but it does not come across as hot at all.

Overall it would appear that @Roguer and I had much the same experience with this one, with me shading a touch more favourably. Grateful to have gotten to try it, and it started my day off the right way, if a bit earlier than I had intended!
Thanks Mike!!



Cheers y'all

 

Post work NBS beer #1



Big Smooth

River Roost Brewery
American Imperial IPA / 8.20% ABV

4.2/5 rDev -5.6% | Score: 4.45
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Canned 01/28/19

L-The beer pours a thick hazy orange. The head is two fingers of off white froth which recedes to a thick film. Lacing is spotty.
S-There is a citrusy undertone which is overridden with a catty dankness.
T-Here on the palate the citrus flavors are up to competing with the dank flavors providing an interesting balance with the citrus winning out ever so slightly.
F- Mouthfeel overall is on the low side of full. There is some definite heft here. Flavors coat the tongue and hang on throughout the sip. Carbonation is low moderate and prickly.
O-If you like the catty dankness you'll love this beer. For me it has just enough citrus on the palate to make it enjoyable. It won't replace Mas Verde or Glimpse for me, but is still worth your time.

 

Time for another brew!

Zundert 8 | Trappistenbrouwerij de Kievit



Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

This is a real nice looker of a brew. Classic eggshell soft foamy head, khaki colored with a tinge of vanilla yellow. Lumpy retention, and good amounts of side forming carbonation. Nice little pearl streams along the edges, in a rather lighter dark ale, a glowing copper amber quality acutally, making for a real nice presentation. Absolute classic middle column of roaring volcano stream in the body, like lava bursting forth. Just a great looking Belgian brew.

The aroma is just impressive. There's a lot going on here. Wine like tartness slightly mixing with more bolder flavors of toasted brown sugar and plum. Big purple grape like explosion with a mild sweetness, touches clove but without the heat spice or blast. Complex. Just a great smelling brew.

Palate does not disappoint. The only thing that takes a seat back, is the explosive mouthfeel. Heavily carbonated to the point of dominating the flavor palate with rocky minerals and gas. Still a solid body, but with much of the complex character still intact. Plum and juiced up grape flavors rustling through the palate, with ease. With warmth and time the beer delivers a lot more complexity, caramel, taffy, red berried fruits, quinine, red table wine, and many others.

I've never heard of this Trappist brewery before, but this is a beer that could easily stand shoulders with the greats. If the carbonation levels and gaseous quality could be reeled in a bit, this brew could easily surpass some of the great Trappist classics as far as I am concerned.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25 | BA Generated: 4.3

Cheers!

 

And both seem to have passed the sniff/taste test. Don't know about you, but I'll be looking a bit harder for their beers now.

 

Poured into a 13 oz canned on 1/22/19. Pours a hazy orange with a 2 plus finger sticky white head that leaves loads of thin lace behind with nice retention. 4.5

Smell is guava, tangerine, pineapple, and some grapefruit rind. Simple and awesome! 4.5

Taste follows exactly what you expect from the nose, tropical front too back, with just a kiss of grapefruit bitterness on the back end. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, gentle carbonation, soft on the palate, and at 6.3% crazy drinkable, but drinks more like 7%. 4.5

Overall this stuff is excellent all around. I will be getting more of this. 4.5

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. And welcome back to the captain's seat, @cavedave! I spent the early part of the weekend down the Shore drinking some deep South Jersey beers. But my review is one from a brewery about 15 minutes from home. I drink a lot of Magnify beers but I cannot remember the last time I reviewed one on NBS. Magnify has sort of typecast itself with big, hazy DIPAs and gimmicky "breakfast" IPAs but they can really brew a good Stout, as well. This is Running Out of Daylight, an Imperial Stout aged in rum barrels and conditioned on maple and vanilla. I'm not a big fan of rum and I debated whether to buy any cans particularly in light of the elevated price point of $18 per 2-pack. But I'm glad I did. The base stout has just the right balance of chocolate, vanilla, and maple. It's sweet but not unpleasantly so. And the rum is noticeable but subtle. This is very nice.

Here's my full review:

4.34/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Reviewed one week after can release. Poured into a Magnify tulip glass. It pours a very dark walnut color with a fluffy mocha cap that dissipated quickly leaving a thin, spotty sheen of lacing inside the glass. On the nose there is heavy maple syrup and vanilla, along with roasted malt, coffee, and nuts. There is also a faint whiff of rum. The first sip is rich with cocoa, maple syrup, vanilla cream, and freshly-brewed coffee. There is definitely a taste of rum but it's subdued. The taste fairly explodes in the mouth. There is virtually no bitterness and the sip finishes with creamy vanilla and a touch of nutty, earthy peat. This stout has a full, rich mouth feel with mild carbonation. The 12% ABV is warming but not overpowering. It's a delightful sipping dessert beer. Although better known for pumping out high octane, hazy IPAs, Magnify is very good at big, BA stouts such as Running Out of Daylight.

I hope you're all enjoying your new beers today. As always, your reviews are informative and fun to read; a highlight of my week. Cheers, NBS!

 

River horse brewery mocha lisa porter
..solid black
..just above average body,medium light carbonation,slight slick creany,oily feel
...aroma is roasted malt,black coffee, milk chocolate
...taste is mildly sweet, as well as some mild alcohol burn. There's milk and dark chocolate, roasted malt with a little bitter coffee
... overall this is one of river horses better offerings. Could work as an after dinner dessert beer or just on it's on

 

Great opening, Dave! I enjoy reading about history and being from New Jersey it's hard to avoid organized crime. Newark's own Abner "Longy" Zwillman teamed up with Joseph Kennedy and the Bronfman Brothers of Montreal to keep the booze flowing into the Garden State during Prohibition. Although closely associated with Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, and Meyer Lansky, in the pantheon of gangsters Longy never achieved the fame he rightfully deserved. In my opinion, if you can make it here, and stay one step ahead of Richie the Boot Boiardo's crew from the North Ward, then you deserve some cred!

 

Wet Ticket's Trolley Hopper IPA is quite good!

 

I missed it this week but will definitely try it on Thursday or Friday.

 

Good evening NBS and thanks to our special moderator @cavedave for the most excellent start today. Todays offering is from Honest Weight Artisan Beer in Orange MA. The style is Bier de Meil. The barrel touch adds complexity, I am impressed with the mixed culture composition, funky and not over bearing, with enough acidity to make the offering stand out.
Cheers all
Epistrophy

Honest Weight Artisan Beer
Belgian Saison / 7.70% ABV

4.08/5 rDev +4.6% | Score: 3.9
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 500 ml bottle into the test glass
A - Dark cedar colored, opaque with some refined carbonation hiding in there. A thin white cap can be produced, but leaves quickly.
S - Tart dark cherry, light toasted oak, some dark fruit, raisin, plum.
T - Think ode bruin, dark cherry, sharp acidity, beautiful bourbon barrel kiss, vanilla, and a sweetness possibly that honey added.
M - Medium in body, carbonation is gentle but helps move the sweet. tart flavor package to the finish line.
O - A very fine offering from Honest Weight, the tart dark fruit flavors blend well with the barrel touch.

 

Sump is such a good beer. It and Abraxas I have gotten through my thick skull as beers I really, really enjoy (even at their expense). I’m not a huge fan of most of Perennial’s offerings, but these two are very well made, IMHO.

 

Happy NBS. Enjoying this What the Fudge. Most definitely a dessert stout. I dug it. 4.31 for me.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24299/383441/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

New beer #6. My last beer today. Thanks @woemad !

Sticky Hands - Block 15
IIPA - 8.1% abv
Canned 1/7/19 (34 days ago)
Score: 4.19 (-3.5% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16846/92388/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Dank and resinous AF. This is an aggressive, in your face IPA. To me this is a sipper, but I’m really enjoying it. If there was such a thing as a beer tree, this would be the sap. Thanks again Fred! Tired Hands will be coming your way as soon as the temps warm up a bit.

 

You lucky, lucky bastard.

That is #1 on my wish list!