New Beer Sunday (Week 731)

Any reference to Darius Kasparitus is aces in my book!

 

So, full disclosure.

I have had this beer ONE time before and it was almost three years ago, when I didn’t know anything about beer, other than FFF, or styles and wasn’t even into craft yet other than FFF themselves. Before I reviewed or even kept any notes at all on beers. So I have no recollection of what I even thought of it.

Three Floyds - Flying Tigersault (a German style Pilsner weighing in at 4.8% ABV)

Pouring from a 500 ml. bottle into a pint glass, this beer pours out golden and absolutely, incredibly, beautifully, perfectly clear. It forms a pinky width of tightly packed, eggshell colored crown. Couldn’t ask for a pils to look better. 5

The nose brings a sweetness of honey and sweet corn mixing with a biscuit element. Has a fresh cut grass hoppy presence. 4.5

The taste offers an apple presence up front before turning to the honey biscuit character. Sweet, creamy corn showing as well. A bit green from the hops and is showing way to grassiness, but still toned back on the hops from what I would expect out of FFF. Which for this style, is a good thing. 4.5

The mouthfeel is dry. Medium-full body for the style and perfectly carbonated. Leaves you licking your lips. 4.5

Overall, this is a rather savory Pilsner. A lot of different sweetness layers mixing with that biscuit element and a balanced grassy hop presence lead to a flavorful treat. A flavorful treat of a Pils. Rating to style. 4.5

Cheers NBS, and sorry for breaking the law!

 

Did you buy it locally or in New York? I've heard that Modern Times will be distributing to New Jersey starting next month but that folks have found some cans already.

 

I love Galaxy hopped beers.

 

Good afternoon NBS BAs.

I humbly offer thoughts on a New Beer I am enjoying that @PatrickCT has provided and tells me is the Flagship for Counter Weight Brewing Co., in Connecticut.

Headway American IPA ~ 6.5% ABV

The first thing I notice is the striking design on the can. Simple, clean, bright, classy, and balanced. Plus! All the information I want to know about a beer is right there for easy visual consumption. I say well done!

If you guessed that my beer review reflects exactly my thoughts on the can design, then you’re right. The fruity, almost apricot notes blend nicely with the abundance of hops used in this beer.

Is this a hazy beer? Headway IPA is not as hazy as some from this region but this is hazy done right...in my opinion.




Cheers!

 

Glad you enjoyed it! Transient puts out some solid beer...

Cheers!

 

Nice picture. Glad you enjoyed it!

 

My normal Sunday afternoon routine almost always brings me to Holler Brewing in Houston. A draught only spot, that is trying to change laws so they can sell to go from the brewer (I work at a growler store on the weekends just up the road, they are one of our biggest sellers. Always looking to help out breweries in a state that doesn't care, but might hurt out business at the same time).

Anyway, They have been really killing it with German styles and various lagers lately. With a very good Doppelbock, amazing Swarzbier, and equally amazing Czech Pils. Today, I stopped by and low and behold a new Dortmunder Lager

Don't know the origins of the name, but:
Dortmunder Mifflin, 6.0% ABV with Hallertau Saphir hops.

Appearance:
Pours clear with a two finger white head that forms at first. That recedes after a minute to a collar and plenty of lace left behind. 4.25
Smell:
A very aromatic nose. With grassy, spicy and herbal hops. Just enough grain character to let you know there are some malts, but that is very much in the back seat. 4
Flavor:
Like the nose, plenty of hop character up front. With that great grassy, spicy and herbal flavor. A slightly sweet and sourdough flavor comes in, with some biscuit as well. A lingering bitterness, very nice. 4
Mouthfeel/Overall: A medium plus body. This has great carbonation, with an effervescent and crisp bite. Supper clean as well. Really enjoyable to drink. I will be coming back to this again soon, a well done lager. 4.25

Again, an excellent lager, another one that will compete for my dollars when at the brewery. Holler also does plenty NEIPA styles, but with these amazing lagers they keep pumping out, I hardly have time to even notice them. Along with Saint Arnold, easily the most diverse styles being made in Houston. My review, that is somewhat abridged below:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45647/400204/

 

So when you fall of the horse get back on. NBS review #2 is another Glasstown beer, The Big Breakfast, a 7.2% American Porter. This one's received very good reviews on BA. Breakfast Porters and Stouts are all the rage but Glasstown has done a really nice job with this one. The nose is amazing! It really smells like pancakes with maple syrup and a cup of black coffee. But the flavor isn't gimmicky. Its dark and roasty with lots of char. The coffee is burnt and the adjuncts are subtle: just enough to get the idea but not cloying or artificial. After the 5th Anniversary IPA, Glasstown redeemed itself with The Big Breakfast. Here's my review:

4.31/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

No date on the can but based upon Facebook posts it's a fairly recent release. Poured into a tulip glass. It pours ink black with a half finger of fluffy, khaki-colored head that slowly dissipated leaving a thin sheen of lacing inside the glass. It has quite a nose! Freshly-brewed coffee, maple syrup, caramel, and a whiff of chocolate. I thought it might be cloyingly sweet but it wasn't. It opens with a rush of char and tobacco smoke followed by burnt coffee, maple syrup, cinnamon, nuts, and a nice malt base that really simulates pancakes. It's really roasty. Oftentimes "breakfast" stouts and porters are gimmicky but this on isn't. It finishes fairly dry and slightly bitter. This Porter has just the right mouth feel; it's not too thin. The carbonation is pleasant and it carries a pop with its 7.2% ABV. Lots of breweries are releasing breakfast brews but Glasstown pulled it off nicely with The Big Breakfast.

 

Toppling Goliath Gamma, Gamma Ray! IPA

This beer is presented as a collaboration between TG and Bottle Logic Brewing, and is classified on BA as a New England IPA wit a current rating of 4.19. ABV 8.1%, 30 IBU.



Bomber poured into a tulip. Citrus aroma - orange, grapefruit, mango. Turbid orange/pineapple color, with a reasonably tall, white head that has decent retention. Nice-looking lacing. Very good appearance. Color is almost bright. Smooth and somewhat thick feel, little carbonation contribution. Mild taste with almost no bittering at all initially. Taste mirrors the aroma: juicy orange, grapefruit. Some bitterness is apparent in the middle and finish. Finish is slightly sweet, with just a hint of balancing bitterness. Aftertaste fades quickly.

Very good beer for the style (as much as my meager experience with NEIPAs is able to judge the style...)

L: 4
S: 3.75
T: 4
F: 3.75
O: 4

My rating: 3.92

 

Kane Brighten the Corners. A 7.5% imperial oat IPA hopped with Simcoe, Mosaic, Vic Secret, and Motueka.



Canned one month ago. Pours bright, hazy orange (4.5). The nose is clementine, bubblegum, and dank, weedy hops. (4.25). The taste is clementine, grapefruit, and orange rind (4.25), with a medium mouthfeel (4.25). Overall, another winner from Kane (4.25).

Kane has had killer lineups at the brewery recently. I also picked up 3 bottles of Morning Bell and 1 Mexican Brunch

 

Happy NBS. Trying this Against the Grain Nothing Special. Very nice. 4.3 for me. Cheers all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26850/351716/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

Dewey Beer Co Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Happy Sunday, BAs. This may be the best regular thread going, but I enjoyed yesterday’s 30+ page push on WBAYDN. Kudos to @PatrickCT, @cjgiant and any other instigators.

Today’s new beer was just gifted to me by the generous @larryi86. It’s a Gose from Dewey Beer Company with strawberries, pretzels and cream.

It pours a hazy strawberry-rhubarb red color with a finger of purple-tinted head that leaves solid lacing.

It has a lovely lightly-sour gose aroma with strong strawberry and cream undertones.

The taste follows the nose, with the strawberry and cream jumping out, landing on top of a nice sour base with definite saltiness to it. There is a sort of pretzel-dough quality as well, but that may be psychosomatic.

It’s a touch heavier bodied and certainly more creamy than usual for the style, with a very slight grittiness as well.

These guys make top-notch fruited sours and this is no exception. The strawberries and cream really pop. The can art is better than average, too. Thanks, Larry, for sharing this.

 

Thanks, man! Glad you enjoyed the event!

 

I have wanted to try an Angel Share beer from The Lost Abbey. I am excited to drink this behemoth of a beer. The beer is 50 degrees and served in a tulip glass. The beer created a two finger frothy and billowy medium tan head with fair retention. The head dissipated somewhat quickly because of the high alcohol content. The color of the beer is a deep brown that registers as SRM 34 on the chart. The beer is opaque. The beer has a beautiful appearance.

The aromas of the beer are wood, caramel, toffee, pine, peat, sea air, resin, medium roasted malts, molasses, raisins, oranges, malty sweetness, char, fire, stone fruit, and bready.

The flavors of the beer are Maillard reaction, smokiness, fire, char, toffee, scotch, peat, oranges, floral, molasses, bay leaves, raisins, malty sweetness, medium roasted malts, bready, stone fruit, peat, sea air, resin, wood, caramel, and pine.

The mouthfeel of the beer is chewy and dry.

The body of the beer is full, medium carbonation, and a full finish.

From the words of FFFJunkie, he said: "lights out". This beer is incredible. The scotch barrelage is just enough to impart a scotch flavor without taking over the barleywine. I love the harmony and the balance in the beer. I thought the beer was going to have some alcohol warming, but alas it did not. The beer is 14 percent and does not drink like it. Incredible beer and a must try.

4.69

 

Onto my second new beer here players.

This is 3XIPA, imperial ipa, from Southern Tier. Another brewery that I seem to have fallen off with as of late. The bottle is a little dated but I figured with the high abv it would be ok. I also needed an excuse to use my new proper glass. The brew checks in a 9.5% abv and has a 12/13/18 bottle date.

A nice golden amber color on the pour with good clarity and a fluffy white head. The nose is full of citrus, sugars, and hops. A big and bitter start to the drinking with citrus fruit notes, sweet honey sugars, resin and candied fruit tones. A good amount of malt hearth to go along with the hops. It drinks rather full bodied with a good amount of stick to the palate. Somewhat booze with a slight alcohol burn on the finish.

Overall, pretty decent stuff. It seems to drink a bit more like a barley wine. No real fall off despite its slight age and a nice break from the NE-style side. I'm right around a 4,

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. No thanks to passive aggressive people who hate me. An ever growing club by the week.... Finally started visiting local breweries to find new stuff to review. The closest ones to me actually do canning/crowlers off draft. I got 9 today from Rustic Leaf. Will go back when I see new stuff for sure. Maybe get some repeats if I end up really linking some of them. 8000 was last week, well on my way to 9000 this year I'd say(hopefully). Gale force winds out there right now, with a snow storm moving through. I am considering buying a new Jeep Gladiator whenever the production run comes in. Probably going to start around July like the base Wrangler I work on. Employee discount. Been wanting to buy a 6 speed truck for a while anyways, you can barely get any of them these days.

Beer:

Very nice Amber. Great rocky head retention/spotty soapy lacing. Flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, brown bread dough/crust, roasted nuts, and toasted biscuit; with lighter notes of chocolate, cocoa, raisin, plum, fig, date, pear, apricot, red apple, wood, mint, herbal, grass, peppercorn, pine, and yeast earthiness. Similar/muted aromas, a bit more fruity/yeasty. Light-moderate pine, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery hops; and light roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body; creamy/bready/grainy malts, some sticky hops, and slight chalky/resins in the mouthfeel. Lingering minty cooling after the finish. Light-moderate increasing biter dryness; no hop astringency. Very smooth, no warmth of 6.3%. Spot on stuff, leaning more into the English style realm. Feels like Northern Brewer hops. Very clean and nicely rich malts, balancing earthy English hops, and restrained English yeast fruitiness. Very well made, and delicious all around. 3.88


Cheers

 

Happy New American Barleywine Sunday!

Pretty nice day here on the Western Slope, around 32, sunny, at the trailhead, still lots of snow from Friday. Having a very tasty brew from @TheMattJones88, thanks for the chance. Completely different take on the style, surprised me. Most likely will be back with another new brew.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30654/158834/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!