New Beer Sunday (Week 736)

Poured into a16 oz Snulip glass canned on 2/11/19. Pours a very slick black with a two finger sticky light brown head that leaves thick webs of lace as it slowly settles. 4.25

Smell is vanilla, coffee grounds, chili’s, cocoa nibs, and some pipe tobacco. 4

Taste follows coffee, vanilla, peppery spice, and chocolate. 4

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, moderate carbonation, a tad dry, and very approachable, but drinks bigger than 7%.4.25

Overall this is very nice, $10 a 4 pack and very tasty, with a rather chewy mouthfeel. I will never be sad to sip this one. 4

 

Good morning NBS and thank you @lordofthewiens and @cjgiant for your efforts these past years. I look forward to NBS every week. Grey and damp here in WMass, still some lingering snow piles, but the corner has been turned. You know for certain when the trucks with poly tanks of Maple Sap are running around the same time as the tractors are starting in the fields.
Todays offering is from Troegs Brewing, the Java Head Stout is well constructed and I would love to try a fresh at the source version to see if I have missed something with this bottle.
Cheers all

Java Head Stout

Tröegs Brewing Company
English Oatmeal Stout / 7.50% ABV

3.94/5 rDev +4.2% | Score: 3.78
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from an undated 12 oz bottle into the test glass.
A - Color of bakers chocolate, solid carbonation, a large toffee colored froth, leaves excellent lacing.
S - Muted, and narrow band of coffee, cocoa, dark roast malts, a funny red raspberry thing in there as well.
T - Coffee forward, with a really good balance. Plays off the dark malt quite well. The hop choice of Cluster, Chinook and Cascade keep things on the earthy side which I appreciate.
M - Medium in body, very soft on the palate, like a good oatmeal stout should be. The from start to finish a nicely balanced bitterness presides. Finish is semi sweet and the coffee re-appears.
O - A very good coffee stout, with the body and texture being its strong suit.

 

Lawson's "Fayston Maple" Imperial Stout



Well, after my early morning NBS Helles, drunk to the Doors' Roadhouse Blues, I did a few chores, played my guitar, went to the gym, and am now back to drinking another NBS beer.

I've been curious about this one for quite some time. Now that Lawson's has a larger brewing system and destination brew pub; I'm finding it easier to get their beers. This one was given to me by my son-in-law who has a reliable connection to Lawson's, Tree House and Trillium. I'm the fortunate recipient of his largesse. I pay him back with suitcase beers from my travels all around the country for work so it's a pretty even exchange.

While this beer isn't distributed to PA yet; we are able to get Lawson's Sip of Sunshine and Super Session via Bella Vista Beverage, a distributor in Philly. The closest retail distributor I've found for these is tThe Beer Yard in Wayne, PA, which is an hour East of us. That's a lot better than Vermont! I hope more of Lawson's beers make it our way, especially Double Sunshine, which is a particular favorite of mine.

This Fayston Maple I'm sipping on now is from a 12oz canned on 2018-12-04

A - Opaque dark brown with a 1-finger light brown head and great lace.

S - Maple, medium-roasted grain, espresso latte. Inviting.

T - Very-well-toasted raisin bread drizzled with maple syrup. Hint of smoke and black licorice (I'm not a fan of the black licorice flavor but this background accent is below my threshold of what I find objectionable and so serves as a complimentary flavor). Earthy and peppery spice. Moderate roasted bitterness balanced with some residual semi-dark chocolate and maple sweetness.

M - Medium-heavy body and light carbonation. Substantial and bordering on creamy.

O - I'd been curious about this beer for many years and it was a pleasure to finally try it. It doesn't have as much maple, nor is it as sweet as "Double Or Nothing", the Barleywine collaboration between Lawson's and Otter Creek. I'd say it has a similar Imperial Stout/Maple flavor and balance as Founders CBS; perhaps a touch sweeter. I thoroughly enjoyed slowly sipping this beer and found the flavors becoming more complex and tasty as it warmed. Highly recommended. I give it an overall score of 4.35.

 

It's a Saison sort of morning . . .







Very light gold color with bountiful white cap and lacing.

Aroma of mild grain with floral touches. Perhaps a bit of fresh cut hay.

Taste is mild but layered. A small grain presence bolstered by non bittering hops and prickly carbonation. Spiciness is present but not the heavy clove-coriander-fruit approach of some Belgian styles. There is a slight underlying mustiness which I presume comes from the grape influence. Cannot say I really taste Gooseberries but there is an undeniable fruit element that carries things along. I won't call it complex but the whole is greater than the sum of parts.

Medium texture with a bit more than balancing carbonation.

Very likable, very refreshing and somewhat interesting for those who look for more in a beer. It's clean and well made yet undemanding. I could match it with a range of food and my AAL friends should like it as well.

 

Like you, I enjoy side-by-sides. This was a good one. Looks like your Jack’s BoPils.is a tasty brew. Good rumble. Thanks.

 

I’m glad you mentioned this, as I had this beer just two weeks ago and found it to be a very fruit forward coffee beer.

Cheers!

 

You couldn’t find two very different beers within the same style as Red Oak and Trauger Pils. The Red Oak is anything but dry I find the sweetness puts me off a bit. It’s amazing that so many Pils up there, there’s similar but each seem to be unique, which I find refreshing. Thanks Jack.

 

Never had a cheesy ipa, I find that an interesting adjective, I’ve noticed unusual flavors in G Knight that I can’t describe, but savory might be a good choice of words there, but it hits me as strange but I like that beer.

 

Writing a speech for my boss’s surprise birthday party. Nice, sweet with a little bit of roast....on to the beer

Super Typhoon by TreehOuse

4.48/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Canned 3.13.19, opened 3.26.19 , poured into a treehouse teku glass
“Keep cold, drink fresh”

Hazy pale orange, one finger off white foam cap, settles to islands of bubbles , good lacings

Aroma is citrus orange and mango

Taste is mango, guava

Smooth, hop taste, no bite, medium sudsing

Good beer

 

Well, at least you didn't go 'puff' into a bunch of dust!

Cheers!

 

New beer #3. Thanks @JBowenGeorgia !

Mladek - 2nd Shift x Perrenial
Imperial Stout - 9.1% abv
Score: 4.3 (-0.5% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24428/395894/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
So much cinnamon! It dominates all other flavors, but I love cinnamon so I’m ok with it being out of balance. Supporting flavors include milk chocolate, vanilla wafers, soft caramels, and booze-filled bonbons. Slightly metallic finish drags this down a notch, but still a winner. Thanks again John!

 

Hello NBS. I am currently drinking Alvarado Street - Salute Your Schwartz. I lack experience with black lagers, but I am very excited nonetheless. This brew comes courtesy of @Ice_Cream_And_IPAs

Canned on 3/1/19. Drank from a chimney glass.
L: The beer pours a dark cola brown and settles with the appearance of cold brew coffee. A slow and standard pour yielded over 3 fingers of a bubbly, khaki-colored head that retained rather nicely. The glassware probably facilitated the rapid head advancement to some degree, but it is a welcome sight. In terms of lacing, thick, sudsy, soapy residue clings to the glass - me likey.
S: Roasted malt character is the dominant aroma, with subtle notes of raw cocoa, coffee and nuts. Smells great.
T: Really tasty. It encompasses the clean, crisp, and grainy flavor of a pilsner with the robust malt character from darker ales such as a porter. Again, I know little about these beers, I am just giving my impression. Malts and chocolate comprise the majority of the flavor, with subtle flavors of graham cracker, coffee, and grains.
F: Medium in body and light to medium in weight, somewhere flirting on the line in between. Carbonation seems low, but that adds to the smoothness of the beer. It has a nice texture and is lush, smooth, and light on the tongue.
O: Maybe it's the newness of the style, but I am head-over-heels for this. And at 4.7%? Gamechanger. I am very grateful to be sippin' on this! Plus, gotta give props to the can art.

Final Scoring:
4.28/5 rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Cheers NBS!

 

I have a strange palate. If there’s even a micron of savory in a beer, I’ll pick up on it. Certain ipas taste like liquified meat to me, which I dig and look forward to finding.

 

The tricky part is finding it fresh. My previous purchase of Golden Pheasant was several (5+) years ago. It was when we had to purchase beer by the case in PA Retail Beer Distributors. Prior to purchasing this case I asked to speak to the manager about the freshness of this beer. He informed that it was indeed fresh and that there was a code on the bottles and I could go to the breweries website, enter the code and find out when it was bottled. When I got home I opened the case and there was indeed a place on the back of the bottle for a production code and that area was redacted in black ink. Grrr.
Those beer were not fresh and I ended up drain pouring over half of the case (I really should have drain poured the whole case).

This past purchase there was a readable code of 7320703A14:37. The manager of my local Retail Beer Distributor sent an e-mail to the importer asking what this code means but no reply. I sent an e-mail to the brewery asking what this code means but no reply. The good news is the beer does not taste stale.

Maybe you will be able to obtain a 'decoder ring' for your next purchase of Golden Pheasant?

Cheers!

 

When I reached out to her, she said she was really getting into being an artist & that was taking up a lot of her time. I told her we would still love to share a beer with her everyonce in awhile. I haven't see her post after that. I miss her contributions & insight here as well

 

Good afternoon NBS, I'm ready to try a few new beers on a rainy Sunday. Starting with Forest & Main Still Life With A Hound. This is a British Barelywine, but it seems to be a little young and seems to need some time to mellow out. @thebeers said it is pretty Mad Elf like and I would agree with him.

3.75/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

16 oz can poured into a tulip

A- A clear brown with red highlights and a small off white head

S- Earthy, cherries, some caramel malts, some alcohol, hint of vanilla

T- Sweet cherries, earthy, some caramel, some alcohol, some dark fruits.

M- Smooth, medium body

O- Definitely in of the sweet side, hoping aging this brings flavors together and let it mellow some. I will agree there are definitely some similarities to Mad Elf

Cheers NBS!

 

NBS beer #1




Triple Sunshine

Lawson's Finest Liquids
American Imperial IPA / 10.30% ABV

4.24/5 rDev -7.6% | Score: 4.59
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

canned 02/19/19

L- The beer pours a hazy golden with about a 1 cm white head. The head recedes fairly quickly into a thin film leaving spotty lacing.
S-The nose is primarily a mix of pineapple and weedy dankness.
T- Up front there is some good bitterness of the grapefruit pithy variety. As your palate adjusts to the bitterness, the sweetness really comes on. It is juicy sweet pineapple which lingers long after the bitterness relents. Alcohol is well hidden.
F- The mouthfeel is medium overall, but has a real syrupy quality which is enhanced by the sweetness of the beer. Carbonation is light, but still keeps the beer from getting to heavy.
O- A well executed triple. The sweetness will keep some people from enjoying it, but it's certainly in line with other examples that I've had. Recommended for fans of Triple IPA's.

 

I forgot to add this

 

In all probability that would be me but I would try one just to see.

We have been receiving in PA both Sip of Sunshine and Super Session recently as @Tucquan made mention above (post #43). Heretofore I have only been drinking Sip of Sunshine on draft (I had one last Friday night). Hopefully over time we will see more Lawson's brands.

Cheers!