New Beer Sunday (Week 736)

Welcome aboard !

Happy NBS-iversery [] , Doc .

Today's first (as it starts to snow ) is Pepper , a 4/5%abv sour/wild ale, from Plan Bee .
Described by the brewery as
{NY Wild Ale}
Brewed with homegrown hot peppers
It is just that, surprisingly enough.

It is hazy, orangey-gold, with light white head

Smells like lactic sourness, apple,mango, & tabasco sauce .

Taste is similar to aroma, except that the pepper flavor has some sweetness and complexity.
On a 0-10 heat scale, with jalapeno =5, serrano & tabasco =6, this is probably 3.75 +/-.

Feel is light, with very fine carbonation, as would be expected. Some pepper heat at the back of the throat.

Overall, I like it. Not an everyday thing, but seemed as though it would be perfect for my spinach/green onion omelette , and it was.

4.06/5 rDev +8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33607/259944/?ba=mikeinportc#review

 

Corando Brewing CO.'s Guava Islander IPA, 7.3% ABV, it is passable. 3.43 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with a pinky of eggshell colored head. Average lacing & slightly better head retention

S: A little guava & mango, then pine late

T: Follows the nose, slight citrus notes as well along with bready dryness & a touch of pine up front. Dryness, pomelo, a little guava, a little grassyness once warm. Finishes dry with pomelo & more guava

MF: Medium body body, dialed back carbonation that does pick once warm, alright balance

Drinks alright, just nothing really stands out about this

 

Next time you communicate with her please let her know that we miss her insightful reviews, mouthwatering food pairings, and mostly her delightful personality. She was a big part of this thread and WBAYDN.

 

@lordofthewiens it's been a good 2 years with you starting this now and then. I see you're celebrating with a new "avatar".
It turned rainy and cool this afternoon here so I thought I would go for the porter in the fridge. This is Thimble Island's Putin On The Ritz, a 6%ABV Baltic Porter .


3.65/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from an undated 16-oz can to a diagonal cut tumbler.
Dark beer, medium brownish head that fades rather quickly.
Aroma is malty sweet. Taste follows, quite sweet up front, dries a little at the end, but overall, seems a little sugary.
Mouthfeel is light and carbonation is high, but hey, it's "only" a porter.
Overall, drinkable, but too sweet to be great. Nostrovia.

I like this brewery and their beers, but I have always had a little pet peeve about their name. There are multiple islands off the coast of Branford CT where they are located. These islands are collectively called The Thimble Islands. Not a one of them is individually called "Thimble Island". However the brewery calls itself Thimble Island, singular. I know, wa wa wa, what am I the grammar police. I could care less how people miss-speak (like me, talk all the time bad I do), but for some reason this bugs me.

 

Just finished that exciting Auburn/Kentucky game and now onto the one I care almost about. Go State!

This new beer is from @JBowenGeorgia , thanks John!


12 ounce can, no date but assumed fresh.
Pours an orangey gold, with an orange tinted head of just under a finger. Hazy body. Whispy fingers of lacing on the entire glass as I drank it.
Nose of sweet oj, orange and lemon zest.
Fairly easy tastes. Bitter orange juice, green, grapefruit, tangerine, citrus pith, pine forest. An old school hop, old school flavors.
Medium body, lower carbonation.
On old school hop in a new school style works. Tasty beer.
3.99 rDev -2.7%

 

Back with another Tired hands lager from the "Appetizer" box from @CanConPhilly , a nice SchwarzBier: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28383/292354/

 

Our daughter is an archaeologist and has spent considerable time working in Israel. She's also a craft beer aficionado. She introduced me to Taybeh. The brewery has an interesting story. The brewers are Palestinian Christians who emigrated to the USA and then returned to open a brewery. Many of their beers are German styles and they're really quite good. When we visited Israel last summer to see our daughter's dig site we attended an event which included a Taybeh beer tent and I was able to try a bunch of their beers. It's great that you can find them here!

 

I wish I could hit a double like on this one. Her beer reviews were artistry as well.

 

I’ve had a few really hefty ipas like this, Mongo, Hop Craic, Hopsickle. I just can’t find them here anymore, they fell victim to the Cali curse of old age. Love Lawson beers,nice review.

 

Of course I have had Stoneface's IPA many times before, but this one is a fresh (3/13/19) can of the DDH version. This counts as a new beer, doesn't it? It doesn't even really look like its original incarnation... I think this is much hazier than the last few times I've had their IPA.



Pours an opaque orange color with a relentless, sticky head of bone-white foam. Very impressive lace and legs here... there's pretty much absolutely zero disconnect between the head and body of this beer, even after a few sips. Just structurally beautiful in my glass, and the opacity and color give it a one-two punch of extra aesthetic points. Love it!

The nose is absolutely intense and lush, with scents ranging from creamy berry-like notes to sharp, oily tropical fruit with some nice dank pine peeking through as well. Light melon and stone fruit with some even-handed white wine undertones playing with the tropical papaya and mango slushie-like aspects. I can't wait to dive in to this beauty!

My first sip is like biting into a ripe white grapefruit, with some more acidic white wine elements as I mentioned from the nose... mango and papaya flesh with some underlying black tea, melon and raw, wild berries popping up at times. Wow, this does a lot of stuff right. Not very bitter... juicy and supple with good structure. Probably a lot of wheat and/or oats to keep it soft and supple while also dense and creamy. Finish is massaging and eminently drinkable. Damn, I love this. It's pretty much a strict upgrade from their regular IPA. I would love if they made this a more regular release... think I've seen it a few times so it seems likely they'll produce it a bit more as long as demand stays up there. Full support!!

 

Back between games with another new beer. This is Southern Grist's first lager, and is the result of a collab between them and a soon-to-open brewery in Asheville, NC called Dissolvr. Interestingly, they brewed this using the parti-gyle method which is a way to get two different beers (technically worts) out of one mash, implying that we will be seeing a much bigger amber beer from these two sometime soon. I'm guessing English Barleywine but who knows? Anyway, SG describes this as a "Bohemian Amber Lager," so let's take a look:


This is a beautiful beer in every way. On the pour, an orange-copper stream left the can, filling the glass with a moderately hazy amber color topped with a generous light-tan head. The foam had great staying power reluctantly leaving thick tracks on the glass. The aroma reminded me of a Festbier with a rich bready character, floral hops, and faint plum. Burnt caramel and toffee joined the fray on the palate, mixing well with the bready flavors. This malt profile was simply awesome. The bitterness was firm and more than I would expect from a Bohemian Pils for comparison, but it balanced this perfectly given the big malt notes and relatively high ABV. The finish was off-dry but not even close to sweet. Very clean with zero off-flavors. Overall this is outstanding and distinctive from a big Festbier or Vienna Lager. I'll be looking for more of this. Cheers!

 

Was sitting down at the kitchen table with this beer and caught these two “effers” walking across the front lawn. They are the bain of my existence, and the novelty has quickly worn off for this “city boy.”

There used to be a tree here, though a small one. You can still see the base if you look close enough.



One Way Ticket IPA brewed with Mosaic. This beer is part of an IPA series that features a single hop.



This beer looks almost exactly like the West Coast IPA earlier. Bright, translucent, golden amber color (perhaps a hair lighter in color) with a frothy, bone white head. Less visible carbonation. Same level of lace streaking across the glass. Also a very attractive looking beer.

Right off the bat I get the Mosaic. I’m talking fruit/tropical fruit and not the green, oniony side of Mosaic (which I love BTW). The aroma of this beer is stone fruit and candy. Peach gummy ring and ripe mango. I’m not getting a a prominent bready malt aroma like I did on the West Coast IPA, but I think that’s because it melds more with the fruity hop aromas not present in the other beer. The malt and fruity hops are presenting themselves in unison, whereas the grassy, piney and herbal aroma of the West Coast IPA yielded to the bready malt profile. Again, it does not burst from the glass, but it’s nice.

The flavor of this beer is OK. It’s got a generically sweet malt profile and falls a bit heavy and syrupy on the palate for my preferences. Fruit wise it is very ripe and sweet. Mango and peach, but rather muted.

This beer is less carbonated than the last and falls a bit heavier on the palate for me.

Overall, I’m not a huge fan of this beer. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it just falls a bit flat for me. I went with this one for the Mosaic over a Galaxy pale ale, and I’m left wondering about the beer that I passed up.

Cheers to you and your new beers, people.

 

Happy NBS. Trying this very nice Westbrook Velvet Tuxedo. Amazing nose. 4.46 for me.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24134/400618/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

Onto new beer number two here NBS. Likely my last beer of the day as well.

This is Jam Don't Shake, a pb& j style imperial stout w/ peanut butter, raspberries and milk sugar, from Grimm and Other Half collabo style. The brew checks in at 17% abv

An oily black color on the pour with a rather non-existent head. The nose is thick with the sweet raspberry and malts. That note carries right over from the nose onto the first few sips. A very sharp and sweet raspberry jam flavor upfront, and nice flow of the chocolate malt, and I get the sandy and creamy peanut butter flavor on the finish. Full bodied and a little booze with lots of stick to it. It's surprisingly rather easy drinking but I can really feel the abv hitting and warming me. The only knock that I can find is the base stout is drowned out by the other flavors at times.

Overall, this was a lot better than I thought it would be. Its got a lot going on and every sip seems to present something new. As close to a liquid pb&j as I think you can get and in a good way. I'm around a 4 and maybe slightly higher.

 

Congrats to @lordofthewiens on the anniversary. I really enjoy your nuggets of life that you share.
A long week again and Im up for a new beer. So many to choose from the generous box sent from @WesMantooth that its going to be tough to save some of my wants until Release Day. First up is..
Jackie Os who cooks for you. DDH Pale Ale
Pours, yes a hazy yellow/gold.
Head is creamy and full leaving lots of lacing after its lasting stay.
Aroma is pine right away which fades into a tropical dankness; ripe pineapple, passionfruit and guava. There is a strong presence of peach as well as hints of white grape and an herbal touch of grass.
Taste follows with tropical notes, damp pine, pithy grapefruit and orange with a pale malt presence. Tasty.
Feel is medium/light with lots of refreshing tiny bubble carbonation, drying pine needle bitter finish.
A delicious highly drinkable pale ale that drinks like an IPA, but without the heaviness. At 5.5% I would nail these all day. Thank you again kind sir. Cheers!

 

I have found my new whale.

 

Half time - Spartans ballin! This beer comes from the generous @JBowenGeorgia part of NDS BIF 9, Creature Comforts, Everything Is.. Mosaic, a dry hopped pilsner, pours the most amazing two finger frothy head that sustains to the end, a thing of beauty, aroma is a nice hoppy tropical fruit, the hops are a fantastic addition to a traditional pils, but still some bready malts present, well balanced, easy drinker, thanks John!