New Beer Sunday (Week 740)

Really well done! I'm happy to have inspired such a great comparison. Now you have me wanting to do this exact same thing myself .

 

I was in Maryland and stopped to buy some beer and managed to pick up some good beers. This one being one of them.

I could have sworn that I had it before, but I looked up the database and I had never reviewed it, so I am glad picked up a single as it was tasty.

 

HOMES milkshake sour. This was fantastic. Deep ruby red/purple color. Great rocky head retention/spotty lacing. Aromas and flavors of huge juicy, lightly tart/tangy boysenberry, raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, plum, pear, apricot, red/green apple, currant, red grape/wine, hay, straw, and grass; with balanced vanilla, cream, wheat, cracker, white bread dough malts; light pepper, lacto funk and yeast earthiness. Light fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy, silky, bready, grainy wheat/lactose; light lactic acid and fruit tang/tannins in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing tart/tangy fruit dryness; no cloying/pucker. Insanely smooth/soft, no warmth of 6%. Amazing balance between juicy/jammy berries, lacto complexity, lactose, and pale/wheat malts against acidity. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Another spot on kettle sour. I hope they distribute some day. Love all their beers so far. 4.25


Cheers

This band I could listen to forever. Nothing gets old or boring.

 

Evening NBSers still trying to shake off bruins loss last night and new beer I have been looking forward will help.

As a lover of hefe ❤️ Really hoped there was more base hefe along with the funk. It was still a good beer just had my hops higher ..

Foudreweizen | Jester King

4.1/5 rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours pale hazy yellow but more clarity then in hefe and the head fades all too fast. Im tore since I find my self looking for more the hefe notes and in the smell you do not get the banana or clove notes but more light lemon and bright brett funk. Taste follows with a nice snap of tart and a crisp bite to it. Overall a good beer but whish a little more of the base hefe was able to show through to really make this stand out.

 

It's a good beer. I tried for first time a few weeks ago myself. Very nice light English beer to have around (in cans now). It was pretty darn cheap as well from my recollection here was my review below:

4.14/5 rDev +9.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Bought a 6er cans for only $8.99 so it seems like a low risk try. Very tasty for a ESB at only 5.2%. Aroma is not good. Kinda "fishy" as weird as that seems. Taste is very light brown ale in style with crisp light bitter hop finish to round out the brown sweetness and light body. A great change of pace "session" beer.

 

That's one of favorites that they do, glad you enjoyed it.

 

Good evening, NBS 35th anniversary edition. We have ventured out of the compound are are up in the region formerly populated by @lordofthewiens himself. We are base camped for three days in Ogunquit, ME. I am in complete agreement with @cavedave and his reaction to the topic of immunizations. Misguided souls, indeed.

Minor possibly major infraction here...amidst the shopping, dining, surf viewing, and...ahem...other things...we have done a fine job trying one new brewery and some new beers from an old favorite. No reviews yet, but I will share first impressions.

First up a new brewery we have driven by a hundred times. Barreled Souls. Ok...kind of a dungeon-ish man cave thing going on. Awesome display of beer bottles on most of the walls. Shuffleboard and cribbage boards for amusement. Fun and friendly vibe before the Maine Brew Bus showed up. We each picked four pours for flights.



Back left is Little Havana, a gose with mango, pineapple, papaya. Heavy fruit smell and taste. Mildly sour, mild salt, butter finish, good beer, good start. Back right is Maple Pour Over oatmeal stout with coffee and maple. Just OK. Rough around the edges and too much maple. Coffee quite acidic and kinda green. Left front, Dark Matter...undefined style. This is up my alley...confused and jumbled in the best possible way. Flavor morphs with every sip, thick but not syrupy. Really dig this one, just fun to decipher. Right front...Soul of a Lion English Brandywine. Another fantastic beer, chocolate and cheery strong enough to hold up to the malt. Great cheery flavor, no Nyquil here.

Flight of the Missus:



Back left, Celestial Person...a pastry stout with vanilla, chocolate, coconut, lactose. It is awesomeness in a glass...nowhere near as sweet as it sounds. Nice balance of the flavors, coconut just enough to notice. Unfortunately only available on tap. Excellent beer. Back right is Munro strong scotch ale. Deliciously malty, reminds me of Backwoods Bastard without the bourbon. Front left M.C.A.M...ok, the wife liked it, I didn't get it on this one. Breakfast porter with chocolate, cinnamon, and bacon. Strong cinnamon and unpleasantly meaty to me, but Karen enjoyed it but also said she wouldn't go buy it. Front right something interesting...Southern Hospitality brewed with sweet potato, Brown sugar, pecans. And yes all that stuff is in there at smack your face levels. Like the flavor, just a bit too much even for dessert. We bought Soul a Lion and variants of Dark Matter.

Allagash this morning...



Barrel and Bean left end just to confirm it actually is James Bean...it absolutely is. Next is Willis Street, just called a dark ale. Very good, bordering on being a quad, but it is actually Belgian stout with some rye and bourbon barrel magic. Very good beer if a bit undefined. Next is Saison Gratis, an OK brew kind of mixing saison and IPA character. Darling Ruby on the right end seems to take the Saison Gratis to a logical conclusion, much lighter, more refreshing, brighter citrus.

Not pictured is River Trip...very good drinker for the coming season. Melon, citrus, light and refreshing. Nice riff on the table beer concept.

So what did we buy? Moselle and Sun Drift...so those can fuel future NBS adventures. The rep at the sales counter said "did you try" on both these beers, opened each for us and we were sold.

Will catch up with the thread some other time...wink wink, nudge nudge...say no more, say no more...

 

Having a new IPA tonight from Union called Devine. Union is a very solid brewery making decent beers across many styles. I'm not a picture guy, so here is my review to share:

4.4/5 rDev +10.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A very, very unique IPA. Appearance is golden and clear body a 1 finger head. Looks like a Pilsener almost. Aroma is hoppy and sweet. It says citra and mosaic, however the aroma is like a pear or peach in sweetness and a touch dank but nothing tropical fruity at all like you normally expect from those hop varieties. Taste is superb blend of malt and hops. The hops are aromatic, sweet and juicy but finishes a touch crisp and perhaps a touch dry (not a Brut but hints that way a little). Bitterness is low but its present to remind you this is an IPA. Feels very slick and silky going down. Another excellent crafted beer from Union. Highly recommend to try this one.

 

Obviously I’ll encourage it. When I bought the Bock Bier, I was already curious about the differences; your review just made me more curious.

 

Same here in PA. I had two of my lab people who refused "I never get the flu". They had to mask before dealing with patients - they actually did because I had the nursing supervisors report to me.

 

Uncle Harry photo bomb.


750 ml. bottle poured into an Ommegang Game of Thrones glass. Moderate to vigorous pour yields a huge light tan head over a mahogany body with nice lacing. Nose of caramel, molasses, dark fruit, and a bit of chocolate. No discernible hops whatsoever. Tastes of chocolate, slight dark fruit, and even slighter bitterness from the late appearance-making hops. Nice feel and overall, I wish I had tried this earlier, but I bought the last one and wanted to save it for the last season. It really is quite delicious, but not in a barley wine kind of way; more like an Old Ale or even Stout. Cheers!

 

Holy shit this was insane. Nice head retention, light spotty lacing for the ABV. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cream, fudge, coconut, whiskey, toasted oak, brownie batter, roasted nuts, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with light notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, peat smoke, char, leather, tobacco, and yeast earthiness. Minimal booze in the aromas as it warms. Very mild herbal, roast, char bitterness; and whiskey/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and super full body; with a perfectly creamy, silky, velvety, bready, rich malt mouthfeel. Light slickness, chalky roast, and oak tannins after the finish. Slightly increasing lingering bitter/tannic dryness; no cloying, acrid, astringency. Dangerously smooth sipping, mild increasing warmth of 14%, minimal lingering barrel booze. Insanely rich malts; with perfectly balanced cocoa, vanilla, coconut flavors; and barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. One of the best imperial dessert stouts I've ever had. 4.52


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

Well, I've got one more in me, and I picked up this simple new beer yesterday, like I did for my last one.


Simple from Wild Mind Artisan Ales.

The simple things in life make it a lot better. Tonight it's new beer and Sanford and Son are my simple pleasures.

So is this beer simple?

Nope!

A lot of packed flavor into this beer. Wild and funky. Some honey mixed in makes it a delicious beer. I do say it slightly better in my review.


4.16/5 rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a lighter golden color. Pours fairly clear. 3 finger, very frothy, white head. The head retention is quite good. There's some lacing on the glass as the head dissipates.
The nose is extremely wild and funky. Somewhat floral smelling.
Taste - Nice wild flavor. Very floral tasting. Some spices. Some hops. Some sweetness , that tastes like honey.
Good body. Nice carbonation bubbles in my throat.
Yes, a nice wild funky beer, that delivers a lot of punch in a "simple" beer.


All done after this. See you all next Sunday.

 

Well as catch up on the nbs thread an and sip on amazing beer from @Timx0r in my 1st bif BA box.

Italian Drinking Chocolate | 1840
4.32/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to @Timx0r a great bif beer!!

Look deep black and think with aggressive pour to try and get a nice foam, that would not happen, the small tan like head fading quickly with little to no lacing.
S: is great, a mixture of booze chocolate and coffee where you cant wait for the first sip
T: so many beers the taste follow the smell but not here while the hazelnuts is not on the nose it comes out on the taste with some nice bitter chocolate notes on the back end.
F: is nice an average carb for a stout of this level maybe a touch thin if being picky.
O: a great sipper and nice to had a stout with adjuct that is not over the top sweet and still taste like beer!

 

I had the same feelings about the mouthfeel on that one as well as the 4 months age on my bottle

 

Finally home after picking up my little from spending a few days with his mom over spring break. Time for a beer after dealing with her, unfortunately there is no vaccine for stupidity.
Getting into one from @superspak BIF box. Hoping to get to the Blueberry Pancake version after the little one gets to sleep.

Pours dark brown/ borderline black with two fingers of rocky mocha head.
Smells of roasty malts, dark chocolate, vanilla pops up.
Taste follows, predominantly roasty malts and cocoa as advertised. A touch a villa sweetness comes through as well.
Full side of medium body, good carb level, creamy texture.
Overall solid milk stout, I'd have it again if available.

 

First Fremont for me and it's a doozy... Coffee BA Dark Star imperial oatmeal stout. Posting full review later, it's really nice, wish it had a touch more body. Cheers NBSers.

And Go Hogs!!

 

Good evening NBSers. @CanConPhilly hit me with a mystery beer and warned that it is weird. Never one to miss an opportunity to embarrass myself, here we go...



It pours a caramel brown, with a bit of reddishness. A robust head of tiny white bubbles quickly forms and dissipates nearly as quickly leaving behind a bit of fine lacing. I'm not getting a ton from the nose, just a bit of caramel malt and cracker, maybe lager yeast.

On the tongue, first impressions are confirmed. First hit is in the barleywine/old ale neighborhood, maybe a bock. Caramel, brown sugar, a bready sweetness with very little accompanying bitterness. A bit of red berry. Medium mouthfeel, relatively dry finish. Honestly, if there is something weird here I'm just not picking it up. Best guess would be an oak aged old ale, maybe with a bit of brown sugar.

Reveal:



Forest & Main, Still Life with Hound, an english barleywine. Well played Matt, well played. And thank you!