New Beer Sunday (Week 741)

Barrier - Oceanwood

Now I’m shifting to two Barrier quickies. For me, NEIPAs tend to fall into one of three categories: bitter, chalky, or rotting fruit. Maybe I’ll want to edit those categories… I never really thought about it until now. I’m only thinking as I type. Regardless, this one falls into the third category.

It tastes of papaya, pineapple, and guava. It’s not distinctive enough. Lacing is great. Full body. Sweet. It’s a good beer but I wish they were striving for new flagships rather than ticks. I might like it better if it was doing exactly that.

 

Up next comes beer from @CanConPhilly and was from his NBS BIF #9 box. A big Imperial stout that is pretty good: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/40117/399007/

 

What's the "R" in IRL stand for? (BTW - "chicken broth" - I like that comparison)

 

Switching up styles to a Coffee Milk Stout, NBS.

This is Single Shot w/ Vanilla Bean from Tree House. The Thrilla with Vanilla.



Look: This beer pours dark brown from the can. As I empty it into my glass, a huge, dark brown head fills the top half of the glass. Then the waterfall kicks in as the pitch black beer slowly rises while the tightly packed, bubbly foam cascades away. The beer fills my glass with the absence of color, and a tall, rich, creamy, light brown head forms at the top. It settles down streaking my glass with sticky lacing.





The beer is opaque and there is no visible carbonation. This beer was fun to watch.

Smell: Vanilla, light roast coffee with cream and sugar, coffee yogurt, chocolate mousse, chocolate covered cherry, mocha, sweet tobacco, fresh pumpkin and hazelnut. Complex and not falling into the trap of smelling like vanilla extract. Stout first. Coffee and vanilla stout second.

Taste: Up front creamy, sweet and berry forward lightly roasted coffee. Chocolate milk. Mid palate some hazelnut and cinnamon. Some lingering cherry and dark berry flavors on the finish. A flash of roast creates a faint coffee bitterness that lingers on the palate.

Mouthfeel: Very low carbonation and super creamy mouthfeel. Sticky sweet lip feel.

Overall: This is world class for so many reasons. Super creamy mouthfeel as hoping for the style, well executed vanilla and complex, berry-forward coffee flavors. It’s thick, sweet, roasty, fruity, dark and bright.

4.54/5 rDev +2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

 

Greenbush Mr Hyde Ale, 7.8% ABV. Pours dark brown, with a 2.75 finger tan head that left lots of foamy lacing. Nose is coffee, roast malt, and smoke. Taste is coffee, citrus, roast malt, with a moderate bitter close. Excellent smooth mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.08/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Excellent coffee beer from @drunkenmess

 

New Imperial Stout Sunday

Happy NBS everyone! I started off with this good barrel aged brew from Columbus' own Seventh Son: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31408/202947/?ba=bluejacket74#review





I think I'll have one more new brew today, cheers!

 

This is a new IPA from Two Roads that I would certainly consider to be a rather-maximalist expression of the modern IPA. As the can says, this is brewed with pellet hops, extract, lupulin powder (which I believe is the layman's term for "Cryo" hops), TNT (which I guess is a blend of German hops?), hop hash AND hop distillate (reminds me of Hop Hunter from Sierra Nevada; I assume a similar thing is used?). That's a lot of hops. Does it actually, ya know, matter, though? Let's hope so. Otherwise that's a bunch of effort for pretty much just marketing purposes. I'm going to keep an optimistic eye, but this seems super silly. That's the main reason I wanted it, though, so maybe I'm just a rube

Pours a medium-cloudy but still pretty translucent golden-yellow color. Swear I can see a greenish tint to this one, too, but could just be bias or my eyes playing tricks. Anyway, I can see streams of carbonation rising from the bottom of my glass as I pour this beer, but these streams never really seem to result in, well... head. Look, I don't want to be too sassy with this one, but that's not really the best first impression, Two Roads. The most I can really get with even a hard pour is a finger or so, and it bubbles away quickly. Hmm. Moving on...

The nose is pretty fun and interesting, which was a surprise to me. I get bright melon, grassiness, papaya, guava, and grapefruit with a touch of tangelo, sweet white grape, and orange rind. A slight suggestion of maltiness that seems to come across mostly as biscuit with some light honeyed undertones sneaks past the hops that are standing guard. A definite striking resinous presence lurks underneath, meshed with some dank character as well. I'm into it.

On the tongue, this strikes forth with a hit of resinous pine and slick earthiness before coalescing into generic citrus pithiness toward the mid-palate. More biscuity and bready malt suggestions than I feel are comfortable, however. Perhaps the brewers were worried about balance and over-corrected? It seems to have less character than the nose gave off. Now I'm somewhat worried about my palate, though. I had the same issue with the Pipeworks beer I just reviewed an hour ago... solid nose, underwhelming flavor. I get a lot of that mid-range melon flavor that seems kind of dull, to be honest. Not a lot of bitterness for whatever reason, and the finish seems slick and underwhelming. Lighter suggestions of tangerine, pineapple, and papaya with some floral and almost-herbal stuff going on. Could be the TNT hop blend which might have something in common with Noble hop varietals? Not worth revisiting, overall. Two Roads' IPAs seem to consistently hit a bit under-the-mark for me, while their weirder stuff is pretty good for the most part.

Alright, I have one more in me since both of these have let me down... the next is a high-octane flavored and barrel-aged stout that has been getting superb reviews around these parts. I'm very excited for it, and also very excited to share my opinion of it with y'all. You're the best! Cheers, NBS!

 

Suarez Family Brewing - Palatine Pils

Pours a bright golden, crystal clear color with a huge, stable head.


Offers a fantastic hop driven rusticness on the nose, defined by a noble, herbal hop appearance, crackers and a whiff of wheat. The main contender here definitely are the hops though, creating a richness on the nose which is very intriguing.


Has a vivid, yet soft mouthfeel to it, making this drink smooth while producing an outstanding freshness.


Tastes of fresh cut grass, tomato bush and a rustic wheat foundation, exhibiting just a hint of caramel. Turns way softer then, with a calm, aqueous middlepart, revealing more grains and a note of wheat. Finishes with light copper undertones, gently entangled into the crackery malts, creating an outstanding complexity, while maintaining its high drinkability, ending with a long lasting herb dryness.


This is a world class Pilsener, maybe the most well rounded I‘ve ever had. Everything comes together flawlessly im this, and without becoming gimmicky this introduces your palate to a subtle dryness, backed up perfectly by an elegant, well working malt foundation.

 

Mitten Peanuts and Crackerjack, 6% ABV. Pours black with a foamy two finger tan head that left nice lacing. Nose is nuts and crackerjacks. Taste is nuts, chocolate, toffee, some roast malt, slight bitter close. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. Crackerjacks in a glass!

4.52/5 rDev +10.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to @drunkenmess for the liquid crackerjacks!

 

Aaaaaalright, here goes nothing. Currently contending with an immense, complex stout of the highest order. A high-brow collaboration between Oskar Blues and Cigar City. A glass of magnanimous magnetic magic known only as... BAMBURANA!



Pours a terrifying jet-black into my fancy HF wine-style stemmed glassware. Topped off with a nicely-composed head of dark mocha foam that eventually settles as a more khaki-toned pillow of suds with excellent legs and lace. A proper "scary stout" (personally-coined term, mind you) pour. I am intimidated, yet I want nothing more than to experience this vast horror as it demands to be experienced. Or something.

The scents of cinnamon-raisin bread, whiskey and fig just absolutely explode out of the glass as I decant this one. Jeeeeeeez, guys. This is one insanely aromatic beer, I will say that right out of the gate! Intense spicy tannic structures, earthiness, dark fruit, more baking spice and deep fudgy undertones in the nose of this one. God damn. The barrel aging here is second-to-none. I get so much of that thick, boozy brandy character crossed with the stiff whiskey notes and intense ethanol suggestions, giving me a lot to work with on the palate.

And, yep. There it is. My first sip is just absolutely drenched with syrupy cinnamon-raisin goodness, with the spicy Amburana wood taking the forefront and giving this whole collaboration an intense character right off the bat. This is so damn woody and tannic and stiff. It's a wonder any of the fruitiness comes out at all, but it does! I mean, it's more of an afterthought compared to the complex, spicy and chocolate-heavy malt bill, but there are some RIS-like raisin and fig elements coming out at the mid-finish of each small sip. I am so impressed with how balanced this is, though, overall. This could easily be a hyper-decadent, nearly-undrinkable beer given its bevy of unusual adjuncts and characteristics (plus the immense strength!), but it just... succeeds. Nearly effortlessly. Nothing about it feels too heavy or too focused-on. There is equal footing given to the dark fruit as there is to the barrels, and to the malt bill, and the fact that this is a beer is not lost at all. I mean, this still has a nice, toned bitterness and a very logical progression of flavors and sensations when it comes to sipping and enjoying it. I've had many flavored strong stouts that seem great on paper but which become a chore to drink when they're actually in my glass due to the brewery's reach exceeding their grasp. Maybe they are too "coconut" or too "peanut butter," or too this or that. This happens with all sorts of things in the world, of course, but when it comes to beer, it can be heartbreaking to be let down by something that seems so awesome which fails to translate into an enjoyable experience.

This is not one of those beers. This is fucking heavenly. Holy shit. The reviews are right. Believe the hype and get some of this if you even remotely enjoy complex stouts. You're going to be seriously missing out if you don't try this brew now.

Related hot take: this is perfect fresh. I would not bother aging it. The spiciness of the wood mixed with the complexities of the barrel involved will likely make this way more homogeneous and boring over time. It tastes spectacular as it is.



One of the best electronic tracks of all time paired with one of the best stouts I've had in recent memory. Fitting. CHEERS!

 

I've been unable to catch up on BA today, but I'm guessing that this is not the only Cinco de Mayo-themed beer today. This one is a new release by Oddstory down in Chattanooga:


Great color on this one. A pale straw color that was moderately hazy in the glass. A normal pour produced a one-finger white head that left rather quickly, leaving a few circular wisps. The aroma was fresh squeezed lime, lemon, faint wheat, and some salt (if you can smell salt). Clean with no off-aromas. Taste followed suit - moderately tart with a crisp lime flavor. The salt was well-done and enough to notice but not overbearing. A bit one-dimensional, but refreshing and clean. Cheers!

 

I would pay $20 for either of those pints. No, $25. Looks and sounds tasty!

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks to @cjgiant for today's start. We are back home form an overnight in Cambridge, out in celebration of Cambridge Brewing Company 30 years in business.
An amazing list of beers on draft, 30 of course, all on point and a wide variety of styles,
Today we headed to Notch Brewing in Salem as it was their 9th Anniversary celebration, enjoyed the release of the anniversary beer. A Bamberg Smoked Lager. It was stellar.
Cheers all
Fire Walk With Me

Notch Brewing
German Rauchbier / 4.50% ABV

4.21/5 rDev 0% | Score: 4.1
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Enjoyed this on draft today at the brewery release, poured into .5 liter glass
A - Amber, dark copper color, excellent clarity. Carbonation was active and determined, Beautiful rocky white froth.
S - Beech wood smoked malts up front, then a refined grain, cracker, and floral hops round out the nose
T - Earthy grain start, smoked malts a constant but not overbearing, really nice light citrus piece adds to the complexity.
M - Medium in body, resides right between softer water feel and some prickly carbonation. Semi sweet start quickly shift to a beautiful dry finish,
O - A real treat, single decoction has this with a solid body but the start is the aromatics of that smoked malt. Enough to excite the smoked beer fan, and gentle enough to not be off putting.
Excellent beer