New Beer Sunday (Week 741)

Pavlova from Commonwealth, a sour IPA with lactose. Pineapple, mango, passionfruit, vanilla, and coconut.

L: 16 oz can poured into a radler glass. Pours a thick, dark orange color with minimal head that quickly fades. Little to no head. 4.0
S: Fruit forward, the pineapple and mango dominate the nose with some hints of lactose and vanilla. 4.25
T: Tons of fruit on the first sip. Mango, papaya, passionfrut and pineapple followed by a nice sour finish with a nice vanilla additional from the lactose and vanilla and hints of coconut. 4.25
F: Medium body and carbonation with a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. 4
O: Lots going on in this one but it's really good. All the flavors shine at different times. 4.25 for a BA generated 4.21

 

Excellent Gose. Fantastic fluffy head retention/foamy lacing for the style. Aromas and flavors of big sour/tart/tangy concord grapes, fruit skin, lemon, lime, peach, plum, pear, currant, apricot, melon, red/green apple, white wine, sea salt, hay, straw, and grass; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bread dough malts; light peppercorn, lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit tang, and light spiciness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, light-medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Creamy/grainy wheat; some lactic acid, fruit tang/tannins, and light salinity in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy dryness, no puckering. Very flavorful/refreshing, not overly lactic/salty, 4.5%. Awesome balance of nicely juicy/jammy grapes and Lacto complexity; with a great pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity for the ABV. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. Spot on stuff, will buy again. The whole series has been consistently impressive. 4.03


Cheers

 

Back with what is probably my last NBS entry, from @CanConPhilly and NBS BIF #9; an absolutely awesome brew from Upland: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1170/223127/

 

#2, how about a collab 13% imperial stout from Fat Orange Cat and Decadent? Note: this is not the biggest beer @beerloserLI sent me in NBS BIF Nein - I’m going to need to schedule a bottle share to tackle the 17% beast.

That is not a typo.





4.42/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Beers in this category (uber big imperial stouts) scare me - it’s easy for the brewery (or in this collab’s case, breweries) to let one element or another become too pronounced, which opens up a path for the booziness to dominate.

Note: I don’t like booze. At all.

Fortunately, this exceptionally balanced 13% ABV imperial stout features zero booze. How is that possible?

The answer: it’s pretty sweet. Fortunately, I love sweet, so this is in my wheelhouse, from the pour that is completely black with a significant dark tan head, to the cinnamon and dark chocolate aromas that dance nicely with the ancho peppers, to the taste, where the ancho peppers are more prominent up front, but yield to the dark chocolate and, at the very end of the taste, the vanilla and cinnamon.

If you don’t like sweet, this beer will be a challenge. If you do like sweet, and you like big, gargantuan stouts, seek this.

 

I Always Look Forward to My Daily Commute on the L Train...

An 11.3% abv double dry hopped triple IPA... Along with two Evil Twin stout collabs I picked up at Total Wine, all featuring really sharp label art, it is remarkably typically kind of New England-esque, double dry hopped, and with a high abv... The featured hops are a compelling lot, Citra, Galaxy, and Nelson, but there is nothing really gripping about the delivery... All that may sound negative but this is a solid NETIPA (new category? lol), with a soft tangy citrus element up front and throughout - lots of grapefruit, some softer, sweeter orange-like notes, a sheen of lime-like zestiness - and there is something piney and airy, lightening it up with some vaporousness... The body is fairly full, and while you could say smooth and soft, it has some serious heft to it despite the bright citrus and pine airs... Kinda on the fence in some regards, as I've been a bit harder-to-please with NEIPAs and IPAs in general lately, and this one didn't really elevate itself from the crowd, but it was a very enjoyable drinking experience... *thumbs up given* ...4/12/19 canning...

Here's to new beer in your glass, cheers...

 

A pretty solid Kolsch from Ithaca Beer Co. Blueberry and pineapple on the nose, crisp and crackery body, slight vinous, white wine qualities, and hay. Low-abv and refreshing. A well made Kolsch.

 

First BBCo. up: Fourth Color:
Double IPA with Milk Sugar.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33136/410781/



16 oz. can.
Canned 4/10/19.
Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 3/4 inch eggshell head over a murky golden body with some sticky lacing. Nose of tropical fruit and sweet citrus. Taste mirrors nose nicely with a fairly smooth finish in that it doesn't go from sweet to bitter like going off a cliff! Very soft feel, and overall, I usually review new IPAs as soon as we get them, but I waited a couple weeks to try this and maybe the extra time is more suited to my palate, or maybe Joe has changed his lactose exuberant ways; I don't know. Cheers to Mr. Lemnah for his first lactose IPA I actually finished from BBCo.!

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Another long work week finished up, and gearing up for an even longer one starting tomorrow.

Because of that, I need a beer, and because I'm here, a new one at that.



Central Waters Brewer's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Belgian Style Quad.

11.5% ABV.

This beer has been eyeing me in my fridge for a while now, and I decided it was time to enjoy it. This is one heck of a good quad. Nice aroma, and the flavors match. Thick and full bodied. All around quite good.

Review:

4.16/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours a copper/brown color. 1 finger reddish/white head. The head retention isn't too good, and there's no lacing on the glass as it dissipates.
The nose is a nice fruity aroma. Some raisin. Some vanilla. There's also notes from the bourbon barrel. There's also a bit of a boozy aroma that compliments the other aromas.
Taste - The vanilla was the first taste that hit my palate. The raisin then hits. The barrel flavors are mixed in throughout.
Thick, full bodied. No alcohol burn, but quite boozy. It's also smooth going down.
Solid, and delicious quad. A good beer from Central Waters, and if you like quads, I recommend it.


I might try to have another, but this is a heavy hitter, so I'll see after I'm finished with it.

 

@The-Adjunct-Hippie supplied this one. Delicious American blonde ale. Nice fluffy head retention/spotty soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of juicy/lightly tart ruby red grapefruit, citrus peel/zest, lemon, lime, peach, pear, melon, and red apple; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bready malts; light herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppercorn hops, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness; and slight fruit tang/tartness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, light-medium body, and fairly crisp/clean finishing. Balanced creamy/grainy wheat, sticky hops, and citrus rind in the mouthfeel. Moderate increasing bitter dryness, no astringency. Very flavorful/refreshing, not watery for 4.8%. Great balance of juicy/vibrant grapefruit, fruity yeast, earthy hops, and a clean pale/wheat malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. Very well executed. Hoped for more grapefruit, but it was adequate, and the base style is well showcased instead. 3.9


Cheers

I have no clue why I wasn't listening to this band a lot before. Wow, amazing.

 

Back to the IPA with Tree House BBBrighttt w/ Galaxy.



Look: The beers pours a hazy, translucent golden straw color. This beer is very attractive, let’s a good amount of light through and avoids the dirty, murky appearance that sometimes plagues the NEIPA. A bone white head. Upon settling the meringue like foam is rocky and leaves a ton of lacing on my glass.



It eventually settles to a pinky finger. No visible carbonation. A very attractive beer.

Smell: Grassy, unripened mango and a definitive spearmint aroma. Lemon/lime. Earthy, bay leaf,
cooked grains. Not loving all this.

Taste: Grassy, lemony and spearmint again. Touch of dry bitterness on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Low carbonation. Soft mouthfeel. Very nice.

Overall: OK, so an interesting development here. As I go for the final pour to gather my thoughts, I get a different looking beer pouring from the can, due to the murky liquid sitting at the bottom. Here is another picture after the pour. It may be hard to tell, but the beer is now opaque. I could previously see my fingers, although hazy, through the glass. Now, nothing.



The beer no longer has the visual quality that lead to praise at the beginning of my review. That being said, it still looks like a very attractive NEIPA. The aroma is now different. There’s a brighter lemon and lemongrass aroma to the beer. It’s not a great aroma, but it pops a bit more. The spearmint is gone. The flavor is more lemon forward as well.

I have made a note for future reference to agitate Tree House cans. I haven’t had many of their beers so I don’t know what to expect.

So, overall, this went from tasting and smelling like a beer that was just OK to something, well, still just OK, with several offputting qualities.

Disappointed in this one.

3.5/5 rDev -21%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 |
overall: 3.5

 

Good evening NBS
Home from work and trying this one out.

The review:
24oz can stamped DO68CO19 poured into a can glass at fridge temp, no ABV listed on can. The beer pours bright light straw yellow with nearly white head. The head fizzles away in less than two minutes leaving no head, no ring and no lacing. The aroma is sweetish cream corn with a side of metallic tang. The taste is semisweet apple cider (really) with a slight tart & tangy finish. No hint of grain or hops. The mouthfeel is thin bodied, highly carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. Overall, poor. I am a consistent positive rDev for most light lagers, but this is one of the worst.

I definitely did not find my beach. I recently reviewed St. Archer Gold and found it vastly superior to the Corona Premiere. I hope to be back later with something more "crafty". Cheers all!

 

Good evening, NBS.
It is/was a positively lovely day here and now I'm finally getting to sit down with a beer. Today was much better than yesterday since yesterday (my first day this year commuting with my bike) I got a flat and had to go through hell to get to work on time. Anyway, it all worked out and I now have a new tube that will hopefully last a while.
Following the recent Canadian BIF, I have lots of nice new beers to try. However, I feel compelled to crack open a hoppy one in the interest of getting at it before it goes any more rancid than it already is. This one is an IPA from Twin Sails out of BC. I have had a lot of Canadian beers what with living here and all, but I have barely scratched the surface of the surface of any other province than Quebec thanks to our terrible distro laws. I'm always excited to check out something new so let's see if I end up regretting that open mindedness.


It pours clearish with lots of suspended particulate. A couple fingers of fluffy off-white head settles to a film with a ring around the glass. The aroma is orangeade, faintly piney with a little caramel. The flavor follows similar lines with sweet citrus up front and a bitter, almost bread-crusty finish. It is a little meaty body-wise with medium carbonation. This is a tasty beer. It doesn't quite stand out to me in any one way, but it is definitely drinkable. Sweet citrus and some floral bitterness all the way through. As it warms up I feel like I get a little more fruitiness from the mosaic, but I'm not sure. The malt is definitely more forward than I imagine it is fresh and so I could see this popping a little more on tap or something, but on the whole it was a perfectly suited beverage for chilling on the balcony for the first nice evening of the summer.

Santé!

 

2nd and last BBCo. tonight.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33136/414459/



16 oz. can.
Canned 04 25 19.
Moderate pour yields a 3/4 inch white head over a cloudy golden body with some lacing. nose of mostly sweet citrus, some tropical fruit, and a bit of pine. Taste mirrors nose but is a tad more bitter than the nose suggests with a bitter finish of citrus pith. Very soft feel and overall, no mention of lactose/milk sugar on the label. Hmm...Cheers..?

 

That sounds damn tasty. I have only ever had one maple beer that truly captured the flavor but it was delicious. Ever since I've thought it'd be fun to try making some but everything I have read basically says that it's impossible cause all the flavor ferments out. I even wanted to make it with the unveiled sap from my wife's uncle's but I've heard that is the same issue. Does it say anything on the label about what they do (even of it may just be marketing babble)?

 

A friend told me that depends on when you add the syrup. He adds it post primary fermentation and gets a fair amount of maple flavor.

 

Super random comment, but did anyone else notice that Thor is drinking a Tropicalia in Avengers Endgame?

 

EDIT: Imgur was being weird, corrected pic:

It's Cinco De Mayo, but I guess I'm in Belgium today.

Westmalle Dubbel

It's a year past it's BB date. I guess it's a good thing I'm drinking down my stash, because I find gems like this, and my last one. Good flavor. Crisp at first, then it gets nice and malty. Really good flavor.

Review:

4.07/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Consumed on May, 5th 2019. Best buy May 19, 2018. Yeah, a year off.

Pours a nice dark reddish color. Thick 2 finger off white head. The retention is decent, but no lacing on the glass as the head dissipates.
The nose is more of a fruity aroma, but not too strong. Somewhat of a bread aroma also, probably from the malts.
Taste - It has a crisp flavor up front that makes me think of a cider at first. That lasts for a fraction of a second. It then turns into a nice malty flavor. I get some dark fruit flavors mixed in to it.
It is crisp feeling up front. I get a pop from the carbonation. It is a decent bodied beer.
A solid dubbel. It may be past the BB date on the bottle, but it does taste quite good.

Ok, I only have 2 more NBS beers in my fridge at the moment, that I plan on by myself, and another 3 that are reserved for sharing, so I'd better call it a night. See you all next Sunday for my favorite day of the week: New Beer Sunday!!!

Though, due to work, I'll be on an hour later next week. Oh, joy, another 7 hours a week I get to spend at work.

Hell, thinking about it, I might have to pop open another beer. We'll see.

 

Reviews say this is probably infected, but let's do it anyways. Not too bad, but definitely well developed. This was very nice. Fantastic fluffy head retention/soapy lacing for the ABV. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup, toffee, vanilla, cream, cocoa, walnuts, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of raisin, plum, fig, cherry, date, apricot, red/green apple, red grape/wine, leathery/musty/lacto funk, hay, straw, grass, peppercorn, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness; and Brett, bourbon, oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full body; balanced creamy/silky/bready malts, lactic acid/tang, and oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy/tannic dryness; mildly puckering, but not overwhelming. Mild increasing warmth of 14.8%, minimal lingering barrel booze. Pretty smooth sipping, not overly lactic. From an imperial dark sour standpoint this was really enjoyable. The initial strong ale malt/barrel character is noticed in the nose and the front of the palate; but the Brett and Lacto take over immediately and clean the sweetness on the finish. Got better as it warmed. 3.88


Cheers, have a good night NBS.