New Beer Sunday (Week 745)

Perennial Coffee Abraxas

Damn! Between this and Sump, Perrenial has figured out the non BA coffee stout for sure.

I love it, full review coming later on. Bunch of great college baseball this weekend already, and GO HOGS!!

 

Other Half Mmm...Fruit Dream w/ blackberry, cascara, and vanilla
4.20% ABV Berliner Weisse
Canned 05/31



I went to Other Half today for my birthday. The new space is much more inviting. I had a few awesome beers on tap, including DDH Mylar Bags. This is my first exposure to both a fruited berliner weisse and cascara, which is the dried skin of the coffee plant.

The look is deep purple-red with no head (4.25)

The nose is blackberry, blueberry, maple syrup, and doughy malt (4.25)

The taste is similar. Blackberry, blueberry cobbler, maple syrup, and subtle lemon zing. More of a fruited dessert beer than a complex sour, but undeniably tasty. Enough lemon to offset the berry and maple notes (4.5)

The mouthfeel is silky medium with prickly carbonation (4.5)

Overall, I really like this beer. Fresh berry, sweet maple, and balancing tartness. Flavorful for 4.20%. It's unique and probably not for everyone (4.25) - 4.38

 

2 year old Transient bottle. This was fantastic. Nice head retention/spotty soapy lacing. Aromas of big sour/tart/tangy apricots, peach, fruit skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, pear, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, hay, straw, and grass; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bread dough malts; lighter notes of oaken vanilla, leathery/musty/lacto funk, white wine vinegar. and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tart/sourness, fruit tang, and light yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation, light-medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/grainy wheat, lactic acid, fruit tang, and some oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy/tannic dryness; minimal puckering sourness. Very smooth, pretty refreshing, not overly lactic, no warmth of 5.5%. Amazingly well rounded Brett/Bacteria complexity with balanced jammy apricots; nice oak foeder presence, and pale/wheat malts against acidity. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp acidic/tangy dryness. Spot on stuff for the style as expected. 4.2


Cheers

 

I’ll tell you what, Dave. I’ve had only two of their beers. Both were today, and both IPA’s.

I don’t blame your choice. Not one bit.

 

Bananas are food that I do not have strong feelings about either way, but hadn't given much thought to in beer prior to you sending this to me.

I will say eating a large, rich breakfast, then drinking that beer, and then walking about a mile or so in high-80s heat to go look at art I can't afford amongst crowds of people is something I will not consciously attempt to repeat.

 

New Beer Sunday: American IPA

Evenin’ NBSers with a suggestion for fans of solid drinkable IPAs.

This evening’s new beer is a No Brainer from Victory.

My review is in progress and can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/387552/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer are clean, clear, crisp and go well together. There’s lots of citrus such as tangerine and lime along with some tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple. The crackery malt contribute some light sweetness that smooths out but does nothing to conceal the clean crisp bitterness. On the whole I think this is a nicely drinkable and enjoyable beer that I’ll be happy to have again and which I could have more than one in a row. I expect I’ll be drinking this one again.

Back to the basketball game.

Cheers, all!

 

After over 9 hours of driving this weekend I’m finally opening a beer for NBS. Today I’m opening an amazing beer from @bstyle that I have been wanting to for years, Wooden Hell!!!! This is the 2018 Private Reserve, aged 13 months in Woodford Reserve barrels, it has absolutely flooded me!

4.69/5 rDev +12.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Big thanks to bstyle for this
22 oz bottle, 2018, poured into a snifter

A- A dark brown with a two finger light tan head.

S- Bourbon, toffee, caramel, figs, some dark fruits, oak, a little earthy, hints of vanilla.

T- Bourbon, toffee, figs, some caramel, vanilla, oak, fairly earthy, dark fruits, some cherries.

M- Silky smooth, medium to full body, carbonation is a touch on the light side, but it works perfectly.

O- Incredibly smooth and balanced. This is a world class barelywine, definitely worth seeking out.

Cheers!

 

New to me Kriek w/ Honey paired with a Mexican (?!?) dish of leftover Faeroe Island Salmon/Re-fried Bean/Pineapple and Ghost Pepper salsa over mesclun greens. Perfect!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2216/357495/



375 ml. bottle.
Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 3/4 inch pink head over a reddish mahogany body with scant lacing. Nose of cherry, honey, and slight funk with a bit of floral attributes as well. Taste mirrors nose with a gently tart middle to a semi-sweet, slightly tart cherry and slighter honey finish. Damn, what a delicious beer! Nice feel and overall, I will need to do a side by side with their straight up Kriek very soon.
Cheers!

 

I think the Sox are in trouble when Bruinsmania is over around here and they are the only game in town. Sale, 1 win and it's June, . The bullpen is really bad, about time for Price to go on the DL, and 10 behind the Evil Empire. It could be a long summer. I saw people yesterday with Red Sox gear on being turned away from the Prudential Town elevators.

The scary part for real is the Yanks don't even have their full team of regulars on the field.

 

Some times my wife will drink with me, but usually its the WBAYDN crowd that I drink with, sad I know...

First up, Ozark Beer Co.'s The Hive Colony Pale Lager. A beer brewed for for a very highbrow eating joint in Bentonville. 4.3% ABV, 4.27 Overall. Well executed

Pours a very effervescent straw color with 3 fingers of rocky pearl colored. Above average head retention & lacing

S: A hint of watermelon rind, green melons & peach, plus a little grassyness

T: Follows the nose, a little sweet grainyness up front. More green melon & dryness as this warms. Finishes crisp, dry with melon rind notes & grassyness & perfumy hops

MF: Medium body, delicate carbonation, delicate balance

This beer was brew with a Danish Lager strain & dry hopped with Mandirina Bavaria hops, also contains Halltertau hops, very easy to drink, very well executed for what it is

 

Although I will drink with friends and family zeek my poodle mix is my most consistent drinking partner

 

Got 3 variants of BBA Dirty Frank last weekend. Coffee is the first one. This was fantastic as expected. Great rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, dark roasted coffee, caramel, brown sugar, roasted nuts, vanilla, toffee, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, spicy rye, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, molasses, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate herbal, grassy, peppery, roast, char bitterness; and rye, bourbon, oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy, silky, bready malts; some sticky hops, chalky roast, and bourbon/oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter/tannic/carbonated dryness; no cloying, acrid, astringency. Very smooth, nicely soft, not overly bitter/charred, no warmth of 6.7% or barrel booze. Quite over carbonated, but this was pretty much just as good as the base BBA version. Balanced rich malts, fruity/nutty coffee complexity, and barrel presence/integration; with solid earthy hop presence, and restrained fruity yeast. Mildly sweet with lingering dryness. Spot on Foreign/Export stout all around. 4.2


Cheers. have a good night NBS

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A pretty nice day here on the island with lots of sunshine. A rare non-lazy Sunday for myself and way to busy to even have a beer. Managed to get a lot done thou and I'm finally home and able to indulge.

My new beer today is Madonna, iipa, from Zero Gravity. These guys have been on the shelves here for a bit now but I've just never pulled the trigger. Found some single cans available and figured what the hell. The brew checks in at 8% abv, 90 ibu, and has a 4/23/19 canning date.

The beer pours a murky light orange color with a big fluffy white head of foam. Soft citrus fruit notes on the nose. Rather tangy upfront with lots of those citrus notes carrying over from the nose nicely. Some definite bitter hop tones going on the flow and finish and a bit higher than most in the style. Fruit notes of grapefruit, orange, lemon, and lime. The bitterness seems to build the more I consume it and reserve the fruitiness to more of a subtle aspect. It also seem to add on notes of resin and slight pine. A light-moderate mouthfeel that drinks juicy, and crisp. A little syrupy at times but nothing too off-putting.

Overall, decent stuff. I enjoyed the bitterness take combined with the nesipa idea. Not sure it convinced me to buy a whole pack but I could drink this again. I'm in the mid 3's to slightly higher.

 

I only use the term NEIPA if the brewer calls it that, and if he doesn’t its either an IPA or a DIPA. We might have a bit of a clue depending on malts, hops, adjuncts, but I’m sure if it’s intended to be marketed as an NEIPA he wants that known. Then he can charge $24 a 4 pk instead of $11.

 

New to me and local. Blue Stallion is a Lexington brewery that seems to specialize in German styles. This is the first time I’ve seen it for sale retail. I havent had a lot of other helles lagers to compare it to but I like it a lot. it’s malty, bready, light, with hints of lemon, hint of sweetness. No bitterness.

 

NBS #2. And another from @r0rschach. The Gem is an Imperial Stout - a collaboration between Turning Point Beer and Casa Agria Specialty Ales from Southern California - with cookies and cream flavored coffee beans. While the smell is quite sweet the taste is more nuanced. I'm drinking it at room temperature. When I first opened the can the taste was earthy with a lot of coffee acidity. As it settled though, the cocoa and cream became more accentuated. I raised my rating as I sipped it. Thanks again, John. Lots of terrific beer in your box. Here's my full review:

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

Received from @r0rschach in a BIF box. No apparent canning date. Poured into a tulip glass. It pours an oily ink black. The initial cap of foamy, deep mocha-colored lacing dissipated quickly leaving a thin sheen of lacing. On the nose there is roasted malt, freshly-brewed coffee, milk chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and earthy nuts. The taste is less sweet than the smell would indicate. The coffee taste is more burnt and acidic and there is more char. As the glass warms I'm tasting more of the advertised cookies and cream. This stout has a moderate mouth feel with a higher level of carbonation than I expected. And the 12.8% ABV is evident and warming. It's a sipper for sure. Overall, the best attribute of this stout is that while you can taste the advertised flavors it's not overly sweet. It's a solid Imperial Stout that grew on me as I sipped it.

 

I'm pretty sure I've had this before,

but never reviewed it?


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22512/318275/

Welp, it's new...again?



16 oz. can.
Moderate pour yields a 5/4 inch white head over a bright golden body with some sticky lacing. Nose of citrus and pine. Taste mirrors nose with a finish of orange and a bit of spice. Nice feel and overall, a real nice thirst quenching DIPL, which hides its 8.0% abv. exceedingly well. Look out, this one will grab you by the horns!!! Cheers to JP, Tommy, and the crew up the hill, here in Stowe!

 

Maybe it has just been me, but in the past your pics did not show this one did. So if you changed something keep it up. If not ignore this old fart !

 

He can call it what he wants, but at $24 a 4 pak he can also keep it

 

Hank would never, ever do that.