New Beer Sunday (Week 750)

Ripple White Ale from 4 Hands?

 

Jester King Snörkel, 4.3% ABV. Pours pale cloudy golden with a one-finger white head that left no lacing. Nose is slightly funky, mushroom, citrus, and malt. Flavor is moderately tart citrus, salty, and earthy. Excellent mouthfeel, though a bit heavy on carbonation. Overall excellent to near outstanding.

4.06/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I was pumped to find this the other day, because my favorite and go-to glass has been a Snörkel for the past three years, yet I'd never had the beer because it wasn't distributed around here.

 

Well since Ripple is on this album, my guess is
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/64/101085/

 

New Beer Sunday: Fruit and Field Beer

Afternoon NBSers, including those who like a “juicy” beer once in a while (especially on a hot summer’s day).

This afternoon’s new beer is Hala Kahiki from Rivertowne Brewing over in Western, PA, not too far from "Da Burgh."

My review, mostly finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30791/58748/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors are almost entirely about pineapple juice so this one definitely qualifies as being “juicy.” There’s also a bit of tartness and a hint of bready malt in the background. Eventually there’s also a light bit of bitterness in the long ending that is mostly tinged with pineapple to the very end of the mostly fruity finish. Reasonably enjoyable and drinkable beer to have in the ice chest for a warm summer day. Could be a good choice when entertaining friends who think they don’t like beer.

Cheers, all!

 

Grimm Gamelan Pop!

This 6% ABV Grimm beer is a “sour ale with mango, guava, kaffir lime leaves, vanilla, and milk sugar.” It’s funny how the industry currently favors the term “milk sugar.” It’s also dry hopped with Azacca. There’s a thread here on popsicle beer. I haven’t read it, but this beer certainly feels like a melted popsicle. Not an old-school super sugary bright blue kind, but one with fruit chunks in it to give the impression of “better for you.”

It’s so opaque that it gives the visual impression of being super dense. The aggressive taste plays along with that. Like eating a frozen concentrated orange juice that needs to be watered down. The result is a loud concoction of: buried acidity, aggressive bite, peppery basil, mango, tropical fruit, and heaviness.

If I brewed a beer with some blueberries and served it to guests, I’d probably call it beer. If I cooked chili and used a bottle of beer in it, and served it to guests, I’d probably not call it beer. This Grimm beverage falls somewhere between those two points. I don’t know where the line gets crossed from “beer” into “not beer” but Gamelan Pop! is probably getting relatively close to it. There’s also the line that gets crossed from “IPA” to “not IPA.” Grimm doesn’t call this beer an IPA, but I wonder if Hudson Valley would. Grimm calls the style “Pop-style sour” and the first word that they use for its flavor profile is “dessert.” They state that the beer uses their “Pop! sour candy juice base.”

 

Stag Series Brut Lager from August Schell.



It’s not a style that I ordinarily go in for, but what the hell: It was in the sampler pack.

Hazy white-gold in appearance, topped with a very pale off-white head. Decent lacing (my glass is no doubt a bit dirty) and good head retention.

Nose is “hoppy” and expressive. A touch of Noble-like hop character along with a more contemporary “citrus” hop. Lemony...?

Sweet and sharp in the first sip, with plenty of the lemon-like hop character throughout the drink. Dry... but not bone dry on the finish. Somewhat “juicy” ala the current IPA craze, too, but without a very distinct fruit character (tropical, apple/pear, etc).

Quite lively on the palate, albeit not overly carbonated. No idea what the ABV is, but it seems to sit comfortably in the 5.5 to 6.0 range.

Altogether it’s a fairly decent take on Brut IPA, only brewed with a lager yeast. Between this one and their Citra Blanc, Schell is doing a great job keeping Minnesota on the map in the “easy to find commercially available IPL” category. ; )

It’s described by the brewery on the can:

 

Good afternoon NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for today's introduction. Hope you enjoy your family reunion visit.

Coincidentally I had my own little mini family reunion this weekend. My parents, Sister, and nephew came up to stay in MI. My birthday is next week. I had to overhaul the whole apartment and store all my beer laying out front in the back closet. Looks a lot more spacious in here now. They stayed in a hotel in Auburn hills, with the exception of my Dad staying in my second bedroom on a giant air mattress. We went to MI LegoLand yesterday and had a lot of fun, then this morning went to the Sea Life aquarium, which was also really cool. Had some nice meals last couple days. Cooked a full on turkey dinner in my apartment, and had Krogers cake and ice cream afterwards. Good to see them again. Unfortunately my BIL had a work schedule that couldn't be changed, so could not make it; but I doubt it would have been much a comfortable ride with 5 people in a Grand Cherokee for 4 hours with a child seat in the back. Here is a pic from yesterday on the Kingdom Quest laser ride:


Anyways, other than that unique weekend I decided to not review any new beers just because it is so time consuming. But I am back to it today. Got a box from @SawDog505, which may not be chilled enough for today's reviews. We'll see. Had to do an emergency laundry load, I skipped out on it last week. My mom bought me a new Executive Serta Desk chair and a plastic mat for my PC desk, since I am on here all the time anyways. The other one broke down lol. This one is extremely more comfortable.

Beer:

This is a Detroit Zoo collab to help endangered Piping Plovers. Excellent Czech style. Lasting creamy/rocky head retention, soapy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big cracker, white bread dough, toasted biscuit malts; with some herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery hops. Light-moderate herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp/clean finishing. Creamy/bready/grainy malts and some sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing dryness, no hop astringency. Perfectly clean lager flavors, zero fruity/yeasty notes. Very flavorful refreshing, not watery for 5%. Awesome clean/rich Pils malt showcase, with nice noble hop presence/balance. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Glad I got the pack as expected. Spot on style! 4.03


Cheers

I have barely been listening to much music this weekend with busy it has been.

 

Allagash Tiny House

I was planning on opening this for NBS today, but life happened and I had it yesterday. Figured I'd report here after the fact anyway.

Tiny House is a smaller variation of the Allagash "House Beer" - which is only available at the brewery. According to their website:

Here are the specs:

Tiny House:
Grains: Allagash 2-Row Malted Barley Blend, Victory, Carapils, Rolled Oats
Yeast: House
Hops: Amarillo
ABV: 3.4%

House:
Grains: Allagash 2-Row Malted Barley Blend, Victory, Carapils, Raw Wheat
Hops: Crystal, Nelson Sauvin, Cascade, Czech Saaz
Yeast: House
ABV: 4.5%

Perhaps one can safely think of this beer as a modern "Belgian" table beer.

It's crisp, lemony, grainy, grassy, bitter, and light. I'm surprised by the assertive hop character. It's not suffering due to the low ABV. I'm predicting that I'd like plain "House" a bit better, but Tiny House is nice.

 

Good guess, but...

Congratulations, Dave!

That's it!

(Posting "Ripple" was an intentionally vague, slightly misdirecting hint...)

"Ripple" is the first track on side 2, for those who have this album in vinyl - like me -, with the great David Grisman on mandolin. See below for the studio track.

Now, on to the beer:
Dogfish Head American Beauty American Pale Ale (APA)
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 50



Pleasant aroma: citrus, grass, touch of sweet malts, perhaps toffee and honey.

Golden amber, slight haze, plenty of bubbles, tall, thick, creamy, slightly off-white head receding fairly slowly.

Taste is a bit earthy, orange, slightly sweet honey, grain, floral, and herbal. Plenty of malt depth with a moderate bitterness in the middle, continuing through to the finish coupled with the floral hops and slightly sweet malts.

Feel is moderate to thin with solid carbonation.

A nicely balanced pale ale is a treat in this age of massively hopped beers. The taste is unique, but quite good and well made.

L:4 | S:3.75 | T:3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75

 

Bayonne Bleeder an 8.4 ABV Imperial Red Ale from Twin Elephant brewing. This is the 2ond ale named Bayonne Bleeder from TE that I have used on NBS. It's a new beer just an old name Different Hops, different yeast, , different malts, but the same H2O are used. Drank at the brewery this beer pours a deep red with a long lasting white head. Strong aroma The aroma is strong of both malt and hops. The malts used are Pale, Wheat, Crystal. Rye, Munich and Dextrine. The hops used are Citra, Ella, Cascade and Chinook. The taste is strong balanced and complex everything from caramel to pineapple. The mouthfeel is full and the finish is a little sweet. A nice beer but I like Red Ales dryer than this and at a lower ABV.
For those who don't know who the Bayonne Bleeder is his name is Chuck Wepner. Chuck is a heavyweight boxer form Bayonne NJ who is best known for his ability to take a punch and bleed.

 

Continuing the theme for today, I’ve got another one from Odd Side and @strohme2
This one is Mango Peach Dank Juice



Appearance is bright golden orange with one and a half fingers of head with an orange tint. The scent is orange peel, mango, must, and some peach hiding way in the back. The taste is delicious! No must shows up in the taste, thank God. Sweet flavors of peach and mango intertwine to assault my taste buds with tropical goodness. The best natural peach flavor that I’ve had in a beer. Some hop burn shows up throughout but it is welcome. Mouthfeel is lighter than medium and slightly prickly. Overall this is another nice addition to the dank juice series, and I love peach!

 

Beach haus free world pale ale
...clear amber color
... around a medium body with plenty of carbonation. Took awhile to pour as the head was never ending
...aroma was hops,hay, grass, and a slightly sweet citrus
...taste was almost identical with an orange /citrus flavor showing up which I thought made this fairly pleasant
..overall it was a decent beer ,not sure I would seek it out but would gladly accept if someone offered me one

 

I'm starting with a Pilsner today.

3.76/5 rDev -7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Poured to a Pils glass from a 12oz undated bottle.
Light gold body aggressive frothy head. Body is not entirely clear, not hazy, I would say foggy. You can still see the nice continuous bubble propagation rising from the bottom.
Sweat grass and bread greet the nose.
Nice clean taste with a dry finish.
Overall a pretty good Pilsner. Would be better if the clarity was there and maybe a slight pepper bite.

Pay no attention to the rDev, I'm only the 3rd person to rate this beer.

 

New Texas brewery for me. Pretty fresh stuff. This was delicious. Lasting rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Flavors of big mandarin orange juice, red grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/zest, wood, and light peppercorn/pine hops; with moderate wheat, biscuit dough, light honey/toasted malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Similar/muted aromas. Light pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy/bready malts and some sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter dryness; no cloying/astringent. Very smooth/soft, no warmth of 6.5%. Feels pretty close to an NEIPA. Awesome Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo profile. Very juicy, and lightly dank/earthy hops; with a perfectly balanced bready wheat/malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Impressive. 3.91


Cheers

 

Cambridge Brewing Company - The Fog That Surrounds

This brewer is trying to check all the boxes with this one. From the description on the can: New England-style, double India pale ale, hazy, juicy, oats, wheat, rye, triple dry-hopped, Citra, Nelson Sauvin, Mosaic.

As usual, I’m not particularly in the mood for a beer like this, but this is what brewers are making… and in this case I’m a fan of the brewer.

The beer is an opaque yellow. Smells of tropical fruit. It’s full bodied and thick on the tongue with low (but prickly) carbonation in the body. Tastes as expected. There’s overripe pineapple, mango, an aggressive bite, slight herbal character, and a tiny bit of chalk. Bitterness lurks underneath it all.

 

The Independence Day weekend is coming to a close. It was nice to have the extended weekend. Although I didn't go see any fireworks, I had a few good beers, did a few cookouts, and I attended a lovely concert in Northern New Hampshire by the Harp Twins. If you haven't heard of them you should check them out for one of the more unique musical experiences you will have ever had.

Breakaway Beerworks from New Hampshire has been around two years, maybe three. This is the Ripple Double IPA that was just canned on June 26, 2019. So new, mine was only the second BA rating. It is 8.1% ABV. I don't think it was meant to be a NEIPA because it just doesn't have that pulpy, opaque haze. What it does have is a pleasant fruity hop character of apples and pear and a medium or better mouthfeel It's sweet and clean to the finish. Booze buried.

 

New Bohemian Pilsener Sunday (Week 750)
Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Excellent weather, warm and clear, after some crazy ass storms early last evening. Didn't pick any shrooms for table today, but spotted some that could stand to "fatten up" a bit. Took some pics. From top you can see a Russula emetica (or could be one of three other red Russula's), Cantharellus minor, a closeup of a just popped Black Trumpet (Craterellus fallax), and a beautiful and strange plant that has no chlorophyll we call Ghost Pipes, but it has a bunch of other names.



Today's beer is one I actually tasted when Jeff (Chief) O'Neil first made it for Peekskill Brewery 7(?) years back, but this is now two brewers since then at Peekskill, and this version is Amit Ram's, so basically it's a new beer. Skills Pils, from Peekskill Brewery

Will add a review to the database when I get through a few more of these. Current thoughts- Medium strength aroma that is bready yeast, grassy hops, and crisp pilsner grain sweet, with light notes of spice. Taste is a bright and clean version of the aroma, with less sweet and much more spicy hop in the finish. Bright carbonation and refreshing nature with simple flavor presentation and strong, lasting, spicy finish. Recommended for sure.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

Very nice NEIPA. Great rocky head retention/thick soapy lacing. Flavors of big pineapple, peach, apricot, tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, pear, red apple, passion fruit, mango, honeydew melon, berries, citrus peel/zest, and light peppercorn/pine hops; with moderate wheat, white bread dough, light honey/toasted malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Similar/muted aromas. Light pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, floral, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy/bready/grainy malts, and some sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Minimal lingering resins/rinds. Lightly increasing lingering bitter dryness; no cloying/astringency. Very smooth/soft, minimal warming 8.4%. Very nice Bru-1, Mosaic, Citra profile. Feels like Bru-1 has the most presence over the other 2. Very juicy, and lightly dank/earthy hops; with a great balanced wheat/malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Well made style example. Was a lot better than the last IPA they made with Bru-1, I am liking the hop now. 3.88


Cheers

 

Left Hand Wake Up Dead Imperial Stout, 10.2% ABV. Pours black with a slight brown head. Nose is roast malt, licorice, and cocoa. Taste is mainly roast malt and espresso, some dark fruit in the background, with moderate bitterness fading to heavy in the aftertaste. Decent mouthfeel, overall good, but a bit too bitter for me.

3.84/5 rDev -1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

 

Happy Return to What "New" Beers Have We Here Sunday (Week 750)?
I misplaced/mislaid/lost my phone about two weeks ago in the early goings of my return home from surgery & I was not too unwound about it, initially. I looked in the likely places, but to no avail. I then widened my search, still no joy. Finally, it provided me the impetus to really scrub through Chez Woody, including sorting the massive CAN backlog. I still have not found the phone, but I am going to CANtact AT&T tomorrow re. a possible replacement/upgrade. In the interim, I have gathered fodder for weeks of Brewery Horizontals - a silver lining in the cloud. Here is what I have been up to:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22610/358792/?ba=woodychandler#review
,
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22610/87942/?ba=woodychandler#review
,
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22610/114020/?ba=woodychandler#navigation

Man, it was hot out here in the jungle! How hot? Damn hot! Let's hear from our man in the field, Roosevelt T. Roosevelt: "Fool, it's so hot, I'm doin' some crotch-pot cookin'! That's how hot! Dang!"

Hey, let's cool things down with some Beach Boys & "The Warmth of the Sun"! Wow, that was SUCH a bad idea, especially when I followed it up with The Rivieras' "California Sun" & Martha & the Vandellas' "Heat Wave"! Now, I cooled down with some Huey Lewis and the News &:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22610/280323/?ba=woodychandler#review

Much more like it! Next, I finished this round of silly CANsense with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22610/286935/?ba=woodychandler#review
.
That's it! Time for a break in the form of a nap.