New Beer Sunday (Week 751)

It's pretty toasty out there, so it seems like a good day for a nice lager. This is the penultimate brew I brought back from my trip to Africa earlier this year (the last being a big barreled stout that I'm sitting on until I find the right time), and, as with many that I brought back, is not in the system. In fact the whole brewery had to be added. This time I actually planned ahead and made sure it was in before I was trying to post!!
Yesterday was equally beautiful, and after a stretch of precepting the next generation at work, I made it out to meet up with some other internet friends (from a baseball blog I follow) and picked up a bat and glove for probably the first time in 20 years. It was a bunch of fun.



But back to the beer:
Old Harbour Beer from Hermanus Brewery

Pour is a clean pale yellow that's mostly clear. Nice little white head settles in quickly for scattered bubbles. Some lacing but not much.

Nose is immediately sweet... in an odd fruity/floral manner. Not really what I was expecting. There's definitely that stale malty lager flavour underneath (that's how I always think of it anyway... not the best descriptor, and not intended as implicitly negative, but beer uses weird descriptors... [think cat piss, horse blanket, barnyard, dank, etc]). The sweet note makes me think this would go well with barbecue for some reason.

Flavour is more grassy hops than I expected as well. Dull earthy bitterness cuts things off abruptly. There's some of that same floral/fruity sweet floating above the top, but only in a thin veneer. Finish is definitely the dull earthy side of things though.

Appropriate carbonation and body, and the finish lingers with the earthy hops. Hoppier than I'd expect given the origins and description, but not unpleasant. Hitting the spot nicely on this sunny summer sunday afternoon.

 

I'm back again. Got all my beer put away from my haul today. Time for more official writeups!

I continue to be the only person reviewing this brewery. Right down the street for me. Very nice pale lager. Solid head retention/minimal lacing. Crystal clarity. Aromas and flavors of lemon, peach, pear, apricot, melon, gooseberry, white grape/wine, cracker, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit malts; with lighter notes of peppercorn, pine, woody, herbal, floral, grassy hops. Muted aromas. Light pine, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp/clean finishing. Bready/grainy malts, some sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing bitter dryness; no cloying/astringency. Perfectly clean lager flavors, with no yeasty notes. Very flavorful/refreshing, no warmth of 5.9%. Great showcase of juicy/vibrant Nelson Sauvin hops; with a great clean pils malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp drying. Very delicious. Well made style example. 3.85


Cheers

 

Happy New "CAN We Visit the Cape & Drink Some Beer, Aunt May?!?" Sunday (Week 751), Part Ménage a Trois!
Now, I was getting into the meat of today's CANventure!

I am a retired U.S. Navy sailor, having started out as the lowest of the low: a general Deck seaman. I hated it then, but it really focused my thinking for the remainder of my career, PLUS it taught me the kind of drill-down seamanship that everyone gets in Boot Camp & promptly forgets once in their particular rating (job specialty).

For insCANce, what would you call the object pictured on this next CAN? A prop (propeller)? WRONG! That is a "screw". It was the rating designation for a "Machinist's Mate (MM)" & the basis for a great story.

My first scow, I mean, ship was the USS Fulton (AS-11), homeported, I mean docked, I mean welded to/at State Pier, New London, CT. We just had a mini-reunion a couple/few months ago & everything is gone, especially the rootin', tootin' high-falutin' five or six block stretch of Bank Street. 8=(

Deck apes got along with hole snipes (Engineers) like oil & water, but on this night, a corpulent Chief MM joined a bunch of us at the Sub Café for pool, beers, wimmen & mayhem as we were known for. We were all a buncha broke young squids & he was happy to bankroll the whole evolution! Long about/towards Midnight, he starts ringing the bar's bell, usually signaling someone buying a round for the bar. Since he was our sugar daddy, it seemed a moot point. Once he had everyone's attention, he announces "Twin screws, turning at Midnight!" 8=O That would mean getting underway! He announced this a couple more times & just before midnight, he hoists his blubbery self onto the bar & bids us all "Gather 'round, boys! Twin screws, turning at Midnight!" We do so & begin an NYE-like countdown to Midnight. At the appointed time, he drops trou, giving us an unwanted glimpse of his wrinkled grommet with twin screws, one tattooed on either cheek! He then let go of a blast of the worst gas EVER! I mean, it was a green, noxious cloud, sending several people gagging out of doors & windows. I was a punk & had seen & smelled worse so I was just standing there, inhaling deeply! This sent more people out the door. The chief then "adopted" me & I was made from then on.

Looks to me like there is some Corrosion on this screw:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25890/157007/?ba=woodychandler#review

Oops! It's time for "Sweepers"! Sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms! Give the ship a clean sweepdown, both fore & aft! Sweep down all lower decks, ladderbacks & passageways! Break out a cadillac, wringer & swab as necessary! Empty cadillacs in deep sinks provided! Take all trash & garbage to receptacles on the pier! Now, sweepers!

8=( I CAN't find the deep sink, Petty Officer Sowers! Well, plan on drinking some Mop, I mean, Swab Water! 8=( :
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25890/104775/?ba=woodychandler#review

Sadly, the next few do not fit the nautical theme, per se, so I'm going to close this post & begin yet another.

Move the swab L to R, NOT back & forth! Does it look like we have all day for this evolution?!?

 

Happy New American Impy Stout Sunday!

Pretty nice day on the Western Slope, cloudy/sunny, around 91 at the trailhead. Not much from these guy's around here, but what is, is pretty tasty. Watching this new Twilight Zone.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42755/308321/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

3 YO can of this oatmeal stout. Let's give it a shot. Very nice. Dense black pour, nice head retention/lacing. Aromas and flavors of big dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, molasses, brown sugar, roasted nuts, toasted oats, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, wood, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. A bit too fruity/yeasty aromas, but not overwhelming. Light herbal, grassy, woody, spicy, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation and medium-full body; very creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts; light slickness, sticky hops, and chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing bitter dryness; no cloying, acrid, astringency. Very smooth/soft, no warmth of 7.7%. Getting a little too melanoidin from the age, but held up well. Great balance of super rich malts/oats brown sugar, and fruity English yeast; with solid earthy hop presence. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Well made style example. 3.88


Cheers

 

It’s “no IPA Sunday,” NBS friends, but before I embark on tonight’s beer journey, I wanted to address the question in the opening post from our fearless leader, @cjgiant. The South Bend area was home to Drewry’s .....

Drewrys’ South Bend story began when the Canadian owners decided to open a brewery in the United States after Prohibition. Founder E.L. Drewry bought a large, defunct brewery in that city in 1936 and began brewing Drewrys in earnest at about 1940.

By 1963, Drewrys was brewing 1.3 million barrels a year. By comparison, 3 Floyds, Indiana’s largest current brewery, will make fewer than 40,000 barrels this year.

The success wasn’t to last forever. The Drewry family sold the business to Michigan-based Associated Brewing in 1963. A decade later, Drewrys began to struggle and its new owners closed the South Bend plant and moved the operation to Evansville, where Drewrys was brewed in a more-limited capacity.

Drewrys never did catch on again, and the brewery went out of business in the late 1990s.

After Drewry’s left South Bend in the early ‘70s, the are had no brewery until 1992, when the brewpub Mishawaka Brewing Company opened - literally 3 minutes from the home Mrs O and I had in Mishawaka.

Alas, I was an inveterate AAL drinker at that time (my late 20’s), and didn’t even pay any attention to them until we moved to Indianapolis in 1996. They closed in 2008, their property filled by Evil Czech Brewing Company shortly thereafter, with none of their beers tried by me - which is ironic, given the 3,200+ beers I’ve rated/reviewed. Mmmmm, irony.

On to beer #1, a California brewery that has 112 different beers I’ve managed to try. Whuddatunkit?





3.96/5 rDev +10%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A sorta hazy copper color with a soapy tan head that disappears in nanoseconds, the nose is tart (thank you, Brett) and sweet (thank you, wine barrels).

The taste is also tart and sweet, which isn’t necessarily something a beer nerd looks for in a farmhouse ale, but it works for me. The wine barrels specifically give this a fuller taste than I expected. I just wish the mouthfeel was a bit more “spritzy,” but I’m still glad I tried this.

 

Good point about personal preference, which there's no way to ignore, no matter how "objective" we try to be. As for me, this absolutely nails all my sweet spots. Went through about 7 cans (ha), then had two pints at the Alvarado taproom yesterday. The last beer I got that weird about was Swish; that was a few years ago, although it never reached those soaring levels afterward.

PS: Really miss that Hobbit Juice you used to send me. Dogs and Boats, too. It seems like maybe there was a double version of Dogs and Boats as well (?)

 

More new NEIPAs. This was fantastic. Lasting rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, orange juice, red grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, red apple, mango, honeydew, watermelon, blueberry, gooseberry, citrus peel/zest, wood, and light peppercorn/pine hops; with moderate vanilla, cream, wheat, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Mild pine, citrus peel/zest, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy, bready, grainy malts/lactose; light sticky hops, and slight resins/rinds in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter dryness, no cloying/astringency. Very smooth/soft, no warmth of 8%. Feels like Galaxy, Citra, Mosaic, El Dorado. Extremely juicy, vibrant, and fairly dank/earthy hops; with a perfectly balanced lactose, and wheat/oat/malt backbone. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. One of their best ones I've had yet! 4.23


Cheers

 

Next up on this hot and humid day is one that I’ve been excited about. From @TheGent

Beer: Field Spirits (895 bottles)
Brewery: The Ale Apothecary (Bend, Oregon)
ABV: 10.04%

Pouring from a 12.7 oz. corked bottle into a PAA tasting glass, this beer pours out like a deep, burnt caramel in color with lemon highlights. It forms a thin crown made of brown eggshell bubbles.

The nose brings a nice acidity and a ton of different fruit; peach flesh, pear, dark cherries.

The taste comes in with that fruit all over again. A bunch of funky, almost rotten fruit (in a good way) while still showing ripe and bright fruit as well. Very faint rye bread to it.

The mouthfeel has a great fruit flesh, peel, skin and a tartness that dries the whole mouth out. Definitely refreshing. Very much balanced.

Overall, this is a treat. I can’t put it into the words it deserves, but I can enjoy it.

Thanks Anthony! I really enjoyed this.

 

#2, my first beer from these guys, I’ll be back for more.





4.35/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours onyx black, no leakage whatsoever on the edges, with a dark tan head that dissipates pretty quickly. Pop the bottle cap - waves of honey, almost an organic quality to the aroma, with some cocoa notes as well, but no sign of the raspberries.

The raspberries, though, crash the party like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in “Wedding Crashers” on the taste - it’s literally shocking how something like raspberries could be so absent on the nose and so prominent on the taste. I’m flummoxed.

As I sipped this and enjoyed the interplay better the raspberries, honey, and cocoa notes, all I could think of was chocolate covered cherries, except with raspberries.

 

Well, after a very busy weekend at work, it's time for my weekend to begin. This is a new one from BBCo.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33136/424455/



16 oz. can.
Canned 06 20 19.
Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 1/2 inch off white head over a murky body with some fleeting lacing. Nose of citrus (orange, mostly) and slight diacetyl. Taste of orange and slight tropical fruit. Almost good feel but I think an IPA should have IPA carbonation. Period. Finishes strange with a slightly off-putting bitterness. Overall, yet another BBCo. offering I cannot finish.
Cheers?

 

The Civil Life - The Angel & The Sword

My next two beers will be beers that were new-to-me six packs from this week. I already had my first impression a few days ago, and now I'm following up with another dip today.

This is listed here as an ESB (I always wince a little with that tag). The can says it's a "malt-driven amber pub ale"... which is code for an American "ESB." It's made with "English yeast," East Kent Goldings and Fuggle hops, and various US and UK malts. This copper beer is wonderful. It's quite dry and has a strong hazelnut character. It goes down really easy. Stylistically, it's a refreshing change of pace for me these days.

Like the two beers that preceded it today (the milds), this one is a primer for a Three Floyds beer that will follow it. A No-Prize will be awarded to the reader who can guess what beer will be next. 'Nuff Said.

@FBarber

 

Last one, this is an interesting beer from an interesting brewery.





3.66/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

The pour is perfectly clear, an amber color with pink hues and an off-white head that disappears in seconds. The nose has a hint of fruity hop aromas, and then the fruity, tart gummy bear aromas take over. That isn’t bad, it’s just unexpected.

The hops don’t give up on the taste, with what seems like Centennial hops trying to conduct the orchestra, but the sweet, tart candy flavors insist on making an extended appearance.

This isn’t something I’d run from, but it’s also something I’d not seek - it’s a sorta sour, sorta APA. I don’t believe I need more of those in my beer nerdery.

 

Three Floyds Lord Rear Admiral

Alright, this is my follow up (no No-Prize awarded)... the Three Floyds "ESB." I've always wanted to try this beer, and I actually had it before this six pack... but I'm not counting that. A while ago, I travelled all over Chicago trying to get this beer, and all I could find were old bottles. Really, really old bottles. I bought two anyway (because I put in so much effort), and once I opened them, I could tell that they were clearly too old. I'm considering this sixer as my real first taste of the beer.

The results of this beer shouldn't be too surprising for those who read my earlier posts. It looks just like the Civil Life beer, but it tastes nothing like it. This beer explodes with hops. I am shocked... wait, I'm not shocked. It has that characteristic Three Floyds orange marmalade thing going on with a bit of resin in the finish. This beer resembles the other Three Floyds beers from today more than it resembles the Civil Life beer. It's just that this beer is less extreme in it's balance (or lack of it) than the other two Three Floyds beers. It's a nice beer, but it can't compete well enough in either direction (The Angel & The Sword or Dreadnaught).

 

Delicious Blonde. Fantastic fluffy head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of lemon, peach, pear, melon, red apple, cracker, corn, white bread dough, lightly toasted biscuit, wood, herbal, floral, grass, peppercorn, and yeast earthiness. A bit too fruity/yeasty aromas, but not overwhelming. Light-moderate herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, light-medium body, and moderately crisp/clean finishing. Balanced creamy/bready/grainy malts, and sticky hops in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate inreasing bitter/carbonated dryness; no hop astringency. Very flavorful/refreshing, not watery for 5%. Great clean pils malt/grain showcase; with great noble hop presence/balance for the style and restrained fruity yeast. Mild residual sweetness with crisp drying. Well made stuff for the style, not overdone on adjuncts. I wasn't exactly expecting them though. 3.91


Cheers

 

I feel like civilization is fragile and that sometimes when I speak proper English I sound pretentious. I watch Euronews a lot and it interests me that I'll often see s Brit interviewed whose forbears obviously came from Africa or the Middle East and their English is perfect but then I'll see a US "journalist" on cable, who presumably earned a degree here, who speaks vernacular English. When I post on BA I always try to write properly even if I've had a few.