New Beer Sunday (Week 752)

A- Pours a nice light amber color with a slight head and lacing
A- Aroma has caramel, fruity and malty hints
M-The taste follows the nose with caramel, fruity and malty flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good Belgian Strong Ale

 

Galloping Hill, a hoppy Belgian Ale from Twin Elephant served at the brewery. This ale is 6.6 ABV. The grain bill is Belgian Pilsner, Malted Oats, Crystal Oats and wheat. It's hopped with Lemondrop, Saaz, Loral and Sabro hops. Galloping Hill pours a bright gold color with a thick long lasting head. The aroma is strong mostly various fruits and a little doughy bread. The taste is fruits lemon and melon stand out their are hints of other fruits also. There is a small malt taste. Mouthfeel is full and very soft. The finish is dry. A very refreshing brew and one that is a little different, always a good thing.
Re songs
4 from the Beatles, Here Comes the Sun, Helter Skelter, Get Back and You have to Hide Your Love Away.
2 from Bruce Born to Run and Blinded by the Light
The Stones Gimme Shelter
Bob Seger Hollywood Nights
Willie Nelson Ain't It Funny How Time Slips Away
Bob Dylan Don't Think Twice

 

Cape may lager
..gold orange color
...around a medium body with about the same for carbonation
..aroma is malt,grain,biscuit, hop grass spicy bitterness
..taste is almost identical with the spice bitterness showing up more in the taste than the aroma
...overall I was really happily surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Nice feel,very flavorful, I would look to get this again

 

A- Pours a very nice light amber color with a slight head and lacing
A- Aroma has caramel, fruity and malty hints
M-The taste follows the nose with caramel, fruity and malty flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good Belgian Tripel

 

Good afternoon NBS, hop everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for today's introduction. Looking at my top 10 songs from Last.fm over the last 12 years gives me this list:

1: The Funeral Portrait - Opeth
2: Infinite Rotation - Obscura
3: Universe Momentum - Obscura
4: Celestial Spheres - Obscura
5: Desolate Spheres - Obscura
6: Euclidean Elements - Obscura
7: Ocean Gateways - Obscura
8: Warrior of Ice - Rhapsody (Of Fire)
9: Vortex Omnivium - Obscura
10: Choir of Spirits - Obscura

This list doesn't mean anything other than the fact that these tracks are rather short(aside from the Opeth). Most of the stuff I listen to exceeds 8-10+ minutes so overall minutes listened vs track count is deceiving. Top Artists and other data are here: https://www.last.fm/user/superspak/library/artists?date_preset=ALL

Anyways, was another normal weekend. Didn't get a huge haul yesterday, maybe next time. I have a lot of high gravity stuff to review, so have been lowering my overall number of reviews a tad in the last week. Just not as resilient as I once was I guess. Have been drinking a lot less overall during the week.

Did my normal bi monthly Rivers Edge stop today. This was an excellent English brown ale on cask. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, and roasted nutty malts; with lighter notes of toffee, roast, plum, pear, red apple, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, roast bitterness; and English yeast tartness on the finish. Mild carbonation and light-medium body. Very creamy, silky, bready malt mouthfeel. Lt sticky hops, chalky roast, and increasing drying. No cloying. Super smooth/soft cask finish, zero warming 6%. Great rich English malt complexity; with solid earthy hop presence, and restrained fruity yeast. Not overly sweet with lingering dryness. Spot on English style example. 4


Cheers

 

Cape may concrete ship
..solid black
..medium light carbonation and about just above average body
..aroma is roasted malt, burnt black coffee, licorice, peat,earthy
..taste is black coffee, roasted malt,and dark chocolate upfront. Quickly turns to burnt coffee, peat,licorice, dry, burnt bakers chocolate
..very good but not a smooth or easy drinking beer but a slow sipper

 

Good afternoon, NBS. All my chores are done and, finding myself with a little unsupervised time, I thought I might drop by for a visit?

I confess that all the buffers froze up in my brain when I tried to figure out what my ten most favourite songs were. Just can't be done. But, by coincidence, while I was trying to think about the question (having just consumed an 11% stout) the track 'The Girl from Mill Valley' off Beck-Ola, written and played by Nicky Hopkins, was coming out of the Bose and I realized that, whatever my favourite songs were, odds are that Nicky Hopkins was sitting in on piano.

So, anyway, being that it's in the high 90's, but to celebrate that I have air conditioning and don't have to go outside again, I went looking for a nice hefty stout and, being as I just purchased this one two days ago, I didn't have to dig too deeply into the pile...



Today's submission is Rhthym of the Night from River Roost in White River Junction, Vermont. Mark Babson brews some of the very best NEIPA's I've ever tasted (shut up; I don't want to talk about NEIPA's anymore) but just in the past year or so he's gotten his hands on some barrels and started to put up some very limited batches of barrel-aged stouts. This is the first one that I've actually managed to get 'hold of.

My review follows:

From a 12oz bottle, hand lettered and dated, batch #003 07/04/19. Served in a tulip.

A: Pours a thick and viscous-appearing molasses-like brown-black with a scant quarter-finger of chocolatey bubbles. Retention is on the order of under 3 seconds and leaves no cap, no collar, no lacing, just a lot of noisy carbonation. (3.75)

S: A warm, luxurious aroma of cherry pipe tobacco. Very appealing. (4.50)

T: Taste very much follows the nose, cherry pipe tobacco, and I could stop right there but that wouldn’t be fair. The taste is reminiscent of old crumbling book bindings, wood paneling, mildewed carpets and great-uncles in wool jackets. See? That right there; that’s why people don’t read my reviews. (4.50)

F: Feel is thick and creamy, unctuous, heavy bodied but with bright carbonation keeping it fairly lively. (4.25)

O: Overall, a hefty and luxurious treat. This iteration is batch #003, whiskey barrel aged with tart cherries. The cherry character is barely perceptible, more like it was aged on cured tobacco leaves and the beer itself is only mildly sweet with no hint of tartness. (4.50)

I rated it rather highly at 4.43 with an rDev of 3% - but probably most of the previous ratings were for previous batches.

 

'Last year we drove across the country…We had one cassette tape to listen to on the entire trip… I don't remember what it was…'
– Steven Wright

 

Other Half Brewing - Triple Citra Daydream

Pours an entirely hazed yellow color and a smaller, bubbly head.

Packs a pleasantly intense sugar glazed citra punch on the nose, softened by orange zest and a lighter grassy note. Develops a prickly exotic fruit note of ripe mango and fresh cut passion fruit, adding a pleasantly, lighter zing to the aromas.

Drinks utmost soft, creamy with a refreshing effervescence after the swallow. This has doubtlessly one of the smoothest mouthfeel I‘ve ever encountered in an Ipa so far, hiding the high abv in this in a perfect fashion. Due to its intense thickness the beer takes a little longer to drink, apart from this, this goes down amazingly easy with an outstanding hop intensity.

Tastes of a slowly starting, steadily increasing lime intensity, starting off with a candy sweetness, becoming more fruity then, while finishing quite bitter. Offers additional oranges, light notes of papaya and fruit sorbet coating rock sugar. Finishes with a long lasting bitterness, soothed by the crazy creaminess and the rock sugar, allowing a note of passion fruit to add in.

This is intense, while at the time the beer drinks surprisingly easy. The citra hops produce a fantastic depth, highlighted by the unreal creaminess, together with a long lasting, intense bitterness. Definitely a fantastic display of the citra hop, representing the style perfectly.

 

It remains hot and muggy down here in Middle TN but at least an afternoon shower has cooled things off a bit. I picked up a new-to-me Pilsner yesterday that is working just fine today:

City Wide Pils, 4 Hands Brewing Co., St. Louis, Missouri


This one is an American Pilsner brewed with Citra hops and American malt, per their website. It was fairly hazy in the glass with a pale straw color. A normal pour produced a fluffy white head that lingered nicely. The aroma was definitely American with a mix of white bread, oranges, and limes. The hops were not over the top, allowing the clean malty notes to shine. Same with the taste. Slightly sweet, bready and crackery malt flavors along with the above fruity notes. Bitterness was somewhere between a Czech and German Pils level; this was much less hoppy that Pivo Pils, for reference. Medium bodied with a clean finish. Highly recommended.

 

Flayed by Nightmare brewing, contract brewed by Dorchester brewing

Appearance is your standard murkbomb, golden yellow with a bunch of orange tinted head. I think I had a bad pour on this one, a little overzealous. The nose is a little muted, I actually sucked some foam up my nose trying to get a good sniff. It burned. Anyway I got some musty cheese, a little weed, and some orange and mango fruits. Flavor is much more bold and a little different than what I was expecting. Some dank weedy notes but light, not overpowering. Some ripe sweet fruit notes, and a little bit of musty cheese on the finish but not as much as some of the tired hands stuff I’ve tried. Hold the phone! There’s even a sharp hop bite at the end that lets me know this is, in fact an ipa. Mouthfeel is where this brew shines. It’s so soft, smooth, pillowy, and extremely creamy. Overall the taste is good and surprisingly complex, but the mouthfeel elevates all other aspects of this beer. I can’t say enough about this mouthfeel. It’s very close to some other half stuff I’ve had, which is high praise.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Trying to cool off... guess I will have to wait till Monday...

till then this my latest..



Poured from the bottle into a Bruery tulip glass. 2019 Vintage.

Murky and kind of swampy brown body color appearance in the glass. Looks like there's this almost kind of things in suspension lurking in the glass.. The head color is a little over two fingers, and classic khaki brown like color. It snaps quite a bit out of the bottle with pop like carbonation, and dissolves a bit quickly with a very fine collar that dissolves to next to nothing.

The aroma is absolutely exquisite. This literally smells like baked peach/apple cobbler. Excellent woody tones and big stone fruity aromas, mixed with a soft vanilla, and a big cinnamon rush. Some of the whisky tones are a bit understated, but everything on the bottle is as described and to perfection. This is literally American Apple Pie, what could be more classic!

Palate is quite a surprise. There's at first a real nice peach tartness, then an excellent bakery and flakey pie crust mixed in. Real excellent touches of soft cinnamon and vanilla with a real sense of baked apple as well. The mouthfeel is extremely light but rich and makes for surprisingly easy drinking at this high abv. I am kind of surprised how light it is with such and ABV that I have to score it a little high for that alone.

Full rich and as described, real impressive brew

look: 3.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Cheers!

 

Hazy light gold color with white cap and lacing.

Aroma of bright, piney hops with a decidedly citrus/floral bent.

Tastes at first of rich, bready malt leading quickly into a citrus (grapefruit, tangerine, mango) richness that is taken over mid palate by a firm hop bitterness that lasts well into the aftertaste. Juicy flavors certainly, well blended without loosing their individuality with the whole coming across as fairly complex and balanced.

Medium full texture with balancing carbonation.

Don't know quite what to make of this one, it hits all the notes but sings with a soft voice.

 

Good afternoon, all.

I tried 3 of the 4 beers from the Cigar City sample box last week, so I'll start with unfinished business:

Cigar City Space Pope IPA
ABV: 7.2%
IBU: 45



Aroma is citrus - tangy tangerine, tropical fruits, melon.

1 inch white head fades quickly to a ring with islands of bubbles. Cloudy and hazy translucent pale orange juice color (more pale than the picture indicates). No visible carbonation (a single weak column of bubbles visible with a back light). A thin circle of lacing remains where the head once was.

Mouth feel is medium, no carbonation fizz.

Taste follows the aroma. Tropical fruits, generic citrus, balanced by some sweet malt behind the hops. Light bitterness begins in the middle, growing into a mildly bitter finish and aftertaste.

A nice IPA. Not "juicy" enough to be a NEIPA; not bitter enough to be a WCIPA. A nice hazy American IPA.

L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.75 | BA rating: 3.74

As to top ten songs... not really possible. My musical tastes are so all-inclusive...

So, instead, I'll post a cover of a song by one of the greatest voices in rock, covered by one of the best voices in a local MN group (who's musical style is also hard to pin down). I hope you enjoy it.

 

John Prine! Yes!

 

NBS Beer #2



Hoppy Saison

Stoneface Brewing Co.
Belgian Saison / 6.70% ABV

4.04/5 rDev +2% | Score: 3.96
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

This version states that it's hopped with Mosaic and Ella and comes in at 5.5% abv. Canned 07-9-19

L-The beer pours beautifully golden and clear. The head is 3 full fingers of white foam which recedes to an irregular film. Spotty lacing can be found around the glass.
S- The nose is peppery cracker and mildly phenolic. The hops provide a flowery overtone which I believe is from the Ella hops. Overall the nose is of medium strength and pleasant.
T- The taste is lightly fruity, not citrus, but more like peach or white grapes. There is an earthiness which takes over mid palate. This combined with the hop bitterness makes the beer finish nice and dry.
M- Mouthfeel overall for the beer is light. Carbonation is medium. This combined with the beers dry finish and low ABV makes this one an easy drinker.
O- This one is truth in advertising. It's hoppy enough to be called that without being overpowering to the elements you look for in a saison. Light, tasty, and repeatable. Recommended.

I don't know about best, or even necessarily how to define it in terms of music but these are 10 songs which are significant to me personally over the years of my life so far. I'm 45 for reference. In no particular order:

Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones
The Imperial March - John Williams
Hotel California - The Eagles
Fade to Black - Metallica
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Paradise City- Guns & Roses
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
All Along the Watch Tower - Jimmie Hendrix
Immigrant Song - Led Zepplin
Jeremy - Pearl Jam

 

Good afternoon, NBS.

Another scorcher outside. Inside watching the Swimming World Championships.

I’d like to thank @Skabiski for trading with me so that I could have this beer!







Look: The beer pours a translucent, somewhat murky, Burnt Sienna color. Other colors that come to mind are Auburn, Walnut and Crimson. Beige, two finger head that settles to a thin layer across the top of the beer. No lacing. No visible carbonation.

Smell: A subtle nose. Rye bread. Caramel/toffee. Earthy, herbal, lemon and tea like aroma. Oak. Very soft vanilla and a hint of alcohol as the beer warms.

Taste: Lemony hops on the tip of the tongue. Middle of the palate brings some oak and nuts, and some sweeter, faint notes of vanilla and maple. Soft, herbal (bay leaf/oregano) spicy bready note on the finish gives way to some bitterness. The ABV appears as the beer warms, but it never detracts.

Feel: High level of carbonation. A bit more than expected. Prickly. A touch too much, though it softens with time. A semi-dry beer. Some pleasant heat in the throat as the beer warms.

Overall: An enjoyable offering from Sierra Nevada. Clean and crisp. A bold hop presence that says Sierra Nevada all day long. The interplay between the earthy and bitter hops and spicy rye grain is enjoyable. VERY subtle rye barrel aging. I’m not sure I’d pick up the barrel, but am disadvantaged by not having the non-existent base beer. If you’re looking for a “barrel bomb” this one is not your beer. If you’re seeking a hop forward beer with a great rye grain profile give it a go. I recommend allowing this beer to approach room temperature before or while drinking to best enjoy the flavor.

 

Nice List! Jackson Brown's Running on Empty still holds up. BTW, he's a hometown boy for me.

 

Yesterday may not have been the best day for a road trip, heat wave and all, but my older son is moving to CT in August and we were scheduled to start bringing some of his stuff up there anyway, so we went for it. It's in a really nice area up in the Quiet Corner, and I think he really lucked out with the rental (he's actually got a guest house all to himself), and we were even able to stumble upon a fantastic taco shop in Willimantic, so it all worked out well in the end.

Another benefit was that I was finally able to procure some Industrial Arts Summer Landscape. I've been waiting for this to hit NJ for about a month now, and so far no dice, so it was a good time to take advantage of passing through Rockland County on the way home.

It's a great beer for a heat wave, that's for sure. It's light and crisp, but also engaging in its own way. As soon as you crack the can you get that classic "beer" profile smell before you can even get it in the glass- a really nice combination of bread/corn/spicy hops. But at first sip, it's a lot more intriguing and challenging that you'd initially expect- and with a resiny bitterness that almost borders on coarse.

That coarseness subsides by mid-glass, however, yet the bitterness continues to provide some sturdy structure as you move on. Flavorwise, there does seem to be a familial continuity with the rustic spiciness of all of the other IA lagers so far. I'm sure there's no rye in here, but I'll be damned if it's not coming across that way. Otherwise, it's a great tasty clean beer that just gets better and better by the ounce, even if the ride does start out a little rough. Waitress, bring us a pitcher every seven minutes until somebody passes out. And then bring one every ten minutes. Very solid A- (4.25).
_______________________________
So 10 songs, huh? The more I think about it the tougher it gets, so let's just go with a first draft
10- Honky Tonk Heroes, Waylon Jennings
9- Childish Things, James McMurtry
8- William Tell Overture, Brave Combo
7- San Vicente, Milton Nascimento
6- Personality Crisis, New York Dolls
5- Badlands Flashback, Bruce Cockburn
4- Aguas de Marcos, Elis Regina and Tom Jobim
3- Till I Gain Control Again, Willie Nelson
2- Dreaming I Am, Bob Mould
and at #1 is a song that I just can't get enough of, it's such a joyful and spiritual ride. I even have a whole playlist on Spotify of about a dozen versions by different artists, believe it or not, and it still gives me a lump in the throat at times. The great Jim Pepper:

 

Cool info on Bell. Thanks, Jack.