New Beer Sunday (Week 753)

Night Shift Brewing One Hop This Time-Idaho 7.
I grabbed this on Friday because it is the first time I have seen Night Shift in my local stores.
In my search in the database for this beer I see that NS has a long series of these One Hop beers. Interesting. Probably very educational if you got to try each one as the came out.


3.57/5 rDev -15.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 16oz can dated 6/21/19 to a Nonic.
Hazy light orange body supports a nicely textured white head that does some beautiful lacing that lasts the session.
Not much of a nose on this, but I have been mowing dust today, probably not up to the task.
Bit of a hop burn to this that kind of blocks out everything else, although the mouth feel is nice.
Not familiar with Idaho 7, but I'm not impressed with this example. Maybe it needs to be super fresh.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Another NBS that's for sure...

Not much new for our hero... except this beer... so onward!



Sisyphus - New England IPA - Silver Branch Brewing Co.

Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Turbid looking pale body, with a very soapy bright bleach white head. Head creation is quite bubble bath soapy and dissolves and pops with its big bubbles to a real small collar. Body color is an opaque murky pale pineapple juice color.

Spicy and citrus like aroma hit the nose with what seems like a good Citra bent on a guess. Straightforward, hints a little juice with a neutral malt and yeast character.

Palate comes off with a good hop character, but lacking in body. Quite a bit of wet mouthfeel, and a sense of watery palate. The hop angle is lacking considerably on what is hinted on the aroma. Quite a bit of spice and a big amount of pine like astringency. Finishes heavily bitter with lots of dry resin like feel and flavor.

Drinkable and still an IPA, but missing the mark a bit.

look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.25

Cheers!

 

New American Lager (?) Sunday (Week 753)
Greetings fellow NBSers from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. Hot day here, killed me in my woods clothes, only could stand about two hours of it. Luckily not much of a walk to the "path" into the recently protected by the state of NY area along the Hudson that promises views across the river to FDR's mansion in Hyde Park. That part was true. Not great habitat either for walking or for shrooming. Much more to say about it, but gonna leave it there. Now I know.

Was very happy to find this beer at my local, and am enjoying glass two right now. As to why I chose it? I will always grab any beer made by Industrial Arts. Easy, no brainer of a decision. It should be labeled as either IPL or IPA here on BA but it is labeled American Lager, the catch basin for bottom fermented beers that don't fit other styles. Just gotta say it stands up to any IPA you can name. It is so good to be reminded of what a brewing genius Chief, Jeff O'Neil, is. This is a collab. with Cloudburst, a brewery I have tasted one delicious beer from thanks to @kemoarps It is the first one to be fermented in IA's foeders, but if I could suggest something to them it is to do beers that spend more time in, as this one had little oak to it. Knock Knock

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42049/429812/?ba=cavedave#review

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

 

This week’s new beer is from the hottest brewery in Eastern Canada, Brasserie du Bas Canada in Gatineau, QC. Everything I’ve had from these guys has been top notch. Today’s beer is no exception

Brasserie du Bas Canada Constantin DIPA



Pours a murky gold with a nice thick head that dissipates very slowly and leaves a lovely lace on the glass as the beer is consumed.

Dank up front, with notes of tropical fruit and a little pine resin hiding in the background. Maybe a little lemon.

Taste follows nose. Dank. Mango, passion fruit, assorted equatorial fruit on the tongue. Negligible bitterness.

Full bodied with a smooth finish.

This is a top notch hazy IPA, in line with everything else I’ve had from these guys. Certainly the first beer stop on any visit to Canada’s capital region.

Cheers!

 

Hey NBSers! It's been a couple weeks, but I'm back with a few new ones today. Okay, I'll be honest with you guys... I've had two new beers today already, but you'll have to forgive me for not writing about them because I was at a beerunch. Even though I was flying solo, I don't have an app on my phone to get the photos I snapped up on the Internet, and can't be bothered doing so now that I have yet another new one in my glass... the two beers were Magnify's Pollinator (my first from Magnify, though something seemed odd about it and I wasn't a big fan), and Grimm's Butterfly Door (a very juicy NE DIPA that I nevertheless was also not super jazzed about for whatever reason). Anyway, never fear, for I have some fun stuff in store today!

But first, regarding the "why" portion of the original post (thanks for the great intro, btw, @cjgiant!), I tend to choose my NBS beers by what is left in my fridge from hanging with friends Friday/Saturday, which I realize is kind of a simple answer. To that, though, I will add that I have had some NBSes where I desire to do a specific theme, or I find some weird synchronicity between or current running throughout the beers I have on deck. For instance, I guess my theme today could be that I'm simply going light to dark, low ABV to high ABV. To start with...



This is a collaborative IPA between Interboro and Tired Hands, which clocks in at a nice, light 5.6%. I'm expecting this one to be refreshing and enjoyable, as I generally enjoy Interboro and have had good (though minimal) experience with TH.

Pours a nice looking hazy (but not opaque!) golden color with a generous dollop of slightly-off-white head that builds up to around three or four fingers, but quickly dissipates down to a thin ring measuring less than a finger. Some alright legs and decent lace here and there... spotty but it does the job. Not a bad pour.

The nose is a touch floral with some bright grapefruit and pomelo elements bouncing around. It's pretty light, but I didn't expect it to be too insane given that ABV and the fact that the label calls it a "Summer Crush IPA." I get a slight herbal note and some touches of underriped mango, but nothing is really jumping out at me here. An alright nose but nothing spectacular IMO.

On the tongue, this has a lot of bright honeydew melon, starfruit, pomelo, kiwi, mango, and light undertones of ripe, tart strawberry. Very fruit-salad-like, in other words! Refreshing and enjoyable, despite what the kinda boring nose had led me to believe. The feel is a little heavier/less-carbonated than I'd personally like, but I'm really liking how this drinks otherwise, because it actually does have a bit of a dry finish. It doesn't really stand out in any specific way, but for a sub-6% IPA in the NEIPA/slant-NEIPA style, it's definitely a worthy drink.



Trance + Melodic Death Metal... back for their first good record in eight years!

 

New *retired* beer Sunday!
This one got me thinking... given the parameters of this site can a beer be new yet listed as retired at the same time? The definitions of the thread certainly say yes!



BBA imperial stout from a local brewery with two more years in my cellar. Perhaps a bit past its prime but I enjoy the additional age.
500mL bottle poured into a snifter
A: Pitch black with a thin brown head that settles quickly
S: Rich cocoa, light paprika/smoke/cherry
T: Matches the nose
M: Fairly full-bodied, a bit sweet
O: A pleasant stout, I just wish the bourbon was a bit more prevalent
Straight 4s from me.
Cheers!

 

Greetings all on another steamy day here in the Boston area. Unfortunately I don't have an interesting answer to our host's question of "Why" I am drinking this beer. While I usually make an effort to specifically find something new, today's choice just happens to be a beer someone left in my fridge a couple months back that I simply never got around to drinking until now: Iron Maiden's Trooper Beer.

It's 4.7% ABV and while the can simply says "British Beer", a quick google search tells me it's supposed to be an ESB. I don't have a lot of ESB experience but I recall liking Fuller's well enough back in the day. I've had the other Iron Maiden beer which was a take on a Belgian style and I didn't care for that one very much (seemed like they dialed the yeast esters up to 11). Let's see how this one does.



Look: Impressively thick off white head that sticks around and leaves spotty lacing above a slightly opaque copper/amber beer. Handsome.

Smell: Very earthy, floral hops. Pennies. That deep, sweet maltiness I associate with caramel malts. The coppery element smells like a stronger version of what I recall Bass Ale smelling like (unfortunately, since that's the main reason I don't like Bass).

Taste: More copper and pennies. A somewhat unpleasant tannic bitterness that lingers. Toasted malt. Somewhere in there I'm reminded a bit of Sam Adams Boston Ale if I could see past the strong coppery taste (its been ages since I had Boston Ale though so take with a grain of salt).

Feel: At first sip it's surprisingly light and crisp given it's looks and flavor, but it finishes very thick and a bit cloying because that tannic bitterness just keeps hanging in there and coating your mouth. Well carbonated.

Overall: I actually think this might be a good beer if you like this sort of beer, but unfortunately for me I can't get past that 'penny' taste, and I wasn't a big fan of the tannic bitterness either (the two might be related). I don't know whether it's the hops or the malt or something in the process, but that coppery taste is pretty overwhelming to me and keeps me from enjoying things. In fairness to the beer, I have no way of knowing how old it is or what it's life was like before it entered my fridge. I also don't know if that coppery flavor is a flaw, an oddity of my palate, or a desired attribute that I just don't happen to care for.

Either way, I'm going to listen to "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and finish the rest of it. Cheers!

 

Prairie BA Birthday Bomb, 14.7% ABV. Pours black with a ring of brown bubbles. Nose is bourbon, peppers, and caramel. Taste is bourbon, pepper, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, slight coffee. Slightly sweet, slight bitterness, some pepper burn. OK mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.12/5 rDev -7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Having a rainy day today and radar showed a break so we went for a walk. We were a half-hour from home when the rain returned. Oh well, what's a little water, having a beer while I dry off. I didn't care for regular Birthday Bomb, but the BA version is a bit better, particularly if you let it warm. Still - not a new favorite but perhaps it will improve with age.

 

Mikerphone - Smells Like Bean Spirit

This is a “breakfast stout” brewed with maple syrup and coffee. Big head, oily, and medium bodied. This beer tastes like fudge or an intense chocolate syrup. It’s really sweet and bitter at the same time. There’s a heavy char on top of the whole thing. This beer is going for an assault rather than a quiet seduction. It’s funny that something called a breakfast stout actually resembles dessert above all else.

 

Happy New Local Stouts Sunday

Happy NBS everyone! Only had 2 new (to me) brews today, the first was Hoof Hearted's Voltan RIS: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30179/90824/?ba=bluejacket74#review




And continuing with my local brews, the other new brew was BrewDog USA's Wake-Up Call Coffee Stout with coffee from Columbus' own Stauf's Coffee Roasters: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16315/430590/?ba=bluejacket74#review




I thought both were good, liked the coffee in both of them! I'll be back to check everyone else's new brews later today or tomorrow morning sometime.

 

One of my favorites when I could get it when I was stationed in Germany. Usually only found it near Garmish

 

I suppose that would put it right in line with most of the breakfast cereal and breakfast pastry aisles

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. While Carton Brewing is known for its fabulous lite APAs Boat and Beach, and its DIPA 077XX and the single hop variants of "O'Dub," the brewery is extremely adventuresome and constantly releases beers with unusual ingredients. Today, I'm reviewing Digger, a "Clam Ale." Why? Because if anyone can pull this off it's Carton. And I enjoy Oyster Stouts, so why not?

This ale has certain qualities of Boat but with added sea salt and clams. They are subtle but unmistakable. It has a nice floral nose and a crisp, lite mouthfeel. At 3.8% ABV you could drink it at any summer activity. My rating is significantly higher than the ones from 2015 and before but IMHO this is a nicely-crafted, drinkable, and above all interesting, beer. Here's my full review:

3.93/5 rDev +15.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Canned on 7/11/2019 and poured into a Carton pub glass. It pours a cloudy, pale straw yellow color with a large, fluffy head that is as snow white as I've seen. There is abundant soapy lacing. The smell includes wheat cracker, lemon peel, floral, slightly piney and resinous hops, and just a whiff of sea salt. The taste opens like a cross between a Lager and an APA - a spicy, hoppy Lager with a nice dash of tart lemon. At mid-sip I notice the sea salt; it's briny but not distractingly so. Then, at the finish, I can taste the clam; it's subtle but unmistakable. The finish is spicy and fairly bitter considering it's only 20 IBU. This ale is super lite, crisp, and drinkable with lively carbonation. And with an ABV of only 3.8% you can drink a lot of it. While most of the ratings appear to be from 2015 or earlier, and this batch of Digger could be different, I think the ratings are awfully low. This is a nice hot weather ale - perfect for the beach, a softball game, or any summer activity. I've always admired Carton's adventuresome brewing spirit.

I hope you're all enjoying your new beer(s) this glorious summer afternoon. Cheers!

 

This is my first canned offering from Flying Dreams, a small brewing outfit based out of Worcester, MA who have been operating for probably six or so years now if my memory is correct. Their beer is pretty decent, usually, but I stopped seeing their bombers recently and assumed a change to cans was coming. Lo-and-behold, I was correct, as I've seen a few of their beers in the ever-popular pounder can format. One thing that irritates me about this brewery, and has irritated me since their inception is that they might tell you a bit about the beer but not what actually matters. No canned-on date and no ABV is just silly. It's 2019, guys. There's no excuse to not mark your beers with information consumers should know about.

The pour is a deep burnished copper color with golden highlights and a spectacular, frothy head of bone-white foam. Incredible lace, retention, and legs here. I haven't seen a darker-leaning IPA like this in quite a while, and I do have to commend the brewery for getting the appearance aspect of this brew 100% perfectly. This is a gorgeous pour. Full stop.

The can reads "hopped with Citra, Mosaic, Ekuanot, Amarillo, Centennial, and Mandarina Bavaria," so I'm going into this a little bit biased. I don't like Ekuanot hops, and just hope they don't feature prominently. This varietal, which was previously called Equinox, has been featured in enough beers I just can't get into that it became an in-joke with my friends and I that it's the only modern hop that went into witness protection aka changed its name due to its associations with a gross, green peppery flavor profile. Unfortunately, that element does come across here. At first, I only thought so much of it because I figured it was just some weird chive-like/oniony note that would eventually blend with the rest of the nose... then I read the label. Makes more sense now. I just HATE this hop aspect, and that's coming from someone who enjoys the general "chive/green onion" thing a lot of people don't like (in moderation, of course). Its intensity overshadows everything else going on here, which sucks because it crowds out cool hops like Mandarina and Citra.

Interestingly enough, though, I didn't drainpour this. It redeems itself a little bit on the tongue, which has some nice details of grapefruit, tangerine peel/flesh, and papaya crossed with a little bit of the pepper flavor that actually seems to add some nice balance to the proceedings. Can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. The Ekuanot hops have shown themselves to be slightly worthy on the palate... I say this begrudgingly, but this is a solid beer. I had to look up the strength (which, like I said before, is a bit irksome in 2019) and it clocks in at just under 9%... I definitely feel that. I'm about halfway through my can and I'm enjoying it for what it is, but I probably wouldn't return to it. FD has made some surprisingly good beers (their Nightcrawler black IPA is awesome, for example), and this one is alright, but not worth a second drink in my personal opinion.

 

Wow. That 3.8% could be dangerous, too.

Because you give me somebody as good as Carton, making beers at only 3.8% and I’ll likely not even drink water anymore.

 

First as to why I pick beers for NBS? Usually no rhyme or reason, however, sometimes I like to showcase a local or regional offering that isn't getting any attention on this site or a Big Bruiser in large format that only the weekend lends itself to drinking it. This one is neither: Aeronaut A Year With DR. Nandu IPA, 6.5% ABV, 3.98 Overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 2 fingers of cream colored head. Good head retention and lacing

S: Tropical fruit, pears, grassyness

T: Follows the nose, a touch of pineapple, a little grapefruit up front, some breadyness as well. Bready sweetness, a little dryness, a touch of pine as this warms, more grapefruit and some Meyer lemon as well, plus a little papaya. Finishes dry, bready with a little pineapple and pine

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, good balance

A pretty drinkable no-nonsense IPA

 

The why of this beer is because I was recently in South Carolina visiting my family and popped in the beer store for some local stuff. Before I left, I asked both guys working the store which beer I should absolutely not leave the store without. One of them perused what I already had picked out and said this was his pick and it was already in my pile at the checkout.



Three Claw from Westbrook

The appearance is typical for an NEIPA with two and a half fingers of stark white head resting on top. Aroma is tropical fruits; mango, pineapple, orange, and maybe a little bit of weed. Taste follows the nose with low bitterness but a noticeable hop bite at the finish. Mouthfeel is on the thin side of medium and soft, kind of bubbly carbonation. Overall this is fantastic. I love the way it starts sweet and finishes with that hop bite.

 

I have not had much of a chance to post here recently usually traveling on Sundays with the wife. I had some honey do stuff to do today now finished and on to beer. I have seen this one posted several times here and have always wanted to try it, luckily @EMH73 sent this n a box this week so now here we are!!! Sand City Southdown Stout with Coconut at 7.5% it is pretty flavorful and easy drinking. Thanks Evan for the chance to try this!!!



Appearance 4.25 - Pours black with a nice tan head that settles to a thick rocky ring, nice retention. Spotty lacing.

Aroma 4.25 - Big bitter chocolate, coconut is there but subtle, lots of roasted malts, caramel and vanilla.

Taste 4.25- The coconut is again is very mild big chocolate, roasted malts, char coffee and caramel.

Feel 3.75 - Medium bodied a little thin and the carbonation is just a touch more than I would like. Slightly dry finish.

Overall 4.2 - Solid stout love the char and big chocolate. Feel was a bit of a letdown other than that very tasty.

 

Good afternoon and happy New Keller Bier Sunday, BAs. I've got nothing going on this weekend other than watching my kiddos and my niece. Luckily, she is "best cousins" with my daughter. They swing from one extreme to the other in their love/hate relationship. Thank gods for water slide bounce houses! All I know is, I need a beer...

pFriem
Keller Bier (collab w/ New Season Market)





As with most of pFriem's offerings, Keller Bier is beautiful. A glowing straw yellow with a near lime green tint to it. Clean and almost perfectly clear, with a frothy and lazy white foam above. A good amount of spit spot lacing clings to the glass.

Simplistic and rustic cereal grain and a dab of honey flow from the surface. A little dried grass and the faintest amount of soap, and that's all she wrote.

Once again dominated by grain in the flavor, but subtle notes of promised fruits start to shine. White grapes and lemon are the perfect compliment to the grassy finish.

Light and airy with a desert like dryness. A tingle that comes just shy of tart is the only distraction, if you could even call it that, from perfect balance. This is too easy to drink.

Another winner from pFriem. Keller Biers seem to sometimes be a free for all in the lager category. I like to think of them as just a slightly more raw Pilsner. This is just that, and a wonderful summer quencher it is.

After my official review, I gave Keller Bier a rating of 4.03. pRost!

 

Good evening NBS!
I must apologize first. Its been too long since Ive participated on this thread. What was a ritual for me faded away due to becoming the Chef at a new restaurant and brewery. For those that dont know I took this position at Revival In January. Its been quite a project building menus (around beer) and trying to build a clientele and reputation. The advantage is the beer already had a name around these parts. Lots of 13 hour days and almost weekly menu changes takes up alot of my time. I am trying to bring a kind of "food truck" theme to the menu. Lots of different cuisines, many combined, to keep frequent flyers and locals interested. I have alot of fun with menu ideas and descriptions. Very atypical.
Check out the sight if youre interested. I never really promote the brand. Dont think its fair here.....Anyhow!
Glanced at this and decided to give a shout out to our friends to the north.
Flying Monkeys Sparklepuff TIPA
Pours a golden slightly hazy orange yellow with a small off white head that dissapears rather quickly. Lots of particulates in this one as well.
Aroma is loads of peach, orange, pineapple, melon and some pine.
Taste follows with juicy orange, stonefruits, tropical fruit, subtle but not sweet malt w/ pine and nice bitterness.
Finish is drier than you might expect with very little sweetness for a 10.25%
Brew. Taste shows barely a hint of alcohol but you can feel the burn. Dangerous how easily this went down.
First from this Canadian Brewery and they did an excellent job with this "TIPA". So many have faults. Many overly sweet, but theyve managed to create a nice hybrid of NE and West Coast IPAs here. A Canadian IPA...
Cheers and thanks again for the chance to contribute this week. Enjoy your week all.