New Beer Sunday (Week 754)

Sierra Nevada - Helles In The Tropics

I know what this beer is trying to be, and why people dismiss it (a pale German-ish lager with contemporary "new world" hopping), but it’s just not particularly good in any way. It doesn’t work as a Helles... as a hoppy American lager, or on it’s own terms... and that's the issue.

This beer is brilliantly and stunningly clear. Head disappears quick. Not much malt character beyond some unsalted cracker. Hops dominate, but the issue is that the hops don’t really bring anything here, they just muddy the waters in an unsatisfying way. “Tropical” doesn’t come to mind at all. It's bitter with vague hints of lemon. In terms of drinkability, this beer is miles away from a better German Helles... and unfortunately that's something that Sierra Nevada was aiming for.

 

Man, that sums up my experience so much better than I summed it up, or could sum it up for that matter. Bamburana blew my mind. I had high expectations, but mine were from other NBSers, so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. My regret is not buying two of the other three 4paks.

 

At my age (and weight) I have no idea how I would accomplish THAT!

 

Funny you should say that since I am not the light footed bump skiier I was (to say the least) Now I'm aware I have totally changed how I walk when I am off the path and hit mushroom territory. I often stand for a moment to pick out a way my now-fat body will do the least damage, like stepping on rocks or downed limbs.

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. While beer shopping yesterday, I happened upon this Old Ale brewed by The Alementary Brewing Co. of Hackensack, NJ. Old Ale is a style I like but it's also rare especially in the summer. I had heard of Figgy Pudding before but had never seen it in a store so I bought a bottle. It's a holiday season ale that evokes fruit cake (my mom made one every year when I was a kid; it was my intro to rum). The ale is aged in rum barrels with figs, apricots, prunes, and dates. Its general appearance isn't very appealing but I can really taste the prunes, apricots, and figs. There are also notes of burnt peat and tobacco. This is a beer whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But it's a rather odd beer to drink on a hot day in August. Hopefully, Alementary brews it again this autumn and I can drink it at Christmas.

Here's my full review:

4.01/5 rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Brewed in 2018. Poured from bottle into a tulip glass. It pours an orangy-brown color. The thin, ecru head dissipated very quickly. There were also numerous floaters. It's not a terribly appealing look. It has a fruity aroma of figs, prunes, and apricots, along earthy peat, leather, tobacco ash, and just a whiff of rum. The taste is unusual to say the least. The first flavors I notice are prune and apricot. The apricot is slightly tart. As the glass warms other tastes are noticeable, including the expected figs. Underlying the fruit there is a base of burnt peat and tobacco which nicely balance the sweetness. It finishes with unexpected bitterness. This ale has lively carbonation and the 9.1% ABV is well-hidden. Overall, this is a hard beer to rate. As stated above, the appearance isn't very appealing but if the goal was emulate fruitcake, then it does a pretty good job. In fact, it grew on my as I sipped it. This is a dessert beer and is appropriate for the holiday season.

I hope you're all enjoying your new beer(s) today. I think after Figgy Pudding, I'm heading back to the Virtual Bar for a more seasonally-appropriate beverage. Cheers, NBS!

 

Think I saw them in Aldi here & passed, might have to rethink that

 

What a beautiful photo!

 

Central State Brewing's Lono, a Funky Farmhouse ale with oranges,limes & coconut, 6.0% ABV, 3.45 overall

Pours an effervescent & some what hazed straw with near zero head. No head retention or lacing

S: Grassy, a little barnyard once warm

T: Bitter citrus notes, dryness & grassyness, plus a little sweet coconut up front. Bitter orange notes, lime & slight sweetness as this warms, just a kiss of grassy funk. Finishes with sour orange, a touch of pineapple & dryness

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation

Pretty drinkable, but was looking for more Brett

Cheers @jkblr

 

Huckleberries are awesome. Here in my region they are fairly plentiful, so there's all sorts of Huckleberry items to be found: huckleberry bbq sauce, huckleberry candy, huckleberry syrup, huckleberry milkshakes, etc. Even huckleberry beers.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about your Vida. Our dogs are so important. In this world, where else do we receive such a lesson about unconditional love!

 

Hey, I have one of those glasses (probably from the same BA), and while the breakfast burrito I had was pretty tasty, I think I'd love to have had your breakfast, too!

 

I am both laughing at and identifying with this.

 

Man, I was thinking I want a breakfast burrito right now when I saw your pic haha.

 

First up today is an imperial stout brewed with cocoa nibs and salted caramel, courtesy of @ovaltine:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34258/371119/?ba=woemad#review
Perhaps not terribly complex, but an excellent dessert beer that also worked well after a protein-heavy breakfast.

 

A breakfast food truck is a great idea to start with, but when it's primary dwelling place is 5 blocks from your digs and about 7 blocks from where you're house sitting, it's tough to ignore.

 

I better add that isn't my shot. I picked it from google because the treed area in the foreground below that rock outcropping is where I was today. Pretty sure it was taken by one of the excellent folks at Mohonk Preserve (haha I get to give a shout out for one of my favorite local organizations)

 

Troegs Fuzzy Nudge. New England style Double IPA (9%) with peaches and apricots. Oats in the malt Bill and lotus, El Dorado, and azacca hops. I forgot to check for a date, but I know it's recent one-time (so far) special release, it's fresh. I bought it on a whim since it was fresh, I like apricot, and I like Troegs.

Pours out of the can kinda chunky. Fruity stone fruit nose with [maybe a touch of butyric acid (I've found I am very sensitive to it)]. Flavor is lots of sweet peach and apricot initially, there is brief spike in pithy bitterness that fades fast. Flavors melt away fairly rapidly. The 9% ABV is never detectable under the fruit flavor. It delivers on it's promises of peach and apricot. But it seems lacking in the “beer“ attributes. Fruit juice + vodka could get you a pretty close approximation of this beer... That seems to be what sells these days.

 

Continuing my quest from the upper Midwest to answer the question (for myself), "What IS a NEIPA, anyway?", brings me to the next candidate.

Growler Magazine held a blind tasting beer festival, where the attendees where given samples of 49 MN-brewed NEIPAs / Hazy IPAs in flights of 5 and were asked to judge / rank them. They did not know which beer as which, and rated them by the color-coded flight. Of course, with 49 beers to choose from, who knows how the results were skewed by drunkenness, number of ratings, etc. But, the winners of this were:



I covered #5 and #2 last week in NBS. This week, is #1, "Best of Show":

Omni Brewing Co. FAD New England Double IPA
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 45



This beer is directly labeled as a "New England Double IPA" and is rated highly here, and won "Best in Show" at the above mentioned beer festival (however much credence you can give to a rating by a bunch of drunks...), but the experts also included it in their top 12, so ... here we go.

Aroma is sharp citrus, orange, grapefruit, foretelling a biting taste. We'll see.

Look is completely opaque orange, a little dark, capped with a 1 inch thick bubbly and creamy head, leaving thick lacing as it drops down at a moderately rapid pace. Too opaque to see anything going on inside the beer itself.

Feel is soft and smooth.

Taste is very mild, so the biting aroma was a head fake. Taste is pretty simple: orange, perhaps citrus related to orange such as tangerines, but nothing much beyond that. After the initial taste, there is a hint of something like the sharp aroma, perhaps slight hop burn, but then it just goes away.

The finish is pretty much just not there. There is a weak lingering astringency on the mouth, but calling it that runs the risk of overstating it. It ends a bit on the sweet side. Frankly, I don't understand the raves this beer is getting. While not quite as bland and boring as the Surly Mosh Pit, it is definitely living in that neighborhood.

L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.25 | F: 4 | O: 3.25 | My calculated BA rating: 3.49

 

Fat Head's G'Suffa

3.72/5 rDev -0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Had this as part of my first visit to the Middleburg Heights location. Draft was a light old gold color with almost no head. Smell was of toasty malts and grass. Taste featured floral hops over grain. Mouthfeel was thinish but very refreshing. It complemented the pulled pork chili very effectively.

 

First new beer today Other Half The Daydreamiest, thanks @CanConPhilly!

4.36/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thank you CanConPhilly for this
16 oz can, dated 6/25/19, poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden orange with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, a little dank, sweet malts, a little boozy, some stone fruits, touch of tropical fruits.

T- Citrus, caramel malts, some stone fruits, touch of tropical fruits, hints of oranges, bitter dank finish.

M- Smooth, full body, creamy.

O- A slightly sweet and boozy, but still a Daydream.

Cheers!