New Beer Sunday (Week 755)

Mornin' @cjgiant and thanks for the start up. Expect to post review of Today's new beer sometime early to mid evening.

Just to reassure you it is possible to find a place you might want to live in suburban areas (including outside the DC Beltway). It'll be this years Sierra Nevada Collab with Bitburger..

While I didn't plan to do it that way for beer we bought a house in a Philly suburb, where our reliable regional rail service puts me about 20-25 min from the station I use to use to walk to work. Pretty much by accident we found a place where I now have at least two high quality bottle shops within about two miles from where I sit (one is less than a mile and even I could walk that far ). There are a few places around here with a good tap menu but there's very easy access driving to some really first rate places that offer both good food and flavorful beer on every tap. As dense as in some areas of the city? No, but dense enough that a guy with a house, wife that is lukewarm about beer, and a few kids can still get to enjoy lots of stuff. To top it all off there's even an excellent small pub type place inside 30th Street station that offers 8-10 taps and a seating area where there are no TVs and it's possible to have quility time with friends while sharing a meal and a beer. It's surprising location enables business lunches where you'd prefer others won't be listening in to your conversation that is being held in a social area. (Plus the woman who handles selection of beers to offer grew up in Germany and knows her German-style beers....)

 

I travel a lot for work. After my meetings and my paperwork is done for the day , I head out for local restaurants and local brewers. I use BA to find new breweries & eateries. Very happy with my local Boston offerings. Worcester this week, Chicago the week after. Last week was NYC and Queens.
I try to find the highest rated local brews on my travels. I don't drink many, so i only want the best of the best of what is local.



My new beer is from the Long Island City Beer Project and is Interstellar Overdrive.

4.38/5 rDev +0.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Nice looking little bar in an industrial neighborhood of Queens, very close to Manhattan

sole beertender with a few stools at the bar, cooler on the side, tables for folks to share beers and food

On tap at LiC beer project

Translucent yellow orange , thin white foam cap quickly recedes

Citrus aroma, orange, lime

Taste is citrus orange, lime, hint of dank on the finish

Medium sudsing, hop taste, no bite

Good beer

 

Cheers!

A- Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A- Aroma has coffee and cocoa hints
M-The taste follows the nose with a coffee and cocoa flavor
M-A light bodied moderately carbonated beer
O-A nice Stout

 

Hmmm, having had contact with you for these years online I bet I could take a guess at many of them (a New London comes to mind). Someday, perhaps over a beer, a good topic for conversation would be about where, when and how our places and some travels have been. See you later on today. (Might even find a bit of music by one great composer among the group of greatest composers ever--Mozart. Perhaps an aria from Le Nozze...)

Cheers!

 

You’re right!

Here is the review, as it would not let me edit.

A- Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A- Aroma has coffee and cocoa hints
M-The taste follows the nose with a coffee and cocoa flavor
M-A light bodied moderately carbonated beer
O-A nice Stout

 

A-Pours a nice hazy golden color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has pleasant wheat and malt hints
T-Taste follows the nose with a very pleasant wheat and malt flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A well balanced German Weizenbock

 

Morning y'all, am psyched to open a beer that ... I have had a taster of during a session of many more beers, full disclosure. Hope present mgt. here will cut this legacy staff member, i.e. me, some slack.

It isn't made at a brewery in my "town" since the "town" barely has a store let alone a brewery. I consider the area around here that takes an hour or less to drive as local, rightly or wrongly. So today's beer certainly is local.

There was a time this brewery was the only one claim to actual brewing excellence in the area. Now I feel blessed to be able to draw a circle around where I live an hour's drive from here, and within that circle are some of the best breweries in the country that produce a wonderful variety of styles. @cjgiant not sure you would move here just for the easy lifestyle, natural beauty, and great beer, but for those things I do highly recommend this area, Mid Hudson Valley, NY.

Right now doing this. Last bag of them. Got about three times as many as in pic total. Was a decent season after all. See ya inna bit after I'm finished, getting kinda thirsty.

 

Thanks, no problem.

 

A-Pours a nice rich amber copper color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has slight spice and malt hints
T-Taste follows the nose with a slight spice and malt flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A nice German Marzen/Oktoberfest beer

 

Poured into a 16 oz Hopslam Snulip, not sure when it was canned 7/20 something I believe. Pours a beautiful kind of golden hazy yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves a wall of lace with excellent retention. 4.5

Smell papaya, mandarin, pineapple, apricot, and some mild grapefruit rind. 4.5

Taste follows a big tropical NEDIPA that is not dominated by any flavors, everyone is just supporting each other. 4.75

Mouthfeel is big and creamy, low carbonation and soft, not dry but a tad sticky, and at 8% ABV goes down extremely is, but packed with flavor. 4.75

Overall this stuff is awesome, really a memorable and well made NEDIPA. 4.5

 

Thanks for the start @cjgiant

I have lived here in NJ my entire life, but for a couple school-related stints. Our “beer scene” is good. The longer I live here, the more I want to leave due to the cost of living and the eventual overcrowding. (Believe it or not, it’s going to get worse in the next 2-3 years) But, my parents are here, the schools are great and the commute to my good job is easy enough. So, for now, no plans.

I spent 4 years at UMASS in the early - mid 2000’s and then lived in Germany for 6 months. I’m accustomed to being surrounded by excellent beer. And while beer would not come into play with a move, I would hope for a good scene if I picked up and left. Otherwise, I guess I’d become really good at making cocktails.

Onto the beer, which is the first in a series of pepper stouts I’ll be reviewing today, courtesy of @brutalfarce

Thanks, Bill!





Look: The beer pours translucent and dark brown from the can. Sitting in the glass, opaque and black. The head sits two fingers high in my 16oz glass, is thick and densely packed. It settles at a finger leaving waves of lacing in its wake. No visible carbonation. An excellent looking stout. Although not included in my rating I must mention the great can art.



Smell: A pleasant and soft aroma defined by cinnamon, vanilla and an earthy/oily pepper note. Sweet, spicy and earthy. Coffee, chocolate, and bready. An enjoyable and mild aroma that definitely says
hot chocolate. Nothing suggests 10.5% ABV.

Taste: The flavor is really nice. The pepper is mild, from someone who likes heat. It lingers only slightly, but this might not be the beer for ones who dislike heat. Or, it’s mild enough that it could be a perfect introduction. The cinnamon flavor is present, followed by a light milk chocolate note. The beer is dry, not sweet, which makes for way too easy drinking at 10.5%. All of the ingredients are present. It’s like a dry, cocoa heavy cup of hot chocolate with some heat.

Mouthfeel: I love the feel of this beer. Low carbonation, combined with a thick and creamy mouthfeel. Some warmth from the chili peppers on the palate and in the pipes.

Overall: Plain and simple. I am really enjoying this beer. A winner. Seamless use of ingredients. The pepper is not too hot and complements the beer. This is not a dessert or pastry stout. It is a drinking beer.

Note: This beer was canned in December and I have never consumed it fresh.

4.23/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

 

An award winning Pilsner!

The SEPA area is awash in high quality Pilsners. From old standbys (over 20 years old) like Stoudts, Sly Fox, Victory,… to more recent (the last 4 years or less) versions from Root Down, Mainstay, Workhorse,… to the new beer I will be discussing today of Sterling Pig Shoat Pilsner.

So, what are the awards to may be asking at this point?

Well, one of the awards is from the large competition of World Beer Cup 2018 where they won a Silver Medal.

The other award is from a more local competition (Philadelphia area) which is ‘sponsored’ by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Shoat Pilsner was voted to be the Best New Beer:

“1. Shoat German Pilsner (5%, 24 IBU), Sterling Pig Brewery. Brewer Brian McConnell scored a second place in last year’s Brewvi with a special edition “keller” called Hoppin’ Pils. This year, he takes the top prize with the newly canned edition of his Media brewery’s house pilsner, a crisp homage to the classic German-style Americanized by dry-hopping with Mount Hood hops and kettle hopping, too, which McConnell says adds a minty brightness. The judges called it “clean” with “great balance” between its noble hops aroma and malty backbone. “If all pils tasted like this, it would be a more popular style.” “Wow! Just wow! OMG!” “Seriously," said the panel’s guest out-of-town brewer, Mike Fava, "get in my fridge!”

https://www.inquirer.com/food/craig...es-inquirer-brewvitational-2019-20190530.html

Well everything sure does read real tasty but I will taste it for myself to see for sure.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw/Golden yellow colored with a BIG rocky white head.

Aroma:

The first impression is bready Pilsner Malt aroma but there is notable hops aromas of herbal/spicy.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with notable bready malt with a pleasing combination of herbal/spicy flavors from the hops. There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a pleasant dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good! It has an enjoyable combination of bready malt and herbal/spicy flavors that I look for in a German Pilsner.

Another high quality Pilsner to join the others in SEPA.

Cheers to Sterling Pig for crating this beer!

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH @nc41 @Ranbot @FBarber @Jacobier10 @scottakelly @THANATOPIS @tzieser @zid @ESHBG @Kadonny @NeroFiddled

 

I like the use of non traditional hops here, just proves Americans sometimes can get it right working off more traditional style brews. The amount of possibilities is endless, cheers to the brewers it’s now cool to like Pils and Lagers.