New Beer Sunday (Week 756)

Howdy, folks!

Just got off the late shift and found a new-to-me beer in the fridge:


No Label's 1980 Kölsch, 5.29% ABV, 22.2 IBUs

The born-on date appears to be March 19, 2019, so it's an older one, but it's still a good one. The pour is simple, pale yellow-gold, clear, smallish head of white foam no more than 1/4-inch tall. It doesn't stick or lace much, but there's enough activity in the glass to keep a nice collar and part of a skin. The aroma is a sweet bread malt, pinch of earthy yeast and way in the background a hint of greenish hops ... grass or green onion. The hops show up much more in the flavor, giving it a grassy bite and even a slight citrus note, lemon or lemon peel. There's also some yeast with the sweeter bread malt/grain flavor offering a balance.

What a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect much because I knew it was a bit old. My tolerance for such things is at an all-time high right now, having spent the last week or two trying to empty my fridge of much older beer than this one ... but bottom line, a very nice stab at a kolsch and a beer I'll look for in the future — a fresh six-pack of this should be dang tasty.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24326/304112/?ba=Premo88#review

4.01 (+11.4% rDev)

Hope you early risers, midday marauders, night owls and the rest have fantastic Sundays and find something new and special in your favorite beer glasses!

Cheers!

 

Oh yeah, similarly childhood was a lot of, "now go outside and I don't want to see you until dinner!" Though this was on a small island in the middle of the woods, so there was really only one or two neighbours. It was either riding bikes back and forth or playing in the surrounding woods with my slightly older neighbour kid... either playing as characters from some of our favourite books (LotR or the Redwall series), or playing soldier (either ourselves with homemade wooden guns or with the little plastic army men and lots of illicit fireworks), or what we called 'nettle whacking' where you fashion a sword of sorts out of a branch (hard hack/ocean spray worked great... springy enough to get good *zip* and just slice through the nettle stalks, but firm enough to retain shape and some sort of sword-iness) and blaze trails through the endless sea of stinging nettles that could grow to be twice our own height in the peak season. It felt especially satisfying because they could ostensibly fight back (stinging nettles got their name for a reason), so it felt like a true foe to fight. Good times. I've discussed my love of nettles as it pertains to beers on these pages before. That is a large part of why.



At work we have something called no-pays. Where you can sign up to essentially have your shift called off if the staffing works. Neat enough concept, but not one that I utilize very often, as I'd usually rather just work. I love my job, and I don't have a huge social life that would draw me away, and the money is just enough incentive, plus I work night shift, so if I've planned and slept to be awake from 1700 to 0900, it's not like there's a whole lot of folks trying to hang out at 0400 anyway. Well, when the numbers get really bad -- as they have recently -- you can get mandatoried: where staffing calls and forces a no pay upon you. Such happened to me tonight. So much for all the seniority. It's especially annoying because it's the second of a four shifts in a row stretch, so I can't even really just switch back to days and go do stuff. Harrumph. On the plus side it means I get to join you guys and take care of some stuff around the apartment I'd been getting behind on!!



I'd had these two bottles squirrelled away in the fridge for a couple of months, saving them explicitly for this time of year when the blackberries are ripe on the bushes that grow like weeds around the city. Well we picked a bunch of fresh blackberries behind my apartment the other day, with the intention of making this pie, and so that I could do my thematic-everything-has-to-have-too-much-meaning fresh-blackberries-with-the-blackberry-beers thing.



Some side-by-side action.
de Garde: The Blackberry
and
Urban Family: Lemon Strike



de Garde started to flow out the small crevices as soon as I inserted the wine opener to get the cork out. Not full gusher, and it died down pretty quick, but a tablespoon or two escaped into the sink. Like NYC circa March 10th: no biggie.
de Garde poured a deeper, richer garnet colour with an initial finger of fizzy head the colour of white laundry that's been washed on hot with red clothes. This eventually fades down to the galaxy and ring pattern found so often. Lemon Strike is a much lighter thinner appearing liquid, like cranberry juice, who's head is also much lighter, and smaller, and fades more quickly into that same galaxy and ring pattern, though the remnants here are slightly more robust than on the de Garde counterpart.



Both these noses are really enjoyable, but they begin to diverge pretty damn quickly. de Garde is immediately a nuanced and masterful blend of bramble, tart lambic character, and a richer almost jammy vein that is unmistakably the berries. This is classic, and it is just a simple example masterfully executed. Lemon Strike threw me for a loop here a bit. I expected sharp lemon acidity with some bramble/berry, but it demonstrates a rich inviting depth that I hadn't foreseen. I had a hard time pinning this one down. It was a much darker palette than I was anticipating, and it brought an almost toasty/brown sugar/fruity element to things. I kept searching for what sort of fruit it made me think of, and it was almost like modern hops, but not quite. Like reminiscent of melon or overripe tropical fruits, but not really either of those things. I was ensorcelled!

Flavour wise, the hooks put forth by the aroma carried true through the flavour. Both were very well done and quite enjoyable. The de Garde took the shape of a mastefully crafted, simple bramble/lambic funk/lightly jammy character, while the mystery of the Lemon Strike continued to entice me. Almost like a lightly toasted dark rye with honey, then dialed down and make way for the nectar/berry ribbon. This unexpected rich depth serves to act as a cloak concealing the tart heart beating underneath which swells to crescendo, but peaks just early, before receding and allowing the berries to carry forth and soften the finish which still carries a decent amount of tartness. The lemons I had to look for more than I expected, and they're closer to like a myer lemon/lemon curd than to the tart acidity I was expecting.

Both of them have small bright carbonation that doesn't stand out on its own, but augments the surrounding flavours quite well. Both of these were phenomenal and I am really glad to have snagged them.



If I do say so myself, this might be the best pie I've made in years. Even though I tried to protect the crust it got a little toasty, but not overly so, the only complaint I had was that I forgot to get vanilla ice cream to put on top!
Cheers y'all, hope you've got something tasty in your glass as well!

 

Good morning NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for today's introduction. As far as childhood activities: BMX bikes and video games (DDR, THPS stick out the most).

On Friday I woke up late for work and got a final warning and sent home to reconstitute. I had a severe nervous breakdown right after I left, and was a hair away from ending my life. My entire body/brain was numb when I got home. Thanks to many on this forum I was able to pull myself out of the shithole(@FlintB even stopped by for a beer and to have a chat, which was awesome). I just hope I can get back on my bosses good side again this week.

Beer:

Hardywood Bourbon GBS. Was a big want for me for a while. 10/2017 bottling. This was fantastic. Nice fluffy head retention/spotty lacing. Aromas and flavors of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, honey, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, bourbon, toasted oak, roasted nuts, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with light notes of coconut, raisin, fig, date, licorice, smoke, oak char, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, peppery, roasted bitterness; and cinnamon/ginger/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full body; very creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts; light slickness, sticky spice, chalky roast, and bourbon/oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter/spicy/tannic dryness; no cloying, acrid, astringency. Super smooth/soft, mild increasing warmth of 10.6%, minimal lingering barrel booze. Really impressive as expected. Amazingly balanced between rich malts, honey, spices, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Not overwhelming on any aspect. 4.25


Cheers

 

A great showing of strength Ian! Cheers mate!

 

Very glad to know you are doing better.

 

Morning y'all. Getting ready for a trip to the woods, still hoping to be there when the honey mushrooms (Armillaria sp.) pop, gotta get 'em that first day or two or they get tough.

Lotta games as a kid, but my best memory was when my really young gang discovered the new highway they were putting in was almost finished, and not open yet, so we could take our bikes and cruise on beautiful pavement for miles. It was a long ride to get there, but so worth it. Part of one summer and part of another this lasted. So much fun. I still think of it whenever I drive on the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway.

Grew up in another area though, and we used to play in the woods behind our houses for the most part, so many crazy games. The best one was fireworks war, which I don't think needs an explanation.

Funny to think of those very young days, found out many years later many of the kids I rode bikes with back then ended up in prison.

Have a cellar dweller in the fridge for later, drink down continues. See ya inna bit.

 

Sending you some hippy get well get happy vibes right now. Here's to health, healing, a brighter outlook, and a clearer view of the beauty in life.

 

The Veil Sleeping Forever 2019. This was incredible. One of the densest/blackest things I have ever seen. Great head retention, light spotty lacing. Aromas and flavors of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, fudge, roasted nuts, toasted biscuit, and dark/brown bread/crust; with lighter notes of apple brandy, vanilla, licorice, raisin, prune, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Very minimal herbal, grassy, peppery, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and super full bodied; extremely creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts; light slickness; slight sticky hops, chalky, roast, and increasing dryness. Zero cloying/acrid. Insanely smooth/soft, mild increasing warmth of 12%, no lingering booze. Apple Brandy is mostly only prominent in the nose. This is a blend of the base beer and BA one though. Amazingly rich malt complexity; solid barrel presence, and just enough earthy hops. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Really loved it. 4.28


Cheers

 

Mornin’ NBSers, with a thanks to @lordofthewiens for the early start.

Weather here today is expected to be hot (low 90’s), humid (you don’t want to know) and mostly sunny.

Expecting to not have time today for a new beer but do intend to check out the reports because there are so many ideas for new things here.

This will be another NBS with out a new beer since we again have some relatives visiting for a few days and today will be full with seeing a few things and getting caught up with past and future events to be. My “job” this morning is to prep some food for everyone. In addition to various fruits, etc. I’m relying on an old standby and doing a fairly large quiche.

But befoe disappearing, a bit on the theme that started off the thread.

My childhood was spent in one of the Western states and in a neighborhood where our home was built on a quite large lot that was part of a larger piece of ground that had been assigned to a family patriarch and his family who had made the trek across the great plains in search of a better life. By the time I was a child the family ground consisted of four modest houses for extended family. One house was a duplex. With the exception of a small cottage all the other homes were for members of my mother’s side of the family. In addition there was fairly large green space with a few trees and an arbor and brick fire place/grill/oven/warming area. So holidays were family events with shared meals and lots of interactions. With no large open space near by, most of my play with the kids in the neighborhood was mostly with one or two of the nearby neighbors kids, or hanging out with various uncles and aunts, etc. Once in a while we'd get lots and lots of kids together and the most favorite game for us as a large group was basically a hide and seek. The rule was you had to hide somewhere within the city block which had a lot of homes, yards, added homes, back yards, gardens and other hiding places. In a home was not allowed. When the original seeker found someone that person also became a seeker, then the next found also became a seek, and so on. So in a reasonble amount of time all could usuually be found. Naturally the real challenge was to be that last one tagged.

Cheers, all!

BTW, thanks to all for your contributions. There are weeks when this is the only thread to be counted on to be of interest.

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, @lordofthewiens, for kicking off today's beer and soul searching. When I was a kid, we lived on our bikes or in the woods. I probably still have gravel embedded in my patellae. The woods began a block uphill from our neighborhood and ran to around the Arctic Circle so we tried not to get lost. It had all the scenic locations - Big Rock, The Sandbank, Hong Kong Hill, The Grapevines - places to stir the imagination and challenge young bodies - more gravel for the patellae and other body parts. Then there was the abandoned building of the Galena Oil company in which we could only reach the top floor by climbing up the elevator shaft, the building where all the bums allegedly hung out between trains, along the railroad tracks where we'd play on the parked trains. I found a spike hammer along the tracks which started me thinking about a career as a gandy dancer. In the winter we'd play on the ice across town on the Allegheny River. It's a wonder any of us survived to adulthood but it was good training for the sixties/seventies.
Anyway, today's New Breakfast Beer:



Received from @jdell15 in NBS BIF #9. Reviewed 8/18/19. Thanks Jacob!
“02/01” built from dots on bottom of can. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 57 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.75.
First pour – Gold, clear.
Body – Amber, opaque. When held to the light, golden-amber and translucent.
Head – Large (Maximum six cm, aggressive center pour), light tan, medium density, shorter than average duration leaving an irregular four to fifteen mm crown and a partial cap.
Lacing –Poor. Narrow band of tiny to small bubbles.
Aroma – 4 – Honey and bourbon.
Flavor – 3.5 – Taste does not follow nose – malty and slightly sweet, no bourbon and just a hint of honey. Ends with a bit of malt bitterness in the aftertaste. No alcohol flavor or aroma (7.5% ABV), no dimethylsulfide, no diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, bordering on syrupy, lively (approaching fizzy) carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3.5 – A bit gimmicky but still a decent take on a bock. To my taste, bock/doppelbock brews are two that are lessened by hanging out in bourbon barrels.
Rating 3.64, rDev -13.7%.

 

The ‘finest’ Pilsner?

As in Lawson’s Finest Liquids Scrag Mountain Pils.

Lawson’s has recently come to the Philly area market and heretofore I have only had Sip of Sunshine and Super Session #8. I enjoyed drinking these brands, especially the Sip of Sunshine.

A fellow BA brought to my attention that Lawson’s also produces a Pilsner. Apparently this is a new brand for Lawson’s becoming available in December 2018:

“December was a great month for beer! We officially released our new brew, Scrag Mountain Pils which was inspired by the traditional Czech Pilsner style and has been a major hit! Our house lager is a tribute to the source of Waitsfield’s town water and the aquifer deep beneath Scrag Mountain.”

https://www.lawsonsfinest.com/mad-river-valley/january-2019-beer-news/

Can a brewery that is best known for their hoppy beers (at least that is the case for me) produce a quality Pilsner?

Let’s find out!

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw yellow colored with a BIG rocky white head.

Aroma:

A vibrant and pleasing combination of bready malt & herbal/spicy and even a hint of lemon hop aromas.

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with a bready malt flavor dominating but there is a notable herbal/spicy flavor from the hops (and a bit of lemon as well). There is a low/moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a pleasant dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good/excellent! I am a BIG fan of the aroma of this beer!!

Cheers to Lawson’s Finest Liquids for crafting a high quality Pilsner!

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

 

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Wiffle ball! We had neighborhood world championship wiffle ball tournaments. Home run derby’s with fungi bats . Built backyard stadiums. Backyard hockey rinks in the winter. Played pickup soccer all summer long on the Nottheestern university baseball outfield ....

Society and Solitude #6 by Hills Farmstead

4.54/5 rDev +0.4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Armsby abbey

HAzy orange liquid, one finger creamy, rocky white foam , great rents ruin settles to a creamy solid white layer

Aroma is floral, tropical, pine

Taste is mango , pine, earthy

Smooth , almost creamy mouthfeel, hop taste , no bite

Excellent Beer, repeatable

 

Is Lawson’s spotty with distribution?

 

Good morning NBS and thanks @lordofthewiens for the memory shot, grew up in and around an elementary school and the woods. Small town with lots of baseball, early death defying single speed bike jumping, lengthy sledding days in winter.
As for a game, we had this long single story brick wall that we would rocket golf balls off of in a form of Jai-Lai , using baseball gloves to catch the returns. All on blacktop.
Todays offering is from Grimm, a classically constructed, no gimmick big stout.
Cheers to all

Double Negative

Grimm Artisanal Ales
American Imperial Stout | 10% ABV

4.1/5 rDev -3.1% | Average: 4.23
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 500 ml undated bottle into the test glass
A - Chalkboard dark, with a thin off white froth, over time islands of tiny carbonation assemble on the surface.
S - Bakers chocolate, espresso, brown bread toast, dark malt, black strap molasses.
T - all dark here, dark coffee, dark chocolate, dark roast malts, add a hint of dark fruits as well,
M - Medium in body, borders on slick but never crosses the line, finish and linger are rich, and cocoa driven
O - A wonderful, straight down the middle Imperial Stout, rich i texture and full of flavors.

 

The two beers I made mention above of Sip of Sunshine and Super Session #8 is pretty widely available in the Philly area. This Pilsner was available in only one store in the area (according to the Beer Menus website).

Cheers!

@zid

 

I’ll check Deons in Levittown, might be home for the Newtown Brewfest in Sept.

 

Wow Ian @superspak a scary share and thanks because we all get down from time to time, glad you snapped out of it. Cheers man.

@lordofthewiens as kid we had a very big yard and land across the street. We had the place to hang and every summer this place was a zoo, me being the youngest of four we always had friends over swimming in the pool, the greatest wiffle ball field going with a corner the two story house being known as the white monster, left center was where the fence from the pool started and went all the way to right center where the volleyball net became the right field fence. We would play and swim all summer long, and thanks Doc for reminding me how lucky I was to live in such a awesome place in the 80’s.

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 7/25/19. Pours a beautiful hazy yellow orange like a glass of pineapple orange with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thin wisps of lace as slowly settles. 4.75

Smell is a straight forward juice bomb guava, pineapple, tangerine, papaya, and maybe a hint of grapefruit rind. 4.75

Taste follows juicy guava, pineapple, papaya, tangerine, and very gentle and mild grapefruit. 4.75

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, a touch sticky but not dry, soft gentle carbonation, and at 7.2% drinks bigger in flavor but goes down insanely easy. 5

Overall this is awesome brewed with Galaxy, Citra, and oats what is not to love. These guys are dialed in. 4.75