New Beer Sunday (Week 757)

Good Morning NBS, Thanks to @cjgiant for today’s introduction. I am finally back to being a normal person after last weekends multiple mental breakdowns. Went to the doctor last week. I am on a new SSRI med to try out, and also will be seeking out a psychologist soon; should have done that a whole ago. A life crisis will get you set straight REAL quick. Review #9000 should be coming up this week, got a nice haul yesterday. Was planning on the BCBS Rare 2015 for that achievement.

Was up all night hanging with friends and listening to music. Took a nap late yesterday evening though, so I should be OK for the day.

Time for a big beer review as usual for a weekend. The Bruery Chronology:18. Bottled 11/6/2015. This was fantastic. Poor head retention/no lacing as expected. Aromas and flavors of huge caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, nuts, biscuit, brown bread/dough, raisin, plum, prune, cherry, fig, date, apricot, red apple, and red grape; with lighter notes of coconut, molasses, licorice, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, peat smoke, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Very mild herbal, grassy, roasted bitterness; and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; very creamy, silky, bready malts; light slickness, sticky hops, and oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter/tannic dryness; no cloying sweetness. Dangerously smooth/soft sipping. Mild increasing warmth of 16.6%, with minimal lingering barrel booze after the finish. Perfectly balanced between super rich malts, fruity yeast, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Right on par with the average. This was WAY less sweet than the 24. 4.25


Cheers, be back later as always

 

Mornin' NBSers and thanks @cjgiant for the start up today.

Looking like a nice day here. Comfortably warm with High in the mid 70s (real feel in the low 80s) and Partly Sunny.

Planning on catching one of the later flights today. Have a new one on hand but not the time to open it yet, sometime this evening.

Cheers, all!

 

Good moves. Not a clinician, but done a bit of consulting work with a few real pros at dealing with that sort of thing. They tell me sooner rather than later is definitely a good idea!

 

A- Pours a hazy dark reddish brownish color with a very slight head and lacing
A- Aroma has fruibty and caramel malt hints
M-The taste follows the nose with a fruity and caramel malt flavor
M-A light bodied moderately carbonated beer
O-A well done Flanders Oud Bruin

 

Good morning, all, and Happy New Oktoberfest Sunday! I've been waiting patiently for the SN/Bitburger Oktoberfest collab, and it's finally here! Well, not here, exactly. It hasn't shown up in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls stores yet, but it dropped earlier this week at the Waverly HyVee just a few miles up the road. (Ain't distribution a funny thing?) As it turns out, this was well worth the wait. It has those lovely malt-forward aromas and flavors I look forward to every year, but there's also a peppery note that dances on the palate. It's not too sweet, and it has some pleasant bitterness and a mostly dry finish to round it out. I think it's a great take on the style. This just might be my favorite of the SN Oktoberfest collabs so far.



4.53/5 (rDev +15.6)
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Cheers all. Glad to hear things are back heading the right track there Ian and that we can continue to learn from the punishment you bestow upon your liver

My entry today was a gift from my best friend's dad. My buddy's parents moved from Santa Cruz area to my neck of the woods recently. When my friend was in town visiting last month, we went and stayed over at their place on the hill for a day or two. His dad is an enthusiast (I don't THINK he's on here, but it wouldn't ENTIRELY surprise me), and has a pretty extensive cellar, which he shared with us. Tried some vintage Thomas Hardy's from 1995, Framboise Boon from 1986, and an Orval from last decade. When we were leaving, he handed me a bottle carrier with a couple of things in it that he said he needed to thin out. I drank the Java Coffee Eclipse the other night and was blown away, and tonight I crack into Variations on a Theme, from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales. Variations on a Theme is a blend of some of their favourites.



Variations on a Theme pours a crisp thin honey-yellow... like a glass of lightly sparkling apple juice. An aggressive pour gets me a little fluffy white head, but it quickly disappears to just minimal fuzz at the corners.

Nose is light tart with green apple and lemon and some floral components and a light touch of barnyard funk.

Flavour follows much the same themes. Tart lemon and green apple blend together smoothly, with an overdraping of floral sweetness. It's actually a bit sweeter than I'd anticipated overall, with some yeastiness as well. Finish brings in a nice swell of tart funk, along with more of the yeast character, which isn't my personal favourite note, but will appeal greatly to some.

The overall impression I keep coming away with here is: pleasant. This is clearly very well built, and would probably be boffo on a hot summer day. I can appreciate it, but I don't find myself overly excited.

Thanks, John, for putting this in my possession, and I look forward to sharing more drinks together down the road!

 

Tree House Hurricane


Pours a hazed, glowing yellow color with a huge, froth white head.


Smells of cut limes, lighter resin and ripe oranges. Got a whiff of skunky weed to it, as well as a faint note of passion fruit.


Has a fantastic, smooth and soft mouthfeel to it, with a late, sparkling effervescence making this both silk and refreshing.


Tastes of mellow oranges, mango and bitter lime, together with prickly passion fruit and some bread dough. Turns a bit sweeter then with more mango adding in, while at the time the beer‘s bitterness rises noteable, due to even more limes. Finishes with with a short, pungent bitter hop punch among toffee malts and overripe oranges.


Tasty with a solid nose to it and intense flavors, creating a short and surprisingly sweet finish.

 

Are Classic American Pilsners (CAPs) an emerging beer style?

There are not many commercially brewed CAP beers available. In the past I discussed a CAP brewed by Straub 1872 (they refer to it as a Pre-Prohibition Lager):

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-678.559974/#post-5884158

Today I will be discussing a new CAP brewed by Root Down that the brand as GRIT our Grassroots American Lager. Root Down has a ‘story’ for this beer:

“On tap now is GRIT, our GrassRoots American Lager (4.6% ABV). An everyday beer for the everyday people. You don’t have to be the King of anything to enjoy this beer, it’s not brewed high above the mountain tops, it’s not a Champagne, you don’t have to be a blue ribbon winner to enjoy this cerveza...Just an everyday beer for keeping it real.”

Lots of interesting references to other AAL beers there!

There is also a cool photograph they use of old time Phoenix Iron Workers:



It has been a while since I conducted a side-by-side tasting so I figured I would conduct one today of this new CAP from Root Down and my homebrewed CAP.

Served in my FW Pivo Pils glasses:

Appearance:

Root Down GRIT: Light straw colored with a thin white head which dissipates fairly quickly.

Jack’s CAP: A bright golden color with a HUGE white head.

Aroma:

Root Down GRIT: There is a very mild breadiness and a grassy aspect (from the hops?).

Jack’s CAP: A robust combination of some biscuity malt aroma with plenty of herbal & spicy aromas from the hops.

Taste:

Root Down GRIT: The flavor follows the nose with a bit of bready flavors and a subtle bit noticeable grassy-like flavor.

Jack’s CAP: The flavor follows the nose; biscuity malt flavor accompanied by robust herbal and spicy flavors from the hops.

Mouthfeel

Root Down GRIT: Light body with a dry finish.

Jack’s CAP: Medium bodied with a pleasant crisp & dry finish

Overall

Root Down GRIT: A pleasant enough drinking beer but I was not particularly a fan of this beer’s aroma. Maybe this beer is more like a contemporary AAL vs. a CAP?

Jack’s CAP: A robust and enjoyable Pilsner combining biscuity malt flavors with spicy/herbal hop flavors.

Cheers!

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

 

I love the intro today, thanks @cjgiant

I’ve got a bit of a theme today as well, Sunday morning stouts.

From @thebeers , we have

Beer: Sunday morning stout
Brewery: Weyerbacher (Easton, Pa)
ABV: 12.7%

From a 12 oz. bottle dated 1/05/17 into a PAA glass, the beer pours out with a slick blackness. The only highlights are a thin brown ring near the top. Formed some caramel colored bubbles on the pour, but nothing stuck, leaving it to look still.

The nose carries layers of coffee; from roasty to sweet with caramel to slightly vegetal with faint green pepper. There is a stinging alcohol presence as I breathe deeply to decode more aspects. Caramel, vanilla, chocolate and almost toffee sweetness with a big roasty background.

The taste shows me that sweet, caramel like coffee before it quickly turns into the roasty side of things. Black coffee, almost burnt. Big presence of bitter baker chocolate, like taking a bite out of the chunk for the first time, thinking it’s just a bigger Hershey’s bar. Straight alcohol hit, not boozy or warm, just almost like a straight moonshine presence mixed in with a heavy stout.

The stinging alcohol hit never really goes away. It hits hard in the feel and for me, it seemed to be a distraction the whole way through. Low, still carbonation. Booziness makes it seem a little thin, maybe heavy thin-light medium bodied.

Overall, I thought this beer had some good aspects, but I definitely think that moonshine like, straight grain clear whiskey alcohol presence took from them throughout the entirety. It covered up other aspects, without a fair exchange.

Thanks for the chance Arthur, and I’ll be back with more later! Until then, I can’t wait to see what you bring to the share!

Cheers NBS!

 

Clear, lighter shade of gold color with beautiful white cap and lacing.

Sweet floral aroma that's also fruity and a bit spicy.

Fresh bread flavor at that comes across as slightly spicy and washed down with a glass of mixed citrus juice. Hops are along for the full ride and show some firmness in the finish.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

My impression overall is a Dortmunder style Pilsner with some American twists, very clean and quite refreshing.

 

I am doing an Oktoberfest beer comparison and had these two new to me beers after midnight so going to discuss them here:

Thomas Hooker Oktoberfest - beer is labeled as a "Marzen Style Lager" and I would say that this is accurate. A little too sweet for me but I didn't mind drinking it...but far from my favorite and more than likely a one and done.

Lakefront Brewery Oktoberfest - I enjoyed this one and will be drinking again, quite crisp and light but flavorful.

And in case anyone's interested this year's Southern Tier Pumking is drinking wonderfully as always. I do prefer the Cold Press Coffee version a little more, though. I will also be picking up some Warlock soon but saving that one for the cooler days.

 

Thanks @cjgiant for the great start to this weeks NBS. Will be back later on with a new brew.

Cheers!

 

Poured into a 13 oz Tired Hands Teku glass vintage 2018. Pours a slick black with a 3 plus finger sticky dark tan head that leaves big thick rings of lace with incredible retention, as it slowly settles into a thin film of bubbles. 4.75

Smell is roasty coffee, dark chocolate, dark fruit dates maybe, chai, vanilla, and did I mention some nice charred bourbon. 4.5

Taste follows coffee, dark chocolate, dates, vanilla, chai, and really nice slightly charred and Oaked bourbon. 4.5

Mouthfeel is big for a BA Imperial Stout at only 9.8%, slightly creamy but plenty of life, drinks bigger like near 12%, but still very drinkable and balanced. 4.5

Overall this is a great BA Imperial Stout, that because it’s balance and mouthfeel makes it stand out. Thanks @jzeilinger for this awesome stout. 4.5

 

Good day, New Beer Sundayites!
Just another day in paradise here. Beautiful weather, cool nights perfect for sleeping and good beer. I have to work later today after a rare summer Sunday off last week, but I can't complain. Most of the rest of my time this week has gone towards planning for an upcoming trip to Scotland and what with the pound destroying us (at least for the time being) I'm gonna need every cent I can get. It's getting close and is getting me more excited by the day lots of planning still to do in one month. Normally, I wouldn't drink a beer this big this early, but since we're apparently flying somewhere today I kind of have to. Ordinary social perceptions of drinking appropriateness don't apply when flying. It helps keep you from thinking about the fact that you're shooting through the air in a giant pipe full of people.

For my beer(s) today, I am going to keep trying to work my way through the NE hoppy beers I brought back from the states a couple weeks ago. Gotta down 'em before they wither and turn to dust from old age. I don't often do themed NBS posts but I'm going to try today with a variety of single hop TH beers. Nonetheless, as they are all IIPAs, my theme may not extend beyond the first beer. We'll see how I feel This evening. This first one is made with one of my favorites: Centennial.

Since TH does such a good job of coaxing such an array of flavors out of hops and since I have had single hop Centennial beers before, I'm curious as to how this one stacks up to what I am expecting from it. Let's find out.

It pours a hazy goldish with a couple fingers of white head that settles to a cute little cap, confetti lacing. The aroma has tart orange, lemon juice and lime rind right off the bat, with a pine botanical kind of bite to it and white bread following. The lemon-lime-pine thing is present in the flavor, too, and comes with that classic lemon pledge character that I was expecting due to the hop variety. This is accentuated by the alcohol and a touch of more pronounced malt character compared to their non-Bright beers (crystal malt perhaps?). It is fairly dry, with active carbonation and a relatively resinous finish. Still less sappy than a west coast version of the same beer would be and still sporting the slightest tropical/mango character (the yeast/biotransformation?) but it is definitely its own beast and an enjoyable beer to be sure. Very tasty and a worthy representation of what this classic hop can do.

Santé!

 

Das Boot, is a nice touch.

 

Just curious, what's the ABV on your CAP vs. Grit (4.6%). That is often a significant factor for body and finish.