New Beer Sunday (Week 757)

From today’s visit to the brewery - Oceanside White IPA”, by Tomoka Brewing Company:



I grabbed a 32oz Growler to go today.

Deep gold; rocky white head; long lasting cap leaves a solid ring and moderately heavy lacing; excellent clarity. Grapefruit nose. Grapefruit hop bitterness; semi sweet caramel malt base.

Medium lite body; moderate carbonation; no astringency.

Clean easy drinking IPA with a nice hoppy bitter grapefruit linger; reminds me of a light Grapefruit Sculpin; glad I got a growler and I will look for this beer in the local grocery stores.

4.75 | 4.0 | 4.25 | 4.0 | 4.25

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

I really need a flight, and a vacation. I won't be getting either, at least not till next year. I'll have to be satisfied with FINALLY getting a regular day off work, just 2 short weeks away. No more working 7 days a week, and hoping for a day off now and again for me. I can no longer physically and mentally do it. Toppling Goliath awaits me my fist Sunday off, and, like I said, 2 short weeks away.

Now on to my beer, and I wasn't planning on this one tonight, but the 750ml growler isn't sealed too well, so, here it is. My friends picked this up for me at Alloy Brewing in **** Rapids this weekend.


Iron Arm from Alloy Brewing - A Belgian Strong Pale Ale clocking in at 8.5%.

This beer is really tasting good after a long and stressful weekend at work. I'll let my review do the talking for me.

Review:

3.94/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750ml glass growler. Filled on 8-24-19, consumed on 8-25-19.

Pours a murky, darker golden color. 2 finger slightly off white head. Head retention is decent, but there's no real lacing as the head dissipates.

The nose is somewhat earthy smelling. I get a slight fruit aroma as well. Faint hint of vanilla, very faint.

Taste - Very interesting. I get some vanilla up front. It then gets into a more fruit and earthy flavor. I then get back to vanilla, and that lingers on the back side. There's also a slight sweetness that hits me on the back side.

This is a full bodied beer. It also feels slightly creamy, and smooth. It has a slight warming feeling, from the higher ABV, but not harsh at all, just smooth.

I am digging this beer. Very tasty, and just all around fun to drink, and enjoy.


It's late, and this is a strong beer, so one and done. See you all next Sunday.

 

Firestone Walker

Stickee Monkee Vintage 2017

Another beer courtesy of @JayWhitson



Look: The beer pours black. A finger of beige head settles to a thin layer across the top of the glass. The beer is opaque and there is no visible carbonation. A couple spots of lacing but nothing to really speak of. As I drink the beer down the light brings out some ruby and burnt sienna tones.

Smell: First and foremost, dark, dried fruit. The soft sweetness of dates, followed by a hint of raisin. Vanilla and toasted coconut. Caramel, toffee, fudge. My Mom makes a toffee bar with walnuts for Christmas. The aroma of this beer reminds of that dessert treat. Soft alcohol presence.

Taste: Mmmm this is so good. It’s not a terribly complex beer, but the flavor profile is banging. Dark, dried fruit, mostly dates with a hint of raisin. Again, caramel and toffee. A marshmallow sweetness. Super smooth. Amazingly so at 12.5%.

Feel: A super smooth and velvety beer with low carbonation. Some warmth on the finish which nicely complements the flavors noted above. Stickee residual sugar on my lips.

Overall: I do not have the advantage of comparing this beer to its fresh self. While I cannot attest to the impact of age on this beer, I can say that this beer was properly cellared. No off flavors. Nice carbonation. Had I stashed these away I’d continue drinking them in the near future, based on this experience. This beer is a real treat. As with virtually every spirit barrel aged beer from FW that I’ve had, the beer and the barrel treatment are nuanced. This beer is no exception. And it lands near the top of my list for BA beers from FW.

Dark Belgian beers, especially those aged in spirit barrels and some of my favorite beers, so I’m not surprised, based on the style and maker, that I love this beer.

I will post these notes in the cellar review thread. Even though I did not cellar the beer myself.

4.62/5 rDev +2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

 

Bell's II: The Prairie-Grass Dividing is a damn fine gose indeed! I really like the use of plum and coriander here, as I've only had one other gose that I can recall with plum and don't think I've yet had one with coriander in it until now. Full review in the link below.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/428281/?ba=neenerzig#review

Eric

 

Hello all.

I’m cheating only slightly today. I did have a sample of this beer at the release; a few sips. I’m treating this as new, but apologies for the stretch.

Bellwoods Skeleton Key spiced Imperial Stout in Rum Barrels with Vanilla, Dulce de Leche, Lactose and Scotch Bonnet Peppers. (2018).



Pours a thick black with minimal head that disappears to nothing within the first 30 seconds. Traces of what I assume is the scotch bonnets cling to the glass as the beer is consumed.

Sweet dark brown sugar and rum hit the nose first. Peppers are barely present. A slight toffee or caramel note in the background.

Peppers hit you quickly over a sweet, rum soaked oaky stout. The dulce de leche follows with hints of dates and figs and vanilla.

Thick but not syrupy.

I like this far more now than i did when I had a small sample at the release. The booziness has subsided, but the additions are all still quite nicely present and I enjoy haw they follow one another. Good stuff.

Cheers!

 

Glad you liked it. I LOVE that one.
PS. Screw tooth enamel.

 

Glad to hear you have a plan. PS...the Chronology series is a lot of fun.

 

Love the "getting on the airplane" theme. Man I love doing that. I used to do it more frequently, but my recent trip to Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland definitely scratched that itch.

 

Hello Quite Late Night NBS.
While I didn't fly off today, I did squeeze a day out of our busy schedules to go to one of SoCal's best beach cities- Laguna Beach.
Enjoyed a few glorious hours in the surf, got a gelatto, and then headed to the Sawdust Festival: a very cool, approachable art fest featuring local artists ( there are tons here). Amazing stuff. One of my daughters was actually inspired enough to drop some of her own money on a piece. All in all, a beauty day at the beach, and in the canyon.

Beer: Zodiac Series: Leo by Chapman Crafted, a hazy IPA

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45678/432230/?ba=2beerdogs#review

Pours a burnished yellow swirl of haze, pushing fluffy white foam nearly 2 inches in my Weyerbacher tulip. Foam is clumpy, and settles to a scattered cap of dispersed floating islands. Moderate lacing.
Smell is initially bright citrus orange and lemon zest, then some pithy grapefruit, and finally really ripe mango notes cruise in slowly.
Flavor is more of the same, just less bright. All of the citrus is tapered back by an earthy tropical note that is almost drying. Yeast characteristics poke in as well. Still a bit juicy, but different.
Mouthfeel is on the lighter side, carbonation is moderate. Not much of a "hazy" mouthfeel, in other words it doesn't have that pillowy feel.
Overall, refreshing. Would like a little less of the yeasty notes and maybe a tad more fluffy mouthfeel.

3.55/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

 

Cheers NBSers. Big thanks to @TheGent for hooking me up with some Other Half beers for the first time in a few years. This one is a treat.

Pour is moderate with attractive lacing. Nose is pineapple, orange juice and lemon zest. Taste follows with orange and lemon pez, peach gummy rings and more oj. Mouthfeel is full and creamy. Overall excellent example of the style.