New Beer Sunday (Week 758)

Grateful for "the very fine people, on both sides" here at Beer Advocate.
Especially @TheIPAHunter for this beer. Breaking it out and gonna do it right out of the can.
CHEERS MY FRIENDS! @TheIPAHunter

 

Happy Sunday/Labor Day weekend NBS players. A cooler but really nice summer day here on the island. My only full day off of the holiday is today. A pretty lazy start but I'm heading out to dinner later in the evening.

My new beer today is Crazy Stupid Fine, a ddh dipa featuring galaxy/summit, from Barrage brewing. The brew checks in at 8.7% abv and of course no canning date.

A golden/amber color on the pour. Murky and a full head of white foam. The nose is sweet with hops. The drinking hits as rather hop forward with lots of tangy fruity hop notes upfront. Decently smooth on the flow with a slightly bitter finish. There is a weird bunch of fruit notes here. I get lots of mango, apple, pair, grape, and a weird sort of banana flavor. A moderate/full body that drinks heavy and a touch syrupy.

Overall, this is pretty bad. I've written off a few local breweries and I think I'm just about done with Barrage. They simply do not make enough quality brews and continue to put out beer, that while sound good, are really poorly executed- if not just simply amateurish. 3/3.5 range at best,

 

I'm on my way out to a holiday bbq, so I guess my new beer today will depend on what's in the cooler .

Have a great one, NBSers!

 

Rolling out a third straight European beer with this




De Ranke XX Bitter
Brouwerij Brasserie De Ranke

4.02/5 rDev -2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Very nice looking beer with its thick white head and plenty of sticky lacing. Body is hazy and golden, makes for a nice picture. Biscuity, barely a little clove and massive noble hop aromas dominate. Taste has a little alcohol up front that seamlessly morphs into a little of that Belgian yeast bubble gum before bitterness shuts everything else out. Finishes not quite dry but leans that way.

 

My local neighborhood supermarket, a place that has been in business since the 40s got a contract brewed beer made my Oliver's in Baltimore. Fun times.



Poured from the can into a nonic pint glass.

Slightly hazed orange body color, with a touch of yellow hued edges. Head is a good solid rich three easy fingers. Off white in color, maybe light khaki, but thick and big bubbled retention. Manages minimal lacing with a slow but bubbled thick puck. Good typical pale ale visuals.

Aroma manages some nice subtle hop, and sort of crispy toffee caramel sweetness. Hints a little hop fruit that's maybe slightly citrus but fairly muted and indistinct. Touches a real nice toffee angle that isn't sugary but kind of a light waffery crispness. Solid very nice aroma.

Palate sticks to basics and nails them well. Light but full rich bodied mouthfeel bring much of that crispy caramel flavor and sweetness on first sip. Is this English ale yeast? I am getting a fruity faint ester, which is an interesting compliment to a full American pine and fruit like hop angle. Hints light orange and maybe even a hit of bitter orange like marmalade in the mix as well.

Good solid pale ale, maybe some English character tweaked in here? Could be wrong, but makes for a good tasty pale ale.

Cheers!

look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA Generated Score: 3.99

Cheers!

 

Schlafly Gruit. Not your average Gruit to me. 3.79 overall

Pours a bright and effervescent gold with fast falling beige head. Murks up at the bottom of the bottle, zero head retention & lacing

S: Pears, a trace of grainyness

T: Extremely dry with pears and white grape, tart lemons, faint oatmeal/wet cereal notes up front. Tartness & dryness dominate as this warms, a long with porridge & lemon notes. Sour and tart orange note, a little acidity, along with dryness and faint porridge notes in the finish

MF: Delicate body & carbonation

Not going to say this totally on point for the style, but I like where they took it! Pretty drinkable, almost some Brut aspects to this. If this is infection creeping in, I like it....

 

Everyone is in line for their next drink. I get to watch the friend’s dog. Quick update: the balloons are in custody.


And a quick flight:

(I think there might still be an electromagnetic force in play)

I could barely tell the Quad from the Dubbel, both had an acidity that I am finding in many of Quattro Goomba’s beers. Otherwise the two Belgian offerings were okay. The far right light beer bordered wasn’t as much. Listed as an American blonde, Goomba Light drank more as a (slightly skunked) AAL to me, even though it didn’t seem as sweet. The Hefeweizen (Bavarian Boss) was a bit watery but probably the best of the bunch.

Onto the last IPA to try, Hopocalypse Now:


This one has very similar characteristics as the last one, including that lemon tea citrusy note. This is even more of a pale ale, though, with the bitterness level simply matching the toasted malt. As much as I want to add words, @AyatollahGold and @Lingenbrau, there’s really not that much more going on here. It’s just an okay pale ale that I could easily have again. Or not.

Might be time today to fully my inquisitive nature and float over to the “other side” and grab some wine.

 

Well I've been laboring on work around the house on labor day weekend. However we visited a few breweries yesterday, including Two Roads and I was able to pick up this collaboration stout canned 3 days ago.

Note the can says "cream extract added". There is an overwhelming sensation of cream in this beer and I don't know how the yeast doesn't just destroy it.

4.32/5 rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a can dated 8/29/19 to a diagonally cut snifter.
Body is brown near the edges, but pretty much opaque black in 98% of the volume. Head is barely a millimeter and quickly turns to a thin ring at the perimeter.
Aroma is where this beer shines. Rich dark coffee, slight vanilla and I swear it smells like creamed coffee, but I don't know how that could be.
Taste is coffee, toffee, caramel, brown sugar and damn it cream again. How do they do that? The cream sensation lingers after the swallow with a coating mouth feel.
A very interesting beer however its a little sweeter than what I like in a coffee stout but that essence of cream is hard to forget.

 

A-Pours a golden color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma had hop hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a hop flavor
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent Festbier

 

Good day, NBS! I’ve been sipping on this beer for the last two hours and still have a third of the glass as I click “post reply” here.

A special thank you to @AyatollahGold for sharing this limited beer with me in the Sloppy Seconds BIF.

Three Floyds Dark Lord 2019

Rye and Divine Rite Barrel—Aged





Look: Dark brown and viscous as the beer pours from the bottle. Black and opaque in the glass. A brown, densely packed head with a Guiness like appearance. No visible carbonation. The head eventually disappears, leaving thick streaks of lacing across the glass. As I drink the beer down dark brown/burnt sienna shows around the edges. Appearance suggests feel.



Smell: The nose is delightfully sweet. Milk chocolate and hot chocolate. Milky. A big dark fruit presence with the bright, sweet aroma of prunes, and the dense, sweet aroma of dates. Sweet bourbon with natural vanilla and fresh coconut. Spicy rye. A hint of black pepper that also yields some vegetal peppery notes. Perhaps the 15% ABV showing? A little meaty and some deep, earthy, mushroom and roasty notes.

Taste: The flavors are awesome and there is so much going on in this beer. Sweet first and umami second. It reminds me a lot of the foil wrapped chocolate liqueur bottles. In this case, one filled with whiskey. Chocolatey whiskey. Syrupy. I find it very spicy, with some cinnamon and black pepper notes, which could be due to the alcohol warmth itself, not only the rye. Dark fruit forward. Dates, dates, dates. That sugary sweetness. It’s a hint meaty. As the beer warms up I get more coffee, and some brighter dark fruit notes including raisin.

Feel: The carbonation is very low and the mouthfeel is syrupy. Chocolate syrup. There is a pleasant and soft warmth on the palate and in the pipes, but this beer is scary drinkable at 15%. Sticky sweetness on the lips.

Overall: This beer is expressive and impressive. One of a handful that really makes me contemplate what I’m drinking and the uniqueness of the beer. Extreme? Sure. Over the top? No.

A drink this enjoyable standing apart from anything I’ve ever had will yield high marks.

Thank you again, Dayton. Still enjoying what’s left and may add to my review. I really do appreciate you sending me this beer.



4.65/5 rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

 

Very happy you enjoyed it & I enjoyed reading the review!

I love how you differentiate the dark fruit notes you perceive to really draw it in.

Cheers!

 

A-Pours a very nice amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma had caramel malt hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a caramel malt flavor
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent Festbier

 

A-Pours a dark amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma had nice caramel malt hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a very rich caramel malt flavor
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A good Doppelbock

 

Enjoying a can of Argilla 7 Day IPA, good but it was better when I had it on draft.

3.93/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

16 oz can poured into a teku

A- A hazy golden orange a very small white head.

S-Citrus, tropical fruits, melons, dank.

T- Citrus, melons, dank, some wet grass, some pale malts.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- Unfortunately the cans of this are not as good as it is on draft.

Cheers!

 

I liked this comparison. I can’t recall if it’s the Oktoberfest or Pumpkin beer from SA that I thought was a “solid representation” a couple years ago, though I think it’s the former. I can see me thinking similarly to you, again. I’ll only find out if I see some dates that are agreeable (yes, I’m on the “too soon!!” side of things), but may tag you if the situation arises

 

Greetings from the Fourth Corner! A nice, sunny, warm day here on the shores of the Salish Sea. My 80 year old Dad was just in town for two weeks, and we were out and about exploring my little city pretty thoroughly. He's back home in the Finger Lakes of New York state now, and I'm getting a chance to relax a bit. I had a 12 hour work day canning some beer yesterday, and I'm heading to a cookout with some friends later.

My first entry today's NBS is from Eugene Oregone, Ninkasi Dry Skies Brut IPA. Pretty nice brew.

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