New Beer Sunday (Week 759)

Good evening and feliz Nuevo Bebida Sunday, BAs. This has been an interesting weekend to say the least. A full pig roast at my buddies sprawling acreage in the Columbia Gorge yesterday, to the North Portland backyard birthday BBQ in the rain today. But now we're home and hunkering down with a fresh new local libation, courtesy of some familiar faces.

Ex Novo/ Great Notion/ Lombard House with the Chris Long Foundation:
The Gang Makes A Lager- Mexican Lager with Motueka and Key Lime







An absolutely perfect looking Mexican lager as the straw yellow body is still, one mass of gold uninterrupted by nonsensical bubbles, yet amassed with a foamy and frothy bone white head. The spit spotty lace scattered and appropriate.

The aroma is simple, as it should be. Light grain, a touch of corn, and a squirt of lime without having to add it myself. It smells like a day on the hot sandy beach. Scorching, lazy, and refreshing.

Well.... it's actually a bit of a miss on the flavor. Though still tasty, it misses the mark of your classic malty and grainy German influenced Mexican lager. Very light (if any) grain, and if speaking 100% honestly, tastes more like a rice lager, with the most reserved pinch of line juice imaginable.

Feels spot on. Ultra light, extremely crisp and refreshing with superb balance only slightly favoring sweet. In my opinion, a Mexican lager is intended to be consumed by the truck load, and this easily meets that criteria.

Ex Novo, Great, Notion,and Lombard House happen to be well loved establishments on my part. But, as Mexican lagers are quite an influential part on my beer-life journey, this one doesn't quite hit the marks. A good beer. A tasty and refreshing one with respectable homages to the style, but I'll still take a Modelo Especial or Bohemia in favor as this doesn't quite ring true to the proper cervezas of our friends south of the border.

Salud!

I gave The Gang Makes A Lager a rating of 3.95

 

For my 3rd and final NBS beer today I'm moving north of the border.



IPA Du Nord-Est

Brasseurs Du Nord Inc.
New England IPA | 6% ABV

4.04/5 rDev -5.6% | Average: 4.28
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

canned 08-15-19

L-The beer pours a hazy yellow with a 2 finger white head. The head recedes to thick ring which clings to the glass. Lacing is thick and impressive.
S- The nose is big on citrus. Orange and tangerine dominate. Classic galaxy hop aroma.
T- The orange and tangerine notes from the nose are present here. They are less sweet than in the nose. The beer finishes with some light pithy bitterness.
F-Mouthfeel overall is medium. Its got some heft to it. The pithy bitterness has the beer finishing slightly dry. Carbonation is light.
O-This is just a well executed galaxy hop NEIPA. It's not going to set your world on fire, but you won't be sorry you purchased it either. It's a simple concept executed at a high level. Recommended.

 

New Beer Sunday: German Helles

Evenin’ NBSers with a suggestion for SE PA locals who enjoy trying beers that push the envelope a bit on traditional styles.

This evening’s new beer is the Tamaned Helles from Neshaminy Creek Brewing.

My review of this beer, still in progress, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29021/239408/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer are about both the toasted bready/biscuity malt and its sweetness as well as the herbal/earthy hops and their bitterness. But the folks at Neshaminy Creek are exploring what a German Helles might be like with the hops a bit more upfront rather than in the background. It’s a clean crisp beer that I personally found enjoyable as a change of pace from the expectations I have of what a German Helles is supposed to be like. I’d say definitely a drinkable beer and one that currently goes well with warm summer nights.


As do many of us on this site, I use YouTube for links to various bits of music. Once in a while something shows up that’s just fun to watch. I love finding some of these flash mob type things, especially when it's music I love listening to.



Cheers, all!

 

Omnipollo Aon Pecan Mud Cake - BBA. This was insane! Minimal head retention/spotty lacing. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, pecans, caramel, brown sugar, fudge, brownie batter, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, biscuit, and dark bread; with lighter notes of molasses, licorice, dark fruit, smoke, oak char, leather, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Very minimal herbal, grass, roast, char bitterness; and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and super full body; very creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts; light slickness and slight sticky/chalky/tannic notes in the mouthfeel. Slightly increasing lingering bitter/tannic dryness; no cloying sweetness. Amazingly smooth/silky/soft, minimal wartming 11%, zero lingering barrel booze. Perfectly balanced super rich malts, flavorings, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy with lingering dryness. Did not prefer over the base beer, but met all expectations. 4.47


Cheers

 

#2, this is courtesy of that beer nerd extraordinaire @beerloserLI in NBS BIF #Nein.

It may be my favorite beer of 2019.

Yes, I typed that.

PS: NBS BIF #10 enrollment is open. This is the kind of beer you receive in NBS BIF’s. IJS.





4.54/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours an onyx black with a foamy, dense dark tan head, and the slightest smidge of leakage to dark mahogany on the edges. Like a black hole and the best imperial stouts, this beer swallows light.

The rye barrel is very forward on the nose, as expected, but what wasn’t expected was the honey and its demand to be ..... aroma’d. I didn’t, though, really get any of the char/chocolate/rich toffee you would expect for the style.

But you get those flavors - by the truckload - on the taste. The interplay between the rye whiskey (which provides spice), rich chocolate, toffee, and especially the sweetness from the honey renders any booze component in this 11% ABV beer obsolete. How is that possible?

The mouthfeel is rich and creamy, and in line with the style. This is a “favorite beer of 2019” candidate for me. Exceptionally well done.

 

Good to see you. I was starting to worry.

 

Good evening NBS
Another new Taxman beer to try out...


12oz canned 08/05/19 poured into a snifter at fridge temp 8.5% ABV 13 IBU per label. The beer pours mostly bright (with just a bit of yeast residual) in an orange amber color. The head is off white, modest and settles to a pencil thin ring. No lacing. The aroma is mild with honey, pale malt and Belgian yeast. The taste is semisweet banana bubblegum with the honey and vanilla creeping in mid palate. The finish is yeast driven, mildly bitter and drying. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with average carbonation. Overall, very good. Never boozy, cloying or unbalanced.

Taxman tried a different Belgian yeast on this beer. I'm not a big banana fan, but I will say it was truth in advertising. Big Esters. I appreciate them trying new things and providing Indiana with a steady stream of innovative Belgian style beers.

Cheers all!

 

My German trend continues and if we are talking football, then it has to be Bayern Munich, not too far out of Munich to the southeast us the town of Aying. My new beer is Ayinger Ur Weiss

4.25/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

bottle poured into a Sam Adams glass

translucent amber brown capped by a two finger off white creamy, dense foam cap, good retention, settles to a foam layer

Aroma of banana and clove

Taste of sweet banana and clove

Low sudsing, quaffable, very easy drinking, great for a hot summer day in a German Bier garten

Good beer

 

I loved the Vikings/Rams rivalry in the 70s. Bud Grant and Chuck Knox we’re cut from the same cloth.

 

Hey NBSers, figured I'd make one of my rare appearances in the thread today. Some of the higher expectations I've had with an American Oktoberfest, this von Trapp was a real pleaser, save for a single element that bogged it down a bit...

Best before 11/27/19

Pours a cloudy copper body with a light orange tint and topped with a creamy off-white/ultra-light khaki head; good retention results in a moderate frothy
cap/collar and a hefty spread of thinner, soapy lacing. 4

Aromas are dense and bready, with a drying malty sweetness and rich (bread) crusty quality; milder bits of earthy tones and gritty oak, while remaining deep, toasty, and fresh. 4

Taste opens with light brown bread and some caramel malt touches, building a (surprisingly present) hop profile imparting a deeply toasty herbal tone dominating from the mid-palate onward. 3.75

Mouthfeel shows a lighter-bodied, moderate carbonation, light malty grit and smooth along the mid-palate; very drying on the finish, with a light bitterness sneaking in on the swallow. 3.75

A bready and robust American Oktoberfest built with a German dryness and body; only thrown off by a growing bitterness which becomes excessive at times, but not enough to throw off the overall drinkability. 3.75

Cheers, BAs!

 

Happy New Milk Stout Sunday!

Another nice brew. Not new, but it's been years since the last time I've had, but there is no easy way to see your old review date anymore, that SUCKS!

Cheers!

 

Double Barrel Cinnamon And Vanilla Rare DOS (Sunday 2017). This was amazing. Lasting rocky head/foamy lacing for the ABV. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, oak char, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Very mild herbal, grass, roast, char bitterness; and cinnamon/bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and super full body; very creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts; slight slickness, sticky hops, chalky roast, and bourbon/oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Slightly increasing lingering bitter/spicy dryness; no cloying sweetness. Mild increasing warmth of 11%, zero lingering barrel booze. Perfectly balanced super rich malts, flavorings, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Not overwhelming on any aspect. Top tier quality stout as expected. One of their best ones so far. Still have many more to review. 4.38


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

I wasnt planning on doing a new beer tonight but Kim needed dessert and I wanted relief from a Giants failure.
This beer hails from Ohio and from the most generous and regal BA @WesMantooth . When he sent the last huge BIF box this was included and he indicated it was one of his favorites....
Willoughby Brewing Nut Smasher Imperial Stout brewed with coffee, peanut butter and chocolate.
Pours a deep, dark reddish tinged black with beautiful creamy toffee colored head that lingers and leaves quite a nice bit of lacing.
Aroma is solid peanut butter- like Ive never smelled in a beer before, yes chocolate and roasted coffee aromas abound. Its smells like a peanut butter cup in a glass.
Taste is the same - smooth peanut butter, decadent chocolate, roasted coffee appears in the background but this in not a coffee beer! Its a peanut butter chocolate beer. Layers of dark roasted malts. Absolutely delicious.
Feel is creamy smooth, light carbonation that lasts throughout, nicely bitter and not very sweet. Flavor of this beer lingers forever.
This review does not do this beer justice. This is an absolutely fantastic drink and I thank Corey again. Wow.
I would love to get my hands on this again sometime.
Thank You!

 

Did you get that up here in Quebec?

 

A new beer. And a Sunday?

Metric Brewing Nightman Black IPA.
7.1% 45 IBU
fallout 3 44 magnum
Brewed with wormwood licorice and orange peel.
Look- dark as night but not midnight. Decent head retention. Good lacing.
Aroma - Fernet absinthe whiff with so.e citrus hoppiness. Subtle.
T - Yep. Fernet or malort shot in a Black IPA. Fascinating.
F - nice carbonation but could use a little more lift.
O - one of the more intriguing and weird beers I have had locally.
3.8 if I had to put an overall score on this.

 

It was good. I have more to ponder over. Just wasn't what I was hoping for. Nonetheless, it goes to a good cause, and I love the establishments involved, so fuck it.

 

Good evening, NBS! Currently watching the Yankees and trying to drown all memories of the Giants game earlier.

Not a new brewery, but a new beer: The Abyss. I’ve never had it. @JayWhitson generously sent me two vintages including this 2015.



Serious lacing!



Look: Appears viscous pouring from the bottle. Pitch black in the glass, with a light brown, craggy, two finger head. The foam settles and leaves a lot of lace in its wake. As I drink down the beer a ton of lacing. Opaque and no visible carbonation.

Smell: Milk chocolate, cocoa, bourbon, raisin, prune, coffee, chocolate covered raspberry jelly rings, plum, chocolate berry cordial.

Taste: The tip of the tongue is sweet cherry,
dark chocolate, sweet and juicy plum. These sweet and dark fruit notes yield mid palate to the wine barrel influence on this beer. Rich notes of tart blackberry, leather and tobacco. Bitter, toasty, woody and oak forward. The finish on this beer resembles red wine more than most other beers I’ve had.

Feel: Medium carbonation, thick and smooth. The finish is long, dry, oak-forward and bitter. The bitterness lingers forever.

Overall: I’ve never had Abyss before. Therefore, never had this beer fresh, so I cannot comment on the aging process. But, I can state that this beer is clean and enjoyable with no off flavors. The red wine influence here is prominent, enjoyable and cutting edge. This beer actually finishes to me like red wine.

4.5/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

 

Been a while since I've participated, but want to get back into giving reviews.

First of two beers tonight was courtesy of @colby600.

Beer'd Karate in the Water



4.05/5 rDev +3.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a can dated 7/26/19. Pours a dark yellow, but still noticeably lighter than the average NE IPA. About a finger's worth of thick white head. Smell is a fresh, lemon. Very zesty. Taste also has the lemon, with an earthy finish. Lighter mouthfeel, very easy to drink. Very refreshing beer.