New Beer Sunday (Week 774)

Anchor Our Special Ale 2019 (Anchor Christmas Ale)
ABV: 6.9%
IBU: 28



Aroma is spices, sweet malts,very slight roastiness.

Color is dark brown (ruby red with a backlight), topped with a 1 inch creamy light tan head from a fairly vigorous pour. The head has moderate retention, leaving little lacing as it drops down to a thin head with a slight ridge up the glass. Good number of rising bubbles.

Taste is a bit of fruit, spices, hints of evergreen. No bitterness at all. Nice mix of raisiny fruit with malts. Dry overall and especially in the finish.

Mouth feel is thin and hints at astringency. Just enough contribution from the carbonation to keep it from being flat.

Overall, an OK Christmas seasonal, but only OK. Nice, but subdued, flavors. I won't have any problem drinking the remaining beers from the 6-pack.

I hate to say this, because it is so cliché... but last year's was better!

L: 4.0 | S: 3.5 | T: 3.5 | F: 3.25 | O: 3.5 | BA rating: 3.51

 

Bottle Logic Ideation


Pours a clear orange with a small, bubbly head, receeding to an even smaller ring of lacing.


Smells of ancient oak, lighter molasses and toffee, tied together by a spicy whiff. This got a well fitting matured hop note to it, adding a pleasant depth to the nose.


Has a velvet, almost still mouthfeel, revealing the beer‘s heavier body in a perfectly enjoyable fashion without becoming cloying at any time.


Tastes earthy, calm with a blend of sweet caramel and toffee getting balanced by a present oak barrel, which lends a spicy, warming edge to the flavors. Packs a lighter, noble hop presence during mid palate which adds a whole new dimension to the bourbon appearance in this, reminiscenct of a spicy Gruit. Finishes slightly boozy, oaken with a good amount of licorice, lighter molasses and bitter hops.


Very nice winter warmer. After almost five years in the bottle this held up great, with a complex barrel impact among prevailing hops and a sweet malt foundation.

 

Great to see you back, Doc!

 

Napa parabola
..light carbonation, above average body with a slight creamy oily feel
...aroma is black coffee, roasted malt, espresso, red grapes,vinegar, wine
..taste is mildly sweet, bitter free dark and milk chocolate and coffee. Red grapes,vinegar and wine.
Overall its excellent, the barrel added just a little bit of a dry wood/earthy taste. The wine turned it into something unique and flavorful. Not an every day beer but made for an exceptional post meal beer

 

Another one from @tasterschoice62 . Not sure when it was canned, but I trust inside 2 months. Pours a very hazy yellow orange, with a 2 plus finger sticky white head that leaves a thin wall of lace after each sip, with excellent retention. 4.25

Smell is tangerine, papaya, melon, pineapple, and apricot. 4

Taste follows tangerine, melon, papaya, pineapple, and apricot balanced with very little bitterness much better than the nose and bolder. 4.25

Mouthfeel is bigger than average, nice and soft with gentle carbonation, and 8% drinks easy. 4.25

Overall I don’t think I have had anything from them and I hope to have more soon. 4.25

 

Nice review! Relic is a go to for me for great DIPAs. They make a whole bunch. I will be sure to send some more of them. Cheers!

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Samplers and commentators. Both of our kids have arrived from North Carolina. My daughter and her boyfriend flew up on Thursday. They leave on the 26th. Our son drove up today. His girlfriend flies up after Christmas and they're staying through New Year. We'll trim the tree together later. It now feels like Christmas! My New Beer #1 was also reviewed by @Act25 today: Carton's Lagom, a Berliner Weiss with Sea Buckthorn (a flower) and licorice. It's taken a few years for me to appreciate this style but Carton brews Berliners regularly (they call the series Highlander Weiss). It's super lite, crisp, and drinkable at 3.9% ABV and features acidic lemon, anise, and red wine grape. It has a dry, crisp cracker and salty background like a Gose. I'm really enjoying it. Here's my full review:

4.18/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned on 12/18/2019. Poured into a Carton pint glass. It pours a bright, clear, pale golden-honey color with a creamy, bright white cap and thin film of lacing. Lots of tiny bubbles ascend the glass. It has a pleasant floral smell with notes of anise. The taste opens with acidic lemon and and grape over a dry, crackery base. There is also an appealing saltiness and hints of licorice and red wine grapes. It's fruity and not overly sour. The mouth feel is spot on for a Berliner: lite and crisp with lively carbonation, and at 3.9% ABV it's superbly drinkable. I'm not familiar with Sea Buckthorn but this is a very tasty beer and quite refreshing. For a low ABV beer it packs a lot of flavor and is a pleasure to drink.

Since this is such a lite beer I can afford to dig into a bigger ABV Stout for NBS #2. Cheers, all!

 

OK.

Cheers!

 

Of course old dogs can learn new tricks it's just that they don't want the bother. Still recovering from my first round of eye surgery my clarity of vision has improved remarkably. The kids gave me a new phone with enhanced photo capabilities and it's about time I posted my own photos. In the past I've relied mostly on brewery photos (used with their permission of course) but let's see, literally, pun intended . . .

3 Monts Flanders Golden Ale







How do you open the blasted thing? Well, as my Scottish ancestors would say, "A determined man will find a way" . .




Shimmering light gold color with depth and clarity, good white cap and lacing.

A delicate aroma showing some light, sweet lemon hints and ripe yellow fruit such as pear.

Taste at first is surprisingly mild mannered yet has complexity that I can only call finesse. Lemon and pear presented with a perfect balance between sweetness and tartness. Followed by a very light breadiness that supports the other flavors. Very sophisticated and balanced. I only notice some hop firmness in the aftertaste which comes across more as an underpinning than a flavor.

Medium texture with balancing carbonation.

If I was handed this in a flute at a blind tasting my first thought might've been a beautifully balanced, effervescent Loire Valley wine made from the Chenin Blanc grape. Yet beer it is and as such delightful to drink.

 

Fishing has really slowed up, so one more new beer out on the ice, and this beer gets me 1 closer to all 50 states + DC.

Dirty Little Freak from Duclaw.

Malty, chocolate, coconut, caramel. Easy drinking, and I am liking this.

Review link

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1924/114259/

This is the last new beer out on the ice, but I've got more back at the cabin. See you all back on land.

 

Merry Christmas, NBS!
I don't have much family to accommodate during the holidays, but I do enjoy a break from the work grind for a few days. I plan to work tomorrow, rest up for a few days, then hit the road and visit some cousins.
My new beer this Sunday is Westbrook's festive offering

Santa Claw, a 7% ABV hazy IPA. I think it has a little more tropical hop punch than Two Claw. I don't get much in the way of spice or anything suggestive of the holidays., which is a plus for me.


Nice hop bitterness. I enjoyed it.
4.27/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Ho,ho, ho

 

Great to hear about the improvement in you vision.

 

NBS #2 and more appropriate for the holiday season. Magnify's Ugly Sweater Party, an 11% Imperial Stout brewed in collaboration with Mostra Coffee. The coffee flavor is outstanding! The Stout also features vanilla and almond. The mouth feel is not quite as viscous as some of Magnify's big stouts but it's still very pleasing. I shared it with my daughter and her boyfriend and they both enjoyed it. Here's my review:

4.29/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from bottle into a Magnify tulip glass. It pours coffee black with over a finger of fluffy, medium-khaki head and thick, clinging lacing. The nose features burnt coffee, char, tobacco ash, and faint whiffs of vanilla and nuts. As the glass warms, there are also hints of dark fruit. This is delicious! The coffee is strong but not as burnt as the smell suggests. It's not overly acidic. As the glass warms I'm also tasting dark chocolate, cinnamon, almond paste, vanilla, and touches of raisin and fig. The tastes are bold and blend very nicely. The mouth feel is creamy and thick with moderate carbonation. It doesn't feel like 11% ABV. Overall, this is a first rate coffee imperial stout. The flavor is terrific. My only constructive criticism is that the smell is rather subdued. But that's splitting hairs. Another excellent stout offering from Magnify.

Cheers, NBS!

 

NBSx2, courtesy of our favorite jailbird, @joe1510 .

New Glarus
Thumbprint Kühler





Kühler is a pretty beer but not exactly a stunner. The watery and clean looking fluid is tinted coppery orange, and there's almost nothing to speak of but a few white bubbles above.

But the aroma is a stunner. Hard to dissect actually. Cranberry likeness with hay and an earthy grassy touch I can't quite pinpoint. Almost mossy or swampy. I know that doesn't sound like the best descriptor, but that's the best I can do. A little wood, pepper, and passion fruit... Tea! That's it! And all I had to do was read the label. Sheesh.

Wow. Incredible, one of a kind collective of flavors. Right off the bat, honey and orange. Lemon zest and lime juice with a splash of simple sugar and fresh mint leaves follow. Overall, it takes more of a mojito like approach than tea in my opinion, but either way, it's just incredible.

Contrary to the appearance, this feels quite full. A little sticky and sappy, with a pop of carbonation that brings out a subtle tartness. Surprised to find out the lower abv as this drinks like a big boy.

Another wonderful Thumbprint experience. This would be absolutely perfect on a lazy summer day out on the back porch. Not too bad on a cool winter day inside either.

After my official review, I gave Kühler a rating of 4.26 with an rDev of +0.5%. Cheers.

 

Greetings from Nashville! Time for a new beer after the Titans' struggle with the Saints. @mattflippin and I picked up a 4-pk of this yesterday, and I'm glad that I did:



Look: a dark opaque brown color with a thick and long-lasting tan head. Really impressed with the head retention.
Aroma: rich espresso with modest bourbon and chocolate notes.
Taste: followed the nose with great espresso flavor. The barrel was more pronounced and it integrated well. Dark chocolate and roast were there on the finish.
Feel: full-bodied but not as thick as most big stouts, which fit well IMO.
Overall: really like this one. The espresso worked quite well. Cheers and happy Hannukah!