New Beer Sunday (Week 777)

I happened to share a bottle of the 30th Anniversary yesterday with my son--in-law and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. From your review, I'm sure I'd like the 31st if I can find it near me.

Nice way for you to sail off into the sunset. Thanks for your contributions over the years!

さようなら

 

Best to you on this next phase, I always enjoy your reviews, comments
Cheers

 

I'm back from my visit to Fat Head's. After doing a few chores, I'm imbibing another good beer that I was luckily gifted at Christmas by my son-in-law. I'm also playing some guitar and dobro for an hour or so; leading up to the first NFL game.

Tired Hands - Lightful (German Hefeweizen - 5.6%) - my overall rating = 3.98



Had this near Pittsburgh, PA from a 16oz canned on 2019-11-24

A - Clear straw-gold with a 2.5-finger white head and light lace

S - Rising bread. Light banana, clove, lemon and floral

T - Banana bread, pear, lemon, pepper, very mild clove. Finishes with a flash of bitterness to balance the fruit and bread flavors.

M - Medium body and carbonation. Crisper than some Hefes.

O - Enjoyable take on the style, I appreciated the dryness and bit of bitterness to clean the palate. Worth seeking out.

 

It

Phil, it sounds like you've made this decision for all the right reasons. Balance is so important in life, particularly with a young family. I would never have been as active on BA as I am if I had young ones at home. I wish you and your family the very best! I've enjoyed reading your posts over the years and I'll continue to think of you when I see someone using an unusual glass. Cheers and blessings!

 

Alright NBS, three new ones today. First up is an IPA from Commonwealth Brewing out of Virginia.



This is Ariana, and it features Citra and Cryo Cascade hops alongside a new varietal from Germany which the beer itself is named after. I'm going to assume this means they focused heavily on that hop for this beer. Some research indicates that Ariana was bred by the Hüll Hop Research Center, the folks who have brought us stuff like Blanc and Mandarina hops as well. This hop is, like its sister aroma varietals, kinda interesting in that it's not a typical "IPA" hop. It apparently features blackcurrant, tobacco, and vanilla notes alongside some citrus. Interesting.

The pour here is a solid opaque orange juice looking hue, actually pretty beautiful in how intensely deep the coloration is. It's topped off with a nice head that eventually sinks to about a half-finger ring of shimmering foam, leaving behind some minimal lace as it does so. Good color, not great retention or lace show, but... I'll give it a pass I suppose.

The nose is definitely intriguing. It smells like a slightly bigger IPA than it is (it's 7.5% ABV for the record), with a little bit of crystal-type maltiness, woodsy and pine-y scents, and a touch of tangerine/orange juice in there. Slight overripe mango and red berry with a hint of grassiness as well. Not bad, but somehow not too cohesive either. The Cryo Cascade hops seem somewhat isolated from the others... they seem (to me, anyway) to come across oily and full of grapefruit and resin, making the beer feel a little more aggressive than it otherwise might've. A little too sweet and boozy smelling and not enough bright fruitiness, honestly.

Flavor is a bit of an improvement, as it goes in a slightly-different direction. As expected from the scent, this does carry with it a bit of crystal malt or something sweeter/denser than the typical pale/pilsner/oat base of the usual NEIPA. However, the woodsy tones from the nose become more apparent on the tongue, and they combine well with the grapefruit, light berry, and ripe mango flavors somehow, even though that seems like an awkward combination of elements on paper. It feels pretty balanced, I guess, and that balance makes this a more enjoyable drink than if it were just Citra/Cascade. That's my thinking anyway. Soft and well-built feel with some heft to it when warranted, and the hops leave a slight oily film after the finish. Firm but not overly-aggressive bitterness. Low-medium carbonation (to style). Enjoyable, but not one I would really want more of. This is the way I feel about many Commonwealth beers I've had, especially their IPAs/NEIPAs. Like, they're usually cool and well-made, with unusual hops and weird combinations of stuff going on, but I typically never finish one and go "wow, I wish I had three more of these." And that's probably for the best because their beer is very expensive. Worth a look, but maybe not a second one unless you love what's on order here.

 

You will be missed

 

Well surprising but perfectly understandable. We have had some great trades and theme days and I will miss your presence. If you ever need East Coast treats again send me a BM.
Peace out Phil and best wishes. Cheers!

 

Alright, on to my second of the day. This one is a new Mosaic-focused IPA (also features Citra in the boil and dry-hop according to their site) from Rising Tide. These guys' recent IPAs have been pretty damn good overall (a couple weren't much to my liking but not everything's gonna be) so I have high-ish hopes for this one. RT has consistently been a pretty underrated beer producer for a couple years now, but their latest taproom expansion was really nice. I'd love to go back soon. Without further ado...



Mosaic pours a superb hazy yellow-orange color with a downright insane head of eggshell-white foam. Incredible retention and consistently nice lacing as the head sinks to about a finger-and-a-half. Crazy legs here, too. Overall this is just about the best looking/most well-constructed NEIPA/hazy pale ale I've had recently. It just looks awesome in my glass!

The nose is pretty much what I expected, but that doesn't make it unimpressive. Actually it's kinda the opposite effect; this just smells so spot-on to what I think of when I think of a solidly-made Mosaic/Citra IPA these days. Yes, the focus is definitely on Mosaic with its fun and fruity dankness compounded by light notes of blueberry and raspberry, but the Citra brings up some passion fruit, grapefruit, and guava-like cattiness in a way only it can conjure. Now this smells like something I'd want to have a four-pack of in my fridge!

Wow, they nailed the flavor profile, too. This is awesome. Super crisp (love that they kept it at only 6% instead of going nuts with the ABV; Mosaic is well-known for becoming unruly in bigger IPAs), light-bodied and yet with a nice depth of flavor. I taste blueberry, ruby-red grapefruit, light notes of melon and papaya, guava, tangerine, and apricot with a focused dank resinous note toward the finish. Easy-drinking and rather quenching stuff. Lowish carbonation and smooth, full-bodied feel with an approachable bitterness. Definitely want more of this.

 

Thanks for the start @cjgiant and thanks for the 2-up comparison with the beer I chose today.
I had a hard time procuring this hot-item beer, but here it is. I have tried two new ideas today. First, I purposely broke a long standing personal rule and read all the KBS Espresso reviews here on NBS, and back about 4 days on the review page. Second, I forgot to pull the bottle from the fridge earlier, so I kind of sous vide the bottle... I stuck it in 60 F degree water for 10 minutes. Kind of proud of that second thing.
Unfortunately even though I love coffee (kind of a coffee snob actually) I am not a bourbon fan and am impartial to bourbon barrel aged beers. As a result, my ratings are quite lower than average.

3.83/5 rDev -13.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz refrigerated bottle tempered to 55 deg F, dated 11.15.19 to a diagonally cut tumbler. Black as can be, even the pour stream was darkest brown. Brown, medium head, medium lacing , despite hand washed/dried glass.
I do not get the coffee hit on the nose that other reviewers did. Mostly Bourbon, some earthy smells, this coffee lover is having a hard time sensing the coffee.
Unfortunately the taste follows the nose for me. I only get coffee in the dry finish. I do sense oak and a hint of char.
Okay.... time out...... I feel like I'm the little kid pointing out the naked guy in The Emperor's New Clothes. Maybe its my sample, but at $24 a 4-pack I'm leery of trying another purchase.
Mouthfeel is satisfying, but lighter than expected.
I bumped up my overall because the finish was nice and dry (as I like it) and the look was great.

On a footnote, maybe it is my sample. My wife took a few sips, I did not tell her anything about the beer. She pretty much had the same impression. My oldest son drank a bottle before I did. He said "not much coffee".

 

I

had the opposite exeperience, thought there was way too much coffee and couldn't find the Bourbon.

 

It's a wise man who realizes he needs to make some changes, and a strong one who follows through and actually makes them. You'll be missed both here and on the PNW forum.

 

Happy NBSS (New Beer Snack Sunday). Continuing my infrequent posts about snacks marketed as beerish things, here are "sourdough craft beer pretzel rings" made by Unique. I have not heard of this brand before. These pretzels are made with malted barley, yeast and "a dash of" hops. They claim that beer pretzels have "existed for generations." They also state that the ring design allows you to "crown your craft and bring two great products together." Do they mean that I should place this thing on the ring of my beer glass?

The pretzel is surprisingly lifeless. There's not much sourdough presence, not much of a pretzel melanoidin character, and no gross beer-ish quality. Even the salt is understated. There's a dull bready quality to the flavor. Imagine a healthy but not tasty bread. Perhaps the beery ingredients are the cause of this but I just can't recognize them in this context. Edible, but not recommended.

 

@cjgiant ... great open. It made my day! (I haven't read the thread yet, so...)

Anyway, first for me today is

Bell's Porter
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 33



Nice strong aroma of roasted malts, hints of coffee, chocolate, and dark fruits.

Nearly black from the front, dark ruby with a backlight. Tall, thick, khaki head, creamy, with good retention. As it recedes, the top is cratered and bubbly, leaving good looking thick strings of lacing down the glass. Ample rising bubbles visible.

Taste is roasted coffee/malts, and as with the aroma, hints of chocolate and dark fruits. Mild bitterness shows up in the middle and carries through to the finish and aftertaste. The finish is semi-dry with the mild hops bitterness providing excellent balance to the dark malts. This lingers into the aftertaste.

The body has some heft for the style, but objectively medium bodied tending toward the thin side. The mouth feel is somewhat dry with good carbonation sparkling.

Overall, an excellent Robust Porter. To my taste, in the same class as the Founders, only slightly better in the strength of the aroma and taste.


L: 4.5 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.0 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.25 | BA rating: 4.17