New Beer Sunday (Week 777)

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. We've had amazing weather in the metro NYC area this weekend with temps 30 degrees above average. I toyed with the idea of an outdoor NBS but I've been fighting a stomach bug so I've limited today's outdoor activities to a long dog walk and an NBS photo. Today's review is a familiar, "trending" beer, Six Point's Master Blend, a BBA Imperial Stout. It's one of my favorite styles and it's been a long time since I've reviewed anything from Six Point. Dollar-for-dollar, this, along with Willettized, are among the best BA Stouts on the market this winter. It features abundant dark chocolate, fresh coffee, caramel, brown sugar, and burnt nuts, and the bourbon doesn't overwhelm. I also appreciate the 12 oz. can format. Here's my full review:

4.35/5 rDev +1.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Canned on 12/2/2019. Served at about 55 degrees. I took the can out of the fridge several hours ago and then put it back in approximately 20 minutes before drinking. Poured into a snulip glass. It pours a very dark walnut - approaching black - with a thin, creamy, medium-mocha colored had that dissipated quickly leaving a thin film of lacing. The fragrant nose features roasted malt, dark chocolate, freshly-brewed coffee, caramel, brown sugar, earthy nuts, and distinct bourbon. The taste opens with rich, dark chocolate and strong coffee. At mid-palate I'm tasting caramel, brown sugar, burnt nuts, and char. The bourbon is clearly evident but it's subtle - almost delicate. As I swish the glass the Stout sweetens with more vanilla and brown sugar notes. It has a thick, creamy mouth feel with a low level of carbonation, and the elevated 13% ABV is not readily apparent but is slowly warming. I have to be careful to sip it slowly. Overall, Master Blend is an excellent Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout, particularly for its price point. I also like the 12 oz. can format, which provides a perfectly enjoyable pour - I think a larger bottle or 16 oz. would be too much.

Best wishes to our esteemed BA @Lingenbrau. We'll miss your excellent reviews, photography, and other contributions to the site and hope to see you again when the time is right! Skål!

 

Good afternoon from 1/12/20 and 70 degrees! I was literally burning wood 2 days ago because it was in teens in the am. The new normal Im afraid.
Hey thanks @cjgiant for the clever opening. Was definitely a 357...sorry.
Today I think Im trying my first beer from Nevada which is really cool. Have to check my notes but Im pretty sure this is my first.
Revision Brewing Lord Lupulin
Galaxy/Vic Secret/El Dorado/Citra IPA.
Pours a hazy yellow with a snow white foamy head that stands for quite some time leaving plenty of lacing.
Aroma is big tropical pineapple, tangerine, lemon, lime, grass, white grape and pine.
Taste follows with tropicals, some bitter grapefruit pith and pine, citrus and peach. The flavor is more subdued than I expected after the wonderful aroma. I hadnt noticed it was dated 10/31 so at 60 days this one may have dropped off a bit. Im usually good with my IPAs about 75 or so days but it depends on the brew. Of course fresher is better for the most part.
Medium - light with a noticeable malt base. Its not sweet but fairly crisp, hoppy and dry.
Overall a solid brew that was worth a try. A little fresher may have been better. Cheers. And best wishes to @Lingenbrau . We will miss you Phil.
One more for the road.....

 

Happy New Beer(s) from @jkblr Sunday (Week 777), MKIII, Part 3!

Whoosh! Man, no wonder I was given the wave-off at the end of last week! This bunch might fell an elephant. The next one was:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1170/54106/?ba=woodychandler#review

but now I have no worries since my teddy bear is now standing by to give me kisses, as needed! One more to go …

 

Fred, regardless of the circumstances we could all learn from that statement. Well said!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed that one. I remember the first year it came out it was a bit polarizing among some of my friends. But as time went on, more people started singing its praises. I for one, feel it has cellared well. I popped one in August and was very happy with the result (thus it made the cut for sending to you).

 

Third up...



Vestige is a "subtly smoked" blonde farmhouse ale (aka saison?) from Oxbow Brewing. I've been happy to see some less-expensive offerings from these guys recently.

Pours a hazy blonde color with good head that builds up to about four fingers at its highest point. Though it quickly sinks down to a finger or so, it leaves behind some very nice lace and also completely covers the surface of the beer itself. Not bad legs, but the rest of this is quite nice. Very active pour. I'm a fan.

So, the bottle states that this beer incorporates Noble European hops and German smoked malts. The nose is very slightly smoky with a heady phenolic element, the kind that I definitely expect from a saison by a good producer of such beers. A slight tangy lemon and poppy-seed element is also noted, alongside some doughy yeast and grassy, herbal hops. This is probably going to be a rather normal yet enjoyable beer, if the scent is anything to go by.

First sips prove my impression pretty much correct. This is a refreshing saison with a good phenolic note and a quenching dry palate focused on rustic graininess, a modicum of lemony acidity, and herbal hop notes with a slight smoke and a touch of earthiness. The smoke is very, very subtle, though. Do not go into this one hoping for anything other than the smallest kiss of smoke. If I didn't know better, I probably would not have even noticed it. Light-bodied, playful feel and good carbonation. I would definitely knock back four of these with no issue on a warm day in the Summer. Fun stuff, but nothing too out-of-the-ordinary when all is said and done.

PSA: For anyone here interested in the music I've been making, plus those who didn't know I make music who are fans of the darker/more obscure side of electronic music... I just published my first EP (~35 minutes) of my new project on Bandcamp. No computers or software was used in the creation of this album (other than to record it). It was all made using hardware synthesizers, a hobby I've been cultivating since about this time last year. Then, all I had was a single analog synth I used to learn the craft. Now, a year later, I can go downstairs to the studio and do almost anything I want, when I want to do it...

https://xnflg.bandcamp.com/releases

(I play some combination of industrial and dark, minimal techno with some songs being catchy/sort of melodic and some being more atmospheric/more ambient/creepy)



If you check this out... cheers! If you like it, let me know what you think!

I may have one more beer in me... by the way

 

777 must not be lucky for me. Either that or I'm on the road to NBS 666 thanks to my best intentions. I had everything prepped to go for a mid-point new beer review, but since I also am trying to prep a last-minute surprise meal for my wife's birthday I don't know that I'll have a new beer today. Especially since I already have dipped into non-new-beers to recover from a near disaster. Anyway, we'll see after food. For now, though, cheers NBSBAers! I'm thinking of you as I ice this chocolate cake and drink a delicious beer from Dieu du ciel! that I've had a million times before.

 

I have had a tough time finding this in my area but came across a four pack randomly yesterday and passed on it for now even though I really wanted to try it. Why? The bottling date was around yours and my fear was that much of the coffee had faded, which is what I find happens with most coffee forward beers if not consumed on the fresher side (and even worse the "green pepper" thing can start to manifest itself). And for the record I love pretty much all of the Founders BA beers, coffee, bourbon, chocolate, etc., so this beer should be a home run for me in theory.

 

A Dunkel I did not get to drink during this excellent German Bock beer tasting thread.

Appearance Nice clear light brown pour, strong carbonation at pour, creamy off white tan head leaves creamy lacing. 4.25

Aroma Fresh bread, malt, brown sugar, raisins and dates. Very nice! 4.5

Taste Bread malt and cracker lead, backed by brown sugar, caramel and toffee. Light dry and bitterness balances this beer well. 4.0

Mouthfeel Medium body, nice tingly carbonation holds throughout the pour, slightly dry, clean finish. 4.25

Overall Solid pour, balanced, good aroma and taste mix. Very good. 4.25

 

Alright, here's my actual last beer of the day, and it's also a new one (to me). Apparently this is a very well-known beer, but it just showed up in my area for the first time so I'm kind of an outsider looking in in this case...



Definitely expecting a somewhat brutal experience here. I think this was one of the first triple-ish IPAs, kinda along the lines of Avery Maharaja in how close it comes to a barleywine at times. Exciting but also terrifying. Pours a deep amber color; quite clear but not perfectly-so. Lots of hop and perhaps yeast sediment in the mix here. Excellent legs and lace from a nice-looking light khaki colored, eggshell-ish head of dense foam.

Nose is pine/orange cleaning solution (I mean this in a positive way) with a big floral component and a ton of resinous grassiness as well. Grapefruit, light mango, and syrupy fruit cocktail here as well. Definite bready maltiness... smells like a nice, big ol' West Coast IPA dialed up even further. A touch of ethanol and even a little bit of rye-like spice. Very excited to give this one a sip or twenty.

Oh yeah, this is the stuff. There's a reason this has won so many awards... it's insanely well-built. Dry as hell but with enough semi-sweet caramel malt heft in the mid-palate that it covers all bases and washes down with true pine-y aplomb. Each sip of this is like the best kind of gut-punch... it's just intense and features wave after wave of tightly-packed hop goodness with the bready backing that older school IPAs always did so well. Clean as hell, too, with a medium body and almost no trace of the strong ABV. Super complex and fun to drink. I would definitely reach for this again in a heartbeat. Not as intense of palate-dominating as Maharaja or other similar beers, but it has a lot of flavor for sure. For hop lovers only, of course! I realize I'm late to the party here, but it's such a good party that I'll probably stick around for a while...

 

Poured into a 13 oz Snulip glass not sure when it was canned. Pours a hazy orange yellow with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves small little bubbles of lace with solid retention. 4.25

Smell is pear, mango, grape, and apricot. 4

Taste follows pear, grape, and mango upfront with some apricot and little must in the very unique finish. 4

Mouthfeel is a big medium, soft gentle carbonation, a tad dry, and at 7.3% very easy going down. 4

Overall this is very nice and slightly different from all the other juice bombs out. 4 Thanks @tasterschoice62 fir this one.

 

We'll miss you, Phil. Hope to see you back when life allows it, but very glad you're putting family first!

 

Great start today...
I'm inspired to make this NBS Now Drink this Beer from generous NBS BIF Sender from prior rounds.
First up, will be from @foundersasap ... He hit me hard in NBS BIF#9 Today I will warm up with his '18 BBA Expedition Stout from Bells. Be back soon.

 

Indeed, had this video run through my head while reading the OP. Great intro!

 

Tough time finding it is an understatement. I was checking out at a very busy store and saw it on the counter. I said ring this up also. The guy said, yea we were allotted two 4-packs and we sold the first 2 hours ago. I hope for Founders sake your interpretation of the age is to blame with the coffee fade. Its a shame because Founders Oatmeal Breakfast Stout is one of my all time favorites.

 

So, Wifey bought me a four pack of different Ommegang Three Philosophers variants as a christmas present. This was the Bourbon Barrel one. It was really, really good. Here's the review:

4.38/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

12 ounce bottle poured into an Ommegang tulip glass that came with the beer.

L---Dark brown with a reddish tint. Fluffy, light brown head that faded pretty quickly, which is expected for a high ABV beer. It left some, but not much, lacing.

S---Sweet & boozy. Bourbon, caramel, oak & vanilla. Really nice, complex aroma. A winner.

T---Vanilla, caramel, molasses, cherries from the Kriek, some toffee, and obviously some bourbon. Excellent, complex flavors.

F---Full bodied. More carbonation than expected for ABV. Rich & creamy.

O---An excellent beer. Wifey really liked it and drank half of the bottle. Three Philosophers is her favorite beer, so it's no surprise she liked it. I wish I had more, but this was a one-off christmas present that I'll never see again. Oh well, I enjoyed it.

 

This next one comes from @SawDog505 generous box.
Definitive Spirals DDH DIPA.
Pours a very hazy yellow with foamy white head that settles to a ring with spotty lacing.
Aroma I notice right away has something unique. Melon, peach, candy apple, tangerine and some flowery/blossom aspect of orchard fruits that really sets it apart. Also a secondary dank as in cannabis.
Taste follows with the melon, fruits and a bit if bitter pine/citrus pith.
Medium/full bodied with a slight slickness, nice tiny carb, sticky on the lips, lingering finish.
Thanks for introducing me to another new brewery to me Tim. Really dig their stuff. Actually spotted a 4pk of Distant Gardens today and didnt hesitate. Really nice stuff.

 

Other than Jai Alai, Guayabera & Florida Cracker, Cigar City beers are scarce in these parts, so I jumped at the chance to try this. Personally, IMHO there is finer beer than a Russian Imperial Stout, so here's my take.

4.6/5 rDev +4.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a very dark brown, small light brown head than fades quickly, leaving just a ring.
Aroma is of heavily roasted coffee, some burnt sugars and some bitter chocolate.
Taste is spot on to the aroma, with some residual sweetness, molasses.
Thick, oily and dense, almost chewy.
I've never seen this before so I was anxious to give it a try. Really enjoyed this beer, one of, if not the best RIS I've had.

 

Thanks for mixing it up on the thread. No, really I'm not being sarcastic. A nice break from reading beer reviews.