New Beer Sunday (Week 782)

I forgot. Did I send you a Bruery bottle capper? I’m glad most of the beers have been enjoyable. These NBS BIf’s are fun huh.

 

Way to go Hank!!!

 

First up today, beer with lunch.

Summit Elderflower IPA
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 41



A box exclusive in the Summit Mixed Pack IPA Edition (along with Summit regulars Sága and Slugfest, and Twenty-One, a re-introduced beer that was a box exclusive last year).

Aroma is pleasant, if a bit weak. Floral (as you'd expect from the name) with slight hints of citrus.

Appearance is clear golden amber with a low level of rising bubbles below an off-white-light-tan bubbly head with decent retention, leaving a wall of lacing as it recedes. Eventually forming a bubbly cap with thin openings surrounded by the wall of lacing. A very nice looking beer.

Taste is, as the aroma, pleasant and floral, with a decent balancing bitterness that begins in the middle and strengthens a little into the finish and aftertaste (it never becomes a truly bitter beer, however).

Feel is thin to moderate, with a good body on the tongue.

Overall, a well-brewed, good tasting IPA. Easy-drinking and flavorful. While enjoyable, Twenty-one is better (but, then, 21 is top-notch, IMO).

L: 4.0 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.75 | O: 3.75 | BA rating: 3.77

 

It's time for another new beer!



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Packaged Jan 23rd 2020.

Sol lid looking body of orange and pale amber color, mixing light hues of lemon yellow. Slightly cloudy not terribly, but with lots of noticeable fine carbonation. Head creation just squeaks out three fingers of very bright white head, with only a little bit of retention and staying power.

Classic fruity citrus nose, and done nicely. Large amounts of pithy like grapefruit, and some soft orange and grapefruit citrus zest mixing in. Very nice sweetness coming off of this as well, but maybe even a touch of salty pickle strangely. Neutral malt and yeast presence. Pretty good.

Palate is pretty acceptable. Washing hits of orange and grapefruit, following with a real nice pithy bitterness. Sweetness is dialed down, but there is a touch of sweet malt kicking in slightly. The mouthfeel unfortunately is just a hair wet and gives to a wet tasting and feeling palate, not letting the hops and other flavors really take off.

Does taste to form, but could be considerably better.

look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75 | 3.89/5 rDev +1.8%

Cheers!

 

This next beer comes to me from @beermanben. Raspberry Puree from Eagle Park.
4.44/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

It pours looking like a raspberry smoothie with a massive pink head that left amazing lacing. Smells like sweet raspberry juice with a hint of funk. Truly tastes like a raspberry smoothie with predominantly sweet raspberries and a hint of tart ones, mild sourness. Full bodied, medium carbonation, thick and plush mouth feel. This is by far the most natural tasting raspberry I have ever tasted in a beer. Really enjoyable. Glassware provided by my daughter.

 

Tree House King Jjjuliusss


Pours an entirely hazed orange with a huge, froth white head atop.


Packs an orange and lime forward nose with additional passion fruit and papaya on top. Offers even more tropical fruits, once the nose opens up, leaden by the limes, highlighted by orange sherbet and juicy kiwi.


Drinks fuller and smoother than your regular dipa with a medium body, providing a rewarding refreshment during its finish with a well nuanced effervescence.


Tastes big time of passion fruit, complimented by huge amounts of lemon, blueberries and ripe oranges, with no maltiness to speak of. The beer then develops a white grape pith quality together with a note of wild honey, creating an intense, fruity and complex peak in this, balanced by underlying lime and water melon. Finishes with banana peel, more passion fruit and a long lasting lime bitterness, coating up the recognizable fruits uncompromisingly, leaving with a smooth whipped cream softness.


This is fantastic - the beer has an intriguing flavor intensity from start to the end, shows no signs of hop or alcohol burn at all, packs unforseen, well working, complex hop forward flavors and offers a very rewarding bitterness, which coats the tongue for ages.

 

Sunday morning brew and reading material. New-to-the-area November 2019 bottling, “2020” release according to the label, left out of the fridge 30 minutes before pouring:

Appears as dark and menacing as the original. Khaki head sticks around and laces well.

The espresso is definitely prominent in the nose but there is actually a lot going on - the coffee is roasty and smoky but not overwhelming. A salty earthy-ness is present as well as cocoa and and oak spirit barrel. Pretty well rounded aromas.

The taste follows the nose with a balance of espresso and chocolate that leads to a wonderful marriage of mocha. There is a saltiness here that isn’t distracting either, I thought it was this particular strain of coffee but it might be the oak barrel? It’s a nice touch. Bourbon is beneath it all and isn’t too hot in the least.

Medium-to-full mouthfeel with smooth carbonation. Could be fuller/chewier but just fine honestly.

Overall the balance of this thing is pretty nice. I dig the espresso nuances and the mocha notes produced. Barrel aging is spot on.

4.5 across the board.

Cheers!

 

Great intro Doc, and lovely story re: your dogs. As you know well, Mrs. Z and I travel extensively taking care of dogs and cats (and occasional chickens ); and we dote on our last remaining pup (now 11 or 12) Ava, when we are home. Her older “brother” passed last fall at age 15 1/2, so she is our last baby. Ava, too, was a rescue. When the time comes, another rescue dog will join our little family...

New to me beer today is BCB Wheatwine Ale (2019):



The beer reveals a ton of floaties upon pour; it is a virtual snow globe:



And the final photo:



Pours a deep amber, newish penny copper color; tons of floaties in an otherwise clear liquid; fast fizzy incomplete beige head that is gone in seconds leaving the thinnest of rings, no cap retention and no lace; heavy legs on swirl; bigger, chunkier debris on second pour. Nose is medicinal, fruity and boozy; whiskey retro nasal; hot exhale. Sweet malt, sugary plums, bitter herbal hops, boozy whiskey, fruity overripe pears, butterscotch and black licorice; second pour at 60 degrees is more of the same, yet mostly whiskey lite. Thin, slick feel; burn from alcohol on tip of tongue; light carbonation; lots of heat in the mouth; dry, oaky barrel finish. Overall, I thought this beer was a hot mess (I’m still drinking as I write this review); the floaties are a huge turn-off visually for me; the beverage is face flushingly phenolic; it’s like drinking sweetened, watered down Armanac; I like boozy, but this was not my cup of Wheatwine.

3.0 | 3.5 | 3.75 | 3.5 | 3.5
3.57 rDev -16.4%

Cheers y’all!

 

Awesome topic. While everyone is enjoying their new beers, they could hop on over to the Pets and Beer thread and post there also.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/pets-and-beer.612101/

 

Thanks for joining in with your thoughts. I just realized I never put up my own review for that one.

 

Glad to be back for another NBS!
Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend so far. It's really cold and snowy here finally although today's over freezing. I got up early to brew a "fëbzen" this morning and have a pretty chill rest of the day planned. It was my birthday yesterday and although I didn't do (and didn't really care about doing) much, I have gotten to enjoy myself and relax all weekend. I went and got my skates sharpened this morning and went skating for the first time this year. I don't do it near enough, but it is super fun. Sure makes me wish I was good at it haha! For the rest of the day I plan on trying some beer with you fine, friendly folks so fond of fermentation. I've been kind of congested all week but I think I'm improved. We'll see how it goes.

Since I like to try different stuff on here when I can, I figure I might as well start off with this "Estonian-style farmhouse beer" from the folks at Vrooden, a local purveyor of pretty solid more traditional styles/lagers. They are nothing flashy but they make some decent beers. They have started doing some more niche styles (for lack of a better term) that I have never heard of lately and I have enjoyed getting to try them. According to the label, this family of beer is traditionally made with baker's yeast and drained through juniper branches and was made with (or at least with input from) local beer celeb Martin Thibault. So I guess a little like traditional beers made with kviek. No idea on if this one just has an addition of juniper or of they actually use it to lauter I doubt they used a bucket of Fleischman's to ferment it. But maybe...

It pours very clear, glowing gold with a finger+ of kind of anemic off-white head. Okay retention; some lacing. The aroma is doughy with some pepper, banana bread and something that almost rinds me of peanut butter (very faint though). It tastes round and sticky sweet, banana, pizza dough, cloves and black pepper, some spicy herbal thing at the finish that I imagine is from the juniper. It is pretty sweet yet not cloying or underattenuated tasting. It is also fairly drinkable and the alcohol is not noticeable. This is a nice beer with some interesting flavors that go together well I enjoyed drinking it and enjoyed expanding my horizons a bit. I have a hell of a time rating beers like this. I usually use 3.75-4 as a baseline for "brewed to the style" however without knowing the style it's hard to be sure. I would say this one leans to the lower end. It was nice and tasted cohesive, the juniper could have popped a little more and the nose could have popped more I feel when compared to the flavor. I'd have it again, but can't see it being an every-day drinker. The label says it was/is brewed for weddings and the like and I think that sounds perfect.

I think I'll be back in a bit with something else. And maybe some pet/NBSiversary musings.

Santé!

 

Industrial Arts - State Of The Art Series - Wheat Wine

The packaging for this beer is interesting. I’m assuming the brewer is avoiding getting new label approval with each release in the series, so each label does not include a volume number or a beer name, style/description. The beer name and style are printed on the can along with the date. The result is a 10.7% ABV “wheat wine” having the same packaging as a “rice IPA.” You couldn’t tell one beer apart from the other on the shelf without reading the very fine print. This particular beer is the former one.

Industrial Arts puts out good beer, but a “wheat wine” is a bit of a departure from their norm… but is it really? More on that to come.

This beer is made with wildflower honey and southern hemisphere hops, and it was aged in an oak foeder. I didn’t look up the ingredients and process until after I started drinking the beer, so my first impressions were made without this knowledge. The beer is a murky, dull and deep orange color. Nice big head. Smells of oak, orange and sweet sugar (which turned out to be a crazy match for the ingredients/process). Oh boy, this is quickly feeling like a NEIPA version of a barley wine. The taste is the same as the smell except with the addition of strong alcohol and pineapple. There’s a bit of bitterness for balance, but this is overwhelmed by the citrus, alcohol and sweetness. Some oak on the finish. Body is slick. Overall, this isn’t something I love. It’s like a harsh (from alcohol and oak) tropical fruit candy.

Let’s go back to the notion of this being an unusual beer for the brewer. They even claim it’s “unlike anything we’ve made before.” A barley wine is essentially the strongest stopping point in the spectrum of pale ales (and to me, a wheat wine is just a variation on a barley wine). I’ve already mentioned how this beer felt like it shared some similarities with a NEIPA… a beer type that Industrial Arts is most associated with. This brewer tends to use wheat in their NEIPAs. Industrial Arts makes a 10% ABV “hazy triple IPA” with wheat. So… is this murky 10%, southern hemisphere hopped sweet strong wheat beer really all that different from their other murky 10% strong hoppy wheat beer? Perhaps… but it certainly isn’t an entirely new line of thinking. The brewer compared one of those beers to “Tropicana twister fruit punch”… and it wasn’t the beer they labeled “IPA.” This beer is a result of brewers just pumping various beers out. Harsh words for a respected brewer.

 

Thanks @lordofthewiens for the intro. I will tell you about my dog involvements after the beer review.
I've been on a Porter kick as of late, so today I have Kent Falls Chocolate Spelt Porter.
3.69/5 rDev -5.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from undated 1/2-liter bottle to a diagonally cut tumbler at approximately 50 degrees F. According to the KF website, the last time they brewed and bottled this was December 2017, so maybe that is this bottle's date.
Dark opaque brownish black body under a tan head.
The smell is unique. Roasted grain is prominent, but there is some sweet earthy note also.
Taste is similar with the astringent malt ruling the profile. Very unique, not sure if its good or bad honestly.
Mouthfeel is light as is the carbonation.
Overall ... an experience. On the fence for sure. I love bitter stouts and porters, but his one is hard to define. Maybe I will get it fresh one day.



My wife and 5 other women (along with many volunteers) run dog adoption events for multiple rescue organizations. They have two large events a year and average 60 dogs adopted out at each event. They do rigorous background checks on each human applicant and say no as much as they says yes. As I write this, my wife is headed to a local craft bar to plan their "Spay it Forward" charity auction they have at that bar each year in March. With those funds they pay for spaying and neutering for owners of financial need. Another charity event they hold in September is a Dog Fair at the local fairgrounds, complete with a craft beer tent filled with donated beer from CT breweries that I help curate. (Hey, its the least I can do).

Here are our dogs (recycled photo). The large one is Carbon our gentle Newfoundland and the other guy is Copper, an excitable mix of three breeds.

 

Like @DonnieT79 also my first NBS post, but presumably not my last. If you're looking for a well written review, move along. I don't have a sophisticated enough palate to be able to describe what I'm tasting, but it's all in the name of good beer, so what the hey, I'll give it a whirl.

For today's beer I've chosen something that sat in my cellar for far too long, migrated to my kitchen fridge a few months ago as a means to motivate me to drink it, and is now finally taking its rightful place in my belly.

Also, I'm a cat person. That's right, I said it. I'm a cat person. To that end, you're getting pictures of two of our three cats, like it or not! (Poorly written review below cat pictures)





Schneider – Aventinus Weizen-Eisbock

12% ABV – Bottled 2016

L: Pours a dark brown that I would have thought was a root beer if I didn't know better. Very little head retention and no lacing, but it's also 4 years old, so no idea if that's driven by its age.

S: Nice malty smell, with some booze also noticeable, but not overpoweringly so.

T: Interesting. I'm not sophisticated enough to pick up on what the underlying ingredients are, but this is fairly enjoyable. I can taste the alcohol, but it's fairly balanced given it's 12% ABV.

F: Very little to say on feel. Low carbonation, but again, it's 4 years old, so.....

O: I like it, but don't love it. Definitely not a style I'm super familiar with, so this may take some warming up to. For me, this is a sipper that I'll likely enjoy over the next hour +.
3.58/5 rDev -16.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

 

Don't feel bad.
Same here. But our cat, Chuy, is as big as some dogs.

 

Lift Bridge Tan Van Stout, 8% ABV. Pours black with a slight tan head that left no lacing. Nose is strong chocolate and coconut. Taste follows, moderately sweet, slightly bitter. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding.

4.27/5 rDev +4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

That's a helluva an opener!

 

Tree House Hold on to Sunshine


Pours jet black with a big, bubbly mohagony colored head, collapsing to a thick ring of lacing.


The smell of roasted coffee defines the nose on this, gently enhanced by lighter notes of milk chocolate and earthy peanut butter.


Drinks incredibly smooth with a huge creaminess to it, with a medium body which sermingly appears to be heavier, due to the great mouthfeel in this.


Taste is of chocolate covered peanut butter, which then gets overruled by bakers chocolate, melted toffee and roasted, almost bitter coffee. Continues to get sweeter then with maple syrup and caramel, still playfully balanced by the roasted coffee and a note of licorice. Finishes creamy and smooth with just the right amount of carbonation to create a lighter refreshment, coating up maintaining maple syrup, toffee and chocolatey coffee beans.


This is a nice, well balanced sweeter porter with a very well working roasty, coffee driven edge to it.

 

This is Otis the Treeing Walker Coonhound. He has the rest of the day off, just like everyday. He's on his throne which looks down toward the lake.