New Beer Sunday (Week 784)

Other Half Brewing The Dreamiest ( Oat Cream Inida Pale Ale )

From Brooklyn NY

This kind of beer right here is the reason why people on the north east coast go crazy over Other half. It features a robust and complex hop profile of Citra, Galaxy and Mosaic that just bursts with aromas of tropical fruit, passion fruit and sorbet. It pours a very hazy light orange color. The taste is amazing, really not much more they can improve on with this beer. It offers a blast of fruit hops with just a hint of lactose and solid bitterness. Im amazed at how well this came together.

Cheers and Happy New Beer Sunday!

 

PREFACE: I have not had this beer in years! Time to take a look at it again as a new beer.........

Founders Brewing Co. Imperial Stout ( Russian imperial stout with no adjuncts )

From Grand Rapids, MI

Guys I have a history with this beer. But long story short it's been some time now but this is still by far my favorite Russian Imperial Stout. Always has been, always will be. And although it was discontinued for some time, it's back again with a vengeance.

For starters this beer remains to this day one the blackest beers I have ever poured. True Motor Oil!

It's rich and massively full bodied without being to sweet, it's alcoholic, it's bitter roast dark chocolate with a touch of coffee and caramel. It's to me personally my favorite Russian Style Imperial Sout next to Old Rasputin.





Cheers!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers! Just a quick reminder, as I enter into the arms of Morpheus for the evening, when today's NBS closes, so does your chance to enter NBS BIF #11 : https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/nbs-bif-11-sign-up-thread.633616/ .

If you like NBS, you'll love the BIF. If you have any questions, ask here, or ask @2beerdogs , @Roguer or myself. Come, have fun, drink beer! Whatcha got to lose?

 

Poured into a 16 oz Flying Goose Snulip caned on 12/31/19. Pours a very hazy orange with a finger plus sticky slightly off white head that leaves be thick streaks of lace with very impressive retention. 4.5

Smell funny but I am getting orange starburst, cantaloupe, mango, pineapple, and apricot, really nice. 4.5

Taste follows I get can’t get the orange starburst out of my mind, ripe melon, pineapple, mango, and apricot really impressive how much flavor for only 5.7%. 4.75

Mouthfeel is bigger than medium, soft gentle carbonation, sticky not dry, and for its ABV drinks more like 7% and that is really impressive. 5

Overall this is an amazing NEAPA. Normally I am not dazzled with anything less than 6% and this one has a wow factor for such a sessionable beer. 4.5

 

Happy New New Trail & Feeling Light-Hearted About Happoshu Beer Sunday (Week 784)!
Jeez-O, man, doc, that's too bad about the baby & the lawsuit. The opening left me expecting something lighter. It is along the lines of my own "Often detained, never arraigned" refrain that led Jimmy Keavney to have me put him on retainer as my mouthpiece for a buck. He wants to be present for any and all future madness!

Speaking of madness, I did not enter the thread re. this site & Untappd joining forces, but I CAN say that Untappd founder Greg Avola is correct in that many use the two for very different purposes. I use his just for fun; as an impetus to try beverages that are glossed over on here (cider & mead, especially); as an impetus for travel; and to collect badges. Here, things get a bit more serious, dating back to a time when in order to keep track of one's beers, a review HAD to be written. There was no such thing as a stand-alone rating. I have maintained that trend & while I rarely do field reviews any more, EVERY new beer (or serving style) that occurs at Chez Woody/Abbaye de ChANdler is given a review & rating. I am proud to say that I am a top user on both sites & you CAN find me there as "woodychandler" & I am always up for more friends. Send me a request!

My first of/for today was a lucky strike! I only worked a half-day on Wednesday (not of my own volition - early dismissal for Professional Development (they PD'd me into retirement!)) & so I scoured locals for new beers, including the following from the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS), which turns out to be eligible for an aforementioned badge! Yay.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/431595/?ba=woodychandler#review

Okay, that's me - off & running (or izzit often running? like from the local CANstabulary?)! I'll be back later with more ... stuff!

 

Tree House Juice Machine


Pours a completely yellow color with a big, stable head.


Smells of mango, cactus juice and passion fruit, enhanced by a copious amount of limes, creating a truly fruit forward nose. Got additional layers of blueberries, wild honey and kiwi, creating a great, malt free nose.


Drinks utmost smooth, creamy with a well working, finely nuanced carbonation, lending a pleasant refreshment to the medium bodied beer.


This begins with lots of ripe blackberries, sweet papaya and pungently bitter limes, establishing a fantastic hop intensity from the very beginning. Adding lighter nuances water melon, lusciously ripe oranges and almost creamy appearing passion fruit puree, this seems to balance itself purely by the hops, with just a light note of white bread dough reminiscence of the use of malts in this. Finishes lime forward, bitter, with a coating fruit sweetness, maintaining on the tongue just as long, soothed by a world class, smooth mouthfeel.


I am floored by this. It is hard to imagine a double ipa which drinks that easy and tastes so full of flavors as this does. It is a truly unique, intense and incredibly well balanced beer, which defines the style for me from here on.

 

Good morning NBS
I was called in yesterday to work an overnight shift for a sick coworker, so working off nights for the second time in three mornings. Fortunately, I have new beer, in a previously unsampled style, compliments of @woodychandler. Lemon Lager, a happoshu, from Hokkaido Brewing

The review:
10.14oz stubby bottle (cap stamped OB1903 200113) poured into a pokal glass at fridge temp 5% ABV. The beer pours barely hazy in a soft lemonade yellow with nearly white head. The head recedes to a pencil thin ring and leaves no lacing. The aroma is mild with tart lemon dominating. The taste is similar with tart & sweet lemon, a hint of salinity and no approachable malt or bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a dry finish. No off flavors. Overall, enjoyable taste and feel, but it's really just like a better version of a fermented malt beverage a.k.a. Lemon-ade-rita.

That's all for now. I need a nap. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass today!

 

Thanks to @lordofthewiens for the great start to this weeks NBS. Should be back with a new beer later on today.

Cheers!

 

Not trying to be morbid but following up to @lordofthewiens and adding a bit more healthcare to the discussion one thing I’ve taken away from working 8 years in an emergency department is that we all die eventually, and unfortunately sometimes sooner rather than later. It’s the journey there that makes life special & each of us unique.
This beer’s time with us ended today and it too was as individual and different from every other beer (and sibling in the series) as any of us.



Without trying my rDev ended up 0%
12oz bottle dated 1/31/20 poured into an IPA glass
A: Golden color, generous 1+ finger head
S: Fresh tropical fruit, hints of citrus and pine
T: Earthier, hints of mango, citrus and pine
M: Medium-bodied, bitter
O: A solid, enjoyable IPA

 

A-Pours a very dark color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has generous chocolate, honey and Bourbon hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a nicely balanced chocolate, honey and Bourbon flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A great Stout

 

Good morning NBS, hope life is going great for you. Been gone for a while, figured I give the update I gave out yesterday for the WBAYDN crew. Thanks for @lordofthewiens for this weeks introduction. Sure is for me, for the most part. I am well past 5 weeks sober at the moment. It was a really necessary experience as I come to find out. I hadn't even been sober for over a week in 9 years. Anyways, its nice to have my head on straight now. Never been clearer headed in a long time. I got back into reading and had time to reflect on myself alone. Big fan of Tom Clancy and WEB Griffin. I like military, law, and spy books a lot. Went through 12 of them since January. John Grisham is also amazing. Also got a James Patterson on deck from the used bookstore 2 days ago. Will be what I do before bed every night from now on.

Of course I knew I was drinking too much in the back of my mind, but after I hit the 2 week mark was when the mental epiphany really happened. Why was I spending 10K+ a year on beer worrying about if I never tried every beer available to me? FOMO as some may call it, yea I don't see a need for anything other than a casual interest in seeking out stuff anymore. Why was I spending every waking moment posting on here? There is so much more I could be doing with my life. Of course Gaming is back, along with Guitar. I got my SG set up at the shop and got my electronics rewired. My mom came up and visited me all this week to get my re-situated. Been enjoying a lot of good food since I am not wasting calories on alcohol. She brought up my 50W Ibanez amp as well. Really a killer amp. Unfortunately there is a bit amp buzz going on with it right now. I did some research and I need to break it down and replace the capacitors on the power supply. I did a quick youtube search and it will be easy. Just need to buy a soldering iron and a multimeter and it will be good as new.


I will be back to reviewing again eventually, but I made a pact with myself to celebrate once I get a new job. Having not motivation to seek out anything new was my downfall. Being paid 15% less than you are worth always was in my mind. I am seeking out some Chassis or Systems Engineering roles right now. I haven't used NX in 10 years, but it won't be a problem. Looking forward to finding a different company and area to work to freshen myself up a bit. 8 years in working with program management along with working multiple product life cycles from concept to launch will be nice icing on that cake. Add in some DFSS knowledge on top of it. Just need to work on my taxes for the year and this will be my best year of all time.

 

A Green Ghost!?!

Von Trapp started distributing to the Philly area in the summer of 2017. When I read an announcement about them coming here I was wondering: how well will they sell since there are so many other local breweries producing ‘traditional’ lagers (e.g., Pilsner, Helles, etc.)? Well, I have no sales figures here but I can report that the number of brands being sold here has increased. Also, they started canning their beers in 2018 so the beers now arriving are in cans.

Not too long ago I discussed Von Trapp Trösten Lager (a dark lager) and today I will be discussing their new (new to me) beer of Keller Lager. Below is how this beer is detailed on the Von Trapp website:

“Keller Lager 5.0% ABV 30 IBU | 12 oz 6-pk Cans

Our Kellerbier (cellar beer) is a smooth drinking, unfiltered, German classic lager, that is naturally cloudy and vitamin rich. Grüngeist (translation: Green Ghost) hops gives our Keller a unique combination of peach and passion fruit balanced with traditional noble hops. Dry hopping this beer lends a hint of lemon and floral essence in the aroma.”

Am heretofore inexperienced with the Grüngeist hop so I did a bit of web surfing to find:

“This German aroma variety was developed in the Hop Research Center Hüll (Hopfenforschungszentrum Hüll). This hop research institution focuses on hop breeding, hop harvesting, and hop chemistry. It is located in the largest continuous hop-planting region in the world, Hallertau Germany in the state of Bavaria.”

And:

“The unique combination of peach and passion fruit are equally balanced with a hint of lemon zest and floral essence. The flavors, aromas and specs (2.90% alpha acids, 9.00% beta, 19.20% CoH, 38.30% CoL and 1.2 total oils) make Grüngeist an extremely versatile hop.”

https://hopheadfarms.com/grungeist-the-green-ghost/

An unfiltered German style lager brewed with a newfangled hop variety sure sound like an intriguing beer!

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw yellow with just a bit of haze and a billowy white head.

Aroma:

Yum! A combination of citrus (lemony) and herbal and floral and…

Taste:

The flavor is a bit different from the nose with fruity flavors most prominent but there is still noticeable aspects of citrus, herbal and floral in the background. A quite complex flavor profile. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light-Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very, very good. There is a lot going on here! First you experience the combination of citrus, herbal and floral on the nose but as you taste the beer there is ‘change’ where fruitiness dominates but yet you still can pick of the flavors of the aroma. All of these aspects work very well together and it can be argued the sum is greater than the parts.

If this beer is a proper representation of the qualities of Grüngeist hops then count me in as a BIG fan of these new hops. I hope to see more beers in the future that feature Grüngeist hops.

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @Ranbot @tzieser @ESHBG

 

Jackie O’s & The Answer collaboration

A-Pours a nice golden color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has a generous mandarin and Brett hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a well balanced mandarin and Brett flavor
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A good Belgian Blonde Ale

 

Sunday brings and end to a rather rough week. My wife came down with a cold earlier in the week, and had to miss a few days of work. I've been trying to straddle that line of being a loving husband, but also protecting myself against said cold. This morning I woke up with a touch of a sore throat which may throw into jeopardy the beer I was excited to drink and share here today. I'm hoping that this is just the result of going a bit too hard at a wedding last night, but time will tell. The wedding itself was a blast though. Half of the couple has a very large family of Syrian descent. I've been to a number of big weddings, but last night was a true party. From the beginning of the reception the dancing kicked off in full force to a live Syrian band. There was constant drumming and dancing and absolutely incredible food. We won't discuss the beer options here though.

Anyway, all that said, I still wanted to participate in this week's thread and luckily I've had a number of new beers this week to share here. @beertunes mentioned the upcoming BIF above, and I've been lucky to participate in the recent Rookies BIF. It has been a lot of fun to assemble and share beers that get me excited from my area. It's also been fun to see what others are drinking, and of course drinking some new top shelf beers myself. That brings me to this week's beer.

Southern Grist x Finback - Batida w/ Passionfruit

A Batida is apparently a Brazilian cocktail that I've never had or even heard of, but after trying this sour I would certainly like to. This beer employs coconut, orange peel, lime juice, passionfruit(obviously), and lactose to bring big flavor. I'll be honest, when I poured this beer into a teku, the look and smell were nothing special to me. It was when I finally tasted it that I was floored. There are a lot of competing flavors in here, and each one was detectable and well balanced. I enjoy coconut in pastry stouts quite a bit, but I find it's often lost when it comes to fruitier beers. That was not the case with Batida. The coconut was probably the single flavor that tied it all together for me. It blended perfectly with the other fruits and didn't have the artificial flavor that I find can happen with coconut. It was a smooth drinking beer that left your tongue feeling as well as tasting the tartness. Overall, this was a refreshing and delicious sour that I'd drink anytime I get the craving for something in this style.



Oh, and @lordofthewiens I have sympathy for getting those kind of calls, and they're always stressful. My wife has been an RN for going on 20 years now. Although she no longer works at the bedside, she has received similar calls about past patients. She's also never been named in any suits, but has had to give depositions and testimony. It's always incredibly stressful for her. Hope all works out as best as possible.

 

Congratulations. Nice to hear from you and even nicer to know you are doing well. Look forward to reading you in the forums. I love your positive attitude, cheers my friend

 

Congrats! When you hit three months I think you will feel like I did three months ago, as if every bit of it has cleared out of your system and you are finally past "withdrawal". Worst is behind you.

Wow, that's heavy, Doc, tough situation to have to be in. Couple things analogous in my past. Being called to testify at the murder trial of Julius, my co-worker who murdered my friend John Fanning in 1977, and being asked to give taped testimony after witnessing a man being struck and killed by a taxi around that same period of time. Heavy amounts of stress about doing those at the time. Yeah, tough few years for me, end of the seventies, to say the absolute least.

Getting my drinking done vicariously again, with the help of you fine folks. Keep those descriptions coming, feel like I can almost taste a cold one as I read. And @superspak , keep up the good work, man. Cheers, all!

 

Good morning NBS and thanks @lordofthewiens for the start today. That is a tough story, and I wish for a good outcome.
Todays offering is a nice suprise from Harpoon, stopped by the windsor brewery and found some 4 packs of this. In all honesty I tried one yesterday, so #2 sample.
Cheers all

Single hop Red Rye IPA (denali)

Harpoon Brewery & Beer Hall
American IPA | 6.4% ABV

4.02/5 rDev 0% | Average: 4.02
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 oz can with a smudged out date, purchased from the brewery.
A - Beautiful deep copper color, excellent clarity, carbonation is steady, off white froth is loose knit and lasting.
S - Nice touch of rye, taosted malts maybe? Piney and slightly tropical nose with some black pepper in the mix.
T - Rye toast with orange/apricot jam, Some spicy earthy elements that are a nice feature, white pepper and more piney hops make for a really nice set of flavors.
M - Medium in body semi sweet start, quickly balances toward light bitterness, finish is quick and dry with that nice rye spice being the focus
O - A very good Rye IPA the use of Denali works in harmony with the spicy grain bill. Feel is wonderful, and love the clarity and apperance.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! @jhavs sent me this limited beer a long while ago, but I was saving it for snow. Apparently we’re not getting any this year. If you rounded Philly’s snowfall total so far to the nearest inch, it would be zero. Fuck it then, I’m drinking this barleywine/stout blend today.

Rhythm of the Night (Batch 4) - River Roost
BA stout/barleywine - 11% abv
Bottled 9/4/19
Score: 4.54 (+0.7% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44112/458391/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
I dig barleywines and I dig stouts, but when they’re blended together I’m generally ambivalent. This one works though. The dark fruit taste of the barleywine is front and center, but is coated by a semisweet chocolate layer imparted from the stout. The net effect is a malty, sweet brew, devoid of bitterness, with alcohol all but hidden. The barrel(s) used here are incredibly fragrant and tasty too. Body is lacking but such is life. This is a winner. Thanks again Jon!

 

Happy Return to New New Trail & Feeling Light-Hearted About Happoshu Beer Sunday (Week 784)!
As to these next beers, there was an impetus behind their purchase. I am involved in an ongoing series of trades with @jkblr thanks to his access to both Taxman & Daredevil as well as other midwestern brands. I make no bones or secret about my love of the Midwest & my desire to eventually study at UW-Madison. In the meantime, I live vicariously through movies, television & beer.

What does any of that have to do with the price of tea in China? He has requested examples of specific styles, including Japanese Happoshu, and since I had a source, I procured some for him. In the meantime, I realized that several that I had not reviewed & rated (!?!) had entered the market, so I bought one of each for myself at the same time. I am hoping that, since he is in receipt of his Happoshus, he will likewise be reviewing & rating them today. Mine are as follow:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26770/338125/?ba=woodychandler#review
,
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26770/345746/?ba=woodychandler#review
,
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26770/452579/?ba=woodychandler#review

& lastly,
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26770/452578/?ba=woodychandler#review

Has anyone taken note of their logo? It depicts a cat with a drooping tail watching a bird in flight. They offer a cat cookie cutter on their website & I just bought one! Purrhaps kitty sugar cookies or shortbread next Sunday …
I'll be back with more … stuff!