New Beer Sunday (Week 788)

Well, I see I’m ahead in the game!

Still, you’ll pass me soon enough. Also, you must be pretty lucky to get so many new beers under the current conditions! I envy you! Cheers!

 

Lunch an India Pale Ale from the Maine Beer Company in Freeport , Maine. I've seen this beer listed on draft beers menus from time to time but was never able to get to the bar in time to try it. I saw it bottled for the first time this week in a retailer and picked up a bottle along with a 6 pack of SNPA. Have to say Lunch is one of the best IPA's I have ever had. Lunch poured into a pint glass is a sparkling gold with a thick long lasting head that leaves a lot of lacing. Nice aroma with hints of citrus and pine. Nice slightly sweet malt flavor balanced by a hoppy bitterness. Full mouthfeel and a long lasting off dry finish. This bottle was fresh filled on 03/03/20. Overall a great IPA.

 

Good afternoon NBS, starting my day off with a tasty mystery beer from @beertunes as part of NBS BIF.

500 ml bottle poured into a teku

A- A clear ruby red with a small pink head 4

S- Tart, raspberries, some cranberries, touch of wheat, hint of lacto. 4.25

Right now I’m thinking this is a fruited Berliner Weisse, probably raspberry, maybe cranberry

T- Tart, raspberry jam, lemons, hints of wheat and lacto, touch of salt. 4.25

Now I’m think this is a raspberry gose

M- Smooth, light body. 4

O- A very nice fruited German sour, easy to drink and nicely balanced. 4.25

At this point I don’t have a guess to the brewery or beer. Let’s see what cap says.

Okay, seeing that @beertunes sent me a very similar looking bottle Wander I should have put that together. Let’s see what it is!


Wander Sour Cherry Millie

I will say I’m get some more sour cherry as I drink it, but I’m still getting a heavy raspberry vibe.

As always it was a lot of fun doing these blind reviews, cheers NBS!!

 

Black Hog Granola Brown Ale. Brewery is in Oxford, CT. First time trying anything from them.

Pours a deep chestnut with substantial tan head. Smell is malts up front, and as it warms increasing dried fruits and nuts. Flavor is surprisingly boozy for 5.7% with a large dose of dried figs and prunes. Borders on Scotch Ale territory in a way, although not too sweet or strong. Medium body. Overall this does end up being surprisingly reminiscent of granola with nuts and dried fruit. I enjoyed this one, although it was a bit of a departure from your stock Brown Ale.

As far as the disappearing pics and avatars, I have found that this regularly happens to me on my iPad and iPhone after a WunderLlama post with a picture. Ironically, today the pics were actually working for me until Todd’s post. Looking back it at now, it may have been snowcrash’s reply including wunderllama’s picture that caused the issue.

 

I’ve got a new beer chillin from the BIF, and it’s a secret. I hope it’s a style good for being really chilled. Back in maybe ah hour.

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks @superspak for todays start.
That rain from the Ohio valley is in WMass today, adding a grey backdrop to what can be argued is an already grey mood around here. Todays offering is from our friends just up the road at Brick and Feather. Ignore Alien Orders is a delightful offering in that ubiquitous NEIPA field, yes its hazy, yes its tropical fruit display is spectacular, and yes it hides the 7+% well. I am so glad they also brew excellent lagers, A fantastic English Mild and are so very much nice folks.
Stay well all

Ignore Alien Orders

Brick & Feather Brewery
New England IPA | 7.8% ABV

4.16/5 rDev -6.3% | Average: 4.44
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 oz can dated 3/24/2020 into the test glass.
A - Hazy deep straw color, gentle carbonation yields a thin white cap. As the experience continues, islands of assembled bubbles organize on top, Lacing is spotty.
S - Tropical fruit, orange, green melon, pineapple dominate the aromatics, Citra, Sabro, and HBC431 are the hops so all fruity focus for sure.
T - Each of the aromatic elements are full on in flavor, add a bit of biscuit and or warm fresh malt and that captures the essence
M - So soft on the palate, brewer notes that water was adjusted to "play on the percieved sweetness of the pilsner malt" That is perfectly executed on the palate, the offering is largely sweet with a short wave of bitter that balances the texture well. Linger is a gourmet jolly rancher.
O - A beautiful offering with excellent hop display, soft water with enough malt base to balance against the hops.

 

In case you’re wondering my beer review was of Wicked Weed Vinifera.

 

Funny...when I click to post a reply to say, “great review!, and thanks for writing out the name of the brewery and beer...”, I can now see your pic in my reply! Strange times...

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass canned on 3/5/2020. Pours an attractive hazy orange with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace, with solid retention. 4.25

Smell is vanilla, sherbet, pineapple, and papaya. 4

Taste follows sherbet, pineapple, vanilla, and papaya tasty. 4.25

Mouthfeel is average, slightly sticky but not dry, soft gentle carbonation, and at 6.5% easy drinking. 4

Overall a nice different take on a juice bomb, no wow factor but still tasty and really unique. 4 Has Southern Tier Brewing Company written all over it.

 

Like @VABA I'm in the high risk category... a bit on the edge of the category, but within it, so I am trying to be very cautious. (Which is an issue if I wish to participate in the online saison tasting later this week).

I do have enough beer laid by to get me through the next several weeks (especially considering that I have a small cellar -- it was better stocked until I made an effort to reduce it a year ago and have only added a couple since then), and since I am more tolerant than many here of beer that is a bit past it's prime.

The latter point brings me to my first beer today: another from last December's Advent box a friend gave me a month or so ago.

Herrnbräu Jubiläums-Sud
Munich Dunkel Lager
ABV: 5.6%


Aroma is a bit weak and has a moderately sweet caramel presentation backed by not-quite-roasted malts and slight spiciness.

Clear deep dark brown appearance with plenty of bubbles rising to a relatively short (and short lived) light tan head. A nice wall of lacing is left showing where the head used to be.

Taste contains the sweet caramel promised in the aroma, along with a spicy breadiness. A bit of a metallic bitterness comes out in the middle and carries through to the finish. I suspect, as indicated above, that this beer is a bit past its prime (even though the stamp on the bottom says it has 14 months to go to reach its EXP date).

Mouth feel is on the thin side, but with a somewhat creamy finish.

Overall, I regret this beer was not fresher, since it has a lot of faded promise. However, since it is well, well within the brewer's stamped expiration date of 05/2021 I have no problem officially reviewing it (even though it is obvious the stamped date is fancifully optimistic). As is, it is on the "just barely enjoyable" downside of mediocre.

L: 3.75 | S: 3.5 | T: 2.75 | F: 3.25 | O: 3.25 | Rating: 3.14

 

A chilly, rainy day calls for a stout. This one is courtesy of @ovaltine from the still in progress NBS BIF #11

Bare Hands Brewery - Fourteener - Imperial stout brewed using fourteen different malts and two classic American grown hops.



Poured at 50 degrees into a tulip. Pours almost jet black with a medium amount of medium brown head. Smells malty and delicious. Taste is smooth and quite approachable. Almost can’t taste the alcohol at all, to the degree I had to look it up to see what the ABV was. Never would have guessed it was 10.5%, as it drinks much lower than that (which is dangerous!) Nice mouthfeel, with medium carbonation. Definitely not thin, and feels like an imperial stout should (at least in my mind) I can pick up some of the chocolate, but as usual, lack the refined palate to pick up any of the more subtle details.

Overall, what I can say is that it is a very enjoyable stout. This to me as a good example of how far we’ve come in terms of beer quality in the last 20 years. 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to find anything like this. 10 years ago I would have had to hunt down anything comparable. Now the local brewery for a fellow BIF’er, a brewery I didn’t know existed until a week ago, is kicking out a very good beer that will almost certainly never get any real recognition. I’m not arguing that it should, only reflecting on how lucky we are to live in a time with so many great beer choices where many breweries across the country are kicking out good beer for us to enjoy.

Things may be crazy in the world right now, but every day is a great day to be alive. Cheers all!

4.17/5 rDev -1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

Well good afternoon to all. Typically on Sunday afternoons I get together with the two other guys to do a little jamming (I play bass) and drink non new beer to me and certainly not picture worthy (Bud Light cans while we practice) but today we are not getting together, so....... I have a drink new beers from home opportunity...

first up is this White Russian Wheat Ale from Schlafly



3.84/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Kind of a hazy yellow orange joint with a very active stream of bubbles but only a fleeting bit of white fizzy head. Nose doesn’t scream White Russian but it’s certainly rich and pleasant with noble hops and a creamy sweetness leading the way. Body is surprisingly thick and almost syrupy and with it brings first, a weird seltzer cardboard test up front, followed by a sweet alcohol forward taste. Finish is fairly dry, leaves a little sweetness on the tongue as well. It’s an ok thing, just not a ton of balance and the White Russian thing is not too obvious

 

I am winding up a mostly social isolated weekend, mostly drinking crowlers of Bierkeller beers.

I saved Bockbier for last. I suppose it falls under the maibock category. On Untappd the description is "A pale Franconian Spring Bockbier. The blend of Pilsner and Vienna malts and deft noble hopping-combined with a 12-week stint in our horizontal lagering tanks-makes this a beguilingly smooth beer suitable for drinking in quantity."
6.7 % ABV 22 IBU
It pours a clear gold, a bit lighter than the photo and has a sweet apple and cut grass scent. It does have a smooth mouthfeel, but there is also a hop tang. There are pear, bread, grass, and mineral water flavors. I rated this 4.25.across the board, and will buy it as long as Bierkeller offers it.

I could drink nothing but our local microbrewers indefinitely and be perfectly content. Fingers crossed that they keep operating, have access to ingredients, can retain staff etc.

 

I think your point about beer quality and availability is spot on. Given the choices and resources (like this wonderful website) beer nerds have, there's no reason to drink something you're not reasonably sure you'll enjoy.

Spot on review of that beer, too, IMHO. I mentioned in my review if you like chocolate, Fourteener will work for you, and I absolutely, almost irrationally, LOVE chocolate, so that beer was literally in my sweet spot (pun intended).

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass, can’t tell when it was canned. Pours a very attractive clear amber, with a monster 3 plus finger sticky off white head that leaves big thick rings of lace as it slowly settles into a thick layer of foam. 4.5

Smell is earthy, toffee, caramel, vanilla, and a slight woodyness. 3.75

Taste follows slightly earthy hopefully you get what that means, caramel, toffee, rounded out with oak and vanilla. 3.75

Mouthfeel is medium, a tad dry, plenty of prickly carbonation, and at 7.2% drinks easy enough but rather complex and drinks bigger than its ABV. 4

Overall this is a solid unique beer, really well made, and I actually enjoyed it. 3.75

 

On to another new beer from @beertunes, pFriem IPA.

4.28/5 rDev +6.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thank you beertunes for this
12 oz can, dated 2/20/20, poured into a teku

A- A clear golden amber with a two finger white head.

S- Dank, piney, citrus, some melons, touch of caramel malts.

T- Citrus, piney, some melons, caramel malts, dank.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A great west coast IPA, great balance and easy to drink.

Cheers NBS!

 

Alementary warship baltic porter
..solid black
..light carbonation with a just above average body. Has a slight slick feel to it which helps with an overall nice feel
... aroma is dark fruit, malt,slightly earthy. There's an odd grape,wine like aroma that's a bit sour and doesn't seem to fit
...taste e is roasted malt, malt, slightly earthy with mild coffee and chocolate. There's also that odd sour grape soda taste which was off putting at first. As it warmed it became dramatically more enjoyable
...cant comfortably recommend this as it was good but very odd also

 

Hello, Sunday crew! Hope you all are enjoying your day so far.
Recently got this is our NBS #11 BIF from @SicDub

I've been on somewhat of a breakfast (maple) beer kick on the weekends. This one did not disappoint.
Appearance - dark, as expected! Little tan head, decent carbonation.
Aroma - Coffee, maple, vanilla, roast
Taste - first is coffee but not overpowering then you get the maple. Getting a little of the barrel as it warms. Maple more prevalent as it warms too.
Mouthfeel - First sip seemed a little thin however it does coat your mouth. Very silky.

Overall I really enjoyed this. Sometimes the coffee or maple is too strong - this was very well balanced. Happy I got to try it! Thanks again, @SicDub

 

Next up is this Komes Barleywine



3.69/5 rDev -10%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Explosive beige head finally revealed its murky brownish burgundy body. Nose is malty sweet and favors fig pretty heavily. Taste follows the fig road but also has a touch of chocolate and coffee. Not super thick, not too much more on exit other than a little alcohol taste