New Beer Sunday (Week 788)

Good afternoon NBS, hope everyone is well and dealing with all the craziness and separation.

Went to a curbside pickup at a brewery in Charlotte yesterday and man it's just so sad. It was a beautiful day, woulda been sooo nice to sit outside, have a few and waste some time with everyone, but nothing doing. Hardly anyone around at all, get your stuff, back in the car and head home. Not to mention all the folks out of work. Preaching to the choir here I know, still sux.

Anyhow, about the only thing I can figure is this is a great time to catch up on yardwork, no excuses. And what's better after a hot day in the yard (almost hit 90 today) than a nice cold crispy boi. Or in the case here it'll be pre-gaming for yard work, so best to have some low ABV motivation that won't impair usage of yard equipment too much.

Coast Brewing Vienna Lager. These guys are out of North Charleston and have been around 10-12 years now, so before the boom really took off here in SC.




L: Clear, attractive amber with a foamy white head that eventually settles to lasting ring.
S: Lots of toasty malt and fresh bread aromas
T: Follows the nose - toasted malt, hay, mild toffee sweetness
F: Medium carb, soft and mouthfilling; light-medium body. Smooth, lingering malty finish with some pleasant grassy bitterness on the end
O: Well made, balanced and very enjoyable. Nice change up for a break from NEIPAs and pastry stouts. Thank you Coast.

Be well everyone

 

Hello NBSers! Trying to do better about new beers, reviews, etc. And I actually have something to contribute today. A Dovetail Altbier - again, courtesy of @77apm - and this one's straight out of Chicago but could be Dusseldorf from my taste of it. So...
A - Great dark "unfiltered roast wheat" beer look - echoes the style of the darker roastier malts used in a proper Westphalian altbier. Good head for a few seconds, dissipates, but to be expected from a 4.7% beer.
S - Light campfire meets woodsy wheat bread, and they get along...
T - This is where the altbier characteristics of the top fermented ale-like character meets the lagering character of this style; just dark toasty lager, but with a bright more hop brightness. Love this. A great example of the style.
M - Perfect carbonation, not overblown, was afraid it would over-foam when I opened it since it just arrived yesterday but good palate saturation, mix and balance of the "lager that's an ale" on the mouth. Just wonderful.
O - Another killer Euro-trad beer from Dovetail. Shit their stuff is good, if you'll pardon my Deutsch.
Cheers! Best paired with a band from Westphalia...

 

This will no doubt be my last one for today (beer overall, not just NBS!)

Sinking into the evening with
Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Mon Chéri Stout
ABV: 14.1%
IBU: 60



Removed from a 44°F 'fridge, and left to warm for 30+ minutes.

The aroma is rich: roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, bourbon, with just enough cherry to know it is there (or to at least be subliminally convinced it is there).

As expected, deep black with a very short tan head that disappears completely to sparse islands of bubbles before I can take the pictures, take a few deep whiffs, and get ready for the first sip. Just a lonely spot or two of bubbles clinging to the side of the glass is all you get in the lacing category. While this look is "as expected" for such a strong BA stout, it is hard for me to rate the look as in the excellent category. It is very good, allowing for style.

For the taste, first up is the roasted malts, chocolate, and bourbon. Then, in the middle, the fruit / cherry jumps to the fore dramatically, and carries the flavors through into the finish and aftertaste. There is some bitterness in the aftertaste, but the finish and aftertaste is dominated by the various rich flavors, leading to a sticky and sweet conclusion.

Mouth feel is thick, rich, and decadent.

Overall, this is an excellent dessert sipping beer. The cherry is present (almost dominant in the middle), but not overpowering. Cherry is a difficult flavor to get right so it is not overbearing and does not taste artificial, but Goose Island achieved the right balance. This is an excellent variation on the base beer, and strongly recommended if you are inclined toward fruity dessert stouts.

L: 3.75 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.5 | F: 4.5 | O: 4.5 | Rating: 4.34

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned recent for sure. Pours a cloudy dark orange with a finger white head that leaves little lace and settles very quick. 4

Smell is coconut, pineapple, mandarin, and some vanilla. 4

Taste follows coconut and pineapple dominate, with mandarin, peach, and vanilla in bold lingering finish, a tad tart. 4

Mouthfeel is rather thin, a tad dry, a little less carbonation than I would expect, and at 7% a ton of flavor. 4

Overall this is nice and the name says it all and honestly not a style I love, but having no problem choking this down. 4

 

I see your Kraftwerk and I’ll raise you Chicago’s own long time metal band Macabre! Not many Altbier’s to be found nowadays but I would frequently bring home growlers of that when it was available (though I like the can way better!).

 

@77apm
Hey - thanks again - never had the Altbier, and this is just one of the best beers from them.
Just wow and right up there with the Rauchbier, Lager, Helles, and their experimental X-1 series.
CHEERS!

 

Happy to help! There is good beer and then there is Dovetail good beer after all!

 

It’s NBS BIF “Mystery Beer” time, NBS Party Peeps!!! This is courtesy of that magnificent beer nerd @Roguer and the box he sent that had me trying to secure quotes to replace the porch he crushed. I am doing this review “live” so pardon any misspellings, etc.

The first thing I will note about this beer is the brewery is Aardwolf Brewing Company out of Jacksonville FL .....



I know, I know - I’m like Columbo with my detecting skills. Next, note the true to life artwork on the “label” ......



Seriously, a Stonehenge drawing? Game on!!!!! I also note with my keen detective skills that this beer is 6%ABV, so it’s not an imperial ..... anything. I am totally on point!

Pop the top, first impression - it’s SOUR. Wild aromas leaping from the 750 ML bottle. Aggressive pour into my favorite beer glass courtesy of our beer nerd friend @beertunes reveals a cherry-colored beer with mahogany tints and a light tan head that is sizzling as the head quickly dissipates. A gorgeous sour. Look = 4.25.

The nose is tart fruit, probably cherries, maybe some raspberries and/or currants, and an earthiness that I attribute to the malt. This is a full-bodied sour, I’m thinking maybe a Flanders ale. Aroma = 4.25.

The taste is tart fruit, again I get cherries and am now in the currant camp as well. The earthiness is present as well, providing body and balance. This is delicious, IMHO. Taste = 4.50.

The mouthfeel is spritzy enough to check the sour box, but is fuller, which leads me back to Flanders ale-ville. Mouthfeel = 4.25.

I appreciate sours, but don’t try them often. When I do, I really like a Flanders ale best in that space. Overall = 4.25, Final Rating = 4.35.

Now let’s reveal this excellent beer .....







Like I said - this is a blonde ale barrel aged in red wine barrels and has prickly pear, passion fruit, and hibiscus. I still tasted a lotta cherries, and I think the hibiscus was the earthiness I detected. Extremely well done, @Roguer.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Snulip glass canned this week. Pours a very hazy yellow orange with a 2 plus finger sticky white head that leaves a gorgeous halo of lace, with amazing retention. 5

Smell is guava, tangerine, pineapple, ripe melon, blueberry, and apricot very impressive. 4.75

Taste follows guava, tangerine, cantaloupe, pineapple upfront with blueberry and apricot in the bold finish, with little bitterness. 4.75

Mouthfeel is big, soft gentle carbonation coats the entire palate, sticky from all the fresh hops, and at 8.2% huge flavor but insanely approachable. 5

Overall a serious wow beer. This place is often talked about being possibly NH best and they have more than earned being in that conversation. 4.75

 

In the midst of all thats going on we lost power for about 5 hours until 2am last night. In the dark I pounded a few too many so the first half of the day was in recovery. Since distro has slowed some Trillium has hit the shelves here.
Dogtooth Violet American Wild Ale
Pours a very slighy hazy golden yellow with a fluffy white 2 finger head that settles to a thin cap but lingers with minimal lacing.
Aroma is tart lemon, funk, hay, grass and bruised thyme.
Taste is earthy damp mushroom, tart lemon, funky hay, wild yeast with a nice underlying hop bitterness.
Feel is light medium, clean, crisp and snappy carb throughout. Dry and pleasantly tart finish.
A very enjoyable little beer from a brewery known mostly for hoppy offerings. Well worth the 3.99/ bottle for 11.2 ounces. A little Trillium treat.
Cheers and stay sane!

 

Workhorse Brewing Co. Helles - this is a local brewery and everything I have had from them so far I have enjoyed. 5% ABV, 16 ounce can, canned just a few weeks ago. This is a great Helles and one that I will be drinking again.

 

#2, another NBS BIF beer, this is from @TongoRad.





4.17/5 rDev +12.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Pours a hazy rich brown color with a substantial tan head that tracks down the glass as you enjoy the beer.

The nose is malty and nutty as advertised on the can, and those aromas cross directly to the taste, but the star is the honey flavor, which is the perfect complement to the malty flavors. Really well executed by Alementary, IMHO.

 

Just added this new one to Tilted Barn's lineup, Pasture, labeled a Farmhouse Ale.
Belgian Saison right from the farm.
Cheers.




3.94/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

An easy pour from a 16-oz. can is all it takes for a fat finger of soapy white foam with long retention and broken arches of lace. Cloudy and semi-transparent pale yellow straw color.

Crackery malt and a grapefruit/pineapple juiciness lead the smell. Some sour and fermented juice with a slight grassy funk in the background. There is a faint baking spice kick, not detecting hops and alcohol is noticeable.

Neutral sweetness with medium-low bitterness, slightly sour with a very faint barnyard funk. Bready malt and pear are added to the smell items and support the body, The crisp finish is fast and refreshing, sour flavor drops off as bitterness rises slightly. The aftertaste lingers with a hint of sour and spice,

Light body with plenty of soft carbonation, a summertime Beer served early. Session-able, smooth, not too sour.
It was brewed on a farm with just the slightest barnyard funk.

 

Now that I've caught up over the last week or so on IPAs I purchased for my nephew's Vermont bachelor party (cancelled)

I can get on with the maltier and less hoppy beers earmarked for his New Jersey llama farm wedding (postponed.)


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34222/151871/



16 oz. can
Moderate pour yields a one inch tan head over a brown translucent body with some lacing. Subdued nose of dark malt, slight chocolate, and even slighter smoke. Taste of dark malt, chocolate, and very little smoke appearing near the finish. Nice feel and overall, was hoping for a bit more smoke on this one but still a quite tasty little number from Winooski, VT.
Cheers!!

 

Tree House Double Shot Espresso, canned 11/27/19, 9.2% abv. From the extremely generous @thebeers from the NBS BIF.

L: Pours a deep midnight black with plenty of creamy mocha head

S: Coffee and chocolate

T: Strong but not heavy handed coffee flavor as expected with plenty of chocolate notes. Hints of vanilla and intense chocolate fudge lead into more coffee flavor which lingers for quite a while. No trace of bitter coffee flavor nor is it overly sweet.

F: Thick and creamy

O: Surprisingly well balanced without going overboard on coffee flavor. Enjoyed much more than I expected given my past not-so-great experience with a different Double Shot variant.

 

Glad you enjoyed it! I think they really got the essence of the style down with this one, and that's something that you don't see too often. Ideally the intensity of it could be turned down a notch or so, but it's still a fine tasty brew. Cheers!

 

Little Brother Brewing here is delivering within eight miles, so I'm ordering a few eclectic crowlers for this coming week. Cheers everyone and stay as safe as possible.

 

Poured into a 16 oz snulip glass canned on 2/24/20. Pours midnight black on a cloudy night with a finger plus sticky light brown head that leaves thick lines of lace as it slowly settles. 4.5

Smell is roasted coffee, deep dark chocolate, vanilla bean, maple, hazelnut, and Oaked woody bourbon. 4.5

Taste follows coffee, maple, vanilla, hazelnut, dark chocolate, and a hint of bourbon well really balanced. 4.5

Mouthfeel is big, a tad dry, gentle carbonation, and at 10.25% very approachable but still a slow sipper that gives you more as it warms. 4.75

Overall this is another world class BA Imperial Stout from Clown Shoes. They are so good at brewing this style and nobody ever really gives them props they deserve. 4.5