New Beer Sunday (Week 792)

Yes, there is a possibility I rated it even higher today because... it's a "real" IPA

I always appreciate Centennial when I have one, which is less often than maybe I should.

Side note: the GF noted that "we" had 4 Giants at Founders on our trip there in 2018. I'm pretty sure I didn't order one, though I probably had a sip of hers (likely a taster). She said she rated it a 3.5 then (on her scale, that means it's ok to purchase again), but a 4 now (meaning try again when seen).

 

Nice to see an "old timer" here, and happy to hear you are doing well. That must have been a helluva wake-up call.

 

I am continuing to work my way through beer brewed by T or C Brewing (their taproom is only a couple miles from me and they have an easy take-out system).
Today's new beer is Cosmic Blonde, canned 4/23/2020 with an ABV of 5.3%.
The beer is a clear gold color. My aggressive pour left a huge white head, but it vanished almost before I took the first sip.
Not much aroma, some sweet grain.
Ditto taste. Sweet corn.
Light-bodied, easy drinking.
I had this beer after cleaning the patio and I gotta tell you, it tasted great!

 

This week I am continuing my effort to support some of the breweries close to me during the shut-down, focusing on small brewers that tend toward the neighborhood pub business model. (As I said last week, this is a win-win: it helps them, and it gives me an excuse to try their beers.)

Today, I will be comparing two takes on the Irish Red Ale style. Not side-by-side due to the fact that (for me) the packaging format (crowlers) is not ideal for such a thing, but I'll compare them one after the other.

First up is from Lakeville Brewing. They are the brewery closest to my house (a few miles away). Their business model is a non-distributing neighborhood pub and restaurant. They brew their own beers, but also have tap handles for other local breweries as well as a full-service bar and restaurant. I've been meaning to have dinner there some evening, but never quite got around to it.

Lakeville Brewing Morrigan's Irish Red Ale
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 29

The beer has a moderate strength aroma; musty, earthy, sweet-ish, perhaps a bit of caramel or molasses, plus hints of a crisp fruitiness, especially as the beer warms a bit.

Reddish brown color, prototypical for the style, clear with plenty of bubbles rising to a ½ inch off-white to tan head, which has decent retention, eventually dropping to a cap of soap bubbles. Good-looking, if sparse, lacing after each sip and as the beer is consumed down the glass. While the head recedes, the upward rain of active carbonation bubbles continue through to the end. A nice-looking beer.

The beer has a medium to thin body, some carbonation on the tongue, and a smooth, even creamy, feel.

Initial taste carries forward the earthy and musty flavors from the aroma, with a solid sweet malt foundation, and some spice in the finish. There is subdued bittering that begins in the middle, and strengths slightly in the finish. The aftertaste retains the sweet character from the malts, but is reasonably well balanced by the low level of bitterness from the hops. A bit of a soft creamy feeling remains as the after-flavors fade. My enjoyment of this beer grew throughout. The alcohol is well hidden, and the beer enjoyable, so drinking a crowler is a bit too easy for the ABV.

Overall, it is balanced and has good flavor. This is very much a drinkable and enjoyable Irish Red Ale, well suited for a neighborhood pub and restaurant. It paired very nicely with my sausage, eggs, and toast brunch.

L: 3.75 | S: 3.75 | T: 3.75 | F: 3.5 | O: 3.5 | Rating: 3.68

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks to @cavedave for the kick off and the great personal update.
Keep up the good work, and the checking in with your virtual (and I'm sure some real) friends here. In keeping with the Hudson Valley welcome I went to the basement for a bottle from our dear friends Dan and Tay Suarez.
Lo and Behold is a beautiful Flanders style offering that screams to be matched with some soft rich cheese and fresh rye bread.
Cheers all
Lo and Behold

Suarez Family Brewery
Flanders Red Ale | 6% ABV

4.16/5 rDev -1.2% | Average: 4.21
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 500 ml bottle dated 6/18 into the test glass. Served at 55 ish degrees
A - Beautiful dark ruby color, clarity is excellent, carbonation is determined to feed a well constructed off white cap.
With each pull the stranded lacing clings in abtract fashion.
S - Dark cherry, hint of tobacco, toasted oak, fresh balsamic, some tannins and a hint of rye, with a kiss of Brett.
T - Delicate in the fruit, again dary cherry, some fresh fig, red wine, hint of vanilla, again that blonde tobacco, with notes of char.
M - Medium in body, carbonation dances across the palate, the acidity and tannin are in delightful balance, pleasing is the main descriptor. Linger has enough acidity to keep the sweet in check
O - A very good to style Flanders , the time in the basement has of course allowed for any edges to be rounded. This is a delight in every catagory

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

I have taken a few weeks off from this thread, but seeing @cavedave able to be back again, I had to post.
It's really good to see you're on the mend, and I wish you the best of health. Also good to see that you're able to have a good beer now and then once again.

Ok, to my beer, and it's from @dprice


J.R.E.A.M. - Double Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is one tasty beer. I really love how the strawberry and ruhbarb works together to produce a very delicious treat.

Thank you @dprice for sending this to me.

Review:

4.22/5 rDev +0.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours somewhat of a peach color. Lots of head, 4 finger white and fluffy. Retention is good.
Nice hints of the strawberry and rhubarb in the nose.
Taste- the strawberry and rhubarb really work together well here. Slightly tart, but sweet at the same time
There's a creamy feel to this and it has a crisp feel as well. Full body.
Tasty treat.

 

Phase Three Pressed Coffee/Chocolate Imperial Porter. Poured out of a 16 oz. can.

Pours thick and viscous. Basically pitch black with a finger of dark mocha head that hangs around for a bit. If I were given this blind, I would say it's a stout just by the look of it. 4.25

Aroma is more chocolate than coffee. Phase Three's dark beers always seem to have this Hershey's syrup characteristic and this one really shows that off. Chocolate syrup, milk chocolate, chocolate chip cookie, brownie, vanilla, caramel, coffee, slight roasted malt, powdered sugar, slight alcohol. 4.5

Taste deviates from the aroma just a bit. Still plenty of chocolate, but dark chocolate qualities are more present, as well as the coffee. Chocolate syrup, milk chocolate, 75% dark chocolate, brownie, coffee, slight roasted malt, very light dark fruit, some vanilla, caramel, powdered sugar, earthy/woodiness, slight alcohol. Dark chocolate bitterness, coffee roast, and the dryness of the slight alcohol on the back end never let this get cloying. I've had brownies with espresso in the batter and this is reminiscent of that. Also somewhat like tiramisu. 4.5

Full body. Creamy, slick, oily, sticky, viscous. This series of coffee porters are the thickest of the style I've ever had. 4.5

Overall, this one is just as good as the others I've had in this series. It leans sweet, but is still in great balance. Love the chocolate character in this and it pairs nicely with the great coffee presence. Outstanding. 4.49

 

I so miss triple crossing!

 

Excellent picture!

 

Good to hear about your improving health!

 

That beer is too damn drinkable!

 

Thank you!! Cheers.

 

No kidding! I grabbed a second, and almost considered fighting the GF after she decided to play copycat and have the last of the 4pk. If only it were a 6pk

Instead, I grabbed a Port City Monumental IPA, a fairly decent substitute, actually.

 

Bitburger Triple Hop‘d Lager


Pours a slightly clouded amber color with a huge, fluffy head.


Smells of both noble hops and riper oranges together with lime zest, creating a pleasantly hop forward nose among lighter caramel and white bread dough.


Has a light body among a higher, lively carbonation, creating an easy drinking, refreshing beer.


Tastes of orange peel, dry, matured hops and additional lime juice among well pronounced, sweet caramel malts with additional toffee cutting through. This sets the bar in this, after it‘s first impression the beer turns a little softer, breadier and all in all maltier, with a sweet edge to it. Finishes soft and crisp, more rustic and grain forward with just the limes remaining, entangled into lighter toffee malts.


This pretty much holds up to what it promises. Its a hoppy, well balanced Lager, which got a prominent malt backbone and therefore sweetness to it. To be honest, to me this is more like an old school pale ale with both bitter and sweet flavors keeping the balance in this.

 

Horndog a 10.2 ABV English Style Barley Wine from Flying Dog in Maryland. I've had many Flying Dog beers over the years. Enjoyed most of them but not enough to buy them more than a few times. Looks like most Barley Wines brownish red with a light tan head. This one leaves nice lacing. The aroma is nice dark fruit and some malt but not as powerful as expected. The taste like the aroma good enough but not very powerful. The mouthfeel is thinner than most Barley Wines I have drank. The finish is a but sweet with an alcohol burn. Overall not bad but doubt I will buy it again.
I just checked the styles list and it seems that most of the Barley Wines I have drank and enjoyed are listed as American style not English. That maybe why Horndog didn't make a better impression.

 

Lagunitas Hazy Wonder - I enjoy hazy beers but they have to be done right, if not I can get some odd off flavors more so than many other styles because of the hops used. But Lagunitas does hazy beers well so I figured that I would enjoy this and not disappointed. However, not very hazy and with this being canned less than 30 days ago I am not sure what the deal is (although I have seen this with some of their other beers and which brewery it came from seemed to be the factor). It's very light and crisp and for 6% you can't tell at all; if someone handed me this and I didn't know what it was I would think that it was more of a session Ale. I can pick up on the Cashmere hops and it's an odd but good hop for my palate and gives me a nice and smooth coconut taste (second beer this weekend with Cashmere hops btw, had Victory Liberty Bell Ringer the other day).

Good, would gladly drink again. And 6% is a nice ABV level and seems to be the sweet spot for me if I am going higher than a low ABV session Ale. Anything north of 6-7% seems to put the beer into a different territory and it can start to get "heavy".

 

Inspired by @cavedave I decided to try this bottle of Comb (2019) by Plan Bee. From the Plan Bee website....."Our annual barrel blend series, we taste and blend barrels from our cellar at the end of each year. This years blend includes 3 vintages (2017-2019) of red and white wine barrel aged wild beer. Deep complex acidity, bright as it is deep. Perhaps the most complex Comb released to date!"




This is the kind of beer that makes me desperately wish I had more experience reviewing beers / a more refined palate. This beer is really complex, but I just can't put a finger on what I'm tasting. I will save at least one bottle of this for a future NBS BIF to get it into the hands of a more experienced reviewer. All I know is that I really liked it, even though I can't tell you what I was tasting.

4.34/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Winter, 2019 batch. Pours a semi-translucent dark yellow / light orange with moderate head and minimal head retention. You can smell that this is a wild ale from three feet away. Up close it's all funk, and more than hints that this is going to be plenty tart on the tongue. Taste is more complex than I have the skill to describe. At first it's smoothly tart, which sounds like an oxymoron, but still seems right to me. In the middle it's a taste I recognize, but can't place. Maybe it's the wine barrels? At the end and in the aftertaste it's almost changing from sip to sip. Thought I tasted some smoke at one point, now that's gone. Overall this is a very complex beer that I am really enjoying.