New Beer Sunday (week 797)

Continuing with another beer from @beertunes, Boundary Bay Imperial Oatmeal Stout.
3.88/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

Thank you beertunes for this
22 oz bottle poured into pint glass

A- Black with a two finger mocha head.

S- Chocolate, roasted malts, a little earthy, touch of caramel malts.

T- Roasted malts, some chocolate, earthy, touch of caramel malts.

M- Smooth, a little creamy, medium body.

O- A tasty and easy to drink Imperial Stout. I was hoping it would be a little more chocolatey like the nose.

Cheers!

 

Happy NBS everyone! All Ohio and mostly localish beers for me today. Started off with a trio of Rockmill brews:

Rockmill Draft Horse Double IPA: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23737/487345/?ba=bluejacket74#review



Rockmill Caamp IPA: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23737/487347/?ba=bluejacket74#review



Rockmill Hocking Headwaters IPA: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23737/487349/?ba=bluejacket74#review



Then a new beer and brewery to me, Working Class Brewery Clock Out Peanut Butter Stout: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55127/393607/?ba=bluejacket74#review



And finished up my new brews with some BrewDog USA Lock Down Guava and Grapefruit Pilsner: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16315/487343/?ba=bluejacket74#review



Cheers everyone!

 

Awesome beer, and even more awesome you shared your daughter's school project. If you are able to visit our city in the future, you can sample another Revolution pour, Cross of Gold, while discussing William Jennings Bryan's 1896 Democratic National Convention speech given in Chicago.

You can later make your way to the site of the Haymarket Square Riot, which may also be the site of a modern day reenactment over the next few days/weeks or months, before settling on a pint or two and solid food at Haymarket Brewing located a few steps away.

Cheers!

PS - I loved Bernard Malamud's book much more than the film and Hollywood ending.

 

NBS - Metropolitan Stromhaus Helles Lager. 4.7% ... details below.

4.06/5 rDev -0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L - Friggin' fields of gold, with a nice foamy head and decent lacing left over, even if only 4.7%
S - Woah - spicy bread, serious crisp yeast on the nose, liquid saltine cracker whiff
T - a little more muted on the palate, but begins to resemble the aromas after about 15 minutes of warming. Cracker bread for miles here...
F - Fantastic, crisp, ever so citric/spicey on the tongue in combination with the taste flavors and the malt backbone on this.
O - a great little Helles. I'd pound a sixer of these overlooking the Chicago River any day. Cheers to @77apm for sharing this one with me.

ADDENDUM: My wife, who HATES lagers, actually liked the small pour I gave her off this one. So that speaks volumes.

 

Evening. Picked up my first single of this one. Havent even seen it until 2 days ago and there wasnt much. Yesterday was a good time for the On line Pils Tasting. Lots of good info and interesting brews. Thanks @FBarber for hosting.
Bitburger/SN Triple Hop'd Lager
Pours a slightly hazy orange/gold with an off white foamy 2 finger head that lingers leaving plenty of lacing.
Aroma bread dough, sweet grains, grassy/floral hops.
Taste follows with a bit less sweetness than the aroma would indicate, bread crust, some fruity hops, some slightly piney and bitter hoppiness, notes of lemon and white pepper spice.
Feel is medium/light body, good carb through out, drying finish, nicely bitter aftertaste.
Quite a decent brew. Ive seen that swing heavily to both sides- meh and fantastic. I am taking middle ground on this. Its a good brew but not outstanding to me. Further the $12 sixer of 11.2 ounce cans....
With all the options out there I will not be seeking this out. Glad I bought the single. Cheers and have a great night!

One has Focal Banger up its arse and the other Hoponius Union. Whos happier?

 

howdy all,

I bought some pilsners for the tasting over the past couple days but ended up being unable to carve out a time to take part. So looks like it's New Pilsner Sunday instead!

I drink a lot of Jack's Abby Post Shift Pilsner so I was excited to try their newly released Dry Hopped version. I generally stick to "traditional" pilsners, but I'm always game to try whatever JA has on offer. This one is 30 IBUs, 4.7% ABV, and dry hopped with Hallertau Blanc hops. They've been making it for a while apparently but until now it was brewery only.



Look: Clear straw color with loads of tiny bubbles rushing to the top even after sitting for a bit. It's much lighter than the picture suggests. Big, tight, puffy, white head that lasts.

Smell: Lots of grassy, hay-like grain and a subtle fruitiness that's somewhere between lemony and tropical. Almost a kolsch-like white wine note too.

Taste: Wow, a big hit of bright cereal grain trending towards almost an oaty character. Some grassiness and a mild, lingering bitterness on the back end. There's like a pleasant ghost of that graininess in the aftertaste as well. Even though it's billed as dry hopped, I think I'm finding the malt profile to be the most interesting part. If this is really just regular Post Shift that's been dry hopped then there's some sort of crazy alchemy going on that's making the malt taste much more substantial (either that or I'm just a crazy person. It could also be two things).

Feel: Crisp but firm in the mouth. Both very drinkable and substantial at the same time. Definitely fuller and a bit rounder feeling than regular Post Shift.

Overall: If you feel yourself caught somewhere between wanting a light, gulpable pilsner and something a touch more substantial this sits perfectly in that nether region. I am loving this and it's staying fantastic even as it warms. Another winner from JA.

Cheers all and stay safe.

 

Keeping it Classic, from Lumberbeard Brewing Co. in Spokane, WA, one of the many excellent beers I received from @woemad in NBS BIF #11. This is a quintessential West Coast IPA - the kind I wish we could get more of in New Jersey. Thank you, Fred (for the glass, as well)! Here's my review:

4.1/5 rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I received a can of this IPA from @woemad in an NBS BIF. Canned on 4/1/2020. Poured from 12 oz. can into a tulip glass. It pours a hazy, honey-orange color with a generous, foamy, bright white cap and thin sheen of lacing. It has a classic West Coast smell with malt, grapefruit, pine needles, and dare I say a whiff of cannabis. There's also an interesting aroma that reminds me of a Bloody Mary! The taste opens with a nice balance of malt sweetness and bitter, biting Centennial hops. There's also the expected grapefruit courtesy of the Citra and the earthiness of the Simcoe. This ale is crisp and lite for its 7% ABV with good carbonation. It drinks easily. Overall, this is really good! I was afraid I let it sit too long but the flavors are big and bold and it's thoroughly enjoyable. I wish New Jersey brewers made more beers like this. Thank you, @woemad!

 

My first “All Together”, this brew courtesy of Untitled Art, Waunakee, WI, and using Mosaic, Citra, Simcoe, and Cashmere hops:



Pours an opaque deep gold; small tight white head disappears quickly; poor cap retention; thin plus ring; a few small spots of lacing. Nose is pineapple and grapefruit with some dank earthy hops; onion creeps in and grows stronger as beverage warms. Bitter grapefruit rind, lemon and pineapple; semi sweet malt base; no onion or garlic in the taste. Medium plus carbonation, light thin body; light astringency; rather crisp with a dry finish; no warmth from 6.5%. Overall, I enjoyed this IPA notwithstanding the Mosaic and Simcoe, among my two least favorite hops; good balance between malt base and bitterness; light crisp dry body with only a little hop burn. Outstanding!

4.25 | 4.0 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.25

I would gladly drink again...the bottle shop only got a case, one 16oz can ($7.00) per person, so unlikely I will get the chance...Cheers!

 

Happy New New England IPA Sunday!

Pretty nice day here on the Western Slope, cloudy, around 82 at the trailhead. Having a very tasty brew from Fremont, love this series. Watching some Picard. Will be back with another new one, later on.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/20680/482003/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

(Photo from internet)

There aren’t a whole lot of NEIPAs available here in Kentucky and one that I found decent and usually available, the Samuel Adams offering, seems to be no longer around. (I was on a self imposed six-month hiatus from beer drinking and you guys let everything go to hell, apparently.) Up to now my favorite was West 6th’s “Low Beam” although at $10 per 4-pack it seems a little steep. I recently tried Braxton’s offering and I really like it. I’m not very good at describing flavors but it’s juicy and a little tart, and overall has a lot of citrusy flavor. Not very bitter at all but not cloyingly sweet either. Pours an opaque orange-yellow. It’s about $9 or $10 for a six pack, which is nice, and it’s not too high in alcohol unlike some of my other favorite beers. All in all a big thumbs up. And it’s regional, coming from Northern Kentucky. I’m actually on my second six pack now and I see this becoming a staple in my fridge. I can’t claim to have tried every beer made in KY but so far this one is my favorite Kentucky beer.

 

This one is kind of a cheat because it's not technically "new", but I'm hoping my story will allow it to stand.

I have never liked Pilsner Urquell. I always found it tasted weird and sulfury. I don't believe I've had one in well over a decade because of this. When I joined Beer Advocate I learned about PU's diacetyl reputation, but I never recall thinking of butter flavors when I drank it.

I've avoided trying it again because there's plenty else to drink, but the Pilsner tasting this week gave me a good excuse to do so, so here we are. I should mention that in general I've always been a much bigger fan of German Pilsners than Czech ones, but living near Notch Brewery has shown me how great a lot of Czech beer styles actually are over the past few years.

So let's see what I think now.



Look: Beautiful, crystal clear golden color with a huge frothy head that lingers.

Smell: Lots of grainy malt with a little bit of a skunky, sulfury undertone. Not enough to be unpleasant but it's there.

Taste: There's almost a sourness (like a true, spoiled sort of sour, not tart) to the taste that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm also getting a metallic sort of bitterness in the aftertaste, as well as more of that sourness. And it's a long, long lasting aftertaste that lives on and on in my throat and my cheeks. Those two things together are really sort of overwhelming anything else I might say about it.

Feel: I may not be getting the "butter popcorn" aspect of diacetyl but I can feel that "slickness" that I've heard attributed to it.

Overall: Honestly I was fully expecting to like this beer and be put in the position of explaining what the hell was wrong with me all these years. But I really just don't like it at all, to the point that I gave the rest of it to my wife (who thinks it tastes fine). I haven't had a sip in several minutes and that thick, sour taste is still coating my mouth. All I can think of is that I must be sensitive to diacetyl but perceive its taste in an unusual way.

Oh well. At least in the intervening years I have learned that there are other examples of Czech styled beer that I do very much like.

p.s. yikes, sorry for the terribly blurred picture. Awful.

 

Glad it's still drinking well. I kinda winced when I first saw you post this here, today, as I'd assumed it would not be so good at this point. That brewery is maybe a year old. The newest crop of breweries in Spokane seem to really have their shit together.

 

Beer and electrical work... what could possibly go wrong!

 

First beer from Edmund's Oast, and this blonde ale does have distinct flavors of almond milk, honey, and light grains. Very easy drinking and perfect on a humid day!

 

First a couple of “Thank you!” notes, to @superspak for the launch (and I hope the job search ends soon, Ian) and to @FBarber for hosting this weekend’s pilsner virtual bottle share. That was AWESOME - I’ve always had an appreciation for pilsners, and any event I can utilize to drink more pilsner beer is an event I am gonna enjoy. Exceptionally well done.

I have a couple of beers from Transient today. I made the trip yesterday (fresh Juice Is Loose!!!) and picked these up, as well as a really nice German pilsner I shared yesterday.

This beer, though, is more in the Tree House vein, specifically the hazy DIPA category. As a matter of fact, if I was tasting this blind, I’d say it was from TH. This is Ultramoist from Transient.





4.5/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I’m really pumped to try this - Transient stated this is essentially Juice Is Loose with Strata hops subbed for the Simcoe in Juice. As someone that LOVES Juice, me up!

The hazy pineapple color props up a foamy white head that is pretty sticky down the glass. Dank citrus notes with grapefruit, pineapple, mango, and a definite weed aroma dominate the nose.

Dank flavors dominate, with grapefruit, pineapple, and mango dominant, and there’s also a bubble gum flavor. Don’t know where that came from, but it’s there. The mouthfeel is soft, but full and not watery in the least.

This is so well done. If you like NE-style IPA’s, this will be in your wheelhouse, IMHO.

 

A new offering from Hyde Park, VT's Ten Bends Beer Co.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46703/487141/



3.5% abv.
16 oz. can.
Canned 05/28/20.
Moderate to vigorous pour yields a 1/2 inch white head over a hazy, straw colored body with scant lacing. Nose of ruby red grapefruit. Taste mirrors nose and kinda tastes like a grapefruit soda with a bit of alcohol. Nice feel and overall, if I had a lawn and a lawnmower, this would be in heavy lawnmower beer rotation as it is so refreshing.
Cheers to the boys up in Hyde Park, VT for this crushable offering!

 

Happy New American IPA Sunday!

Back with another, to me this is an American IPA, not a NEIPA like stated. Pretty tasty, nice to see it around. Still watching some Picard.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/287/449051/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers and thanks to @superspak for getting us underway.

It's been very warm the last few days in Spokanistan, getting up close to 90° on Friday and yesterday, but now it's a cloudy 64°. Last night, around 9pm, and again around 3am, there was significant amounts of thunder, lightning, and, above all, rain. Enough that I woke up at 3am and stayed up until past 6am to verify the beleagured Spokane storm drains didn't back up (it's already happened a couple weeks ago, and did so spectacularly last year). Fortunately, this did not occur. Sacked out for a couple hours afterwards, had a light breakfast, threw a pork roast into the crock pot for tacos tonight, did some chores and now it's NBS time.

Which brings me to today's beer. This is the first half of an exploration of two local examples of the All Together IPA (for reasons that elude me, I keep calling it All Together Now).

This one comes courtesy of Whistle Punk Brewing. The brewery itself is located in tiny Newman Lake, Washington, but their only taproom is in downtown Spokane. One half of the label features a photo of the taproom.


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44280/487560/?ba=woemad#review
This reminds me of what I've come to call a "new school" west coast style IPA, similar to Georgetown's Bodhizafa. Citrusy and piney, sure, but more sweet and fruity than an old school grapefruit & pine hop bomb IPA, and with a somewhat less bracing and more soft mouthfeel, yet definitely not a NE hazy.

Back with another All Together soon, one that was a collaboration of six local breweries.