New Beer Sunday (Week 799)

Evening NBS. Back from Maine for a couple of days. This is going to be a long hard summer but Im going to continue to try to participate in NBS as long as I can since this is my favorite BA thread. I picked up a new beer in ME but forgot to bring it home so I stopped at my local shop and grabbed a single of this beauty.
Modist Brewing Co.
Double Ghost Vision DIPA DDH with Strata and Citra and finished with Citra Cryo and Strata.
Pours a hazy beautiful golden orange with a snow white head, a creamy, foamy white 3 finger head that lasts forever leaving lots of sticky lacing. Beautiful beer.
Damn if this isnt a huge aroma of primarily fresh candied marijuana buds with notes of pineapple, mango, cantaloupe and orange. This is one that fills the room. Awesome.
Taste follows with cannabis, candied tropical fruits, orange, red grapefruits, melon, peach. Huge mouthful of lasting flavors. Delicious.
Feel is medium body, soft yet dry, subtlety sweet, pleasantly bitter, nicely balanced and you would never know its 8.6%. Wow.
I have had the opportunity to try some Modist through BIF and they have been good beers but this is one outstanding brew in the NE style but not overly so if that makes sense. I would easily purchase a case of this if I could. Strata is probably my new favorite hop.
Highly recommended for any IPA lovers out there. And its not run of the mill. Truly different. Cheers and have a great week. Hope to participate and read all your excellent reviews next Sunday!

 

Ozark Little Brother Hazy IPA, had higher hopes for this one. 6.0% ABV 3.73 overall

Pours a hazed and effervescent gold with 2+ fingers of beige head. Sheets of lacing & pretty good head retention

S: Some pear and peach

T: Follows the nose, also green melon, plus grassyness up front. Dryness, lime and green melon as this warms. Finishes with pomelo, grassyness & dryness

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation, good balance

Drinks easy, just doesn't deliver enough nose or flavor to get too excited about

 

Yea, it’s a bit used in 1975, it’s worse now, far worse.

 

Ugh , no way. I don’t understand that, you can buy wine and spirits but beer is capped at 3.2? Kinda insane.

 

Good evening NBS and thanks @zid for todays kick off. Home now from another leg completed in the goal.
Hiking from the CT line to Mt Monadnock before October1st Made the CT line today.
Todays offering is from Honest Weight Artisan Brewing. A single hop (Vic Secret) Pale Ale.
The feel here is the winner, simply excelent in that aspect. The exploration of Vic Secret is largely in the pineapple and melon profile. As a stand alone I like the application.
Everyone do good
Be well
Preroll

Honest Weight Artisan Beer
American Pale Ale (APA) | 4.4% ABV

3.94/5 rDev +3.4% | Average: 3.81
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 oz can pick up at the brewery yesterday. No date stamp
A - Hazy cloudy sunshine. loose knit cap of white froth.
S - Peaches, overripe apricot, melon flesh. White toast, a bit of grape skin
T - Sharply different from the nose, sweet malts, a bit os salinity, then touches of that fruit from the nose. Melon forward, with a nice bitterness capping it.
M - Smooth, maybe some oats in the mix? Full feel and texture for a 4% offering. I really like the body on this beer.
O - A beautiful pale ale, rich in texture and highlighting a single hop in theis case Vic Secret.
Well executed

 

Poured into a 16 tulip glass canned 5/21/2020. Pours a very hazy yellow, with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves big thick streaks of lace as it slowly settles. 4.25

Smell mango, ripe melon, guava, herbal earthy hops, and apricot rock solid. 4.25

Taste follows cantaloupe, mango, guava, slightly herbal, and apricot. 4.25

Mouthfeel is bigger than medium, a tad sticky not dry, gentle carbonation, and at 9% really drinkable. 4.25

Overall this is another really nice NEDIPA from this brewery. 4.25

 

Good evening, NBS friends. I have a couple of beers from our beer nerd friend @Roguer and the recently completed NBS BIF #11 (although I believe there are still boxes floating around). These beers are literally at opposite ends of the beer nerd spectrum.

First up, a beer I can’t believe I’ve never tried, given my appreciation for the brewery - they are world-class, IMHO.





4.35/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Hazy straw color with three fingers of foamy white head that tracks down the glass and draws you to subtle funky citrus aromas. Lacto Bacillus indeed.

The taste is tart, effervescent, and, most of all, refreshing. It has bright citrus notes and a flavor that is reminiscing of a fruity white wine. There are not many beers that make me want to gulp them, but that is EXACTLY what this beer did - I didn’t, but I seriously considered it. It was that delicious and that refreshing.

The mouthfeel was bright and spritzy, but not cloyingly so. If you’re not a fan of the style, I think you’d still enjoy this, and if you ARE a fan of the style, this is your sweet spot.

 

Toppling Goliath Pompeii IPA, 5.8% ABV. Pours hazy gold with a 3-finger white head that left some lacing. Nose is citrus. Taste is piney, some orange zest, moderately bitter. Very good mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.02/5 rDev -6.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I've been unimpressed with the three TG IPAs I've had today. I only got into IPAs in the last year, and while these three are all highly rated, they aren't what I like in an IPA. I don't like "traditional" bitter-for-the-sake-of-bitterness IPAs. I'm into some actual flavor, and to me bitterness isn't a flavor. I like "pastry" IPAs with lots of add-junks. That's bound to incite IPA fanboys.

 

Happy New American IPA Sunday!

Brew #2 a tasty brew. Starting ep.9 on Picard.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22843/482722/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Rare second posting for me in NBS, but here we are. Free Thought Paracosm. A pear sour that to me clock in with A=4.25, S=4.0, T=4.0, F=3.75, O=4.0. Very refreshing pear puree feel, and some tartness in the finish makes it a nice change from the NEIPA run I've been on.

 

For regular packaged beer, grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations can only sell 3.2. No wine or spirits, either.

If you want "real" beer, wine, or spirits, you have to go to a liquor store.

 

Damn @zid Straight up Old School NBS opening! Welcoming, enticing, inspirational, informative, and of course... well written reviews. Thanks.

 

2nd and final one for me today, and another small (nearly) local brewer from curb side.

Giesenbräu Bier Co. Doppel the Hutt (Doppelbock)
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: NA



Clear brown (ruby red with a back-light), lightly carbonated, with a 1 inch off-white/light tan head which quickly recedes within 10-15 seconds into a thin, sparse cap with a bubble ring, and even that is completely gone in short order. No lacing.

Aroma is immediately apparent upon popping open the crowler, but is surprisingly weak once in the glass. Smell of raisins/dark fruit. Faint touch of spice (maybe). The aroma is too weak to pick up much in the way of subtleties. I suppose the lack of head is a big factor here. It just disappears too quickly to sustain any aroma at all.

Taste is initially flavorful and malty. Dark fruits again. Slightly sweet in the beginning, but with a semi-dry finish. Very slight bitterness in the finish and aftertaste, otherwise malty, smooth, but a bit bland by half-way through as there is little complexity here. It is easy enough to drink, but this beer would not rate a second order in the pub. Too bland.

Mouth feel is flat, but with moderate body. On the whole, though, too thin for the style.

Overall, as you can no doubt tell by now, I am very disappointed in this beer. I expected a better effort from a self-proclaimed German-style brewer. I saved this one for last expecting much better. My overall rating of 3.5 is generous.

This is the last of the beers I bought from them, and, unfortunately, across 4 styles (2 English heritage, 2 German heritage), the highest rating I gave them on any of the 4 beers was 3.6, for the English Bitter.

The helles was enjoyable, with a great taste, but lacking in aroma (as is this beer, likely related to the fast disappearing head for both).

Overall, unfortunately, they have not given me a reason to drive the 40+ mile round trip to visit them again. So, unless I just happen to find myself in New Prague wanting to sit down and have a beer, this will likely be my last impression of them.

Since they are located in New Prague, they are going to have to improve, in my view, to compete with their big rival a hour's drive away (and less than that to the nearest bar). I suppose they are relying on the tap room / hometown pub sit down and have a beer neighborhood trade, and that may sustain them for awhile, but the beer-drinking population of New Prague is well educated on German styles, so, IMO, they will need to step up their game to really thrive.

L: 3.25 | S: 3.0 | T: 3.25 | F: 3.25 | O: 3.5 | Rating: 3.24

 

#2, big boy beer, along with the requisite @Roguer duct tape whilst shipping bottles. He is a beer nerd of the highest magnitude. And I will be napping after finishing this monster.





4.4/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

An aggressive pour reveals a beer that, from the bottle, has more of a cola color going from the bottle to the glass than a black color, but appears black in the glass with the slightest smidge of mahogany brown on the edge at the top of the glass. There is a minimal dark tan head that sizzles as it settles and dissipates quickly. Haven’t seen that too often in big stouts.

The nose is spot on, with a BIG barrel aroma that isn’t overwhelming, but allows the rich, dark chocolate and roasty char notes to shine, and probably contributes to the really nice vanilla note.

This drinks hot from the barrel, but while the alcohol heat is a bit forward, it settles quickly and allows the dark chocolate and roasty char (and the roasty flavor advances as this warms) to be what you take away from this as you sip - and then you get vanilla, and then 30 seconds after you finish your sip, you feel the alcohol settle in the way WAY back (children of station wagon vintage are familiar with the way WAY back) of your palate and into your belly. Wow, is this well done.

The mouthfeel is substantial per the style, but it will be interesting to see if it becomes fuller as this ages. Fortunately, I have another bottle to let sit for a year or two to conduct just such an experiment.

For science, of course.

 

Prairie Stuf'd Imperial Stout with Oreos & such. 14.8% ABV; 4.31 Overall

Pours an effervescent ebony with a pinky of fast falling mocha colored head, Zero head retention & lacing

S: Plums, raisins, boozeyness late

T: Follows the nose, a little coffee, black cherry, plus leafy hops & dark chocolate up front. Dryness & Oreos come through as this warms, raisins & plum as well, just a touch of boozey edge. Finishes with rich dark fruit, dryness & little bit of Oreo & leafy hops & a whisper of the barrel dryness/richness

MF: Chewy, near zero carbonation, warming

Heft is well hidden, was hoping for a little more flavor pop, but this is a good offering

 

Well Hello NBS
It's hot here. Pleasant breeze, but when it drops off the sun is downright intense. But when sitting in the shade, pup at my feet, girls in the pool...life is good. Time for beer.

But slight dilemma here, and I need the collective wisdom of the NBS crew. I have a new beer. I need to enter it into the database, but...well let me describe this beauty first.

Pours a profoundly swamp roil past sunset brown, nearly black. A firm mocha colored heap of foam breaches my glass. I pull back on the pour. I sniff quickly, interrupting my aroma protocol, quickly sucking off the top of that pretentious head. Before my abrupt change of tactics, I gleaned chocolate malts, barrel roast, and a smooth earthy whiskey note that is not distinctly bourbon or rye. And the taste of the head confirms the chocolate notes and roast.
Solid retention.
The flavor is elegantly carried forth with a medium body. Chocolate and roast notes, charred barrel, a mild silky molasses sweetness, along with a mildly sour port wine meets dates or figs note. Finally, back to the chocolate notes that a slightly dry bitterness gently tames.

The mouthfeel is not heavy or chewy. It is medium, but silky. And the mildly active carbonation continues throughout.

A fine beer. But what to do?
Labeled as a Barrel Aged Baltic Stout brewed with lager yeast?!?!?
No roasted barley. Pale chocolate and de-bittered black malt. Then laid down in bourbon and oak barrels.

So technically it's a lager, but with Imperial stout approach (minus roasted malts).
I want to put it in, but as what a Baltic Porter? A lager?

I'd love to hear from y'all.