New Beer Sunday (week 531)

Great Divide Barrel-Aged Hibernation
Bottled Jan 5 2015
Hefty price tag on this one, $25 for 750 ml bottle. Decided to splurge since i did not expect to see this one in my
area.
Nutty, chocolatey aroma, slight roastiness. Creamy vanilla, dry oak, earthy. Subtle whiskey on back end, but nothing
overpowering there. Pick up some bittersweet fruitiness as well.
Get more barrel characteristic and whiskey in the taste, lots of chocolate, slight vanilla, toasted nuttiness. Subtle
fruits. Very dry feel, more oaky than whiskey forward.
Admitedly i didnt do much research on this beer before purchasing, i just didnt expect to see it in my area. Over
the past few months i read a lot of reviews and saw that there are mostly mixed reviews on Great Divide barrel aged
beers, with lots of reports of infection. So what happens this past week? Woah, now i see Barrel Aged Old Ruffian.
So of course i pick it up for $27 (just couldnt resist). So im cruising youtube yesterday and see Beer Geek Nation
review of Barrel Aged Hibernation poster recently and that his opinion was his bottle showed some early signs of infection....guh. I decided to play it safe and drink the Hibernation today per his recommendation. Overall, im not sure if im qualified/experienced enough to comment if i think this its showing signs of oxidation...there may be some acidity on the back end. I dont know.
Overall, i am enjoying this beer, and i think it has some good flavors. Is it blowing my mind and worth the big
price tag? I dont think so.
No regrets though, ill work through the rest of this bottle during the kids naptime today while watching some basketball. Annnnd now i get to be paranoid and fret over when to drink BA old ruffian. AHHHHHHHHH
Cheers everyone

 

Saving the music for WBAYDN is cool enough... works for me

 

Fair. My response was a respectful disagreement. However, I don't do WBAYDN. This sub-community is far cooler, and always will be. Jane will back me up on this, but I try to put forethought into my music link with my beer. But hey, if this thread takes ten minutes to load, I agree, that's not cool.

 

Cloudy day about 55 degrees in New Hampshire. But I am still going to barbecue some chicken. Except it will be on the propane grill rather than the charcoal grill because it will take less time. So how about a new Double IPA from From New Hampshire and only available in New Hampshire? Out.Haus Ales of Northwood, NH opened its new tasting room about two weeks ago to an enthusiastic standing room only crowd. The brewery has been around about 2 years. Their Double IPA was one of the kick-off beers for the new operation. 8.6% ABV. More of an earthy hop and resiny hop character than citrus or grapefruit. For a DIPA it is actually on the mellow side. Not a ton of bitterness but it has a moderately dry toasty flavor. I wish this nano-brewery all the best for successful times ahead.

 

Doesn't look like the price tag on their BA beers have gone up much. I paid that for some BA Yeti in 2011.

 

I don't do WBAYDN either and really spend enough time here as is. If these are the rules going forward, I'll be a lot less inclined to participate.

 

Clear blues skies and brilliant sunshine this afternoon call for an equivalent beer. 3 Sheeps is slowly making a name for itself with their fun one-off beers they call Nimble Lips Nobel Tounge. Roll Out the Barrel is a Belgian Golden Ale aged in Chardonnay barrels.

The nose is initially quite sweet with Belgian sugar and frosted banana bread. Light notes of white grape, sweet pear, and Chardonnay tingle the sensories. Tastes starts off as a sweet golden ale with Belgian sugars quite prominent. Taste evolves into a sweeter banana bread with some honey. A light fruity character similar to sweet pear, white grapes, and Chardonnay round it out.

This turned out really well and I like the choice to age it in Chardonnay to compliment the sweetness of the ale. Well done.

 

I don't do too much in the WBAYDN thread anymore but please, make this your special "treat" to continue to post in this, the best of ALL threads on BA. We are family!

 

Greetings. Long time NBS viewer, first time NBS poster here. I don't review and I rarely find myself on a Sunday with something I've never tried, for some reason. I guess I must rip through all the novelties on Saturday. Until today. I was out on a walk happily reflecting upon Everton FC's right thrashing of Manchester United today and happened upon a packy I haven't been to in a couple of weeks, so I stepped in, hoping to find Notch Saison (an <4% ABV refresher that disappeared for some time but is supposedly now returning in cans). I didn't find it, but that familiar twinge of Self-Righteous Entitlement Frustration Syndrome was stopped in its tracks when I spied a new saison by Smuttynose, the aptly named Hayseed.



The pour results in a brief three-finger bright white head, which quickly settles to a thin scrim. Tiny bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass for the duration. The beer is a pale straw yellow (of course it is: It's called Hayseed). A nose in the glass (my own) conveys a light aroma of lemon drops, a little bit of earth, and, yes, hay. The taste is similar, and similarly unobtrusive: lemony hay, a touch of earthy bitterness, a light yeastiness, all of which vanishes from the palate shortly after the swallow.

Hayseed comes in at an easy 3.8% ABV, bless it, so in that sense it's closer to tradition than the more robust saisons of the current day. I imagine a lot of BAs would find this a bit too light or watery to satisfy, but I think it's a fine example of the sort of low-gravity, quenching brew I was looking for. As the weather turns hot and muggy I suspect I'll be appreciating this beer even more.

Have a happy Sunday and a forgiving Monday, folks.

 

You'll get it next time!

 

One More New East Coast DIPA Sunday

Another great unsolicited beer courtesy of @paresis.
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16105/151792/?ba=WesMantooth
May be my favorite label ever. Can we petition all breweries to do this?


4.26/5 rDev +2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Bottled in January. Poured from 12 oz bottle into spiegelau glass.

An opaque, but clean golden orange with a huge bright white frothy head head that leaves a bunch of lacing.

Smells incredible. A very nice biscuit, or shortbread like malt base with floral, pine, slightly grassy/green, and citrus aromas. I keep coming back to the fresh mash/wort smell though. Wonderful.

The flavors dont quite live up to my nose, but still excellent. Also a bit hoppier and more resinous than I would have guessed. Crisp, bitting citrus up front. Pineapple and lemon. A little sour. Real "earthy" and malty in the middle with some herbs and pine, and a little spiceyness and floral falvors on the back end. I don't really notice any alcohol. I would swear this had Centennial hops. Reminds me of Founder's Centennial IPA. The Chinook on the label maybe?

Body is medium. Possibly over carbonated by a hair. It has a slick resin feel that is nice along with a dry, almost white wine like finish that isnt as nice. Seems to give me a "cotton mouth" feeling.

A great beer. I think it bounces back and forth between IPA and DIPA a little. Could use a little work on the finish maybe and it is a little mouth puckering, but I love the mix of different hops.

I honestly feel like I was nitpicking at this beer for some reason. I highly recommend it.

Now back to the deck to jam to some music (gave up on the ball game) and work on my sunburn. Cheers!

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @utopiajane for starting us off right,

Things started off a bit chilly and foggy this AM in the largest city between Seattle and Minneapolis, but it’s now 46 and sunny, and the weather witch doctors are predicting a high of 61. At the beginnings of the week we had the warmest day of the year to date – about 75 degrees, but then, in true Inland Northwest style, things retreated back to just above freezing at night, with wind and sporadic rain for parts of the week.

This week, I’m checking in with a couple of IPAs received via the good offices of friends.

Starting things off with a highly rated IPA from the wilds of Montana (okay, it’s from the state capital), muled back to Spokane by my friend and co-worker Deb & her boyfriend (who also insisted on including another Montana-only IPA that is on deck):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/914/5577/?ba=woemad

I found it highly drinkable, but not worthy of the 95 score it has on BA. Perhaps it’s from being kind of a big fish in a small pond. Nevertheless, if available locally, it’s something I’d probably have cans of in the fridge on a regular basis.

Next I went with an IPA from Brickyard, courtesy of our already lauded @beertunes, who is probably drinking a pre-func beer at or near Safeco Field right now. Brickyard isn’t widely available in my neck of the woods, but I think I’ve seen this the last couple of times I’ve ventured into Total Wine (where I’ve learned to be circumspect when purchasing IPAs with no freshness date):

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29553/148596/?ba=woemad

Big, sticky, citrusy yet drinkable beer. Maybe not something I’d session, but, god, is it drinking well right now!

I might be back later, but I'm not sure with what. There's another beer from @beertunes's hometown that I've been deliberately saving for last from the box he sent me, but I've also got a couple of hoppy beers that need to be consumed soon.

 

Cheers, bleakies, for that rather good review though you don't review. When I get the general pic of what a beer tastes like, I must pay homage to the poster. Oh, and btw, I *think* I would like that brew. The low abv is something that would immediately grab my attention.

 

Greetings, NBSers- I'm in the midst of a few tasks, but also happen to have time for a beer break. Plus I have to make up for last night, when I couldn't have any (I had to pick my son up from a party at midnight, and just went to bed when we came home. Bar Mitzvah season is going to hit my normal Saturday night schedule like a ton of bricks this year, but he was so happy when he got in the car that it will all be worth it.)

I'm finally getting around to this one, and am finding it's exactly as advertized-

Just like a cross between a dubbel and a Belgian IPA.

Fruit and caramel come on first- as much citrus peel as there is stone fruit- but then it gets quite a kick from the Belgian yeast. If you've ever had an Italian amaro (like Cynar orAverna), then that's pretty much what you can expect to experience with this beer- bitter like the essence of chinotto, rounded with caramel, and flavored with herbs and spices. Very drinkable, and you'd never guess the strength. I'm going to have to save some for my dad, who loves those kinds of apertifs. A- (4.1)

 

SWEET!

 

Full review here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22511/64916/?ba=huddyball

Overall, as stated, this is my first venture into non-BA Hill Farmstead saisons and I'm happy with the results.

I have to get use to the belgian yeast character, but at least in this case it's subtle enough to work with and I'm able to pick up other flavors in the mix (sweetness, lemon).

Cheers!

 

Nice! Naked City isn't available in my portion of Washington. I'll have to come up with something special to send off to Terry for one of those.

 

A typical spring day in Maine. Sun and clouds, mid 50s.
After the winter we had, I thought it would be June before I got the yard cleared out. Yet, I got everything done, finishing today. With that out of the way, I thought I'd follow @WesMantooth's example and review Mayflower Alden. I picked it up yesterday at Gary's in Portsmouth, NH. The place is a treasure trove. The only problem is that beers are arranged so haphazardly that you have to spend a good length of time looking. Anyway...

In a snifter the beer was a gold color, just a little hazy. There was a small white head, and a decent amount of lace.
The aroma was citrus and pine, with a sweet malt background.
Mostly grapefruit taste, some orange and lemon. Fairly resiney. And a little white bread.
This is a medium-bodied, hoppy beer.
Overall, very solid beer. Would drink it anytime.

 

I'm in agreement with both your post re: this. The videos and pics are one of the hallmarks of this thread, and have been a very cool look beyond the beer comments into the lives of our fellow BAs. But if it's making the running of the site difficult, that's a problem. BTW, congrats on doing well with the tasting portion of the Cicerone, as I think that would be the hardest part for me. Genetics have blessed me with a palate that is always at least a little compromised by allergies, which include pretty much anything that can be airborne!