New Beer Sunday (week 532)

Happy New Pilsner Sunday!

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So sorry I missed the last two weeks, the first I went to a very lovely wedding and stuck with Whiskey for that (not impressed with the beer selection). And the second week I missed, I was feeling under the weather again. I think my seasonal allergies have found a new way to manifest themselves, instead of sneezing and a runny nose, I have very weirdly clogged sinuses. But hey, I'm glad warmer weather is here now, I can finally get back to making my yard look nice. Going to go out and buy some peppers and green beans to plan soon, another hobby of mine besides drinking and brewing beer.

Up for today is Firestone Walker's Pivo Pils. So in my haste to try this delicious brew, I forgot to take a picture, so use your imagination, hope I described the look well enough in my review. This is probably my favorite regular brew from FW, love a good pilsner. Seems like NJ is starting to get better FW distribution, so I think this worked in my favor. Very delicious refreshing brew for this fine spring day, will gladly revisit in the summer.

Cheers!

 

LOL. That wasn't a pose, that was me protecting myself because Ranger is NOT dainty. He's a rescue we got nearly 3 years ago from TN when he was about 12 weeks old (and 11 lbs). Now he's a 65 lb moose. We got him through Rescued Paws after I searched "Shepherd mix puppies," but his primary breed is supposedly Mountain Cur. The pic below is a "pure bred" Mountain Cur - but Ranger is probably a half dozen different breeds. I can see Mountain Cur, Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Lab, Collie, etc. He's a definite Heinz 57.

 

Frankly, I don't see too much of your dog in this pic, but that's good as he's better looking than it anyway. Man, I miss having a dog.

 

Good evening NBS. Hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. I got out and did over 50 miles of trail riding this weekend, was fantastic weather. Also got out today and resupplied my new beer selection and landed some really big wants luckily as well(actually found some w00tstout 2013 randomly too, perhaps re-review time for that). Some rain this week will definitely help out the bike trails, they are gertting way too sandy, had some squirrely moments all weekend; but mostly ok, you just need to be cautious and not use the brakes through those and keep a steady line.

Here are today's new beers:

Very nice pale wheat ale. Aromas and flavors of bright grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, and pine; with light-moderate wheat/cracker breadiness and herbal/grassy hop earthiness. Light pine/grassy bitterness on the finish. Really nice citrus hop flavors, with a great balance of bitterness/sweetness from the lighter load of malt presence. Light-medium bodied; with a very smooth/crisp finish with a touch of hop stickiness and wheat creaminess. Really well done. 3.9


This is delicious! Really nice head retention and lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge raisin, plum, fig, date, apple, caramel, toffee, toast, brown sugar, biscuit, light nuttiness, and moderate peppery yeast spice; with a touch of herbal hop earthiness. Nice fairly spicy/herbal bitter finish; great balance between the yeast complexity and dark malt sweetness; no cloying flavors at all. Medium carb, medium-full bodied; very smooth and lightly slick mouthfeel; maybe a touch of hop stickiness in there as well. Very smooth sipping with very restrained amount of alcohol warmth after the finish. This was surprisingly awesome vs the actual rAvg for this beer. Just all around great complexity and balance of flavors, extremely impressive. 4.2


Completely delicious. Aromas and flavors of vanilla, cinnamon, wheat, honey, cracker, cream, light nuttiness, herbal, grass, and spice earthiness. Mild spice bitterness on the finish. Great balance of the spices and pale bready malt flavors. Light-medium bodied; with a very smooth and crisp finish. Very drinkable for the ABV. Zero complaints overall. Nearly identical to the 5 Rabbit rendition of the same beer I had a few weeks ago as expected(Arroz Con Leche). So good. 4


Cheers! Have a good night NBS.

 

Reverse doggy? But seriously, AWESOME pic.

 

Well Hello to All.
Newbies to NBS, WELCOME!!!
Veterans and esteemed frequent partakers, I bid you good beer.
We've had a hot one this week in Socal. Temps in the mid 90's. But today it tapered off a tad, and became downright beautiful. High 70's to low 80's with a refreshing breeze to soften the sun's intensity today.

Spent the afternoon at my hometown's Railroad Days event. We have a historic train depot here in Fullerton, and each year they throw this wonderful little gathering that beckons to all rail geeks, steam buffs, etc...
But this one was more specialer than usual. After about 8 years of absence, the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society brought out #3751, a gorgeous 4-8-4 steam locomotive built in the late 20's, converted from coal to oil in the 40's. I remember chasing this train with my grandfather, father, and uncle back in the 70's. She is glorious to behold climbing a grade or cruising across the plains at 80+ mph. And it was fun helping my girls climb up into the cab, ring the bell, and even look into the firebox. All in all, a great day.

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So, I decided to try Melange 10, from the Bruery again. I've been meaning to post it here to you, on NBS. But truth be told, I've been hesitant. You see, it was my winning recipe for the blending competition held by the Bruery. And, although I've tried it a few times, each time it was very different. So, I have not even rated it yet, being curious about the ratings of others (and not wanting to bias the stats).

During the competition, my buddy and I originally came up with a blend of 60% Sucre and 40% Mash for the base, and then mixed in the Mexican chocolate, cinammon, crushed candy skull, brandy soaked French Oak chips, and pureed ancho chiles. After many tweaks, we were quite happy with the result. I was surprised to discover that the folks at the Bruery switched from Mash to BA Old Richland. I trust they did it so as to make sure the sweetness didn't overtake the rest of the components.

Well, I think they did a fine job. First time, I found the chile on the nose blending with cinammon along with some alcohol heat. In the mouth, the chocolate comes through with the cinammon ever present, but then the finish brings a little heat of the chile. I found it quite good. All the components taking turns in prominence.

But then I tried it a week ago, and it was very sweet. Some cinammon, but absolutely no hint of chile. My buddy that was with me, said, "Oh hello, breakfast!" He said it conjured up pancakes and maple syrup. So I was a little worried that it was sweetening up, so to speak.

Well, I tried it again today. And it felt like a New Beer experience (again ) I am happy to say, that today's pour started deep and leathery (a little muddy even), thin head of mocha that dissipated quickly yet carrying forth some roasty chile followed by cinammon. The taste started with a little chile heat this time. Followed quickly by cinammon and Abuelita hot chocolate, some alcohol heat, more chocolate and cinammon, and then slightly bitter and hot ancho chile. FInished with the chile tapering off slightly but hanging around. I found it quite good.

Originally I tried to do this one in a Black Tuesday blending competition. Didn't get it to where I liked in the time alotted. But at home with a French Press, I got it pretty close. Maybe one day, maybe there'll be a Black Tuesday variant...Martes Negro (con chocolate Abuelita) I can hope.

 

Nice! I'd like to taste this!