New Beer Sunday (week 536)

Greetings NBS faithful! I hope this message finds you enjoying a fine American Ale or a delicately crafted lager in your flute, nonic, or snifter on this fine day. Weather in Central OH is overcast and stormy.

I'm fresh off judging the Ohio State fair competition yesterday. I had spice, herb, and vegetable beers in the morning and Belgian and French Ales in the PM (Witbier, Belgian Pale Ale, Saison, Specialty). I must say, the homebrewing hobby is alive and well in OH. While I had the usual couple of clunkers the overwhelming majority of the entrants were well crafted and immensely enjoyable. It's a testament to the overall growth of the hobby and fine brewing that's going on these days. We have fantastic resources now that we've never had before such as local clubs, this website (shout out to the homebrewing section...fantastic!), and many online and print resources that everyone has at their fingertips. It's a good time to be a brewer, homebrewer, or sampler!! Speaking of...enough of my banter...here's my NBS entry. Cheers!!

Peace, love, and malty-ness,

Matt

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22072/93419/?ba=mattcrill

4.66/5 rDev +11%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Aroma: Powdery American hop resins that remind me of fresh cut tangerine, orange, and lemon peel. A bit of stone fruit as well. Clean fermentation character.

Appearance: Amber colored pour with golden edging. Low off white head that retains well.

Flavor: Wonderful peach, tangerine, and orange zest flavor abounds! There is a definite American C hop bitterness that serves as a foundation to all the citrus fruit flavors. Balance it to the hop bitterness. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste lingers with resiny bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium-high carbonation. No heat, astringency, or creaminess noted.

Overall impression: A lovely showcase of citrus flavors expressed in this well crafted American IPA. Full disclosure: Anti-Hero is one of my favorite IPA's. This hop showcase of my favorite beer only furthers my enthusiasm for Revolution as a great brewery. Well done!

 

For my next NB we have a nice little offering from Sierra Nevada called Hoptimum



As you can see, this is a caramel colored beer with what has become a thin head and gentle lacing. Nose is pine laden with maybe just a dash of biscuity. Taste is starting out with a the aforementioned piney-ness as well as a pungent astringency. It finishes slightly sweet as the full bodied mouth feel makes it's exit. It's not horrible but it's not super either.

 

That's some pretty cloudy stuff. Did you buy multiples? Are they all this cloudy?

 

I hear you. I sat around and drank beer all morning while it was dry and just got dumped on while mowing. I quit for a few minutes when it started raining sideways then the sun came back out so I went to the back yard and got about half way done when it started again. I said fuck it the second time.

 

Hey what's going on?

Busy weekend... Tired but very productive. Helping a friend clear his yard for a new fence which meant chopping out a bunch of trees and brush.. some quick cold ones and food which was great. Now all settled in with a hot shower and clean it is time for my reward!

What's up for our hero today?! New beers! why of course! Every Sunday is a new beer... pretty much like every other day..

So what's new for our hero??!

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Cherry Truffle Abduction - Pipeworks Brewing Company


Pipeworks Brewing - Cherry Truffle Abduction by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a large snifter glass.

One of those true appearances are deceiving… At first it appears like a very dark mocha head, but later it's more of an espresso brown. Still manages of course booming two finger tall and creamy appearance, as it settles slowly. Very dark black walnut appearance, and opaque.

Aroma is quite interesting. Mix of milky sweetness and graham cracker malt. Slightly fruity cherry notes, but some interesting chunky thick grain flavors, almost like a big bag of cereal. Slightly cake like as well, but not making those wonderful black chocolate forest cake qualities. Has a bit of pumpernickel quality to it as well, almost poppyseeds too. Real interesting mix not sure where this might lead.

Palate comes in real nicely. Not as thick, but very full rich roasted malts, a hint of black pepper as well as some of the bitterness kicks up the roasty quality in that direction. Juiced cherry, and some nice cacao nib like dark chocolate, but washes a hair wet, but with an actual juiced body. Fruity but also not boozy, but with a bigger emphasis on roast and malt intensity taking over. Cake flour and coffee mix well, fruity with also lots of dark cocoa powder to match. Lots of great controlled flavors in the mix.

It comes off as a poor mans cheaper Goose Island Cherry Rye in a way, but it's still very enjoyable for what it is.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5 | BA generated score: 4.4

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Last of my Chicago tasty goodies... but more West coast goodies coming by Tuesday... Hooray for new brews!

 

Happy New American Wild Ale Sunday!

Pretty nice day here in Northern Utah, mid 70s, sunny. A new brew from a local brewery that does not like to supply shit to there own state or at least on a timely basis.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/169848/?ba=Wasatch

Cheers!

 

Just finally getting around to having a beer, wanted something light to take the edge off from last night. Had a get together with some of my Local BA buddies, damage can be seen here: The Locals HINTS AND HAULS THREAD

Now, on to the beer:


Union Old Pro Gose

This is really hitting the spot on this hot and humid day. Westbrook Gose is my gold standard for the new wave US versions of this beer and to me this one isn't too far off. Light and refreshing, a hint of sweetness that is quickly overtaken by salt, then tart and slightly dry on the finish. This is much more accessible for me than the Westbrook version, looks like I'll have to get some more for my BIF/LIF extra's ammo.

Cheers!

 

New beer number two for the day, as heavy dark clouds have filled the sky, ripe with rain and thunderous portent...

Elysian's Dayglow IPA cuts through the darkness with piecing beams of hop energy...

Mosaic hops are featured, with additions of Eldorado and Centennial; comes in at 6.5% abv...

This beer is bursting with flavor - a real mouthful of fruits and flowers with waves of bitterness - way bigger than the bottle it's in - a real treat for the palate. Great drinking fun. Don't pas it up.

 

Didn't notice that, but it reminds me of one reason I love Pliny (and Blind Pig) so much: their flavor remains totally consistent as they warm.
.

 

Nope. Just the one.

 

If these guys stop me at an airport, I'll actually talk to them (and maybe buy them a drink)!

 

Clocking in for a second NBS beer today. Got this as an extra in a trade. Trying to work down my fridge. I present 3 Heads Brewing The Kind


The label kind of reminds me of a a picture I saw earlier of a much beloved host of this thread. I wonder if he was the inspiration, given that both are from NY.

Anyway onto the review.

Pours a light golden color with a chalk white head. No haze, not much lacing.

Smell is pine, resin, citrus, and and slight herbal/floral note.

Taste is crisp grapefruit, maybe some orange, fading into a nice lingering pine bitterness. Nice malt backbone accentuates the hops, but plays backseat to the nice crisp hops.

Mouthfeel is very nice. The malt gives it just enough body.

Overall, a good IPA. In a world of IPAs only a few can stand out unfortunately, and this one I feel like falls into the pack of great, but not extremely memorable IPAs.

 

I was going to go ride my bike this afternoon, but it won't quit raining outside. So.... since I have nothing else to do I decided to crack open this beauty and chat with you fine folks. There is no one else around to share this with, so I figure I will just drink this by myself. This is my first review on NBS because I normally work on Sundays and I am shit at reviewing beers. But here goes nothing.



First thing right off one notices is the unbelievable peachy aroma. Smells like gourmet peach ice cream with a little underlying funk. I could smell this for days, almost don't want to drink it.....almost.

It tastes nothing like it smells. I get a barely discernible peach taste, but mostly an overwhelming funky grassy farmhouse type taste to it. A little orange rind too. Hides the 10% alcohol well. The mouth-feel is really "soft" to me.

The best aspect of drinking this to me is the mouth-feel combined with the aroma as you stick your nose into the glass.

Overall I get the impression that this is a very well constructed beer. I love the smell and the mouth-feel and am of the opinion that that it is a very refreshing beer worthy of the acclaim. I am glad I traded for this beer.

 

My take on this "beer" from a 'beer you most regret buying' thread back in January of 2013 :

 

New American Wheat Ale Sunday (week 536)

Greetings again from on a now soggy ridge in Mid Hud Val NY. Second new beer to post. Sadly not as good as the first one was.

Another one from the Saranac variety pack. Not a great beer, but ya gotta give em some credit for where they are trying to go with this one. Lotsa flavors that just don't make a great harmony. Tasty but not one I plan to revisit (after the other two in this pack anyway haha). Saranac still the best value on the craft shelf.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/116794/?ba=cavedave



Alice Cooper at his most outrageous

 

The Three Heads guys are actually...well, as advertised in the name of their brewery. Really down to earth and kind folks. Methinks that label is a self portrait of one of them before they adopted their more corporate grooming thing they have now.

My dog and I are still getting royalties for the Kind Ryed label, though.

 

I sort of thought I would be the only one reviewing this beer today, funny. I ill get to that in a second. Took a few beers to a party yesterday and had fun sharing with some people who are budding proponents for good beer. Got to give them a taste of things like Schlenkerla Urbock, Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, and a local sour (Lost Rhino) to see where their tastes lie. Also got to try a friend's attempt at a Grapefruit Sculpin clone (didn't quite taste like it to me, but I think I liked it more).

Anyhow, we got this beer from one of my girlfriend's friends who makes trips into the midwest every so often and grabs beer. He has been at this for a while, and has a cellar of brews. I think this might have been from a cellar, as it was wax sealed (and it didn't look like a production facility job). I will add to my review if I find out it was.



Unlike @smanson56 - the beer I poured was more murky and wasn't too appealing, in my opinion. However, that was about the only downside to this beer, and I agree with about everything else he said in his review. It can be summed up in one word, I think: raspberry. The smell struck my nose immediately upon opening the beer. The taste was very good, if a bit one-dimensionally raspberry in its profile. The feel, however, was amazing. Nice carbonation tickling the tongue but yielding to a smooth, coating liquid as it rolled down the tongue.

Very glad our friend was able to give us this beer to try; it seems extremely well made, even if it is something I would only grab on occasion if I could. Actually, I would probably never have to buy it again, since my GF would keep us stocked with it (she really enjoyed it).