New Beer Sunday (week 538)

Lunch for breakfast!
The bottle date was early June so this bad boy is only a few weeks old. Tons of tropical fruits bursting from the bottle before I even poured it into the glass. The taste follows the nose as you enjoy the tropical fruits mixing with the crisp malt backbone--finishes pretty smooth considering this is a hop bomb. Truly wonderful and BRIGHT beer on a gorgeous Sunday. Cheers BA!

 

So how was your breakfast/Lunch? Please describe!

 

Thanks--accidentally posted before typing the description. Love this thread and CHEERS

 

Happy Anniversary !

 

Congrats on your BA anniversary! You've made quite an impact in such a short time.

 

Congratulations on 2 years of beer advocacy, you've done a fine job of it.

 

Congrats, @utopiajane !!! I need to step up my game !

 

Hello, folkths!

4.61/5 rDev +24.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour has a very thick, spongy, tan head, and a fiercely bubbly, dark brown, almost black, appearance, with good lacing left behind. The aroma is of mild coffee and chocolate, black licorice, dried light fruit, golden raisen, mild oak, and dark-roasted malt. Taste is of those elements, with an odd canned spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce acidity. Bittterness is almost not detected. Some candy sugar and spiced holiday bread or cake is picked up. Mouthfeel is medium, and Samuel Adams Thirteenth Hour finishes spritzy and not so much like a stout at all.

RJT

Stevie time (1973)

 

Good morning, BAs, and welcome to another fine episode of New Beer Sunday !!! As some of you may (or may not) have noticed, I was not present on BA last weekend (and missed the NBS) because my trusty old Dell finally died a slow, painful death. As such, I have composed the following verse :

Obsolesence (Ode on a Dead Computer)

Oh, box of plastic and metal,

Your memory is now but a memory.

Your bytes have now bit it,

And your hard drive lays silent and empty,

Like the bomber I am about to review.


Alas, your operating system

is no longer operating,

and your Windows shuttered and cracked ;

Be at peace in the knowledge that your replacement is here,

And you have been immortalized on a site about beer.


Control, alt, delete,

Control, alt, delete,

repeat, repeat, repeat...​

Okay, enough of that, and on to new business. This week, my offering is Blind Squirrel Brewery's Eeekhoorn Series Belgian Tripel. This is the first beer I've tried (or even seen) from this brewer from tiny, blink-and-you'll-miss-it Plumtree, NC. 9.0% abv, 34 IBUs, poured from a 22-oz. bomber into my trusty tulip.











Appearance : Slightly hazy straw/orange color, with a minimal, 1/2" creamy white head. Little lacing left in the glass. (3.5/5)


Smell : Yeasty bread, with a faint hint of Mandarin oranges. (3.25/5)


Taste : I get an immediate rush of raisin, followed by honey and the aforementioned Mandarin orange. Hop bitterness is subtle and balanced. The 9.0% abv is certainly there, and supported by an ample phenolic note. (4.0/5)


Feel : Silky and luxurious, with a slight coating of honey-orange in the mouth. Perhaps the best aspect of this brew. (4.25/5)


Overall : A fine offering in one of my favorite styles. While I didn't find it as complex and balanced as a genuine Belgian tripel (the alcohol and phenols are too forward for me), it is, nonetheless, dangerously drinkable, and I would love to try some of Blind Squirrel's other offerings. (3.5/5)

Total score : 3.72 (-12.5%)

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31679/112100/?ba=Hopportunistic

Cheers, and happy New Beer Sunday !!!!!!!

​

 

Good morning, and what a nice humid, grey, rainy MONTH it has been here in Kansas. I kind of love this weather. Although it makes fence building a little slow, but it's nice to have a weekend off. Yesterday was absolutely crazy on WBAYDN. One of there best threads I have been a part of ... something about a Duvel wormhole? That was getting crazy.

Today I'm trying Tallgrass Brewing's Ginger Peach Saison. A beer so new that I added it to the database yesterday in preparation for today.

I poured it into my Tallgrass 8-Bit tumbler, one of my favorite glasses.

The beer is a foggy ... peach color. A foamy light cream colored head recedes to a watery film -- not sure what that's about, but it looks like soapy water on top, not the best looking head recession. Lacing is watery if not non-existent.

The beer smells very yeasty and Belgian, while a lot of spicy ginger comes through. The ginger is actually a really nice aroma on this beer. For the life of me, I can't dig out any peach aromas, but there is something of a subtle orange citrus note in there.

The beer tastes a little bit like the aroma, but my first impression is that it's got a lot of citrus and sourness coming through on the front end. Again, the ginger element is just about perfect -- it's a little spicy and is not offensive, just about nailed this part of the beer. Peach? Not so much, it's getting overpowered by any yeast component, and although the ginger is great, it probably does kill off the fruitiness of the peach. The beer finishes spicy, tart, and I'm starting to get more peach in the finish as the beer warms ... okay, phew this beer is starting to come together a bit.

The Mouthfeel is light and bright, a little carbonated, a little harsh. This is 4.8% ABV.

Overall -- Kind of a mess, the ginger is good, the peach could be better, the tart and ginger seem to take the front seat. I have noticed when I review a beer there's a process between when the beer is cold and as it warms, ingredients emerge. I kinda like that, when you start discovering the tastes that come out.

I probably won't buy this again. I rated it 3.12 for a 0% rDev (lol) It's tough reviewing the first beer, and I literally had nothing to base it on or compare it to. Yeah it's "okay" so 3.12 sounds about right. I'll go through this 4 pack and keep searching for meaning, but either way it's an interesting set of ingredients. Cheers folks, and I'll be back later with maybe another entry. I have one new beer left in my fridge until I go searching for more next week.

 

New Vacay Stout with a View Sunday
So yesterday was a good day. First, I stumbled upon a few cases of Bomb when I rolled into town, then this happened

I decided I couldnt wait till today, and had one last night (yes, we are talking about the beer, but it certainly applies to the donuts too). Obviously Xocoveza's availability and price point compared to quality makes it a no brainer, but this one will make you forget that they even made it. Here is a New Beer Saturday bonus review http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/94350/?ba=WesMantooth

Back to NBS. Based on the recent news that Brew Dogs appear to be coming to Columbus, I decided it was time to finally try one of their beers. So, I brought this from Ohio.

I like the show. It is a little corney, but it reminds me of Man Vs. Food. Cool to see places around the country showcased. Now, I am showcasing one of their brews.



http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16315/91204/?ba=WesMantooth

4.03/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz bottle ($11) with a best before date of 24/9/19. Europeans and their fancy talk

Pours a viscous jet black, with a massively dense dark kahki brown head. Think Ten Fidy. The fluffy/frothy head slowly works its way out to the edge of the glass as a Saturn like ring.

Aromas are mainly chocoalte and more chocolate. Cocoa powder with a hint of sweetness. Vanilla and molasses maybe. Some alcohol on the nose as it warms.

Based on the aroma and the name, you can probably guess that this is a chocolate explosion. It taste like blended Whoppers. A sweet, non bitter chocolate with touches of vanilla and what seems like some oak in the background. Reminds me of Oak Aged Yeti a bit. The one thing that I dont care for, and find odd is a slight Rye like kick at every turn. Alcohol is somewhat noticeable for 10%, but only slightly.


Body isnt quite as thick as it appeared, but still on the higher end of the spectrum. A little too prickly feeling. Not really sure if it is yeast or the peppery spice I notice though.

This is an excellent RIS. It has lots of flavor, and is pretty smooth overall. Personally, I like Brooklyn's Black Chocolate a lot more in this category, and given the fact that I can get 4/$8, I doubt I will be consuming this one again anytime soon.

They kind of put this one on a tee.

 

Hey gang,

Was supposed to play some baseball today, but with all the rain and such, I'm sitting here drinking a dookie -- a Soft Dookie. Happy New Beer Sunday, everyone.

Beer #738: Soft DK by Evil Twin

Seemingly bottled in early March, if I'm understanding the code correctly. Poured into an over-sized Sam Adams Perfect Pint.

Appearance: If there was ever a time to describe a beer as having the cliche "used motor oil black" color, this is it. Soft DK is pitch black with nothing else to it. The head is just a modest ring around the glass, dark brown in color. No lacing to speak of. (3.5/5)

Smell: Pretty interesting, nice, and a little different. Smoke, molasses, anise or black licorice, raisins, roasted malt, coffee, chocolate... this basically has it all. There's also a slight smell of alcohol in there, which is probably to be expected. (4.25/5)

Taste/feel: Bizarre -- something in this makes for an almost tangy taste, that's what I notice first anyway. The flavor almost matches the smell, but all of the flavors seem conjoined rather than in separate layers (that makes zero sense, doesn't it?). A typical imperial stout roasted malt flavor dominates, with the flavors listed in the smell coming in at the same time mid-sip and through the finish. This tastes quite good, but is nothing compared to most of Evil Twin's other stouts. Soft DK as a whole is more on the sweet side, and the body is short of full-bodied with a moderate level of carbonation. (3.75/5, 3.75/5)

Soft DK is really good, but not as good as I'd expect a stout from Evil Twin to be. It's just not quite as cohesive or interesting as I'm used to Evil Twin's imperial stouts being.

(4/5)

(3.91/5 -3.2%rDev)


And probably the most popular song from a band I recently re-discovered.

 

Good morning all you New BSers and thanks to Maria for starting us out on her 2 year anniversary! How time flies when you're having fun and/or beer!
Things haven't changed much since I posted on WBAYDN earlier - still foggy down by the river and overcast here in the highlands. Looks like another bland day here in NW PA. My mother is giving up her apartment and officially changing her address to a local nursing home that she has been in for the last 6 months. We have until the end of June to empty her apartment. My niece in Texas was interested in the furniture but it would cost $ 2500+ to haul it to TX so it's not cost effective when you consider the travel time, gas, hotels, etc as well, particularly since the furniture is stuff she purchased when she moved into the apartment, not family heirlooms. Oh well. I know where my drinking time will be spent for the next couple of weeks.



Today's NBS sacrifice is Southern Tier's Mokah, a brew I found particularly unsatisfying. This brew is highly rated here on BA - rAvg 4.21 - but I just don't taste it.

Undated bottle at 43 degrees into snifter, finished at 50 degrees.
Aroma of chocolate, somewhat like a peanut butter cup, with some coffee hints
Head small (1.5 cm, aggressive pour), light brown, frothy, diminishing to 1 mm ring and partial layer
Lacing poor – rare irregular island of tiny bubbles
Body dark brown/black, opaque
Flavor slightly bitter, aftertaste of bitter chocolate; no roasted malt, no coffee, no hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl
Palate full, watery, lively carbonation

Appearance 3.5, Aroma 3, Flavor 2.75, Palate 3.75, Overall 3.25 rating 3.06, rDev - 27.3%

It's always been a mystery to me why Southern Tier brews in general get such a high rating. I find them generally to be pretty mediocre, one trick beers. I seem to be in the minority.

I do appreciate the labeling which states the ingredients, glass type, and consumption temperature.

 

Yes, yes you are.

Of course, I can't speak for that specific beer... I will say that I really dig that glass.