New Beer Sunday (week 548)

Good morning New BSers and thank you Maria for starting the thread. Well, this is the second full day here in the beautiful Texas hill country for Mrs. Lizard and me on what has pretty much become an annual pilgrimage. Made my first visit of the trip yesterday to the nearest Spec's and got a bunch of TX beer I haven't had previously (Posted in the HAULS thread). Later today I'll be heading to Jester King to replenish my cellar. Today's opener is this:



The head was 'way bigger when I started to photograph - kept shutting the camera off instead of taking the pix - early morning ******* attack. Incidentaly, that's condensation on the bricks.

Can BB 11/18/15 at 50 degrees into shaker
$ 7.99/6 pack at Spec’s
Aroma – none. As the beer warms, coriander starts to come out
Head large (8.5 cm, aggressive pour), white, frothy, rapidly diminishing to two mm ring and partial layer
Lacing – none
Body light yellow, hazy
Flavor slightly tart, can’t pick up any coriander, hints of salt and lime present, becoming more prominent as the beer warms; no hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl
Palate light to medium, watery, lively carbonation

Appearance 4, Aroma 3.75, Flavor 3.75, Palate 4, Overall 3.75. Rating 3.79, rDev 0%

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/267/176287/?ba=Bitterbill

C&Ps out of the way...G'day NBS faithful!

It's 31F this morning...brr.
I had fun drinking at the Riverfest yesterday, meeting up with friends, talking to brewers, you know, the things that you do at beerfests.

This new beer of mine is a treat. Expensive but I think, worth the price. I reckon Odell should do MORE sours. Hehe.

Cheers, you all. My review posted below:

This pours a hazy light orange with a small head of foam that shrinks quickly. Minimal lacing.
Lots of sour notes in the smell. Fruity sour, maybe. More of a fruity vinegar tartness. I also get some Brett that adds a plus to the overall aroma.

First sips in and I find a tartness level that suits my palate very nicely. I don't often eat pineapple or drink pineapple juice often so I am having difficulty pulling out the said fruit in this beer. That being said, there's a tasty fruity mix of sweet and sour that I am digging.
The Brett I noted in the smell is more subdued taste wise. That's not a negative in my book.

Pretty light bodied with light carbonation.

This is delicious. I paid $16.80 for the bottle and I am sure another bottle or 2 will be in my immediate future.
Nice! !

 

Morning! The thunderstorms that are passing through the area are putting a damper on my plans to get out in the yard so it must be time for a new beer instead.

Today's selection is Pipeworks - Ninja vs Unicorn.

Let me say that I love the name - makes me wonder if that is a fair fight, and how these two came to be at odds. The can artwork is simply amazing. As soon as I popped the top, citrus aromas were everywhere, just like pineapple orange juice. Flavors followed suit with big citrus and a full on hop assault. Very much recommended.

Thanks to @egrace84 for sending this one my way.

Cheers and I hope there is a nice new beer in your glass!





http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28178/77708/?ba=richj1970

 

I'd eat that.

 

Than you must have missed my bottle samplings of Cantillon, De Cam, Hanssens, Tilquin, Girardin, Jolly Pumpkin, Russian River, Cascade, Grand Teton, etc...LOL! Morning Maria!

 

8.5% alcohol. Introduced in 2014. Brewed in Connecticut.

4.35/5 rDev +9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Evil Twin Molotov Lite has a medium-to-thick, off-white head, an orange-gold appearance, some bubbles, a plethora of big white yeast chunks throughout, and decent lacing left behind. The aroma is of some sort of tropical citrus fruit, hop oil, and possible white bread. Taste is of very straightforward bitterness, citrus fruit (not pineapple, though), white bread, sugar, and hop resin. Mouthfeel is medium to heavy, with some slickness, and Eviil Twin Molotov Lite finishes puckering and hammering.

RJT

 

Next style for me: Quad IPA!?!

I like hoppy beers: mostly IPAs but also APAs and some DIPAs.

I received as a present a bottle of Stone RuinTen which is labeled as being a Triple IPA on the bottle. This is not a beer I would purchase since at 10.8% ABV I would anticipate a very robust malt backbone; I prefer my hoppy beers to be more about the hops with just enough malt to provide some balance.

So, let’s do some drinking and see what we shall see.


Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

An orangish-amber color with a 1 finger head. A pretty looking beer.

Aroma:

Wow! A BIG nose on this beer. Upon the first sniff the word “juicy” popped into my mind. I am picking up mostly citrus hop aroma but there is some nice floral aromas as well. A really like the aroma of this beer!!

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose: juicy citrus with some floral, but as I anticipated there is a firm malt backbone as well. I would not describe this beer as being cloying but it is approaching that line.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied.

Overall:

This beer is BIG and juicy; excellent hop aroma/flavor but too much malt backbone for my personal palate.

To answer the question I posed in the beginning: I will not be purchasing any Quad IPAs anytime soon. Having stated that, if I were given a present of a Quad IPA I certainly would not let that beer ‘go to waste’.

Cheers!

 

Good Sunday Morning BAs. How appropriate would it be to review TH's Good Morning, but I've already drank my one 750 of it Friday night.
So today, my new beer is "The Stalk" DIPA from Proclamation Ale Company in West Kingston, RI. It was filled in a growler on Saturday 8/22/15 so super fresh. The abv was listed @ 8.6%
As you can see, it pours a semi-hazy, orange-hued golden color. About a 1/2" white head formed and vanished rather quickly. Lace was better than average. Big tropical fruits are what this beer is all about. Pineapple and mango dominate the nose. A little cracker malt attempts to balance the sip but this is all about hops. A little bit of boozy heat comes through in the sip, which is medium-bodied. The carbonation is on par for this beer.
Overall, I liked it. My rating: 4.12 rAvg: 4.27. Only 4 reviews so far though. Cheers everyone!
A: 4; S: 4.5; T: 4; M:4; O: 4

 

Happy NBS! Lovely morning here to compliment the end of the night yesterday. Unfortunately the citronella was only mildly effective. Had some good beer yesterday at Adroit Theory but am starting to notice a similarity in many of their brews despite being different styles or using different adjuncts. Finding stars amongst their solid but ok brews has become part of the fun. We brought back a Carrot Cake Rye beer that is more market gimicky than flavor gimicky.

Today, we are starting with an anniversary ale, one that might have a bit of age on it (December last year? with reviews starting in March of this) but I don't think outside of an enjoyable timeframe for the style. I also didn't note any obvious signs of age while drinking it. The beer is Sweetwater 18th Anniversay Tripel:


This beer seems to be trying to take a different tack on a style by hopping it up. It didn't work for me, although the beer wasn't bad by any means. There were signs of things I liked, but they just got muddled and the total ended up less than sum of the parts.


I got sweet, spice, and fruit in both the nose and taste of this darker-than expected brew. Later in the pour with a warmer beer, a woody to green grass hops bitterness started to close out each sip. Of these impressions, the spice notes were the most noticeable to me up front, perhaps a tad strong but combining with the sweetness decently well. The hops bittering seems unnecessary and might be the main meddler in the muddled nature of this brew for me.

Cheers all!

 

Greetings friends,
Martha is off helping our daughter move in and fix up their new house in Chapel Hill. I'll hold down the fort here today with the hounds, the nice cool weather, a few beers, and this old bum knee. I'll probably head out to The Wyndham Classic at Sedgefield with my son after a while and see if Tiger Woods can win again somewhere. He's having fun here and I understand why. This is the 6th oldest PGA event with a who's who of former victors. Having Tiger's name amongst those names would be special for the city of Greensboro. This is a nice place full of history and kind people. We'll see.
Today's beer is Folded Mountains Pale Ale, an Aldi specialty that I'm pretty sure was contracted at F.X. Matt. Deep amber in color, nice and very frothy, with sweet malt and a nice hop balance, this is a decent beer well worth the $6.49 price.

This is a great version of a classic.

 

Ha! I used the exact same glass for my American Wild. I know it's meant for IPAs but it worked just fine.

 

Man it's not often we've almost got a full page before I even get home from work! Cheers everyone and here's to a GREAT start to your Sundays!

 

New Victory Beer Sunday

I have been meaning to try some more Victory beers. I think I have only had Hop Devil, Dirtwolf, Old Horizontal, and Oaked Horizontal. Sprung for the 6 of this on my way home from a night out with wifey on our 17th anniversary. We went to see "Vacation" before dinner. It was pretty funny. Not at all family friendly.



3.5/5 rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a mostly clear copper with a pretty good sized head, but it is mind of soapy and doesnt last very long.

Smells very malty and sweet with some grains and nuts.

It's a malt bomb. Toasted grains, some sweetness that could easily be mistaken for carmel. Slight floral notes. I swear I taste chocolate, which obviously doesnt belong, but it is like a little bit of chocolate malt got spilled into the mash.

A little watery.

This is not a bad tasting beer by any means, but it isn't a great example of a Marzen either. Honestly, it has a lot of brown ale qualities. Good, not great. If you want to get your malt on you will enjoy it though.


I have to tend to my smoker, but I will leave you with one of my favorite things from the interweb in a long time.

 

Hey what's going on?!

It's time for a new beer again for our hero, and I really need to put a dent in this stash so here goes!

Tell-Tale Tart - Boulevard Brewing Co.


Boulevard Brewing - Tell-Tale Tart by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

Deep crimson, and brush rose like pink red body. Real neat color, with some good clarity. Head manages faint tan of a finger, but no expected retention, sizzles out to a non existent collar but not in an instant. Small rising carbonation in the middle of the glass keeps things going. Real nice looking beer, love this body color truly a unique one.

Real inviting aroma. Mild acidity with soft vinegar, but large juiced fruit notes. Goes from stoned peaches to plum, even a bit of raisin sweetness as well coming out. Small amount of sucrose, but excellent wild esters popping off this in a real varied fruity way. Excellent.

Really enjoying this palate. Light simple bodied, but with a big juiced flavor that comes with mild tartness just as described. Muted lemon and apricot tangy and juiced body flavors. Finishes with even more berried cherry and pitted dark fruit. Sweetness comes with even a bit of caramel and bread notes just on the accent of the swallow finishing up real nicely. A little lighter than expected, like sensing pale ale classic American, but not distracting.

A real neat fun take on a wild, subtle but loaded with diverse fruit character and flavors. Great beer.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5 | BA generated score : 4.45

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Cheers! onward for more!

 

Howdy early day NBSers! I reviewed 3 beers last Sunday, all courtesy @garymuchow , but after taking notes, didn't get back online that day. so here is a 7 day late NBS 547 entry:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/467/81072/?ba=beertunes

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29402/83158/?ba=beertunes

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13014/36672/?ba=beertunes

I've got a couple new ones lined up, and should be back later with those. Cheers all!

 

Happy NBS! I made some blueberry pancakes this morning and now time for mu new beer.

Lil Griz (look closely at the artwork for the name) from Perrin brewery. Slight bourbon aromas, bit of caramel, some nuttiness, wood, hints of vanilla and bready malts.

Taste is malty caramel, and nutty flavors. Hints of bourbon, vanilla, wood, and a nice caramel, brown sugar taste. Just a bit of bitter to round it off and keep it from being too sweet.

Medium bodied which is typical for a brown. Decent carbonation. Overall a nice brown ale aged in barrels with a lower ABV.

 

Damn that asterisk! What's a beer drinker to do?

 

Good morning, er, afternoon NBS'ers! I hope everyone is having a good one. For me, this seems to be the super-sluggish edition in opposition to the usual 'extra-early edition'. I just can't seem to get with it today after last nights shenanigans. I think my brother and I drank the equivallent of a 1/2 barrel between the two of us! Aside from that, though, I actually was lucky enough to be forced to CHOOSE a beer from my fridge for this edition - something that rarely happens to me. I've managed to start saving, though. Buying two bottles, keeping one back. Or in this case, I bought this beer a while back and just made myself forget I had it, haha.

Anyway, enough rambling. Right now, I'm enjoying Abita Bourbon Street Imperial Stout.

Da beer



Da re...view

22 oz. bomber served in a Boulevard Tank 7 tulip. Pours a medium-dark brown that looks a bit thin-bodied right from the get-go. Once in the glass, this beer is pitch black. Absoloutely no light coming through this one. 2 fingers of bubbly, tan foam on top, which was brought about by a semi-aggressive pour. Moderate bourbon on the nose along with chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, vanilla, and a touch of maple syrup or candied sugar. The aroma on this beer isn't the most pungent, but it is pleasant. Right away upon tasting, my fears were confirmed: watery. Damn it all. Medium weight with a thin, watery mouthfeel (for an imperial stout).

As for the taste, this beer is an interesting specimen. Initially, there is very little to be beheld on the taste. Maybe a light touch of bourbon, but not much else. But just wait a second. As it warms on the palate, it unfolds into a medley of chocolate, bourbon, caramel, and roastiness. And bourbon. Lots of bourbon, especially after it warmed. Fairly sweet. More bourbon than anything towards the back end and on the aftertaste. The finish is somewhat creamy - moreso after the beer warmed - but still a bit watery.

I would've loved to see a heavier-bodied, more malt-forward beer. The balance in this one is just off.

Da scores

look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Weighted score: 3.76/5 (-2.3% rDev)

Aaaand that's it! Not a bad beer by any standards, but definitely lacking in the BBA/imperial stout category. I can't see myself buying this one again, but I'm glad I was able to try it. I'll be enjoying the remainder of this bottle over some eggs and toast. Cheers!