New Beer Sunday (week 563)

Greetings rauchy reindeer and elves of eisbock, the winter season descends upon us. What better a way to spend the day than with a dark, strong beer to warm the inner icicles of our hearts. On the docket this week? McChoufe. It's an awesome 50 degrees F up here in Nuh-when-juh. Tacky Christmas decorations abound (we refuse) in our cul-de-sac. After an invigorating sermon from our pastor and errands about town, I decided it was time for my third favorite activity on Sunday- an NBS review. For those of you interested, I'll be publishing an article mid-week on what final gravity means in the beer world. A friend of mine texted me the question, "so, what's this gravity Plato thing on beer labels?" I told him that if he signed up for my wordpress beer blog, I'd publish an article explaining the sometimes confusing, but ultimately serious topic [rimshot]. Gravity? Seriousness? Get it? Never mind.

Beer Review here.

 

Shane, I homebrew what I call a Sticke Alt every year; I have a batch going right now in the dry hopping stage.

My Sticke Alt is of higher gravity vs. a regular Alt (OG = 1.067) and heavily hopped in all three phases:

• Generously hopped with German Magnum for the bittering (start of boil) addition
• Generously hopped with Hallertauer Mittelfruh for flavor/aroma kettle additions and dry hopping

Is there a 'definition' for a Double Alt that you are aware of?

Cheers!

Jack

 

It may or may not be a good example of what you're drinking, but I tend to enjoy Long Trail's Double Bag. I had the privilege of trying quite a bit of Ninkasi when I visited my folks in Washington State. Great beer, but I didn't see this guy in the stores. Thanks for the review.

 

My second NBS beer today is this interesting stout.



Vermont Spruce Stout

Rock Art Brewery
Foreign / Export Stout / 8.00% ABV

3.99/5 rDev +13.7% | Avg: 3.51
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

L-Pours black with a half inch cream colored head. There is spotty lacing and the initial head recedes to a half centimeter ring.
S-The smell is sweet malty and almost fruity.
T- Starts out malty with light bitterness. If the pumpkins have any presence it is faintly melon like flavor which fades quickly as the herbal finish of the spruce tips takes over. Definitely a different flavor profile than I am used to among stouts. Neither sweet nor bitter but a good middle ground.
F-Mouthfeel is adequate for a stout, but not the highlight of the brew. Carb is medium which makes it feel a little lighter than it could be.
O- This one is a different take on a stout, but one that is well worth giving a shot.

 

I'm not a fan of the spruce idea, so I appreciate when I come across people willing to review beer with said ingredient.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @utopiajane for getting us underway today,

Low 40s and drizzly in the city where Bulldog fever is now kicking in (though yesterday saw some disappointment on that front). I’m currently watching the ‘hawks battle the Vikings. Thus far it’s been quite satisfactory. Rawls isn’t doing too badly despite the Vikes’ vaunted defense, and though I've been impressed with Bridgewater in the past, he's not lookiing so great right now. In new beer news, I had a winter ale from 12-String that was quite tasty. If I’d had a growler with me I’d have taken some home. Terry (the owner/brewer) gave me a taste of a barrel-aged barleywine that will be unveiled at their anniversary party on the 13th. It’s 11% and ridiculously smooth. I may just have to make a stop there a week from now.

Today I’m starting with a fresh hop Kolsch from my hometown that I had to add to the database in order to review it:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/909/203146/?ba=woemad

Not a flavor bomb, but a really nice session beer, something I could drink all day.

Got a lot of choices today, so I'll definitely be back.

 

I always feel like I'm part of the "elite" when I have to add a beer to this, our beloved database. Good for you!

 

First time participating in NBS, going to give the whole reviewing thing ago even though I am pretty novice at it.


look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottled 5/7/15. Poured into a snifter at cellar temp

A: Dark hazy gold, good head that dissipated fast, loved the way it looked

S:Not really a lot that stands out, a little earthy, small hints of wood, I would assume from the barrels

T: Up front can taste the malt, quickly fades to a nice bite that borders on bitter. Can sense the alcohol and the wood a bit more as it warmed up to room temp

M: Very smooth, this is a beer that goes down easy for me

O: An interesting beer, pleasant to drink. One that I will prob grab again if I find one that has been properly stored and not just left on the shelf at the store

 

One of my favorite styles from one of my favorite breweries, what could go wrong? nothing.
Great Lakes Blackout , Imperial Stout. I expect beers from Great Lakes to be top shelf and Blackout is. There is a lot of roasty malt in both the aroma and taste and a nice dry finish well done. I can only think of 3 Imperial Stouts that I think are better than Blackout, Narwhal, Founders and Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.

 

I REALLY want to get my hands on this one.

 

New Band Beer Sunday #1

AC/DC - Karlsberg Brauerei



3.44/5 rDev +8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

This is a nice-looking lager: a crystal-clear, sparkling pale-gold body and a giant (pour carefully!) creamy white head that doesn't last long enough. Lacing is fair and consists of rafts and blotches. The nose is light in intensity, even for the style, otherwise it is pretty typical of a European pale lager: lagery grains, sweetish light fruit (apple in this case), slight boozy undertones and hints of Noble hop spiciness. The palate is more assertive than the nose: moderately-expressed spicy Noble hops and a style-moderate bitterness that is nicely balanced by a slightly-sweetish light malt presence. There are hints of light fruit, more subdued than on the nose. The finish is a well-balanced blend of spicy hops and sweetish malt, with a nice carbonation bite, followed by a mild hop bitterness that lingers for a few minutes. Mouthfeel is biggish for the light body, and the texture is nicely prickly from the strongly-expressed fizzy carbonation. This lager is quite drinkable, and is a respectable example of the style. (19.2 oz can, unknown code date scheme)

★ 1,072 characters

 

I do not know of any official definition of it - just that I have been enjoying the Zum Uerige one for many years. :-)

 

it has much more hop bitterness and less flavor, and also less minerality....

 

A new one for me. BBA stouts and NFL.... a winning combination!

http://s1369.photobucket.com/user/davebar1/media/IMG_20151206_142631_zpsfrtsveiv.jpg.html

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37115/174601 for the review.

Mighty good brew to say the least!

 

America's official Trappist Brewery has put outs it Christmas brew for 2015. Spencer Trappist Holiday Ale from St. Joseph's Abbey in Massachusetts. It was released in November 2015 so it is less than a month old. It is 8.7% ABV and can only be found in the 750 ml. corked, caged bottle. This was the last one on the shelf at One Stop Market in Haverhill, Massachusetts where I bought it today. It is a limited edition and if you miss out - well, you will miss out.

The pour is mahogany brown with reddish hues when held to the light and a moderate, puffy off-white head. Good clarity. The main thing I get is cherry and fruit. Of course I get the usual Belgian toasted biscuit. candied sugar, and Belgian yeast but the fruit character seems to abound. Mellow and warming would be another way to describe it. The fruity character hangs until the final sip but as I work my way through the entire bottle I get a more spicy and peppery finish too.

 

I'm going to have to get a 6er of that.

 

Woah, did SN change the label colour or is it just the lighting / white balance from your camera?

 

I figured that I would partake in New Beer Sunday with a beer that's destroying our trade forums. My buddy just happened to stop by Tree House brewery on Thursday night. He coincidentally bought his allotment of King Julius. On a hunch, I decided to message him and ask him if he had grabbed some. He obviously said yes, and told me that I could have a can. So a few traded bottles later I am enjoying the spoils of this.

By the way, the picture does not do the appearance justice. This literally looks like orange juice.



Poured from a can into #ProperGlassware

L: Pours a glowing yellowy orange that reminds me of an extremely pulpy orange juice. This beer literally looks like it's glowing. It's almost reminiscent of a tequila sunrise because the bottom is such a deep orange and the top has a yellow hue. Seeing that appearance is so important to taste, my eyes tell me that I will like this beer very much.

S: As I shove my nose into the glass I am dominated with citrusy goodness. I didn't need to even be close to my glass to catch the huge notes of orange and mango. There's a bit of papaya and I even catch a faint scent of wheat. This smells outstanding. I could literally sniff this beer all day.

T: Gigantic notes of said orange, mango and papaya destroy my palate. There's a nice malt presence, but we all know that the hops are the stars of this show. There's a moderate level of bitterness which reminds me that this is not a glass of tropical fruit juice. It's probably better this way.

F: I guess this beer is 8.2%. Couldn't tell from how easy this goes down. Super smooth, but the word fluffy also comes to mind. There's a medium mouthfeel and it's a bit dry on the backend. The dryness could be a detriment, but ultimately it's purpose is to get me to yearn for another sip.

Overall: This is definitively one of the best beers that I've ever had. Easily top 5 IPA/DIPAs that I've experienced in my life. The appearance is awesome, the smell is awesome, the taste is awesome, the mouthfeel is awesome. I'll admit that I'm a Julius fanboy, but this beer is better than Julius. This is definitely on the level of Heady Topper, Double Sunshine, and HF Double Citra. This deserves every 5 that it gets. I'm glad that I am experiencing this and I wholeheartedly hope that Tree House decides to put this beer in a semi-regular rotation.

 

Next up is Inukshuk IPA by O'Dempsey



Forced pour produced this little disinterested fizzy head that ends up floating like a lazy winger on top of this coppery bronze beer.

Nose full of caramel and very little else.

Taste is following the nose until a tangy bitter sets in. Think to medium bodied with a lingering bitter aftertaste with just a bit of sweetness.

At best this is mediocre beer that has a nice dating information, so I can only assume that this is the intended product. It is also contact brewed by Thomas Creek, so who knows what the overall intent was here.

Best thing about this beer is that there's a tiny Stonehenge thing on the label which is reminiscent of this: