New Beer Sunday (week 592)

Poured from a 16 oz can into a 13 oz tulip glass canned on 5/4/16. Pours a nicertain straw yellow with a 3 inch fluffy white head that leaves wisps of lace behind. 4

Smell is bready, biscuit, earthy hops, and a little lemon zest on the finish. 3.75

Taste follows bready cracker, biscuit, earthy floral hops, and a little lemon. 3.75 Mouthfeel is lite and crisp, plenty life, lush not dry, and drinkability is excellent. 3.75

Overall this is a very nice lager, not something I would normally go for, but it is new beer Sunday and hot as Hadies! 3.75

 

Good afternoon, all! I am back from another wonderful day at my parents' house near Monticello in the Catskills. Yesterday evening we even had a surprise guest:

Apologies for the grainy photo, but I assure you that that black bear is realer than Bigfoot. Almost as big, too. We were sitting on the back deck when he came sauntering by; my wife's scream of "bear! bear!' put him into 'booking it' mode just as he was about 20 feet from us, and by the time I could get my phone ready he was hundreds of feet away. We're calling him Speedy, and lesson #1 about black bears seems to be that you cannot outrun them.

All of this has me reconsidering my mid-July Fantastic Family Jamboree Cookout and Campout; we were supposed to be pitching tents right where this photo was shot... The show must go on, however, so we'll just have to find a way to coexist with Speedy (most likely by sleeping indoors ).

But back to the present- the new beer for today comes from New Belgium-

Lips of Faith Series- Tart Lychee

What an absolutely delightful beer! Lychee is very prominent, naturally, but I am also getting waves of candied orange peel, carnations, apricot jam, pineapple, guava and slight acidic tartness on the nose. The palate is pleasantly moderately full and smooth, accenting the fruit, and finishing with a clean crisp smack of tartness. The finish is long, as the flowers make their reappearance. Midway through the first glass I'm also getting hints of a slightly sweaty funkiness adding surprising complexity. This is delicious and addictive, perfect for a sunny, lazy Sunday afternoon A- (4.15)

Cheers, all, and fantastic jobs all around on this NBS!

 

My condolences on your loss. A toast to your happy memories of Daisy.

 

Since I am on vacation, another new beer is in order. Not even going to try to get the pics to work.

Bent Paddle Cold Press Black.

This beer pours similar to the KBS. Pitch black. Frothy head. Very pleasing coffee nose. The beer is somewhat wattery feeling. It does have the coffee taste. Not bad, but a let down from KBS. Who cares, I'm in paradise, and on vacation.

 

Hey NBS crew! I just wanted to pop in with a 100% brett ale I've been holding on to for a year or so. Hope you all have a great end to your weekend. Cheers!



3.96/5 rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 5/29/2015 bottle into a snifter. Crystal clear gold in color with a frothy to foamy turning fizzy white head that builds fast but recedes quickly. A bit of patchy lacing but not much to speak of.

Nose is nice. Brett clear and present, but not overly funky even with a year on it. Grass and apricot notes with a bi of barnyard funk but really not much.

Flavor is nice but not very complex. Bright, light and airy. Definite bits of funk with green apple and grass with a nice drying aspect and a solid level of acidity. There's also a mineral quality here I don't particularly care for - iron maybe, but something that hits after the brighter up front notes fade. Funk is definitely subdued on the palate - it wins the nose over but not the flavor profile. This does finish impossibly clean but I was definitely expecting a bit more nuance or complexity from a 1 year old brett by WW.

Feel is a bit lacking but not atypical for the style in my opinion. Carb level is high, very tight, but with agitation it picks up a bit more body in a way I don't exactly enjoy in this style. It's not watery and doesn't become overly full or viscous but it doesn't stand up to something like my beloved Saison Brett from Boulevard.

Overall, I take price into consideration and I don't think this is worth the $10 375ml. It's nice - light, crisp, and just funky enough but not enough to justify the price tag. It's fine - I'd try it again, but I wouldn't spend another $10 on one of these bottles.

 

Hi everyone. It's been another beautiful weekend in Northern New Jersey. Magnify released cans of Woah Equinox yesterday. I hadn't tried this Woah variant before. It is one terrific DIPA with just the right balance of pineapple and hoppy bitterness. Magnify is doing great work. I'm thrilled that it's only 15 minutes away from where I live. Here's my review:

4.35/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from 16 oz. can into Magnify tulip glass on the day after the cans were released so it is very fresh. It pours a cloudy yellow-amber color with one finger of foamy, milk-white head and lacing. It smells of lemon peel, pineapple, and a spiciness not unlike a Saison. The taste is grassy with lots of grapefruit, pineapple, pine needles, and a hint of honey. The Equinox hops fairly explode with a pleasant, dry bitterness. It all works very well together. This ale is nicely carbonated and easy to drink with a manageable ABV of 8%. Overall, it's taste is big and bold but also refreshing and not overly boozy. This is one tasty DIPA and another reason that Magnify is up and coming!

As always, I look forward to reading your reviews on NBS and getting lots of great intel. And I'm grateful that my wife now factors in my spending several hours on Sunday afternoons with my NBS compadres. Cheers!

 

Bells Quinannan Falls Special Lager
6.3ABV poured from the can into snifter, pours a clear straw yellow, with nice one finger head, plenty of carbonated bubbles, but not enough to sustain the head leaving a ring at the glass edge, smells a bit earthy, grassy, there is a bitter hoppiness that is enjoyable, finishing crisp nice and clean on the palate. Easy summer drinker. I'm from Michigan and never heard of Quinannan Falls, guess this was derived from a dream of Larry Bell! Cheers

 

@cavedave, I've now taken to testing my ability to recite your alliterations after tilting a couple. It's getting tough, man!

 

I've given up on the Sunday NYT. @cavedave and @utopiajane give me a lot more pleasure these days!

 

Probably my last NBS entry before I head out to Oscar, and, in a surprising development, it's from Smansons box o' tasty: http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34132/196794/ . Damn fine beer right here. Enjoy the rest of your NBS everyone!

 

I'm very sorry to hear this latest news, @smakawhat. You've had a difficult few months. I hope you'll be able to acquire some new pets who are equally special friends. This world is, in many ways, a crappy place and I enjoy when BA's share their thoughts about their pets. Our pets make this world so much better!

 

Happy New Weizenbock Sunday!

Did a nice hike today, around 83 sunny. Having a very nice brew.

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/72/74625/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

They do, I had a cousin who immediatly knew of someone who needed a new home but I told them we just can't do it, it's far too soon for us right now... My wife and I will be taking a break for a bit, but I think cats will be in our lives cause our backyard has mice after all.

In the meantime... we have a chipmunk who returns to my yard all the time... he's officially our mascot and his name is Harold.

So till then...

 

They are impressive creatures. We had a mother and two cubs in our backyard this morning. I'm hoping to see them myself this afternoon but my wife dismisses that and says I just want to drink beer with the BA's.

 

I've been away for TOO LONG.

Hello all, I'm at work, and still able to participate. Shout out to an improved NJ brewery in the form of a review.

Miss you all.

Cheers!

 

Ha!

Honestly, just seeing the one has made me approach certain aspects of being up there with caution now. Especially in regards to our kids, who I want to be supervised from now on. But if I saw a mom and cubs I think I'd raise the defcon level up a notch- I'd imagine that they wouldn't be as cautious themselves in that situation. Stay safe. Cheers!

 

New Yo, Vanilla, Kick It For Me One Time Boy Beer Sunday





Stop, Collaborate & Listen Vanilla Rice Stout

If the pics didn't give it away, this is a collaboration beer brewed at Hailstorm with Transient and Mikerphone. Can't say I've ever had a rice stout before, let alone one with vanilla and cinnamon added. Should be interesting.

SCL pours an inky-looking mahogany black with a half-finger of mocha-colored head that leaves sheets of lacing. It has a distinctive aroma of rice wine vinegar, soy and vanilla. It's not as bad as that may sound, but it's not the most enticing smell for a beer, either. More like something you'd dunk Japanese or Chinese food into.

The taste is somewhat more traditional, with some nice chocolatey, dark roast malts presenting first and a good blast of vanilla in the backend, although he rice / soy thing still lurks around in there, too, as well as some anise, cinnamon and other dessert spices. It's medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

You know, I got this as an extra in a trade, and I'm very glad to have tried it. If they eliminated the soy notes, it would be much stronger. Even so, it's not something is be likely to try again.

On another note, I'm headed out to Ottawa tomorrow. Any local beers I should try while I'm there?

Word to your whole family.

 

Now on to Fulton 300. Holy cow! Very citrusy flavored. Damn good IPA. Too bad the wind is horrible, and getting worse. No more fishing today.

I don't know how many more new brews I packed for the trip, so this might be it for NBS. I wish you all could be here. It is paradise here. I am so relaxed at the moment. Just wish I could have found some Canadian craft beers on the way here.

 

There was a chipmunk here once. The little thing was fast like a rodent and would scurry along the side of the building and it looked like a big pecan with a tail! =)