New Beer Sunday (week 601)

Let's go with another sour beer for #2. I have had this beer in the form of a couple ounce pull off a keg, which was enjoyable. However, it's taken me a while to purchase and now drink this beer. Let's see what New Belgium has done with the newest of their Lips of Faith Series (to me), Flowering Citrus Ale:

Gotta love New Belgium's site for this beer (and not just the funky but cool 3D scrolling effect):

And I think I'll compare my experience versus their statements:
Visual

Can't argue with this, but they are being shy about the lovely fluffy white head that sits atop their beer. Loads of lacing early as the foam slowly settles.

Aroma

Okay - I definitely get the floral note - but it's not as fragrant as I expected. I don't really get the lemony note either (maybe deep in the background), but I do get a musty funkiness. Overall it seems more like an edge of the woods wildflower patch than a rose garden.

Flavor

Actually the taste brings out the floral additions more than the nose did. Opening up I get the impression of a floral tea with a few petals drifting around in it. I'd go more funky again here versus tart. Generally earthy/herbal, I'm not getting too much sweetness here (thogh notice a little more with a warmer beer). I also do get the lemon note in the back, almost exactly where I'd expect it to be given what I barely noticed on the nose.

Mouthfeel

I'd go crisp, fairly smooth, fairly clean, mostly refreshing. Definitely not puckering. Medium light body, moderately low carbonation.



This is a bit strange. I really did enjoy the sip of this beer I had. This beer, despite its looks, seemed a bit flat - and I don't just mean the feel. The flavors didn't pop like I'd have like, and seemed to meld together too well - to the point of cancelling each other to a degree; not completely muddled but more than I'd like considering some of the notes are subtle in nature.

I did grab a sip of my GF's pour, and it seemed a tad better - but not to a large degree. I have two more bottles, so I will get a chance to adjust my review. I may also let it warm up considerably next time, to see if the closer to fridge temps I started analyzing this at was shrouding the beer a tad.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS folks!

It is just another not-too-hot-but-so-muggy-and-still-that-it-might-as-well-be kind of day in the paradise that is the island of Montreal. I am back from helping a friend move and am pretty burnt out. I'm not built for the humidity so I just sweat and sweat. The only upside is that I look like the hardest working person there even if I'm not doing anything! So now I am back, lunched, showered and hydrated. Time for a new beer.


The way Canada's liquor laws are set up—thanks to Prohibition—the individual provinces are basically like their own countries. As such, it is difficult or impossible (in the case of Quebec) to get beers from anywhere else. Luckily, this has meant that Quebec has arguably the best and most diversified beer industry/culture of the country (I'm sure there are some Canadian BAs that would dispute that, but there's no arguing that the province brews lots of good beer). However, now that the industry is taking off everywhere it makes one want to try les bières d'ailleurs. Luckily, thanks to the generosity of a couple wonderful guys up here I am getting to try different beers from across the country (a romantic way of saying “from Ontario.” Here goes a new one from Waterloo, Ontario.



Pretty label art of an angelic hop fighting a demonic one. I have no idea how I got the whole bottle to disappear under the cap like that....

This beer is a "hopfenweisse." Like many, hefes were my first love and as far as hybrid styles go this one is among my favorites. I feel like the added body and yeast character can really go well with hops. Sometimes, though, that couldn't be further from the truth. We'll have to see about this one.



It takes three pours to get it all into my new found catch-all lager glass. On the whole, the beer is a hefeweizen with hops and not a WheatPA, which I am glad for. It is nice to see style mixing that doesn't immediately aim for the big, bold crowd-pleasing option. It is very doughy with some light spice from the yeast. The hops impart some orange rind and some grassiness.



Obligatory head ****.



It is a nice beer and I'm glad to have tried it. Thanks a ton, Steve!

Cheers, everybody!

My review is here.

 

This is a lager. They also have an IPA but I have not had it yet. Their Bohemian Pilzner kicks ass.

 

I dig the idea of comparing notes with the brewers! I know sometimes I will look at the label or website or whatever and be either (a) happy that I am so amazing as to have come up with the same descriptor as them; or (b) wondering what they were smoking when they wrote their blurb.

 

HAHA! It's even written on the label. So, to add to the list, I am judgmental and I can't read. lol

 

Back with another. Single Cut has yet to disappoint me. This is a very New England style IPA. Almost like grapefruit juice with no actual fruit.
Pizza oven is fired up. Trying a completely new dough today. I have one more new beer today, Hopefully I will get it in a shot with a pie to post here later.

 

Your review certainly had me salivating for it. Man, I'd love to see that brewery begin to actually distribute their beers. Granted I've only had one from them, but it was awesome.

 

FWIW, I just went and left a comment in the comment section, changing the score to a 9.1.

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers!

Today's entry for me was a complete surprise find at my local ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store!

Off Color Brewing: Apex Predator


Let's get to it!!

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into my JK Snorkel glass. Bottle on date: July 13, 2016.

The look is a hazy/cloudy orange-yellow body with no head to it whatsoever. No lacing left in the glass either.

Aromas of light funk and a little sourness with tropical fruits and citrus. Smells like a spiked tropical drink you would get while on vacation in the Caribbean.

Taste has plenty of that funky farmhouse ale that you would expect, but there's an underlying sweetness to it and nice hoppy finish.

Light mouth feel; the carbonation is fizzy at first and then it mellows out immediately and finishes with a dryness.

Overall, a fabulous Farmhouse Ale that drinks so easy and has such subtle flavors, it is so refreshing. There's not a lot of that farmhouse funk that you get with other's.

Cheers!

 

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

Whew! It was only 74 degrees when I was outside, but it felt warmer. Maybe because I actually forced myself to take a long walk for the first time since the Spokane complex fires sprung up, although there's been plenty of smoke from other regional fires as well, chiefly the one out on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

No new beers during the week apart from a pint of Back To The Future, a Breakside/Fremont collaboration IPA, consumed at Barley's Brew Hub in Kennewick, WA, on Monday afternoon.

Starting off NBS today with a beer that I have technically reviewed before, but the original version was a coffee stout when it was on daft, but once available in bottles became a Coffee Vanilla Stout. Incidentally, this is one of a very few beers from Orlison that is a.) not a lager and b.)available in a bottle rather than a can. As far as I know, it's only available at the Orlison Tap Room in Spokane.








LOOK Nice color and khaki head, decent lace, though the latter was not very long lived. On the second pour, things were better looking, with a two-finger thick, creamy head that took it's time falling. 4

SMELL At least at first, the nose is more subdued than when I first growlered this beer a number of months ago, but I think it's more a case of dialing back a crazy amount of coffee than anything else. There is a little more vanilla in the nose than I remember, but nevertheless plays 2nd fiddle to the coffee. There's a slightly earthy thing going on as well that I can't quite pin down. Well balanced. 4

TASTE More balanced than the original in the flavor department (unlike the original, this is not like getting kicked in the head by a Bruce Lee made of coffee) , but the coffee still leads the charge. For once in a great while, I am able to praise a brewery for using a light touch when it comes to vanilla. The combination seems to create a pleasant, nutty undertone. Finishes on a very lightly dry note. 4.25

MOUTHFEEL Fairly full body, with a creamy mouthfeel. 4

OVERALL While I rather liked the crazy amount of coffee flavor that was in the original version of this beer, it's definitely more refined tasting now. There's no trace of the weirdly clashy bitterness at the finish that was a memorable part of my first experience with this beer. I will definitely come back to this, especially this coming fall. 4.25

Back later with a big barrel-aged stout from a box from the inimitable @beertunes

My friend Stephanie doing a Radiohead cover

If I could play piano 1/10th as well as her, I'd be a very happy man.

 

One of my faves, and your description has me salivating for some. Great job!

 

Last day of Summer Vacation

Long time, no see. I started the summer with an NBS entry, and the best intentions to get back on a weekly routine. An awesome summer break with the family meant something had to give. Anyway...

It's a great summer day in West MI. Skies are blue and the temps are warm without stifling. Today's brew seems made for the weather.

Vivant does a nice job with this tropical saison. It's a nice mix of traditional flavor and an addition of summer sweetness. The full review will get entered when I hit the laptop. Marks were in the 3.75-4.25 range, with an overall 4.0. I'd definitely pick up a 4-pack for the beach if it's offered again next summer. It's a refreshing, easy drinker.

 

Thanks! I wasn't even looking to buy anything else, other than the DFH SeaQuench Ale and the CCB White Oak Jai Alai when I stopped at the store.....but this one just called out to me!

 

Thanks to Maria once again for a great kickoff. Been a busy few days. Just back from Westchester NY after dropping my daughter off to college. Ill have to do this one more time- she will be a senior next year. Then the house will empty- although my sons back home for now. You bitch and complain sometimes but when you see them go a piece of your heart goes with them. Anyhow new job coming also so things are going in the right direction.
Todays brew is from my good friend Seans brewery Revival. Gonna try to be as non-biased as possible. I will say I appreciate so much all the hard work he and is team have put together to build this brand from scratch. A very difficult task in this modern craft world. The Beer:

REVIVAL UP SHIP KRIEK Lambic-Style Sour Ale aged in wine barrels.
Pours a dark- reddish burgundy color with a quickly receding tan head and some spotty lacing.
Aroma is lots of dark ripened black cherry combined with over ripened pear and a vinous red wine character with a hint of vanillin from oak.
Taste is loads of wild cherry - very ripe - but with the nice bitterness you get from that fruit when picked fresh. Its tart also, but leaning towards a pleasant sourness. The sweet fruit blends very well with the red wine notes. There is ever so slightly a funkiness from the yeast but its barely detectable with the mouthful of fruit. Theres also a rustic type of pure maple syrup thing going on.
Feel is very fine throat drying carbonation with a tart to sour. The body is not what you would expect and I think its one of the things that sets this apart- nice and light with flavors that linger but the sweetness is not cloying. The beer is refreshing in that sense.
Overall a truly different take on this style.I would expect nothing less from a brewer who sticks his thumb up at the norm. Whether you like it or not he's doing it his way. He's not going to be brewing any "hopped up water". (I asked LOL) . This is something I can really dig. Give it a try.
Thanks for taking the time- have a great Sunday Evening!!

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. Hot and humid here on the island. Spent most of the day pretty much doing nothing. Watched the mets get beat up by the shit Phillies, and when it cools off a bit, in the evening, I might get off my ass and venture out for some yard work. A big three day weekend to look forward to this week but its hard to believe that September is just about here.

My new beer today is Fat Tug IPA, from Driftwood brewing co. in Victoria B.C. aka god damn Canada. The brew comes in with a 7% abv, and a bottle date of 7/30/16.

A light golden amber pour with a straw yellow hew. No clarity, and subtle carbonation. The nose is subtle but hoppy and sweet. A soft and juicy start on the drinking. A big hoppy/bitter punch to the face on the flow and a pretty clean finish. The bitterness really increases the more I drink it. I can't really pinpoint one particular hop but it seems to really be a mix of a bunch of them. The hop flavors are all over the place with bitter pine, resin, grapefruit, and lots of other tropical fruit notes. I'm getting grapefruit, lemon, lime, and mango. The mouth feel is pretty moderate and really seems to carry a slight alcohol burn.

Overall, I think the 94 ba score is a bit over-rated but this is pretty good hop juice. I'm right around the low 4's but a bit lower on the nose.

 

Great beer name!

 

Probably my last NBS entry for the day, I'm heading over to my friend Chris' (he's a butcher) as he's smoking some beef, and is going to make teriyaki. Yup, BBQ'd teriyaki! here's a perfectly serviceable Pale from that city across Lake Washington from Seattle: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30532/99981/

 

Excited to finally get to try a beer from Foam Brewers. This is there DIPA called Pavement (8.2% ABV). My sister and brother-in-law brought some back from their trip to VT this past weekend. I suggested to them that they should stop there based on what I read in a forum post created by none other then Cavedave. I never heard of the brewery before reading Cavedave's post and they never heard of it until I mentioned it. They said it was a nice place and the beers were very good. I wish I got to Se the place, but at least I get to try the beer. They also were nice enough to bring me their IPA Nameless and a Brett Saison Freak Incident. I look forward to trying those throughout the week.

Last Sunday I made a batch of Habanero crushed peppers, did the same this Sunday. I have one habanero plant and it must have given me about 50 peppers. I also through in a few cayenne peppers as well into the crushed pepper moisture this week. I think I got about 150 cayenne peppers from one cayenne pepper I planted in the garden this summer. Been eating a few of them each morning with eggs. This was my first year growing either. In year's past I did Portugal peppers. It's been a great summer for the garden and I have had to buy very little vegetables besides garlic and onions.

Look: Pineapple/orange juice especially after the head fades, which is very quick. Almost no lacing. 2.5
Smell: Big Tropical Hops! Cannot smell much else, but a bit of resin once it warms 4.25
Taste: Big Tropical Hops! Starts sweet and ends with a very soft bitterness. I little spice and resin on the finish. Absolutely no alcohol (no matter how hard I try to taste it). 4.25
Feel: Smooth, low carbonation, extremely drinkable 4.5
Overall: Pleasant drinking experience but very little complexity. It tastes like tropical hop beer juice. Maybe the most drinkable >8% ABV beers I have ever had. That is both good and bad. This is as good as any of the 7 trillium cans that I drank the last couple of weeks and definately significantly better then a couple of them. I think the beer from trillium it most reminds me of is DDH Fort Point. 4.25

 

Happy Sunday. Enjoying this Bruery Melange 14. Pricey to be sure but damn it's good. Cheers all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16866/233324/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review