New Beer Sunday (week 607)

Comedy...definitely comedy. Jeez, what a stupid and undisciplined team we have this year. At least I have a strong beer in my glass .

 

Huge thanks go out to @richj1970 for sending me not just one but two cans of Orpheus Atalanta!!! Right away when I opened my box the Orpheus can stood out because of their awesome artwork and the Atalanta caught my attention being a tart plum saison, and it lives up o the description!

4.31/5 rDev +6.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Big thanks to richj1970 for this
12 oz can, dated 8/23/16, poured into a tulip

A- A hazy golden straw with a small white head.

S- Sour lemons, tart pulms, hints of wheat, touch of spicy yeast.

T- Tart plums, lemons, hints of fruit skins, some bready malts, touch of spicy yeast and some lacto.

M- Smooth, crisp, light body

O- Given the description of a tart plum Saison it delivers! Very easy to drink, perfect for a hot summer day. I will be taking the time to seek more out!

The only "flaw" in this beer is it's missing the funk I love in a Saison, cheers!

 

@richj1970 was my sender last time, and he wrecked me! That Atalanta was a particular favorite!

 

You're right, I did. I can't remember if it was said if it reached the ridiculous shitlord proportions of more recent releases.

 

Next up, Sticky Hands from Block 15 Brewing Company.
Golden with orange highlights pour. Fluffy off white head that leaves a ring around the glass. Citrus, grapefruit, dank, resin. Dankness, honey, pine. It's a solid IPA with huge drinkability. Wish I had access to this.

 

Hoo haw I had a great weekend. I finally made it to Toppling Goliath on Saturday for the Mornin' Delight release. What a great event. Today, I rode a 50 mile gravel race that kicked my ass, 2800 feet of elevation in 50 miles was intense. Now I get to crack in to this insane bombardment of beers from the amazing @SammyJaxxxx ! First here's the swag he sent!

Cricket Hill Brewery t-shirt and another Monkey themed drawing entitled "The Peacemaker"

Let's have a beer please!

Carton Brewing 077 variant 077-07302 with warrior hops!

Pours a golden color with a solid finger head that dissipates in several minutes. Great lacing in the glass. Piney and floral on the nose with a floral and bitter taste and fantastic mouthfeel. Great beer that I gave an overall 4.03. Big fan of the additional dry hop here! Cheers everyone!

 

@richj1970 definitely know how to put together a box, finger crossed my liver survives it Atalanta is definitely a stand out beer and I'm already feel confident saying it's going to be one of favorites from the box and I haven't gotten to the heavy hitters yet!

 

Yeah, and, I'm not going back near that rabbit hole to find out either.

 

Good evening, NBS and NBS MWK BIF fanatics!!! I've been celebrating my birthday all weekend, but today was the official celebration for my birthday, which is Tuesday. We went to Rebel Kettle Brewing this afternoon with since friends and our kids. I had several great beers, but the barrel-aged dubbel was the highlight.

As for MWK, I've been trying for a while to decide what to debut here. I've already made it through several of the beers sent by the great @WesMantooth . Initially I was going to do the SMS tonight but after my afternoon, I decided to go with Columbus Brewing Bodhi. This beer, along with Creeper, both lived up to the hype for me. The official review is below. However, please stay tuned after the review for an advertisement for NBS BIF 5 aka all the beers I received. If you've been sitting on the sidelines, maybe these photos will convince you to come in.



Poured from a 12 ounce bottle dated 8/8/16 into a "Bodhi" nonic pint. Pours clear golden yellowish with two fingers of beautiful white head, which very slowly dissipated leaving extensive lacing.

The smell hits you immediately with strong hoppy citrus. Closer examination shows pineapple, orange, grapefruit, and a piney bitterness under it all. An outstanding smell.

The taste is immediate citrus, orange, pineapple, bitter pine, and a strong lingering bitter hop finish. The west coast pine seems to dominate the flavor while the citrus dominated the nose. There is no hint of the alcohol.

Mouthfeel is heavy carbonation but smooth. No oily feeling. The aftertaste sticks with you for a time.

Overall, this beer is phenomenal. The smell is just about perfect. It's very easy to drink. The only thing that brings the score down slightly for me is the overpowering aftertaste. That's more of a personal preference though. This would be a go-to DIPA for me, if I had access to it.

Here's the beers!

















Yeah, that's right. @WesMantooth is a stud.

 

Glad to be enjoying this with my Teutophilic daughter.

More smokey than weisse but captivating and makes your appreciate the skill and ingenuity they bring to brewing.

 

So, as I sit here, studiously avoiding the debate, I decide to have one more new brew for this NBS (this will be my 5th new brew of the day, not even counting the samples I tasted whilst stewarding the judging this morning. Damn, I've been beering all day!), this courtesy of Bend's best BA @sharpski . I'm really glad I grabbed him a couple things on my journey to Deming today, because this is, quite simply, one of the best Saisons I've ever had. Tremendous brew: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16846/195801/

 

Finally, I present my last beer of this week's NBS adventure in dark beer! Previously, I've reviewed both a sweet potato porter and a bourbon barrel aged sweet potato porter (weird coincidence, eh?) and found both drinkable and enjoyable. Now, I finish up with a bourbon barrel aged stout from Heretic Brewing: Incubus. I haven't had much from this brewery, but what I have had has been pretty good, so I'm looking forward to this bruiser of a beer. At 12%, I'm expecting no pulled punches!



A nicely-frothy light brownish head sits atop a deeply brown beer with a slight ruby hue if held up to close light. Liking how bold this looks... despite a lot of time in my glass, this is still sitting very regally. Though the head has sunk to a single finger from its original three-to-four, this is definitely a pour befitting a strong barrel-aged stout!

Nose is very sweet and malty, with a lot of toffee, sticky buns, bourbon and even some slight spice (cinnamon?). Deeply rich and decadent, Incubus certainly isn't about pulling any punches as of yet, as expected. No noticeable hop balance and a surprising lack of woody qualities, though that could be because the other BBA beer I had today was just incredibly tannin-forward and I'm still biased by that. It's been a few hours, though... who knows?

Taste is forward on ethanol with some barrel char but not much actual wood flavor in there other than in the finish where it seems to get a bit stiffer and drier. Middle of the palate is taken over big time by dark chocolate, cinnamon (still getting there here for some reason?) and sweet whiskey. Caramel and English toffee with some brighter apple and plum notes that kind of remind me of some Russian Imperial Stouts I've had. Not sure what the base beer is here, but this sort of reminds me of Clown Shoes' Angry Beast a little bit. Some roast and torched caramel in there as well. Interesting, but doesn't stand out to me very much when all's said and done.

Feel is on the thinner side of medium with a low-medium carbonation and palate-coating slickness. Slight bitterness in the finish. Grassy and leafy hops lend a little bit of a helping hand towards "balance" at the end, but this is a very luscious and forward BBA imperial stout that pretty much takes no prisoners. That said, it's a bit of a tough drink and some of the more ethanol forward flavors could be tamed. Perhaps this would be a better beer with a year or so on it? Not bad right now, but not my favorite or even close to a first pick in a lineup.

Thanks for sharing this NBS and allowing me to share my thoughts about beer with y'all. You're quite the captive audience as usual, and I'm glad to contribute! I'll leave you with my current favorite (melodic) death metal album from this year. WORSHIP THE GRAVE! Until next Sunday, folks!

 

A bit late for me, but I'm going to indulge in another after a comfort meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes to reset the palate. I'm not one to sit on hoppy beers for reviews out of fairness to the brewer or sender, so let's get it on!

A 500ml bottle of Wicked Weed Freak of Nature sent by @Dragginballs76 in the Monkey With Knives BIF. It has no bottle date stamped in the appropriate block on the label, but I'm certain it's as fresh as every IPA in the box. The abv. on the label is 8.5% and I'm pouring it in the awesome glass he provided. Let's go!

Pours a nearly transparent gold with a finger of white foam. Tiny carbonation bubbles float to the top as the foam subsides leaving some lacing. The smell is grapefruit, bread and a hint of floral esters. Taste is bread forward followed by floral notes. There's some grapefruit and malt sweetness in the finish. The feel is crisp, clean and dry.



Overall it's a middle of the road DIPA for me. A little on the bready/malt side with some palate pleasing floral/citrus notes to save the day. It's very drinkable for the big 8.5 abv., but I was hoping for bigger flavor. I hate being a downer, but I won't sugarcoat or lie. My score is 3.94 / rDev - 8.2%. Ratings aside, I'm always happy to try a new beer!

This is it for me folks. I really enjoyed today's thread and reading about everyone's new beer experiences. Thanks again Michael for making my return home from the mountains more tolerable and @utopiajane for setting the bar so high with today's thread. Let's have a great week and do it again! Here's the stats......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30581/90141/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Hi all, my photo uploader isn't working, but I will try and do my best to describe the great beer that @foundersasap dropped on my porch for the NBS MWK BIF. After, getting back from GABF I needed something to wake me up so I cracked open a Founder's Pale Joe Ale (given that his name is Founders, I just had to). It poured a hazy amber color, looked a lot like an IPA. The aroma was coffee with a faint hop character, the taste was almost a complete reverse, tons of hop flavor and a nice subtle coffee finish. I would highly recommend seeking this beer out. I also had a great time participating in this BIF and look forward to the next one!

 

Good evening NBS'ers and happy October! Understand this is week two of said month, but you'd never guess it on this coast! 94 degrees and dry as a bone in sunny Southern California again... definitely an Indian summer as we call it . Anyhoo, the week was an interesting one to say the least. Welcomed new friends into the world, and lost others in a sense , but we move on, get stronger, and reevaluate our situation before making important life changing decisions. As I said before, an interesting week.

Moving on and assuming my LNNBS (?) role, I give you this:

The Lost Abbey Track #8
An ale brewed with raisins, and bourbon barrel aged with cinnamon and Chile's.
13.7% abv





For those of you who don't know, The Lost Abbey resides in San Marcos, CA in Stone's original brewery, and is also the hub for Port Brewing! (Also a favorite destination of my wife and I, every time we travel a little south). Ok. Beer time:

A: After the gush from the cork, and the fizz of the pour quickly dissipates, this beer assumes an unappealing deep dark brown to black opaque color with sediment throughout and a tiny khaki crown of bubbles surrounding the rim.

A: Straight up bourbon and oak! I mean, I am digging deep to find those spices, but with the exception of maybe a hint of vanilla...just... bourbon... and... oak.

F: To my surprise, cinnamon is well noticed against the bourbon and oak, but the Chile (and its presumed spice) is nowhere to be found. From cold to warm, almist one dimensional.

F: Again, surprised to find despite its retention, a very soda like carbonation that stays with its entirety. Thinner than expected too, but oily and only and rich nonetheless.

O: I sat in this beer for a while, and feel it did not benefit from age. I can only assume the chiles were more present when younger, and would have loved to experience that. Don't get me wrong...This is a great, um, Belgian like stout-ish, er... whatever, but semi-dissappointed.
Cheers everyone, and I will see you all soon!



Gotta love that art depicting, or at least reminiscent of Angus from AC/DC!

 

Back again with another one from @SammyJaxxxx!


Kane Head High IPA

Pours a two finger head and deep copper color. Citrus and fruity hop aroma with a similar taste, but some bitterness and earthy hop taste too. Great mouthfeel. Overall a straight 4.25 to me! Another awesome one Greg. Cheers!

 

Happy NBS everyone and Happy unveiling (aka bragging) day in the NBS Monkeys With Knives BIF.

I received an incredible box from @Ri0 Here is a photo of the entire haul


If you want the specifics, check here
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...4-hintz-and-haulz.447425/page-30#post-5030967

I've already hit this box pretty hard. I'm not one to sit on some Toppling Goliath IPAs and the Octoberfests Did not gather moss.

So for NBS I have chosen Central Waters Rye Barrel Chocolate Porter

Here is my review:

4.61/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Pours a deep dark mahogany with a slight tan head. Quickly dissipates to a slight ring.
The nose has the rye upfront followed by chocolate and roast
The flavor is so much more complex than the smell. The rye isn't dominate at all. Instead it is simply one player in an incredible symphony. The bite of the rye compliments the bitter chocolate, vanilla and butterscotch flavors. The sweetness moves toward the front as it warms but never dominates.
Carbonation is average and the mouthfeel is full but not heavy.
This is really a wonderful example of barrel aging. The rye compliments a terrific beer and the end result is sublime.

 

If you are going to drink a Carton and a Kane back to back, New Jersey law requires you listen to Bruce, Southside Johnny or Bon Jovi while doing so.

 

I was going to pop SOSUS too. After reading @jhartley and now you. I was inspired to make that my first from @Hopgoddess312 's epic boxes. But somebody got sick here, so I've been a bit busy helping and keeping the not-so-little ones occupied. So, after this amazing week of BIF bombs landing, simians swinging switchblades wildly...alas I'm dry today.

I guess there's a slight redemption. I split a bottle of 2013 Black Tuesday last night. It's pouring beautifully. Be forewarned @cavedave.

 

Damn @Ri0 Greg has at least a month of provisions there.