New Beer Sunday (week 611)

A lazy Sunday with nothing of importance other than beer and football.
I think we sometimes get too caught up in things to be able to enjoy idleness. A day of nothing can really revitalize a person.

My new beer is one that has been a fixture on this site recently, Born Yesterday Pale Ale by Lagunitas.
It is a hazy orange color with some sticky lace.
The aroma is tropical fruit and citrus.
Taste of orange, lemon, and melon. A little late bitterness.
Pretty nice beer. I'm on my second one, and the 6 pack might not survive the day.

 

Happy NBS! Shout out to @utopiajane with an amazing lead off. I could never be that detailed in my description of beer.

I spent the day yesterday cleaning the dirt off our screened in porch. Typically I would be putting up the winter storm windows to keep the snow out. Not this weekend! It is nothing but sun and temps just touching 70! I am enjoying it, but something deep inside me is bothered by this as it was similar last year.

I picked up some New Glarus Spotted Cow this morning at the store. No not the stuff that is in every bar and gas station in WI, this is Spotted Cow Grand Cru. Oh Dan Carey you mad genius!

Color is clear and golden, like your favorite apple juice. There is a 2 finger foamy white head on a very gentle pour and gobs of lacing that coat my glass. Aroma is very pleasant with a nice honey bread with a kiss of orange rind and coriander. It is a lager with a nice fruity, citrusiness to it. Flavor is clean with a nice malt presence that builds up into the fruitiness found in the nose. Sweet bread and honey with nice orange rind, coriander, and a touch of hops. Feel is crisp, light and refreshing, with ample carbonation. I'm not one to go out and buy Spotted Cow, but it is an easy drinking beer. This beer is simply delightful and another of Dan's masterful brews.

 

Cheers all!

I hate Daylight Savings Time.

I have railed against it multiple times, on both sides of the switch, and for several different reasons. Today's message is brought to you by long shifts made longer by having to repeat the 0100 hour with the added bonus of CIS downtime for the three hours from 0100 to 0300. It's only one extra hour, but man it adds up and I am so tired.

But working last night was the cost I paid for having gotten to send almost a week with my best friend from nursing school without having to take any time off or anything. Went to visit her in Nashville and we did very little outside of stuffing our faces with all of the best worst foods. So much fried chicken and barbecue and biscuits and the like...

As is my custom when I travel, I brought my box of styrofoam shipper as my checked bag and filled up with some local options to take home and sample (plus being in Tennessee I had to grab some whiskey as well, but this is not the venue for that...)

Mantra is located a couple of miles south of Nashville, and is near enough to my friend's BJJ gym. This morning I explore their Saffron IPA.





Pour is a dark and opaque rusty amber. minimal white head dissipates pretty quickly leaving minimal lacing.

Nose presents at first with a sweet perfume/floral note that blends perfectly into the undeniable saffron to the point where I wonder if it was just a subtle build of the saffron all along. There's some earthy pine and a little touch of orange blossom that adds to the questions surrounding the floral piece listed above.

Flavour does not deviate much from this blueprint laid out. Leading in with a sweet incense/perfume and the titular Irani spice. Again hints of citrus and a gentle yet firmly pine bitterness carry us through the finish on a lighter bodied and decently carbonated tide of enduring pleasantness.
Pleasant. That's the word I keep coming back to on this one. It's so... likeable. Even with the exotic adjunct and the unique aesthetic design (at least within the world of beer. Where craft seems to lean much more heavily towards metal and other extreme forms, the Mantra labels all look like they could be the cover of a 'fusion/electronica/lounge' album), this beer comes across to me as unassuming and just darn pleasant.
I would gladly drink this one more frequently though I know I'll probably never have it again, what with it being in Tennessee and me unlikely to spend much time there ever again.

If you find yourself in Nashville or the surrounding areas it should be readily available and in my opinion is well worth picking up and trying for yourself.



Cheers!!

 

I saw someone drinking that on WBAYDN the other night. I think I need to try that beer! Is it the same Spotted Cow recipe punched up a bit, or were there other additions to it?

 

It has been a fantastic weekend here, with the welcome arrival of actual fall temperatures! I have spent the morning brewing up an IPA and the 30-minute hopstand seemed like the perfect time to enjoy a new local beer: Brett Saison (Barrel Series) from Blackberry Farm. This one was aged in red wine barrels:


look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I'm in a great mood which no doubt influences things, but this was a beautiful-looking beer with a bright but hazy golden-yellow color topped with a foamy white head. The foam lasted for several minutes before settling into a bubbly cap, leaving behind scant tracks. The nose was complex, revealing red wine, oak, vanilla, oranges, lemongrass, pepper, some funk, and some dough. The taste had all of the above elements but they seemed arranged differently: the lemon and citrus opened things up with a slight bitterness. The red wine and oak became prominent in the mid-palate, bringing along the peppery and funky notes. It had a nice funky, Bretty feel to it with a dry and lingering finish. A beautiful beer on a beautiful day. Cheers, BAs and I hope to check back in later today.

 

"Reminds me of Sunshine."

Sold! Thank you for that wonderful review. I'll be up with my NBS in a bit. Cheers!

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers! And a big thanks to Maria (@utopiajane ) for getting us started today!
That beer looks delicious and your description makes my mouth water!

My entry for today comes from a ninja box from @SammyJaxxxx
Rushing Duck: Divided By Zero Imperial-Session, Pale-Black India Pale Ale


Poured from a 16 oz. can into a Teku; canned on 10/17/16.

Appearance: Golden-amber colored body with a thin cap of head from a light and easy pour. There's an obvious thickness to this one, there's something akin to sediment suspended in it.

Aroma: Bright and vibrant citrus and pine, with a lot of orange coming through. A spicy hop presence as well.

Taste: Orange, grapefruit, and pine. Spicy grass hop presence as well. Subtle sweetness on the end.

Mouthfeel: Full body feel on this one, hops make themselves known. There's an "odd" bitterness on the finish that sits on the tip and sides of the tongue.

Overall: This is a really tasty beer, however I think the bitterness on the end is a bit much. It only mildly detracts from this beer for me. Other than that I really dig this one!

Cheers!

 

Afternoon all, getting ready to watch some football and getting started with a great Doppelbock that @jhavs sent me for BIF #4. Jack's Abby Saxonator. Let me start off by saying I was really surprised how well the 8.5% alcohol was hidden among the flavorful roasted malts and dark fruit. I really enjoyed this one as much as I have all of the great beers I received. Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!!

Appearance 4 - Pours dark mahogany brown huge fluffy tan head with very spotty lacing.

Aroma 4 - Roasted malts, plum, caramel, figs. Slightly nutty.

Taste 4.25 - Dark fruit, malts, caramel, tobacco, very mild alcohol. Hint of bitterness.

Feel 4 - Medium body, good carbonation. Slightly warming from the alcohol, very smooth.

Overall 4.1 - The flavors are amazing, great dark fruit and roasted malts. The alcohol is not overly noticeable. A very solid beer.

 

Hey what's going on folks?

Well the votes have been tallied, and it's a clear winner ... we're going local for new brews this NBS for our hero!

I'll be partaking in a large amount of Maryland brews, maybe the odd DC one also (sorry VA but you have plenty of good stuff too).

Many of these are also from breweries I have never even had before, so I am curious to see how this turns out.

In the meantime we will be starting off light and refreshing. Let's see what our hero has in mind today.

First Stop... Ellicot City MD

Katherine's Kolsch | Manor Hill Brewing


Manor Hill Brewing - Katherine's Kolsch by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the can into a Gaffel stange glass. Sprouted on September 23rd 2016.

Nice unfiltered if slightly dull body, lemon yellow ith a bit of apricot darkness to it. Lots of sudsy carbonation coming up, the whole glass is practically roaring with it. No surprise a big head, but more surprisingly in control. Fluffy and bright white with big bubble bath foamy appearance of three fingers. A surprising amount of retention as well, but eventually does settle nicely.

Good solid aroma. Hop forward a bit but there's a touch of lemon and fruity senses but has that good decent chewy malt and dough bread character. There seems to be a touch of possible American hop in here as I am getting a bit of grapefruit also. It does pair well though and doesn't go overboard at least. Pretty solid on the nose.

Palate seems to go a bit more American in style. Hop forward with quite a bit of citrus and tropical notes in the middle. IPA like flavorings of grapefruit and pineapple very noticeable, also with a very juicy like body to match in the mid palate. Hits slightly herbal in the finish, but also has that new age juicebox IPA character. Solid body, not even fizzy but noticeably playful.

A decent brew but the flavor is more akin to a hopped up new American style take. It will certainly keep the hop heads happy, but looses a lot of Kolsch character in turn unfortunately. So that manages a little bit less in enjoyment for myself.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5 | BA Generated Score: 3.7

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This will go down pretty quickly... so on to the next Maryland brew!

 

Its a beautiful fall day here in Northern Virginia, and Daylight Savings Time gave me an extra hour of productivity and an extra hour to drink some fine brews.

Today I'm drinking Hansel & Kettle. An 8.0% Imperial Oktoberfest from Three Notch'd Brewing in Charlottesville, VA.



Appearance: A deep golden color with a reddish hue, pretty typical of a Märzen. A one finger off white head lingered on top.

Aroma: Standard Oktoberfest Aroma of caramel, bready malt, biscuit and sweet caramel.

Taste: It has an amped up breadiness and a sweet strain of caramel along with a very slight alcohol heat and Noble hop bite on the back.

Feel: pretty normal mouthfeel for an Oktoberfest.

Overall: A good Imperial Oktoberfest and a great representation of an Oktoberfest overall. I tend to prefer a breadier and maltier Oktoberfest and this hits the spot. Prost!

 

Cigar City's IPA aged on White Oak has a fresh, slightly sweet nose and is perfectly carbonated.
The flavor is surprisingly flowery, but not typically oaky. This is a very pleasant surprise. Two local venues just put the regular Jai Alai on tap this week and I was not pleased with either offering. One was definitely tainted (tap-related perhaps). I will give can of this this to those who I know will be interested.

 

Lagunitas Born Yesterday Pale Ale as @lordofthewiens stated in post # 21 this beer has been getting a lot of positive talk on this site since it came out. It's easy to understand why. IMO this is the best beer Lagunitas has ever brewed. This brew was bottled on 10-17 and fast tracked to NJ well done. The beer pours a hazy orange with a thick white head. The aroma is of citrus fruit. There is a malt backbone but the hops are the story. Mosaic, Amarillo and Equinox are 3 of the used. Born Yesterday uses fresh hops and is unfiltered. As a said the best Lagunitas beer I have ever had. It's part of their One Hitter series but lets hope they brew it again next fall.

 

I am glad you enjoyed it, even if your experience was different than mine. This is of course entirely possible given all palates are different. Or maybe I had a less-than-ideal bottle.

For my own beer, I traveled north a couple states for a Tröegs beer (ok, I didn't travel, it did, but you get the point).


Described on this site as a highly carbonated tripel with yeast as the bedrock of complex flavors.

So, the image there sort of catches the carbonation, which was lively. Nice retention and lacing in those nucleated Allagash glasses, also.

The nose is a little disappointing in strength. Is has a light hay to farmhouse maybe edge to it, but is mainly sweet pear and apple fruity notes more than any banana notes.


Taste balances the hay-like dry, crackery malt with the fruit notes from the nose in a melange that comes together quickly in each swig of beer. A light honey sweetness emerges from the joined flavors to lead the beer to the end of the taste. Lighter than expected carbonation hits my tongue, but might that be partly my own fault for sitting with this review while the glass fed the white cap? It tickles up front, but seems dull by the swallow.

An inoffensive, tasty, quality beer that doesn't jump out at me for a necessary immediate re-purchase. I'd be happy to enjoy one again, though, if the situation were right.

 

Greetings from Aruba, NBSers. My choice today will be translated from Aruban.



THIS (NAVAJA FRO HALF ACRE) IS REALLY AWESOME. LOADS OF CITRUSY HOPS - AND A BEEFY MALT BACKBONE TO SMOOTH OUT THIS 10.0% ABV BEVERAGE. IT'S PHENOMENAL, ESPECIALLY ON A GORGEOUS BEACH DAY. RATED 4.42.

I apologize for the caps - I always feel compelled to shout at translators.

 

Got out and rode my bike this morning a little bit further then last week. Also knocked out some running strides right after to try and keep my stride and run relatively normal tomorrow. After a bit of studying, and laundry, it's time to partake in New Beer Sunday. Current setting: screened in porch with a light breeze rolling through. I'm wearing my favorite recovery, not going anywhere, outfit (USA soccer shorts, Adidas sandals, and my school's Nike hoody).



Bur Oak's Dark Star.

This beer pours just as one would think a beer in the Black Kolsch Ale style would pour. The beer itself is jet black, with a finger of khaki, fizzy head that disappears rather quickly. Very little lacing is left behind. Aroma proves dark, with notes of toasted and biscuit malts, and clove. Not too stimulating. Flavor profile follows toasted and biscuit malts, with clove, and a finishing pine hop sting closely. The flavors seem to meld and puddle together to form a beer that is easy to drink, but not dynamic. Mouth feel is medium-thin, and almost watery. Slight abrasive carbonation feel. Overall, it's a pleasant beer, and certainly provides a different experience then a regular kolsch. It still has room for refinement.

Score: 4 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 3.5 | 3.75 | BA Score: 3.74 | rDev: 1.4%

 

Greetings fellow NBSers just got home from an absolute killer day of work. Was inspired by a post here a few weeks back to cut back on my beer drinking in preparation for the end of year month long abstention I will be doing. My resistance to alcohol has diminished amazingly, and last week a bomber of stout kicked my ass and rendered me unable to participate fully in NBS. I also have taken off some weight so that is something good.

Despite last week's stout excess I was planning again to open a large format stout today, but @doomXsaloon surprised me by stopping in at work today with gift of a 12 oz. beer I have been dying to try, and a killer cigar to go with it, so I def. have my new beer ready to go (first one since Thursday and number four since last Sunday) and you have no idea how greatly I am looking forward to it!

Some chores to do and will see ya after.

 

Next stop...

Prince Frederick, MD

Patuxent Pale Ale | Mully's Brewery

Mully's Brewery - Patuxent Pale Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass.

Deep honey golden body color, clear, and copper edges and glowing orange. A multitude of hues come right thoughout the entire body. Head is fluffy topped, off white with big retention and easy three fingers height. Big creamed island top and pill like lacing as it settles. Aggressive and large, great looking beer sans a bit hint of haze and no noticeable carbonation strangely.

Clean caramel malt and small sensing soft hop hits of pine and citrus. Has an almost cracker like malt sensing body, but quite subtle. Some honey like sweetness hits as well. Solid pale ale so far.

Palate hits sort of… how should I put this… real good but empty? Very good malt backbone, but with muted caramel sweetness but with a good coating. A slight hop twinge a bit that is not really distinguishable, sort of comes off as spicy strangely than anything. Finishes with a bit of almost English like ale yeast but manages to be quite neutral in the end. A good lingering pine bitterness that grows on the swallow is a nice touch.

All the parts are here but there's sort of nothing to distinguish them from each other. This is one of the most neutral pale ales I think I have ever had. Drinks real easily, but even subtlety here is far too low unfortunately. Either way a decent pale ale is to be had, but not much to think about here, but I can't complain either.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75 | BA Generated Score: 3.88

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Interestingly enough, bottle mentions hints of lemon, florals and stone fruit. uh what? Not really.. Either way still manages a decent drinking experience.

 

Up next is another great beer sent my way by @jhavs along with the great glass I am drinking this in. Hill Farmstead Dorothy, I was looking for something a little lighter and this hit the spot. I have to say this is a very solid farmhouse ale but the head on this thing never went away which amazed me!!! Great beer overall.

Appearance 4.25 - Pours murky yellowish color huge fluffy white head I am not sure will ever go away. Excellent lacing all around the glass.

Smell 4 - Earthy hay/straw, lemons, wheat, little bit of spiciness. Tart and funky

Taste 4.25 - Wheat, lemon, pine, yeast. Pretty strong spices, tart citrus

Feel 4.25 - Light bodied, tart puckering of the mouth slightly dry finish

Overall 4.19 - A really great beer, very nice balance between the tartness and funky flavors yet pretty light and refreshing.

 

Happy New Quad Sunday BA's! Having this in the fourth quadrant of the year while the gridiron sets it's sights in the end of the fourth quarter. Alright, that's enough. It's been a bit of a rough and emotional week sprinkled with enjoyable highlights, but now I'm happy to say I'm off work and relaxing with this:

Double Mountain Brewing:
The Irreverent Belgian Quad
10.2% abv


Aged just under 5 months.


Double Mountain is nestled in beautiful Hood River, Oregon, just up the street from pFriem and Full Sail, and in my favorite area of the country the Pacific Northwest. From Portland to Hood River, you can expect the most beautiful views along the Columbia River and gorge. The famous and breathtaking Multnomah Falls and my favorite pit stop of Thunder Island Brewing in Cascade Locks, just after the Bridge of the Gods are must stops. The magnificence of this Washington/Oregon border is a place I hope everyone will have a chance to experience, and hoping for myself to call it home one day.


(View from the Washington side of Bridge of the Gods overlooking Cascade Locks)

OK...the beer!!!

A: Pours my absolute favorite color for a beer, walking the line between amber and mahogany, brilliantly clear with a persistent fluffy white head that laces well.

A: Fig is the dominant scent followed by champagne and raisin. A bit of an earthy nose finishes the story.

T: A bit muddled honestly. The raisin and fig are there, but nothing stands out. Very earthy.

F: This is where the beer fails me. Extremely thin and dry and verrrry bitter! As a fan of the West Coast IPA, I am no stranger to extreme bitterness, but there is no place for this in a quad in my opinion.

O: The name, the style, the color, and the aroma is all this beer has going for it. Disappointed due to my love for DMB, but still glad i tried it.

Cheers everyone, and I'll see you all soon!