New Beer Sunday (week 614)

2016 can just go suck a big one.

 

I agree, and considering the review was added in 2014, maybe that note was from an initial run before they switched it up (and or just re-used the name). Though I stand by my tasting note of a certain tang - I do now wonder if it is a milk stout in this incarnation - solved by this information, I guess:

 

Polishing my Allen Edmonds Strands in walnut for the first time (I've only owned them about 3 months, and wear them a max of 3 days a week. Average is probably 1 1/2). Sending my brothers back off to college for another two weeks and then finals. Taking the time to sip and savor some coffee in the morning. This brew was sent to me by a great trading partner who continues to help me try Sixpoint's delicious offerings. He knew I wanted this one, and when it hit shelves, immediately sent me a trade. Let's talk beer.



Sixpoint's 5Beans.

Pour is black with a finger of hearty, khaki-colored head. Head retention is moderate, with very little lacing left behind. A constant khaki foam ring lingers for a long while. Aroma is certainly malt forward, with notes of toasted and nutty malts. A slight tinge of coffee is hidden among the malts. Flavor profile opens as malts - toasted and nutty - before swinging towards coffee. Coffee and chocolate stick around from the height of the flavor profile to the final decay. Mouth feel is grainy, and somewhat filling, all while having a medium-thin consistency and texture. It certainly strays away from the watery pitfall most porters seem to fall into, while remaining smoother and less filling then a stout. A solid balance has been struck here. Overall, 5Beans is a very pleasant sipping coffee porter. While the notes of coffee aren't huge and robust, they do come through in the aroma and flavor profile. The solid porter qualities are accentuated with a good drink-ability, and feel. Nice combo here.

Score: 3.75 | 4 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4 | BA Score: 4.11 | rDev: +0.5%

 

I had my first one of these on Friday, and generally agree: the artfully done smoke, which I also thought had a slightly meaty characteristic to it, was what defined the beer for me -- very much in the forefront, but without being heavy-handed; there was a good dose of coffee, more so in the nose than the taste; some chocolate, cherry and nutty notes; and I didn't notice any maple or lactose, but didn't go out looking for them either. Sort of reminded me of SMS if you replaced the bourbon with smoke, if that means anything to anybody. I'm not generally a rauchbier fan, but I found this one pretty enjoyable. Definitely recommend it to anyone who thinks they'd like a smokey breakfast stout.

 

Actually it does, I sorta noted in my very first smell that the coffee part of the nose reminded me of SMS, but overall it seemed a bit more like Xocoveza.

 

Howdy, NBSers!

Hope your Thanksgivings went well. Mine included a little beer buying run in Austin, where I came up with this:


Martin House’s Cellarman’s Reserve IPA with Polaris hops

I tried the Cellarman’s version with Palisades about a month ago and liked it quite a bit. This one with Polaris seems to have double the malt, which is a bit confusing. I hate to complain about *more* malt being a huge stout, dunkel, English ale lover. But whatever these Polaris hops are supposed to taste like, they’re coming off as nothing but bitter against this wall of sweet biscuit malt flavor.

The overall effect is not bad. In fact, that sweet biscuit malt flavor bookended by a bitter hop bite is always tasty IMO. But I was hoping for a bit more hop flavor, and I’m having a hell of a time picking it up.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31272/257846/?ba=Premo88#review
3.76 (no rDev yet -- mine is the first review)

I worked a full week this past week, no holiday, BUT it came with a cool bonus. A quirk in my schedule let me run over to Austin for another Wednesday night at the Continental Club, so I got the full dose of Jon Dee Graham’s son, Jon Dee himself and James McMurtry. A very good friend who lives in Austin made it out, too, so it came close to qualifying as an epic night.






The photos don’t really show all of the epicness, but we had some. Introducing a best friend to some of the best blues rock Texas has to offer with a few Pilsner Urquells to lubricate the evening made for a pretty OK time.

Hope you’re having a pretty OK time on your side of the ether!

Cheers!

 

This was my opener over in WBAYDN...

From Long Trail Brewing in the great beer state of Vermont, a 10/31 canning of an 8.7% abv DIPA featuring Galaxy, Mosaic, Citra, Columbus, and Ella hops...

Sticking with my approach of "one for you and one for review"...

Second can action...

Beerscapes...

Maybe the moon isn't made of cheese, but beer foam... ?


So, anyways...

Potent fruity aromas with edges of dank must and wet earth. Sweet up front, with expected fruit impressions - deep orchard and tropical notes, some resinous and caramel-like aspects; bitterness is subtle and more perceptible on the finish. Medium-bodied and smooth with appropriate carbonation. Slight chew and a bit of stickiness on the close.

I dug it, but it was a bit sweeter than I've been partial to of late in my D/IPAs - certainly juicy enough, respectably dense, with a tongue-coating bitterness that arrives after the sugars...

Blue skies and sun outside - nice and cool, though maybe not as cold as I'd like - but I'm from one o' those "pre-global warming" generations when the world was a little smaller...

Plus I got dat cold-weather blend of Celtic, Germanic, Viking (and wolf?) blood in my veins, so I've got my own ideas about seasonal temperature preferences...

Cheers, NBS...

 

It was nice to enjoy Thanksgiving with my elderly Father and my brother's family in Vermont. The leftovers should be finished by tonight. It was also nice to get a four day breather from the office. I was able to swing by a decent beer store in Barre, Vermont that was open on Thanksgiving Day and bring home a few Vermont beers.

This one is from Rock Art out of Morrisville, Vermont and it is their Grapefruit IPA, which was released for the first time in the Summer of 2016 - so it is a new beer for New Beer Sunday. The label reads 7% ABV although the BA listing puts it at 7.5%. "With Natural Grapefruit Flavor" the label reads. I am never sure what to make of that. There are plenty of hop varieties that bring out a kind of grapefruit ester and flavor. But this makes me wonder if they added a few gallons of grapefruit juice to the mix.

The murky orange pour sits under a modest white head. The aroma is very juicy and citrus-like with the emphasis on grapefruit and a secondary influence of orange or tangerine. The flavor also brings out the tart and fruity characters of grapefruit and orange. The toasted breaded malts are much more in the background. This is 70 IBUs so there is a sharp fruity bitterness that lingers on the back of the palate. It almost coats the back of my throat.

This is another one of those New Age New England IPA's that everyone is a-flutter about and it should satisfy fans of this hopped up style.

 

New Saison Sunday



Stillwater Extra Dry (Rice Saison)

Happy Sunday, BAs. Hope you got some extended time off this weekend.

I enjoyed having the time I eat, visit with family, shop for beer, do some work work and some yard work without feeling hurried. Even caught a couple movies. I enjoyed Dr Strange way more than I thought I would (although it's still no Dr Strangelove).

Today's beer is one that's been in my fridge for a while now, and that I thought might go well with leftover turkey. It has a canned on date of 7/26/16 and a best-by of July 2017.

The commonly charitable @cavedave can critique my choice of carafe characterization til the cows come calling, but I sampled Stillwater's sessionable sake-inspired saison this Sunday by sipping out of the singularly sleek and sexy elongated snulip. Simultaneously stylish yet simple, the elongated snulip is especially suitable for showcasing both suds and smells.

So... Extra Dry pours a slightly hazed, but otherwise clear, pale golden yellow color. It's effervescent, with two-and-a-half fingers of airy white head that leave modest lacing.

It has a delicate aroma of light fruitiness, some lemongrass, a hint of muted coriander and, yes, a ricey, dry malt characteristic.

Wow. Nice subtle fruitiness up front in the taste again, with just a flash of passionfruit, pear, strawberry, then an abruptly dry, slightly soapy finish. Again, the rice malt addition is evident here.

Medium bodied with strong carbonation in the mouthfeel.

I'm loving this beer. If you're asking for an extra dry rice saison, I don't see how you could get much better. Apologies to all for the alliteration.

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers!
Thanks to @cavedave for the great send off, between you and @utopiajane my vocabulary grows each week!
Thanks to Maria for another tasty looking dish and well written review!

So today's entry is one I bought for myself a few weeks back; been a long time want and when I happened to be out shopping and saw it on the shelf...I had to grab it!
So I will more than likely be back later with another one from either @beertunes or @SammyJaxxxx as my fridge still has some tasty beers waiting for me....So here we go....

Elysian Punkuccino Coffee Pumpkin Ale


Poured from a 22 oz. bomber bottle into a Snorkel glass. Bottle date: 9/16/16.

Appearance: Pours a much darker color than I expected. Deep dark brown with a tan head which formed at about a 1/2 a fingers-worth. Dissipated over the next couple of minutes.

Aroma: Right after the pour there's a ton of coffee coming out of the glass, followed by some pumpkin spices. As if warms the coffee takes a back seat and the nutmeg, cinnamon and some clove come out first with the coffee not far behind.

Taste: I let it sit for a little bit and warm a little before drinking. Right up front I get the spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, maybe a little ginger and at the end the coffee hits your tongue and just sits there. A really nice coffee flavor too! Not bitter at all, just nice and nutty and flavorful.

Mouthfeel: Full mouth of spices and lingering coffee.

Overall: A really great tasting pumpkin ale! I love the coffee addition, it's like Thanksgiving dessert, which I am kicking myself for not breaking this one out on Thursday. Oh, well I would still have been the only one drinking it then, so waiting until today is hurting anything. I love how well blended the spices and coffee are done in this beer. The low abv makes this even more drinkable and if it was higher would probably detract from the enjoyment.

I also raise my glass to @cavedave 's fallen friend. My condolences to you and his family.

Cheers!

 

Cheers @jhartley =)

 

Happy NBS. Enjoying my day off with a new beer to share. Lakefront Black Friday Vintage 2015. I'm with @Greywulfken as it is supposed to rain tonight, but I'd much rather have some snow this time of year. Looks like it will be warm again this week and will be a record setting November for warm weather in Southern WI. I bet it evens out somewhat and March ends up very cold.

Pours obsidian with a 1.5 finger mocha head that dissipates almost immediately. Thin ring forms with minimal spotty lacing on my glass. Aroma is bourbon and vanilla up front, caramel, toasted marshmallow, bitter chocolate and coffee. Flavor begins with dark malts, bitter chocolate, coffee then moves into the caramel, toasted marshmallow, and even a touch of pepper. Feel is heavy with a soft carbonation and minimal alcohol. Very delicious beer made by LF.

 

Welp, I have the AE Strands cleaned with soap, water, and then put a layer of Venetian's Shoe Cream. Unfortunately, I got one part a little too wet for me to feel right putting on the polish. I'm taking a break from shoe polishing to watch some "how to" videos, and enjoy another quality beer. This is one of the two I was saving for today. It's a part of a hoppy duo of beers I have lined up for today from Alpine Beer Company.



Alpine's Hoppy Birthday.

Hoppy Birthday pours a foggy fire-orange with a finger of off-white head. Head retention is solid. Lacing spider webs around the glass, at least at the start. Aroma is all hops, while remaining more on the subtle side of IPA hop aromas, perhaps that's the "session" part of the label. Hop notes include orange, tangerine, and grapefruit. A little resin hop stick is also there. Flavor profile is hops throughout, but all in a muted, tuned-down version. Orange, citrus, lemon zest, and biscuit malt all come through. It's a well-tamed birthday party, with not one note sticking out much more then the others. Combine it's balance with it's simplistic notes, and this would be an easily sessionable beer. It is on the bitter side of the spectrum, so that should be accounted for. Mouth feel is medium-thin, and not very filling. Overall, an easy drinking IPA, but it is on the bitter side of things. While it does have somethings going well, it isn't something to go googly-eyes over.

Score: 3.75 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 3.75 | BA Score: 4.04 | rDev: -5.2%

Personal Reflections: I aim to provide transparent feedback to the beer community, so I want to share a few things here. Item one: perhaps I just didn't like this one. It is tasty, but I've certainly had better. While I do try to review each beer individually, I also aim to review within the style, and this one just didn't cut it for me. This is all coming from someone who was excited to find an individual bottle of this for purchase, since I didn't want to sink my money into a 6-pack. Item two: I do find session IPAs to be a little... lackluster. It's kinda like taking a '16 Camaro and dropping a Honda motor into it for the gas mileage. More practical on the day to day? Sure, but that swap cuts out the heart and soul of the experience. At the end of the day, both the Camaro and Honda are good, but each has their place. I'm just not sure I enjoy this Honda* of a beer. Certainly practical, but not fun to sip on for the pleasure of sipping beer and writing a review.

*I daily drive a Honda, so I have nothing against them. I love my 5 speed Civic.

 

That's all great to hear. I'm really looking forward to getting some at some point. Makes me glad they are making it more available.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Definitely getting back into the swing of things after surviving Turkey travels and new surroundings. Great to be back home, and with new goodies... OOooo what's in there?!?

It's time for new brews for our hero... just like every other day. I was up in Maine/New Hampshire and if you managed to see my WBAYDN postings you probably saw many new brews from the area. Some of those have returned home for me to partake in.

I always love new beer surroundings.

Sad to hear of some of then news here at NBS, but things will eventually move on. Also looks like some exciting brews too being consumed and cherished, as we all should...

Well let's get started what's new for our hero today?

LUX Rye Ale | Bissell Brothers Brewing Co.


Bissel Brother's Brewing Co. - Lux Rye Ale by imbibehour, on Flickr

Poured from the can into a nonic pint glass. Canned yesterday from the brewery.

And here we go. Sludge. Turbid murky muddy swamp water yellow and brown. Opaque and solid. Looks like sewage and real unappetizing. A clear and simple white two finger head tops with bubbly retention and some pill lacing, saving an appearance that at least resembles beer. A few faint pint head bubbles of carbonation if you look closely.

Aroma is a mix of dank and tropical hops. Lower on a fruity side that leans a bit pineapple, but with earth tones that are bigger and hint just a little towards smoke up in front. No surprise it's a hop forward brew. Buries any sense of rye spice/fruit tones, and definitely goes in the IPA direction. Suspecting more rye qualities on the palate but we will see.

Palate definitely goes in many directions. First sip is a light bodied pale ale, but also some spicy malt tones.. Ah yes there is that rye I usually don't care for, but it does accent much of the fruity tropical notes of the hops and spicy finish as well. Tangy juiced, but also flirting with box tropical and orange juice flavor. Aftertaste is a real nice spicy note that almost goes towards pine but then even gets slightly wood with lots of classic grapefruit notes. Unfortunately there's also a metallic twinge going on here in the finish as well that is literally leaving my palate ringing like a tin bell.

There's quite a bit of complexity and bouncing around here that's fun, but the final effect isn't really that enjoyable. Drinkable, but pretty much a one time for myself.

look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5 | BA Generated Score: 3.56

Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBS, hope everyone had a good thanksgiving! Today I turn 30 years old and to celebrate I'm having a kind of new beer to celebrate. It is a beer I've had before but never a bottle this old and it is definitely different from the last time I had it in 2012

This beer is one that DFH say ages very well and I'm pushing the limits of aging it being that it's 10 years old, I was very luck to find a crappy liquor store that had 2006 bottles in their cooler in 2009 so I bought them and finally opening the last one.

2006 World Wide Stout
12 oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- Black with a very small tan cap 4.5

S- Plums, figs, port wine, tobacco, dark chocolate fudge, undertones of roasted coffee, hints of alcohol, slightly oxidized with hints of leather. A lot of depth and complexity in this. 4.75

T- Wow, this is not very stout like up front but that not a bad thing, getting figs, plums, hints of cherries, red wine, hints of leather/tobacco, fudge, dark chocolate , some roasted coffee, slightly oaky, finish has some alcohol but not too much kind of red wine like not boozy or hot. 5

M- Smooth, medium to full body, and a surprising amount of carbonation for 10 years old. 5

O- It is truly incredible how this beer aged. I have tried this from fresh to 5 years old and now 10 years old and I would say it definitely needs to be aged. The changes between 5 and 10 years isn't a huge improvement in the beer but the depth and complexity does increase at 10 years old and gets a lot of great fruit flavors that are just starting to develop at 5 years old. This is an amazing treat and the alcohol is very mild for 18% ABV. 5

Overall 4.91

Truly an amazing beer to age and definitely a great beer to celebrate my 30th birthday, cheers!