New Beer Sunday (week 630)

Dipping into the box @larryi86 sent me in BIF NBS #5. I've got a bunch of east coast style hops, and I'm excited to see what I think about a few breweries everyone seems to be talking about. First up is something a little lower in ABV.



Trillium's Pipsqueak Penguin.

Pipsqueak Penguin pours an opaque peach color with a two finger head of white foam. The head was reluctant to form, and disappeared in a modest amount of time. A few dashes of lacing left behind. Aroma is tangerine, grape, and clementines, giving this beer a sugary, citrus aroma. Malts are well hidden allowing the hops to shine. Flavor profile brings notes of tangerine, clementines, grapes, and a subtle biscuity malt and grain backbone. Mouth feel helps this beer carry a presence with a medium thickness and a little bit of a fizzy and grainy feel. While those last two notes are modest, it keeps this beer a tick or two away from being crisp. Overall, a flavorful low ABV hoppy beer, which is quite pleasant considering most beers with this ABV seem to lack hop notes or hop quality. This beer starts and finishes non-bitter, and provides a multitude of delightful qualities along the way.

Score: 4 | 4.75 | 4.5 | 4 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.48 | rDev: +7.2%

Personal notes: First Trillium beer, whew! I am a little perplexed by this beer though. It carries such a hoppy presence, I'm hesitant to believe it's a pale ale at all. That said, the beer packs an absolutely delightful aroma, with a good flavor profile to back it up. With the ABV under 5%, I consider this a pretty darn strong statement that hops can still be flavorful and full even at lower alcohol levels.

 

Beautiful dog, and congrats! And getting a porch bomb from @tasterschoice62 ... go with the Proclamation. Don't think you can honor Larry in a better way . I'll be back with my NBS soon enough my friends. Cheers!

 

Greetings fellow NBSers!! NBS BIF #5: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Porch is truly well under way at this point. My first offering today is sorta from the BIF, from a nice little side box from @ovaltine https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33519/123062/ . Pleasant enough beer, but these AOAs still haven't captured my fancy as they have so many other folks.

On a side note, one of my coworkers has a couple nephews that have been diagnosed with Batten disease, for which there is no treatment or cure, it's fatal. Here's the family's story, but get a hanky ready before reading: https://mybrothersbattle.com/ . Next Saturday we're hosting a fundraiser, and several NBSers have donated beers to put into a big bucket that I'm assembling as a silent auction item, and I just wanted to say Thank You again to those who have come through. NBS folks are the best!!!

Be back soon with another!

 

Ok a new beer for me this week , and from one of my favorite in state Brewers.

Buriel Gang of Blades DIPA. Abv 8.3, canned 3/7. They use Simcoe/Amarillo and Mandarino Bavarian hops. They mention a funky house yeast, and both malted barley and malted wheat. And as always unfiltered.

Pours a beautiful gold color obviously hazy as hell, can't see my fingers ever in good back light. Nice thick creamy head, dissappates more quickly than I'd prefer, nice lacing .

The hardest for me is the nose because of my screwed up allergies. Out of the can is amazing fruit , tropical fruit, pineapples, mango, sweet fruit. In the glass the oxygen kills it, I don't get much, but what I get is pineapple.

Taste- fruit, a bit funky but not anywhere near enough to suggest Brett or the like. I take it the yeast and wheat tilt this a bit, but it's subtle. Moderate bitterness, but superbly balanced with the malt. The strength of this beer is the finish, it just pops on the back side more so than at the front end. Definately not sweet for a big beer! I might even suggest it's a touch dry at the finish without being overly so. Just goes back to Buriels strength at balancing all their beers. I find session beers to be dry because they lack balance and malt and IMO making them painful to drink. Not the case here , dangerously drinkable.

Well worth a taste IMO, but every beer they do is worthy. IMO the best hoppy beers brewed in Nc

 

I will be back later today with another new beer from @cavedave's BIF box, but here were two that I enjoyed earlier in the week. I know I'm weak, but with new hoppy beers in the house, they were never going to make it to this weekend.

Big thanks to @cavedave for these selections. All 3 Rushing Duck beers that I've tried so far have been outstanding with War Elephant being my favorite.

Rushing Duck - BRUX IPA





Poured from 16 oz can dated 1/31/2017. Thanks to @cavedave for giving me a chance to try this one.

A: Hazy golden yellow with huge 3-4 finger soapy white head that lasts forever and leaves chunks of lace.

S: Juicy citrus mixed with white pepper. Ripe stone fruits with bready yeast notes.

T: Lightly tart citrus. Pepper coming through but not overpowering. Seems to add to the depth of the flavors. Subtle earthy funk, grapefruit rind, and orange zest. There is a lot going on here, but the results are quite tasty.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Soft and creamy texture with just a touch of bitterness.

O: Excellent IPA with some unique twists.

Rushing Duck - War Elephant



Poured from 16 oz can dated 3/1/2017. Many thanks to @cavedave for the chance to try this one.

A: Mostly clear straw yellow with one finger white head. Moderate retention and nice sticky lacing.

S: Punch of citrus with mango and pineapple. Fresh pine and a touch of caramel.

T: Juicy tropical citrus and big hop assault. Mango, passion fruit, and pineapple. Dank resinous hops and a nice malt backbone. I with knew this was going be a treat from the first sip.

M: Medium body with average carbonation. Finish is slightly bitter.

O: Outstanding DIPA. So far everything I've tried from Rushing Duck has been a winner.

 

And, here"s my first NBS pic, of said beer

 

Glad NBS WGNABP is here! Digging in the the awesome box from @Wasatch, looking forward to some Colorado beers today.

It's a lazy day with the kiddos and watching some NCAA basketball. Into the beer!



Pours a deep orange with pink highlights. Thick, fluffy, 1 finger head. Big sticky lacing that tells a story as I drink the beer.
Smell is yeasty, banana and clove, spice. Soft tropical fruits too. Taste is guava, pineapple, orange, spicy yeast, doughy. Slight juicy bitterness on the finish. Medium bodied, big for a Saison, realize its an "imperial" saison. Drying finish.

 

Good afternoon from atop this hill I call home here in central NH. We got no where near the snow that Dave got but a good solid 20" here from the storm. Thank god for the large orange snow blower that lives in my garage. With about 1/4 mile of drive way up hill from the road there is no way I'm shoveling myself out of here. The dogs had a great time out romping in the snow and are so much fun to watch.
We hosted our annual St Patrick's Day bash last night and enjoyed the company of a great group of friends and managed to have almost nothing left from the 2 briskets of corned beef I cooked. I think is was worth the trouble getting a couple of large locally grown briskets this year for the corning process as they were much leaner than the ones I have bought the last few years.
I too was one of the participants in this round of the NBS BIF and my sender @Bum4ever did an outstanding job of crushing my porch with a huge box of California goodies and a couple of non CA beers thrown in. These were just a few of the items I found in the box.

And this brings me to my beer for this NBS a Crowler from Fieldworks Brewing of Sawhorse Rye IPA which was included in the box from @Bum4ever and even with the proper glasswear.

And now for the review.
Poured from a 32oz Crowler into a Fieldworks Tulip glass . It poured a nice dark golden orange color with a nice white head on top. I think between the hops and the rye it gives this beer a slightly spicy nose with some bready aroma. The taste has a lot going on with some tropical fruit from the hops and also that spicy bite from the rye. Nice to see the combination working so well together. The mouthfeel is good with great carbonation. In all this is a better than average beer compared to some of the other rye ipa's I've had. I'm not usually a fan of rye ipa's but I could convert if I had this one to drink all the time
4.24/5 rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
And since there are so many great beers left in my box I know I'll be back later with at least one more.

 

As posted in WBAYDN I made the mistake of buying beer w/o looking at date and I bought a out of code beer, being that it isn't a Hoppy beer i decided to go ahead and post the review with the caveat of that I will try to drink when fresh and rereview
Ommegang Witte
12oz can into nonic Pint
BB 12/2016
L- cloudy straw with big rocky white head
S- plenty of coriander on the nose
T- coriander going down with some yeast
F- light bodied creamy
Overall solid witbier nothing to write home about, would like to try fresh and rereview

Cheers! and Happy NBS

 

That is a very beautiful dog- you and she are lucky to have found one another. I know you had SOS and Congress St in your wants..... and the The Congress St is DDH-----just sayin

 

Ok, errands and lunch are finished, time to sit down and enjoy a lovely gift from @Buck89. I was glad my jaw didn't knock our beers off the table when we met last week and he unveiled some beers he brought for us. He had a nice story behind it, but I'll let him tell it if he wishes. Needless to say, huge thanks for the opportunity at one of the iconoclastic beers I hadn't (until now) had the chance to try:


The girl cat tried to lick this cap, and then gave me an evil glance over her shoulder as there wasn't anything left after I licked it .

Initially my rating and review was going to be a fairly significant negative rDev. I had let the beer warm slightly before starting my review, but it needed a little more. Temperature did not affect the look, however, which to me is absolutely beautiful.

The nose eluded me a tad at first, and never really shone. At one month, I wouldn't expect a fall off in strength, necessarily; or maybe I expected a bigger punch. What I did get was a nice malt and pine note, but one I had to search for a little too much for an IPA.

The flavor started with a somewhat honey maltiness with a light woody pine back. Warmth helped her the most as nuances came to the fore. As I stated in my review, the pine flavor seemed to follow the trail water takes as a tree feeds... from a woody trunk to a green twig to the more piney needles. A little citrus rind accented this as I sipped further. The opening notes returned in the end to bring the taste full circle, though a light woody pine bitterness lingered.

I still ended up below the average review but did truly enjoy this beer. What it might lack in powerful and in-your-face it easily makes up for with how well put together it seemed to me. I do wonder about the nose, though.

 

I was remiss in not posting a haul pic from the magnificent haul @beertunes sent my way .....



That's 14 beers I've never had (nor heard of, in full disclosure). I've had 3 of these thus far (I have no patience with hoppy beers) and they've all exceeded my already high expectations.

I'd also like to say that these BIF events are a hootenanny - especially the "Hints & Hauls" thread. I have literally laughed until I had tears in my eyes reading that thread.

I've been in two of these, and they're all about what beer should be, IMHO - fun. If you like to send and receive great beer, I'd highly recommend participating in one. It's a great group of people (that will FLAT OUT LIE TO YOU IN LEAVING HINTS ..... or maybe not).

You all may now return to your regularly scheduled NBS programming.

 

Good afternoon BA, lunch break from working on the addition. Picked up Coolship La Mûre at Allagash yesterday. Tried my first Coolship a while back and decided to grab this one. Spontaneously fermented ale with blackberry and aged in oak.



Pours a vibrant orange crimson. Very little head as standard on a sour beer, nice stream of bubbles constantly rising.

Aromas of hay and oak, sour apple, hint of blackberry. Notes of vanilla from the barrel, slightly funky.

Taste has an initial pucker, like sour unripe berries. Hayfield, green Apple, berry, oak, lemony tartness. Little vanilla in the finish across a light wheat bready sweetness. Berry builds as it warms.

Light bodied, bright and sharp carbonation, tart, finish is right between dry and sweet.

Overall this is a tasty sour, refrains from being to tart and the barrel and funky characteristics add a good depth of flavor. The blackberry is pretty light, comes across more as unripe berries than any particular fruit, but it does brighten some as it warms.

Cheers!

 

I've said it before, and I'm saying it again: IMHO, Field 41 is the best IPA made in WA. The family that owns Bale Breaker are hop ranchers. They literally carved room for their brewery out of a hop field, Field 41.

 

Greetings from the sunny and warming southern shore. It was a cold but calm morning which made for great running conditions. I stretched out 6.2 miles today in preparation for a 10k I'm running next month. I stick to 5k's these days but need to run two longer races as part of a series I signed up for. I guess two won't kill me even at my age?

Time to indulge with my favorite beverage on the couch after watching the conclusion of the Michigan win and upset in the tournament. Checking in with one that @WesMantooth sent my way as a hitchhiker in a box @jhavs sent. BA's are quite resourceful! Let's pour this 12.7oz. 2016 release bottle of Jackie O's Oro Negro with a 10% abv. in a 13oz. snifter.

Pours a very dark brown leaving a finger of lingering tan foam. It slowly settles revealing some lacing and oily residue clinging to the glass. The smell is figs, raisins, toffee, ground walnuts, molasses and bakers chocolate. Taste is once again dark fruit including figs, raisins and dates followed by fresh chopped walnuts, molasses, dark chocolate and earthy peppers. There's a hint of cinnamon buried under all the bold flavors. The feel is medium as stouts go with a pronounced pepper heat in the finish.



A bold sipper of a beer that brings some serious dark fruit flavor along with perhaps too much pepper heat that overwhelms the cinnamon and vanilla. In fact I couldn't taste or smell any vanilla. I love hot/spicy food, but peppers in beer, especially habenero's can be overused in my opinion. Perhaps a milder pepper or more cinnamon and vanilla would take this to another level for me? It's interesting nonetheless and I can only imagine what the barrel aged version would bring? My score is 4.24 / rDev-5.1%.

Time to take the ice packs off, hit the shower and figure out the rest of this lazy Sunday afternoon. Enjoy yours! Here's the official scorecard......

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1432/137747/?ba=Prager62#review

 

Continuing the IPA train from @larryi86 . Getting into some bigger ABV, and hopefully bigger flavors.



Trillium's Melcher Street.

Pours a light and peachy sunburst, opaque color with the center of the glass gaining the color of a Dragon Ball. Head foams up to two fingers in height and is well mannered as the pour tappers off. Head retention is fair with a few patches of lacing left behind. Aroma is orange and lemon zest, grapefruit, and a solid grain background. Flavor profile is huge. Sweet and delicate citrusy notes open up with raw grains in the background. While it's a modest beginning, the onset lets the beer's turbo spool up as it sits on the tongue. As the turbo hits, the beer develops huge notes of grapefruit, and lemon and orange zest with hints of herbal, resin hops to add to the complexity. Malts are modest with a biscuity, grainy note that tethers the hop notes down. It finishes sweet and citrusy. Mouth feel is medium-thick in thickness with a hearty, IPA filling feel. That is to say a little bit of fizzy grain to it, but otherwise smooth. Overall, this beer is mighty powerful and may count as one serving of fruits (probably not). The citrus notes all hit the target dead center and yet deviate from the standard orange citrus that so many hoppy beers target, setting this beer pleasantly apart from the rest of the juicy, citrus hop cans available today.

Score: 4.25 | 4.75 | 4.5 | 4.25 | 4.5 | BA Score: 4.52 | rDev: +3.9%

Personal notes: I've tried to stand valiantly on the neutral side of NE IPAs, and against style bias, and emotional decisions, but now that I've finally drank the kool-aid (Treehouse and Trillium), I'm eating my own words. This beer is sublime. The hops finesse their way to a fantastic aroma, and despite a slow start to the mighty statement of hops in the flavor profile, the pause and crescendo offer a mighty impression and flavorful dynamic that turns this beer into an experience. Much like a well tuned single turbo car, each crisp shift provides just a moment of lag before the joyous, smile educing moment hits - the power of the turbo - or in this case, the prowess of the hops. Maybe I'm getting a little to spun up, but I'm excited to try my other Trillium cans now (I'll limit it to one more for palate reasons though). Cheers.

 

Greeting, NBS. Great lead post from @cavedave and awesome pictures from the BIF.

Mixed week here with the weather, more weirdness at work, and the wife with a massive chest cold. Something we have to be careful with due to a near fatal bout with bacterial pneumonia about 12 years ago. But she has been sleeping mostly, so it has been hoops overload for me. Babysitting my daughters adopted hound and he us dad to e world snoring with our ancient lab... Cant believe my Badgers upset the defending champs, but happy they did. Local URI hanging in as well, and Louisville just lost.

Ok, what is in the glass?



I am pleasantly surprised by this beer. The color is a bit dark, in my opinion, but the taste is pretty much on point for the style. And I am mildly embarrased that the glass was apparentlynot as spotless as I thought...oh well.

The smell is like a yeasty biscuit dough with just a bit of lemon and grassy green hops. Very clean and crisp, there is nothing muddling things up that dont belong there. The aroma promises a refreshing taste and it delivers. Crisp malts up front, with a bit of grassy hop character, some mild grape flavor and just a bit of lemony zing. There is a little mineral note that is pleasant. But no mistake about it...the malt is the star here and it could maybe use a bit more of a contribution from the hops to bring out the fruity flavors a little more. The finish is floral and lemony, medium bodied, mild on the bitterness. I am finding this a pleasant beer and am actually glad that I have a few more to enjoy. Decent representation of the style which inspired it, this is gonna ring in around the 3.8 range for me. Nice brew.

Now...Bruce Willis...12 Monkeys is a top two lock for me, but the Die Hards and others mentioned are worthy. But I also in my favorites list are The 5th Element, the two RED flicks (maybe influenced by Helen Mirren with a rifle), and The Whole Nine Yards. The other top two fave is Lucky Number Slevin. My sleeper pick would be 16 Blocks.

 

Congrats on obtaining that rare brew make sure to get back later with your take- I would like to know about that. Thanks

 

How'd that stack up (rating) against the Tree House you tried? I thought for sure Melcher St was going to be my favorite Trillium IPA since I love mosaic, but I ended up preferring Congress St. Then ended up preferring almost all the Trillium over the Tree House beers (not that a couple points matters by then).