New Beer Sunday (Week 653)

I'm feeling Belgium this morning. Not that I actually am Belgian although my ancestors did get around a bit . . .




Score 4.09
look: 4 | aroma: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Intense dark brown color with orange gold highlights. Light tan cap and lacing.

Strong aroma of dark ripe figs and molasses accented with ripe dark cherries.

Wow, pretty complex and sophisticated flavors here. On entry the flavors present all together yet there is a high solo voice of Dry Oloroso Sherry richness that hints at but doesn't achieve sweetness. It's as if someone swirled caramel and honey in a bowl, poured it out then filled the bowl with the ripe fruits mention above. Finish brings dark barley notes of chocolate and unsweetened cocoa. I know, those two sound alike but they're not the same.

Full texture with balancing carbonation.

Another roasty, toasty hearty brown that does credit to Belgian brewing tradition.

 

FYI, and FWIW, On 26 Nov. 2017 we see the second night of the emerging first quarter of a new moon, just having, the night before, left behind the waxing crescent.

 

Good morning @cjgiant and thank you for getting us up this morning. Congratulations to NBS for all the milestones and none the least of which is it's infamy or twelfth and a half anniversary. I can't think of any place i would rather be on a Sunday! Cheers to you all.


When I saw this on the shelf I was excited for two reasons. One because another brewer besides Sierra Nevada was doing an oktoberfest collaboration and that means the bandwagon is official. If you will remember we have grouped the style into two distinct variations; the lighter domestic festbier and the darker export version. I would put this beer in the same category as Genesee oktoberfest which is also the latter. The second reason I was excited about this collaboration was because I was looking forward to a somewhat hoppy take from Otter Creek. Camba Bavaria's list of beers reads like a clinic in beer styles and making beer. It also represents a brand of brewing equipment that is supposed to be designed to deliver a broad range and their name is Braukon.

Happy Show Me What You Got Sunday

This is Otter Creek Oktoberfest collaboration with Camba Bavaria


Amber with a light orange hue. Malty with a light touch or fresh orange and a silky hop herbal. I think I smell what some people might say is allowable in the way of perception of caramel but I would not call it caramel, or nutty or too firm. In fact it's like a bright sweetness that reminds me of the sweetness you get on the Vienna lager. Perhaps that is the point where you can see that inspiration was taken from there. This one is clever in it's use of hops and uses that light moment of sweetness to put a soft and silky measure of hops that I was not expecting. They are lightly peppery, not too spicy and softly sweetly floral. I think Genesee's oktoberfest is hopped similarly to this beer although the malt is a little toastier. Firm bubble breaddy finish, almost no bitterness at first then it does develop. In Genesee's beer no bitterness does develop and that is the small measure of sensational and extra? hops that might be in this beer. They softenthe middle and make the mouthfeel like silk instead of textured breaddy. I would say the bitterness in this beer is just slightly stronger than in the typical festbier. The beer seems to showcase the hops although they are never at IPA strength. They are tantalizing gentle and subtle. It is as though the brewer has coaxed the fruit essence from the noble hop! The malt is toasty enough to appear fuller than the the stemmy hop with a citrusy floral. No real bite from the bubble. This oktoberfest is just slightly hoppy with a gentle bitterness and hints of citrus.

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone!

 

A dark amber color, light head and lacing.

Very little aroma other than the malt.

Taste follows the smell with lots of malt flavor.

Light, little carbonation and not much kick.

Average beer.

 

New Beer Sunday: A Carolina American Pale Ale

Mornin’ NBSers with special greetings to fans of hop forward, well brewed American Pale Ales, and thanks to @cjgiant for this morning’s history lesson start up.

Well, it going to be another family outing today. The weather forecast is for a really outstanding day weather-wise—sunny, pleasant with temps in the upper 70s.

Having been tapped again for breakfast preparation I’m once again doing the Quiche Lorraine that has been a popular choice for previous breakfasts (and it looks a lot like a full moon when finished ). Now I ask you, while that quiche is baking, is there something better or more productive to be doing than having a new beer? (Probably, but this morning it will be a new beer anyway. )

This morning’s new beer is called Napoleon Complex and is from that now infamous and now High End Brewery, Wicked Weed in North Carolina. This was canned in late Jun and so still should be fairly fresh.

As usual my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30581/216687/?ba=drtth#review

On the whole this is a quite nice APA and I’d be fine with having another. But it doesn’t really strike me as being better than some of the local APAs so I don’t think there will be a lot of repeats. (Especially since I like the beer scene in SE PA and am happy to support our local brewers when they do quality work.)

The aromas and flavors are all about the hops in this beer. There’s some grapefruit and citrus zest. There’s some light pine and traces of mango and even what seems to be some peach. All this is against a very light malt backbone sweetness that smooths out the bitterness.

Once again listening to some music from an original cast recording of an American musical. From Pal Joey with Vivienne Segal,

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Cheers, all!

 

Really good opening today! And thanks for keeping me from having to do any math, that wouldn't end well for anyone. It's pretty cool that a thread can have that kind of longevity and it is a testament to everybody that takes to time to review on here (and elsewhere). Cheers to 12.5 more!

 

Do you mind ‘playing’ second fiddle?

Well I don’t as long as it is Fiddlehead Second Fiddle beer!!

I am fortunate that a friend gifted me with a can of this beer. Have any of you been following the spirited thread entitled “Fresh IPA snobbery is out of control”? That thread was started by a NYC retailer who was relating the attitude he was receiving from some customers about purchasing Fiddelhead Second Fiddle beers that were (gasp) about 1 month old.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/fresh-ipa-snobbery-is-out-of-control.530916/

Well, I personally do not have attitude here; I am looking forward to drinking this beer no matter what the age.

First a little bit about Fiddlehead Brewing since I am personally not familiar with this brewery. A short write-up from the Fiddlehead web site:

“Fiddlehead Brewing Company is located in the beautiful town of Shelburne, Vermont. Our mission is to produce full flavored beers with the true beer connoisseur in mind. We focus on depth of flavor, freshness of ingredients, and incorporating local products when possible. Renowned brew master and owner Matthew Cohen (known industry wide as Matty O) is on a continual quest to craft the perfect pint. While several seasonal selections are always available on tap at the brewery, our flagship beer- the Fiddlehead IPA, can be found on draft lines all over Vermont.”

Well then, let’s see how Matty O’s Second Fiddle beer tastes.

Served in my Gulden Draak tulip glass:

Appearance:

Amber colored with a BIG fluffy white head.

Aroma:

The dominant aroma is a combination of pine/resin but there is some citrus in the background.

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with pine/resin but some citrus as well

There is a firm bitterness as well. There is a bit of malty sweetness as the beer opens up.

Mouthfeel:

Medium to full bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall:

I think this beer is very good. It motivates me to want to drink some other Fiddlehead beer if good fortune presents that to me.

Cheers!

@RobH @rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @Seacoastbrewer

 

How old was your can?

 

You win the prize!!

I just knew that somebody would ask that question. The answer is that I do not know how old the beer is. There is a black smudge on the bottom of the can. I assume that is where the canned on date would be but as I stated it is unreadable.

Cheers!

 

Happy NBS everyone! Hope we can all enjoy a drama-free day today. Thanks to CJG for an excellent launch to the day. Two hours of work done, 25 mile bike ride done. Time to carb reload with a new beer for me that I'm sure I'm a bit late to the party for. I'm really enjoying this more than I expected. Somehow I was under the impression that this was a raw, undeveloped DIPA, I couldn't be more wrong. Golden color with bubbly head and slight lacing. Smell of citrus and mango, piney with a well balanced taste, hides the 8.7% pretty well. Heard of hangover symptoms with this beer, I'll chug a quart of powerade next since I'm sure I'm dehydrated from the bike ride. Happy Sunday Folks!

 

Thanks @cjgiant for the great start to NBS today. Should be back with a new brew later on.

Cheers!

 

Another cool thing about Fiddlehead is that they share a building with a very good pizza place where you are welcome to drink the beers you just bought while you eat.

I just had Second Fiddle for the first time in ages myself and your review pretty much sums up my feelings as well. What's funny is that I remembered this being further down the path of the NE IPA style than it is. I distinctly remember thinking this was notably fruity back when I first had it, but it barely registers on that metric these days. Not to mention the malty sweetness and bitterness which are practically dirty words these days.

Still a great beer as you say. I'm not a particularly big fan of their single IPA, but their other DIPA "Mastermind" is pretty fantastic as well.

 

Very dark pour with minimal head and no lacing.

Lots of pumpkin aroma.

Taste follows the smell with lots of pumpkin flavor, which is very nicely and evenly distributed.

Light with little kick.

A well done pumpkin stout.