New Beer Sunday (Week 660)

My Alabama side of the family has been going to UVA since before the Civil War. I'll take Virginia, Carolina, Duke or Richmond any day!

 

Baaaaahhh. Oh thats just me showing my immaturity......

 

You just may be in for a big surprise then .

 

How do you tell if the stage is level?

Drool comes out both sides of the drummers mouth.

 

What did the bass player get on his job application?

Drool....

 

On to the next.

Pockets Of Sunlight | Jackie O's Pub & Brewery


Jackie O's Pub & Brewery - Pockets of Sunlight by imbibehour, on Flickr

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Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass.

Gusher upon opening, loosing about 3 ounces luckily not too much. Clear at first, but then slow decant topping up causes classic cloudiness as the gases distrubed the bottom. Faint white head that fizzes quickly, and strangely very small at half a finger. Major gush and no head… that's a first for our hero. A classic lemon yellow body with excellent clarity, or glowing lemon opaqueness. Take your pick.

Straightforward brett action on the nose that's quite solid. Moderate funk, with touches of some herb, and the honey does seem to make a presence kicking in some sweetness but it's tiny. Hints quite herbal too, pretty solid.

Real nice palate. Light and crispy feel, but with an excellent honey coating and flavor. Touches light brett and fantastic herbal flavors, from sage to mint, lemon balm like and some spicy character. Herbality really opens up on the swallow, touches large amounts of mint like character that mixes with brett and sweet honey creating a wonderful cocktail like quality.

Gush and appearance aside, a very tasty saison.

look: 3.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25 | BA Generated: 4.11

Cheers!

 

Kidding aside, all great schools!

 

Looks yummy!

 

Weihenstephaner festbier. Clear yellow color,aroma is malt,grass,and some yeast. Taste is identical to smell but with a bit of a sour finish. I struggle with reviewing a beer like this because I wouldn't turn one down but neither would I seek one out.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us started off this morning. No jokes from me, I'd rather analyze beer. Pretty windy and stormy weekend over here, so I did not do much. Super high wind gusts out there this whole afternoon. Finalized a trade though, shipping out 31 lbs and receiving all new beers. My stock is getting low again as usual, so it'll be a nice refresher. After last weeks BIF reviews, I've already finished off all but one beer from the box. Did my usual normal Sunday errands. Just finished up the laundry for the week. Review 5900 is less than 2 weeks away.

New Beers:

Great IPA! Awesome lasting head retention and thick lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, peach, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, guava, berry, lemon/orange zest, citrus peel, pepper, and pine hops; with honey, light caramel, toasted biscuit malt sweetness; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus bodied; balanced bready/grainy creaminess and hop stickiness in the mouthfeel. Light resins/rinds and increasing dryness, no hop astringency. Very smooth and easy drinking. Intensely vibrant and dank hop character; with great balance of juicy fruits; nice malty backbone without being too sweet/heavy feeling. Adequate dryness without being aggressive. I would definitely grab again. Love Mosaic hops, and this is loaded with the spot on character; extra dank earthy stuff from the Loral as well. 4.03


Delicious witbier. Aromas and flavors of big lemon zest, orange peel, coriander, peppercorn, pear, apple, and light banana/clove yeast; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bread dough malts; herbal/grassy spice and yeast earthiness. Light herbal/grassy bitterness and yeast spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation, light-medium body, and fairly crisp/clean finishing. Nice bready/grainy wheat creaminess and light spice stickiness in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing bitter/spicy dryness. Very refreshing and flavorful. Spot on balance between yeast, spice, citrus, and pale/wheat malts. No real complaints at all. 3.9


Final BIF beer from @jdell15 (until he ships me the second box). This was awesome! Aromas and flavors of huge raisin, plum, prune, fig, date, apricot, and red apple yeast; with balanced honey, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, maple, and brown bread malt/barrel flavors; with lighter notes of molasses, chocolate, peppercorn, leather, tobacco, peat smoke, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and fairly full bodied. Nice very creamy/silky mouthfeel; lightly slick, syrupy, chalky, and tannic. Slightly increasing bitter/tannic dryness; no cloying sweetness. Mildly warming 10.9%, no barrel booze. Very rich and complex; with perfectly balanced flavors. Great barrel presence and integration without the booze. Very very impressive. A spot on example of the style. 4.1


This was fantastic! You can see the cinnamon just floating in the pour, but the head retention was still really impressive. Aromas and flavors of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, marshmallow, molasses, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread; with lighter notes of smoke, charcoal, coconut, pepper, and dark fruits. Increasing booze in the aromas as it warms, but not overwhelming. Light roast/char bitterness and cinnamon/bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a fantastic creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel. Slight slick, spice stickiness, chalky roast, and tannic. Slightly increasing roast/char and tannic dryness. No acrid/astringent roast or barrel tannins. Mildly increasing warmth of 12%, minimal barrel booziness. Super rich and decadent complexities. Did not blow me away as much as the Double Oaked Hipster, but this is totally legit. Perfectly balanced base stout, spices, and barrels. I was afraid this would be super spice heavy as the BBA Imperial Mayan is when fresh. Glad to see that it's not. Enjoying it much more. 4.25


Cheers, have a good evening NBS!

 

Good afternoon NBS! Today's been an interesting day, for sure. Last week, a friend from work posted that a friend of hers was looking for someone to adopt a cat that the family couldn't keep for whatever reason. To be honest, I had been thinking of getting a pet the week prior, so I quickly messaged my friend and told her I'd take the cat. Fast-forward to this morning and I picked up a very, very angry (and potentially very stressed due to the drive from FL to MA the other day) six month old kitten. She hisses and growls at me whenever I get even remotely close to her, and she'll swat at me and bite if I don't back off... it's so bad that I can't even get her collar and leash off. I'm thinking she'll come around in a few weeks, as it's likely just a stress response, and perhaps like a lot of female cats she has trouble trusting males. Luckily she seems to trust me enough to eat and use the litter box, so that's good. Requisite picture below.



That jerk is hogging the damn couch, too! I've been relegated to my porch to drink. Woe is me!

Anyway, on to the beer!



I've enjoyed the Pipeworks stuff I've had over the past few months quite a bit. My least favorite (which was still pretty good, mind you) has been Mango Guppy, but I really dig Ninja vs. Unicorn and Lizard King. This is a 6.5% hoppy red ale called Blood of the Unicorn.

Pours a ruddy, rusty brownish dark amber color. It's very much unfiltered and the body holds up a pretty solid if miniscule head of eggshell-white foam. Lace seems kind of minimal and inconsistent, but I notice a little bit of sudsy, clinging cobwebs here and there as I sip at it. Red and amber ales are typically styles I prefer to pour with at least moderate clarity, as the opacity just doesn't have the same kind of unpolished charm that, say, an NEIPA has in my opinion.

Nose is caramel and cocoa husk with fruity, piney and dank hops backing up the proceedings. Has a very PNW or West Coast hop aspect, which is nice. Almost has a "Fruity Pebbles" like thing going on too. Strong resin and lighter, subtle grassy undertones. Light tropical fruit (guava, dragonfruit) and English toffee. Pretty satisfactory nose here, to be honest.

Taste is malty upfront with toffee, caramel and biscuity malt combining with light candied citrus (grapefruit and orange), guava and sticky pine sap toward the transition to the finish. More fruitiness comes out after each little sip, bringing with it some overt bitterness. Feel is chewier than a lot of other reds, probably due to the lack of filtration. Once again, I think I prefer a more crisp and lighter-bodied feel, but this backs up the darker/specialty malt flavors pretty well. This is a solid tasting hop-focused red ale with an on-point bitter bite that I'll have to pick up again some time soon. Pretty good stuff! I can see having a few in a session, at a party or something as it's drinkable and well-balanced yet complex enough to keep me coming back, sip after sip.

Cheers!

 

Ive been absent here for about 4 weeks now after a good run and I will be out again today. Everything looks fantastic and the stories, jokes and especially reviews and beers are as stellar as ever. I may jump in over the next few weeks. I will be in NYC next weekend and am sure to pick up some new brews so I can go out in a blaze of glory. I dig you all but my run on BA is coming to an end shortly. No date yet but will be before the end of the year. Its been a great time but some great things come to to end sometimes. Keep em coming and have a great week!!

 

Got a new beer on ice right now, Sly Fox Helles. Be back when it's right.

 

Happy New English Barleywine Sunday!

Pretty nice sunny, 56 at the trailhead day on the Western Slope, pretty nice hike. Having a pretty tasty brew @MastaaaGrillaaa from NBS BIF#6. Really enjoying this one today. Picked up some chicken tacos. Watching some Law and Order re-runs. Probably will be back with another from NBS BIF#6.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26520/206081/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

What's the difference between a Wheat Thin and a lesbian? One is a snack cracker and the other a crack snacker! Ok sorry for that.
Pseudo Sue, If this beer was available in MI, it would be my go to, honestly one of the finest IPAs Ive had. Pours a hazy orange hue with an aroma that says Hell Yea, very fine floral, piney, a hop heads crack. Very citrusy, pineapple, sweet but bitter grapefruit as well with just the right bitterness. Enjoy your new beer today BAs.

 

The old time/temp clock now reads 3:18/57, as I crack into a crowler from @RedhawkPoke :

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46299/287309/

 

Sorry to hear that buddy. I hope all is well. I've found NBS to be a place I can share some frustrations and sadnesses, alongside the fun times. Selfishly, I hope you reconsider, I've always enjoyed seeing you around.

 

Hmmm, LagerWine you say? Color me intrigued.

 

Huh? Witness relocation program? I hope it isn't anything health related. Either way, best of luck to you, and I'll surely miss seeing you around.

 

My son keeps buggin' me to say this joke, he thinks it's hilarious and laughs all of the time whenever I tell it. I'm humoring my 7 year old now, but forgive me, BA, it is lame.

What happens when you eat too much bologna?



You become full of bologna.