New Beer Sunday (Week 661)

Wot?!? No love for @woodychandler ?!? No matter. Nobody pays any attention to me or what I have to say anyway, at least not until I really piss somebody off & then out come the pitchforks, torches & a pyre. One fellow brought a halberd to the last one! Personally, I am like the fellow in "The Life of Brian" - "They're going to crucify you tomorrow?!? Lucky jammy bastard! I've been after me wife to do that to me for years & she's just a bit squeamish." Ah, nothing like "going medieval". Torquemada was such a genius! I wonder if beer was allowed under the Spanish Inquisition ...

 

Perhaps a subtle (or not so subtle) hint to spread the love?

 

Happy NBS! It is a rainy relaxing day in Wisconsin. A cold front moved through and finally pushed away an October week that saw many days in the mid 70's. It was a bit unusual for me to be wearing shorts Friday on my birthday. Even yesterday after finishing the yard work in late afternoon I had to cool off with a cold shower!

Today I am enjoying Funk Factory Frampaars and it is a dandy. It pours a dark purple/red and with a very light pink head. Thick collar and spots of lacing. Sour and acidic notes of vinegar and fresh lemon with a good amount of funky raspberry puree. A bit of jam, even mild cheese or yogurt to build up the funk; has some woodiness to it. Very sour and delicious. Plenty of raspberry flavor, some jam like quality that moves into a faint cheese followed by sharp lemon sour and vinegar. Some woody funk on the finish. Light bodied and big carbonation makes for a fantastic mouthfeel. This is about as close to Cantillon that I have had and it is amazing.

 

Started this Sunday morning early than normal, or than I wanted to. We have a house warming party today at our home. Did a few chores around the house before I sat down with this one. Thankful for the quiet that I have right now before chaos happens at 3 pm (party). I am sure I will be back tonight after the party with something more in my wheelhouse but this one was an easy drinker.



3.81/5 rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A: Fairly clear yellowish-gold bodied beer. Slight at at first pour but quickly went away. Enough carbonation to keep a few bubbles around.

S: Grain profile stands out in the beginning. A few lemon zest smelling hops balance out the grain smell to a certain degree.

T: Nice clean and crisp tastes. Again the grain is the predominant taste but the hops blend well with the overall beer.

M: Easy drinking pils. Clean and crisp. The beer doesn't have much complexity but is fine for the style.

O: Solid pilsner. Nothing fancy but fine for the style.

 

A-A nice golden color with a no head or lacing.
S-Slight scent of apples and vinegar.
T-Slight tartyness with hints of apple and vinegar, well balanced.
M-A light medium bodied smooth drinking gose.
O-Decent gose beer.

J-Life and beer are very similar .....chill for best results.

 

Has it been discussed yet that NBS #666 is the Sunday after Thanksgiving? Seems ripe for a theme @LeperJim .

 

I already assumed you would be involved..

 

Next up is this Hop Commander from Captain Lawrence

3.84/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Everything about this beer screams American hopped English IPA, so that's one weird mark against the rating since the results are tasty beer regardless. But, they said American IPA, whom am I to argue. So stylistic banter aside, this slightly hazy thin headed brew sports a malty taste that is well tempered by a fruity bitter hop presence that harkens to the OG East Coast IPAs like Victory, Weyerbacher and Southern Tier. Nose further ignited the memory as there is plenty of sweet orange lying atop piney goodness. Finish is a medium bodied mouthful that has nothing cloying going about in the after taste, just solid bitterness. Full disclosure, I picked this beer up thinking it would be a mediocre at best tick, but this seriously is a pretty darn decent beer. If you want a good taster to break the NEIPA mold, here goes it

 

New beer #2.

Crooked Stave - Key Lime Tau
Key Lime Wild Ale with Lactose - 6.3% abv
Score: 4.06 (rDev 0%)



L - 2-finger off-white head atop a burnt orange body.

S - key lime, sugar, graham cracker, oak.

T - quite sweet. Very acidic due to the limes. A slight tartness but less than expected. Barrel presence is faint but pleasing.

F - medium body, prickly carbonation. Not detecting what the lactose is doing here.

O - A decent wild ale, but comes off as more of a fruit beer due to the low degree of tartness. Pleasing on a 75 degree October day.

 

New Imp. Stout Sunday (Week 661)
Greetings all you fellow lager lovers, ale appreciators, beer barons, and suds sophisticates from on the ridge in Mid Hud Val, NY. An actual weekend for this retired man, who got called in to work to fill in for Thursday and Friday, and was begged by the town supervisor to come back to work to replace one of the men who is quitting. Made me a nice $$ offer too, but I love retirement, told him I'd fill in occasionally if needed, but I ain't a'workin' anymore.

Feels strange and also right to be drinking a big and thick beer this time of year since it is mid 70's outside but it is also late October. Dogfish Head Oak Aged Vanilla World Wide Stout.

Thick black as pitch elixir with a thin wisp of tan head that retreats to a lasting ring. A swirl leaves oily legs on the glass.

Vanilla stars in an aroma that also features cocoa, dark roast coffee, burnt caramel, and a touch of smoke. Med. strength aroma but very alluring.

Full flavored, with some vaporous alcohol spice and sweet dark caramel and vanilla leading the charge of roasted malt notes that make a general charry bitter that almost ovewrpowers the sweet, borders on acrid, and ends the sip with a deep bitter attack on the palate. As it warms some oak comes into the mix. Vanilla saves this from being too raw.

Highly viscous, low carb. thick bodied, with a finish that stays clean despite its persistent resinous cling.

Huge beer that likely needs some age to mellow a bit, like its non-vanilla brother. Recommended.

Hope you also have a Great American Beer in your glass. Cheers!

 

Actually it has, and I was going to bring it up again in two weeks. We probably don’t want to detract from the main point of NBS, but if the faithful have some thoughts maybe on going over and above with your beer choice for that week, I’m sure we’ll all enjoy.

 

Don't worry about it. I did the exact same thing a few years ago, and lived to tell about it. Just be aware you're now on the list of potential moderators when Craig and I retire.

 

Zoller-Hof - Old Fred

This is one of the more interesting ideas for a “concept beer” that I’ve seen a while. Although named like a classic English strong ale, this German lager is nothing of the sort. The beer is named after Frederick Miller, founder of the Miller Brewing Company. I believe it is supposed to be an approximation of the beers he might have been brewing as he was studying brewing in Germany (with an American hop twist).

The brewer describes this beer as an amber lager, and as brewers tend to do, this beer is actually quite dark for “amber”… I’d call it brown. Carbonation is fleeting and the beer is thin. This is an odd beer. To me, it feels like a (darkish) Czech lager with Cascade. It needs some time to warm a little, then it switches into something very clean that can slide down a little too easy. There are some dark toast flavors in there and a dry finish. Overall, the elements here are quite subtle. If my second bottle of this was in the fridge right now, I’d open that up too to follow. Nice.

@TongoRad

 

Founders breakfast stout,pours pure black. Aroma is strong coffee with a touch of cream followed by cocoa. Taste is identical but with a dry bitter finish which worked well. An excellent heavy creamy feel with just below average carbonation . They weren't cheap with the flavor in this beer and it definitely lived up to the hype

 

A-A nice copper color with a no head or lacing.
S-Slight acidic sourness.
T-Slight sour and tartyness with hints of lemon.
M-A light bodied smooth drinking with moderate carbonation .
O-Well made beer.

J-Two beer drinkers are out in the Virginia woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, a beer bottle being opened is heard, a beer been guzzled is heard, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?

 

The main point of NBS is to drink, review & share one's thoughts on a new beer, that is one not previously visited on this site, correct? How would taking a devil-may-care attitude to one's beer choice detract from this mission? The devil is in the details & details are what make this thread so great on a weekly basis. Understand that I am merely playing Devil's Advocate on Beer Advocate in this case. Perhaps we could entice a member of the New Jersey Devils to join us that day. Or a review from Devil's Tower, WY or Devil's Postpile, CA. If this were not electronic media, we could designate a Printer's Devil for the day. Sponsorship by Spuyten Duyvil, perhaps? It may require some aforethought as many of us have already partaken of Duvel, but devil take the hindmost! As John Belushi shouted in "Animal House", "Let's do it!" Please pardon my impish deviltry in this instance.

 

This is a new beer to me, I'm reluctant to open it because I only have one and it's a real commitment to take on a 24 oz can of 13% beer. I'm still maybe, maybe not. Do I want to get hammered on a Sunday?

Also making hot sausage and pepper/ onion sandwiches for dinner with tomato salad and cucumber with fresh basil.

 

New beer #3. This has been on my radar for quite some time...and is my first-ever Stoneface brew.

Stoneface - Full Clip
IPA - 6.5% abv
Canned 9/27/17 (25 days ago)
Score: 3.79 (-8.5% rDev)



L - 3-finger bright white head sits atop a murky orange body. Head is slow to fade.

S - some citrus, pine, and a spiciness I can't put my finger on.

T - herbal, then spicy. Alcohol is very present.

F - medium-light body. Higher than average carb.

O - reminds me of the ipas I used to covet 2-3 years ago. Still a very decent brew by any measure...just not a juicy NE ipa.

 

Pardon you? Sir, your impish deviltry is what we love best about you.