New Beer Sunday (Week 669)

We've been up for a couple hours now, which is normal around here, and the furry children have settled in for their first morning nap. The non furry children have adopted the Collegiate between semester pattern of a Vampire life style which is to say staying up all night and sleeping all day. I'm not kidding, I feed them breakfast at 4:00 in the afternoon. So it's quiet, just me, the history channel and this . . .


Score 3.79
look: 3.75 | aroma: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Attractive clear amber gold color with white cap.

Aroma of sweet caramel malt, some bready notes and floral, spicy hops.

On entry it is malt forward but more dry than the scent indicates. This is a fuller, richer flavor than a run of the mill amber such as Yuengling (good but ordinary good) that elevates this beer to a higher level. Hops enter mid palate and while sitting pretty maintain a low profile as if they were the frame for a malt picture. Bready elements appear just before the finish which also brings surprising but pleasing burst of hops leading the crowd into the aftertaste with enough bite to leave an impression of refreshment.

Medium-full texture with balancing carbonation.

Some good stuff going on here. Fairly complex for such simple elements, each singing their line individually yet all in harmony. I'm thinking brats for breakfast.

 

Good morning Craig! The early birds and the early beer drinkers are one and the same. I love this time of year for beer. I like the tripel as my winter beer. I also happen to like it in the morning and I consider it an elegant brunch beer. I can't review any of the tripels I have as I have tasted them all before BUT since winter is the time to hibernate, how about we take a look at Long trail Hibernator.

Happy New Beer Sunday



Who doesn't keep a notebook in the kitchen? You definitely should. I am not making anythign with oyster sauce today.



Tasting beer has become a favorite and celebrated ritual at my house.



Sweet rust color body. Looks like an autumn leaf. Fat creamy head of just off white foam. Brownish copper body with a firm lasting head that fell clinging. Lots fo bubbles rising to highlight orange hues. Sweet tempting cracker malt brought to fullness with a generous soft earth form hops. All of their spice. No citrus at first but a light fruity ester overall. Warm brown malts and softly herbal hops finish on a biscuity malt texture. After debating whether there was fruit or no fruit I decided that hops have added a dynamic fruitiness to this beer. It earthy spicy and citrusy. The caramel is not too long or too sweet. Lemon peel.

Cheers you all and let's cook today and maybe even make this a Two Beer Sunday! ( It depends on how my dish comes out.) Incidentally , I am learning to grow vegetables and herbs hydroponcally with a gadget called the aerogarden. I am successful with the herbs and tomatoes but my peppers are doing nothing. Ah well.

Where did you get that? THAT is my favorite regional oktoberfest. OMY! I could pick a bone with that distributor for pulling it from the shelves way too soon each year. I only had two sixers of it before ti was replaced with IPAs. Cheers!

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Starting early today at Boarder View Resort on Lake of the Woods.

Decided to start with some coffee.

Pearl Street Brewing Java Lava.

A very poor coffee beer. So weak on flavor, and so damn watery. Not impressed, to say the least.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/682/107059/


Next beer will be on the ice, so see you all then.

 

In a recent trade with one of your neighbors. Interestingly, in miles I'm closer to the Border with Mexico than I am to Upstate NY yet FedEx shipped both boxes in three business days during this holiday season.

Maria my NBS next Sunday will be one I specifically asked to be included in my box based on your comments and reviews. So next week I will be unabashedly following your lead.

 

Mornin' NBSers,

With special thanks to @cjgiant for his start up and opening question to get the ball rolling.

We're going to an afternoon Christmas open house today and will probably be gone most of the afternoon, if only because there will be so many folks there we've not seen since last Christmas holiday season. So that means I'll probably not be having a new beer until later this evening, when I think I'll open a bottle of Singlecut's Heavy Boots of Lead. The last few weeks there have been a few folks reporting their thoughts about this beer and I've decided it's time to pull my 2016 bottle from the cellar and give it a try.

As for X-mas gifts of beer, while I'm not gifting anyone this year with beer, I'm pretty confident that I'll on the receiving end of both a couple of 375ml bottles of Russian River Temptation and a 750ml bottle of Troeg's new Mad Elf Grand Cru. The Temptation is a long time favorite and will be much enjoyed. The Mad Elf Grand Cru definitely sounds to me like an interesting and enjoyable take on the Troeg's classic Mad Elf Christmas Ale (which is surely one of the first Christmas beers I ever tried and have had frequently over the years since).

Until later...

Cheers, all!

 

A-A black/brown darkness color with a slight head and some lacing.
A-Hints of coffee, dark chocolate and some rye.
T-The taste follows the notes with resounding notes of coffee, dark chocolate, and rye. The flavors get more pronounced as the beer warms up.
M-A light bodied smooth stout with complex flavors and decent carbonation.
O-A well made light bodied stout with decent character and a good kick.

 

Great morning BA! I have no idea why I'm up so early. I went to bed just under 4hrs ago after doing the majority of my Xmas wrapping. I only have a couple people to gift holiday beers to, as to answer the question posed by @cjgiant . First is my local FB beer group secret santa. There was a $25max limit, so I just decided that I couldn't put a $ amount on beers I recieved multiples of in trades, so an enormous box of those along with $25ish of good local, limited distro stuff will be headed her way. Yes, I found a way to "work the system", but I don't think she will be complaining. The other gift is a bottle of Transient Artisan Ales Buckley. It's a big stout that should hold up well for a little while. It was purchased at the bottle release earlier this summer with my step sister in mind. Her and her husband adopted a foster dog(the only way to go) named Buckley. I, myself, have 2 rescues of my own and I love hearing/seeing when this happens. I'm not sure if the two will like the beer, but I just thought it was a neat idea.

I'm pretty sure every child wishes that they could have a milkshake for breakfast, so I'm going to fulfill that childhood fantasy today. Actually I'm having beer for breakfast, which is *cough* perfectly fine for an adult. Let's try to satisfy both cravings with a new milkshake IPA. I had my first of this style a couple days ago. A local brewery released a raspberry & blackberry milkshake IPA that just looked so sexy in the glass, that I had to go grab a 4pk. It epwas awesome. High hopes for this single that I found at my local shop.
On to the review.

Pretty Pretty Awkward Milkshake(orange creamsicle) by Brewlink


This pours with a large tuft of white foam that really hangs around for a bit and leaves some splotchy lacing as I drink on. The color is a dark gold, almost crossing the border of light orange(almost looks like that bottle of corona, you always cringe at, that has been sitting on the back bar of your favorite hole in the wall for years and is seriously light-struck). The nose is definitely orange. Almost like artificial flavor from orange hard candies, or Pez. The taste follows the nose pretty well. Sweet orange, meet bitter hop. They hang together for what seems like enough time to get along, when orange turns around to talk to his buddy, Malt, and hops blasts orange in the back with a bazooka! It turns into almost a medicinal mix, and now I'm sipping on my morning vitamins. The feel was pleasant, with a frothy and creamy feel. Nice carbonation. My overall thoughts were that I was tricked by the artwork on the can and the $3.99 price tag. I assumed it would be like the milkshake IPA I had earlier this week from my guys right down the street, but I was wrong. Not all milkshake IPAs are created equal. This one is a box of chewable multivitamins in sheeps clothing.

 

Nothin' from nothin' leaves nothin'

“'Cause that zero is too cold for me, Brrr”. Wise words from the “fifth Beatle” – Billy Preston. Which leads me to today’s new beer from Zero Gravity Brewing: a Kellerbier.

In a previous NBS post I wrote about Zero Gravity Brewing when I discussed their Oktoberfest beer:

“Zero Gravity Brewery began in 2004 out of their Brewpub at American Flatbread Burlington Hearth in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Since then, they have expanded to a 30-barrel brew house located on Pine Street in Burlington’s South End Arts District. Opened in spring of 2015, their Pine Street Brewery offers a full canning line, tasting room, retail shop and sun-drenched beer garden.

One of the distinguishing elements of Zero Gravity beer is an adherence to the outstanding qualities of classic beer styles. This requires painstaking attention to technique and recipe. Using the best malt and hops, their beers are matured to completion. They strive for internal balance above all. This mode—call it an unwavering commitment to the level of quality found in the great beers of the world—is not at odds with experimental brewing. It quietly underpins the work of the best creative breweries of America that serve as the foundation on which their beers are built.”

I really enjoyed drinking the Oktoberfest from Zero Gravity so I have high hopes for today’s beer.

On the can it mentions this beer is unfiltered which is in keeping with the Kellerbier style. It also lists it is 4.9% ABV with 25 IBUs. This all sounds good to me.

Let’s drink already!!

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw colored with a BIG rocky white head. This beer has excellent head retention forming a beautiful Belgian Lace as the beer is consumed.

Aroma:

Wow! Lots going on here. An enticing combination of bready (from the malt), herbal/spicy (from the hops) and a bit of a yeasty component.

Taste:

The flavor very much follows the nose. A pleasant combination of bready and herbal/spicy with a medium bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied, moderate carbonation and an off-dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good; I enjoyed drinking it! This beer had a Goldilocks (just right) combination of aroma/flavors to provide an enjoyable drinking experience. When I was finished drinking this can I really, really wished I had a second one to drink. This beer has the quality that Germans refer to as süffig (drinkable).



I have only had two beers from Zero Gravity but I am prepared to declare that their statement of “adherence to the outstanding qualities of classic beer styles” is spot on.

Cheers to Zero Gravity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@zid @rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @Seacoastbrewer

 

This stuff looks so good! I've seen it all over BA, but just like the hi west version, this didn't make it anywhere near me.

 

Is it that time of week again?
Thanks, Craig, for getting us started. To answer your question, I will be both gifting and receiving beer this Christmas. My co-workers, all female, give me beer and I give them wine. They almost always give me some really fine beers. I also have a colleague who enjoys fine beer. He and I exchange beer gifts every Christmas.

When I bought this beer I was of the mind that I had had it previously. Turns out I hadn't. The beer is Christmas Bomb from Prairie Artisan Ales. It is an "Imperial Stout Brewed with Spices," and clocks in at 13% ABV.

In my snifter the beer was a deep brown color with just a halo of head.
Nice aroma: coffee, booze, and spice.
It tasted even better. Coffee, a little chocolate. Whiskey. A late appearance of cinnamon and nutmeg that lingered.
The mouthfeel was a bit on the thin side.
Overall a great beer.

 

I can't wait! Cheers!

 

Three Floyds Robert the Bruce

New “Scottish style ale” Sunday. Doing two so-called Scottish ales today. Beers proclaimed to be in this mold are a rarity here.

This one is hazy and a very dark mahogany stain. Head is ok. Taste is slightly oxidized, bitter, and nicely malty. Feel is thin. Flavors of unsweetened root beer (or at least what I imagine unsweetened root beer might be like) and a little dark fruit. Goes down easy.

Love this beer so far. Might be a regular for me if it was in my area and consistently fresh.

 

Good morning New BSers! Well, it's another chilly morn here in NW PA, one on which Mrs. Lizard has determined I have to go christmas shopping. There won't be any beer going out as gifts although a small batch rye from Texas will. Other than that, nothing too exciting.

Today's New Breakfast Beer:




$ 10.56 (Including shipping)/11.2 oz bottle ($ 0.943/oz) from Travour, who now delivers to PA.
Undated bottle (2016 vintage) stored at 42 degrees and served at 42 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Aroma – Sour and a little fruit. Weak and doesn’t last the entire glass.
Head – Tiny (Maximum 8 mm, aggressive pour), off white, fizzy, gone within ten seconds of completing the pour, leaving a one mm partial ring fed by effervescence and no layer.
Lacing – None.
Body – Medium orange, hazy, slight effervescence. The haziness clears at the temperature rises past 50 degrees.
Flavor – Begins sour with a slight fruitiness. Ends sour with a slight fruitiness. A little vanillin comes through from the barrel. No malt, no hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl.
Palate – Medium, watery, lively carbonation.
Impression: An unremarkable sour. I’m glad I tried it but I won’t be buying any more of this. Two and done.
Appearance 3, Aroma 3, Flavor 3, Palate 3, Overall 3.

I like wild ales. I like sours. I've been known to bring home cases of Jester King from Texas. Perhaps I'm making unfair comparisons by holding this up to JK standards, but if you're going to run with the big dogs...

 

Scottish #2
Odell 90 Shilling

I guessed this would be lighter in color, clearer, and less bitter than the Three Floyds beer. Yep, I was right.

This one seems more refined too. Much cleaner. Malt has a nice nuttiness. The dry finish is the best thing here. I keep drinking just for the finish.

A very different beer than Robert the Bruce, but my Robert felt like it was sitting in the bottle longer. This Odell could be a go-to also. I like both of them a lot.

 

Unhappy Non-Participation New Beer Sunday (Week 669)!

Grr. Between last Saturday's snowfall that arrived earlier than expected & caught me out in less-than-optimal shoes and a teaching aide on Thursday with a stomach virus, I just awoke from a horrible night. My stomach muscles feel like I just did 1,000 crunches, but my system seems to be purged & flushed. I am now indulging in some water & may try coffee later, but no beer until MUCH later, if at all. 8=( At least, I feel capable of going in to work tomorrow.

The Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS) here in Lancaster (SC) PA has an annual Secret Santa gift exchange with a $ cap of $25. & it must be purchased from their inventory. Each person details 3 favorite styles & the giver chooses something(s) from among them. The deadline for sign-up was yesterday & next Saturday is the exchange. I hope to be back to full capacity by then.

 

Things to do this morning before the 1 o clock Birds game, but I found a new Victory beer I've never seen before. Mighty Things DIPA it is, I was jonesing for a Hop Devil and not one to be seen , I'll be back at halftime.

 

Morning all! Great start today @cjgiant great advice about reviewing beer, especially the advice to review beers with no or few other reviews. Great hints to doing successful reviews.

Just to illustrate, I had a beer at a share y'day that was a bretty wonderful full flavored apricot sour, really deep kinda brett b. funk going on. Without the few reviews from when the beer came out a year ago I would not have known that it started out as a sour and not bretty beer with fresh apricot flavor, and it had changed character over that year. How else will we have practical knowledge to use in the care and selection of our own beers without sharing our observations with others? Anyway I'll climb down now.

Ironically I tried about 25 new beers yday and not sure I have a new beer to drink today! Hopefully I do. See ya inna bit.

 

Poured just above room temperature canned on 11/02/17 and says it is only 5.2% ABV. Leaves some thin wisps of lace and slowly settles into a thin ring of brown bubbles. 4.75

Smell is dark chocolate, coffee grounds, vanilla bean, sweet pipe tobacco, toffee, and a little leather. 4.25

Taste follows dark chocolate, dry coffee, vanilla, toffee, and some sweet tobacco and leather. 4.25

Mouthfeel is a creamy and slightly above medium, plenty of carbonation, maybe a tad dry, and drinks very easy, but seems much bigger than 5.2% ABV, I would have thought it was 6.5 to 7%. 4

Overall this a great and very sessionable Porter, roasty and really something I would drink often if I had access. Thanks @jzeilinger for another excellent can of beer. 4.25

 

Another great Sunday opening Craig. In answer to your question, no beers etc. to/from me this holiday; instead we are bringing Junior Z over to join us for the holidays. We pick him up at the airport this evening. Mrs. Z is soooo happy, and I’m looking forward to the 3 of us doing things together. The beer I’ve been saving this week to review is “New England Double IPA” from White Frontier Brewery, SZ:

Pours a fairly clear gold (6+) with white cap; decent retention leaving a solid ring; moderate lacing initially; not hazy and barely opaque. Brewed with “Vermont Ale Yeast”. 4.0



Strong grapefruit nose with pine to follow; hopped with Columbus, Mosaic, Amarillo and Simcoe, not sure which in the boil vs. dry...nose makes me think Columbus post boil...4.5

Bitter juicy grapefruit right up front; poured at 58 degrees; pine, citrus/orange rind; some onion on the backend; shifts from citrus to onion as liquid warms and I peck away on my iPhone. 4.5

Medium light feel; moderate carbonation; no warmth from the 9.3%ABV; some resin stickiness. 4.25

Overall the style is, IMO, west Coast, as it is not even hazy and it may be juicy, but I would not call it East Coast; otherwise, perhaps the best IPA I’ve had in awhile; reminds me of Jai Alai but more grapefruit than orange zest, or perhaps Three Claw with the strong Mosaic presence; darn good whatever the label...4.5

Off to the airport- Hope y’all have a great Sunday, and cheers!