New Beer Sunday (Week 669)

Rahr & Sons Angry Santa -
Spiced London Ale 8% ABV

Full disclosure: Yesterday’s shenanigans got WAY out of hand. I ended up drain pouring my Delirium Noel because I was completely too .... too far gone to enjoy. I promptly went to bed after doing so, may have even shed a tear.

But as @cjgiant reminds us, the sun will rise again, and in fact has this morning. Here’s a beer I’ve been waiting to open for several weeks:

Poured into a nonic pint glass.

Look: The darkest shade of brown without being actual black under a thick khaki head that doesn’t recede much, leaving random dots and small lines of lacing.

Aroma: Spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, a touch of allspice immediately fill the nose over a base of roasted malts.

Taste: A toasted bread, roasty malt base allow for spices to run rampant. Cinnamon is huge, while hops finally come out in the finish with bitter, spicy wood notes.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, dry, tangy.

Overall: If you like cinnamon spices this beer is for you, the finish does leave a really tangy bitter aftertaste though.

3.98/5 rDev +4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

————————-

I only have one more new beer but not sure I’ll get to it as it is a bomber of 10% ABV. I have a sad suspicion that I’ll crack it open and share it here though.

 

Happy New Ain't That a Pale Ale Sunday

The other day I got an email from some local characters here on BA who were all anticipating New Beer Sunday with pint CANs full of hoppy beer. Well, I went and got myself a pint CAN full of hoppy beer too. This is Springdale Beer Ain't That Remarkable. Springdale is somehow a subsidiary or offshoot of Jack's Abby.

When I go to pair my beer with food which is most often I usually have the food in mind and not the beer in mind first. If you know what I mean.



That is a tomatillo back there. I got ham hock broth, beans and green bell pepper.



Pours lemony yellow with a sweet light haze. clearing well with a creamy white head of foam. Spicy dank hop with pink grapefruit and it's peel. Lemon and earth a bit of sweet sugar. Light green herbal. This is one of the most delicate presentations of grapefruit I have ever seen in a lively pale ale. Malt is a white cracker. drinks perfectly with hop spice first backed by all kinds of generous citrus. That delightful and just sweetened pink grapefruit. No dms, no diacetyl so the middle is light and soft. The hops are like perfume as the beer warms. They move forward into the finish never quite overtaking the malt completely. That generous and delicate herbal is something I really like. Finishes crisply with bubble and with all kinds of citrus flavor to linger with a perfect bitterness. Why is the bitterness perfect? Because it does not strip those surprisingly vibrant yet more delicate flavors. The piney spice is backed by just enough sweetness to temper it. Did this beer use any hops that taste like bell pepper? I think this beer will pair especially well with the green bell pepper and with the bitter tomatillo. Now if you think you are done tasting after you observe the taste, nose , mouthfeel and overall impression, please take a moment to listen to your beer.

This beer just said to me "Come on baby. I'm in love."

Here is the final pour which does display the characteristic turbidity of the style.

OH! Right back atcha BEER! I am in love!



I'll show you my dish in new Beer Sunday if you show me yours. I wake up every morning with the same thing on my mind.

 

Good morning NBS
Worked all night, went to early church with the family and now having a nightcap...

The review:
12oz bottle 2017 vintage poured into a Duvel glass at fridge temp, no ABV listed on bottle. The beer pours a hazy brown color with quickly fading khaki head. The head recedes to a thin ring and paper thin cap. The aroma is fairly strong with bourbon first trailing to oak and vanilla in the background. The taste is semisweet burnt sugar & malt at first transitioning to bourbon, oak & vanilla. There is no appreciable bitterness, yet this beer never approaches cloying or even full on sweet. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, well carbonated, and dry in the finish. Overall, excellent. To my taste, CW has the best balanced approach to barrel treatment in my distribution. Recommended!

I have no idea why CW BBA beers sit on the shelf here. I've never seen any other BBA beer on a shelf except the odd ball Founder's stuff. To my taste, CW has the best barrel aged beers I've tried.

To @cjgiant's original question, I try to buy some interesting large format beers for my wife's family Christmas each year to share. I opened one early, out of curiosity, yesterday for the Belgian Christmas beer thread. I recorded the first review of Taxman's Tax Holiday which is an excellent beer. Here's to sharing

 

A-A hazy golden hue with a slight head and some lacing.
A-A really dank citrusy hops fragrance.
T-The taste follows the nose with nice hops with citrus overtones.
M-A medium bodied smooth DIPA with nice character flavors and decent carbonation.
O-Well worth and very well made DIPA.

 

There seems to be tons of this stuff in the area.

Good stuff but I liked the Hi West a little better.

 

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

Cheers!

 

Good morning all. Happy Sunday! A great day to vacuum and shampoo the downstairs carpets and mop the kitchen floor. My new beer is Victory "Mighty Things" but it looks like VABA beat me to it. I have always been a Victory fan and went to pick up a six of "Dirt Wolf" but when I saw this I figured what the heck. I was quite surprised. I can best describe it as a juicy sweet DIPA that stands up to just about anything I have tried. A very respectable well crafted beer that is nothing short of excellent. Now.... back to the carpet..

 

3.64/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

A: Beer pours a black body with a finger sized khacki head. Head quickly disapeared but left behind a solid lacing during drinking.

S: Getting a large amount of maltiness sweetness from the beer. Can also pick up some chocolate aromas as well as a few slight coffee notes.

T: Coffee flavors are more pronouced than the aromas were. However, the coffee seemed scorched. The malt and chocolate gives a nice counterbalance to the burnt coffee taste.

M: Beer feels light and watered down. Not much going on with the beer's mouthfeel.

O: The smells and appearance are the highlights of the beer, but overall the beer is lacking. The burnt coffee flavors are overpowering. Would also like to see a thicker fuller mouthfeel.

 

My new beer offering for the morning...

Other Half's Candy From Strangers... a 13% abv imperial stout...

Well, it's gonna depend on what you enjoy in a stout, but this is a very "apple-forward" stout - a collab with Arizona Wilderness brewed on Halloween with apple cider and caramel, and aged on fresh apples. The pour is typically black, and coughed up a thin finger of dark foam head that slimmed into a flimsy collar, and left nothing but a faint sheen down the glass... Aromas of apple come evenly with the more traditional chocolate aromas, and for the most part, mask anything else. The flavors are again, very influenced by the apple, with caramel sweetening those chocolaty base flavors. Medium body gets thinned with acidic cider-like agents that add a distinct tingle and tang... As you might infer, a sweet stout, lacking any real roastiness or drying,.. I have enjoyed a few apple brandy-aged ales - but I found the apple to be a bit too much for the rest of the beer. But as I said, it's gonna depend on your personal feelings in that regard...

Cheers...

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! I give a lot of beer as xmas gifts. For my brother that's all I'm giving him this year. He gets a load of Tired Hands, and he gives me whatever SF freshies he can get his hands on. It's an excellent arrangement.

Onto my first of 4 new beers today.

Foam + Triple Crossing - unnamed collab
DIPA - 8% abv
Canned 11/30/17 (17 days ago)
Received in a trade from @vabeerguy
Rating: 4.47 (+2.3% rDev)



L - 2 finger offwhite head is slow to recede. Body has that murky orange juice look that makes me think/hope this is gonna be a winner.

S - orange, grapefruit. My unrefined nasal passages tell me that there is Citra in this. No booziness in the nose.

T - follows the nose. Moderately bitter, and again no detectable alcohol. Very low sweetness.

F - thick and creamy by ipa standards. Low carb.

O - This is one amazing brew from 2 of my favorite breweries. It has the feel of a stout, hides its booze incredibly well, and is an incredible showcase for the hops used.

 

Rainy day in the Deep South and trying to wrap up Christmas preparations. Getting close, I hope.

This is Good People’s Denim Downhill. Billed as a winter ale but devoid of any holiday flavor or aroma. At best, it’s an average amber. Onto the next one...



Poured from 12 oz can

A: Golden honey with smallish one finger head. Short retention and little lacing.

S: Baked brown bread, and hints of caramel. I suppose there should be some amount of holiday spice to the aroma but alas there are none.

T: Crusty bread with subtle sweetness. Not much going on here.

M: Medium to thin body with average carbonation.

O: I’m usually a big fan of GP beers, but this is a miss for me.

 

A-A nice clear amber color with a generous head and nice lacing.
A-Nice citrus and hops hints.
T-The taste follows the nose with hops with citrus hints.
M-A light bodied smooth DIPA with a decent flavor and a good amount of carbonation.
O-Well done and nicely balanced DIPA.

 

Pics out of the way, Good Sunday BA!

Got some snow yesterday, not as much as predicted so that's fine with me. 2 great threads yesterday that I was able to participate in. That's always a plus.

This is my last Vat from Boon.

Brewed January 7th 2015, bottled December 19th 2016.

It pours a clear straw gold with a small and short lived head of foam.

Smells kinda fruity, perhaps some apricots,green apples, lower level of acetic sour aromas than the vat 92.

Nice close to full bodied mouthfeel.

Nice tart fruitiness, coming from the apricots and apples, as I perceive, hints of sweet notes here and there, little oak influence to my palate. Finishes very dry. Quite the tasty brew.

Exploring this Boon box of Mono Blend Vats has been a fun experience!

Keep the new beers coming. I will be waiting with bated breath.

 

Old Raritan a 7.8% Milk Porter from Twin Elephant. This is how the brewery describes this beer


OLD RARITAN
MILK PORTER

And so we settled down, in that noisy college town. Here we have our mole inspired Imperial Milk Stout brewed with British Maris Otter, blend of crystal, brown and roasted malts plus Lactose, oats and flaked barley. Finished with Cacao Nibs, Rutgers grown pumpkin peppers, de Arbol peppers, toasted cinnamon sticks and a Columbian Albeiro Munoz coffee from our friends at Boxwood Coffee roasters. Silky body, notes of heat and earthy pepper intertwined in cinnamon spiced chocolate Mexican bundt, Dulce de Leche brownies, and Mexican Horchata.

ABV: 7.8%

MISC: Rutgers Pumpkin Peppers, Cinnamon, Boxwood Coffee, Peruvian Cacao Nibs
This is the type a beer I usually stay away from but they gave me a good size sample that I found to be interesting so I asked for a pint. Old Raritan pours a deep black and has creamy tan head. The aroma is mostly chocolate and coffee. The taste is a march of different flavors none of which stand out until the end when the pepper kick in with a strong blast of heat. The mouthfeel is soft and full. The finish is hot. If you like this sort of beer you would love this. As for me once is enough.

 

New beer #2.

Back Home - Golden Road
Gingerbread Stout - 8.5% abv
Canned on 9/29/2017
Purchased for $3.99 at Monde Market
Rating: 3.65 (0% rDev)



L - 1-finger hazelnut head recedes fully in about a minute. Body is very dark brown. Close to black.

S - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger.

T - christmas spice overload. The cloves are dominant. Ginger is there too but takes a back seat.

F - medium body and carb.

O - A decent holiday brew, but comes off as more of a winter warmer than a stout. Not getting any chocolate, roast, etc that would make this more stout-like. Greatly prefer Hardywood's version.

 

Good afternoon NBS! Starting my day with a bottle of Unland Hopsynth thanks to @Grizzarky!
4.14/5 rDev +5.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Thank you Grizzarky for this
500 ml bottle poured into tasting glass

A- A slightly hazy bright golden color with a three finger white head.

S- Sour, lemons, some apricots, hops, citrus zest, touch of pineapple, herbal tea, touch of oak.

T- Sour, citrus hops, hints of tropical fruits, herbal tea, some oak, funky/piney finish.

M- Smooth, light body.

O- A solid example of a dry hopped sour, worth picking up if you get the chance.

It honestly reminds me of New Belgium Le Terroir, cheers!

 

Back again out on Lake of the Woods. We were going to have a fish fry, but we forgot the pan part of our Fryin Saucer.

Oh, well.

Time for another new beer while the fishing is slow.



Fistmas from Revolution Brewing.

It is a solid red ale. Easy drinking. Delicious. Nice hop presence. Really well made.

Review.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22072/64036/

And a view from the ice fishing house



Be back for some more later

 

Gasp!

How many beers did she have?





That is fried tomatillos and zucchini with ham hock stew with beans and roasted oranges with parlsey.

Drink beer and wait.

Cheers NBS!