New Beer Sunday (Week 669)

Pretty solid beer from a Chicago area brewer!

 

What are some of the characteristics you enjoy about it? Does it remind you of any other beers?

 

Happy NBS! It's above freezing this weekend so I am doing a few things outside. Rinsed off all the dirt and salt from my filthy car. Watching the Packers now that Rodgers has returned.

My first new beer is from the Brewing Project - Dare Mighty Things Galaxy. It pours a turbid and dirty orange with a 2 finger head that fades slowly and leaves webbed lacing on my glass. The scent is lovely citrus, pineapples and kiwi. The Galaxy hop gives an incredible citrus/tropical juicy aroma to it. Absolutely fantastic topical fruits in the taste is more of the same citrus, grapefruit, kiwi, and pineapples. A bit of slight grapefruit and pine bitter, malt in the finish. Excellent carbonation with oily hop residue and dry finish.

 

Good afternoon NBS and thanks @cjgiant for yet another thoughtful start to the thread.
We do gift beer to a few friends, never expect to receive but often do. I have for the last few years made a point to share a favorite style of home brew with my parents, as they gave me that first gift certificate to the local home brew shop.
Today's offering is from our friends at Suarez Family Brewing, the Triangular Nature is a remarkable offering, structure is soft on the palate, full in flavor, so much packed into a 4.3% country beer.

Cheers all

Triangular Nature

Suarez Family Brewery
Saison / Farmhouse Ale / 4.30% ABV

4.19/5 rDev -0.2% | Score: 4.2
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a bottle dated 6/17 into the test glass.
A - A big pop at uncapping then a solid rise in liquid to and over the bottle top. Settled quickly and poured just fine. The color is dark straw, even orange honey, Carbonation is steady and consistent, feeding a sea foam like cap.
S - Green apple, dusty grain, Loire valley white comes to mind, the slightest touch of mixed culture and lightly toasted oak, some spicy pepper, and a nice chalky touch.
T - Cold this is lively and a bit narrow with lemongrass, a bit of multi grain dough rising, with a rise in temperature the complexity begins. Dusty warm summer grain, a bit grass, and blood orange, peach skin, and apricot. What a delight
M - Soft water, wheat adds to the feel, sweet and sour mouth coating, perfect carbonation. The construction is incredible. The carbonation has just enough prickly feel to offset the soft feel.
O - This is a full experience at 4.3% the body and flavors are delicate and plentiful, the aromatics parts are a joy. An offering that with any luck could be a staple here. Worth every effort to find and enjoy

 

Greetings from damp and rainy middle TN! Got some work done the morning and I'm settling in for some afternoon football for the rest of the day. @mattflippin brought me this interesting one - a collab by J. Wakefield and NOLA Brewing Co. Also kudos to @cjgiant for another strong opening - Craig, this is the first review out of 9 ratings for this one:


Love the Smashing Pumpkins reference. Not much of a look to this one, and my dirty glass certainly didn't help things. A moderately hazy golden color with minimal head despite a vigorous pour. There was a nicely complex aroma with lemon, melon, faint ginger, and dough. This beer was mouth-puckeringly tart on the first sip. As I acclimated, I appreciated complex flavors with cantaloupe, green apples, subtle ginger, limes, lemons, and a gentle funk. Medium bodied but with a big sticky, funky feel. It got even better as it warmed and was a nice sipper. I was worried about the ginger being overpowering but it was there in flavor without any heat. Really well done. Cheers, and hopefully I'll be back with something else.

 

Poured aggressive straight from the fringe and got this massive 4 finger head that leaves loads webs of lace behind. As always with Alchemist no date, but coming from my cousin @Pkb1103 who went to the brewery it is fresh. 4

Smell is guava, apricot, tangerine, honey dew, grassy, and a hint grapefruit. 4

Taste follows very tropical guava and apricot stand out along with some fresh mellon, grapefruit and pine lingers on the tongue well after every sip, really nice. 4.25

Mouthfeel is pretty big and sticky, plenty of carbonation, maybe a whisker dry from all the fresh hops, and drinks pretty easy but has a ton of flavor at 7.7% ABV and may seem closer to 8.5 or 9% ABV. 4.25

Overall this is a very nice and fairly different DIPA from Alchemist. One of the most mellon dominant beers I have ever had and that isn't a complaint. No very hazy, but tasty just the same. 4.25

 

Back with another new beer. This one packs the flavor and would be perfect for summer.

Pours a very deep mauve with a 2 finger fizzy light purple head that leaves some spotty lacing on my glass. Aroma is very heavy with berry notes, specifically blackberry, and hints of lemon. Flavor really hits with ripe jammy blackberries and finishes with tart lemon. Feel is light bodied with prickly carbonation, quite refreshing.

 

I had to add this one-off to the database. It's an altbier with coffee added. The coffee is very forward. I'm going to enjoy this while making some chocolate covered pretzels for Christmas gifts.



Pours a deep tan with a thick, one-finger head that lingers with minimal lacing.

The smell is loaded with coffee and some light malts underneath.

The taste follows with the coffee being way forward. There is a nice caramel sweetness and maltiness underneath.

The mouthfeel is very thick and smooth with minimal carbonation.

Overall this is a nice beer, but the coffee overpowers a lot. The mouthfeel is excellent. I'd love to try the base beer sometime.

 

Founders Mango Magnifico
Mango Ale brewed with a hint of mango
10% ABV

I consulted with the beer gods, and we all agreed that I should drink this today to clear room for other more Christmasy beers next weekend.

I would normally copy my review but I won’t this time I’ll just talk about it as I sip it, but here’s the score:

4.07/5 rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

I liked it a lot more than most. As I stuck my nose in the glass, I got punched in the face with MANGO, lots of mango and nothing else. I took a sip and tasted the same thing with a really beautiful habanero heat simmering as my throat warmed — I love pepper beers so this was a good sign.

As the beer warmed, and it still is as I’m on my first pour, the mango turned into a Mango Jolly Rancher. More of a Mexican hard candied mango flavor, very sweet in the finish with a blast of peppery habanero heat. There is a soft warm caramel note that lingers in the background, very nice complement to the other flavors and aromas.

The thing I love about this beer is that for 10% ABV I’m constantly wanting to sip it, whereas yesterday when I was drinking a 10.5% Evil Twin/Westbrook Imp. Mexican Biscotti Cake Break, it was so thick it took forever to get through it. I don’t know if that makes a lot of sense — I’m not saying that I want to chug a big beer, but I also don’t want to drink a beer for 4 hours with a muddy mouthfeel. I know — different styles, so you can’t compare.

In conclusion, this is tons of candied mango with a really beautifully hot habanero presence, it’s hottter than the bottle makes it sound. I’m glad I popped this open, it was priced at $6.99 so I felt good about that since it’s a bomber.

 

Millstream The Empire Stouts Back, unknown ABV or IBU. Pours black with a slight tan head. Nose is bourbon and coffee, taste follows with very slight bitterness. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent. This was a one-off where a local store (Empire) sent an empty Woodford Reserve barrel to Millstream, where they aged stout in it. I suspect the base beer is their Back Road Oatmeal Stout which I previously reviewed, and it had very little flavor. Too bad they didn't base it on their wonderful Raspberry Latte Stout.

 

That label is the best thing I’ve seen yet, but that’s because I’m a huge SP fan. So glad I saw this.

 

Great divide oatmeal yeti imperial stout.color is jet black medium body and average carbonation. Aroma is a mix of roasted coffee beans,cocoa,malt,and dried fruit.taste is identical,this is definitely not a sweet stout despite the dried fruit. The finish is dry and there's a lingering bitterness that doesn't compliment this beer. Overall,really well made and an overall good beer except for bitter medicinal finish

 

New beer #3. @vabeerguy you’ll have this one on Tuesday! Curious how your impressions will compare to mine.

Tired Hands - Big Dream Sympathetic
DIPA - 9.1% abv
Canned 12/12/17 (5 days ago)
Purchased at Tired Hands
Rating: 3.92 (-6.9% rDev)



L - billowing 4-finger head is super-dense and stubborn. Body is murky yellow.

S - honey, oats, bread, a little citrus, a little booze.

T - bready. Honey sweetness overwhelms the palate. Rye bread in the middle. Sweet finish. Low bitterness. Not boozy.

F - medium body. Higher carb than normal for a TH DIPA.

O - Another DIPA from TH that does not reach greatness due to excessive sweetness. I prefer Hail Santa to this. Or Hop Hands even. Stop sugar-coating your beers, Tired Hands!

 

Sorry guys...
L: Not quite black, frothy brown head.
A: Burnt coffee, roasted malts and a hint if bitter chocolate.
T: Is about the same.
F: Seems less carbonated than it looks, goes down easily and it's claimed 10.3% abv is very well hidden.
O: Should'a bought more of this.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday! Today I'm having a treat from Tombstone, Arizona. I've been meaning to try one of their beers for a long time and today I'm lucky enough to be doing just that, thanks to my good friend @AZBeerDude72 ! I spent a lot of time in Southeastern Arizona (2 years in Tucson to be exact) and Tombstone didn't have a brewery back then, so I can't wait to open this



Pours hazy-copper in color with a white head that settles into a thin lacing. I've seen my fair share of hazy IPAs but this is the first time I've seen actual hop leaves floating around. I think I'm in for quite the hop onslaught. Wonderful hop aroma with big citrus notes of tangerine and grapefruit, along with tropical/stone fruit like pineapple and melon. Flavor is like getting assaulted with a bag of new-age American hops. Imagine being waterboarded with raw hops (but in a good way). It has all the aforementioned fruity hop notes but it also packs a bracing bitterness that many hazy IPAs lack these days. Dry mouthfeel. Overall this is easily one of the hoppiest beers I have ever come across in my 11 years of drinking craft beer. @honkey you should be very proud of this beer. Keep up the great work! (4.7/5)

 

This is simply an Amazing (DIPA/IIPA depending on which side you sit on). It’s an instant classic for me. Victory will always remain one of my favorite Breweries. Cheers!

 

Thanks @Prager62

Since this beer is new to me, seemed fitting to post here:



In the appearance category, the pour was thick with a semi-glub glub sort of sound inking out into my glass. The color was dark brown close to black that had a thick finger and a half's worth of eggshell white foamy head that clung nicely and then slid into light legs that spread apart fairly nice.
The aroma captured a wonderful blend of sweet and spicy rye to meld a gentle earthy to woody barrel and then bring in some milk chocolate, some dried dark fruits and a stealthy little bit of dark chocolate compensating nicely.
The flavor finetuned the sweet to the spicy to the roast and a quivering little bitterness all deceptively roaming in and around each other. Light milk/creamy sweetness here. Exceptional balance between the spicy woody barrel to the milk chocolate creaminess in the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was about medium bodied and allowing it to be a nice sipper. Carbonation seemed to start to drop off just an inkling but still keeping it from becoming cloying. Nice dried dark fruity to milk chocolate and slightly pepper-like to spicy woody barrel sort of finish. ABV seemed as projected.
Overall, an exceptional barrel aged imperial stout well worthy of partaking in again if given the chance.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25937/88976/?ba=Lone_Freighter#review

 

I have seen this beer on repeat... Sounds like I need this in my life! @kerry4porters make it so! Cheers!