New Beer Sunday (Week 669)

Happy NBS, and a welcome to the holidays with a happy Hanukkah to those celebrating it!

Ah, the gift of beer. In past years I've been the one who has given it, I have a friend in a rural area for whom traveling to a release can be an all day affair and so he can't always make it. I also like to give out gift cards to local breweries. This year will be my first receiving the gift of beer, my wife spent a little while bugging one of my favorite shops about good beers to gift so I'm looking forwards to what she found.

Today's first beer is a fairly popular one and while it's received lots of love, it is a beer that deserves it. Firestone Walker's Stickee Monkee. Going perfectly with the slight chill in the air. If I get to a next beer, it'll be one in need of some additional reviews.

Pours a dark brown color with minimal tan head that fades away quickly. Smell is molasses, black licorice, vanilla, graham cracker, and dark fruit. Depth of flavor is very good, melds nicely and slowly fades from flavor to flavor. Light molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, oak, coconut, dark fruit, and then fades into an herbal flavor with a little hit of bourbon flavor and spice towards the end. Lingers with a sweet bourbon flavor after the finish. Creamy, medium heavy. This is flat out delicious, solid sipper. Just enough heat to let you know it's a higher abv and bourbon barrel aged, but not so much that it detracts. Fantastic beer.

 

A-A clear yellow color with a nice head and some lacing.
A-Citrus hints.
T-Light citrus taste.
M-A light bodied easy drinking IPA with a good amount of carbonation.
O-Nicely done refreshing IPA.

 

Abita brewery christmas ale. Color-reddish /dark amber. Body-a little light on carbonation which makes it feel a little watery. Aroma is pine with a little malt. Taste is same,malt adds a little sweetness which mellows out pine and makes this surprisingly drinkable. Has a bit of an astringent pine taste but better than i expected

 

Glad you like it! I try to avoid hop bits, but when you use 13.5 lbs of hops per bbl and don’t filter, it’s newrly impossible to keep them out. Cheers!

 

I like your beer and glass pairing.

Speaking of which, I forgot to comment about the thread subtopic of beer gifts. This year, I gave a beer gift to one person, and that was a 750 and a 16oz can of Suarez beer to my brother-in-law. Hope he likes it even if he won’t like it as much as me.

I don’t expect to get any beer gifts but I won’t be surprised if I do from someone in my family. My mother bought me a sixer of Gaffel for my last birthday (one of my favorite beers). Even though I really appreciated it, I asked her to please stop buying me beer. I just have too much, and every gift adds to the #s. I’ll appreciate the gift of beer even more after I drink up what I currently have and then hopefully slow down in ‘18.

Some kind folks on this website (who I don’t know in person) even offered to send me the gift of beer. For the same reasons above, I had to respectfully ask for a rain check. There are some good people here.

 

New Bourbon Barrel Aged Impy Stout Sunday!

Hola Crew! I’m back here because you guys know how much I love talking about beer.... Nothing new in my life just taking each day at a time. Had time to wipe down my car from all the dirt and salt from these recent snow flakes. Now I’m here with a new beer! Let’s get to it!



Southern Tier’s Monstrous Imperial Stout.

As if you could not tell, the Beast pours Very Dark dense Black body with Brown hues. This brew is crowned with a nice medium khaki head that dissipates quickly. Alcohol legs are present but registering at 14.7 ABV that’s expected. Looks inviting but not exactly stellar proportion.

The Aroma should indicate what this monster has to say. First wave is straight Booze and Bourbon! Dense smoke and molasses creates the platform. Secondary aromas are of chocolate, vanilla and pipe tobacco. This thing smells pleasant, like a Christmas party in your nose!

Da Flavah? First hits with some Char and Booze. As the alcohol wears thin, flavors of Roasted Almonds with Cocoa interweaving each other in harmony. Slight Vanilla bean character sends in the backend with richness. This finishes dry and slightly saltine with alcohol bitterness on the sides of the palate. Aftertaste of Cocoa, Vanilla and Tobacco Bitterness. The Feel of this Beast is playfully light with medium-light carbonation.

Overall: This is a big Beast, no questions asked. The Aroma hits everything I look for in a Barrel Aged Stout. The flavor profile hits some of it....but...the thin body and the saline don’t really meld with each other. The aftertaste is damn good but while the full beer is in your mouth...it’s lacking (for me). Do I think Southern Tier needs to Barrel Age more beers? Yes...yes I do! Should they aim for such a High Gravity Imperial Stout? No, unless they can keep the Malt Body on the Heavy Side. All in all, this beer is a Monstrous Treat, This Beast is Recommended!

Grade: B+

Cheers my NBS Crew!

 

Good afternoon BAs my first new beer of the day is from The Collective Brewing Project call Cup O' Beer. A Gose brewed with Ramen Noodles. I do not get anything related to the noodle flavor but they did not say Beef Ramen and i guess the noodles would not provide a flavor and it is a decent Gose.

Appearance 4 - Pours crystal clear golden yellow color with thick white head that dissipates quickly to a bubbly ring.

Aroma 3.75 - Lemongrass, pepper, funk, salty, coriander smells a little like a sprite.

Taste 3.75 - Tastes is alot like a tart salty sprite as well. Lemongrass, salt, pretty tart.

Feel 3.75- Light tart super prickly carbonation slightly dry finish.

Overall 3.77 - A decent gose hits all of the marks not getting anything that relates to Ramen noodles.

 

I really enjoyed it, too- had a very 'Alpine' feel to me.

 

Back with another new one, this time a new local offering. It was fun seeing @Wasatch post this one last night before I could get to my stash. Looks like we are on the same page with this one:


Looks like a typical BI brew - hazy and bright golden with a modest white head. There was a huge orange and resiny aroma on the pour, amplified in the glass. The taste followed the nose closely with bright orange citrus, dank resin, and earthy notes. It has the Orange Julius notes but without the sweetness. Soft feel with a soft bitterness. This one is one of their better ones IMO. Cheers BAs!

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A rather bitter cold winter day here on the island. The sun keeps trying to break through the grey and overcast sky. Had a nice week of vacation and even got out of town for a bit to NOLA. Spending the day inside watching football and preparing to get back to the grind tomorrow. A pretty mundane Jets game but they are playing better than I thought given they have no qb. Looking more forward to the late games. Hopefully the coming of xmas makes the work week a bit more tolerable.

My new beer today is Oops I Nelsoned My Pants, a single hop ipa, from Sand City brewing. I've had this brew for a few weeks and just never got around to trying. I'm not the biggest fan of Nelson by itself. The brew checks in at 7% abv.

A hazed pour with a soft amber-blonde color and a big fluffy white head. On the nose I get fruit and sugars. Big hops upfront on the drinking with that distinct white wine flavor. Also a rather spicy/earthy flavor to the hops. A nicely bitter flow and finish. The mouth feel is moderate with a sort of mix between dry/juicy feel. Tangy fruit notes that come over on the tropical side of the scope with berry, pineapple, and grape.

Overall its decent drinking but I'm still not in love with Nelson by itself and really prefer it as a compliment. The strong white wine flavor is just too much for me which might put me in the minority of ipa drinkers. I'm really around a 4 here players and not nearly as high on it as it's ba scores,

 

Well Hello All.
I'm hoping to come back later to participate. 2 items in the meantime.

1) Popped the best version of Dragon's Milk I've tried to date thanks to the generosity of @FlintB . The S'mores Bourbon Barrel version.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/276368/
Lord, what a delight. Technically it was last night, but I wanted to give a shoutout.

2) I didn't really participate last week due to my attendance of BA's Extreme Beer Fest in Los Angeles on Saturday. Gott Im Himmel. What a well planned, well executed event. I got to finally meet the Bros. and Sam of Dogfish head. Talked to some cool folks about their beers, as opposed to many beer fest where you ask some volunteer that thinks hops are something you only chat about in reference to a basketball player. And lastly, some amazing beers.

As for now, I'm taking the kids to go see the Last Jedi at the El Capitan Theater. I hope they still have the giant at-at walker in front of the venue (they did for the opening day). Fingers crossed.

 

Good afternoon BAs! Today I have Industrial Arts Power Tools IPA.

Poured from a can dated 12/07/17 to a nonic glass.
L- Yellow orange body, almost clear- but not quite. Decent head with mixed sized bubbles, fades to creamy looking head with nice lacing.
S- Lemon and mango but sweet (mango flavored lemonade?).
T- Grapefruit takes over from the lemon/mango, changes to resin changes to nice hop bit on the back.
F- Slippery with the right carbonation
O - Nice beer, what I have learned to expect from this outfit.

 

New beer #4. A great brew that I want to buy more of.

Ballast Point - High West Victory at Sea
BA Imperial Porter - 12% abv
Purchased for $5.29 at Monde Market
Score: 4.38 (+2.3% rDev)



L - 2-finger mocha head recedes rapidly. Pitch black body.

S - milk chocolate, coffee, vanilla, a little barrel but not much.

T - chocolate and coffee first. Vanilla makes its presence known but is subtle. The barrel is there but not overpowering...rather, it’s a nice accent to the other flavors.

F - medium-full body with average carb for the style.

O - I very much like the base beer, and this improves on it. The barrel adds complexity to the already diverse bouquet, and this does not taste like a 12% beer at all. Danger sauce.

 

Nectar & Knife DIPA from Triple Crossing in Richmond VA.

16 oz can dated 12/14 poured into a tulip glass.
L: A finger and a half white foamy head that leaves some nice lacing. Hazy bright orange color. 4.5/5
S: mango, pineapple, and some pine or grass. 4.5/5
T: Mango, orange, grapefruit with some nice betterness on the finish. 4.5/5
F: Medium body and carbonation with a very smooth mouthfeel. 4.5/5
O: Another great DIPA from Triple Crossing. They've really nailed down the 8% beers. 4.5/5

 

Thanks @Prager62



The appearance was a dark brown color with a thick half finger's worth of eggshell white foamy head that slid off ever so gently. Light concave edgy lace clung around the top nicely.
The aroma had a very nicely done meshing of cinnamon, toast, milk chocolate, some dark chocolate and a little bit of wafer on the back end. Ever so light amount of coffee. Maple was very light.
The flavor moderately lead with a the sweetness of the cinnamon, milk chocolate and the sweeter side of the dark chocolate. Light coffee bean came in briskly. Maple, once again, was faint. Slight sticky milk chocolate roamed in the aftertaste.
The mouthfeel was between medium to full bodied with a fair sipping quality about it. Carbonation felt fine. ABV felt on par. Finish was semi-smooth kicking the cinnamon back a bit further. Nice little bit of roast screeches along my tongue cutting all and any possible ties of it to be anything cloying.
Overall, an absolutely wonderful imperial stout that I would love to have again. Oatmeal seemed barely here in the aroma and flavor but I was okay with that.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/41990/280914/?ba=Lone_Freighter#review

 

A-A clear golden color with a nice head and some lacing.
A-Grapefruit and citrus hints.
T-Light grapefruit and citrus taste.
M-A light bodied easy drinking Pale Ale with a good amount of carbonation.
O-Nicely done refreshing Pale Ale.

 

Now up 2SP D’Abricot, a barrel aged saison with apricots. I enjoyed it fresh on draft and was hoping that a few months would make it better but I feel it is still about the same as when I had it on draft in April.
4.06/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle poured into a tulip

A- A hazy/murky golden/apricot color with minimal head, looks like there are chunks of apricot in the bottle.

S- Wheat, some tart apricot, mild funky, touch of oak.

T- Tart apricot, peppercorns, some wheat, touch of oak and funk.

M- Smooth, light to medium body, a touch light on carbonation.

O- A solid saison with apricots in it, the apricots come off almost juice like. Fruits is not overbearing and lets the base of the beer still shine through. Just wish the yeast was funkier.

As it warms, along with getting some more apricot chunks in the second pour, I feel it gets better. Hope they brew this again, cheers!

 

Happy NBS everybody!
It is a nice cold day here in Montreal. It has finally gotten chilly and snowy here which is nice. Especially the snow. I prefer freezing cold and white to regular cold and gray.

I missed last week as I was on a quick weekend trip to the states. All in all it's been an amazing two or three weeks here for me beer-wise, after a while where I had been working a lot and drinking less and just drinking down my cellar when I did. Not a bad thing, but it's nice to have a little more time to enjoy beer and review. I got to see a lot of cool things in Boston and got have a lot of great beers (and to bring even more back) I also became a Poobah at some point in the last couple days apparently... One thing I don't understand though, do the bros, like, send me the big fuzzy blue hat with the water buffalo horns or do I have to go pick it up somewhere?

My beer for this Sunday is Pittsburgh Street from Trillium. This one is a new (or maybe the newest) "Street" beer. It's brewed with Enigma and CTZ. I gotta work this evening so this will probably be my only one today.



It pours like a Trillium beer sure enough. Goldish with an okay head that pretty well dissipates. The aroma and flavor both have a fruity and an earthy side to the hops. There is some nice citrus oil bitterness with green canteloupe, lime zest, a little minty zip and a touch of clean malt. Maybe not the best one of these I've ever had but the hop flavors are nice interesting and super fruity without being super "juicy".

Here's my official scorecard.

Cheers, all!