New Beer Sunday (Week 673)

Definitely eating better, have been hitting the gym all along, imbibing less frequently and am currently refereeing in a large northeastern regional youth futsal tournament. Business travels take me all over and I am renewing my resolution to only seek out / drink quality beers ( rated 4.0 and above). Doesn't always work out that way, but definitely quality over quantity. BA helps me achieve this resolution. Travelled to Atlanta and Grand Rapids this week. Was taken to Founders Brewing by my sales manger, he knows I like quality beer. My new beer for this week is Fuzzy Sweater. My notes aren't as detailed as I liked ( impolite to be writing notes whilst quaffing with friends). Here is my review of this brewery only suds....

On tap at Founders brewery poured into a pint glass

Clear copper liquid , pencil thin white foam cap quickly subsides

Aroma of tropical fruits

Taste of hop tropical fruits

Smooth , small nibble as opposed to a big bite. The most appealing aspect of this beer beside the taste was the "smoothness" of the cashmere hops

Good beer, good brewery, both are worthy repeats

 

NBS#1 for today is a bit out of my comfort zone. My palate is very sensitive to smoky flavors and so I've avoided this in the past. I decided to purchase a single in case it was more than I could handle.



Von Trapp Trosten Lager

von Trapp Brewing
Schwarzbier / 5.60% ABV

3.94/5 rDev -1.5% | Score: 4
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L-The beer pours a glossy black with a 2 finger tan head. The head recedes to a thin film. Lacing is light.
S- Initially the nose is all smoke, but that fades and the malt can be detected behind it.
T- On the palate the smoke is there up front as it was before, but in a much lighter manner than it was in the nose. The malt noticed in the nose finishes on the palate in a pleasant way and lightens the smoky aftertaste.
F- The mouthfeel is light overall but not watery. Carbonation is medium and feels appropriate.
O- As with most Von Trapp beers its well made and delivers on what it promises. It's not my favorite from them nor my favorite schwarzbier. An above average beer worth exploring.

 

Doc my wife got me a glass like that for Christmas, I love it! Cheers my friend.

 

Happy New Sour/Sierra/Sara Nevada Nac Sunday (Week 673)!

I've been around & on here for a while. Yer sentiments are pretty spot-on in that this was an early gathering that went beyond simply WBAYDN or its seemingly-defunct predecessor, Late-Night Beer Advocate (LNBA), neither of which required a review (or back then, even a picture). I have read some recent lamentations about this site allowing ratings-only check-ins, but since I am of the age where a full review was required, I still try to maintain full reviews as much as possible. The site has also evolved to make it MUCH easier to upload a photo, which adds a visual aspect to a visceral review. My only complaint is that serving style went away since one could review via bottle, CAN, cask, et al. I now try to identify serving style in the body of my review.

As for today, it is mighty ambitious, but I am off tomorrow for MLK Day, so I am going to forge ahead in my usual unusual manner. I will openly cop to not being a sour/tart beer fan, but I have some that I am curious (Flanders Red) about & which may garner me an X-rating. I also have a Saranac seasonal & a stash of Sierra Nevada bottles so we shall see where the day takes me.

I came out of the gate, after a slow start, with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2299/30358/?ba=woodychandler#review


and with that, I am off & running! I'll be back later today with my progress.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Craig, my 2018 resolution is to find more cheaper beers that I still enjoy and can appreciate. In 2017 I mostly drank $5 and up ipas and stouts, so this year my goal is to find replacements in the $1.50-$2.50 range that are still good. I’ve started buying every Sierra Nevada mix pack, so that is helping. Need to save up a down payment for a house but don’t want to curtail my drinking!

Onto my first new beer. @larryi86 and I picked these up at the brewery on Wednesday. I assume he will chime in later, but for now here is the first logged BA review for this new TH beer. (Also my first time writing the initial BA review...woo!)

Burden of Gratitude - Tired Hands
DIPA with Nelson and Galaxy - 8.1% abv
Canned 1/10/18 (4 days ago)
Score: 4.48 (+1.4% rDev)



L - 3-finger billowing white head atop a murky yellow/brown body.

S - candied citrus. Some tropical fruits. A little booze.

T - tons of citrus at first. The sweetness hits you first but is then nullified by a bitter wave of tasty citrusy hops. I can actually taste the Galaxy in this! Not sure about Nelson but I’m sure it’s there @TheIPAHunter . No booze at all in the taste.

F - medium-full body. Creamy as all hell. Feels like a stout.

O - This is my favorite TH brew in many months. I like it because I can actually taste the hops, unlike most of their other beers, which devolve into sugar bombs that destroy all the other flavors. This is just perfect. Make more beers like this please, Tired Hands!

 

Good Morning fellow BAs! I want to thank @cjgiant for the thought provoking start on this Briskly cold day.

No yearly resolutions for me as I learned early on that they mostly ended in disappointment.

So on to today’s new to me beer courtesy of @Dragginballs76 . Mike, I can’t thank you enough and look forward to many more box swaps!




This beer is pretty incredible for a non ba stout.

Appearance is pitch black with 2 fingers of khaki head that reduce to a thin ring rather rapidly.

Aroma is big chocolate, some roast and a slight alcohol presence.

Taste is decadent and very smooth milk chocolate. Very similar to a liquified brownie. There is also a pinch of sea salt to balance this out perfectly. There is no hint of the alcohol.

Feel is silky smooth and creamy. Incredible.

Overall a damn near perfect dessert stout. It is sweet milk chocolate brownies with just enough salt to keep it check. I have never been disappointed by any of Westbrook’s anniversary stouts and this one is no exception.

Thank you again Mike as I truly enjoyed this beauty!

I hope all of you BA’s have the same start to your NBS as I’ve had to mine.....Cheers!

 

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone! I'm also not one to make specific resolutions for the New Year but in general I have been trying to stay more active and watch more old films (which used to be a hobby of mine). For the last few months I have been keeping up with both "resolutions" and hopefully I can continue to do so. Anyways, the new beer that I am drinking this Sunday is the Cuvée Sauvage from Gouden Carolus from their "Indulgence" series. The bottle states that it is a strong blond ale mixed with Lambic from Brouwerij Boon:



The apperance is a hazy, golden orange color with a lasting, white head.

The aroma is mainly funky and like a lambic with notes of citrus, a bit of hops and alcohol sweetness.

The taste is hugely complex. Initially the taste is quite tart, sour and funky and directly after that comes an almost malty like sweetness that gives way to citrus / herbal hop flavors with an ending flavor of sweet alcohol.

The mouthfeel is medium to medium full.

Overall it's one of the most interesting beers that I have had. I am a big fan of Lambic from Boon and also enjoy Belgian Blond Ales. This beer exceeded my expections of how well they could actually mix the two styels. I would say that the tastes is a bit more like a Lambic than a blond ale but they were able to create a well mixed, complex beer. The flavors also seem to evolve as the beer warms, where the warmer the beer becomes the sweeter/ more alcoholic tasting the beer gets. I am definitely thankful to be able to try this beer on this fine Sunday and I hope that the rest of you are also enjoying a fine beer this Sunday!

 

Duclaw - Sweet baby Jesus. Kinda disappointed in this because it was described to me as a recees peanut butter cup in a glass. I got no chocolate. Only peanut butter.

3.54/5 rDev -7.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Pours a good looking black with tan to khaki head. Smells like crunchy peanut butter with a hint of toasty malt following. Taste is crunchy peanut butter, almost expected some bits of peanuts to crunch on. Got some toasty malts following that and a dry finish. Feel is light to medium. Doesn’t taste the way it was described to me in the store,”recees peanut butter cup.” So a little let down but overall ok, great if you’re a big peanut butter person

 

Just picked up the 4-way pack, so excited to try this one! I might save the coffee one for next week’s NBS, but now you’ve got me tempted

 

Poured just above room temperature aggressively canned on 11/30/17 and got a massive two plus finger light brown head that leaves an abundance of webby lace as it slowly settles into a thick ring of bubbles. 4.5

Smell is biscuity grain, cocoa, faint coffee, toffee, and pipe tobacco. 4

Taste follows this is a true Baltic Porter, old school, you get the hints of coffee, chocolate, but make know mistakes this thing is crazy balanced with biscuit, toffee, leather, and some tobacco. 4.25

Mouthfeel is above medium, moderate carbonation, a tad dry as you would expect for what it is, and drinks exactly how a Porter at 8.6% ABV should, especially as complex as this one is. 4.25

Overall this is old school, not a beer for those Untapped hipsters! This thing could scare some people off because it is true to the style, balanced with nothing shining or dominating the flavor profile. Not saying I don't love the coffee, chocolate, or vanilla brews, but this is a beer that gently hits all the right notes and makes appreciate the original craft brewers, well done. 4.25

 

Let me preface this by stating that I love chocolate peanut butter stouts. I will say that i do despise sweet baby Jesus. However, I would strongly recommend tracking down both omnipollo yellow belly and willoughby nut smasher. In my honest opinion truly 2 of the beers that I think set the bar for peanut butter beers.

 

It always throws me off when I get home at 0800 and there's already 30 or 40 (EDIT: or 50!!) responses in this thread (in a good way! Cheers all you early morning beer drinkers!), even when accounting for the fact that it's almost noon on the east coast already.

Made it up to The City of Subdued Excitement this past week to speak to my friend's class and was fortunate enough to have @beertunes joins us for a couple of drinks that afternoon before I had to catch my bus back down to the city. We grabbed some food at Aslan before making our way over to Wander where they were just unveiling a delicious foeder/plum aged brew. Spoiler alert: it was delicious. I've had several offerings from both breweries -- and enjoyed them -- but I'd never actually been to either of their physical spaces, and I really enjoyed sitting down and soaking in both breweries on a beautifully grey rainy northwest afternoon. Sorry you got stuck in the middle of so much shop talk Terry


(I feel like my pictures always misrepresent the hue of the beers I'm trying to photograph.)

The Willows Inn is not the plum aged beer I make mention of above (as it wouldn't be new to me! I had it on Thursday! Though I did buy a bottle, so I could have reviewed it this morning and y'all would be none have been none the wiser.... Except I just told you. Wait.), but it is one that I picked up while at the brewery. It's a smoked saison with wheat from Loganita farm over on Lummi island (which is up near the 'Ham. And also were one of our most hated rivals in HS basketball way back when. They were consistently better than us, and were consistently... let's be nice and call it scrappy on the court. I've never been very good at trash talk. Too much espirit d'escalier, and even then they weren't that good. Except that one time. Darrington can go sit and spin too.). Where was I? Oh yeah. Beer.
So it's made with wheat from Lummi and is a smoked saison.

The pour is completely opaque, the colour of apricots if not a touch muddier. Featuring a massive white head of lazy rolling hills that feels no need to recede or yield any real estate in the glass. No lacing, though.



The nose immediately betrays the yeast-forward aspects of this beer, as sweet belgian-esque esters permeate the initial impression. Terry told me it was a (subtly) smoked beer, and my initial impressions were that I could find it in there, but if smoke had not been foretold, I may not have necessarily come to that conclusion immediately on my own. It settles into a smoothe earthy kind of middle where the yeasts back off, but there isn't a profound presence that steps in in their place.

Once I start sipping, however, all doubts about any smoke involvement are erased. The first thing the tongue presents is smoke, but it is not big bold or overwhelming. The smoke rises gently and subtly, but asserts its presence right off the bat before folding in unmistakable wheat and yeast elements. This beer ultimately is a pure expression of itself: it is smoke, it is wheat, and it is yeast. It is unabashedly and unpretentiously these three elements, and not much more, nor much less. But it does the three of them in a very controlled and nuanced manner.


Caveat: Estery yeast is not my favourite expression of that elemental component of zymurgy. Nor is wheat my favourite grain expression. I do, however, enjoy smoke, if it is applied with tact, and maaaaaaan is it well done on that front here. So with two of three main components already not geared towards my preferences what do I think of it? I think it is a very well made, nuanced expression of the components found therein, and I did enjoy it overall, but I am probably not the target audience for this one overall. If those are more your jam (and I know [or at least believe, based on what I've read here over the years] that for some of you they are), this is one that I think will REALLY work well for you. I'm glad to have tried this one (thanks Terry for the suggestion!), but am probably okay with the fact that it's my only bottle.



Cheers y'all, hope your day is starting off well and that it just gets better from there!

 

Spaten optimator, pours a very dark maroon /brown. Just below average carbonation and a little thin yet it still had a pleasing feel. Aroma is malt,malt,and more malt with some yeast,bread, nuts. Taste is almost the same, surprisingly not overly sweet. Not much affect from any good but somehow it was a very decent beer. Oddly it reminded me a bit of Heineken without the sour/ skunk taste that always accompanies that beer

 

I also have them as part of my on-deck lineup for today!

 

Man, thanks for that tune. I love it always!

 

Crazy how quickly this pack reached us. I swear the fresh hop pack took 3 months to get here. Maybe they’ve started packaging these in NC?

 

it is exactly because of that resolution that I must say please laugh at my joke today. i cannot do another beer as I just finished an invigorating yet tiring yoga practice. Crickets! I am a little old. I did drink two beers. After my black lager I had a dortmunder gold. I'd say I am down with Sunday and with NY Resolutions! cheers!