New Beer Sunday (Week 677)

Good morning guys, still riding the SuperBowl hangover it's been a great week to be an Eagles fan. Stuff to do this morning, but I've got a new beer and surprise it's a NEIPA. Back later.

 

Good morning all! Thank you @cjgiant for the great start today! Did I call that game or what? My beer for today is a complete surprise to me mostly because I don't read I just look at the pictures. I have Ommegang's Winter is Here. Ommegang is one of my favorite regional breweries that likes to put a dark or dramatic title on a soft and demure beer. I was expecting something along the lines of their adoration, something dark and malty and I grabbed the bottle without reading it.

Happy New Surprised Me Sunday!


Pours softly hazy with a fat enough head of white Belgian style foam that lasts to a ring a film on top. Nose is soft with fine wheat . Like flakes of wheat . Just sweet with malt and with a floral that makes me think of soft white petals with a sweet pink blush on them. A light hop herbal tempts the nose and there is a light citrusy backing. Soft coriander type spice tickles the nose as the light fruitiness lures you into the glass. The bubbles are so perfect they made me laugh. Champagne like but without hard bite. The simply burst open in your mouth to show you the delicate middle of the beer. which does have a slight pepper. Sweet orange peel and spice finishes it malty. Outstanding example of a witbier with a surprising strength!



For my first pairing I planned to be cheeky with some cornbread and put some candied preserved orange slices on top. That went wonderfully with this beer and I am right now making home made wasabi peas out of pigeon peas which I do despise.



Happy New Beer Sunday!

 

Happy New Evil/Evo/Evil Beer Sunday (Week 677)!

If you have been on this site for any length of time, you may remember the Woody Him Forward tour from June 2006 to August 2008. I was using (especially) my summers off as well as the Thanksgiving & Christmas holiday breaks from school to travel. I was in all 50 states & most of the CANadian provinces in that time period & I even had a chauffeur at one point! I had a large, bright-yellow, hard-shell, wheeled Samsonite suitcase & I was like the Johnny Appleseed of beer - I would procure beer at one stop & then share it three or four stops later in a place where they did not get that beer's distro. I was given beer with specific instructions on when/where to share; I got homebrew for takeaway; breweries gave me samples to distribute on my quixotic, picaresque journey. It was a wild, heady time.

Since then, I have ramped back considerably. I don't have that kind of time or $ currently, plus I am finding it pleasant to (finally) catch up on my not-inCANsiderable backlog here at Chez Woody.

You may have noticed that every NBS in which I have participated lately has a theme. This is made possible by dint of my backlog. In retrospect, I should have done this one for NBS (Week 666), but I did not think of it at the time. 8=( As usual, I will make an opening post & report back over the course of an ambitious day.

I began with some Evil Genius:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29022/319233/?ba=woodychandler#review

but its sweetness made me long for my morning coffee & donut, so I went on a short break. I'll be back later to let you know how my day is progressing.

 

New Beer Sunday: A New IPA

Mornin’ NBSers with an alert for those looking for a good, lower ABV, IPA to serve at a summer BBQ or party on the porch. Thanks to @cjgiant for his start up this morning. But I suspect he’s underestimating the Eagles (as have so many this year). (However the thought also occurs to me that perhaps he's expressing a degree of jealousy or fear?? )

Weather here today is to be very rainy for much of the day so that even though the Temps are expected to hit the Upper 50s there won’t be any outside chores done today.

For the second Sunday in a row I’m tasked with prepping breakfast and this morning’s meal will be some Huevos Racheros with fresh home made salsa and freshly cooked and mashed black beans (I like the flavor better than the canned stuff). In between various steps in the following the recipe I'm fitting in this new IPA.

This morning’s new beer is the 4 Front IPA from Victory Brewing over in nearby Downingtown, PA.

As usual my review, subject to revision until breakfast is ready to serve, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/345/304489/?ba=drtth#review


Basically this is a fairly drinkable IPA that is on the light or gentle side of the ABV, mouthfeel and aromas/flavors spectrum. The aromas and flavors include some pine, citrus and a slight herbal, earthy character and a light but noticable bitterness in the finish. Not only am I’m finding this one drinkable I'll probably have it again. While it’s not an exceptional IPA, or one to write home about, I’d say it’s a solid choice for something to have on offer for a social event that is focused on friends and food rather than being about the beer.

Expecting to be back this evening with another New Beer and another American Musical (I expect by then to have had enough of the Olympics for one day ).

Cheers, all!

 

So I walk into our best stocked local and the owner immediately said "we got a new Flanders Red" and naturally I bought it . . .



Deep ruby gold color with small white cap.

Heavier, almost winey aroma of dark fruit laced with tart black cherry.

Well, this one tastes exactly like it smells. Still a sense of wineyness yet one with depth and richness. The ripe fruit element is just enough and the bright hint of cherry tartness elevates the whole well above average. It's tart but not overly so, rather a palate cleansing sort of tartness that's quite refreshing.

Full texture with balancing carbonation.

Brewer says this was aged in Port barrels for 18 months prior to bottling. It does have that Duchess du Bourgoyne touch about it being a little less cherry heavy. As is it's very well balanced and a good take on the Flanders Red style.

 

Poured a little above room temperature and got a massive 3 plus finger mocha head that takes its time settling with excellent retention and leaves behind thin patches of lace and a thin ring of foam circles the sides of the glass. 4.75

Smell is strong coffee, dark chocolate, vanilla bean, oak, and just a hint of bourbon and for me that is actually how I prefer it. 4.75

Taste follows really roasty coffee, dark fudgy chocolate, oaky vanilla, and very balanced and mild barrel presence and it is really nice. 5

Mouthfeel is big and creamy, moderate life as you would expect from a beer of this size, maybe a tad dry as you would expect, and at 12% ABV goes down very easy. 4.75

Overall this is up there with all the great beers, the barrel aging was very subdued, but so amazingly balanced. Thanks @jzeilinger for this world class Stout! 4.75

 

That beer sounds absolutely amazing. I just looked on Beer Menus and got depressed, no where to be found by me.

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks to @cjgiant for today's opening - not quite sure what you mean by us PAers not having any stories about shipping beer. I don't, because every time i've shipped/traveled with beer, there have been no hitches - even last year when I hauled beer from Germany to Canada to the US. Mostly when I travel about the US, I drive, so if I can fit it into the car, we're good, although on a trip to Texas a year or so ago, I couldn't fit another six-pack in.

Today's New Beer Sunday/New Breakfast Beer offering is:




$ 31.40 (including shipping)/750 mL cork and cage bottle ($ 1.24/oz) from Blackwell’s, San Francisco, CA.
Bottle dated 2020/07/16, stored at 42 degrees and served at 42 degrees in a hand washed and dried Rodenbach flute. Finished at 53 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Hazy brown.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.5 cm, aggressive pour), tan, fizzy, rapidly diminishing to a 0.5 mm ring fed by effervescence and a thin center island also fed by effervescence. The second pour produces a smaller, rockier head.
Lacing – None.
Pour – Brown with a slight red tint, clear.
Aroma – 4 – Tart cherry and oak. Unfortunately, it does fade.
Flavor – 4.75 – Begins lightly tart with some fruitiness and some oak. There is some mild lactic acid bite and just a scintilla of leather. There is just a ghost of yeastiness but the tartness thins this to barely noticeable. No malt, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3 - Light, watery, lively carbonation.
Impression and summation – 4.75 – Nothing special about the palate, it’s just as it should be. The haziness of the body is probably my fault – I wasn’t gentle enough when I looked for the BB date on the bottom. The aroma is excellent as it is with every Rodenbach product I’ve consumed. The flavor is the real star that brings us to any Rodenbach product. The fruitiness balanced with the oakiness is sumptuous and the lactic/leather combo is also well balanced. Overall, an excellent product.
Rating 4.35, rDev -0.5%.

Because of the small volume of this on-line purchase, the shipping amounted to about 50% of the price of the bottle ($ 22), a hazard to consider when buying on line. And, by the way, the bottle label could very well be a photo of me reverently looking at foeder #149.

 

This is one I’ve always wanted to try, but can’t quite pull the trigger on it due to cost (almost $20 for 12oz). What are you thinking, Troegs? Because of the cost, though, it’s easy to find around here. My Whole Foods has had a stack of them for weeks...taunting me every time I go in there.

Maybe I should pick one up for BIF #7...hmmm...

 

A long time ago, a friend of mine told me to think about buying beer as if you were buying wine. As he pointed out at the the time, "you wouldn't hesitate spending that much on wine." This really changed my perspective and fortunately I am at a point in my life where I don't need to feel guilty spending on stuff I enjoy.

 

Very good point. I just get hung up on relative cost. Impending Descent is roughly twice the price of BCBS per oz...and even BCBS I have a hard time justifying. Teacher life, alas.

 

I'll tell you this about shipping beer. I hate to do it. I have to lie and I don't want to. So I say something like; "Good sir, these are foodstuffs. Preserved vinegars I made myself infused with Japanese teas. Can you please affix a fragile seal on the box and hasten delivery ?" I can tell you that the average car trunk will hold a considerable amount of beer and if it were not so low to the ground they should all break prematurely.

 

Putting it in that perspective you are correct, very tough to justify the price point.

 

I went to Iceland in 2002, and I drank a lot of that beer while I was there. At the time, it seemed so exotic. Beer has only been legal in Iceland since 1989, so I suppose they still might be trying to get the hang of it when it comes to brewing beer.

 

In PA it’s illegal to have untaxed (by PA) alcohol in your possession if you are a PA resident. Enforcement is focused on bootlegging but has sometimes caught others in the net. There are reasons to think you may be able to challenge successfully in court, but....