New Beer Sunday (Week 685)

Happy B'day man. Sorry to hear you're feelin' old. If it'll help I can call you sonny? Enjoy your day, sonny. Cheers!

 

This was a hard one for somebody who doesn't drink lagers, but you probably should have based your guess off the appearance. It was Tired Hands Trendler Pilsner -- which is listed in this site as a Kellerbier / Zwickelbier. My review actually picked up on some white wine grapes, too.

 

New Beer From A Very Old Brewery Sunday-Munich Dunkel

It's been cool here in Minneapolis for the past week. It snowed 8 or so inches on Tuesday, and having the day off I walked a mile through the down fall to the closest brewery to my house, and enjoyed a few of Day Block Brewing Company's 4th Anniversary BA Imperial Stout. To my liking it was very balanced between barrel and beer, and did the purpose while I warmed up and dried off.

Today is still cold, and a couple inches of snow should fall tonight, but it's supposed to warm up this week. The warm weather couldn't come at a better time as I start my training program for the Twin Cities Marathon this week. I can't think of a better way to usher out winter than a new malty lager from one of the country's oldest breweries.

The New Ulm Pioneer reported in January 1861 that August Schell was building a brewery, and predicted its completion by September that year. It later reported that brewing commenced in October. Thus, breweries opening after originally anticipated is a long standing American tradition--a tradition older than the Gettysburg Address.

Now onto their new Munich Dunkel (one of my favorite styles). I'm enjoying it as much as a beer can be enjoyed. It's purely traditional. All malt, and clean as can be. I've grown to expect nothing less from August Schell Brewing Company.


https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/417/325780/?ba=KarlHungus#review

 

Giving your target a blind beer they've already reviewed is pretty diabolical -- and could make for some good fun seeing how the reviews change and if people can specifically ID it. Interesting idea for next round. @beertunes

 

Devils backbone mai bock
Orange gold clear color
..body.. thin medium carbonation
Aroma.. malt yeast,bread/grain
Taste.similar,mildly sweet with a bit of a bitter finish
Overall..not too extreme in any way but still a pretty decent beerimg host

 

Irish-ish Coffee Stout from Evil Twin. Pours black with a one inch tan head that was well retained and left many dots of lace. Smells of coffee, roasted barley and vanilla. Tastes of coffee, roasted barley, cinnamon, vanilla, oak, and bitter chocolate. Medium bodied, slightly thin bodied for the style, dry and bitter finish with minimal carbonation.

 

G' afternoon NBS-ers and fellow BIF-ers! So today is the day...BIF reveal day.
It's a two-fold kind of day for me: excitement for the "mystery beer" that @foundersasap sent me, along with all of the other killer beers and some anger that my target (@LloydDobler ) won't be able to share what I sent him due to FedEx and not delivering the box they damaged.

So let me get at this "mystery beer"



Poured from a 16 oz. can into a JK Snorkel snifter.

Appearance: Pours a dark brown to almost black body with a full finger's worth of khaki tan head. A bubbly chunky head reminiscent of a root beer float. Looks like a stout/porter.

Aroma: Roasted malts, chocolate, cold brewed coffee and something akin to cinnamon. Still leaning towards this one being a stout.

Taste/Mouthfeel: Well, I wasn't expecting that...Dark malts up front and then a ton of bitterness immediately afterwards. Maybe a little thin with a finish like having a mouthful of hops. As the flavor lingers there's more of a bitter, hops dipped in bakers chocolate and overly roasted to almost burnt french roast coffee.

Overall: Final impressions makes me think this one is a stout. This one was tongue buckler and it definitely had a little bit of creaminess too.

So let's find out what Jeff sent me and reveal this one:




Well, I was close. I didn't get a lot of the coffee out of it, thought it was more hoppy than anything akin to coffee. Still this one was tasty! Thanks again @foundersasap !

Cheers!

 

Great start @cjgiant, indeed this part of the East Coast has yet to get the memo that it is spring. As I stepped out of my car at Industrial Arts Brewing earlier, a gust of wind hit me in the face that was anything but spring. I had gone there to pick up their latest collab called Weights and Measures, a NE-style Double IPA. However always on the lookout for some non-IPA's I tried their on-tap only Saison, Warehouse. Below are my thoughts.

L- a light brown, with a slight haze, thin foamy head
S- funky fruitiness, some slight citrus as well
T- subtly sweet fruitiness, with loads of spice, some funk, and a bubblegum finish
F- medium-bodied, super dry mouthfeel, nice carbonation tingle
Overall I think this beer slips under the radar as it's only available on draft, but it is a textbook saison, with lots of great flavors and great drinkability
Cheers to the new week!

 

Happy Birthday!! It is all downhill from here!!!

 

With all the blind beers this was a very fun BIF! Carry on.

 

NBS beer #3



I've had the tripel from this brewery and it was very good. I've had a hard time finding a decent Dubbel lately as Allagash and Ommegang's dubbels have been strangely absent from my local shops.

Westmalle Trappist Dubbel

Brouwerij Westmalle
Dubbel / 7.00% ABV

4/5 rDev -4.3% | Score: 4.18
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

L- A towering head appears on a not quite careful enough initial pour. After allowing the head to recede a bit I tried a more gentle pour and had marginally more success. Either way the head is a towering 3 inches of tan foam which recedes (eventually) to a thin ring leaving many spots of lacing. The beer is that classic deep purple to brown and allows no light through.
S- The nose is that wonderful dark fruit reminiscent of ripe plum and raisins. There is a bit of a musty aspect like a old seldom visited corridor or room.
T- Dark fruit flavors are present, but less sweet than the nose might suggest. Just the faintest hint of alcohol in the aftertaste lets you know that this beer has some heft.
F- If not obvious from the pour, there is ample prickly carbonation. This lightens the mouthfeel to the lowside of medium. This is probably the lightest drinking dubbel that I've had.
O- This is very good, but probably not the best of the dubbel's I've had. I liked St Bernardus slightly better, but you can't go wrong with this beer.

 

As a big sports fan the spring is an amazing time. Not much of a NHL fan but the playoffs are usually better than the NBA playoffs. Being from Oklahoma I have been on edge about whether the Thunder would make the playoffs; after their win over Houston last night it looks like they will. MLB starting too. Grew up playing baseball all my life and have watched guys like Dylan Bundy and Jon Gray before they were outstanding pitchers. However, with all that said today is Wrestlemania. While I played sports year around as a kid I was also watching Brett Hart, Stone Cold, Sting, Macho Man, Kamala, Ric Flair, Jake the Snake, and tons of others. I guess I have never outgrown WWF/WWE like so many others. Last night's NXT Takeover show was awesome and I look forward to watching AJ Styles and Nakamura tonight.

Beer wise, I opened my mystery beer from @SammyJaxxxx. First guess on the beer is it is a stout. Has some strong spice barrel aging notes in the begging and then changes up as it warms.

4.14/5 rDev +3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A: Beer pours a black body with a small amount on tan head. Not much lacing to be had but fair amount of head stays behind during the entire drink.

S: Beer seemed to have some bourbon smells to it. Along with a spicy bourbon touch I also get some oak aromas. Beer has some sweet chocolate malt aromas also. Main note, however, seems to be of a spicy bourbon feel.

T: Beer has a strong amount of spice/bourbon to it in thestart that gives way to a more sweet taste at the end. Nice flavors that don't seem to have the spicy kick that the nose seemed to hint at. Beer improves and becomes sweeter as the beer warms.

M: Beer is fairly thin for what I assume is a stout. Not sure what the ABV here is but the alcohol presence is nicely hidden by other flavors. Pretty easy drinker for the style.

O: Beer has a strong bourbon aroma in the start that fades away to a sweeter beer at the end. A tad thin for what I assume is a stout but solid easy drinker.



Cosmonaut by Carton

 

Finished off my Mystery beer from @FFFjunkie and I was off on a lot of the flavors!

I started off thinking there was honey and a faint fruitiness, but that was not the case. A style I have not had the opportunity to try much!

Overall a very tasty brew. Nice tartness level and rich flavors. I mistook the flavor for fermented honey with a background of barnyard funk. I think I mixed the caraway into the earthy funk but can somewhat get its flavor when I think about it while tasting my lat few sips!

Great choice Sparkles! Thanks!

 

New beer #4 @RedhawkPoke .

Alpha Hive - Coop Ale Works
DIPA - 8.9% abv
Canned 2/19/18 (47 days ago)
Score: 4.00 (-4.5% rDev)



L - 2-finger offwhite head atop a translucent orange body.

S - citrus, caramel malt, cotton candy, pine, booze, a little herb.

T - big dank start. Wasn’t expecting that from the nose. Then some citrus and pine. Moderately boozy, very bitter, moderately sweet.

F - medium oily body with medium carb.

O - an intense hop encounter. These aren’t my favorite hops, but it’s an enjoyable experience.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30356/259865/?ba=The-Adjunct-Hippie#review

3.99 out of 5

 

Fernson Forty Winks Wine Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, 10.3% ABV, 65 IBU. Pours black with a one finger tan head. Nose is grape jam, taste follows, moderately sweet, almost no bitterness despite the 65 IBU. Excellent mouthfeel, overall outstanding. I think this is their best stout so far.

I added the second picture to show the label as it is almost unreadable without additional light. Don't know what they were thinking.

 

Like many in NBS today, I also have been in the NBS BIF, which has been an absolute blast. This BA community is phenomenal. Apologies for the sap, and many thanks to @beertunes and @LehighAce06 for organizing this whole thing - I imagine it's sometimes like herding cats, but I digress.

Today's first new beer is a mystery can from the esteemed beertunes himself!

I let the can warm a bit and poured it into this snifter.


Hard to see from the pic, but it is a clean golden color on the pour, producing a clear amber in the snifter. There is a medium-sized light tan head that slowly settled and left a few cool laces. The first whiff brought a flash of pine and earthy (not dank) hoppy notes, but there is a prominent bready malt present. I got biscuit and it reminds me of Fat Tire - also a bit of raisin and maybe cherry. The hops make an appearance late as well. I was thinking amber ale, but that changed with the first sip. The taste is bitter up front, in the Pale Ale/IPA range. Piney and grassy with a lemony aspect on the finish. I also get a little grapefruit on the back end. The malt is there but there is not as much biscuit - a more bready and dry malt backbone. It's medium bodied and carbed. Very bitter on the finish with a slight aspirin quality. I think it's either an American Pale or IPA, and I'll put my nickel on an IPA brewed with classic PNW "C" hops. Either way, I really enjoyed this one.

The reveal:



Phew! At least I got the style correct. I did a little digging and this beer does not have any biscuit malt. There is Munich, so maybe I was detecting that. Funny, but I do think of a dustiness with biscuit malt, so maybe the brewers were trying to replicate that with the Munich. Probably not... For the hops, there is one "C" hop - Centennial. Others include Zeus, Simcoe, and Mosaic. All in all, a tasty beer.
Damn this is fun! Cheers and I hope to return soon!

 

Fun beer -- and I guessed right. The orange on a beer from @SammyJaxxxx pegged it as from Carton, and they only can so many in 12 ouncers.

Enjoy Wrestlemania. I used to watch WWF in my youth. Jake the Snake was one of my favorites.

 

Nicely guessed! Well, done.

Woodstock is our newest brewery, but they took the name of one of the area's first, now long closed, craft brewers. Keegan Ales now is where the old Woodstock Brewing Co. was, and there are still hops growing in Keegan's parking lot from those days.

 

One of my favorite brews - perhaps I'll crack one for MST3K and turtle sumo wrestling later this evening...