New Beer Sunday (Week 689)

Well, almost all CANs, but if I delve deeply enough, there is a potential Bottle/CAN side-by-side in the works. Thanks for playing along at home!

 

Great start @cjgiant for this weeks NBS. I do have a new brew for today later on.

Cheers!

 

Good morning NBS and thanks to @cjgiant for the kick off today. This week our town had its annual election, always a good thing to see residents out voting on local issues, A true sign of spring. Now that Annual Town Meeting and the Elections are past the next sign of spring is Asparagus being picked, so for the next 3-5 weeks it is game on here in Western Mass, the Pioneer Valley grows asparagus that has bragging rights.
Todays offering is from a bit east of here, Springdale (Jack's Abby) makes a delightful breakfast stout, one worth the effort to find, Semi sweet, dark, malty with a well played use of coffee, cocoa, lactose, each adding to a fine stout formula.
Cheers all

Brigadeiro

Springdale Barrel Room
Oatmeal Stout / 7.50% ABV

4.24/5 rDev +2.4% | Score: 4.14
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a can dated 1/23/18 into the test glass. Served at 45 Degrees.
A - As dark as they get in color, An aggressive pour yields an mocha colored loose knit froth. As the experience continues small clusters of lacing cling to the glass
S - Muted coffee, cocoa , roast malt, and a bit of char are the basis for a really good aromatic boquet
T - More coffee in this aspect, balanced well with the dark chocolate, a hint of molasses, raisin, add an earthy portobello to the mix as well.
M - Lactose knocks this into the full body category, start is sweet then a quick shift toward bitter from the coffee and chocolate. Ending with a semi sweet linger. The carbonation is up to the task of cleaning up.
O - A very good breakfast stout, with an increase in temperature the sweet side becomes prominent. Coffee, chocolate and a strong malt base are just what the stout doctor ordered. This will be a constant resident in the fridge.

 

Trop was the beer that converted me to craft. What part of GA are you in? If you are close enough you should visit the brewery, they have several pretty tasty brewery only offerings.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Was lucky enough to trade for some Other Half cans while in line with @larryi86 at this week’s Tired Hands release. This is one of the few OH standards that I’ve never tasted. Very high ratings here. Now I see why.

DDH Mylar Bags - Other Half
IIPA - 8.5% abv
Canned 4/25/18 (11 days ago)
Score: 4.44 (-2.6% rDev)



L - 2-finger high density offwhite head atop a vibrant, orange juice body. No light shall pass through this one.

S - orange, grapefruit, mango, cotton candy, a little pine.

T - grapefruit slices topped with a sprinkle of sugar. Only a little sweetness. Some dirt in the middle, along with a little unexpected sourness. Slightly chalky finish. Moderate bitterness. No booze at all.

F - medium-full body with expected level of carb for the style.

O - very pleasing, and goes down way too quickly, especially for the abv.

 

That was the highlight of my recent trip to Nashville, well that and the bloody mary from Another Broken Egg Cafe.

 

Spending the weekend in Wilmington visiting the grand kiddies and started looking for a brewski. Googled up Hey Beer and they do Crowlers and Growlers and looking at their list they had a beer I wouldn’t expect here. So I took out 2 Crowlers of Heist Uber Quench’l. NEIPA using both Citra and Galaxy hops I believe at 8.2%. First off this is a terrific beer, but it definitely has a sameness to the style. Yes it’s hazy turbid and very fruity, I’d say moderate on the bitter. That profile fits just about every NEIPA that I’ve had from anyone anywhere, Imo they’re a blur of the same with nothing to distinguish one from the next. I do enjoy drinking these kind of beers and as I said this one is also really good, so perhaps the fact they’re mostly in the same class is a good thing?

 

One of my all time favorite IPAs was a Thiriez version from many years ago. It was low alcohol, oily, with a big frothing meringue cap that smelled like heaven Train to Mars is a truly fabulous name! Thanks for the reminder!

 

Good morning all. Today I am thoroughly enjoying a fresh glass of "Captains Daughter" from a growler purchased last week while on business in Saratoga Springs. While my co-workers went out for Mexican food I went in search of a bottle shop and scored big. They had pallets of great beers that I have only seen and heard about. I did good as I only spent $88.00. The Captains daughter poured a cloudy lite grapefruit color with a very generous head. It smells wonderful and tastes even better. It is one of the smoothest IPAs that I have had the privilege to enjoy. It is lite and fruity with almost no bitterness. VERY delicious. And it was only 12 bucks for a full growler. I am glad I purchased 2. They had 4 taps and gave out free samples. When I tried this one it was a no brainer. I came home with 2 different 4 packs from Pipeworks, a great 4 pack from Burial in Ashville and another 4 pack of a great IPA from I don't remember but the can had an owl on it and the beer was a number. Have a wonderful day. I am off to clean my carpets. The perfect thing to do on a perfect day . . .not.

 

You bet!

I CAN dig it:

New Blueberry Lager Sunday from our Czech friends in Lovelady, TX

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46725/300668/?ba=Premo88#review
4.09 (+7.9% rDev)

Stesti seems to be growing, for I stumbled on about 20 cases of their seasonal Blueberry Lager earlier this week at one of my main grocery stores here in Bryan-College Station. Talk about a "tap takeover". The born-on date being 4/20/18, I had to buy a sixer, so I did, and now I want another sixer.

The beer is far from world class. In fact, it's at most in the B/B+ range, a bit above average, for the initial flavor notes are mainly earthy to the point of medicinal — my tongue is just a bit numb from the menthol-like start. But the aroma opens up into a bowl of fresh blueberries, absolutely fantastic! And as you get into the glass, the blueberry flavor grows and grows and grows to the point that it almost overtakes the more earthy flavor. Never does. This isn't blueberry soda; it's beer, and Stesti's not kidding about the hops involved, for it's not just yeast and alcohol that's creating the earthy flavor. If those aren't dirt hops, then my ancestors made up that story about traveling from Hovezi to Galveston back in 1890-something. Dirty, black-peppery hops.

I'm about to go see a golfing buddy start his four-hour brunch set ... just John Krajicek, an acoustic guitar and loads of calories at Blake's Sandwich Shop.

Then we start lighting these in the firebox on Pork Rib Sunday:

Cheers, NBSers!

 

Had a few new ones when I got in from work last night which was after midnight so hopefully they still count for NBS.

These were courtesy of @Buck89
Pours a dark yellow orange with a finger of loose white head that settled pretty quickly.
The Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe combo is my favorite hop profile so I was quite excited to try this one. Smells of citrus, tropical fruits, and a bit of piney resin.
Taste follows with sweet citrus, pineapple, papaya, and a little dankness. Bready malts come through as well.
Medium bodied, smooth feel with a little prickle on the tongue.
Overall a very balanced brew that I would gladly grab again.
Another Nashville brew, this one from Southern Grist.

Appearance is like orange juice with two fingers of head that lasted surprisingly well.
This one is a juice bomb(that's a good thing to me). Smells of orange and pineapple.
Taste follows with a little bit of dank in there too.
Smooth feel.
Overall a great hazy, juicy beer.

 

Wow is all I can say. This ups my street cred, thanks @2beerdogs for this monster. Poured just above room temp and got this massive 2 plus finger light brown head that leaves excellent thick webs of lace as it slowly settles into a thin layer of bubbles. 4.5

Smell is vanilla, smoke, dark chocolate, tobacco, coffee grounds, and tart black cherries. 4.5

Taste follows cherry starts and doesn’t let go, dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee, tobacco, and pipe tobacco. 4.5

Mouthfeel is bigger than medium slightly creamy, moderate carbonation, actually not very dry, and at 9.5% ABV drinks bigger but goes down easy because different flavors come up sip sip after sip, smell after smell. 4.5

Overall this is a crazy complex stout that almost overwhelms the palate. Wow 4.5

 

A-A very dark color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has a generous amount of coffee and some Bourbon hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a resounding amount of coffee and some Bourbon flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A nice porter with a nice Bourbon touch

 

Night Shift - Matisse

They call this a “classic saison.” That usually hooks me more than a label that states “mixed fermentation saison” (not that these are two distinct things of course, but I still take cues from how something is marketed). It was a 2017 silver award winner at GABF in the “classic saison” category (how appropriate). Funkwerks won the gold. Despite the value that people put on such results, it amazes me that any decent judgements can come from tasting a few ounces of 100+ different beers… but sometimes it feels like judges do this very well all things considered.

Named after Henri Matisse due to his paintings of the French countryside, Night Shift claims that this beer shows that “modern independent beer needn't shy away from the canonical styles.”

This beer does feel like it hits it straight down the middle, and I mean that as a compliment. The expressiveness of the yeast is evident in the lemony aroma. The beer is a hazy gold. Carbonation is a bit light. Taste is lemony but the beer isn’t acidic. It’s a little doughy/bready and quite dry. Hops provide some nice bitterness and interest.

This is very well done and a pleasure to drink. Perhaps this is the kind of beer that safely wins medals more than drinkers’ dollars - like a movie that gets nominated for an Academy award that “nobody” has heard of. At the moment, my first impression of it is that it’s one of the nicest canned American saisons that I’ve had.

 

New beer #2. Glad to see these guys are distro’ing to Philly now. First Singlecut, then Foreign Objects, and now CT Valley...2018 is the year of high-quality shelf NE IPAs.

Trailblazer - CT Valley
NE IPA - 8% abv
Canned 4/17/18 (19 days ago)
Purchased for $5.89 at Monde Market
Score: 4.04 (-4% rDev)



L - sparse white head quickly bubbles away to minimal lacing. Body is an opaque deep orange.

S - orange, herbal dankness, pine, some sweetness.

T - mildly dank orange. Piney middle with minimal malt sweetness. Highly acidic...brings to mind a lacing of vinegar, although sourness is only a fleeting element here. Low bitterness. Low booziness.

F - medium body with very little carb.

O - very well balanced, but nothing really stands out here. Hard to justify the price tag on this one.

 

Was that Thiriez Extra?

 

NBS beer #1



Schmilsson

Four Quarters Brewing Co.
American Wild Ale / 5.50% ABV

4.46/5 rDev +8% | Score: 4.13
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

L-The beer pours golden with only the slightest haze. The head is a solid two fingers of bright white foam. The head hangs around longer than most wild ales, but eventually recedes to the barest of rings with no lacing.
S- The nose starts out dominated by the lime, but a subtle coconut sweetness breaks in over the top and hangs on melding with the lime.
T- The beer starts out with some basic lacto sourness. Mid palate however the lime kind of breaks in and takes over giving the beer some complexity. At the end of the sip, as the lime fades away, that sweetish coconut present in the nose pulls away like a distance runner and holds to the briny finish line.
F- The mouthfeel is light. Carbonation is light after the initial pour allowing the flavors to linger. The sea salt really plays a nice part here in helping to dry the finish. Almost Gose like truth be told.
O- This may be the best Vermont sour ale I've had. It delivers on all the promised components in levels that are not overdone. This leaves you with complex and interesting beer in a category that can be one note all too often. I can't recommend this beer highly enough for sour fans.

 

Nice review, have you tried Working Class Hero from Cambridge Brewing?
A very good canned Saison
Your review has many aspects of that fine offering.
Cheers

 

Mill House w/ KCBC & Indian Ladder Farms - Peas and Pods

I believe @cavedave might know these brewers personally (the Mill House ones). This is a collaboration with three brewers. I’ve never heard of Indian Ladder Farms. They seem to be more of a New York hard cider producer than beer brewer (but they do both).

This is the clearest beer of the day so far. It has a light honey color. It has a sweetness that even reminds me of honey - but I know I’m very susceptible to influences changing my readings. It’s light bodied, very floral, and reminds me of tangerines and green grapes. If this beer was heavier, it would feel like a chore to drink compared to other saisons, but the volume level here maintains a good amount of drinkability. There’s an alcohol presence that I’m not thrilled with, but it’s not close to the level of being a deal breaker. An interesting beer with a nice personality (but not what I personally want in a saison).

This doesn’t seem to be listed on BeerAdvocate yet.

This one goes out to cavedave. Cheers man.