New Beer Sunday (Week 711)

Thanks

 

I thought it was pretty cool, too. It's hoppy, but somehow comes across as more of a Foreign Extra Stout than a West Coast one. Glad you liked it. Cheers!

 

Hey, NBS, happy October! It's my favorite month, and I am more than ready for the cooler temps and darker skies it brings.

I've got a pair today, linked in name. I don't know what the story is with Campanology brewing. They're from Wisconsin, but showing up in Trader Joe's with value brews. I did fine out that campanology is the study of bells and the ringing sounds they made. Hence the sound-related beer names, including today's offerings.



First up is the lager Euphony, can dated 9/10, 5.2%.

Pours light golden with a half-finger of white foam that soon fizzes out.

Smells of lager yeast with some green apple and herbal hop.

Tastes a half-step up from a typical yellow lager. Good herbal hop flavors, the malt is crisp and crackery, and there's an appley fruitiness that makes things interesting.

A bit full and slick in the mouth. Low bitterness. Needs more carbonation, and the flavor wears on me a bit by the end of the glass. Still pretty decent so far as a cheap, basic lager goes.



Next up is Cacophony (er... Caco-Phony) a 5% pale ale with mosaic hops. Canned 8/31, 5% abv.

Pours orange gold with a finger of fluffy foam that lasts as a cap.

Not much of an aroma here. Some sweet citrus smells from the hops.

Tastes mostly of sweet orange. Malt is light and biscuity. Low bitterness, good carbonation. A touch watery, but very refreshing.

I might consider purchasing this one again. Trader Joe's budget beers can be downright terrible, but so far the Camponology brews I've tried have averaged to decent.

 

New Belgium Oakspire Bourbon Barrel Ale, an American Strong Ale, 9.0% ABV, had much higher hopes for this. 3.54 overall

Pours an effervescent honey color with one finger of ivory colored head. Average head retention & better than average lacing

S: Sourmash scents that kind of fade as this warms

T: Toffee, a little Sourwood honey & some dryness up front. More dryness, honey Bourbon notes once warm. Fininshes dry with sweet/sour Bourbon notes

M: Medium body, restrained carbonation

Not bad, but was looking for more flavor & more barrel than this

 

Continuing on BIF day. This is a Kettlehead. Fantastic! Great head retention and soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge mandarin orange juice, grapefruit, lemon, peach, pear, pineapple, apricot, passion fruit, papaya, mango, melon, blueberry, gooseberry, guava, citrus peel/zest, and light pepper/pine hops; with balanced wheat, white bread dough, light honeyed malt sweetness; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Very mild pine, zesty, herbal, floral, grassy bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy/silky/bready malt mouthfeel; and light sticky hops. Slightly increasing lingering bitter dryness, no cloying/astringency. Insanely smooth/soft feel, no warmth of 8%. This was right in my wheelhouse for the hops. Amazing Mosaic/Citra showcase. Extremely juicy, and lightly dank/earthy hop complexity; perfectly balance pale/wheat malt backbone, not overly sweet/heavy for lingering dryness. Spot on NEIPA despite lack of haze. The dry hopping levels must have been insane. Amazing style example. 4.25


Definitely have not had a Gueuze-style from Canada before! Think the date says 7/12/16. This was amazing! Nice head retention/spotty lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big sour/tart/tangy lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, citrus zest, peach, pear, pineapple, mango, melon, apricot, papaya, guava, berries, red/green apple, white grape/wine, hay, straw, grass, oak, leather, cork, wet wood, and musty funk; with moderate wheat, cracker, lightly toasted biscuit malts; light lingering notes of oaken vanilla, white wine vinegar, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate lactic tart/sourness, wine tang, and light yeast/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation, light-medium body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced bready/grainy malts, and lactic acid in the mouthfeel; light wine tang/tannins. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy/tannic dryness, minimal puckering sourness. Very smooth, not overly lactic, 5.5%. Damn this really surprised me. Amazingly well rounded barnyard funky Brett/Bacteria complexity, oak presence, and pale/wheat malts against acidity. Just as amazing or better than many of the authentic classic Belgian versions available. 4.3


Cheers, be back eventually.

 

Delirium Tremens
..cloudy gold orange color
..around a medium body with above average carbonation that comes off a little prickly
..aroma is yeast and spice forward, fruit/banana , and malt
..taste is spice and yeast first, not sweet at all, a little dry. Earthy, banana a bit of tartness that shows up in the finish and li gers
...overall it was an excellent beer. Seems some reviewers hate it and I guess I can see why as it isn't like most in this style I've had. It worked for me and I found it to be very enjoyable

 

I love that brew and if you have the opportunity get cans do it. Feom what I understand the formula is slightly different in cans. Still very good and lasts.

 

Poured into my 13 oz Tired Hands Glass, canned on 9/20/18. Pours a very hazy yellow orange with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves a thick wall of lace as it slowly settles into a thin layer of white film. 4.5

Smell is pineapple, papaya, tangerine, and a little grapefruit rind. 4.5

Taste follows juicy and tropical all the way, with a little grapefruit in the balanced finish. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a little bigger than medium, plenty of life but soft on the tongue, sticky but not dry, and at 7.8% ABV it drinks very easy. 4.5

Overall this is what you expect from one of the hottest brewers going. I could drink this all day and smile the entire time. 4.5

 

This very mysterious beer came to me by way of @MacMalt . Apparently this is his #1 rated beer of the year so far. I’ve beem excited to crack it open ever since it showed up. I pulled this out of the fridge 3hrs ago. Hope that is enough time for it to get up to temp because the directions say not to drink cold.

Mother bumper! Tinypic still isn’t working, so that makes this a little less fun to share. Oh, well.

Figured I would use a teku because someone told me it is the best all around glass and is great for any style. That, and it’s my newest glass and first teku, haha! What else can I say besides my glass game is weak.

Pour is cola colored with a tight mass of fizzy bubbles making up the foam top. My first instinct tells me that this is a Baltic porter.

The nose is milk chocolate covered raisins and a bit of smoked cherrywood.

Taste has those chocolate raisins in there with toffee, and maybe some tart cherry or currants. The flavor really is a mix between a barleywine or old ale and Baltic porter.

The tart fruit has me thrown for a bit of a loop, though. Maybe it was barrel aged in red wine barrels????

Thinner feel and a cleaner finish than I would expect from something so sweet.

I will report back with what it is when I go back to unwrap it and grab my second pour.

 

Still drinking some awesome beers from @JBowenGeorgia, I will definitely have a bottle or two for when you get to Philly.

Creature Comforts Duende DIPA

4.13/5 rDev -7.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Thank you JBowenGeorgia for this
16 oz can poured into a tulip

A- A slightly hazy golden color with a two finger white head.

S- Citrus, melons, some tropical fruits, a little earthy/floral, somewhat dank, touch of sweet malts.

T- Citrus, melons, touch of tropical fruits, floral, pine, touch of sweet malts.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A very nice DIPA and easy to drink, nicely balanced.

Cheers!

 

That's correct. This beer was originally bottled and released as One Love, a Brewhouse One Series beer.

Since One Love was our second-ever brewery-only release and we’re still learning how these work and what the appropriate volume of beer to package is, we were left with bottles of the beer we sold as One Love that we wanted to find a good home for. Given that folks outside the Kansas City area didn’t necessarily have the opportunity to try the beer at the brewery, it made sense to offer it to them in the Barrel-Aged Great Eight as Jamaican Rum Barrel Imperial Stout.

 

And its not super hazy like most of their beers which I like.

 

Trying this very nice Westbrook/Evil Twin collab. Not getting any coconut or pineapple but a fine stout nonetheless.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24300/364098/?ba=cindyjeffsmith#review

 

Happy American Impy Stout Sunday!

Raining on the Western Slope, trailhead was cloudy, around 50. Having a very nice brew on a cooler day. This one surprised me, really like the banana/coconut combo, very nicely done. This brew is worth checking out. Picked up a couple of chicken tacos on the way home. Watching some NYPD Blue reruns.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/358875/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

#2. Also from the generous @Vidblain. Specter from Fulton Brewing in Minneapolis. Chris, you guys in Minnesota must have some amazing beer because the BA rating for this DIPA is only 3.98. It deserves better than that. We're no slouches in the NYC metro area but Specter is really first rate! Thank you for the chance to drink it!

Here's my full review:

4.19/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I received this fro @Vidblain. Canned 8/28/2018 and poured into a Spiegelau IPA glass. It pours a cloudy, golden-amber color with two fingers of fluffy, bright white head and lots of residual lacing. It has a fragrant nose of lemon, lime, mint, grapefruit, pine, and light floral hops. This is really good. It opens with a burst of lemon and grapefruit but with a nice malt and oat base. It's both sweet and bitter. It has a very tasty blend of Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, and Nelson Sauvin hops that provides both flavor and lots of bitterness. It has a nice, rich mouth feel with lively carbonation, and the 7.1% ABV is perfect: it gives the ale substance but you can easily drink a second pour. I'm surprised by the aggregate rating of this ale. I'm drinking it 6 weeks after canning but it is damn good!

 

Hi there NBS. I was looking forward to sharing a few beers that were sent to me by @WesMantooth for NBS BIF #8, however my body has decided not to cooperate. Woke up this morning with a giant head cold and my smell and taste are all messed up. I did pour a glass from a a mystery howler, but with these messed up senses not sure how great my review will be.


Look is super light yellow with a small amount of off white head that has a ton of tiny bubbles, almost looks like the carbonation on bubbly. Small amount of lacing.

I am really struggling with the smell on this one, mostly due to the cold. On the initial pour my nose was telling me this was going to be a lager, but as it warms slightly I think I am getting more of a gose sense with a slightly sour note.

Again my taste-buds are betraying me right now and I can't really discern anything specific. I definitely feel like I am getting a salty note up front, followed by a mellow grain flavor.

This is a light bodied beer with a decently dry finish.

Overall: I felt bad not participating on share day and thus I gave this a shot. I won't give it a true rating yet, because I need to give this one a fair shake. Seems like a nice refreshing summer beer. I saved some of the howler and will hopefully revisit in a few days when this cold is gone. Thanks @WesMantooth, sorry I had to go and get sick on you. If I had to guess which beer this is, I would say the classic gose, but my palate is shot right now. What say you @WesMantooth?

 

Kent falls send it
Pours super hazy and nice head
Pillowy soft great mouthfeel
Drinks very smooth light with a little hop pithy grapefruit backbone

 

The game: NBS BIF #8.

The mission: annihilation of porches from sea to shining seas

#MissionAccomplished

Thanks to a couple of boxes from @TongoRad and one from @SammyJaxxxx, I have enough new beers for NBS until approximately 2023 .....







First one tonight is from @TongoRad. This is magnificent, IMHO.





4.44/5 rDev +4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Very hazy grapefruit color with a compact, foamy off-white head that yields to dank citrus aromas found so often in Mosaic-hopped beers. God bless the Mosaic hop.

Dank defines the taste - grapefruit, pineapple, mango, papaya, which are part of a mouthfeel that is a bit biting.

This is all the things I love in a DIPA - bright citrus that is unyielding, and a full, brisk mouthfeel that lets me know I’m drinking a substantial beer. World-class, IMHO.

 

Happy Sunday NBSers!

First, I think a coordinated tasting/ virtual bottle share sounds like a blast. The Founders barrel series makes a lot of sense, but the next release is CBS, which won't be a new beer for most. I look forward to smarter people than myself figuring it out.

NBS BIF 8 has been a blast. First, @jhavs was a dream sender. He's incredibly thoughtful and generous, and happens to live in a part of the country that is home to some of my absolute favorite breweries on Earth. I'll be drinking several brews Jon sent me today, as I have work off tomorrow.

Second, this last round of the BIF devolved into a Beer War, with @FFFjunkie , @Dragginballs76 , and @Vidblain declaring war on little old me, and @Bum4ever and @Blackop555 jumping in to give me some cover. Many others subsequently jumped in to sow chaos. I don't think the dust has settled yet, but the thoughtfulness and generousity on display has been stunning. In addition to the three (!) stellar boxes Jon sent, I also got bombed by @Vidblain, @Dragginballs76 , @JBowenGeorgia , @r0rschach, @SammyJaxxxx, and @TongoRad. These fine gentlemen are going to keep me in new beer for quite some time.

My first beer today, to be drunk while watching The Princess Bride with my kids for the first time, is the mystery beer sent by Jon. Because I don't mind looking like an idiot, here we go:



It pours a rich caramel, with a fluffy tan head that quickly dissipates leaving just a very thin suggestion of what had been there before. The nose is sweet caramel and bready, with just a hint of alcohol. Oooh... The first taste screams english barleywine, with maybe some barrel influence. Toffee, bready caramel, nice barrel presence. Sticky toffee pudding booze. I could be off here, but it drinks like it has seen at least a couple years in a cellar. This is incredible, and I am absolutely loving it.

I first unwrap the cap:



Smuttynose! I know they've been putting out some interesting stuff in their Smuttlabs program, but they probably wouldn't have been one of the first 50 breweries I guessed.

Reveal:



Inconceivable! Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Ale, brewed exclusively for Julio's Liqours aged in handpicked Loch & K(e)y Society whisk(e)y barrels. It's listed as an old ale and was bottled in 2015. All in, I'm pretty happy with my read here.

Jon, this is excellent and something that wasn't on my radar at all. I am thrilled to have been able to try it, and it was fun blind. Cheers!