New Beer Sunday (Week 714)

Glad you liked it.
I similarly had minimal experience with (and by extension appreciation for) lagers and the like until this summer. That was one of those that helped nudge me towards reconsidering.

 

Love that album!!
Cheers

 

New Beer #2. Allagash Black, a Belgian Style Stout. This came to me from a non-BA trading buddy. It was bottled in September 2017. I don't know how the year in the bottle affected the Belgian spicing but initially it was like drinking two distinct beers. As it warmed, however, everything came together. There is a lot of burnt coffee and char, along with the expected coriander and clove. There are notes of sour banana and raisin. The feel is a little thin for a stout but overall it's quite good, as I'd expect from Allagash. Here's my full review:

4.02/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Bottled 9/20/2017 so 13 months old when reviewed. Poured from 12 oz. bottle into pint glass. It pours nearly black with dark cola hues at the bottom of the bottom of the glass and a half finger of creamy, light khaki-colored head and a thin sheen of like-colored lacing inside the glass. The nose really improved as the glass warmed: roasted malt, burnt coffee, chocolate, char, nuts, clove, coriander, and just a slight whiff of raisin. The taste is really unique: at first, there is some sour banana, coriander, and clove like a Belgian ale. Then it becomes much more stout-like with chocolate, burnt coffee, burnt nuts, and char. It's like drinking two distinct beers. The taste improved as it warmed. The feel is a little lite for a stout but it's nonetheless creamy. The carbonation is lite and it drinks easily at 7.5% ABV. Overall, this Stout grew on me as I sipped it. I don't know whether the Belgian spicing would taste different if it were fresher but it's still enjoyable. It would pair well with a burger or a french dip, or for casual drinking.

 

When I was alot younger I did quite a bit of carpentry work. A guy I worked for once told me if there was one tool he could choose and had to build a house with it it would be a Milwaukee Sawzall. Never forgot that because its true. Got one in the garage.

 

Good evening, NBSers.
I'm back with another beer, as I watch the Packers and start thinking about making dinner. I also wanted to share an interesting article I read this last week that I thought people here might dig as much as I did. It is about tasting candy and someone being pseudo-trained to do sensory evaluation. I really saw a lot of similarities with beer and it is always good to think about how to taste, different tricks and techniques, and what your personal limitations are. It's also cool to see how people that have no experience "tasting" things think of it as something way more mystical than we do, since we do it all the time.
It made me want some exotic candy, too.
On the topic of exotic sweets, my second new beer today is a milkshake IPA that is a collaboration between Bellwoods and Other Half. I got this from a very generous dude that works with my wife and I feel privileged to try it. Merci, Fred! Everything I've had from both breweries has been great. Let's see if this one is...

It pours about like you'd expect. The nose is very fruity but with a more robust green hop funk. There is also a touch of clean malt sweetness (sugar cookies/vanilla). The flavor is definitely the same beer but is more earthy and verges on bitter and dry (but is not quite there on either count). It is drinkable and enjoyable. I like it when there is still a pretty robust hop character rather than just juiciness and this delivers on them on that front.

Here's my official review.
Santé!

 

Happy NBS. Trying Doppelgänger thanks to fine beer geek pal. Cheers all.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28743/211516/?ba=StraightNoChaser#review

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned around a month ago. Pours a hazy orange yellow with a 2 finger sticky white head that leaves plenty of thin patches of lace. 4.25

Smell is papaya, mandarin orange, mango, mellon, and maybe a hint of grapefruit. 4

Taste follows maybe a tad bolder, papaya, orange, mango, cantaloupe, and some very mild bitter grapefruit. 4.25

Mouthfeel is almost medium, soft on the palate, almost sticky but not dry, and at 5.8% very drinkable but a ton more flavor than most beers this size. 4.5

Overall another outstanding beer from Tree House and it is no longer a surprise that they could make such a great beer at such a moderate ABV. 4.25

 

I want that glass!

 

Glad you enjoyed, great pic!

 

You should google the one handed 18volt hackzawll....it’s my favorite of all time

 

Thanks @Dragginballs76. This was fantastic. Great head retention/spotty lacing for a sour. Aromas and flavors of big juicy/tart/tangy lemons, cucumber, lime, fruit skin, peach, pear, red/green apple, melon, white wine, sea salt, coriander, hay, straw, and grass; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bread malts; light pepper, lacto/musty funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and light coriander spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation, light-medium body, and fairly crisp/clean finishing. Balanced bready/grainy wheat, lactic acid, fruit tang; light sticky spice, and salinity in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy dryness; no pucker. Very flavorful/refreshing, 4%. Not overly lactic or salty. Absolutely amazing style example. Perfectly balanced vibrant lemons, juicy cucumbers, spice, salt, and Lacto complexity; with a nice pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity for the ABV. Send me a case. 4.25


POG Basement. This was fantastic! Great fluffy head retention/soapy lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of huge lightly tart/tangy passion fruit, guava, orange juice, fruit skin, grapefruit, lemon, lime, peach, pineapple, apricot, papaya, mango, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, light peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate cracker, lightly toasted biscuit malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Huge juiciness on aromas. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness; and light fruit tang/artness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/bready malt and sticky hop in the mouthfeel. Some resins/rinds, light fruit tang/acidity. Light-moderate increasing resin dryness, no hop astringency. Very smooth, not overly aggressive, 7.5%. Awesome Citra/Chinook profile. Extremely juicy hops/fruits with some dank/earthy notes; nice malt backbone and minimal residual sweetness from crisp/resin dryness. Loved it just as much as the base beer, but the aromas were the real star this time. 4.27


Cheers

 

Thanks Doc for the update; I’m sure you will follow your Drs’ orders and recover quickly...your new golf buddies will be awaiting you with open arms (and wallets you old huckster ) when you are ready ...

From my Milwaukee pal @Number1Framer , a new to me IPA - Pipeworks Brewing Co., Chicago, Illinois, “Infinite Galaxy”:



Pours a cloudy almost opaque gold with fat white head, looonng cap retention and moderate heavy lacing. 4.75

Pine and citrus nose; dank weedy hops next. 4.0

Taste is pine, lemon, white pepper and melon; lite bitterness; some mango/guava notes surface as liquid warms; bitter aftertaste lemon rind finish. 4.25



Slightly sticky mouthfeel; medium lite body; moderate carbonation; clean and no fluff. 4.0

Overall, I’m loving this beer...it’s an easy drinking, fairly light bodied, poundable 7.3% IPA with a lite citrus bitter linger; I’d drink again. 4.25

Cheers BAs...growing old is a bitch...so may all our maladies be tolerable, and our beer glasses overflow!

 

Yeah, Spezial is a poor second to Schlenkerla - just walking outside the breweries shows how much more smoke is associated with Schlenkerla.

 

Greetings, fellow NBSers, and thanks to @lordofthewiens for getting us going this wet Sunday.

Last week I predicted the weekend was the last nice one that would occur locally, and so far, that seems the case. Thursday night a storm swept through and deposited so many leaves on my car I had to use a snow scraper to clear off enough to be able to drive to work the following morning. It was as if it was covered with tree soup. Been cool and gray ever since, and it's presently gloomy and wet outside.

Today I'm going with my first beer from Illinois that isn't from Goose Island:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/31678/110541/?ba=woemad#review
A nice, spicy saison with a crisp mouthfeel and a tiny hint of funk, I'd happily drink this again.

 

greetings all! Sorry to hear about your foot injury lotw. I was once walking my dog shortly after having rotator cuff surgery and the little bastard abruptly took off after a squirrel and nearly made me collapse in pain when the leash jerked my shoulder. Probably serves me right for holding it with my bad arm.

I grabbed a pilsner this week that I do not recall hearing of before. It's Kulmbacher Edelherb Pils clocking in at 4.95 ABV. It's imported from Bavaria so it would appear to be a German styled pilsner. It has a code on the back that reads 28172518, so it's possible this is Julian speak for bottled in roughly September 2017 and best buy roughly August 2018? It might be a little past its prime or it might not be a date code at all.



It pours a crisp and clear straw yellow that seems a bit lighter than your average imported pilsner. Depending on how you hold it near the light it almost looks a bit AAL-ish. Moderate white head dissipates quickly. The nose is very bready - more like a festbier or helles than the more crackery aroma I associate with a german pilsner. Underneath that is a very crisp and light efferescent and sweet hay like smell that I associated with the first sip of an AAL. Maybe this is just the power of suggestion since I thought of AALs based on the appearance?

Taste is still on the bready side with some grassiness mixed in. Carbonation seems on the low side and there is a bit of a sour note to the aftertaste. The more I drink it though that sourness is starting to present itself more as a little hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is a bit thick and chewy for a pilsner, perhaps because of the low carbonation. Thankfully this has neither sulfur nor diacetyl notes, both of which I'm a bit sensitive too in pilsners.

Not a bad beer but I'm guessing I'm right about the date code and this is a bit past its prime. I'll be interested to taste a fresher one sometime. Cheers all!

 

Good evening NBS.
Sorry Doc for the crutches. I know the worst part is being sedentary since you seem to live a very active lifestyle. Best of luck for a speedy recovery. When I tore my hamstring over the summer it sucked.
I had a rescue dog once that was part Lab part Chesapeake Bay retriever. Of course the dog loved being outdoors- especially the woods and open fields. Once I was walking in the woods with her and she was running all through like a maniac. Suddenly I couldnt find her. On a narrow path I reached down to tie my shoe and she came barrel assing down this path and before I could move through my legs and knocking me in the head with her rock skull - briefly knocking me out. As I looked up she slobbered in my face....
I havent had any broken bones which is pretty amazing considering I was in the hospital so much as a kid my baby teeth turned grey from medication. Lots of stitches, eating poisons, and a twisted colon that required surgery are just the tip of the iceberg. All that and my lifestyle in my late twenties and early thirties makes me wonder how Im alive sometimes. But I am and am lucky enough to be able to try this little number courtesy of @TongoRad.
Industrial Arts Autumn Landscape
Pours a clear sparkling copper gold with a nice 1/2 off white head that settles to a thin ring. Lacing almost non existent.
Aroma is grainy, slight caramel malt and spices; white pepper, cardamom, and rye with an elusive floral note.
Taste is spicy rye, medium toasted bread notes, snappy subtle hops, and a very subdued sweetness.
Feel is crisp carbonation, medium body, nice dry finish that leaves a tingle on the tongue.
An absolutely outstanding brew. A perfect festbier tuned a little towards American brews. I could easily "boot" a number of these in one sitting. Thanks Michael! Very much appreciated.

 

When in TX, I often walk my brother's Grand Pyrenees - it's like having a leash on a bulldozer.