New Beer Sunday (Week 716)

Lawson’s Finest Liquids - Super Session #7

Changing things up for a nightcap. I’ve had Super Session #2 before. I don’t know what the differences are or what the numbers mean. When it comes to these modern craft “session IPAs,” this brewer seems to know how to play in the space really well.

This one has a nice malt presence. Tastes of peach and orange at the beginning and then finishes with some strong grapefruit pith bitterness. Everything comes together really nicely here. Cheers.

 

The Mad Elf, Troegs Brewing Company

3.87/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

I can't believe this is the first time I've had this; maybe Troegs didn't market it well to whatever segment I'm part of. Anyway in case you think I'm pushing the season, this has been in the stores for at least two weeks AND yesterday the temperatures didn't get out of the twenties.

This freshest by 9/24/19 12 ouncer looked good in the Abbey long stemmed tulip, with a nice head over a rich ruby color (as an aside, in my anecdotal universe everything that's been sold to me previously as a "red beer/ale" has been a massive hop bomb that challenges my obdurate frugality in refusing to pour anything out). The cherry and honey rise, along with the booze, to the forefront of the smell and taste. Looking at other reviews, I see some people don't like the cherry presence being so upfront. That's ok, I'm not here to badmouth anyone, rather to contrast this with Bell's 30th Anniversary Cherry Stout (and I'm a big Bells fan) where I was wondering "where's the cherry", plus it's a natural tasting cherry and not this medicinal crap where you wonder "is this infected or did some nitbrain think this was a really really good idea". And don't get me started on the diabetic coma inducing Better Half, which I'm aging to salvage what I think was a good idea.

So I like this.

Thanks for letting me hang with you sots; I got some good ideas assuming they're available.

 

Been having battery issues with my phone, so it's taken me a while to post since this a.m.

I started NBS off today with a Dutch Trappist Tripel I found while in my hometown on Monday:

Not bad, but I've had better. A little too fruity and the body was a little too big.

Later I went with a hazy IPA that pays homage to an early Modest Mouse album that was recorded in the city where it was brewed:

Quite delicious. I'd definitely have it again.

 

This one was pretty solid IMO. It uses Idaho 7 hops, fyi. Good choice.

 

That's a good question, man - sort of a long story.

My dad's brother is a bit of a black sheep. We hadn't seen him at any family gatherings for about 20 years, maybe more. My grandfather decided he wanted to settle his estate in advance and mailed out checks to all of the kids - my uncle took that as his signal that he was welcome back to the family, apparently. My dad and I went out to visit him about a year ago - he wanted to show us where all of his papers and valuables are in case he should die unexpectedly.

Odd guy. He had two heavy-duty upright gun safes, and several handguns secreted throughout the house, waterproof boxes of thousands of rounds of ammunition, a reloading bench, water purification equipment, months worth of food, cases of vodka... etc. Pretty much the definition of a survivalist.

He sent me home with the Thompson - it's a .50 cal black powder rifle. Nice fiber optics on it. I have yet to fire it - he also gave me a sporterized Remington 1903 (makes me sad every time I see it - wish it was still in the stock configuration) which I've put quite a few more rounds though. Love shooting .30-06.

I sold the majority of my collection when I bought my house - needed the money, and was a little paranoid about the neighbors breaking in and stealing everything. I miss my AK-74 and AR-15 most of all, but bench shooting that 1903 makes me miss them just a little bit less.

 

Next up for me is Henniker Brewing’s Kölsch, and I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the pour. Here’s the can, at least-



This one pours a cloudy, pale golden color with a frothy head

Smells and tastes of crackery malt and mild floral hops. Taste is a bit muddled and is mildly bitter.

Feel is medium-bodied and heavier than expected. Finish is semi-dry and a bit bitter

Overall- the nose is promising on this one with nice crackery malt and floral hops, but things get a bid muddled in the flavor with everything undefined and sort of running together, if that makes sense. It’s also a bit heavy feeling and surprisingly cloudy for a Kölsch

 

And one from @thebeers always love some Trillium goodness!

Pours like orange juice with a finger of white head.
Smells sweet, honey, citrus, a bit of bubblegum, light pine.
Taste starts with the resinous pine, turns to sweet fruits, peachy, honey, faint bubblegum notes linger.
Medium to full body, smooth, amply carbed.
Overall a great beer!
Thanks Arthur!

 

Late to the party (again). This is my last brew from the MT sample pack. This is Draught Works’ Scepter IPA. Brewed and canned in Missoula, MT.

4.23/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 |
overall: 4.25

Canned 6/28/18.
L: Pours dark honey gold in color. Forms about a finger of a dense frothy cap which retained nicely. Heaps of residual lacing.
S: Pine, citrus, malts and grassy hops.
T: Full of citrus and floral flavor. Finish is bitter with resinous hops. Malt backbone is prevalent throughout flavor adding another taste element to the beer.
F: Excellent feeling. Carbonation is perfect for the style. Feels slightly heavier and full in body compared to other alike styles.
O: An excellent WCIPA. I would gladly revisit.
Cheers NBS!

 

Alright... might just make this the penultimate beer for NBS this week.

Does anyone remember Port Brewing Hot Rocks Lager from back in the day? No? Alright, well, have I got a beer for you!



Portland, ME based Banded Brewing have developed a similar dark lager brewed with hot lava rocks. This is a "steinbier" as they are traditionally known, and the "stein" part (which translates to "stone," obviously) has to do with adding these heated rocks to the mash to bring temperatures up to where they need to be for saccharification. In other words, this process was historically used when water was plentiful but direct/modern heat sources were not available. Typically, this is used to quickly caramelize malts, i.e. scorching the sugars in the wort. Cool stuff.

The pour is an unfiltered deep ruby-garnet color that pretty much becomes cola-brown after a half-pour, and then nearly-black by the time a 12 oz serving has been decanted into my glass. The head is a ghostly white color and leaves behind some tiered, drippy patterned lace aspects. The surface itself is a little cloudy, with small islands of foam bubbling up and dissipating here and there. I can see bubbles rising to the surface and popping with moderate frequency.

Scent is charred malts and deep cocoa powder-like elements with a backing aspect of caramel. It looks a bit like cola, but it also smells a little like it as well, interestingly enough. As a note, flaked rye was used in this beer, likely to give some spicy complexity to the proceedings, and I'm happy to say that I can definitely notice its presence in the nose. This has a caraway-like spice to it, definitely! Slight citrusy and floral hop note. Smells a bit stronger than the stated 6.66% (very edgy, guys).

Flavor profile is essentially like a heavier-bodied schwarzbier with some porter-like complexity. A bit roasty with some light yeasty esters, floral hoppiness and earthy flavors. The body and feel are rather light and deft, but the chocolate flavors from the black and dark crystal I malt give it some heftiness. Leading carbonation that disappears toward the finish to reveal more heavy chocolate and earthy flavors. Clean finish, as expected for a lager, with some light parting notes of bitter earthiness. I would return to this, for sure! Well-made stuff with a cool concept and an impressive execution. I think I would probably prefer it to be under 6% ABV, but whatever. It is what it is!

 

Happy LNNBS, or I guess just NNBS for me. Next up seems like amatch made in heaven:

A) Coffee,

2) Baltic Porter, and

d) Crooked Stave goodness, which I've yet to be let down.

I just got back from dinner at Breakside who makes (made) my current all time favorite Baltic Porter. Hope this puts up a fight.

Crooked Stave-
Coffee Baltic Porter





Pitch black, my reflection starting back at me. Minescule depply browned floaties suspended near the bottom. It's clean otherwise, and topped by a soda like dark tan foam that quickly recedes into nothing more than a thin creamy ring.

Coffee seems to be the least influential ingredient here. Quite sweet smelling actually... Molasses, brown sugar, some squaw bread with toasted crust, even a little black olive brine below. A mild light brew coffee fights to scratch the surface.

The flavor is also quite sweet. Molasses is hit with some milk chocolate and root beer like spices. Coffee is even harder to detect in the flavor than its scent. You know what, aside from convincing myself, I can't even really taste it. The coffee, I mean. Oh...wait.... there it is now, just a bit, as it warmed.

Very interesting feel on this. It is more full bodied and starts somewhat creamy, but it has this tingly soda like carbonation that dries it out so quickly. It's odd, but it works. Everything about this is sweet, and I'm desperately seeking some balance to no avail.

I don't know. This has good reviews and maybe I'll change my opinion given the fact I bought a six pack of this, but it's not working for me. Baltic Porter's to me are clean, bold, and robust. This seems a bit too sweet and full with funky nuances in every category. All well.

After my official review, I gave Coffee Baltic Porter a rating of 3.72, with an rDev of -10.4%. Cheers!

 

Alright, here's my last beer for this NBS! Been excited for this one since I picked it up! I really like regular Brigadeiro, and I'm pretty pumped to see how it does with the double-barrel treatment. For those unfamiliar, MBA Brigadeiro is aged in both Bourbon and maple barrels... I assume that the "maple barrel" part means "barrels that previously held another spirit and then also held maple syrup," but whatever. Is this a CBS killer?! Let's find out!

Well, at only 8.5%, it's definitely not quite going to "kill" anything other than some errant germs in my gullet. It pours a deep, dark brown color with a thin but solidly-retentive light-mocha head. Swirling the beer in my glass brings the head back up to about two fingers, highlighting its darkness all the way. Not a superb or particularly-menacing pour, but a solid one.

The nose definitely has a lot of the elements of regular ol' Brigadeiro including the creamy coffee note and the slight tinge of lactose in there as well, with the base of roasted and chocolate malt. On top of those, however, is an immense whiff of Bourbon whiskey. This just has a straight-up, unabashed element of tannic barrel character behind the original aspects of the base beer. I do get a little bit of the maple barrel, as well, though... it's very subtle, but there is some sweetness and an almost honey-like aspect coming across as this warms.

On the tongue, this is somehow both fairly-sweet and also loaded with tannins from the barrel aging... it's a solid combination, actually, but it does kind of lean toward the saccharine when all's said and done. The beer was only aged for three months in the barrels detailed, and I think it would probably be better with a couple more months in the wood before release. The feel is a little too bright and easily-drinkable for what should be a richer brew. I enjoy the blend here, but I think strengthening the base Brigadeiro a bit more and letting it age twice as long (at least in the Bourbon barrels) would really make it spectacular. As it is, it's kind of like a poor man's CBS. I guess if I think of it that way, it's... great? I dunno. I just wanna see Springdale do this much more justice than they have at this point.

 

One more new one to squeeze in before Sunday turns into Monday-



New Belgium’s The Hemperor-

This one smells strongly like a bag of weed up front, but under that, there’s piney and herbal hops and bready malts

The weed is absent from the flavor, leaving rich bready malt, along with piney and herbal hops. Low bitternes

Overall, this is a nice-drinking IPA that smells very strongly of a skunky bag of buds

 

NBS is fun, I should post here more often.

Definitely try this one if you can, at least once. At least if you like thin mints.



4.25/5 rDev +2.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Year : 2017. Bottled 12/21 at 12:21 AM. This must be a sign. Poured into Crane snifter. $4.49 a bottle from Total Wine in Daytona Beach, FL. Was a $21.99 4 pack but they split it up for me (2 bottles) and gave me a discount.

If there's a beer any more shiny, I'd like to see it. Absolute polished black leather shine, I can see everything in the room in it - like a mirror. Head is a thin half finger of beige.

Aroma is dead-on Girl Scout's Thin Mints...how'd they do it? I'd bet you couldn't tell a difference if you had them side by side (maybe a touch more chocolate from the real thing, but it would take a discerning and critical nose).

Flavor hits with a rush of chocolate, then wafer cookie, then a strong soapy hop bitterness, and then a fresh leaf of mint. Forget about brushing (no, don't) because this brings the mint big time. Alcohol heat builds and then settles on the tongue, and grows more intense the more it is sipped.

Feel is slick, oily almost, with a moderate to heavy carbonation level, and alcohol heat with some real nice burning freshness at the end.

Overall, I think impressive is the word. It's not as tasty as it is impressive, mostly because of that nose. The soapy hop bitterness as usual (it plagues all of Southern Tier's dessert beers) is its downfall, but I notice it less here than I have in other beers. Overall, while in Florida it was a $21.99 4 pack, I think if you can get it on sale for $5 bucks or more cheaper, it's a good deal.

 

Coop 2017 Territorial BBA Barleywine.

Kinda disappointed in this one to be honest. Their BBA Imperial Stout in the territorial line is fantastic.

It says this beer ages well up to 4 years (as a BBA barleywine should), but the hops they used in this beer have totally died and really stand out in an unpleasant way. I imagine it would have been pretty good when it was fresh, because the backbone is there. Maybe it's just this particular bottle.

Plenty of nice vanilla and sweet caramel, but I feel bad not drinking it months ago because I imagine it would have been much better.

Oh well, you take the good with the not so good, and move on to the next beer. Cheers and goodnight everybody!

 

No sir, you're not alone, much as I love Captain Lawrence for many years now I have never been a fan of almost all their hoppy pale ales of any strength or type, and that goes for this one as well. Decent beer, but in stores here it sits nearby many that are so much better, just as fresh, and same price or cheaper, so...

 

Much as I enjoyed being co-host/clueless leader here, glad to not have to chime in from that seat about that "rule".

Much as the hosts are supposed to keep this thread to its traditional roots, it has undergone changes over the years besides the ones enabled by the change to more modern forums. I still remember when folks called others out for not posting official reviews, as the site was building a data base, and this thread was part of an effort to make people aware of how to review and what a good thing it was to have reviews to help us know what is good and not so good.

Of course the virtual saloon aspect was one I tried to encourage on days I hosted, but those who gave thoughtful reviews to the database always got a pass, no matter if the beer was consumed on Fri. or Sat., and I always called out those who didn't give a good description.

 

Cheers New Bull Shitters A little strife and confrontation is bound to happen in most social situations. I thank you all for accepting me here as I usually only post in those first minutes of Sunday if some prestigious soul decides to start this thread at the stroke of midnight in their ‘more Eastern time zone than mine’. Was completely euphoric it was referencing my favorite comic strip of all time and a cornerstone of my identity. Calvin and Hobbes ran while I was 8-18. Those were the most important years of who I’ve become today. What I failed to reference though was Veterans Day. My grandfather was a WWII veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart. He passed away when I was 12 due to complications with the artificial hip he received after being shot in New Guinea. He developed cancer and then his body attacked it as if it was another foreign invader to his system. R.I.P. Donald James Cannon. I don’t visit his grave enough as he was the last one to actually be buried. Both my father and mother were cremated as will I be. I feel like the body is a vessel for the spirit and memories and lessons taught are the essence of eternal life and shaping the next generation... but enough about all that jazz.

This is one of my favorite beers of all time but I have not yet had Batch 7. If we want to discuss the perimeters of New Brew Sunday I believe this is the one that irks me more than if you posted your review in real time. I understand that different batches are similar but they are definitely different beers. Love Avery big stouts but glad when they dialed down the abv with this one and Tweak. Damn my opinions keep popping up. Whoops. Here we go....



Black as night with little to no carbonation visible in the pour. Nose is burnt brown sugar, leather, smoke, tobacco, chocolate, raisens and figs. Taste is more of the same with minal oxidation and alcohol burn at 9 months of age. Carbonation is very adequate on the toungue and body is moderate, probably the only real deterrent to a perfect score as it isn’t the thickest BA stout I’ve had. Overall still world class to me and the fact every year I make it to Denver there are still bottles on the shelves put it far and away better than anything I’ve chased only to be disappointed that it’s all just beer. Wonderful,example of the style and if anyone who loves BA stouts has not tried it I highly recommend seeking a bottle out. Thanks again for having me. This beer is really in my glass right now.

 

Stone's Sanctimonious IPA is a very nice way to end my night and weekend. And it is my NBS beer this week. Have a good week everyone!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/147/341325/?ba=neenerzig#review

Eric

 

Hopefully I'll figure out how to upload a picture before the next time. Thanks and cheers!