New Beer Sunday (Week 721)

New Beer Sunday: American IBA

Mornin NBSers with an alert for IPA fans and thanks to @cjgiant for the start up. Today will be an IPA kinda day.

The weather here is much like that described by our host. Gray skies dripping moisture in various amounts at different times. The temps are expected to be in the mid 40s and that dripping will sometimes get heavier, harder and a bit wind blown, but will mostly be that slow drip, drip, drip....

This morning’s new beer is the Not Today Satan IPA from Mispillion River. The beer seems appropriately titled for this morning given both the weather and my having had to avoid beer for a while due to a course of medication that does not play well with alcohol. This is my second beer from Mispillion so I’ll be interested in what it is like given that the brewer is within a day trip drive from here and might warrant a visit sometime.

As usual, my review, subject to revision until I finish the beer, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/33326/194511/?ba=drtth#review


The aroma/flavor profiles on this beer are noticeable but not overpowering. There’s some citrus, tropical fruits and a bit of carmel from the malt. The light bitterness is mostly about some resin and citric zest that is balanced nicely by the sweetness from the malt. Not the best IPA ever, but one I’ve enjoyed drinking and might like to try again at the tap room. My only complaint is that I did find the bitterness at the end of the finish just a touch unpleasant.

Cheers, all!

 

Happy Uinta Abita New Beer This Sunday, Bro./GEN Woody (Week 721)?

It is another rainy day here in SE/SC PA, but I have big plans for the day. An old Navy buddy & his wife are in town for a few days so we met for supper last night. Today, I am working on a couple of projects, one delineated (sort of) in my post's title, the other for a Facebook group's giveaway. The latter requires a visit to the Friendly Greek Bottle Shop (FGBS) so I will be away from the computer for a little while. Now is the Winter of our discontent made glorious Summer by yon son (sun) of York (although I live in Lancaster)!

Without further ado about nothing, I bring you my review of:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/313234/?ba=woodychandler#review

And so it begins, in earnest! I'll be back periodically over the course of the day to keep yinz apprised of my doings & goings-on. Until then, may your glass be full & your heart be light!

 

Poured into a16 oz Breakaway glass canned on 11/28/18 and 5.1% ABV. Pours a near pitch black with a 4 finger mocha head that leaves thin wisps of lace behind with excellent retention. 4.75

Smell is cocoa nibs, coffee grounds, vanilla bean, and just a little biscuity grain that plays very well with everything going on. 4.5

Taste follows biscuit grain, cocoa, vanilla, and just a little kiss of coffee, really tasty! 4.75

Mouthfeel is a creamy medium, soft gentle carbonation, not dry at all, and goes down very easy, but the flavor is more like 6.5 or 7. 4.75

Overall this is an absolute gem, 5.1% with a ton of flavor and a nice creamy feel. This is a stout I could drink all day during a cold winter night. Exceptional and I am giving it more props because of the reasonable ABV and all the flavor. 4.5

 

A-Pours a very dark color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has intense chocolate hints, but also some coffee, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a very generous chocolate flavor mixed in with a nice balanced flavors of coffee, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and as the beer warms all of the flavors become more pronounced
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A very well done and nicely balanced Imperial Stout

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, @cjgiant, for today's opening. My New Breakfast Beer is:



Received from @Bum4ever in NBS BIF #8. Reviewed 12/16/18. Thanks Josh!
Undated capped 750 mL bottle. Cork pulls with a faint “POP” and no overflow. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried long-stemmed Sante Adairius snifter.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Light yellow, clear, initially effervescent but rapidly diminishes.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.8 cm, aggressive center pour), white, high density with a few rocks, short duration, diminishing to a five mm ring and thin complete layer. Second and third pours yield smaller but otherwise identical heads.
Lacing – Excellent - wide bands of tiny bubbles, connected by short columns.
First pour – Light yellow (Nearly colorless), clear.
Aroma – 4.25 – Begins with a general fruitiness followed by some Brettanomyces-like odors of leather.
Flavor – 4.25 – Begins with a short-lived burst of acetic acid followed by a bit of fruitiness. No added spices initially detected. When I can force myself not to swallow immediately, after the carbonation is gone, a bit of cumin flavor appears. The aftertaste is slightly acrid. No alcohol (5.7% ABV), no hops, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate –4 - Light, watery, lively carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 4.25 – An excellent take on a Belgian saison. Acidic and fruity, it practically leaps down my throat, leaving little time for analysis. One of the best I’ve ever had.
Rating 4.21, rDev -0.2%.

 

A-Pours a very dark color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has intense maple syrup hints, but also some vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a very generous maple syrup flavor mixed in with a nice balanced flavors of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A very well done and nicely balanced Brown Ale that feels like drinking liquid French toast

 

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas!

Well, a White beer in this instance: Celis White – Belgian-style Witbier.

It just so happens that the very first Witbier I ever had was Celis White circa 1998. That beer was brewed by Pierre Celis in the brewery he established in Austin, TX. The beer I will be drinking today I purchased while visiting family in Texas last month and this beer was also brewed in Austin but by Pierre’s daughter Christine Celis.

The story of the Witbier style and the Celis family (Pierre and Christine) is a long but interesting story. There is a short version of the story on the back of the Celis White beer can:

“Brewed in Belgium – Brewed in Austin

In the tradition of Belgian Brew Master Pierre Celis, this Wheat Beer is like the man – legendary. It’s his original recipe, first brewed by Pierre back in 1965. Hi signature witbier sparkles with remnants of Coriander and Orange Peel that will take you back to the true taste, the first taste made famous by the one and only “Father of Witbier”

Pierre Celis 1925 – 2011”

Will this beer take me back to my first experience drinking a Witbier in 1998?

Served in my Witbier Tumbler Glass:

Appearance

A hazy straw color with a 1 finger white head.

Aroma

The aroma is combination of bready malt and some herbal aspects.

Taste:

Wow! A tasty combination of light bready malt flavor, then some citrus and there are herbal notes – the flavors come in waves! The citrus really ‘pops’ on the backend. This beer has a low bitterness.

Mouthfeel

A pleasant soft body with an off-dry finish.


Overall

In one word: EXCELLENT. A very refreshing beer!!

So, is this the ‘same’ beer I drank two decades ago? Well, my beer memory is not that precise over that long of a duration but I am willing to venture that this beer is even better than that ‘old’ beer.

For the interested reader I would strongly encourage you to read more about Pierre Celis and the new brewery that his daughter recently opened in Austin:

http://belgianbeerspecialist.blogspot.com/2011/04/pierre-celis-conversation-in-hoegaarden.html

https://www.craftbeeraustin.com/celis-brewery-austins-first-craft-brewery-is-set-to-reopen/

Cheers to Christine Celis for resurrecting such a wonderful beer!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH @zid

 

Cheers and happy holidays to you Jack. For me, this beer reminded me of an orange hard candy.

 

Interesting.

Yes there was citrus (orange) flavor in this beer but it did not keep me from picking up the myriad of other flavors (e.g., light bready malt flavors, herbal flavors,...) embedded within this beer.

Cheers!

 

A-Pours a dark hazy purplish color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has subtle tartness and blackberry hints
T-The tastefollows the nose with a subtle blackberry and a decent tartness
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent blackberry sour beer

 

Thanks to @cjgiant for the start. For my first beer of today, I am going to go with something dark.

It will be another busy day for me (as every weekend of this month is) with going somewhere to decorate Christmas cookies with the kids.

Anyway, my first beer of today will be "Grind Core" and it is a Surly BC Small Batch brew.
And before even getting into the brew, I must say I find the artwork eeringly similar to FFF Wigsplitter. (And then let alone that they are both espresso milk Stouts) Hmm...

But I'll let you decide with these pictures for reference



Moving on, I'm pouring this beer from a 16 oz. can into a snifter glass.



This beer pours out dark brown with highlights running throughout. It forms in the glass much darker but with light still penetrating the edges of its dark soul when held up to light. It formed a pinky width of creamy, light tan colored crown that dissipated into only leaving a ring attached to the glass and some small islands. (3.75)
I smelled the coffee as soon as I opened the can. Putting my nose to the glass provided a multi dimensional coffee explosion. Creamer, espresso, smelling into a bag of fresh beans. Astringent, fresh, strong brewed black coffee. (4)
The taste comes in with black, fresh roasted coffee taking my taste buds for hostage before showing me to what little it has to offer of sweetness. This is a real coffee bomb. And one that I enjoy because of the black nature of the coffee. (4.25)
It has a nice, full body for a milk stout and I wouldn't say it's lacking any depth. It's got a warmness to it, that is remiscent of fresh coffee beans instead of say, alcohol. Dry on the finish. (4)
Overall, I would be happy to drink another one. It's a solid milk stout that really follows suit to the style while being an absolute coffee bomb. If you drink this, I hope you like you're coffee black. If not, beware, you were warned. (4)

Cheers NBSers! Can't wait to see what you're drinking today and hopefully I'll be back with one more before it ends!

 

Firestone velvet merkin
..pours a solid black
..medium body bodies with a very slight oily creamy feel. Carbonation is medium light and doesn't impact the feel very much
..aroma is an oak earth forward followed by espresso , roasted malt and some bourbon
..taste follows aroma in that there is a lot if wood upfront to get around to appreciate what else this offers. The bourbon itself didn't make a huge showing

 

Barrage - Lager of Sin

Today, I think I'm going to focus on local Long Island NY breweries... and this "metal" beer is a perfect continuation from my LI metal beer from last week. This one is from Barrage. I really do not like the beers from Barrage. I still gave this one a shot because I like to challenge my opinions and I enjoy having them rearranged. This beer did not accomplish that though. I wonder if this beer was brewed and canned at the same facility as last week's beer, or if Barrage went with a mobile canner.

It was made in collaboration with the band Metal Allegiance, which is a "heavy metal supergroup, formed on Long Island." This beer is a marketing tie-in with the band's single.

The beer name, can art, can size, and 8.4 ABV plastered on it really make me think of those canned high strength euro lagers. I wish they were going for that! That would be interesting. It's clear however, that this was not in the brewer's mind, and that they were going for a NEIPA type beer. This is coming from a brewery that named their initial attempt at a NEIPA "Try and Try." Really? What were they thinking??

The beer is a lifeless opaque grapefruit yellow. Carbonation is light. Smell is immediate American modern IPA. The beer tastes like grapefruit, a little overripe fruit, some kind of lemon zinger tea, a hint of boiled string beans, and an intense leafy bitterness. The blend of these elements are unappealing to me. Perhaps my last beer from Barrage. For the sake of balance, it's worth noting that the scores on BeerAdvocate are very high.

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! It appears that Sloop has entered distro here (perhaps for you too @cjgiant ?), so picked up a couple to try. I’ve only ever had Sloop on draft, so this is my initial can experience with a brewery I tend to dig a lot.

Lupulin Mutant - Sloop
NE IPA - 6.5% abv
Canned 11/14/18 (32 days ago)
Score: 4.31 (+3.4% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30081/346242/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
This is a juice beer right here, and right in my wheelhouse. Barely any bitterness or booze, with tons of citrus and pineapple. Sweetness is restrained, thankfully. And the body! So creamy. I suspect if you handed this to someone who had been AWOL for 20 years, they would not identify it as an alcoholic beverage. And certainly not a beer.

 

Yeah, for me it was dominated by a citrus sweetness, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it.

 

Thanks @cjgiant for the great start to this weeks NBS. Will be back with a new beer later on today.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, there was most definitely a citrus aspect as I made mention in my post: “…the flavors come in waves! The citrus really ‘pops’ on the back end.”

I personally would not agree with the term “sweetness” since this beer did not come off as being sweet for my palate.

I really enjoyed the complex nature of this beer’s flavor profile (for my palate): I picked up differing flavors on the front end, mid-palate, and back end for this beer. And as I stated the citrus really ‘popped’ at the back end.

I suppose I should bring up once again my saying: we all have our own unique palate and our unique preferences in what we enjoy in a beer.

Cheers!

 

I wish that would always go without saying on BA. Cheers.

 

New beer #2. Thanks @thebeers ! Between this and the regular, you’ve spoiled me on stouts recently. “Only 600 bottles were produced.”

Coffee Ralphius - Free Will
BBA Stout - 16.6% abv
Vintage 2018
Score: 4.38 (-1.4% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28091/383345/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
I still can’t believe this is almost 17% abv. I mean, the booze is there, but not DFH 120 there. I could guzzle this if the mood was to strike, so this one falls in the dangerous category. I do wish the coffee was slightly more forward, but as-is this is a supremely well balanced monster of a BBA stout. Thanks again Arthur! I owe you!

 

This one comes as a bit of a surprise. Being my first Belgian IPA I didn't know quite what to expect and find I'm pleased with what I've got . . .


Hazy yellow gold color with white cap and lacing.

Aroma like the herb section of a home garden after a light rain with a bit of citrus blossoms and pine trees just over the fence.

Taste is a complex melange of hops that closely match the scent with herbal aspects dominating. Still comes across as a pleasant mixture though. Malt is there in the body but I don't notice it very much in the taste. Hops are strong in this one but with a light handed touch, no firmness or any real bitterness for that matter which is a bit surprising considering it's 65 IBU. I get some of the usual Belgian yeast touches in the aftertaste but not a clove/banana thingy, rather like a bit of fruit in the background.

Medium full texture with balancing carbonation.

Frankly I have no idea what a Belgian IPA is or how it's supposed to taste but I like this brew. It's not the my hops are bigger than your hops approach some brewers take to differentiate their IPAs.

 

Greenport - Inner Glow

I'm moving from a Long Island beer from a brewer I don't like to a Long Island beer that I probably won't like from a brewer I do like. Greenport is hit or miss in a big way for me, but I appreciate their hits. My first beer today was an "IPL" and this is a "golden stout." Don't you just love craft beer?

Here we have another pale ale made with chocolate and coffee. I really do not understand the appeal of these beers. I wonder if there are any drinkers that hate the concept of pumpkin beers but love the concept of pale stouts. Pale stout lovers are like meat eaters buying Tofurky only because they like the taste of it.

This beer is a pretty Vienna lager clear copper color with a decent head. Taste offers no surprises. It's like cocoa nib spiked coffee used to spike Boston Lager. It's good for what it is, but "what it is" isn't inherently good.

 

Xpost from WBAYDN

2015 GI BCBS: Unbelievable stuff that aged well after 3 years: marshmallow and caramel notes floating in a sea of dark deep booze, coffee, chocolate and the bourbon has mellowed out. Other phrasing in the Xpost. Cheers NBS'ers!

 

Foreign Objects Sonnenaufgang

Happy Sunday, BAs. Sure has been a fun weekend here on the site. 17 pages on WBAYDN yesterday. A big shout-out to @LeperJim and all Day of the Dark players.

Today’s (first?) new beer is marketed as a Trocken-Gehupft Pilsner. I tried googling that and came up with nothing. I did learn that Sonnenaufgang means sunrise, and that does seem appropriate.

The beer pours a hazy pale straw color with two fingers of somewhat soupy, near-white head. It has strong effervescence and leaves solid lacing.

Citrus (yuzu, clementine and lime), lemongrass and grain stand out in the nose.

There’s a wonderful graininess and dull bitterness in the taste, but again with a strong citrus element that I find jarring.

The mouthfeel works and seems fairly unique: medium bodied, lightly creamy and surprisingly still.

This strayed too far from what I expect from a pilsner to work for me. It’s like a high quality pils blended with a heavily-fruited witbier.

My wife, who likes world-class saisons and light sours, said it was one of the best beers she’s ever had. I suspect if I was approaching this blind rather than with “German Pilsner” in mind, I may have enjoyed it more. It would be refreshing sitting outdoors for some breakfast on a summer morning.

I’m reminded a bit of Offshoot Brewing’s Today dry-hopped pilsner, which I enjoyed a lot more. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot more beers marketed as pilsners gussied up with new school dry hopping.

 

Good NBS, all!
It is my last Sunday here till after the holiday, as I am heading back home to visit friends and family over Christmas. Thanks to the generosity of a fellow BA, though, I have some awesome new beers to make the next few days really special and today is no exception. I'm especially excited to get to finally try a bigger variety of beers from Lawson's than I've ever had before.
Sip of Sunshine is just about everything I want in an IPA, but I've never tried any of their other hoppy beers (or beers period, for that matter). That ends today. I'm going to start today off with Chinooker'd.

Wow! This is a great beer. It is (like SoS) a beer that checks a lot of boxes for me as far as what I want an IPA to be. It is generally well-balanced with a great feel and drinkability. Lovely looking in the glass, crystal clear with a nice head and appetizing looking carbonation. The smell doesn't quite pop as much as the rest but is still very present with forest floor-citrus potpourri. The flavor follows but kicks it up a notch with big, bright bitterness balanced between a biting pine sap and a dessicating grapefruit oil aromatic quality. As with Sip this one has a delectable mouthfeel that is at once soft, fluffy and dry as a bone. Just an excellent all-around beer. Especially considering they are only relying on one hop for all that I just described.


Here is my official review, for the curious.

Santé!

 

Great write-up, you made me laugh out loud twice

 

Loving the glassware!

 

Temps in the 40's, rainy and grey,
Christmas lights and football queued up for the day
Fridge full o' beers, virtual bar in effect,
Fill your fuckin' glasses and get fuckin' wreck'd...

... lol

Don't listen to me, NBS, I'm halfway through a 17% abv imperial stout from newly started brewery, Nightmare Brewing - founded by Billy Powell, formerly of Sand City...

Scaphism, brewed with milk sugar, honey, Tahitian vanilla, and cocoa... Pours obsidian black, absolutely opaque in the glass, with just a brief half-finger of dark foam that slipped into a collar within moments...

Aromas of cocoa, charred malts, sweet vanilla, and cold espresso on the nose foreshadowed the same on the sip... Despite a rich ingredient profile and a 17% abv, this beer holds together extremely well; and after a wash of sweet molasses, chocolate, and vanilla up front, presents a nice drying bittersweetness on the finish...

Big-bodied, smooth, and rich... A superior stout...

I checked my ratings for American Imperial Stouts, and this is in my top 5 all-time...

All I have is new beer today, NBS, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume...

...Yeah, that's right...

Here's to new beer in your glass, cheers...

 

New Free Beer in My Cup Sunday

Thanks to @Bum4ever for this new brew





3.87/5 rDev -4.2%

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Canned on 10/23/18 in a 16oz size. “Shake and Pour Hard” instructions on the label.

After the Nitro cascading show a thick tan milkshake like froth rises to the top of a glossy black beer.

It smells like coffee beans and cocoa powder, roasted barley that comes across sweeter, like oats, because of the lactose likely. Also a bit of a stale metallic note that I seem to get from English style stouts a lot.

The flavor is mostly coffee and chocolate, with the cocoa like milk chocolate taking over, and some sweetened condensed milk. Lingering roasted/char flavor. Like every nitro milk/cream stout that I can think of outside of Left Hand, the carbonation method squashes the flavor some and gives it a more watery taste than it should have. (One reason I am a fan of Sam Adams Cream Stout).

The feel is actually a touch thin for a nitro beer, but still very smooth and creamy.

 

I’ve been enjoying bourbon more than beer lately, so barrel aged beers have gained some additional attention. That’s why I grabbed this one, which honestly not too long ago I would have passed it over in favor of something more local or more craft alliance-y, for lack of better explain

Guinness aged in Bulleit Barrels



3.94/5 rDev -3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Forced a decent foamy beige head on this pitch black beer. Nose has a bit going on as it starts out oaky before the bourbon makes better sense of it. Beyond that I get some vanilla and finally a vinous quality. Both the tart and sweet receptors activate as soon as I take a swig, and for good reason once the taste becomes apparent. That vinous quality leads until alcohol and a buttery sweetness creep in. Finally, a toffee-ish sweetness develops and mingles in with the alcohol aftertaste as the thinner than you’d like beer finishes out. Not a bad swing at a barrel aged beer, just think it lacks just a little depth and could use more body.

 

Elysian Bi Frost. A great Christmas beer. Can't ask for a better beer right now

 

Probably my favorite Lawsons brew, this is seriously overlooked in the myriad of great IPAs from the region. Even better now that its available in cans.

 

Sounds as if you liked it. Want to tell us about it?

 

Happy CANtinuing Uinta Abita New Beer This Sunday, Bro./GEN Woody (Week 721)?

Next up on the hit parade was:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/285570/?ba=woodychandler#review

but this left me feeling unfulfilled, so I pressed on with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/239062/?ba=woodychandler#review

Impressive, but the job was not getting done as I was reaching the halfway point of the day, so I turned to the bottle:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1416/3840/?ba=woodychandler#review

but the bottle turned to me & suggested that it was time to take a break. Hey, who am I to argue with talking bottles, pink elephants, blue monkeys, yellow giraffes, orange snakes & other manifestations on the parade of the DTs? I shall return for the second half of the day following these CANmercial messages ...