New Beer Sunday (Week 728)

Other Half Double Mosaic Day Dream

Canned 1/2219

This is a single hopped double IPA with Mosaic.

Another home run winner from other half. Cloudy in appearance with a frothy thick white head. Dank blueberries on this one with a very smooth and creamy body. In fact I find that the ABV is very well hidden and doesn't not taste bozy or hot despite being almost 9%

Other Half continues to kill it with their IPAs!

Happy NBS!

 

I had no idea this thread was getting started so early these days, but its up, I'm up, it's Sunday, and - yup - I'm drinking a new beer...

Brewmaster Jack's Double Dry Hopped iteration of Hoppiness is a Warm Pun...

New England-style DIPA with an 8.2% abv, and a 1/18/19 canning date...

Medium-golden yellow body is completely opaque with a slim finger of white foam on top... Head slimmed down to a faint fuzzy cap and traced lace lines down the glass... Aromatics strongly suggestive of grapefruit pith and peel, with a clean pine breeze blowing through... On the sip, juicy but taut citrus - neither bright nor dank, but somewhere perfectly in-between... The bitterness is moderate, the tanginess restrained, and the sweetness very subdued - having more of a quenching dryness to it... Medium-light body-feel has a tang of citric acidity and a smooth carbonation... Despite the abv and body, I found myself wanting to gulp it down... Really solid entry to the style...

Here's to new beer in your glass this Super Bowl Sunday, cheers...

 

First time here. It's a rare day-off Sunday, so why not?

Pouring for the first time a 2017 Vintage Vinátta Russian Imperial Stout (12%) by Kelsen Brewing Company of Derry, New Hampshire.



A dark pour with lasting brown head, this Stout is black, viscous, and opaque. Nutty aroma with heavy notes of roasted malt. Smooth body with thickness and heft to each sip. The roasty, crisp first sip gives way to a soft, malty backbone that carries the beer to a pleasant, lingering coffee/dark chocolate bitterness.

A great RIS that captures the style's signature thickness and roastiness without venturing too far from the roots of the style.

According to the bottle, Vinátta is Norse for friendship, and the brewers suggest drinking in the company of friends.

Cheers, friends, and happy Sunday.

 

Happy New Super Michigan Beer Bowl Sunday (Week 728)!

If you were following WBAYDN #2296, then you may be relieved to hear that I did NOT end up in the pokey! Instead, I reconnected with a buncha high school classmates, including one who is a fellow hophead & another who is an unrelenting Budweiser drinker, but who remembers an impromptu seminar of mine about a decade ago. I was kinda surprised by the crowd, but Valentino's remains a smoking establishment & so there were a LOT of bikers in attendance. I did get to march with my high school's alumni band & I must say, the majorettes have not lost a step! In fact, one who was older than me was downright gorgeous. Here is a convo from yesterday:
One guy tells me, "Yeah, Woody, this here's Mike. He used to be 'Prospect' but then we demoted him!" 8=O

"How & where do you get demoted to from 'Prospect'?"

"You tell 'im, Mike!"

"I'm now 'Bitch' 'cause my old lady won't let me ride my own bike. She made me sell it." 8=O

"There ya go, Woody! Ya don't ride, you ain't a 'Prospect'. Period."

"But I don't ride." :=O

"With yer beard & look?!? I'd never have guessed!"

"No, I prefer sidecar!"

"Ha! There ya go, Bitch! Yer further demoted to 'Sidecar'!" :={}

"Woody, I'm gonna kill ya!"
It was at that juncture that I decamped & beat feet to nearby Dominion Pizza for the Après. Many of us had the same idea & once Dominion got overrun, I stopped off at Rieker Brew Works & then came home with some nice CANs.

Those, however, are NOT my focus today as I ramp up for a SB LIII watch party tonight. Instead, I have some bottled offerings from both New Holland & Saugatuck with perhaps some Bell's & Founders for good measure.

I began with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/348239/?ba=woodychandler#review

MUCH more to follow, so stay tuned!

 

Morning y'all! Off to a great start with that tricky situation you bring up, Doc. I handled it with my first wife (unnecessary with second wife who needed convincing to put on more weight) by answering the question more truthfully than expected. The answer to "Does this outfit make me look fat?" is always no, since it is the fat on ones body that makes one look fat.

Hopefully will be back after work to briefly join the NBS party. These old bones are dragging after my forcing them to re-enter the workplace, especially considering I promised them a vacation for the rest of my life. Next drag starts in a few minutes.

Heard a rumor it may go above freezing today. Was well below zero in the yard at the recycle center the last three mornings.

Welcome back to those who did dry January (I have been back for two weeks) Cheers!

 

New Beer Sunday: American Porter

Mornin’ NBSers with a thanks to @lordofthewiens for this morning’s start and a heads up for people who prefer a porter with a bit of fruit in the aroma/flavor profile.

The weather today is expected to be particularly pleasant compared to the past few days, with lots of sun, a few clouds and a high temp. in the mid 40s. (Absolutely not bathing suit weather so I’ll just avoid thinking about the question and minefield our host faces to another day.… )

Each of today’s new beers will be a porter. My particular purpose in picking porters is practicing performing a practically perfect porter pour.

Today’s first porter is the Scratch Beer 351 - 2018 (a Cranberry Porter) from Troegs brewing over in Hershey PA. (It was a great day when Troegs moved from Harrisburg to Hershey since it helped create a destination for families who want to spend time Hershey. There’s something to do for the kids (visit Hershey Park) and something to do for the grown ups (visit Troegs).

As usual, my review, subject to revision until the porter is finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/694/384362/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors are very much those of a porter but with the addition of some light tartness and berry flavor from the cranberries. The influence of the cranberries is more noticeable in the flavors than the aromas but for me the light tartness and berry flavor work well with the chocolate, coffee, and the light dark roast bitterness of the malt. A drinkable beer that I’m enjoying and expect to be having again while it is still available fresh.

Cheers, all!

 

4 All-new, Exciting 4+ Beer Reviews
Hop Diggity | Mother Earth
4.4/5 rDev +7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
1st Review on BA Thrill! Discover an all-time favorite DIPA.
a) Starting with appearance this beer exceeds lacing up a white wash around a snifter, and lasting over a hazed coppery, apricot body.
s) Excels in aroma, peaceful hops offer grass, flowers, hemp, a bit of wood and scat.
t) Follows the smell, and going to work well with good food: all the above, plus pine, wood, sawdust, the oil on the blade.
f) Suitably prickly, ticklely, fervent, awake, energetic, good weight and body.
o) A star DIPA, Try 24.
The Hook | Carton Brewing
4.15/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Thrilled to be first reviewer of the HOOK. Happy name for our community as it lays inside the bayward curve of Sandy Hook that separates our bay shores from the Atlantic, and over which we see Manhattan gliding silver, golden, or gray - depending on the time of day.
A) This beer slams forward with fruit in the late hopped NE pale style. Hazed bomb with puffy white lacing and lasting head.
S) Fruit I wanted to dive in. Hop fresh barrel.
T) Hop fruit wheat treat.
F) Slick, finishes clean and bitey.
O) One of the best contemporary NE style late hopped fruit pale ales ever.

Pantry Porter | Five Threads
4.15/5 rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Thrilled to be 2d review of this fave porter. My home town brewer Carton brews famous coffee beers, this one, at a lower ABV equals.
a) dark amber body with suitably creamy, lacey, lasting crema head.
s) Just right coffee / herbal /roast / woddy aroma along with hop profile.
t) Likewise, more and adding nutty, fresh brewed notes. After all Beer is brew.
f) Just right bite.
o) As good as any coffee beer in the world.

EWR-MIA | Carton Brewing 3.8% ABV
4.09/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
The pairing of JerseyMiami is a 1+1=3 like so many collaborations.
Thrilled to be the 1st reviewer.
The strength of this spruce goose brew is intense for a little 3.9% ABV.
a) thin light cloud of yellow amber body with thin head by constant rim.
s) Wine-like, sauvignon blanc, dry, spirited, gin and juniper.
t) More, ample, and probably really healthy, but all the above in a powerful fistful of herbs and winter-summery sunshine.
f) Light, astringent, cleansing, scrubbing.
o) Beats any other spruce beer I've tried, so you try it too!

 

That's one disturbing-looking glass!

 

Good morning New BSers! Thanks, @lordofthewiens, for starting today's thread. Annual bathing suit purchases... Mrs. Lizard indulges in that exercise in futility and we both follow the "don't ask, don't tell" scenario. Mrs. Lizard used to swim a lot but now only does when we're at my brother's place in TX. I look at swimming like I look at sushi - it's something you partake of if you need to survive but otherwise avoid it like poison. Today's New Breakfast Beer, on this sweltering morning in NW PA:



$ 18.05 (Including tax and discount)/500 mL ($ 1.068/oz) from Spec’s # 100, DeZavala, San Antonio, TX. Reviewed 2/3/19.
“Date Bottled 08.16.17” on the label. On shelf at Spec’s. Stored at 42 degrees and served at 54 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.5.
Body – Bright red-orange, clear, weak effervescence. Some sediment in bottle bottom.
Head – Fizzy. Gone when pour completed.
Lacing – None.
First pour – Pinkish yellow, clear.
Aroma – 3 – Very weak sweet cherry and some background almond.
Flavor – 3.5 – Begins with slightly sour cherry and, like the nose, some background almond. Becomes very sweet after the initial sourness. No alcohol flavor (6.6% ABV), no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide. No alcohol gastric warming. Final temperature 58 degrees F.
Palate – 3 – Medium, syrupy, lively carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 3.25 – I don’t often buy products from AB Inbev and I don’t often buy beers that cost above $ 1/oz. So why did I buy this bottle? Well, I’m a sucker for cherry beers and my few exposures to Wicked Weed have been above average experiences so I sucked it up and grabbed a bottle while hoping for the best. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. This time I lost. While this wasn’t exactly cherry cough syrup, it did share some of the characteristics – thick, syrupy, cloyingly sweet after your taste buds adapt. This resembles the cherry syrup I keep in the reefer to adulterate crappy lagers into drinkability, although that cherry syrup is more reasonably priced. One and thankfully done.
Rating 3.28, rDev -21.5%.

 

Et tu Brut(ipa)!

Last week I discussed Ommegang Brut IPA (which is very good – excellent). This week I will be trying Sierra Nevada’s version of a Brut IPA.

I have consistently been a fan of Sierra Nevada so I have high hopes for this beer.

Let’s see what Sierra Nevada has to say about this beer on their website:

“Brut IPA

Bright citrus, dry finish

This is our Brut IPA, a new take on IPA brewed for a bone dry champagne-style finish. Late hop additions give the beer balanced bitterness and a bright pop of citrus flavor. It’s as intriguing as it is drinkable.

Overview

Alcohol Content 6.2% by volume

Beginning gravity 12.5° plato

Ending Gravity 0.5° plato

Bitterness Units 25

Ingredients

Yeast Ale yeast

Bittering Hops Simcoe

Finishing Hops Comet, Crystal, Chinook, Simcoe

Malts Two-row Pale, Wheat, Acidulated”

Last week I discussed my understanding of the Brut IPA ‘style’ which I will repeat here:

One might ask: what exactly defines the Brut IPA ‘style’ anyway? This is tough topic to address since none of the beer competition authorities (e.g., Brewers Association, BJCP,…) have formally added Brut IPA to their style guideline documents. BeerAdvocate has added Brut IPA to their beer style list:

“American Brut IPA

One of the newest styles to excite brewers and drinkers alike, Brut IPA first appeared in California in late 2017 and is notable for its effervescence and extreme dryness. Pale straw to pale gold, this style is intended to be lighter in color and body than a typical American IPA. For that reason, the mash is often some combination of Pilsner malt, wheat, corn, and/or rice. The addition of an amylase enzyme reduces the final gravity even further. Bitterness is also kept to a minimum. Fruit-forward flavors and aromas are achieved by late hopping, dry hopping, and the use of neutral ale yeast strains. In short, these beers are highly attenuated, late hopped IPAs inspired by the appearance and mouthfeel of Champagne.

ABV: 6.0–7.5% | IBU: 20–40 | Glassware: Tulip”

From the above it seems to me that the distinguishing features of the Brut IPA ‘style’ are:

· “Extreme dryness”

· “lighter in color and body then a typical American IPA”

· Low/moderate bitterness

· Effervescence? Does this just mean ‘extra’ carbonated?

I will approach my evaluation of today’s beer of Sierra Nevada Brut IPA with these aspects in mind.

Served in my Spiegelau IPA glass:

Appearance:

Yellow colored with a two/three finger white head which dissipates quickly.

Aroma:

The aroma is faint, a bit of citrus/fruity.

Taste:

The flavor is similar to the nose in that there is not a whole lot there – a bit of citrus/fruit flavors. There is a low- moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

This beer is well carbonated but I personally would not use the term “effervescence’ here. It is light - medium bodied with a dry-ish finish.

Overall:

This is a nice enough beer but really there is not a lot going on here. If this was the goal of the Sierra Nevada folks then they achieved but I really think this beer would have benefited from a more generous hopping level. Maybe they saved some money on ingredients (hops) for this beer?

I normally do not do this but I checked out the BA reviews for this beer. There are well over 100 reviews posted and the average score is 3.69 (Good). Yeah, I suppose this kinda sums up this beer.

For those of you looking for a high quality Brut IPA my recommendation is Ommegang Brut IPA.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @SierraTerence @BillManley @nc41

 

A-Pours a clear golden color with a nice head and lacing
A-Aroma has hoppy hints
T-The taste follows the nose with an abundant hoppy flavor
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good Imperial IPA

 

Hello NBS family!

Thanks for @lordofthewiens getting us started today.

I have been away from sour/wild ales for a while now. (I just stopped desiring them one day) But I figured how fitting that I come back today to them, Super Bowl Sunday, after a football season that has left me sour.

So today, my new beer is

Beer: Pash Bash
Brewery: Wild Mind Artisan Ales (Minneapolis, MN)
ABV: 5.8%

Pouring from a 12.7 oz. bottle into a tulip glass, this beer pours a very vibrant and beautiful shade of red that resembles a rose with the highlights and dark tones mixing. As fast as the pink tinted carbonation bubbles could generate, they would noisily pop and be gone, leaving it with no crown. 4.25

The nose sure does bring the fruit. Everything from passion fruit, dragon fruit and cherries to apple, raspberries and cranberries. Delightful. 4.25

The taste comes in with huge fruit aspects as well. Seems like I’m getting kiwi along with the passion and dragon fruit. There is some slight earthy funkiness/must to this that really plays well on the backend for a transition into another element. 4.5

The mouthfeel is tremendously balanced. Tart and sour, but nothing more than a natural feeling of such. Well carbonated, and coats the mouth with a sticky, lingering fruit. 4.75

Overall, I’m sure happy I tried this. Really beautiful how they interacted the layers of fruit with the earthy mustiness and such a natural sourness. I would highly recommend this if you see it. 4.25

Cheers NBS’rs, can’t wait to see what you bring to the share!

 

Good Super Bowl Morning, NBS crew. Kicking off my day listening to a little Bruce Hornsby and the Range after a quick trip to the store to get ingredients for snacks later. Oh, and of course, enjoying a new beer in my glass. But what kind of beer? That's what the brewer wants you to ponder.

So, I'm hoping to throw my two cents (and we all now how we feel about pennies) in on the DFH's Perfect Disguise's tagline: Is it an IPA disguised as a Kölsch or a Kölsch disguised as an IPA?

The beer poured into the glass with a hue to the body that is a little different than I expect from a Kölsch - a little more peach flesh in there. It's still sits around the golden range, with a little yellow and maybe a splash of orange thrown in. It's pretty clear, with a light, misty fog obscuring the light passing through it just a bit. The bleached white head is sustained by a flow of bubbles from the [intentionally] marred glass bottom. World map lacing adorns the top of the glass, but fades into streams and spots as the beer goes down. I'd say looks lean IPA, slightly.


The nose is described pretty well by DFH, tropical and stone fruit hit my nostrils first, with a little citrus pulp and rind baking it up. A little later in the glass, I am getting a more herbal to grassy note mixed into the scent. These aren't assaulting my olfactory senses, but are obvious - there appears to be a light crackery malt constraint to them. The dry-hopping accomplishes its goal pretty well - I'd say this category leans a little heavier to the IPA side.

The taste starts with peach and tropical/citrus rind fruit notes, bouyed by a decent malt influence. The malt doesn't bring a lot of sweetness, thankfully. It almost seems like a better vehicle for the grassy hop notes that wash aside the initial fruit flavors before the beer makes it to the back of mouth. As the beer warms, the fruit flavors seem to play more of a supporting role. I can't put my finger on it, but I think maybe the yeast might be having a slight influence here, even though its supposed to be a fairly clean yeast. Surprisingly, I think the Kölsch is about equal to the IPA here - the fruitiness seems more at home with the latter, but the malt/Germna hop profile/yeast(?) resemble the former fairly well. The feel, while clean and fairly dry, does have perhaps just a little more heft (and corresponding ABV) than most Kölsch.

Overall, I think you have to go into this thinking clean, light IPA (despite its 8% alcohol content). I actually think this has vague resemblances to some Brut IPAs I've had. While it's not as dry as I would expect a Brut IPA to be, the Brut IPAs I've had haven't all been as true to that aspect of the style as I'd expect.

Either way, I'd be interested in your thoughts if you've tried this. I haven't looked at any reviews yet, I may just do that now.

 

Thanks @lordofthewiens for the great NBS start. Will be back with a new brew later on.

Cheers!

 

Welcome! Feel free to join us any other Sunday you can. Cheers!

 

Happy Sunday, NBS crew! Lots of new breweries have been entering distro here lately. Just this month I’ve noticed 18th Street, CT Valley, and Pipeworks all just appear on shelves...at decent prices too (looking at you, Singlecut ). Starting with this one, which I believe is my first-ever Pipeworks brew.

Infinite Galaxy - Pipeworks
IPA - 7.3% abv
Canned 1/14/19 (19 days ago)
Purchased for $4.99 at Monde Market
Score: 3.96 (-3.9% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28178/357284/

Synopsis:
Not the best use of Galaxy. Guessing the dry-hopping rate was on the low end here, as the nose was muted. Tastes like Galaxy at first, but the middle was all dirt/earth, with very noticeable alcohol. Given this is a fresh can of a 7% abv beer, this is not a winning combo. That being said, I’m excited to be drinking a Pipeworks can that was purchased a few blocks from my house, at a reasonable price!

 

Good morning NBS and thanks @lordofthewiens for the start today. That situation has happened one time in my adult life and was a no win, as has been pointed out.
Today's offering is from the supremely talented team at Cambridge Brewing Company. Billed as a wild golden ale, this delivers in every aspect, the feel is luxurious, flavors are soft fruit and oak, exceptional in every aspect.

Cheers all

Casual Gods

Cambridge Brewing Company
American Wild Ale / 6.00% ABV

4.24/5 rDev -0.2% | Score: 4.25
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 375 ml bottle into the test glass.
A - Honey colored, wonderful clarity, displays a vibrant carbonation. A thin white cap stays for the entire experience.
S - Grape must, from a dusty basement, mingle seamlessly with Kaffir lime, green tea leaves and light grain. Mixed cultures add that Brett kiss, along with hints of oak barrel.
T - Citrus forward, with pith leading the way, a very nice mineral thread, with a chalky tie to the citrus, again with some lime, grape skin, wheat, and the slightest bit of pepper.
M - Medium in feel, delicate across the palate, the Mixed culture adds a tart element that is softened by the oak aging. Carbonation is in the mix but the whole of the offering runs in the soft lane. Finish swings back toward tart and delightfully dry.
O - A wonderful wild ale, The base is sturdy, with the mixed culture and the aging in oak rounds out the offering. Soft on the palate, beautiful in texture and aromatics. I will grab a few bottles and test in a few months. The trajectory looks worth exploring

,

 

Posted a new beer, went to bed, woke up, had a CPK pizza reheat brekkie, and I'm back again with this Collective Arts collaboration with Australia's Moon Dog Brewing...


Their 11.5% abv bourbon barrel-aged black truffle iteration of Origin of Darkness...


Dark brown-black pour into an over-sized snifter produced a black-bodied beer under a thin finger of bubbly, dark brown foam... Head slimmed to a collar with a floating island of bubbles and trailed brief, tiny lace motes after each sip... Aromas rich with chocolate, bourbon, vanilla, and espresso... All of the same impressions on the sip are rounded out sweet molasses, a vaguely earthy, oily element I'm chalking up to the black truffles, and a drying woody char, for a moderately sweet, mildly bitter beer... Feel is medium-full-bodied and smooth with a bit of whiskey vapor across the palate... Totally recommended...


Cheers...

 

A-Pours a very nice clear golden color with a decent head and lacing.
A-Aroma has abundant hop hints.
T-The taste follows the nose with a nice hop flavor.
M-A medium/light bodied very well carbonated beer.
O-A very easy drinking DIPA