New Beer Sunday (Week 737)

A-Pours a light clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has slight hop hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a slight hop flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent India Pale Ale

 

Troegs scratch #32 boysenberry gose
...reddish orange ,almost fruit punch appearance
Aroma is tart,sour,berry vinegar. There's boysenberry as well as a dry wine like scent
..taste is berry vinegar upfront,just a touch of sweetness. Mixed berry,tart and sour
..overall it was good,would go great with salad and vinaigrette or poached fruit. Has an almost dry wine like quality,feel,and taste to it

 

I really enjoyed it! I was pleasantly surprised because I see their mix packs all the time, but I have never purchased one. The flavor was very refreshing, it would be a good summer beach beer.

 

New beer #3. Another from @jhavs , from a brewery I’m so excited to be revisiting in July #vt2019.

House Dot #2 - Foam
Oak-aged Wild Ale - 6.8% abv
Score: 4.29 (-0.2% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/52964/255851/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
I had no idea these flavors would go so well together. Orange, ginger, and vinegar create a lovely balance of sweet, sour, and savory. Acidity is on the high side, but I like it even more for that. Light-bodied, and a perfect outside sipper on a sunny day like today. Thanks again Jon! You’ve really spoiled me.

 

Today is national beer day and yesterday was “saison day” - Allagash’s annual saison-centric day. Yesterday, I went to Threes, a NYC brewery that hosts saison day with Allagash. It feels like Threes used to be a bit more saison focused at their start, but they reluctantly shifted to IPAs and also found surprising success with their lager production. Despite this, they still make beers in the saison spirit and yesterday was their chance to go hog wild. Olivier Dedeycker (Dupont brewmaster) and Jason Perkins (Allagash brewmaster) were in attendance promoting Dupont’s new collaboration with Allagash - Brewers' Bridge. There were nine homebrewers there offering free beer as part of a saison homebrew contest. The quality level of the homebrew was very high. My personal favorite did not win the judges’s choice nor the people’s choice. Here’s the impressive taplist:




Olivier also made an appearance at the Ginger Man in NYC a few days before saison day. I missed that event, but I was at Ginger Man the day after (Friday) and drank some Dupont beer. For all of you beer flight haters, this is the reason why Ninkasi was happy when flights were invented. I had a flight of Saison Dupont, Saison Dupont Cuvee Dry-Hopping Styrian Wolf, Dupont Brewers' Bridge, and Avec Les Bons Voeux. As far as I’m concerned, that flight is the opportunity of a lifetime... but Saison Dupont is a desert island beer for me. Brewers' Bridge is a 6.1% saison brewed with barley, rye, oats, and Cascades.


So... it just felt appropriate to drink some more saisons today:




American Solera - Magic Jar

Wait, I thought this beer was new to me, but I’m suddenly getting that feeling that I might have had this before. Hmmm. I think it's new but I'm not sure anymore.

They call this a “mixed culture ale” on the label. I’ve also seen this marketed as a grisette and a table beer. The ABV on this bottle is 5%, which is higher than the 4% that it used to be.

Very hazy gold. Big head that vanishes quickly. Tastes of lemon and a little grapefruit with a tart finish, but the acidity level is very pleasing since it is done delicately. Crackery and dry with just enough balancing hop bitterness. This goes down very easy.

This is executed wonderfully and it’s a real pleasure to drink. Everything is in its proper place. Beautiful beer. The context is way different, so it's hard to compare, but I'm enjoying this more than the almost all of the draught saisons I had at saison day. Nonetheless, I can’t help but think that I still need to do a better job resisting beers like this. It is an expensive luxury... and table beers are perhaps “better” when they are the opposite of that.

Cheers.

 

Froth a 7.2 ABV Hazy AIPA from Twin Elephant Brewing. It was drunk at the brewery and from a growler at home. This beer is very hazy with a thick white head. The aroma is strong of both grain and citrus. Froth is brewed with Pilsner, Maris Otter, Oats and Chit Malt. The taste is has a lot of grains with some citrus. It's also bitter. The hops used are Ella, Kahatu, and Mosaic. The mouthfeel if full and the finish bitter. I enjoyed this beer a lot. Excellent stuff.
Since NCAA hoops are being spoken of here today, IMO both teams from Texas will win Baylor tonight and Texas Teck on Monday.

 

A-Pours a light clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has very slight hop hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a very slight hop flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-An average DIPA

 

FoundersCBS
..solid black with minimal brown head
..light carbonation with an above average feel. Felt silky,smooth and a little creamy
...aroma is maple, wood,earthy,roasted malts
..taste is sweet maple, wood,earthy.has a mild sweetness balanced with just a bit of bitterness.
The flavors are so well done and dont outcompete one another. Taste is simil6to body,silky and smooth
...overall its excellent,despite high abv it drinks incredibly smooth and easy

 

New Beer Sunday: American IPA

Afternoon NBSers with a heads up for fans of old style IPAs. (Remember those? The IPAs with lots of Citrus, Pine Resin and Caramel malt?).

Today’s new beer is the Sweetwater IPA. Given the earlier thoughts from @VABA and the comments by @Squire I decided to bump this one up in the queue and have it today. (Thanks guys.) Also, for me this is one of those beers that caught me by surprise when I realized that it’s been on this site longer than I have but I still hadn’t tried it yet.

My review, still in progress until the beer is finished, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/273/1493/?ba=drtth#review


This is a classic IPA with the aromas/flavors full of citrus and pine resin. There’s plenty of grapefruit up front with some resin supporting it well. The caramel malt and its light sweetness are noticeable both in the aroma and the flavor. The citric zest and resinous bitterness are noticeable but in a nice balance with the light sweetness that persists throughout much of the long dry ending. I’m finding this drinkable and enjoyable and expect I’ll be coming back to it again in the future.

Cheers, all!

 

Pabst Blue Ribbon Easy

It’s a perfectly clear, pale gold colored beer. Honey covered biscuits is the most prominent element, but it also offers other bready notes along with a grainy, sweet corn while grassy hops make a nice background. This doesn’t feel “light” or like it is sacrificing anything in the way of flavor to be what it is. And honestly, for what it is, a light American lager, I probably have it rated too low at 3.38.

 

Heineken 0.0

I’m taking a break from saisons for a moment. Thanks to saison day, I had three heavy drinking days in a row. Today’s also a good day for NA beer then.

At 0.0% ABV, this NA Heineken is really below the 0.5% cutoff point in the US. I’m opening a standard Heineken for comparison. When had on it’s own, the 0.0 comes across as shockingly close to the regular version, but the impression of a beer always changes depending on what you’re eating/drinking with it. Trying the regular Heineken after the 0.0 provides a different context… and the standard beer feels far more potent (and I don’t just mean in ABV). The standard beer is relatively sharp, focused and packs a much bigger flavor punch. These beers are not alike.

For me, every NA beer comes across as oddly (and unappealingly) flabby. This one is no exception. It’s also very light. Having said that, this is one of the most satisfying NA beers I’ve had (or even the most satisfying). On Thursday, I tried a NA IPA… and I thought it was extremely unappealing compared to a typical IPA. The Heineken 0.0 is more satisfying and far more polished than that beer. While a poor substitute for a standard Heineken, they’ve done a very admirable job with 0.0 for what it is.

Cheers

@steveh

 

That's actually one of my go to all day crushers during the summer. Tasty but doesn't sit too heavily.

 

A-Pours a light clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has very slight hop hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a very slight hop flavor
M-A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
O-An average IPA

 

Terpy Citra, a DIPA brewed by American Solera.

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

Pours a cloudy golden color with orange hues, a pretty well retained one inch white head that left blotchy lacing. Smells of citrus fruits, tropical fruits and some floral notes. Tastes of sweet pink grapefruit, a hint of grapefruit rind, tangerine, apricot, pine and slightly sweet bready malts. Medium bodied and carbonation, light to moderate bitterness, lingering dry finish and mouth feel.

 

This is one of the funnest beers I’ve enjoyed in a while. Beer, fruity pebbles, doughnuts and glitter? Im in.

I hope you can see the glitter in the picture. Even better live & in light. A very interesting contrast with carbonation bubbling bottom to top and the glitter swirling. The smells are fruity/sour, mostly strawberry but also citrus. The palate adds tropical fruit. I know those are often hop descriptors but it’s all very fruit-forward in a produce not hop/bitter way. Light to medium-bodied, a touch sweet and a pleasant sourness. I only picked up a single but will be going back for a four-pack, I definitely recommend this!

 

A-Pours a clear straw color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has fruity hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a fruity flavor
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-An average Brut IPA

 

I agree! I will be seeking this one one during the summer!

 

New beer #4. Thanks @JBowenGeorgia !

Alpha Abstraction #6 - Wild Leap
DIPA - 8% abv
Score: 4.14 (-7.2% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/49548/405574/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
This beer features Lotus hops, which marks my first encounter with them. It looks innocent enough, but on first whiff...whoa, meat city! Smells very savory. The taste is more traditional. I get a hint of brisket and stinky cheese, but mostly orange and grapefruit. Thank you John for continuing to send me beers that might taste like meat!

 

A-Pours a nice clear amber color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has malt hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a slight malt flavor
M-A light bodied decently carbonated beer
O-A decent India Pale Ale