New Beer Sunday (Week 750)

Good evening, NBS!
I'm back home, cooking some dinner and having a new beer outside. It has finally turned into summer here and has been a damn nice one so far, save the last couple days which were disgustingly muggy. We've had a couple long weekends in a row and they have definitely slowed things down. I have been able to work just enough, ride bike quite a bit, have some visitors that have made me miss a couple NBSs, see some music, brew some beers and do quite a bit of reading. So far, so good. For my beer today I am going to dig into the last lingering bottles from a spring trade from a stand-up BA and all-around good guy, and try a new-to-me Treehouse pastry stout: Double Shot with vanilla.

It pours pitch black and seems to be practically the consistency of oil. The aroma is spiced vanilla ice cream, almost reminds me of eggnog and I mean that in a good way. The flavor follows right on its heels with vanilla, espresso crema, chocolate and light roast flavors. It is big and sweet and sticky with medium carbonation and the slightest alcoholic warmth.

This is a mighty good beer. The vanilla comes through really nicely in the aroma and the coffee seems confined to the flavor but both pair nicely and come through really cleanly. This is not something I'd drink super often, but it does seem to me to be exactly what they set out to achieve and it is a delicious stout in my mind. Very nice!

I hope you are also getting to relax and enjoy your summers as well. Have a great week!

Santé!

 

I missed the Dallas show. It was sometime earlier this week, and my friends who went said it was fantastic. John Mayer joined in and did his guitar-slinging thing, and the mix apparently works great. Next year I need to make a point to track them down and see a show.

Are you seeing a Bob Weir solo show? If he's involved, it'll be great. Hope you enjoy it!

 

I've loved every single, double, and triple!
Cheers!!!

 

I was in the mood for hops and decided that it would be fun to revisit some old school ones, so I mixed a six recently with various fresh IPAs but I found that I was not able to finish many and by halfway through I was over it. DIPAs can sometimes be more my speed and that may be next for me but it's a delicate balance there and too much in one direction or the other can throw the whole thing off for me.

But this brings me to today: I was craving something hazy and juicy and preferably new to me and came across Southern Tier Lake Shore Fog super fresh and for a great price so I decided to give it a go, really glad that I did and it's a great beer.

@GreenBayBA What beer are you drinking now? #2450 unfortunately I did not see this until after the thread was closed and I don't participate in the thread much because I only drink a few days a week now and rarely during the day so by the time I have my beer or two the thread is usually locked. But anytime I can join in I will and be sure to keep rocking out to Tears for Fears

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

What a difference a week makes, though, not for the better. A week ago right now I was in paradise - Minnesota's Northwest Angle. I just can't get enough of the place, and I'm always totally bummed when I have to leave there. Lake of the Woods is going to be my travel this year. I just don't have the time, or money now to do more than that - sadly.

Hopefully, next year, things will improve for me on both counts.

Now on to the first beer of the night.


Kuhler from New Glarus Brewing.

It is a wild ale, and boy is it.

I had planned on popping this open last Sunday at the lake, but the extra Flag Island Resort $1 happy hour put a strain on my blood alcohol level, combined with my recovery from my little incident Friday night, I just couldn't do more than I did.

It is worth the wait. Just an aroma bomb. I know other BA members could better describe the aromas and flavors than I can, but it is just a wild, funky beer, that totally hits the spot. I'll do a bit better in my review that you can read:

4.42/5 rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Pours somewhat of a copper color. Fairly clear. Tons of carbonation bubbles rising in the glass. 1 finger white head when poured from the bottle. The retention is decent.
Wild, funky, tart, fruit aroma. Very deep and complex. I won't even try to divide up the aromas I'm getting, but as a team, they are amazing.
Sweet and tart flavor. Very wild, but not as much as the nose let on.
Crisp feeling. Decent body. Aftertaste, and feeling lingers.
I like wild ales, and this is on exception. Damn tasty, and a home run by New Glarus.


There will be one more tonight, but I have to decide what. I picked up a beer hoping I'd get a new state crossed off, then I find out that it isn't brewed in Montana, but Wisconsin. I was going to have that one till that. I'll find something else, and pop it open in a bit, and pop back here.

 

Cheers to your first experience with the one that started it all for me!!!

 

So, I decided to get a second impression of this one today. I don't think I've done things exactly this way for NBS before. If I have time, I'll do the same for Allagash Tiny House later tonight. Gotta say, I really enjoyed Gold & Grain more this time... and the way I approached it was entirely different. I don't know the full ingredients in this one, but this time around the beer simply felt like a great, no BS showcase for pilsner malt. Oddly, it’s billed as the opposite - a lager with spelt.

 

Nightmare Matricide. This was fantastic. Solid head retention/minimal lacing. Aromas and flavors of huge dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, coconut, roasted almonds, vanilla, cream, fudge, toasted biscuit, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, char, leather, wood, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast earthiness. Slight booze in the aromas as it warns, but not overwhelming. Mild herbal, grass, wood, pepper, roast, charred bitterness on the finish. Light-medium carbonation and super full body; very creamy, silky, velvety, bready malts/lactose; light slickness, sticky hops, and chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter/spicy alcohol drying; no cloying, acrid, astringent. Dangerously smooth/soft sipping. Mild increasing warmth of 15.1% after the finish. Fantastic balance of super rich malts, coconut, cocoa, almond, lactose, and vanilla flavors; with mild earthy hops and fruity yeast. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. Very impressive for the ABV. 4.25


Cheers

 

I chose this one next from Flat Earth Brewing, now known as St. Paul Brewing

Minnehaha Mosaic.

This is a very tropical pale ale. The mosaic really adds a lot of mango flavor to this beer, and I'm just digging it tonight, it's still pretty warm outside.

Review:

3.75/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Pours a slightly reddish color. 1 finger slightly off white head when poured from the can. Head retention is decent. Lots of carboantion rising in the glass.
The nose is slightly hoppy, and, mosaic hops it is. Slightly citrus, slightly tropical.
Taste - There's a bit of sweetness, but then the mosaic kicks in. Tropical. A bit of mango.
Bubbly feeling. The hops linger in my throat, and feel sticky.
A decent beer from Flat Earth, now St. Paul Brewing. Just hitting the spot tonight.


Maybe one more? We'll see when I'm done with this.

 

Cocktail strong ale. I've had a few of these before. This was excellent. Fantastic rocky head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big lightly tart/tangy cherries, fruit skin/pits, orange peel/zest, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, vanilla, bourbon, toasted oak, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cardamom, wood bark, peppercorn, biscuit, and brown bread/crust; with light notes of almond, cocoa, coconut, raisin, plum, fig, date, red apple, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal, floral, grassy, spicy bitterness; and bitters/bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; very creamy, bready, grainy malts; some sticky spice and oak tannins in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter/spicy dryness; no cloying/astringency. Very smooth, mild increasing warmth of 8.3%, minimal lingering booze. Great overall balance between rich malts, cherry, orange, and bitters flavors; with nice overall barrel presence/integration. Light residual sweetness with lingering dryness. Very impressive for the experimental style. Not overwhelming on any aspect. 4.03


Cheers, have a good night NBS.

 

Good evening, NBS faithful. After a day of keeping up with the 2.5 year old, time for a great beer. Except...

The beer is Dark Matter with ginger and molasses from Barreled Souls, an American Strong Ale clocking in at 10.1%. Honestly, I thought I had put the original in the fridge. This was bottled on 2/20/2019, and is bottle 436 out of 720. My, my don't that sound pretentious...pinky up!



Pours like the picture...black with a khaki head, some red hints when held up to the light.

The smell is everything the OG version was in a tap room taster. Roasty, toasty, milk chocolate, dark fruits to the extreme plus the molasses coming across as brown sugar, not too much on the ginger front.

The taste is similar. It's like a quad gone nuts with dark fruit intensity, a sweetness that is certainly molasses, maybe a little earthy ginger. Ridiculous dark fruit flavors, milk chocolate and mild coffee comes in mid-palate, and its oh so good... And then it derails in epic fashion after a bit of oh this is nice ginger burn, because the aftertaste is like sucking on a jar of pennies. Ever so brief, but intense metallic evil.

The missus and I both loved the original version. It brought back memories of a favorite from Pretty Things - Grampus. It was all that and more. Needless to say we are not thrilled here. We expected a lot from this family of brews and this is a huge disappointment. And it's vacation beer to boot... Expectations are heightened just a bit. I'm not sure I should review this beer. Honestly everything is great until five seconds into the aftertaste and Abe Lincoln ruins the pah-tay. So how to even approach a review? Too stubborn of an old bastard to drain pour, but it is damned close, friends.

There isn't much that I know of that produces a metallic off flavor other than metal. I am hoping the other bottles of Dark Matter and other beers we bought don't suffer the same affliction - that would indicate to me a systematic flaw in the process if they do. This beer is not in the database that I can find (and I don't even know whether to add it or not) so I have nothing to confirm or deny what Karen and I are experiencing. We are both sitting here going WTF.

 

Good evening, NBS. I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. I had a couple extra days off and certainly enjoyed it.

Westbrook 8th Anniversary Pecan Cookie Stout

For context I have had Mexican Cake, 4th, 6th, and 7th. All have been some of my favorite stouts.





Look: The beer pours black and opaque. No light coming through whatsoever. Appears viscous pouring from the bottle to the glass. A brown colored, densely packed foam sits a finger high and then settles to a thin layer across the top of the glass with no lacing. As the beer dwindles the edges show burnt sienna. No visible carbonation. With some sustained head retention and lacing I would rate the look higher.

Smell: Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, pecan sandie, some vanilla, toasted and slightly charred dark bread. Winter warmer type spices. A candy raspberry covered in intensely dark chocolate. The ABV is noticeable, but it works. There is some sweetness but, overall, the nose leads me to expect a more dry, roasty, toasty and possibly bitter stout. We shall see.

Taste: Interesting. Up front there was a very off putting flavor here. Could be the spices? Something else? My first thought was a metallic and medicinal berry flavor. It was so intense and triggered my palate so hard and unexpectedly that my mind went to something very strong. I no longer feel entirely that way and I’m left trying to figure out what happened. I think the beer is in fact quite dry and toasty and that may have caused my reaction? As I drink the beer, up front there is some chocolate and vanilla sweetness. Mid palate the beer shifts to a more bitter and dry experience with cocoa powder, dark chocolate and some toasty nutty flavors. I’m still getting something medicinal and berry like. I don’t know if it’s the spices or what. I think that is my issue here. Shit, OK. I take a second pour from the corked bottle and experience the same thing. Slightly metallic, slight salinity and minerality. I’ll be damned. I cannot drink this beer.

Feel: Excellent. Moderate level of carbonation. Smooth. Sticky residual sweetness on my lips.

Overall: This beer has been a roller coaster for me. My initial impression of this beer was bad. I went from thinking I was going to pour this down the drain to moving on. Then I took a second pour from the bottle and decided I could not finish the beer. The aroma delivers on the concept pretty nicely. The flavor does in part too, but overall, is quite offputting for me. These toasty, roasty and bitter notes seem to clash for me with the vanilla and spices and whatever it is I am picking up as berry. And this metallic / mineral flavor is really bad. Quite the disappointing based on my experience with the other Anniversary stouts from Westbrook.

3.24/5 rDev -23.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

 

An early night beer for me this week! The kids actually went to bed at the proscribed time! Will wonders never cease!!

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a long time trade partner on friday who delivered the usual boxes of interesting novelties. Other Half’s newish Rochester location means I’ll likely be seeing a lot more of their cans in my surprise boxes going forward. I am pleased by this.

Tonight’s beer is a west coast IPA called Mash Tun Time Machine.



Pours a deep copper with a substantial head that dissipates slowly leaving a decent amount of lacing. Slightly turbid.

A little dank. Citrus dominates the nose. A little stone fruit too.

Taste follows nose. Citrus, grass, a little peach and nectarine peaking through. Nice malt backbone. Bitter, but not what one would expect from the style.

Substantial mouthfeel. Creamy.

A nice left coast IPA with the body and lower bitterness of a north east nephew.

 

Welp, since my weekend began less than 6 hours ago, I might as well have another. This is one I forgot to open earlier tonight and from a new country (for me!)

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/37027/163784/



11.2 oz. bottle.
Moderate pour yields a 5/8 inch tan head over a near black body with some lacing. Nose of dark malt, chocolate, caramel, and ever so slight dried dark fruit. Taste mirrors nose somewhat, with all kinds of chocolate rummaging in and around of my palate; bitter chocolate, unsweetened chocolate, dark chocolate, slight milk chocolate. Wow! As it warms I'm catching slight hazelnut aroma and flavor. Wow! Very nice feel and overall, I highly recommend seeking out this Imperial Baltic Porter from Estonia! Cheers!!!

 

Happy Finale of/to What "New" Beers Have We Here Sunday (Week 750)?
Having run through my stash of Mother Earth CANs, I took inspiration from @Jimmy_Kneecaps & although I did not have his beer on-hand, he provided me the impetus to join him & Lou Reed for a walk on the Odd Side, starting with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/354788/?ba=woodychandler#review
& then:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22564/354727/?ba=woodychandler#review

but that'll do it for this week. I'll be on WBAYDN with periodic updates until next Sunday.

Like Columbo, one last thing: @beerloserLI brought me some good news. I am planning to come up 25 to 29 July for the Pirates/Mets series at CitiField so if anyone wants to meet either at the game or out & about, let me know.