New Beer Sunday (Week 764)

Good for you my friend and good luck in your retirement !!

 

That's fantastic, Dick! Just coming close to shooting your age is an accomplishment, so for you to pull it off, I doff my Hogan cap in your direction.

My No. 1 post-late shift bucket list/goal is happening right now with this New Texas Beer Sunday:


Twisted X Brewing Co.'s Pitmaster Prime Pilsner, 4.2% ABV, 6/14/19 born-on date

Definitely not a German nor Czech pilsener, and you realize it from the moment you pour it. It's almost white ... seriously, it might be the most colorless beer I've ever seen. But just because they call it a pils doesn't mean it is, so I viewed it as an AAL, and in that arena it stands up tall and strong. Lots of flavor, grain, some light bread malt sweetness and nothing off or medicinal. There's even a faint reminiscence of green hops ... grass, cilantro ... something like that. You have to be creative to find it, but I think it's there.

The look is crazy. There's so much carbonation in it that the head blooms like a mushroom then sticks hard, then laces on the way down. And the mouthfeel is perfect if you love big carbonation. Obviously, if you don't, then check your tongue at the door — it's about to be ripped off.

The review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25622/417439/?ba=Premo88#review
3.74 (+13.3 rDev)

I wasn't expecting much and one could say I didn't get much. I'd like to try a much fresher version, at least inside 6 weeks, and I also need to drink this side by side with either a Lone Star, Hamm's, Old Milwaukee or Coors yellow belly ... one of my go-to AALs. My guess is this Twisted X isn't much better and therefore not worth the extra craft-beer cost, but how do you know until you compare?

Have a fun, safe Sunday!

Cheers!

 

Congratulations lordofthewiens on your retirement and great golf round. Look forward to hearing about your new beer later today.


New Beer for me today is New Glarus' Serendipity purchased from the brewery in late August. I like just about all beer styles (pumpkin is the one off hand I can recall not liking) and a great fruit beer is no exception.

The pour was dark brown with a creamy bubbly tan head, leaving light bubbling lacing after a few minutes. A very strong and sweet cherry aroma, backed by cranberry. The taste mirrors the aroma, sweet cherries, lightly tart, cranberry and apple back, slightly sour as well. Fizzy light carbonation lingers throughout the pour, medium syrupy body, tartness aftertaste lingers, easy drinking. Overall, this is a very good pour for the style and in general. My scores are 4.0 for appearance and mouthfeel, and 4.25 for aroma, taste and overall. I'm grateful for having the opportunity of hitting New Glarus' brewery among several this summer across five states.

Speaking of Serendipity, by tune for today is in honor of Christopher Columbus who America celebrates tomorrow. The Ink Spots are the band playing this jazz standard. I wish you all a great New Beer Sunday, and look forward to reading all the great reviews throughout the day.



Cheers!

 

Doc awesome work, shooting 71 damn that is really impressive and you want to know what else is impressive? What Southern Tier as done with this beer. Poured into a 16 Snulip glass canned on 9/26/19. Pours a very attractive near pitch black with an aggressive pour giving a 3 plus finger sticky tan head that leaves some thin streaks of lace as it slowly settles. 4.5

Smell cocoa nibs, vanilla bean, and maybe a little hint of alcohol but very little. 4.5

Taste follows chocolate, vanilla, and just the smallest hint of alcohol. 4.75

Mouthfeel is creamy as a Nitro should be, rather full, maybe a tad dry, and at 10% goes down far too easy. 4.75

Overall one dimensional and I don’t care, just really really tasty......., 4.5

 

New Beer Sunday: American Pale Ale

Mornin’ NBSers time to talk about a Citra hopped beer and give a special thanks to @lordofthewiens for the early start.

Weather here today is expected to be partly to mostly cloudy with a high near 70. Perfect day for scoring points by working on the “honey-do” list as we prep for the coming seasonal changes.

Ah, the “bucket list" idea. I too haven’t made up a bucket list and have been lucky enough to be able to focus on both having goals along the way as well as being able to take advantage of opportunities to be able to do bucket list type things. For example, I was once offered a choice between two work-related possibilities. One involved spending a week working in a small town in Central Finland in January on a focused project that would also benefit some folks I’d already met from there. The other choice was more ill-defined but would have scored more points with my boss and the organization.

So, on the one hand, I’d never been to Finland, liked the idea of some time spent exploring the area and learning about life lived as if a local there. I also knew from experience that if I went, the project there could be completed on time and within budget while leaving me some time to explore and do a walkabout. On the other hand, there was my boss’s passion for the other project and it was something much more central to the future of the organization.

At the end of the day, the concept behind the bucket list idea won out. I went to Finland and still cherish my memories of life lived there and friends made there even if only for a week.

This morning’s new beer is one that is new to our area but has an Iowa reputation that precedes it, Pseudo Sue from Toppling Goliath.

My review, still in progress, can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/23222/72170/?ba=drtth#review


The aromas/flavors of this beer include citrus (orange and grapefruit), some tropical fruit (mango) and a bit of one resin all against a light caramel malt background. They are all nicely “intertwingled” in a complex profile. The light touch of bitterness from the almost resinous zest is softened by just a touch of sweetness that is even further in the background. Definitely drinkable and enjoyable. I’ll be looking to have this one again. If you’re fond of Citra hops this is a beer for you.

A while back, I was looking on YouTube to find some stuff by the Clancy Brothers and I happened across this really well-done and fun video that seemed worth sharing.



Cheers, all!

 

Good day New BSers! Well, it's starting off foggy and cool here in NW PA - the fog will probably leave but the cool will be with us until it warms up next July. Thanks, @lordofthewiens, for today's start and congrats on shooting your age. I have no bucket lists and my only goals are to get up each day and keep breathing. And to try a new (to me) beer each day. With that in mind, today's New Breakfast Beer is:



$ 10.18 (Including shipping and PA tax)/16 oz can ($ 0.636/oz) from Tavour, Seattle, WA. Reviewed 10/13/19.
Undated can. Stored upside down at 42 degrees and served at 45 degrees in a hand-washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Yellow, murky.
Body – Yellow, murky, opaque.
Head – Average - (Maximum 5.5 cm, aggressive center pour), off-white, medium density, average retention, diminishing to a four to nine mm undulating crown and a cap with marked topography. A few tiny pieces of lacing remain as the head retracts.
Lacing – Poor. Few pieces of thin lacing with medium bubbles. See also above.
Aroma – 4 – Fruity with some citrus.
Flavor – 4 – Taste follows nose – fruity with some citrus. Ends with a slightly bitter taste with a hint of butyric acid – not a bad taste, just unusual. No alcohol (8.4% ABV) flavor or aroma, no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 4 – Full, creamy, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75. (-0.25 point for undated personal container) The can is clearly labeled with the varieties of malt, hops and yeast used – something I wish more brewers would do. I bought these cans because I wanted to try a brew fermented with kveik. While using this strain of S. cerevisiae may be to the brewers’ advantage, it certainly doesn’t detract from the flavor, so full speed ahead! The taste of butyric acid I detect certainly isn’t detrimental in the trace amounts that are present.

Rating 3.95, rDev-7.9%.

Now if I can remember to push the "Post Reply" button...

 

Bucket list? I'm too busy living to think about it.




Amber tinted clear gold color with good cap and lacing.

Aroma of bready malt and citrus hops with touches of pine and grapefruit.

Flavor for me is about 60/40 hop/malt ratio with both malt and hops retaining their identity. Malt is rich with the slightest touch of sweetness with hops shining brightly yet the hop flavors of pine, herbs, citrus and fruit all sing with one harmonious note. Also without bitterness which is a neat trick considering the amount of hops used. Very complex, very polished and easy to drink.

Medium full texture with balancing carbonation.

Overall a delightful brew that outclasses it's bigger brother, the 90 minute.

 

Happy New I'm CANming Dahn Offa the Platform to Drink a Beer of My Own Free Will This Sunday (Week 764)!
I'm not a golfer, but it seems like you'll be stacking the deck in your favor as you grow older. The greater your age, the higher your target score, or perhaps the law of diminishing returns applies in that with increasing age will come decrepitude in which case even with the higher target score, one's body will not CANoperate. Hmm.

I'm not averse to having a bucket list, but I'm also okay with the skin I'm in, so to speak. I have acCANplished more in 54+ years than many do in a longer lifetime. I am now (for the moment, anyway) a CANcer survivor & since the ChANdlers have had increasingly shorter lifespans (Pops passed at 68 y/o & Uncle Rick, Colby's dad, a fitness buff, died of a massive heart attack while training for yet ANOTHER triathlon at 59 y/o), I am less-than-hopeful of longevity.

I put in an abbreviated 15.25-year career inna Navy & will celebrate 21 years of retirement at the end of this month. I realized my dream of attending & graduating from Pitt after retiring & put my B.A. & M.A.T. to good use, educating students at my alma mater high school for a decade before retiring yet again. I've been on every CANtinent except for Antarctica & not for lack of trying. I speak smatterings of as many as thirty (30) languages. I have been featured in magazine articles as well as having been a published writer. I am part of an upCANming mockumentary entitled "Beer CAN: A Love Story" thanks to my having initiated The CANQuest (tm) ~ 15 years ago. I'm good with where I'm at.

My goal for today is not to drink my age (54) in beer, but perhaps my body weight (170 #)! ;=)

I beCAN my day with:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/36487/425119/?ba=woodychandler#review

Off & often running! I'll be back later with more … stuff!

 

Do you have a favorite brewery?

I have a favorite brewery and it is Hill Farmstead located in Vermont.

My very first Hill Farmstead beer was Edward (an APA) that was served on draft at a local beer bar during a Philly Beer week event. This was quite some time ago; I would guess well over 10 years ago. Boy, that was a glorious beer.

For a period of time Hill Farmstead beers were available in the Philly area on draft. For me it was always a special treat. One of my local beer bars would conduct an annual 4th of July event featuring Hill Farmstead beers. One of the bartenders would drive up to Vermont and bring back a half-dozen or so kegs of differing Hill Farmstead beers. I was only able to make it to a couple of those events due to other commitments but I really enjoyed the two that I went to.

Then tragedy arrived a few years ago: Shaun Hill decided to withdraw from the Philly market. The good news is that about one year ago Hill Farmstead draft beers reappeared in the Philly area but the availability is not nearly as good as it was in the old days; few brands are provided and only a handful of kegs at a given time.

Well, thanks to the generosity of a fellow BA I will be drinking a bottle of Hill Farmstead Anna, a Saison but Shaun Hill labels it as a Vermont Honey Ale. I have had the chance to drink Anna on tap in the past but this is my first time drinking this beer in a bottled version.

On the Hill Farmstead website there is a nice write-up:

“Anna (1902-1993) was our grandfather’s sister; Hill Farmstead Brewery rest upon the land that was once home to her and her 13 siblings. In her honor, this honey Farmstead® ale is crafted from American malted barley, European and American hops, Vermont wildflower honey, our distinctive farmhouse yeast and water from our well. Unfiltered and naturally carbonated, this is the ale that I dream to have shared with Anna.

Ancestral Series

6.5% ABV

Farmstead® Ale Yeast

American Malted Barley Malt

Foudre Aging Method”

Below is how this beer is detailed on BeerAdvocate:

“Anna is Bière de Miel, brewed with 20% raw wildflower Vermont honey and our house saison yeast.”

At a past Philly Beer Week event I had the opportunity to chat with Shaun Hill for 15-20 minutes. I appreciated his willingness to speak with me and respond to my many technical brewing questions. He responded to every query with kindness and grace. During our much faceted discussion I got the distinct impression that he is a very contemplative fellow. I appreciated my time with him.

Served in my Heavy Seas chalice:

Appearance:

Light golden colored with a BIG fluffy white head.

Aroma:

A combination of floral and funky (e.g., barnyard) aromas.

Taste:

The flavors follows the nose but the floral flavors are more prominent in comparison to the funk. There is a pleasant level to tartness for my palate. There is a low-medium bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Spritzy carbonation with a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is excellent! I very much enjoyed the combination of flavors and this beer is pleasingly balanced with the spritzy tartness. I am a big fan of the flavors produced by the Farmstead® Ale Yeast.

Cheers to Hill Farmstead – my favorite brewery!!!!!!!!!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

Other Half/Parish Gravity Gumbo



A-Pours a very dark color with a slight tan head and lacing
A-Aroma has coffee, chicory, pecans, pralines and vanilla hints
T-The taste follows the nose with a well balanced and generous coffee, chicory, pecans, pralines and vanilla flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A very good Imperial Stout

 

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

Cheers!

 

Mahrs - Leicht

I had low expectations for this one. There’s no date on it but the label is in the older Mahrs style... and at only 2.8% ABV one wouldn’t exactly think of it as impervious to age. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

The beer is pale yellow and very clear. The head disappeared quickly. Tastes of oyster crackers. This is a subtle, little beer, but it doesn’t suffer for it. It’s lovely. I can drink tons of this without tiring of it. The entire Mahrs portfolio continues to impress me.

 

Hello New Beer Sunday!!!

Another work week done, and now I can enjoy the fruits of my labor throughout the week.

To @lordofthewiens topic: I really don't have a bucket list. Right now my main goal is to try to figure out what to do when I leave the restaurant business sometime next year. It's a way overdue change, but one I'm excited about, and nervous about at the same time. I guess I'm not the biggest person who is into change, but my life IS going to change big time next year.

Now on to the main topic at hand: new beer, and another one that the amazing @CanConPhilly sent me.


Other Half Double Mosaic Daydream Double Dry Hopped.

First off, I have no clue if I got my review in the right beer. There were a couple that it could have gone into based on the can. Hopefully I got it right.

This is one hell of a beer. I do like IPAs, but they can get boring after too many. This one changes things up in a good way. The lactose added to this beer just really adds a much needed layer to the NEIPA style. It adds an extra creamy feel and taste to it that is outstanding.

REVIEW:

4.57/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a creamy orange/golden color. 2 finger frothy white head. The head retention is good, and it dissipates into a nice lacing around the glass.
The nose hit me as I opened up the can. It was a nice citrus jolt. Up close it's a nice grapefruit, pineapple, mango bomb.
Taste - Citrus. Mango, pineapple, grapefruit. The lactose adds a creamy taste to these flavors.
The feel is perfect. Juicy, creamy, soft, and full bodied.
This is one hell of a beer from Other Half.


There will be more today, but I'll wait a bit to go for beer #2.

 

Ballantine XXX

This is one of those “I can’t believe I never had that one” beers. It's currently a product in the Pabst portfolio. It’s a clear light amber. It’s similar to an AAL in some respects, but it’s rougher and fruitier than the best examples of those beers. The biggest difference is the presence of cabbagey hops creating a layer of drying bitterness. Unlike most beers I have for NBS, I imagine I might be revisiting this down the road multiple times.

 

In anticipation of our upcoming move, I’m drinking some of the beers I’ve accumulated over the last year or so; today I have such a new to me beer - “Code Switch” a Belgian style strong dark ale from Revolution Beer LLC in collaboration with Sun King Brewery, Indianapolis, IN. According to the brewer, an imperial ale using maple sugar, dark candi syrup and Belgian yeast. Aged for 12 months in TN whiskey, then KY bourbon barrels with blackberries added. Canned 10/10/19 14.5% 18 IBUs:







Poured at 55 degrees; cloudy purple hue; off white-rose colored fizzy head disappeared immediately, leaving absolutely no cap, ring or lace; no legs on swirl. Sour fruit, strong blackberries nose; alcohol on the retro nasal exhale. Semi tart jammy berries entry followed by a combination of bourbon and sweet maple candy; some estery yeast notes adds to the boozy bourbon middle; the finish is all blackberries. Medium lite body, lite carbonation; face flushing warmth from ABV; dry barrel finish/tongue coating. Overall, a most appealing ale; there is a subtle tart sting tempered by residual sweetness; and after one year there is still tons of blackberries nose/flavor; this ale is what a kid’s berry fruit box would taste like if fermented to 14.5%; tasty, and dangerously easy drinking combination of flavors.

4.0 | 4.25 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5

 

Last weekend I went to the Shelton Brother's Festival in Buffalo NY. The last time I was in Buffalo's old Central Terminal was about a dozenish years ago when I was assisting someone shoot a horror movie in the abandoned structure. The beer fest was a more pleasant experience.



The joy of the fest for me was having the opportunity to shake the hands of people like Marie-Noëlle Pourtois and Pierre-Alex Carlier of Blaugies. The fest just confirmed everything I thought before going in. My favorites were the beers from Blaugies, de Ranke, de la Senne, Thiriez, etc. rather than the newer American brewers. I'm just in love with "simple" Belgian beers with assertive hops. While in Buffalo, I visited a brewery called Big Ditch and picked up their bourbon barrel aged barley wine that they released the same week.




Big Ditch - The Tower

This is an ugly beer. It’s an opaque dull brown with a tiny head. The aroma explodes out of the glass. Smells of dates and alcohol. The taste is big and bold. Vanilla, dates, brown sugar, chocolate, black cherry. I expected more hop presence, but there is some pine (it’s just in the backseat). There isn’t a lot of barrel character compared to the huge sticky malt character.

This beer is just in your face. There’s nothing refined about it. It’s more bold and sloppy than precise and measured. Someone can certainly appreciate what's going on here (I do to a point) but for me it needs structure.

 

A-Pours a purple color with a slight head and lacing
A-Aroma has blueberry, blackberry and plum hints
T-The taste follows the nose with blueberry, blackberry and plum flavors
M-A medium bodied well carbonated beer
O-A good fruited sour

 

Good morning NBS and good job @lordofthewiens on the golf score. Thanks for the start today.
It is full on Autumn here in WMass, and this year we have really good color,
Today's offering is from Allagash in Maine, Pick Your Own is a very good fruited wild. That team is on its game in all they do. But this one is at a higher level.
Cheers all
Pick Your Own

Allagash Brewing Company
American Wild Ale | 6.4% ABV

4.34/5 rDev -0.2% | Average: 4.35
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from a 2018 vintage 375 ml bottle into the test glass.
A - Cranberry, ruby in color, very nice clarity, gentle carbonation. A slightly pink cap of tight knit spheres resides.
S - Cherry, cranberry, grape skin, red currant, a bit of sour patch kids. Lacto plays a role threading these together.
T - Fruit forward, with again red currant, cherry, and raspberry, Kiss of oak with some vanilla woven in
M - The palate explodes with fruit response, cherry, raspberry, roll in then wave after wave of dry tart carry the day. Finish is ashen and fruity.
O - A true delight, The fruit expression is broad and deep, The wood treatment adds some softening. This is an offering that is full tilt and expressive.