New Beer Sunday (Week 776)

First beer tonight is South County FestiFall while watching the Eagles, thanks @bl00!

4.1/5 rDev +10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thank you bl00 for this
16 oz can poured into a pint glass

A- A clear copper/amber with a small white head.

S- Toasted malts, caramel, bread, slightly earthy and floral.

T- Slightly sweet bread, toasted malts, caramel,a little earthy.

M- Smooth, light to medium body.

O- A nice and balanced Oktoberfest.

Cheers NBS!

 

Sierra Nevada 40th Hoppy Anniversary Ale. Awesome. Lasting head retention/thick foamy lacing. Aromas and flavors of big red grapefruit, tangerine, lemon, peach, pineapple, apricot, mango, honeydew melon, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, and pine hops; with moderate honey, cracker, biscuit dough, toast, light caramel, malts; and herbal, floral, grassy hop earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel/rind, herbal, floral, woody, grassy, peppery bitterness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp finishing. Balanced creamy/bready/grainy malts, sticky hops, and some resins/rinds in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing resin dryness, no hop astringency. Very smooth, not overly aggressive, minimal warming 6%. Awesome Centennial, Cascade profile. Very vibrant, juicy, dank, and earthy hops; with a nice sized oat/dark/bready malt backbone. Mild residual sweetness with lingering crisp resin dryness. Spot on west coast as expected, very similar to Celebration but with a bit less of a rich malt backbone. 4.13


Cheers

 

Good evening, NBS crew, and a thanks to @woodychandler for filling in. Just been relaxing watching an old movie and some sports, hockey and now football. Following @Roguer as we used to do more often, though not sure if I'll get beer #2 from Founders this evening or not.

Here's a mess of a photo, where the new beer(s) are the empty bottles on the left poured into the bigger glasses. The comparison beer is the last take on the Sumatra Brown series, BBA Underground Mountain. It's not a direct comparison, admittedly, but its... something?


The Underground Mountain was poured first and had a head that surveyed things, and like when Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, decided to fade to oblivion.

Frangelic Mountain proudly shows its head atop its body. It poured a little darker and a litle less murky looking than the Underground Mountain. The creamy steamed milk atop a latte head is actually quite enticing. The sheets of lacing are not actually necessary to remind me of its presence, as a thick ring and gossamer sheen sticks around a long time.

Underground Mountain has a moderate strength nose of coffee, toast, and some barrel notes (coconut is one). Frangelic Mountain has a strong hazelnut smell with coffee aromas pushing their way through huge blocking main scent. The nose has me wondering if this is going to be on the sweeter side - I can't tell if the hezelnut is more of a shot of syrup in the coffee or a part of the initially brewed liquid.

I recall that I thought the barrel treatment of Underground Mountain actually countered the little-too-heavy coffee aspect of the original Sumatra Brown. This hasn't changed much, but it does come with a perceived bit of extra sweetness. Tasting it side-by-side with Frangelic, I am happy to report this "coffee brown" does not have the impression of a shot of flavored syrup or sweet liqueur.

The Frangelic Mountain has a bit more nuttiness than coffee, somewhat unsurprisingly. It comes to me as a deep nut brown where the coffee might be adding a darker roasted aspect to the back end of the taste. The feel is fairly smooth, with a robust flavor on a medium heavy feel.

Looking back at @Roguer's review, I do get a little bit of pine bitterness at the very end, growing up through the darker roasted notes I mentioned. I didn't find it as sweet as @woodchipper did (and definitely not under-attenuated as many flavored darker beers are), and sort of see his point of this pushing towards a darker style.

In the end, another fine Founders beer - a bold nut brown ale. However, after having two variants together, I think I've come to the realization that I'd rather have a medium to lighter basic brown ale than these uber-brown derivatives.

 

Another one from Boston Mountain; Chocolate Sweet Stout, 4.5% ABV, 28 IBUs. Probably about a 4.0 overall

Pours an effervescent chestnut-tinged mahogany with one finger of mocha colored head. A little head retention & lacing 2.25

S: Iron, cocoa once warm, 3.5

T: Cocoa, roastyness, dryness & a little vanilla up front. Dryness, chocolate & a little iron as this warms. Finishes a little roasty with chocolate & a kiss of vanilla, 4.25

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation, 4.0

A nice low-ish ABV that delivers the flavor 4.0

 

Happy NBS! I’m at Noble Beast in downtown Cleveland ahead of The Dead South’s concert. Currently enjoying their Petite Passion which was aged for a year in oak foeders (their first time working with them) brewed with local grains, fermented with lactobacillus and Brett.



On tap at the brewery in a tulip.
A: Pale yellow, thin head
S: Malty, oak, a bit of tropical fruit
T: Passion fruit, light malt, light oak, and lemon
M: Light-bodies, sour
O: Pleasant mouthfeel, tasty beer

 

Cheers y'all.



Went car camping Friday night and a tree cracked and fell on the campsite next to ours, 15 feet from our tent and clipping the corner of the camper in the space adjacent to ours. Coupled with my dog being on her first ever camping trip and having some tummy trouble with a food switch and, uh, it didn't amount to much sleeping. Fun times though. And the campfire got me in the mind of smoke in general. So today I present Deep Color, a smoked old ale from Skookum.



Old ales are generally not the most gorgeous of beers, and this is no exception. Murky rusty brown, with a geometric model of bubbles dusting the top and a comfortable ring. Lovely in its own way, but not particularly pretty.

Nose is rich and delicious off the bat. Raisins and wood. Slightly sweet with some leather. I don't get any smoke, but it's still quite enjoyable.

Tongue follows similar. Sweetish initially, but not overly so, and it settles in appropriately to its toffee and a little spicy tobacco. Soaked raisins and wood and some mild astringency to the finish that could be the smoke trying to peak in, but could also just be the oak.

I don't really get any smoke on this, so on that front there's something to look for, but I don't want to complain because this is tasty and I like it. 10.3% is an afterthought and dangerously well hidden.
I like old ales. This is tasty. It's not got the smoke the label suggested, but it's still quite enjoyable.



Cheers, and go Hawks!

 

Happy New American Stout Sunday!

Pretty nice day on the Western Slope, foggy as fuck, with some snow, then some sun, fog started to disappear, around 20, at the trailhead. Having a pretty tasty brew. Will be back with something else later on.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/18006/393946/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!

 

Poured into a 16 oz Snulip glass canned on 10/09/19. Pours a very dark brown, with a 2 plus finger light brown head that leaves some thin lace behind, with solid retention. 4.25

Smell is biscuit, cocoa nibs, faint coffee, toffee, and vanilla beans. 4

Taste follows biscuit, cocoa, toffee, coffee, and some vanilla really balanced and tasty. 4

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, actually not dry, plenty of life, and at 6.5% it drinks very easy and warms you soul on a cold winters night. 4

Overall another solid brew from these guys, first dark one from them and it did not let me down and again it is now 6.5 instead of 5.5%. 4 Again thanks @tasterschoice62 for this one.

 

Stay away from that 80 hours a week crap. It will kill you!

 

Great start Wordy Woody!!!

 

Dry January, had this new beer late last year (earlier this week).....

Black belle imperial stout by Blackstone Brewing

4.22/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Bottle poured into glass

Motor oil , no foam cap

Bourbon aroma, chocolate, roast malts

Bourbon taste, roast malts

No sudsing , syrupy ,

Good beer

 

Hello, NBS friends, and thanks to @woodychandler for the launch. He is our NBS Manny Mota.

I have a couple of beers, first a juicy IPA from a Chicago brewery that I swear is making their version of Julius (even down to the can). They did an excellent job, IMHO, especially naming the beer.





4.35/5 rDev +5.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Looks like a glass of orange juice in my glass - with the addition of floaties (I love floaties)! Checking out the website, I see this is a Citra-Mosaic juice bomb, and the dank citrus aromas support that - oranges, pineapple, mango, and some spicy passion fruit.

The oranges are most prominent on the taste, and the pineapple is a substantial factor, but at the very end of the taste, the spicy passion fruit really comes forward and guided this into a soft (but not pillowy) landing. This is exceptionally well done, IMHO.

 

Thanks Dad. Me playing games non stop for the past month is the happiest I've been on over 3 years. Pretty much cured my depression.

 

Decadent Blackberry Sorbet. Outstanding. Lasting rocky head retention/foamy lacing. Awesome ruby/pink/purple color. Aromas and flavors of big juicy/tart/tangy blackberries, fruit skin/seeds, lemon, lime, peach, plum, pear, apricot, melon, red/green apple, red grape/wine, sea salt, hay, straw, and grass; with moderate wheat, cracker, white bread dough, biscuit, light toasted malts; light peppercorn, lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang, and light spiciness on the finish. Medium carbonation/body, and fairly crisp finishing; balanced creamy/grainy wheat, lactic acid, fruit tang/tannins, and light salinity in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing acidic/tangy dryness; no puckering sourness. Refreshingly smooth/soft, mellowly lactic/tannic/saline, zero warming 5.8%. Outstanding balanced juicy/jammy berries and Lacto complexity; with a great pale/wheat malt backbone against acidity. Mild residual sweetness with crisp acidic/tangy dryness. Loved it, would buy again. 4.18


Cheers