New Beer Sunday (Week 778)

Are you having the image resized when you upload? I've found that the "640X480 (for message boards)" will sometimes mess with the resolution. I use the BA insert photo with the direct link (2nd option).

 

Hello NBS fans and Football fans alike.
Jumped on a 4x16 of this wonderful Black Ale from Clown Shoes called Hoppy Feet. Despite the name this beer is not overly hopped, in fact the hop flavor is balanced perfectly by roasted bitterness. Get some while they last. Skol and more Football.

4.35/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A medium-strong pour from a 16-oz. can (11/18/19) yields a finger of light khaki foam with average retention and scattered blotches of lace. Opaque dark rosewood brown with deep red highlights.

Piney and herbal hops are matched by roasted barley in the smell. Faint coffee, bakers chocolate and toasted dark bread in the background.

The taste follows the smell closely with caramel malt breaking in. Neutral on sweetness and mildly bitter at first, IPA level pale malt and roasted malt blend perfectly. Bitterness (hops and roasted malt equally) rises to above average at the long finish as it dries with a faint alcohol astringency. The hop/roasted malt bitterness lingers a while with some pepper.

Medium-light body, expectedly well carbonated throughout. Balanced and smooth, becomes (almost) soft as it warms. Not as hoppy as the name implies, roasted bitterness does it's share adding to the overall balanced taste and feel.

 

I came across a new beer from Jack's Abby. A "German Style Porter" from their Keller series.


I've entered it under the Robust Porter category, that's where it seems to fit best.
The website says:
"This German-style black lager features prominent flavors of dark roast coffee, bitter chocolate, and pumpernickel, with a dry and lingering finish. Like all of our Kellerbiers, this porter is left unfiltered to maximize flavor and adhere to tradition. Prost!"
13 Plato, 35 IBU, 5.5% ABV
My review:
L: Deep brown with a slight ruby tint, a loose tan head that dissolves into film
S: Toasted malt, coffee, some smokiness
T: Roasted malt, coffee, dark bread, some cocoa, a little smoke with a pleasant black coffee/hops bitterness
F: Medium bodied with mild carbonation that tingles the tongue without being fizzy. Smooth swallow with a slightly bitter aftertaste
O: A excellent porter. A rich complex porter at a welcome 5.5% (13 Plato, 35 IBU) making it a pleasure to have more than one. JA calls this a "german style porter", but it most reminds me of Founder's porter.

About $11/16oz 4 pack, it's a bargain and I'm looking forward to many more.

 

When I first had this beer I thought it was too sweet and a just tad hot. After it sat in the fridge for a few months, it smoothed out a bit and while still a little sweet, everything came together a little better to my palate. Cheers!

 

Poured into a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 1/8/20. Pours a hazy yellow orange with a finger plus sticky white head that leaves loads of thin lace behind with excellent retention. 4.75

Smell is papaya, tangerine, pineapple, and apricot. 4.75

Taste follows tropical front to back papaya, tangerine, pineapple, and apricot just amazing! 4.75

Mouthfeel is a solid medium, soft gentle carbonation, sticky not dry, and it really easy drinking, but drinks more like 8% in flavor. 4.75

Overall just another amazing beer from Treehouse Brewery. Always go in with huge expectations and they never let me down. Hype is real and deserved. 4.75

 

I'm back NBS!
This time around I'm going to have something a little heftier. As the temperatures dip and the snow picks back up. This is another "new" beer from the provincial liquor stores. A big Scottish ale. This is one from a brewery I kept an eye peeled for while I was in Scotland in October but never came across. Now I'm happy to be able to give it a try on this side of the ocean.

It pours ruby and clear but looks opaque mahogany in the glass with a couple inches of tan, foam-insulation head that descends to a healthy film. Some lacing. The aroma is crusty brown bread, dark fruits, a hint of banana bread without enough bananas, caramelized sugar. It tastes similar but a little different. Bready and sweet with some tea-like earthy bite in the middle, slight mineraly bite and thinness that rounds out as it warms up from 50°. This is a nice more traditional Scottish beer and I'm glad to have got to tried it. I'm not as knowledgeable about any of that brewing tradition as I'd like to be but this tastes about like a classic example of some sort of strong scotch ale. I could do with a little thicker body but other than that this is very tasty.
Cheers!

 

Bell's Vanilla Black Note Stout

Sorry for the Guatemalan adjunct lager interruption. Now back to our barrel program. This is a case of buying a beer because I love the producer rather than the style. The head on this one is certainly smaller than the previous stout, but it's also ridiculously dark and reddish. It smells of alcohol. Fortunately, this beer reminds me much more of dark bitter chocolate than vanilla (nothing against vanilla though). It's very rich and there's a strong, bitter twang at the end. A great beer that would be even better if the alcohol was toned down a bit.

 

Greetings from snowy Northern Indiana, NBSers. This winter finally started to look like a “normal” winter Friday evening, with a lake effect snow squall dumping a few inches of HEAVY snow, then a 15 deg temperature drop yesterday afternoon to firm things up, then a few more inches of fluffy stuff this afternoon and evening. Phew!!!

The cruise @lordofthewiens describes in the opening post sounds similar to the Alaskan cruise Mrs O and I took nearly 4 years ago - a big ol’ boat crammed full of people making numerous stops. If you don’t like crowds, I wouldn’t advise taking a cruise like that - you’re almost always in a crowd at meal times, and you spend a lotta time preparing for your next shore excursion (at least we did).

We really enjoyed it, but we’re not in a hurry to take another on a big boat. We did a Caribbean cruise 25 years ago on a small boat (210 passengers), and we’d prefer to do something like that - but those are SPENDY boats. Not sure the juice is worth the squeeze, especially since we’ve already done one.

One other note before I roll out my 2 beers for this evening - the post @2beerdogs made regarding NBS BIF’s is spot on. I’ve participated in 6 of them (plus a mini last December) and they’re a fantastic to “meet” and get to know a bunch of BA’s and try a LOT of phenomenal beers you’d normally not be able to access.

The selection of stuff I’ve received is staggering - of course there’s the requisite IPA’s and big stouts, but I’d guess I’ve received 150+ beers in the BIF’s I’ve been in, and I’ve received so many great beers and myriad styles, it’s really kinda staggering. Just an overwhelmingly generous group of beer nerds. If you can join us, it’ll be worth your while.

So tonight I’m reviewing two beers I received in NBS BIF’s. The first is from @Ozzylizard in NBS BIF #007, circa March 2018. This is world-class stuff.





4.42/5 rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Pours a mahogany brown color with a substantial tan head that sticks around for a bit, which is usually not the case with sours in my experience. I like it. There are also reddish tints on the edges as you hold this up to light. What a gorgeous beer.

The first thing I notice on the nose is caramel notes, which bodes well for me (I LOVE caramel). There’s loads of funky, fruity sour aromas, of course, and I was searching for oak notes but alas, I didn’t find them.

The taste is as described on the bomber, with tart apples and sour cherries flavors in abundance and the caramel and a hint of vanilla from the oak at the end of the taste.

The mouthfeel is on the verge of puckerville, but backs away at the end. This is a truly magnificent sour, IMHO, because it’s not just sour - there’s depth to this world-class beer.

 

Sorry to your family.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Lost Abbey glass canned on 1/03/20. Pours a very hazy dark yellow with a 3 finger sticky white head that leaves a thin wall of lace with excellent retention. 4.75

Smell cantaloupe, blueberry, tangerine, guava, and apricot. 4.5

Taste follows I love when blueberry comes out in a DIPA, very rare but this one has it for me. Melon, tangerine, guava, blueberry, and apricot, bigger and bolder than the nose. 5

Mouthfeel is bigger than medium, soft carbonation, a little sticky, and at 8% goes down way too easy. 4.75

Overall as tasty as it gets. The nose is excellent but a little muddled compared to the taste. Really just another awesome NEDIPA from possibly the best in the business. 4.75

 

#2, this excellent scotch ale is from @2beerdogs in this fall’s NBS BIF #10. He wasn’t my sender - this was a bonus box of beer.

As I said before, truly a generous group.





4.13/5 rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pours dark, rich brown color, nearly clear, with a minimal tan head. The nose has booze up front - didn’t expect that - and a significant caramel aroma. I’m intrigued.

On the taste, the viscosity mentioned on the can presents itself as a chewy body stacked on the alcohol and rich caramel flavors. This is a cocky, confident malty beer that isn’t afraid to whack you upside the head. I wish I had a 6er of this, because this is a PERFECT winter beer.

 

Yes - resize at 320x240 then copy direct link (second option) to BA:

 

Enjoying another shot from Wicked Weed, thanks @Steban! This one is Sandiaca, gin barrel aged with watermelon and basil.

4.15/5 rDev -3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Thank you Steban for this
500 ml bottle, dated 3.8.18, poured into a tulip

A- A slightly hazy cooler with a two finger white head.

S- Tart, watermelons, some basil, some gin, oak, some jolly rancher sweetness.

T- Sour, gin, basil, mild funk, some watermelons, lemons.

M- Smooth, light body.

O- An interesting sour.

Cheers NBS!

 

OK - I'll give that a try:

gas station next to me

Nope - no better. But thanks anyway.

 

Ok, while the late game is on, I decided to play a silly game with the GF. She had bought a 4-pack of flavored stouts from Wicked Weed a few weeks ago, and I think I've only had one of them - maybe none. I am giving these to the GF blind, and I am doing my four semi-blind. I did the pouring, so I am lucky there isn't much difference in the pours, but my brain did register some minor differences I am hoping a darker ingestion area will hide.

Ok, so the GF re-arranged my pours that were in the exact same glass type so that my 1-4 do not match the 1-4 order I poured them in. Let's go!


Beer #1 (to me):
A dark beer that doesn't quite threaten black, with the lower edges of the glass betraying it. A spongy light beige head has cratered and left tufts of itself in the sides. Nose is more like a brown ale, with a toasty aspect and a bit of syrup or honey - not maple, but I'm already guessing which this is. Medium leaning even a little light in feel, there's a toasted malt with an unexpected minerality, a hint of burnt toast in back, and just a hint of the syrup. Guessing this is the French Toast. (reveal: S'mores)

Beer #2:
A creamy medium tan head has left some lace to dry. Nose is chocolate wafers and creme - and it seems the nose might be the give away for all of these. Smells more sugary sweet than Beer #1, but there is a nice balance of brownie batter chocolate and milk sugar sweetness. Ending is fairly charred. Milk and Cookies.

Beer #3:
A more brown head that resembles the makeup of #2. Nose is less distinct than the first two, generically roasted malt initially. Deeper whiffs give me some graham and vanilla, but only after re-reviewing the four beer flavors. Flavor is a little more cola on the roasted malt side, with a feel between the first two. There's a light tang and a hint of spice in back. S'mores? (reveal: French Toast)

Beer #4:
A mix of the craters from beer #1 and the color of beer #3 - a bit more frothy overall I might say. By process of elimination, I should know what this is and the nose does not come as expected. It initially came to me as a sweet, dark, burnt coffee. Deeper whiffs turned the odd "acrid" note of burning coffee into coconut. The mix isn't really that pleasant, and carries through to the taste - a mix of chocolate cake batter and a light licorice. German Chocolate Cake.

None of these jumped out at me as something I liked well enough to buy on its own, with beer #4 being the most distinct - but not in the best of ways. I think it's between #1 and #2 as to my favorites.

So, feeling fairly confident, let's see how wrong I was:
So I mixed up Beer #1 and Beer #3. I wasn't confident about beer #3, but beer #1 definitely had the syrup note I was getting thinking of French Toast. Re-testing the mistakes, the 3rd beer doesn't remotely seem like its name to me. Oh well.

For the record, the GF refused to play the game of guessing which was which, but did like French Toast the best, and S'mores second best. If she likes them well enough, she'll have to buy them

 

Good evening NBS
A first time NBS share with Mrs. Jkblr...

500mL can stamped EXP 05/2021 poured into a wheat beer glass at fridge temp 5.6% ABV. The beer pours barely hazy in a golden straw yellow color with off white head. The head recedes to a thin cap and leaves a little lacing. The aroma is mild banana bread, hints of clove and general sweetness. The taste is mildly sweet, musty wheat beer with a barely bitter, slightly metallic finish. The mouthfeel is medium to thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Overall, ok.

She says yummy, sweet and wheaty BTW. Cheers all!

 

Phase Three Positive Launch Rye IPA, 7.7% ABV. 4.34 overall

Pours a hazed amber with one pinky of pearl colored head. Good lacing above average head retention

S: Citrus & breadyness, a kiss of peppery rye & a little dankness

T: Tangerine, peach, peppery rye, a little bready dryness & a touch of lime up front. Nectarine & orange sweetness, a little grassyness and lime as this warms, plus pineapple. Finishes a little dry, with pineapple & a little lime

MF: Medium body, creamy carbonation, lovely balance

Drinks too easy, well excuted take on the style, plenty juicy!

 

We aren't the only ones who feel that way. Was speaking with Scott (the brewer) who said they are getting loads of positive feedback about Savage Henry.

 

Alaska, maybe

 

Another Happy New American IPA Sunday!

A pretty tasty brew, glad to see it around here.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63/408026/?ba=Wasatch#review

Cheers!