New Beer Sunday (Week 783)

I'm back in Pittsburgh from my work trip to Las Vegas, where it was sunny but very, very dry like today's new beer; named after the fake Scandinavian band Phish played as on Halloween 2018.

Insurrection Aleworks - Kasvot Vaxt (5.5% "APA" fermented with Kveik Hothead yeast) - my overall rating = 3.73



Having this on 2020-02-23 near Pittsburgh, PA from a fresh 16oz can

A - Very hazy straw with a 1.5-finger white head and excellent lace

S - Pineapple, lime, papaya, grassy/herbal, cracker

T - Unsweetened lemon-lime sorbet, cracker, grassy/herbal, mint, chalk and astringent bitterness.

M - Light-medium body and medium+ carbonation. Puckering and very dry.

O - An unusual beer, perhaps due to the Kveik Hothead yeast. Not what I consider when I think of an APA. The initial flavor and aroma is good but the extreme dryness and bitterness makes it less pleasant than what I like in an APA. I had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale right after this to reset my taste buds.

Insurrection Aleworks is a very good brewery but this isn't one I'd stock in my fridge on a regular basis.

 

Glad to be able to return to NBS after a weekend off the internet last week and several weeks drinking down my fridge.
My new beer this week is the remnant of an Oscar Blues canundrum 15 pack

Oskar Blues Can-O-Bliss Tropical
No beers like this in my life fifteen years ago, it's safe to say. Maybe an occasional import, but I mostly drank Bud Light and Miller in social settings. To go from there to Colorado breweries opening plants in NC and having nine breweries in town with two more in the pipeline seems incredible.
This Can-O-Bliss was about six weeks old when I bought the variety pack.

3.84/5 rDev -3.8% | Average: 3.99
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Canned 12/20/19, drinking from a stemmed tulip
Hazy copper-orange pour, one finger white head, strong full lacing and cap. No floaties.
Sour pineapple, mango, pale malt, slight floral scents
Grapefruit pith, pineapple, orange, lemon. Muted at first, but strengthening in the back of my mouth and aftertaste.
Nice bitter entrance, copious carbonation, medium body, semi dry finish. No alcohol heat.
Easy drinking and enjoyable. Not in my top tier of tropical IPA’s but looking forward to getting fresh cans from this series.

 

I really love the beers from Suarez, and I also like their attitude and ideal that beer is "nothing special" (they have that on a shirt)... but to me, there's also a funny lack of sync between this attitude and their business success as a well-regarded destination brewery that can charge $16 for their 4 pack of pilsner. They might love the concept of their beers being "nothing special" in someone's life... but it seems to be a fantasy compared to the reality (both in the sense of the brewer's attitude to their beer and the customers' attitudes).

 

Great start. My gateway into "craft" started with English, German, other European beers (and a few Canucks), and of course Anchor and Sierra Nevada. I remember back in the mid to late-80's being captivated by Guinness, Newcastle, multiple Samuel Smith's beers, Moosehead, and Steinlager. As my exploration continued, I discovered the bold beauty---SNPA. In Mexico I found Bohemia, and later Negra Leon in the Yucatan.
And through my local BJ's, a community of beer lovers found a place to coalesce. They hosted these monthly Beer Appreciation Nights, first Tuesday of each month. They'd feature a brewery, or a region, etc. A representative from the (at that time) new Belgian brewery Fantome shared his love and wisdom of saisons one night. Totally new to me at that time.
During these years, Southern California was rather barren of quality craft. There were a few that tried with limited success. Most are gone now. But then San Diego started to take off. As far as I'm concerned, San Diego was the catalyst for all of southern California. I used to travel down there, yes even before Stone, to hit breweries. But with Stone, Ballast Point, Green Flash, Alesmith, Port, Lost Abbey, and others I'm forgetting the beachhead was established and the quality would inevitably conquer mediocrity.
We live in good times for beer, folks. Maybe too good.

 

Time for another new beer



Poured from the can into a Spiegelau IPA glass. Brewed Jan 14th Canned February 5th.

Pale amber, with a real nice orange to hinting red body color. Quite clear with a nice gleaming shine, showing some fine carbonation. Head creation is a little small, just squeaking out a little more than two fingers of off white to khaki colored creamy head. Decent staying power, with a smooth top and a little bit of retention.

Aroma is large on toasted brown bread crust like malt, and hints of biscuit. Very malt forward for an IPA, with a touch of faint earth to pine note that's very overpowered by a malt presence.

Palate seems to stick to very old school. Lots of biscuit and bread crust flavors, with a touch of light caramel on a sold malt backbone. Hop aroma seems to hint more English style, grass and tea, noticeably bitter with a good simple soft pine finish. Sweet malts still dominate with a tea like flavor somewhat, but there's more of a breakfast cookie flavor from the malt that is the showcase for the beer.

Listed as a "West coast" style IPA, but seems to come off slightly real old school English tasting to my palate. Also heavily malt distinguished more so than hops. Not a bad beer, but seems to have an identity crisis.

look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25 | 3.31/5

Cheers!

 

Damn, so sorry Andrew. Take solace in knowing he began life with a thin chance at surviving, and finished it, after many loving years, like a marathon of joy, family, camaraderie and infinite love.

 

Yes, it's me, my first time contributing a beer to this thread. I figured that since I'm going to be in the next BIF, I should make an occasional appearance, even though I try to drink less, if at all, on Sundays. However, in about an hour there will be a co-ed baby shower at our place, with 25 or so guests, and there's no way I'm not going to start drinking in advance.

Fifteen years ago, I was mostly drinking Racer 5, Anchor Steam, and Big Daddy IPA. I think I'd tried Pliny at least a couple of times, but my obsession with it hadn't become full-blown. That didn't happen until I could bring it home in bottles, and then I was done for.

So, on to my new beer. This past Friday, Foam Brewers did a can drop in NYC for Beer Week, so I grabbed four different beers, two cans each. I'd had a Foam beer once before, as an extra in a trade, and was kind of blown away.

I understand Built to Spill is Foam's flagship beer, so I'm trying it first. Look is of a fairly typical hazy NEIPA, maybe a little brighter and less turbid than some. Head is pretty spectacular (I'm not sure why many brewers can't get a good head on their NEIPAs), but dissipates fairly quickly. Smell is orangey, reminds me of Fieldwork Pulp, making my glassware selection appropriate. Taste is what you'd expect, orange/pineapple-y, with a peppery bitterness that adds a nice bite. Mouthfeel might be its strongest suit, creamy with gentle effervescence.

Overall, it's a solid if predictable NEIPA, obviously well-crafted and perfectly enjoyable, but not stunning like the first Foam I tried. I think my bar has been raised recently by Finback, whose beers of this type are unexpectedly multidimensional and creative.

 

My new to me beer today hails from @Number1Framer, a true Advocate, a great trader, and a really fun person with whom to drink beers...

Lakeside Brewery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “Black Friday Vintage Reserve” (2017), approximately 950 +/- bottled...with 750 bottles released for sale at brewery. A blend of ‘14, ‘15, and ‘16 Black Friday barrels. 16.8 % ABV 43 IBUs.

From the brewery’s website, “In addition to the classic Black Friday flavors - dark roasted caramel malt & woody bourbon - the extra aging brings out chocolate, blackberry, vanilla, toasted pecan and graham cracker notes, and is considerably less hot than its younger sibling.”

I’m in!, let’s go:



Initial pour at 52 degrees:




Photos site is messing with my review...will have to circle back...

 

Happy Sunday NBS players. A rather perfect spring day here on the island with lots of sunshine and temps hitting the 50 mark. A nice lazy Sunday for myself and I'm just relaxing and watching some spring season Mets action and lounging on the patio. I have a bunch of new beers today and I'm planning on doing two from Sixpoint.

My first new beer is Master Blend, a bba imperial stout. I'm a sucka for the style and it was really only a matter of time before I grabbed a pack. The brew checks in at 13% abv, and has a 12/1/19 canning date. The can claims it to have been "aged for years in the barrel."

A pitch black color on the pour with a frothy head of brown bubbles. Malt, booze, and some barrel notes on the nose. Lots of rich chocolate malts upfront on the initial few sips. It really has a boozy feel that is rather pronounced through out the drinking. Not noting it as a bad thing but it drinks big or even a bit hot. Nice flavor notes of charred oak, whiskey, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, and smoke. I also get some off-flavor notes of soy and cola. Despite the booze upfront I'm find the body to be a touch thin which seems to take away from its overall balance.

Overall, not bad but I'm not in love with it by any stretch I will probably score it in the high 3 range. I had a bottle of Parabola last night and it is by far one of my favorites in the style.

 

That sounds very interesting. Good writeup.

 

Revision's Hazy Life courtesy of @Snrubnivek.
4.31/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours an opaque yellow-orange with a one inch, fairly short lived white head that left spotty lacing all the way down the glass Smell is excellent with a predominance of tropical
fruits, a hint of citrus, pine and some malt. Tastes of passionfruit, papaya, guava, lime, a bit of pink grapefruit, pine, a bit of pepper and a nice malt presence to balance things out. Medium bodied, light soft of medium carbonation, lingering dry finish with light bitterness.

 

Two new ones up today, NBS! Both are from Orange, MA-based Honest Weight Artisan Beer Company, and both seem thoroughly unique. I'm kinda jaded when it comes to a lot of adjunct additions to beers these days (I blame the adjunct stout revolution, the advent of fruited/spiced/etc. IPAs, I guess, but it's not necessarily all bad and I acknowledge that). These two new beers are the first in a while to really intrigue me with their process and ingredients.



This one is called Time Well Spent, and is a "mixed culture botanical beer." It was brewed with honey and sumac, and aged in oak barrels. Looks like it spent a year in those barrels, as this has a brewed-on date of 8/10/18, and a bottled-on date of 8/9/19. No real idea what to expect here, but I know that sumac tends to add a tart flavor to beers it's added to. Therefore, I think it may be safe to assume this will be a fun, funky sour like HW tends to make, with perhaps some unusual floral notes. Let's see if my assessment is correct.

Pours an initially nearly-clear golden-orange color with some haze coming in as the rest of the bottle makes its way into my glass. An interesting evolution in appearance, already. Once the whole thing is decanted, I can see a lot of suspended solids, though they're mostly micro-particles. The head here is superb and fairly retentive for a mixed-culture beer, but I assume the time spent keeping this in barrels helps with that as opposed to kettle-souring it.

The nose is pretty heavy on the honey aspect, surprisingly, with a deep, sweet scent that plays well with the apparent funky acidity. Lemony notes and light berry undertones (likely helped to come to fruition by the sumac addition; apparently New England-grown sumac has a very "pink lemonade-y" aspect to it when used in beverage making). Maybe raspberry or something? Red currant? Smells really interesting, and will likely be kinda refreshing too.

On the palate, this is heavier than I expected, which could have to do with the honey. Though there is definitely some acidity, it is rounded out by the hefty grain bill that gives this a smooth softness. In other words, it isn't sharp and overly-acidic, and the barrel gives it even more roundness. Sumac definitely provides some unusual red berry aspects along with a light floral/herbal touch. Overall, this is a bit less crazy than I thought it would be, but the next one up will definitely throw y'all for a loop. I knew this would be a sour, at least, even though I didn't quite know of what nature... the next is unpredictable!

 

Chris, how familiar are you with the area where Suarez Brewing is located (e.g., Columbia County)? I have only been there once (two weeks ago) but driving through that area it appears to be a very rural community.

I live in the 'burbs of Philly and while I recognize that beer consumers in my area are willing to pay 16+ bucks for a 4-pack I personally refuse to do so (my purchase of Qualify is atypical). I may be 'off' here but I would think that a price like $16 in a community like Columbia County is particularly burdensome. Needless to say but nobody is putting a gun to the head of the consumers to buy the beer.

The fact that I can obtain 'better' beer for more than half the price that Dan Suarez is charging is a separate, but related, topic.

Cheers!

 

Love the topic of today's thread, @cjgiant. I was 2X drinking ages 15 years ago (42 years old). I definitely enjoyed beer (I've always been a beer guy, never into booze of any kind), but it was in the "Miller Lite with Amstel Light and Schell's Light and Sam Adams Light as my premium choices" space. I was definitely not in "beer nerd" mode in February of 2005 (though I had visited Goose Island in Chicago in 1988, shortly after they opened).

Until somewhere around ..... May or June of 2005. I went with a customer and my sales rep to Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue in Kansas City for dinner and ordered an Amstel Light. They didn't have that, and my sales rep said (I can remember this as clearly as if it happened 15 seconds ago, not 15 years ago), "Have a Boulevard."

Me: "What's a Boulevard?"

Sales Rep: "It's a local beer. You'll like it."

Me: (hemming and hawing for a few seconds before responding to the waiter) "Alright, I'll have a Boulevard."

Obviously "a Boulevard" was the brewery (though I had ZERO idea of that then), and the beer turned out to be their classic Pale Ale. The first sip (I don't remember taking a whiff) drew a wince - what in the FLIGGITY FLOCK is that flavor that's all fruity and bitter?

Hops. A few more sips, then I killed the pint and ordered another and really enjoyed both pints. I don't know that I was hooked, but I was definitely intrigued. Finished up the trip, went back home, had to go to the beer store right around the corner from our house in Mankato to pick up Mrs O's Miller Lite and my Amstel Light and what do I see?

6ers of Boulevard Pale Ale. A conundrum indeed. Do I stick with "old faithful" or take a different path. Decide to get adventurous, so I pick up the 6er (I still have the box around here somewhere) and try a couple that evening. Liked it so much that I added it to my light beer rotation.

Flash forward 3 or 4 months (so we're in September/October 2005), I'm in Denver because I had to change sales reps in that territory and I'm there to train the new rep. The owner of the agency invites me and a few members of his team to his house that evening for drinks and dinner, and when I get there he offers me "a local beer that people really like around here."

It's Fat Tire. I have a couple of bottles and really enjoy it - what's that biscuity flavor? Well, Boulevard Pale Ale gave me hops, now Fat Tire's giving me malt. So I add Fat Tire to the rotation, and start actively searching at my beer store for "Pale Ales" and "Amber Ales." Stuff from Full Sail, Brau Brothers (a small Minnesota brewery) - and Bell's.

Specifically, their Amber Ale (loved it, still do) and their Pale Ale (didn't enjoy it as much). So when I asked the beer buyer at my beer store for any recommendations and he recommended Two Hearted, I knew the brewery so I gave it a shot.

That was my first IPA, and was probably January/February 2006. Hopslam was available then, so I picked that up my next trip to the beer store, went home and had a couple for "Happy Hour" with Mrs O - and just about fell over when I stood up. Whoa. And a full-fledged beer nerd was born.

All because a restaurant didn't serve Amstel Light and a guy said, "Have a Boulevard." I can't believe that's been 15 years.

 

1.deepest regards for @Rouger regarding his loss

2. Fifteen years ago I was regarded as “beer-weird “ by soccer and lacrosse teammates. I would never have more than one of anything I didn’t really like after matches. (-only a few guys ever noticed that). Some breweries that were “craft” then are not portrayed here now ( Pyramid, RedHook...)

3. Today’s new beer is Happy Little Trees from Sand City, a Pinot Noir barrel-aged saison, brewed with peaches and cherries and some Brett:

-cloudy, amber bottle pour, a pretty color with suspended yeast. Within seconds of pouring there is no discernible carbonation. The aroma is mildly tart with lemon and cherry notes.
The flavors are subtle and nuanced, tart apples, stone-fruit, saison yeast notes and a bit of Brett. There is a light vinous line too.
All aspects combine to produce a flavorful saison that many non-beer drinkers would appreciate.
I like ever more over this hour.

4. it’s my wife’s b-day so family and pizza, socca...
I’ll

 

I’m still struggling with posting multiple pics with the postimage site...anyway, here’s my review...

First pour at 52 degrees is rather lack-luster appearance-wise...however, second pour at 58 degrees reveals dark brown almost black liquid with ruby see-through opaque body with some clarity under fizzy, then mousse-like finger thick dark tan head of mixed bubbles; warmer beverage presents decent cap retention, solid ring and sticky lace; medium legs on swirl. Nose is toasted brown sugar, bourbon, caramel malt, dark berries/fruit, currants; some oaky bourbon on exhale; complex mix of fruity and burnt malt aromas. Taste follows nose, and continues to open as liquid warms; oaky vanilla middle with earthy bitterness alongside tobacco and black licorice; herbal hops present with prunes/plums/dark fruity esters; dense rich roasted malt finish. Medium body, some slight warmth from 16.8 percent ABV, but not hot or boozy; dry barrel tongue coating; medium minus carbonation. Overall, a tour de force of aromas and flavors, especially as the beer warmed; thin for ABV and style, but that’s my only real knock; on the other hand, this imperial stout is not syrupy, adjuncty, or phenolic; great balance between malts, residual sugars and barrel notes; nice bitter roast linger; surprisingly little heat from alcohol, but still very deceptive...I do feel the effects near bottle’s end; really a treat and so enjoyable to experience; world class.



4.75 | 4.75 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.75

 

"tee-totaling" so cute. And look at you know! You're one of us. You're a delinquent!

 

The new beer I have this week is Nightshift's Santilli, but....the cans are dated August so I don't think it would be a very fair assessment of the product. I seem to only remember about 50% of the time to check dates in the store. I've already had one and its still pretty good, but either psychosomaticly or for real, its not what it could have been. So no real comments on the beer.

Anyways, I'm chiming in about the question of where I was 15-years ago on the craft scene. Well I joined BA in October of 2005, so like @lordofthewiens it will be my 15-year anniversary here in the fall. I was definitely into craft beer in February of that year and probably 3-5 years before that. I remember reading from this site months before I joined. I especially like NBS and I feel bad about my poor planning this week.