Schell's Noble Star - Starkeller Peach

Had this blind last night alongside wild peach, west ashley, upland peach, and sour in the rye with peaches and it came in 3rd for me out of the 5. I think most of the others ranked it similarly.

Maybe not worthy of 7 pages of hype, but definitely the best sour shelf beer in MN since the days of yesteryear when you could buy shelf loons.

 

No love for shelf 3F?

 

can you list the full ranking order? Curious if i should chase west ashley.

 

My personal rankings: Upland Peach > Wild Peach > Starkeller > SITR > West Ashley.

I thought for sure the WA was Upland because it was tart and had a subdued nose compared to the others. Likewise I thought the Upland was WA because the nose was straight apricot juice and it was nicely balanced, some tartness with good juicy fruit body.

The only two I had had prior were WA (2 oz pour at DLD) and Wild Peach so I went into it almost totally blind, FWIW.

@Centinela had the same order I believe, others in attendance can chime in with their thoughts..

@rockernino, @nicow5

 

Indeed. When I began* my retail-to-other Tier journey, shelf Loons were being liquidated at $10 a bottle...

(*Fifteen years ago, already? Checks his digital watch... )

 

Solid beer if you like the style and peaches. Good summer drinking beer. I bought one, enjoyed it, and won't be buying more, for what that's worth.

 

Had a similar ranking for the blind tasting. Wild Peach and Upland Peach were tops for me (too hard choose a clear winner) followed by Starkeller Peach, SitR w/ Peaches, then West Ashley.

 

$13.99 at Cub Liquors Arden Hills. 20 bottles on the shelf when I left there this afternoon.

 

There have been a handful of people online suggesting that this must have been brewed with peach syrup...

 

They should read this then:

Sixteen months in the making, Starkeller Peach was first brewed with an extensive decoction mash schedule, fermented with an authentic mixed culture and aged for nearly a year before 5,500 pounds of peaches were added and it was allowed to ferment for an additional four months.

http://schellsbrewery.com/beer/starkeller-peach/

 

I was just reading some of the reviews, and saw a few people claiming that??? Common you serious people?!?

 

Looks like a lot of yeast to me. I've brewed with peaches before and that's not what they end up of looking like. Not that it proves or disproves what was used. Also just because they state they used however many actual peaches doesn't mean they didn't use any other flavoring.

 

Wonder why it's this release in particular that's starting to get traction in the trading community. Cool to see this series finally get some well-deserved attention, but it's frustrating that it's the first to sell out in a day or two's time in my area when it's mostly due to traders buying up multiples to put in boxes. That said, it's definitely my favorite Noble Star beer so far, though Dawn of Aurora was close.

 

Maybe it isn't apparent from that picture, but from the last two bottles I've opened there have been very obvious fruit solid leftovers. I'm talking about bits that make you reach for a toothpick.

But at any rate, 5,500 pounds of peaches would translate to at least a pound per bottle (assuming they did not keg more than usual)... which leaves little room or need for other additions.

 

roughly five cases of starkeller peach at the Nova.

 

Hey guys, it seems like there is some confusion about this beer so I'll try to clarify a few things. Yes, we used 5,500 pounds of peaches, no syrup or concentrate, which ended up being about 4 pounds of peaches per gallon. We bottled just under 500 cases of this beer, but had to hold back some because there was a bit too much pulp in some bottles. As you can see, there is still a bit more pulp than we would have liked in some bottles still, but it is just fruit and it's completely fine to drink. If you would prefer, decant the bottom part of the bottle slowly to leave it behind. We are going to serve the bottles we held back at our Bier Garten, and other random events this summer, and decant those into glasses. This project has definitely been a learning process, and figuring out how to strain out thousands of pounds of fruit is something we are still working on and will get better at in future releases. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this beer and we appreciate the support!

 

No, we appreciate all your hard work. The Noble Star Series has really been something special and I look forward to the future releases.

 

I wonder if some members, especially @mnbrewery will change their reviews?

 

I wouldn't bet a barrel of peach puree on that happening.

 

Drinking a bottle right now... Delicious! People think they taste extract?? Do you even taste bud, bro?