What’s the Difference? Share your Side-by-Side (2022)

Craig, FWIW I am of the opinion what you detailed there is the 'definition' for a quality Schwarzbier.

It has been my personal experience that many (most?) US craft breweries go too heavy on the roast when it comes to brewing this beer style. Perhaps they feel the business need to meet the demands of the Moar beer crowd?

If I ever see Urban Chestnut Schwarz Weather available for sale I will buy it; it reads like my kind of Schwarzbier.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the clarification.

On the BA description for this beer:

"Beer Specs:
6.0% ABV
30 IBUs
31 SRM
Malt: Pilsner Malt, Dark Munich,
Vienna, CaraMunich I,
Blackprinz® Malt, Midnight Wheat
Hops: Magnum, Sterling, Saaz"

Wow, that is quite a complicated grain bill. FWIW, I have often (but all of the time) found that complicated grain bills result in a 'muddling' of the flavor profile. My personal preference when brewing, generally speaking, is to have a less complicated grain bill. I wonder if this may be the source of your 'issue(s)' here?

Cheers!

 

I just did a little blind AAL tasting, pretty much to test myself as well as the beers:

Naragansett vs. PBR vs. Bud

Randomized:


#1- Good aroma hits you right away. Toasted cornbread, a touch of spicy hop. Creamy on palate with a slight watery finish. Flavor is doughy bread with a touch of corn. Dry but could be more crisp. Bitterness is nearly undetectable. Clean and 'nice'. B-

#2- really mild aroma, have to really swirl it to wake it up: corn and minerals, slight bread crust. Much more assertive palate, bread crust and slight corn. Dry yet rounded feel, semi-flabby, though. Drinkable but needs more hops. C+

#3- Palest with barely any aroma at all. What can be coaxed is a combination of bread, spice and apple. It's not fooling anyone at this point. Same elements carry over to the flavor, though still extremely mild. Crispest of the three. More spice comes out by the end of the glass, but still too much of nothing. C



I was still surprised by this result because I originally pegged 'Gansett to do better. As for PBR? Not quite "believe the hype", but still good in a pinch.

 

Michael,

A few days ago I watched the below video of blind tasting of "bad lagers" and I enjoyed watching it. Maybe you would enjoy it too?



Cheers!

 

Craig,

I also 'enjoyed' that he created a scale of 0-5 for after taste but he graded the beers on a 0-10 scale.

Oh well, if I did this evaluation/video I am confident I would have screwed up even more.

Cheers!

 

Well, he only wanted to purchase single cans. If his beer retailer is anything like my 'local' Total Wine & More those singles were not all that fresh.

Cheers!

 

Thanks, Jack! I also enjoyed watching it, and even think we see eye to eye on a lot of those beers. Funnily enough I was gifted a couple of bottles of Carlsberg yesterday so I'll take some mental notes when I get to it and come back and see if we line up on that one too.

 

Two Favorites from Founders:
1) Founders Dirty Bastard (8.5%): A Scotch Ale from Michigan that has flavors of toffee, caramel, bread pudding, scotch, syrup/molasses, and dark fruits. Complex malts.
versus
2) Founders Breakfast Stout (8.3%): An Oatmeal Stout from Michigan with flavors of Belgian chocolate, coffee roast, and cinnamon spice. This is a world-class beer.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Founders Dirty Bastard: Has more complex malt profile of caramel, toffee, tiramisu, bread pudding, and syrupy french toast.
2) Founders Breakfast Stout: This one has a classic chocolate, coffee, and oatmeal malt flavor. Roasty and chocolatey, but surprisingly dry and roasty.

Overall: These are two both fantastic. Right at my ideal ABV for a beer. I'm more impressed that one brewery can produce two amazing beers so had to share the side-by-side.

 

Two Beers, A Midwest Stout and Porter:

1) Bell’s Double Cream Stout (6.1%): A dairy-free “milk” stout from Michigan with smooth and creamy flavors of milk and chocolate. Faint coffee roast.
versus
2) Founders Porter (6.5%): A Porter from Michigan with flavors of roasted chocolate, lactose, mocha, and a smooth finish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, both were fairly similar. Founders Porter had slightly more roast, while Bells had more smooth milk chocolate. I think I preferred Founders. Founder's Porter is relatively smooth for the style, so I did a side-by-side of these two. Sorry for the back-to-back post.

 

Here is a video side-by-side of PBR and Old Milwaukee:



@TongoRad

I am not an experienced PBR drinker but within the video there is discussion of PBR having a chardonnay flavor aspect (but not in this canned PBR). Have other BAs noticed this aspect in PBR?

Also, in the video Ronald discusses how in comparison Old Milwaukee has greater hop bitterness.

Cheers!

 

I've enjoyed reading through this thread, and since I somehow have 2 spruce beers on hand I thought I'd take a crack at it.

On the left is Yards Poor Richard's Spruce Ale; the other is Winding Path BC Boreal Spruce IPA.



From the Yards website-
"Based on Benjamin Franklin’s original recipe, this one-of-a-kind deep amber ale calls for barley, molasses and essence of spruce. Locally sourced organic blue spruce clippings are steeped in a kettle to create an ale as approachable and engaging as the man himself.

Ingredients
Local, organic spruce tips from Indian Orchards; barley; molasses"

5% ABV, 22 IBU.

The Winding Path site doesn't list this beer, so from the entry here on BA-
"A bright, dank IPA brewed with Northwest hops, spruce tips and needles.
Hops: Waimea, Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook, Willamette
Malts: 2-row, Munich, Caramel Malt
Yeast: Ale
Other: Spruce Tips"

7.2% ABV


As is obvious from the photo, the Yards is a dark reddish brown, and the IPA is orange-copper colored. I'm not particularly adept at identifying flavors, but the Yards definitely has some molasses sweetness, minimal hops, and mild spruce. This is the 3rd bottle from the case and they've all seemed slightly different, especially regarding the spruce flavor; the second bottle being the most intense. I've enjoyed this beer for years; it seems suited to cold winter days sitting by the fire. I'm probably projecting, but it just feels "old", like, of course this based on a historical recipe.

The Winding Path has that effervescent hop aroma and flavor common to American IPAs. The spruce is strong as well, making for an intriguing mix. There's a quality to the taste that I can't put my finger on, like something I've had before and long forgotten. It's a delicious beer. I'm not an IPA Obsessive but certainly enjoy them on occasion; I'd be happy to see this one on the shelves again.

Just for fun I blended a bit of the two.



Interestingly, while the color was, as expected, a mix of both, the flavor leaned toward the Yards, as if the molasses crowded out the IPA hops. Found that a bit surprising.

I hope y'all enjoyed this entry; feedback always appreciated.

 

Does two Double Bocks = a Quad?

I have two Doppelbocks to discuss. One is an old ‘standby’ Troegs Troegenator Double Bock beer and the ‘challenger’ is Hofbrau Winter Spezial.

Troegs Troegenator Double Bock

Let’s first discuss the old standby of Troegs Troegenator. Troegs Brewing opened up in 1996 which makes them part of the ‘second wave’ of Philadelphia area craft breweries (along with Victory, Sly Fox,…). The ‘first wave’ was Stoudts Brewery which opened up in 1987.

“One taste of Troegenator tells you this is no ordinary beer. At once malty and crisp. Traditional yet timeless. A rebel with a sweet side. This deliciously dark double bock calls for so much grain we had to custom-build our brewhouse around it. Layered with notes of smooth caramel, stone fruit and fresh toasted grains, ’Nator is a beer for people who love beer.

ABV: 8.2%

Color: Bronze

Grain: Chocolate, Munich, Pilsner

Hops: German Northern Brewer, Magnum

Yeast: Lager”

https://troegs.com/beer/troegenator/

Hofbrau Winter Spezial

This is an interesting brand in that in the past this beer was a Helles Bock but is now a Doppelbock, as detailed on BA:

“Notes: 2012 Version was a Helles Bock
2015+ Version is a Doppelbock”

Below is how Hofbrau discusses Winter Spezial on their website:

“A true HB Specialty

Our traditional German Style “Doppelbock”. Dark brown in colors with an intense roasted caramel malt flavor of dried berries and chocolate.

A real Winter Warmer! The rich and spiced flavor with a taste of chocolate and dried berries is created by the perfect amount of roasted caramel malt and well-hidden hop bitterness for a smooth finish.

Specs:

ABV: 8.4 %

Bitterness: 30 IBU

Color: Dark brown

Malts: Light Barley Malt, Munich Malt, Caramel Malt

Hop Varieties: Hercules, Perle, Select”

https://hofbrauhausimport.us/beer/winter-spezial/

The two beers read similar. Interesting that Troegs selected to use Roasted Malt (i.e., Chocolate Malt) vs. Hofbrau chooses to use Caramel Malt.

Served in small Tulip glasses:

Appearance:

Troegs Troegenator: Deep amber colored, a ruby hue, and a thin khaki colored head.

Hofbrau Winter Spezial: Pours a mahogany brown color with a good-sized khaki colored head.

Aroma:

Troegs Troegenator: A complex combination of aromas – dark bread (akin to pumpernickel), toffee, dark dried fruits (e.g., fig, raisins), some spiciness, …

Hofbrau Winter Spezial: A variety of aromas – caramel, molasses, toffee,…

Taste:

Troegs Troegenator: The flavor follows the nose with the assortment of flavors from dark bread to toffee to dried fruits to... There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Hofbrau Winter Spezial: The flavor follows the nose with aspects as detailed above but in the background even a tiny hint of dark dried fruits (raisin, figs). There is low bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Troegs Troegenator: Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Hofbrau Winter Spezial: Thin – medium bodied. There is a moderate carbonation level with a sweet-ish finish.

Overall

Troegs Troegenator: Very Good – Excellent. I really appreciated the dark bready flavors of this beer!

Hofbrau Winter Spezial: Very Good.

The most notable difference between these beers is the sweet-ish aspect of Hofbrau Winter Spezial; I preferred the dark bready flavors of Troegs Troegenator accompanied by a greater complexity of flavors.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

I have homebrewed beers using fresh growth Spruce Tips and those beers had a ‘unique’ flavor to them that I personally had a hard time pinning down and describing.

I wrote an article for Zymurgy magazine (the magazine of the American Homebrewers Association) and below is a snippet from that article:

“What does a beer brewed with Spruce taste like?

Needless to say but fresh growth Spruce tips are an agricultural product so variations in flavors should be anticipated. Variables include, but are not limited to, aspects like type of tree, location, weather conditions that year, when the tips where harvested (small vs. larger tips),..

I assembled a group of friends and family to be my taste testers for Kate’s Spruce Ale so that I could obtain a broader perspective on the attributes of this batch of beer. Some of the aroma/flavor descriptions I obtained for this beer are:

• Citrus
• Grapefruit
• Grapefruit pith
• Piney grapefruit

For my personal palate I got more of an herbal quality to this beer.”

The best word I could come up with was herbal which is unfortunately a rather broad descriptor.

While researching this article I was able to speak to a brewer at Yards Brewing:

“I recently attended a beer festival at Yards Brewing Company and I was able to briefly speak to one of the brewers. He provided the additional detail that they add the blue spruce clippings for the last 20 minutes of boil.”

You will note that Yards uses “spruce clippings” as opposed to fresh growth spruce tips. For a commercial brewer which produces their beers year-round it makes sense to use clippings since they are always available vs. fresh growth tips which only appear once a year in the spring.

In contrast for Winding Path it lists “spruce tips and needles” which I interpret as they use a combination of spruce tips and clippings.

Thanks for posting your side-by-side tasting.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the response and information.

With the Yards beer, I think "yep, that's spruce", and don't go much further. On the other hand, the IPA gives me that feeling like I've tasted something similar, as if it's the combination of the spruce and those specific hops. "Herbal" seems like a good, although I agree broad, descriptor. It kinda reminds me of herbal tea. I don't drink tea or coffee, but my mother would make tea pretty much every evening so I'm thinking that's the déjà vu flavor I'm getting.