Sacred Vice Brewing (Philadelphia) - Dripstone A tasty Czech style pale lager, poured via Lukr faucet. Aroma is doughy malt and grassy earthy hops. Taste finishes with a crisp bitterness.
Hef the Copper Dragon - Spotted Octopus Clearly not intended to be a traditional Hefeweizen, this has the potential to be a very interesting twist. They need to address the head retention and more importantly reduce the astringency that creeps in about halfway through. Otherwise all the basics are solid and it is pleasantly aromatic and flavorful.
Helles Traditional Lager from Steuben Really enjoying this one. Crisp, clean, corn and grains. Light spicy hops. Equal portion of mild sweetness and bitterness with cracker malt. Medium bodied, stiff fine nylon texture. Abv presence as expected, soft fizz of carbonation. It’s a nice drinking beer for a cool overcast afternoon.
Enjoying this Big Lebowski inspired Pilsner from Alternate Ending called the Royal Rug. Hopped with Mittelfruh. Nice grassy hop aroma, crisp finish, easy drinking. I feel The Dude would approve The back of the can label references the great quote "Hey careful man, there's a beverage here"
Sunglider Golden Lager from Firestone Walker Appealing aroma of straw with an herbal note. Sudsy and very tangy on the tongue. Overall this is a pleasant light brew with a hoppy-fruity taste, then mild and beery like a cheap AAL. Rather than bitterness it leaves a sharp aftertaste. Overall it’s thoroughly quaffable and more complex than the usual light lagers. From the 12 oz can dated 02/04/26.
This is a fantastic beer. @JackHorzempa get your mitts on this one. District 1 Polish Eagle Brau Pre-Prohibition Lager
That beer looks tasty! What do you think of this beer? From a web search I discovered: “Polish Eagle Brau - Lager In honor of the rich history of Polish Heritage in the Stevens Point area, District 1 collaborated with the Portage County Historical Society to replicate a beer brewed by the Polish Brewing Company. Containing six-row barley, 30% corn, and Hallertau Mittelfruh, this lager provides a taste before Prohibition!” https://www.stevenspointarea.com/blog/stories/post/three-to-try-district-1/ I have my annual batch of CAP bottle conditioning right now. I will be trying the first bottle of this batch in another week. The District 1 version is quite similar to my homebrewed CAP with one difference being the percentage of corn (I use 20% corn in the grain bill). And I generously use Hallertau Mittelfruh for the hop flavor and aroma additions. Na Zdrowie P.S. A photo of my CAP from last year’s batch:
The Goat Here is how King’s Road describes this beer on their website: “The Goat Maibock 7.3% ABV 30 IBU Meet The Goat, our 7.3% Maibock that’s here to prove it’s not just a goat, it’s the GOAT. Brewed in the traditional German style, this lager is smooth, golden, and deceptively drinkable, with a rich malt backbone and just enough hop balance to keep things in line. At 7.3% ABV, it’s got a little extra kick. So, while it may go down easy, it’s definitely not kidding around. Malty, crisp, and quietly powerful… kind of like a goat plotting its next move. Drink wisely. It climbs.” Appearance: Golden yellow with a white head. Aroma: There is notable rich malty aroma to this beer with a hint of toastiness. Taste: The flavor follows the nose with prominent flavors of rich malt, and yes some accompanying toastiness as well. There is also a hint of herbal/spicy hop flavor to provide a sense of balance to the beer. A moderate bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with an off-dry finish. Overall: For my palate this is an excellent Maibock with the rich maltiness being front and center but properly accompanied by some hop flavor and moderate hop bitterness. Perfectly balanced for a Maibock IMO. Cheers!
How do you define Lager Love? Nine examples in your stash waiting to be enjoyed? FWIW -- been holding back on this image while trying to navigate between my obsolete desktop computer and laptop to utilize IMGUR. We called it work-arounds when I was in the business.
Mazama High Life Lager from Old Schoolhouse in Washington state. Sharp and spritzy on the tongue with a light and lively body. Tastes of corn but also tangy and not very sweet. Then there is the green melon and a touch of something from the piney woods. No Light Lager ever had this much hops, but that's what they call it. Tasty and flavorful, but light and quaffable. Overall this is more of a hoppy Lager but lower in alcohol. Definitely a winner and better than the usual attempts at a lighter Pale Ale.
Let’s Wander Back Wander Back Beerworks Future Proof German Pilsner. Wander Back Beerworks is in the process of opening their brewery in Vineland, NJ. While awaiting their build out to complete they are temporarily brewing out of Hidden Sands Brewing Co.'s facility in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. There are three principals involved in opening Wander Back and they all have backgrounds at Cape May Brewing: · Christopher Henke: co-founder of Cape May Brewing · Justin Vitti: Cape May Brewing Co.'s general manager of sales and distribution · Brian Hink: Brewer at Cape May Brewing I had the pleasure to get to know Brain Hink in the past when was working for Cape May via discussions on BA. Brian used to be a regular participant on BA threads. He even offered to give me and my wife a private tour of Cape May brewing a number of years ago while we were down there for a week’s vacation in Cape May. I learned a lot during that private tour, Brian patiently answered my numerous questions. I have been sorta following this new business venture with the hopes of trying one of their beers. To my great joy I saw their beers on the shelf of my local Retail Beer Distributor and I immediately picked up a four-pack. I have enjoyed the beers produced by Brian (and the Cape May brewing team) in the past so I have high hopes for this beer. Served in my Polish Pilsner glass: Appearance: Straw yellow with a BIG fluffy white head. Aroma: An enticing combination of is bready/cracker-like Pilsner Malt aroma and hops aromas of herbal/spicy. Taste: The flavor follows the nose with bready/cracker-like malt with a pleasing balance of herbal/spicy flavors from the hops. There is a notable bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, smooth mouthfeel with a dry finish. Overall: I enjoyed drinking this beer, it is very good. A tasty, well balanced German Pilsner with drinkability. Cheers! @jonphisher @Giovannilucano @brianhink P.S. On a related note, Wander Back won a gold medal at the recent World Beer Cup competition for their Helles beer. Quite an accomplishment especially since there was quite a bit of competition with 156 entries: “Category 45: Munich-Style Helles, 156 entries Gold - Wander Back Lager, Wander Back Beerworks, Vineland, NJ Silver – Lager, Noble Twist, Saugatuck, MI Bronze - Kirkland Signature Helles Lager, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR”
Moribund from Branch & Bone. A really nice Czech-style dark later. Prunes, dark chocolate, roasted malts, slight cola, earthy, and grainy. Really nice.
I'm very very excited for the next collab, northern german pils, its been on their site listed but they just teased on social so hopefully we're not far off...
Wolverine Massacre imperial lager, 2018 vintage. Incredible as usual. Aromas of big caramel, brown sugar, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, and light cocoa. Taste follows with big caramel, toffee, brown sugar, bourbon, toasted oak; light cocoa, coconut, dark fruit, and herbal/grassy hops. Light herbal/grassy bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Medium carb and medium-full body; creamy mouthfeel with lingering sticky hop and oak tannin dryness. No cloying. Super clean lager flavors and not that fruity. Lingering warmth and booze of 14.3%. A ton of barrel but not rough on booze after the cellaring. 4.25/5 Cheers
Hell(es) Yeah! The Craft Brewers Conference occurred recently (April 20-23) in Philly and some of the non-local breweries brought some of their beers for locals like me to enjoy. This brings us to today’s beer: Bierstadt Helles. Below is how this beer is detailed on the Bierstadt website: “Helles Helles = Light We get that color is an oversimplified way to describe a beer, and a Helles can often be dismissed as yellow and fizzy. What it should be is the purest expression of malt in any brewer's portfolio. Our Helles is around 5% ABV, so it shouldn't leave you unable to defend your views on politics and religion. We often find those topics are the only things worth talking about anyway. The people that say "you shouldn't discuss such matters because it's rude" aren't drinking enough Helles. And: “Everybody's Lager Walk into any Munich Bierhalle and you will see 90% of the people drinking one thing: Helles Lager. When people ask for "Beer flavored bier", Helles is what they want. The battle for bier superiority has raged over the last 125 years, and pale lager won. In fact, Helles was so effective in its pursuit, it almost rendered all other bier styles obsolete. We recommend drinking a liter to get a true appreciation of its majesty.” Well, that got me salivating! Served in my Sly Fox Bockfest Willibecher glass since this event is occurring once again this Sunday (May 3rd). I will once again be attending (I enjoy the Sly Fox Maibock): Appearance: Golden colored with a BIG soapy white head (which dissipated fairly quickly). Aroma: A pleasant combination of mostly bready/cracker-like malt but also some hop aromas of herbal, spicy and citrusy (lemon-like). Taste: The flavor follows with mostly bready/cracker malt flavors but nicely accompanied with hop flavors of herbal, spicy and a hint of citrus. There is a low-moderate bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, smooth mouthfeel with a dry finish. Overall: This is an excellent Helles beer, I enjoyed drinking it. It is malt forward but nicely balanced with hop aromas/flavors. This beer has the quality of drinkability, süffig as he Germans would phrase it.
