Märican Biere Bought and Drunk...

I'm gonna refer up to what Jack said and add that I've never gotten an "onion-y" taste in an IPA. Literally the only IPA I really disliked was Flying Dog's Raging Bitch because it tasted like dish soap.

But even the not so good IPAs I tried were still drinkable and rarely had such a weird taste. There's just some hops/hop combinations that aren't my thing. I tend to be pretty good with anything fruity and I don't necessarily mind "weed"-y type hopes, either (Aventinus Tap6 makes incredible use of them).

 

This forum's too quiet:
August Schell Schmaltz's Alt (2 separate links)
Been quite a while since I've had some of this fresh -- a good choice for beer 500 in my BA portfolio.

Bottled on 06/05/15 -- not too shabby.

A -- Pours a very dark, clear ruby-brown with a firm, dense, long-lasting light tan head. Seems a bit dark for an Alt -- even if the Schell's site calls this a "double" Alt.

S -- Rich, dark bread crust aroma with light vanilla character. No real hops to note, but no off roastiness or strong fruit esters either. Very nice.

T -- Bready to light, bittersweet chocolate character that finishes clean with a light, balanced hop spiciness. There is the vaguest dark cherry character in the finish and aftertaste, but it's not so overwhelming as to be a fault. There's a light bitterness in the aftertaste that could be from roasted malt, or it could be from hops. Also a light nuttiness in the aftertaste, but malt is king with this beer.

F -- Medium bodied and very smooth.

O -- A terrific rendition of the style without becoming just another U.S. Brown Ale. I need to remember this beer whenever I'm in the Schell distribution radius, it's quite nice.

 

Actually, the date on the bottle is the best-by date, not the bottled on date. Schmaltz is a winter seasonal. Regardless, it's still tasting great and has held up really well--I had a few bottles last weekend.

 

Well that certainly sucks. I could swear the Julian style coding matched the straight dating. But yeah, it was tasting pretty good.

 

Huell Melon and Mandarina Bavaria. Had to do some research on the hops. Definitely getting the noted melon/berry aroma and flavor. Odd combination. Higher abv as well. Should be classified same as Hoponius Union.
@AlcahueteJ have you tried?

 

Matt, will this be a repeat purchase for you?

Cheers!

Jack

 

Nouveau Pilsner -- that's a new one.

One of my favorite Brewpubs, Delafield Brewhaus -- in the Wisconsin town of the same name, is making a Mandarina Pilsner and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

 

I think not, Jack. On my third can now. It is enjoyable and has it's place as a hoppy lager but the flavor profile is not something I crave (German Pilsner or otherwise).

 

I have not, I'll give it a whirl though if I see it (although your review wasn't too encouraging). I have been having...



Hill Farmstead Double Citra: I sampled this at the brewery and it was WAY too much Citra this fresh. Literally a week later it was delicious. Oh so drinkable with a blend of grapefruit and guava fruits. Incredible mouthfeel, soft and inviting. Became a bit sweeter and maltier as it warmed, but remained bitter yet smooth. Nothing I haven't had before from different breweries, but Hill Farmstead is just as good if not better. Not the best double IPA, but excellent none-the-less.



Hill Farmsted Everett: The best mouthfeel out of any Hill Farmstead beer I've had. Not overly bitter, but more of a smooth roasted bitterness blends with chocolate. Not much to say about this, solid porter, but not my favorite. I think my expectations were too high for this one. A very good porter but no better than some of my favorites, like the one from Founders.



Hill Farmstead Arthur: My favorite Hill Farmstead beer next to Walden. So many different flavors going on. The main descriptor is tart, but not berliner weiss tart. Grapefruit, lemon, citrus, shades of an IPA, saison, berliner all in one. Funky too. A dry mouthfeel that fits the style, but wasn't as pleasing as some of the others, and it shouldn't be either. I've tried many of their saisons, and was largely underwhelmed (they were good, I just expected more). This one met the hype.

Von Trapp mix pack review coming soon....just thought I'd support @steveh in keeping the thread alive. Thought some would like to see what some beers looked like from what many consider the pinnacle of craft brewery at this point.

 

Thanks for the reviews, man, in particular that of Everett. I've been lucky to trade for a bunch of HF saisons to get a feel for them, and I'm resigned to the fact that I'll only ever see the hoppy stuff if/when I make it up to VT, but Everett is my siren song at this point. Porter/stout were the styles that got me into craft, and seeing Everett's lofty reviews, I've been dying to try it. Hope they bottle it again soon so that I can try to convince some kindly soul to trade me one. Anyway, cool to hear your thoughts on it, and HF's stuff in general. Quite the empire they've built in a short amount of time.

 

Matt,

Below is a review of Joint Custody. This is the most entertaining beer review I have ever read!!

Cheers!

Magic in a can? Perhaps. Scarlett Johansson bursting out of her dress on the red carpet, baffled by Isaac Mizrahi's overtures. Poured straight from the can into a HopSlam tulip, this beer pops like an orange banana on roller skates. Pronounced foamy head with excellent retention and cave drawing lacing. Yes, mami. My nasal cavity is being invaded by Spanish women begging to bathe me; ripe oranges adorn the breakfast plate, crisp scallions sprinkled with salt and cat piss by default. You beautiful dank woman. The taste reminds me of drinking from the mother grovestand, with waves of citrus being poured down my throat in exponential doses. Hints of lemon zest and grass tickle my palate on the back end. Like Sharon Stone's now famous scene in Basic Instinct, this collaboration from Jack's Abby and Otter Creek has me wide open. Before there was an audience to watch it, I assure you, there was a process. Just WOW!!!

 

That is absurd and hilarious! So many ridiculous descriptions. Think "crisp scallions sprinkled with salt" is my favorite.

 

You just gotta love the 'imagery' of that review:

"Scarlett Johansson bursting out of her dress on the red carpet, baffled by Isaac Mizrahi's overtures."

All that I can say is that this review 'works' for me. I am going to buy some Joint Custody when I see it!!

Cheers!

P.S. @Ranbot, did you take note of the beer's name of Joint Custody!?!

 

Anyone grab the Sierra Nevada/Riegele collab Oktoberfest yet? Saw that it just hit my store but haven't made it over yet to snag some. Will be sure to report back when I do.

 

I saw some others saying they'd picked it up, but I haven't seen it at all. Heading to the local store in a few minutes, I'll check out the likker area, but I'm not confident in my area.

 

Nada. Nice stack of Summerfest and about half as much of the Summer mix 12 pack, but no Okto here in the northern 'burbs.

 

Not to worry, I know @sierranevadabill said they just started shipping this past week. Since I'm in AZ, I'm not too surprised to see it, but I'm sure it may take another week or two to make its way around the country.

 

Nothing new to add here, rather a re-affirming of the deliciousness of SN Summerfest. I'd had a couple of meh IPA/DIPAs over several days and found my palate in a bit of a malaise. One whiff of a freshly cracked Summerfest cleared out the fog right quick. I've sadly never been to Germany, nor the Czech Republic, but if Summerfest is even a decent approximation of the better examples from those countries...man, I gotta find a way to get there soon.

 

Much delayed...but my thoughts on Von Trapp...

I'll start off with what I feel is their best beer. Which is disappointing, because while it was quite good, it is not in my top three (or four) American brewed Helles. Hits all the right notes, sweet graham cracker-like pils malt, decent body, a smooth drinker. A kiss of the hops, and a beer I could drain out of my mug all day long. But at the moment, a beer like Victory Lager simply crushes it. So much more depth to the malt character in Victory's. Nice to have another option though, check it out, as palates do vary obviously.

As an aside, this is their only filtered beer.



Their Vienna Lager grew on me by the third bottle. Believe or not, more Boston Lager (I know, not a true Vienna), or should I say, "American amber" than true Vienna. A Vienna to me is reminiscent of a Marzen, and I called Sierra's gem of a Vienna, "an Oktoberfest light" *shudders*, for lack of a better term. Not nearly the depth of Munich malt that I'd expect in this beer. The body is much lighter, quite crisp (which added to its drinkability as a plus), and definitely much hoppier than I'd expect in a Vienna. You can even see from the color, it's more amber and lighter than what I've come to expect from a Vienna lager. The crispness and hop character added some nice flavor on a hot day, which is why it grew on me, but not what I'd expect when looking at the label.



This was my second favorite, a spot-on Dunkel in my opinion (I don't have too much experience with Munich Dunkels though). Quite bready, although there was a bit of a lingering after taste. I want to say it was either some slight astringency or perhaps a touch of roasted bitterness...couldn't figure it out, but I've noticed it in darker beers before. Quite drinkable though, the smoothest mouthfeel out of all the Von Trapp offerings I sampled. A tad high in abv for what I would like at 5.7%, but if one were to taste this blindly, they'd know it was a Dunkel. Still have one left in the fridge too.



Finally, their "Czech pilsner", which I've come to find out on this forum in the last day or two, doesn't really mean much. Mild to moderate malt character here (moderate is generous) and just too damn hoppy and high abv (5.4% abv) from what I expect for anything labeled a "Czech pilsner". I'm not really sure what they were going for here, but this was by far my least favorite of their offerings. And it's not as if they don't know how to bring out the characteristics of the malt profile in a lighter lager (see my review of their Helles above). They almost went out of their went to brew something different, but not in a good way in my opinion. I would almost prefer something more akin to an IPL, because the hop character, while dominating, was simply out of place. It didn't blend well with any part of the beer. Don't seek this one out in my opinion...but just my opinion. Buy the mix pack, you'll only get three, and you can judge for yourself.