New Beer Sunday (week 606)

Buddy shared this from a recent trade, first offering I've enjoyed from Other Half (despite my brother visiting NYC frequently and having in-laws on LI). Just the most recent example of East Coast hops spectrum not disappointing. Couple other OH beers in there, as well as some Finback, so looking forward to exploring. Cheers.

 

New Beer Sunday: A new Oktoberfest.

Mornin' NBSers, with special greetings to those who feel sad that Oktoberfest is almost over for the year (this is the last Sunday of the fest). Also, thanks to @cavedave for the NBS start off.

The weather here is starting out cool and cloudy but there is hope for a bit of sunshine later and maybe even a couple of days worth to follow. Mostly, the last few days have been cloudy with drizzle and showers here and there, first for this place and then for that place, but at least things are nicely soaked as the trees and bushes ready themselves for the Fall and Winter.

For a variety of reasons too complicated to explain I’ve been planning and fixing breakfast only for myself today. Being prepped at the moment are breakfast Burritos. My homemade version includes crumbled breakfast sausage that is fried to remove the grease and then mixed in with the scrambling of some nicely spiced eggs. When finished, this is then layered with some hash brown potatoes cooked with a bit of diced, multi-colored sweet peppers. This is all going to be sprinkled with some grated Pepper Jack cheese and a few slices of Jalapeno peppers before being rolled into the pre-warmed tortillas to create the burrito.

Since this is the last Sunday before the end of Oktoberfest, it seemed a good day to have a new Oktoberfest beer. So today’s new Oktoberfest is Jack’s Abby Copper Legend. With the breakfast in progress being basically Tex-Mex it seemed a reasonable idea to finish off Oktoberfest with a US take on the German style (which at least seems in keeping with the broader theme of blending cultural influences ).

My review, still in progress and done using the first 8-10 ounces of a 16 oz can (so there’ll be some left to go with breakfast ), can be found here:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26520/72867/?ba=drtth#review

This beer shows off with lots of bready, toasty malt, some light sweetness and a hint of bitterness from the herbal hops. On the whole I’d say it’s both enjoyable and well worth trying. That said, I think I'll concentrate for the next couple of weeks on having more of the Sierra Nevada-Mahr's collaboration Oktoberfest as well as a few more of the Oaktoberfest from Firestone-Walker. For me those two beers have been noticeably more enjoyable to my tastes than most of the other US produced versions of Oktoberfest beer I've had this year (except, of course, for my default Oktoberfest from Sly Fox ).

Expecting to be back this evening with a 2nd new beer from a small brewery down Virginia way that was a gift a week or so back.

Cheers, all!

 

The breakfast bell is ringing . . .





4.03/5
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beautiful clear gold color with a constant stream of tiny bubbles rising from the base of the glass.

Aroma is a combination of toffiesh malt with hops backing. Clear, clean aromas with neither hop nor malt dominating the other.

Taste is full on without going over the top. Oh it has all the elements of what I think of as marzen/fest beer, full malty body, rich without sweetness, restrained dryness, hops over, under, around and through accenting everything, just a marzen but a highly polished complex one. Hops come into play mid palate and finish quietly in the mildly rich aftertaste. No one's asking but if they did I'd say don't change a thing.

Texture is mouth filling medium rich.

Overall it's a class act, just enough without being too much, easily the best of the amber domestic octos I've had this season.

 

A new beer for me, I bought a six of Victory Festbeir on Thursday keeping with the season. Pours a beautiful golden color, maybe a touch towards orange, I'd say more so than most ambers, it seemed alive in the glass. Fantastic head of dense foam and it held a nice bit till the end of my glass. All the expectations were here, nice bready notes on the nose, not much on floral. It drinks about what you'd expect for a Fest beer, soft bread, a little sweet, a touch of hops, definately not as creamy as most of the German efforts, the finish not quite as long. Overall a simple fest beer that was well done and very drinkable if not quite remarkable. The only two Fest beers here that I haven't tried yet are Erdinger and Ayinger, save the odd Fest beer from unknown breweries. Enjoy the day it's football Sunday for me.

 

Good morning you all! I feel like I am late for breakfast and that's because I am. I usually beat you all to it but today I had to get to the store first. Today I have a beer that came as a very pleasant surprise. This is the Great Summer of the Pilsner continued! ( we can call it great now because it was and because now it's fall) O.K.!

This is O.K. Beer Okocim is a pilsner from Poland. According to their webiste this beer defines the style for them as brewers and is distinct from all the other eruo lagers or euro pils. The brewery was founded in 1845 and is part of the carlsberg group. Carlsberg actually makes a pilsner that is a very good example of that interpretation on the style. And here we are in the controversy with the idea that if a beer diverges just enough form the original style it needs it's own monikers.

Here is the beer-

Pours golden and with a creamy fat head of foam that lasted well. Clear and bright. nose is hop forward but not brazen. The first thing you get is soft floral and sweet herbal. The you notice the golden scent of the pils malt. No off scents. No fruity esters form yeast. As for hops they are spicy, peppery and mild. Very beautiful hop that shows you why noble hops are so grand. It shines in this beer and a slight moment of fruitiness form the bittering hop peeks out. it's just a temptation though and is never realized, just like a good german pils. The carbonation is bubbly . That actually is a distinction in the pilsner style. less bubbly or more bubbly. This malt is smooth and graceful and those bubbles accent dryness without losing any malt flavor in the finish. The bitterness is just a tad softer than some and shows all the hops spice and pepper in the clean finish. The malt finishes the beer though and the aftertaste is breaddy with herbal accents. This was an outstanding pilsner!

I loved this! I went back for more and there wasn't any more! I have paired this beer with sage and mushroom risotto, corncake with peaches and candied rosemary, pizza with smoked gouda and bacon and sage popcorn with lime.



See that color? No yellow.





Cheers and Happy New European Pilsner Sunday!

 

Good morning all! Thanks for getting us pumped! As usual, I'll be back after my first pot of Joe. Just wanted to say I love the description of brewers being "underappreciated alchemists." I hope to be one of these myself soon!
Looking forward to reading the posts today! Cheers!

 

‘Summer’ of Pilsners – Something a bit ‘different’

According to the calendar summer is officially over but the temperatures in Southeastern Pennsylvania seem to say otherwise; the forecast today is for a high of 73. When I was a kid this sort of weather was referred as being Indian Summer; I am uncertain whether this term is still used.

Well anyway, I figured I would discuss one more Pilsner as part of my series of Summer of Pilsners.

This Pilsner is quite a bit on the ‘different’ side as discussed on the can of Tired Hands Trendler Pilsner:

“Trendler is our Old World meets New World Pilsner. Brewed with wheat. Well hopped with Citra. We brew and can this beer for Jean’s grandfather Joseph Trendler, but make enough of it to share with everyone! Balanced and intentional’.

As with all Tired Hands canned beers there are directions of: “The beer in this can is hyper-fresh, unfiltered and fragile. Enjoy the contents ASAP…”

The Jean mentioned above is the owner/head brewer of Tired Hands: Jean Broillet. Given the expansion of Tired Hands over the past year I wonder how much Jean actually brews now.

Here is a description of the beer’s flavors from the Tired Hands website:

“Notes of pink grapefruit, clover honey, green pepper, and crisp wheat.”

Well, let’s see what happens when the “Old World meets New World”.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Hazy straw colored with a fluffy white head which dissipates quickly.

Aroma:

The first impression is the aroma of bready malt but with some time there is also some fruity hop aroma.

Taste:

The predominant flavor is from the hops. First there is some fruity flavors but there is also some vegetal (green pepper I suppose) as well.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer but I suppose I am more of a fan of ‘traditional’ Pilsners such as Classic American Pilsner, Bohemian Pilsner and German Pilsner.

Cheers!

@zid @rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @nc41 @RobH

 

Good Morning NBS! Today's morning beer is a new beer from Charlottesville and Three Notch'd Brewing Company. Since UVa actually won yesterday, it seemed a good beer to start off with (well, that and it's the only beer that I can have until the GF gets home to share any others). I'm sitting here waiting for the Ryder Cup to start and watching a piece on EPSN's Outside the Lines on Vin Scully. Let's get into it...

To start, this is labeled on the can as a New England India Pale Ale. I had a sip of this on tap to help me to decide to buy the six-pack. I can't recall if knew it was an attempt at the "new style" or not, though the orange on the label is hard to miss. I think for fun I'll see how this stacks up to my interpretation of the proclaimed style of the can.

From the brewer's website, about Minute Men:

On first pour, it is easily to realize this isn't the Aslin-like (or Tired Hands, Trillium, etc) cloudy (in certain cases, ugly) NE IPA. In fact, this is a beer with a medium hazy orange-golden body. The Head builds up nicely and does stick around to provide some lacing. To me, this isn't quite hazy enough, and in fact looks not unlike a "regular" IPA.

Cracking the can did allow a nice citrusy bitterness to escape and quickly rush to my nose. Sticking my nose in this glass doesn't really reveal much more. The citrus (specifically orange) rind and pith note of this beer are pretty much on point for the NE IPA, as is the obvious expectation of bitterness it brings.

Taking a sip of this beer, I get a tactile difference similar to what the look might infer. This beer is not as full or smooth as the cloudier versions I have had. Countering that, the how the bitter notes react with my tongue is familiar. It's like the bulk of the liquid has no issue getting over my tongue into my stomach, but the bitter molecules grab the tongue a bit, not so eager to enter the depths of the esophagus. I have described this before as similar to licking/chewing a rubber band. It is funny, but with an Aslin IPA, I get this note but with the fuller body of the beer, it seems a more integrated part of the beer. With this beer (and others I've had like it), it seems slightly detached.


The overall taste is pretty much as would be expected given the nose. I'm sorry, I have to disagree with the brewer (and the 20 IBUs), this is a prety bitter beer in the end - earthy herbal notes with a fresh woodiness, as well. Yes, the opening is orange citrusy, bright and actually fairly clean (another little feel difference from the comparison beers). There is a certain sweetness to it that accents the citrus notes. The fruit note is a little more pronounced and distinct than in many of the examples I am using as a comparison. But even in that opening, you know there is a wash of the aforementioned bitterness coming. I will say, however, the bitterness during the sip seems sheathed in the citrus notes. But the bitterness lingers. A while. The bitterness that grabs my tongue to generate the feel I mentioned seems to have a strong grip.

Ok, this is quite and enjoyable beer. It smooths slightly as it warms, but gives an overall cleaner impression than the Aslin and Tired Hands beers I have sampled. It is not as good as those beers, in my mind, but might be a good crossover beer between the "styles." I think I might run to my store and grab another six-pack, if they still have some.

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I know some of you here do not frequent the WBAYDN thread, but I announced the next installment of Throwback Thursday in yesterday's thread. It's in a few weeks, on Friday, October 21st (yes, you read right), if you might want to join us, details (such that they are) here.

 

I tried it, last week, and I really liked it!

 

5.9% alcohol. 24 IBU. Brewed in Tennessee.

4.56/5 rDev +11.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wiseacre Oktoberfest has a thick, creamy, bone-colored head, a hazy, bubbly, amber appearance, with powdery sediment, throughout, and some splotchy lacing left behind on the glass. The aroma is of sweet bread crust-type malt, and the flavor is of sweet, somewhat syrupy, bready malts, with balancing and noticeable hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium and Wiseacre Oktoberfest finishes crisp and very clean.

RJT

 

Good morning New BSers! Thank you @cavedave for starting today's festivities. And Maria, I'm not a pilsner fan but I would suggest you try the Okocim baltic porter if you can find it - I've been looking for it for about eight years with no luck.

Well, I was going to comment about the cool, rainy weather we've been having here in NW PA, but about 63 characters ago THE SUN CAME OUT for the first time in several days! Woohoo! I can go back outside without worrying about attacks from wolf packs, vampires, and mould! I've been resisting the urge to post a NBS brew that came from NBS BIF #4 @Josholson666 so today's entry is one I brought back from that north Texas brewery:



I gotta say upfront that I'm a Unibroue fanboy, but this time

$ 12.98 (Including tax)/750 mL ($ 0.511/oz) at Central Market (Gucci B), Alamo Heights, TX
BB 10-08-20 at 42 degrees into a hand washed and dried JK snifter, allowed to warm to 50 degrees
Aroma – initially very light spices, essentially no change as it warms. Not detecting any caramel.
Head large (Maximum 6.3 cm, aggressive pour), tan, frothy, diminishing to a three mm frothy ring with feet and a heaped partial layer
Lacing poor – few small islands of tiny to small bubbles, mostly drag marks from the receding ring
Body – dark amber, chill haze.
Flavor – spicy, somewhat reminiscent of gingerbread. Lacks the dark fruit flavors which tend to be paramount in dark ales. No malt, no hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl.
Palate – medium, watery, soft carbonation

Passable. To my taste, certainly not one of Unibroue’s best. Maybe I just drank it too young but I won’t be buying any more to cellar.

Appearance 3.75, Aroma 3.5, Flavor 3.5, Palate 3.5, Overall 3.5. Rating 3.52. Avg 4.09.

Most importantly, rDev -13.7.

As I said, I'm a Unibroue fanboy - I've got cases of La Terrible stored for the coming Trump (Clinton) Apocalypse along with skills (Brewing, Medical, Reloading) but I won't be hoarding any La Resolution, particularly with that "Natural Flavor Added".

 

That sounds lovely and I have to ask, is it quinox hops they have used that have shown the bell pepper. I love that hop actually and think it's avant garde! Cheers!

 

I picked up Long Trail's SMaSH #4 in Southern New England last week. It is an immensely pleasant surprise. Brewed with Golden Promise malt and Citra, this is worthy of a home-brew clone attempt.

The ghostcat's reflection enjoys a hop whiff. (Her name is Ghostcat).

The pour is bright yellow-orange with very fine carbonation. The aroma is hop-forward and quite citrusy. The malt presence is robust and cracker-like. The Golden Promise - Citra combination are a superb taste pair. The finish is very clean and the 6.8% abv is not detectable. I'll try to find some more.

 

I'll buy that, great beer pic. Is Tired Hands a must stop, I'll be home in Nov for a weekend.

 

New Fresh Hop IPA Sunday





Fremont Field to Ferment #40

Happy Sunday, BAs! Football in the morning? It's like I'm back on the west coast. And speaking of west coast... I'm drinking this fresh-hopped beauty courtesy of @kemoarps as part of NBS BIF 4 - Monkeys with Knives.

There are four different options in this series, and batch 40 here is the Simcoe version. I'm expecting an intensely piney, woodsy beer with strong bitterness. Let's see!

#40 pours a lovely, vibrant shade of light orange with two fingers of antique-white head that's dense at the bottom and sudsy on top, eventually leaving nice heavy lacing.

It has a big grapefruit aroma, with grapefruit rind and strong citrusy bitterness, and a musty, almost peppery quality underneath. I wouldn't really call it piney.

It's light tasting, letting the hops take the spotlight, with a touch of grapefruit up front and more straight up orange juice with some definite sweetness mid-palate. This then converts into a lingering bitterness with, yes, some piney notes in the aftertaste. It's light bodied with a prickly mouthfeel.

I like it. Let's compare I to batch 33, a Centennial version, which I couldn't stop myself from drinking yesterday.





Fremont Field to Ferment #33

With Centennial, I expected a citrusy, bitter brew -- and that's definitely what I got.

Much like #40, it poured a lovely vibrant shade of orange with two fingers of antique-white head that was dense at the bottom and sudsy on top that, eventually leaving heavy lacing. It was maybe a shade darker than #40, and it's lacing was a bit sloppier.

It had a big grapefruit aroma with honey behind and an herbal, fresh-cut-pine-boughs note beneath that almost created a toasted pine nut impression. I'd give this one the edge in depth and complexity in the nose.

Like it's partner, it was much lighter tasting than the nose suggested, with grapefruit up front, the pine and pine nuts thing mid-palate, a nice, bitter backend and fairly dry finish.

This one was also light bodied, but without as much prickliness to the mouthfeel.

It was fun to compare and contrast these. Which was better? It's pretty damn close. #40 looks and feels better and may be a touch more of an all-around winner, but it was also a week fresher. #33 seemed to me to have more depth. I'm glad I've got one more of each to further refine my opinions.

Would be fun to try the Citra and Mosiac versions one day. Thanks again to kemoarps and all the BIF organizers.

 

It's funny you say that....


--SPOILER ALERT--

 

Good morning from the Palm Springs of Washington, Yakima! Came over for the Fresh Hop Festival yesterday. Hit up Bale Breaker brewery before the fest, and also hit a couple other small breweries in town. Then into the fest we went, and I was finally able to tick one of my personal walezbro breweries, Barley Browns. Tons of FH brews were available, and I was able to meet up fellow BA @vurt . I missed meeting @ballardbeer though, another time perhaps. More new beer is on the radar for today, but I'm not sure I'll be back to post, so cheers, and Happy NBS everybody!

 

Had a feeling, but I didn't want to be presumptious.

 

Morning Dave and NBS sundry!

Ryder Cup Sunday gets me up and running early, and it's time to start fortifying the soul for what lies ahead:

Texian Brewing Company's Charlie Foxtrot, an "imperial" berliner weissbier


Murky bronze with just a 1-finger head of offwhite foam, Charlie Foxtrot looks both craft and wheat to me. Ugly yet somehow promising. The initial whiff is clean sour, tart lemons with nothing from the nearby barn, and then that tartness is cut with a slight biscuit malt sweetness which over time turns into an abbey ale-esque aroma of dusty dried sweet apricots.

The flavor is lemons sweetened on the back end by apricot/peach flavors. The lemons get sweet enough to taste like lemonade, quite yummy, but just when I start wondering if I grabbed a fruit soda instead of a beer, there comes a big spoonful of dirty earthy hops, very bland and almost bitter but a good reminder that, yes, I *did* grab a beer. Eventually that earthy flavor calms down and the general mix of flavors include a pinch of lemon, another of apricot and a dash of salt -- Sierra Nevada's Otra-Vez gose comes to mind, though Charlie Foxtrot is more sour.

No official review yet, but it's a solid 4 overall. My numbers will settle around 4 look, 4.25 smell, 4 taste, 3.25 mouthfeel ... it's a bit ale slick for my palate, though others might find it closer to perfect ... very light carbonation yet enough to keep it from feeling flat.

I added a third member to my bougainvillea family recently, the little one closest to the beer on the right ... I wanted a royal purple but methinks its closer to hot pink. Oh well ... for $10 how could I complain?



Enjoy your Sundays!
Cheers!