New Beer Sunday (Week 652)

Good evening, all, and Happy New Sake Style Saison Sunday! To @lordofthewiens - I love the opening thoughts for today. I can't imagine life without a dog. My little guy can be a pain in the ass sometimes (like the time he got into the kitchen cupboard and dragged out two bottles of Kansas City barbecue sauce I'd been saving, plus a bottle of Mexican vanilla and two jars of peanut butter, chewed them open, and spread them all over the floor...) but I wouldn't trade him for anything. He keeps me sane, although that can be a sliding scale as most of you probably know by now. On to the beer.

I picked up a single of this Stillwater Extra Dry Sake Style Saison on a whim this afternoon, thinking that it would go with whatever I decided to have for supper. After I sampled it, I went immediately back to the store for sushi. It was a perfect pairing. This isn't an in-your-face beer by any means. The aromas and flavors are quite delicate. As it warms, some faint notes of banana, coriander, and bitter lemon begin to come through on the nose and palate. Light-bodied and pleasantly bitter, with an exquisitely dry finish. I'm off the reservation (again) with my rating on this, but I think the brewer has accomplished something special here.


4.28/5 (rDev +8.9%)
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

BTW, I saw that new Budweiser commercial again today. My first thought was that Extra Dry is brewed using essentially the same ingredients. My only other thought was, "I'd really like to try that beer with the lobster claw sticking out of it."

 

Soon. Maybe I'll change the old avatar. But I sure miss those two...too.

 

On the contrary (and in no way questioning your skill and intelligence as I'm humbled by your knowledge), there are plenty of un-modified malts, especially coming from iconic maltsters aside from the U.S., such as Weyermann and Warminster. I personally have always enjoyed doing a decoction or even double decoction mash with old world style brews. Something about the method makes you feel more connected and in control of the final product, and the labor of love typically transcends in the final product versus a simple and almost uneventful single infusion mash. I feel there is a lot to be said about kettle caramelization during the process.

When it comes to being able to tell wether or not a beer was brewed in this fashion, well I'll give you that...it would probably be difficult to tell. I'd love to taste a side by side example of the same brew from a brewer, brewed both ways to see if that were the case, but I'd like to think (and hope) you could. Cheers!

 

Tom, you are awesome. May that avatar be yours til it's pried from your cold, dead, and shocked hands. Or until you decide to change it again.

 

Happy Preparation for Tomorrow's Solar Eclipse New Beer Sunday (Week 652) - Part II!

Well, it was not a bad 8-hour shift & since I did not feel as enervated as usual, I decided to come back for a seCANd round. My fourth of the day was "Black" in name only, involving black rice in its production:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44879/268277/?ba=woodychandler#review

but my disappointment was so great that I decided to press on, this time with one guaranteed to be as dark as the eclipse:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34435/236154/?ba=woodychandler#review


I think that I am running out of NBS time, so I will bid you a fond adieu until next week. In the interim, I will CANtinue my eclipse ramp-up on WBAYDN.

 

Indeed. 2 French Mastiffs, aka Dogue de Bordeauxs, and an English. It's a houseful to be sure.