New Beer Sunday (Week 654)

Hmmm, the mention of haggis...

May I recommend that if you are spending time in Edinburgh, enjoy a dram once in a while, and want a unique experience (assuming you haven't done so already). Plan a visit to this location:

https://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/tour-experiences

I'd also strongly urge having an evening meal at the Restaurant where you can have a multi-course dinner with each course being paired with a different malt whisky. (And yes, their restaurant bar really does have that many different malt whiskys on the shelves.)

It also has the fringe benefit that one can easily find it since it is near the entrance to the Castle (a destination not to be missed).

 

First, the pic.


Now...g'day NBSites! Top of the morning to you all!

Here's the deal aboot my experience with this American Wild Ale:


750ml ml bottle given to me by fellow Wyoming BA, wyoming. Thank you!!

I popped the cap while holding the bottle over a sink. You can never tell with these wild ales and I was tempting fate by not chilling it beforehand.

No immediate reaction so I let out an audible "whew. Oops, as I started to back away from the sink. And so started a slow but constant ooze. I grabbed my glass and poured some in but the oozing continued and I lost a few ounces. On to the review, this Wild Ale being aged in Sauvignon Blanc barrels.

It pours a cloudy orange yellow with a tiny and short lived head of foam. No lacing. I see some sediment in my first pour.

The smell is, well, of peaches, in all their glory! With a subtle bitterness, it's like they threw in the skins as well. The barrel aging is obvious if you've ever had that wine before.

The taste is true to the smell in every way. Peaches that are very tart and slightly bitter, a vinous character that blurs the line between beer and wine. You better LOVE peaches if you're going to pick this one up.

Fairly light bodied without getting watery, also pretty light with the carbonation; I reckon that a lot of it escaped when I opened the bottle.

Overall, a real treat that needs more investigating from BAs like you!

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/34734/295335/?ba=Bitterbill#review

Prost and enjoy the rest of the long weekend !

 

Yes, the only place I've found a Mort Subite beer was in Belgium--Brussels.

 

We have bottles of them in town, same price lol. OB isn't the best BW when it comes to aging. Much better fresh imho.

 

Happy New Beer Sunday everyone! Today I'm drinking a Festbier from Kulmbacher, which I got when I was in Bavaria last weekend visiting the city of Bamberg. If anyone here ever gets the chance to go to Bamberg, I would highly recommend it. Not only is a beautiful city that escaped a lot of damage during the 2nd World War, but it also has plenty of great Brew Houses and even a beer museum. After living in the Cologne / Düsseldorf area for the last year, it was interesting to see the differences between the beer culture in Bavaria compared to the more northern parts of Germany. There were people of all ages at the brew houses and most people were exceedingly friendly. Also there are a lot of great hikes in the area. Anyways, on to the beer now...



The appearance is a clear, golden/amber yellow with a slightly off white head.

The aroma is sweet malts, herbs, hops, over ripened fruit and a bit of alcohol.

The taste is a much milder version of the aroma. The sweet malt flavors are the most present but there are also some notes of hops/ herbs and a bit of over ripened fruits to finish it off. The beer has very little to no alcohol taste.

The mouthfeel is medium and I think that the sweetness from the malts helps it feel thicker than it actually is.

Overall I think it is a well balanced Festbier. It has a "clean" taste to it, is easy to drink, refreshing and therefore a solid beer for a festival.

Hopefully everyone else is enjoying their new beer Sunday today!

 

Nice review Jack. Lone Pine is an up and comer in the extremely competitive Portland craft ale scene led by BB and Austin St and Foundation. Another new brewery called Battery Steele just started to can some very well received juicy NE IPAs in the revolving door brewery facility that used to house MBCO and BB and now is home to Austin/Foundation as well. I had a citrusy/cloudy low abv Lone Pine beer a few weeks ago on tap at local South Portland Pizza shop Otto's and thought it was up to the competition. Cheers --and I look forward to more of your reviews.

 

If you have the time, it would be interesting to hear your experiences regarding the differences (and similarities) between the northern and southern beer cultures. Cheers.

 

Sure, as an American who has been here for a bit more than a year I can try to explain some of the differences I have seen (and hopefully not offend too many actual Germans at the same time). I have mainly been to brew houses in Cologne (and a few in Düsseldorf) but I will be trying to explain the differences between the Cologne ones and the ones in Bamberg because I have the most experience with them.

I'll start with the similarities. The decor of most Brew Houses is somewhat similar. Usually they are old buildings with a lot of dark wood furniture and wood decorations, with old paintings and I see them kind of as views into the past. The food you can order is usually similar although there are some slight regional differences. Also I think most people go to Brew Houses not to get drunk but rather to relax and enjoy the atmosphere and the fresh beer.

Some of the differnces I have noticed is that the "beer garden" is much more common in Bavaria than it is in Cologne or Düsseldorf. There are definitely some options for beer gardens, like Heller's Volksgarten in Cologne, but in general it is a more common experience in Bavaria. What I found interesting in Bamberg, was that there would be entire families at the beer garden, from young children to seniors. They even had some play places for the children to go and play in. They seemed like community places where people could go to relax and enjoy the sunny weather. In Cologne I also sometimes see entire families at Brew houses but not to the same extent as what I experienced in Bamberg. Also I have noticed in Cologne that it is more common for older people to visit a brew house compared to people in there 20s. It seems to me like the same people have been going to a lot of these places for 20 or 30 years but the younger generation hasn't made it's way in yet. While I was in Bamberg I saw a bigger mix of the age ranges of people who were going there, especially more younger people when compared to Cologne. Other than that a clear difference is the size of the beer you get but I think that might come from tradition. In Cologne you recieve Kölsch in a 200mL glass and in Bamberg everything was served in a 500mL glass or mug. The prices were also 20-30% cheaper for beer and food in Bamberg in comparison with Cologne but that could just come from the difference in the cost of living in both cities.

I wish I could give you a more detailed/historic/official answer but unfortunately I haven't been living here long enough. Hopefully that helped a bit though.

 

We've been in Edinburgh before, and yes I'll enjoy a dram or two - I always do. Mrs. Lizard doesn't drink anything but an annual mixed drink or two/year. I'm looking forward to visiting "Auld Reekie" again - last time I was there Johnnie Walker Blue was 70 Euros/bottle

 

Trillium Heavy Mettle DIPA

Happy Labor Day Weekend, BAs! Just got back from a family trip to Cape Cod. Couldn't resist a Trillium stop on the way back.

Heavy Mettle pours a vibrant, cloudy, dark yellow color with an orange tint. Two-plus fingers of yellow-tinted white head. Decent lacing.

Cantaloupe, papaya, other tropical fruit and yeast show in the nose. Sweet without being overbearing.

Bigger tasting, with the flavors largely following the smell. A semi-dry finish, light pepperiness and slight white wine character prevent the juicy tropical quality from being overly sweet. Kiss of alcohol lingers in the aftertaste.

Medium bodied for the style with relatively low carbonation.

Another more-than-solid brew from these guys, but I wouldn't consider it a front runner in their catalog. 8/31/17 canned on date.

 

Me though not the authentic version from Scotland.

 

Happy NBS! Summer has briefly returned to WI for the next two days after fall had settled in early to finish August. That gave me an opportunity to start enjoying my favorite O'fest beers!

Today I am enjoying the 2017 Common Thread Baltic Porter. There is a nice write up about it online.

It pours a dark coffee black with a 2 finger brown head that fades quickly and leaves no lacing on my glass. The smell starts off with sweet rich dark chocolate, roasted malt, with notes of dark fruits like figs or raisins. The flavor is a bitter sweet with bit roasted malts, bakers and milk chocolate. A touch of fig/raisin and coffee bean roud it off. A medium in body with a fine carbonation that has a sticky finish. The 70 brewers that collaborated to make this did a marvelous job! It is a wonderful Baltic Porter.

 

They now produce a vegetarian version(?) as well.

 

Cool. I might have to try that. I found an online store that sells it and the other one.

 

Morning NBSers! Just a reminder that when this NBS thread closes, so does sign-up for NBS BIF #6. If you are interested in getting in on the fun, go here: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/nbs-bif-6-sign-up-thread.529897/

I'll be back later with some new brews from across the sea.