New Beer Weekend #41

The ‘original’ Champagne of Beers!?!

There are not many commercially brewed CAP beers available. In the past I discussed a CAP brewed by Straub 1872 (they refer to it as a Pre-Prohibition Lager):

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-678.559974/#post-5884158

It has been several years since I have seen Straub 1872 on my local beer retailers’ shelves. Last fall I sent an e-mail to Straub asking for help in locating this beer. The folks at Straub just ignored me.

Today I will be discussing a CAP brewed by Upland Brewing: Champagne Velvet. There is a very interesting backstory to this beer:

“The Terre Haute Brewing Co. was founded in 1855 and grew to be one of the largest breweries in Indiana. In 1902, Terre Haute brewmaster Walter Braun created a lager called Champagne Velvet (CV) that quickly became the flagship beer of the company. While the beer helped the brewery spread its market and fame during the next two decades, Prohibition forced the brewery to close and its assets were sold.”

After prohibition:

“CV was officially re-launched on March 17, 1934, and the city of Terre Haute celebrated with a parade during which bands played a march specially written for the occasion. By the end of its first year in production, CV was available in 19 states, and it was firmly established as an Indiana favorite.”

And:

“In 2012, Upland was looking for a special beer to make in celebration of their fifteenth anniversary, and their sights set on Champagne Velvet, says Patrick Lynch, head brewer at Upland. “We really wanted to pay tribute to Indiana brewing heritage, and Champagne Velvet was a natural for us,” he explains.”

All of the quoted material above is from the below link which includes further details for the interested student:

https://www.growlermag.com/glass-from-the-past-champagne-velvet/

In case anyone one was wondering, Miller High Life was first brewed in 1903 so Champagne Velvet has the ‘rights’ to the first Champagne of Beers vs. MHL.

It has been a while since I conducted a side-by-side tasting so I figured I would conduct one today of Champagne Velvet and my homebrewed CAP.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glasses:

Appearance:

Champagne Velvet: Light straw colored with a BIG white head which dissipates fairly quickly.

Jack’s CAP: A bright golden color with a HUGE white head which lasts and lasts; even a ½ inch head when the glass is half full.

Aroma:

Champagne Velvet: There is a very mild graininess with just a tiny hint of floral from the hops.

Jack’s CAP: A robust combination of some biscuity malt aroma with plenty of herbal & spicy aromas from the hops.

Taste:

Champagne Velvet: The flavor follows the nose with a bit of grainy flavors and a subtle floral flavor from the hop. There is an aspect of sweetness to this beer. A light-medium bitterness.

Jack’s CAP: The flavor follows the nose; biscuity malt flavor accompanied by robust herbal and spicy flavors from the hops. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel

Champagne Velvet: Light body with a dry finish.

Jack’s CAP: Medium bodied with a pleasant crisp & dry finish

Overall

Champagne Velvet: This is a well brewed beer but too light for a CAP in my opinion. I will borrow some verbiage from @FBarber here: “…straddling the line between AAL and Classic American Pilsner.”

Jack’s CAP: A robust and enjoyable Pilsner combining biscuity malt flavors with spicy/herbal hop flavors.

For those of you who enjoy drinking AAL beers (I do from time to time) and are looking for ‘more’ to that beer style I would recommend Champagne Velvet to you.

Cheers!

@RobH @rotsaruch @nc41 @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @zid @Smakawhat

 

What an awesome way to start the day, thank you!. I will contribute later today, I have a fridge full of goodies. I am unsure what I will consume, until then happy drinking my beer friends.

 

Good morning all, and happy May Day!

I decided to kick off the new month with a lovely schwarzbier courtesy of @JayORear, and his ninja box during the recent BIF.
New Trail collaborated with Sterling Pig (side note: I THINK I met the owners of Sterling Pig once, super randomly, when I lived in Austin? I could be mixing it up with a different porcine-named brewery, though, as this was some years back.), to produce Wild Boar, as part of their expedition pack.



Body pours dark ruddy brown, that borders on dark enough that if you squint you might mistake it for black. It's not, though, it's ruddy brown, which is especially evident at the corners. Lovely finger of foam that settles down to merely a cap, and leaves a lovely little mountain range silhouette on the glass from some clumsy tilting.

Nose is immediately roasty grains, backed up with some dark roast coffee beans, and a moment of emerging umami that kind of catches me off guard, though as I get further into the glass, I suspect this was an artifact of an sleep-deprived brain. There's a bit of bitter bakers chocolate lurking in there as well.

Taste takes the same themes as above, and kind of massages them out, smoothing the sharper more pronounced aspects into an almost but not quite creamy, gentler iteration of the same themes. Some milk chocolate sweetness leaks into the bakers chocolate of the nose, there's a slight floral/perfumey hop presence to help balance some of the coffee and roast.

Body is smoothe, with focused tiny pinpricks of carbonation. Finish has elements of dryness, though not completely committed, and culminates as a pleasant beverage to drink until it's gone.


Thanks for sending this my way, Jay, it's just what the dr. ordered!*


*it's not. None of the doctors at work are prescribing beer, least of all to one of their nurses (though it's a frequent joking request from the parents when I ask if I can get them anything). Though I suppose one or two of them might order it if they were out at a restaurant or bar...

Cheers! After I sleep for the night(day), I'll almost assuredly be back with a few more choice midwest selections from the BIF this evening. Hope y'all are enjoying this lovely spring, and, again, cheers!

 

Peterborough’s Post & Beam: Pale New Day a Belgian pale ale.

on draft at the brewery:

poured straw yellow with a light fluffy head.

Light and spicy nose. Lightly carbonated. Light funk with rye (?) spice on the backend. Can definitely get the saison notes

I’m a big fan of Schilling’s Foy. And this is getting close.

 

Thank you, @Roguer for getting NBW off to a rousing start.
After a couple days of unseasonably cold weather, we're back to 80 degree weather with 90 degrees just around the corner. We took the dogs for a long walk in the desert, before it got too hot. We may go to the Farmer's Market to wander around, and take the puppy so he can work on his people skills. We adopted him last fall when he was 10 weeks old, and he hasn't socialized very much.
Today's new beer is from Founders, one of my favorite breweries. I am drinking one of their Bottle Shop series, Nemesis. It is a very nice barleywine, bottled 03.09.21 and measuring in at 11.2% ABV.
Beautiful beer! Dark mahogany color. One finger fluffy tan head with sheets of lace.
Aroma of caramel, dark fruit, and piney hops.
Taste follows the nose. Caramel, toffee, raisin, piney hops.
Nice and hoppy, with the hops building through the sip and lingering.
Will need more of these.



The aforementioned puppy with his big brother, playing "It's my ball! I dare you to take it!"

 

Good afternoon NBW, I hope everything going well. Get word from my union yesterday that my school district is on board with the offer we for a pretty big raise starting next school year!! Time to enjoy a few new beers to the celebrate. Starting with Helles Schlenkerla Lagerbier. Honestly this a brewery I just didn’t know much about and never looked into, but last weekend’s bock tasting has peaked my interest so I will probably review a few more this weekend.

4.24/5 rDev +6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

500 ml bottle poured into a mug

A- A clear golden straw with a small white head.

S- Sweet biscuits, touch of honey, smoky, some peat, earthy, slightly floral.

T- Sweet biscuits, smoky (very campfire like), touch of honey sweetness, earth, floral.

M- Smooth, crisp, light body.

O- A wonderful balance between a well made Helles and some smokiness.

Cheers!

 

Double dry hopped Pliny the Elder by Russian River

4.33/5 rDev -2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5



Can received in the insane ipa fest

Brewed 3.29, opened4.30, poured into a teku

Soapy white one finger foam , settles to a clingy ring over a semi clear , not crystal clear, golden yellow liquid

Aroma is floral, herbal , whiff of citrus , whiff of pine

Taste is floral on the start and pine resin on the finish , orange peel, pine is dominant

Sudsy mouthfeel , slightly creamy, gentle hop bite and flavor , hop taste nicely lingers on the tongue

Good beer from an iconic brewery and brand

 

Red Imperial Ales Race for Leadership (drinking 1st review/ Carton Chaz 1 now)

Chaz 1 | Carton | 6% | Atlantic Highlands, NJ
4.5/5 rDev +3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
1st Review. 5-1-21. At brewer. Outstanding, and as intense as a strong bronze ale like Bastard or a chewy cabernet wine.
a) Darkened end of the red brown burnt umber spectrum with a dense lasting ringing cloud cover khaki head.
s) Malt, cedar, wood shavings, skin, tannins.
t) All the above rolled up into a big reefer adding wood-smoke, medicine cabinet, pine, spruce, juniper, black bread.
f) Chewy without being sweet, finale peppers and smokes nicely.
o) Sits up on the podium of Carton collaborative creations. “I know that.”

Nugget Nectar | Troegs | 7.5% | PA
4.4
This may be best-in-USA Imperial IPA. 7.5% but calm, mellow, warming. Let this beer warm to open up. I needed to go back and taste against other favorites like Stone and the very different unfiltered seaside Ipswich.
12 oz poured into a .5 L cylinder.
A: Clear, copper, amber with nice 2 finger white head with great lacing and lots of lasting retention.
S: Great nose. … fruity, piney, cedary, grapefruit, cigar box… . fresh. Powerful. let it warm.
T: Almost a 5! Nice balance of sweet, toasty malt and fresh, oily hops that explode with flavor. Bitter, piney, fruity, dry. Nugget Nector is apt name.
M: Good weight and body. bitter and dry. Smooth and clean. Well carbonated, clean. Class IPA feel.
O: Agree with others this beer is World-class. Hop presence is strong. A benchmark beer.

G’Knight | Oskar Blues | 8.7% | NC/CO
4.3
Try 24! Upped G when I return to rate it.
One of my favorites, as no one seems to get the round body as right as either Oskar, Stone, or Green Flash.
A: Poured from a 16 oz can into a Leffe chalice. Great off-white head that retains and laces nicely. Pours clear, deep , original amber color with a finger of white head. A looker
S: First, earthy hops, next grapefruit and pine. Kind of like an uber Dales Pale Ale with malty sweetness finish. The hop first, citrus second, malt sweetness third. Nice. As sure as a traffic light.
T: Lovely alternation of sweet malts and piney hops. Complex, but not messy. Original and novel, a big beer. The alcohol nicely masked, even tho doubles are not my thing. Pine hop, citrus, malt sweet. Green, Yellow, Red.
M: The body is full, syrupy, weighty. A great food or after dinner beer, great end of evening beer, not an appetizer. great with sauces, meats, cheeses, even dessert. Nice finish without being cloying.
D: A great DIPA. It’s malty and sweet, bordering on Scottish. Well done.

Honorable Mention, all 4+: Lagunitas Lucky 13 Mondo Large Red Ale, Great Lakes Nosfertu, Green Flash Hop Head Red.

 

Congrats on the raise. The thing that makes that particular beer incredibly unique is that although it is smoky, it isn't actually made with smoked malt. Most of the smokiness comes from the yeast. The yeast carries the smokiness after being used in their other beers. It's pretty amazing.

 

Happy New Beer Weekend everyone! Today I'm drinking a new wild ale from Trillium called Rue Anemone.

330ml bottle dated 02/12/2021 pours a gorgeous mostly clear slightly hazy translucent yellow gold with a substantial big creamy white foam head that retains well with decent lacing.

Smells wonderful, mild apple cider vinegar, wildflowers, sweet floral orange citrus zest, tea leaf notes, toasty biscuity malts, touch of vanilla, straw, hints of thyme, fresh earthy herbs, real beautiful and delicate, aromas of moderate bold strength, balanced, refreshing, ready and waiting too long to dig in.

Tastes pretty tart, dry, lightly funky, refreshing and crisp with notes of lime, lemony citrus zest, herbal tea, thyme, fresh earthy herbs, straw, toasty hay, biscuity malts, oak, vanilla, hint of coconut, tart apple, vinous grape, finishing fairly dry with a touch of hop bitterness.

Feels lighter medium bodied, creamy smooth, crisp with moderate high carbonation.

Overall a real nice and tasty plain wild ale imo. Crisp, refreshing, lightly tart without being too sour, bit of complexity while still being simple, mild funkiness, some savory herbal notes, citrus zest, good stuff. This might be my last new Trillium beer for a little while, at least until I get back into the city or get a UPS delivery. Still plenty of old sour bottles and a few big stouts left anyway. Cheers everyone!

 

Thanks for kicking things off @Roguer ! Loved your writeup @JackHorzempa , wish I had your home brew to compare to the Champagne Velvet, which I find to contain a fuller taste than your take.

Already have a Nemesis to try after I age it a bit, and two beers added this early in the weekend to my "to buy" list after @larryi86 's Helles Schlenkerla Lagerbier and @WunderLlama 's DDH PtE.

Two Midwest brewer WCIPA takes on the style planned for this weekend. A few times they nail it (looking at Spiteful as the King of the Midwest WCIPAs), while others are good to great beers but more in the MWIPA style, which I would ascribe to a beer like Bell's Two Hearted.

Today's beer is from a suburban brewer near the Wisconsin border. I had one of this brewer's porters planned for the Spring, but sadly it became the first (and hopefully only) bottle of beer I dropped and broke this year. WCIPAs are perhaps the only style I would consider purchasing a can with a Bear player pictured on the can.

Tighthead Brewing's Longsnapper




Can Notes: 16 oz, Canned 1/7/21, refrigerated for the past few weeks since purchase. 6% ABV, 40 IBU. Longsnapper IPA is a West Coast-Style IPA brewed and designed in collaboration with NFL Long Snapper Patrick Mannelly based on his favorite beer styles. Patrick played 16 years in the NFL and revolutionized the art of long snapping. This beer was first released at the ceremony presenting the inaugural "Patrick Mannelly Award" give to the outstanding college long snapper each season. Brewed with ample based and caramel malts and hopped with a trio of traditional northwest hops to create a well-balanced, crushable beer.

Appearance: Clear caramel color pour, mild carbonation, nice bright head leaves a layer over the base and lacing throughout. 4.25

Aroma: Pine aroma mild in strength and pleasant. Get light caramel from the malt that complements the aroma well. Smells like an old school WCIPA. 4.0

Taste: Excellent tasting consistent with the WCIPA style. Very strong bitter piney hops really shine. Feared a possible drop off with the lag since the brewing date, but this beer is on point. Pine flavor is great, nice citrus notes as well make this a bold and enjoyable beer to drink. Malt felt but strictly in the rear in a complementary role adds light caramel. 4.75

Mouthfeel: Medium body, somewhat creamy, light fizzy carbonation persistent throughout. Very dry and bitter, consistent with my preferred take on the WCIPA style. Light bitter aftertaste. 4.5

Overall: This is an outstanding WCIPA, hits all of the expected notes, malt plays a supporting role which many MW IPA breweries overdo in their takes on the style. Pine, sweet pine. Dry and bitter. Oh yeah! So happy to find a solid WCIPA option in Chicago, few brewers nail this well around here. Thank you Tighthead! Glad I didn't judge a book by its cover (Bears player on the can) and took a chance on this beer. Would like to compare and contrast to a fresh version the next time I see this, and based on this beer want to hunt down more beers from this brewery. Beer Down, Chicago Drinkers!!! 4.5

 

Thanks! Their yeast does a great job with the smokiness, that’s pretty awesome!

This has me open to trying other smoked Helles, but it think it will be hard to bet.

Now on to their Lentbeer, great stuff!
4.4/5 rDev +3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

16 oz can poured into a mug

A- A clear dark amber with a small tan head.

S- Smoky, caramel malts, floral, some sweet bread.

T- Smoky, some campfire, sweet bread, caramel malts, floral, touch earthy.

M- Smooth, medium body.

O- A tasty and easy drink smoked beer, great balance

Cheers!

 

Great looking pups
Cheers

 

Hey what's going on!?!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Holy carp it was super windy yesterday... my house is still standing though.

I am in a mixed bag right now, feeling good though and having a productive weekend.

As for new beer. Always up for new beer. While can is king these days, I am lately been on a bottle buying kick when it comes to beer. I got my eye on brewing my "award" winning summer gruit this Summer, since my rosemary is doing real good this starting time. I came back from the store with some loner bottles, and some simple sixers for future use in bottling. Yes that award gruit which was all voted scientifically mind you by my homebrewing club amongst 8 entries and a copious amount of 30 people, thus rendering said true verdict. So it must be ideal no?!

I am hoping for a productive rosemary season, so far so good. It's a key ingredient... not that Mrs Dash stuff (but hey... i have had a beer with that as an ingredient and it wasn't half bad!). Also I need to kill some of the lavender as well!

Speaking of beer, I really dug the last style tasting where we were all bocking it out. I suggested a Scotch or Scottish Ale tasting in the future, and ironically it seemed like the beer fans were stalking me in the isles. While these styles aside from a few key standards are a bit obscure, there stood a new Scotch Ale in cans from a local brewery that was new. However,... I passed.

With that said, some bottles to slay, and we are off to a great start with a brewery that still just keeps getting it right for me.



Poured from the bottle into a nonic(k) pint glass.

Out of the bottle this forms wonderfully. Billowing creamy and nearly nitrous looking head, with a thick top and tall easily three finger height. The head while light tan, seems to almost have a purple/pink like hue to it strangely, and caps wonderfully. Body color is a deep walnut black, hints purple to red with clarity slightly under the light as well. Real neat looking stout.

This aroma just even gets better. Big whiff of fresh coffee beans, milky creamy almost vanilla sensing but a lighter sweetness instead. Fresh hints of berries and smorgasborg like, black, blue, red berried, mountain, it's nearly like a topped dessert minus the excessive sugary notes. Dark malts and cocoa mix in, like exotic breakfast cereal hinting, and a grain rich of high end chocolate bar flavor.

The palate sticks to the formula. Real light bodied but heavily supportive in an excellent fruity angle. Light bitterness, almost like on crack on the seeds of the blueberries and blackberries but without the harsh tannins. Light hints of dark chocolate and fruity cobbler quality all over the palate. Finishes porter light, crackling grains but with a coffee accent that is boosted with exceptional complimenting fruit.

A great coffee beer, with excellent complimenting fruit. Schlafly just never seems to disappoint me, if anything they fly under the radar and I go back to them and keep thinking, why don't I drink more from these guys? Sometimes a good standard holds the test of time.

look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Cheers!

 

Boulevard Let's Keep It Platonic Imperial Pastry Stout, 14.2% ABV. Pours thick and black with a nice two-finger brown head that left no lacing. Nose is bourbon, chocolate, licorice, brown sugar, moleasses, roast malt, and oak. Taste is bourbon, chocolate, and brown sugar, with many other flavors in the background such as tobacco. Quite sweet, slight bourbon burn, slightly bitter. Very complex, getting better as it warms. Outstanding thick mouthfeel, overall world class.

4.67/5 rDev +7.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Of my highest rated beers, this is in a five-way tie for sixth. Really incredible. If you love BA pastry stouts, it's tough to beat. WTF was I thinking though, getting a 32oz crowler of a 14.2% ABV beer to drink by myself? That's the equivalent of a 7.6-pack of Bud. May drink the other half tomorrow. Or today.

 

Finally a nice enough day to open a fruit ale I picked up last fall.
Dear Peter from Tröegs bottled in 2017.

They call it a “Pennsylvania wild fruit ale fermented with nectarines”. The label has a whole story about how it came to be, which I'll spare you. The other bottle info tells you that Tröegs used Lacto, Pedio, and Brett yeasts, added nectarines, and aged it all with French, Hungarian, and Italian oaks for a 7.6% ABV.

This is not a pretty beer. Held up to the sun it is almost translucent and the color of an old copper penny, in regular light it of an opaque muddy amber/brown. There is a thin, white, quickly dissolving head.
But looks can be deceiving. This is a very good fruited farmhouse ale. Under ripe nectarines & peaches, orange & lemon zest, hay, stable, barnyard, finishing up with oak tannins. Tart without being sour.
Sadly Dear Peter isn't quite balanced enough to be excellent. All else being equal overripe nectarine/peach flavors rather than under-ripe flavors wood have lifted this too the next notch.
4.15/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25