What’s the Difference? Share your Side-by-Side (2021)

The Heady Topper I purchased in December, 2020 was big time dank and really do not think that was a palate thing.

I started a thread discussing this batch:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...r-your-heady-topper-to-be-catty-weedy.652987/

A snippet from the OP:

"There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to how brewers make selection of the lots of hops:

· Select hops with qualities which will result in a target - consistent brand/product

· Select hops based upon what the brewer thinks is ‘best’ for that crop year/farm/harvest time

It seems to me that John Kimmich is of the second school above.

He spent a fair bit of time discussing how the qualities of Simcoe hops have varied over the many years. As he discussed it: some years it is all cat piss, some years it is all pine and some years it is all fruit.

He appears to be very happy for the Simcoe hops he selected the year of the video since they were “all catty, aw”. And “the Heady is dynamite this year in the sense it tastes even more like weed than it did before”.

Cheers!

 

Avec Les Bons Voeux de la Brasserie Dupont (ALBV) alongside Saison Dupont

Looks: ALBV is a little clearer, a little darker, and has a smaller head. It also looks more highly carbonated. Saison's head (and retention) is better, it's a little bit hazy.

Smells: Saison smells brighter and fruitier, more banana and clove; ALBV is darker and earthier (and a little boozy). Both have a spicy characteristic.

Tastes: Add clean hay flavors to the banana and clove in Saison's nose. Yeasty/funky with a nice, lingering sweetness, and a nice bitter finish. ALBV again is darker and earthier, also more bitterness comes across, a lot less fruitiness, though it's there. Sweetness is also there, but somewhat overwhelmed by the booze and bitterness.

Mouthfeels: Saison is lighter and more refreshing, ALBV is not super heavy, but definitely noticeably heavier.

Overall: They're both really good beers, but I think I would reach for the Saison more often and more happily.

 

Say what now?

A full percent higher is not a small difference.

 

So, I take it that quotation-marked "quart" you saw was this size can - 19.2 oz aka an Imperial Pint? Didn't think AB would put its flagship Import in a true 32 oz. can. Are there any brewery-filled (i.e., not "crowlers") quart beer cans out there these days?

I thought I saw some very large Miller High Life cans in the single section one day but never went back to that cooler door to check. I thought Cold Spring/Third Street filled quarts but they don't make it to the east coast.

 

Most of those cans are 24oz. so technically a 'fifth'. I assume people refer to those as quarts, but who knows?

The day I posted that I only caught a glance and assumed it was the same size, but then saw that they cheaped-out when I went to purchase one. And it was over $3 for the can.

You're right about Miller High Life being an actual quart. It may be the only one because the size tends to stand out.

 

"Technically" ? Well, pretty close Doesn't AB use 25 oz. cans? So, even closer.

Really? Then what would they call a true quart/32 ounce bottle/can? Seems like they're short-changing themselves.

Schlitz eventually labeled their 24 oz. Tall Boy cans as 3/4 quart. But that could have been because of the old ATF/TTB content labeling rules which I think they changed recently.

 

Heh. Yeah, I originally used quotes for a reason .

 

Did a blind side by side with two apricot saisons, both aged in French oak: Abricot du Fermier and West Ashley.

Both are entirely different. To keep it short: Abricot du Fermier was ultra hazy with a juicy apricot nose and taste and finished with a ton of oak and must. On the other hand West Ashley had full clarity, a touch less fruity with heavy vinous notes.

 

I think you officially win the award for most odd "style" comparison that unexpectedly exists, and both are quite highly rated. Did you personally (or impersonally) like one more than the other?

 

Both are excellent beers. If I had to pick one, I might side with Abricot du fermier for its juicy apricots. But a different day, I may prefer West Ashley. You can't go wrong. I thought both beers were going to be very similar but I was wrong, they are like apples and oranges.

 

Regular and Oak Lagered Cerne, schwarzbier from Chainline in Kirkland, WA.

Looks: The liquid basically looks the same. The regular had a much bigger head at first, but it faded much faster.

Smells: Regular smells cleaner, roastier, brighter. Oak lagered has a hint of sourness, a hint of oak, smells heavier.

Tastes: Both of them have a pleasing roasted grain sweetness; regular is lighter and cleaner again, has much more of a roasty punch. Oak lagered has a hint of sourness here, too.

Mouthfeels: Oak lagered is flatter and dryer. Regular is lighter and smoother.

Overall: I like the beer. I'd take the regular version of it first, though. Maybe that's a tap/crowler versus bottle thing, though.

 

Ok, follow up and end to the witbier(ish) comparisons, for now...


I grabbed a De Troch Framboise Lambic as an alternative to Lindemans to produce the "Dirty Hoe" beer cocktail of sorts I've featured. But I also have never rated any of De Troch's beers, so there's the glass in front.

All that said, this post is about the comparison of Hoegaarden and St Bernardus witbier relative enjoyment in the prescribed mixed beverage. I also decided to be blasphemous and throw a hefeweizen in the mix for fun.

Frambouse Lambic on its own... seems a little more tart and fruity versus sweet/sugary that I recall from the Lindeman's. Quite tasty on its own. With .5oz in each ~5oz witbier:

It's barely noticed. So, a little un-measured add to each pour:

• the skunky note from Hoegaarden is still there... I'm guessing the less sweet nature of this lambic can't cover that up as well as Lindeman's
• I found a nice mix of wit and lambic in the St Bernardus with what I'd guess was a half Tbsp extra added
• I didn't adjust the Hefe, but my assessment is that the banana note gets quelled.replaced by a bit of a raspberry note; sum < the parts, however

Well, that's about it. Not an overly analytic post - but I do think the Lindeman's version of a fruited lambic seemed to play more in the "Dirty Hoe" concoction than De Troch's, which stood a bit better on its own.

 

Jack I was late reading this thread and I hadn’t ever heard of this beer. Everyone raving about it made me search for it near me. Unfortunately it’s not near me. It appears just last month Brauhaus Schmitz tapped it. I know you’re in the suburbs, but their German beer menu looks great.

 

I have been to Brauhaus Schmidz many times in the past but it has been a couple of years since my last visit. They do indeed have a great list of German brewed beers. I would just caution you to check dates for bottled products. I once had a bottle of Schonramer Pilsner in my hand there but that beer was well over a year old so I did not drink it (but the bartender just put that bottle back in the refrigerator for the next sucker er ah customer).

Right now Capone's (Norristown, PA) has Hofbrauaus Jagerbier on tap.

Cheers!

 

Aventinus vs. Aventinus Eisbock

Ironically, I normally dislike pale wheat beers, but have always loved Aventinus, the all time classic wheat doppelbock.

The regular Aventinus has the bold aroma of spicy pepper, bread crust, and bright fruitiness. Similar flavors in the taste with mild caramel and toasty malt without the sweetness. Medium bodied, slick mouthfeel.

The Eisbock just cranks everything up to eleven. Much darker in color with wonderful ruby colored highlights. The aroma is so rich, toffee, molasses, plum, dates, rum, tobacco. Similar taste, deep malt complexity but moderately sweet. Fuller bodied, coats the tongue and mouth when sipping.

 

Ok, this one is just a lark, as I expect almost no meaningful information from it, but it was a way to get rid of space-taking objects from the fridge. I'm thinking this could work well for @TongoRad's Turkey Day theme day, if we still did those.

Also, to take this thread in a completely different direction than @jmdrpi - who I am glad decided to post in this thread after seeing his WBAYDN post on Friday.

The N/A Lagunitas I think is dated as bottled on the date right near the Three Notch'd Non-Alcoholic IPA's best by date - December of last year (canned in Sept, 2020).

I have previously tasted Lagunita's N/A against its alcoholic brother, and as expected, it was no "competition," and reviewed Three Notch'd N/A IPA as a bit like pre-yeast pitch beer. Let's see if aging them helped

(ok, stupid geeky side-note - the image URL ends in "yna")

First note, non-alcoholic IPAs have a varying color spectrum. Both heads provided loose, spongy lacing - even after aabout a year.

They actually smell pretty similar, and do have aromas I don't have to search for. They're not great aromas, but are oddly similar - grain water with a grassy bitter edge. Three Notch'd is a little more "fresh" - which seems strange, but there seems to be more depth to the aromas of Lagunitas' IPNA - maybe the darker malt influence.

Ok - Lagunitas beer at this point is dirty, slightly coppery water. Three Notch'd is sweeter, considerably sweeter. It's more like honeysuckle vine water (anyone??). I'm guessing by my reviews that I'd have though Three Notch'd much sweeter when fresh, but it's definitely a huge difference now.

So both are Lagunitas is more earthy with a mineral edge and pretty balanced on the sweet/bitterness scale. Three Notch'd is sweeter, but also has a stronger flavored tomato vine bitterness that doesn't quite balance out the scales - i.e. a wider swing in sensations from Three Notch'd).

I'm a bit surprised here. I am not a big fan of the Lagunitas at this point (younger but also not refrigerated like Three Notch'd was). The Three Notch'd is actually still quaffable after almost a year, and I'd argue doesn't seem too different than what my original review indicated. I didn't put much into my Lagunitas NIPA review, but I am not getting any of a "sourdough" note I mentioned (and vaguely recall) therein.

This tasting was much more interesting than expected and the post more in depth than planned, but sometimes things just work out that way.

 

Ok, I figured this was a place for this question/proposition. Given the past two years, who knows if/when it'll be possible, but....

Has anyone ever taken a packaged imported Oktoberfest beer back over to Germany to compare to "fresh" Oktoberfest beers there? I can't imagine anyone is so geeky to have gone this far, although I feel a couple of us would actually consider it.

Anyone with plans for this year's fest easily has time to set this up and report back

 

What's better than a side-by-side? Well, a side-by-side-by-side of course:

Czech it out – a threesome!

A new brewery opened up in Philly in 2020 with the interesting name of Human Robot. A couple of weeks ago I spoke to an employee at my local Retail Beer Distributor as to whether they carried beers from Human Robot and was disappointed to hear they didn’t. During a more recent visit a few days ago he saw me and said: “We just got some Human Robot beers in”. On a shelf near the cash register were five different beers from Human Robot in the four-pack/16 ounce can format. They were rather pricey but I said to myself: heck, let’s buy one. I decided to purchase a four-pack of Czech 10° - Czech style Pale Lager.

Below is how this beer is detailed on the Human Robot website:

“4.2% - Czech-Style Pale Lager - Beautiful bready malt balanced with a kiss of floral spice. Brewed lovingly with German Pils malt and a smidgen of sweet Munich then hopped with Bohemia’s gift to the world Saaz hops,”

It has been a while since I have conducted a side-by-side tasting and since I have two other Bohemian Pilsners (Czech Pale Lagers) in my refrigerator I figured I would do a three-way today. The two other Bohemian Pilsners are Sterling Pig Prague Hog and my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsner.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glasses:

Appearance:

Human Robot 10°: A medium golden color with a white head

Sterling Pig Prague Hog: Straw yellow colored with a white head

Jack’s BoPils: A deep burnished golden color with a three finger white head with excellent head retention throughout the entire drinking experience.

Aroma:

Human Robot 10°: There is a bready malt on the nose; that’s about it.

Sterling Pig Prague Hog: There is a notable and pleasant combination of hop aroma (herbal, spicy, and lemon-like) and rich malty aroma

Jack’s BoPils: A prominent combination of bready and spicy/herbal aromas.

Taste:

Human Robot 10°: The flavor very much follows the nose with a rich, bready malt flavor. There is a moderate bitterness.

Sterling Pig Prague Hog: The flavor follows the nose with notable hop flavors of herbal, spicy and lemon-like accompanied with a full, rich malty flavor of rustic white bread crust. There is a moderate bitterness.

Jack’s BoPils: The flavors follow the nose with notable flavors of bready and spicy/herbal. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Human Robot 10°: This beer is medium bodied with an off-dry finish.

Sterling Pig Prague Hog: Ditto

Jack’s BoPils: Ditto.

Overall:

Human Robot 10°: This beer is sorta good but it lacks balance; too one dimensional with the malt aroma/flavor dominating the palate. This beer almost tastes more like a Vienna Lager vs. a Bohemian Pilsner (Czech Pale Lager). This beer would have benefitted from more flavor hopping.

Sterling Pig Prague Hog: This beer is a very good Bohemian Pilsner with flavors very well in balance between the complex hop flavors and the full, rich malt flavor.

Jack’s BoPils: This beer is also very good. A depth of bready malt flavor accompanied with a notable spicy/herbal flavor.

Cheers!