New Beer Weekend #55

I’m purposely not reading your post @jkblr i will be posting that Konig tomorrow. Looking forward to comparing to see if we get the same feel.

@BillAfromSoCal thanks for joining please come back often.

 

You know what pairs perfectly with that beer? I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count.

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are cooler (low 80s) with considerably better air quality.

I spotted some Oktoberfest beers at the bottle shop this week, but it's a bit early for me. I look for those after Labor Day. So today we have Cosmic Waves IPA from Silver City Brewing. https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/959/475874/

A fruity and drinkable IPA.

Until next time,

 

Guldenberg from De Rank. Label calls it a Biere D'Abbaye, BA calls it a Tripel. BA also lists it at 8.5%, and the label 8%. Shrug.

750ml bottle, wrapped in a blue and white paper, served in a pair of snulips.

Pours a hazy light amber with a big fluffy head that fades to a clumpy layer with a thick ring. Smell is carbonation and yeast, maybe a hint of banana and clove.

Taste is surprisingly bitter and almost savory. Banana is there, heavy spicy bitterness, yeasty almost breadiness. There's something in this that I can't quite identify, maybe a gamy fruit like jackfruit or something.

Mouthfeel is thick and fluffy. Overall, I'm not 100% sure what to think. I enjoy this beer, and a lot of the flavor profile seems in line with what I expect from tripels, but the proportions are very unusual. It's very interesting and I think it'll grow on me as I drink it and it warms up a little more.

As it's warming up, I'm getting more fruity flavors, less of an earthy funk, more banana, but still not a typical tripel profile to me. My wife, on the other hand, seems to think it's a pretty standard tasting tripel. Maybe I broke my palate with those wild ales earlier.

 

In my eternal quest to find weird and exciting beers (especially at less-than-exciting liquor stores that don't focus primarily on craft beer), I decided to go all-in on a four-pack of this oddity earlier today. Granted, four of these bad boys only cost me about $10, so even if it's just pineapple juice with alcohol in it, it's not the worst deal in the world. Behold... Burgkopf's "Belgian-Style Ale with Pineapple Flavor." This brewery has heretofore been unknown to me, but they are based in Lithuania. So, let's get this straight... Lithuanian brewery, German(ic) name, Belgian style ale (ostensibly), made with tropical fruit (flavor). That's something else, for sure.



That pour is... unattractive. However, just by the fact that this absolutely bursts out of the can with immense tropical pineapple scents, I'm getting the feeling this isn't really a beer that's meant to be poured; I think you're just supposed to crush it. We'll find out soon enough, though, if my inkling is correct. This is a nearly-opaque pale as fuck beer with absolutely zero head retention and a soda-like carbonation.

As mentioned just above, this just smells like pineapple. Full stop; there is nothing else going on here. I tried to pick up even the slightest tinge of anything Belgian-like about it. Hell, I can't even find much that seems beer-like about this at all so far. But, ya know what? Whatever. Maybe this isn't being marketed right, but I'm ready to drink some pineapple juice.

takes sip

Yeah, it's just carbonated pineapple juice and essentially tastes like a soda. 5.5%, though. Mykolo's Hard Pineapple, anyone? Nothing beer-like here other than a very faint, ephemeral hint of wheat in the taste and body in the finish. The sugary sweetness drowns out any element of subtlety attempted here, however, and I can't really see myself drinking a lot of this unless I was really craving it in particular after a long time in a pool or lake. It's pretty drinkable if you think of it as a sugary pineapple hard soda and don't try to approach it as beer. Pineapple is, in general, a harder flavor to balance than some other fruits, though, and I'd be willing to give other fruited beers by these guys a shot in the future. It's pretty much alcopop dressed up in beer clothing in some senses, but I'm not much of a purist these days. I think this would appeal big time to the non-beer-drinkers out there looking to drink stuff that is technically beer while still being fruit-tacular. It deserves a little credit for that, I think.

 

Independence Brewing's Pure Stoke Hazy IPA, 7.0% 3.85 overall


Pours an effervescent & hazed amber with 2 + fingers of fluffy cream colored head. Average head retention & lacing

S: Citrus & green melon , mango as well

T: Mango, green melon, oranges up front with a little dryness. Passion fruit & a little pomelo as this warms. Finishes with green melon, passion fruit & a little dryness

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation, decent balance

Drinks very easy, kind of middle of the pack for the style, but these won't last too long in my fridge

 

Back for another new beer weekend. Another offering from my favorite local brewery, Ology Brewing Co. Ceteris Paribas is a Hazy Double IPA with Strata, Citra, and Phantasm. Nice strong citrus aroma when you open the can. Pours really hazy! Your typical tropical notes for a hazy IPA, BUT, I got some nice spice as it warmed up which I'm assuming is coming from the Phantasm hop as I have never experienced this with either Strata or Citra. Definitely an easy-drinking 8.3%

 

For my third beer this weekend:

Wild Mind Artisan Ales Apex of the Vortex Smoothie Sour
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: NA



The smell of mango is strong, brightened by hints of a citrus-like tang.

Appearance starts with a very brief tall orange head that dies before I could snap the shutter a second time. This leaves the beer with a reasonably good looking burnt orange fruit juice appearance. Flat, with only an occasional (and I mean occasional) bubble or two streaming up the side of the glass. No floaties or lumpy chucks, though. No lacing (well, there wouldn't be with no head...)

The flavor brings the mango mixed with other fruit flavors, too intermixed for me to individually identify. The overall flavor, though, is nice and, well, juicy. This beer has a tartness that is fairly strong, pushing into actual sour territory. While not full mouth puckering sour, it is sour enough to elicit some cheek-pinching and tongue smacking from me. It is also a bit acidic, judging by how it feels on my teeth. There is an underlying sweetness below the sourness that makes the finish transition from tart-sour to a more enjoyable (for me) aftertaste. Even so, each sip is a lip/tongue smacker.

The body is medium with some coating of the mouth.

Overall, this is more of a "legitimate" sour, more acidic, and a bit less of a fruit smoothie than the earlier one I had. Even so, it is still a fruit juice bomb with little to let you now it is actually a beer.

I'm trying hard to rate these fairly, but... still not my favorite style. Maybe it is "to style" to have no head whatsoever but I'm still giving it a hit for that.


L: 2.75 | S: 3.75 | T: 4.0 | F: 3.75 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 3.87

 

Welcome one and all to New Beer Sunday #859!

While the thread so far is light on post count, it is rich in tempting new places and beers I want to find and try.

• @LeRose - Your beer sounded and looked great as did the food.
• @champ103 - The Old Rasputin Rye is right up my alley, need to hunt down around here. Your musical accompaniment was great, as always!
• @BillAfromSoCal - Great review, beer sounds real good as I've always liked previous Fremont beers.
• @Beersnake1 - I've seen Old Stock Ale as well, need to grab it next time I do (still new to me).
• @snaotheus - Your De Ranke Guldenberg beer also sounds delicious, hope I can find here.

Glad I returned to the firm ground of beer. Have two traditional styles planned for today, fresh new beers from a suburban brewer focused on lagers, recommended last weekend by @FBarber ! I'm looking forward to his side by side

The first is a collaboration with a brewery I never had before, Live Oak in Austin, Texas, and one that just turned one, Goldfinger in Downers Grove Illinois.

Goldfinger / Live Oak Grodziskie-Style Lager



Can Notes: 16 oz canned 7/27/21 @ 12:13 by Goldfinger in Downers Grove, IL. 3.2% ABV.

This traditional Polish beer was brewed in collaboration with Live Oak Brewing Co.. A 100% Oak smoked wheat lager commonly known as the "Polish Champagne". Polish-Style Smoked Lager: Smoky, Effervescent. Refreshing.

Appearance: Clear faint straw color pour, rich creamy full head lasts at five minutes, slowly dissipates but leaves a rich base cover throughout the pour, and leaves generous lacing. Mild carbonation. 4.0

Aroma: Nice smoky malt front and center, smoked sausage, burnt wood. Smells like smoking meat at a campfire, very pleasant if you are into that sort of sensation. Nearing full strength but not overpowering. 4.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, though a bit lighter, with hops not present on the nose coming through to present dryness and provide a hop bitterness. This is more hoppy than previous Grodziskie beers I've tried, but I like the contrast. Very light and easy, enjoying greatly. 4.5

Mouthfeel: Wafer thin, minimal carbonation, very dry and bitter overall, but some smokey malt sweetness burst through at times. Drinks light, is light, crisp clean finish. 4.25

Overall: I'm still relatively new to this style. Brewed to style guidelines, though a bit more bitter than listed by the BA, still works well. I really enjoyed this one, and will try to score more before they are all gone. Want to keep grabbing Goldfinger and also want to hit Austin for a trip toe Live Oak to see what they are all about. Overall excellent Grodziskie-Style Lager, well done and Happy First Anniversary Goldfinger! 4.5

Will return with a second Polish Pilsner later today. Will leave with you a Polish American musical pairing.

Na Zdrowie!

 

Good day BAs! Off to a muggy start to the day. I spent part of yesterday brewing an English-style barley wine which will be (sort of) BBA. I think I may split the batch and do a cherry variant and a plum variant as well as the unfruited original. Right now it's blurping away behind me at a rate of one blurp every two seconds. Really glad I started growing my yeast a day or two before brewing - it works one helluva lot better.

Anyway, today's New Breakfast Beer:




TropiCannon Mango Lime from Heavy Seas Brewing. Purchased on 5 Aug 21 from Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. $19.00 (Including tax) per 12-pack of 12 oz cans, in a variety pack with six Citrus, three Mango Lime, and three Pineapple ($0.133/oz). On room temperature shelf at store, stored at home at 42 degrees. Reviewed 8/8/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Can marked on bottom “BEST BY 07/15/21”. Served at 47.3 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 55.9 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5
First pour – Pale Gold (SRM 4), slight haze.
Body – Pale Gold (SRM 4), hazily opaque. When rear-lite, translucent.
Head – Large (Maximum five cm, aggressive center pour), ghost white, medium density, fair retention, rapidly diminishing to a six to eleven mm ragged crown and a rocky partial cap. Second pour produces a 0.3 cm cap.
Lacing – Fair. Single band of badly torn curtain lacing.
Aroma – 3 – Weak lime/lemon, no malt, no yeast, no mango.
Flavor – 3 – Begins moderately bitter and a lot perfumy. Possibly some lime but VERY weak and transitory. No malt. No yeast. No mango. No ethanol (7.25 % ABV, as marked on container) taste. No gastric warming initially, but it begins to build toward the end. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Medium, watery, lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.25 Not sure why but this leaves an impression of being soapy. The flavor is weak, poorly defined, and falls far short of its potential.

Rating 3.13, rDev -9%.

 

Well, except for one really big thing: in the link you provided, the BA classifies Grodziskie as an "ale style." Goldfinger's language and claim is very poor here. Polish Grodziskie beer isn't a lager as people use the term today. It wasn't lagered and it was made with "top fermenting" yeast. It's possible that Live Oak steered them in the wrong direction of what a Grodziskie is. Live Oak uses a preserved Grodziskie yeast strain in combination with their house lager yeast to make their beer, and I get the impression that they want to market their beer as lager-like. Perhaps it's like a game of telephone with Live Oak spreading their version of Grodziskie to other American brewers (Goldfinger isn't alone)... and in the case of Goldfinger, their "lager-house" mentality clouds their vision. When Americans tackled Grodziskie, they initially had the idea that it was sour. That went away, and now they've moved on to it being a lager.

@FBarber

 

Happy Sunday!
I'm spending today in relaxation mode. I do have at least one new beer to talk about. First up is Oatmeal Milk Stout from Finkel and Garf in Boulder, CO, and it is a great beer.
The beer is black in color with a small tan head that persists.
Aroma of chocolate and roasted malt.
Ver nice taste chocolate up front, some dark and some sweet. Underlying coffee taste.
Medium mouthfeel, a good, drinkable beer.

 

Hey what's going on!

I am having a real enjoyable weekend out here in North Carolina.

Bit of spotty reception so haven't been posting much... but oh boy its also BEER CATION!! Which means many new beers... Asheville was a good stop... let's just say I wish I could stay longer...

That said here is a beer for NBS!



Poured from the can into a mug.

Fairly opaque body, only gets slight turbid while being topped up. Deep custard lemon color, rich creamy three finger tall fine head with sheet like lacing of creamy egg white looks.

Great hop aroma. Deep hit of tropical but with more of a spicy punch. Juiced up light pineapple and some floral to citrus angles also. Touches earthy herbal spice, with lots of complexity.

Palate is real enjoyable. Juiced up hits of spicy faint lemongrass and chewy malt depth. Nearly creamy texture with hit of grapefruit peel and zesty oil particularly lingering in the aftertaste. Excellent bitterness on the finish, pine earth and minty, with faint malt blossom honey flavors to go with it.

Has touches of NE character but gets into more classic and bitter hop flavors adding to diversity and complexity. Makes for a great IPA.

Look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Cheers!

 

Y'all, I'm exhausted.
We've been mad short-staffed at the hospital, so they've been begging people to stay over in the mornings and pick up extra shifts, etc. Well, yesterday I agreed to be the extra, and so ended up working a 17hr shift to finish up my stretch. At least the radioactive patient earlier in the stretch was pretty straightforward!
This morning my partner forgot she was on call, so we were both a little surprised by the 0500 phone call that they needed her. I'm not one who falls (back) asleep easily, no matter how tired I am, which means I've gotten maybe 6 hours of sleep total in the last couple of days combined. Maybe this beer will help me tip over and be able to take a nap this afternoon.
Anyway, enough of my sob story, onto beer!!

@JayORear sent me a ninja strike during the NBS BIF #13 earlier this year (and still going, the damn thing refuses to die!!), prominently featuring Free Will Brewing. This is one of the last few cans (eagerly anticipating the right day to open that Ralphius!!) remaining from that box.

Chatterpie is a dark mild ale from the aforementioned Free Will.



The pour is a medium-dark brown, with some ruddy chestnut to the game as its held up to the light. Good finger or so of off-white foam, with decent retention and some lacing.

Nose is nutty and bready. More toasty than roasty, like good whole grain toast, and it's got some watery chocolate component as well that just adds a nice finishing touch to it all.

Flavour is more directed and drier than the nose, but plays in the same fields, presenting that same dark grain toastiness, and a decently bitter build to the finish that is primarily old world spicy.

As far as intensity, it threads that needle well for the most part, of having enough flavour to be interesting and enjoyable, but not being so bold as to exhaust the palate too much, though, in true American fashion, it does carry an emboldened bitterness/hopping profile that does limit the sessionability a little bit, and slows me down in general moreso than the rest of the beer would. Overall, a small complaint though for a tasty enjoyable iteration of a style that (unsurprisingly) doesn't get as much love as it probably should (though it wouldn't surprise me if that's part of the next evolution of the craft beer meta... it seems like the more nuanced lagers, etc are becoming more en vogue, so it wouldn't really surprise me if there's a small outshoot that brings the english milds a little more to the forefront as well... but I'm just sleep-deprived bloviating at this point.)

Ultimately: I quite enjoy it. Thanks, Jay, for sending it my direction!

Cheers y'all!

 

Man, I just realized how many exclamation marks I used in that last post. Yikes.
Or should I say: Yikes!!!