New Beer Weekend #65

It is 86 degrees here in the swamp, which means it is still summer, and a good afternoon for a Leichtbier.

Bierkeller Leichtbier. Described by the brewer as:
Leichtbier -- Light lager in the tradition of Czech 10°; 3.9% ABV.
Did not know that I needed a Czech 10° beer. That's why a professional lager brewer comes in handy.
Light and refreshing, nice hop bite, a 32 oz. Crowler went down like water. Plenty of peppery fruity hop flavor, grassy flavor, pie crust aroma, Lightly carbonated which may be a feature, not a bug. No off flavors. Perfect clarity.

I didn't think that I have ever had a Czech 10° style beer before, so take this rating with that in mind.
3.77/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
It is a nice addition to the summer beers from Bierkeller along with his Kölsch style and I hope we see it again

 

We have a few here in NW PA, although the local one pulled out.

 

And the reveal, Julius a whale that I would never had the chance to enjoy. That’s the beauty on these BIFs, if you’ve never participated, I’d highly recommend it, fun and great bunch of beer nerds! Thanks @WunderLlama

 

I bought a couple of cans directly from B. United last fall, but they aren't sold in singles here and I just can't pull the trigger on the +$16 4 packs.

 

They’re on every corner here. Almost like McDonald’s.

 

3.77/5 rDev -10.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 16 ounce can into a snifter.

Look- Straw, very hazy, frothy white head, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Grapefruit, mango, pithy.

Taste- Grapefruit, pithy, mildly mandarin.

Feel- Between medium and full body, moderately astringent and bitter, soft, slightly below average carbonation.

Overall- Grapefruit overwhelms the other flavors in this beer.

 

Let's keep this train rolling with yet another beer from @2beerdogs. This one is a festbier called "Orctoberfest" from Bottle Logic. I haven't had many Bottle Logic beers, but have seen many, many good reviews on these very pages.

3.88/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Pours a clear medium gold with good clarity. Slightly off-white, short-lived head. Aroma is doughy, semi-sweet malt. Very clean, straight-forward aroma. On the tongue the malt dominates (as it should). Faint floral notes lurking in the background, but certainly not dominant. Crisp & clean. Medium bodied, smooth and easy going down. Good festbier.

 

Okay, I had my 1st one of these last night and posted it on WBADN. Friday PM is pretty much the weekend.
Toppling Goliath and Vitamen Sea colab., however you almost need a maginifying glass to read the VS logo on the can. Did they get strong armed by the TG head of marketing?
I really liked this beer. Gotta pick up more before it starts to lose some of its hop impact. Note the can stamp in my review. That seems like a long time for this beer.

4.48/5 rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a can stamped "BEST BY 01/08/22" to a Nonic at fridge temp.
The body is super hazy apricot color. The head is puffy with mulit-sized bubles, alot of glass cling and pure white. Head lasts a good 10 minutes and never goes away completely. I would say lacing is present, but not spectacular.
The aroma is a big smack in the olphactory of hops with a background of rind. I've had a lot of meh aroma beers lately, this one makes up for quite a few of those.
Taste is a wallop also, the Nelson is standing in front, citrus pith in the middle, and a pretty dry after glow once another sip is required.
Mouth feel is medum to creamy but a healthy, not over the top carbonation cleans it up nicely.
I really enjoyed this beer, especially the aroma.

 

The temperature is dropping and it has been raining all day today, ideal weather for a Baltic Porter.
Lagerkoller (apparently German for "cabin fever") is a collaboration between Thin Man & von Trapp 「(°ヘ°) . I really like von Trapp beers, but they are not renowned for their porters & stouts.
For some reason the two breweries decided to release a one-off Baltic Porter in April, just at the end of the "season" for this style. I've seen the 4 packs on the shelf all summer and, against my better judgement, decided to give it go.
Other than a couple of background paragraphs on Thin Man's IG there is very little information on Lagerkoller and the can simply states that it is 8% ABV.

First, Lagerkoller is a beautiful beer. Inky jet black, but there is a deep amber/brown aura when you hold it up to the light. A moderate pour results in a tall, loosely foamed, khaki colored head that slowly dissolves into islands.
Sadly, as I should have expected, age has taken it's toll on this beer.
The aromas are faint. There is faint dark chocolate, faint black coffee, faint sweet malts, a very faint fruit which might be apple or cherry
The flavors are a slightly stronger than the aromas, but have lost their balance. Up front is cold black coffee, followed by some dark chocolate, with a slightly sweet/slightly fruity undertone. Around the edges is the ghost of a creaminess that once smoothed this out and melded it all together.

I really, really wish the two breweries had decided to hold off releasing this until Fall. At this point in time Lagerkoller is an above average to good Baltic Porter, back in the Spring it would have been an excellent one.

3.96/5
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Me too, sadly aged Ayingers are the only other option around here

 

Proclamation Pearanormal Oak-Aged Ale & Pear Cider Blend. Starting tonight with one of the most anticipated cans in @tasterschoice62's massive BIF strike. I know I've gone on before about the guavas I used to eat at my grandparents' house growing, up but pears are right up there, too. It's pretty rare to see pear used in a beer, and I guess this is cheating a little by making it a blend with cider, but I'm really excited by this one.

Pours a luminous, opaque orange reminding me of some of the better wilds I've had, with an extremely rapidly diminishing head that, I suppose, betrays its cider DNA. Aroma is straight-up lambic, a little cheesy and vinegary, but lightly so, not horsey/barnyardy. At any rate, no pear on the nose . . . I'm anticipating it will be more of a finishing note on the backend. Wow, the taste is really tart, just this side of puckering, with a sizzly carbonation that feels very cider-like. I'm tempted to compare it to the Almanac Supernova series in its approachability, except that, unlike those beers, I think someone who "doesn't like sours" actually wouldn't like this--there's no doubt that it's a for-real sour. As I predicted, the pear is mostly present at the end, leaving a dry, sweet finish that almost makes you think you've drunk two different beers. Overall, about as good as I thought it would be, except I wish the pear notes were foregrounded just a little more. At 5.5%, you could bang this all day long, and I would if I could. Thanks, Larry!

 

Deschutes Freyja Tripel aged in Chardonnay Barrels, 9.4% ABV; 4.04 overall

Pours a slightly effervescent gold/honey color with a pinky of frothy eggshell colored head. Above average head retention & nice lacing

S: Grassy ,yeasty, spicy, red grapes once warm

T: Pears, grassyness, white and red grapes & woody dryness up front. Wine barrel & red grapes comes through as this warms, a little cinnamon & candi sugar, all spice show as well, much wine barrel dryness as well. Dryness & sweet/tart grapes in the finish, a little candi sugar as well, warming boozey grape as well

MF: Medium body, moderate carbonation

Started out like a classic Tripel and then grapes aspect steal the show, made it less drinkable to me. I'm sure the ABV may have also made this a sipper

 

Great review! Glad you enjoyed it!

 

Glad you like that one. I took a chance (knowing you're limited interest in hoppy study) because of the pronounced berry notes in both nose and flavor.

 

Wow, what a start!