New Beer Weekend #72

Love the idea, I’ll have to get different options though, not sure if I have seen any of those at my local bottle shops.

Cheers!

 

hey what's going on?!

So I will have a plethora of new beers to try this month, since I was gifted a present during Turkey day this past week.

I received a "beer advent" calendar, which contains a bunch of single beers to be opened and consumed each day starting Dec 1st till Dec 24th.

I am totally in love with this concept and it so tickles my inner beer geek bone delightfully!

Didn't know much about this, but doing some quick research, the beers are all from a German maker named Privatbrauerei H. Egerer.

Never heard of them, but I love getting to try German beers I haven't had before.

Settling down to a nice subtle evening, simple side plate of cheese and crackers, some real good Comte, and a local Chesapeake cheese that is I think a cheddar infused with some Old Bay making for an excellent pairing with the beer.

So here is Dec 4th's entry: PROST!



Poured from the can into a Libbey style pilsner glass.

Deep dark brass gold, hinting brown with real nice clarity, looking a bit bock like in color. Head color is classic bleach white, but with a good amount of retention and a three finger easily sized height. Good crown and collar while settling with light streams of sheet like lacing and dotted pill bubbles to match. Nice looking lager.

Sticky malts a bit, hints a little caramel sweetness on the nose also. Comes off clean with little fanfare maybe a slight hint of boozy alcohol interestingly as well on the aroma.

Palate seems to deliver nicely. Mid palate touches a light but full bodied malt backbone that is slightly crisp but has a good light caramel matching sweetness to its nose. Flirting crispness, and an almost interesting tea like hop flavor in the end that comes out nicely.

This is a real interesting lager, flirting with almost bock like malts and a soft subtle hop profile on the finish. Enjoyable.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | Final Score: 4.02/5

Cheers!

 

I think I actually tried this when I visited the brewery in March, but I think I enjoyed it more then than I did tonight. Could have been the environment or the company, or the fact that it was like the fourth brewery of the day. El Krieko from Ale Apothecary.

750ml corked/caged bottle served in a slightly tulippy wineglass. Batch 4.16.20.

Pours a dark, murky, purple-brown with a small head. Small amount of light carbonation. Smell is cherry, tart, sweet tart chalky. Maybe some vanilla cream.

Taste is moderately tart, fairly strong cherry, tart is getting stronger. Fruit skin / stem earthiness.

Mouthfeel is medium heft with a moderate chalky texture. Overall, it's pretty good.

 

Tonight is a new to me beer

Sam Adams – Winter Lager

5.6% ABV

The beer is listed as a “winter lager” on the bottle, and “Bock – traditional” on BA.

The beer was removed from a 45ish degree temp fridge after having been refrigerated for approximately 1 month. Beer poured into nonic pint.

First Impression: Perhaps thin, and opaque. 3.75

Appearance: Light brown/amber; light for a bock. Nice head at start, but recedes quickly. 3.5

Smell: Not a lot of anything, but I am getting some cola with a twist of lemon. 3.5

Taste: Thankfully taste does not follow the nose. Taste is full of typical bock flavors, just a ‘light’ version, so to speak. Lots of roasted malt, chocolatey and (weak) caramel flavors. Not very bready. Not very malty, surprisingly. 3.75

Mouthfeel: Thin; thinner than an Oktoberfest, but not watery-thin. 3.5

Overall: This isn’t an unenjoyable beer. If I was given this, I’d gladly drink it and have another. It’s enjoyable. Is it a good beer? Don’t know I’d go that far. Would I buy a 6 pack? Not a chance. Would I buy 1-3 in a 4 month time span? Maybe. 1 for sure. 2-3? Maybe. 3.75


BA Review Score: 3.65


My review can be found here: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/520715/?ba=Beer_Economicus#review

 

Bless her

 

Sorry about your dog! Hope she recovers quickly.

 

Tonight is a new to me beer

Paulaner – Oktoberfest Marzen

5.8% ABV

The beer is listed as a “Oktoberfest Marzen” on the bottle, and “Lager – Marzen” on BA.

The beer was removed from a 45ish degree temp fridge after having been refrigerated for approximately 2 weeks. Beer poured into a HB stein.

First Impression: Looks the part. Pretty. Clear. 4.5

Appearance: This is what I would call a golden amber color. Somewhere between gold and amber. 4.35

Smell: Bier, first and foremost, as I always say. Followed by a small amount of rye spice, bread, malt, There seems to be an almost underlying lemon zest note, almost dancing on the hairs in your nostrils, if you know what I mean. 4.0

Taste: Not as flavorful as some others. A bit more one-note. A bit of bread, a bit of malt. None of the rye or lemon mentioned above. I’m struggling to identify much, as it tastes a bit watered down. 3.75

Mouthfeel: A tad thin. I almost think of most oktoberfests as being almost syrupy in their consistency, but not that thick. That may be odd. I’m struggling to describe exactly what I mean. There’s something about them that is a bit thicker on the mouth than I think they appear. 4.0

Overall: I enjoyed this. I’d have more if I had them, but at the same time I don’t think I’ll specifically seek out more of these compared to others. Very middle of the road for me. 4.00

BA Review Score: 3.921

My review can be found here: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/124/386/?ba=Beer_Economicus#review

 

As @MNAle is aware, this is a favorite of mine. Really love it.

 

I like the new kitchen !

 

I would say I’d be right over but after a six hour flight and the drive to your house the meal would be long gone. Leftovers?

Thanks for the dog wishes guys, she’s a trooper.

 

Poured into a 16 oz Nordic pint glass canned on 11/17/21. Pours an attractive hazy yellow orange with a half finger sticky white head that leaves thin streaks of lace with solid retention. 4.25

Aroma passionfruit, peach, cantaloupe, tangerine, and apricot. 4

Taste follows passionfruit, peach, cantaloupe, tangerine, and apricot. 4

Mouthfeel is a little bigger than average, rather soft carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 7% it goes down very easy. 4.25

Overall this one is really solid, no wow factor but still a very well made NEIPA. 4

 

Schell Cave Aged Barrel Aged Dark Lager


There's snow on the ground here in MN, let's have Schell's new aged lager, sorry about the fuzzy picture!

Appearance: Very dark brown, huge head.

Smell: Roasted malt, bit of coffee, some wood.

Taste: Sweet, then a roasted note, then a pretty big and lasting vanilla note. Mouthfeel is very coating.

Overall: I try to pick up Schell's cave-aged beers yearly, but they can be pretty scarce on the shelves. I went in somewhat blind as I had not read anything about this year's version. I thought it might be in the Czech dark lager vein, but instead was a big, coating, sweet porter. Sweet, but not cloying, an enjoyable beer.

 

Good day BAs! My contribution to this NBW's edition of NBS:



This delicious NEIPA comes from @Roy_Hobbs and NBS BIF #14.


Big Stoner (2021) from Whetstone. Received from @Roy_Hobbs in BIF #14. 16 oz can. Stored at home at 38 degrees. Reviewed 5/12/21. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
Undated can. Served at 54.5 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. Final temperature 56.4 degrees.
Appearance – 4.
First pour – Pale Gold (SRM 4), hazy and dirty.
Body – Pale Gold (SRM 4), opaque. When rear-lite, translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum four cm, aggressive center pour after rolling the can), floral white, diminishing to an eight to thirteen mm ragged crown with pieces of lacing remaining above and a thick partial cap. Second pour produces a 0.9 cm head.
Lacing – Good. Thick rings of tiny to small bubbles connected by thin sheets of lacing.
Aroma – 4 – Strong citrus, mostly orange with a bit of grapefruit dankness.
Flavor – 4.25 – Taste follows the nose but slightly bitter, no malt, no yeast. No ethanol (7.9 % ABV, as marked on container) taste or aroma. No gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 4 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 (After deducting 0.25 point off the top for undated container) Very enjoyable NEIPA, citrusy and somewhat dank. Ethanol is entirely absent from flavor or aroma. Very easy drinking but the 7.9% ABV may sneak up. If this were available locally, it’d be in my reefer.

Rating 4.05, rDev +1.5%

Just as an aside - Whetstone is one of those irritating brewers who order you to "DRINK FRESH" but can't be bothered with dating their cans so you will actually know if you're drinking it fresh.

 

Good morning BAs! We arrived in Richmond yesterday and stayed the night at our friend’s house in The Fan. Some morning juice - “Plant Candy” a Spruce Tip IPA by a small brewery, Amor Artis Brewing, in Fort Mill, SC:



Pours hazy deep gold; fleeting tight white head; poor cap retention; solid ring; soapy lacing. Orange with a mild cat piss nose. Sharp orange peel flavor, yet mild bitterness; firm malt base; herbal/spruce(?) finish/aftertaste. Dusty dry tongue coating; moderate minus carbonation; no warmth from 7.5% abv; slightly astringent; medium light body. Overall, not unpleasant, but I don’t like the feel and can do without the hop burn; the nose and taste, for me, verges on unpleasant - the combo of spruce tips in the boil and the DDHing w/Simcoe, Topaz, Pacific Jade, and Mosaic? I will say I could drink the pint, but for me, another one and done.

4.0 | 3.25 | 3.5 | 3.25 | 3.25
Score: 3.4 rDev - 4%

I’ve had spruce tip IPAs before and I can see they are not for me…add Simcoe and Mosaic into the mix and I question why I keep giving this hop combination a go…

Cheers and have a great Sunday y’all!

 

Optimism?
Kudos for being willing to give something new a try!
The only question I have - For Breakfast?

 

Love the Kveik discussion @beergoot & @ichorNet . My experience with the style is consistent with Beergoot's, it's about the smooth flavor from the yeast. I pretty much stuck with this Kveik beer the whole evening @ Tenaya Creek after enjoying the first one so much. I really hope to see it there next month when I return, and hopefully through other brewers.

Welcome to New Beer Sunday #876! Returning with another local barleywine, this one a collaboration by Half Acre and Revolution, the second collaboration from them this year.

Half Acre & Revolution Brewing On & On Part 2



Can Notes: 16 oz canned 8/30/21 C, 2023 15:50 Psychedelic Beer. Bourbon Barrel Aged Rye Barleywine. 13.7% ABV, Can art by Matt Gordon.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a large snifter. Dark brown base, creamy rich tan head fades quickly leaving faint white ring above the base. Looks very thick, with slow motion carbonation rising to the top. I don't recall ever seeing carbonation ascend at a slower pace. 4.25

Aroma: Raisins and bourbon ten minutes after opening. Dates and molasses follow as this warms further, balanced. 3.75

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, with the bourbon leading, followed by molasses and then raisins, plums and dates. Sweet bordering on too sweet for my preference but within style, bourbon smooth and does somewhat attempt to balance but ultimately to no avail, minimal rye presence. 3.5

Mouthfeel: The most unique aspect of this pour is the thickness. Consistent with the visual cues, this is one of if not the thickest beer of any style I've tried. Texture near drinking syrup out of a bottle. Near full body, very syrupy / creamy. Sweet overall. Starts out lighter potency wise with the strong ABV, I'm taking this slow and will likely leave the remaining half until later today. Sweet molasses aftertaste. 4.25

Overall: This is a sweet take on barleywine. I enjoyed the bourbon portion, but the malt sweetness without any hops containment left this too cloying for my preferences Unique mouthfeel, didn't expect that aspect. Took the jump due to the rye, but it did not deliver. Enjoyed their first collaboration more. 3.5

 

Good morning NBS/nbw and thanks @Roguer for hosting this weekend.
Todays offering is from Tree House Brewing. Solitude is a Marzenbier style lager.
I was gifted this can from a good friend, a lovely lager. Clean, concise, and very tasty.
As someone who does not seek out Tree House products, this lager is a real treat.
Do good
Be well

Solitude

Lager - Märzen | 5.3% ABV

Tree House Brewing Company
Charlton, Massachusetts

4.13/5 rDev -0.5% | Average: 4.15
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Poured from a 16 oz can, dated 11/01/21 into the test glass
A - Rusty amber color, excellent clarity. A gentle pour yielda a lovely off white, loose knit froth. Carbonation is lager gentle, with spheres wandering topside at their own speed.
S - All are hints, caramel, noble hop earthiness, kiss of roast malts, and some dark honey.
T - Roast malt, caramel, a hint of pepper, maybe from Tettnang hops, a really nice cereal grain expression.
M - Delicate, balanced, semi sweet start, slight nudge by the hops adds a nice bitter bite. Finish is clean and dry.
O - A very good beer, clean, refind. Stays in its lane with no outlying elements.

 

That looks exactly like Brisk, which I enjoyed about a month ago thanks to @WunderLlama.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/28743/512030/

Cheers!

 

Possibly the last new one for the weekend. I really enjoy Narwhal, don't believe I've seen BA Narwhal before so here we are. Not sure why so often these big boy beers come in 16 oz when their younger siblings come in 12 oz. Anyway...



Pours thinner than Narwhal to be honest, not sure why. It's lovely though. Also at a great price point for BA. Lots of depth of character, warming, alcoholic bite which I enjoy. The barrel is predominant which is a nice change of pace. I like that this is adjunct-free and I feel that likely conducts the orchestra of wood.

If you enjoy a woody barrel character that isn't undercut and mellowed by chocolate or coffee and their kin then I think this really lives up to that epithet. The only critique would be in the body, but the overall warmth kind of carries that regardless so in time one easily forgets it's a touch thin. There's nothing green about this, which I certainly experienced with, say BA old raspy or old stock recently. Great stuff as always from SN, wouldn't have said no to a hint of a head though. Have a great Sunday!