New Beer Weekend #85

Does this mean you are off your pain medication? I hope you are indeed doing better!

 

I have a confession with this beer. This beer was not intended for me.
I picked this up just about two years ago, with the intention of giving it to Terry when I saw him next, seeing as he's a fan of raspberries and that. Then there was this whole pandemic thing, and so I never really made it up to Bellingham again. I suppose I could have shipped it up, but I never did. So, Terry, apologies! Don't mean to rub it in! I think they release it every year anyway, so I'll try and snag one this year

Holy Mountain - Sacred Geometry (2020[?] bottle)



So the pour looks... listen, I work in health care, so these are the things I see, but it looks like the bloody urine of someone with a kidney injury. Kind of yellow and rusty red coming together. There's initially a fuzzy little head of off white, but it settles off pretty quick and all but disappears.

Nose is very berry forward, even two years later. Raspberries often carry a lot of tart bramble to them, and that's the dominant note here, though there's also a decent amount of juiciness highlighting the 'fruit' side of the berry. A touch of yeasty tart, but the berry really carries the day. Oak mellows the foundation and gives it a smoothe underlying character.

The taste is much the same: the raspberry leads the way, bringing both it's bramble tartness as well as some of hte red juiciness of the berry, all smoothed down by oak. Again, I expected more of a brett-y character, especially considering it had been sitting for so long, and I usually think of brett as playing UP over time, but whether it's the way it was originally built, or if the oak has just been stronger in smoothing that down, or what, the brett is relegated to a kind of bardic inspiration role of giving the bramble character of the berry a boost, and there's some very faint barn yard type funk, but again, we're talking like halfway down the credits supporting character here.

The finish gives a little tart kiss, but is more the juiciness of the berry, and honestly, I'm not some pucker-fiend, but I was kind of looking for a little more tart/sour today as the juiciness comes, gives a ghost of an impression of tart, and then kind of washes away not watery, not thin, but just kind of there and then not there.

Overall, I really like it. I like raspberries as well, and -- not to rub it in -- but I think this expresses them very well. It's an approachable fruited sour, and while it's not quite the normal manifestation of Holy Mountain's prowess, especially when it comes to working with brett, it's still another very well made beer out of a brewery from whom I have come to expect nothing less.

Cheers y'all!!

oh yeah, also she said yes, which was no surprise, but it's officially official and it's exciting.
(didn't get a picture of the actual moment since it was just the two of us, but pretend that's it, because that was the spot, and the dog and I are both old men who are fortunate to have her in our lives!)

 

Good Sunday afternoon, New Beer Sippers and commentators. Spring is in the air here in North Jersey! It's about 70° and sunny. Nice to be drinking on the deck again even though this temperature will be short-lived. Last week, Rushing Duck released Part VIII, its latest blend of BA Barleywine and BA Stout (in this case an Imperial Milk Stout). They also brewed a delicious variant conditioned on Star Anise and dehydrated orange, which I had at the brewery. Sadly, the BA Barleywine finished with rum raisins had already sold out. I would have loved to try it. Rushing Duck excels at blending big, barrel-aged Stouts and Barleywines and Part VIII is no exception.

Poured at 57°. The color is a dark cola-mahogany with a half finger of creamy, khaki-colored head and lacing. The fragrant nose offers roasted malt, buttery caramel, toffee, brown sugar, raisin, fig, milk chocolate, and freshly-brewed coffee. This is luscious. It opens like a Barleywine with with lots of oak, caramel, raisin, and date. It then takes on the flavor and feel of a Stout with abundant bakers chocolate, burnt coffee, and nutty char. At one week in the bottle the bourbon notes are strong and add sweetness. It will be interesting to see how it mellows over time. The mouth feel is thick and sticky with moderate carbonation, and it drinks big at 15% ABV.

This Strong Ale should age well; RD's blends usually do. I have 3 more bottles and probably should have bought more.

4.43/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I hope everyone is enjoying their new beer(s) today. As always, I enjoy reading your reviews. Cheers, NBW!

 

Hope you feel better very soon, Andrew!

 

Greetings All from the Great Northwest where we are sunny and seasonal, with temps in the upper 40s. Being of Norwegian descent I'm rooting for the Norwegian today at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This weekend we have Super Cluster a Citrus hopped IPA.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/220/339972/?ba=RJLarse#lists

A very good IPA and very drinkable at 8.0 ABV.

Until next time

 

Even though I've lived in Minnesota for 25+ years, I've not had a Leinenkugel beer since I started reviewing beer about 8 years ago.

Of course, I have had a Leinie's lager many times, now called Leinie's Original; IDK if it was always called that or not... you go into any bar or restaurant around here and order a "Leinie's", and that's what you get, (just like if you simply order a "Summit" you get an EPA) so what was its official name? Who knows?

A week or two ago, I bought the Leinenkugel's Toasted Bock on a bit of a whim. I had nothing really in mind except that I'd never reviewed a Leinie's before and it was bock season.

Later, when I thought about having both the Leinie's and the Schell's in my refrigerator, I decided a side-by-side might be interesting (at least, to me). That is how I got here. It wasn't planned or anything. Just a random idea.

So, I consider this to be a comparison, not a competition, and it is a comparison with each other and with the style expectations.

Leinenkugel’s Toasted Bock
ABV: 5.1% (a bit on the light side for a traditional German-style bock)
IBU: 21
Brewer's notes:
Leinenkugel’s Toasted Bock is our refreshing take on a traditional bock beer – a style that originated in southern Germany in the early seventeenth century. We combine German and American ingredients to create a smooth and slightly toasty version of a bock beer. We hope you love it as much as we do! - The Leinenkugel Family

OK, with those words, sounds like fair game to compare this beer to an American-brewed legitimate German-style bock beer. I know some consider the Leinie's to be more of an American seasonal "bock", more along the lines of, oh, perhaps Shiner Bock, and perhaps it actually is. But, The Leinenkugel Family is making the direct reference to the 300+ year old German traditional bock, so who am I to argue?

Schell's Bock
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 24
Brewer's notes:
A dark-amber colored beer with a rich flavor and robust malt character that is commonly consumed during the coldest winter months. Our Bock is fermented slowly and lagered longer to ensure a smooth finish. Kick bock and enjoy a cold one!

I've had this beer many times, and always enjoyed it and found it to be a legitimate German-style bock beer. In my opinion, Schell's is the top brewer of German-style lagers in the state.

Even so, I do have a sentimental soft-spot for Leinenkugel. Though they are now owned by Molson Coors, they do have a long history in this region before that, and a "Leinie" was one of the first more-or-less "local" beers I had on my first visit to Minnesota years ago.

So, on to the comparison.



The Leinie's is darker, with a shorter head with a shorter retention. The Schell's head is still a solid ¼ to ½ inch when the Leinie's has become a thin cap. Both are clear, adequately carbonated. The Schell's leaves attractive sticky lacing. The Leinie's leaves no lacing.

The Shell's aroma is much stronger, bready, caramel, dark fruit, nutty, spice. The Leinie's aroma is nearly absent, but if I linger I can pick up the somewhat sweet toasted malts. Some caramel perhaps.

The Leinie's flavor is quite enjoyable, but light. Mild bread. Toasted malts. Light sweetness, light caramel. Slight bitterness in the middle through to the finish. Slightly bitter toasted malts characterize the back end and the aftertaste. These flavors linger in my mouth resulting in an enjoyable, refreshing late winter seasonal beer.

The Schell's flavor is easily distinguished. Stronger, rich, and more flavorful. Malty and moderately bitter, some spice. The bread, spice, and bittering persist through to the finish and remain in my mouth well into the aftertaste. The flavor is rich with bread, caramel, dark fruits and some floral. Nutty, slightly sweet. The Schell's flavor is pretty much spot on for the style. Maybe not up with the top German bocks, but quite good.

The Leinie's body is thin-ish, but refreshing. It has more body than your typical adjunct lager, though.

The Shell's body is moderate, and, by comparison to the Lienie's, even substantial (though only by comparison). The mouth feel is smooth and dry.

Overall, the Leinie's is a good, refreshing winter lager, that does hit the spot so long as you are not expecting more than an unassuming, refreshing, malty beer. If you're thinking traditional bock, as the brewer seems to claim, it does not measure up on that scale when compared with the Schell's (let alone a German bock).

I have had the Schell's Bock nearly every spring for years, so it was no real mystery to me how this comparison would turn out. Overall, it is a relatively faithful rendition of a German-style Traditional Bock beer. I look forward to it every spring.

In this is a side-by-side, given the brewer's verbiage, I have rated the Leinie's as a Traditional Bock. If you are looking for an easy-drinking refreshing malty late winter lager, I do recommend it (and would rate it higher on that scale). If you're looking for a traditional German-style Bock, move along.

Leinie's: L: 3.5 | S: 3.25 | T: 3.5 | F: 3.25 | O: 3.5 | Rating: 3.42

Schell's: L: 4.0 | S: 4.0 | T: 4.25 | F: 4.0 | O: 4.25 | Rating: 4.15



This side-by-side was fun. For me, anyway. So much so that I'm thinking of doing another next weekend.

Next weekend will be my St. Patrick's Day (observed), at least for new beers.

I have on deck two new beers and one not new to me that might make another interesting (again, to me, at least) side by side comparison.

As a bit of a tease, I have a beer by THE OFFICIAL BREWER for St. Patrick's Day, although not their iconic St. Pats beer (and not even brewed in Ireland), another that is claimed to be Ireland's "most loved ale" (well, the export beer with a similar name anyhow) and a third from a very highly rated American craft brewer of the same style (in name, anyway) as that "most loved ale."

Should be fun.

 

Great reviews! I have to check out Mad Visionary. My first - and only - experience with Twin Lights was a Stout that didn't impress. But I've heard good things about the IPAs so I'll look for Mad Visionary.

 

Finally able to post again, apparently Yahoo mail is playing silly buggers for some reason.

So I found I really like a good dark lager and most everything from Transient is good, so this was a no brainer.
Poured darker than cola but not black, and the manilla colored head was short and brief. Curious.
The aroma was mild, almost unnaturally so, but maybe my nose was on the fritz.
The taste was good, caramel like malts and some bitterness, due to the roasted malts or hops I couldn’t tell. It had an almost metallic feel to the flavor, I spent the drink trying to figure out what it was.
The feel was good, I had no issues with it at all.
OA, glad to have tried this, I prefer others from Transient so likely won’t revisit it.
Ah well, I guess they can’t do everything well!

 

My last beer of this was like tasting a dusty musty barn, it was gross.

 

That’s funny, last time I was given narcotics for pain, I quit taking them because I couldn’t discern any improvement. I pretty much stick with “vitamin I” for everything.
Hopefully your partner survives the unintended chemical attack!

 

Now that it's completely warmed, is does taste dusty, but I like barns, been accused of being born in one.

I think the dusty flavor is the room-temperature cinnamon. Cinnamon was light when it was cold, stronger as it warmed, and replaced by "dustiness" when fully warm. Still like it.

 

Afternoon NBS hope everyones enjoying their Sunday.
Busy week ended with a party of 150 yesterday. Pretty hard beer night last night. Played some tunes too. Good times. I will be working on St Pats so I tossed a chunk of corned beef in the sous vide cooker for a long 2 day bath.
I want to mention that I lost my Mother 11 years ago this day to Frontal Lobe Dementia and I miss her everyday....to just have one more conversation...
Soooo lets get to todays first brew from a Brewery Ive heard of but I never tried and the first time Ive seen it here.
Hailing from Pittsburgh PA
Dancing Gnome Etch IPA w/ Enigma and Citra Cryo.
Pouring a sunny, cloudy yellow with a sea foamy white head that doesnt hang for long. There are sparse spots of lacing.
Upon popping the top I do get a fruity explosion of white wine grape and lychee, than orange, lemon and some passionfruit, green herbal notes.
Taste follows with winey grape, lemon, lime, orange and some piney bitterness, grassy, lightly malted, not sweet, drying on the finish, green hops, prickly lasting carbonation keeps is feel medium light on the body of this crisp easy drinking 6.6%. A quenching brew that would be good in warmer weather. Theres just a tiny bit missing somewhere in the middle but its a very good IPA and yes its different which is a plus in a sea of NE IPAs.
Good beer I enjoyed my first from DG.
Cheers all, and to Mom Salute!

 

Yeppers. But in all fairness to Weihenstephan, that looks to be 25 Euros for a carton of 6 glasses. So the actual cost per glass works out to about 4.17 Euros ($4.60 - $5).

As MNAle stated in his reply, the real kicker would be the $90+ shipping
That and the time for the glasses to make their way over here.

 

I had Schell bock on tap at a bar on friday night, but it seemed to have more of a floral/herbal hop note to me than as in the past or from cans that I have had the last few weeks.

A few weekends ago I had a big mug (tap) of Leinenkugel’s Toasted Bock at bar in Hudson. I thought it was much better than the cans/bottles from last fall's batch.

Great side by side review of the bocks.

 

I hope you feel better quickly Andrew.
Sounds like youre on the right track.

 

Huge congrats @kemoarps that is some exciting news indeed.