New Beer Weekend #107

Czech Mate

It seems like this summer has been the summer of Bohemian (Czech) Pilsners. Two local craft breweries have produced these beers for the first time this summer and in the past month(s) I discussed them in NBW posts:

· Workhorse Czech’d Out: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-98.667288/#post-7540705

· Tired Hands Trendler Czech Pilsner: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-105.668085/#post-7571893

Thanks to the generosity of a good friend, I have another new (to me) Bohemian (Czech) Pilsner: Stark Puppy Dog Pilsner

On the back of the can is the below story:

“A Czech-Style Pilsner with the noble hop character of Saaz Hops that give that earthy and spicy taste and aroma, balanced with the rich maltiness from caramel malts, and a silky mouthfeel brough out by a healthy dose of wheat. Clean and smooth but full of flavor.”

Hmm, a couple things ‘jumped out’ at me:

Did the brewer really add “caramel malts” to this beer? When I homebrew my Bohemian Pilsner I solely use base malts for brewing that beer.

And using some “wheat” (wheat malt I presume) is not something I have heard of before for brewing a Bohemian Pilsner.

Oh well, it is what the beer tastes like which is of greater importance to me so…

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a two finger white head (which dissipated fairly quickly).

Aroma:

Mostly a bready malt smell with a ‘hint’ of sweetness.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose a sweet-ish bready malt flavor. There is some hop flavor there but very little. As the beer opens up there is some caramel-like flavor. This beer has a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a somewhat smooth mouthfeel. There is an off-dry finish.

Overall:

I enjoyed drinking this beer but it lacked balance. This beer would have benefited from more hop flavor accompanied with a drier finish.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @Bierman9

 

Thank you @Mdog for kicking things off. I'm finishing up my review and was beginning to draft an opening before noticing your thread. Thank you!!!

This is the first Kvass beer I've ever tried or rated. Expecting an liquid rye bread experience based on the bottle notes. Giddy Up!

Jester King Kvass



Bottle Notes: 25.4 oz bottle purchased for IIRC $10 at Local Option in May 2020. Properly cellared until 12/23/21, refrigerated until opening today. Batch #2 - September 2017. Farmhouse Ale brewed with Miche Bread.4.4% ABV.

Ingredients: Unfiltered Hill Country Well Water, Pale Two Row from Blacklands Malt, Malted Barley, Miche Bread, Malted Rye, Flaked Rye, Raw Rye, Hops, Mixed Culture of Brewers Yeast, Native Yeast and Native Bacteria. Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans.

Brewer Notes: For Kvass, we took 300 lbs. of rye bread baked by Sandeep Gyawali of Miche Bread and added it to our mash tun along with malted barley and rye. We then fermented the wort with our mixed culture of native microorganisms in stainless steel prior to refermentation in bottles, kegs and casks. Unfiltered, unpasteurized, and 100% naturally conditioned.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a 0.5 liter Willi Becher glass. Clear bronze base, mild carbonation. Generous egg-white tan head lingers for several minutes before leaving a creamy cover over the base, and soapy lacing in its wake. 4.25

Aroma: Firm and pleasant spicy dark pumpernickel rye pepper leads. Dates and raisins follow. Getting tartness to balance the sweet flavors bursting through. Strong and pleasant. 4.5

Taste: Very sweet bread, very much like a fruitcake with dates, raisins hints of rye and pepper back, less prominent than the aroma. Sour tart funky Brett becomes stronger as I am working through it. Far more complex than a "bread" beer I imagined before opening. Very concentrated flavors and feelings throughout. Pacing not for any lack of enjoyment, but to manage the intense flavors and sweetness. 4.5

Mouthfeel: At first I was getting a very sweet bread taste, but as I work through the first third, I am getting sour tartness balancing the proceedings, and leading for a more balanced/enjoyable experience for my sweet averse beer palate. Very heavy feeling body, like liquid bread concentrate with not enough water added. Nominal carbonation felt. Drinks very light, lighter than the ABV at first, but starts to hit you a third of the way in. Sweetness definitely lingers beyond each sip. 4.75

Overall: This is a very pleasant experience for my first Kvass beer. Sweet gingerbread and heavy malt similar to a heavier dopplebock with less alcohol. I am slowly working through this large bottle due to the intense level of flavors and sweetness. I am enjoying this beer, and would gladly seek this style out in the future. So glad I picked up this bottle! 4.5

I'll be on the lookout for Kvass beers, and hope I find one sooner than the 7 years it took to finally enjoy this one.

 

Funny @JackHorzempa speaking of different Czech pilsners a NJ brewery just released on called czech mate; base of floor malted bohemian pils (good start) and hopped with 100% New Zealand Riwaka hops

Now I didn’t try it, and taste is the most important part but how the hell can they call it a Czech pils and even name it CZECH mate, oh well…

 

Thank you, @Mdog, for getting this thread started.
The coming week should be an interesting one. My daughter is heading off to a meeting in Seattle. She'll be gone for a week, and my wife and I will be watching her boys. They are 12 and 15 years old, and quite a handful. I'm hoping they will be on their best behavior for grandma and grandpa.
My new beer for today is Juxtaposed, a New England pale ale from Stoneface. When we lived in Maine Stoneface beers were a regular in my fridge, so this was a welcome sight.
A hazy yellow/brown color, looks like banana pudding. Tiny white head.
Fruity aroma, some pine.
Taste of grapefruit, melon, and pine.
Nice bite of hops.

 

Now you just need to pay your daughter the checked luggage fee for a box of beer flown right back to New Mexico.

 

I am personally unfamiliar with Riwaka hops; to the best of my knowledge/recollection I have never tasted a beer that features these hops.

From a quick web search (with emphasis in bold by me):

“Flavor & Aroma Profile

Riwaka is an aroma hop that is typically used in only late boil additions, including dry hopping.

Specific aroma descriptors of the Riwaka hop includes powerfully fueled tropical passion fruit with grapefruit and citrus characters. This variety has a higher than average oil content, almost double that of its Saazer parent.”

And:

“Hop Substitutions

If the Riwaka hop is hard to find or if you are simply out of it on brew day, you can try to substitute it with a similar hop. The old way of choosing replacement hops was done by experience and "feel". There is nothing wrong with that way. However, we wanted to build a data-driven tool to find your Riwaka substitutions.

Experienced brewers have chosen the following hops as substitutions of Riwaka:

Saaz (CZ)

Citra

Calypso

Centennial

Motueka”

https://beermaverick.com/hop/riwaka/

So, according to the above information Riwaka hops are noted for having aromas/flavors of “passion fruit with grapefruit and citrus characters” but then lists Saaz as a potential substitute. I personally can’t reconcile these two aspects.

If you ever get a chance to try this beer I would very much appreciate your thoughts. Sometimes how a beer actually tastes can be heavily influence by how a certain ingredient is used. For example if the brewery used a light hand in using the Riwaka hops (e.g., just a little bit used for late kettle additions) maybe those flavor descriptors listed above are less applicable.

Cheers!

P.S. Darn it, I had a feeling I should have trademarked “Czech Mate”.

 

That's a brilliant idea!

 

Hopefully we see a pic in the beer haul thread next week

 

There is a great video of Kathleen Madigan (stand up comic) where she did a routine of her parents babysitting her niece and nephew (which were quite a handful). I can’t remember the whole routine but at the end her father and mother were discussing what to say to their daughter about how the kids behaved. Her father stated to his wife: “Just shut up about what happened. The grandkids are still alive. Just hand them off and then let’s go to the casino”.

Word of wisdom here?

Best of luck!!

Cheers!

P.S. And drink lots of beer!

 

Hey what's going on!?

Good times I think, getting in one new brew before I head out the door for some errands and fun activities. New beers at the ready but I am going to save it for tomorrow. Got a project to work on which will perfect for some beers in hand to work on and hunker down on.

In the meantime we had a Kölsch tasting, and saw this new one on the shelf so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

Checkerspot Brewing Co. - Under the Over



Poured from the can into a Gaffel stange glass.

Deep brass and nearly metallic bronze yellow color, with great clarity and hints of fine linear carbonation. Heck the color nearly matches the metallic yellow on the can! Sudsy and classic three finger white with big soapy bubbles and some retention as well.

Sharp grains on the aroma, quite dry sensing with a classic bready pils sensing flavor. Neutral hop angle but a bit quiet on that front making it a bit hard to discern, with a slight honey sweetness.

Palate produces some surprises. Light bodied a bit flirting with wet and somewhat watery texture. Sweet malt and touching honey, but a big caramel like sweetness particularly on the finish. Doesn't come off that clean like in character, but with a delicious bready and almost toffee angle of sweet sugar. Some mild sensing herbal bitterness of hop.

Doesn't come like a typical Kölsch, but is still a tasty drinkable brew.

look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75 | Score: 3.78

Cheers!

 

Happy weekend to everyone lets enjoy some new beers together. A sort of side by side comparison of two great beers!

Funny enough I took have a czech pilsner up Jack...I grabbed a single while on vacation in Vermont last week, more incoming this weekend and next. Tonewood, my favorite brewery, brewed a Czech Pils this summer called Focal Point, it was one of the best beers I think I've ever had. For my taste and wants it was about perfect. I recommended to @TongoRad and in his review he mentioned this beer...So I purposely drank this the day after I had a Tonewood Focal Point, not a true side by side I tried to mimic that at the end of my review

Schilling - Alexandr



Pours a nice slightly darker shaded straw color; good clarity with a nice thin layer of white head that persists. Some splotches of lace from the initial head.

The nose has a very refreshing herbal quality to it; with a sort of light bee balm leaf aroma. Crushed pepper spice and a tangy bread like note.

The taste is really nice and hoppy in they’re very front and center yet so balanced somehow. Immediately is herbal, grassy, spicy but it quickly pivots to very light bread crust.

This beer is incredibly drinkable; it has a light yet almost full feel to it while it’s on the tongue. That all seemingly disappears into thin air once that sip goes down. The perfect combination of bitter and dry, it’s almost like it gives your mouth a parched feel that makes you feel like your thirsty and need another sip.

This beer shines so much on mouthfeel for me; it is the perfect companion to the flavors of this beer. I will gladly purchase this beer again whenever I see it.
-------

Here is my "sort of side by side" drank a day apart from one another...

Focal Point has much better clarity and way nicer feeling carbonation but less mouthfeel; the fuller feel of alexandr isn’t present in Tonewood's beer. Both beers are nice and hoppy in the same way too almost; focal point maybe more straight grassy spice without the little herbal note that I got from Alexandr. Verdict; to me the creamy fuller carbonation coupled with slightly less full body and the better appearance leave me wanting more Focal Point. It’s drinkability is substantially higher IMO. This may be due to the 1.2% lower abv; or a combination of factors.

The beers are both similar and made almost perfectly but I guess my preferences lean me towards Tonewoods; https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/46284/608979/?ba=jonphisher#lists

I've been tempted to up this beer to my only 5 because in two months of drinking it continues to wow me in every way possible; a perfect beer...maybe it finally deserves to be my unicorn 5.

Can't wait to be back later today!!!

 

I discussed Schilling Alexandr in a past NBW thread in an actual side-by-side tasting:

Overall:

Alexandr: If I was handed this beer blind I would have commented that it is a tasty German Pilsner albeit a tad one dimensional.

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

My wife was watching me as I was conducting this side-by-side taste test. She requested a taste of both beers. I told her since I had an ‘extra’ beer she could have one. She selected Jack’s BoPils.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-38.657313/#post-7229300

I enjoyed drinking the four cans of Schilling Alexandr but I was not inspired to make a repeat purchase. One BA replied to me that perhaps the four-pack I bought was a ‘bad batch’. Never having purchased this beer again this is just speculation.

Cheers!

 

To re-enforce what @FBarber posted above, here is something I posted in a past thread about my first experience drinking Kvass:

"I attended a bottle share event and one fellow brought a couple of bottles of Kvass to share. I believe that was the first time I saw beer in plastic (soda like) bottles. I had a very similar experience as you but fortunately I only accepted one pour and I requested that pour to be very small. It may be unfair to 'paint with a broad brush' but after that one (small) experience I decided to never drink Kvass ever again."

 

A new American Pale Wheat Beer by 67 Degrees Bring of scenic Franklin Massachusetts.
Summer Wheat, not one of my favorites from this brewery and not very true to style.
Somewhat refreshing, a good choice for hot weather.




Summer Wheat

American Pale Wheat Beer | 5.1% ABV
67 Degrees Brewing in Franklin, Massachusetts

Reviewed by Amendm from Florida

3.21/5 rDev 0% | Average: 3.21
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
A 16-oz pour at the brewery. Cloudy orange-straw body with a short lived soapy white head.

Orange juice greets the nose with general citrus, toasted wheat bread and herbal hops in the background.

Neutral taste with above average bitterness, artificial orange flavor is tangy, sour, chalky and in control. Malt flavor is washed out, hop flavor clings on. The finish is drawn out as "orange" flavor drops off, hop bitterness lingers.

Medium-light bodied with below average carbonation. Not very true to style, New England style Wheat Beer?

 

Trademark that now!

The next new 'it' IPA sub-style!?!

Cheers!

 

Woodgrain Night Work B (Lot #003) Imperial Milk Stout, 11.8% ABV. Pours black with a half-finger medium-brown head that left no lacing. Nose is slight bourbon. Taste is bourbon, chocolate, and lactose, moderately sweet, slightly bitter. Excellent mouthfeel, overall excellent to outstanding-adjacent.

4.38/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I rated this slightly higher than Night Work B, lot 1 presumably. I suspect the difference is the bourbon.