New Beer Weekend #110

An Old School Hazy beer

Before the Juicy/Hazy IPA was ‘invented’ there were wheat beers that were hazy. One of those hazy wheat beer styles is Witbier from Belgium. I think that Witbiers are pleasant summertime drinking beers.

The very first Witbier I ever had was Celis White circa 1998. That beer was brewed by Pierre Celis in the brewery he established in Austin, TX.

The story of the Witbier style and the Celis family (Pierre and Christine) is a long but interesting story. This is a short version of the story:

“Brewed in Belgium – Brewed in Austin

In the tradition of Belgian Brew Master Pierre Celis, this Wheat Beer is like the man – legendary. It’s his original recipe, first brewed by Pierre back in 1965. This signature Witbier sparkles with remnants of Coriander and Orange Peel that will take you back to the true taste, the first taste made famous by the one and only “Father of Witbier”

Pierre Celis 1925 – 2011”

For today’s beer drinking I have a new (to me) Witbier brewed in Belgium: Vedett Extra White.

As this beer is detailed on the Vedett website:

“Do not adjust your screen! Vedett Extra White is meant to be cloudy! And while this highly refreshing Belgian white ale may be hard to see through, she is a beer you can enjoy with all your (other) senses!

Revel in her refreshing citrus aromas with touches of coriander…

Feel the fulness of her smooth, grainy texture… And savour the subtle sweetness of her slightly perfumed, honey-like finish. All that remains is to listen to the sound of contentment as you open the next bottle!

Taste Fresh, subtle citrus-like & spicy aromas

Style: Belgian white beer

Malt: Pale barley malt & wheat malt

Hops & Spices: Coriander & Orange peel, Saaz-Saaz, Styrian Golding & Hallertau Magnum

Serving °C: 3°C

Alc. % Vol: 4.7%”

Well, given today’s hot weather this beer does indeed read “refreshing”. Let’s drink!

Served in my Heavy Seas Tulip glass:

Appearance

A hazy straw color with a white head.

Aroma

A very pleasant combination of citrus, floral and bready malt.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a tasty combination of citrus, floral with a light bready malt flavor. This beer has a low/moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel

A pleasant medium/soft body with a dry finish.

Overall

This beer is very good. An enjoyable summer sippin’ beer.

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

3.91/5 rDev -0.8%

look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 12 ounce can without a date into a snifter.

Look- Black, medium brown frothy head, opaque, above average head retention and lacing.

Smell- Cocoa, toasted oats.

Taste- Cocoa, toasted oats, coffee.

Feel- Between medium and full body, low bitterness, below average carbonation, silky, very mildly mouth coating.

Overall- Great look with a bouquet slightly dominated by toasted oats and pleasant flavors.

 

Long kayak complete this morning, Arsenal on the TV and a good beer in the glass. It's shaping up to be a good day!

First up is a beer my wife picked up recently at Allagash on her way back from her parent's house in Maine. I'm a huge fan of Allagash, and of this style, so I have high hopes for this beer. Let's see if it lives up to them.


4.32/5 rDev -0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
Bottled March 11, 2020. Pours a very attractive, glowing orange / pink / light rust color that is hard to describe, but that looks really good. Plenty of effervescent, long lasting head. Really nice looking beer, especially in a sunlit room.

The cherries come through on the nose, and are accompanied by a medium amount of funk. The bourbon barrels are subtle if there at all.

Taste is wonderful. It takes a deft touch to bring different flavors together in a way where each note complements the other without losing balance, and Allagash has definitely done that here. Cherries, oak, medium sour funk, and a surprisingly creamy mouthfeel. Do I have a style bias towards wild ales? Yes. Do I also have one towards Allagash? Also yes. That said, I'd have to think that even without those biases, this is a very good beer.

@FBarber I hope to see you drink one or two more FF beers this weekend. If I were home, I'd try to match what you are drinking, but alas, I'll have to enjoy them another day.

 

Pours a hazy milky yellow with a finger plus sticky white head, that clings to the sides of the glass like a fat kid a the last Snickers Bar, leaving thin streaks of lace with excellent retention. 4.75

Aroma is mango, papaya, passionfruit, tangerine, and apricot. 4.5

Taste follows papaya, passionfruit, mango, tangerine, and apricot really well balanced. 4.5

Mouthfeel is a little above average, not sticky or dry, nice creamy carbonation, and at 8.2% crazy drinkable. 4.5

Overall this one is pretty darn impressive. Highly recommend. 4.5 Cheers all.

 

Pre season fall soccer takes me “over the bridge “ to Cape Cod. Post match , where can I go for German Gatorades? Where can I go?



The easy answer is Tree House Cape Cod . A beautiful location on the water with a lightning storm illuminating the night. Fresh chicken tacos from the Beachside Food truck. Excellent staff all around , a recommended stop when heading to Cape Cod


Big one by Tree House



4.5/5 rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Brewers Notes: The Big One is our first canned Triple IPA

It is brewed and dry-hopped with a tremendous amount of hops roughly approximating the Haze hop bill. It tastes like orange juice, tropical fruit, and mango with a robust and supple mouthfeel.


German Gatorades served up post soccer match, on draft at Tree House Cape Cod

Poured into a 16oz embossed tree house snifter , hazy orange juice colored liquid , thick creamy one finger white foam cap

Aroma is orange citrus , mango , tropical fruits

Taste is mango, orange, tropical fruits, bubble gum , hint of dank on the finish

Velvety Smooth and juicy , gentle hop nibble on the finish. Semi dry finish

Deceptively smooth for a 9 percent abv TIPA. This is a sipper that goes down very easily

Good beer, recommended


Mangoes and Cream by Tree House


4.63/5 rDev +3.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Brewers Notes: Mangoes & Cream is a rendition of Haze featuring mango purée and vanilla beans. We utilize whole vanilla beans steeped in conditioning beer to extract the most authentic and beautiful vanilla character possible.
The result is an uncompromising and incredibly delicious libation with notes of ripe mango, peach nectar, and orange creamsicle. It's a stunning and highly unique flavor profile, indeed!

An ephemeral beer, you will want to keep it icy cold and enjoy it as fresh as possible for the best experience. Exposure to warmer temperatures will quickly accelerate the degradation of the flavor profile. So...what are you waiting for?

German Gatorades post soccer match at Tree House Cape Cod

Recommended by the guy at Tree House , “ they just opened up a nitro tap on Mangoes and Cream..”

Nitro tap pour into a 16oz clear embossed Tree House snifter produces a silky three finger white cream foam layer over a pulpy orange juice liquid, wispy lacings

Aroma is mango and vanilla

Taste is mango creamsicle , juicy mango and sweet creamy vanilla

Soft and smooth , sweet silkiness, the 8% abv is invisible

Ridiculously Good beer, recommended

 

Too funny my mother in law is going up to Maine with her sisters this week and just asked me a few hours ago if I wanted anything from Allagash or Maine Beer Co. as they are visiting both!

 

Good afternoon NBW
I have been on a quest for two years now to reach 100 oktoberfest reviews. I fell short last year when they split the category into Märzen and Festbier. This year I'm lucking out without having to trade or travel. I purchased Märzen #s 99 and 100 today. This one first.

Metazoa Barktoberfest

16oz undated can poured into a mug at fridge temp 5.3% ABV. The beer pours deep amber in color with light copper highlights and light khaki head. The head recedes to a thin ring, island and ridge of webby lacing. The aroma is mild with notes of semisweet, rich toasted bread and toffee. The taste is rich malt taking on the character of well done, not burnt, whole grain toast with additional very light toffee that never goes actual caramel. Mildly bitter with a touch of earthy hop. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with just less that average carbonation and a dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, outstanding. It's unfortunate that Metazoa chooses not to date their cans, but that is the only thing I can fault on this beer.

I have never purchased anything from this Indianapolis brewer before because their animal pun beer names and trend chasing overpriced 16oz cans never captured my attention. I'm thrilled with this four pack purchase. I went into this beer with zero expectations, got slightly excited reading the long description on the back of imported malts, double decoction and extended lagering and wound up with my highest rated Märzen (I think, haven't checked).

This beer manages to be rich, bready, and dry all at the same time. Infinitely drinkable and never gets sweet. Really delicious beer.

I guess that's why we tick? One time out of 100, you get something exceptional. Cheers all!

 

A black lager kind of weekend, I just went on my annual boys trip to visit my friend of 20 years in Baltimore. He remembered I liked black lagers so he grabbed a six pack of this beer for me to have while there and bring home. I cannot think of any other brewery that has a schwarzbier as a year round flagship; much respect to Union Brewing, I like almost all their beers that I have tried and they have a nice diverse catalog.

We are at my in laws for the next 2-3 weeks while our house's only bathroom gets gutted and redone, new backdrops for pictures, yay! They are big Philly sports fans, so they’ll be included throughout our stay here; starting tonight. I thought about hiring @Whyteboar and paying for his plane ticket and paying him in beer but hey there is always next project…

Union - Blackwing



A deep deep dark brown; which only shows when backlit. Nice light brown head; very nice retention in form of a noticeable cap of creamy light brown. There is also some decent yet splotchy lacing.

Nose is at first a light baking chocolate, a very subtle roast that is reminiscent of a very light coffee. I notice a small amount of hops as well, they contribute an almost moist forest air sort of vibe.

The taste leans mostly into the soft chocolatey coffee, a minor lightly burnt toast like note. Minor noble hops on the finish.

Mouthfeel is light but full and creamy mouthfeel, a minor roasty bitterness on a beer that finishes very clean and moderately dry.

A very smooth and easy drinking schwarzbier, to me it is mostly chocolate forward with a little bit of coffee roast.

 

Wild ale/sour tasting II cross-post. This is my first beer from Une Annee Brewery. The color is difficult to pinpoint. It varies based on lighting. I will refer to the color as severe bruise. Hues of red, purple, blue, black, and brown. Minimal foam, which quickly disappears. The smell is very funky grape, basement, rain, and lavender. The taste is extremely sour. I will not drink 16 ounces of this in one sitting. I do not taste any blueberry flavor. It has just a massively sour grape flavor . Every muscle in my face contracts with each sip. The mouthfeel is just sense-overwhelming sour liquid. Overall, I don't understand how anyone could enjoy drinking something this sour.

 

Märzen #100

Firestone Walker Oaktoberfest

12oz bottled 07/22/22 poured into a mug at fridge temp 5.2% ABV per label. The beer pours bright golden amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and uneven cap. Sparce spots of lacing. The aroma is mild with rich malt and a hint of oak. The taste is semisweet caramel malt with a quick hitting, mild oak and earthy hop combo that knock the sweetness right down. Mild to moderate bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, good. This is a clean, straightforward American oktoberfest. Not too sweet and quite drinkable.

I'll try to branch out some over the rest of the weekend. My fridge is overloaded with seasonal delights and a recent haul from Ashville, NC. Cheers all!

 

How busy is that location? Charlton and Deerfield are ~1 hour from me and I haven't found my way out towards Cape Cod since they opened that location.

I hope the answer was "yes".

I also have an aversion to breweries that try to get too cute.

Every weekend is a black lager kind of weekend. Very underrated style IMHO.

Two thumbs up from this guy for that description. One of my favorite parts of NBW is the creative descriptions everybody comes up with.

 

The answer was yes @Roy_Hobbs and I forgot to specify in my post another black lager incoming tonight from your home state.

 

Bryce is back baby!! And Kyle Gibson is on the mound tonight. Hopefully the Fightin' Phillies can keep the winning streak going!!

Cheers to the Phillies (and drinking beer while watching the game)!

P.S. Are there any 'good' breweries nearby that you will seek out during your 2-3 week hiatus?

 

I haven’t watched baseball all year but I watched Bryce’s return at bat last night because of us staying here.

No new beers Jack, they are only 1.5 miles away from our house haha.

But with built in childcare maybe I’ll have a chance to visit a place I may not have otherwise; we’ll see…

 

It seems like the new ‘it’ Dark Lager style in my area is Czech Dark Lager (but typically draft only).

How is the Czech Dark Lager scene in your area? I know that Fox Farm has one on tap right now: Quiet Night - Czech-style Dark Lager.

Cheers!

 

Nice! I am sure that the in-laws will enjoy quality time with their grandchildren. Especially knowing that when you come home they have some relief.*

Cheers!

* Brad Hand got the save last night.