New Beer Weekend #118

Good day BAs! This morning’s new to me beer is Fremont’s 10th Anniversary Stout (2019), a blend of stouts aged in Heaven Hill barrels, Heaven Hill barrels with tart cherries added, and vanilla extract barrels (formerly bourbon barrels):




Poured at 54°. Black with ruby edges; some clarity under dark tan foam; ok cap retention recedes leaving a large island of micro dots and a solid plus ring; spotty lacing; heavy legs on swirl. Bourbon and cherry nose. Bourbon and tart cherries; oaky vanilla; semi sweet chocolate; more vanilla as beer warms. Smooth medium body; moderate minus carbonation; some warmth from 11.1% abv; dry oaky tongue coating. Outstanding balance of base and barrels; smells like cherry liqueur, but the tart cherry flavor mixes well with the bourbon and chocolate flavors; a little more wooden dryness and oaky linger than I want, but overall a great BBA sipper.

4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5
Score: 4.5 rDev +0.2%

 

An Heirloom Beer

Well, the beer itself is not an heirloom but the beer is brewed using an heirloom barley called Haná.

Haná barley was grown in the region now known as the Czech Republic in the 1800’s. The very first Bohemian Pilsner, Pilsner Urquell in 1842, was brewed using malt made from Haná barley. Thanks to the efforts of Crisp Malting Company (England) some Haná is grown in England to produce an heirloom barley malt.

Due to a generous benefactor, today’s new beer is Hanabi Haná Pilsner and below is how the brewery details this beer on its website:

“Hanabi Lager

Haná Pilsner Style Lager Beer

This special Hanabi beer features an heirloom grain variety named Haná that was originally used by Josef Groll to brew the world’s first Pilsner in 1842, in the city of Pilsen, in present day Czechia. Brought back from near extinction by British farmers in 2015, we source it from one of the only fields in the world where it can be found today, in Norfolk, England. Our Haná Pilsner is the rhythm section of our brewery and will be produced year-round. It represents the core of our house approach and style. Presented as a Pilsner style lager, this heritage barley brings aromatic notes of fresh wholegrain bread, nori, and dried spearmint, along with a long, fresh finish.”

For the interested student below is a video which involves Dr. Dave Griggs, Technical Director of Crisp Malting Company. In the video Dr. Dave Griggs made it a point to mention that Haná is actually a “selection” as opposed to being a variety of barley. I found the video discussion quite interesting and hopefully some of you will as well.

So, how does ‘old’ barley malt taste in a beer? Let’s find out.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw colored with a white head.

Aroma:

A moderate amount of white bread Pilsner Malt aroma with a subtle impression of sweetness.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with the dominant flavor being a white bread flavor but as the beer opens up there is a very subtle hop flavor that reminds me of Earl Gray tea. There is a firm bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light/medium bodied with a dry finish

Overall:

While I enjoyed drinking this beer it was too one dimensional with the white bread malt dominating the flavor with little hop flavor/aroma to balance the beer. A true to style Pilsner should have notable hop character.

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

FWIW my palate is similar to your here in that I did not pick up any of that stuff. The beer's aroma/flavor was fairly simple for me: mostly white bread.

I very much agree with "mild" and as I detailed above what little that was there was reminiscent of Earl Gray tea for my personal palate.

If I was given this beer blind and asked "What style of beer is this?" I suspect my response would be something like: "Well, is is kinda like a Munich Helles but the bitterness level is too high for this style so...."

I did enjoy drinking this beer but from my perspective it is not a true to style Pilsner. Maybe Hanabi could just brand it as being a "Hanabi Lager"?

Cheers!

P.S. Did you watch the linked video?

 

Tried a couple Hop Rising variants, they are similar, with the hazy being sweeter and the tropical being more balanced. Both pretty decent for $9 per 6 pack.

Hop Rising Tropical

Appearance: Hazy gold, good head.

Smell: Citrusy, rind.

Taste: Pretty sweet, moderate tropical fruit flavor, then mild to moderate citrus bitterness in the finish.

Overall: Picked up a six pack for $9, which is a very good price for a 9%+ DIPA. Nothing mind blowing, but a pretty solid double IPA. A little sweet, but enough bitterness to balance it out somewhat. Not bad for $9/6er.

Hop Rising Hazy

Appearance: Hazy yellow gold, some chunky particles, ok head.

Smell: Fruit cocktail cup, bit of citrus

Taste: Sweet, fruity. The fruit cocktail note from the nose is there—pear, grape, sugar, citrus. Coating feel, sweet finish.

Overall: Another $9 6 pack of DIPA, so tried it. Quite sweet but not overpoweringly so, decent fruity flavor with very little bitterness. Not boozy. Decent for the price!

 

Not much going on this weekend, so I will probably be getting my fill of college and professional football.
My first new-to-me beer is ESB, an English-style ale brewed by Perennial Artisan Ales.
Clear cherry amber color. Small off-white head with a bit of lace.
Aroma of sweet malt, somewhat floral.
Taste of caramel, bread. Late hop bitterness.
Very drinkable.

 

That is very interesting about the barley. I'm curious to know if the grain can be linked to originating in that beer centric territory....And when it might have begun to be cultivated...

 

This was discussed in the video I linked. That barley was 'found' in the Haná Valley in what is now called the Czech Republic. Since it was 'found' in the Haná Valley it was decided to be called Haná barley.

It was 'cultivated' in the 1800's and it was the barley used to produce the malt for the first Pilsner beer (Pilsner Urquell) in 1842.

Cheers!

 

Yeah, I can sorta see that. It was more white bread-like for me but you and I have our own unique palates and what we prefer in a given style of beer.

Cheers!

 

Crisp Malting made two process decisions when producing their Haná Pilsner Malt product: floor malting and ‘gentler’ kilning. And these process decisions will be impactful to the qualities of the resulting product. I think it is important to recognize that barley malt is a product which is heavily influenced by the various process decisions that the Malting Company (Crisp in this instance) make. The type of barley used (e.g., Haná barley) will make a difference as well but I highly suspect the process decisions have an even greater impact.

If you have an interest in learning more about malt I would strongly recommend the book Malt: A Practical Guide from Field to Brewhouse by John Mallet to you.

Cheers!

P.S. In the past I considered purchasing some Crisp Haná Pilsner Malt for my homebrewing but when I saw the price that Northern Brewer was asking at the time (> $3 per pound at that time) I decided no to this. I just checked Northern Brewer and they are now asking $2.70/lb. which is still quite pricey but needless to say more economical than before. Maybe other homebrewers were balking at the very high price so they needed to reduce the pricing? Also, below is how this malt is detailed on the Northern Brewer website (with emphasis in bold by me):

“Crisp Haná Malt brings that perfect bready, crisp continental flavor to all lager types, especially Pilsners and Helles beers. Haná malt, flavors of freshly baked bread, and subtle malty notes produce a clean, smooth wort. Its malting character is like a continental variety so treat it as such in the brewhouse with a step temperature program to solubilize the higher protein content. This will promote fantastic head retention. Haná is exceptionally pale in color.”

The above is consistent with my perception of the Hanabi beer I drank.

 

Thanks Jack. Earlier I had been up most of the night with my 17 year old Walker Hound and was exhausted. I have now read all of it and am up to speed. That area is my genetic neck of the woods and is very interesting to me. Cheers.....

 

Trillium Brewing Tiny Chicken American pale ale. Featuring Galaxy, Amarillo, and Columbus hops. The look is pear juice hazy yellowish brown. There was a four-finger foam top that disappeared before I could take a picture. The smell has light scents of peach, pear, and banana. The flavor is tropical, with noticable flavors of orange, honeydew, and peach. There is a slight bitterness. A touch of spiciness. The mouthfeel is like fruit juice that is dry and smooth. The carbonation is medium. Overall, this does not have the extreme fruit scents and flavors of higher ABV beers of similar styles, but it is still delicious. It is an easy-drinking beer, that is ideal to drink outside on a beautiful day.

 

I am sorry to hear about your dog. Your dog has made it to 17 which means you have treated the dog well over the years.

Cheers to you!