New Beer Weekend #130

Good morning BAs! Finishing up my first new to me beer of the weekend this chilly (for Florida) morning - Prairie Artisan Ales’ “Chocolate Noir”, a BA Imperial Stout with Cacao Nibs and Vanilla:



Bottled 10/20/22. Poured at 57°. Pitch black pour with thin ruby edge; fast fizzy reddish brown head receded quickly leaving no ring nor lace; very small brief island of micro dots; heavy legs on swirl. Straight up bourbon and chocolate fudge nose. Taste follows suit and is boozy hot; bittersweet dark chocolate with a swirl of vanilla; not sweet; some oaky/vanilla barrel notes on backend. Moderate heat in mouth with alcohol (14.3%) bite on tip of tongue; light carbonation; medium plus body; silky feel; not adjuncty; barrel dry finish. Overall, great for what it is - a simple BA stout without too many flavors thrown into the pot; lots of chocolate and boozy alcohol…I would gladly drink more of this beer and recommend to those who like less is more BA Stouts.

4.25 | 4.25 | 4.75 | 4.5 | 4.5
Score: 4.53 rDev: +7.3%

Cheers and have a great weekend y’all!

 

Surly Hyper Modern

Appearance: Cloudy yellow-orange, ok head.

Smell: Starts danky, stinky socks, then shifts to mostly citrus with a touch of melon.

Taste: Mildly sweet to start, then the mix of citrus and melon starts and stays. Finishes citrusy and semi-bitter, medium bodied.

Overall: An interesting beer, I know I've had Idaho 7 in something quite a while ago, but mostly a new feeling experience here. I like the fruity mix of citrus and melon this gives, not too soft, nice bitterness.

 

Always Together

Today’s beer has an interesting brand name: Sempre Insieme which is Italian for always together and it is brewed by Pour Man’s brewery”

“Pour Man's is a local microbrewery and brew pub focusing on modern Lager brewing while also producing IPA's, Stouts, and basically every other style you can think of!”

Wow! They are using the old term of “microbrewery” there.

How this beer is detailed on BA:

“Brewed with high quality imported Pilsner Malt and hopped with Saaz and Triple Pearl in the kettle. After a slow and cool fermentation, we delicately dry hopped with Saaz and Callista hops. Bright and crisp with tons of complexity. Sempre Insieme is Italian for Always Together because a brewer and Pilsner are never far apart.

IBUs: 40”

I first looked up “Sempre Insieme” using an online translator and I wondered what the heck the aspect of always together comes into play but an explanation is provided above.

This beer is also categorized on the can’s label as “Italian-style Pilsner” which is the terminology that some (most?) craft breweries use to describe a German Pilsner which is dry hopped. In my strong opinion this beer is a German Pilsner which just so happens includes dry hopping.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Straw yellow with a big white head.

Aroma:

There is a notable hop aroma, mostly citrus (lemon-like) but some fruitiness too, accompanied by a cracker-like Pilsner malt aroma.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a combination of hop flavors (citrus/fruity) and cracker-like malt flavor. There is a moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good. For my personal palate/preferences this beer would have benefited from bit more body. But overall, a quite tasty German Pilsner (which happens to be dry hopped).

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH

 

Happy NFL playoff kickoff weekend, new beer weekenders. I've not had many beers so far this year; this is partly due to wanting a little reset but mostly due to a "helpful" cold that has reduced my desire for the malt beverage we all enjoy. I did find today's beer on the shelf of my local grocery store as my cold started subsiding (it's still lingering, annoyingly enough), and am trying it for the first time this afternoon. It is Dogfish Head's Nordic Spring.


Nordic Spring uses Kviek yeast (the Nordic part) with orange peel from the fruit realm. Interestingly, the can says it uses juniper berries and needles, which is the main thing that drew me to it (other than just being a DFH beer) while brewer's site just indicates the use of juniper berries.

The liquid in the can fills out the glass as a consistently cloudy brew. The head builds up with a slightly sticky, creamy fluff that many hazies do. My nose is clear, but I'm not sure it's completely back into peak beer sniffing form. However, I do get a loosely damp pine woody vibe with some dried orange potpourri when I try to pull out the beer's aromas.

The liquid is actually a little fizzy, and must more watery in consistency than the hazy look tricked me into expecting. I have run across hazy beers with this feel in the past, and I'm not a huge fan of the chicanery. Without paying close attention, I feel I have not been impressed by many Kviek IPAs, but I wonder if this might be a common experience I have yet to put together. Pure speculation at this point. Note: things smooth out a little bit with warmth.

The beer has a flavor of grain and cereal that I feel would love to show off a little more body. There is a light conifer-like flavor that brings some bitterness, thankfully not too much because the opening doesn't have much to put up against it. I'm actually getting a little more grapefruit peel than orange on the citrus side, though it's likely how the juniper is mixing with the citrus.

This one is borderline for me. I like the back end bitter flavors, I wish the lighter-bodied opening built things up a little before I got to them. The lighter feel might make this a better option for me during the warming days of early spring than it does on this chilly day in winter.

 

That beer sounded quite interesting @cjgiant cause of all the juniper stuff. I hadn’t seen many reviews yet, it was great to read yours.

 

My guess is that they decided to add some juniper (branches & berries) as a nod to the way Sahti (a Finnish beer) is brewed.

Traditionally when brewing Sahti a trough-like wooden vessel (called a kuurna) that is lined with straw and juniper branches is used to filter the mash. Below is a short video illustrating a kuurna used for filtering out a mash (I couldn’t see the straw/juniper which is likely beneath the mashed grains).



Here is a video “Brewing Sahti at The Ale Apothecary” which show the harvesting and use of juniper but a kuurna is not specifically used, they just added the juniper branches directly to the mash:



I wonder what process/technique used for adding juniper to this beer. Just a kettle addition?

Cheers!

 

Good Saturday afternoon, New Beer Weekenders. We're getting ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for our daughter's wedding tomorrow. In between running errands today I bought a bunch of beer at Sam's Bottle Shop in Durham, including lots of aged Barleywines and a fresh (1/6/2023) pack of Midtown Swank, a West Coast DIPA from Wilmington Brewing Co. This is really well-executed; one of the best West Coast examples from an East Coast brewer I've had in quite awhile.

It pours a crystal clear bright golden honey color with over a finger of creamy, milk-white head and thick, soapy lacing. A very attractive pour. Initially it's mostly grapefruit and lemon on the nose but as it warms there are also notes of pine needles and sweeter fruity esters. Wow, this is a classic West Coast taste: strongly bitter, resinous pine, grapefruit rind, and lemon peel, along with just a kiss of caramel from the Maris Otter and Carapils in the grist and pineapple and tangerine from the Warrior and Amarillo hops. The Centennial hops add lots of clean bitterness. The mouth feel is very lite and crisp and the 8.2% ABV gives it good substance.

4.29/5 rDev +1.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

I'm really glad I bought a 4-pack. I hope to review one of the Olde Hickory Barleywines tonight since we'll be drinking wine with dinner. Cheers, NBW!

 

Thirsty Thursday, zombie beer edition…

I felt the need to share this one here this weekend, despite the fact that I had this the day I bought it, Thursday. I almost never cheat post so I had to come clean, but it is for the good of beer This beer should be finding its way to all of you soon, if not already so I wanted to share my thoughts.

A beer from the past…back when I had this I never reviewed beers or analyzed them, just enjoyed trying anything new I could get my hands on. I’m guessing most of you here had this in the past too and I encourage a revisit. So here is an old new beer. Oh and @ovaltine just go buy multiple six packs, you’ll be in heaven like I was…

Stone - Ruination



Crystal clear copperish gold; off white head, very good retention; a thick film persists, very nice lacing.

Nose is all hops; very aromatic…slightly orange citrus at first, overpowered by pine that carries a light sweetness.

Taste is like biting into a hop cone; incredibly piney, citrus rind, lightly floral; only in aftertaste and linger very lightly amidst the pines, slight malt presence.

Big beer; high end of medium body, big mouth coating resiny and dry bitterness that linger and lingers…thus drink’s dangerously smooth; has an ever so light sinus warming hint of the abv…but the drinkability overpowers it, dangerous beer.

I wish I could drink a beer like this any time I needed my hop fix, this beer is a gem and damn near perfect for what I want in a IIPA.

Can’t wait to drink with you all later today!

 

Pipeworks Brewing Barrel-Aged Saddle Up. Aged in Heaven Hill bourbon barrels. 2020 release. The color is black with crimson highlights. There is no foam besides a ring of very light brown foam around the glass. The smell. Wow. Cherry, followed by bourbon, smoke, toffee, chocolate, and vanilla. The taste begins with light cherry, then follows a path of graham cracker, toffee, bourbon, chocolate, and vanilla, then seems to finish with stronger cherry flavors at the end. The mouthfeel is thick, oily, smooth, and full, with light carbonation. Overall, this is delicious BA barleywine. The strong cherry scent had me concerned that cherry would overpower the other flavors, but it blended in nicely. I don't need to ever have cherry added to a BA barleywine that I drink again, but this one provided a pleasant experience.

 

I think you might be onto something, especially considering there's some rye (Danko rye malt) in the mix as well. I know Dogfish Head made a DFH-style beer called Sah'tea (one I always vote for them to bring back).


From an article linked within DFH site:

 

Hello friends. Thanks @SawDog505 for the NBW thread. I'm alright with this here brewskie.
Cheers everyone!
Urban Growler Tornado Drill IPA 7.2% ABV


4.02/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
16oz can into a nucleated pint glass.
L: Pours lightly yeasted honey amber w a thin rounded off white head w ok retention to a continuous thick skin, low carbo, scattered thick lacing w some sheeting.
S: Citrus, candied malts, piney, lightly floral, a hint of honey.
T: Bold pine resin, grapefruit zest, lightly toasted caramelized malts, orange & orange zest, honey, a hint of orange marmalade, a suggestion of brown bread, a trace of strong black tea, moderately sweet but very resinous top to bottom, fruity overall.
F: Smooth medium-bodied w a med-thick sharp bite in the long lingering finish. It is pretty drying and soft overall.
O: This lovely beer reminds me of an English-style IPA but with intensely resinous American hops. A smooth feel and zesty piney flavors. Noticeably dynamic start to finish. Feel may be different in a regular pint glass NTL it is very good in its style.

 

A little pre-congrats to your daughter. We got to try a few Wilmington Brewing beers on our beach trip last year, and they seemed to us to be making good stuff for the most part, so not too surprised to see this one rated well.

It has been a while, but I think by the end of Ruination's run, I had it as one of the "cattier" beers out there, or one with a green onion to garlic edge to it. You mention pine more specifically, but wondering if you are getting anything like what I recall?

 

I posted this in the ruination thread a few days ago…

“FWIW I picked up zero onion/garlic notes and I’m very sensitive to it. There are many beers I can’t stand because of it.

We all describe and sense things in different ways, but me, nothing close to that vegetal dankness I dislike in this beer.”

 

Thank you for your kind words! I didn't taste the garlic but these cans are really fresh and may evolve. I'm glad I'll be taking cans home. I've been impressed with Wilmington recently. I think Tropical Lightning is a very nice IPA and I really like Blair's Breakfast Stout. In fact, I should have bought some today but I've got a fridge full of stouts at home.

 

Revolution Ryeway to Heaven.



Pours a deep ruby red/brown with a rusty orange head. Pours thicker than expected. Great head retention. Slight lacing.

Nose is toffee, caramel apple, whiskey barrel. A hint of spice and vanilla too.

Taste follows. Warm dry barrel, spice, toffee. A little apple on the finish.

This is full bodied. Slightly creamy. Very nice.

Another excellent BA beer from Revolution. I’m always thrilled when I get a box of beer in the mail and one of these is staring back at me.

Cheers!

 

Drekker Fangs Out NEIPA, 6.7% ABV. Pours hazy orange with a 3+ finger off-white head that left great lacing. Nose is a vague light fruitiness. Taste is juicy pineapple and orange, slightly sweet, moderately bitter. Decent mouthfeel, whatever the hell that means. Overall excellent.

3.96/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

Back at Oakflower Brewing for the second time. Drinking Heirloom a NEIPA. This beer is 6.5 ABV and loaded with Citra hops. Another fine beer fron this new brewery.

 

Your post reminded me that I have the book “Ancient Brews: Rediscovered and Re-created” by Patrick McGovern.

“Patrick McGovern is the Scientific Director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Project for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, where he is also an Adjunct Professor of Anthropology.”

He collaborated with Sam Calagione on a number of the Dogfish Head ancient beers. I checked out “Sahti” in the index of this book and it turns out that the Dogfish Head Sah’tea beer was discussed on page 161. He mentioned that as regards the recipe he obtained from Finnish brewer Juhu Ikonen that it is unlikely to be an ‘authentic’ 9th century recipe and further states:

“Moreover, the black chai tea, flavored with ginger, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper in Sah’tea, are more appropriate additives in a drink from India than Finland, which had limited access to tea and these exotic spices. Juniper as a additive and Sam’s hot rock boiling of the wort, however, are in keeping with ancient precedents.”

While listening to Sam talk during the video I was unable to discern how the juniper berries were used in the brewing process. My guess remains that the berries were added into the kettle during the boil but that is just a guess. If you have any other inputs here I would be interested in hearing/reading it.

Cheers!

P.S. If you have an interest in ancient brewing I highly recommend the Patrick McGovern book. It has very interesting content (for me) and Pat is a great writer. The time ‘flew by’ as I personally read the book.

 

Hi NBW. I'm continuing along with the closeout offerings I've come across, this is from autumn, Troegs - Master of Pumpkins (reduced to $0.99 a can)



I've seen this on the shelves but always opted for other pumpkin offerings when operating in that mode, but the pour is a great start. Lovely deep amber color, clear and clean, looks like a pure malt monster. Head hanging around nicely and now devolving into lacing.

Smells herbaceous and floral, intensely so. There's a waft of baking spices and they evenly balance off the herbal quality. Malt sugar hangs around too, maybe a hint of Belgian-y yeast.

Taste is definitely yeasty, very interesting. Almost tastes upfront like I'm drinking a wit or a yeasty Belgian dubbel. Then there's malt sugar and an attractive amount of nicely balanced spice. Nothing speaks too loudly here. Some of the yeast character pours into the clove forcing my mind to think of banana and hefe but I think as I acclimate that'll settle in.

Nice offering, albeit outside the vein of Pumpking, something a little different and perhaps it's better for that reason.