New Beer Weekend #156

A "new" one for me on BA. I'm sure I have had this many years ago, but no review. Like many other German offerings, I have been reacquainting myself with those. I have always loved German styles, but for the longest time just stuck to Ayinger, Weihenstephaner, and whatever local/regional breweries were making.

Anyway...

Paulaner Pils, 4.8% ABV



Pours a crystal clear and bright yellow color. A billowing and fluffy white head rises to over two fingers. That gently recedes after a minute, and leaves some lace behind.
A fairly neutral nose. More on the grainy, cereal, bready side. Not a lot of noticeable hops, which isn't a bad thing. Enjoyable enough, even if its not the most aromatic. Though to be fair, that is usually not the styles strong point anyway.
Taste wise...oh, there it is. A nuanced malt character that goes from grains, baked bread, English biscuits and light honey. Just enough sweetness in the middle, until the spicy and grassy hops take over. Just enough bitterness to be noticeable and dry everything out.
A light body with crisp carbonation at first. That smooths out as this breaths. Wonderfully clean and finishes dry. Oh yeah, I can come back to this with ease.

An excellent Pilsner. That is all I really have to say. One that is really inviting with a surprisingly nuanced malt character, but is always balanced with just the right amount of grassy like hops. Highly recommended.

Overall score 4.21, yeah I'll say that is an A
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/124/1784/?ba=champ103#lists

That is the only new Pilsner I have for the weekend. Plenty others just nothing new. I have one other new beer for the weekend, a local from True Anomaly which is a Flanders Red. Looking forward to that, and it will be a good one to mix it up after a bunch of Pilsner ha.

 

From the pilsner tasting thread, which is a genius tasting event for the summer (kudos to @sulldaddy ), this is also a new beer to me. Let’s dance, NBW friends.





3.97/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Pours a nearly clear golden color with a foamy white head that recedes fairly quickly and provides minimal lacing. Almost has a pale ale look to it.

The nose, though, is all pilsner, specifically with the lemongrass and bready malt notes - and the hop notes are amped up a bit, which would fit the dry-hopping associated with Italian pilsners.

The taste is led by the not so subtle lemongrass flavor, with an undercurrent of tangerine and a nice wheat bread flavor for balance.

The mouthfeel is crisp and makes for an entirely too crushable beer. Really glad I made the trip to pick this up.

 

Cocoon Brewing Queen Monarchy. A hoppy Pilsner. With Hallertau and Loral hops. The brewery is near my house. It is butterfly-themed. There are real butterflies all over. The look is golden sunflower yellow. There is a slight murkiness. It has a tall and thick white foamy top, which leaves nice lacing on the glass. The smell is buttered popcorn, white toast, dank Earthiness, grapefruit, and cantaloupe. The taste is bready, slightly bitter, with honey, tangerine, and white grape. It is sweeter than a more traditional Pilsner, but it still fits the category. The mouthfeel is clean, light, crisp, and smooth, with medium carbonation. Overall, this is a pleasant and unique beer to drink on a warm evening. Sitting outside of the brewery's taproom, with butterflies everywhere, would be very nice right now.

 

Have a great nbw. Good news everyone. After 2 weeks of work panic attacks for no damn reason, I finally got a Therapist this week and back on my old meds from 2 years ago. I think procrastination is my trigger, but at least now I feel normal My work load is very focused and confident, but the stress did build and hypertension wasn't helping. Had a falling out with a new friend that turned out toxic and would stress me out over dumb stuff. No need of negativity in my life. My path with Julia is the correct one. She has her own goals and I will always support. What a rough week, so naturally I am getting some fucking good beer to celebrate! Hopefully now I can cut back on the hemp, but you know I am still going to be chilling I feel revitalized, my motivation to work out and bike is on the horizon!

We are at fat dogs 2 seconds from my apt
A cool surprise is I found a lichtenhainer on tap. Haven't had one in a long time! Wise man peaceful revolution with pineapple. Nose was weak a bit of tart apple lacto and peat smoke. Taste comes in hard with tart/sour lemon, lime, pineapple, green apple, sea salt, white grape/wine, peat smoke, leather, wheat, cracker, white bread, lacto funk, hay, straw, grass, pepper. Moderate tart/sour and fairly tangy/tannic finish. Moderate lactic acid and salinity in a light body mouthfeel. Crisp clean refreshing with mild pucker. Wow what a great surprise. Despite lack of nose of the beer the taste is a straight up amazing tasting gose and the smoke comes in after the finish like a light Islay scotch taste. Wonderful. 4.23


Spicy as hell totchos. A ton of fresh jalapeño. I'm over here drinking Pernicious to clean the palate lol. Best fried pickles I've ever had.


Cheers

 

Whew sulfur and butyric acid in the same beer. glad you enjoyed, I've never really seen those off flavors translated to the taste nearly as noticeably though, so that's fine. gotta be a pricy bottle either way.

 

Oden tip the scale pale ale. A great west coast style. Red grapefruit, orange, peach, pineapple, apricot, melon, berries, citrus peel/rind, wood, peppercorn, pine, cracker, toast, light caramel, herbal, floral, grass. Med pine rind woody spicy bitter finish. Medium carb and body. Balanced creamy bready malt and sticky resinous hops. Long drying resin finish with min/mild lingering astringent. Centennial and Apollo hops. This is basically the same as a stone ipa on dry resins at a lower abv. I love classic hops. 4


Cheers

 

A couple beers from a generous BA, @cheeseheadinMinneapolis , first, Hazelnut Brownie from Stevens Point:

Appearance: Dark brown, good head.

Smell: Chocolate, hazelnuts.

Taste: Sweet, then nutty chocolate brownie, lasting chocolate and slight coffee bitterness in the finish.

Overall: Wasn't expecting too much from this, but really enjoyed this imperial porter. I don't usually go for pastry stouts/porters, but this tasted like a hazelnut brownie and wasn't over-the-top sweet. Thanks to @cheeseheadinMinneapolis for this one.

Second, Sprecher Doppelbock:


Appearance: Dark ruby, good head.

Smell: Pretty mild, maybe some dark fruits?

Taste: Starts off sweet, some raisin, some dark cherry. Balanced by a bit of black tea bitterness. Soft body, feels lighter than 8%.

Overall: I had this beer a long time ago when it came in 16oz bottles and was called Double Bock. Now this was a 12oz can called Doppelbock. Sprecher makes some solid German style beers, this was a tasty and pretty easy drinking doppel. Will have to keep an eye out for this in Wisconsin.

 

Interesting that it exploded like that. I think saisons are the only style I've ever had erupt, and I've definitely never had something like this explode. Very odd. From the way you described the taste, the fact that you lost some from the eruption was probably a good thing...less that you had to actually drink!

 

Let’s map this out!

Thanks to a good friend I have this new beer: Kelsen Mercator Tripel.

From the description on BA:

“Mercator is our take on a classic Belgian-Style Tripel. Named after Gerardus Mercator, a 16th century Southern Dutch cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer whose innovations are used in nautical charts to this day. Mercator Belgian-Style Tripel is brewed with a touch of Belgian Candi Sugar to balance a drier finish. Mercator pours a bright, golden yellow color. Crisp, clean, and spice forward with a soft, creamy mouthfeel. Subtle Belgian yeast esters lead to a warming finish balanced by notes of clove, honey, and spice."

Served in my Tripel Karmeliet chalice:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a white head.

Aroma:

There is a number of things going on here: some fruitiness, some banana and some spiciness.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with a combination of fruity, banana and spicy flavors with banana being most prominent. A Low-medium bitterness. The alcohol level is well hidden.

Mouthfeel:

A medium body with lively carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good!! I really enjoyed drinking this beer.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH @Bierman9

 

Hoping to sneak in a few new beers today. First up is Rhuby Bluesday from Springdale, Jack's Abby's now shuttered experimental / barrel aging program. The bottle describes this as an oak aged (1-2 years) ale with Blueberries and Rhubarb

3.62/5 rDev -7.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Best guess is that this beer is ~3 years old, but could be a hair older. Gentle pour into a standard pint glass resulted loads of fizzy, short-lived head. The blueberry is clearly influencing the color, so I shouldn't be too harsh, but I just can't get past the fact that the dirty rust color isn't necessarily speaking to me.

Aroma is very, very tart. A close sniff triggered a small coughing fit. A more careful inspection revealed a little more in the way of sour funk, but it's relatively one dimensional on the nose.

As far as taste.....now we're talking. The blueberries and rhubarb combined with deep, but not overpowering oak creates a very enjoyable taste experience. It's plenty sour, but for those of us (raises hand) who enjoy sours and whose palates are acclimated to the pucker, it's certainly not over the top. Very tasty. Light bodied.

Overall, the appearance and nose certainly didn't blow me away, but the taste is quite good.

 

Conservative Dad's Ultra Right. 100% woke-free American beer. I ordered it because I wanted to share it with other BAs I was getting together with in May. I hoped to do a group review of a controversial beer. The novelty wore off long ago. I did not purchase this beer because of the political message. I purchased it simply because of the attention it was receiving. I am doing an objective review of this beer for NBW. I am curious to see if all the people online who rave about it are just focused on the political message, or if it is legitimately a delicious and refreshing beer. The look is apple juice. A bit of white foam quickly disappeared. The smell is white bread, lemon, and white grape. Not bad. The taste is like old malt liquor, aged on aluminum. It has the aftertaste of pocket change. It reminds me of finding a half-full 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor under the pool table at my fraternity house, that had been there for some time, but since I was 18-years-old, I drank it. However, this beer tastes like that, if you hollowed-out an aluminum baseball bat and used that for a beer bong. The mouthfeel is bottle of water left in a warm car all day. Overall, this is not a delicious beer. It tastes like cheap malt liquor without the high ABV. It has a strong flavor of metal. I did not expect this beer was going to be good, but it was worse than I thought. It cost almost $30 for a six-pack. It took 3 months to arrive after I ordered it. The target market of this beer will probably continue to rave about it online. I plan to give my remaining cans to people I know who are in this beer's target market. They are likely going to say it is very delicious.

 

Thanks, @beergoot for starting things out. We are getting ready for some company coming to visit. Hard to believe some New Englanders want to be in desert heat, but they are looking forward to the visit.
My new beer for today is Small Town from Hamburg Brewing Company.
Pale yellow color, slight haze. Nice white head with a bit of lace.
Aroma of fruit and spice, grassy.
Taste of apple, coriander. Hint of lemon.
Crisp mouthfeel.
This is a decent beer, but not a great one.

 

Me asleep at the wheel. Could've knocked a few out yesterday. Thanks for kicking this off

 

Up next is Orchard & Vine, from Kent Falls.

From the bottle: "...matured in a wine barrel on peaches and chardonnay grapes from the same Connecticut land as the oak from which the wine barrel was made". Pretty cool.

3.72/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Batch 1, bottled June, 2018.

Aggressive pour didn't result in any head. 5 years have rendered the beer essentially still. Color is a bright, translucent yellow. Amazingly, even after 5 years the peaches are still present on the nose, along with some wine barrel notes. Very ice smelling beer.

Taste also has plenty of peaches, and the grape notes are more identifiable here than in the aroma. From a pure taste perspective, this is quite good. The lack of carbonation is somewhat off-putting, but that's not the brewer's fault, it's mine for sitting on this for 5 years.

Overall, tasty beer. Wish I had opened it sooner.

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@GreenBayBA it will be hard for anybody to top your review for my favorite of the weekend.