New Beer Weekend #201

Don De Dieu, an unusual wheat based Triple.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22/694/

From the recent Unibroue mixed pack

Appearance: Poured a 355ml can into a tulip. A big four finger very slightly off white fine head on a hazy dark lemon. Excellent head retention. patchy lacing.

Smell: Fruity malt smells. Spicy.

Taste: Fruit up front with a spicy, prickly finish.

Mouthfeel: A surprisingly light body with moderate carbonation. Very smooth.

Overall a fine smooth fruity Triple.

look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

 

@Snowcrash000 thanks for kicking us off again this week. My wife and I are up at the lake this weekend, and with beautiful weather in the forecast, I hope to enjoy a few good beers while I'm here. First up is Little Sal, from Allagash.

4.14/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Bottled January 18th, 2018

This has a nice purple / red hue to it, both on the pour and once settled into the glass. Excellent clarity, and a medium amount of fizzy white head. The aroma leaves no doubt that a) this is a sour beer, b) it has blueberries and c) it was aged in wine barrels. I get plenty of blueberries, and the barrel shows up wonderfully.

The beer tastes amazing. Blueberry and a well balanced acidity, but what really surprised me in a good way was an earthy smokiness that adds an entirely new dimension. This is pushing 4.5 territory for me, and I'm usually on the lower end when it comes to ratings. Light and easy to drink.

Overall, this has aged beautifully. Almost certain I have another bottle in the cellar, for which I am quite thankful.

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

I have this Friday off and have traveled a bit. Right now I am in Grove City, MN and at Minnesota BEER Company.

Red Ale - Amber/Red Ale - 5%
A lot of beers in this style are bland for me. This one isn't. Good malty flavor with lots of caramel. I like it.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/65164/703025/
3.62/5 rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the brewery
This beer pours a semi clear amber color. There's a bit of a white head.
Nose is fairly faint. I get a slight rye like biscuit nose.
Taste - this beer is malty, as expected. Good caramel malt to this beer and is slightly roasted. Some biscuit flavor. Hint of toffee. Very malty.
The body has a good fullness to it. Smooth feeling overall.
This is good. A lot in this style are bland, this is not.

I think this is my new beer in this thread today. I do have something I picked up to try, but it won't be till Sunday. I will likely see you then.

 

Firestone Walker Cosmic Crusher

Appearance: Slightly hazy gold, huge head.

Smell: Fruity, coconut.

Taste: Starts moderately sweet but gets sweeter. Fruit cocktail with a coconut kicker. Medium-heavy body, slick feel. Finishes sweet with coconut.

Overall: Picked up a can just for the LOLs, I suppose. Very fruity and sweet, in the same vein as Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force or a milkshake IPA. I suppose if you want to get blasted quick this tastes better than a high gravity malt liquor.

 

Alken Maes - Cristal Xtra

330ml can served in a footed pilsner glass. E: 10-01-25 L4012056C0254 is stamped on the bottom; I would guess it's "best by" October 1st, or January 10th, but other than that...no idea. Brought to me earlier this week by a guest who flew in from Belgium.

Pours hazy yellow with a big head that collapses fairly quickly and leaves thick lacing and a fluffy ring with a clumpy cap. Smell is clean grain with a yeast funk. Maybe a little bit of a floral / honey note.

Taste is grain and honey and grass.

Mouthfeel is light, dry, a little fluffy. Not complex, but clean and and enjoyable.

 

Thank you @Snowcrash000 for getting the weekend started!
I’m in Colorado so all my normal beers are home in my cellar. So many new beers this week, but only one so far this weekend:

This is one of those stouts that is better the closer to room temperature it gets.
The pour is stout black with a good brown head that dissipated to little islands yet left no lacing.
The taste is surprisingly full for the 6% that it’s pegged at. Coffee, cacao (definitely not chocolate) and roasted malts, or maybe that’s hops, not sure.
The feel is just a little more, body wise, than, say, water. But for the ABV and style, it works fine.
OA, surprisingly good stout, I think I’ll go back to buy the 6 pack.

 

Love that beer!

 

Courtesy of @FBarber this NBS BIF#18 Hidden Springs Brewery Riot Juice Kettle Sour with Blackberry, Vanilla & Lime, 5.5% ABV; 3.87 overall

Pours an effervescent amber/orange color with 2 fingers of beige head, vanishes quickly. No head retention or lacing

S: Berries & vanilla, persists throughout the tasting

T: Follows the nose, not super tart, dry enough up front. Lime works though as this beer warms up, along with salt, berries & vanilla. Finishes slight tart, certainly sweet, a little dry with lime & sweet berries

MF: Medium body, dialed back carbonation, some stickiness on the teeth, not much

Fun, easy to drink, this worked for me

 

New to me is this excellent Irish Red Ale by Sullivan Brewing Company of scenic Kilkenny, Ireland. Maltings Irish Ale is the name. I went very high on my review; this is the #3 for the style and a solid "A" as a beer in general.

Brewers Notes;
"Enjoy the canned version of our Maltings Irish Ale. Our classic ruby ale with deep malt, combining rich biscuit and gentle caramel notes. Visual: Rich ruby red color with good foam.
Aroma: Malt and fruit taste balance of blended malt, with hop bitterness, good body with a dry finish. Jan Hamilton, Brewmaster."

Ingredients;
Water, Malted and roasted barley, hops, yeast.



4.52/5 rDev +11.9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

An even, moderate pour released a finger of creamy beige foam with long retention and small blotches of lacing. Deep reddish-brown, bright light is required to see the perfect clarity and the amazing ruby color.

Bready toasted malt and roasted malt greet the nose with a low floral/herbal hop smell. A medley of baked and very ripe fruit (mostly pitted) in the background with faint coffee, caramel and chocolate.

Neutral taste with medium low bitterness at first, items from the smell are bold and expertly balanced, only malt in general stands out. Caramel malt with baked apple, pear and a hint of banana are denied sweetness by roasted malt posing as chocolate/coffee. Hop flavor is low yet plays a role in the balance. Bitterness rises to above average at the speedy, dry finish. The aftertaste is lingering roast, toast and a slightly salty bitterness.

Medium-full, malty rich body with soft and lasting carbonation. Balanced almost to a fault, fruit sweetness and hop/roasted malt bitterness battle to a tie. Warms very well, alcohol becomes noticeable and a slight astringency gets a pass. Very smooth for the style, matches guidelines and what it states on the label.

 

Poured into a 13 oz Teku glass, canned on 5/17/24. Pours a very attractive hazy orange with a solid finger sticky white head that leaves little patches of lace, with excellent retention. 4.25

Aroma obviously Guava is hitting first and hard, passionfruit, mandarin, and apricot very pleasant. 4.5

Taste follows guava starts but not over the top at all. Passionfruit, mandarin, and apricot all in minor supporting roles. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, soft gentle carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 8.4% it has big flavor and excellent drinkability. 4.75

Overall this is spectacular. I would highly recommend and so happy that they didn’t over do the guava. Excellent. 4.5 Cheers all.

 

Indeed - Mexican Honey, an "imperial lager"

16oz can served in a Monhegan pint glass. Can is dated 10/12/23. Received from @Victor_Sabre1973 in NBS BIF #18.

Pours clear honey-brass with a gigantic head that fades slowly, leaving huge pockets in a pillowy mountain. Smell is light honey and lots of yeast, some orange blossom, maybe some vague floral stuff or honeysuckle.

Taste is earthy bitterness and a clear honey sweetness with an understated grain flavor. That earthy bitterness seems to build more than any of the other flavors the more that I sip this.

Mouthfeel is medium, maybe a little bit on the lighter side of that section of the spectrum, has a little bit of a chew to it. Overall, pretty good.

 

Reviving a historical beer style: Polish Champagne

Firstly: I hope folks enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend but please remember those that lost their lives serving for all of us.

The Grodziskie beer style is not a well-known beer style. It is a Smoked Polish wheat beer that became ‘extinct’ circa 1993. Thanks to the efforts of Polish homebrewers (and others) this beer became resurrected although not too many US craft breweries make this beer. Back in the day this beer was sometimes referred to as Polish Champagne, I presume due to its effervesce.



I homebrewed a Grodziskie beer once (in 2014) and I enjoyed drinking those beers. I vowed I would not brew this beer style again until one of the yeast vendors (e.g., Wyeast, White Labs,…) productizes a Grodziskie yeast strain. I have been waiting 10 years and so far, no luck. I am actually considering just brewing another batch this year using some dry yeast I already have in my refrigerator.

Below are some extracts from the BJCP style guidelines for the Grodziskie beer style:

“Overall Impression: A low-gravity, highly-carbonated, lightbodied ale combining an oak-smoked flavor with a clean hop bitterness. Highly sessionable.

History: Developed as a unique style centuries ago in the Polish city of Grodzisk (known as Grätz when ruled by Prussia and Germany). Its fame and popularity rapidly extended to other parts of the world in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Regular commercial production declined after WWII and ceased altogether in the early-mid 1990s. This style description describes the traditional version during its period of greatest popularity.”

The good news is that a commercial brewery opened in Poland in 2015 to once again make Grodziskie available to beer consumers. The brewery’s name is Browar w Grodzisku. I would encourage the interested reader to watch the video below:



Now, let’s discuss a bit about the Von C brewed Grodziskie. From the Von C website:

“Piwo Grodziskie

3.3% ABV


This once forgotten style of beer originated in Grodzisk, Poland in or before the 1600’s before being lost to obscurity in the early 1900’s. Made from 100% oak smoked wheat malt and aggressively hopped with Saaz hops. Once known as Polish Champagne this unique style is smokey, crisp, and floral. Pronounced "Pee-Voh” (Polish for “beer") "Grow-Jees-K’ya” (Grodzik being the town the beer originated from)

“Say: Grodz is key!”

Served on draft at the brewery’s taproom:

Appearance:

A hazy straw yellow with a white head.

Aroma:

There is soft smoke accompanied with citrus (lemon) and herbal from the hops.

Taste:

The flavor is exactly like the nose with a combination of soft smoke and citrus/herbal flavors.

Mouthfeel:

Medium/light bodied with a spritzy carbonation level. It has a dry finish.

Overall:

I think this beer is very good!

This is the first time that Von C has made a Grodziskie and IMO they truly hit the mark here. I hope they decide to make this beer again.

Na Zdrowie!

@KOP_Beer_OUtlet @rotsaruch @RobH

 

903 Brewers Skillet Brownie Imperial Stout, 10.0% ABV; 4.03 overall

Pours an effervescent chestnut/hazel with a thumb of mocha colored head. No head retention or lacing

S: Mocha, peanuts & vanilla, become more brownie like once warm

T: Sweet chocolate, vanilla, dryness, does taste a bit like ice cream up front. Brownies, vanilla & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes a little dry, some coffee notes, then a touch of peanuts, plus brownies & vanilla

MF: Medium body, slight carbonation

Pretty good offering, drinks easy for the ABV; delivers on the promised flavor

 

Back with a bigger beer.

Poured stout black into my snifter, the light brown head started strong but faded fairly fast to a thin ring that left light lacing.
The taste is right down the middle of the style- loads of dark chocolate, coffee and a hint of hops bitterness. I think I got malt- like from malted milk, I’m not sure how else to describe it.
The feel is lightly viscous, plenty of body to carry all the flavors.
OA, not the most of anything, but a very solid entry in the style.
So, while out on my evening walk, I noticed Pikes Peak looking ethereal-

Cheers all! Back to the RIS tasting thread.