New Beer Weekend #208

Thanks for getting us going @ChicagoJ I loved that AAL tasting but I’m pretty excited to get back to my normal weekend habits…sharing and talking about new beers together.

Tonight just a SN Summerfest and the Phillies game, I got one for each weekend day though so I am ready

 

Hey what's going on!?

I don't have much new beer! Time to go shopping!

With that said though, at least I have this great gem!



Poured from the can into a pokal style beer glass.

Slightly chill like hazed, but mostly clear bodied with a real neat looking greenish and gold polished color. Head is fluffy white topped at just under three fingers with some light soapy retention. Minimal rising carbonation though.

Classic solid rauch aroma. Toasty and smokey malt notes giving to classic bacon and meaty flavors. Hints light ash, and even a good mix of light caramel malt sweetness for balance. Very inviting and very clean.

Palate is just a winner. Clean and surprising amount of malt depth and richness for a light abv. Mid palate is full of excellent smoke and sweetness, giving to meaty and sweet bakery bread notes. Finishes with even touches of honey like sweetness, soft ash, and fresh baked white bread even with some crust.

Excellent smoked lager.

look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5 | Final Score: 4.47/5

Cheers!

 

Hello New Beer Weekend!!!

Awesome start to the virtual bar @ChicagoJ . I am going to start off my participation here with this one sent to me by a former member here.


Adopted - Imprint Beer Company - Hatfield, PA - NEIPA - 8.2%

This is going well after work today. I didn't get mango in the aroma, but it is the main hop flavor I get. Quite delicious.

Review:

4.07/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
From a 16oz can. I don't see a date on it.

This beer is a murky and hazy looking beer. Juicy pineapple colored beer. The head is white in color and 1 finger. The retention is decent, but there's no lacing on the glass.
The nose is tropical smelling. Hints of grapefruit and pineapple come through.
Taste - There's a mango flavor here that I wasn't getting in the aroma, and it's the main flavor. The mango has a nice sweetness to it. The sweetness is cut by the pineapple and grapefruit flavors.
The body is so soft and juicy feeling.
Delicious IPA. Pleasure to try.

Be back tomorrow after work for more new beer. Cheers.

 

Battle of the CAP beers!

Where CAP = Classic American Pilsner. Some folks prefer to brand these beers as Pre-Pro Pilsner (e.g., Jack’s Abby).

There are likely a few BAs who do not have a lot of familiarity with the Classic American Pilsner (CAP) style so a bit of background:

“Classic American Pilsner

It was not just European beer drinkers that wanted to drink golden colored lagers. The challenge for producing a beer like Pilsner Urquell in America was a difference in barley. The predominant type of barley grown in North America was 6-row barley vs. the 2-row barley grown in Europe. The 6-row barley was better suited for growing in the climate of North America. The issue with 6-row barley when it comes to brewing a golden beer is that it is higher in protein as compared to 2-row. Brewing an all malt golden beer in the America would yield a beer that suffers from chill haze – a hazy appearance when the beer is cold. The American beer drinkers of that time preferred to drink their beers cold so this chill haze issue was a real problem. It should be noted that chill haze was not too much of a problem for the others beers being produced in America in the mid-1800s since they were typically darker in color (e.g., amber/dark ales, dark Bavarian Lagers, etc.).

Thankfully there was a brewing scientist who came to the rescue. Anton Schwarz immigrated to America in 1868 from the Austrian Empire. “He was educated at the University of Vienna, where he studied law for two years, and at the Polytechnicum, Prague, where he studied chemistry.” The year after he immigrated to the US he wrote a seminal article entitled “Brewing with Raw Cereals, Especially Rice” in American Brewer magazine (1869). What Anton Schwarz recognized is that by adding some adjuncts (e.g., rice, corn) to the grain bill the overall content of protein was diluted since the adjuncts contained little protein and consequently the resulting beer would not suffer from chill haze. There was also the added benefit that the beer brewed using adjuncts would have improved beer stability. This improved beer stability was a great asset since American beer consumers drank quite a bit of bottled beer. The information that Anton Schwarz provided was quite an innovation for American brewers.

Below is how Anton Schwarz is lauded in the book American Handy-Book of the Brewing, Malting, and Auxiliary Trades by Wahl & Henius, 1902, page 711:

“It was Anton Schwarz who first advised the employment of rice and subsequently of Indian corn, which is so abundant in this country. The stubborn perseverance with which he sought to convert conservative brewers to his ideas and finally succeed in doing and, last, not least, the discovery of suitable methods to scientifically apply them, entitles him to be called the founder of raw cereal brewing in the United States.”

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Pilsen_Beer

Today’s new beer is Jack’s Abby Pre-Pro Pilsner but since I still have a couple of cans of Von C OG Pils which I purchased for last weekend’s AAL tasting thread I figured I would conduct a side-by-side tasting of these two beers.

Firstly, some descriptions of these two beers.

Von C OG Pils

Below is how OG Pils is described on the brewery’s website:

“OG Pils Legendary Philly Lager

4.9% ABV Norristown, PA

This is our take on a family recipe dating back 6 generations. Our very pale American Lager has been built on a base of pale 2-row barley, 6-row barley, and flaked maize to create the most thirst quenching and neutral flavor profile possible. Very light body and drinkable.”

This beer won a Gold Medal at the 2023 World Beer Cup:

"We have some of the biggest news we’ve ever shared…
On May 10th, our O.G Pils Legendary Philly Lager took home the GOLD medal at the 2023 World Beer Cup in the American Pilsner category!
Out of 104 entries in our category, we were ranked #1 by 272 judges - WOW! There were over 10,213 entries from 2,376 breweries in 51 countries in the whole competition making this one of the largest beer competitions in the world."

Jack’s Abby Pre-Pro Pils

Below is how this beer is described on the brewery’s website:

“Pre-Prohibition Pilsner
May Release

In the years leading up to Prohibition, there was an explosion of breweries built by German immigrants brewing beers that took the best of the homeland and mixed it with the best of their new country, much like our brewery today. Celebrate our country and its origins with this Pre-Prohibition Pilsner brewed with corn and old school American hops to create a classic American combo.”

On the can there are additional details provided:

“Brewed with American 2-row malt, Old School American Hops and Double Decoction Corn-Mashed” & 5.8% ABV.

A bit ‘interesting’ that they market this beer style’s history but decided to not use the traditional malt for these sorts of beers: 6-row malt.

Served in my Polish Pilsner Glasses:

Appearance:

Von C: Straw yellow with a white head.

Jack’s Abby: Straw yellow with a white head.

Aroma:

Von C: There is a combination of bready malt and herbal/spicy & lemon-like hop aroma; quite enticing.

Jack’s Abby: The aroma is mostly bready malt but there is a subtle herbal/earthy hop aroma as well.

Taste:

Von C: The flavor follows the nose with a combination of bready malt and herbal/spicy & lemon-like hop flavors. There is a moderate bitterness.

Jack’s Abby: The flavor follows the nose with bready malt flavor and in the background subtle flavors of herbal/earthy from the hops. There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Von C: Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Jack’s Abby: A light-medium body with a dry finish.

Overall:

Von C: This beer is very good - excellent! It has a tasty combination of bready malt and herbal/spicy & lemon-like hop flavors and it definitely is as advertised: “drinkable”.

Jack’s Abby: I enjoyed drinking this beer, it is good. Has the feature of “drinkability”. It would be a nice lawnmower beer.

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH @speakorspasm @KP7

 

A rough game for the Phils tonight.

My wife and I (and a bunch of friends) will be at tomorrow's game - a bus trip leaving from the Sly Fox Brewpub (Phoenixville). We will be tailgating before the game and I am bringing a case (24 bottles) of homebrew. Four bottles each of:

• Altbier (Sticke version)
• Alsatian Pilsner
• DIPA - my version of Pliny the Elder
• Bohemian Pilsner
• Czech Dark Lager
• 1896 Michelob

I have my fingers crossed we will see a Phillies win but regardless there will be some good drinking of beer!

Cheers!

 

I’m submitting a Rhode Island twofer tonight—in Providence picking up my daughter from a pre-college program at Brown, so we just stopped in at a local pizza joint where I had a chance to try two Ocean State classics.

First up was Captain’s Daughter, an imperial IPA from Grey Sail brewing …

4.19/5 rDev -2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
On tap into a Grey Sail tulip at Provide ce Coal-Fired Pizza in Providence. Pours a slightly hazy honey color with a nice sticky head and patchy lace.

Aroma is not all that strong—not sure why but it doesn’t measure up to the taste. Some piney and citrusy hop notes.

Taste is sweet, dank, sticky and resinous with plenty of pine and citrus. Heavy malt presence for this imperial IPA.

Mouthfeel is chewy and sticky, slick but well balanced.

Overall a very solid imperial IPA. Still puzzled over the apparent lack of aroma but still an all-around excellent beer.


I followed that up with a Narragansett Lager, which was just fine …

3.29/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
On tap into a Shaker pint glass at Providence Coal-Fired Pizza in Providence. Pours a crystal-clear pale yellow with minimal white head and no lace.

Aroma is barely perceptible—some pale grainy malt and clean water.

Taste is likewise grainy, floral, grassy. Drinkable.

Mouthfeel is clean and crisp, what one would expect.

Overall a pretty standard American lager. It’s fine.

 

New Coffee Porter Weekend for me:

Saint Arnold's 2023 Bourbon Barrel French Press imperial coffee porter
10.8% ABV • 11/1/23 born-on date printed on bottle

A fantastic coffee stout that advertises bourbon barrel but delivers mainly coffee. I did get a huge hit of vanilla on the first sip, a note I'm suspecting came from the bourbon barrel, but otherwise the beer was much more espresso/cafe mocha forward with very little coming from the bourbon barrel. The dark-roasted malt notes threaten to take over at times and turn the beer into an overly earthy/bitter mess, but everytime that seems to be happening, the next sip is all milk chocolate and chocolate milkshake and that hint of vanilla to wash away the bitter for a spell. Then the dark notes begin building again. An excellent beer.

Official review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/337/453270/?ba=Premo88#lists
4.28 (+6.5% rDev)

I've probably overrated it a bit, but I wonder. I will say I don't plan on buying this version again until I've tried their regular French Press with no barrel aging. I'm assuming I'll like that better, but sometimes barrel aging isn't about what it adds but what it takes away, which can be a lot of rough edges. So we'll see ... .

Hope your weekends go well.

Cheers!

 

Happy New Beer Weekend! I’m here with one that I’ve had with my SAN group several times and sent out in BIFs many times but have never actually reviewed it.

Dark Horse Brewery is very well known locally, but it’s not known nationally like Bell’s, Founders, or New Holland. It’s gather a shame, because this is a very good adjunct and additive free BA Stout. Has the malt load that stout lovers look for, a little bourbon, and really, not much else. Just pure BA stout goodness.
The feel is lightly viscous, rather appropriate for the style. This tastes good enough that you might want to drink a lot of it quickly but it’s probably best not to.
OA, it’s one of the SAN groups favorites, we try to keep it on hand at all times.
Cheers!

 

Best tailgate in the parking lot I reckon!

 

Sierra Nevada Cool Little Cryo fresh Hazy IPA, 4.27 overall

Pours an effervescent gold with 2+ fingers of eggshell colored head. Very good head retention & better lacing. Didn't seem that hazy at all

S: Melons, guava, citrus

T: Follows the nose, fairly dry from the cryo hops, a little pink grapefruit as well up front. Green melon, guava, more grapefruit & dryness as this beer warms up. Finishes with guava, a little pineapple, faint dryness & sweet oranges

MF: Medium body, fairly assertive carbonation, nice balance

Very good take on the style, the dryness almost hurts this, but pretty drinkable

 

A new brew and a new brewery for me, Tucher Rotbier. Unfiltered (Naturtrübes) Red Lager that drinks like an Ale. Reasonably priced for an import and wicked fresh; PRO MAR.01.2024.
This has just become a new favorite. Prost.

Brewers Notes.
"For centuries, the natives of Franconia in Upper Bavaria have brewed these unfiltered cask-conditioned red lagers in accordance with both the German Purity Law and local tradition. The result is a full-bodied yet lower ABV amber-colored beer with dueling notes of roast and fruit. Given the renewed demand for complex lagers, Tucher has decided it’s finally me for this storied style to make it’s American debut."



Tucher Nürnberger Rotbier
European Dark Lager | 5.2% ABV
Brauerei Tucher Brau in Nürnberg, Germany



4.31/5 rDev +7.7% | Average: 4
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A sturdy pour released a fat finger of creamy beige foam with long retention and blotches of lacing, peaks and valleys form as a deep lasting cap rises. Very hazy (un-filtered) reddish copper body, orange-copper in bright light.

Big smell of toasted bready malt greets the nose, some caramel and rising dough. Hop smell is mild and floral. Toasted and fresh siloed grain blends with a general fruit-bowl-fruits smell.

Neutral taste at first with medium-low bitterness, toasted malt is in front with a hint of roasted malt balancing the emerging hop bitterness. An apple, pear, white grape fruitiness appears and recedes as dryness builds. An Ale-like finish is long and soft, semi-dry with hop bitterness rising to above average while pleasantly lingering on.

Medium-low bodied with reserved yet energetic carbonation. My first pour was light and produced a skinny finger of lace that shrunk away quickly, this beer benefits from a strong pour. Very well balanced, alcohol is hard to detect.
PRO Mar 01, 2024. BB June 01, 2025. Quite young for an import.

 

You just shrewdly cross-posted. Welcome to Rhody, try Hot Weenies or some Clam Chowdah for lunch.

 

Forgot to list the ABV, 7.5% ABV

 

River City Brewing's Rackhouse Series; Blanton's Bell Curve 4,3,2,1 18% ABV; 4.14 overall

Pours like 15,000 mile old motor oil with a pinky of fast-falling mocha colored head. Viscous as Hell, almost looks like a pudding skin, traces of head retention

S: Figs, roastyness, a touch of charred oak, vanilla once warm, not a ton of booze in the nose

T: Follows, the some pronounce sour mash smack, carob, plenty of barrel dryness, vanilla & molasses up front. Dark & Baker's Chocolate, pronounced oaky dryness, figs & dates, a little raisin, booziness fades, Bourbon really clamps on the tongue once warmed up. Finishes with Bourbon & barrel rawness, dark fruits, & sweet vanilla

MF: Chewy, warming as can be, near zero carbonation, slick. Really grabs the old tooth enamel

An ass kicker of a beer, a little more carbonation would really elevate this

 

I did, but I’d hasten to note that the content and context of each post was unique to each thread—and thus 100% appropriate! If all goes according to plan we will be back in Massachusetts before noon (though I believe they also have chowder, and I already had a bowl or two when I was here 3 weeks ago) but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen of this tiny, tiny state. I will admit, however, that I’m not enjoying the heat/humidity—reminds me unfavorably of my birthplace in the Mississippi River Valley. Cheers!

 

I think I would go 1896 Michelob as my first choice to try followed by the Alt

 

Why not!?!

Cheers!

 

Sierra Nevada Cosmic Little Thing

Appearance: Mostly clear yellow with a big head.

Smell: Light tropical fruit, maybe a bit of coconut?

Taste: A little sweetness, then a mix of tropical fruit and citrus kicks in. Not too bitter but not super sweet either. Doesn't feel super heavy or boozy.

Overall: Picked up a stovepipe to try, Cosmic is interesting in that it's not super fruity or super sweet, still at least seems to be trying to be “real beer”. Decent enough bum juice!