New Beer Weekend #209

I’ve missed your posts @Coronaeus happy to read this one today. When I make it up there Godspeed is on top of our visit list

Hope you can find some time to share Anniversary beers with us even if they’re short one sentence reviews.

See you around, I’m hoping to finally contribute my new beer of the weekend soon.

 

One beer on this weekend for me; hot start to the week ended quite nicely and we’re back to normal highs finally. Our long time neighbors of moved away on Friday, boy was that tough saying goodbye. We will accept and pass down great neighborship to the new ones that move in this week. On to beer and backstory...

Blueberry season in South Jersey has pretty much officially come to an end this year, to celebrate it I grabbed a single of this beer. Brewed right in Hammonton, “Blueberry Capital of the World”, with a bunch of Hammonton grown blueberries.

If there is a such thing as terroir in beer I would say this 100% fits the bill. You can’t get much more South Jersey than blueberries; the first cultivated blueberries were grown a few miles down the road, the rest is history.

I’ve wanted to try this one for a while and finally came across a single last weekend, let’s give it a try.

Three 3’s - Blue Devil (Blueberry Saison 5.8%)



Pours an orange like hue with slightest hint of pink, vigorous Belgian like white head; white in color, nice film persists with good density around the glass; a swirl really reinvigorates this one and thickens up the cap really nicely. *The picture today really doesn’t have accurate coloring*

Nose is all about the saison yeast; spicy and clove like; light fruit skin like acidity and tartness, carries a light sweet character, as it warms this becomes more noticeable.

Taste is spicy Belgian phenolics, clove comes to mind first; followed up by black pepper like bite; all the while light sweetness lightly lingers from start to finish, the Belgian like carbonation masks it while mid sip; it then lingers pleasantly and is quite fresh ripe blueberry like, not candy blueberry or flavoring blueberry, the real thing.

Mouthfeel is medium, on the lighter side though; lively carbonation, reminiscent of Belgian beer, light tannin bitterness on the finish; pleasant light little bit of sweetness on the tongue, light nasal warming.

A well made beer, this is a Belgian leaning saison; with hints of real blueberry, it is not a style I gravitate towards but I'm enjoying sipping this one. Fans of "fruited" beers would probably be disappointed with this one but to me it is a very nice drinking beer with a nod to one of the best parts of living in South Jersey, fresh blueberries.

I’d be curious what some of you saison experts think of this one… @Roy_Hobbs

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This brewery is now really on my radar, their "Jersey Life" AAL was second only to Schilling's in the beers I had for that tasting so I sought out this one. I also grabbed another single of theirs for next weekend's new beer.

@MacMalt

Have a great week everyone, looking forward to being back next weekend. Now I will sit and sip on this one as Mrs Phisher and I watch "Alone" and drift into the night.

Oh and PS...where the heck is everyone?!?!?!?

 

Good to see you back

 

Prairie Spicy Watermelon Girlfriend Kettle Sour, 5.0% ABV; 3.24 overall

Pours a hazy pink grapefruit/orange color with a pinky of fast-falling beige head. Remnants of lacing & head retention

S: Watermelon rind, spicy peppers

T: Heat up front, watermelon juice, some dryness. Some watermelon sweetness, dryness & heat on the tongue once this beer has warmed up. Finishes very spicy, plus some sweet watermelon juice

MF: Medium body, minimal carbonation, some stickiness on the teeth

Too much heat here for me to consider drinking again. I do think you could probably make a really good cocktail with it. Other than stouts, it is rare for me to consider pepper heat in my beers

Probably should take a Tums now...

 

Another new beer for me. Bitburger Premium Pils that I compared with Ex Novo - Perle Haggard.



3.79/5 rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
L- Pale yellow color with white foam with little volume and lacing, short lived.

N- An aromatic spicy hop note along with very light grain and perhaps lemon.

T- Lightly bitter hop note without any overt lemon or citrus notes. Perhaps a tinge of lemon pith on the finish with malt firmly in the background yet there for balance and structure.

F- Body is medium a just a bit thinner than some German style pilsners. Easy drinking with no thickening at the back of the throat.

O- A nice lightly hopped variant with easy drinkability and slightly less malty character than some that is quite refreshing.

 

Maplewood - Sprucette, a grisette

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. Canned 12/15/2023. Bought it at Orange & Brew in Naperville three nights ago.

Pours lightly hazy, light yellow, big fluffy, coarse head, settling slowly and webbily (is that a word?). Lots of carbonation. Smell is mildly tart, mostly lemon, some grain and hay and a little earthiness. Some saison funk.

Taste is bitter and earthy first, lemon and tart second, quite powerful, not simple, but straightforward.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, crisp. Overall, I'm really digging this at 4%.

 

Genesee — Ruby Red Kölsch

A light brown liquid with a fluffy head.
That smells like a cheap citrus candy.
And tastes like a cheap candy too, like spiked lemon tea.
And feels in the mouth like a sweetened soft drink with no alcohol.
With no traces of booze in the taste it works like a lunch drink, but is it beer?

 

Good evening all!
I really planned to post a couple today but you know what they say about the best laid plans…
Got home from an amazing bottle share and wanted to dig into a couple that I picked up when there, but apparently the ones I had in mind were left in Garth’s car and not brought in to my house.
All was not lost though as there was a last minute trade with @DoctorZombies for some WV tics. (Beer tics, not ticks)
Hatfield Takes On Devil Himself. Actually, it’s named “Devil Anise” but I like the other name better.

Poured an unfiltered looking amber color that sported nearly white head and lots of lacing.
The taste was neither east or west coast but a style of its own. A little pine and a little papaya I got from the hops and they actually played nicely with the malt base.
The feel is light and crisp, excellent for a summer evening.
OA, I enjoyed this quite a bit, it fits in this curious category with Two Hearted Ale - rather balanced hops and malts wise and definitely an IPA.

 

Sketchbook - Piwo Grodziskie

16oz can served in a curvy Monhegan pint glass. BB 10.23.24. Bought it at Orange & Brew in Naperville a couple nights ago.

Pours clear pale yellow with about a finger of head that settles quickly into a thick skin. Smell is light, I get nothing but smoke and nuts.

Flavor is similar -- mild, light, mostly smoke and smoked nuts, but now a bit of a grainy sweetness and a little bit of lemony freshness.

Mouthfeel is very light, very effervescent. Overall, light, refreshing, smoky, interesting.

 

Fremont + Societe - Up Stream

16oz can served in a big snifter. Can is dated 06/25/24. My brother-in-law dropped it off at my house during my son's birthday party a few hours ago.

Pours a hazy pale orange with a small, maybe half-finger head. Smell is huge orange julius and mango and pineapple and vanilla / lactose.

Taste is not as rich as the aroma, but fairly similar. A little lighter on the juicy / sweet stuff, more pithy.

Mouthfeel is light, clean. Overall, it's pretty good.

 

Icicle - Hazy Enchantments #19 (Cannon)

16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Can is dated 06/25/24. Bought it at a QFC yesterday.

Pours a hazy pale orange with a big fluffy head that settles into a big, chunky pile. Smell is tropical fruit and citrus pith.

Taste is super pithy and lightly tropical, nice balance of juiciness and bitterness.

Mouthfeel is light, on the watery side. Overall, very nice beer.

Bon weekend, friends.

 

Today it got all the way up to 106°, and I didn't get home from work until after 7, and didn't get dinner made and out of the way til well after 8, and I just wasn't feelin' it by then, beer wise.

I did have one last night, however, when the high was a mere 99°.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/52114/332111/?ba=woemad#lists
Grains of Wrath is a proudly veteran-owned brewery, and EGA stands for Eagle, Globe, Anchor, so it's a salute to the USMC. Although broadly similar to a WCIPA, the hops were a bit more tropical and the finish was just a teensy bit softer than one would expect out of one. Still a really nice IPA, though. I'd definitely hit it again.

 

Great beer! I had one of those a few years back, courtesy of the great @WesMantooth. I hope he's well.

 

You have a local brewery that has currywurst? That sounds fantastic! Perry Street Brewing had it as a special during an Oktoberfest about a year ago, but they bastardized it with sriracha mixed with curry powder instead of a proper curry ketchup. That's just wrong.