New Beer Weekend #219

I think there's been a name change or possible relabeling for import. Only 11 reviews on the Festbier, all USA. I believe they marketed a Spezial Hell for years that was a festbier, but wasn't labeled or marketed as such. It's worth picking up. Mine was a May 2024 bottle which is as fresh of an imported oktoberfest as you will see.

 

Cheers, BAs and happy new beer weekend. Today I’m trying a beer from a brewery I first noticed when I went to Vermont. It’s funny how everything good comes to you eventually and when I started to see this brewer in the store, I was very excited.

This is VonTrapp Oktoberfest. It pours with a fat creamy head of tan foam over a little attractive chill haze . Darker amber body. The nose is malty with a hint of malt sweetness. Some graceful hop floral and soft grasses. The hops on this nose are present but understated. It drinks just like the nose. Has a crisp malt that’s dry. It’s not biscuity, it’s breaddy and firm. It generously fills the palate and the hops stay in the background except for a slight bitterness to finish it malty in the aftertaste with moderate carbonation. This is a terrific Oktoberfest with no flaws. Cheers and happy new beer weekend!

 

The only marzen I have purchased this year, a beautiful beer, I’m with you 100% on this one @utopiajane. Glad you enjoyed this one and that it found its way to you.

 

Good day BAs! Thanks @WunderLlama for starting this weekends Bierfest! Today's New Breakfast Beer:



Prize Old Ale – from George Gale & Co. 9.3 fl oz bottle purchased from Shangy’s, Emmaus, PA, 14/09/24, $ 5.82 (including tax), $ 0.626/fl oz. Reviewed 28/09/24 (Review 3355). Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
An additional neck label states “Bottled in 1997 Bottle #1768”. In room temperature storage at store. Stored at 42 degrees F at home. Served at 58.1 degrees F in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter. The final temperature was 60.4 degrees F.
Appearance – 4
First pour – Deep Amber (SRM 15) clear.
Body – Amber Brown (SRM 18), opaque. Under direct light, same. When rear-lite, red, and translucent.
Head – None. Not surprising in a 27-year-old corked bottle.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Sweet with dates and figs, no hops, no malt, no alcohol (9% ABV, according to the label).
Flavor – 4 – Follows the nose – sweet with dark fruits and weak vinousness. Also, a bit of port character. No ethanol. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl. Late, mild, gastric warming.
Palate – 4 – Full; syrupy; no carbonation.
Style: Follows the style guidelines, as condensed by BA.
Final Impression and summation: 4 Several minutes after the last swallow, some alcohol appears on the exhale. Flavors are good but subdued. Unfortunately, the bottles were stored in such a manner that the cork dried out. Still, quite a find, IMHO.

Rating 4, rDev +14.9%

 

Maria, I am in Cooperstown right now (at baseball hall of fame at the moment) and last evening me and some buddies had draft pints of this beer. It is very well balanced with the flavors you detailed. We all wanted to order a second pint but we had to move on.

I will be purchasing a sixpack of this beer soon.

Cheers’

 

Hiya Jack! Don’t forget to visit ommegang while in cooperstown and the baseball hall of fame. I wish I could tell you that you are close to me and come to Ithaca. If you decide to come to Ithaca I’ll be here today and in the future. It’s about 2 and a half hours. Cheers!

 

Good morning NBW
I had an opportunity for a new breakfast beer and took it. I didn't see @utopiajane's review until mine was in. Spot on.


Von Trapp Oktoberfest

12oz can stamped BEST 12/01/24 poured into a mug at fridge temp 5.6% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright light amber in color with light khaki head. The head recedes to an uneven ring and scattered islands. Moderate spotty lacing. The aroma is mild with caramel malt and orchard fruit. The taste is burnt sugar caramel, deeply toasted bread plus apple and pear notes before grassy and woodsy hop flavor. Moderate final bitterness. The feel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, excellent depth of flavor and extremely drinkable Märzen. Some might say overly bitter, but I think just at the high point for the style and has enough malt depth to balance.

I was excited to find this one in Ashville, NC of all places, but glad I picked it up. This review just placed the Märzen style in a tie with American Imperial Stout for my second most reviewed style at 123. Oktoberfest beers, if still combined, would be my #1 at 164. I still have 7 more oktoberfest beers to review from my purchases in Cincinnati and Ashville. Both are fantastic beer citys if you get the chance to visit.

Cheers all!

 

Yours is spot on with the phrase burnt sugar which I now like better than caramel. Oh it s good alright! Cheers.

 

Cervezas Rio Azul (Spain) ‘65’ Triple IPA

44 cl can - couple of them, really.. one poured into a wine glass, the next into a proper pint glass, in fabulous Toulouse, France.
Super cumulus nimbus cloud of foam rises beautifully over orange gold brew.
The nose is strong of hops: flowery, quite spicy, grapefruit, melon., I get some peach too.
Intense fruit basket flavors; Florida citrus, pineapple, melon, hello papaya. Damn good bitterness rounded out by a balancing sweet ping ding and an ass slap of alcohol on the finish.
Flavors linger long.
Mouthfeel is lux and smooth, medium but zippy carbonation.
Overall, the hop mix overload of Ekuanot T-90 pellets and Cryo Amarillo delivers a super condensed explosion that’s fruity as a Carmen Miranda hat. Right fine booming TIPA!

4.69/5 in the BA DB

 

Another long week down and now it’s the weekend; sadly we have one sick kid in the house, hoping it stays that way but we’ll see.

Last night I had the pleasure of talking to the head brewer of this new NJ brewery at a local store. Great conversation about beer and brewing, former head brewer at Cape May, I learned that one of my favorite beers was his recipe, RIP Longliner, who knows maybe they’ll bring it back one day.

This is Wander Back’s pils which he said uses the same hops as Longliner, saaz and saphir; different malt as it is all local like their other beers and is single decocted, he also shared that it sees a much longer lagering time. Had this one last night after our chat…

Wander Back Beerworks - Future Proof Pils (German Pils 5.5%)



Light straw color, crystal clear; very bubbly white head that vanishes quickly.

Nose is lightly herbal but leans more into earthy grass territory, cracker, and some light bread quality.

Taste is nicely hoppy; earthy and green, little spicy quality on the finish, light malt presence; mix of light bread and cracker; faint grain.

Mouthfeel is light but higher end; smooth carbonation, crisp and clean with moderate bitterness on the finish, dries out nicely on the finish.

A very solid pilsner, looking forward to watching this brewery grow and see what other goodies they start putting out. He told me they got a dark lager coming in the colder months, cannot wait for that one...in the meantime I'll probably try to get around to their helles next.

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So long as I remain healthy I'll be contributing at least one more this weekend but if I don't I'll be back next weekend.

Hope you all have wonderful weekends, filled with good times and good beer; hopefully there is enough posts to keep me entertained till night. Cheers Everyone.

 

Thank you @WunderLlama for opening the weekend. With family in Vegas this weekend, so will try to catch up on the thread by Sunday. In with the first of four from the Sierra Nevada Fan Pack by brother graciously @DTLVTOUR gifted me. This seemed like the best early morning option, though it’s definitely not crisp Autumn weather here as we are set to break a new record for the day (103 F) with the forecasted high of 105 F.

Sierra Nevada Tumbler Autumn Brown Ale

4.06/5 rDev +5.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25



This isn’t my go to style, but nice balance, strong flavors, feels great. Toffee, bread pudding, a bit of cinnamon bun.

I recommend for those who like brown ales and those who may not who want to take a chance. Hope to come back later today.

 

Dutch Classic - An American Blonde Ale from Fixed Gear Brewing Co.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/54434/407419/

Poured a 473ml can into a pint glass. A one finger head on a slightly hazy yellow. The head soon diminished to a layer. Good carbonation Some patchy lacing.

Slightly sweet fruity smell.

A very mild malt taste. The mildest of hop finishes.

A light body and good carbonation.

Overall a light refreshing ale. Smooth and undemanding. A bit thin but refreshing.

look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

Hacker Pschorr Kellerbier
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/76/9784/

Poured a 500ml can into a seidel. A big three finger fine off white head on a very hazy golden orange. Good head retention. Lots of lace rings.

Bready malts in the nose. Some spice.

Tastes of bready malts. Sweet with some herbal notes. Apple. A almost imperceptible hop finish.

Medium light body. Fairly low carbonation.

Smooth, balanced and well rounded. Very drinkable.

look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

 

The tucher festbier by me has a date of feb.22

 

Infected? I never heard of any brewer going a sour Octoberfest route.

 

The doppelbock from the same brewery is my white whale. I had several bottles of it I purchased in a supermarket in Lubeck in the late 90s, but haven't had it since.

 

Last weekend and this weekend are chiefly occupied by moving across town. It is possible, however, that a visit to Whistle Punk for their Punktoberfest may occur this late afternoon, and there will perhaps be a new beer or two sampled then.

 

Our son and his girlfriend came down to visit us from Albuquerque, and he brought several beers from a couple breweries near him. Today I'm drinking Golden Goat, a single malt, single hop APA from Painted Lady Bed and Brew.
From a growler the beer poured a clear gold color with a small white head. No lace
Aroma of citrus, sweet malt, and pine.
Taste of grapefruit, grapefruit rind, caramel, and pine.
Medium-bodied. I liked how the bitterness lingered on my palate.

 

Was able to get a nearby Army Base when I was in Germany. Always bought at least one rack every time I saw it. It was seasonable

 

Next up NBW
My last Cincinnati haul oktoberfest

Listermann Festbier

16oz undated can poured into a mug at fridge temp 5.4% ABV per label. The beer pours mostly bright medium amber with very light khaki head. The head recedes quickly to a pencil thin ring and a few scattered bubbles. No lacing. The aroma is mild with sweet toasted malt. The taste is bittersweet burnt sugar caramel, toast and herbal & almost woodsy hop notes. It has a consistent mild bitterness throughout the sip. The feel is thin bodied with average carbonation and a mostly dry finish. Cleanly lagered. Overall, good and different. Never sweet, yet satisfying, dry and drinkable.

Cheers all!