New Beer Weekend #266

Hopefully I get this going before @Beersnake. Please select a new-to-you beer that you would like to share with with our fraternity of beer enthusiasts. Please detail the look, the smell, the taste, the mouthfeel, and your overall experience with that beer. Burial Beer and Other Half Brewing Dream Candy. I Used To Just Let It Be What It Was. NEIIPA. DDH with Simcoe, Citra, and Zumo hops, with some Simcoe Hyberboost, Citra Cryo, and Hyperboost hops. Courtesy of @Braunmeister_1943. The look is beautiful hazy, sunflower yellow, with a nice thick, white foam top. The smell is grapefruit, tangerine, lime, banana, cantaloupe, and freshly-baked buns. The taste is like a fruit smoothie. Mango, banana pudding, grapefruit, white grape, and green apple flavors explode. The mouthfeel is soupy, thick, clean, and crisp. Absolutely delightful. Overall, the can-art on this beer is possibly the best I have ever seen. I wish I could show the whole can. This is one of the best NEIIPAs I have ever experienced. It rivals any of the greatest traditional NEIIPA breweries' creations. There are unique fruit flavors that I have not experienced in such a remarkable combination. This is a special beer.

 

Toppling Goliath - Oktoberfest at Bottle Theory
Finally someone starts up the thread. Thanks @Beersnake! Happy Friday!

 

Fate required you were to lead us off, and you did so majestically.

 

I feel bad for that glass, since now you will have to incinerate it.

 

Sober is a broad term. Ubering around tonight.

 

For a change, I both have a new beer to share (actually two), and I am ready to share them at this relatively new early time. I am doing a comparison of sorts, and since I am wordy, I will not probably get to hit "post reply" for a good while after this thread works itself out.

I bought both of these Oktoberfests today. One is the most popular beer on this site these days, and the other is a local. A quick look at the home page will tell you the first is Sierra Nevada's Oktoberfest collaboration this year with Störtebeker. The local is from Right Proper, one using the Heurich label, which is an historical entity from the DC beer scene.

You can easily find write ups on both, but here they are:

The pic


So right off the bat.. this is a Märzen vs Festbier comparison. So there might not be a lot of similarities. But we shall see.

I do tend to like Märzens, but I also have to say I like the look of the Sierra Nevada a bit more, even given the style differences. The haziness of Right Proper's beer is the main reason why.

Aroma (and some look)
The more amber Märzen from Right Proper had a little better head, overall, and its aroma has a nice sweet malty breadiness to it. I get a slight minerality, and the nose has me expecting the bitterness to be slightly grassy. I also get a light spicy note.

By the time I get to the Sierra Nevada, I was surprised that it looked still. A light swirl didn't bring much carbonation to the surface. A razor thin ring did eventually appear. I might have to rethink my looks winner based on this.

Anyhow, there is a maltiness and spice to the SN beer that may be the bridge between the two. Relatively, the SN beer is more fruity than the RP beer. It also seems a little cleaner in aroma... or maybe more straightforward is the word. There's a little less fuzziness on the edges.

Taste and Feel
The Sierra Festbier is clean, and somewhat follows the straightforward impression I got in the nose. It is a little less malty, but mildly fruity and floral, with a decent spicy bitterness. I had read a little about the bitterness in this one, and can maybe see what people are noting (for better or worse).

The Right Proper Märzen has a similar spice and mineral to metallic note that I also get in the SN beer. I will note that I use the term metallic in a neutral way - which I can't explain beyond that - it isn't a desired or undesired note to me. Anyhow, the RP beer has more breadiness up front, is barely a tad more brown sugar sweet, and softly fills the palate a bit more than the SN offering.

Final Thoughts
The GF liked the SN beer a bit more. I am torn. I think Sierra Nevada has made an overall more put together beer. Right Proper's offering just seems a little more loose. I appreciate the former. But I like the more bready notes in the Right Proper beer. Then again, I kinda like the finish of the SN beer a little better.

Overall, I probably agree with the GF for this comparison.

 

I found this one today at my local bottle shop, and for whatever reason...I said sure, why not?

Edmund's Oast Brewing, Ruby. 12.5% ABV, barleywine aged in Madeira barrels.

I have never seen or heard of the brewery before, from Charleston SC. The amount of places there now is pretty impressive. I use to go there a lot, I have been vacationing in Edisto since I was like 6 years old ha, so been to Charleston many times, but haven't been back since probably before 2015. When only places like Southend Brewery was open (which was not a good brewery), or the great Closed for Business beer bar was open...and now unfortunately appropriate for its name is closed.

Anyway...





Pours a dark murky brown color. A very small beige head forms and recedes to basically nothing after a minute. Which just leads to a viscous liquid to look at.
The nose...Oh this is impressive. Big toasted and toffee like malts, wood and vanilla. Mixed with a vinous grape/fortified wine like character that melds perfectly together.
Taste wise, all the character from the aroma is here as well. Toasted malts, toffee, plenty of sweetness, wood/vanilla/barrel character. Along with that vinous grape and fortified wine like flavor. Darker fruits like plums and raisins. Its all well done, but with just a bit more harshness to it. It can be very aggressive and abrasive, along with a big alcohol presents.
A full viscous and chewy body. The bare minimum of carbonation. This becomes sticky, overly syrupy, with noticeable alcohol burn. All that is somewhat to be expected, and not displeasing. Though it does take its toll after a bit. Still, saying all that, I'm enjoying sipping on this.

Oh, this is a big one. I don't think I have had a big abrasive barrel aged booze bomb in a while. This certainly fits the bill. I do very much enjoy it, even if the "biggness" of everything does get in the way just a bit. Which keeps this from being in the upper tier for me, but again, still very enjoyable.

Overall score is 3.96, easy B+
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/52742/728428/?ba=champ103#lists

And really enjoying sipper on this while spinning my new toy...Keith Jarrett's At Deer Head Inn, the Complete Recordings. With Paul Motion on drums and Gary Peacock on bass. Brilliant band, brilliant live music...

 

Great one there! When I saw that Burial was collaborating with Other Half, I pounced on the two offerings! Glad you enjoyed it, Micah! Cheers!

 

@Beersnake thanks for kicking off NBW!

RAR Out Of Order Droid Juice Fruited Sour, 5% ABV. Pours opaque dark-red with no head, but it's leaving lacing as I drink it. Aroma is strawberry and lactose. Taste follows, with strawberry up front. Not tasting the Hydro-glycolic fuel. Decent smooth and creamy mouthfeel, overall excellent.

4.2/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

My wife doesn't drink beer, so on the rare occasion I suggest she sip one, she rarely will, and if I ask her to just smell it, she always says "it smells like beer", even if it doesn't much. Our adult daughter is living with us at the moment, and she occasionally drinks fruited sours, so I do mention notable sours. She'll try them if they sound good to her, and sometimes asks me to pick up more. She has zero interest in anything other than fruited sours.

 

Hop Butcher for the World - California Cornhole Champs

 

That was a fun read, and spot on with your Oktoberfest observation in the opening @Beersnake.

I’m sipping my first of the year tonight too

I have a post incoming soon I hope that is also a comparison of sorts @cjgiant.

 

Breaking up my [long] review from the thought of the "thought of the day" question...

To which I answer... it depends.

Friends and family are often happy to ask and listen to me talk about the beer offerings we are having. I won't often force the initiation of the topic, but once I get started, I don't always find the right off ramp.

Occasionally I will take time to phone-type up some notes when with company, if the situation is right. The situation is pretty much only right if I am with close friends and family.

As for kids, my nephews are disappointed when I don't bring my "traveling bar" (beer cooler and perhaps a spirit or two to share) with me to family get togethers. My oldest nephew is now at college, as well, @Beersnake - and I am hopeful he flourishes. My sister has mentioned he has no desire to drink (and knowing him, I can see it). Cheers to your middle daughter!

@jonphisher - you better not disappoint on the comparison promise

 

I'm doing 4 rounds tonight boys..
It's been about the toughest week of my life but tonight I am going to beer nerd out..
3 of the 4 are new to me,so will post here..
Starting in Germany..
This is only my 3rd wheat beer and my favorite thus far.
Not my favorite style but not a bad start at all!
Soft and light with prominent banana notes..

 

First time brewery taste for me courtesy a trade with @Hinda65 . Templin Family DelMar imperial stout. Poured cool to a medium snifter. Color is a dark cola brown, with a lively three-finger carbonated head. Flows like cola. Settles down into a sudsy, lacy top. Aroma is a slightly roasty malt, leathery, crushed velour. First sips follow the slightly roasty malt vein, with a subtle twinge of hops at the front, almost Porter-ish to me. The foundation stays rather linear, but that’s ok because it’s a solid drink, almost like a younger Old Rasputin. 11.5% ABV doesn’t carry any bite, but it brings a fair amount of warming and buzz quickly into it. Mouthfeel is on the medium thinner side. 8 ounces gone just writing this description. Solid!

 

Why the toughest? Care to share?