New Beer Sunday (week 547)

Good morning Dave! Thanks for starting us today and I know you meant me when you said "anxious openers." I was anxious about today's NBS because I want to present a macro beer. Now just give me a chance ok?

My pancakes for courage



and my beer



It is handsome and clear



Dose Equis Ambar

This is a macro produced beer in the style of the Vienna lager. Vienna malt is used and that's the same as for the Bock style. Vienna malt is lighter and sweeter than Munich malt which is used in the Oktoberfest. These two styles are similar and drink similarly but each is distinct. They differ in color slightly from the different malts used. The qualities that define both styles are no caramel, subtle or low hops presence. In the mouthfeel there is a pertinent difference. The Vienna finishes with some residual sweetness and can show some warmth in the finish. Both are clean lagers with no diacetyl, no dms, no fruity esters. Neither should have any roasted flavors.


Dos Equis Ambar is a darker lager to have with food. It is refreshing. It has a good clean feel with lots of bubbles and a mild flavor. With food it acts as though it has bitterness because it's mostly dry. But without food it's a sweeter finish. The body on the beer is light enough to seem thin and easy to drink. It tastes like brown bread with a good crust. A husky grain finishes smooth and with a sweet touch at the very back but leaves the palate wide open. A bite from carbonation and a breath from those hops that I would say is no more than vibrance. No real flavor or scent but you can taste them and it's not bitter. They lend an almost citric snap to the finish. This beer went extremely well with savory foods. With sweeter foods it appeared much thinner.

I thought this beer met all the style guidelines. The off flavors I see mentioned for this beer are caramel - I honestly did not find any. And fruit- again no. Metallic- I noticed people saying metallic flavor. While I found none, I am guessing that if you did observe metallic it could be one of two main reasons -one - improper storage of malts, or two the bottle was old and the metallic flavor is the result of oxidation.


"Some beers develop an unpleasant metallic flavor as they age. This seems to be independent of beer color. This flavor is often most prominent when the head of the beer is sampled, and if it is not too strong, it seems to fade as the beer breathes. This is most likely due to the tongue becoming accustomed to the flavor and ceasing to respond to it."

I have not given my numeric score yet but off the top of my head. Good 3.5/5. I did notice two things about the reviews for this beer. Some were plainly stating the guidelines but then the beer recieved a low score. Sometimes under a 3/5. This is characteristic concerning the lager. Even the people who thought it quite good did not reach far above 4/5.


Cheers every one! and Happy New Vienna Lager Sunday

Jane's Addiction Mountain Song

 

ISO those pancakes!

 

Nicely done. If there's a reason to be anxious for reviewing Adjunct Lagers on NBS you and I are both in trouble.

I think your observation about following the guidelines is spot on. I've deliberately been looking for some fresh examples of non-US brewed AALs, etc. and reviewing them, mostly to try to see what the rest of the world is drinking.

In doing so I've forced myself to recognize one of my rating biases. I generally don't find the flavors (or lack of flavors) in Adjunct Lagers "attractive" so its been hard to override my personal taste preferences and score them well or completely to style.

This came home most clearly last night when I reviewed a Portuguese AAL and then followed that with a Victory Summer Love, a beer I'd reviewed a year or so ago. When I went back to compare notes I realized that on appearance I'd given the AAL a lower score than I had the Victory beer when I reviewed it. But comparing what I saw in last night's back to back pairing, I realized that the head on the Victory beer had been no better or worse than the one on the AAL. So I fixed the AAL score and began to speculate on how much of a role my personal biases are actually unfairly impacting ratings of certain beers.

 

Really enjoyed that post on the Unicer Super Bock by the way :-)

 

Thanks. If I were to do a repeat of the non-US mass market lagers I've been trying the last month or so I think that one would be a prime candidate for a repeat. (And I don't think it was the music and fond memories of my first experience with it that made the difference. )

Edit: BTW @JimKal, that Portugese beer is one I'd suggest trying.

 

Good morning New BSers! Thank you Dave for opening this thread so early. And thank you Maria for your excellent and accurate review of Dos Equis Amber. I know I really enjoy it as well as Negra Modelo, especially with Mexican food. I've been known to buy a case as a lawnmower beer - particularly with a shot of lime juice.

Well, we're back from our decompression trip to eastern PA - got home at 2130 yesterday - and added some new beers to my review list. If anyone likes rauch beers and lives near Phoenixville or Pottstown, hit up Sly Fox and try the Copper Fox - we were there for lunch yesterday (Lamb burger - excellent!) and the Copper Fox is the best non-German rauch beer I've had, including the ones I brew!

Today's NBS offering is this:



Undated bottle at 42 degrees into hand washed and dried snifter
$ 9.99/bomber at Oppermann’s
Aroma of bourbon and roasted malt
Head small (2.5 cm in snifter, aggressive pour), light brown, fizzy, rapidly diminishing to two mm ring and partial layer
Lacing none
Body medium brown, muddy (Chill haze disappears at 53 degrees)
Flavor of roasted malt and bourbon, with the bourbon being weaker and more subdued than most BBA stouts and porter – this is a good thing; no hops, no alcohol, no diacetyl
Palate medium-full, creamy, soft carbonation

Appearance 4, Aroma 3.75, Flavor 4.25, Palate 4, Overall 4. Rating 4.04, rDev + 7.4 Better than the average Abita
offering.

Cheers!

 

I have always been able to enjoy both Dos Equis versions (in fairness it should be noted that a lot of the Special had been consumed in Cancun), but had absolutely no idea that the Ambar was listed as a Vienna. I will have to pick one up for sure with this new found knowledge and give it a proper review. I always thought it was ok for what it was. My rating of 3 reflects that. However, if memory serves me correct, I am still going to view it as an "American" Amber/red that had qualities similar to an adjunct. Probably indeed due to older and improperly stored bottles in many cases, and likely where the metallic comments come from. Although it is very possible that many people confuse it with the Special.
Either way, I will revisit.


Stay thirsty my friends!

 

Have you ever found a beer in your fridge (behind a pickle jar)!?!

Well, I did.

A can of Nomader Weisse that has a date of 5/30/14 on the bottom. How did I lose track of this beer?

It is somewhat Ironic that I found this particular can since last week I reviewed a 1 year old Dogfish Head Festina Peche which I purposefully cellared for a year. This week is simply part of the bonus plan!!

Nomader Weisse is a Berliner Weisse brewed for Evil Twin at the Westbrook Brewing Company.

A Berliner Weisse is a great beer style for hot weather. I was fortunate to find this beer!

Served in my St. Bernardus chalice:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a thin head that dissipates quickly.

Aroma:

Just a subtle hint of malt on the nose; not much else there.

Taste:

The dominant taste is sour with just a bit of malt

Mouthfeel:

Thin bodied.

Overall:

The beer is pretty much one dimensional; the sour taste is featured.

My guess is that one year in the refrigerator was not kind to this beer. I seem to recall this beer being multidimensional when it was fresh.

Hopefully there are no more one year old beers in my refrigerator.

Cheers!

P.S. Maria (@utopiajane), I finally found Cayuga Cruiser on draft and had a pint. It is very, very good! Just the right amount of tartness for my palate, a little bit of citrus spritz, and a light breadiness. Ithaca nailed it this year!

 

Good Morning all, I hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend so far. I'm a little excited, new job, semester starts next month and my NBS today because, while its not new to me, its new here and I was disappointed with it last year hoping it would improve. My NBS for today is:

Weyerbacher Brewing Co. - Imperial Pumpkin Ale

This beer is not new to me but it is my first time articulating my experience drinking it. I have to say I was satisfied by this years offering. With a hard pour the scents of cinnamon and cloves instantly hit my nose, scaring me a little as to what may come. A decent cloudy, amber in color look with finger width of white, foamy head and no lacing. (Please excuse the picture as it is from last night, the picture I took this morning didn't transfer to me picture manager correctly).



I was surprised to find that the nose was a pleasant bouquet of clove, nutmeg and cinnamon with a slight sweet, bready scent. Fortunately the taste was mostly concurrent with the smell, with some caramel or brown sugar included and all of which were wonderfully balanced. The sweets were not as cloying this year as my experience with the bottles I had last year. The cinnamon lingers a bit and there is some warmth in the chest but nothing detracting from the overall beer. There is an oily feel to it that slicks the palate and tongue with a reasonable amount of carbonation. Review.

 

Cheers Jack!

 

Go all the way next time- try it with a wedge of lime in the glass!

Great job. Cheers!

 

New Weyerbacher Sunday
This one is courtesy of @jzeilinger which is nice because I have only seen 2 or 3 of their anniversary beers around here before.


What is star anise you might ask? Good question. I don't know either. Let's see what the Google Monster says.






Anyway, on to what it tastes like.

3.59/5 rDev -13.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a murky, ruby brown with a bubbly tan cap that disappears rapidly. Not very impresive. Especially for a Belgian. Tons of sediment with a gentle pour.

Smells fairly sweet with some brown sugar. Some prunes/grape juice, some spice, and typical funky Belgian yeast.

The yeast and peppery spice from the corriader is there for sure right off the bat, along with prunes/raisins/dates that I imagine the ones they tried to kill Indiana Jones with tasted like. A bit fermented tasting. The booze isn't glaring, but it isn't hiding in the closet either. The carmalized brown sugar is there, and a subtle licorice candy flavor. Not very black to me though, which is good because it is one of the worst things ever. This is more like Twizzlers. All of this stuff actually works pretty well together. Not great, but good.

Body and feel? Decent

Overall I am not turned off by this, but I can't see myself drinking it again either. On the good side of Meh. I will stick with Insanity



A lot of debris in this one for some reason, even when poured gently to retain sediment.

To coin a friend, Prost!

 

Happy NBS on another hot/humid day in S. WI. Yesterday I had to work in the morning, but took my girls to the lake beach to enjoy a beautiful hot summer later afternoon. Today I am enjoying a perfect beer for a day like today.

Funk Factory Fox and the Grapes.

A - Very dark purple with some amber highlights and a dark pink/purple 1.5 finger head. Carbonation seems to have build a bit in the bottle compared to initial reviews. Minimal lacing, but it is so humid that the condensation is interfering.

S - Big tart grape and wine notes with some musty aromas. A bit of jamminess from the grapes along with some oak from resting in the barrel. There is a bit of funk and yogurt to round it off.

F - Quite tart on the initial sip with a sour grape and oak wood flavor. The sour grape skins and vinegar notes stand out, but this does not get overly sour, which I appreciate. The funk is light and minimal and there is just a bit of yogurt.

M - Light bodied, soft carbonation, and a nice dry finish.

O - A terrific beer that allows WI locals to enjoy this style without having any access to Cantillon. In a few more years I think Levi will really master this process. Look forward to future releases.

 

Good morning NBS!! After recently voting on a poll, I can say I don't always drink beer in the morning, but when I do, it's usually a coffee-infused beer . Today for a new beer I had my second morning coffee beer this weekend*. Plan on one more post to bore y'all (yous) with a mildly eventful week, so for now, the beer:


TL;DR from review: Can see "complaints" about this beer, especially given the price. I enjoyed this beer attempting to give it a fair shake, something I might not have done with their chocolate stout. Go figure, I'm not perfect.

Excerpts from review below:
This beer is very well constructed, in my opinion. It is, however, not that "intense" compared to other bold beers out there. I could find little wrong with it except that it didn't have "enough" coffee or bourbon - but how much is "enough?"

The beer appears very clear in content, and it is the color that blocks light. Smell reminds me of a medium roast coffee, mellow and creamy and perhaps on the other side of the table (as it's not overpowering). There is also a milky, chocolate nature to the coffee note. A deeper whiff does bring a little burn of alcohol.

Taste is similar to the nose, but maybe a tad more nutty and an added astringency that is fleeting. Feel is medium light, with a hit of the hiding bubbles fairly early in the taste. The depth of flavor is medium and subtle.

I just recently had what I think is a more traditional robust porter, and I perhaps deluded myself into seeing how modernizing the style ruined an ability to appreciate the original. I can see myself killing a beer for "weakness" as much as I laud a beer for "tradition".
This beer is a solid beer, about what I expected from the brewery after having many things from them. I will say, however, I would argue you ignore the name (as marketing), as it might skew your thoughts before you try it.


* technically I shared two yesterday. And I also had a 3rd for dessert last night, gratuitous shot below:

 

One of my top 5 Pumpkin Ales for sure. I have Schlafly and Whole Hog in their own category, so this one may be 1 or 2 actually

 

Looks like you have a "bad bottle". I got a 4-pack where your review reminded me of the first I opened. The second was better. At the very least, I am thinking there is a consistency issue in this beer. But I'm just a lowly BA thinking he is noticing things [that may not exist].

 

I'm here sipping coffee reading these excellent posts and all the beers I'm seeing have me thinking I'll be drinking before 10AM today for sure.

 

Greetings friends,

Today is different. My daughter and son in law and both grandboys are preparing to move to Chapel Hill. Martha cannot quite understand how natural these things are and that change is inevitable. I think she's beginning to understand. Currently they live a mile from us. Soon it will only be 50 miles. They have both gotten great new jobs and their lives will be improved big time. For me, this is a big success. My daughter will be able to express her great design skills at a really nice company in Raleigh and my son in law is now teaching at Central Carolina Community College in Pittsboro. I am very happy for them.

This poem was introduced to me by Dr. Richard Morton long ago. I know these lines by heart and dearly love this poem from great American poet Theodore Roethke.

Light Listened

O what could be more nice
than her ways with a man?
She kissed me more than twice
once we were left alone.
Who'd look when he could feel?
She'd more sides than a seal.

The close air faintly stirred.
Light deepened to a bell,
the love-beat of a bird.
She kept her body still
and watched the weather flow.
We live by what we do.

All's known, all, all around:
The shape of things to be;
A green thing loves the green
and loves the living ground.
The deep shade gathers night;
She changed with changing light.

We met to leave again
The time we broke from time;
A cold air brought it's rain,
The singing of a stem.
She sang a final song;
Light listened when she sang.



This is another beauty from @WesMantooth. This a great west coast style IPA that masks it 7.2% remarkably. I could easily drink several and stay "lucid". Pretty in the glass, nicely aromatic, and very well made!

 

To me, the best aspect of that beer was the silky mouthfeel, so it seems like it was an off bottle too.