New Beer Sunday (Week 711)

Good morning @cjgiant and thanks for the great start today! Often in beer tastings we do something called a side by side. That is when you put two beers of the same style up against one another and compare them in each of five categories. Appearance, nose, taste, mouthfeel and overall impression. This is beer tasting. Many times the only difference between two beers is their score and just as many times that comes down to the appearance, especially in styles that are well met by many brewers. Those are the subtleties in beer that everyone talks about.



Bell's Oktoberfest

Yellow amber body with a thinner head of tan foam that fell quickly. Slight haze. Nose is breaddy with a deep toasty side and has a bit more than modest melanoidin sweetness. That sweetness could have accented any fruitier flavors form malt or hops but there weren't any. Soft spice and grass. Drinks with a little sweetness then breaddy and drying. The hop bitter is firm and lasts long enough to show a generous malt and floral hop Straw and hay.

Alesmith Oktoberfest

Copper amber with rust colored highlights. Clear. Thicker tan head that lasts. Tasty biscuit malt and soft dried grass. Golden flower petal and a more elegant melanoidin sweetness that was not as pronounced . Spice. Dry and crisp. Clean beer. Floral hop, grass and mild spice. Breaddy and no outstanding hop bitter in the finish.

Cheers you all and Happy New Beer Sunday!

 

Double Mikk Stout with coffee called Break and 7.2% ABV. Pours a beautiful near pitch black, with a nice 2 finger brown head that leaves thin streaks of lace before it slowly settles into a thin layer of bubbles. 4.5

Smell is just dominated by dry expresso beans, vanilla, and cocoa very one dimensional and it is insanely nice. 4.75

Taste follows just as nice a coffee flavor as you will even get, vanilla, and milk chocolate. 5

Mouthfeel is creamy and silky smooth above medium, gentle carbonation, a touch dry, and drinks bigger than its 7.2% ABV, but goes way to easy. 4.75

Overall this is another gem from this rather young brewery, Stouts and IPAs have been top notch. 4.75

 

New Beer Sunday: German Helles

Mornin’ NBSers, with an alert for Helles fans who've wondered about Edelstoff. Also a special thanks to @cjgiant for his new start up this morning.

The weather here today is expected to be a mix. We’re starting off the day with lots of clouds and temps in the upper 60’s but by mid afternoon it’s supposed to be partly cloudy and the temps in the lower 80s. This is all a prelude to a string of unseasonably warm days coming up this week.

This morning’s new beer, while fixing breakfast, is the Augustiner Brau Edelstoff. This was a gift from the cellar one of my beer drinking friends who had recently ordered a full case of this beer so it should be relatively fresh. Inspired by the recent report on this beer by @JackHorzempa I immediately accepted his offer to try a bottle.

As usual my review, subject to revision until the beer is finished or breakfast has started, which ever comes first, can be found here.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/820/4139/?ba=drtth#review


The light, gentle aromas/flavors are mostly about the crackery malt and some light malt sweetness. The floral, slightly grassy, hops provide a moderate amount of bitterness that counterbalance but do not interfere with the malt and it’s sweetness. Definitely an enjoyable beer that I’d be happy to drink more than one of in a row.

Cheers, all!

 

Morning all! Just a quick stop in to wish everyone a delicious New Beer Sunday, since I won't be participating this week due to getting ready to hit the woods for (hopefully) some G. frondosa mushrooms. Very delicious mushroom and finding just "one" is enough for many meals. Gonna be out all day for sure. Despite having looked under at least five hundred oak trees this season I still haven't found any. Am hopeful for today, though.

Also wanted to offer my support for the idea of doing a mass beer tasting of a widely distro new beer we all can review. Sounds like fun. Cheers!

 

Hockey Season has begun!

The first hockey games were played last Wednesday and my local (favorite) team of the Philadelphia Flyers played their first game last Thursday (a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights).

As a tribute to hockey Victory decided to package (16 ounce cans) their Bohemian Pilsner branded as Hip Czech Lager. It is immediately evident that this is a ‘special release’ beer since it is a paper label glued to a can beer. And as you can see in the photograph below a hockey mask, two hockey sticks and a puck are depicted on the label.

Below is how this beer is described on the Victory website:

“Hip Czech

Czech-style Lager

This crushable lager will knock you off your feet with Saaz hops and pilsner malts that faceooff to boast subtle earthy hop notes balanced by a crisp and light body.

Composition

Malt: Pilsner

Hops: Saaz Saazer

ABV: 4.8%

Food Pairings

Chicken, Bratwurst, Hand Tossed Pretzel.

Availability

Occasionally available on draft.”

Needless to say but the write-up for availability should be updated to include: and cans during the hockey season.

I have had the pleasure of drinking Hip Czech on draft in the past (but it has been a while since I had it) but this is my first time drinking this beer canned.

How does canned Hip Czech taste? Let’s find out.

Served in my Firestone Walker Pivo Pils glass:

Appearance:

Straw yellow colored with a BIG rocky white head.

Aroma:

The first impression is bready Pilsner Malt aroma but after a bit it turns into a pleasant combination of bready malt aroma and spicy hop aroma.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose. There is an enjoyable combination of bready Pilsner malt flavor and spicy hop flavor. There is a moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light- medium bodied with a pleasant dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good! I really enjoyed the balance of bready Pilsner Malt and spicy hop flavors.

GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @Ranbot @nc41 @telejunkie @Ranbot @FBarber @Jacobier10 @scottakelly @THANATOPIS @tzieser @zid @Sixpoint

P.S. Later today my wife and I will be going to the Oktoberfest celebration at the Liederkranz in Reading, PA. We went last year and had a great time. Plenty of Oktoberfest beers to choose from (both import and US craft brewed) plus plenty of other craft beers, great German food and bands playing German music. Prost!

https://www.readingliederkranz.com/oktoberfest/

 

Good morning all thanks to @cjgiant for getting us started. I am getting started early and hope to be back with at least 2 or 3 more today got to stop by and pick up/drop off a beer trade with a friend shortly. I am up for a widely distributed beer share sounds like fun!! So this morning I am not really sure what I am drinking as I begin to type this as it is my first mystery beer from @strohme2 in NBS BIF #8 Halle Berry's pet octopus. Going to have to let it warm a bit as I now see it is a dark beer and I just pulled from the fridge, so let's see if we can figure out the style at least. I already smell a ton of roasted malt, chocolate and some light coffee. Be back shortly with a full review once I get it to temp.

 

Thank you @akatz821 didn't know other half made a self titled beer. I was surprised that it was almost clear when i poured it.

4.02/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

Pours slightly cloudy orange. Foamy, short white head that Fades fast with light lacing.

Smells grapefruit, citrus peel, candied orange and lightly breaded.

Tastes citrus peel, grapefruit, Pine, light vegetal, Bready malt. Finishes dry with a citrus peel linger. Medium body and fizzy medium carbonation.

 

Good morning, BA and NBS’ers. Thank you to @cjgiant for the kick off and happy to be participating, which I don’t get the chance to do much nowadays. I can only hope that your premonition about the winner of last night’s game comes true!

Firestone Walker Luponic Distortion #10

5.9% IPA bottled on 7/6/2018

“Flavors Through Hops”



Appearance: This beer is translucent with an ever so slight haziness. It is golden yellow with a bone white head of loosely packed bubbles that laces the glass as I drink it. She’s got some legs. The head reduces from what is seen in the picture to a quarter finger. A little bit of carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass.

With respect to haziness mentioned above, I think this could be chill haze. I drank one of these on Friday at a warmer temperature and it was brighter.

See here:



Smell: The tasting notes really hit the nail on the head: Mango creamsicle, peach ring and ruby grapefruit. It’s not the most intense nose. I bet it really pops when it’s not three months old. I get some greener hop notes as well. There’s also a cooked grain component that dampens the bright fruit aromas, providing for some maltiness on the nose.

Taste: Again, I do think the notes are accurate with the mango, peach and grapefruit. It lacks bitterness, but is dry on the finish. The malt profile also comes through prominently on the finish as bready.

Mouthfeel: This beer has low carbonation and a rounded mouthfeel. It is not full bodied or chewy.

Overall: This is a very good IPA. It was the aroma from a sample that attracted me to this beer. It seems to me an offering that hints at the NEIPA style with some aromas, flavors, and lack of bitterness, while maintaining a traditional bright appearance, and what I would consider to be a more prominent malt profile than what I’d expect from the style. At $10.99 a six pack I would buy it all day long.

Cheers and hope to be back again later this morning.

 

Good luck hen hunting!

 

Sam Adams coffee pale ale
...cloudy copper color
..medium body with about medium prickly feeling carbonation
...aroma is coffee beans, toffee/caramel,malt, with some cereal and cracker
..taste is similar to aroma, touch sweet with almost no hop bitterness. Coffee and caramel with malt show up the most and linger in the aftertaste
...overall I thought it was very good, best beer I've had from Sam Adams in a long time

 

Good morning New BSers! It's a warm and wet morning here in NW PA and, after going to bed an hour early last night, I slept in two hours this morning. Guess all that cleaning and moving stuff in our garage and shed tired me out a bit. I'm getting psyched for my upcoming trip - in 9 days I'll be back in Bamberg AND I have an actual place to sleep, other than the Bahnhof. Bockbierzeit, here I come!
@cjgiant, thanks for starting today's thread. I find the concept of a group review of a mass-distributed beer interesting and would love to participate, assuming the beer ever arrives in NW PA.
Until then, however, I've got a ton of beers from @Bum4ever from NBS BIF #8 to drink and review. I think I'll start with a dateless NE IPA:



This is lighter in real life than it appears in the photo.

Received from @Bum4ever in NBS BIF #8. Reviewed 10/7/18. Thanks Josh!
Undated can. Stored upside-down at 42 degrees and served at 42 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 4.
Body – Light yellow, opaque.
Head – Large (Maximum 4.5 cm, controlled center pour), white, dense, average retention, diminishing to a toothed eight to sixteen mm ring and a complete layer.
Lacing – Excellent. Disconnected wide bands of tiny to small bubbles with a few stumpy stalactites.
First pour – Light yellow, opaque.
Aroma – 4.25 – If grapefruit grew on pine trees, they’d smell like this!
Flavor – 4.25 – Grapefruit, pine, some zest bitterness. Ends with slowly fading bitterness. No alcohol (8 % ABV), no diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 4 – Medium, almost creamy, soft carbonation.
Impression and interpretation – 4.25 – I could drink these all day, as long as I didn’t have to do anything complicated afterwards, like stand up. That 8% ABV could definitely sneak up on you. The delicious citrus flavor/aroma could make these addictive.
Rating 4.21, rDev +0.5%.

And Maria, no food pics?

 

Couple of beauties delivered to the restaurant last week. 40 # in all. Good luck!

 

Got stuff to do this am than watching some ball but I will be back later with a "curve ball" from a box provided by the generous @colts9016.

 

Ok beer warmed up with a little help from my hands and as I sipped it I figured it was probably a porter or a very light smoke beer. It was an English Porter Old Shuck from North Pier Brewing. I really enjoyed the light smokiness of this beer and the nice char I usually do not get from most porters I have had. Thanks Justin this first mystery beer is excellent.






Appearance 3.75 – Pours black with a thin mocha colored head that quickly dissipates to a thin ring with swirling lines of bubbles on top. No lacing.



Aroma 4 – Roasted malt comes out beautifully , chocolate, light coffee, very mild vanilla sweetness a hint of smokiness.



Taste 4.25 – No where near as sweet as the nose let’s on. Roasted malts, smoke and some charred wood, bakers chocolate, coffee grounds, a hint of toffee takes the edge off some of the bitterness from the char. Very complex flavors.

Feel 4.25 – Light side of medium body, well carbonated, mildly dry finish the smoke and char linger.



Overall 4.11 – A really well done porter, the flavors are solid I am a fan of a smoky beer and this one has just the right amount of char while still letting the coffee and chocolate come though.

 

Good morning NBS
A local Oktoberfest I picked up in St. Louis last weekend

The review:
12oz undated bottle poured into a dimpled mug at fridge temp 5.5% ABV. The beer pours bright light orange amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin film and pencil thin ring. The aroma is sweet bready caramel. The taste is more bready caramel but it's almost completely obscured by flavors of metal, tangyness and incomplete fermentation. Mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied, adequately carbonated and mostly dry in the finish. Overall, ok. Would be fine with food, but it's a middle down Marzen to me.

It's taken some determination but I've managed to pick up 10 new Oktoberfest beers this year after 36 last year. Oktoberfest beers comprise 8.15% of my total beers on BA (2nd in number of reviews). I'll try about anything, as even sub standard examples are usually drinkable. I've got one more Oktoberfest for today before I can entertain the idea of starting on the fresh hop beers in my fridge. Cheers all!

 

Thanks @cjgiant for this weeks great start to NBS. Will be back later on with a new brew.

Cheers!

 

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Always on the lookout for good, new beers. That's why i Beer Advocate, because everyone else does the research for me! Here is my newest brew




Cosmic distortion by Mighty Squirrel brewing company

4.38/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Recommended by the craft beer cellar in Plymouth, grabbed the last one out of the cooler

Canned 9.17.18
Poured into a teku glass

Hazy orange liquid, three finger off white foam cap, good lacings

Aroma of passion fruit, pineapple, mango

Taste is passion fruit, mango, hint of dank

Smooth mouthfeel , hop taste not a bite, nicely lingers

Good beer

 

Happy New Odds & Sods Beer Sunday (Week 711)!

I was pleasantly surprised by last week's early start, but if that is not going to be the norm, so be it. I was up at ~ 0630/0700 ready to go, but when the thread was not, I simply went back to the rack. I'll be with yinz all day today, having taken the day off from my barback/busser gig both today & tomorrow.

Yesterday was a marathon, beginning with Noodle King's monthly Customer Appreciation $1 Chicken Pho special, followed by the 2nd annual Brew-chanan Fest in Buchanan Park & THEN my 35-year high school reunion! People were a little surprised when I showed up as Bro. Woody of The Order of Disorder, but not totally put off. I was surprised that one brewery brought a Barleywine to a fest & I was thankful that it was a cool, cloudy/overcast day or I might have really been done in before the reunion.

I took today off since I did not want to rouse myself if it had been a REALLY festive day & night yesterday & I am off tomorrow since the schools are closed for Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' Day & then I have to hie up to Hershey Medical Center late in the afternoon for an MRI. Nothing hurts, but I have an ongoing thing with elevated levels of an antigen created by my prostate in my bloodstream & despite a negative biopsy in Feb/Mar, now they want to do an MRI. The trip is inconvenient in that it is late in the day & not only can I not take public trans as a result, but it precludes me from my evening shift as a barback.

I am rapidly approaching the end of the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody, which will mean the opening of the floodgates for The CANQuest (tm) & today will be an odd admixture of both serving styles. Today's Julian Date is 8270, in case you wondered. That's me being helpful, based on a different thread, BTW.

Ooops, I hear Graham Chapman's General shouting, "Right, that's enough! Get on with it! Get on with it!"

My first of the day was a bottled Belgian import:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16320/141767/?ba=woodychandler#review


Well, all right! I am off and running (or is it often running?)! See yinz later!