New Beer Weekend #108

A Speciál beer!

Today’s new beer is a beer I had on draft last evening. My wife and I went to a small, local craft brewery for some beers and dinner: Von C Brewing. The heat wave which has been affecting the Philadelphia area (much of the Northeast I suspect) has finally broken and we were able to enjoy drinking our beers outside while sitting in Adirondack chairs in the beer garden. We could hear the music being played by the band inside.

There is an interesting backstory to this brewery in that it was started by three brothers, who are now of retirement age, that have ties to the old Schmidt’s of Philadelphia Brewery (which closed in 1987). You can read the story here:

https://voncbrewing.com/family-brewing-history

Today’s new beer is Černé Speciál Lager - Dark

“5.9% ABV

Norristown, PA

Our Černé Speciál is a Czech dark style of lager that is rarely seen in the states. The “Speciál” delineation is assigned to beers with a higher starting gravity and abv. Medium to medium full bodied with flavors of toast, coffee, Munich malt, and dark fruit.”

It has been a while since I have visited the Von C Brewery and I was pleasantly surprised to see they expanded the number of Lukr side-pull faucets to four. My Černé Speciál beer was poured via a Lukr faucet into a dimpled mug.

Appearance:

Dark chestnut brown colored with a BIG tan head which had good head retention.

Aroma:

There are dark malt aromas of dark chocolate and toasted dark bread.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with flavors of dark chocolate and dark bread. There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied, a very smooth mouthfeel and a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is very good! This beer is true to style IMO.

This beer’s flavor is dominated by dark malt flavors (e.g., dark chocolate is front & center and nicely accompanied by toasted dark bread flavors) but the highlight of this beer for my palate was the very smooth mouthfeel of the beer (which was aided via the Lukr side-pull pour).

Na Zdravi

@rotsaruch @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @RobH @FBarber

 

That is indeed a very light beer!

I wonder how much rice was part of the grain bill?

There is an article on the Brulosophy website where a homebrewer discussed brewed a Rice Lager and he chose to use 36% rice for his recipe:



https://brulosophy.com/2021/05/13/bru-it-yourself-japanese-rice-lager/

Cheers!

 

Visited Astral Brewing in Houston yesterday afternoon. They had a new Saison.

Night Bird Saison, 6.5% ABV.


Pours with some chill haze, and clears up. A golden yellow color. A one finger white head forms, and recedes to leave some lace behind.
The nose is a fruity, hoppy aroma that is a bit dish detergent/soapy like. Orange rind and citrus fruits, and almost no yeast character.
Taste wise, there is a light plastic phenolic character. Again the hops are orange rind and citrus forward, and again become soapy. Light lingering bitterness.
A medium body with moderate carbonation. Fairly smooth, but also oily. Its OK to drink once while trying it at the brewery, though I can't see myself coming back to this a lot.

The only bit of yeast character that comes through is a generic plastic phenolic flavor up front. I'm getting kind of tiered of American breweries using that as the default for their middle of the road Saisons, with no other discernible yeast flavors. Other than that, just kind of hoppy. Not a particularly good example of the style.

Overall score is 3.31, a generous B- from me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55581/616082/?ba=champ103#lists

I have a new to me beer from Lost Forty I'm going to open later and review. Twig, Solera Table Beir. Which is kind of a Wild Ale/Saison hybrid. At least what I can gather from the label. Hoping this will be more to my liking.

 

Thank you for kicking things off this morning @FBarber ! You are motivating me to finally organize and enter all of my reviews before the end of the year. Hopefully I can hunt down that collaboration, as Budweiser (and Guinness) are the two beer's I've enjoyed since I was young, and also others in that style such as Beachwood's Hayabusa.

Speaking of Budweiser, I'm still catching up with a few NBWs/NBSs and really enjoyed @MNAle 's July 4th treatment (traditional can, not the "Freedom" can release. Nice to see you enjoyed this classic AAL. Definitely co-sign on the distribution freshness I typically find of AB distributors wherever I travel. Only draw back is they distribute a limited number of brands beyond AB (Bell's and Founder's typically the two major examples).

Really enjoyed @Roy_Hobbs take on the Keeping Together Dreaming of a Common Language. Sadly I never picked one of these up, and the Half Acre store doesn't show any Keeping Together beers for sale. The one good thing is this will motivate me to make a trip out to Santa Fe when the brewery is up and running again.

Co-signing with @ovaltine 's take on Revolution's DDH West Coast Hero and their great take on WCIPAs in general. Their Shop Talk collaboration with 18th Street is out again, and well worth picking up.

Loved your review as well @JackHorzempa , that beer looks and sounds like it is a great beer.

Will be back in a few to review a West Coast collaboration Pale Ale, which I have been informed may be "a dying style". I did review Maine Pepper yesterday, which was good timing as it was an OK beer, but not ready for Weekend "Prime Time", IMO.

 

It would be interesting to know what yeast strain they used to ferment this beer.

A 'popular' Saison yeast strain for some homebrewers is Wyeast 3711 (French Saison Yeast). This strain has the positive of being a non-fussy yeast strain (some Saison yeast strains can be challenging to brew with) but it is a very one-dimensional yeast strain in mostly producing phenolics (very, very light on producing esters - fruity flavors).

A couple of days ago I brewed up another batch of Saison; I use two yeast strains for my batches of Saison: Fermentis T-58 and BE-134:

"At the Fermentis booth I spoke to Napoleon Bonyouchoa and I related to him what I appreciated about WLP585 - its nice combination of fruity (esters) and spicy (phenols) flavors. He suggested that I do a co-pitch of Fermentis T-58 (Belgian Ale yeast) and BE-134 (Saison yeast) at a ratio of around 3:1 (T-58 to BE-134). I said to myself: what the heck, let’s give it a try. Later that summer I brewed my first batch of Saison using this blend and it turned out great – a nice combination of esters and phenols. In the summer of 2019, I conducted an experiment and just used the Saison (BE-134) yeast and while that batch was good it was lacking in esters. So, in 2020 it was back to using the T-58 & BE-134 blend and I once again very much enjoyed that batch."

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Saison_Beer

Cheers!

 

Good info there as always from you. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they were using a similar "non fussy" yeast as that. This is the third local Saison in a row I have had that has almost the exact same flavor profile.

I really probably couldn't tell the difference between the three if I had them all side by side. Which is why I'm getting kind of tiered of that

Biere De Bayou from Frost Town
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/63298/614410/?ba=champ103#lists

Saison Dough from Lone Pint
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30380/562382/?ba=champ103#lists

 

The Saison beer style is very much defined by the yeast strain selected and fermentation conditions.

At one level I could say I don't 'blame' the breweries for using a non-fussy yeast strain since they are a business and this makes things more predictable for them?

Hopefully you will find some locally brewed Saisons which have more complexity to them.

Or better yet, brew your own! There is a recipe in the above linked article.

Cheers!

 

Hoping into the weekend with my only planned Chicago beer before I head out west to Nevada (and perhaps California or Utah). I believe this beer could be of use to this wider audience, as while it is a collaboration of two west coast breweries, it made it as least as far as Chicago and hopefully beyond.

What peaked my interest is this was made via 100% Incognito Hops, which are a highly concentrated hops in liquid form that I believe quite a few breweries are brewing with. This particular beer features Centennial, Citra and El Dorado, and I want to see if I note any flavor or feel differences, since I am pretty familiar with these classic hops.

Mason Ale Works & Laguna Beach Societal Good



Can Notes: No can date, but I believe this was released around the end of July based on Untappd and Beer Advocate entries, so within two - three weeks old. Purchased at Beer on the Wall as a single can for $5.00 including tax, refrigerated after purchase until now.

16 oz, 5.5% ABV, West Coast Pale Ale, All Incognito Hops. Brewed and canned by Mason Ale Works at TAPS Brewery, 15501 Red Hill Ave., Tustin, California.

Per online notes, 100% Incognito Hops featuring Centennial, Citra and El Dorado.

Appearance: Multiple pours into a shaker pint glass. Clear pale straw color pour, nominal carbonation. Creamy white soapy head, leaves quickly without a trace or lacing. 3.5

Aroma: Medium strength, vegetal, grassy. Meh. 3.0

Taste: Tastes like the aroma leads, lightly bitter cracker and bread. Didn't get much else. 2.5

Mouthfeel: Lightly dry and bitter. Fizzy carbonation lingers. Easy drinking, clean crisp finish. 3.5

Overall: Didn't get the flavors I expected from the hops profiles. Very light and muted tastes, mouthfeel the best feature. Do not recommend, not sure I'd seek out Incognito hops after this experience. 2.5

 

Thanks for the kick-off @FBarber. It's been a great start to the weekend. Nice sunset last night, great long paddle early this morning in perfect conditions, Arsenal on the tv (currently holding a tenuous 3-2 lead.....make that 4-2), and now time for a beer.

My choice for today is a beer I've sent to loads of BIF participants, but never properly reviewed myself. A barleywine may seem like an odd choice for a summer beer at the lake, but it was nice and chilly this morning, and this was calling my name from the fridge.

Fox Farm's Copestone - Barleywine aged in bourbon and port barrels.

Batch 4 (2021)
On the pour, color is a light reddish brown reminiscent of root beer. Once settled in the glass, color becomes a much deeper brown, while maintaining the reddish hue. Thin, coffee ice cream colored head that receded to persistent ring. Nice looking beer.

I love the smell of a good barleywine, and this one doesn't disappoint. Molasses, brown sugar & toffee combine to create a very rich overall impression. Whatever barrel notes are there, they are faint.

Taste is interesting, and there's a lot going on here. It's nowhere near as rich on the palate as the nose, with the alcohol and the barrels taking a much more prominent role. I feel like I'm getting quite a bit of barrel up front, with the port barrels first, immediately followed by the bourbon barrels. It's also distinctly possible that I lack the sophistication to make those distinctions, but that's what I'm getting. Additional notes of wood and leather emerge on the long finish. It's interesting, and I'm enjoying it, but my personal preference would be for the rich flavors I got on the nose to be a little more prominent on the tongue. Plenty of alcohol warming overall. Medium bodied.

Overall, I'm enjoying this, but it underwhelmed relative to the last time I sipped it (a small pour at the brewery if I remember correctly). That said, this will be a good beer to try again with more age on it, and I'll try a vertical at some point, maybe trying batches 1-5 once batch 5 is out later this year.

@Roguer my experience with this wasn't that different from yours, and our ratings were .12 off from each other. As it's warming it's coming together a little better for me, but your point about it not quite all coming together is spot on in my opinion.

Couple pics from last night / this morning.
Sunset didn't suck last night....

Neither did the paddle this morning


@ChicagoJ it's a shame you can't get Keeping Together beers locally anymore. Did Avery decide to relocate to Santa Fe?

@FBarber I found this strange fact on the internet, so it must be true. Apparently sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins, so there's that.

Happy New Beer Weekend everybody!

 

Pliny the Elder

Appearance: Very slightly hazy gold, nice carbonation, good head.

Smell: Strong grapefruit, slight rind.

Taste: Moderately sweet to start, then a balancing shot of grapefruit bitterness. Stays balanced between sweet and bitter before the bitterness wins out in the finish.

Overall: Bottled 7/18, tasted 8/13. Bought in Colorado and brought back, a long-time want finally obtained after 26 hours of driving round trip (I did do other stuff on this trip, not just beer shopping). Just a classic flavor, nice balance but plenty of hoppy bitterness. Definitely worth the trip.

Strange but true fact: There are more Lego figures than people in the world.

 

It rained again last night. We've had a wet monsoon season this year, with a fair amount of rain. The rain can be very local. Last Monday we had a quick storm that gave us .25 inches of rain, downtown got heavier rain with some flooding. It does get your attention when there's water on the roadway and a sign that says: "Don't drown, turn around."
My new beer for today is Chicks in the Mail from Wiley Roots Brewing Company in Greeley, CO. It is a "sour ale with raspberry, lemon, marshmallow, milk sugar, and vanilla," and has an ABV of 6.4%.

In a tulip the beer is a pink/orange color with a short-lived pink head.
Fruity aroma, sweet.
Tart raspberry taste, but not overly so, probably due to the marshmallow. Late vanilla.
Tart and crisp mouthfeel. It really hit the spot when I got back from walking the dogs.

 

Hefeweissbier

5.4% Hefeweizen from Weihenstephaner

Beer poured from tap and enjoyed on an outdoor patio in a lovely summer evening. I'm a fan of the style and somehow hadn't rated this one.

The body pours an orange gold with a nice fluffy head. Good retention and lacing. A handsome beer especially in the right glassware.

Nose is the banana-bubble gum aroma for which the style is famous. Hit-or-miss for some folks, but a big hit for me. Add the familiar clove and I was a happy guy.

Taste substantially follows nose with the clove stepping up a bit. A bit sweet but a modest hop flavor is present helping balance the beer.

A good smooth mouthfeel and excellent carbonation.

If you want to sample the style for the first time, look no farther than this beer. Prost!

 

Lost Forty, TWIG, Solera Table Bier. 3.9% ABV. The label says this uses a blend of wild yeast cultures collected around the Little Rock area, and used "the solera method" which is kind of like adding fresh beer into a wood foeder as it ages on a rotating schedule.

Listed here as a Wild Ale, and I will agree with that.



Pours with a bit of haze. An orange color. With a dense white head that forms. Rising to over two fingers. Good retention and plenty of lace left behind.
Oh yeah love the nose. Peppery spice mixes with fruity esters. Like peach and apple. A bit tannin/oak like as well. Just a bit of musty basement funk. This is incredible, and really well balanced.
Taste wise, like the nose, esters and peppery spice up front. Tart peach and apple skins. Just enough sour/tartness, and even a bit of lingering bitterness peeks its head out in the finish.
A light body, that has beautiful effervescent carbonation. Sprizy and crisp, finishing wonderfully dry as well. A simple joy to drink. I can down the bottle in no time, but I want to take my time.

This is a wonderful example of a Wild Ale. Everything is so balanced, and moreish. With plenty of yeast character to go around. Simply well done, and highly recommend.

Overall score is 4.34, and an easy A for me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/38015/465904/?ba=champ103#lists

Also my thoughts are with Salman Rushdie today. He was attacked and stabbed before giving a lecture, on how artists have a safe haven in America with free expression of ideas, of all things. Unfortunately, there still seems to be some lingering resentment towards him after all these years from The Satanic Versus. And, Midnight's Children is one of my favorite books. I might wander down to the used bookstore in my neighborhood to pick up some of his other releases I haven't read.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ttack-stabbed-onstage-new-york-latest-updates

 

Thanks @FBarber for getting us started today. My first for the weekend is one sent to me by der @WunderLlama back in October of 2020 during NBS BIF #12.
Poured like a stout should, deep black in the glass and capped with a short beige head. The aroma was bitter, like coffee that’s been left on a warmer too long and left to cool. Cold brew coffee, check.
The taste, even at cellar temperature, rather follows- bitterness from something, an almost acidic bite. I let it warm to room temperature and things improved greatly. The base stout showed up, the coffee was present but not as overwhelming. The vanilla, which maybe was that acidic taste, I didn’t taste.
The feel was good, but not excellent- the short head dissipated quickly and no lacing, which makes me think I left this way to long in the cellar. Curiously the peanut butter version of this was good, so I’m blaming the vanilla (which I normally like)
Anyway, I did enjoy most of it- thanks Maynard!

 

Beautiful pictures! We were supposed to be kayaking today but all day rain rather put the brakes on that.

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one who still has BIF beers in the cellar from BIFs long past!

Side note, I'm a PM Dawn fan (maybe 2 people will get that reference)

 

Thanks @FBarber for opening the taps

Lazy day , went on a 20 mile bike ride, did some office work, did some soccer pre season work, going to see the Revs tonight . Last time I saw them live, they lost in the playoffs to Nycfc on pks in the playoffs, that still stings.. my new beer

Double Nectarous by Tree House Brewing


4.34/5 rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25
Brewers Notes: Double Nectarous is an American Double IPA brewed with a studious selection of fruit-forward American hops, a bountiful blend of tropical fruit purées, and a touch of milk sugar.

Pouring a vibrant orange color into the glass, it carries overtly saturated notes of orange creamsicle, tropical fruit salad, and mango cream.

Meticulously brewed to be incredibly flavorful yet deliciously drinkable, Double Nectarous is a delightful beverage with wide appeal - Enjoy!

Can dated 7.12, opened 8.13 poured into a tree house cape cod willi becher glass

Hazy orange mango juice crowned by a one finger creamy white lid, good retention, spotty lacings

Aroma is tropical fruit. Bubble gum

Taste is tropical fruits, slightly sweet , creamy mouthfeel , bit of orange creamsicle

Good beer