New Beer Weekend #109

Founder's Ultimate Oktoberfest (their words, not mine)

12oz bottled 07.25.22 poured into a mug at fridge temp 10% ABV. The beer pours copper tinted amber with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. No lacing. The aroma is sweet malt and bourbon with a hint of vanilla. The taste is semisweet oak, vanilla and bourbon running all over a hidden malt backbone. No hop flavor and negligible bitterness. The mouthfeel is thin to medium bodied with average carbonation and a semi dry finish. Overall, good beer if you just want the barrel profile, but there's little trace of a Märzen hiding in this one.

I'm solidly in the camp of preferring a normal oktoberfest beer with a shot of spirits on the side to this beer.

 

Coffee Dino S'Mores Stout from Off Color Brewing. Instead of a detailed review, I’ll share a word of advice. This stout has a ridiculous list of “secret ingredients.” Despite the shenanigans, this beer is a solid RIS with a good malty char and strong coffee flavor. Everything else is surplusage. Cheers!

 

Good morning BAs! Today’s new to me breakfast beer is a collab between Northern Monk and Alpha Delta Brewing - “Order Of The Faith”, a DDH hazy IPA which the brewer states is a hybrid between WC and NE IPA styles. I like Northern Monk and I’m game to try this “hybrid”:



Pours pale gold/yellow which is more opaque than hazy as there is clarity n the body; tight white head, ok cap retention, solid ring; thin bands of sticky lacing. Grapefruit and orange nose. Grapefruit on entry with orange right behind; very mild bitterness; firm malt base - very little sweetness; not getting any of the advertised “pine” (Simcoe) or tropical fruit (Mosaic) flavors; hoppy citrus ( Citra and Comet) finish. Medium light body; moderate minus carbonation; feel is light and clean with a little softness (oats addition), but nowhere near full nor fluffy; no warmth from 6.5% abv; no astringency. Overall a tasty, light bodied, easy drinking IPA; no off-putting aromas or flavors from the Mosaic; no earthy nor piney aromas or flavors from the Simcoe; fails to tic boxes for WC and NE IPA styles; more an opaque American style IPA; just a bit of citrus bitterness in the linger; crushable.

4.25 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 4.0 | 4.25
Score: 4.23 rDev +6.8%

It’s fun to drink British brewed IPAs that claim to be certain styles; invariably, for me, the beers are light bodied and weak flavor-wise…which plays well with the home audience…and often (in the case of “hazies”) suits me just fine. Cheers!

 

I think you answered the wrong post.

 

You and I both know I won’t make it past a week; I can’t resist them once they’re in the fridge.

 

Very likely. I was speaking of the 1840 Double IPA in the squat bottle with the retro red label. It brings back good memories!

 

Pub crawling around downtown Houston yesterday. Ended up at The Flying Saucer.

Got a bottle of Fair Isle Odelette. A Biere de Garde, 7.7% ABV.



Pours a clear brassy yellow/orange color. A two finger white head forms with good retention. Light lace is left behind.
Aroma is almost vinous up front. Tart, ester like. Grapes, stone fruits. Peppery spice. Very nice.
Taste wise, there is a lot of nuance that comes out here. Again, kind of a vinous wood character. Starts out a bit sweet, then tart. Esters with grapes and stone fruits again. A malty flavor becomes more apparent as this warms. Baked bread and grains. Finishes on an acidic note. Really like this.
A medium body with moderate carbonation. This becomes ultra smooth, and the malts give a nice chewy heftiness to the body, without being over done. Finishes semi dry. Very much moreish. I could come back to this easily.

Biere de Garde has always been a tricky style for me. Especially from American breweries. Its either just malty and sweet without any yeast character. Or I can't really tell the difference between a Saison. This finds that balance. As this has a great sweet/tart fruity ester quality, and bready like malts. Not that I'm an expert, but from my view, a well done attempt at the style. Something I would recommend and look for again. Well done, and another offering from Fair Isle that is great.

Overall score, 4.13, A- for me.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/57519/545592/?ba=champ103#lists

While downtown, saw Joshua Redman play and the great Cullen Theater. Great show, fun night.

 

Good day BAs! I've found the end of the thread and'll go back after i post and read the balance.

Today's New Breakfast Beer - I one I picked up Friday at the brew pub for Brewery Vivant:



Every trip to MI involves at least one stop at Brewery Vivant involving a meal - the food's superb! The beer varies - this time I began (And stayed with) the Tart Tangerine variant of Farm Hand - tasty! I also tried samples of their latest fruity "sours", very perfumy and not sour, and Devastation, A BBA DIPA - no bourbon and little IPA. For me, sticking with the Tart Tangerine was the best bet. Mrs. Lizard had the Monk salad with duck (her favorite) and I had the smoked chicken sausages (also damned good!).

Farm Hand Tart Tangerine from Brewery Vivant. Purchased at the brew pub in Grand Rapids on 19/08/22. Stored at room temperature at the store. Stored at 37 degrees at home. Reviewed 21/08/22. Note that I use DD/MM/YY protocol.
16 oz can stamped on the bottom “PACKAGED ON 06/07/22”. Price for four-pack of 16 oz cans $ 15.23 (Including tax and deposit) = $ 0.24/oz. Served at 54.6 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King Snifter. Final temperature 60.0 degrees.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Pale Straw (SRM 2), slight chill haze. Second pour has no haze but has some sediment.
Body – Pale gold (SRM 4), slight haze. When rear-lite, translucent.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.2 cm, aggressive center pour), white, low density, short retention. Diminishing to one to two mm bubble ring and an irregular large thin island.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 4 – Weak, but predominantly citrusy and sour. No malt, no hops, no yeast.
Flavor – 4.25 – Follows the nose – tart and citrusy, distinctly tangerine. No malt, no hops, no yeast. No ethanol (5.5 % ABV as marked on label) aroma or taste. No gastric warming. No dimethylsulfide or diacetyl.
Palate – 3.5 – Thin, watery, lively carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 3.75 Tasty saison! To my taste, miles better than the base beer. Tangerine shines through backed by general citrus goodness. Glad I bought a four-pack and sorry I didn’t buy a case!
Rating 3.97, rDev –0.5%

Now off to my second morning beer - Oddside's Rye Hipster Brunch!

 

Dude, you are giving me a complex! Twice now your in my immediate area and don’t let me know! I would have placed an order if I had known you were coming.

 

Looks like a good day and a good time. I have much more experience with Austin going way back. I remember driving straight from San Diego to New Orleans and stopping at a rest stop in Houston somewhere. It was around sunrise and I was having an orange juice and a bagel. I heard a Cardinal singing above semi-tropical Texas and knew I was closer to home. It energized me!

 

I went to the North Coast website and utilized their beer finder. Pacific Magic is not within 100 miles of my location. Maybe in another month or two?

Cheers!

 

Good afternoon NBS/nbw and thanks @SawDog505 for hosting this week.
Cemetery work this morning was all about invasive plants. Get rid of them if you see them
"Now back to our regularly scheduled program"
Had a really fun meet up with @LarryV and his delightful daughter yesterday at Four Star Farms. They just put on a rye IPA that was quite good, but not todays offering.

Drowned Lands Soil and Citra is listed as double dry hopped all Citra IIPA.
The texture and the easy drinking aspects of this are the highlight, fine dispaly of Citra hops for certian. I am however quite over the Haze thing. So from an appearance perspective it is a bit of a turn off for me.
All else is quite fine

Soil & Citra

Imperial IPA | 8.5% ABV
The Drowned Lands in Warwick, New York

Reviewed by SABERG from Massachusetts

3.99/5 rDev -2.9% | Average: 4.11
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Poured from an undated can into the test glass.
A - Cloudy dark yelow backdrop hides any views to the interior. A loves frothy white cap stays for a long time.
Lacing is bold.
S - Peach, soft summer melon, a whiff of tangerine. not a hint of malt base, or any yeast esters
T - Here there is a bit of pale malt, and then the hop melange takes over, again ripe melon, a hint of tangerine, peach all present the Citra quite well
M - Soft on the palate, neutral on the bitter or sweet scales. the finish is quick and dry
O - A finely executed DIPA with the water profile aligned to profile the lovely Citra hops,

 

I wish you and your wife a speedy recovery.

My plan is to purchase the Elysian pumpkin mixpack (12-pack with four different pumpkin beers including Dark O' the Moon). I will purposefully cellar the Dark O' the Moon for a couple/few months with the concept that the spicing will diminish a bit with time in the bottle.

Cheers!

 

I checked as well, I’ll keep an eye on it if I remember too.

 

I have yet to drink a beer that is branded as "Rice Lager" (does Budweiser count?). How many "Rice Lagers" have you had? Have they all tasted alike?

So far, "Rice Lager" is not a style that is within organizational (e.g., BJCP, Brewers Association) style guidelines. In your opinion is "Rice Lager" a worthy addition to these sorts of style guidelines? Is it distinctive enough from other lager beer styles (e.g., AAL)?

Cheers!

@jonphisher

 

The concept of "biotransformation" is that you add the dry hops prior to completion of primary fermentation (e.g., a couple/few days after pitching the yeast) with the notion that the yeast (during active fermentation) via biochemistry will change certain chemical compounds provided by the hops into other chemical compounds. For example, transform geraniol is into citronellol.

As I understand biotransformation during dry hopping is an evolving science. I have read several articles/papers which suggest that biotransformation will only occur with a certain combination of specific yeast strain(s) and certain hop variety(s).

Hopefully River Horse via pilot brewing (or other) has made proper yeast/hop selections for this specific beer.

Cheers!