New Beer Weekend #120

Hell(es) Yeah!

A couple of weeks ago I discussed a beer from Hanabi which they branded as a Pilsner which was brewed with an heirloom barley (Haná barley). It was a tasty beer but it was lacking as a Pilsner since the hop aroma/flavor was missing. I commented in my discussion of this beer: “A true to style Pilsner should have notable hop character.”

I have another beer from Hanabi to discuss today which is also brewed with an heirloom barley: Chevalier barley.

Below is how Crisp Malting details their malt produced using Chevalier barley”

“Crisp Chevallier® Heritage Malt

Chevallier Malt imparts a deeply malty flavor with marmalade sweetness to beers, ales and whisky.

Chevallier Malt was the first ever selected landrace for malting and its what Crisp’s founders Fred and George Smith would have malted back in 1870. Chevallier reigned supreme for over 100 years as the dominant barley variety in England from the 1820’s to 1920’s. It was propagated all over the world and was being grown in Australia commercially as recently as 1960. It formed the backbone of many Victorian ales, and in its revived form, we’ve seen it win awards for its depth of flavor.

It has a robust maltiness, like a Maris Otter Malt turned up to eleven, with a rich marmalade character and a long aftertaste.”

It is quite ‘interesting’ that Hanabi chose this malt to brew a Helles since this reads like it is most suitable for brewing English style ales to me. But the beauty of craft brewing is that the brewers can ‘color outside the lines’.

Below is how the brewery details Hanabi Chevalier Helles beer on its website:

“This Chevallier barley was sourced from Norfolk, England, from the only field in the world where this 200-year-old heirloom variety is grown today. Brewed as a Helles style lager, it is intensely aromatic, balancing power with levity, and bringing notes of cedar, hazelnuts, fresh honeycomb, and peppermint.”

Will I be tasting hazelnuts, peppermint, etc. in this beer? Let’s find out.

Served in my Polish Pilsner glass:

Appearance:

Golden colored with a BIG white head.

Aroma:

The aroma is dominated by a sweet-ish malt aroma which gives me an impression of candy.

Taste:

The flavor follows the nose with sweet malt flavor with that same impression of candy (I suppose the marmalade flavor detailed by Crisp Malting). There is a low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a dry finish.

Overall:

This beer is pretty good but the one-dimensional flavor of candy (marmalade) was not exactly in my personal sweet spot (no pun intended). There were no flavors of “cedar, hazelnut, peppermint” from the brewery’s marketing story but perhaps “honeycomb” might be applicable.

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @beergoot

 

Thanks for kicking us off this weekend @Mdog. I hope to see lots of reviews this weekend and next, as I know tons of beer has been arriving on porches over the past few days as part of the current NBS BIF. Keeping with that theme, I'm still making my way through the crazy good selection sent my way in the spring BIF by @Ozzylizard, so before I start digging into all the goodies I received yesterday from @foundersasap I'm going to enjoy this Barrel Aged Rye B.O.R.I.S. from Hoppin' Frog (in matching glass also courtesy of @Ozzylizard)

Received from @Ozzylizard. In the glass this is the darkest of browns and fully opaque, but on the pour there were some reddish hues with some light passing through. Small-ish amount of brown sugar colored head that receded relatively quickly leaving behind a thin ring.

Aroma is rich chocolate malts. Sweeter than I was anticipating and no detectable alcohol or barrel. That changes on the tongue, as the rye barrel was the first thing I noticed, immediately followed by plenty of roasted malts and faint chocolate. I don't believe coffee was added, but you could have fooled me.

Little in the way of alcohol other than a very slight warming sensation. Feel slightly thinner than I would have expected based on the style, but nothing significant. Overall, a very tasty brew.

 

I hope Hammerheart finds a new location.....I love smoked beers. I thought they were fully out of business, so if there's even a possibility that they will re-open that's encouraging. It's hard for some of the breweries that stick to more niche styles to be profitable, but I think they're an important part of the brewing scene. I don't need more IPAs.

If I were to read just this, you could have given me 20 guesses as to the style you were reviewing and I don't think I would have guessed Helles. Interesting story about the barley.

 

Yeah, the malt flavor of this beer is unlike any Helles I have ever drank (and there have been many).

I suppose a situation as I discussed in my above post: "...the beauty of craft brewing is that the brewers can ‘color outside the lines’."

Cheers!

 

First beer of the day, might as well make it mysterious. The first of two mystery beers sent to me in a box from the other side of the country from the ever generous and awesome @BBThunderbolt This thing is tasting seriously excellent today, let me tell you what I think;

Pours a Budweiser gold with a decent foamy cloud on top reducing to ring and some spotty soapy lacing. Nose is sweet corn, baked bread, and cracker. Taste follows suit with a subtle bitter note on the finish and an almost green tea like taste in there. Feel is crisp and refreshing. This is a very drinkable beer and I’m going to give 3.75 across the board. BAM! Rogers Pilsner from Georgetown. I could drink 12 of these on a summer day. Thanks a million Terry! Cheers fellas.

 

Didja like the pic of the creamed corn as a label?

 

Poured into a giant tulip glass canned on 10/20/22. Pours a very attractive slightly cloudy copper orange with a 2 finger sticky slightly off white head, that leaves thick streaks of lace, with excellent retention as it slowly settles. 4.5

Aroma is caramel, toffee, biscuit, and a little brown sugar very pleasant. 4.25

Taste follows toffee, caramel, biscuit, and brown sugar very pleasant. 4.5

Mouthfeel is above average, nice carbonation, not sticky or dry, and at 5.3% it drinks slightly bigger, but still very approachable. 4.5

Overall a very nice beer for this time of year. I think I will have know issue getting through this 4 pack. I would recommend for sure. 4.5 Cheers all

 

As @Mdog highlighted, Hammerheart Brewing is my perfect type of brewery. Amazing beers with Nordic and heavy metal influence. Their taproom was exactly how I picture Valhalla will be when I go there after I die in some heroic act, many years from now. The best active brewery that provides this experience is TRVE Brewing. @beergoot brought me a selection of their beers. This beer features Amarillo, Strata, and Hallertau Blanc hops. The look is golden sunflower clear honey yellow. There is a thick foam top. The smell is light, but there are scents of white grape, honey, freshly-baked bread, and honey. The taste leads with white grape and apple juice. There is a nice bitterness. It is bready. There is a slight honey sweetness. The mouthfeel is clean, smooth, light, and crisp. Overall, this is a tasty and light IPA. I hope to acquire more of this beer in the future.

 

It's going to be a day of college football. Some good games (I hope) to watch.
My new beer for today is Powder Run Horchata. This is a cream ale with vanilla and cinnamon, brewed by Living the Dream Brewing Company in Littleton, CO. Part of a recent Beer Drop order, it was a bit of a disappointment.
A pale gold color with a small white head.
Faint aroma of vanilla and cinnamon.
Taste is pretty muted also. Faint vanilla and cinnamon.
Watered down mouthfeel.

 

Watching a wildly entertaining Leeds / Bournemouth game. My wife won't be happy as a Bournemouth fan, but still 10 minutes to go.

Next up is a beer I received from @foundersasap as part of our current BIF. I love me a good Oktoberfest beer...let's dive in.

Pours a bright amber. Loads of beige colored head with excellent retention and solid lacing. Good looking beer. Aroma is metallic bready malts with no hops. Faint caramel. Taste leads with toasted malts before leading to a mostly dry finish. Very clean. Medium bodied, smooth and creamy. Very easy drinking and a good example of the style. I could drink this all day.

 

Thought it was hilarious!

 

Terpy Strata by American Solata

4.13/5 rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
New brewery, new beer courtesy of @russpowell in bif16, poured into a teku

8% DIPA dry-hopped with Strata

Hazy orange juice liquid capped by a fat thick one finger soapy white foam layer, settles to a thick layer

Aroma is citrus, grapefruit, strawberries

Taste is grapefruit rind, grapefruit, hint of dank, hint of strawbewrry

Mouthfeel is sudsy, hop bite

Good beer

 

Good afternoon NBW
A new to me beer from Westmalle


11.2oz bottled 2022 APR 07 best by 2024 APR 07 poured into a Westmalle 17cL chalice at fridge temp 4.8% ABV. The beer pours mostly bright golden yellow with off white head. The head recedes to a thin ring and partial layer of tiny bubbles. The aroma is mild with pale malt, green apple, white grape and a hint of fresh cut grass. The taste is semisweet pale malt with notable coriander and lesser fruit flavors (white grape, peach, green apple) before a mildly bitter finish. The mouthfeel is thin bodied with above average carbonation and a dry finish. Overall, very good. I'll not the biggest coriander fan, so that detracts for me personally, but very well beer beer.

No other reviewer noted coriander, although a couple said pepper, and several said banana, which I strongly dislike in beer, but do not get in this one. All that to say my taster might be broken...

Cheers all!

 

I'm going to post my review for this new to me beer that I had on Friday night (that's part of the weekend, right).

Jackie O's Fire on the Coals Imperial Porter

12.7oz bottle simply dated 2022 poured into a Duvel glass at fridge temp 14% ABV per label. The beer pours black with basically no light penetration and light brown head. The head barely raised to an uneven ring and was a pencil thin ring within minutes. No lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring bourbon barrel, dark fruit and dark chocolate. The taste is semisweet bourbon soaked raisin, chocolate, cherry, rum cake. The finish has more barrel. Mild bitterness relying on the barrel and ABV to balance the sweetness. The mouthfeel is full bodied with less than medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. The alcohol is present, but not obnoxious. Overall, outstanding. Rich flavors and dessert like quality without being cloying.

I sometimes forget how great Jackie O's barrel aged beers are, but I'm reminded each time I pick some up.

 

Here is another TRVE Brewing selection, courtesy of @beergoot. The can-art is exceptional. I have a large Viking axe tattoo on my stomach, so I appreciate it quite a lot. The color is honey golden clear yellow. There is a two-finger foam top, which disappears quickly. The smell is sweet, bready, and funky. Honey-scented sourdough bread. The taste is peachy, bready, sweet, sour, malty, yeasty, and grainy. Quite pleasant. The mouthfeel is clean, vibrant, and crisp. Overall, I would like to have this on-hand very frequently. It is delightful. Nordic farmhouse ale is a style I wish was more common. This beer was executed very well.

 

I found it interesting that you mentioned “coriander” as flavor you perceived. I have used freshly cracked coriander (using a pestle and mortar) when brewing my Witbiers. As I crack the coriander seeds I smell citrus (lemon-like) aromas and it seems to me these citrus flavors carry over in the resulting beer.

I visited the Westmalle website to learn more about this beer:

“True to our brewing philosophy, the Extra is brewed with the purest ingredients: selected barley varieties, a balanced blend of hop flowers, home-grown yeast and pure water from the deep Diestian layer. And just as with our Dubbel and Tripel, it is a top-fermented beer, including the typical fermentation in the bottle.”

https://www.trappistwestmalle.be/en/westmalle-extra?agecheck=plus18

It seems to me that the coriander flavor you are picking up is something that the yeast is producing (an ester or phenol) during fermentation. I am quite familiar with the Westmalle yeast strain (i.e., Wyeast 3787) since I use it a lot in brewing my Belgian Trappist/Abbey style beers. I happen to have a batch of Dubbel fermenting right now (I brewed it two days ago) in my basement’s utility room and the smells in that room is wonderful right now!

Cheers to Westmalle beers!

 

@Mdog Is Hammerheart still open or are they just brewing small batches without a taproom or what is their status as a brewery at this time? I’ve only had one beer from them and it was a collab beer with a brewery from Illinois somewhere but I’ll never forget it.

 

Another new beer this afternoon

Taxman Maple Barrel Deadline
12oz canned 4.5.2022 poured into a tulip glass at just above fridge temp 14.6% ABV per label. The beer pours extremely dark brown with medium brown colored head. The head recedes to a thin ring and single layer of bubbles. The aroma is moderate in strength featuring maple, vanilla and bourbon in that order. The taste is semisweet maple, caramel, vanilla, bourbon mix rolling into a roasty, nutty, barrel character finish. Minimal bitterness. The mouthfeel is medium plus bodied with just less that medium carbonation and a semi dry finish. The high ABV is present throughout, but not over so IMO. Overall, excellent stout. Wonderful sweet to roasty, charred transition with each sip.

I'm done with new beers for today. Cheers all and enjoy the new beer in your glass!

 

Thanks for doing the research. I guess I am losing my mind. I've not dealt with actual coriander, other than having it noted as an ingredient in beers that I don't love. I'll have to do some research of my own.