New Beer Weekend #52

Salty by Nature!

A few years ago it seemed there was relatively speaking an ‘explosion’ of new Gose brands being released. One brand from Dogfish Head (Seaquench) was introduced in 2016. Which brings us to the beer of today: Westbrook Gose.

Last year (March 2020) my wife and I were returning from visiting friends in Florida and we decided to stop off at Charlestown on the car ride home. I was hoping we could include a visit to Westbrook Brewing in nearby Mt Pleasant, SC but unfortunately our time was spent in Charlestown proper doing sightseeing. I highly recommend a trip to Fort Sumpter National Historical Park if you ever get a chance to visit Charlestown.

Below is how this beer is discussed on the Westbrook Brewing website:

“Gose

Tart wheat beer with a touch of sea salt

Our interpretation of the traditional German-style sour wheat beer, brewed with coriander and grey sea salt. Sour, salty, delicious.

4% ABV

Gose Style

CTZ Hops

American Ale Yeast

Acidulated, Pale, Wheat Malt

Coriander, Sea Salt Adjuncts”

Also, on the back of the can:

“This is our interpretation of Gose (pronounced “goes-uh”, a traditional German-style wheat beer…this very refreshing beer style is making a comeback.”

I wonder if you order this beer at the Tasting Room whether they offer syrups (e.g., raspberry or woodruff-flavored syrup) to add to this beer? Well, no syrups for me. I will be drinking this beer commando style.

Served in my Heavy Seas Tulip glass:

Appearance:

Straw colored, hazy with a BIG white head on the initial pour (which fizzles down fairly quickly).

Aroma:

A moderate sour, wheaty aroma on the first sniff but there is also a slight hint of citrus (lemon-like) and a tiny bit of saltiness evident.

Taste:

The flavor pretty much follows the nose with a pleasant combination of wheaty malt flavor accompanied with some citrus (lemon-like) but the salty flavor is more evident on the palate (but properly subdued). The beer is slightly tart with a low/moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Light bodied with a bit of tart prickliness.

Overall:

This beer is very good – excellent. I find it to be very well balanced in its flavor profile.

A refreshing beer for a hot summer day!

Cheers!

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet

 

Is today Westbrook day!?!

Cheers!

 

This is a slightly heavier, and less tart than the previously reviewed Gose, but also an appropriate summer choice.
Old Nation’s M-43 Tart Strawberry NEIPA presents a deeply cloudy yellow-orange with a 1 cm cap of fine, sticky foam.
The aroma is of a strawberry confection and lemonade.
The flavor includes both the malt-hop balance of the regular M-43 and a significant tart strawberry influence. The tart bit is especially welcome on this very hot, humid morning.
The tartness and the hop bitterness persists in the finish. -a quite pleasant brew.

 

That brew begs for a nice fresh piece of baked Cod!

 

The words "burnished gold" is exactly how I describe my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsner. My favorite imported Bohemian Pilsner is a Slovak beer: Golden Pheasant. I discussed this beer in a past NBS thread as a side-by-side with my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsner:




https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-736.610176/#post-6441962

I have yet to visit Human Robot but your post is reminding me that I should do so.

Na Zdravi

 

Glad to see that there are some well done American brewed Gose style beers out there. I like the style, but 80% of them I've had in the last few years lack balance and / or subtlety. Re: the salt, in your writeup of this one, the "properly subdued" quote is key for me. I find myself fairly sensitive to salt in beer, and at least to my tastes, many breweries over salt when they do use it as an ingredient.

 

I instead chose to eat Pancakes for breakfast this morning.

But since you brought up cod - during a business trip to Oslo, Norway I learned that dried, salted cod was a popular food item there and at a restaurant I ordered a dried cod fish stew which is a traditional dish there. I can't remember the Norwegian word for this dish. I very much enjoyed eating it. If Westbrook Gose was on the menu I would have ordered it to drink with my fish stew.

I hate to tell you how much beer costs in Norway. A story for another day.

Cheers!

 

I too am quite sensitive to salt so needless to say I appreciated the fact that Westbrook was judicious here.

I also find some restaurants go too heavy on salt as well.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for kicking things off @jkblr , quite a heavy hitter to start the day. I did the same yesterday with a 5 oz high ABV Barleywine pour, and that pretty much stopped the rest of my ambitious beer plans.

Have a nice and easy weekend planned with two "corn" based Chicago Brewed beers. Tomorrow is a Kolsch brewed with popcorn. Today, a more traditionally brewed beer, a brand new offering from a nearby brewery.

Alarmist Midwest Royalty Lager



Brewer Notes: American Lager, 5.5% ABV. Midwest Royalty is an American Lager brewed with corn, 6-row and effervescent Midwestern charm. Stuff your fridge with Midwest Royalty.

Appearance: 16 oz can, no can date but released by the brewery on 6/25/21. Multiple pours into a pilsner glass. Faint pale straw colour base, heavy carbonation sustained throughout. Light short soapy head dissipates quickly, marginal soapy lacing sinks quickly to the base during the pour. 3.5

Aroma: Corn and salty cracker, bold strength, pleasant. 3.5

Taste: Consistent with the aroma, malt firm, salty cracker, corn blends in well. Perhaps a bit too salty. 3.25

Mouthfeel: Light and easy, carbonation light to mouth, crisp clean finish. 3.25

Overall: This is a nice traditional lager, corn present and pleasant and well incorporated. Perfect for a warm Summer day, glad I picked up the four pack. 3.25

Looking forward to the Kolsch tomorrow, and your reviews throughout the weekend.

 

My in-laws are visiting. Today we are going to White Sands.
Just got back from walking the dogs. It's a pleasant morning, only 80 degrees out now, so I was hot but not overly so. Still, I wanted something to quench my thirst, and this fit the bill nicely. Spicy Pickle Monster is a sour ale from Prairie, with spicy dill pickles, orange, lemon, and lime. ABV is 5.3%.
This beer is a clear gold color with no head.
Not much aroma. Some citrus fruit, that's about it.
Lime taste, some lemon. A hint of dill.
Sour, peppery mouthfeel.

 

Jack's Abby is, probably, my favorite brewery. They produce consistently fine lagers at reasonable prices with Post Shift as their trademark pilsner. So I was pleased to come across dry hopped version of Post Shift.

Not a lot of information on the can or website. Dry hopped Post Shift is part of their kellerbier series, is unfiltered, brewed with Bavarian malts, and dry hopped with Hallertau Blanc hops. OG 11.7, 30 IBU's, and 4.7% ABV


DH Post Shift brought to mind another thread running about rating to style.
Rated strictly as a German pilsner it has issues with hoppiness and balance.
However; rated as a hop forward lager it is very good.

As soon as you pop open the can you are hit with pineapple and grapefruit on top of grass and pine needles.
Surpringly clear for an unfiltered beer, DH PS pours a see through straw color.
The taste follows the aroma with grapefruit, pineapple, unripe mango, stale biscuits & saltines with a hint of crushed pine needles and finishes with a pleasantly bitter, slightly sticky aftertaste.
A very refreshing, very good hoppy lager.
4.01/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

 

I don't need to feel like I swallowed a mouths of sea water

I was stunned by the difference in beer prices between Germany and Denmark. Norway is probably even higher

 

Nice, I'm still looking for that one, went to my buddies record store today (in Houston, but whatever ha) as his son is taking over for at least a few months. He teaches in the Hill Country outside of Austin, but he is going to run things, for a bit to say by to the old regulars and have a memorial at the store. Anyway, picked this gem up...

Bill Evans Behind the Dikes, its a 3 LP Record Store Day release. I kind of hate Record Store Day, not the concept really, but how most stores run it. With huge lines for hours, and people trying to get everything possible to resell at a higher price later (its great for the stores, just mostly not for me). There is also never really anything that interesting for me, outside of a few exceptions. This is one, but no way could I have fought the lines to get it anywhere else, as its pretty limited. I walked in to Allrecords to give condolences to Fred's son, and he had this set aside for me already. Fred and I talked about this release probably 3 months ago, didn't think he would remember, and sure has heck didn't think his son would. I didn't even think they would have it, considering everything, and wasn't going to inquire. It made my day and I have been fighting back tiers.



Anyway, beer reviews come up next...

 

I was at Equal Parts Brewing in Houston. They re branded and changed names from Sigma Brewing, for mostly unknown reasons. Though they expanded and updated their tap room and it looks stunning. With double the taps, and lots more space, but all in a great homey vibe with wood, brick and unique metal ascents everywhere. Nice, as most breweries in Houston are just a big warehouse with not much character.



They had at least 4 lagers on, which I love to see.

First up is MKII Helles. 5.1% ABV


Pours a brilliantly clear golden/yellow color. A two finger white head forms and recedes after a minute with lace left behind.
A simple nose of toasted/baked bread. Malts and light grassy hops. Not much more to add, just really inviting.
Taste wise is that toasted bread, cracker like malt character up front. Some sweetness mid palate, but drys out with a light and subtle grassy bitterness.
A light body with beautifully fine carbonation. Just enough spritzy carbonation, that becomes ultra smooth. This is wonderfully clean and finishes dry. Really easy to drink and come back to. Downed in big gulps.

Less is definitely more here. A really well made Helles, that I can come back to again and again. This ranks up their with some of the better Houston lagers.

Overall score is 4.13, A-


Next is Vernal Marzen. 5.1% ABV


Pours a beautiful clear orange/red color. A white head forms with good retention and lace.
A fairly neutral nose, with toasted and caramel malts. Just a hint of earthy hops.
Taste wise, toasted and candied nuts. Bread and lots of sweetness. Which becomes a bit cloying after a while. Earthy, hoppy bitterness lingers.
A medium to full body. Well carbonated, but after a while becomes overly sticky and sweet. Not a bad American attempt at the style, but the overwhelming sweetness is what I get most from this.

This is in that relatively big Ayinger Oktoberfest vain, which a lot of American breweries try to emulate. While not bad at all, and always glad to see more lagers available, it doesn't compare to Ayinger.

Overall score is B, 3.61
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/44383/559562/?ba=champ103#review

They also have Laggerbier which is their German Pils and is excellent, I believe I reviewed that way back when they were still called Sigma. They also have a Japanese Rice Lager that I didn't get around to trying...maybe next time, it looked really good

 

Boat Ramp Champ a Helles from Cape May Brewing, This is my review written on Thursday
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is a by the book Helles. Nice golden color with a thick and lasting white head, There is a nice malty aroma. The is the same malty and a bit sweet. Nice light mouthfeel and a lasting of dry finish. A very refreshing and enjoyable beer on a hot and sunny afternoon. This beer was very fresh canned on 06/29/21.
I don't have much to add to that except it's getting better by the glass,