New Beer Weekend #93

A few weeks ago in a thread there was some ‘debate’ on whether a Kölsch beer that includes fruit is a worthy beer. In that thread I mentioned that if I could obtain a single can of Genesee Ruby Red Kölsch beer I would take on the ‘challenge’ and drink one – and that day is today.

Below is how Genesee describes this beer:

“The drinkable Golden Ale was named for its city—Kölsch—and it was a refreshing answer to hot summer days on the banks of the Rhine River. Inspired by our German brewing lineage, we set out to brew a refreshing Kölsch, with a 21st century update of ruby red grapefruit flavors. The result is a crisp, bright-golden ale with a bready malt body and a mild hop bitterness that complement the perfect addition of tart, mouthwatering grapefruit flavors.”

You can even watch a cartoon about this beer:



For openness and transparency, I will confess that when it comes to ‘traditional’ beer styles my personal preference is that they be ‘unadulterated’ and consequently I will be a biased evaluator here. I will do my best to ‘moderate’ my bias here but…

Served in a Stange glass:

Appearance:

Golden yellow colored with a white head.

Aroma:

BIG aroma of grapefruit; that’s about it.

Taste:

The flavor is much more balanced as compared to the nose. Yes, there is a notable grapefruit flavor but there is also a noticeable bready malt flavor as well. A low-moderate bitterness.

Mouthfeel:

Medium bodied with a dry finish

Overall:

I am a little surprised to be saying this but I find this beer to be very good. This would be an enjoyable summer sippin’ beer.

@rotsaruch @RobH @KOP_Beer_OUtlet @MNAle @ PapaGoose03

 

Well, I missed last week's NBW due to a family wedding, so this week is a double shot from my favorite brewery, Hammerheart.

Hammerheart Snosmaltning

Appearance: Clear dark gold, nice fluffy head. Kind of unusual for a Hammerheart beer to be clear.

Smell: Mild smoke, a deep earthiness like mole sauce.

Taste: Honeyed bread note, then campfire smoke and earthiness. Mild fruity note in the background. Crisp & clean feel. Smoke and a touch of pepper heat in the finish.

Overall: Another awesome beer from Hammerheart. Quite complex in taste, sometimes smoked beers overwhelm with smoke, but this gives an excellent blend of flavors. Yummy!


Hammerheart Stone Circle

Appearance: Black, good head.

Smell: Ashy, hint of pine.

Taste: Mild sweetness, molasses, pine, earth, smoke. Long smoky finish.

Overall: The last beer from Hammerheart's Lino Lakes location. A great example of what has made them such a great addition to the Minnesota beer scene. While countless other breweries chase the hops train with constant variations on IPAs, Hammerheart went their own way and explored the world of smoked beers. Different woods for smoking, different brewing techniques, showing the world a panopoly of northern European beer styles! I look forward to their next chapter once they reopen in Ely.

 

Hey what's going on?!

Hope everyone's weekend is going alright. So far so good for me, but many errands but should wrap up the busy work by the end of the day to put my feet up.

On a nice break right now, maybe a bit early, but feeling the need to get a beer going.

This seemed like a good way to mix things up, and mix up indeed is truly what is in store. Suggested to store the beer upside-down before serving. No doubt to mix up all the goodly bits and stuffages, so no surprise there, and our hero did this nicely.

Thrills - Chocolate Wafer Fruit Tart



Poured from the can into a nonic(k) pint glass. Store upside down, ok this will be interesting.

Uh. This looks, different. Deep purple and thick, with head that looks like it's made out of beet juice. Quite a bit of cascading while forming and very foamy, with a lighter puck inside a darker collar. Lots of flakey mess as well on the glass.

Aroma is pretty much as described, a big chocolate wafer note, hitting like a candy bar. Not much sense of funk or sour notes, as this is a one aroma sensation that just takes over. It's at least inviting and fun and solid without any hint or faults.

Palate is fine, but with some minor caveats. Grape and light tinged sourness mixing with large amounts of chocolate candy wafer. Sticks pretty much in your teeth as there truly are some fine bits to chew on. The wafer does pull a good sweet balance to a solid sour tinge, and even provides a more robust thicker body, but at a cost of dealing with lots of edible fragments shall we say. Sludgy, not too puckering, but more akin to drinking breakfast cereal of fruit loops.

Not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but fun if a bit of a mess in more ways than one.

look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4 | BA generated score: 3.97

Cheers!

 

I was saving this beer for a special occasion. Today is a special day. Today is @RaulMondesi's wedding reception. I was invited. I wanted to go so bad, but I just could not make it work. But I will celebrate. The color of this beer is brilliant black, with a slight tan wig that immediately descends into oblivion. The smell is powerful. Oak, vanilla, caramel, toffee, and bourbon overwhelmed my senses in a beautiful way. The taste is quite complex. It has the BCBS familiarity, but is much more vibrant. Bourbon emerges immediately, but it transforms into sweet caramel, vanilla, spices, with a finish of raisin and honey. There is a hint of charcoal. It blends together well. It is unique. Delicious for sure. This is a special flavor. The mouthfeel is full-bodied, yet smooth, silky, boozy, with light carbonation. Overall, drinking this beer is an incredible experience. Today is a worthy day for this experience.

 

A beautiful day here in southern New Mexico. Chores completed, dogs walked. Will be heading downtown for the Farmers Market so we can continue the acclimatization of our youngest dog with people. He's coming around quite well.
Today's new beer is Malice and Darkness, a RIS from Fiction Beer Company in Denver. It's a great beer, but one to be cautious of, given its ABV of 14%.

The beer is a black color. A good-sized, but quickly dissipating tan head.
Aroma of whiskey, chocolate, and a little coffee.
The taste is where this beer shines. Dark chocolate throughout, some coffee. All this with a strong whiskey background.
A big-bodied stout and, at 14% ABV, meant to be shared.

 

The celebration continues. Two weeks from today is 3 Sheeps Brewing's 10th anniversary party. I have plans to meet a multitude of BAs there. And I am good friends with the head brewer, @scream's son. Endless black, with a very light brown toupee. The smell has the strongest coffee scent of any beer I have ever experienced. Freshest-brewed coffee, chocolate, light maple syrup, and a slight bourbon ambiance. The flavor is overwhelmingly dark roast coffee. Molasses, black licorice, chocolate, a touch of maple syrup, and bourbon does make note of its presence. But this is mostly a coffee beverage. The mouthfeel is oily and thick, but it feels like a coffee beverage that you just waited in a drive-through line of cars that lasted 90 mintues for, because you just cannot go to work without your tasty caffeine fix. Overall, I really enjoy the many variants this line of beer produces, but this is a coffee beverage with bourbon poured discretely into it, along with a bit of maple syrup to stay classy.

 

My first this weekend. Messorem Bracitorium’s I’ll Fut Un Temps: Tumultueux. A Kellerbier from Montreal’s brewery of the moment. Known more for their hazy IPAs and pastry stouts, I’ve heard recently that they are making good lagers as well. So, I acquired a few.


Pours a bright, slightly hazy gold with a nice head that sticks around and laces beautifully.

Lightly toasted cereals and grassy, herbal aromas greet the nose. A very slight citrus note is also noticed.

Taste follows nose. The biscuity quality is stronger and the hops less prominent until one gets to the long finish.

Moderate body. Brightly effervescent. Enjoyable.

The things I heard are accurate. This is a good quality lager that I’d enjoy again if given the chance.

 

Nice write-up, Jack, and it sounds like an enjoyable beer. I'll concede that your "bready malt flavor" could still have room for the delicate kolsch flavor, but I'm going to be a purist on this one. If it doesn't taste purely like a kolsch, it's not a kolsch.

 

Howdy all. Getting started a bit early today, but, I got nothing else on my schedule, so why not? Thanks to @Roy_Hobbs for this, from his smashes during NBS BIF #15, Wall of Time from Forest & Main. Inspired by kolsch, according to the label. Well, that's a hell of a warning sign, isn't it? But, the beer was pretty close to style, way more hazy than I prefer, but still a nice brew: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27273/583246/

 

Just wondering... Are your views the same for other traditional styles?

 

Last week I reviewed my penultimate HammerHeart beer.

Today I am opening my final beer from their now closed Lino Lakes brewery.

(Well, final new-to-me beer; I still have some other beers from them in my 'fridge, including three more of this one I'm having this morning.)

HammerHeart Stone Circle Imperial Gravøl Ale
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: NA

Opaque black body under a ⅓ inch dark khaki head. The head recedes moderately quickly, leaving short sheets of lacing as it settles into a thin bubbly cap and thick ring.

The aroma is campfire smoke which is brightened a bit by evergreen fragrance and perhaps slight citrus.

At first, the taste is dominated by smoked and roasted malts. The initial sip has a smooth character, which by the middle is supplanted with a char and bitterness from the roasted malts. Subsequent sips bring the evergreen and citrus more to the fore to provide a nice balance to the roast/smoke/char. By the third or fourth sip, these flavors intermingle very well. The finish and aftertaste retain a well-appreciated smoky evergreen balance in my mouth. For such a high ABV, there is no indication of the alcohol in either the aroma or the taste. Also, no warming in the aftertaste.

The mouth feel is substantial. Some carbonation is present, along with the brightening of the evergreen and citrus.

Overall, a worthy final beer from Lino Lakes.

L: 4.0 | S: 4.25 | T: 4.25 | F: 4.25 | O: 4.0 | Rating: 4.19

@Mdog, I enjoyed reading your take on these final two HammerHeart beers!

 

So many styles have already been bastardized with fruit, chocolate, coffee, etc. flavoring additions that I I'll live with them, but I think I'll take a position on those that are still 'pure' (at least as far as I know they're pure) and strive to enjoy them that way.

I think it was just a week or so ago that someone in these forums mentioned a coffee dopplebock. That one hurt when I read that. Next thing I'll hear about will be a chocolate Baltic Porter. The rich malt character of those styles (and others too if I think long about it) is the defining feature of those styles. If you mess with it, you've changed history.

That's my two cents, and thanks for asking.

 

August Schell Lake Escape Kölsch, 4.5% ABV. On tap. Pours clear yellow, just some edge foam by the time I got it. Nose is bread, taste is toasty and slightly bitter. Decent mouthfeel, though under-carbonated. Overall very good.

3.69/5 rDev +2.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

When the waitress went through their list of taps, she called this a lager. Knew right away it wasn't an American Lager. Not the best kölsch I've had, but better than a macro lager. The mushroom burger was outstanding.

 

I agree that so many have been bastardized with all manner of adjunks masquerading as innovation. I still enjoy trying to seek out "traditional" versions of these beers.

 

Picked up Nelson Park Pale Ale. From True Anomaly in Houston. I always look forward to a new beer from them.

This is simply a Pale Ale with Nelson Sauvin, as would be expected with the name. This batch is 5.8% ABV, listed here as 6.2% but that is just a touch of batch variation.


Pours a mostly clear golden/yellow color. A dense white head rises to over two fingers. The rocky foam has excellent retention and plenty of lace left behind.
Oh that aroma, those Nelson hops are amazing here. That fruity, grape, almost vinous wine and peppery character all mixes perfectly here.
Taste wise follows those nose close enough. That fruitiness becomes a bit more melon like, before picking back up with that grape and peppery character. There is a sweetness, light cracker malts, and light lingering bitterness.
A medium body with good carbonation. Just enough crisp bite, before this becomes ultra smooth. Could be a little dryer for my tastes, but nothing bad at all. Overall, really easy to drink and come back to. Glad I got more.

This is a really well made Nelson Sauvin pale ale. All the hop flavors simply shine, and are spot on for what you would think from the type of hop. Maybe just a touch sweeter than I like, which keeps this from even a higher overall score, but another great beer from True Anomaly.

Overall score, 4.13, an easy A-. Another example that they are one of the better breweries in Houston.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/55586/461621/?ba=champ103#lists

 

Thank you @SawDog505 for kicking things off!

Also, awesome start to the weekend @GreenBayBA ! Really like GI and other breweries shift to emphasize barrels. I've really enjoyed 3 Sheeps The Wolf and related variants over the years. Both breweries are among the top barrel aged brewers I've had the chance to try, (shout outs also to Revolution, AleSmith and Central Waters).

Speaking of which, the weather continues to be cold and or rainy in Chicago, so turning lemons into lemonade with my final two new to me BA Stouts, both born, brewed and aged in Chicago by Goose Island, both released in 2019.

Goose Island 2-Year Reserve Bourbon County Brand Stout (2019)



Bottle Notes: 16.9 oz bottled July 11, 2019 10:19 AM. Develops in the bottle up to 5 years, best by July 10, 2024. 14.9% ABV. Collaboration with our friends at Knob Creek. Brewed, Barrel-Aged & Bottled by Goose Island Beer Company, Chicago, Illinois. Imperial Stout aged for two years in 11 year-old Knob Creek Bourbon Barrels. Purchased at the 2019 Binny's Black Friday Release, $27.99 plus tax.

I tried a small sample at 2019 FOBAB and the Binny's release, but this is my first proper pour and review.

Appearance: Pitch black base, creamy rich dark tan head lingers for a few minutes before receding to a ring around the rim. Head comprised of very fine bubbles, leaves sliding lace throughout. 4.75

Aroma: Let this warm for 20 minutes before beginning. Knob Creek is front and center, very smooth. Smoky roast malt, oak, leather, tobacco, plums, raisins follow. Aroma held up well, really appreciate the depth and potency. 4.75

Taste: Taste follows the aroma, but less sharp. Roast malt takes the lead here, bourbon follows, brings warmth and is spicy. Getting a backing of oak, leather, cinnamon and vanilla. While I appreciate the aroma strength, believe the taste hits the right marks, more measured and subdued. Excellent offering. 4.5

Mouthfeel: The alcohol is strong from go, consistent with the high ABV. Taste balanced, whiskey and roast malt balanced well. Body medium to medium plus, seems possibly a bit thinner than my recollection of other BCBS blends. Light sweet and bourbon aftertaste, I am a happy camper. 4.5

Overall: This bottle really held up well, though that is nearly always the case with GI's BCBS. This was very enjoyable, love the barrel taste, heavier than the regular but enjoyable, not overbearing. Everything came together well, just an excellent enjoyable beer I will continue to savor over the next hour or so. Cheers Goose Island, another excellent edition to the Granddaddy of BA Bourbon Stouts! 4.75

Saving the 2019 Rye, one of my favorite flavors, for Primetime, AKA New Beer Sunday!

Musical accompaniment - Los Lobos - Will The Wolf Survive

 

Back with another from @Roy_Hobbs , this time Pip Lager from Fox Farm. solid and enjoyable Beer beer.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/45832/552698/

 

At The Bine in Bothell with Mrs snaotheus, and their tap list is beautiful today

Ferment's Kolsch

Clear light golden, medium head. Smell is bready, clean, light lemon and grass.

Taste is crisply grassy and lightly bready, honeysuckle.

Light, clean, crisp. This is great.