What's the Difference? Share your side-by-side (2023)

I have yet to see Longliner at my local beer retailers with dates on the packaging.

How was your six-pack dated? Was it a stick-on sticker? Or was it black ink?

Cheers!

P.S. Finding Jever fresh is like winning the lottery!!

 

They date all their six packs on the bottom of the can. Even the 12 packs were dated on cans, just not the box...going forward it appears they only will sell via six pack, so any old six packs are retailers breaking up old 12 packs. Which one of out local stores so "smartly" decided to do

According to beer manager the six packs were a January 2023 change, used to only be 12s. It is an amazing beer, it is old school Prima, at least thats what it reminds me of.

And yes 3 month old Jever was a double take before I believed my eyes.

 

Just to double check, the six-packs are not in a box and you can readily see the bottom of the cans?

Cheers!

 

Yup.

 

can i ask where you found fresh Jever in cans?

 

You meant to ask @jonphisher

Cheers!

 

Roger Wilco in Pensauken...but if you have a beer store you have a good relationship with I'm sure they'd order a case. Jever's NJ distributor is Hunterdon so I would assume anything you get a store to order now will all be that same late January canning like what I found.

There was still some lingering cases of old stock too but the replenished stack was all new, $42 for a case or $12 for a six pack of half liters.

@cid71

 

Call me a cynic but I would not make that assumption. Hunterdon may still have some old stuff in stock and it could be that Roger Wilco got 'lucky' with their delivery (e.g., some employee screwed up with the deplete old stock first and let the new stuff sit rule).

Cheers!

 

This side-by-side is a bit like comparing an iconic rock 'n roll act with a tribute band. Free Will recently put out batch 2 of Dystopias, a malt liquor weighing in at 20.1% that was aged in 6 different barrels for over 2.5 years. They don't offer any more information on the barrels used or the base beer unfortunately. This has to be an homage to Utopias right? I've got an open bottle from 2015 for this side by side.

Sam Adams offers a lot more detail than Free Will does. This year, 2015, our brewers experimented with finishing Utopias in White Carcavelos wine barrels in addition to barrels that once housed cognac, Armagnac, ruby port, sweet Madeira, Buffalo Trace Bourbon. Some parts of the blend were already 20 years old at the time of bottling. There is a lot more information on the brewing and blending process on their website.




The color on these is close to a perfect match surprisingly. Deep brown with a hint of amber, Utopias being a bit murkier. Utopias also has a lot more legs. The similarities end there. Utopias is 35% stronger and not shy about flexing its muscles. Each sip sends a wonderful warming sensation through the chest. This is not just a shot of generic booze though, it is deeply flavorful. Tons of grape based and brown liquors, charred wood/old tobacco, intense raisin and molasses, plus some brighter, lighter notes of honey and vanilla. On and on and on, this is an amazing experience that crosses a line beyond beer. I'm so glad I bought this bottle, even if it will be my only one. This is the clear winner here.

Trying these side-by-side, Dystopias is coming across as more subdued than I perceived it to be over the last couple of days. I get port and bourbon, nicely warming and working well together. Subtle honey, woody spice, toffee, and candied nuts come to mind. This comes across as a high caliber BA barleywine to me. It isn't really fair to score this against Utopias. On its own Dystopias is great, well worth trying. Priced well I think at $50 for 750ml, a fraction of Utopias price. I love being able to enjoy these bottles over a period of months or more.

Final thought, I don't love that Free Will labels this wonderful offering as Malt Liquor. This is akin to labeling a fine, aged Manchego cheese as old curdled sheep squeezins'.

 

I enjoyed reading those!

Yes, Free Will says-

Bottled still, drink at your leisure. This bottle is meant to be opened, sipped, corked up and drank again at a later date - treat it like a bottle of your favorite spirit.

 

A little late night side by side of aged barleywines

Anchor Old Foghorn from 2020 on the left and the more local Mad River John Barleycorn from 2017 on the right.

Heads are similar, and both impressive for the age and style, but the OF is more clear and ruby hued while JB is a much muddier brown.

Nose is rich caramel malts and some spice character in the OF while JB has the caramel malt base overlaid with notes of leather, tobacco, and tree nut oil.

Taste is similar, OF almost has a cola quality to it. It's delicious, but it's strong in the licorice/ spice realm. The JB is much mellower with the rich caramel malt layered with stewed dark fruit. Some cooking wine notes creeping in at the edges.

JB is much fuller bodied, OF is downright crisp for the style. Very drinkable.

All told, I'm loving how the 2017 John Barley Barleycorn is drinking right now. It's in a sublime place, and I'm split on whether it's going to carry forward or if it's nearing it's decline. The Old Foghorn is lovely as well but it's just a little thin and the cola spice character are a bit out of balance for my tastes.

Two great beers, a joy to drink them both

 

I've been mildly hoarding this 2020 batch because I haven't seen anything newer and I fear that it isn't actually being sent up here anymore.

They used to be nationally distributed, the problem with John barleycorn is that they used to change the recipe every year (I'll never understand that move) and sometimes the changes were dramatic, but I always especially noticed that various years responded to age very differently.

Unfortunately, the brewery came under new ownership a few years back and it's not clear if John barleycorn is going to continue to be produced. At the very least they have initiated a major cellar clearing with mixed 6 packs of '16, '17, and '18 vintages recently flooding the local market. I found the '16 to be borderline undrinkable a year or so ago. I should check the '18 out. I may need to hoard some of these as well.

 

Yuengling Traditional Lager vs. Pour Man's House Lager



Thought this might be interesting. The Yuengling is an amber lager and the other is a Czech Amber Lager.

As can be seen the Yuengling is a touch darker but has a "looser" head; Pour Man's beer has smaller, tighter foam.

There are some sort of codes on the cans-



No idea how to interpret that code, but I swear these cans have been in the house for nearly 2 years. The last time I drank some I really disliked it.



I suspect this means Jan 3 2023 but don't know for certain.

So freshness isn't really a fair comparison. But somewhat surprisingly, the Yuengling was better than I remembered. Not much of a smell. The taste was slightly sweet caramelized malt without any notable hop profile, and the finish had a stale bitterness. Doesn't sound great but it was fine for a budget-friendly beer and I won't avoid the remaining cans any longer.

The House Lager was, probably needless to say, much better. Amber beers often have a dishwater smell to me, and this has a touch of that quality. However the flavor was clean, with the Saaz hops giving it a bit of a pretzel taste. The finish was clean as a whistle; no off-flavors or lingering staleness.

Amber beers have never been a favorite of mine, or at least not for the last 20-odd years, but the Pour Man's House Lager is an excellent beer and I will certainly keep an eye open for that style in the future.

 

I really enjoyed your Bigfoot plus Side by Side review @cjgiant ! Was your IPA refrigerated or cellared this entire time?

I never had a fresh Bigfoot, my initial rating and follow up pours have been of the one year or older variety. I aged it per recommendations here, and wasn’t disappointed. Revolution Straight Jacket and SN Bigfoot are pretty much the two Barleywine offerings I buy with confidence. I will drink a fresh Bigfoot if I come across one “for science”, and share a side by side here.

Hope you have the opportunity to let a few of the remaining 2023 bottles age, and compare 1-2 years later to note changes after aging within a tighter window than eight years.

 

The battle of the Broken Heels! I've wanted to do this for a while and came across a bunch of fresh singles tonight (thank you, New Trail, for finally dating your cans). I like hazies and have had both of these beers before but it's been a while and it's never been side by side like this.

Double Broken Heels - canned on 04/03; Citra, Mosaic; 9.2%.
Broken Heels - canned on 03/06; Citra, Mosaic; 7%.

Both pour from the can identically, hard to tell them apart just by sight: hazy light yellow, nice head (the DBH is slightly darker but you need to really look to see that). Smell on both is pretty similar also but the DBH is a little bigger on the nose and a bit maltier/sweeter.

Taste follows the nose and the DBH is definitely the bigger, fuller, sweeter one. BH is actually a little more complex to me because it's lighter in comparison and ends with a slight bitterness and a little dryer which in turn brings out a few more flavors along the way. DBH is good but it's kind of "one note" where it's the hops flavors/fruit, sweet and then not much else going on.

Both are good beers but I prefer Broken Heels to the Double, as it's a nice mix of a regular IPA and a hazy which creates a more interesting experience to me. DBH is a solid beer for sure but definitely sweeter and bigger. Budmo!