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

Ommegang
Three Philosophers vs Three Philosophers Double Chocolate.
Bought both at the brewery a few weeks back. The OG is best by Oct 2027, the whippersnapper is Best by Oct 2024, which is interesting.



OG has no head, and not just because of the glass, it dissipated as fast as it poured. The Double Chocolate (DC) held for a while before falling to a thick blanket for the duration. Big amorphous islands of lace formed. Both cleared-up and turned mahogany red in time, as fine dark sediment precipitated on the bottom of their respective glasses.

OG aromas were musty dates, plums and cherry. Warmth amplified the dates and sharpened the cherry. The DC was musty dates, cocoa nibs, and faint cherry. Light cinnamon and leather developed with warmth.

Both were somewhat bitter with strong and never ending finishes. Otherwise the flavors essentially followed the aromas. The DC chocolate was obvious without being obnoxious and the finish highlighted cherry cordial on the back of the throat.

They are both somewhat lighter bodied than expected, with the texture of slick satin. Alcohol is definitely high, although neither had any warmth. Carbonation is similar and a mouthful of spritz with each sip.

My preference is the OG, because the chocolate seems out of place. Probably because the dates and plums are so prevalent in this beer.

Full review of the OG, from 2009.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/42/3457/?ba=SLeffler27#review

 

This year, Jack's Abby made three Oktoberfest beers:

• Copper Legend, which is a Märzen, but at a somewhat high ABV for the style at 5.7
  
• Munich Fest, which is a Festbier, but at a low ABV for the style at 5.4
• Fest of Both Worlds (collaboration with Weihenstephan), which is also a Festbier, and true-to-style light beer with a 6% ABV

All three are excellent beers, and it might make sense to compare them, but today, I got a 6-pack of Weihenstephan Festbier with a mysterious 6213 date code, which I drank side-by-side with the Fest of Both Worlds collab.

As much as I love drinking German imports these days, Jack's Abby version of the Festbier was a clear winner with its soft carbonation, subtle hops character, and no artificial caramel sweetness.

 

Enjoyed your review. I have a couple new to me Jack’s Abby collaboration beers with local suburban brewery Goldfinger I’m looking forward to enjoying in a few weeks.

In terms of the code, I believe the Weihenstephan was bottled May 26, 2023. What is the Jack’s Abby can date?

6213 = DWWY = 6th day, 21st week, 3rd year of decade.

Source: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/date-codes-for-imported-usa-german-beer.658248/

 

Yeah, I decoded the date based on that thread too. Why would anyone use that type of coding is a mystery to me.

Jack's Abby was canned on 7/25/23, so about a month ago vs. three months for Weihenstephan.

 

When I wandered into the swanky beer bar's cellar and encountered not one, but two(!) lagers from Sante Adairius I hardly had a choice. When they were styled a "rustic pilsner" and a "rustic heirloom pilsner", well, my fate was sealed.



Surge Capacity (the rustic pilsner) canned 7-6 vs All Mammals Play (the rustic heirloom pilsner) canned 7-18.

Don't judge me for the non beer clean glasses, at least both beers got the same condition

The cans give no indication of what to expect from either of these beers, no sense of what exactly "rustic" or "heirloom" refer to, and no expanded description at all actually.

But differences are stark upon the pour. The heirloom pilsner is astonishingly pale with a thin and fizzy head. The other is richly golden with an excellent head of hearty white foam.

Beyond that, the beers are astonishingly similar. As I went back and forth smelling or drinking one before the other and then the other before the one, with breaks of water, time, and crackers, in between I found them converging on a single point.

Grassy nose with a touch of citrus pith, nicely rich malt back bone that leads one into a a grassy and herbal hop bitterness. At first, I got the sense that this was an aggressively American take on a pilsner. But as they warmed I got the sense it was more of a slightly heavily hopped helles.

Ultimately, I'm left with the sense that these are beers made by modern west coast American beer brewers inspired by a European tradition of pale and hoppy lagers which they cherish and respect.

I have no idea what the difference between these beers was, given the context, my perspective, and my experience, I wonder if there wasn't some california heirloom rice involved in the All Mammals Play. But that's just a random guess. Whatever the difference in the maltbill was that produced the radically different color and head, it wasn't substantial enough for me to detect.

Good beers, both, but I am drinking a trumer pils now and I've got to concede that it's the superior pilsner for my tastes. And about 1/3 the price to boot!

 

I have always liked Copper Legend but once I had Munich Fest that is the one I would choose.

 

I have yet to see the Munich Fest at any of my local beer retailers. Where do you buy this beer?

Cheers!

 

Wegmans, was in a mixed pack:

New Beer Weekend #163

KOP was supposed to have it but I didn't see it there at the time (I asked but they didn't know) and then one day was near Malvern so stopped in theirs and they had a nice stack on the floor.

 

Quoting myself, this year, Jack's Abby made three Oktoberfest beers:

• Copper Legend, which is a Märzen, but at a somewhat high ABV for the style at 5.7
• Munich Fest, which is a Festbier, but at a low ABV for the style at 5.4
• Fest of Both Worlds (collaboration with Weihenstephan), which is also a Festbier, and true-to-style light beer with a 6% ABV

There is no question that Copper Legend is a Märzen — it is malty and decently sweet, and while it is stronger than usual, it is pleasant and easy to drink.

Fest of Both Worlds is clearly a Festbier — dry and clean, and just a touch hoppy. The alcohol is well hidden, which is not surprising for Jack's Abby.

That leaves us with Munich Fest, and while I liked it a lot, it's an odd one. It presents itself as a Festbier but is quite malty and sweet.

All in all, I'd take any of these beers anytime, and only wish they were not seasonal.

 

Resuscitation of the thread that I wish I participated in more!

Fresh Narwhal vs 3 yr old Narwhal. 3 years is, in my opinion, the age that Narwhal returns to or possibly surpasses the quality of fresh Narwhal.



My nose is shot and I'm not in a loquacious mood. The long and short is that the 3 year old stuff offered up a dark cacao heavy taste which accentuated the dried fruit (raisin, plum, some fig) character in the fresh stuff. I do love it fresh, but this experience made me consider that 3 years might be better.

As I write this I'm drinking a roughly 50/50 mix of the last 2 ozs of both and I think I'm going to have to make that an annual event. It pushes the fresh flavor just a bit toward the dry, bitter, cacao flavor spectrum and I think it works really well

 

I've found Narwhal to be an incredibly consistent brew year to year and to also age very predictably. I guess that's sort of a staple of the sierra nevada brand.

I'd love to see your thoughts on it and I may explore comparing it to some other locally made stouts

 

New Bell's Expedition Stout has arrived, so I bought a single to see how much I should buy. Have over 1/2 a case of 2020s, so want to see how these held up, and how long I should consider keeping, if at all, beyond say a year or two max. Will influence my shopping.

9/30/2020 Bell's Expedition Stout (L) vs. 9//6/2023 Bell's Expedition Stout (R)



Bottle Notes: 2020 cellared until pulling recently to refrigeration. 2023 purchased room temp yesterday afternoon, refrigerated for about 22 hours.

Appearance: Slightly different glasses but that aside, the 2020 poured relatively flat and could pour all but an ounce, whereas significant foam required a few top offs and still have a few ounces in the bottle. Fresh bottle head rich darker tan, leaves creamy lacing and cover where as the 3 year old leaves razor thin cover over the base, with any lacing sliding down the glass relatively quickly. Also, the 2023 base is darker, 2020 looks almost barleywineish. 2023 4.50 vs. 2020 3.75

Aroma: Fresh and warmed over 15 minutes, the 2020 yields a consistent primary cardboard aroma, stale. The fresh version yields a roast dark chocolate, toffee notes and a nice roasted malt. Night and Day. 2023 4.25 vs. 2020 2.75

Taste: 2020 tastes a lot better than the aroma yields. Creamy rich decadent milk chocolate, backed by a mellow roast malt. Everything chill here though ABV strength hits you fast after a few sips.

2023 is reverse, the aroma much richer and varied with the taste yielding a lighter milk chocolate flavor than the 2020. Somewhat surprised the 2020 had better flavor at this stage. Would call 2023 boring. 2020 4.25 vs. 2023 3.25

Mouthfeel: Probably the closest between the two, both featuring faint gentle carbonation, full rich creamy body, tootsie roll esq vs. a straight up milk / dark chocolate blend with the fresher version. The 2020 version feels stronger ABV wise despite the same 10.5% ABV listed. 2020 4.5 vs. 2023 4.25

Overall: Overall, was surprised by the significant taste variances with the 3 year old beating the fresh version taste wise. The 2020 flavors taste richer and fuller, with the primary disadvantage being the aroma which isn't off putting, and evaporates when drinking. If I had to guess, the 1-2 year mark might hit the best of both worlds, but for now with over a years worth of beers on hand and short of a case of 2020, I will either hold off with 2023 purchases or just get a six pack and pop one open next Fall to see how it is fairing.

When it comes to cellaring, I believe bottles of select styles are the only vehicle worth intentionally aging, and this is one of the few instances where a good stout fresh improved age wise that I can recall in some time. Glad I conducted this experiment today, if I make a blend for later today or tomorrow, I will report back. 24 oz of this may be too much for my weakened tolerance. 2020 4.25 vs. 2023 3.75.

 

Thanks for sharing! Interesting that you have a half case of 2020 left; I live in West Michigan and when I went to buy my 2020 allotment (I can only drink so many ya know!) *everything* I found was bottled in 2019. So very curious. Then the next year 2021 was available. I never found 2020.

 

Keeping the thread going with another degenerate side by side


On the left, New Glory - Perkatory. An "imperial breakfast stout" brewed with Valiant coffee (a roaster I think), vanilla beans, maple syrup, and the dreaded "other natural flavors". 13.1% abv and canned on 1/18/22.

On the right, Lagunitas - Willetized. A coffee stout aged in rye oak barrels. 13.1% and bottled on the 76th day of 2022 (so sometime in march?).

On the pour, perkatory is thicker with less head. Willetized maintains a thin rim of coffee colored foam.

On the nose, perkatory is rich like a decadent dessert. Chocolatey coffee laid over a maple soaked and booze chocolate cake. Willetized is much sharper with rye liquor booze bite paired with bitter diner coffee. Depends on the mood and the person, but I'm preferring Willetized most of the time.

Flavor wise perkatory veers a bit away from the nose, vanilla hazelnut coffee laid over a fairly roasty base stout. Interestingly, the taste is like a decadent breakfast item too, just a different one than the smell. Willetized brings an excellent boozy rye coffee cake thing going on. God I love this beer. I wouldn't judge anyone (publicly) for picking perkatory, but I'm not confused about my preferences.

Overall, perkatory is good stuff. I've been, apparently, the only person grabbing this out of a local gas station's cooler for the last 2 years and the beer is totally fading. It's still nice but the flavors are losing their coherence for sure. Still a great take on a non BA flavored stout. Bitter roast carries the day but there's a nice blend of sweeter flavors in the mix. Willetized is a legend. I can't do it justice with these thumbs pushing pixels around. Probably only bested in ba stout value by earlier examples of itself.

 

Backpocket Brewing, Coralville, IA, brews these Oktoberfest beers in honor of Iowa's largest universities: Clonefest, a Festbier for the Iowa State Cyclones, and Hawktoberfest, a Märzen for the Iowa Hawkeyes, each packaged in cans bearing the university's colors. Hawktoberfest hit the scene in '14, while Clonefest is a recent (2022) addition to the lineup. My question is, could they be the same beer in different packaging, even though the styles are listed clearly on the can labels? I picked up singles of each the other day in order to test that theory. As you can see, they clearly are not. The Märzen is noticeably darker in color. Tastewise, it is a little maltier and fruitier, with a little sticky sweetness that lingers on the palate. The Festbier is lighter in body, with more bitterness and a crisper finish. They are both excellent beers that you could drink all day long, and both fit within their respective style guidelines.

Backpocket also brews another Märzen, Northside, which I have not seen here. It may be a special limited-edition brew. I'll look for it the next time I'm in Iowa City. In the meantime, Prost!

#photobomb_by_Kaito

 

Heady Topper DIPA, 8.0%, and Focal Banger NEIPA, 7.0% - both are better from the can than the glass, I prefer Focal over Heady from the can, but Heady over Focal from the glass. Cheers!



-Look: Deep-golden haze with a thick clumpy head (but reviewed from can).
-Aroma: Nice grapefruit, ripe orange and pineapple, soft malts.
-Taste: Even better than the aroma, bursting with grapefruit and soft citrus!
-Feel: Soft and round, bitter and creamy, a full hop milkshake.
-Overall: Wonderful bright and bitter grapefruit explosion!



-Look: Deep-yellow haze with a thick clumpy head (but reviewed from can).
-Aroma: Fantastic grapefruit, ripe orange and pineapple, soft malts.
-Taste: Even better than the aroma, bursting with grapefruit and soft citrus!
-Feel: Soft and round, bitter and creamy, a full hop milkshake.
-Overall: Phenomenal bright and bitter grapefruit explosion!