I don't know about you, but I have been looking forward to the Brew Masters premier. It finally premiers this coming Sunday, 11/21/10 at 9:00 PM Central Time (10 PM eastern) on the Discovery Channel. It stars Sam Calagione - Founder and President of Dogfish Head Brewery - and it will run every Sunday at that time.
For some of previews of what to expect from the show go to http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/brew-masters/?#mkcpgn=semdsc6. There are 6 clips
If you've never heard of it, here is a brief intro from the Discovery channel website: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/brew-masters/episodes.html"Each week on Brew Masters, Sam Calagione, maverick, family man and entrepreneur owner of Dogfish Head Brewery travels across America and around the globe as he explores new ingredients and techniques and collaborates with other craft brewers to come up with the next great brews. Every Sunday at 10 pm E/P, starting Nov. 21."
For a better description of what the show is about, go to http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/brew-masters/about-show.html
I'm thinking of picking up the star beer of the premier, Bitches Brew, for the occassion - if I can pull it off. It was released in 750ml bottles on 8/31/2010, so now I just need to track it down.
You can also Like Brew Masters on Facebook. I did.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
A Tale of Four Oktoberfests
I intended to do a flavor comparison of several Oktoberfests about a month and a half / two months ago, but I never got around to it. I decided now was the time. I had four on hand, so I set myself up with them and everything I needed to taste compare them - in addition to the camera, I laid out my Oktoberfest coasters (to set the mood, of course) made sure my church key was on hand, set up a small bowl of pretzels and a bottle of water to cleanse my palate between beers, and four separate glasses. It means more washing, but I could view them side by side this way.
The Oktoberfests I had were sampled in the following order:
1) Leinenkugel's
2) Hoffbräu
3) Samuel Adams
4) Sprecher
Leinenkugel's
This comes in a 12 ounce bottle with a screw cap. It has a golden brown hue with a slight reddish tint. It pours with a minimal head that fades away quickly. It has a light sweet malty scent, soft and subtle. The flavor is robust, but not overpowering or overly strong. It is a full bodied malty flavor with just a hint of bitterness (which I like). The maltiness has a rich grainy character to the flavor. The aftertaste is carries a wonderful bread like taste that is probably my favorite part aside from drinking it. I very much like it. It is a very good, very solid Oktoberfest; and I will definately drink it again. I rather expected it to end up being my favorite.
Hoffbräu
This comes in a 12 ounce bottle with a pry-off cap. It has a beautiful light golden color that is very pale, but has more depth than a Miller or Budweiser. Despite the fact that the Hoffbräu is very light, it does not taste like a light beer. It has a more complex flavor without being as heavy on the malty flavor. It has a small, light head that fades away quickly. It has a slightly sour smell with a subtle, sweet maltiness. It has a very lively, floral malty taste - not sweet, but a light summery taste with a solid malty backing. There is a hint of bitter in the background, but it is very, very mild. Despite the sour scent, it does not have a sour flavor. There is a hint of bitter in the background, but it is very, very mild. There isn't much of an aftertaste, but what is there is a mild remnant of the bitterness. I like this Oktoberfest a lot.
Samuel Adams
This comes in a 12 ounce bottle with a pry off cap. This was a little more carbonated than the Leinenkugels or the Hoffbrau. It also had a minimal head that faded quickly. It had a beautiful reddish hue. It was very very beautiful, darker than the Leinenkugel's. It had a very subtle scent - sweet, almost like wine - like smelling a German white whine, but less strong. The flavor is a very solid malty flavor. No bitterness, and no sourness, but not much depth either. It has a surface flavor that sticks to the front of your toungue, but it doesn't envelope your whole mouth. The flavor reminds me of fresh baked bread or an English muffin (but less yeasty). The flavor doesn't stick with you, and there isn't much of an aftertaste to speak of. Although I like malty beers, this one doesn't have much to it. Compared to what I look for in an oktoberfest, this one is too light. There isn't a lot of body or depth, and it doesn't stick with you. It's not a bad beer, and I would pick it over mny others, but as far as Oktoberfests go, I wouldn't say it's one of my favorites.
Sprecher
This comes in a 16 ounce bottle with a twist off cap. It is more carbonated, much like the Samuel Adams. It has a light head that fades quickly. It has a darker color - a reddish brown that is a beautiful fireside sort of color. It has a very, very mild scent. It's not a very distinctive smell that has a light maltiness to it. The flavor is robust - rich, and malty. There isn't much bitterness, and what is there is only noticeable by comparison with something that is completely lacking any bitterness. More than the Samuel Adams, but that's easy to do. It has a little bit of citrusy sourness in the background, but the primary flavor is a standard maltiness. It is a GOOD Oktoberfest. The hint of bitter and hint of sour lend some real character to the depth of flavor provided by the maltiness. It carries the whole flavor into the aftertaste, which is lovely.
The following is the order in which I liked these:
1) Sprecher
2) Hoffbräu
3) Leinenkugel's
4) Samuel Adams
I liked the Sprecher the best, followed closely by the Hoffbräu. It was so close that I had to try the two back to back several times to decide. My third favorite was the the Leinenkugel's. I liked the Leinenkugel's aftertaste quite a bit. I figured that it would come out on top.
All in all, it was a wonderful taste-test.
The Oktoberfests I had were sampled in the following order:
1) Leinenkugel's
2) Hoffbräu
3) Samuel Adams
4) Sprecher
Leinenkugel's
This comes in a 12 ounce bottle with a screw cap. It has a golden brown hue with a slight reddish tint. It pours with a minimal head that fades away quickly. It has a light sweet malty scent, soft and subtle. The flavor is robust, but not overpowering or overly strong. It is a full bodied malty flavor with just a hint of bitterness (which I like). The maltiness has a rich grainy character to the flavor. The aftertaste is carries a wonderful bread like taste that is probably my favorite part aside from drinking it. I very much like it. It is a very good, very solid Oktoberfest; and I will definately drink it again. I rather expected it to end up being my favorite.
Hoffbräu
This comes in a 12 ounce bottle with a pry-off cap. It has a beautiful light golden color that is very pale, but has more depth than a Miller or Budweiser. Despite the fact that the Hoffbräu is very light, it does not taste like a light beer. It has a more complex flavor without being as heavy on the malty flavor. It has a small, light head that fades away quickly. It has a slightly sour smell with a subtle, sweet maltiness. It has a very lively, floral malty taste - not sweet, but a light summery taste with a solid malty backing. There is a hint of bitter in the background, but it is very, very mild. Despite the sour scent, it does not have a sour flavor. There is a hint of bitter in the background, but it is very, very mild. There isn't much of an aftertaste, but what is there is a mild remnant of the bitterness. I like this Oktoberfest a lot.
Samuel Adams
This comes in a 12 ounce bottle with a pry off cap. This was a little more carbonated than the Leinenkugels or the Hoffbrau. It also had a minimal head that faded quickly. It had a beautiful reddish hue. It was very very beautiful, darker than the Leinenkugel's. It had a very subtle scent - sweet, almost like wine - like smelling a German white whine, but less strong. The flavor is a very solid malty flavor. No bitterness, and no sourness, but not much depth either. It has a surface flavor that sticks to the front of your toungue, but it doesn't envelope your whole mouth. The flavor reminds me of fresh baked bread or an English muffin (but less yeasty). The flavor doesn't stick with you, and there isn't much of an aftertaste to speak of. Although I like malty beers, this one doesn't have much to it. Compared to what I look for in an oktoberfest, this one is too light. There isn't a lot of body or depth, and it doesn't stick with you. It's not a bad beer, and I would pick it over mny others, but as far as Oktoberfests go, I wouldn't say it's one of my favorites.
Sprecher
This comes in a 16 ounce bottle with a twist off cap. It is more carbonated, much like the Samuel Adams. It has a light head that fades quickly. It has a darker color - a reddish brown that is a beautiful fireside sort of color. It has a very, very mild scent. It's not a very distinctive smell that has a light maltiness to it. The flavor is robust - rich, and malty. There isn't much bitterness, and what is there is only noticeable by comparison with something that is completely lacking any bitterness. More than the Samuel Adams, but that's easy to do. It has a little bit of citrusy sourness in the background, but the primary flavor is a standard maltiness. It is a GOOD Oktoberfest. The hint of bitter and hint of sour lend some real character to the depth of flavor provided by the maltiness. It carries the whole flavor into the aftertaste, which is lovely.
The following is the order in which I liked these:
1) Sprecher
2) Hoffbräu
3) Leinenkugel's
4) Samuel Adams
I liked the Sprecher the best, followed closely by the Hoffbräu. It was so close that I had to try the two back to back several times to decide. My third favorite was the the Leinenkugel's. I liked the Leinenkugel's aftertaste quite a bit. I figured that it would come out on top.
All in all, it was a wonderful taste-test.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Riverwest Stein Beer
Today I tried a new beer by Lakefront Brewery - the Riverwest Stein Beer which is an all malt amber later. Typically amber lagers are the kind of beer I have to be in the mood for. I'm not sure I was in the mood. It has a good flavor, nice and malty and very mild. But it's nothing spectacular. I would drink it again and enjoy it, but it's not a beer I would go out of my way to buy. Do I recommend it? Yes. Is it one of my top picks for ambers? No.
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