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Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. x Störtebeker Brauspezialitaten Oktoberfest Festbier

Posted on by Evan

This limited Oktoberfest Festbier is a collaboration between Sierra Neva Brewing Co., here in Asheville, NC, and Störtebeker Brauspezialitaten of Stralsund, Germany. This beer is just called Oktoberfest Festbier. This beer is 6% ABV with Munich, Pale, and Pilsner malts. There are Magnum, Opal, Perle, Spalter Select, and Tettnang hops. The yeast used is Lager. This beer is only available in limited quantities this year. Sierra Nevada collaborates with a different brewery each year for a fest or Marzen-style beer. This beer pours a deep gold with a one-and-a-half finger white head. The aroma is malty sweet, with a light bready note. The flavor is malty sweet. There is a light citrus taste. This beer is overall crisp and doesn’t feel like it has a 6% ABV. This has a medium body. The finish is malty and bread-like. The aftertaste is not that malty; it fades really quickly. This is a good Oktoberfest beer. It leans more to the lighter side. I give this a B-. I like to see this have more malt character. But I would still recommend it. So try it! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Premium Pils Craft Lager

Posted on by Evan

I have heard that Sierra Nevada was going to make a Pilsner beer. I kept my eye out for Sierra Nevada Premium Pils Craft Lager. I found this at my local Harris Teeter grocery store, along with another Sierra Nevada beer (stay tuned for that). This beer has a 4.7% ABV and comes in 8.4-ounce cans. This beer is packaged in eight packs. This Pilsner is more akin to a German Pilsner. Traditionally, in Germany, they would serve a pilsner in a smaller glass to keep it cold and preserve its great taste. Pilsner malts, Sapphire, Crystal, and Lupulin hops are used. They also use Lager yeast. This pilsner pours gold with an almost two-finger white head. The aroma is slightly bitter, citrusy, and light on hop aroma. The flavor is slight hoppiness, crisp citrusy notes, and some sweet notes. This has a light-bodied mouthfeel. The finish of this pilsner is lightly fruity with some bitterness, but it is a cleaner finish. Then you come to an aftertaste that is less bitter than the finish, with some citrusy notes. This is a delicious Pilsner beer, which I give an A. I have had more flavorful and bolder Pilsners, but those are more of an “American” style of Pilsners. Most “American Pilsners originated from German or Czech Pils. I do recommend this Premium Pils from Sierra Nevada. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Birra Menabrea Bionda Lager

Posted on by Evan

I love Italy; it is a beautiful country. When we think of Italy, delicious wine comes to mind. But they do have beer. I find most of it to be good. Some isn’t. Birra Menabrea Bionda Lager from Biella, Italy, is a 4.8% Pale Lager. I found this beer in my local Pasta and Provisions (a fresh pasta shop and Italian market). I have had this beer abroad in Italy, but never in the US. This lager beer pours a golden color with a one-finger translucent, white fizzy head. That head is gone in seconds. The aroma is classic lager with clean, semi-sweet corn-like notes. The taste is clean, slightly metallic, with corn-like sweetness, and a light bread note. This lager has a light body. Then this beer comes to a crisp, clean finish that is less sweet. There isn’t much aftertaste to this lager. You can taste the brewing unit in the aftertaste, but that fades quickly. For a macro Euro lager, it’s a solid beer, which I give a B-. But I would score this lower in the ‘craft beer’ context. This is a very approachable pale Euro lager that is refreshing, light, and easy to drink. You should try this, I think this is better than Peroni beer, way better! Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibility! Cheers!

Royal Bliss Brewing Co. Oktoberfest Festbier

Posted on by Evan

This Oktoberfest from Royal Bliss Brewing Co. in Denver, North Carolina, is called Oktoberfest Festbier. This festbier is 5.6%. I found this at my local Total Wine. Royal Bliss Brewing Co. (www.royalblissbrewing.com) is a great brewery and is becoming one of my favorites. I am fond of these Festbiers over the Pumpkin beers that pop up in mid-August. I do not like pumpkin-flavored things. This beer pours brown with a one-finger beige head. The aroma is malty, toasted, and sweet. The flavor is malty, toasted, and sweetened. There is a light and subtle smoky flavor. This beer has a medium-bodied mouthfeel. Then it has a malty, sweet finish. The aftertaste is toasty, and that lingers for a while with a light malt note. This beer is a good-tasting Oktoberfest Festbier. It’s a good fall beer. Royal Bliss Brewing Co. Oktoberfest Festbier is an A+. If you love Oktoberfest beers, you should drink this one. I highly recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer x Allagash Brewing Company Contrast American-Style Wheat Beer

Posted on by Evan

I found Contrast at Total Wine not long ago, and this American-style wheat ale puzzled me. I have never seen an American-style Wheat spice with orange peels. So I decided to try it. Contrast is a collaboration between Burial Beer and Allagash Brewing Company. Contrast is mashed with Riverbend’s Raw Wheat and Appalachian Wheat. Contrast is dry-hopped with Montueka, Eclipse, and Nectaron. Then, Contrast is conditioned on orange peels and finished with Motueka Cryo and Hop Kief. A lot is going on in this beer. This beer pours a light, cloudy yellow with a two-finger bright white head. Its head does fade a little quickly. The aroma is floral, bitter, and very light orange. The flavor is orange bitterness and honey. There is a light floral and wheat flavor as well, with a light mouthfeel. This wheat beer finishes with a bitterness that is slightly citrusy. The aftertaste is light on the bitterness with a wheat-spiced orange. This beer tastes like a light IPA to me than an American-style Wheat. It wasn’t that bad, C. It was average to me. If it had a little more wheat flavor without the bitterness, it would have been better, or if this were marketed or labeled as a wheated IPA, I am sure it would have been better. Would I recommend this? Yes, but just buy a single can. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers! 

Lindeman’s Framboise Raspberry Lambic Beer

Posted on by Evan

Framboise is the last in the Lindmans’ mixed four pack. This is a raspberry Lambic Beer that comes in a 2.5% ABV. This Belgian raspberry beer utilizes wild-fermented yeast, much like the rest of the mixed pack beer. This beer pours a deep red with a one-finger pink/red head. This resembles dark cranberry juice. The aroma is raspberry sweetness and sourness. The flavor is slightly tart and sour. You get a raspberry flavor, but this is not as strong as the other fruit flavors. The mouthfeel is light. Then this Lambic finishes with a tart and sour raspberry flavor. Aftertaste is more raspberry, but on the lighter side. That aftertaste lingers for a short moment. I found this one to be delicious and an A. But this is a slightly darker flavor overall. That’s because the raspberry is a slightly darker fruit. Which of the four is the best? That would be the Kierk Cheery Lambic Beer. That is because the cherry really shines on that beer. It was just the right amount of fruit flavor to sourness/tartness. Overall, balanced. The peach is good, but the peach does come on strong, and so does the carbonation. The apple lacks apple flavor. But there is just barely enough apple flavor and a good amount of carbonation. In conclusion, all of the Lindman’s Lambic fruit beers are delicious and worth drinking. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Brouwerij Huyghe Delirium Nocturnum

Posted on by Evan

Brouwerij Huyghe is probably one of the best breweries. I think so. This particular Brouwerij Huyghe beer is Delirium Nocturnum, an 8.5% ABV Belgian dark strong ale. This ale hales from Malle, Belgium. This ale pours brown with red-hued edges and a two-finger beige head. The aroma is malty and sweet. It is a dark fruit (plum) kind of sweetness. The flavor is sweet and malty. I found it to have dark stone fruits(plum and prune). This ale has a full, rich mouthfeel. The finish is malty, less sweet than its first initial taste. There is a dark, fruity, and malty aftertaste that lingers. I have had this many times. It is good every time. I think everyone should try Delirium Nocturnum. I believe it’s an A+. Really, one of the best beers in the world. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Burial Beer Under the Fangs of a Feast of Possibilities West-Coast India Pale Ale

Posted on by Evan

One of my favorite breweries, Burial Beer, brews a beer called “Under the Fangs of a Feast of Possibilities.” This West Coast IPA is brewed in Asheville, North Carolina. It uses a simple grain mash, boiled, hopped, and whirlpooled with Amarillo, Strak Idaho 7, and Mosiac hops. This beer is double dry-hopped with Strata, Riwaka, and Amarillo Cryo hops. Burial usually uses a lot of hops in their IPAs. This IPA pours a clean, golden color with a two-finger, white head. The aroma is bitter, crisp, and hoppy. I found a faint strawberry scent. The flavor is bitter and crisp (sort of). This has a creamy feeling in the mouth. The finish is hoppy and has a strange crispness that isn’t that good. The aftertaste is less bitter than the initial flavors. This beer is okay at first, gets better, and ends not great. Under the Fangs of a Feast of Possibilities is overall anlokay beer that I give a high D+. I finished this thinking that I could be better. It changed too much as you took a sip of it (like a rollercoaster of good and not good flavors). The crisp flavor up front was a bit weird and didn’t really meld with the bitterness. I would try this one. It was just okay. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Lindeman’s PÊCHE Peach Lambic Beer

Posted on by Evan

Pêche is a Peach Lambic Beer from Lindeman’s mix four pack. It is a wild yeast. It is also a wild fermented beer with peaches from Vlezenbeek, Belgium. This beer is 2.5% ABV. Peach is my favorite fruit flavor. This beer is from 30% fresh peach juice. It has been around since 1987. This beer pours golden with no visible head. The aroma is sweet with fresh peaches and a bit of light sourness. The flavor is lightly sour and sweet, from the peach flavor. This lambic beer has a good amount of carbonation. The mouthfeel is light. This lambic finishes with a peach flavor that is sweeter and less sour. The aftertaste of this beer is of lingering peach. This beer is good, my favorite so far. I do have one left. This Pêche gets an A+. This beer has very delicately delicious flavors. If you haven’t had this, then you are missing out. I highly recommend it. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Avery Brewing Co. Ellie’s Brown American Brown Ale

Posted on by Evan

One of the first styles of beer I ever had was Brown Ale. I got into that style through Newcastle Brown Ale. That was over twenty years ago. Now I have Ellie’s Brown American Brown Ale. This beer is a 5.5% ABV ale from Avery Brewing, brewed with hops such as Sterling, Bullion, and Cascade. This brown ale also uses Munich, C-120, Honey Malt, Cara Pils, Chocolate, and 2-Row malts along with a House Ale Strain yeast. This ale pours deep brown with a one-finger light tan head. The aroma is light, with notes of chocolate, sweetness, and a hint of brown sugar. The flavor is mild and not much. There is chocolate, sweetness, and light hops. To me, this beer has mild and mellow flavors overall. The beer finishes with a light chocolate taste. The aftertaste is malty. Ellie’s Brown boring beer. Not terrible. I give this one a D+. I don’t think there is enough flavor on this. I don’t think I would purchase this beer again. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!