Beer Review 16: Schneider Weiss Hopfen Weiss

I am so pleased to be able to write about this beer and review it! After hearing so much about this collaboration beer between Schneider brewery in Germany and Brooklyn brewery in New york, I had to try it. Out of no where, my buddy Anand ,who like me is a beer aficionado gave me this beer on a Saturday last month. So, after a long day at work Monday, I finally decided to crack it open, and man was it good. Hopfen Weiss is Weissbock that is nicely dry hopped to perfection and deliver a wonderful amount of sweet fruit. Furthermore, this beer is bottled at 8.2 % abv which I think i just right for this beer. In addition, this beer is priced extremely reasonable at      $ 4.49 a bottle, which happen to be 500 ml. Drink this beer out of a cold pint or tulip; I feel you get more out of the beer drinking it out of the specialty glass, but a pint will do just fine. When drinking this beer I also realized what a great outdoor beer this would be. Its refreshing and crisp, and it definitely quenches the thirst.... makes me think spring and summer. In all, this beer is amazing. It combines German precision and American innovation. Everyone should try this beer, it is clearly one of the top beer's in the world and it would definitely rank in my top 30. 

Color: Almost orange with some haze(cloudy)... hints of gold and straw. Nice lacing all through the beer and it form a nice one finger head that is nice and foamy white.

Nose: The hops are blended in nicely with the smells of melon and peach. An aray of ripe citrus fruit float throughout the beer

Palate: A medium bodied beer. Bold with plenty of tang from the citrus. The hops balance the sweetness of this beer quite nicely and they add the right amount of bite to beer. The beer feels soft and delicate on the tounge but full of flavor.

Finish: Long and extravagant! Complex and beautiful. This beer delivers with artistry and great craftsmanship. Everything is savored, from the fruit(melon,peach,sweet apple, and oranges) to the nice dry hopped body.

Rating: 95 put 100

Beer Review 15: New Belgium Sahti

Tonight's beer review comes from the state of Colorado and New Belgium brewery. For those of you who don't know them they are the maker's of such beer's like: fat tire, mothership wit, skinny dip, 2 below, and many more. Usually I would say I'm not a fan of their stuff, especially the stuff I I just mentioned,but then I discovered their lips of faith series of beer's, and I must say this product line is pretty fing good! The beer I'm reviewing tonight happens to be from that series; New Belgium Sahti. This beer is amazing and smooth from beginning to end. It wows with complexity and artistry. I haven't had many sahti type beer's, but this on is clearly the best of what I have had. This beer is bottled in a 22 oz bottle and is best served cold and in a tulip glass. This will allow you to enjoy the deep and dense flavor of this beer. In addition, this beer comes in at a nice 7.2% abv and a good price tag of $7.99- $9.99. I want to thank my buddy Anand for getting me this beer, so Cheer's buddy! Other notes of interest for this beer: makes a great year round beer, it pairs well with pork and poultry, also a great beer to pair with beer nut mix and pretzels. I totally recommend this beer so if you run across it.....buy buy buy!!!!

Color: A hazy amber with some brown hue at the core. it forms a nickle thin head that disappears quite quickly. It does leave behind some nice lacing.

Nose: Exotic and beautiful. Juniper berry floats on top of this beer and with it some rye notes. This beer is also nicely  hopped....I want to say there might be at least two types of hops in this beer if not more. Plenty of spice also surrounds this beer. I get some lemon and coriander but not quite sure. 

Palate: Amazing! smooth,clean, and poetic. A nice mellow sweetness that compliments the rye. the spices play beautifully with the hops. In there some honey makes the rounds.

Finish: Clean,crisp, and refreshing. layered and complex. The taste of this beer last long, all the way through to the stomach. Keeps you wanting more and more.

Rating: 91 out 0f 100

The complex world of wine

If you have followed this blog from the beginning you know that I love to explain in detail everything about the certain thing Ill be reviewing,but with wine I won't be doing that. If I did it would be the longest blog posting in the world of blogging. So, what I will be doing is going into detail about each varietal of wine(at least one each day) followed by a review of a certain wine of that variety. In all, we're about to embark on what may be the most complex alcohol beverage in the world and probably one of the most expensive hobbies to keep up with. So sit and read, and enjoy the ride.

Just to prep you for the future wine reviews to come I will give you a few of the type of wines ill be reviewing and covering on my blog, and I'll also give you some terms so you can understand what I'm talking about in the future.

Varietal(they type of grape used to make the wine):

1. Cabernet Sauvingon: known as the masculine grape. These wines are red in color

2. Merlot: the feminine cousin grape of the Cabernet. these wines are also red in color

3. Pinot noir: these wines are red in color and known to be peppery or ripe in fruit.

4. Chardonnay: white in color. can be buttery and oaky or fruity and tart

5. Sauvingon Blanc: white in color. known for either being tart or earthy

6. Shiraz/Syrah: red in color. Shiraz is from Australia, Syrah from California

7. Zinfandel: red in color. more info to come

8. Malbec: Red in color. Known for being from Argentina

9. Tempranillo: red in color. From spain

10. Pinot Grigio: white in color: comes from Italy and California

There are many more types of wine and Ill get into those later.

Terms: all these words will in some way show up in reviews, so if you want to look them up so you have a better understanding please do so.

Tannins

malolactic fermentation

growth

oaky

toothy

earthy

cellar(ing)

vintage

region

vine

grand cru

and many more.

The world of wine is gargantuan. Many countries grow wine and many people drink them, but to truly appreciate the beauty of wine we must understand it. I hope what I will provide in form of information will help you understand wine at a larger level than just consuming it.

Brian Food 9

Word of the day:  japed

Quote of the day: "Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing."

Ben Franklin

Beer Review 14: Hitachino Nest Weizen

Here is another solid offering from Hitachino brewery from Japan. This hefe style beer is an ale brewed using some of the German ways for brewing wheat beer; hence the name of this beer Weizen. This beer is similar to one of Hitachino's other production beer's..... White Ale, which is a wheat beer using the Belgian style of brewing wheat beer. 

Weizen, can be purchased in either a 11.2 oz or a 750 ml bottle. In addition to that, this beer is bottled at 5% abv and the serving size for this beer is a full pint. Furthermore, this beer can be consumed as a year round beer, but for my liking it definitely makes a better summer beer and should be paired with sea food or some full flavored cheeses. 

I love Hitachino beer and I would venture to say its by far one of the top 10 breweries in the world because top to bottom their beer production list is filled with solid offerings. Weizen though I feel is a bit of quandary. It feels like this beer should be better than it is, but it falls short of expectations. It feels as if all the components in this beer don't work together, but also if you broke it down individually you'd see that this beer should  be tasty, complex, and full of flavor. This beer perplexes me and teases me, maybe I'm just not understanding this Hitachino offering.

Color: Vibrant orange with golden notes at the core. No head or vi sable lacing is left on the glass. Little carbonation also.

Nose: Coriander, lemon zest and other citrus hit the nose with potency. Hints of  grass and orange peel.

Palate: The tartness is the first thing your tongue gets. It is followed by a semi sweet orange and some light sourness from the lemon. This is light bodied beer and its soft and refreshing too. 

Finish: Long and tart. goes down clean with waves of lemon zest and grassy notes, but not very complex. Lacks texture and a bit of presence at the back end. 

Rating: 88 out of 100

 

Beer Review 13: Dogfish Head Sah'Tea

Up for review today is Dogfish Sah'tea. I picked up this beer while on my trip to Springfield, IL this last week. As you may know by now I'm a big fan of this brewery, and I have heard great things about this beer.... including from my fellow blogger and friend Justin Hintz. I must say for me this beer was a bit disappointing . Sah'tea just had something missing and it felt like it hadn't met it's full potential, but don't get me wrong this beer is still good and drinkable. This beer is bottled at 9 %  abv and it come in 750 ml bottles only. Furthermore, Sah'tea is a seasonal offering from dogfish so it's not available year round, so if your a fan of this type of beer jump on it when its out. Also, the suggested serving size for this beer is 9.6 oz and it should be consummed out of either a snifter or wine glass. I highly believe it taste better out of the wine glass. Here are other fun facts of this beer: its based on a 9th century Finnish beer recipe , it can also be spelt sahti, it falls under the ale category of beers,and its brewed using juniper berries, chai tea, rye, and hot rocks. I really love dogfish beer and I do like this one, but I really feel something is missing in order to make this beer truly spectacular.  This beer is also a good beer to pair with most foods and especially poultry. 

Color: A honey orange with hints of gold at the core. It forms little to no head and leaves behind minimal lacing.

Nose: explodes with rye followed by waves of subtle juniper berry. Hints of honey flow up the nose if you really  sniff.

Palate: gentle and clean. Definitely a medium bodied beer, but lacks complexity.  The black chai tea sits on the tongue nicely, but not long enough to enjoy. The rye and honey also present.

Finish: Medium to short finish, really can't tell, but either way ,this beer lacks the most here and this is where  this beer falls apart for me. Most Dogfish beer's end with a flair this one sort of falls flat and looses flavor.

Rating: 88 out of 100