Sylter Hopfen

Sylter Hopfen
Ernte 2012
750 ml
7,1%

To celebrate my back to work I decided to open something very special. This rare, numbered bottle was given to me by my awesome boss (She is reading this but she is awesome in any case :) ) as a birthday present. I have been treasuring it ever since but as beer is meant to be drunk I decided to open it today... though it almost breaks my heart to open a beauty like this.

The hops for it have been grown on Sylt and it's been bottle fermented with champagne yeast strains.

Even opening the bottle is a special joy as it is stylishly closed with cork.

It pours light orange with mediocre foam that dissipates quickly. Colorwise it reminds me of a Cola - Fanta mix. As it is unfiltered, it is naturally cloudy and the champagne yeast clouds the hoppy goodness in the best way possible.From the looks it seems not to be too heavily carbonated but that can't be judged till I try.

I chose a classical Pils tulip glass for it...even toyed with the idea of using a champagne flute but went with the more standard version.

It smells very fruity with fine apple tones that wrap around the yeast aroma. Light Marzipan hues can be distinguished. Now I _REALLY_ wanna try whether this German Beauty can top the Scottish ones I have had the last days.

The mild carbonation is perfect and the sweetness surprised me a lot. The light apple aroma is present and its a perfect balance of apple and malt. The hops are decent and there is not a lot of bitterness involved here. The sweetness is a true surprise as it is brewed according to the German beer purity law and there is no added sugar.  It is not too sweet but indeed perfectly balanced with the tartness, forming a delicate composition. Absolutely amazing.

This is easily taken into my top drink list and a rare gem that I would prolly never have heard about if it weren't for my boss. Thanks again Nathalie!

DMW

Ebulum

Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale
330ml 6,5%

Brewed with Elderberries and Myrtle this beer is brewed after a recipe from the 16th century.





Deep black in color, this dark ale swallows any light and even when held right in front of a lamp it's almost impossible to see any light through it. The slightly cream colored foam dissipates very fast and leaves a small layer of bubbles. (Somehow I feel as if I have written that sentence a lot in the last few days...).

Marketed as a dark ale I somehow expect something along the lines of Köstritzer or other similar Schwarzbiere.
It smells very deep dark chocolatey and has rich fruit tones as well. I can smell the alcohol (which usually isn't a good thing but let's see) and something else I truly can't pinpoint. It's not as chocolate smelling as the Kelpie but more fruity dark chocolate... Hard to describe. Definitely pleasant and after the last few beauties I am eager to test this.


The carbonation this time is about perfect and the chocolate tones blend in with fruityness. While the fruity tones mainly are on the tip of the tongue, the bitter tones fill the rest of the mouth. I wouldn't be able to identify it as elderberry or myrtle but it's definitely great. It lingers warmly in the throat and I can absolutely see that as a great drink in winter in front of a fire place.  It's a very interesting sensation for the taste buds.

DMW

Alba

Now if I HAD been reading correctly (a skill vastly overrated for a linguist *cough*) I would have read that the boxed set I bought holds 4 of the 5 mentioned beers... so I am missing the Grozet as apparently it depends what season it is for them to decide what they micro brew.

Alba Scots Pine Ale
330ml 7,5%

Going in my list from "weird" to "I expect much", I'm tackling Alba today which identifies itself as Strong Pine Ale. Now Pine is something I expect in the bathroom as an after ... you know what .. spray or as an addition to Sauna but not in beer... But as I am going beyond my borders for you dear readers, we shall embark on this strange journey together. As the nice leaflet tells me to drink it as an after dinner beer from a wine goblet I shall embark to do exactly that.. or as close as I can get. I got the Widmer Brothers glass (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widmer_Brothers) from the US when I visited a friend in Asheville North Carolina (The beer capital of the US as I was told). There was an offer in an awesome beer place there (http://www.monkpub.com/) which gave me the glass as an extra. Anyways, dinner is over, I am full and I shall focus on this Triple now. I do expect a somewhat resinous taste but let's see. Like Kelpie before, I do like the label, they do put effort in their labels.
Which again I should have read...... as I NOW see that it should be drunk at room temperature ... and me being an idiot of course left it outside to chill...gnnnn. The slightly creamy foam dissipates relatively quickly and leaves a small amount of big bubbles on the surface... color wise this is lighter and redder than the picture suggests. A bright light red to orange and not too cloudy. I'm seriously angry at myself now that I chilled this...
It smells salty and fruity at once and I can't decide whether I like it or not. Slight raspberry tones in it, covering the slight yeast aspects.

As it is already chilled I shall give it a try in this state now. This is da awesomeness.... the strong tripel taste mixes with raspberry fruit tones and a pleasant bitterness that's filling the whole mouth and not only the back of the palate. The bitterness and the fruity tones balance each other perfectly and I easily put this in my top 10 list of things I ever drank. I don't know where they take the fruity tones from but it reminds me a bit of a lambic mixed with a tripel. Seriously superb! Wonder what it would have been when not chilled... guess I have to buy more MUAHAHAHAH.
DMW

Kelpie

Kelpie Seaweed Ale
4,4%
330ml

I thought I'll kick this off with the Kelpie as ... to be honest....
Seaweed ale doesn't REALLY sound too appealing to me.. I automagically connect seaweed with salt and salt and beer don't tend  to go too well together. Education wise I learned that apparently the Scots used to brew with it so time to give it a try. I really like the label. According to the enclosed brochure I should have chosen a different glas for it but a man gotta use what a man has. The foam is strong and dissipates relatively fast. The foam has a dark color and reminds me of Guinness. The beer itself is very dark red.. it seems black if not viewed against a light source. Even after a few minutes there is a decent foam layer left.

I am REALLY eager to try this... Now let's take a smell..
It smells really chocolaty bitter and full with very decent salty tones.. not in a bad way. It reminds me of some chocolate porters I drank in St. Urhos. Wonder whether I'm just imagining the salty smell :P...
Time to try...

With maybe a bit too much carbonation this ranks among the best porters I have had in a long time. Its very bitter, heavy and full with pleasant bitterness tones throughout and a nice chocolaty aftertaste. (And no... no real saltyness:P) If the heavy carbonation wouldn't be this would definitely rank in my top list. The Seaweed gives it a nice extra bonus taste that's not really noticeable but there.

I like it!

Historic Ales from Scotland

Starting a 5 part series today.
Again a goodie I found in the shop.
A 5 piece box labelled Historic Ales from Scotland featuring:
-Fraoch Heather Ale
-Grozet Gooseberry Ale
-Alba Scot's pine strong ale
-Ebulum Elderberry strong ale
-Kelpie Seaweed ale

 

 

I'm really thrilled to sample those so I'll take one or two a day.

Kellerbier Naturtrüb

Kellerbier Naturtrüb
Brewery: Brauerei Zirndorf
0,5l 5%
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/zirndorfer-kellerbier/87184/

And still the ongoing series from the shopping trip.
A classical Zwickel which I ordinarily wouldn't write about if I wouldn't have a bad day and am bored and somehow determined to plot down my thoughts to each and every one of the pieces I bought the last time.
As you can see I am also trying to vary the glasses I am using. Traditionally this should be drunk in a glass that fits all of it, in this case I picked a smaller one as I liked it today. the foam was nice and huge just like I like it. It dissipates and leaves a good nice cm of foam on the beer.

This Zwickel has the color I expect from it, bright golden, not filtered and a bit brighter than 'normal beer'. I especially like the unfiltered ones as the yeast does add to the taste and imho belongs to a beer.

It doesn't smell very intense which doesn't say much, yet there are distinct orange tones noticeable.... alas not a very strong scent.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Zwickel/Kellerbier is my current favorite of the different kinds of beer so let's explore whether this particular one shall make it to my top list.

It's mildly carbonated and I could live with a bit more of it as for my taste it's almost stale. Tastewise it's rather watery with some bitter after tones on the back of the palate. Also some metallic taste somehow..
I'd say I drink it and it tops the normal boring Pilsners but all in all it's rather bland and generic. Go buy and try but don't expect anything new or tantalizing.

DMW

Ginger Joe

Brewery: Stone's
Beer: Ginger Joe
4% 0,33l


http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/stones-ginger-joe/176712/

Stone's ginger beer is another of the treasures found in the aforementioned store. (Not to be confused with the Helsinkian Pub of the same name..) As I love Ginger ale in the non alcoholic variant I figured I should give it's alcoholy cousin a try.
The foam reminded me of sprite and dissipated fast leaving but a small isle of bubbly goodness on the drink.

Im not really sure what to expect.. something sweet? Something spicy?

It's bright golden and filtered, not cloudy at all, so no visible yeast.
Looks like a generic pub beer, maybe a tad bit darker with some slight red tones.

It smells like it's non alcoholic variety, with some medicinal undertones. Very sweet, hints of citrus but also faint cinnamon traces and some spicy notes in the end. As I am expecting something highly carbonated it shall be interesting to sample... let's get going..

In a blind test I'm not sure I would have indentified this as beer. It's very sweet, alas not unpleasantly so (unlike the Cookie beer froma  few days before). You can only guess that there is alcohol in it fro the aftertaste and even there it isnt very distinguishable.
I wonder whether this is truly BREWED with the ginger or simply mixed with some stuff later on. Sadly the bottle doesn't say.
The carbonation is not as high as I expected and blends in nicely with the giner/cinnamon taste.
It's prolly a nice summer afternoon drink, though lacks most of the beer taste... a bit like a German Radler or an English Shandy when mixed with too much soda.
I'd drink it again out of novelty reasons. I'd say go and try it if only to be able to say that yay you did... beware, however, that it is, indeed, sweet.

DMW

Bad Windsheimer Freilandmuseum Zwickel

Bad Windsheimer Freilandmuseum Zwickel
0,5l 4,8%

Brewed in one of the oldest Brewing places in Germany, this unfiltered Kellerbier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellerbier) has apparently been made in an open air museum. It's darker than what I expected of a Kellerbier (Zwickel/Kellerbier being my current favorite kind of beer). The middle strong foam dissipated very fast, but leaves a fine layer of the white bubbles on top of it. This bottle is another of the ones I found at the Guinness Book leading beer shop around the corner.
Its definitely darker / browner than a Pild and has some slight reddish / orange hues.
It smells very fresh and fruity, no yeast tones but even some hints of orange and citrus fruits. Even after a few minutes the fine foam layer is still there, alas no huge head.

It's mild carbonation is just perfect and not too strong to get painful. It surprises with shades of bitterness in the back palate, while the rest of the tongue is bathed in goodness. All in all a very good beer and a rare gem again... I wonder how much they brew at a museum...

DMW

Cookie Beer

Name: Cookie Beer
Brewer: Brasserie D'Ecaussinnes
8% 33cl

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/4260/38642

After a visit to a shop with worlds largest beer selection I found this interesting piece. It pours with a lot of foam, which dissipates quickly. the foam is cream colored and not white and the beer itself is reddish brown with a noticeable amount of yeast in it. (It's a Belgian beer and I never fully understood whether you are supposed to drink the yeast or not..) Anyways, I also chose a classical Pils tulip glass for it which prolly wasn't the best choice but yeah..

Olfactory this indeed smells slightly like German Spekulatius / finnish Piparkakku/ Gingerbread. The clove smell is mixed with a crisp citrus smell and slight tones of yeast and cinnamon. The cinnamon smell increases as the beer gains warmth.

I have been looking forward to this one for a few days now and so far postponed it because of the 8% alcohol content and I didn't feel like it till today.

Time to try the beauty...or not.. the huge yeast amount sorta made me want to let it stand for a moment longer to get the yeast to settle.

At first the taste is a strong disappointment.. the amount of sugar in it is overwhelming and coupled with the malty bitterness not one of my favorites... the before smelled spices can't really fully be tasted besides maybe the cinnamon. The rather high alcohol content can't be tasted but I can feel it in the head pretty quick.

Even after a couple of gulps I can't get myself to like this.. the taste is almost medicinal for me. It's a bit sad as I was expecting something really nicely exotic but one can't win every day. Looking forward to some of the other beauties I bought though...

DMW