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Written in clipped shorthand style and all from memory
I’ve been meaning to brew a lager given it is winter, not that yesterday felt like winter! Problem is, I don’t much like lager, except dark versions. So I thought I’d get a few interesting commercial versions to try and help me decide what to choose to brew.
Feral – numbered lager on tap at the brewery* Flavoured with Sorachi Ace* hops and I loved it. Creamy lemon sherbet character
Brooklyn Lager – supposedly a “pre prohibition” version. Fanjollytabulous. Tasted like a full flavoured American Pale Ale**. It’s a Vienna style lager but with unusual hops- I remember Victory and Cascade. Victory is bred off the more usual Hallertau (again from memory), it’s the inclusion of Cascade that makes it taste like an APA.
Moo Brew Pilsner- I hated it. Tasted like raw hops and made me feel ill even though I only drank about a third. I think it uses German Spalt hops
Samuel Adams Boston Lager- another Vienna style. Uses more usual hops, Hallertau and Teffernang I think. It was better than a regular lager but I don’t love it
Knappstein Reserve Lager- paler, fruity. Uses a New Zealand hop called Sauvin, so named because the nose and flavor reminded the testers of Sauvignon Blanc wine! I love the smell and first front palate flavor, but the back flavor is still very lagerish.
So the front runners for a brew tomorrow are:
-an amber Vienna style but mess with the hops
-a pale pilsnerish thing with Sauvin hops
I’ll think about it through the day.
*Hmm. Reading up on Sorachi Ace- the only two breweries I can see that make a beer with this as a feature, have settled on a pale or golden ale style. Interestingly, those two breweries are Feral (Swan valley) and Brooklyn.
**which I’m out of, oh no!
I’ve been meaning to brew a lager given it is winter, not that yesterday felt like winter! Problem is, I don’t much like lager, except dark versions. So I thought I’d get a few interesting commercial versions to try and help me decide what to choose to brew.
Feral – numbered lager on tap at the brewery* Flavoured with Sorachi Ace* hops and I loved it. Creamy lemon sherbet character
Brooklyn Lager – supposedly a “pre prohibition” version. Fanjollytabulous. Tasted like a full flavoured American Pale Ale**. It’s a Vienna style lager but with unusual hops- I remember Victory and Cascade. Victory is bred off the more usual Hallertau (again from memory), it’s the inclusion of Cascade that makes it taste like an APA.
Moo Brew Pilsner- I hated it. Tasted like raw hops and made me feel ill even though I only drank about a third. I think it uses German Spalt hops
Samuel Adams Boston Lager- another Vienna style. Uses more usual hops, Hallertau and Teffernang I think. It was better than a regular lager but I don’t love it
Knappstein Reserve Lager- paler, fruity. Uses a New Zealand hop called Sauvin, so named because the nose and flavor reminded the testers of Sauvignon Blanc wine! I love the smell and first front palate flavor, but the back flavor is still very lagerish.
So the front runners for a brew tomorrow are:
-an amber Vienna style but mess with the hops
-a pale pilsnerish thing with Sauvin hops
I’ll think about it through the day.
*Hmm. Reading up on Sorachi Ace- the only two breweries I can see that make a beer with this as a feature, have settled on a pale or golden ale style. Interestingly, those two breweries are Feral (Swan valley) and Brooklyn.
**which I’m out of, oh no!