Category: Beer
Bayerischer Bahnhof Leipziger Gose
Alongside Berliner Weisse, Gose (pronounced “goes-uh”, two syllables) is one of a few styles of German beer that all but disappeared during the 20th century, a list that also includes Lichtenhainer and Grätzer. Also similar to Berliner Weisse, Gose was a style whose production was limited to a specific place, in this case the area surrounding the town of Leipzig in central Germany. Today, there are only two breweries producing Gose, and Bayerischer Bahnhof is both the largest and the only one exporting their beer to the U.S.
In his book Brewing With Wheat, Stan Hieronymous describes Gose as “a sour wheat beer spiced with coriander and salt.” Along with these ingredients (themselves unusual for German beer), Gose brewers used lactic acid bacteria, resulting in the sourness he refers to. Whether or not spontaneous fermentation was used farther back in the history of brewing this style is not known, but it is certainly possible in light of historical descriptions of the beer.
Since the end of World War II, production of Gose has been extremely limited if it took place at all. In 2000 the Bayerischer Bahnhof Gasthaus and Gose Brauerei began producing in a renovated historic train station, and Gose accounts for 30% of the beer that they produce annually.
Their Gose is brewed to an original gravity of 1.044, finishing with an ABV of 4.5%. Wheat and pilsner malts are used, along with Northern Brewer hops to the tune of 10 IBUs, salt, coriander, and lactic acid bacteria which is added prior to the boil. The brewery uses a weizen yeast and a cool fermentation in cylindro-conical tanks to reduce the amount of esters and phenols produced by the yeast. The bottled beer is bottle-conditioned to achieve 2.5 volumes of CO2.
Tasting Notes
The beer pours slightly hazy and pale golden in color with ample carbonation that builds up a fluffy white head. The foam drops somewhat quickly, leaving little lacing on the glass. The nose is both bright and earthy, with notes of fresh baked bread, citrus, gentle hops, and malt. The palate is light bodied with medium carbonation. The flavors are made up of leafy, herbal hops, citrus, wheat bread, a soft maltiness, and a slight sourness akin to a young lambic. Quite refreshing and very enjoyable on this warm day that I’m trying it. The finish is long-lasting with a gentle sourness, along with citrus, earthy hops and cereal notes.
Good summer beer. Not quite as refreshing as a berliner weisse, but very enjoyable on a warm day. Highly recommended if you’re a fan of wheat beers and interested in trying something that’s a fair way off the beaten path.
Founders Brewing Co. Nemesis 2009
Every batch diabolically brewed to decimate ordinary-average-run-of-the-mill tasting beer.
With a slogan like that printed right on the logo, it’s clear that Founders isn’t pulling any punches with this beer.
But then, do they ever pull any punches with their beers? The number of barrel-aged beers that they offer seems to be increasing all the time, and now includes bottled versions of Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Backwoods Bastard, and Old Curmudgeon, alongside draft-only releases of Hand of Doom (barrel-aged Double Trouble), Sappy Slappy Bastard (maple syrup/bourbon barrel-aged Dirty Bastard), barrel-aged Imperial Stouts, barrel-aged Red’s Rye Ale, barrel-aged Porter, Canadian Breakfast Stout (maple syrup/bourbon barrel-aged Breakfast Stout), and a brewery-only maple syrup/bourbon barrel-aged brown ale. An impressive lineup for fans of barrel-aged beers, and indicative of one aspect of Founders’ approach to brewing – take big, already impressive beers and make them bigger, and more impressive.
Lined up against this is their impressive lineup of seasonal and annual beers that don’t ever see the inside of a barrel. Red’s Rye is one of the most drinkable, flavorful beers out there, the Porter is as thick, creamy, and delicious as most breweries stouts, their Imperial Stout is a perennial favorite of mine, packed to the gills with flavor and body, and who hasn’t loved Double Trouble and Breakfast Stout?! And then there are the one-offs, such as Solid Gold or the MPG IPA (mango, papaya, and grapefruit), that I’ve been lucky to try at festivals and during my visit to the brewery.
In all, Founders nearly always blows me away with their top-notch, top-to-bottom selection. There are few breweries whose releases I look forward to more than theirs.
When news of the imminent release of Nemesis was announced, I knew distribution was going to be super limited, apparently a tiny amount of this beer was made, and I knew it would be foolish to run around chasing down bottles. And so I mostly tuned out the frequent posts on forums (“Anybody seen Nemsis yet?”), and patiently (or rather, less impatiently) awaited the Extreme Beer Fest when I hoped they’d be tasting Nemesis. Lo and behold they did!
It was the first beer we tried that day, and man…it was amazing. My taste buds were psyched! And so I shortly thereafter got lucky and was able to arrange to have a bottle saved for me at a local shop.
Nemesis is the name that Founders is reserving for a special one-off beer that they will brew each year. Here’s what they have to say:
What you have here is a rarity. A special, one-of-a-kind ale that is only made once a year. Sometimes that’s all. Forever. No more. Nada. Limited-time only. You never know what you’re gonna get. But you can be sure that it’ll be damn tasty.
This was the first year they brewed it, and it’s a big ol’ wheat wine weighing in at 12% ABV and 70 IBUs. After brewing, the beer spent 9 months aging in bourbon barrels that had previously been used to age maple syrup (same approach as with the Canadian Breakfast Stout and Sappy Slappy Bastard).
Tasting Notes
Nemesis pours thick and viscous, like caramel sauce, with a 2-finger creamy white head that surges up out of the beer and then drops leaving a thin layer. It’s orange amber in color and hazy with a bit of sediment in the glass. The nose has notes of salted caramel, orange cream, browned butter, and lots of oaky bourbon. The spectrum of flavors in the nose is just amazing, massive, rich and appetizing, and perfect for bourbon lovers. The palate has a soft, heavy, creamy mouthfeel, and subdued carbonation. Flavors of smoky oak resins, vanilla, creme brulee, caramel, warm, wheated bourbon, and shortbread. All in all, it’s sweet without being cloying, and it gained in balance and composure as it warmed. There is a notable hop bitterness when just out of the fridge that dissipates as the temp rises. The finish has elements of candied walnuts, mellow citrus, butter cookies, and a little lingering hop bitterness.
The overall verdict: this is a hugely flavorful, massive beer. A full, 12-oz bottle was about all my tastebuds and senses could handle, and I was thankful once again that Founders only uses 12-oz bottles nowadays. Am I glad I got to taste this? You bet! So much flavorful, it was a joy to drink, and rather inspirational from a homebrewer’s perspective. Imagine brewing up a couple cases of a beer this flavorful and stowing them away in a nice, cool basement to age slowly and gracefully? Trying one every month or two would be a blast!
Now if there were only a few more bottles of Nemesis stowed around here somewhere…
Troegs Brewing Co. Nugget Nectar
It happens every spring. As the weather turns towards warmer temperatures and more sun, my enjoyment of hoppy IPAs is renewed. I find myself browsing store shelves looking for my favorite hoppy beers – Green Flash West Coast IPA, Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye and Racer 5, Founders Double Trouble, Victory Hop Wallop, Smuttynose IPA, and others. Instead of imperial stouts enjoyed while sitting in front of a warm fire, I find myself looking forward to savoring an IPA while sitting on the porch, basking in a late-evening sun.
And so a couple of weeks ago I finally noticed those bottles of Troegs’ Nugget Nectar sitting on the shelf. It comes out in February, but it wasn’t until the start of March that my eyes opened up enough to see it. Having heard about what a great, hoppy beer it was, I decided that it was time to give it a try.
Nugget Nectar is brewed by Troegs every February. The original gravity is right around 1.076, based on the ABV of 7.5%, and the beer weighs in with “93ish” IBUs. The malt bill includes Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich, and the hops used include Nugget, Warrior, Tomahawk, Simcoe, and Palisade. More varieties of hops than you typically find in a beer, even for a double IPA. And those are just the hops used in the boil. After cooling, the wort is run through a hopback that contains whole leaf Nugget hops, and then the beer is dry-hopped with Nugget and Warrior hops. So exciting, a total showcase for hops!
The result? An impressive, delicious, very refreshing beer.
Tasting Notes
Nugget Nectar pours crystal clear, light amber in color, with a fluffy white head that forms and drops slowly, leaving loads of lacing on the glass. The nose is a veritable citrus bomb! Grapefruit, lemon, lime, and pine hop aromas explode out of the glass. A hint of malt peeks in, but this is a hop show. On the palate, the beer is crisp and light, with citrusy hop flavors and a notable if not overwhelming degree of leafy hop bitterness. A welcome yet soft malt backbone supports the hops. The finish is a bracing clash of bitter hops and sweet malt. The bitterness really leaps in with both feet, followed by a wave of sweet malt.
In sum: wow! This beer is great. Supremely hoppy in a very refreshing way, and ably hiding the 7.5% alcohol. Not thick and syrupy the way some high-IBU beers are, instead this one really showcased beautiful hop aromas and flavors, providing just enough malt to keep it almost (but thankfully not entirely) balanced.
Go get some before it’s all gone!
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Pondering A Brewing Future
I have a dream. This may be a cliche start to this post, but nonetheless it’s true, and it’s what got me to thinking about writing this down. I have a dream of opening my own brewery, and it’s one I’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
I don’t normally use this forum to write about anything but other people’s products. And there’s a reason for that – I really admire well-crafted beers, whiskies, coffees, and wines, and see them as an expression of truly creative people and companies. And I’m most excited when these are people who are clearly passionate about what they’re doing. Just consider Barth and Greg at Barrington Coffee Roasters, or Alan Sprints at Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company, or the creative geniuses at Founders Brewing, to name just a few. These people create amazing coffees and beers that express their own, unique visions. Each of them has followed their own path to where they are today, and I believe will continue to do so in the future. Each is inspiring.
I’ve been homebrewing for 3 or 4 years now. As I’ve gotten more brews under my belt, I’ve gained a greater understanding of the process, an appreciation of the history and culture behind brewing, become a better brewer, and turned out beers that I’m proud of. I’ve also started to figure out what my own, personal brewing “voice” is. I’ve realized just how much I enjoy brewing, and that it’s become a creative outlet that I never expected it to be.
When I started brewing, it was just a hobby, something I was interested in trying out for fun. During the past year or two in particular, I’ve come to realize that it’s something that I’m actually good at. I love the process of thinking about the beer that I want to brew, letting the idea crystallize in my head, researching the style, ingredients, and methods involved, and then crafting a recipe that embodies the ideal beer that I’ve framed in my mind. My best beers have come about through this process, beers that I would be proud to stand up next to the commercial brews that have inspired me.
So here I find myself today, dreaming for the umpteenth time about starting a brewery. I haven’t worked in a brewery, and have only ever brewed at home. But similar to the process by which my best recipes have come about, the brewery itself has begun to take shape in my imagination, and to slowly crystallize into clear, practicable ideas.
For instance, if you were starting a brewery tomorrow, what beers would you brew? How many and what would they be? I’ve meandered along thinking about this, and have settled on the idea of 4 regularly available beers, 3 year-round and 1 seasonal. The 3 year-round beers would be: a late-hopped IPA, a hoppy Rye Ale, and an Imperial Stout. I also know what 2 of the 4 seasonals would be: in fall, a malty, low-gravity Mild, and in summer, a crisp, grainy Kolsch. Gosh, I just get so excited thinking about this, the possibilities! But these 5 beers that I’ve mentioned, I have a picture-perfect idea of them. I know how they’ll taste, what they’ll look like, even what type of glass I’d server them in. The idea is so clear in my head, it’s kind of strange actually.
I also know exactly who some of the key players would be, if I could choose anyone to be part of the team that gets the brewery off the ground. One would be my friend who is a coffee-shop owner, who is one of the most creative, entrepreneurial people I know, and whose small-business sense I think is remarkable. Another would be a friend of mine who’s a graphic designer, who does remarkable design work, and whose discussion, feedback, and ideas about brewing (and other drinks-related topics) are thought-provoking and inspiring. And without a doubt, my wife, who not only is a source of endless inspiration and confidence, but who brings a creative, sharp, analytical mind, and a remarkable ability to accomplish what she sets out to do. I know that with these three people on board, my belief in this venture would soar.
Will anything ever come of this dreaming? I honestly don’t know. I’ve never thought of myself as a huge risk-taker, and this is a very big leap. But who knows. I’ve spent countless hours dreaming up ideas for the beers that I want to brew, and have seen these ideas crystallize into reality in the form of newly brewed beers. I’ve learned that patience is the key, that I need to let the beer take the shape it’s going to take. That only then will it be ready to be brewed. So I’ll keep dreaming of opening a brewery. I’ll let the ideas gradually take their own shape, and who knows, maybe one day that’ll turn into an actual brewery where I can follow in the footsteps of those remarkably creative, inspiring companies that I mentioned earlier.
Russian River Brewing Co. Pliny The Elder Vs. Pliny The Younger
The “big” news on BeerAdvocate last week was that Russian River Brewing’s Pliny The Younger had overtaken Westvleteren 12 as the site’s top-ranked beer. This was notable since Westvleteren has held the top spot for ages, certainly in the several years I’ve been visiting the site. Since then, the two have see-sawed back and forth, leading to innumerable musings on the site and elsewhere.
Is this really significant? I don’t know. It coincided with the release of Pliny The Younger (a draft-only beer, it’s never been bottled) at Russian River’s brewpub, an event where the beer itself sold out in a matter of hours, in contrast to last year’s release where the beer sold out after several days. So regardless of whatever interest you want to ascribe to this beer assuming the top spot, it is certainly a sign of the (beer) times. We’ve entered a stage in the rise of beer where the release of big name beers is a very, very big happening, and brings with it lots of crowd, lots of hype, and also lots of great beer.
That’s the real upside here. Breweries such as Russian River and Founders, whose beers are rightly very well regarded and highly sought after, have been increasing their capacity during the past few years, or at least (in some cases) devoting more capacity to those beers that are the most highly sought after. And so we’re seeing more opportunities to taste many of these rare gems, whether at festivals, greater or more plentiful distribution, or more bottles out there giving you a better chance of finding one.
And so it was both exciting and surprising to see Russian River at this year’s Extreme Beer Fest. In the three years that I’ve gone they have never been there, although one year they sent out several cases of their “wild” beers to be served at the Belgian Beer Fest’s Night Of The Funk. This year, they brought three beers to the Saturday sessions, and a few more to the Friday evening Night Of The Barrels. And not only did they come to the fest, they brought with them none other than Pliny The Younger, along with its sibling Pliny The Elder. Talk about a great opportunity for a comparative tasting!
Pliny The Younger and Pliny The Elder are both imperial IPAs, and are two of the first wave that really kick-started this style back when they was first brewed (right around 2003 for Elder, 2005 for Younger). Pliny The Elder is brewed to a gravity of 1.071, 8% ABV, and 100 IBUs. Pliny The Younger is its bigger, badder sibling, weighing in at an OG 1.098, 11% ABV, and GOBS of IBUs (as their website says).
Tasting Notes
Pliny The Elder
Pours a rich, mellow gold and slightly hazy, with a pillowy white head that leaves loads of lacing on the glass. The nose is dominated by notes of pine and citrus hop flavors that leave little room for anything else. The palate is velvety textured with medium carbonation, very mellow without being soft. The flavors are not as hoppy as the nose implied, which is good, as there’s lots of great flavors going on here. The bitterness is mild and relatively restrained, letting lots of hop flavors come through, principally citrus and pine with a touch of resin, accompanied by sugared lemons, and a touch of sweet malt. The finish is substantially more bitter than the palate, with creamy lemon flavors offset by a lingering layer of resiny hop flavors.
Pliny The Younger
Pours a shade darker than the Elder, without as much of a head on top. In fact, if you look closely you can see the bubbles flowing to the surface much more slowly than in the Elder. The nose is rich with hops, similar to the Elder, but in the case their accompanied by a notably malty element that brings notes of bread and caramel to the nose. The palate is similar, with the hop flavors challenged somewhat for supremacy by the malty flavors. The fight’s a good one, resulting in a great combination of pine and resin hop flavors, and malty notes of honey and baked bread. The hops get the upper hand ultimately, but it’s closer than with the Elder. The finish is similar to the Elder, opening up with a blend of sweet malt and hops, giving way to lingering bitterness. Overall, the Younger is sweeter and denser than the Elder, a more mature and weighty version of its smaller sibling.
Conclusions
Both of these are top-notch, very drinkable IPAs. In fact, scarily drinkable IPAs. They both cloaked the alcohol level well behind a facade of hops and malt, especially the Younger. And in both, while the flavors were very hop-oriented, they offered great contrasts to one another. If I went someplace where both were on offer, it’d be a tough choice, seeing as how they’re both just so good, as well as being prototypical examples of imperial IPAs. I guess I’d just have to get a glass of both! Perhaps at the same time, so that I could compare them (as the true beer geek that I’ve become).
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