At 5% ABV, this Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier was very tasty, if "sweet", as the Millennial bar tender told some dude asking because they ran out of all the other American White beers.
But it was more complicated that merely sweet. It had way more citrus, orange flavor than any banana notes, making it very tame Hefe by comparison to many of the similar Germans you'll find in say, the Chicago market. It was a good, light pils-ish drinking beer, particularly given the top heavy menu of high ABV choices at Cask Republic.
The head was also, meh compared to many other German Hefes out there. It turned flat like American beers end up inside of 30 second.
It kind of made me think it was flavored with the same orange flavoring they put in my seltzer, but a good tonic after a Victory Hop Devil or 2.
Awesome everything, with lip smacking hopftertaste. Done & done. Having said that, I can't tell if it's actual hops or fun with flavorings. If you've had it in the bottle, it's worth the trip to Cask Republic if you're swinging past New Haven, CT on the 95.
Pumkin Honey Coco Stout was made with a pinch of soured stout from last year (maybe 2%), and a pinch of that coco powder I bought from Peru via Amazon. And it's ended up mildly hoppy, creamy, with more chocolate notes than I expected given the tiny pinch I placed in bottle-- very tasty all in all, and maybe even, as the kids, chefs and bartenders can't seem to ever stop saying: both "delicious" and maybe even completely "amazing".
"Delicious, amazing, delicious, amazing, delicious, amazing". Is anyone else hearing the buzz of these words around their heads these days? You know what happens when everything becomes "amazing"? In the 80's, I recall everyone was saying everything was "wonderful". It was like everyone was quoting Willie Wonka. I was glad to see "wonderful" go, but the "amazing" might be worse. Okay, okay, sidetracked much?
Anyway, I know what you're thinking-- Pumpkin with Chocolate!? Come-on. Really? Syria? WTF? Sounds Benghazi, right? Yes, but the Pumpkin flavor here was not overwhelming or pronounced enough to really piss in the punch bowl. It was more in the spirit of drizzling chocolate on the whipped cream atop a slice of pumpkin pie, or coco, flavored with ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. After all, pumpkin beer is more often than not the pumpkin pie spices one uses in the beer. And the adjuncts were balanced well with the coco here.
I've made Pumpkin wine and hard cider with roasted fresh and canned pumpkin to see what kind of flavor I could pull out of this popular, glamorous gourd, only to find that when the sugars are fermented out, pumpkin imparts very little flavor of its own, without the Pumpkin Pie spices, as many experienced homies have testified on the home brew message boards. However, what it does impart is tannic mouth feel, like wine, which put it on part with a nice, light White table wine. It makes pumpkin well worth a plus one to many fermentation party you're having.
Surprisingly balanced: a touch of cranberry flavored Kombucha (2%) imparted a very mild sour, with the balanced creamy taste of the underlying Honey Pumpkin ale.
By adding a little Notthingham yeast in the bottle to finish off the adjunct sugars we added to make the suds, we super charged the froth on the pour. It was like a little slice of Belgium in the man cave, as Teddy licked himself.
Calm down, Teddy's the dog.
Ommegang's "All Proceeds Go To Charity" Pils, 5.9% ABV, beautiful color, nice froth, and clean well balance flavor, like a watery lite Milla with mad flavaz. I think it's Hurricane Sandy related.
Beer Authority sits next to the Port Authority in NY, and it's got 90 taps, and a great variety of bottled beers too. It's on the second floor, like Lucca, so there's a climb to and from, but there's plenty of seating, and nice array of flat panels.
Great beer selection, big, epic location off Times Square. Good times.
Unlike my last visit to Pour George on 8th Street, this time, they poured the Langunitas done right.
It had a nice golden color, nice aroma, super hoppy, uncomplicated, well balanced, if malt thing, extraordinary, rejuvenating tasty brew I ordered with a spicy tomato soup, after the bartender's caution. This beer followed a Ommagang Wit, which was well and good, with cloves and froth, setting up the bitter, lingering hop flavaz.
Fearlesscritic.com gave it an 8. Beeradvocate.com has an average of about 87%, so it's well enough received.
