Homebrew: Hop Ranking Simcoe

Hop Ranking 

Batch Three

Simcoe

So I have been slowly tweaking my original recipe on the base and shifting primarily to all grain with the "grain in a bag" technique... and a good dose of advice from some extremely helpful brewers. This batch I believe was close to 8 pounds of grain with 2 pounds of extra light DME added to round out the fermentable sugars. I foresee the next batch being all grain and Im thinking Im ready to throw a yeast variable into the mix and do a 100% brettanomyces primary with a blend of citra, simcoe and galaxy for a hop addition.

But back to the current batch of the Hop Ranking series. This batch is drinking quite nicely and holds a gorgeous foamy head for the length of the beer. I've fallen in love with the flavor punch of the simcoe hop. Big dank tropical pineapple mingles with woodsy pine and a citrus kick to draw out the bitterness nicely. This batch is by far the cleanest malt profile, which I attribute mostly to the conversion from less DME and more grain. Im thinking of adjusting out some of the caramunich in the next batch to lighten up the color a bit and possibly add some flaked wheat on a recommendation from a trustworthy source. This should help create more complex starches and proteins for the yeast to munch on. Im hoping this will result in a bit more roundness on the edges of the mouthfeel.

 Overall Im happy with this batch, I have found a few bottles to have brief glimpses of acetone wafting through the beer as the drinking temperature fluctuates. I am however highly sensitive to this aroma and have not found other people who have come across it as well. Not sure quite where those aromas are coming from but I have a sneaky suspicion its occurring as a byproduct of the plastic liner on the oxygen "eating" caps that I bought by accident. Blasted caps !

Always room for improvement.

In closing here is a little glimpse into where I came up with the name Hop Ranking...

Figure a beer with some heavy tropical notes and a hint of toasted malt was pretty clever.

Trinity the original toaster... for those not reggae savvy "toasting" is the art of rhyming over a rhythm and Jamaica is as tropical as it gets! 

Hence HOP RANKING !  

Bottle Share: Blind Brett Saison Tasting !

Blind Brett Saison Tasting !

So in a classic blind tasting style all bottles were wrapped in paper bags prior to tasting and the cork and cap markings were hidden to best of our ability.  We cracked all of them so that the few caps that were somewhat obvious would get a bit jumbled when marking each bottle with a number and then randomly sliding them into a empty wine box. 

Scoring sheets were handed out, I grabbed these from Ratebeer's database:

One by one we sipped, scored, made confident proclamations, followed by some head scratching and uncertainty, some flavor profile and descriptors were discussed but overall everyone kept their numbers to themselves.

Im not going to call out everyone involved... there were 5 of us, using the Ratebeer model we rated them from 1-5.0 and below is the cumulative scores for all the beers:

Anchorage / Grassroots Arctic Saison

(4.2 + 3.2 + 3.8 + 4.0 + 3.7 = 18.9)

Block 15 La Ferme de la Ville Provision

(4.4 + 4.1 + 3.7 + 3.7 + 4.1 = 20.0)

Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Ale

(3.7 + 3.8 + 3.6 + 3.7 + 3.9 = 18.7)

Blue Lobster/Prairie Little Lobster on the Prairie

(4.3 + 4.4 + 3.9 + 4.1 + 4.0 = 20.7)

Boulevard Saison Brett 2013

(4.0 + 4.1 + 3.9 + 3.4 + 3.8 = 19.2) 

Boulevard Saison Brett 2012

(3.5 + 3.1 + 3.1 + 3.8 + 3.9 = 17.4)

Sante Adairius Lucybelle

(4.3 + 4.4 + 4.2 + 4.1 + 4.2 = 21.2)

BFM √225

(3.8 + 3.5 + 3.8 + 3.9 + 4.1 = 19.1)

Mystery Brett Saison

(1.8 + 2.6 + 2.9 +  2.2 + 3.6 = 13.1)

Final Results in order of Best to Worst !

 Sante Adairius Lucybelle
Blue Lobster / Prairie Little Lobster on the Prairie
Block 15 La Ferme de la Ville Provision
Boulevard Saison Brett 2013
BFM √225
Anchorage/Grassroots Arctic Saison
Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Ale
Boulevard Saison Brett 2012
Mystery Brett Saison

Along with the blind tasting we started with a few sours, some classics and finished with a tasty stout !

Voodoo Brewing Big Black Voodoo Daddy (Apple Brandy)
Dupont Saison Cuvee Dry Hopped 2014
Fantome Saison
De Garde Vin Lee
Oxbow Liquid Swords
Toppling Goliath
Homebrew Single Hop Simco

Another great night of beers and looking forward to more focused blind tastings to come as I think we all found this to be a fun and eye opening experience !

Bottle Share: Berliner Bash !

Berliner Bash !

----the Line Up----

Cigar City 5 Beer Year Florida Weisse (w/ Tangerine & Orange)

Cigar City 5 Beer Year Margarita Gose

Stillwater Gose Gone Wild

Westbrook Gose

Smuttynose Strawberry Short Weisse

Smuttynose Straw-Barb Weisse

Ful Sail Berliner Weisse

White Birch Berliner Weisse

New Belgium Yuzu Berliner

Dogfishhead Festina Peche

New Glarus Berliner Weisse

Firestone Walker Bretta Rose

Bahnhof Berliner Weisse

Blue Lobster Piscataquaweisse 

Blue Lobster Hamptonweisse

----Highlights----

Firestone Walker Bretta Rose

(Wow, this bordered on a great framboise with lots of funky unripe raspberry, old wet oak funk and some earthy stems and dusty basement musk.)

Cigar City Florida Weisse 

(This was probably the best true to style berliner of the night with gorgeous juicy tangerine fruit that balanced perfectly with tart lacto qualities and a nice shredded wheat backbone. Crushable !)

Blue Lobster Piscataquaweisse 

(Still drinking beautifully with a ligth refreshing carbonation and great harmony between the pluot skin, tight blueberry fog and light handed tart lacto quality)

Bahnhof Berliner Weisse 

(Got to give a nod to the classic, round cheerio malts, lemony tang and dialed in carbonation)

Stillwater Gose Gone Wild

(As you know I reviewed this a few days ago and this bottle was a very similar experience of being punched in the face from the first sip only to fall into the juicy complexities as your palate slowly adjusts and the nuances become more apparent)

----Honorable Mentions----

Blue Lobster Hamptonweisse

(Still a pretty crushable beer but some of the apricot complexity has fallen off a bit at least in this bottle... which is rare as this beer was never "officially" bottled but thats a perk to sipping berliners with Sleepy Dave :)

Cigar City Margarita Gose 

(Nothing spectacular about this offering but I found it very crushable and pretty dialed in for the style. Not as much flavor punch as I hoped after drinking the Florida Weisse version but would gladly crush another bottle on a warm summer day !)

New Glarus Berliner Weisse 

(Bright crisp champagne like body with subtle riesling grape and wet oak complexities. I remember liking this more in the past, still and easy drinker just a bit more watery than I expected.) 

Westbrook Gose 

(This was the first time I drank this beer and was not 100% impressed. I still stand by it being an amazing beer don't get me wrong this one just seemed a bit subdued and lacking the fruity pebbles character and focus that Im use to. Granted the can may have 6+ months on it ? )

----Drainpours----

Im not gonna get long winded here and just give a couple words of descriptions as to why these beers made more fodder for the drain than to our stomachs...

Smuttynose Straw-Barb Weisse

(Acetone, Acetone and more acetone)

New Belgium Yuzu Berliner

(Minty herbal mouthwash)

Smuttynose Strawberry Short Weisse

(Strawberry notes have become somewhat artificial, no carbonation and a bit off)

Dogfishead Festina Peche 2010

(Buttery diacetyl and stale peach juice)

White Birch Berliner Weisse 

(I actually enjoyed this beer many times in 2012 but the 2013 release was just weird and off the mark.. it hasn't changed)

Full Sail Berliner Weisse 

(This offering wasn't bad but tasted more of cheap brut or seltzer water than anything else, in fact I added a shot a Corsair Gin and found it to be a delicious mixer... even better with a dash of  cranberry liquor, Mmmm !)

Overall a great tasting with Sleepy Dave in his new spot in Newmarket !

Cheers.

Omnipollo Schiuma Party / Hypnopompa

Omnipollo Schiuma Party & Hypnopompa (Bourbon Barrel)

Brewer's Description: 

Schiuma Party ~ collaboration w/ Stillwater

 (Saison aged for 4 months on wine barrels with brett.)

Hypnopompa (Bourbon BA) 

(Bourbon BA Imperial Stout brewed with marshmallows and Tahitian vanilla beans. Gold cap. Henok)

I first tried Omnipollo when I attended the Festival in Worcester and stumbled onto their unassuming table to find a couple of solid offerings. I remember the brewers being super down to earth and very humble about their process of making beer and more importantly their passion. Since that time I have snagged a bottle of whatever I have been able to find from these "gypsy" brewers from Sweden.

My thoughts:

Schiuma Party ~ (collaboration w/ Stillwater) 

Pours a hazy medium golden color with a couple fingers of white fizzy foam. Lots of play between vinous acidity, tart fruit, doughy malts and a nice brett presence that adds complexity and a dry finish. Notes of charcuterie, dusty lemon, pine, grapefruit, old wood, barnyard funk, floral hay, dandelion greens, wine soaked cork.

Final Rating: 

AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20 

Final Score:

4.0 out of 5

Hypnopompa (Bourbon Barrel Aged)

Pours a deep burnt umber color with a finger of khaki foam. Inviting aromas and a smooth creamy mouthfeel with a touch of carbonation to lift the flavors out nicely. Lots of rich chocolate, burnt brownie, vanilla beans soaked in bourbon, caramel, nutty fudge. Silky sweet midpalate that draws out nicely with some bittersweet bakers chocolate and some lingering dark fruits. Solid !

Final Rating: 

AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20

Final Score:

4.1 out of 5

Buy, Forage and Hoard or Pass By:

I would highly recommend buying a bottle of each of these interesting and unique beers. If you find that you enjoy either of them as much as I did then neither of the beers would object to a year or two in the cellar to see what happens !

Bottle Share: Brooklyn Verticals and Rooftop Sippers...

Brooklyn Verticals and Rooftop Sippers...

Nice little bottle share that was the start of the rooftop sipping season !

Not pictured was this tasty lil crusher:

Cigar City Stiftung Berliner Weisse

Overall all the beers consumed on this perfect sunny day to close out May were worth the taste with the exception of Green Monster, that was an abomination !

Here is the rundown:

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 06/07. 07/08. 08/09. 09.10
(all were tasty 07/08 was probably my favorite with some layered dried blueberry notes that worked nicely with the roasty cocoa and even touches of kola nut and anise)

Brooklyn Black Ops 2011, 2012, 2013
(Overall again all were worth the sip, the 11 was a touch thin with lots of champagne yeast character that added some dusty musty fruit notes that made this one my least favorite. The 12 and 13 were similar but the 13's bourbon character stood out as a reason to consume this beer on the fresher side)

From here Im just gonna lay out the rest of the beers consumed in order of my personal preference:

Northcoast BA Old Stock Brandy 2011
Cigar City Leon
Logsdon Far West Vlaming
Cascade Tangerine Dream
Wicked Weed Black Angel
Cisco Dark Woods
10 Barrel 16 barrels

and at the very bottom and highly recommended to let this one pass by...
Deschutes Green Monster

Stillwater Gose Gone WIld

Stillwater Gose Gone Wild

Brewer's Description: 

"It’s no secret that we like to party, and sometimes it gets wild. So we took Westbrook’s refreshing Gose and cranked up the volume a bit, adding a massive dose of Citra & Amarillo hops, then fermented it various strains of Brettanomyces...Go Westbrook, it’s your birthday, get funky!!" -Brian (Stillwater Artisanal)

Since this labeled leaked to the public a month or two ago I have been anxiously hoping it would hit the shelves of Maine. Today the anticipation is over as it has popped up at any beer store that has a clue ! If your not familiar with Westbrook's canned gose I would recommend seeking it out as it is a flavor packed tart, crushable can of beer that is mostly just available in the South Carolina area but appears in NYC and a few other random spots occasionally as well. Anyhow, this is a new "remix" series that has evolved from the relationships of Stillwater and some other breweries like Omnipollo and this most recent releases with Westbrook. Stay tuned for another review of Westbrook's remix of Stillwater's Cellar Door called Back Door coming this week !

Now lets get to drinking this...

My Thoughts: 

Pours a hazy yellow golden color with two fingers of sticky white foam. Nose is punchy with citrus, yuzu, grapefruit, lime, hints of barnyard brett fresh grass and fresh sea water. Palate follows nicely, bright citrus acidity, lemon, lime, even some flint like stuff going on in here that adds a nice complexity. Cranked up is a great way to describe this, sour,  juicy puckering acidity, mellow salinity, round wheat... wow nice soft mouthfeel, great carbonation ! Tasty.

Buy, Forage & Hoard or Pass By ?

Im gonna hoard this ! At least as much as I can afford at the $10.99 price tag its probably a beer I would crack once a week throughout the summer, this beer is made for hot summer days and pairs great with a order of sushi or spicy Indian, Thai or Mexican fare. I say reach deep into your pockets and grab a fair share of these to sip through the summer season !

Final Rating: 

AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 16/20

Final Score:

4.2 out of 5