If you had told me this time, last year, that I would be able to get an unprecedented world class beer delivered to my doorstep, I probably would have been elated. What's the catch? You won't be drinking in any tap rooms, chatting with brewers and bartenders, enjoying the convivial atmosphere of breweries around the world. You're going to get it at your house, and you're going to drink it there, mostly alone. It's COVID, for those who don't remember. And while the world might be delivered to your doorstep, never before have your local breweries needed your support to continue existing in 2021.
So this year, I've decided to highlight three beers that capture the spirit of this experience.
Burial Beer Co: Contrition
Deliver us from Asheville our Daily Bread
A humble offering. The tax paid for our sins. For among the catacombs of our prized memoirs, we shall uncover the prestige of elegance through the veil of simplicity. Made with a decoction of 100% German Pilsner malt to maximize the capability of this remarkable grain. Hopped extensively in our whirlpool with Grungeist, Saaz and Hallertau Blanc. A beautiful complexion of culinary compliment. Your repeatable drinkable, dream-fulfiller.
I could have picked any number of beers from Burial, according to Untappd, I tried 47 new ones from them. It wasn't even the highest rated, by a long shot. It's a pilsner, where anything that fetches above a 4.0 must be Ambrosia. And it is.
I first visited Burial on another work+beer trip back in 2018, and I was just blown away. They had a similar aesthetic as Holy Mountain, but with a more diverse set of taps. Everything was worth trying, and most were worth a second and third pint. So imagine my delight when I learned BBC was shipping to Oregon. Order on the can releases on Thursday, it's at your doorstep two Mondays (10 days) later. Oh, the anticipation. I spent more money buying Burial beer than any other this year, no regrets. And there was one beer that was order-on-sight.
Contrition is a phenomenally executed American take on a German Pils. The ingredients (less the water) all appear to be German/Czech. 100% German Pils (Weyermann?), Saaz, Hallertau Blanc, and this strange fellow standing in the corner named Grungeist, which I believe means... green ghost?
The appearance is the first giveaway that you're not drinking Weihenstephaner. It presents in a blonde straw color, more like a kellerbier. Great tight head that retains its shape and laces nicely.
The aroma is simply intoxicating, I knew I loved the beer the first time I poured one. It's truly a rustic and unholy pilsner, which sounds very Burial. Grassy, floral like honeysuckle, herbal, slightly lemon-rind notes leap from the glass, with a slight breadiness. But overall quite clean, no sulfur.
Flavor is where almost every pilsner goes downhill... there's so many ways things can go sideways. I remember my first sip at the beginning of the year, there were a lot of delicate layers to unpack. I got the gentle but forward hops - like many of them made it into the whirlpool, not quite to dry hop territory. The pilsner carried a grassy, almost hay-like character, which I really love. The fermentation was clearly well done, there's nothing getting in the way of enjoying the bready, hoppy layers, but it finishes crisp and smooth.
The mouthfeel was very creamy, perfectly dialed in moderate-high carbonation, just enough to give a crisp bite. It's a med-light bodied beer that sits very silky, each sip is a pleasure even without taste buds and olfactory.
And so I drank more Contrition than anything else. It was my simple pleasure after work, with dinner, to start off a brew day or to coast into the evening. I probably ordered 6 or 8 packs of it, different brews, and there was some slight variance, but each batch was very good. If you pick this beer up, don't sit on it. The hop character is subtle and won't persist if you decide to further lager it in a 16oz tank.
Plan Bee Farm Brewery: Zone 6
The best new Poughkeepsie brewery in 300 years
NY Wild Ale
Aged in Oak on Quince + Black Currants
I love what Plan Bee is about. I love the story, I love what they're doing with the property, and I especially love the beer.
Oak, Quince and Black Currants? Sounds very tart and tannic. Okay, let's take a chance at paying the Tavour premium. I wish I had bought 6 of them.
Let's bee clear, this is a gorgeous beer. A glowing ruby hue with a modest pink meringue head, with a slightly deeper hue than a kriek, lighter than a pruim. The use of a thick brown bottle and waxed cap, along with a very simple description let the beer show off unassumingly. Good move.
Aroma: PBFB's brettanomyces and bacteria brings the muthafuckin' ruckus, this is a barnyard beer that gushes musky, leathery, cheesy funk. There was a subtle sweetness and tang to the aroma too, but I wouldn't have been able to pick out a specific fruit.
Flavor: Complexity is a term that is overused, so let's just say I'm going to need a few paragraphs to go through this.
I always try to imagine the base beer of a spontaneous or mixed ferm beer. My hunch was this beer had a good amount of wheat, was generously hopped (guessing aged hops, but there was some citrus zest that wasn't purely brett), and got a lot of character from the oak.
Not a lot of people know what a quince is. Last year, I paid three gentlement $300 to remove one from my yard that had so many suckers, it became a winter sanctuary for the Chickadees and Nuthatches. They are attractive shrub-like trees that don't grow tall, have beautiful pink blossoms, and produce a pale, apple-pear like fruit. the 2-3 feeble fruit that mine produced were quite bitter. The fruit is always tart, and provides the etymology of Marmalade (Portuguese: Marmelo).
Black Currant, on the other hand, has had many successful spotlights in mixed fermentation beer. You'll find Cassis across many lambic brewers, and is the star of one of my all-time favorites in Russian River's Consecration (though Vinnie uses a dried Zante currant, which is actually a grape/raisin!). These little guys are tart, tannic, and almost cranberry-like when picked fresh.
So combining these two fruits certainly isn't a slam dunk like Perfection Apricots or Montmorencey Cherries. You have to take a light approach, and my gut tells me this beer was ultimately blended to its perfected state after the fruit was added.
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