Tonight I had the Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse from the Schneider Brewery in Germany. This beer was made in collaboration with Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery. Two versions were made. This one, the German version, and an American version (called Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse). I tasted the American one at Nikki’s a couple weeks ago (and have a bottle sitting here waiting to do a side-by-side with the German version).
I wanted to try the German one so that was tonight’s beer. It came in a 500 ml bottle, perfect to fit in my 500 ml weissbier glass. The beer pours a hazy pale amber color with a thick white head. It smelled of piney hops and a slight breadiness. The beer was dry hopped with Hallertau hops from Germany, which have a nice piney aroma and flavor. Up front was those hops flavors and as the beer warmed, I got a more yeasty, bready, malty flavor. It balanced out really nicely. This was a very good beer and something that I hope Brooklyn and Schneider make a regular occurrence. Even at 8.2% ABV, I could barely notice it. It was a nice easy drinking beer and great for a beautiful sunny and warm day like today.
If you like wheat beers (and even if you don’t), this is a must try (as is the American version). Pick it up while it’s still available.
On Saturday, my brother arranged a bachelor party for me. It involved kayaking and then dinner and beer. We went to the Mews Tavern in Wakefield, which boasts 69 beers on tap (in fact, I don’t think they have any bottles, or at least no craft beer in botles. While there, I had 2 beers. The first was Arrogant Bastard. I had never had it on tap, and while I enjoy it in the bottle, I don’t think it’s anything spectacular. It’s a very different beer on tap, meaning it’s a whole lot better. I think it’s the hops. For some reason, it tastes a lot hoppier on draft than from the bottle.
The second beer I got was Magic Hat’s Sprint 08 Odd Notion. I don’t have a very good relationship with Magic Hat. I have never had a beer from them I really enjoyed. That is, of course, until Saturday. I had heard their Odd Notions were good. So I figured I’d try it. This one was an Irish Red Ale. The beer was a ruby brown color. I didn’t know what it was at first, the beer menu called it an “Irish Ale”. It smelled of roasted and caramel malts. The beer was light and easy drinking. The flavor, however, was that of a much bigger beer. It tasted of chocolate malts, roasted malts, and caramel malts. There was virtually no hop flavor to it at all, yet it wasn’t super sweet. I could have easily drunk this beer all night. It changed my mind about Magic Hat, and I now look forward to visiting their brewery when we head to Vermont for our honeymoon.
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