Night Shift Brewing - Somer Weisse
a 5.9% ABV Berliner Weisse-style brewed with lemongrass and ginger root. Freshly bottled just over 5 weeks ago and local.. I've heard good things and been around the guys a lot, just never had the beer! I haven't had many examples of the style, but I'm getting more into the sours and, c'mon y'all, I live in Somerville now! This is a no-brainer. A straw yellow pour, this has as much head as a glass of milk. It fizzes like no one's business when popped and poured, but it disappears immediately. It's straight-up sour on the nose. There's hints of the lemon and an earthy ginger.. but just full on sour. It's incredibly effervescent and refreshing, but it's that Warhead-esque, hit-you-in-your-jowls sour tart taste. Grassy hops, sharp lemon peel and faint ginger. It's tough to pick up on any malt because of the tartness. The end is sweet.. very very sweet, and still sour. It's a tough style to pull off, and it was done very well, but a bit one-dimensional.
- - 7 Hops!
I will now move on to a "series" of beers I had long-forgotten that I had. I say series because they're really the same beer, same recipe, brewed by 3 different brewers at their respective breweries, separately.. released separately.
Saison du BUFF - brewed as a 'collaboration' with Victory, Stone and Dogfish Head breweries. BUFF stands for Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor. It apparently was an idea the 3 founders/brewers have had for years, but originally was never able to take flight. Then they decided to revisit the idea and brew a unique beer together, but separate. The 3 developed a recipe, with one unique ingredient contributed by each brewery ( I knew at one point what each brewery contributed - they were homegrown herbs - but that information has been lost to countless beers ), and each brewery made the same exact beer - supposedly. a crazy cool idea for a collaboration brew! So I've been holding onto these, unwittingly, for almost THREE YEARS!! The DFH was released in March 2010, Victory in April and Stone in May. HOLY HELL! So all being 6.8% ABV herbed Saisons, it will be really cool to see if and how they differ!
As you can see, they already differ in appearance, the Victory is the lightest, then the Stone, then DFH. I swear I didn't plan the picture that way! Also, the Stone had the craziest head (apparently it did even when fresh) with the Victory having almost no head. The Victory also has the most distinct Saison nose with the other two having more herbs in the nose and the DFH having notes of vanilla and oak, surprisingly. In terms of taste, the Stone was the most 'herby' with the parsley taking over - think heavily herbed Italian dishes. The DFH wasn't far behind either. After 2+ years, the booze (although only 6.8%) is definitely coming through in all 3. Only labeled as Saisons, these are holding up amazingly well. None actually have that barnyard funk or tartness that many Saisons do, nor are as citrusy. Nonetheless, these are very cool beers and surprisingly have held up for so long! I remember having one a few months after they were released and it's very similar to how it tastes now. Dogfish Head wins, in my book. Just the right balance of herbs.
- - 8 Hops for all!
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