The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
We love craft beer! Each week we will taste a number of beers from around the country and give you our thoughts, not only will we talk about the flavor, but also the artwork and anything else that comes to mind.
We will also go on location and visit breweries and try a number of their offerings and give you our thoughts as well.
Come sit around the campfire and join in on the fun!
The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast
Ep 109 - From Mead to IPA: A Journey Through Unexpected Flavors
What happens when two beer enthusiasts taste their way through seven wildly different craft beverages in a single sitting? A flavor journey that spans continents, traditions, and brewing philosophies.
Mike and Jim kick off with excited chatter about the upcoming Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine and Cheese Festival before diving into their eclectic tasting lineup. Their adventure begins with Stone Arch Brewing's Honey Wheat Ale, where they discover how honey attempts to temper wheat's distinctive character—with mixed results. The mood shifts dramatically when they crack open a Newcastle Brown Ale, finding comfort in the time-tested English classic that's been perfected since 1927.
The conversation takes a sharp turn with Lupaline's "Tropical Fun Pants," a fruit-forward experiment featuring mango, pink guava, and passion fruit that leaves them pondering whether too many flavors can compete rather than complement. Their collaborative German-style lager—a partnership between Lakefront Brewing and Hofbräu München—sparks discussion about international brewing collaborations and traditional techniques.
Perhaps most fascinating is their first-ever mead tasting on the podcast with "Kill All the Golfers," a Caddyshack-referencing black tea and lemon metheglin that challenges their palates in unexpected ways. The hosts explore the ancient origins of mead, dating back 9,000 years to northern China, while comparing it to the clean, champagne-like finish of Loon Juice's Honeycrisp hard cider.
The tasting concludes with two distinctly different offerings: Central Waters' "Semantic Satiation" West Coast IPA with its surprisingly approachable hop profile, and Hammer Heart Brewing's "Flaming Longship," a smoky Scotch ale inspired by Viking traditions and Swedish metal music that divides their opinions dramatically.
Whether you're a seasoned craft beer enthusiast or simply curious about the incredible diversity in today's brewing landscape, this episode offers thoughtful insights, honest reactions, and plenty of laughs along the way. Join Mike and Jim as they remind us that great beverages, like great conversations, bring people together—even when opinions differ.
Thank you for listening to The Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. If you have a question, comment or would like us to review your beer, please feel free to contact us at northbeerguy@gmail.com.
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Grab a beer and pull up a chair. Welcome to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Northwoods Beer Guy Podcast. This is Mike, the Northwoods Beer Guy, and once again I am joined by Jim. Hey buddy, how you doing? Doing well, man? How are you doing? Another day in paradise? Good, good to hear Weather's getting a little more straightened out, which is good. It still seems like it's a roller coaster, though.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah, it was a little bit chilly yesterday, while rainy I just wish it would sun out and 60s or 70s just stay consistent, Not the Nah. You can't do that.
Speaker 1:I bring that up because, well, today being uh, we uh are going to be going to taster's eve for, oh right, in the bluffs beer, wine and cheese fest. Okay, yep, and I can remember. Now the fest is on saturday, so tomorrow. But I can remember years where we were, we'd go and you were in t-shirt and shorts, and then there was the. Not that long ago, it was snowing like crazy, right, it was like a blizzard, yeah. So I don't know what it's going to do tomorrow, so we'll have to wait and see, but I'm hoping it doesn't rain.
Speaker 2:I think the weatherman said there's a small, small chance of rain, but I think he's been wrong before yeah, just a few times so it, we're gonna hope for the best and prepare for the worst there you, you go, there you go.
Speaker 1:So, ladies and gentlemen, if you've never heard of it, it's the I think it's the 21st year I think something like that around there of the Beer, Wine and Cheese Fest in La Crosse, wisconsin. And what do they have? They have beer, wine and cheese, cheese and meat sticks and stuff I guess jerky All and meat sticks and stuff I guess jerky All trying to sell you something different? Oh yeah, and there's vendors there and all that good stuff and we've been going.
Speaker 1:I think this year is my 10th or 11th year. Sheesh, yeah, and then. Well, you've only been there one less so, man it feels like a lot less than that. I know it does Pretty crazy. So it'll be interesting to see you know all these different vendors are there and you get to try different beers and such. I can safely say I don't think I've ever been in the wine tent.
Speaker 2:No, because I think some years, because remember how at first there was a big tents. Now they just did the smaller little outdoor thing since COVID to keep people outdoors more than inside the big tent. So now it's even harder to find where the wine is, because now there's not a big tent. You knew that was a wine tent, so just stay away from there.
Speaker 1:But now it's kind of like they're just everywhere. I think the first year I may have lied. I think the first year that we went there they had the cheese and meat in the wine tent so you had to walk in to find that stuff, but I never tasted any wine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's enough good beer to be tasted that you don't have to. Like man, I'm out of beer. I'm going to have to go to the wine tent to get something good to drink.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Well, on Taster's Eve it's changed a little bit. I guess there's some things I like and some stuff I kind of don't like about it. But basically you go around to different bars, I guess you could say, and then we do go to Pearl Street Brewing and you get tickets for a couple free drinks there and some food from a food truck, which is fine. I guess you know that's okay. I guess the one thing that I don't know the shuttle bus is nice that you don't have to drive. Guess the one thing that I don't know the the shuttle bus is is nice that you don't have to drive. But boy, at times it feels like you're rushed because you got to get in, get your drink and get out.
Speaker 2:make sure you get hit that next shuttle or you're waiting there for right because I think there's like one that starts at pearl street, one that starts downtown. They're just alternating back and forth, so you could be waiting there a long time exactly.
Speaker 1:I mean it's, it's crazy and, like I said, if you miss one, well, and they run from five to ten or something, I believe, like that. So if you miss one, you're missing out on a lot of opportunity, so to speak. Yes, All right, Well, hey. So I'm looking at the lineup we got here today and I guess you could say it's another kind of a mixed bag of different styles and such. Yes, but it should be interesting because we've never had any of these on the podcast. There's one style that we've never even had before Goza, so that should be interesting. And some of the other ones. I mean we've had a couple of them. I've tasted before Some of the other breweries we've had stuff from, but not these particular ones. So yeah, it'll be interesting.
Speaker 2:I hope so, Boy this is very it's like you hit all four corners of the universe on this one. I don't think you can get more diverse. No, I'd say pretty much, but there's no dark beers. I don't think.
Speaker 1:Not that I can think of. I mean there's no dark beers, I don't think. Not that I can think of, I mean there's one that might be a little bit. Well, there's a couple like brown ale type.
Speaker 2:But nothing like a stout or order or barrel aged Right.
Speaker 1:So I'm not exactly sure how our bodies are going to handle this, but we'll see. Yes, I hope they're good. So we do have two bottles and we've got six cans Two pint cans, four regular size cans yes, so we got our work cut out for us. We got our work cut out for us, so we might as well kick it off here, All right, what do you got?
Speaker 1:So the first one that we have is by Stone Arch Brewing All right, and it is their Honey Wheat Honey Ale. Now, I've actually been to this brewery, or one of them, I think. They got two locations. Is that the one in Oshkosh? Yeah, okay, yep, so we had stopped there. I believe our daughter had like a basketball tournament in that area and we saw I looked it up on untapped or whatever and saw it was close. So we went there and it was close, so we went there and it was pretty cool. So I've never had this one, though I thought you know they have like that. Oh, what one? I'm drawing a blank. They have one that's like a darker beer that's really good and I'm drawing a blank on it. I don't think I've ever had any of their beers before, haven't you? No, oh, it was a vanilla, a vanilla porter. Really. That. That was really actually good. Yeah, so it'll be interesting, because you know me and Honeybeers are usually not the best.
Speaker 2:That's right in a wheelhouse.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the bestest of friends, but Need some instructions on that one. I just had to flip it the other way. Oh no, their cap is pretty neat. It's got their logo on it.
Speaker 2:There you go. A little more of a complex logo, so to speak, and I see it's 4.7% ABV and 12.
Speaker 1:IBUs. Oh okay, so there shouldn't be much hop at all.
Speaker 2:No Straw colored and naturally cloudy. Okay, expect a pleasant honey sweetness from Wisconsin, honey with nice malt tones and very low bitterness.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's got a little cloudiness to it. Not terrible or anything, but it's like a wheat color. Yeah, ooh, I can smell something's like a wheat color.
Speaker 2:Yeah, ooh, I can smell something wheat, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Not terrible, but it's there. I can smell it, it's there.
Speaker 2:I don't smell the honey. No, well, here goes nothing. Not too bad. I guess the honey does kind of knock down the wheat a little bit. I say it's drinkable. Yeah, I mean, I think the aftertaste for me still has that wheat.
Speaker 1:It's got a little bit of a dry, not a lot, but a little bit of a almost like a dry something. Yeah, I don't know how would you. I was going to say not tart, but you know what I mean. It's got just a little different taste to it.
Speaker 2:So it says it's called an American Pale Wheat. Do you think that has anything to do with it? An American pale wheat Do you think that has anything to do with it?
Speaker 1:What does the pale do? Well, and then, considering that it's, you know, 12 IBUs, you wouldn't think it would be that Hoppy, that hoppy, and I always associate when anything is pale whatever, I think like pale, ale the hoppiness, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a weird combination of the honey and the wheat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I guess do you get much of like a honey flavor at all.
Speaker 2:I don't really even know what you know honey tastes like. I mean, I think it kind of. I believe it dulls the wheatness a little bit, but I really can't pick up the honey from it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So maybe they're counterbalancing each other on that one.
Speaker 1:but you could be right. Maybe that's it's doing more to balance out that wheat. Possibly I'm not tasting much for honey. No, you know not that it and ladies and gentlemen, if you don't know, it's not like when you taste a honey beer that, oh yeah, all you taste is sweet honey. That's not what. It's got a different flavor to it, uh, when they brew it.
Speaker 2:You know, and. But the weakness has a distinct flavor too.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah wheat has a distinct flavor. You can you can tell that right off the get-go.
Speaker 2:So I think hopefully that may be the honey knocked on that a little bit.
Speaker 1:I think you're right. Yeah, boy, what are you thinking for a score on this one? So Stone Arch Honey, wheat Honey, ale Gosh, an American.
Speaker 2:Pale Wheat. Yeah, I'm not a big wheat guy because I just don't that aftertaste in my mouth. This isn't very delicious. Yeah, I'm going to have to say a 2.4. I'm a little bit below average only because that finish the initial wheat. Maybe if they added maybe a little more honey, I don't know, but maybe a little more honey might help it even more. But I'm probably not the best judge for this one.
Speaker 1:I'm going with a 2.2. Oh, you're even going lower. I'm going lower. I just think that aftertaste has a weird to me. It's got a weird thing to it. Yeah, it's almost like I hate to say it like this because it doesn't taste like this but it reminds me a little bit of like right after you brush your teeth and like you take an orange slice or something and eat it and it's got that really like kind of a you know that really like kind of a you know, Right it's not like that, but it's reminiscent, for some reason, of that.
Speaker 1:It's just, I don't know, I'm not a huge fan of that one. Yeah, I'm just barely able to choke this one down. So you're saying you'd rather not have any more of that one? Oof that one's a little on the rough. A little rough, yeah, a little gravelly. Yeah, I A little on the rough.
Speaker 2:A little rough, yeah, a little gravelly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree with you there. That was kind of and it's kind of a bummer because, like I said, their vanilla porter is extremely good.
Speaker 2:Right, but this one is just kind of not for me.
Speaker 1:it's not there, so Maybe we should have the next one, just so we can cleanse our palate, we can do that, so we can jump right into the next one, and this to the next one and this one. We're going to go over the pond to the other side of the pond.
Speaker 2:Well, so to speak.
Speaker 1:Maybe not well, kind of it's newcastle.
Speaker 2:Yes, newcastle brown ale yep, and isn't that?
Speaker 1:it's english right?
Speaker 2:so that's what I was referring to right I think it started, but I think, from what I read, it's actually now being made stateside.
Speaker 1:Oh, really Right.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's an English brown ale Okay.
Speaker 1:The style.
Speaker 2:Yep 4.7 ABV, so lower.
Speaker 1:Same as that first one.
Speaker 2:Same as the first one, yep 18 IBUs are really stepping it up.
Speaker 1:Well, that's good that they're taking it easy on us to begin with.
Speaker 2:So it says this beer was introduced in 1927. Oh wow, I'm just trying to read. Some of this other stuff doesn't really make much sense to me because they're talking about English towns, yeah, and I don't think that's going to help. Nah, it doesn't even, but it doesn't talk much about the beer at all.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's just more about where it was made, where it was made and how it's just been kept on moving around different breweries, okay. And I think now it actually says something about this actually being made in the United States somewhere. Okay, let's hope the English know what they're doing better than the honey, yeah, the honey.
Speaker 1:This is brown, that's for sure. Definitely a brown, ale Definitely darker than the first one yeah. But yeah, it's a brown ale through and through. You can definitely see that. Now the aroma.
Speaker 2:At least for me, it's got a little bit better of aroma than that wheat. Yeah, a little bit of a malty aroma, right, I like that smell better than the wheat.
Speaker 1:Yep, I would agree with you there. Oh, I like that one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's much better than the first one.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean if you had to choose between the original brown ales right?
Speaker 1:that was first made, that I don't know. That'd be a good thing, but being that it started in 1927, it's been around for quite a while, right, so it's got to be Right.
Speaker 2:I mean, they've had a chance to change and modify the recipe to get it tweaked, so this really tastes pretty good yeah.
Speaker 1:Definitely interesting Because, like I said, a lot of times. The brown ales don't usually have a whole lot of flavor to them, but this one's got a decent amount.
Speaker 2:And the flavors actually. I mean whatever is in, it really comes out and is good. I mean it's not. The finish is smooth, the flavors are good, the aroma is good. Yep, I agree with you, it doesn't have a bad aftertaste. I mean this one, I think I could have a couple.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep, yeah. I was going to say this one is no problem with a couple of those.
Speaker 2:The first one, I'm not sure on that one and this, you know lower ABV, yep, I mean, and IBU, I don't think is, yeah, I wouldn't even. That's not even an impact at all.
Speaker 1:No, but this, this tastes, I mean I would have another if we get finished that one might be my number one so far.
Speaker 2:Right, actually, it's really good. Yeah, it's actually pretty decent. So what are you thinking?
Speaker 1:This one. I'm going to go. I'm trying to think because, like I said a lot of times, brown ales don't have a whole lot of flavor to them. This one has a little bit more than normal.
Speaker 2:Right? Oh, yes, for sure.
Speaker 1:So I think I'm going to go like a 2.7. Step it right up, yeah it's better than and I agree with you I could drink a few of those and not get tired of the taste. Right when that first one, I think. After the first bottle I got, I'm moving on to something else, you know. So what do you think?
Speaker 2:So I think I'm in the same ballpark with you. I mean because I think the only thing, the reason why I wouldn't go above a three, is not that it's a brown ale, but it's a brown ale, right, there's not a lot there.
Speaker 2:You know, even on a good brown ale it still doesn't like for me, put it over the three, and this is probably one of the better brown ales we've had, right. So I think you know that's the do-it-sort of this one. It's good, but it's still a brown ale. So I'm going to say say about it, it's just, I mean, and I think too, if you were starting out like craft beer, hadn't had a craft beer before, that'd be a good one just to try it, and you probably would like oh man, this is not bad at all, yep.
Speaker 1:I agree with you there. I think anybody could drink it, you know, and the fact that it's a brown ale that doesn't have some other flavor added in.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Because, you know, we've had some other ones where they have hazelnut or they've got you name it. It's probably been in there, Right, you know? And it's just to add more flavor, Right? So I give them credit because, like I said, it's a brown ale.
Speaker 2:Yeah, period Flat out.
Speaker 1:And it's got good flavor. So yeah, I give them credit. Give him credit, that's pretty good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's. I mean I'd definitely have another drink of that. Yeah, for sure. So.
Speaker 1:I see you've got a piece of paper laying there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so wait a minute.
Speaker 1:There's more?
Speaker 2:Oh no, so some of these are tied to the beers we're going to have. Okay, so it looks like we may have to wait another couple of beers here. All right, because I'm going to like come off the top. I like had to dig deep for these, did you? I had to like go back. I was, my computer was smoking, mr Google was like the way back machine was kicking in and the mice were like just spinning on the wheel back there. So these may trip you up?
Speaker 1:Oh, probably will, because a few of these breweries I know nothing about.
Speaker 2:And that's why I did the digging on breweries and how they came up with their name. Oh, okay, so Interesting. So I'm thinking like maybe one more I should be able to start popping in with some good stuff here All right, not a problem, we can do that.
Speaker 1:One thing I was going to bring up about Taster's Eve and something that is different this year that I don't it'll be interesting to see how they do it is they said that every hour they're going to be drawing for prizes. Now I don't know if that means at every different location, because, like tonight, ladies and gentlemen, what happens is you'll have a number of bars that are in it, but they usually have like a tap takeover, right? You know? Know where one brewery is, they're kind of featuring their products, and so you go. You know, one place might have, uh, let's just, I'm just going to say the uh, nuclearis.
Speaker 1:The next place may be featuring three floyds, you know so they'll have different beers there, so I don't know if it's going to be, you know, a. Is it going to be? The brewery was required to bring stuff to you know, so you can win a koozie or something like that, right? Or or is it just like you know what I'm saying? I don't know how they're going to do this drawing, so it should be interesting to see. You know.
Speaker 2:Hopefully it goes smooth and we win something, but I'm not because I think last year three sheeps that he had a lot of different. So every time you bought one of their beers or one of their because he had a barrel of beer.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And every time you bought one of them, you got a ticket for a chance.
Speaker 1:They drew for some stuff, yeah, and he had different swag, right you know. And so it's probably going to be similar to that, I would guess. But you never know, right you?
Speaker 2:never know, until you open the door and see what it says on the sign Exactly.
Speaker 1:So we'll see how that goes tonight. Well, I guess boy, this one here is the artwork on this can looks like it's something you would not really like. No, this is by Lupaline, if I'm correct. Yep, and it's Tropical Fun Pants. Yes, now that's your nickname, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yozo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it has good artwork on it. Well, just looking at it I'm thinking, boy, is this like an IPA or a sour? Because typically you're not, because that's pretty loud artwork.
Speaker 2:Untappd says it's called a fruit beer.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well, I'm thinking that's a cousin of a sour. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 2:So it says it's 5% ABV and 12 IBUs. This fun and refreshing fusion of beer and tropical fruit juices will leave you ready to get out and get your fun. Pants on Mango, pink, guava and passion fruit bring big fruit flavors with a balanced sweetness. Tropical Fun's Pants is the perfect anytime fun beer.
Speaker 1:Well, this should be interesting, you know. Is it a sour, or is it just fruit juice and beer? Right, you know what I mean, boy, take a whiff of that. That is mango. Oh my God, I guess, isn't that what? Yeah, it's mango. What? Yeah, it's mango. Boy, there's mango, there's mango, mango bango. Wow, a little bit ahead on it, not a whole lot and it's kind of the color's weird.
Speaker 2:It's not yellow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and again of an off, yeah, and again, I don't, I don't get. Is it the fruit juice that we're seeing? More, of you know?
Speaker 2:what I mean it, because it's a little cloudy, I can't see my fingers.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, it's definitely cloudy Well.
Speaker 2:All right, you ready, here we go, here we go.
Speaker 1:Are you going to try some?
Speaker 2:I was waiting to see what you did. I know I'm keeping my facial expressions to a minimum.
Speaker 1:I don't even If it's trying to be a sour it's definitely like a tart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's tart but not sour. But it's not sour. So it's definitely fruit juice and beer.
Speaker 1:But it's got. Yeah, it's different. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not. I think there's just too much fruit juice, too many things going on.
Speaker 1:They all are competing against each other. Yeah, because you said there was mango, pink guava and passion fruit. Okay, yeah, at least one of those maybe shouldn't have been in there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, or one of them should add a little bit more. Yeah, because I don't know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I've had mango I don't know what pink guava really tastes like or passion fruit. I can't say, oh yeah, it tastes like this. I don't, I've never.
Speaker 2:I mean, there's definitely three different fruit juices put together. Yeah, yeah. I mean it's not sour, but it's tart.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can tell that it's kind of a shirt tail relation to a sour Right, but it's just.
Speaker 2:It's different.
Speaker 1:I don't, and it's in a pint can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know. So you've got a lot of it. You're fully committed, your chips all under you.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, dude, I think I don't think this is one that I could. I couldn't drink that whole can. No, you'd have to share. Yes, I would gladly share. Share, like with this bad boy. I mean, it's just kind of a different flavor to it.
Speaker 2:I don't know it's hard to describe yeah. And I don't think if we put it in this kind of a glass that wouldn't help the flavor I don't think that would have made much of a difference, because they got a weird, I don't know which, almost like a. It says revival.
Speaker 1:Is that the style? I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's kind of like where it's, you know narrow at the bottom and then it flares out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I don't know if the Revival is a style of a glass. Maybe it is, I don't know. I've seen, you know, looking at the picture, you know what it is, you recognize it, but I don't know what the official name is. Yeah, but I don't think that's going to make, I think, a plastic glass is just fine.
Speaker 2:So what are you thinking?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do, man, how do you? It's definitely down towards the bottom there. I'll go with 2.3 on it. I think I do like it just a notch better than the first one just because that first one it had kind of just a different, weird taste, where this one's got a little different, with a slight hint of fruit on it. So it would not be one that I would pick normally.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I think I'm actually gonna even go. I'm gonna go at 2.2. I mean because I I don't mind fruit, but I think when you put too much fruit they all kind of compete against each other and you can't really decipher which one is which and it's like all competing. When you take that, that drink, they're just all competing in your mouth and you can't like I can't differentiate when one fruit than the other.
Speaker 1:The only thing that stands out is the mango aroma. Right, you know what I mean as far as the fruit go. But you're right, I think everything is. It's like it's competing so hard with each other that it kind of cancels each other out a little bit.
Speaker 2:They all want to get out, but they can't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it cancels the goodness out and it just kind of leaves kind of a weirdness, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh boy. Yeah, I don't know that. One is definitely a different kind of a beer, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah we're not saying it's a bad beer, but it's definitely not to us. It's not a normal good one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean it has flavor, yes, but oof, what that?
Speaker 1:flavor is.
Speaker 2:That is very, very different, Is debatable. Oh boy, yeah, I see that Luke Line is from Big Lake.
Speaker 1:Minnesota. Yep, I was going to say I've actually went to. They have a number of different tap rooms. Oh, because we went to one in Sioux Falls, south Dakota, and had basically one of every beer they had on tap. So I think we had like three flights and the bartender was not exactly happy about it Because he was kind of, you know, we don't, just because we have flights doesn't mean, honestly, you don't. So we decided you know what, we're going to get one of every beer you have, right? And they had like 18 untapped and there were six beers in a flight. It's like, well, just be careful when you're going to complain about it. We can make it.
Speaker 2:You are paying for it. It's not like it's free.
Speaker 1:Exactly, You're paying customers and it's not like there was a whole the place wasn't packed. Oh well, you know.
Speaker 2:So he had time on his hands.
Speaker 1:Exactly, he had more than enough time to help do that.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah, we finished that one Exactly.
Speaker 1:So I'm kind of looking forward to this next one. So the next one, and I'm going to look up here because I want to give you the. I found it for you, okay. Well, I was going to give you the definition of the style as well. So, let me, or is that on there too? Well, I think it looks like it probably is. Okay, yeah, I think. So. This one it's, uh, actually a keller beer, keller beer, yeah, and let me, I'm gonna look it up here just so I can give you the because it didn't say it on here when I.
Speaker 2:Is that what the k stands for? K of the star? Because it doesn't have that word on here anywhere.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know, because I found it. I'm going on untapped here so I can go to the Wheel of Beers badge because that has all the different styles, okay, and I will read you what it says. And there's two styles that go together as far as it's this or this, and it's Keller beer or Zwickle beer. And it says Keller beer is a type of German beer, an unfiltered lager, originating in Franconia. Keller beer contains more of its original brewing yeast held in suspension of its original brewing yeast held in suspension. As a result, it is distinctly cloudy and is described in German as natural, natural. It looks like natural rub, but I don't know. R with the U with the two dots over it, okay, okay, naturally cloudy is what it means.
Speaker 1:Keller beer is often served directly from the barrel in a beer garden, but may be bottled as well. The term Zwickle beer regionally Zwickle or Zwickle, I mean, so it's Z-W-I-C-K-E-L or Z-W-I-C-K-L, okay, so refers to a weaker or less full flavored variant of Keller beer. Originally it was used to refer to the small amount of beer taken by a brew master from the barrel with the aid of a special siphon called the zwickle han. It is less hoppy and typically not left to age as long as keller beer. So this one, and I believe it said, was keller beer.
Speaker 2:Well, one of the two so where did you find out that this was going to be a Keller beer?
Speaker 1:It's on untapped. When you look up that beer, it says that it's Keller beer.
Speaker 2:Really, Because when I looked on untapped that's what came up on your paper I didn't see that Keller beer or I would have did some more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know when I looked at it. Then I went to that badge.
Speaker 2:And then it brought it up that, hey, this is a keller beer, so we'll find out. Hopefully they didn't lie to me, right, because what I, what I found, so this is a collaboration shoot, I still got some of that last one. Oh, good luck on that crap. So the collab is between lakefront brewing and hofbrau munchen.
Speaker 2:Okay, from germany yep, so it's five percent abv and 16 IBUs, so we're still having to crack 20 IBUs. Yeah, so it says over 400 years of German brewing tradition meets Milwaukee's pioneering craft beer expertise and a transatlantic partnership, a collaboration lager with Hofbrau Muchen, with Lakefront, yep, vienna and Melonodian malts Give this rustic German-style lager a freshly toasted biscuit aroma, moderate sweetness and a medium-light body. You said you found this one at a local.
Speaker 1:This was at the beer shop, beer shop okay, so we'll see. Like I said, the only reason when I looked it up and I saw the style, it said Keller beer or Zwickle beer and I'm like I wonder if I've had that before. When I looked it up and I saw the style, it said Keller beer or Zwickle beer and I'm like I wonder if I've had that before.
Speaker 2:When I looked on that, badge, Because it doesn't even say anything about the collab collaboration.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know, that's weird. I guess we'll find out.
Speaker 2:We're going to taste it and find out. Yep, so hopefully. Well, it looks like a lager Yep. It? It sure does, doesn't it Got a head All right. So this was Brow Buddies. Brow Buddies Like Huff Brow Is that kind of Huff Brow? Yeah, does that have biscuits? I smell.
Speaker 1:I don't know. It's either that or fun pants. Stinky pants is still hanging around, not bad.
Speaker 2:I mean, it tastes just like two, almost like Marzahn's mixed together, doesn't it Kind of?
Speaker 1:I was going to say I almost would prefer just drinking the hot bra by itself.
Speaker 2:Right one or the other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but now if this is one of those two styles, okay, you know, because this would be like remember when I had that rot beer or whatever. That time I brought it.
Speaker 2:And that was. I think that was. It wasn't rotten, though, was it no? I think it was better than this one, but it wasn't the ground fish either, was it no?
Speaker 1:it wasn't ground fish, it wasn't fish beer, because this is Germany too, right?
Speaker 2:Yes, yep, we rolled the dice on that.
Speaker 1:Rolled the dice and luckily it's okay. I'm not exactly sure I'll see you on the next taste. I'm not exactly sure if I.
Speaker 2:I mean it's really I mean, you're spending all that time and effort to make a collaboration and it's like really it doesn't really stand out in any Not. Really. I mean, it's okay, I don't taste anything bad.
Speaker 1:No, but you know, like, when we did those, the German episodes, yeah, when we had the, I think there was, because this is along those styles, you know what I mean. It's a German style.
Speaker 2:Right styles, or you know what I mean. It's a german style, right, but I think those ones, some of those, had a better flavor, right. Well, you know, and I'm kind of interested. So you did a collab, right, yep, with a beer from germany and one for the united states. So how did you get the two beers together?
Speaker 1:because you didn't brew it. Yeah, I was gonna say or is it one of those that one of them had a recipe and then they tweaked it together and then made it, probably here in the states, guess.
Speaker 2:Right, you wouldn't want to make the beer in Germany and then try to ship it over.
Speaker 1:You wouldn't think so. Or just get like a 12-pack of top-round start pouring it into your tank.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that wouldn't make sense. Keep it going until you get a quit. I don't know, I mean it's. I see what you're saying, right.
Speaker 1:Because we don had worse, right.
Speaker 2:And I mean I was kind of of all these, I was kind of expecting this one to be like oh, wow, I mean both beers are good. I mean I thought maybe, oh, collaboration, I mean this would be like up there. Yep, I agree with you.
Speaker 1:It's kind of right, almost right in the middle. It's exactly what I was going to say, my score is going to be like a 2.5.
Speaker 2:Nothing bad nothing good, just a good beer.
Speaker 1:I'm doing 2.5 as well is exactly what I was going to say. It's average. I think it does have a slight hint of sweetness on the aftertaste, kind of like some of the other German beers do, but I don't know, I guess.
Speaker 2:I was expecting biscuits.
Speaker 1:No, I was actually expecting a little bit more. Right, you know what I mean. But I'm glad we tried it because it marks another thing off of my badge deal.
Speaker 2:So now we are ready for some questions.
Speaker 1:Oh, boy, okay.
Speaker 2:Even kind of like this coaster.
Speaker 1:I was hoping that you forgot about those.
Speaker 2:Ah, so Easiest question of the night. Okay, what is a mead?
Speaker 1:Mead. Basically, it's beer made out of honey. Is it correct, brewed with honey and water?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, and it's also sometimes referred to as the honey wine. Oh see, there you go. Did you notice that? Uh-huh, all right, so not what's in this can, but when was mead?
Speaker 1:invented Mead is one of the. I know it's one of like the oldest styles. Yep, because if you ever watch, like on TV, when they had Vikings the TV show, they were always drinking mead. Yes, but I'm trying to think, I'm going to say, do I just have to be within like a hundred years? I'll give you within a thousand years, oh, nice, nice, I'm going to say like 900. You were so close, buddy, you're only off by 8,000 years.
Speaker 2:What Seventh millennium before Christ? Oh my word.
Speaker 1:I couldn't even get there in 1,000 years.
Speaker 2:You're off by 8,000 years Can.
Speaker 1:I guess again.
Speaker 2:Consumption dates back to the 7th millennium before Christ in northern China.
Speaker 1:Really Wow.
Speaker 2:Evidence comes from pottery vessels containing traces of fermented honey, beverage like the precursor to modern mead Wow.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. I knew it was old but, like I said, because you always watch those shows and they're drinking mead on a big stein or like a wooden type glass, I had no idea it was that old.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, and then the last question is so this if you look at it, the style of mead I didn't know this, but it says it's methaglin, methaglin mead.
Speaker 1:Okay, methaglin.
Speaker 2:So what is methaglin mead?
Speaker 1:Honey. What is methaglin?
Speaker 2:mead Honeybeer or you want more specific, tad touch bit Wow geez, Because I'm just looking at what it says is in it. Yep Boy, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Is it that it has, like other fruit, in with it?
Speaker 2:You're close Spices and herbs. Oh, okay, Essentially it's a spiced mead.
Speaker 1:Okay, but what was the word Meth?
Speaker 2:M-E-T-H. Yep. What's that spelled?
Speaker 1:Meth. Oh great, great. I'm out. E-g-l-i-n Okay.
Speaker 2:Methaglen, Huh. So I thought that was pretty interesting. I was like yeah, yeah because there's different styles.
Speaker 1:I know there's different styles, but I didn't know what they mean.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. I was trying to help you out, buddy. Well, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Educate and entertain. There you go, so this one. So this is, I think, the first meet that we've had on the podcast, is it really? I believe. So Okay, and I air.
Speaker 2:Again, we've talked and I've got six of them. He's got a few, I think, doesn't he? I've got six of them at the house that we were going to do and then we never got to. But aren't they a little bit higher in ABV too? Sometimes Some of them are?
Speaker 1:Because one of them that I have is, I think it's pushing 19% Oof. And we've also had other ones, some of the ones that you see around a lot, a lot of times they're in like a bigger bottle, yes, and they're like. Some of them are almost like a clay pottery type bottle, heavy duty, like Vikings blood or whatever is one of them.
Speaker 2:You see, like these and they're 40 bucks a bottle. This is in a can yeah, 12 ounce can, 12 ounce can.
Speaker 1:So we're just dipping your toe in it A little bit more modest, because you probably haven't had a whole lot of meads, have you? No, maybe one or two, yeah, so all right. Well, this one is by B. Nectar is the brewery.
Speaker 2:No, meadery, the meadery. I apologize, yep.
Speaker 1:And this is Kill All the Golfers mead with black tea and lemon. Yes, and you remember the movie that that line came from.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Was it when he told Bill Murray's character that he wanted him to kill all the golfers and he goes? Well, excuse me, but if I kill all the golfers they'll lock me up and throw away the key. Not the golfers, the gophers, oh you go.
Speaker 2:It's been a long day. I had to hide out in my burrow for the better part of the day waiting for those damn golfers. But today was my lay. I finally did it. What did he do? I didn't even need a reason. I wonder if they'll receive total consciousness.
Speaker 1:That's all from Caddyshack, is it yeah?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's like a Cinderella story. Out of nowhere, a former dancing gopher becomes a killing champion. Oh geez, I had my special drink a half and half. While I got in touch with that force in the universe that makes things happen, all I had to do was stop thinking, let things happen and be the ball.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say a rip-off, but totally from that movie. So this color's a little like orangish, almost A little bit yeah.
Speaker 2:Does mead make it that color?
Speaker 1:Or that doesn't have an impact. I don't necessarily know if it's that or because this one had tea in it. Oh, you know, wasn't it black tea?
Speaker 2:Didn't we recently have one that had a funky taste?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we had chai tea. Yeah, remember.
Speaker 2:It was kind of eh, that didn't go too good. Ooh, that's honey, isn't it? You can smell?
Speaker 1:That you can smell.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of honey aroma.
Speaker 1:Ooh, you know it's not, as it's different from like a cider. Yes, you know what I mean. It's not quite like that. I think I taste a lot of lemon, you know, because there's lemon in there, the black tea. I think that might be some of that, because it does have a little bit of a different flavor to it. Oh boy, I don't know, because the ones I got, I've got them with fruit and stuff, but not really with a lot of lemon, or black tea, because it's almost like it's really sweet, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Is that there a sweetness?
Speaker 1:to it. There's a lot of sweetness to it.
Speaker 2:Is that the honey making it that sweet? I think so.
Speaker 1:I think that has a part in it.
Speaker 2:Because that other one said it had honey.
Speaker 1:but yeah, that one wasn't nearly as sweet.
Speaker 1:So it'd be interesting to find out what's different. How is it different? The process in making a mead compared to a beer? Right, you know, because I know it said it was honey and water. Yeah, you know, but I'm sure they, well, they still got yeast in it. You know, I don't know. Oof boy, I don't think it's quite that bad, but I don't necessarily know if I'd drink a whole lot of this one in particular. Yeah, could you finish a whole can, possibly, but it might take a little while.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's just. I think probably because I'm not used to meads, it's probably my number one downfall. I don't drink them that often, so I'm not a. I mean, you got to be ready for honey when you taste one of these, because that's going to slap you up around a little bit.
Speaker 1:There's usually more of a sweetness to it. Now, like I said, I have had that one that's called Viking Blood. I had a couple different styles of it, and that one is a high ABV, but it's definitely has it's got different. That's why I'm picking up a lot of lemon in that tea in there too, because that one doesn't taste like that you know it doesn't.
Speaker 1:No, it's not quite like this one. You know and this did it say what the ABV was Six percent. Six percent okay, because I do know. You know there's that other company out there Crafted, that does a lot of artisan meads, and I've got three or four of those, I think.
Speaker 2:And those are all like 6%.
Speaker 1:So they brew it, or whatever the term is for mead, and they do it that way. I'm sure some more people will buy it, because I'm sure a lot of people look at those other ones and go oh you know, that is high ABV, scare them away, scare them away. Yeah, so I don't know. It'll be interesting because, like I said, those other ones I got are different flavors, but they're not this one. Like I said, the lemon is what I'm tasting.
Speaker 2:And I wonder too, like what it said, that methaglin, you know, it was the flavor of spices and herbs. You know it was the flavor of spices and herbs. I mean, I don't know, is that lemon spice?
Speaker 1:Well, I think, like the black tea is what I would guess is more of a spice, is it? Maybe I'm just pulling at straws here with this one, yeah this would take me some getting used to, I think. Yeah. So score-wise boy, what would I put? I'm going to go with 2.4, just a little below average. Like I said, I've had more meads than you have, right? So I'm expecting our score here to be a little different.
Speaker 1:But, like I said this one, I'm getting a lot of lemon and I think that overpowers some of the honey.
Speaker 2:So my opinion yeah, I'm not sold on this. I mean, I can't compare it to many other meads because I haven't had that many. But boy, this is, I mean it. For me this is almost like a sour on the other side. That's not a mead, because it's just like so tart, it's like right in your mouth, like I'm gonna have to go with 2.0. Well, I, I just I'm difficulty finishing this cup and and trying to describe it in a way that somebody could understand it. But I don't know if I would. Maybe your other ones, other meads, maybe it would have a, you know. So it's not the black tea and lemon flavor. Maybe that would help me out a little bit. I think it would. I think you're right, just a little bit too, too powerful in them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with you Cause, like I said, the thing that stood out to me was that the lemon and that black tea is what I was getting, you know, and it was just like wow. So, yeah, the other ones I've had have all been either like sweet fruit you know kind of stuff, sweet fruit, you know like strawberry or stuff you know, I mean stuff that's more of a sweetness to it uh, where this one, like I said it definitely was.
Speaker 1:It was different, so I agree with you. Oh boy. Well, now we'll actually be able to compare it to a yeah, a cider. So did you have a question in between there?
Speaker 2:or should we? I do have a question, all right.
Speaker 1:Well, hit me with it so this style the cider you're talking or the okay?
Speaker 2:so it's actually. When I looked on unta, it was called a cider-traditional slash. I'm going to see if I can say this right apfelwein. Okay, maybe the German pronunciation.
Speaker 1:Could be.
Speaker 2:So what is an apfelwein? Well, there we go.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this is a cider Yep Apfelwein. Well, I'd say apple wine, but that would be way too easy. Hey, cider yep, apple wine well, I'd say apple wine, but that'd be way too easy. So, um, hey, that was a total, just it is. It's an apple, blatant, I think, because I think that was german.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it just says usually an alcohol content between four and a half to seven percent and a tart, sour taste. Huh, okay, and it's this. Apple wine is made from pressed apples, the juice or must?
Speaker 1:I didn't know, that was it must be a part of the process.
Speaker 2:Must be, yeah, is fermented with yeast to produce an alcoholic beverage, so it's apple wine is produced, mainly produced and consumed in Hesse, germany, particularly in Frankfurt, where it's a state beverage. That's kind of wild. I didn't know if you knew that.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:You got a lot closer than you did by missing by 8,000 years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say Much better guess, much better guess. So this one here that we have is Loon Juice. That's the name of the brewery I found out. Oh, okay.
Speaker 2:I didn't know what it is. And this is Honeycrisp. Yes, hard cider, yep, oh yeah, right here. Yeah, loon Juice Okay, it's got a loon on it. I was looking that up too. I'm like, no, this is the brewery.
Speaker 1:I'm like oh Well, kind of yes, since that other one is more you know, a little different flavor, but a little you know. I mean, look at the color difference.
Speaker 2:They said that Honeycrisp Apple is unfit for hard cider. They said it wouldn't work unless you added buckets of sweeteners. Okay, they said lots of stuff. Blah, blah, blah. We harnessed the power of the most coveted apple and concocted this bubbly beverage that finishes dry like a nice champagne.
Speaker 1:All hail the Honeycrisp Boy when you smell it, it smells like apple boy.
Speaker 2:That is like the clearest one we've had so far? Yeah, oh yeah, I think my urine sometimes is darker than that. I was going to say oh, there's apples. Boy, you can smell apple. There's apples. Yeah, wow, all right.
Speaker 1:It does have a little tartness to it, it's not like a regular some of the other apple ciders we've had. Yeah, because we've had some that are very sweet. Yes, this is not really sweet.
Speaker 2:This is not that.
Speaker 1:And actually one of the ciders we had that was extremely good, was that pumpkin one? Yeah, remember that that was the craziest thing ever, with a little touch of pumpkin, with it. Yeah, yeah, it had pumpkin mixed in with it and it was extremely good. So, yeah, this one, I mean I bet you it tastes real close to the Honeycrisp, right? You know now the whole blah blah blah thing. It probably could have used a little bit more sweetness.
Speaker 2:But it's definitely Boy.
Speaker 1:That aroma is Strong.
Speaker 2:You can smell apple boy. Yeah, this one, I think I could stomach at least the glass for that. Yeah, anyone that me, that was. Yeah, it's. Uh, I wish different yes, very much.
Speaker 1:so I kind of wish that the mead. If we'd had like a more of a traditional right, well, we will right, you know, I'll pick some up too, but because that one, like I said, I think that was a bad one to go off of as being the black tea and lemon. Yeah, yeah, that was kind of oof. Yeah, this is. I could probably drink, like you said, a glass or one can of this, and then I might start getting heartburn, you know, because it's just kind of got that.
Speaker 2:I don't even know how you want to describe that that, but you know, you know what I'm saying. Where you right that, uh, I suppose it's the sweetness or something they just kind of, but I mean, it's almost like a champagne where it says finish is dry, yep, like a champagne.
Speaker 1:I mean it's got that same kind of finish to it. Yeah, it really does, just not as bubbly as right.
Speaker 2:Basically, you know but I mean this is it's interesting, it's clear, and I mean this is like, for this is by far the clearest beer we've had tonight.
Speaker 1:That is just wild. I mean, we don't have many that are this clear, do we no?
Speaker 2:No, I mean when you sit it on a table you can't even tell if there's anything in it.
Speaker 1:Not really. Nope, that is wild, that is.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's not bad.
Speaker 1:No, it's not a bad thing, but definitely clear Apparently it's got a little tartness left in it.
Speaker 2:It's got a little bit of tartness, so what are you thinking? I'm in a corner.
Speaker 1:You don't like ties and if I go, I'm going to go with 2.1. I just think it it's still got that little bit of a Tartness to it and it's just kind of like. Other than that, it wasn't bad.
Speaker 2:The aroma was very good.
Speaker 1:I mean it smelled like an apple. Yeah, you know, but they could have used a little bit more. Yeah, they could have put a little.
Speaker 2:Maybe not buckets and buckets of sweeteners, but maybe just a bucket. Yeah, at least one bucket yeah, it helped. That might have I'm gonna go right same thing. 2.1. I mean it's it's not bad, but, like you said, it's little tart and then it is almost like a champagne where it is dry. So it's yeah, that dryness is yeah for sure. There it's different too, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's just kind of like huh, you know yes. Ooh, so you okay.
Speaker 2:So our next one, yes.
Speaker 1:It's from a local favorite. Ah, this one is from Central Waters. Yes, so and I have never heard of this one.
Speaker 2:You haven't. Nope, you should have.
Speaker 1:You should have heard of this before. I don't think so.
Speaker 2:So what is semantic satiation? Satiation, it is a condition.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so describe it.
Speaker 1:I didn't know it was a condition, really, yeah, so describe it. I didn't know it was a condition. I'm not the one to describe it. I don't know what is that condition.
Speaker 2:It's a psychological phenomenon in which repetition causes a word or phrase to temporarily lose meaning for the listener. Or, if you've seen Ted Lasso, when words become sounds.
Speaker 1:Hmm, I've never seen that. I've heard of it, that show, but I've never seen it Really yeah.
Speaker 2:I thought you knew that, nope, so this is named after.
Speaker 1:So what word are they saying?
Speaker 2:Or they just took the name of the condition, or they took the name of the condition and made it a beer Ha so this is a West Coast style India Pale, ale yes, from. Central Waters, oh yeah, central Waters from.
Speaker 1:Amherst, yep, yep. So definitely one of our favorite breweries Maybe not for IPAs, but yeah. So this is an 8%, or this is one of our.
Speaker 2:So we stepped it up a little bit Higher ones and 45 IBUs Okay, and 8% of this is one of our higher ones and 45 IBUs. Citra, simcoe and Mosaic are some of the most flavorful and unique hops, as well as some of the most widely used. The idea for this beer was to push unique flavor characteristics from hops we've used for years. This beer has a west coast base of Pilsen and pale malts, with a hint of Munich and carapels. I'm not sure what that is. Yeah, fermented with the Theoli Theolist. Theolizize the Thezolis.
Speaker 1:Fezolis, it's like pasta.
Speaker 2:Version of the west coast Chico Strain. Huh, have you ever heard? Where is the Chico Strain? I don't know. And woven intricately with citra, we already had that Yep, the Charlize Theron. West Coast yeast. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Where do they make these words?
Speaker 2:up. I don't know, this is tough. This yeast helps push a further depth of citrus and juicy tropical fruit character from the hot blend. Well, holy buckets.
Speaker 1:So all those big words, and it's going to maybe be fruity flavor, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm like confused on all the different things they're saying. I should have probably not even read it.
Speaker 1:I was going to say we're more confused now than before we started it. No, I do smell some hops. I smell hops Not super over the top but you know there's some there.
Speaker 2:Yes, but this is supposed to be a West Coast, so it's supposed to be a little hazy, right? Is that part of West Coast, right?
Speaker 1:The aroma is more of a hop flavor, I think to me than what the actual flavor is, but you can taste it.
Speaker 2:But it's like that very initial, yes, there's a little bit of hop, and then that's it.
Speaker 1:There's a little bit of hop and then that's it, and then it's like gone. The aroma had more of like a grapefruit-y, almost like a juicy.
Speaker 2:IPA, you know. That is I mean for 45 IBUs. I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's pretty crazy, I don't mind it.
Speaker 2:This is, I mean, for an IPA. I think I could, and I'm not an IPA guy. I think I could. I mean, my mouth is a little bit dry, but it's. I mean nothing. Nothing any worse than what that Honeycrisp would do, right, Yep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm, I guess I'm kind of surprised by it. I didn't know if it was going to be really strong or, you know, really over the top hoppy or anything like that. Right, and it's, it's drinkable. Yeah, so would I say, you know, for a new person maybe. Oh, this is your first IPA, you should try it.
Speaker 2:Probably not, Right, but if you've had a few of them, there's nothing wrong with it. So how does this beer tie into the definition of that phenomenon? When words become sounds, Because, that's when you drink it and you go Talk about Woodburton yeah, he had a multiple of bottles you wonder, yeah, if he ever was just like man. Really, that's all you remember me from was not my driving, but the fact you couldn't understand me when I was talking.
Speaker 1:Which you couldn't yeah not a very good interview guy. I guess I give Central Waters credit. It's not bad. I mean, they're trying Again. It wouldn't we love them for their barrel-age stuff. They're great and this is good. You know, score-wise I'm going like a 2.6. I think it's, you know, a little better than average. I could drink it. You could drink it. Yeah, I could drink a can. You know I'm not going to drink sit and pound like six, eight of them, but it's all right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm going to go with 2.3. Ooh, yeah, because you know I'm not a big IPA guy, even though this is a West Coast IPA. I don't know, there's just so many things going on with the write-up and I don't even know what some of these things mean well, yeah, that was just kind of crazy, I mean the chico strain. That sounds like a freaking and what.
Speaker 1:I'm guessing it's talking about the hot, because I'm reading what you had I'm thinking it's got to be the yeast. I mean, yeah, but it it makes, it doesn't make any sense. They could have dumbed it down a little bit for for us, and yeah, and, and said the same thing with less words, you know, and people would have been like, oh yeah, okay, I get it, you know, but like I agree 100 with you, dude, I, I don't understand what they're getting at.
Speaker 2:And then how does that tie into the name that nick gave it? Your guess is as good as mine that's usually they're tying them both together.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep, all right, so we're down to our last one. I got two more easy questions for you, okay, so the last one is the name of the brewery is.
Speaker 1:Hammer Heart Brewing Company. All right.
Speaker 2:Where did they first start brewing? In what city?
Speaker 1:In Minnesota. Is it the same one that they're currently in no? No, in what city in Minnesota Is it the same one that they're currently in? No? No, I didn't think so. It's an easy question too. It probably is Now. Where they're at now is up north. I've been to this where they're at now. I've been there To the brewery or just the city, the city. I've been to the city too, but that was years ago and they probably weren't there. Um, I, I'm figuring, I'll say Duluth.
Speaker 2:Close Leno Lakes.
Speaker 1:Oh, so they were they were still up there. They were up for their father and I was giving them credit for for. And they started there. In what year? Uh, we'll say 2001. Close, 2013.
Speaker 2:Oh geez, they're newer Yep. And then when did they move to their new place in Ely, Minnesota, 2020. Oh, this is the closest one 2021.
Speaker 1:Oh, I got close.
Speaker 2:All right, so now the last question of the night. Okay, what inspired Hammer Heart Brewing for their name?
Speaker 1:Well, the artwork on the can well the name of it is Flaming Longship. So I think a lot of their stuff is based on like Norse mythology or Viking type stuff that I've seen. I'm just going to say it was the nickname of a Viking dude.
Speaker 2:Close. You're close, though the brewery's name was chosen from the epic Viking metal album Hammerheart by the classic Swedish metal band Bathory Boy I wasn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was real close. I thought you knew that.
Speaker 2:No, I knew it was like a. Viking theme, but I didn't know that they just took it from a band, a Swedish metal band.
Speaker 1:That's kind of crazy. Huh Well, this is, like I said, Flaming Longship.
Speaker 2:It's a Scotch Ale we got a lot of big write-up down there. That's all they had. It's on the back of the can. It's bigger. Oh, four words. The one that jumped on Untapped.
Speaker 1:Untapped was mildly smoked scotch ale. That was the write-up On here. It has 7.7% ABV, so this is the highest one we have today, originally inspired by the Scottish Fire Festival. Up Helly A Okay. Up U-P. Helly H-E-L-L-Y. And then capital, a small a whatever. That means. Flaming Longship is a deeply malty scotch ale with a mild hint of three blended smoked malts which are added for depth, and then it gives the artist's name that did the artwork.
Speaker 2:Because some of the write-ups I was reading on all said it was smoky. Okay, so we'll find out, because we've had some good smoky and some bad smoky.
Speaker 1:Yes, We've had some that you're like whoa, like taking a bite right out of the Right out of the fire, chunk of half-burned wood.
Speaker 2:Well, this one is the darkest one.
Speaker 1:This is the darkest one which for a scotch. It's kind of dark for a scotch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is. Maybe it's the wee heavy part that's making it. It could be or the smoky part.
Speaker 1:There you go, oh, there's smoke. You can smell the smoke. My glass is on fire Now let's see, when you take a drink, if your teeth are stained from the soot or anything that's not too bad I don't mind that. Well, there's some, there's smoke, there's smoke, but it's not.
Speaker 2:We've had worse yeah, you know it kind of overtakes the scotch ale part of it a little bit, but, boy, I definitely get the malty, that malty flavor as well. That's not bad wow, I don't know if I could do a dozen of them well, they're pint cans, so you probably shouldn't do it, wow.
Speaker 2:So you're thinking it's a little bit. I don't know that smokiness. I mean it's not bad, but I mean that's like the only flavor I'm tasting. That's what's I mean. So if you get it dialed back maybe one or two notches, the Scotch Ale I mean we like Scotch Ales Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree with you. I see where you're coming from on that you definitely get. The predominant taste is kind of the smokiness of those malts, which, again, if it would have had a little bit less, maybe a little bit more of the scotch flavor you know the scotch ale flavor but I wouldn't turn it down. I think it's pretty good. But again, it's a pint can, so I'd have one. Wow, yeah, you know. Wow, yeah, this is so. I'm thinking our scores might be a little different on this one as well. Yeah, so what are you thinking?
Speaker 2:For sure I do not mind the Scotch. Scotch Ale. Yep, I'm an okay guy with that. Yeah, it's just sometimes that the smokiness, you know, the flavor or the burntness of the malts, just kind of for me it's just overpowering everything else and I'm trying to describe it's. I mean, I know they're going for a style, I know that's, and this might not be one of the, you know. You know, just like I think we said, if, if they had toned the smokiness, I don't, but I don't even know how, because, like you mentioned, they have different things they were combining together. So how do you still do that and still come up with Scotch Ale? I'm going to actually say a 2.0 and I'm going to change my Kill the Golfers to 1.9.
Speaker 1:I was going to say. When I saw it I was like wait a minute, you can't have a duplicate. I know this is going to say.
Speaker 2:when I saw it I was like wait a minute, you can't have a duplicate. I know.
Speaker 1:I had to kill the offer. This is going to be yeah, I'm giving this a 2.8. I like it Wow. But I totally understand where you're coming from, because the smokiness could be turned down a little bit. Because when it comes to like Scotch ales, you know like Warp Speed is a really good one from Lake Louis. When it comes to like Scotch ales, you know like Warp Speed is a really good one from Lake Louis. Right, this one. I think it could have stood a little more on its own.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, just on a normal flavor. And I do think that the smokiness of this could turn some people off, right, you know, especially if they've never had a Scotch ale before. I don't know, I do the artwork, I you know. Give it a bonus 10 to a point for that. It was cool, I don't mind, I could drink a can of it, but I wouldn't want another one Because I'm sure by the end of that can I'd be pretty tired of that smoky flavor.
Speaker 2:Right, because, like even now, my mouth is like drying out from the whatever style of malts I had that were burnt, yep, yep, I agree with you. That were burnt, yep, yep, I agree with you Taking the saliva right out of my mouth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and this was the darkest one we had. Yeah, you know. So this was definitely a very wide grouping of beers. Yes, because you know, from that cider to the smoky scotch ale I mean, and lots of things in between, yeah, it was definitely different than to have, you know, kind of, I think, our first official mead on the podcast.
Speaker 2:So Because I don't think we've seen, I mean I think we actually had to go to, we had to cross the river to find that one.
Speaker 1:Well, that one we did yeah.
Speaker 2:But we haven't seen many local ones.
Speaker 1:I've picked up a few the beer shop every so often they do get. Oh, do they local ones, I've seen? I've picked up a few the beer shot every so often they do oh yeah, they do get some.
Speaker 2:I get one, you know, and uh, so they they have. But you got to know their north when it's there.
Speaker 1:When it's there, yeah, it's not like they have a lot of them, uh, and, like I said, in all of all my time in like craft beer, I've only been to one meadery valparaiso, indiana. Oh, they have one and that's where I had actually picked up the one that I have. That's like 19% and that's extremely good. So it is different. You know, and I did a flight there and I will tell you this, if you do a flight of meads or a couple of them, like I might have done, you get a buzz going.
Speaker 2:What? 19%? They're a little higher. Because, this one was only 5% or 6%, 6%, so you probably wouldn't have got a big buzz on that, but you're still going to be.
Speaker 1:Oh, excuse me, jeez, good wood, there you go, all right. Well, hey for you, jim. What were the highlights?
Speaker 2:So, like you said, this was quite a variety pack of beers. I think the only thing in common was nothing was in common, Right? I think folks too. When you look at the picture, the colors are even different on every single can.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So the labels are different, the beers are different. We didn't have two that were the same, so that was good. I guess it's hard to try to rate them against each other just based on because they're so different, right? So I think individually. For me, I personally like that Newcastle Brown Ale, yep, yep. And I like the Brow Buddies, only because they're the ones that had the least amount of flavor. There you go. I don't know if I should say that, but I think they tasted the best to me. I mean, I don't think I'm going to get heartburn from either one of those. The other ones I'm a little suspect, but those two stood out for me. The rest were okay. I mean, if you look at our scores too, we're all between a, you know, 1.9 and 2.7. So these weren't our, these weren't any like stellar shining beers or like we're really gonna have another one of these yep they were all right in the middle of the pack yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for me, uh, mine was similar. I did have the flaming warship, or long ship, uh, as my top one, and I had the the uh newcastle brown as my second right uh. And then third was the Central Waters one. Actually, oh, I thought that was pretty decent. It kind of surprised me I was not sure when you were, especially when we couldn't pronounce half the words in the description, right, so that surprised me. And then the Brow Buddy. I liked the Brow Buddies as well, but it was just, I was expecting a little bit more. Yes, I guess, especially with Hofbrau being involved. I mean, that's a very well-named company. Yeah, that's a big-time name. Well, awesome. Well, I suppose We've got to start laying our clothes out, get ready for tomorrow morning.
Speaker 1:Getting ready to go to Taster's Eve.
Speaker 2:I'm getting ready for tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm getting primed ready for oh, so you're getting ready to do that? So yeah, ladies and gentlemen, if you're at Between the Bluffs, you have to. If you see us around, say hi, We'll be.
Speaker 2:I'm going to put a big sign on Mike Kick me here. Yeah, yeah, don't do that so if you see that, go ahead and do it and I'll give you a free beer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks a lot.
Speaker 2:Thanks a lot If you're, I'll fill up your glass for you.
Speaker 1:There you go. So yeah, I'm looking forward to it, because when I looked at who's going to be there, there's a few new ones that have never been there before. So it should be interesting just to see how they do stuff. Right, you know? And again, the wine thing, I'm not, I won't. I don't even know where the wine tent is. I probably won't go there. I will probably check out the meat and cheese, because you know, give them a little something to eat.
Speaker 2:I know before they were having very good Bloody Mary places that were mixing the meat and cheese in there?
Speaker 1:Yes, I saw they're there again.
Speaker 2:So that'll be something good to try.
Speaker 1:Yep, they make good stuff too. So and then again, we can. We always do just so, people, because anybody can buy it while supplies last, tickets last. We always do the VIP tickets. Simply, the best thing I like about it between the bluffs is we get in two hours early.
Speaker 1:So it gives us a chance to actually talk to the people in the booth Because most of the time it's not the brewer but it's a representative of their company and we get a chance to actually kind of ask them some questions and things like that. So we're hoping, knock on wood, that we'll have a little bit of time where we can maybe do a few little interviews just as far as what they're offering, kind of do a live reaction to some of the beers, yeah, and then once they let the general admission ticket people in. There's just so many people that you're usually six, eight people deep around every place, you know. So you got to fight your way through to get another beer. So we do our thing the first couple hours and then we pick and choose our battles to go back in and get another one. Yes, so awesome. Well, jim, thanks, you know, for agreeing to do this. It was a ragtag group of beers here, quite a selection, it was yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, after Between the Bluffs we'll get back into the mindset of let's do some sort of category or such again. Like I said, this was just kind of getting us ready for Between the Bluffs a little bit. We're trying all these different places and styles and hopefully, you know, I'm sure they'll have some, Because the last couple of years we've found at Between the Bluffs some 10 percenters or more Right, some barrel-aged ones.
Speaker 1:Some barrel-aged ones, and that's another reason I do like having VIP, because you get first crack at those, because a lot of times they're gone.
Speaker 2:Right, because they have like the small one-eighth keg of those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's it so awesome. Well, yeah, ladies and gentlemen, if you happen to be at Between the Bluffs, like I said, stop us say hi.
Speaker 2:Love to hear from you, jim thanks, and we'll give you a free beer too.
Speaker 1:There you go. Yeah, we'll say you go over there, that guy will beer. You see, we'll let you know if we saw one that you should try though, that's for sure, so awesome. Well, hey, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening and, like we always say, we hope your campfire is always warm and your beers are always cold.
Speaker 2:See ya, see ya, bye.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Northwoods Beer Guy podcast. If you have a question, a comment or a beer, you'd find us on Facebook, twitter and Instagram. If you're on untapped, look up Northwoods Beer Guy and send a friend request. Until next week, I hope all your campfires are warm and all your beer is cold.
