Friday Craft Brew Series - Bubbler, Hoptronix, La Seul X
Friday Craft Brew Series
Welcome back Steemians to Week 6 of the Friday Craft Brew Series! It is seriously hard to believe I have had this going for six weeks already. I hope it has helped some of you discover some amazing craft brews. This week I went with a few beers that I had recently picked up. There are three different styles this week so if you are a beer lover there should be something for everyone!
Now, Onto the Beers!
First up this week, Bubbler, a Hefeweiss made by New Glarus Brewing. This beer is a little piece of home for me being a Wisconsin boy. For those of you that have never heard of New Glarus, they are the biggest craft brewery in Wisconsin, selling their beers only inside the state. I have tried most beers from New Glarus, but somehow Bubbler escaped me until this week.
The beer upon pouring, had very little head to it. It was a gorgeous sunshine yellow color and semi cloudy. It just looks like a Hefeweiss. Smelling the beer confirms the Hefeweiss again. Immediately you smell wheat, like a cool version of the inside of a brewery, just delicious.
Tasting the beer confirms once again, yes, this is a Hefeweiss. The first taste is wheat. A strong wheat flavor. It's a crisp, refreshing flavor. As you continue tasting you get a slight citrus flavor. The citrus is indecipherable and doesn't last long as the ending of the beer brings you right back to where you started, more wheat and yeast. This beer is a solid Hefeweiss, something that you can enjoy all summer long.
Next up, Hoptronix by New Holland Brewing, a Double IPA coming in at 9.0%. I love my Double IPAs, I really do, but this one didn't live up to my expectations.
Upon pouring, the beer is a deep deep amber color with a reddish twinge. The beer is slightly opaque, but not as opaque as I have seen with other Doubles. There is a small head on the beer that is thick and foamy. The beer smelled strongly of hops, but that was about the only smell I could gather. The smell makes you salivate and want to take a sip immediately.
The first taste I got was overpoweringly bitter. Too bitter, and this is coming from someone that really likes Doubles. The strong hop flavor sits in the back of your mouth and on your tongue. The bitterness does go away and the tiniest citrus taste appears, but only for a second as the bitterness comes back and lasts. The flavor dries out the back of your throat and hangs there for a long time. This was a beer that I did not care for very much, the flavor just wasn't there outside of extreme bitterness.
Last beer for the week was by far my favorite of the bunch! Le Seul X by Une Annee. This is an American Wild Ale fermented with Passion Fruit, coming in at 6.5%. As those of you who have been following will already know, I have been on a sour beer kick lately, and I think I may have found my new favorite (although I feel like I say that with every new sour I try).
Upon pouring, there is the smallest amount of head that dissipates almost instantly. The beer is light golden yellow and opaque. It smells instantly sour, but fruity. It smells like freshly smashed rhubarb to me. The smell took me back to my parent's kitchen and my mom making rhubarb pie. It was uncanny how much like rhubarb the beer smelled to me. Apparently, that was the Passion Fruit, according to my wife.
The beer is tart upon tasting, but not overly sour. To me it tastes like freshly smashed rhubarb and hints of wheat. The tartness darts around your mouth, front to back and all along your gums. You can feel the taste. The after taste is still tart but doesn't last as long as you would expect and the tartness lessens as you drink it.
This is a great beer! It really does taste better the more you drink. It leaves a slight dryness in the back of your mouth, but not so dry that you need to switch to another beer. I would drink this beer over and over again.
Thanks again for reading everyone! I hope you enjoyed these beers as much as I did! If you have any questions about the beers listed here feel free to reach out.
Sour beer is literally the best.
I myself, am an IPA lover, but sour beer rocks
I am also an IPA lover, but I think with the weather being so hot lately I have been on a sour beer kick! I am a huge fan of them.
Realy nice beers you presnted to us here like it. My favorite one would also by the third one, because I don't like Hefeweizen and I prefer a golden Ale then an amber double API.
Yeah, even I wouldn't go for the Double IPA ever again, and I am a fan of Doubles. The third one was by far the best of the three. I have a Tripel from the same brewery that I'll be reviewing sometime next week. Really excited for it with how good this last one was!
The only brewery I've been inside of was funky Buddha and nothing about that was cool, but this last beer sounds interesting. You call it rhubarb/passion fruit sounds almost drinkable. You say it's sour which I don't quite grasp, but I'll let you know if I try it :)
I may need to figure out what area you area you are in. That way I can try to find some near you and give those a try. I'll be your tester!
You'll fly to Florida and test them all for me. You da best!! :) Look up Boca Raton Florida and start there :)
Boca Raton beers it is!
That last one does sound good, even for my general lack of taste for sour beers. Going to be watching for the next of these.
The last one is definitely not for everyone, but I think it would surprise even those that don't particularly care for sours. I already have some beers picked out for next week that I can't wait to get into!
Those beers seem to be delicious. Though I'm not a heavy drinker, I'd love to drink some! Very informative @mk40!.
May the force of Steem be with you!
Glad you enjoyed reading! If you can find the last one near you it is worth trying for sure, won't be for everyone, but it is too interesting to pass up.
The Le Seul sounds amazing! I also liked your description of the hoptronix purely because of the 9% haha
Hahah, the 9% was what attracted me to it, that and I do love Doubles...but it just didn't work for me. It was almost like they just decided to make as bitter a beer as possible without actually considering if it would taste good. I mean it's a beer, so if someone handed me one I'm drinking it, but ordering one myself, not going to happen again.
MEEP
It's been a long time since I have seen you my friend! Glad you made an apperance here!
meep
Love it.
meep
I believe that mindset will never fail you haha! I'm keeping a list of all of the beers that you have posted so far that I want to try, so I'll let you know when I try them
Meep! (Always a pleasure to see you my dog haha)
Awesome! I like this sentence lol
Hoptronix looks cool but based on your reviews I'm gon try and find Le Seul X.
Well, gotta see if they have any of these around me haha. But for sure hoping to find Le Seul X.
Cheers!
It may be a hard one to find. They distribute mostly in the midwest, and then oddly enough Philly...not sure there is much outside of that. If you are in the area though, it is worth picking up!
What a tasty series. Subbed
Outside of the Hoptronix this was a solid grouping. The review I put up yesterday was probably the best group of beers I have reviewed so far. None really made my top 10, but they were all real tasty!
This post received a 5.0% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @mk40! For more information, click here!
I think my favourite is the first cos you know I am a sucker for a good design and a wheat beer!
I had a feeling that would be your favorite. I can rarely get New Glarus not living in Wisconsin anymore, but everytime my folks come to visit I make sure they bring me a couple cases! You would like their other designs too, and definitely their flagship beer Spotted Cow!
Spotted cow that just sounds plain awesome!
You cant go wrong with a couple of cases of good beer!
If I could figure out how to add an image into my comment I would show you the label for spotted cow, but I am sure I will be doing a review on it at some point too.
The n I look forward to the review!
I usually create a new post on steemit and load the image there then cancel the post after copying the link! Phew, that sounds long winded!
Ahhh, that's a smart idea! Way easier than trying to figure out the html formatting! Unfortunately I just checked and don't have any Spotted Cow left here. They don't last long in my house Lol.
Its exactly the same with beer in my house!
Some sort of beer thief must be going around!