48 replies to this topic

[Big Nake]

Just got back from a grueling trip.  Drove to St. Louis on Sunday and stopped to watch the Cubs-Cards game and after the game drove another 2 hours and crashed overnight.  Monday drove from Rolla, MO to Austin, TX.  Moved my daughter into her new place in 100° heat Tuesday and then helped assemble a bunch of stuff yesterday, then flew home into Lollapalooza madness at the airport.  I had a lot of local Austin beer and now I'll start on Drez's beers.    Also, I know I've had this beer and I also know the story of the brewer and I believe I once ordered an extract clone kit of this particular beer long ago... but how do you pronounce the name?

 

[Bklmt2000]

I recall reading about Celis years ago, and the article/book i read said it was pronounced as "sell-us".

[Big Nake]

I recall reading about Celis years ago, and the article/book i read said it was pronounced as "sell-us".

I figured it was "sell-us" or "chell-us" but wasn't sure.  It's a "bock" but the label says it's a Belgian Bock (because he was Belgian) and had Saaz, Willamette and Cascade hops which is really weird but it's a very nice, mild and malty beer.  No Belgian character of any kind.  Thank Jeebus.  

[positiveContact]

have you made any video beer reviews ken?  b/c I think now is the time to start if you wanted to

[Big Nake]

No, I haven't.  I have clicked on a few beer reviews and see that they're 9 minutes long, 15 minutes long and I wince because I can't imagine a review taking that long and I also can't imagine spending that much time watching it.  I've also seen people do reviews where the audio is bad or there are vacuum cleaners running in the background or kids screaming, etc.  Maybe I'm just watching the wrong ones.  I'd like to see short, to-the-point, decent lighting, etc.  Maybe I'll try it and enlist someone to be my "set designer". 

[positiveContact]

No, I haven't.  I have clicked on a few beer reviews and see that they're 9 minutes long, 15 minutes long and I wince because I can't imagine a review taking that long and I also can't imagine spending that much time watching it.  I've also seen people do reviews where the audio is bad or there are vacuum cleaners running in the background or kids screaming, etc.  Maybe I'm just watching the wrong ones.  I'd like to see short, to-the-point, decent lighting, etc.  Maybe I'll try it and enlist someone to be my "set designer". 

 

I think you film the whole thing and then edit it down to 1-2 mins.  or not! 

 

but really I'll be interested to hear what you think of some of these beers.  the NEIPAs since they are quite different from what you've typically had and the lagers just to see how you think they stack up to your more local options.

[Big Nake]

I'll post pics of the beers poured into glasses and give my impressions of them.  Seems like a good way to cover their character.  

 

I remember one review where the guy was just using his phone and he had no clue what he was doing.  Half the time the camera was not pointed at him or the glass of beer.  Other times he thought he was getting a nice shot of the beer but it was out of focus or only partially on the glass... just really hard to watch.  I think that if you're going to go through the trouble, at least make it nice to watch.  

[positiveContact]

I'll post pics of the beers poured into glasses and give my impressions of them.  Seems like a good way to cover their character.  

 

I remember one review where the guy was just using his phone and he had no clue what he was doing.  Half the time the camera was not pointed at him or the glass of beer.  Other times he thought he was getting a nice shot of the beer but it was out of focus or only partially on the glass... just really hard to watch.  I think that if you're going to go through the trouble, at least make it nice to watch.  

 

it can def be done wrong and often is.  for once it would be nice to have one of us knowledgeable folk do the review

[Big Nake]

I'm brewing right now and there is a Cubs game coming up at 3:05 this afternoon and I plan to be sitting in the backyard listening to it.  I'm going to start on Drez's beers this afternoon and I think I'll begin with the mass-produced Mexican lager and then work my way up to darker and/or hoppier.  I'll take some pics as well.

[Big Nake]

Okay, here we go.  Beer number 1 is the Wormtown Mass Produced, Mexican-style lager.  Slightly cloudy, well-balanced with a touch of metallic hops and if I had to guess I might say that there could be some Sterling in this beer.  The label says that this beer is dry-hopped which tells you that American breweries have a hard time restraining themselves on the hops regardless of style.  There is some information on the back of the label about Mexican styles stemming from Vienna Lagers but made with locally-available ingredients.  A solid beer.  The label is also a sticker on this one.  I didn't think it was at first but then I started to peel it off.
 

[Big Nake]

Next up, Jack's Abby House Lager, also labeled as "golden lager" and also as a "Helles Landbier... unfiltered, unpasteurized". 18 IBUs. This one was a little sweet and flowery in the finish but also a solid beer. As soon as I saw "landbier", I expected "cloudy" but it wasn't all that cloudy. Very attractive can and an overall nice beer.

[HVB]

Shipping must have impacted those... They were both clear for me. I really enjoyed both, house lager is a house staple here.

[Big Nake]

Beer number 3... The Hera Pils. This is a Czech style lager with Saaz hops and very nice. The can shows 5.7% so it's a bit higher than the others up to this point. A very nice beer.

[Big Nake]

Beer 4, the Jack's Abby Vienna Style Saxony Kellerbier. That's a lot of descriptive words. Saxony implies German, Vienna implies... well, Vienna and Kellerbier implies cloudy. This was the beer I was looking forward to the most. It was delicious. I always wonder if the cloudiness gets in the way of the flavor. It seems mildly 'muddy' but I don't know if that's yeast or what. Really nice beer all the way around.

[Big Nake]

Last beer of the day... beer 5: The Goody Two Shoes Kolsch style beer. This may have been the clearest of the beers. Well made with the expected fruity character that you might get from a kolsch yeast. I seemed to get slightly more fruit than I might expect but this is an American kolsch, not a German kolsch. Crisp, clean, well-made and nice on a 85° day in August.

[BarelyBrews]

Those beers look awesome ken. 

[HVB]

Goody does your a fruity German hop in the hop back. Still one of the best examples of kolsch around. You scared of the hoppy beers?

[Big Nake]

So what's left... the blonde ale and the Julius, right? I'll have those this afternoon. Also, you mentioned the travel might have done something to clarity but these beers have been in my bar fridge which is set pretty cold. Depending on where you put something in this fridge, I have seen some beers get mildly slushy. I keep adjusting it but either someone else is futzing with it or the thermostat is failing. I could see some of these beers being crystal clear if they were 8-10° warmer. It was hot yesterday too so I poured these into a chilled glass each time too. Oh... I used your big, wide-mouth flask yesterday during my brew session too. Yesterday was DREZ day here at Mayfair Court Brewhouse.

[HVB]

I find sometime shipping when warm can make beer hazy. Glad everything is being used and enjoyed.

[Big Nake]

I find sometime shipping when warm can make beer hazy. Glad everything is being used and enjoyed.

Cheers my friend and thank you again.  Can I assume that these are beers that I would ordinarily have no access to?  They're all MA beers, right?