Gose | Lost Nation Brewing | Morrisville, Vermont | Gose brewed with sea salt and coriander | 4.5% ABV

Served chilled from a 16 oz can and poured into a pint glass. Pours a hazy straw golden color with a thin white head that disappears almost immediately. Smell is acidic and vinegary, with hints of coriander. Carbonation is light with a light body. Taste is very tart, with a cracker-malt backbone and hints of coriander. The beer finishes very crisp and clean, with only a little bit of saltiness.

I was blown away by this beer this first time I had it at Upright Brew House. I found a four pack at Carmine Street, and purchased it immediately. It was less carbonated than I remember, but I still enjoyed it. This would be the perfect beer for someone who has never had a Gose before to ease into the style.

95/100
$3/can
89/100 Beer Advocate

Vanilla Sky | Mikkeller ApS | Copenhagen, Denmark | American IPA brewed with Vanilla Beans | 7% ABV

Served chilled from a 12 oz bottle and poured into a pint glass. Pours a golden orange color with a two finger white foam head. Smells are of orange and vanilla. Carbonation is moderate with a medium body. Taste is sweet and of vanilla. The citrusy hops complement the vanilla beans well, and I get hints of peach, mango and grapefruit. The malt is very faint, as the vanilla and citrus overpower it. Aftertaste is bitter and lingering, with a bit of vanilla on the palate.

Overall a pretty solid beer. Anytime I see Mikkeller I buy it immediately. This one was no exception. I had never had an IPA with vanilla before, and think these guys did it the right way.

89/100
Not enough ratings Beer Advocate

Rainbow Dome | Dry Hopped Wild Ale brewed with Apricots and conditioned on oak | Grimm Artisanal Ales | Brooklyn, NY | American Wild Ale | 5.00% ABV

Served chilled from a  22 oz bottle (purchased at Carmine Street Beers) and poured into a snifter. Pours a very hazy golden color with an off-white foam head. Smell is heavy on apricot, with hints of orange, grapefruit and other juices. Carbonation is moderate to high with a medium body. Taste is sweet and zesty. This reminds me of the Super Going Gose from the same brewery, especially with the crispness for a sour that is so hard to do. I get a nice amount of apricot flavor complementing the funk that is characterized by the style. Aftertaste is clean, with lingering apricot and orange juice flavors.

Wow this stuff was good. I am sold that Grimm is making some of the best sour beers in the country. If you ever have the opportunity to buy one of them, please do so. Carmine Street has been carrying a few varieties, and I have seen this exact one on tap at Judy & Punch in Astoria as well as Broadway Dive, Alewife, One Mile House, Torst and more. 

97/100
Not enough ratings beer advocate to qualify for score
$10/22 oz bomber

Erdinger Weissbier | Erdinger Weissbrau | Erding, Germany | Hefeweizen | 5.6% ABV

Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottle and poured into a German pint glass. Pours a deep yellow to straw golden color with a huge white foam head. I poured it half way slowly and it foamed up and over (contrary to this beautiful picture it took FOREVER to pour). Smell is biscuity and of lemon and banana. Carbonation is high with a medium to light body. Taste is sweet. The malt backbone is very light, and actually get much better throughout the taste. I wasn't a huge fan at the start but grew to really enjoy it towards the end. Finishes crips and clean.

81/100
74/100 Beer Advocate
$3/pint

Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel | Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu | Dunkelweizen | Munchen, Germany | 5.5% ABV

Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottle and poured into a Franziskaner  glass. Pours a dark brown color with a slight red hue and a four finger off white foam head. Smell is of caramel and banana. Carbonation is moderate with a medium body. Taste is sweet and malty, with a sweet bready backbone. Some dark fruits are there, but nothing overpowering. Aftertaste is pretty crisp and clean.

To be honest, I really struggled to write anything with this review. It doesn't seem to be too complex of a beer, and is just a solid Dunkel. Not world class by any means, but a good solid German beer.

85/100
83/100 Beer Advocate
$3/pint

Julius Echter Hefe-Weissbier Hell | Würzburger Hofbräu AG | Hefeweizen | Würzburg, Germany | 5.3% ABV

Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottle and poured into my German beer glass. Pours a clouded golden color with a frothy four finger white foam head. Smell is of lemon, orange, banana, clove, wheat, yeast and coriander. Carbonation is moderate with a  medium body. Taste is yeasty with banana and a biscuity malt as the strong flavors. Finishes crisp and clean with little lingering bitterness.

I will admit that I am not a big fan of Hefeweizen beers. Had this not been my German beer week I would never have purchased it. But how can you have a German beer week without a Hefeweizen? I'm glad I had the chance to try this one, as it was a complex brew that was well balanced. However, I still don't care much for the style, and likely will not be buying this one again. For the hefeweizen fan, though, I am sure this would be a hit!


Given my disliking of the style, I am going to refrain from my own personal score.


92/100 Beer Advocate 
$3/pint

Schneider Weisse Tap 5 Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weiss | Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH | Weizenbock | Kelheim, Germany | 8.2% ABV

German beer week continues! This one is actually a collaboration between the famous Schneider Weiss and the Brooklyn Brewery. The bottle reads:

Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfenweisse is a collaboration between brewmasters Hans-Peter Drexler of the Schneider Weissbier Brewery and Garrett Oliver of The Brooklyn Brewery. Garret and Hans-Peter have long admired each other's beers. Now together they bring you a new sensation, a pale weissbock robustly dry-hopped with the Hallertauer Saphir variety grown in the fields near the Schneider brewery. Hoppy, zesty and supremely refreshing, Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfenweisse is a delicious blend of Bavarian craftsmanship and American ingenuity.


Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottle and poured into my trusty Franziskaner Weissbeir glass (as well as my mini-Schneider Weisse glass!) Pours a very hazy golden orange color with a three finger white foam head. There is a ton of sediment in the glass, which creates a snow globe like appearance. The smell is similar to a Belgian Tripel or Strong Ale, and has aromas of banana, cloves, pepper, melon and more. Carbonation is moderate with a medium to full body. Taste is sweet and malty, with hints of banana, cloves, grass and alcohol. The bitterness and sweetness complement each other well, and finishes crisp with a lingering bitterness.

Overall a very nice beer. I had no idea when I bought this one that it was a collaboration with Brooklyn. I've had Tap 6 and Tap 7 before and have thoroughly enjoyed both, so the opportunity to get Tap 5 was a no brainer. Highly recommended.

94/100
91/100 Beer Advocate
$6/pint

Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel | Klosterbrauerei Andechs | Andechs, Germany | Doppelbock | 7.1% ABV

Two days, two German beer reviews! And that's not all-I have several more great German beer reviews coming up this week. With Oktoberfest on the horizon, I want to make sure all of you are well educated to pick some great brews to impress your friends.

Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottle and poured into a Franziskaner Weissbier glass. Pours a reddish brown color with a three and a half finger tan/off white head (this review sounds a lot like yesterday right). Smell is of sweet, bready caramel malt. There are dark fruits evident, as well as hints of toffee. It has a similar smell, (minus the alcohol) to Bourbon County Barleywine. Carbonation is moderate with a medium-heavy body. Taste is sweet, with figs, raisins, plums, dark cherry, coffee and toffee evident. There is a slight smokiness to it as well, though is nothing close to yesterday's review. Bitterness is not overpowering, but lingers.

Wow. This beer was so well balanced, and very complex. It amazes me how creative the German beers are even with the purity laws. This goes to show what difference roasting the barley does to the flavoring of the beer, as well as how hop characteristics can create a much different tasting experience. In the United States, we do so many funky things to make creative beer. Nothing wrong with that at all-I'll try any beer no matter how funky. If you have never tried a true German creation, I urge you to go down to your local bottle shop and take a look at a few different ones. Halfway through this pint, I don't miss my Imperial Biscotti, or Bourbon County, or Habanero IPA. Nope. A pint of fine German lager is great in my book.

98/100
96/100 Beer Advocate
$5/pint

Note from the author: Many have asked about my ratings again in light of a lot of high reviews. I review based upon the style of beer, as well as my overall liking. In terms of Doppelbocks, I can honestly say that this is the best one I have ever had. 

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Urbock | Brauerei Heller-Trum / Schlenkerla | Bamberg, Germany | Rauchbier | 6.6% ABV

Now that the hottest week of the year has come and gone, I am really ready for FALL. The leaves changing colors, NFL back on TV (Free Brady) and pumpkin beers on every shelf. Yet fall also means Oktoberfest, which means I'll be craving some good German brews. I was over at my local grocery store this past week and came across this bottle. I had been craving a good Rauchbier since trying Fire in the Ham by Jack's Abby back in July, and figured I'd check this out, especially since Rauchbier's are so difficult to come by in the States. At $5/pint, this was something I was willing to sample.

Served chilled from a 16.9 oz bottle and poured into a Franziskaner Weissbier glass. Pours a deep brown color with a reddish tint and a three finger tan foam head. Smell is smokey and burnt almost, and there are hints of smoked meats. Carbonation is moderate to light with a medium body. The malt flavor is dark and roasty, with the beech wood adding a tremendous amount of flavors. There is a slight sweetness as well with a medium bitterness on the back end.

This is a true traditional German style beer. The German purity laws only allowed water, yeast, hops and barley to be used in the creation of beer, and this beer certainly follows that. Rauchbiers get their smokey and campfire like flavors from smoking the barley over beech wood before being used in the wort. It is definitely an acquired taste but I would highly recommend checking one out this fall. I went over and picked up another bottle almost immediately!

94/100
93/100 Beer Advocate 
$5/pint

4Beans| Sixpoint Brewery | Baltic Porter/Imperial Stout | Brooklyn, NY | 10.00% ABV

Served chilled from a 12 oz can and poured into a Sixpoint glass! Pours a deep black color with a frothy tan foam head that quickly dissipates. Smells are of bitter, dark chocolate, espresso roast, a hint of vanilla, and just a bit of booze. Carbonation is not light, but medium light. However, the body is also medium light. I would have expected for an Imperial Stout/Baltic Porter of 10% to have had a much fuller body. Taste is heavily roasted dark malts. Coffee is definitely evident, as is vanilla and oak. The alcohol is extremely well masked, and is really only evident by breathing in deeply with a mouthful. The bitter chocolate is more on the aftertaste, and continues to complement the coffee flavoring. The beer continues to add complexity as it warms, but doesn't become less drinkable. If anything, it becomes more.

I was very pleased by this selection from Sixpoint, as was my co-taster Jared. We had very similar interpretations of the beer, and both came away impressed. I personally always try to buy the new releases from the brewery, and was a big fan of last year's 3Beans. I was a bigger fan of this one, and am anxiously awaiting the release of 5Beans.

94/100
94/100 Beer Advocate
$4/12 oz can