Tuesday Tasting: Baeren Monthly Set for September 2016

Baeren beers sell some of the best priced craft beers in Japan, make consistently good German Style beers plus they have a nice range of ciders as well. 

I signed up for a 3 month beer of the month club that will feature beers made to celebrate 500 years of the Rheinheitsgebot. Apparently, they do this every Fall starting in September and the theme changes each year.

September 2016 featured: 

On to the beers.

Wiesenbier 6%

I was expecting a straw gold but it poured a dark orange with a thick beige head. Unexpected but I think it suits Fall just fine. 

The aroma is super bready, cotton candy spice with cloves - pleasingly sweet aroma. Medium to full bodied, smooth mouthfeel and the taste is bready, spicy cloves and white pepper, tangy citrus and caramel fudge covered spongecake. I'd say this is on it's way to being halfway to dunkelweizen territory though ratebeer has it listed as an Oktoberfest/Marzen. Solid brew for Fall.

Having it again in a dimpled mug it is definitely a malt-forward Oktoberfest beer (apparently Wiesen is the field where Oktoberfest is held). Malty, sweet nutty caramel and some sharp hoppiness. It remains a nice Fall beer the second time around.

Now let's look at the two Alts which I've heard should be drunk side by side.

Baeren Herbst Alt 4.5%

A deep ruddy brown with a thin beige head. The aroma is of a sharp caramel with nuts. Medium to light bodied, it's got a bone dry finish. It goes down very smooth with a bitter caramel, brief hit of sweetness and a biting lightly bitter finish. Very crisp and well done.

Baeren Herbst Alt Celler 4.5%

A slightly lighter brown than the regular Herbst Alt with a thicker more resilient head of foam. A softer, nuttier caramel aroma greats you while the body is fuller (Med-full) and sweeter. The carbonation is a touch less aggressive and the flavor is nutty, roasty, caramel, chocolate with a herbal hop bite. The hops are definitely more pronounced in this version. 

On it's own I think I prefer the Herbst Alt but when you have them side by side it brings out an earthy bitter caramel in the Alt Celler and the semi-dry finish is quite quaffable making the Celler version go down a touch smoother and it seems a touch closer to my expectations when I think of Alt. Both are very solid brews.

Tuesday Tasting: Tête d'Allumette

Today's Tuesday Tasting will feature 3 brews from Quebec. Last July buddy's group, Boucan Sound System,  was hired to play a gig at the 3rd year Anniversary bash of Tete d'Allumette (Match Head) Brewery out in the wilds of Eastern Quebec in Kamouraska. Here's a clip of my buddy's music:

As I was going to visit him shortly after, I asked him to try and pick up some of their brews for me to try. They kindly hooked him up with three 1-liter growlers of:

Tête Carrée a 4% English Style Bitter that's in Ratebeer's Top 50 for the Style, Apache a 5.5% Smoked Ale 5.5% and Pioche a 5.5% Saison.

Cool looking 1L growlers

 And now on to the beers!

 Tête Carée

Bitter Anglaise Minerale 4.2% 28 IBU 

A cloudy matte gold with a crazy  aroma  of grains that honestly made me think it smells like the countryside when the malts are ripe for harvesting. 
The taste is malt forward, lightly nutty but with a herbaciously bitter edge. Cool stuff, drinks dead easy.

Apache 5.6% 39 IBU

A nice looking brown with reddish highlights. Cracking the growler released a huge aroma of citrus and apricot, in my mug I got more of a flavor profile that features malty caramel with a touch of smoke.

The taste is surprisingly smokey with bitter nutty chocolate and floral hops. Good. 

La Pioche Saison 6% 

We shared this bottle with the good folks at Beau's. 
A golden orange color with s filmy head and a bready Orange and wheat aroma. 

The taste is cloves, wheat, soda bread, a slight hit of acidity but quite smooth. Tasty stuff.

If you ever find yourself out in that part of rural Quebec pop in and  treat yourself to some solid suds.