We broke the news a day or two ago on mybeerbuzz, but here’s the official word from Weyerbacher:
Riserva Release November 12, at a special time at the brewery, 5 to 7 pm. Also released that night will be Verboten (now year-round), the latest batch of Tiny and November, our latest one-off which is a Brown Imperial ale brewed with coffee. Free samples of these 4 beers only will be available that night and the store will be open for purchases, of course. If you can’t make it then, come by the next day from Noon to 3 and check it out.
This year Riserva is very sour, with a note of cider vinegar mixing with a significant berry palate. Carbonation is very low and won’t increase. Beer writer Lew Bryson was amazed at the depth and complexity of this year’s batch. We’re pretty excited about this! Hope to see you on the 12th!
Head Brewer Chris Wilson:
I hope y’all made it to the Lehigh Valley Brewfest last month. We went through over 2 barrels of beer including the World Premiere of "Mike", which seemed to go over well. We had a great crowd and great October weather. I like the event out at Hugh Moore Park here in Easton, but I heard a rumor that the fest will move back downtown next year if everything works out. That sounds pretty cool too! It was a great success for Weyerbacher and for Equilibrium. You can find out more about this great organization at http://www.equi-librium.org. See ya there next year.
Right now we are brewin’ us up a nice Imperial Breakfast Brown Ale. It’s going to be a lovely malty brew made with locally roasted coffee, five different malts and a dose of oats to make sure you get a good start. It will be the latest in the Brewer's Select Series and will be called "November". Given its name we had to make sure that it was released in NOVEMBER. This explains the quick release right on the heels of "Mike". The base beer is in the fermenter and is tasting great right now. We have not added the coffee though, as we plan on utilizing a process called cold steeping to add the coffee flavor. This process is the preferred method in the making of iced coffee because it does not extract as much of the harsh, astringent bitterness from the coffee that you get from traditionally brewed versions. We hope this smooth coffee flavor will be complementary to the rich roasty, caramel and toffee flavors in the beer rather than overpower it. Get ready for a holiday treat.
We are also working hard to keep everything else brewed. We are well on our way in making this year's Winter Ale and this year's QUAD. Oh yeah, and we have to keep up with Hops Infusion, Double Simcoe, Merry Monks, Blithering Idiot and Old Heathen… and Verboten… and can you believe that we already have Fireside, Heresy and Insanity on the brain? It will only be another week or two before we have to start brewing those. I think it's time for a vacation. Luckily we will be getting a new fermenter in the next week or two so that we can keep up.
Riserva sounds nasty.
ReplyDeleteI wish these breweries would do us all a favor and call the beer what it is. I cant keep up, nor do i want to, with all these names. I'd be seriously disappointed ordering a riserva thinking it was something more accessilbe like a porter, ipa or pa.
verboten... tiny... I dont know what those are and zoned out. Only so much time in the day, I guess.
Anon...if you mean nasty-good you'd be dead on. We literally enjoyed a case of it last year and are stil cellaring a few special bottles for later on. It's an amazing beer. As far as names, there's a lot of creativity that goes into naming and marketing beers and it's actually one of the aspects of beer I enjoy. There are of couse many brewers that just call their beers Porter, Stout...
ReplyDeleteWith so many malts, hops, yeasts, ingredient and techniques out there today, it's really hard to simply fit a beer into a style. Luckily there's an internet and google out there to research any name/style.
Do try a Riserva even if you don't like the name.
Cider, sour, berry. Nah, no thanks. Glad you enjoyed it though.
ReplyDeleteyeah, guess my point of "only so much time in the day" was that I and many others are not going to go that far to research names when we are in a busy beer bar trying to get a beer on a friday night.
To each his/her own I guess. I really enjoy the raspberry and I do enjoy sour ales. I will admit the sour styles are not for everyone for sure. True anon....hopefully most good beer bars provide a good description on their beer menu.
ReplyDeleteHaha-- mine doesnt even HAVE a beer menu! Despite repeated clamorings from myself and other patrons. Trying to read 40 taps turned sideways can be a challenge!
ReplyDeleteOuch...sorry to hear it anon. When in doubt...dive in a try it OR most good beer bars will give you a taste of one or two to try before you buy. With 40 handles they probably can't keep up...suggest they buy a big chalkboard. I will tell you anon...no matter how many beer styles and varietes you try...even I still come across a beer I've never heard of and MANY I've never hard. They're brewing them faster than I can sample them.
ReplyDeleteOR better yet...suggest they join mybeerbuzz.com. Then you can get their tap list on-line!
ReplyDeletevery good suggestion
ReplyDeleteThanks
ReplyDelete