Quick recap:
• Lager competition (second attempt) taking place in October 2020
• 6 people attended
• 8 beers sampled
Our first post-lockdown meeting took place at our birthplace Foeders. At first sight, everything looked the same but after closer examination you could see that several adjustments had been made to ensure proper safety of all visitors.
The biggest change was the beer menu. In the past at least ¼ of the taps would be dedicated to freshly hopped beers. This time there were only a few hoppy beers on the menu while triples, sours and other hybrids were well represented.
Enrique and Rodrigo were among the first. Soon after Tom, Jorge, Jim and Sascha joined. 6 in total and we officially began the meeting around 9 pm.
Catching up was the main theme of the night and we all exchanged stories of how the pandemic had affected our lives, and in some cases our livelihood.
We also discussed this year’s competition and the table would like to re-do the lager competition in October 2020. There is high interest in this competition, given its complexity and when done right, the reward can be tremendous.
This night we sampled quite a few kveik brews along with some other surprising creations.
In chronological order, here are the beers that we tasted:
Beer 1: Lime & Vanilla Pale ale
Brewer: Enrique
While still good, the vanilla flavor had vanished from the beer. Enrique prepared two tinctures of vodka with lime zest and the other with vanilla. Having tasted this beer when fresh, I noticed a diminished vanilla flavour.
Beer 2: Marzen Pils (from the lager competition)
Brewer: Jorge and Rodrigo
This beer was ruby red and crystal clear, with a delicious malty body and honey flavor. It was well received by the entire table. Interesting take is that this lager was fermented at “shed temperatures”, but it tasted very clean and delicious.
Beer 3: Kveik (sugar beer)
Brewer: Jim
During the mash, Jim had massively undershot his target which resulted in a 40% efficiency. As any brewer would do, Jim collected all the sugar in his house and dumped into his wort. The result was a super clean (almost Belgian) tasting beer that is perfect for the summer. Jim’s personal challenge is re-creating this amazing beer.
Beer 4: Kveik Rye
Brewer: Sascha
Sascha brought a beer that had the unmistakable kveik essence and packed some delicious spicy rye malt flavor. This beer was fermented at 26 degrees and it was very clean.
Beer 5: Pale ale kveik
Brewer: Jim
Jim’s second kveik beer was a double mashed pale ale, and as a result had a fuller and meltier body. But as with all kveik – it was clean and delicious.
Beer 6: Duvel triple hop 2013 clone
Brewer: Sascha
Sascha had brewed this beer for a friends wedding that has now been delayed until 2021. Which is not a bad thing perse, because he is now has an amazing stash of this delicious Duvel clone. It was crisp, clear and very very good. We almost wanted to do a pairing but with so many beers and so little people we didn’t. Very good attempt!
Beer 7: Stout (light 9%)
Brewer: Enrique
This stout was a true assassin. It tasted and drank like a 5% porter but was in fact a 9% killer. The body was light, crushable and with the classic coffee and caramel flavours. Yet there was no alcohol burn due to the 120 min boil. Good tip for anyone attempting a strong stout in the future!
Beer 8: Kveik Amarillo
Brewer: Jorge and Rodrigo
The last beer of the night was a Amarillo hopped kveik beer. As with the previously sampled kveik beer it was tasty, clean and a great beer given its production speed.
Final thoughts
It was great to meet up with everyone and see the crew at foeders again. Our favourite home was full with visitors and the friendly staff was super helpful as usual.
Man! I missed this place and I missed talking about beer with you fellow beer nerds! See you again next month!
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