Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/724527
www.beveragedynamics.com September/October 2016• Beverage Dynamics 47 Matt Bardill Total Wine & More Potomac, MD David Bevens Sr. Co-owner Cork & Stogie 1218 Duval St Key West Fl 33040 Jeremy Bigelow Hy-Vee Bloomington, IL Nathan Burcham Hobart, IN James Campbell Bay Ridge Wine and Spirits Annapolis, MD Adam Carlson Gardina's Wine Bar & Café Oshkosh, WI Christopher Ciskey Yankee Wine Newtown, CT Jon Davidson Midwest Manager St. Killian Importing Zachariah Gaddis Staples Corner Liquors Crofton, MD Nick Guy Holiday Wine Cellars Escondido, CA Travis Harvey Young's Market Waipahu, HI John Hutton Cordially Yours Depew, NY Scott Marshall West End Outdoors Athens, AL Lisa Morrison Belmont Station Portland, OR Ed Mulvihill Peco's Liquors Wilmington, DE Derek Ridge Hazel's Beverage World Boulder, CO Greg Rixen Happy Harry's Bottle Shops Grand Forks, ND Nathan Robinette The Casual Pint Knoxville, TN Don Stanton Director - Craft Beer Program Wines by Jennifer Parkville, MO Anthony Strange BevMo! California Jennifer Tague Liquid Assets, LLC Baton Rouge, LA Mitch Worley Hy-Vee Springfi eld, IL BEVERAGE DYNAMICS NATIONAL BEER PANEL ★★★★★ Five Stars (93-100) A top-flight beer. Superior in taste and character, providing an outstanding price/value relationship. ★★★★ Four Stars (86-92) A very good beer at an excellent value. A beer for which customers will keep coming back. RATING SYSTEM BEER SELECTIONS • A TASTE OF GERMANY is dry yet round and clean. An all-day drinker. 5.8% ABV, 26 IBU. FOUR STARS (92) Augustiner-Brau Augustiner Maximator Dopplebock (Munich, Germany). Pours a deep mahogany with a light brown head. Sweet and malty aromas lead to a rich sticky toffee taste. Well balanced and smooth. Hard to ask for much more in a Dopplebock. 7.5% ABV. (92) Von Trapp Brewing Helles Lager (Stowe, VT). Pours an absolutely beautiful golden color. The beer is fl awlessly clear and leaves a big head like beaten egg white. This beer is very crisp and clean. Nice bready malt with refresh- ing lemony citrus tones from the hops. The lager yeast leaves a perfect refreshing drying effect on the tongue. Truly one of the cleanest lagers out there. 4.9% ABV, 20 IBU. (91) Garage Brewing Co. Golden Helles (Te- mecula, CA). Toasted white bread, honey, dust, fl oral and soapy hop character that balances well. Light-bodied. Dryness and minerality in the fi nish. Firm-yet-elegant fl avors that are ex- tremely well balanced. Impressive. 5.2% ABV, 10 IBU. (91) Anderson Valley GT Gose (Boonville, CA). A Gose-style beer that is brewed with a host of herbs and spices to mimic the classic Gin and Tonic cocktail. Pours a pale yellow with a thin white head. Aroma is quite reminis- cent of gin. Tart and well balanced, with lots of citrus, salt on the fi nish. 4.2% ABV. (91) Schlafl y Kolsch (St. Louis, MO). Pale yellow color with slight cloudy haze. Inch of white head that dissipated rather quickly. Fruity esters on the nose. Light fruitiness fol- lows in the mouth, with mild hops present mostly on the fi nish. Nice effervescence, with more body and mouthfeel than the appear- ance/style might indicate. Crisp, refreshing beer. Pleasant and sessionable, it's a nice take on the style at a reasonable price point. 4.8% ABV, 25 IBU. (91) Crux Pilz (Bend, OR). Noble hops and toasted cracker bread. Pils malt, light biscuit, light sweetness that adds weight on the pal- ate. Softer mouthfeel than the style calls for; defi nitely more meat on the bone. Really en- joyable and pleasant. Crushable. 5.2% ABV, 32 IBU. (90) Omnipollo Bianca Raspberry Gose (Stockholm, Sweden). Pours a deep ruby red, leaving no doubt that this beer is brewed with tons of raspberry. To no surprise, the nose is of tart raspberry, while a slight hint of sour funk hangs around in the background. First sip is of very tart raspberry juice. The fi nish has a little hint of Brettanomyces funk and that signature Gose salinity. Tart and refreshing without being mouth-puckering sour, and shows good fruit. 6.6% ABV, 33 IBU. (89) Spaten-Franziskaner-Brau Hefe-Weiss- bier (Munich, Germany). This traditional Ger- man unfi ltered wheat beer pours a hazy golden amber, leaving a nice fl uffy white head. With- out even getting your nose close to the glass you can smell the wheat and yeast. The beer's fl avor is all wheat upfront with typical Hefewei- zen fl avors of banana, clove and bubblegum from the yeast. If you want to experience a true German Hefeweizen style beer, then it doesn't get much more traditional than Franziskaner Hefe. 5% ABV, 4 IBU. (89) Urban Chestnut "Schnickelfritz" Ba- varian-Style Weissbier Ale (St. Louis, MO). Slightly hazy golden color, with good, persistent white head. Expressive clove aromas with cit- rus lurking in the background. Clove and citrus interplay in the fl avor, with a little bready charac- ter and very slight banana hints. Light in body, with a fresh crispness from medium carbon- ation. Another fi ne German-style interpretation from Urban Chestnut. 4.8% ABV, 16 IBU. (88) Barley Forge Grandpa Tractor Dor t- munder Expor t (Costa Mesa, CA). Spicy, grassy hops, black pepper, untoasted corn bread, buttermilk biscuits. Nice clean mouth- feel. Good acidity, fi rm hop character, but bal- anced fl avors overall. Another well-made beer by BF. 5% ABV. (87) Victory Festbier (Downingtown, PA). Grainy nose. Flavor is lightly toasted grain bread. Light grassy and spicy hop character. Light car- amel. Clean and balanced. Finishes dry. Spot on for the style, although there's a tad too much graininess in the fi nish. Still delicious. 5.6% ABV, 20 IBU. BD