Tag Archives: lemon grass

Thai Wheat by Second Self Beer Co

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Rating: 4.25/5

Thai Wheat by Second Self Beer Co is a 5.1% ABV American Wheat ale brewed with Ginger, Lemon grass and Galangal.

Label:
This SPICY American Wheat beer is as EXOTIC as the country that inspired it. This beer uses both fresh LEMONGRASS and GINGER to give it a refreshing aroma and taste taking you on a trip access the globe. We keep the beer DRY letting the spices stand out on their own giving you a unique experience.

This flavorful wheat ale is great for an escape into your Second Self.

==Introduction==

Special thanks to my good friend and homebrew brother, Richard Avila of Avila Ales for donating this beer to the website. This is the first time I try a beer from Second Self Beer Co. Their use of exotic ingredients intrigues me especially since this is a light beer. Typically, some adjuncts maybe overwhelming for a beer especially if it is a lighter style. However, based on the recommendation from my friend, he advised it was very damn refreshing and the lemon grass was really present and worked well for the style. Let’s analyze the brew and see how it is. Cheers!

Aromas:
Ginger, wild flower honey, biscuit bread, pilsner malt, yerba buena/ spearmint, lemongrass, vanilla, rose hints and tropical fruit notes.

Flavors:
Herbs, Coriander, Wild flower honey, ginger, lemon grass, floral hops, honey suckle, hibiscus, roses, biscuit bread, pilsner malt, banana notes, basil, chai notes, ginger bread, vanilla, lychee, stone fruit peach, mango and cane sugar.

Aftertaste:
Finishing dry with notes of ginger, honey, vanilla, biscuit bread, floral and herbal hops as well as stone fruit hints. No alcohol in the aftertaste, golden pale clear light body, crisp, clean, smooth and refreshing mouthfeel along with a very easy drinkability.

Overall:
Very flavorful beer showcasing lots of the exotic ingredients and flavors used. Nothing too overwhelming or spicy and for being a light beer, the light use of the flavors and still presence is something that I really liked about this one. It is also very easy to drink to I definitely recommend this one for the spring and summer times coming.

Anime Corner:
Tinker Bell from Disney’s Peter Pan was used in this pairing as I not only did I want some similar colors to use with this pairing, but mainly for the whole tropical and exotic aspects of the beer. Essentially, Tinker Bell is from Neverland, which in itself is an exotic and tropical land. So using her with this pairing fit in my mind.

Sources:
https://anime-pictures.net/pictures/get_image/515243-1200×927-peter+pan-disney+fairies-disney-tinkerbell+%28character%29-peter+pan+%28character%29-captain+hook.jpg

Au Revoir Shoshanna by El Borracho brewing

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14495427_10103600133181210_3907487708807810594_nRating: 4.25/5

Au Revoir Shoshanna by El Borracho brewing is a 5.25% ABV Saison/Farmhouse Ale brewed with chamomile, lemon grass and orange peels.

Label:
None

==Introduction==

The fall has hit and my friend William has been busy prepping some new line of beers for the colder season. To start, he ended up brewing this saison in reference to a French quote in one of his favorite movies, Inglorious Basterds. For being his first saison, he added several ingredients to the brew. The use of chamomile, lemongrass and orange peel seems very fitting as many breweries use different types of herbs and flowers to make some saisons.

Aromas:
Herbal, Lemongrass, oregano, peppercorn, chamomiles, citrus, farmhouse hay, funky must, green tea, apple hints, stone fruit, grapes and biscuit bread.

Flavors:
Citrus, Orange peel, grapefruit, chamomile, green tea, basil, oregano, biscuit bread, banana, clove spice, peppercorn, sage, tangerine gummies, musty grapes, tejuino hints, floral notes of lavender, hibiscus, black tea, lemons, lemon peel, honey, agave, apple hints, stone fruit peach, apricot notes, vanilla, grassy and earthy hop notes.

Aftertaste:
Finishes dry with rich herbal notes of chamomile, orange, grapefruit, vanilla, honey, earthy hop and stone fruit hints. No alcohol in the taste, Clear to medium honey colored hazy body, crisp, refreshing, smooth and effervecent mouthfeel along with an easy to moderate drinkability.

Overall:
A very delicious saison with unique herbal flavors. As the beer warms up more of the chamomile is released creating an orange and herbal tea of sweet and funky farmhouse flavors. I do find it an interesting choice as my friend will is not fond of saisons some of the times but what he has here is very definitive of the style and complex like the delicious saisons from Monkish brewing or Jester King too. I hope he makes more of these!

Anime Corner:
Original character by Azuma Syoujuan was chosen in this pairing as I wanted to gather similar colors but also the focus on chamomile in the beer. As you can see, you have the green for lemongrass and the overall orange theme works for the orange peel and the honey colored beer. In reference to the name, it is interesting how in the scene where Landa is about to shoot Shoshanna who is running through a field filled with similar colors and let’s her go uttering the words. The piece of art work I chose denotes the similarities in the scene like the flying of birds or swimming of fish as the action of running and the way sound of awesome music runs through the air mimicking that of the scene of freedom as one slips into bliss. So synonymous of the scene where essentially he had to choose between 2 freedoms. Freedom via Death for Shoshanna or Freedom to let her live. The beer has a meaning of its own where the consumption of the saison frees one of problems. Say Goodbye to your inhibitions!

Sources:
https://anime-pictures.net/pictures/get_image/485967-1920×1080-original-eshi+100-nin+ten-azuma+syoujuan-single-blush-short+hair.png

Les Fleurs Du Mal by New Braunfels brewing

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10670257_10102150692966020_884461022825229363_nRating: 4.8/5

Les Fleurs Du Mal by New Braunfels brewing of Texas is a 5.7% ABV Sour Hefeweizen aged on lemon grass and bottle conditioned with Texas Wildflower Honey.

Label:
The Flowers of Evil
Sans Cesse a mes cotes s’agite le demon

Good cannot exist without a little evil to define it. Right lives astride wrong destruction. Destruction creates rebirth. This beer started life as a sweet, refreshing hefeweizen last winter. After a hot open fermentation and cold winter’s breath of evil, this beautiful saur creature has bloomed to life.
___

A special gem comes our way straight out of Texas from the special dark chapters of beer lore as provided by Aaron of www.beermetaldude.com. A sweet donation especially since there was only 11 cases of this beer released out to the public. New Braunfels brewing focuses on a variety of German inspired styles from what I have seen so far and the Shiva’s Tears I tried was very awesome. Now with this one, I really wanna see what this is about especially since it is a Heffeweizen that is aged as a sour, something that I have not experienced before. So let us try out and see what we can find.

Aromas:
Funky notes, lemon grass, sage spice, wine grapes, old mango, peppercorns, farmhouse hay, biscuit bread, vanilla, oak, honey, earthy notes, phenolic notes and brown sugar.

Flavors:
Lemon grass, flowers, lemon peel, biscuit bread, wine grapes, vanilla, citrus, oranges, peppercorns, funky farmhouse hay, earthy notes, old mango, pineapple, honey, oak, stone fruit tart apricots, hibiscus, toasted wheat bread, lavender, phenolic notes, mild bubble gum hints and clove spice.

Aftertaste:
Funky lemon grass, tart pineapple, earthy notes, wet hay, wheat and stone fruit apricots. No alcohol in the taste, a sipping beer despite the low ABV, medium to full honey colored body and medium mouthfeel.

Overall:
This beer is very good if you enjoy sours and farmhouse ales as it borderlines that tart and biscuity area that hovers over the likes of the nice French Saisons. This beer reminds me of the Carnivale Ale from The Lost Abbey as it has some notes of that but this one takes it a different direction of flavor as it is technically still a hefeweizen. I have never tried anything like it but just the ability to move a heffeweizen into other territories of style is just and amazing feat. Highly recommending this one and thanks to New Braunfels Brewing Company for making this one.

Anime Corner:
Remilia Scarlet from the Touhou Project series was used in this pairing to pair with the skulls and the flowers and how the representation of evil flowers can be seen in the form that they look pretty but when you taste them like this beer can be really deadly. Dare to take a sip?

Sources:
http://www.imgbase.info/images/safe-wallpapers/anime/touhou/7468_touhou.jpg

Bourbon Peach by Unity Vibration

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1176279_10101372966650790_185815930_nRating: 5/5 *Kombucha Rating

Bourbon Peach by Unity Vibration is a 7% ABV Kombucha Wild Ale brewed with peaches and aged in bourbon barrels

Label: 
Our Bourbon Barrel Aged Kombucha has double the rich, delicious bourbon flavor as it ages with juicy, whole, organic peaches. This unique beverage is a culmination of the ancient process of kombucha brewing, paired with the newer brewing process of a uniquely American high gravity ale.

Reminiscent of summer campfires and refreshing swims in the great lakes, out kombucha beer is always unfiltered, raw and living. Taste the freshness and distinctive flavors you can only find with this process and unique combination
___

First thing to note about this beverage, is that it is very important and I mean, VERY IMPORTANT!! to open near a sink. The moment I opened this beer, a lot of the pressure was released causing me to lose some of the liquid  . Fortunately I saved a good portion of it. This the first time I try a Kombucha beer so I will try my best at reviewing this one.

Kombucha (昆布茶 or Japanese “Kelp Tea”), as referred to here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha ) is a special type of effervescent fermented tea using bacteria and yeast as part of the fermentation. It was definitely effervescent since the bubbles would not stop even as type this. This sucker is really alive!! This also says it could be good for health. Well, that depends I guess. I cannot make any claims on that. Most Kombuchas are non alcoholic. This one is. So I guess it depends on the fermentation process used by Unity Vibration

Aromas of this are of mushrooms, apricot, funky notes, sourdough, vanilla, oak, peaches, lemon grass, vinegary grassy notes, pears, flowers and other fruits. The sour and funky fragrances come more across than the sweeter fruity side here.

The Flavors are… wow!… I was expecting this to be as strong as the nose. Not at all like the nose. The vinegary sour notes are only in the nose. The taste is much much sweeter with very nice tangy notes. Sweet Peaches, apples, pears, tangy cherry, sugar cubes, vanilla, slight oak, mushrooms, lemonade, grassy and vegetable notes, black tea, slight funky notes, sour dough bread, honey, peach preserves, light bourbon notes, maple syrup, brown sugar, coriander, wheat and grapefruit juice.

After taste us pretty dry leaving a little bit of a sugary plant feel. It tingles going down but easy to drink.

Overall was at awe as to how different this beer was. It somewhat defies logic in taste and aromatic expectations. They seem very different. This is a very unique forth coming creation into the craft beer movement. I am not sure if it should be categorized as beer as it falls into the realms of beer/cider/wine/tea/mead and lambics. Very unique stuff and very delicious in its own category.