New Braunfel Texas | Brewerianimelogs (Anime and Beer Lore)

Rating: 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.
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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

Rating: 5.25/5

Chocolate Stout by Guadalupe Brewing of New Braunfel, Texas is 7.22% ABV American Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels with cocoa nibs.

Label:
Our Chocolate Stout has a smooth drinkable appeal. Aged on cocoa nibs and American Oak with Bourbon, the complexity makes this a truly great Stout.
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Chocolate Bourbon aged Stouts?! Yes please! This one seems like a definite treat. Bourbon Barrel Aged beers are awesome. So are Chocolate beers. Mix the two correctly and you have a very special beer. This beer comes to me as a donation by Aaron Mendiola of www.beermetaldude.com. This is the last beer in the package that Aaron sent me so I figured since I like these type of beers, I would save it for last. This the first time I try a Guadalupe Brewing beer so I look forward to this one for sure. Cheers!

Aromas:
Rich Milk and dark chocolate, bourbon hints, vanilla, caramel,pecan pie, peanut butter hints. Cocoa crispies, earthy notes, mocha, coffee, hazelnut, dark fruit raisins, peanut butter cup, bananas, coconut hints, marshmallow, bourbon hints and dark cherry hints.

Flavors:
Rich Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate milk shake, marshmallow, caramel, bourbon, oak, hints of coconut, vanilla, peanut butter cup, earthy coffee notes, flan hints, dark fruit raisins, figs, bananas, clove spice, hints of almond joy, pecans, campfire smoke, ashy hints, burnt oak, cinnamon, dark cherries, fudge cake and flan hints.

Aftertaste:
Dark and milk chocolate, earthy notes, caramel, bourbon vanilla, cherry and smokey notes linger. No alcohol in the taste while maintaining a smooth yet moderate drinkability, pitch black body and moderate mouthfeel.

Overall:
This one does exceed some expectations a bit and I would definitely try it again. While it is not as potent as some of the other stronger ABV beers out there, this one still is able to deliver some nice complex chocolate flavors. This goes to show you don’t always need a high ABV to make it taste nice and rich or complex. It can do better with balance in terms of the smokey and sweet flavors. It is best drunk at warmer temperatures since that is where you can really tell the complexity. This one is worth the try for sure.

Anime Corner:
Noloty Maruchie of the Book of Bantorra was used in this paring to show some of the colors and chocolate flavors. Notoly is by water representing the person on the barrel rowing. The design of Notoly and her fashion pair with the design of the label as well. She represents the mixture of bourbon barrel aging with chocolate cocoa nibs. Sweet and delicious!

Sources:
http://omo.serenana.info/AGP/noloty.jpg