Friday, June 26, 2009

Sculpin and Kellerweis

I have raved and marveled over Ballast Point's Sculpin before, so I won't bore you with another laudatory post, other than to say Sculpin is excellent, and sublime on tap via a growler. I was struck by Sculpin's similarity to Alpine's Nelson IPA. I love Sculpin's Simcoe hops and am guessing they must be similar to Nelson's New Zealand Sauvin hops.

The next beer I tried last week was Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis Hefeweizen. I am not the world's most ardent hefeweizen fan, and when given the choice choose another style. I wanted to try Kellerweis because Sierra Nevada's other new year-round release, Torpedo, was so good. I was not disappointed with Kellerweis, it is outstanding, and a hefeweizen I could drink frequently. My notes say it poured cloudy with a pale color, had a good finish and was drinkable. I did not get too much banana taste, a hallmark of many hefeweizens, but not my favorite taste in a beer. I noted a tartness, zest and spice, along with good carbonation. The carbonation lead to a solid white foam with good retention. Overall, I liked Kellerweis and hope that Sierra Nevada uses its marketing prowess to edge out the ubiquitous, but lousy Widmer Hefeweizen. And please, hold the orange.

2 comments:

Dave said...

I have some Sculpin coming my way as well as two Bruery brews, Rasputin XI. Can't wait to try them.

Rational Realist said...

I had a Sculpin in the bottle a few nights ago and there was not much difference between the growler. You're in for a treat if one of The Bruery beers is Trade Winds, which is a spicy, awesome beer. Just figured out Rasputin XI was different from the regular Rasputin.