Tag Archives: Showdown

[S4/E34] The Mexican Lager Showdown

August 22, 201721st Amendment Brewery, Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V, Episodes, Going In Blind, Grupo Modelo S.A. de C.V., Ironfire Brewing Company, Thorn St. BrewingGoing In Blind, Lager, Mexican, ShowdownFour Brewers

Season 4, Episode 34 – It’s been a while since we’ve had a showdown-throwdown, so this week, we’re going south of the border with a Mexican-style lager showdown!

Showdowns are probably one of the most interesting and fun things we do here at Four Brewers. Not only is it a challenge breaking down each beer in an uber-critical way, it’s fun to find out which beers were which in the end, which beers we loved, and more curiously, which beers we hated. Inspired by AleSmith Brewing Company’s recent release of their collaboration Mexican-style lager with the band Sublime, we decided it was time for another showdown.

Here are the beers that we sampled in the showdown, listed in the order they were served:

Beer #1: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V – Dos Equis Special Lager
Beer #2: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V – Tecate
Beer #3: Grupo Modelo – Victoria
Beer #4: 21st Amendment Brewery – El Sully
Beer #5: Grupo Modelo – Corona Familiar
Beer #6: Grupo Modelo – Corona Extra
Beer #7: Ironfire Brewing Company – Stetsons and Sombreros
Beer #8: Thorn St. Brewing – Barrio
Beer #9: Grupo Modelo – Modelo Especial
Beer #10: Margaritaville Brewing Company – Landshark Lager
Beer #11: Ska Brewing – Mexican Logger
Beer #12: Grupo Modelo – Pacifico Clara
Beer #13: Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V – Carta Blanca
Beer #14: Grupo Modelo – Estrella Jalisco
Beer #15: AleSmith Brewing Company – Sublime Mexican Lager
Beer #16: Epic Brewing Co – Los Locos (Not in the competition)

Results and rankings:

#15 Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V – Carta Blanca
Average Score: 0.58

“Offensively horrible” was how the smell rang off the bat. The skunky, funky smell led John to not even want to drink the beer. Jason and Greg tried it and described it as “bike tires and skunk”. This beer had more off flavors than regular flavors and got the lowest score ever in our showdowns.

#14 Grupo Modelo – Corona Extra
Average Score: 48.00

Corona was actually featured twice in the showdown, one being Corona Extra and the other Corona Familiar. Apparently, they are the same beer in different packaging. Matt was being tricksy and gave us Corona Extra after Corona Familiar. The Corona Extra came from a 24oz tall can. The aroma threw the gang off (spoilers!) again, with some sulfury, farty characters. Jason got metallic this time, and otherwise the beer didn’t ring well with the gang at all. Corona in a can scored even worse than the bottle, finishing second to last for the day.

#13 Ironfire Brewing Company – Stetsons and Sombreros
Average Score: 49.33

The first flavor profile off this beer was corn. After a bit more analysis, the gang eventually picked out green apple flavor. The general off flavors in this beer led it to score 13th for the day. This registered to the gang as a good beer that went bad.

#12 Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V – Dos Equis Special Lager
Average Score: 60.00

Right off the bat, this beer had low carbonation and was corny. It was very light in color, and actually very light in general. Jason and John grabbed a bit of a biscuit character, but the defining characteristic of this beer for the crew was lightness. While this beer lacked in off flavors, the low carbonation and lack of character led to this one being near the bottom of the pack.

#11 Thorn St. Brewing – Barrio
Average Score: 61.33

Similar to #7, this beer gave a big corn character to the gang. But, when they drank it the flavor also rang a bit off. Over extracted, tannic, and earthy were the notes that came to mind. It ended up scoring toward the bottom of the pack.

#10 Grupo Modelo – Pacifico Clara
Average Score: 62.67

Tobacco was a smell that came from this one, which was unique to the group of beers. Greg got a medicinal smell, while Jason hated the beer and guessed it had been smuggled over in a box truck. John and Greg thought it was more middle of the road, and in the end, this finished at the middle of the pack.

#9 Grupo Modelo – Corona Familiar
Average Score: 65.00

Corona managed to appear twice in this contest, Familiar being the large format brown bottle. The nose on the beer rang metallic and had that signature “cheap beer” smell that the Cheap Beer Corner guys were used to. Jason got a cloying, sweet taste from the beer that made it register as not all that great for him. The other guys gave it middling rankings as well, and it ended up near the bottom half of the pack.

#8 Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma S.A. de C.V – Tecate
Average Score: 67.00

This beer differentiated right off the bat by having a nice foamy head on the top. The nose put the gang off with some plastic vinyl kind of characters. The bigger body brought it up a bit, but the flavor profile rang the wrong bell with Jason and the guys and led to this beer being squarely in the middle of the pack.

#7 Grupo Modelo – Estrella Jalisco
Average Score: 75.00

Skunkiness returns in beer #14, but not anywhere near the huge amount that came through in Carta Blanca. After the skunk blew off, this one had a solid flavor profile that the guys liked quite a bit. Overall it was a solid beer with a bit of an off nose that blew off, and finished towards the upper half of the group.

#6 Grupo Modelo – Victoria
Average Score: 76.33

This beer immediately registered as darker than the rest of the pack. It felt like it was a deep golden color, halfway between an amber beer and the normal light “cerveza”. Jason and John got a big biscuity bread flavor on this beer that Jason especially liked, but Greg smelled a bit of vinyl and thought it was a bit thin. Overall on the strength of Jason’s high marks this beer cruised to a decent overall score.

#5 AleSmith Brewing Company – Sublime Mexican Lager
Average Score: 78.33

Another deep, golden-colored beer similar to Victoria, that made it clearly stand out. The guys smelled “craft beer notes” on this and Jason picked up a bit of cherry aroma. After further analysis, Greg got a bit of huskiness, Jason got squaw bread character, and John got a really big corn aroma and flavor. Overall, the big flavor led this beer to fifth place overall.

#4 Grupo Modelo – Modelo Especial
Average Score: 83.33

Having a bit more color than the rest of the beers in the showdown initially set this beer apart. It smelled like a bit of malt, or as John would say, “a macro beer”, but everyone loved how refreshing the beer was. Jason wanted a bit more robust flavor, but the gang liked it all quite a bit, and it ended up scoring the highest of the beers actually from Mexico.

#3 Margaritaville Brewing Company – Landshark Lager
Average Score: 84.33

Despite being packaged in a clear bottle, this beer didn’t ring skunky to the gang at all. It also impressed visually with a fluffy head and a very clear, light color. The mouthfeel impressed everyone with how soft the beer felt. Greg dinged it a bit for being under carbonated, and the beer flavor came in as mild. In the end, the soft, drinkable character led this beer to high scores and an overall third place finish.

#2 Ska Brewing – Mexican Logger
Average Score: 88.67

As with most of the group, this beer looked very clear and light. The head was noticably more present in this beer, and the aroma had a lot more going on than the rest of the pack. Herbal hop notes and a honey character set this beer apart from the group. We correctly picked this beer out as a “craft” version as it was a bit bigger and more aggressive than the rest, but overall everyone liked it enough to put it solidly in second place.

#1 21st Amendment Brewery – El Sully
Average Score: 90

Lighter than light with a nice fluffy head, this beer won high marks for its appearance and presentation. The aroma had a bready, grainy character and an herbal Noble hop presence that hit the gang just right. Greg loved the flavor so much that he gave the beer a perfect 100, and the other guys weren’t much farther behind. Jason felt like the aftertaste threw it off a bit for him, but John liked it very much, launching El Sully to the top spot of the day.

Well, There you have it! There are certainly many more Mexican-style Lagers out there, so get some for yourself and get to tasting!

BREW THE SHIT OUT OF IT.

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[S3/E40] The Gueuze Showdown

October 2, 2016Brewery John Martin & Brewery Timmermans, Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen, Brouwerij Boon, Brouwerij Girardin, Brouwerij Lindemans, Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, Cantillon, Episodes, Gueuzerie Tilquin, Hanssens Artisanaal, Mikkeller, The Bruery, The Lost Abbeygueuze, Showdown, Sour, sour beerFour Brewers

Season 3, Episode 40 – This week, we’re blind ranking 13 different gueuze-style beers.

The gueuze showdown was inevitable, really. I mean, IPA, stout, and pilsner showdowns are all good and well, but a gueuze showdown is really hard to pull off. Since “sour beers” have been all the rage for the last ten years or so (at least from our limited perspective), it seemed natural to put on our big-boy pants and get to the real deal: gueuze-style beer and lambic.

As always, this showdown is by no means a definitive list or ranking. Many beers were left out of this showdown simply because we couldn’t get them. Gueuze is a tough style to nail for many breweries and blenderies, as is evident in this showdown. Making a great gueuze is tough, and they’re equally hard to acquire. We tried to get as many quality gueuze-style beers as we could find, so don’t get butt-hurt because we didn’t include your favorite.

It should also be noted that John was the proctor for this showdown. He served up the beers and participated in the ranking, but the final scores on this showdown do not take his scores into account, since he knew what the beers were upon evaluation.

Here are the beers that we sampled in the showdown, listed in the order they were served:

Beer #1 – Brouwerij Lindemans – Oude Gueuze Cuvée René
Beer #2 – Brouwerij Boon – Oude Geuze Boon Black Label
Beer #3 – Gueuzerie Tilquin – Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L’Ancienne
Beer #4 – Brewery John Martin & Brewery Timmermans – Timmermans Oude Gueuze
Beer #5 – Brasserie Cantillon – Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio
Beer #6 – Hanssens Artisanaal – Oude Gueuze
Beer #7 – The Bruery – Rueuze
Beer #8 – Brouwerij Boon – Oude Geuze
Beer #9 – Mikkeller – Hues
Beer #10 – Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen – Oude Geuze
Beer #11 – Brouwerij Girardin – Gueuze 1882 (Black Label)
Beer #12 – Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck – St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
Beer #13 – The Lost Abbey – Duck Duck Gooze (2016)

Results and rankings:

#13 Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck – St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
Average Score: 31.67

This is a gueuze that seems to be readily available in most mid to high-end bottle shops. For myself (John), it’s one of the first of the style that I got my hands on. Unfortunately, we thought this beer was the worst of the group, with very prominent notes of acetone.

#12 Mikkeller – Hues
Average Score: 40.67

This beer was weird. It was the darkest of the group. It came off with really big caramel notes, similar to something like an amber ale or stout, but it was also sour. While sour stouts and amber ales are totally a thing, this beer just came off, well, gross. Overall, it was an awkward experience for all but Greg, who gave it a 70 for some reason…

#11 Brasserie Cantillon – Gueuze 100% Lambic Bio
Average Score: 41.67

It goes without saying that it’s both surprising and disappointing that Cantillon ranked so low. The acetone notes were really distracting and the beer came off as very one-note. It also displayed acetic characteristics on the nose that John picked up. We truly think that this was either a bad bottle or bad batch because Cantillon usually never fails to deliver quality gueuze.

#10 Hanssens Artisanaal – Oude Gueuze
Average Score: 61.00

This is one of the more recognizable brands of gueuze that one can find. While Hanssens hit the target with this beer’s acidic notes, the solvent-like nose and lack of a funky backbone drove this beer to the bottom half of the list.

#9 Brewery John Martin & Brewery Timmermans – Timmermans Oude Gueuze
Average Score: 64.33

This beer was super-tart, and was described by Nagel as a “funky, Sour Warhead [candy]”. Notes of honey and soil were prominent, and while everyone else gave this beer lower scores, John really seemed to like it and gave it a 78.

#8 Gueuzerie Tilquin – Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L’Ancienne
Average Score: 70.67

For us, Tilquin Gueuze is one of the harder to find beers of the group. While the beer was fairly complex, displaying notes of hay, grass, funk, and oak, it was also a bit aggressive in those areas. Matt noted that it smelled like acetone, and Jason though it smelled like an old log. It brought the sour and funk, but the other aspects of the beer were too distracting.

#7 Brouwerij Boon – Oude Geuze Boon Black Label
Average Score: 73.00

Middle of the road. That’s what this beer is. While it was a bit watery and underwhelming, it wasn’t a total let down. Jason didn’t want to take points away for its subtleness, but in the end it just didn’t hit all the right notes.

#6 The Bruery – Rueuze
Average Score: 75.67

This beer was immediately pointed out as an American interpretation of gueuze. Notes of vanilla and oak were prominent. There was a lovely sour bite to it, with fruit and citrus notes backing it up. While it wasn’t necessarily true to the gueuze style, Rueuze stood out as a unique and ambitious beer that was both delicious and interesting.

#5 Brouwerij Lindemans – Oude Gueuze Cuvée René
Average Score: 80.00

This was the first beer served in the showdown, and that was on purpose. Lindemans gueuze is a great example of the style that is widely available, even at big box stores like Total Wine and More, and BevMo. The beer had an aggressive, funky nose and a nice tart acidic flavor to back it up. It ultimately lost points for being a bit skunked, but hey, it’s in a green bottle so, it’s to be expected. Overall, it’s a great example of the style and definitely worth picking up.

#4 Brouwerij Boon – Oude Geuze
Average Score: 85.33

Overall, this beer was great. Notes of sesame seed, and funky bread were prominent, and the flavor was bright and tart with a touch of tannin. A classic gueuze and again, well worth the buy.

#3 The Lost Abbey – Duck Duck Gooze (2016)
Average Score: 88.00

Duck Duck Gooze was the most pale in color of the group. Notes of fruit, hibiscus, and acidity were quite lovely on the nose, and the beer had a big fluffy head. The acidity on the palate was subdued and balanced. While we thought it may not be 100% true the style, it was definitely one of the best, even at $40+ per bottle.

#2 Brouwerij Girardin – Gueuze 1882 (Black Label)
Average Score: 90.33

Notes of cheese (yum), funk, and earthiness were prominent in Gueuze 1882. The beer had a nice clarity, a subtle funk backbone, and a pleasant, tart bite. It was an overall well balanced and delicious beer and its high ranking was not a surprise at all.

#1 Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen – Oude Geuze
Average Score: 93.33

3 Fonteinen ranking number one in the showdown came as no surprise to any of us. Matt constantly gushes over the quality lambic blends that this blendery produces, and Oude Geuze was no exception. This was a stellar beer. The grassy, barnyard notes were balanced with a refreshing sour-citrus flavor and funky base that was nothing short of spectacular. If you see this beer, buy it.