Beer of the Week! 10/23/22
Perennial Black Walnut Dunkel
Regularly $14.99 / Now on Sale for $13.96
Dunkelweizen with Black Walnuts
Welcome to a beer that’s good but not at all what you expect it to be (unlike high school for us, which was only the latter). You can thank our quietly experimental friends from St. Louis, MO, Perennial Artisan Ales.
The Black Walnut Dunkel first surprises us because, for some reason, we keep expecting it to be a Dunkel Lager when we know it’s not. In fact, it is a Dunkel Weissbier — a dark wheat ale (a style originating in Germany). That fact sets us up for the next curve ball. Dunkelweizen tend to be sweet with banana and clove notes. This one, however, is not. However, the biggest surprise comes with the addition of black walnuts.
Mini-twist — not walnuts … black walnuts. Yeah, we asked that question as well.
Turns out walnuts are English walnuts (which we think we knew at one time or another). Black walnuts are an American variant walnut native to the Midwest and South, from Michigan to Mississippi, from Nebraska to (believe it or not) Virginia! They’re smaller than English walnuts, harder to crack, and have a smaller meat that’s oily, earthy, and bittersweet — not the most appealing of tree treats. Still, they have die-hard fans, especially in the Midwest. In fact, Black walnuts are the state tree nut of Missouri, where Perennial Artisan Ales resides. (Ours is the Shagback Hickory nut … just joking. Virginia doesn’t have a state tree nut.)
So, the Black Walnut Dunkel is a dry Dunkel Weissbier, the black walnuts adding an earthy bitterness on the finish. It’s kind of like 80% dark chocolate, not that it has a chocolate taste (though there are hints), but, like really dark chocolate, you get both a richness and a bitterness … kind of like our memories of high school. ;)
Bonus Beer of the Week (‘Cause twice is nice.)
New Anthem / Sojourn The Moments Gone
Regularly $17.99 / Now on Sale for $16.96
Hazy American Pale Ale
New Anthem Beer Project was founded in Wilmington, NC in 2016 by friends Bill Hunter and Aaron Skiles. This is what they have to say for themselves. “We started this little thing with an idea — bring flavor distinct beers to Wilmington and do it in the last operating livery stables in the city, The McLellan Building on Dock Street.” They are strongly dedicated to being able to stand behind every beer they put out.
This particular beer that they stand behind is a collaboration with Sojourn Fermentory, a brewery so new they’re not even a brewery yet! (Who gets you on the beer ground floor? We do!) Sojourn Fermentory is a startup craft brewery based in Suffolk, VA (outside of Norfolk). They’re currently shooting to open in spring of 2023, but in a stunningly smart move, they’re building a following by doing collaborations with breweries like Wild East Brewing Company, Deciduous Brewing Company, Cushwa Brewing Company, and (of course) New Anthem.
The Moments Gone is an unfiltered American Pale Ale, but don’t let that throw you off. It drinks just as well as (if not better than) your basic NEIPA. Simcoe and Cashmere do the bittering duties delivering a fruit profile like apricot or fresh papaya. It’s one of the few examples we’ve found of a hazy hopped ale that’s dry yet still legitimately other-than-citrus juicy. The real story, however, is in the aroma.
New Anthem and Sojourn use Riwaka hops for dry-hopping, but they are just the base for their experiment with thiols — organic chemical compounds usually associated with aromas from tropical fruits and white wine grapes. Our two brew buddies have structured their hop deployment and yeast selection to tease the most thiols out of the hops as they can. As says, Sojourn, “In many ways, this project is an experiment with the question, ‘can we produce hop driven beer using a vastly different process with an alchemy of flavor, some expected and some unexpected, to ultimately arrive at a new and nuanced flavor profile that adds another option for hop lovers?’ ”
Seems like this brew is a good start.
Remember!
You can see our entire beer inventory on Untappd.com!